Necon 2014!

This weekend, it’s time once again for the unspeakable awesomeness of Necon, the only horror convention that includes a field trip to go play miniature golf. (Miniature golf is optional.)

It’s in Rhode Island. You should go. If you DO go, I’ll be very easy to find, but here’s my official schedule:

FRIDAY, JULY 18: 

3PM  Panel:  “Quiet On the Set!: The Long, Long Road from the Page to the Screen”

Lynne Hansen (Moderator), Amber Benson, John Dixon, Mallory O’Meara, Brian Keene, Jeff Strand

10PM   Necon Late-Night Movies

…which include “Gave Up The Ghost!” along with movies by Lynne Hansen and Amber Benson!

SUNDAY, JULY 20:

10AM   Panel:   “The Neverending Story: Writing an Open-Ended Series”

Craig Shaw Gardner (Moderator), Amber Benson, Chris Golden, Jeff Strand

 

Check out the complete schedule, list of attendees, and all the other information you need at http://campnecon.com

 

 

 

Kumquat Interview!

The print edition of Kumquat is now available! Amazon has discounted the already low price, so the trade paperback edition is only $8.99. Click HERE to order! 

And Lionel Green has posted an interview at Huntsville Books Examiner, where he explains why me writing a romantic comedy isn’t a sign of the apocalypse. 

More Social Media To Increase My Productivity

So I joined Google+. Actually, I joined Google+ a while ago, but I didn’t really do anything with it, and the only person I ever added to my circles was Trevor Strong of the Arrogant Worms.

This afternoon I thought, “Today is the day I should finally link my WordPress account to Google+, like WordPress is always enthusiastically encouraging me to do!” And I did. Except that I accidentally created a new Google+ account instead of linking it to the old one, because I have one Gmail address that I use for stuff like the Kumquat giveaway, and another Gmail address that I created just for Google+, and it was all apparently way too confusing for me.

I deleted the old Google+ profile, though hopefully Trevor and I will be able to find each other again someday, and now IN THEORY my WordPress account is linked to Google+. Basically, this post is just a long-winded test.

If you’re the kind of shady character who lurks at Google+, my URL is https://plus.google.com/+JeffStrandAuthor.

 

FANGBOY Is #1!

Oh, sure, it’s not the same as being a #1 New York Times bestseller…

Or even a #1 Amazon bestseller.

Or, for that matter, a #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller.

Or, let’s face facts, even a #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller in Literature & Fiction.

Or, while we’re keeping it real, even a #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller in Literature & Fiction > Humor & Satire.

But…in the category of Amazon Kindle bestsellers in Literature & Fiction > Humor & Satire > Dark Comedy…oh, look at that, it’s Fangboy!

 

Could Fangboy compete with the “serious” dark comedy? I guess we’ll never know. But for this particular moment, suck it, other books in Humorous Dark Comedy!!!

 

FANGBOY Kindle Countdown Deal – Only 99 Cents!

I’ve done a Kindle Countdown Deal for Fangboy, which means that for the next three-and-a-half days it’s only 99 cents. Three-and-a-half days after that, it rockets all the way up to $1.99. And then, it returns to its original insanely expensive price of $2.99.

99 cents? For a novel? I don’t know what the going rate is for a chuckle, but I think you’ll get 99 cents’ worth of laughs out of this book, no problem. It’s one of my more divisive books; some people think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written, and some people think “WTF was that?” For a buck, it’s worth the risk!

Click HERE. 

Dead Clown Barbecue Expansion Pack!

Did you read Dead Clown Barbecue but you’re still not full? Now you can get the eight-story Dead Clown Barbecue Expansion Pack for only 99 cents!

It includes the first-ever appearance of “Gave Up The Ghost” (now a 20-minute short film directed by Gregory Lamberson, to be part of the horror anthology film Creepers) but it also includes:

“The Car”

“The Loneliest Jackalope”

“Inside the Boxes”

“A Bit of Christmas Mayhem”

“Scrumptious Bone Bread”

“A Flawed Fantasy”

“Tin Cans”

21,000 words’ worth of material for a buck! Get it RIGHT HERE. 

Terri Garey on KUMQUAT

Terri Garey, RITA-award-winning author of Devil Without a Cause and the Nicki Styx series, said this about Kumquat:

“A wry, tenderly ironic road trip/romantic comedy about a woman with no future and a man in desperate need of one. I could give you plot details, but you don’t really need to know much more than ‘boy meets girl, girl could die at any moment, boy and girl embark on impulsively spontaneous road trip, and (surprise!) fall in love along the way’.

KUMQUAT is more than just your average romantic comedy, however. Jeff Strand is a seriously funny guy, and this book had me laughing out loud more than once. The dialogue is witty, both main characters and the host of secondary characters are hilarious, and the situations that Todd and Amy find themselves in are both utterly ridiculous and completely plausible at the same time. Throw in a few unexpected plot twists and chapter-heading excerpts from an entirely imaginary Sci-Fi show that you truly wish existed (Go Exit Red!), and you’ve got something special.

Fans of Jonathan Tropper will love this one, as did I.”

Check out her website RIGHT HERE.

Happy Fourth-O-July!

Happy Fourth of July, USA-ers! Remember: when body parts come off in one of my books, it’s delightfully amusing, but in real life it totally sucks. So be careful when you light those fuses!

Kumquat Reviews!

Several readers have been kind enough to post KUMQUAT reviews on their blog or review site. Check ’em out! Bookmark ’em! Visit them each and every day!

Sinister Sister Speaks.

Becki’s Book Blog.

Horror Drive-In.

The Novel Pursuit.

Mkitty’s Bubble.

Gregor Xane.

Uberschaubare Relevanz. (Negative review here, but the wounds to my heart will heal in time…*sniffle*)

 

 

 

Kumquat!

It’s here! My new novel, a romantic comedy (!) is now available in a digital edition! Print edition coming soon!

From the “wickedly funny” Jeff Strand (says Publishers Weekly) comes a comedy about love, death, hot dogs, TV, and obscure fruit.

Thirty-five-year-old introvert Todd Bryan hasn’t really done much with his life, and he’s okay with that. Until, at a painfully bad film festival, he meets Amy Husk. She’s attractive. She’s funny. She’s quirky. And…she has an inoperable brain aneurysm and not much time to live. She may not even make it to the long-awaited final episode of Exit Red, the greatest show ever.

She convinces him that they should do something crazy and frivolous. And suddenly Todd, a guy who doesn’t do spontaneity, is on an insane road trip from Florida to Rhode Island with a girl he barely knows, just to visit a really cool hot dog place.

Many things will go wrong. But, hey, many things will go right, too. There’s a hook-handed hitchhiker and some property destruction. Maybe some sex. A kumquat will probably be relevant at some point, although not during the sex (if there is any).

A laugh-out-loud comedy, a touching love story, and a cross-country adventure, Kumquat is a story about making the most out of the time you’ve got. If that doesn’t interest you, there’s also a gummi bear tractor.