Waiting Game

So I finished the sample chapters of Skeeter’s Cash and flung them off to the interested editor. Now the wait begins.

The completed manuscript for The Odyssey of Harriett is with a different editor. The wait continues.

An OCD part of me wants to get Skeeter’s Cash from 8800 words to 9000…but once that’s done, my “main” project will switch over to my vampire novel Miles of Night, which I believe will be the most action-packed vampire novel EVER!!!! and I’m including my own Draculas in there. So if you hate action-packed vampire novels, you’ll definitely want to skip that one.

Twisting

I usually suck at guessing big plot twists in movies. Even if the Internet is collectively giving itself a smug pat on the back over the ease with which it predicted a twist before the coming attractions were even over, I’m usually surprised. I didn’t see the twist in The Village coming, even though the movie is so bad that I spent the whole time thinking, “C’mon, get to the twist so we can end this and go home!”

But last night I watched [TITLE REDACTED] and guessed the twist at the first clue, about five minutes in. I’m not going to tell you which movie it was, because knowing that there’s a twist might spoil it for you. All I want to do is bask in the fact that in this one instance, I was ahead of the filmmakers. Ha!!!

 

Back on Tumblr

Last year, I decided that I wanted to start posting daily progress updates on the various things I’m working on…but I didn’t want to clog up my main blog with that much detail.

So I started a Tumblr blog for those readers who want to track the progress.

Then I abandoned it for eight months.

Now it’s back.

If you’re the kind of person who wants to know that yesterday I wrote a little over 500 words on a vampire novel called Miles of Night, that’s the place to go. If you’re of the “Just tell me when it’s done” mindset, you can safely skip it. The power is yours!

Hero Spat

Yesterday I did a “superheroes having a spat” double feature and finally saw Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War. I basically agree with the consensus that BVS:DoJ was joyless and dull and CA:CW was unbelievably awesome.

It would be nice if movie studios were still allowed to keep some secrets. Think how much more fun it would’ve been if we DIDN’T know that [That One Character Everybody Loves] was in the movie. You would’ve been watching happily, and suddenly you would’ve went, “Holy crap! I never expected this! I was enjoying the movie already, and this wonderful surprise has kicked it up a couple of notches!” Of course, those Game of Thrones-watching bastards would then blab it all over social media, so only the people at preview screenings would be surprised, but still…

Got to hear a really great reading of my short story “Awakening” by Joe Hempel for the audio edition of The Year’s Best Hardcore Horror. He totally nailed the timing. I’m not sure when the book will be available, but I’ll let you know…

June Events

So I went through my “Appearances” page and deleted several events that are now over. The listing is significantly less robust now. Still, here’s what I’ve got in June:

June 10, 2016: B&N TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL. Tampa, Florida. Barnes & Noble locations across the nation will be hosting YA authors on the same night! Lynne Hansen and I will be at the Tampa location at 11802 N. Dale Mabry Highway, doing a reading and signing at 7:00 PM.

June 23-28, 2016. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Orlando, Florida. I’ll be doing a signing at the Sourcebooks booth Sunday at 11:30 AM, and I’ll also be hanging out at the Horror Writers Association booth.

 

Four Ahead

So I’m now four books ahead of what’s been published. Here’s what’s in the pipeline…

Blister (novel) – E-book edition coming next month. Hardcover edition coming later this year.

The Odyssey of Harriett (novel) – No publisher yet. Waiting for news…

Untitled YA Novel About Teenaged Illusionist – Coming sometime in 2017.

Cold Dead Hands (novella) – No publication date scheduled.

My next project is a crime thriller called Skeeter’s Cash. Since there’s no way I’ll finish it before Blister comes out, I guess I’ll remain four ahead.

Back Home…

Yep, I’m back home after a crazy month that included the World Horror Convention, StokerCon, and Dayton Hamvention (where I accepted a posthumous Hall of Fame award for my dad’s achievements in the world of amateur radio). I’ve got a signing at Barnes & Noble on June 10th, and I’ll be at the American Library Association Conference June 24-27, but for the most part my events are done for a while.

I finished my latest young adult novel yesterday in an airport. I owe about eight short stories right now, but for the first time in a while I don’t have any novel deadlines. Of course, I’m leaping right into a new book and plan to acquire some new stress-inducing deadlines in the near future.

I’ve got “promising but not remotely guaranteed” news on The Odyssey of Harriett. Keep watching this space.

Casting is almost finalized for Mindy Has To Die,  which is the feature film adaptation of Stalking You Now. It’ll be shooting ridiculously soon in Belfast, Ireland. Updates as I get ’em.

Lots going on behind the scenes of the feature film version of Cold Dead Hands, which will be shooting soon but not ridiculously soon. My comments on Lynne Hansen’s screenplay are generally worthless, but at least I did my tiny little part.

Expect (no, demand!!!) daily blog updates for the next few weeks, at least.

 

 

Eating the Fantastic

Scott Edelman’s podcast Eating the Fantastic has a simple premise: he talks to his guests over a restaurant meal. This past weekend, Lynne Hansen and I recorded an episode with Scott at the Carnegie Deli in Las Vegas.

Like a total wuss, I got the half-sized sandwich, which was still more sandwich than a human being needs to consume in one sitting.

You can listen (for free, of course!) by checking out the following link:

Check out Eating the Fantastic Episode 8 with guests Lynne Hansen and Jeff Strand

 

Blister

The hardcover limited edition of my new novel Blister is now up for pre-order from Sinister Grin Press.

They call her Blister. She’s a hideously disfigured twenty-three year old woman, living in a shed next to her father’s house, hidden away from the world.

Jason Tray is a successful cartoonist, banished to his agent’s lakeside cabin for a few days of mandatory rest and relaxation. One night, while hanging out with a couple of the locals at a dive bar, he takes them up on their offer to go “see Blister,” having no idea what they’re talking about.

He peeks through the window at the most nightmarish thing he’s ever seen.

In the morning, he wakes up, hung over and regretful. He’s better than this. He needs to…apologize?

From the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Pressure and Dweller comes a tale of fiendish secrets, ghastly crimes, and human monsters.

The pre-order period for Blister ends on June 15th. The number of copies ordered during those 30 days (yeah, I’m late posting this, but I was at StokerCon!) will determine the print run. Hardcovers are scheduled to ship in September.

The Kindle edition will be available shortly after the hardcover pre-order period ends.

Order the hardcover HERE.

 

Star In Your Own Story!

Time is running out to bid on an auction to be the star of your own story!

I’ll write you as the star of a flash fiction (1000-1500 words) story. Your friends, family, and pets can be in it, too. Before I start, we’ll exchange a couple of e-mails to figure out what tone you’d prefer, though this is unlikely to be a story with high literary merit. The assumption is that this story will be pretty ridiculous…but, hey, you’re the boss! You will receive a signed printout of the completed piece, and get all rights to do with the story as you wish. It’s yours! Story will be delivered no more than three weeks after the auction ends.

Proceeds benefit the Wordier Than Thou bookstore.

Bidding ends at 12:00 PM on May 20th.

Click HERE for the details.