Been A Little While...

As some of you have undoubtedly noticed, it has been a while since I last posted on here. Honestly, I have been busy with life and work and have not even had the time to look at my blog, let alone add to it.

Things have been busy, but the good kind of busy where you get a lot done versus the type where you run around and accomplish very little. Mostly what has been consuming my time is my day job, which is writing -- but not the creative type (for the most part). I have also been working on Shades of Night as well as The Devil's Nightmare. Yes, no idle hands here...

I am excited that October starts tomorrow, since this is when people start to think more about the paranormal. The nights begin to lengthen and with the cold weather people want to snuggle up with a blanket and a good story. I also am a huge lover of Halloween for several reasons, and so am anxious to put out the decorations.

Okay, there, I did it. Imposter something and it didn't take long. I am a slacker, but with my busy tome of the year starting now I will be on here regularly, I promise.

New Shades of Night Announcement

I had a lot of fun writing the first installment of Shades of Night. Wounded Fox was the culmination of work I started over ten years ago. As promised, though, it is a new week and I am here to give you a little taste of the next installment of Shades of Night.

In October you all will be able to download Shades of Night: El Chupacabra in Texas. The story takes place on a ranch in modern-day southern Texas, where cattle rancher Mitch Johnson begins losing some of his cattle in what he believes to be an attempt to run him off his land. While Mitch focuses his attention on the mysterious activity of the corporation which purchased several neighboring ranches, a group of UFO investigators buy another nearby ranch so they can watch the strange lights that regularly appear in the night sky. 

I will post on here as soon as El Chupacabra in Texas is available for download on Amazon's Kindle site.

Shadow House Recommendations and Reviews

I just ran across a blog of book recommendations, called Books, Books, Books (think of the old Motley Crue song Girls, Girls, Girls -- at least I did). This came as a surprise since I have not been in contact with the woman who maintains this blog which consists solely of book recommendations. You can see the post recommending Shadow House here.

I have been in contact with other bloggers to line up interviews and reviews of Shadow House. I think with the days growing shorter and the nights longer, people are more in the mood for a scary story. I have heard from quite a few readers so far that reading Shadow House alone at night made them jump at the slightest sound in their own house.

As these reviews and interviews come out, I will post links (and maybe my reactions) here. October is shaping up to be a very busy month...

And Then It Hits Me...

Henry Ford, the inventor of the assembly line (not of the automobile, as some history books have improperly asserted), has been quoted as saying once that success is ninety-nine percent perspiration and one percent inspiration. Given Ford's background, I can see why he stated the ratio as such.

I am finding that as a writer inspiration plays a bigger role, at least for me. Sudden flashes of genius come to me, propelling me to a new level on a specific piece or even my writing in general. That being said, I think  many people really truly believe that being a writer involves sitting around and trying to get in touch with one's muse.

Writing involves a lot of hard work. Many novelists work other jobs, maybe even writing jobs, to support themselves. Sure, the media loves to portray all writers as having a small fortune, but reality offers a stark contrast. And so we writers toil like everyone else to scratch our daily bread out of the dust of this earth. I have found though, that hard work is key to propelling my writing forward on a consistent basis. If I sat around and waited to feel inspired to write, I would not write very often. Many days I am tired, sapped, and yet I push on with the knowledge that I must continue on. The process is very similar to an athlete whose muscles ache from so much practice. When they perform in a competition with thousands of fans watching, everyone simply sees the deceptive ease with which the athlete competes. What these people do not see is all the suffering, the two-a-days, the gross amounts of lactic acid and such.

As I push on with my writing, as I pound away and work my fingers to the bone I often feel that I am more open to inspiration than if I were to just sit around. It is almost as if hard work has a spiritually purifying quality. Some people take this too far to justify workaholism. When I come across those huge problems in my writing, the conundrums that spin my brain into a frenzy, oftentimes I work hard on what I can do. After performing a fair amount of work, when I am tired and my brain is almost burnt to a crisp, that is when inspiration or a solution to my problem suddenly hits me. If I had sat under a tree and philosophized about philosophizing, or perhaps read a few of the Bard's sonnets I would not have received such inspiration. I am not saying there is anything wrong with sonnets or deep thought - I actually think there are many in our society who would benefit from both - but I am saying that I have run across many who "want to be writers" but who do not want to work outside of their comfort zone.

Hopefully you see the effortlessness execution when you read my writing. That means I have done my job well. Don't let that facade fool you, though: I work hard at this job.

Plans for Shades of NIght Series

I came up with the idea for the Shades of Night series not too horribly long ago. The whole idea was born partly out of the frustration that I have so many ideas for stories that I would never be able to have the time to turn them all into novels. Also, some of the story ideas I have would not lend themselves to a novel format, so I realized doing a series of short stories would be the best way to share the stories I have with you, the reader.

My plan right now (and admittedly it could change, hopefully for the better) is to release one installment of the Shades of Night series per month. Wounded Fox is out right now, ready for you to download and read. I hope to have another installment up on Amazon's Kindle store in early October. If things go well, and if I have the time (I do work a day job, until a Hollywood producer wants to talk movie deals) perhaps I will release two installments per month at least some months, but we will see about that. I am still working on The Devil's Nightmare, and have other novels planned after that one is finished.

Shades of Night was partly born out of the influence of The Twilight Zone and The X-Files on me. I watched both shows as a kid/teenager and still watch old episodes now as an adult.I remember the excitement, the awe, the fear and the wonder a lot of those episodes stirred in me. I am not trying to copy either The Twilight Zone or The X-Files, since I believe you cannot reproduce either one without a good measure of disappointment. This series of strange stories will have my own unique signature on them, making them different. I could go on, but I think writing more stories and putting them out where you can read them will be a better way of showing you what I mean.

So go download Wounded Fox from Amazon's site, you will not be disappointed. Then get ready for next month's story, and many, many more.

Wounded Fox is Live

The first Installment of Shades of Night, called Wounded Fox, is live on Amazon's site right now. Take a look at it by clicking here. I am already working on the second installment on the series, so hopefully it will be done well before Halloween.

Remember that you can read Kindle publications not only on the Amazon Kindle e-reader device, but also on most smart phones (including iPhones, Blackberries and Androids), laptops, desktop computers and the iPad.

I would love to hear your feedback on Wounded Fox, as well as the future Shades of Night stories.

Plugging Away

The rewrite has come back on the first installment of Shades of Night, called Wounded Fox. Surprisingly, the result is not as bad as usual. This means we may be looking at Wounded Fox being available for your reading pleasure as soon as the tenth of September.

I actually first wrote this story many years ago. While I have reshaped it heavily in some ways, the overall essence of the story has remained the same. This story has been through a lot, and I felt it was best to start off Shades of Night with it. I haven't shared the story with a person who didn't like it, including some campfire tellings of it. In fact, I have had a few confide that the story gave them nightmares. I'm always surprised and pleased when my work has such an impact on someone.

I already am working on the second installment of Shades of Night, as well as The Devil's Nightmare. Like I have said before, I am just getting started...

Shades of Night: Wounded Fox Cover

As promised before, here is the completed cover for the first installment of my Shades of Night series. We are nearing completion, so look for an announcement about the story being available on Amazon's Kindle store.

Remember you can download the Kindle software onto just about any device, including most smart phones. The Shades of Night stories will be short, meaning you can read them while standing in line at the DMV or waiting in the doctor's office.