Anno Domini Two-Thousand and Thirteen

Out with the old, in with the new.

The year 2012 was a strange one for me.  My writing life didn't quite measure up to what I had hoped, but it wasn't terrible, either.  I'm learning and growing all the time, and I believe my writing is getting better with every typed word.

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, but I have some plans and goals to help my writing career grow.  Let's hope I can stick with it.  If all goes well, my wife will be graduating from nursing school in May and reentering the work arena.  We are both looking forward to that.

It's been a tough year.  Not bad.  Just tough.  My deepest hopes and prayers are that 2013 will be a better year for us all.  A safer, steadier, more productive, and more prosperous year.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

I just want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas from me and my own.  I hope your day is filled with peace and joy, safety and satisfaction.

For all of you who receive an Kindle or tablet or PC or smart phone for Christmas (or those of you that already own one), I would like you to know that my novel Predatory Animals will be FREE on Amazon's KDP Select on 12/26 and 12/27.  I invite you all to stop by and download a copy, click Like on the page, write a review, and please feel free to gift a copy to all of your friends.

Thank you.  I appreciate all that you do.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Answering A Few Questions

In my last post I linked to Sherri Rabinowitz's blog where she answered a few questions about one of her books.  If you missed it, you can find it here.  I agreed that I would answer the same questions about one of my own books then try and pass the baton on to someone else.

So, without further ado.

 1) What is the working title of your book? 

The title is Predatory Animals.  It took me a long time to decide on this for the title.  Sometimes they come to me at the same time as the story concept, but not this time.  I think it was the last thing I added.

 2) Where did the idea  come from for your book? 

I got the idea from watching my two dogs and their uncanny knack for hunting other woodland creatures.

 3) What genre does your book fall under? 

I have it under Dark Fantasy, a sub-genre of Horror, but it also fits nicely into Contemporary Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or Paranormal Thriller.

 4) Which actors would you choose to play in your movie rendition? 

Give me Christian Bale to play Casper Brown. He's gold in my book and can pull off the wounded Marine aspect of Casper.  For the villain Arthur Pummel, I'm going to go with Jason Isaacs.  He has the look and can play a great bad guy.

 5) What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? 

A man suspects his dogs, with whom he has a supernatural connection to, of being involved in missing persons about town, but soon must rely on them when a hidden evil turns its eyes on his family.

 6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

I have already self-published Predatory Animals.  You can find it here.

 7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 

I believe it took me about three months to complete the first draft.

 8) What other books would you compare this story to?

The first book that comes to mind is Dean Koontz's Frankenstein novels.

 9) Who or what  inspired you to write the book? 

My two dogs, Sammy and Sadie, are my inspiration.  Without their insatiable blood lust, I may have never thought of the story.

 10) What else about your book might pique the readers interest? 

I think readers will enjoy the strange town of Shadeland.  It is a place of secrets and shadows and I plan on writing other novels based in Shadeland.

 

Be sure and check out Kelly Michaels' blog, especially next week as she will be answering the same questions about one of her own works.

A Special Note

My friend Sherri Rabinowitz posted a special book tour edition on her blog Ri the Bard.  I promised that I would give her a shout out, and I'm a man of my word (though sometimes a bit late).

Go take a look, and don't forget to read up on Sherri.  She has multiple blogs and a BlogTalk Radio show.

She's an interesting person and I think you'll like her.

Paper or Plastic

Assuming the world doesn't end on the 21st, Christmas will be here soon.  Inevitably the question arises "What do you want?" to which I reply with a shrug and a blank look.

I'm at the age where there isn't much that I want.  I've either already bought it for myself or it's too expensive for me to own.  The first list seems to be shrinking while the second list is growing.  But I digress.

Books are a sure thing for me.  I love to read.  And I'll read just about anything.  I even read Twilight!

Oh, calm down Twi-Moms, I won't rip your beloved today.

But in this crazy digital world we live in, what kind of book should someone buy me?  I do so love reading on my Kindle, but I'm not as easy as all that.  I do admit that cheap ebooks have ruined me a bit.  I find it very hard to fork over $30 for a hardback.  But under the right circumstances, I will take that hardback over even a cheap ebook.

Let me explain.

I'm not sure how the rest of you are, but I love to collect books.  I have several series.  *If another book comes out in that series I'm compelled to buy the next one in the same format as the others I own.  Weird, I know.

So, for example, I started reading The Hunger Games on my Kindle.  When I buy the next two books it won't bother me in the least to buy them as ebooks.  But, on the other hand, I have Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series in hardback.  When the time comes to buy Odd Apocalypse, will I fork over the cash?  I'm afraid I will.

I don't know if this is normal or not, but it's the way I am.

This is one reason why I don't buy into the whole "ebooks will kill print books" doctrine.  When someone asks me "paper or plastic?"  I'll reply, "both, please."  And I'm sure I'm not the only one.


*I know the the pic shows both paperback and hardbacks of Harry Potter.  Please know I'm not happy about this and will remedy it as soon as I can.