Ella Stone
Oct 20, 2021 | Fantasy, Paranormal
The Dark Creatures Saga is a thrilling and fast-paced urban fantasy series. Set over five books the story begins with Narissa Knight attempting to track down the vampire who murdered her father. As she finds herself drawn deeper into the secretive world of the supernatural she stumbles upon secrets about her own heritage, along with a far more sinister plot to change everything.
A simple tale of vengeance that becomes a quest to save humanity. With larger-than-life characters, nail-biting action, and a dash of romance this series threatens to completely enthral you.
Jun 1, 2021 | Editors' Blog, Political
The verdict of conviction for Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd had barely been read when Chauvin’s defense attorneys vowed to appeal. That was only the start. There was nonstop speculation on just what his sentence would be. Prosecutors, of course, wanted the judge to toss the book at him. In theory, that could mean forty years behind bars. That almost certainly wouldn’t happen. It would take more months after his conviction to sort that out and determine his sentence. It will be far less than what prosecutors want.
Then there was the matter of the indictment and trial of the three other former Minneapolis police officers found complicit with Chauvin in the murder of Floyd. They would be tried separately. However, that would be a long time off. They would not see a courtroom for trial until the end of August 2021. That was providing there were no delays. That’s an eternity in time, knowing how public and media memories and interest dim, storylines change, and national and world events would overtake the Floyd murder.
This again raised the question of who wins when the rare happens and a Chauvin is tried and convicted in a wanton slaying? The best that can be said is that there was a momentary whiff of justice for the Floyd family, supporters, and those who are deeply concerned about stopping unchecked police violence in America. But like fame, justice in one case, namely the Floyd case, can be fleeting. Without a massive national commitment to make police reform a top national priority in America, justice will never be fully served when police wantonly kill.
Find out more about I Can't Breathe: The Never-Ending George Floyds by Earl Ofari Hutchinson on AMAZON!
Catherine Kullmann
Oct 29, 2019 | Action & Adventure, Historical, Political, Regency, Uncategorized
View of Brussels
I must apologise for the delay in continuing with this series. To quote Rabbie Burns, and as today’s post shows, “The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft a-gley.”
At the end of 1814, we left the exiled Napoleon on Elba. Across the Atlantic, on January 8th 1815, American forces defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, the last major battle of the War of 1812. On January 21st, the mortal remains of the guillotined Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were transferred in a sombre procession to the royal crypt in Saint-Denis. The restoration was complete. The map of Europe could be re-drawn again and the victorious allies agreed to meet in Vienna to discuss the new borders.
Meanwhile, thousands of Britons had decamped for the Continent. Their reasons were mixed; some simply wished to travel again while others hoped to leave their massive debts behind and live abroad on an ‘economical plan’. They soon established their own enclaves in Brussels and Paris where they continued to live the same life as they had at home, mixing with the same people and founding such bulwarks of English society as clubs and libraries where they could be sure to remain among themselves.
At the beginning of March, with trade with the European continent open again, Britain’s ruling classes looked to protect the interests of the landowners by introducing the Importation Bill. This was the first of the so-called Corn Laws, designed to prevent the importation of cheap foreign grain, thus keeping their incomes at war-time levels. They happily ignored the fact that as a result, the price of bread would be at an artificially high level, a fact that did not escape the poorer classes. In the ensuing riots, the windows of White’s club were broken and parliament had to be surrounded by a protective cordon of soldiers.
All rioting ceased when the news reached England that Napoleon had escaped from Elba and was marching towards Paris. He had indeed returned with the violets. The Importation Bill became law without further ado and Europe awaited the next developments with bated breath. A contemporary source summarised Napoleon’s progress as follows:
A Conversation between Two Gendarmes, modelled on THE TIMES:
First Gendarme: What is the news?
Second Gendarme: Ma foi! the news is short.
The tiger has broken out of his den.
The Monster was three days at sea
The Wretch has landed at Frejus
The Brigand has arrived at Grenoble
The Invader has entered Lyons
Napoleon slept last night at Fontainbleu
The Emperor enters the Thuilleries this day.
On March 19th, Louis XVIII and his family hurried away from the Tuilleries, only some hours before the Emperor’s triumphant return. The English who had flocked to Paris now as hastily left it, many heading for Brussels.
The allies, happily ensconced in Vienna, were caught wrong-footed. Armies recently dismissed were hastily recalled and on April 5th the Duke of Wellington arrived in Brussels to take command, initially of the British forces but soon, as Commander-in-Chief, also of the army of the United Netherlands. Enriched and enlivened by the influx of officers, the Brussels social whirl continued alongside the preparations for war. Would Napoleon sally across the French border to attack the allied forces or would he remain in France, daring them to invade?
The Duchess of Richmond appealed to Wellington himself for advice as to whether her ball, planned for June 15th, might go ahead. “Duchess, you may give your ball with the greatest safety, without fear of interruptions” was his reply.
Byron captures best what happened next:
There was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gathered then
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men;
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell,
Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,
And all went merry as a marriage-bell;
But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!
Did ye not hear it?–No; 'twas but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street;
On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet.
But hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more,
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!
Arm! arm! it is–it is–the cannon's opening roar
Napoleon had ‘humbugged’ him, as Wellington admitted to the Duke of Richmond, sending Ney to attack the British and Dutch-Belgian forces at Quatre Bras while he himself forced the Prussians to retreat at Ligny. But even as the wounded from these encounters were brought to Brussels, the Allied and French armies marched towards Waterloo, a small village south of Brussels on the far side from Brussels of the Forest of Soigné.
Overnight, regiments assembled on the Place Royale before marching out of Brussels, past the long procession of farm carts coming to market as usual. As one observer put it, After the army was gone, Brussels indeed seemed a perfect desert. Every countenance was marked with anxiety or melancholy—every heart was filled with anxious expectations….At about three o’clock [on the 16th], a furious cannonading was heard.
From then until the evening of the 18th, the residents of Brussels were torn between the hope of victory and fear of defeat. Some fled immediately towards Antwerp while others remained but prepared for instant flight. One after the other, the dreadful reports arrived: The Prussians had retreated, the Highland regiments that had been piped out of Brussels only that morning had been slaughtered, Wellington had been defeated; the French were at the gates…Every hour only served to add to the dismay.
On the night of the 17th, a violent thunderstorm came on, followed by torrents of rain which during the night, when the army were laying unsheltered upon the field of Waterloo, never ceased a single moment. On Sunday [the 18th] the terror and confusion [in Brussels] reached its highest point.
Meanwhile, on the plain of Waterloo, Wellington and Napoleon set out their armies as calmly as a grandmaster might dispose of his chessmen were he allowed a free hand in their positioning. It was mid-morning before the battle commenced, perhaps because the ground was too wet to allow the artillery to move its guns. But soon about two hundred thousand men were engaged in deadly combat. The battle waged all day until, near sunset, the invincible Imperial Guard was forced to retreat causing the surviving French to flee. The battle was over, the allies under Wellington had won the day, Napoleon was finally defeated, but at what cost?
The story of the battle is too well known for me to go into it in depth here. I have done this in my novel, The Murmur of Masks. For now, let us leave the last word to Byron.
The earth is cover’d thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover, heap’d and pent,
Rider and horse,—friend, foe,—in one red burial blent!
May 23, 2019 | Advice, Advice for Writers, Editor, Editors' Blog, Expert, Fantasy, Horror, Literary, Paranormal, Sci-fi, Thriller, Uncategorized
When it comes to marketing a horror movie, the trailer is everything. A good trailer can be shared all over social media and attract just the right audience to go and see it. Promoting a horror novel is much the same. Here are 5 marketing tactics horror movies use that you can also use to promote your horror novel.
5 – Show Audience Testimonials and Ratings
A lot of movie trailers show quotes from critics praising the movie. This technique is commonly used to sell books as well.
One technique that has become a best practice is to start your book description on Amazon with a quote praising the book or your work. You can also put additional quotes on your book cover and at the bottom of your book description.
You can get quotes by pulling from favorable reviews or by reaching out to other authors. Many authors will be happy to blurb your book in exchange for a free copy.
4 – Creativity Can Be More Effective than Money
There's a reason a lot of up and coming directors start with a horror movie: small budgets. With a little creativity, there are ways to make a good horror movie without spending a lot of money. Look at movies like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Both had tiny budgets and both found humongous success.
There are a lot of great promotional sites for authors, including BooksGoSocial, but there's also something to be said for being creative. You may be able to find a fun and creative way to promote your book on social media without spending a lot of money.
I photoshopped this image to help promote my horror novel, Violent Hearts, and it drew a lot more traffic, likes and comments, then a regular book cover post.
“Bradbury on acid.” Greg Gifune, author of The Bleeding Season
3 – Show Your Characters
Horror movie trailers often revolve around their characters. If they can make you care about what happens to these characters, you are much more likely to go and see the movie.
Same is true for books. Be sure to include details about your characters in your book description and promotions that will make your audience sympathetic to your characters.
2 – Use Mystery to Entice Readers to Buy
Horror movie trailers often hit us with something unexpected and mysterious. Where did that come from? What is causing that? These questions draw us into the story and make us want to go and see the movie.
You can offer excerpts and short cliffhanger teasers on your social media feeds to build an audience and entice readers to buy your book.
Here's one I've used to promote my horror novel, Violent Hearts:
It started that cold night spent in the woods, all those years ago. Owen and Chloe wakened something, something inside them both. But, for a while at least, they thought they could live normal lives…
Click here.
1 – Give Readers What They Want
Same is true for promoting your book. Give your readers characters they care about, with sympathetic backgrounds you can sum up in a few words you can use in your book description. This helps to put a “face” to your characters and give them life for your readers.
We've all seen movie trailers that give away too much of the plot. Don't be that person. Instead, tell them what the blood and guts are in your book.
When someone picks up your book, what's in it for them? Tell them! Be explicit. If your book is an exciting adventure, then tell them it's an exciting adventure. If your book has uncanny hauntings or violent gore, don't be afraid to share this fact. Not only will you keep away readers who don't like such things and might leave bad reviews, but you will get the right readers interested in your book.
Keith Deininger is the award-winning and #1 Amazon bestselling author of many horror and fantasy titles, including WITHIN, THE FEVER TRILOGY and THE GODGAME series. He has been called “one of the finest writers of imaginative fiction” and “Ray Bradbury on acid.” His latest novel, VIOLENT HEARTS, has been compared to Stephen King’s fantasy-based work. He lives in Albuquerque, NM with his wife and kids. Although he loves a good nightmare, in person he’s a really nice guy. Promise.
Keith’s personal site: www.KeithDeininger.com
Keith’s SEO content and editing company: www.MeridianPublications.com
BooksGoSocial
Mar 30, 2019 | Interviews, Political
This week, we're talking with Scott Feero about his new book, Dressing Stone.
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
I never learned how to sing, that's the reason I became an artist and writer. Really. I have always been envious of people who can sing. Not singers, but common everyday people, who are able to express themselves and find camaraderie in song. I was always too shy to join in. And although the shyness has pretty much evaporated—it's too late to change, I prefer solitude. I always have. That's probably why I never learned how to sing.
Why do you write?
Because I'm not much of a talker. I have no ability as a raconteur whatsoever. I started writing because I could never think of the right thing to say in the moment. The perfect phrase occurred to me later, after it was too late. Before I started writing, this used to really bother me. I would be haunted by regrets when the elusive bon mot, the witty quip, that scorching comeback, the jaw-dropping anecdote would come to me, useless and limp, long after the moment had passed. I coined the term ‘Regretro-eloquence' to describe this disease, and began keeping a journal and ultimately cured myself of this lumpen trait.
In writing you always have time to think of the right thing to say. You always have time to find the right words. You always have the chance to revise and elaborate. No matter what you want to say, it's never too late. I absolutely love writing because it provokes the blossoming of ideas in me that I otherwise would never have had.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
From a lifetime of witnessing, and on occasion participating in crude conduct and bad behavior. As an artist living in NYC while supporting myself working in the construction trades, there were plenty of odd characters to observe. I have known a lot of artists and a goodly amount of my clients were either artists, or worked in the arts in some capacity. There's all the other clients and tradesmen I came up against on the job. And then there's the rest of the city's inhabitants.
Living in NYC I witnessed a lot of acting out, some of it stupid, much of it neurotic, a lot of it inspired, but too much of it dissipating, desultory and delusional. The specifics of these experiences, did not so much make their way into the novel, as much as just sort of reaching a critical mass, and provoking me. You could say the sum total of the art-scene's madness really set things rolling. The somewhat crazy client met in Chapter 2 started out as an amalgam of several real people, but ultimately Cynthia Kohl took on a life of her own, as did all the characters in Dressing Stone—which is as it should be If I'm going to call it fiction.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
There's a question. My genre is Literary Fiction, which to a large extent is just a pigeonhole in which every novel that does not fit in with any of the other genres gets stuffed. That the term sounds highbrow and snooty appeals to me, but I often use the term Contemporary Fiction to let people know I'm not an ardent elitist—that I'm also a man of the people, who is if nothing else, their contemporary. But I'd be dissembling if I didn't say that what really appeals to me about the genre is the name. The word ‘Literary' smacks of culture and the cultured, and evokes precisely what all writers wish to create—no matter what their genre—compelling literature.
How would you describe your writing process?
Like most writers—except during those most exalted moments—it's fairly tortured. There's the struggle to sit down, the struggle to concentrate, the struggle to stick to the day's plan, the struggle to stay awake, the struggle with the distractions of social media and on and on… I'd consider all this something easily managed if I could just tick them off a simple list, but they constantly gyrate about the room, attacking throughout day.
Then there's the exalted moments. The moments of vision. The moment's of possession and trance, where pure concentration focuses your mind so precisely on the spot where the rubber meets the road that nothing can break you from your revelry—not the bark of the phone nor the barking of the dog—you cannot even bother to scratch your nose, you do not remember to restart the circulation in your legs, because all feeling and complaint is removed from your body as you are born aloft by the unfolding narrative vision. The concerns of the entire world recede into an inchoate blob, the blur of fingers dances over the keyboard, extruding as effortlessly as if squeezed from a tube of toothpaste a chapter's worth of scene and story in twelve pristine pages of clear and concise prose until you—until you simply must stop.
You tear yourself from the keyboard—yet you cannot—still held fast you must nail down the last flickering threads—you must capture those last-gasp wisps of the fading idea—con brio—now without regard to spelling and punctuation or even entirely making sense—pleading con agitato—that you can capture even a crude simulacrum of those barely perceived thoughts still lying encapsulated in that now dying ember which will provide the key insight for what happens next—before it all goes out in a puff of smoke.
Surpassing four hours of non-stop typing your fingers are cramping, your throat is parched and your tongue is clamped between your teeth, because if you do not stop this instant, your bladder is going to burst…
So yeah, in the main, the key part of my process is to minimize the distractions.
What do you think authors have to gain from participating in social media?
If I understand what I have learned from the Books Go Social courses, the idea is to use it to create buzz, and generate a following. Using Twitter has most certainly increased the exposure of my novel Dressing Stone. Before I took the BGS course I was completely out to sea on how to work with Twitter.
Regarding email I do not yet have much of a mailing list, but I do have a growing list of subscribers to my blog which I will certainly try to leverage in future promotions. If not for taking Laurence's course on blogging I never would have known how useful—how essential it was for an author to have a blog. I have gained a couple hundred subscribers after only three weeks, and I am really enjoying writing the posts. So hat's-off to BGO for that.
With regard to LinkedIn (and I read somewhere it's actually the least recommended of the social media for book promotion) I have had some success directly messaging artists and art instructors whom I have targeted due to Dressing Stone's subject matter. The jury is still out on how much buzz I can generate with LI, but I have seen some movement of the needle.
So yes, without a doubt social media is essential for authors.
What advice would you have for other writers?
“If at first you don't succeed, go suck at something else.” This has been my adage and guiding principle in my artistic life. I don't mean it as flippant as it may sound to some. I certainly don't mean quit writing (so long as you're not putting your health at risk) but being that the putative ‘other writer' is asking for advice, I'm assuming they have some sort of writer's block—otherwise they'd be writing instead of asking questions.
When feeling blocked, I take a break, and do something else creative. I like to draw, because it it awakens my sense of concentration. Concentration is a muscle, but one that is very sensitive to the the creative cramps. I think writer's block is a self actuated construct, an excuse, it's the refusal to let drop the fixation on a specific problem and move on to something else for a while. There are all sorts of things that need doing when writing a book, but sitting there gnashing your teeth and rubbing your temples isn't one of them.
If you're stuck on a particular passage, move on to a different one. If your stuck on the entire storyline, then work an a different storyline. If you can't do that, then try indulging in some other creative activity for a while.
Now, stop telling me you're blocked, and get busy, or I won't give you the rest of my advise… which is to say: Proper time management is half the battle.
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
This has been quite a painful learning experience. For the first edition I made a huge mistake in neglecting to do a pre-publication title search of ‘Passing Fancy' on Amazon. Including variants such as Passing Fancies and No Passing Fancy there are no less than 16 other books using that title—all available on Amazon as we speak. So that title is a little shop worn, to say the least. At the time I thought Google would be best for the pre-publication title search, but it turned up none of this information. Later, once the book was on Amazon, it was quite a sickening realization as it all donned on me.
A shoutout goes to Laurence O'Bryan at BGO for his input in helping me choose the new title: Dressing Stone. All before I was even a paid member!
Regarding the book's cover, more mistakes were made with that as well. My first cover was intentionally designed as dark and sloppy in order to reflect the mind of an artist who had lost all discipline. But it was just too ugly and unattractive to make an effective book cover.
Graphic design professionals have told me simple is best. Too many elements, or any attempt at narrative depiction is a big no-no. My second cover is much more eye catching, but some of these same graphics people believe there are too many elements. I have nevertheless gotten pretty decent feedback from this cover. But the response still wasn't where it should be, so on to the third cover. The image is taken from a painting made by the artist Arnold Brooks, an arresting graphic, I believe this cover will prove more successful than the previous two.
I now think of it this way: As the first hook, the cover has to be eye-catching with simple graphic appeal, and as the second hook, the title should be evocative, easy to remember, and incite a sense of curiosity that will cause the potential reader to take a closer look, maybe get hooked and buy the book.
What's your next step?
For the foreseeable future, it's book promotion, full time, all the time. Sadly, this takes away from time spent writing, but right now I've got to give the promotion of Dressing Stone my all out effort because I wholeheartedly believe this book is worthy of wider attention in the world.
Dressing Stone is a tour de force, and suffice it to say, that only some sort of self-absorbed narcissistic shutin would stand in the way of the release of this terrific book. True, I was once that very guy—that guy who was just writing for himself, that guy who wasn’t going to worry about being published, that guy who didn’t care what anyone else thought, that guy writing his novel purely as a labor of love. So yes, I was the guy who heartlessly stood in the way of publication—but all that was before this astonishing work was complete.
Now that it's finished, I'm no longer that insufferable self-centered hoarder of my own text. A new day has dawned and I feel munificent, generous, and wholeheartedly magnanimous—and in this newly found all encompassing altruism I shall share my phenomenal masterwork with all comers. I intend to bequeath (at a heavily discounted price) my spectacular novel Dressing Stone to the world.
What book do you wish you had written?
When I wake up Don Quixote; around noontime Moby Dick; throughout the evening Zola's 20 volume Rougon-Macquart cycle. But at the end of the day I settle on Sinclair Lewis' 1922 novel Babbitt, every time. A spot on satire, and oh so accurate depiction of American materialism and aspirational mediocrity, it was given special mention by the selection committee in awarding Lewis' Nobel Prize.
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
I get an adrenaline rush with every new arrival, couched within this of course is a jolt of fear as I wonder if I'm about to be gutted, or about to have my ego burnished. Having said that, reading what people have written thus far has been extremely gratifying. It is definitely nice to know that what I have written, is at the very least comprehensible, readable and entertaining according to a growing number of readers.
FOLLOW SCOTT ON TWITTER
BooksGoSocial
Mar 30, 2019 | Interviews, Political
This week, we're talking with Fred Litwin about his new book, I Was A Teenage JFK Conspiracy Freak.
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
I own a blues music company (NorthernBlues Music) and have written two books.
Why do you write?
I love telling stories. I like surprising people with material that they are not familiar with in a very interesting and engaging manner.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
I had written three chapters about the JFK assassination for my first book, but my editor decided that they just didn't fit and we took them out. They sat around for a while and then, out of the blues, I wrote a fourth chapter and decided that I had enough for an entire book.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Who would believe a story where an innocent gay man was prosecuted for conspiring to kill Kennedy who was then acquited. Years later, a famous film producer, Oliver Stone, would make a film making the innocent gay man the villain, and the unscrupulous district attorney the hero.
How would you describe your writing process?
A lot of research goes into my writing. Every chapter has a very thick file full of clippings, articles and a variety of research. But each chapter has to tell a story and that is the challenge.
What do you think authors have to gain from participating in social media?
There are a lot of great books out there that people know little about. They aren't in the bookstores, but they are deserving of an audience. Social media can bring people to authors and books they would never before had known about.
What advice would you have for other writers?
Just write. And edit. and write, and edit.
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
I hire a first-class agency to design my covers, and I try to come up with titles that are unique and catchy.
What's your next step?
I'm having a blast marketing this book, and speaking in public. Once the demand dies down, it will be on to my third book.
What book do you wish you had written?
Gerald Posner's “Case Closed.”
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
It's always exciting to see a new review – bad or good. It means people are noticing.
FOLLOW FRED ON TWITTER
