Hey all! I’m back with a blog post – but this ones a slightly different one.
I won’t babble on about music and life and books.
Instead – I’m going to share the exciting news. The wonderful women over at Ladies of Horror Fiction have kindly partnered with me to announce the first annual LOHF Writers Grant!
That’s right – we are working together to award a writer who meets the criteria listed a grant each year to help them with their writing journey! Whether its to pay for a cover, editing, a class, towards a laptop or software or WHATEVER!!! It’s just a way to give back, help another writer and hopefully grow this year after year!
So for full details – as well as the announcement of a new book(!!!!) please click the link!!
Hey all! I’m back! After a brief hiatus of regular Friday blogs, I’m back this week to fill you in on what’s been going on and some awesome music I’ve been cranking!
But first – just a heads up, there won’t actually be a blog next week 😦 I know, my apologies. You see – my fantastic work place gives us our birthday day off from work with pay! Since my birthday is on the weekend this year, I chose the Friday to have off so that we can attend the K-Days parade and I’ll be checking out The Offspring kick off concert that night as well!
So let’s get this going;
Novellas!
If you look at my output of work, you’ll see that I have a number of novellas out;
Jane: the 816 Chronicles, Wagon Buddy, YURI & The Girl Who Hid in the Trees. I have four planned novellas already for next year, with a probably 5th as well. I love writing novellas and reading novellas. I love the one shot deal. I think readers also enjoy having the ability to sit and read an entire story in a few hours or less. It can break up any reading lags as well, if you are reading a 400-800 page book.
Going forward I’ll pretty much be solely focused on novellas. I have a novel coming out at the end of this year (see below) as well as a probably novel next year (hopefully) with David Sodergren. Otherwise between some collections, expect my stuff to all be between 60-100 pages long!
Music:
Since I got back from vacation it’s been a mixed bag of stuff I’ve been playing. Lots of old, lots of new and lots of in between.
Abbath – Outstrider
While I was away in BC the new Abbath album dropped. I listened to it as soon as I got back and WOW. Just outstanding work once again by the former Immortal frontman. I think I dig more of this album than the debut, but what a fantastic follow up. So far I’m thinking the title track is my personal stand out track but it’s hard to say as they all rip!
Killswitch Engage – Unleashed
Speaking of new tracks that RIP! Where the hell has this version of Killswitch Engage been? Since Howard left and Jesse returned on vocals I’ve found their output uninspired and derivative. But then this new track drops and it’s almost like Adam rediscovered his “The End of Heartache” music writing chops again. Here’s hoping the rest of the album delivers!
Upon a Burning Body – King of Diamonds
I’m late to the Upon a Burning Body game. I’d say I’ve tolerated their earlier stuff but never searched it out. Then “King of Diamonds” dropped on Liquid Metal on Sirius XM and wowsa. The entire album “Southern Hostility” finds the band scorching through ripper after ripper and the groove they’ve fallen into here is meaty and delicious.
Screaming Trees – Nearly Lost You
Screaming Trees is a band that I frequently revisit when I need some nostalgia feels. Them and Stabbing Westward. Screaming Trees were always on my periphery of bands growing up and when I was younger I just didn’t dig them that much. Now with the advancement of time, I’m appreciating what they did more and more.
The Offspring – Days Go By
As I mentioned – I’ll be seeing The Offspring next Friday. The Offspring will always have a special place in my heart. Their song “Gone Away” is a song that many people will relate to for different reasons. For me it brings me back to the summer that Sarah Jackins was killed in a car accident. The Offspring are one of those bands that even if you’ve never been a big fan, you’ll recognize most of their songs. They are apparently working on new music, but until then – here’s the title track from their last album.
What I’m Working On:
As always a whole bunch of stuff!
I do have a very exciting announcement coming with a fantastic group of people. I can say much more now, but I think it’s an amazing partnership and hopefully we can grow this to benefit a lot of folks!
Ritual – I’ve chatted about this novella a bit already. As I said up at the start, going forward Novellas will be my bread and butter! This one is about 75 pages long. I’ve not shared too many details or even a cover. So here’s a brief synopsis!
“Meet Brad. Quiet, unassuming, always on time. He lives his life enjoyably, going through the paces. Every week day the same. Every weekend the same. That is until Father reveals he’s the Chosen One. Now a deadline looms and Brad needs to make sure everything is just right. If they want to open the sky and live forever, everything needs to be perfect.”
This will be out in October. If you want a review Mobi – let me know!
Piece of Me – my probable last full length novel. I’ll never say never, but as I go through editing it already I’m missing the novella length of stuff! I haven’t said a heck of a lot about this one. So how about this – another synopsis reveal! This is tentatively planned for an December release. I have said this before – but this takes place in the same world as my two short stories ‘For Balder Walks’ and ‘Poppa?’
“The snow begins to fall as another winter arrives. Kari holds out hope that her husband and son will return. She knows that the creatures that lurk in the night are growing bolder, that the winter will be hard on her own, but still she holds out hope for their return. Then a mysterious figure arrives. He tells her they’re still alive. All she has to do is cross the mountains and the realm of the dead to be reunited. But can she trust what the figure says?”
This one is part horror, a touch of fantasy and probably the absolute closest thing I’ll ever write to a full out ‘love story.’ Closer than my short stories ‘Jim’ or ‘Mr. Tross.’
The cover is actually taken from a picture my father-in-law Peter took of a fire we were having at their place in Fort Mac! Mason modified it and voila!
Now let’s chat about two that I’ve not really discussed much. And because I’m feeling good and generous – let’s have two more cover reveals!
The One That Knows No Fear.
Cover art done by my usual partner in crime, Mason McDonald who is also doing an introduction. This is coming early next year. Originally this was going to be a collaboration between the two of us and there are still parts in there that Mason wrote but has kindly said ‘take it and run!’
The title comes from line “Anger rideth with the one that knows no fear” from the Immortal song “Sons of Northern Darkness.”
Here’s Immortal performing it live!
Unofficial Synopsis;
The One That Knows No Fear is a coming-of-age cosmic horror novella. It follows a young boy who longs for his step-father’s love. One morning he discovers the stunt show ‘DAREDEVILS!’ and falls in love with the motorcycle riding stuntman The One That Knows No Fear. This stuntman defies death week in and week out on the show, somehow surviving each stunt no matter how outrageous it is. But the old saying goes – never meet your heroes. In this case you just might now want to see what’s under that helmet.
Can’t wait for you all to check this one out!
The Window In The Ground
Recently David Sodergren (aka paperbacksandpugs) tweeted that he’d beta read one of my books and he was super excited about it. This is that book.
The Window In The Ground will be another novella out early next year.
Mason McDonald crushing the cover game for me as always!
Brief plot;
On the outskirts of town sits a secret. One that the town has protected for centuries. If you hike through the woods you’ll find a signpost with some rules. Keep walking through the trees before you make your way up a steep hill. Then you’ll come to a clearing. At the far end of the clearing is the town’s secret. You’ll be tempted to run and look down through the glass – but don’t. Things live down there and the townsfolk will do whatever it takes to keep the window a secret.
Scott: A Wagon Buddy Tale
That is the official working title for the second book in the Wagon Buddy world. I want to write that this will be the last of the Wagon Buddy tales but who am I kidding. I long ago said that I wouldn’t write a sequel to the first one!
Early feedback has been great. I have a working cover but we need to tweak a couple little things so I won’t share that yet. This will be a novella as well, released next year.
I’ve already thought about doing a super limited edition hardcover of both Wagon Buddy and Scott as a single release so I’ll keep thinking about that!
What I’m Reading:
I’ll keep this brief!
I’m currently reading;
The Drive-Thru Crematorium – Jon Bassof – digging this bizarro tale. It’s not up yet on Goodreads so I can’t share a link!
Hellrider – JG Faherty – about 25% into this and loved the build up here.
The Spirit – Thomas Page – bigfoot book. That’s all you need to know what I’m reading it. I got this one with the old cover and digging it. I don’t read much paperback stuff so I’ll finish this up next week while flying to Peace River.
Life has been interesting. Some of you may have seen a bit about my tweets regarding some vague bullying that I occurred regarding my review of Same Deep Water As You. I’ve patched things up with the other parties involved, which was great. I believe every person is capable of change and that actions will always speak louder than words. So I’m glad to move on from that unexpected bout of drama.
As well, I headed back to BC to where I grew up for my Grandpa’s memorial at the end of June/start of July. It was great to say goodbye to such an influential person in my life.
I hiked up the mountain behind his old house with my Uncle Butch and some of my cousins to spread his ashes along side my grandma’s and my aunt’s. It’s been some time since I hiked up an almost sheer mountain face and going up there on a hot day, limited sleep and almost no food in me was brutal and I had to sit and stop for some time when we made it to the spot because I was certain I was going to pass out!
Overall the trip was good, it was great seeing the family and while some things weren’t enjoyable, that’s always expected with family.
Lastly – July 21st is my birthday. This year I’ll be having a few of my books free on Amazon. Invisible, YURI and Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery will all be free so snag those for sure!
As well – for my birthday, I ask that in the lead up, if you can all do a random act of kindness. It can be something simple; smile at a stranger, hold the door open for someone, help someone out with their groceries. Just really anything that brightens someone else’s day. That would be swellsville!
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