HEEEEEEYYYYY!!!

Friday has arrived! I hope you all have a great weekend planned ahead!

This weeks blog will run through a few different things!

I’m going to mention a bit about my most recent release Ritual, chat about The Night Crawls In and then I’ll be sharing some stuff on the BEST BOOKS I’VE READ THAT HAVEN’T BEEN RELEASED YET! We’ll finish it off with some tunes and then you can head back to your reading nook!

RITUAL

Ritual has been out for almost three weeks now and so far folks seem to be digging it. If you’ve read it, please leave a review, I’d be eternally thankful. And seriously – if you’ve read it and you didn’t like it – please, please leave a review. Tell folks why you didn’t. I’ll never be offended. Just yesterday I posted/shared a 1 star review Ritual received and guess what – the reviewer said WHY they didn’t like it and folks responded. The reasons why someone may not like a book/movie/album may just be the EXACT reason someone else will! So thank you for leaving an honest review, 1 star reviewer – I do really appreciate it.

I’ve been awful lately at sharing any of the amazing book pics folks take of my work – so here is one the awesome @jsg402 aka Jamie took of Ritual!

If you haven’t snagged a copy, here’s the link and remember – the ebook is always going to be $0.99!!

 

The Night Crawls In

If you remember – back in September (which feels forever ago) The Night Crawls In released. This release is to fund the ongoing Ladies of Horror Fiction Writer’s Grant. The first grant was awarded on September 15th and preparations for the next release to fund the second grant have already begun. I’ll be releasing some amazing, amazing news about this coming up.

In the mean time: since this released, only two copies have been sold. One physical and one paperback. I’d absolutely love it if you are interested in this release to please grab a copy!! Remember – this release to support other writers!

Snag it here!

 

Ok – so to the meat of this blog post!

Time to get excited! This features four books (and parts of books) I’ve read that you all need to get excited for, as well as two books that I’ve heard rumblings about!

In no particular order;

BOOK #1

The Street Library – Glenn Parker

I connected with Glenn through Instagram some time ago. You may know Glenn as thehellbound_heart, an Aussie who loves to share his amazing book collection and now some adorable pics of his pup.

I honestly don’t remember WHY we connected, but we did and he’s become a great friend. Though all this, he’s sent me large sections of his work in progress and bounced idea’s off of me. I’ll take no credit in any of this release, Glenn’s a super talented writer who just needs to attack this release with more confidence, but from what I’ve read, when this thing drops – watch out. I expect this to have a similar reception to Remains from Andrew Cull or Kill Creek from Scott Thomas. The setting is great, the atmosphere is fantastic and the folklore that he’s built will make even the most die-hard horror fans squirm. I’ve even been fortunate enough to see some early potential cover art and this thing is going to rock the horror communities world.

Release Date: TBA

Book #2

Charcoal Angel’s – Joe Zito

I discovered Joe’s work last year after connecting on Twitter and earlier this year he reached out to ask if I’d be interested in Beta Reading his upcoming release.

I jumped at the chance. Zito’s work is gritty, dark and unforgiving. Think black and white movies during a power outage.

Charcoal Angel’s follows a similar narrative as Now Comes the Darkness, which he released last year. Gothic undertones run throughout this and there is an epic scope to the plot.

Really well done, and truthfully, such a solid piece of work – I don’t think I even had much feedback for him by the end of it.

Release Date: TBA

Book #3

Crawley House – Mason McDonald

I don’t know how many times I’ve sung this novella’s praises, but this is still one the BEST things I’ve read. Atmospheric dread, creepy location, odd characters and a truly gruesome discovery. I loved this story and I’m hoping Mason gets this thing sewn up and released at some point here!

As a side note – if the name Mason McDonald sounds familiar – that’s because he’s my frequent cover designer! We attempted to collaborate on a book previously, but it didn’t pan out. We’ve tentatively started on a new project as well. Fingers crossed we can make this one work!

Release Date: TBA

Book #4

Juniper – Ross Jeffery

I connected with Ross through Twitter and STORGY. Ross recently contacted me to see if I’d be interested in reading a new book of his and maybe give it a blurb if I thought it was a good time.

What he didn’t tell me was that it was going to be a devastatingly GREAT TIME!

Keep your eyes out for Juniper. This is a really dark take on post apocalyptic. The town itself, Juniper, is such a great setting and works as an amazing character on its own.

I can’t wait for this to see the light of day. I want to keep this as vague and unspoilery as possible, so I won’t say much more, other than when this comes out, you’ll absolutely want to read this!

Release Date: TBA

Book #5

Title TBA – David Sodergren

All I know about this release is that it involves dark subject matter and from the cover art mock up, Sodergren shared with me, I’m looking forward to this one so much.

Both of his releases thus far – Night Shoot and The Forgotten Island have been outstanding and knowing a little bit about what this one focuses on (which I can’t share here!), I really can’t wait to see this thing arrive.

Sodergren has previously mentioned trying to get this to drop around Halloween, but I honestly can’t speak to when it’ll see the light of day!

Release Date: TBA (Possibly Halloween-ish)

Book #6

Title TBA – Chris Sorensen.

The author of ‘The Messy Man Trilogy’ which already has the first two books out, has hinted at releasing SOMETHING around Halloween. From what I gather from his cryptic tweets, it won’t be book three, but really – any release featuring any story from Chris is something to be excited over!

Release Date: TBA (Possibly Halloween-ish)

 

Oh, wait – how about one more – a plug for myself! 🙂

Book #7

Piece of Me – Steve Stred

I’ve already had some great responses to Piece of Me, which will drop on December 1st. This features one of my absolute favourite characters in Kari – who I hope people love just as much as they love Jane.

This one is a horror/fantasy type story with beasts, trials and a ton of tribulations!

Mason of course crushed the cover, which was adapted from a photo my father-in-law Peter Lush took!

If you’d like to check out the early reviews:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48264016-piece-of-me

And as always – if you’d like a review copy of Piece of Me – send me a message! I have digital ARC’s waiting!

Release Date: December 1st, 2019

Music

We Came as Romans  – Carry the Weight

I’ve never been a fan of We Came as Romans, but I believe last year their lead singer passed away. They decided to soldier on and this new song, the first since his passing, is pretty crushing.

 

Gatecreeper – Everlasting

You wanna feel like you just had a mud bath? Or you were born in the swamp and can’t get clean? This sludgey goodness will deliver that in spades.

 

Municipal Waste – Wave of Death

Here’s a fun, thrashy anthem released by Municipal Waste. I’ve seen them live a few times, but I think this is the first song I’ve enjoyed that they’ve released in recorded form.

 

Marilyn Mason – Mechanical Animals

One of my fav Manson tunes from my fav Manson album. The riff in this thing is killer.

 

Alright – that’s all I got this week!

Have a great weekend!

Steve

Hey friends!

I’m pleased to bring you this Friday’s blog post where I announce the full details of a book I’ll be releasing in 2020!

As I’ve started to release more and more works, a few comments keep coming along from friends and family – I really want to read and support you, but I can’t read scary books.

I get it.

Horror isn’t for everyone.

My releases range from brutal gore to scary chills and everything in between. I’ve always tried to inject some heart and emotion into all of them, but they all fall firmly into the dark fiction realm.

At the start of this year, I released one of my best received books in “The Girl Who Hid in the Trees.” This one seemed to click and connect with folks, but it was a horrible trip through the woods chasing an urban legend.

It was around that time where I had a conversation with my sister, Jodi. We chat often and during most weeks, we’ll end up discussing what her son, my nephew, Gabe is reading. Gabe is a voracious reader. 10 years old (soon to be 11) and he’s read all of the Harry Potter series and just book after book after book. Gabe is also high functioning autistic and this will also be a frequent discussion topic between Jodi and I. Gabe’s at the precipice of young adulthood and soon he’ll be exploring adult themes in many of his books.

This got me thinking. At his age, I was already reading Stephen King. Which means, before we know it, Gabe will be reading my books.

Before that happens, I wanted to write a book that bridged the divide and allowed younger readers to discover my work, but also adults who might enjoy a fun, nostalgia based story that could introduce them to my writing style.

I remember what it was like when I first discovered “Labyrinth,” “The Dark Crystal,” “The Neverending Story,” and all of the CS Lewis “Chronicles of Narnia” books. Magic, fantasy and amazing worlds were opened before my eyes.

“The Boy Whose Room Was Outside” is my answer to that, but also my complete opposite take on “The Girl Who Hid in the Trees.”

This book is authored by Steve Stred & The Kids. The Kids are my son, my nieces and nephews. ranging from a year old to 11. I wanted them to all be a part of this release. So they’ve all contributed some artwork as well as each one has contributed ideas for the story as well.

Additionally, Mason McDonald has once again delivered an outstanding cover.

The book will feature some fantastic artwork by _sandragetscreative, who I was able to connect with on Instagram through her husband Shane aka bookzrkool. As well, my great friend Miranda has contributed some artwork. She does fantastic work through her business MJCreations! We also received a fantastic painting years ago from our friend Alycia, which works perfectly as well!

I’ve shared some teasers of the artwork here, but the full stuff will knock your socks off!

So here’s a brief synopsis of this upcoming 2020 release, a book I’m excited for and one that adults, kids and families will be able to enjoy and read for many years!

Synopsis:

Imagine, if you will, that one night – maybe tonight, you went to sleep in your bed. Your mom or dad tucked you in, said your goodnights and one your light was turned off, sleep welcomed you.

Now imagine that you opened your eyes and found that you were no longer in your bed in your room. No, rather you’ve woken up in a magical forest. A forest filled with talking animals and amazing adventures.

That’s just what young Peter discovers.

But when he keeps seeing a mysterious dark figure following him, he begins to connect the dots and discover that not all of the realms inhabitants are happy that he visits.

Happy Friday!

WHO THE HELL CAN BELIEVE IT’S ALREADY OCTOBER!!

Well – everyone who is excited for Halloween!

I’m gonna keep this short and sweet like past weeks!

If you’ve been following me lately, you’ve seen a number of acceptance tweets/posts. Lately, I’ve really focused on drabble submissions and seem to be connecting with the editors. I have three I can fully share and another that is out now.

Kevin J. Kennedy Presents 100 Word Horrors 3.

This release is out now in ebook and paperback! I have two drabbles in here, but look at the table of contents! Chad Lutzke, Mark Matthews, Evans Light, Andrew Lennon, The Sisters of Slaughter, RJ Roles, Justin M. Woodward and excitedly – Ron Davis’ first published works!

If you haven’t – snag a copy!

 

Reanimated Writer’s Presents: 100 Word Zombie Bites.

I have two drabbles in this one, which will be up for ebook preorder on the 24th and releasing on the 31st!

Forest of Fear: Volume 1

Another one where I’ll have two drabbles featured! This one has such a great cover.

I’m stumped at the moment for when this will release, but I’ll keep you updated!

Japanese Fantasy Drabbles from Insignia

I actually just received my acceptance this morning for this release. I’m not 100% sure of the final title yet and haven’t seen artwork! Once both come around, I’ll share!

 

Additionally, I’ve been involved in the ongoing author novel from Don Gillette. This was a book that he’s putting together that has 30 authors each write a chapter and we see how the story unfolds. There are only a few chapters left, so we’ll be finding out how this saga ends and then what the plans are for release after that. I contributed chapter 3 and it was a lot of fun.

Finally, and yes this is vague tweeting, but I was able to cross off a bucket list item for writing recently. I can’t wait to share what this is and once I get the go ahead to announce it, OH BABAY!! WILL I EVER!

Ritual

Of course I want to give a huge thanks and shout out to everyone who has already snagged Ritual and read it. To those who’ve reviewed is as well – THANKS!

It’s a perma $0.99US ebook and paperback is live, so if you want super dark, depraved and horrific in your life – go get it!

 

Music:

As always, I’m all over the map!

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – Walls

I’ve always been a massive Tom Petty fan. I’ve started devoting some time to a novel that I’m co-writing with David Sodergren and Mr. Petty and The Heartbreakers is perfect mood music.

 

Madeon – All My Friends

Really love the sunshine of this song. Makes me smile and feel happy when I hear it.

 

The Ghost Inside – Engine 45

After their stunning live return after all of their injuries, surgeries and trauma, to see them announce they will be doing some more live dates is absolutely amazing and frankly, this should be the music story of the year.

 

Nine Inch Nails – Wish

I’m currently working on a brutal short story for possible submission. Nine Inch Nails Broken EP has been the back bone for all of those writing times.

 

What I’m Reading;

Been a bit since I’ve done this!

One by One – D.W. Gillespie

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48270279-one-by-one

50% into this and just stunning. Gillespie is setting this tale up to be a scare fest. Really loving it and the Alice character really shines.

7 Sins of the Apocalypse Anthology

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48252559-7-sins-of-the-apocalypse

I’m buddy reading this with my pal Becca (my first buddy read ever!) and the first few stories were a bit lacking for me. It’s definitely picking up and hoping to see how strong this finishes!

A Place for Sinners – Aaron Dries

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45433777-a-place-for-sinners

I was kindly sent this digital ARC from Poltergeist Press and I’ve neglected it. I’m 20% in and need to buckle down and get rolling. So far it’s been good, but I’ve heard Dries turns this into great in short work.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42175983-wolf-land

As most of you know, I do almost all of my reading on my Kindle. I still like to have one physical book on the go now and I snagged this beauty on Flametree Press’s Fourth of July Mega Sale! I have maybe 20 pages left to get through so hopefully I can finish that this weekend, but so far I’m loving this werewolf story!

 

All right! I’m done!

See you all next week!

Steve

Hey friends!

Another quick blog post this week!

Gonna fire it off fast and lean!

Ritual – holy hell! I ultimately put it up for preorders on the ebooks – I just wanted to make sure it was live on Amazon for October 1st and the response has been amazing! Thinking the $0.99 price point definitely helps!

Check it out here if you want – paperback is live now!

 

Piece of Me – I’ve sent this one out to a few folks already!

Piece of Me will arrive December 1st. I’ve sent it off to Sodergren for final edits, but if you want to take an early look at a book I am super proud of – send me a message.

Synopsis: Over a decade ago, Kari’s husband and son went hunting and never returned.

As she prepares for another long winter she longs for their return.

Then one day things change. The night creatures who live in the dark have visited the day and a mysterious figure who arrives may hold the key to reuniting her with her family.

For Kari, the question becomes – just how far will she go to be reunited?

• This is set in the same world as For Balder Walks!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48264016-piece-of-me

The cover art is outstanding – Mason McDonald adapted a picture taken by my father in law, Peter and it just really captures the emotions of the story.

100 Word Horrors 3 – just a reminder, I have two drabbles featured in this release! Ebook only while the paperback gets formatted for release! A stunning collection of authors.

Music;

I didnt do this last week – so here’s some tunes I’m jamming

Phantoms – Designs for You

Really dig this song from Phantoms. Great beat and love the textures!

 

ARTY feat April Bender – Sunrise

Love, love, love this song! This one brings a smile everytime!

 

Thy Art Is Murder – New Gods

Off their newest album – this thing crushes.

 

Sepultura – Attitude (Live in studio, 1996)

What a band this used to be. I dig the new version, but god does this slay.

 

Ok – that’s all I got this week. I’ll be giving some more information in the next few weeks about some other stuff, but for now – enjoy your weekend!

Steve

I’m back! After missing last week due to the trip down to Canmore for the companies 40th Anniversary Celebration, I return for my regular Friday Blog Post Update Thingy!

This will be a super quick romp through some stuff;

Here we go!

Ritual – comes out October 1st, 2019 – no ebook preorders officially, but I’ll be getting the files together next week and will have the date up for Oct 1st. If you want to snag it when it’s live, have at it! If not – no worries!

THIS ONE IS A THANK YOU! – the ebook will be a perma $0.99. This story is super dark, super vicious and depraved. Someone who has read it asked if I’d read Woom from Duncan Ralston as the depravity reminded them of it. Duncan was honoured.

Ebook and paperback available.

The Night Crawls In – thank you all! Carina Bissett was announced as the recipient of the 1st Annual LOHF Writer’s Grant and I’m just waiting on Paypal to smarten up so I can send her the funds! She’ll also be receiving a special hardcover copy of The Night Crawls In as a thanks! Reminder – all sales of this will now be going towards the next grant!

Lastly to close this one up;

While I was in Canmore, I was able to have breakfast with Jennifer Sullivan and her husband Jeff. I can’t recall when me and Jennifer connected through social media, but we did and stayed in touch. It just so happened that they were doing a western Canada anniversary trip and as fate would have it – we were both going to be in Canmore on the same day! We had a fantastic breakfast and it was like catching up with an old friend. It was great meeting Jeff. I had dragged my friend/co worker Walter along as we were driving back after meeting them and the four of us could’ve been confused with people who have known each other our whole lives. Love when that happens.

Even more amazing – Jennifer brought me a gift. She has a friend who is friends with my fav author, Andrew Pyper.

Check out this amazing picture of Mr. Pyper’s bookshelf Demon research section! What a gift. I was in shock then and as it’s sitting four feet to my left, I’m in shock still when I look over at it!

Blown away.

Anyways – that’s all I got. Wanting to keep this one quick and short.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Steve

Welcome back friends!

This update is going to be waaaaayyyy shorter than last weeks super colossal mega insanely huge update!

Let’s dive in!

The Night Crawls In

My collection – The Night Crawls In arrived September 1st! It was released specifically to fund the 1st Annual LOHF Writers Grant. Preorders went swimmingly and I’ve been so amazed at how many folks have already purchased a physical!

So here’s a few follow ups/FAQ’s if you well

#1 – none of the sales go to me. On September 15th, the first winner will be announced and I’ll be sending them their Grant! They’ll also receive a special Hardcover edition of The Night Crawls In!

#2 – all sales from release date and here on out go towards future Grants from The Night Crawls In. Us Indie Authors have incredibly detailed sales reports at our disposal. So when I get paid out my royalties, whatever sales from TNCI are from that will be put into the paypal account for it.

#3 – the book is set up for Matchbook, which means if you buy a physical copy, you get the ebook for free!

#4 – there is a three cent difference between proceeds from the ebook and physical. The ebook produces $2.08 while the physical produces $2.11.

#5 – the physical and ebook files have been updated. So an apology to Alex aka findingmontauk1 as I someone missed adding his name to the LOHF team. That has been updated. I’ve also updated it because as of September 1st, the LOHF team added Audra, so I’ve added her there as well! I wasn’t aware of this at all before hand! So both are now listed!

So if you haven’t snagged it yet;

 

100 Word Horrors 3 Anthology;

You may have seen me post about this, but Kevin Kennedy’s 100 Word Horrors 3 Anthology is now available as an ebook, with physical coming shortly. I have two stories in there, but just look at the list of authors on that table of contents! Go snag it!

 

Ritual:

October 1st is now coming fast, crazy I know! My depraved novella Ritual will see the light of day then! As I mentioned before, no preorders for this but I’ll keep you posted about when everything is live!

Tunes:

First up my latest Tunes From the Crypt over on Kendall Reviews was featured;

{Feature} Steve Stred’s Tunes From The Crypt #6

This one focuses on Roadrunner and heavy tunes. Good stuff.

As for what I’m jamming;

Killswitch Engage – The Signal Fire feat Howard Jones

BOTH KSE SINGERS ON ONE SONG! YES PLEASE! I’ve always preferred Howard’s voice, but Jesse is coming around. This song rips.

 

Above & Beyond with Seven Lions – See the End

Great new track from A&B. They keep delivering such emotionally catchy EDM. Love it.

 

Nasty – Realigion

I recently discovered this band Nasty. Hardcore/Punk/Thrash. Heavy stuff. Hard to really define their genre. I’ve been jamming this album daily, really dig it. So here is the full album stream.

 

My Facebook Author Page;

RIP to my Facebook Author Page. As most of you know, Facebook is making it harder and harder for pages to be seen. If you’re not paying FB cash to boost the post, it’ll often get buried. I don’t do much marketing and I’ve never been a massive self promoter, so the page just kind of sits there and then on Friday’s I share the blog. If you’re friends with me on Facebook you’ll see the blog anyway and I share it on Twitter and Instagram.

It just feels like a massive overkill to have this whole other page. At one point it made sense to have it, as my athlete page when I was sliding. I was sharing pics and videos of training and behind the scenes stuff that folks never really see.

Now – not so much. I do have a private readers group that I’m going to keep. If you want to join, I’ll be sharing a link on the authors page or just DM for it. I’m going to do some exclusive stuff just for the readers group, but it won’t be like a patreon thing.

By the end of September the author’s page will be gone.

If you’re wanting to stay updated and that’s the page you follow – if we’re not, send me a friend request on FB, or follow the readers group!

Next Week;

Wrapping this up – next week will be blog free. I’m away at a work thing from Friday to Sunday.

So, I’ll see you here again on the 20th!

Cheers

Steve

Hey all! Happy Friday!

This one’s gonna be a fun summer wrap up and as Auryn says; “IT’S GONNA BE HUUUUUGGGEEEE!!!!!”

First things first – Promo plugs

The Night Crawls In

The collection drops on SEPTEMBER 1ST!

Pre-order links are up and running – have you preordered yet? The paperback version is now live and also able to be ordered!

US Link

 

Canada link

UK link

Pre-orders have picked up nicely!

Remember – this is to support the 1st Annual LOHF Writers Grant!

There is still time to apply;

https://www.ladiesofhorrorfiction.com/2019/07/26/2019-lohf-writers-grant/

OK – Fun stuff!

Writing Update;

Ritual – release date October 1st, 2019

Completely finished and has already had some reviews coming through. This novella is brutal, brutal, brutal. I’ve had one reviewer call it depraved, one called it perverted and one person messaged me and said it reminded them of the hellish places Woom from Duncan Ralston went. I won’t be doing any pre-orders on this one, so watch for it October 1st!

Piece of Me – release date December 1st, 2019

I am 75% done my final read through/writing updates before sending it to Sodergren for copy edits. This thing is a crazy beast. Dark, sad, cold, and dare I say – a love story with hope? YUP!

Scott: A Wagon Buddy Tale – release date TBA 2020

My awesome friend, Becca kindly hosted the cover reveal for this as well as why I decided to write it. If you did miss that, check it out here;

https://beccaleighanne.com/guest-post-steve-stred-discusses-why-he-wrote-scott-a-wagon-buddy-tale-cover-reveal/

As for where I’m at with it, it’s off with a few beta readers and I’ve had some feedback returned already. Think this one’s gonna surprise some folks!

The Window in the Ground – release date TBA 2020

Similar to Scott, this ones with a few beta readers. Excited to hear what they think about this one.

The One That Knows No Fear – release date TBA 2020

I haven’t really given this one any love recently. Originally it was going to be co-written by me and Mason McDonald (my frequent cover designer) but at some point Mason said for me to just finish it up as he wouldn’t have the time to fully dedicate to it. So Mason will supply an introduction instead. I need to finish re-writes and then off to a few beta readers.  This one is a lot of fun and features a stunt man who just doesn’t die.

456 Blatchford Drive – release TBA 2020

I’ve previously written about this gruesome haunted house story told over a number of decades. Originally it was an idea I had where each decade would be written by a different author. Sadly all three authors who originally jumped on board have all had to step away. So earlier this year I decided to write it myself. Cover art is almost complete and I’ll share it once done.

I’ve decided to make this a collector’s edition. There will be some physical copies for family, close friends and my super supporters who always buy my stuff. Then there will be 5 hardcovers and 15 paperbacks available and that’s it. No ebooks. I’ll give more details as it gets closer to finishing, but at this time, if this is something you think you’ll be wanting to snag – message me and I’ll get you on the list.

Sodergren/Stred Project – release TBA possibly 2020, possibly 2021

We’ve alluded to this project and it is quietly in the background noise. I’ve written about 7500 words on it, but its been sitting for a bit now. I’m not sure where David’s at, as we’re focused on different parts of the same story, but me and him chat most days and it’s occasionally mentioned haha! It’ll happen, but I can’t guarantee when.

YA/Fantasy Project – release TBA 2020

This is the first I’m mentioning this in public – I’ve discussed it in private with my usual folks. I’m 10,000 words into it already, and just loving it. Loving it. I came up with an idea to do this YA release specifically for my nieces, nephews and son. The stuff I normally write is far too gory for them to read for many years. So this is a collaboration between me and all of them. They all gave me specific bits and they’ll all be credited as writers with me, so this is going to be fun. I think folks who read YA/Fantasy stuff will also dig it.

Mason has created an amazing cover, I just have asked for one thing to be tweaked and once that is, I’ll be sharing it, as well as a full synopsis.

Daisy Doll – short story, release TBA

I’m currently about 1500 words into a fantastically grotesque short story. I’m only mentioning this because it’ll be hopefully featured in an “author sampler” release that I’ve been chatting with someone about. If that doesn’t pan out – you know you’ll get it at some point here!

 

Contest – so there’s still a few days left to go enter this amazing contest that my buddy Glenn aka thehellbound_heart on Instagram is hosting. I’ve donated a bunch of ebooks for this – so if you are on Instagram – go find his account, find this photo and enter! Contest ends at the end of the month!

 

Tunes;

This weeks jams are brought to you by indie folk love. At least that’s what I consider this music. These four tunes are also songs that have deeper emotional meanings for me.

First up is two from Canadian band The Strumbella’s.

We Don’t Know

This is simultaneously the saddest song but also the most uplifting song for me. Really dig it. It has a very ‘Arcade Fire’ feeling.

 

Spirits

I think this is The Strumbella’s best know song/most popular song, but again, I find this song so uplifting and just makes me smile while I cry.

 

Phillip Phillips – Home

I think this dude was on American Idol? Maybe? Sure – google says he was. I’ve never watched American Idol, although my really good friend Shane was on Canadian Idol when it first started. I used this song in a video I made back in the day for an update on our dog OJ, after he was paralyzed. It just felt so perfect and fit really well.

 

American Authors – Best Day of My Life (Dog Edition)

It was recently National Dog Day, so I felt it was timely to use this song with this version for our feel good tunes. I used it also at one point for an OJ update. I can’t believe the big goof ball turns 10 in a month!

 

Summer update!

Ok, so wrapping this HUUUUUUGGGGEEEE update up with a brief run through of what we did this summer. We try to have fun when we can, and with Mr. Man having just turned 3 (!!!!!) and starting play school on Tuesday, here’s some of what we did!

New Pool

His Pop’s (it’s what he calls grandpa Peter) got him a new pool! It has an elephant snout which is perfect for spraying!

Poppa’s Memorial Trip

My grandpa passed away at the end of last year, but his memorial was in the summer to make travel easier. We drove back to Nakusp, staying in Trail at my sister’s, Nakusp and then stopped in Radium on the way back to visit my wife’s cousin. It was a fun trip, even it was a bit rushed.

(Auryn telling me to walk deeper into the water. This was at the cabin we stayed at on the Arrow Lakes.)

(Me, my nephew Layne and Auryn being sprayed by my sister, Jodi. Good times!)

Big Machines!

Of course we spent a lot of time playing with big machines!

(My wife snagged these for free off of an upcycle page!)

Dinosaurs!

We went to a massive Dinosaurs Alive thing here at the Expo Centre!

(Auryn wasn’t too keen on riding the dinosaurs)

Zoo!

For his third birthday we hit up the zoo. It was our first time back since the renovations had been completed!

(Pops and Auryn watching the reindeer. Auryn was very intrigued that they were fighting.)

Birthday!

So this past Monday, the 26th was Auryn’s 3rd birthday. It’s so surreal to have a kid, and watching him grow and develop is amazing.

As you’ve seen before, he’s big time into big trucks, fire trucks etc etc. He’s a huge fan of Paw Patrol and every time he sees the massive Marshall Fire Truck at Walmart or anywhere he stops to admire it. So we knew that would be the perfect gift for him for his birthday.

This is the exact moment of the box opening and he fully realizes just what was inside!

And this is him trying to get me to hurry up and open the box already!

Cupcakes!

So lastly on the birthday front – Auryn absolutely HATES the happy birthday song.

Here he is last year on his 2nd birthday.

In this first picture you can see he is just realizing what song is starting to be sung.

Photo #2 here shows his full enjoyment of this beloved birthday jingle.

BUT WAIT!

This year my wife made delicious cup cakes and when we brought them out, with some candles for him to blow the out already lit, he was… EXCITED!

(Actual photo evidence!)

He thought it was awesome! He even blew out the candles!

 

So there we have it. My HUUUUUUGGGGEEEE summer wrap up post.

Big things coming friends! Hope the summer has treated you well and fall brings smiles and great memories!

Steve.

 

Happy Friday friends. Today is a special post for me.

Our son Auryn turns 3 on Monday! Now – I’m doing this blog specifically for him. You see, we’ve already made him an email address, and we signed him up to get my posts. So some day, he’ll be scrolling through this and it’ll essentially be a neat time capsule for him!

So today’s post will be focused on what he’s reading, music he’s loving and a brief run through of his short life.

As many of you know – Auryn arrived with a bang. More precisely – no vitals for 6 minutes. That meant no oxygen, no blood pressure etc etc. Same with my wife.

Both were brought back from the beyond, so we’ve dubbed him Hellboy and one day maybe he’ll laugh at our dark, dorky humour.

*This was his first photo in the NICU.

Oddly enough – just yesterday I saw a friend on FB post about an almost identical experience from when their daughter arrived. I couldn’t believe it. I reached out and we chatted for a bit. Blew me away that someone else had experienced the same thing I did. I gave me a surreal sense of calmness and solitude that I wasn’t alone.

Since his arrival, Auryn has been a goofball. Loves to play jokes and scare people.

** Portrait of a contemplative 1 week old. Photo by my sister, Jodi.

What’s become very evident is his love of boy stuff. Motor bikes, construction stuff, big machines. When I get home each day he has to tell me everything he’s seen; “I saw two garbage trucks, a dump truck, a fire truck – in my alley!” He is one of the most animated conversationalists you’ll ever meet.

** His most popular picture. 8 months old. Look at that hunk.

He has always had a love of music, but HATES when other people sing. When we still lived in Calgary, I’d put him in his little bouncy chair and put on some music and see what he liked. He has developed a love of almost all genres! You’ll see that below in the selections.

** 1st birthday party! It was Where the Wild Things Are themed!

He has also always loved animals. He loves his dog OJ, but also adores his grandma’s two dogs, Bailey and Rosie. We had a zoo pass in Edmonton for a bit which he really loved! We’ll be spending a lot of time at the zoo again, now that the construction and renovations are complete!

** Being kissed by the sea lion at West Edmonton Mall.

Currently he has a number of favourite activities; loves playing Monster Trucks, going for walks to see big machines and buses, planting and gardening with mom and nan, building stuff with pops, playing with play dough, playing Paw Patrol, playing in his sand table with his big machines. He’s always on the go!

** Cheeky grin as he runs at the park!

We’ve been reading to Auryn since birth and in that time we’ve accumulated quite the library for him! You’ll see some of this current fav books here in a minute. But first another picture!

** The two of us at the (new then) Nakusp Pride crossing. Note the silly face he insisted on making!

What He’s Reading:

One of his favs – Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site features big machines working hard before going to sleep.

Bulldozer’s Shapes is another one in frequent rotation. He’s always so proud when he names all of the shapes.

Of course his favourite machine is Excavator’s – so this one is a big time fav. He’s getting really good with counting.

And of course Dump Truck’s colors! He loves dump trucks almost as much as garbage trucks, so this one is always a hit.

We also read a lot of super hero books (prefers Batman) and Paw Patrol stuff. Lately we’ve also begun to read some Blaze and the Monster Machine books.

Music:

Me and my wife listen to a really wide variety of music which has really helped Auryn develop the same love of pretty much every genre.

Above & Beyond

Auryn loves EDM and this Vegas EDC set from 2015 is bookmarked on our computer. He comes running as soon as the music starts.

 

Raise Your Glass – Memoir

My wife watches a few reality shows and one of them is called Vanderpump Rules. Auryn loves the theme song and will bust out of his play room when the song starts and then rush back in once it’s over.

 

Macklemore feat Skylar Grey – Glorious

My wife is a big Macklemore fan, and as such Auryn has developed a love of his music as well. I’m not sure if this is his fav Macklemore song, but it’s the one I hear played the most!

 

Knocked Loose – Mistakes Like Fractures

I’m a big Knocked Loose fan and as it’s frequently played on Sirius Liquid Metal, Auryn has heard this song a bunch. I even posted a video a while back of him head banging to this song.

 

Deez Nuts – Tonight We’re Gonna Party (Like There’s No Tomorrow)

As I’ve said before, I’m a massive DN fan. Me and him will listen to this tune and I’ll pick him up and start our own two man mosh pit in the living room!

 

Gecko’s Garage – Eric the Excavator

Not surprisingly, when he’s loving the kids stuff it’s usually about big machines!

 

Blippi – The Excavator Song

Auryn loves Blippi – a kids entertainer who teaches kids all about a ton of stuff. Of course the song about an excavator is the one we watch the most.

 

Alright. Well, that’s enough of that.

I can’t believe our little guy will be three and starting play school soon!

So to close this out – one day, when you end up seeing this post, just know me and your mom love you to the moon and back!

And clean up your room, put your toys away and eat your dinner!

Love,

Dad.

PS – when you finally read this – just remember, I wasn’t always this old!

**Baby Hellboy was downloaded from Deviant Art and was created by ChocolateFrizz89

Hey all! Another Friday is upon us! If you read last week’s blog post – you’ll get the tongue-in-cheek joke of the blog title!

I’m gonna keep this succinct today.

We are almost exactly two weeks away from September 1st, 2019.

That day is a big one. Why?

Well, not only does The Night Crawls In release, but that closes off applications for the 1st annual LOHF Writers Grant! From what I’ve heard the application response has been amazing, and truthfully I’m equal parts excited but equal parts saddened. Why?

Well – I’m excited that so many authors have applied and it shows that the LOHF gang both has a far reach but also that the number of horror/dark fiction/speculative fiction etc etc Female Authors out there is vast! That’s a great thing and can only get better.

I’m saddened though, because if you know me – I always want to help and do more. So I’m sad that we can only offer one grant. I’ve begun reaching out to some old contacts from my athlete days to see if they have any contacts for good fits for companies that might even be able to come on board for year two and beyond, to try and offer more grants for more authors. Fingers crossed.

As for pre-orders. I’m typically an upbeat person, but this has also been a bummer. Stalled since last week. So if you haven’t and are thinking about it – please do! And please understand that ALL proceeds from pre-orders will be going to this years winner and all further sales after release date will be going to future writing grants!

As for the content in the collection – I’ve been blessed recently to have a number of blogs host guest posts which have all featured drabbles and poems that will be featured in the collection.  I’ve compiled all of the links together – so take a minute to click the links, check out the content and please also follow those pages! All are ran by outstanding people!

Link 1: https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/the-night-crawls-in-preview/

Link 2: https://themisadventuresofareader.com/2019/08/12/guest-post-steve-stred/

Link 3: https://mirandacritesreadsandwrites.wordpress.com/2019/08/09/the-night-crawls-in-horror-author-steve-stred-guest-post/

Link 4: https://www.highfeverbooks.com/reviews/guest-post-the-night-crawls-in-by-steve-stred

Link 5: http://kendallreviews.com/feature-the-night-crawls-in-details-on-the-2019-lohf-writers-grant-brought-to-you-by-steve-stred-and-the-ladies-of-horror-fiction/

As for pre-order links, you can find those here on the site under collections!

https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/collections/

 

Also today, I’m featured over at author Erin Casey’s site! Erin invited me some time ago to be interviewed, so some of the answers to the questions are a bit older, but give it a read!

https://www.erincasey.org/author-interviews1#/steve-stred

 

Lastly today, I’m going to share some tunes I’ve been jamming this week and call it a day!

Nevermore – And the Maiden Spoke

Nevermore is one of my personal favourite bands and I think their album ‘This Godless Endeavor’ is perfection. The follow up album ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’ was stellar and featured the song ‘And the Maiden Spoke,’ which may very well be the best ghost story song ever written.

Lacuna Coil – Layers of Time

My wife used to be a fan of Lacuna Coil, though I never have been. Their singer Cristina used to get a ton of press in Revolver, but that magazine stopped being sold up here in Canada for a while, so I’m not sure if she’s still featured in it or not.

Saying that – the new single they’ve released ‘Layers of Time’ is an outstanding piece of heavy music. I was shocked at how much I dug it and I think this’ll garner them some love from old fans and make some new ones.

 

Motionless In White – Thoughts & Prayers

I don’t mind MiW. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but they’ve had some solid songs. Maybe after this song I should take the time to delve into their discography? I don’t know. Maybe. Anyways, I’m digging this song, so check it out!

 

Sepultura – Sepulnation

Early this week I tweeted about the two distinct versions of Sepultura – Max vs Derrick. I personally don’t have a preference as I do view them as two different entities.

Sepulnation is a great track from a great album and really encompasses just how different of a vibe the singer change had on the band.

 

As for life – well, how insane is this;

3 years ago today we did our maternity shoot!

We had no idea just how insane life would be after this. Auryn arrived 10 days later and six months after this, we’d be moving to Edmonton and I’d be starting a new job.  I can’t believe we’ll have a 3 years old in 10 days and I can’t believe he’ll be starting playschool in September.

Speaking of Auryn – yesterday was a pretty big day for him.

Him and Pops (his grandpa) went for a walk and saw A FIRETRUCK! Other than excavators and dump trucks, fire trucks are the be-all, end-all for Auryn. He got to sit in the driver seat and even pretend to put out a fire!

When I got home I got to hear all about it!

Well that’s all I got. Have a great weekend!