The cover was just revealed for the New Hero anthology from Stone Skin Press. My vampire detective Atlas makes a stunning debut on the cover art by famed artist Gene Ha.
Atlas is the fifth hero in the second row, right above the “W.” Yes, he is wearing motorcycle gear. Hee. I had so much fun with this particular vampire and the setting I built. Can’t wait to write another one!
HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror is now available in eBook format on DriveThruHorror.com for your Kindle, Nook and more! Just in time for All Hallow’s Eve; I hope you’ll do me the honor of downloading this collection of ghostly mysteries.
The first review has been posted and here’s what the reviewer had to say about my role:
The attention and careful thought that editor Monica Valentinelli put into arranging the stories in “Haunted” pays off as it the only anthology I have ever been able to read (and enjoy) in a single sitting. — Review of HAUNTED on DriveThruHorror.com
Who willingly walks into a haunted house?
Ghost hunters explore dark places, investigate clues and uncover secrets of the dead. Evidence of an afterlife may prove elusive and few hunters recognize some things are best left buried and forgotten.
Suspense and intrigue lurks inside HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror. Unlock the clues in these eleven mysteries:
+ A curious ghost hunter tracks down a mysterious device’s origin and finds more than he bargained for.
+ One local tour guide meets a group of cocky professionals in a small town and discovers something more frightening than ghosts.
+ After his famous ghost hunting wife is declared missing, a devastated husband follows a trail of clues to find her.
+ A team of researchers at a local university are in over their heads when they try to prove a house is haunted.
+ When a desperate mother offers his services, a boy who can talk to ghosts is dragged into a dangerous mystery.
+ Lost without their go-to guy, a group of ghost hunters fight each other to get him back on curious terms.
+ Tragedy looms when a group of friends enter a suspicious house and realize they’re unequipped to hurt what’s already dead.
+ A skeptic and a believer team up to expose the truth about a local legend in a haunted forest.
+ An iconic figure confronts a man to find out if he’s building haunted houses or if it’s a bizarre hoax.
+ Strange circumstances compel the ghosts from a troubled veteran’s past to reappear in the present.
+ A friendly warning turns into a bizarre rescue when a ghost hunter tries to help an amateur armed with an odd locket.
This month I return to the Village of No-No’s in my continuing series at Geek’s Dream Girl.
“Well, it’s a good thing you know how to do that at least.” The wizard quips as he unrolls the parchment. “Now, here’s something you might be interested in. Why don’t you go ahead and read this version of events.”
Not wanting to piss off an all-powerful wizard, you take the document off his hands and begin to read a familiar, yet slightly different, version of events. As you engross yourself in the story, the room begins to spin.You adjust your shoulder bag and stroll into a village nestled in a lush valley. The first thing you see is a man and a woman arguing at the top of their lungs. From what you can make out, they’re pissed off about coin. The woman turns to you and says: “Don’t work for that guy, he’ll never pay you.” The man, who happens to be wearing a jerkin with an embroidered logo on the back, rolls his eyes and drones: “Don’t hire that freelancer, she’ll never hand anything in on time and it’s full of typos, too.” — SOURCE: Wizard’s Guidance, Adventure to Dice Castle
I hope you’ll drop by the site and give Wizard’s Guidance, Adventure to Dice Castle a read!
So, here we are. It’s Fall of 2011. 100 Days of Social Media Blackout behind me. Speak Out with your Geek Out is behind (and in some respects) in front of me.
And I realized I’ve been missing something basic, something real. Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus don’t replace what I loved about being inside a blog network. As an author who enjoys sharing, learning, and contributing to a community — it’s difficult to “tag” people on my own website and share updates that don’t sound trivial. Of course, some may argue that that’s what Twitter is for. Only… Twitter is so fleeting. It’s hard to encapsulate people’s personalities in a single Tweet, but a series of them? Sure. Still, I have to be online twenty-four seven to do that. *shakes head* And I’m not.
So, I shall return to blogging after I return from NYCC. There will be other website changes to accommodate this, too, but I have to mull those over. There’s pictures to share, messy artwork to offer you, and more readers to engage. None of what I want to do will change the other posts; this is simply a natural evolution to fit where I’m headed with my work.
This month at the How To Write Shop I talk about my experiences this year with social media.
So what does this mean for you? Well, as an author you have to figure out the best way to reach your readers. Social media is temporal and fleeting. Sometimes, that isn’t the best channel to connect because your readers may not be online the same time you are. For others, they feel (as I do) that there is a price to pay for being too well connected to your audience. — SOURCE: Getting Social: Is it Worth it?
What do you think? Have you taken a look at what social media means to you?