I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, so please forgive me for my delay.
I’m having a book signing this Saturday from 10AM-noon at Pete & Freddy’s Pages Aplenty, a small used bookstore in Mentone, Indiana. I’ll be signing all of my books, including Pandora’s Box, Destroyer, and The Day After. I was referred to this place by a co-worker at my part-time job, who told me his daughter runs the place.
Hello, readers! I wanted to remind you to come out to the North Webster Community Public Library this Saturday from 10AM-noon because I;ll be having a book signing! The signing is advertised as being for Destroyer, but I will also be signing and selling copies of The Day Afterand a few leftover copies of Pandora’s Box (since my story in The Day After is a companion piece to my novel, it is only fitting).
This past Saturday, I and my co-authors Timothy Deal and Nick and Natasha Hayden returned to the former campus of our alma mater, Taylor University Fort Wayne. We sold and signed copies of our books in the marketplace during the Fort Wayne Celebrates event, which serves as a replacement for the school’s homecoming.
I arrived at 11:30 AM or so, thinking it started at noon. I quickly learned it didn’t start until 1:00 PM. Timothy arrived around noon, and the Haydens arrived with their toddler son, Fyodor, at 12:30, so all of us were gathered and ready in time. Within minutes, dozens of alumni swarmed the marketplace area and perused our books, which included Pandora’s Box, Destroyer, and The Day After.
The Haydens sold copies of Destroyer and The Day After like hotcakes, probably because we offered to sell them together for $12 when they sell for $7 each. I, on the other hand, practiced well the art of hawking and sold all but two of the seven or eight copies of Pandora’s Box I brought. My favorite customer was Parker, a 14-year-old boy whose mother from the class of 1989 bought him a copy of the novel. He read it intently for the rest of the night, as you see here:
So, overall, it was one of the most fun signings I’ve had so far. I’ll try to post a full gallery of pictures later. (I know, I know. I’m way behind on my photo galleries here).
Next up: The North Webster Community Public Library, October 15.
If you came to the book signing my partners in crime Tim and Nick and Natasha and I held at Summer’s Stories this past Saturday, thank you for making it a rousing success. If you didn’t come…why?
While the signing was originally just for Destroyer, we received copies of The Day Afterright before it, so it was included. I sold nearly twice as many books there as I did the first time I had a signing at the store (of course, it helped that I was selling two titles).
Don’t forget that this Saturday I will be at Fort Wayne Celebrates on the former Taylor University Fort Wayne campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from 12pm-5pm!
After graciously hosting my first ever book signing for Pandora’s Boxlast year, I’ll be returning to Summer’s Stories in Kendallville, Indiana, with Natasha Hayden and Timothy Deal to sign and sell copies of Destroyer. The signing will be September 17 from 1PM-3PM. It will be primarily for Destroyer, but I will also bring a few copies of my other book(s) (see my next announcement).
So don’t miss this rare opportunity to get a copy of this new novella from Novel Concept signed by all three authors!
My friends Nick Hayden and Timothy Deal featured me on their amazing podcast, “Derailed Trains of Thought,” again. Last November they interviewed me when Pandora’s Boxwas published. In their latest episode, I read chapter six of Destroyerin a segment called “A Bit of Story.” If you want to get a taste of the story before purchasing it on www.Lulu.com or www.Smashwords.com, check this out. You can also download the podcast from iTunes onto your iPod, iPhone, or iPad.
While you’re there, please listen to previous episodes of the podcast. It’s quite good. Both Tim (one of the novella’s co-authors) and Nick have great insights into storytelling, and, I might add, awesome senses of humor. If you’re a creative person looking for a place to discuss ideas about the art and craft storytelling, go no further.
It was a little more difficult to do than I expected, but Destroyer, my recently self-published novella co-written with Natasha Hayden and Timothy Deal, is now available as an ebook on www.Smashwords.com! Now you can download it and read it on your Kindle, iPhone, and other mobile devices. Just go here. You can also check out my Smashwords profile page (although it’s not much different from my profile here).
Be warned: I am still working out some bugs with the book’s formatting. So, if it looks a little odd in places, let me know, and I’ll try to iron it out. Thank, faithful readers!
After fighting a long battle with Lulu.com‘s cover wizard program, I am ecstatic to announce that Destroyerhas been self-published in print! This is a novella I co-wrote with Natasha Hayden and Timothy Deal from 2008-2009 as part of a year-long “Pulp Fiction Project” we and our writer friends did. I chose to write a “monster story” (which, as one guy pointed out, meant I could write “everything from Frankenstein to Godzilla”) and spent three months writing part one (about 10,000 words). The goal was to have a 30,000 word book by the end of the project. Then at our follow-up meetings throughout the year, we drew names from a hat, and that person wrote the next section of the story. Those fell to Natasha for part two and Timothy for part three.
I decided several months ago it was time for this to get published.
Destroyer tells the tale of a group of scientists and soldiers who create a giant cybernetic dragon to end a war, but the creature goes berserk and strands them in Moscow, one of the enemy capitals, and goes on a rampage.
I know that sounds like a B-movie plot, but I promise you it is closer to the movie Cloverfield, and it even has some shades of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was, I will admit, inspired by a few Godzilla movies.
Regardless, it is available here on Lulu.com as a paperback and as a downloadable PDF. It will soon be available as an eBook on www.SmashWords.com, so you can take it anywhere on your mobile device.
Prepare yourself for some thrills and chills, readers!
I have been hard at work customizing Tyler Sowles’ cover painting for Destroyer. Lulu.com‘s cover maker has proven a little more finicky than I originally expected, but I expect to have the kinks ironed out within a day or two. Stay tuned.
My primary reason for posting today is to announce that my brother Jarod has created yet another illustration for one of my short stories. This time it is for “The Delivery.” Here it is:
It depicts the story’s hero, Mack, desperately trying to repair his steam tram so he can make his delivery on time. Jarod took the creative license of having it snow, but it does make sense. I’d tell you why, but that would spoil the story–so go read it, goshdarnit!
After a month of work (and a few short delays), the cover art for Destroyer, a pulpy science fiction novella I co-wrote with my writer friends Natasha Hayden and Timothy Deal, has been finished!
Take a gander:
This cover painting was created by Tyler Sowles, who I found by placing an ad in the Godzilla fanzine, G-Fan. I highly recommend checking out Tyler’s website: www.thekillustrator.com. If you’re into monsters and/or superheroes, he has a lot of artwork related to those sorts of characters.
Destroyer tells the tale of a group of scientists and soldiers who create a giant cybernetic dragon to end a war, but the creature goes berserk and strands them in Moscow, one of the enemy capitals, and goes on a rampage.
The book will soon be available in print from www.Lulu.com and as an eBook from www.SmashWords.com. It will also be the latest “publication” from Novel Concept (more on that later).
Stay tuned for more updates.
A Man from Another Time Exploring Another Universe