Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Two tidbits

Couple of very interesting items. First off, the author/editor who has had one of my stories for a looooong time waiting for her to consider it for an anthology said on her blog that she is going to start working on said anthology! Yay! The theme is wolves, and the title of the antho is Wolfsongs II. (there was already a Wolfsongs I).

And I've learned that there will be a review of my short story The Killer Within on Friday by a reviewer of Kindle fiction. Yes, that's what I said. I know, far out right? So fingers crossed on that one too!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Back from San Fran; Episode 5

I got back from San Fran on Saturday. Very successful trip business-wise. Also completely exhausting. Then I had Yom Kippur services last night and this morning. I'm completely beat and will need time to recuperate. Fortunately, work should be fairly low key for the next few weeks.

Oh, did I forget to mention? Episode 5 of my Dark InSpectre series is now up.

Here's an excerpt:
Warm, chalky liquid slid down my throat and after a minute I grew more sleepy. Growing sense of alarm. Try and fight the sleep. Stay awake. No good. Darkness descends on my consciousness. Sounds of panic emanate from my throat. A hand presses tight over my mouth.


Friday, September 18, 2009

Off to San Fran

It's my workplace's annual meeting, so I'm off to San Fran tomorrow for a whole week. Probably will not be able to blog too much till I get back. See ya!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

My first ad!

Woohoo! The ad went out today, looks awesome. Check it out here.

It also went out on his e-mail list, which hopefully includes a bazillion people.

Let's see if it gets some response! Although I'm not really sure how to tell. Hmmm....

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Fingers crossed

I queried a publication about a story of mine that had been awaiting a response cuz more than 60 days had passed, and their site says pretty clearly that if 60 days goes by without a response, send in a note. Well, I got a response to my note that they were a bit behind and were very sorry. They'll get back to me within the week. Gaaak! So now I'm just a weeeeee bit nervous.

In other news, the promo spot for my Dark InSpectre series should run any day now. It was bumped today for a story on Patrick Swayze's death. Can't really complain about that one. Still excited to see it!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Episode 4 is up

The Dark InSpectre, Episode 4 is up. It's a must read.

Here's an excerpt:

I blotted my bloody lip on his shirt and then walked to my car, leaving my would be assailants where they lay. The psychic illusions would last another ten minutes or so. To them, it would be an eternity. And they’d remember every second.

Click the pic:

It's a date!

The dates for my reciprocal guest blogging have been set. Lily Kleiman, one of my Damnation Books cohorts will be blogging here on October 14, and I will be blogging over at her place on October 16.

And, if you're not already panting with anticipation, Episode 4 of my Dark InSpectre series drops tomorrow. Trust me, you'll want to check it out.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Ads and Blogs

A couple of interesting opportunities to showcase my recent stories. I touched base with a guy who was supposed to post a spot on his web site for my Dark InSpectre series. I let about 3 weeks go by and dropped him a line. Turns out he had been waiting for me to send him my material to post. Seems like it got ate up by the gods of email. So that's fine, he's going to run it by early next week. It will be interesting to see how much (if any) that increased traffic for my story.

And something that's even more foreign to me, one of the authors from Damnation Books has offered to trade dates blogging on other people's blogs to publicize their work. I jumped at the opportunity and will pick a date in October, after the madness of my workplace's annual meeting is over. Thing is, I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. I mean, I definitely want to plug my work, but aside from that, what am I going to say for an entire day on somebody else's blog? I guess I'll figure it out. Should be interesting, though.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Up up and away...

Work is getting more and more intense the closer we get to our annual meeting in San Francisco. Nevertheless, there has been a lot of activity around a couple of my stories. I put up the next episode of The Dark InSpectre, and the day after that, Damnation Books launched, featuring my story, The Killer Within.

There was a virtual launch party on the Damnation author/reader group online. My email was going crazy. The publisher has been keeping us all updated regarding where our books are available, Amazon, B&N, Kindle, and a whole range of online booksellers that I never heard of. That's all cool, but I'm not exactly sure if I need to do anything to capitalize on that. I mean, should I include links to all of these whenever I post somewhere? I really don't know. I'm just not that marketing savvy about this stuff.

I still have 4 stories out in the ether I'm waiting to hear back about. One publication says they'll get back regarding a submission within 60 days, which for me is this week sometime. Fingers crossed!

Slightly worse news on a story of mine that's been out there for a loooong time. I was hoping that a particular author/editor would now have time to put together the long-promised second anthology for which my story has been gathering dust. But she recently said she's turning to another book project of her own. Sigh...

As far as my own writing, I managed to eke out a tiny bit more on the short story I've been working on, but with work the way it is, I'm just not going to be able to do much more for a bit. I'm actually looking forward to my flight to San Francisco so I can write!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Killer Within unleashed

My new short story, The Killer Within, is now available from Damnation Books. Buy now, and it's only a nickel!

Here's the blurb:

When Metro City's number one crime family develops a drug that turns ordinary people into mindless assassins, detective Frank Arnold makes it his mission to bring them down. But things take a turn for the worse when the syndicate targets someone in the police department to carry out their next hit. Everyone's under suspicion, including Frank himself as he tries desperately to crack the case before his time runs out, permanently.