Shit's Gettin Real

Saw a blurb on the Pro Se Facebook page about a novel by one Jason Kahn. Seems like it will be unleashed the first week in June. That's right, my book's bout to drop! In the meantime, Pro Se Publications is going to do some promotion and try and get a few reviews. I'm doing the same. I'm starting by running a few review web sites by my editor at Pro Se, and if she's cool with them, she'll send me a digital copy that I can submit around. Time to drum up some press and spread the buzz. Woohoo!

Cover Up!

This looks like the official cover of my novel. It's coming. Get ready.

Episode 73 Online!

Episode 73 of the Dark InSpectre is now online, in which our hero finds Mary a bit tied up at the moment.

Here’s an excerpt:

I reached the upper floor and moved down the dark hallway toward the light spilling through the half opened doorway at the end of the corridor. I passed the kids’ rooms, swearing to myself I’d be back for Ian and Collin soon. Then I was at the door, willing myself to keep going, to override the paralyzing fear at what would happen if I screwed this up.

I nudged the door open with my toe and in one motion swung into the room, pivoting to the right as I pointed the gun straight ahead, ready to fire away.

What I saw made me freeze in my tracks, my blood running cold.

Check the episode here.

Just 3 Episodes Left!

Gettin' my Head Shot

I finally, finally, after a long time spent wishing I had done this, have arranged to get a professional photo of myself. As I have published a number of short stories, I am asked every once in a while for a head shot, and I don't really have one and instead send some picture I've taken of myself with my own camera or phone. But now that I actually have a novel coming out, it's time. I'm using someone who did the head shots for my wife's office for their web site. The photographer is a real pro and we spoke for like a half an hour yesterday. She told me the different options for what to wear, how long the session will last, etc. The whole price tag is under $1,000, which my wife was fine with. And since she's the arbiter of what we can afford, I'm fine with that too! The shoot is taking place in some Manhattan office space in about two weeks at a location that's extremely convenient to my work.

I have to say that I am very glad to be doing this. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, and now with a book coming out, I'll need it for promotional purposes, my Amazon author page, Goodreads author page, etc.

And especially now that....the editor at my publishing house wants to see the Dark InSpectre! Yes! As I said previously, I pitched the series to her now that I've written the last episode. And she wants to take a look! So I'm gong to put all the episodes together in one document. Counting both story arcs, that's 93 episodes. Yeah, quite a lot! Then I'm going to give it a quick read through to add in all the language my original publisher wouldn't allow (read: cursing), and of course sex up the sex scene.

What I don't know is how this will affect any audio version they may want. I'm already narrating the existing series for the Rockland, Maine radio station that's airing them. If Pro Se Press wants an audio version, too, will I have to re-record after it goes through editing? We'll see, but that's a minor concern. I'm so psyched at the possibility of the series coming out in book form. I've been working on the thing for like 5 years, and in my humble opinion it's probably the best, coolest story I've written.

And in other news....my editor tells me that Badge of Lies is on the docket for publication and she expects to see it within the next month! Now, I'm not exactly sure what that means in terms of hitting stores, etc, but I know good news when I hear it. My f#$*ing novel is coming out! So f@#% yeah!

The Spoken Word

I've been off this past week, and one of my main tasks has been to catch up on narrating audio episodes of the Dark InSpectre. Paul Cole, who runs the radio show in Rockland, Maine, that broadcasts my episodes, has been nice enough to agree to make them radio-ready after I narrate them. So it's up to me to keep sending them. It's helpful to understand the numbers here. There are a total of 76 episodes of the latest story arc of the Dark InSpectre. This past week, I narrated 19 new episodes, ending with episode 41. So, yeah, I've still got a ways to go. But I did bite off a nice chunk, which felt good.

Doing the audio recording reminded me how tedious the work is, but it's also a very good exercise. Reading each of these older episodes helps keep the story fresh in my mind, and also brings to the surface minor errors in the text that can be corrected. What's also interesting is that there are little nuances that are apparent when reading the text that can be lost when the words are spoken, like who's talking, and when passages are thought vs. spoken aloud. So I occasionally have to throw in an extra word or phrase to make these things clear.

What really has me curious is what's going to happen when my publisher gets back to me regarding the whole Dark InSpectre series. If they pick it up in some form, will they also pick up the audio episodes? What would happen after the series undergoes editing? Which will surely happen. Would I then have to re-record every episode? That would suck. Out of about 90 episodes between the two story arcs, I've narrated about half. Doing them over again would, well, be a lot.

But I'd certainly do it. I'd do whatever it takes cuz an audio book for the Dark InSpectre would just be so cool. Of course, I still have to hear back from my publisher about all this, so until then it's all just idle speculation. In the mean time, I'll just keep on working in my makeshift recording studio, which consists of a 15-dollar baffle I got from Wal Mart, a digital audio recorder I use for work, and my computer. Pretty advanced stuff, I know.