Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

The first box of books has arrived.  Because I included the names of so many readers in Consumed, I figured I would give you the option of purchasing a signed copy.  This should be fairly painless for you.

To order your signed copy of Consumed and/or Devoured, you'll just have to paypal me the equivalent of what you would pay on Amazon.  That means $14 for a signed copy of Consumed shipped to your door, or $27 for both.

Using the form at the top of the right sidebar, email me your name, address, and what books you want. I'll respond with a paypal account for you to send the money to. The books will go out after that. If you want a special dedication of some kind, let me know in your initial email.

If you want more than just these two books, then email me using the form first and let me know what you want. The prices are different for other books and I don't keep them on hand. We'll work something out. The same applies if you live in a country other than the U.S. International shipping is more expensive, obviously, so we'll have to figure all of that out first.

I have quite a few books on hand here, but it's possible that I don't have enough. If I run out of books before I get to your order, don't worry, it'll just take an extra week or so while I purchase more.

Have at it!

First, how sweet is this image for my newsletter that made for me?  I love it.  If you haven't signed up yet, it's the best way to get notified of my new releases.  You can use the form in the upper left hand corner of this page - it's painless, I promise.

The past week or so, I've had a few features and reviews over at .  They have reviews listed for Ìý²¹²Ô»å  along with a bunch of other books.  They put up a ton of content - it's impressive.

I've also been  at the same site.  Typically, I don't give interviews, but Lisa has been reading my stuff since day one, so she gets preferential treatment.  Adding to their deluge of their Jason Brant drivel, I also wrote a small article called .

Currently, I'm writing The Dark Gate.  I'm really trying to get it out by the end of October or the first week of November.  I have several other ideas pushing their way forward though and it's making it hard to decided what I want to work on.

I've been giving a lot of thought to rewriting Echoes.  I love the idea and the characters, but it was my first piece of fiction and I'm not particularly happy with the writing.  There is a lot more I can do with that universe and I'm considering turning it into a whole series.  To do that though, would require that I start from scratch.

And finally, I'm kicking around ideas for a third book in The Hunger series.  I'm quite happy with the end of the second book, but sales and feedback have been strong.  I left several threads dangling from the first two novels that I could explore, so I'm thinking about it.

What would you like for me to release next?  Anything tickle your fancy?

Brian Keene is a big-time horror author.  To be honest, I don't know how much that means, because horror doesn't exactly sell like romance.  But still, he's a big name.  Just look at how many ratings he has on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

To be fair, I had never read anything of his until two months ago.  A few people have told me that we write about similar things, so I grabbed a few of his books.  The guy has talent.

He gave a speech last week a writer's conference and he of it.  It's sobering.  Here's a piece of it.

I have been prolific to the point of nearly 40 books, and have been lucky enough to keep my work in print to the extent that I receive royalty checks for various works each and every month. I’ve also had books turned into film, adapted for comics, and more. I’ve been on CNN, Howard Stern, a documentary on the History Channel, and a trivia question answer on an ABC game show. My readers include rock stars, movie stars, stand-up comedians, professional athletes, a few politicians, a few more porno actresses, and even a daytime soap opera diva. I am one of the most popular horror writers of my generation. I say that not brag or sound arrogant, but to set the stage for what I am about to tell you. Despite all of those achievements, on average, I make between $40,000 and $60,000 per year. Sometimes it’s a little bit more. Sometimes, it’s less. That’s an average. Not exactly big money. Those of you who want to be full-time writers look shocked right now. Those of you who are already full time writers are nodding your heads vigorously in acknowledgement. As a full-time writer, my finances will always be in this state of flux. It can be scary and harrowing and tough, but it’s one of the things that comes with this gig.

First, it's remarkable how tough the writing profession can be. This is a man with forty novels and he isn't exactly raking in the dough. Multiple films have been produced based on his works. DC Comics tried to hire him for a comic book series. It's a shame that his success hasn't brought in a financial windfall. Read more to see his remarks about not having health benefits or a retirement plan.

Second, his story is a great example of how fucked up the traditional writing model is. His publishers are bending him over. Forty novels and that is all he's making?

This guy needs to self-publish his books from now on. If he had forty novels published on Amazon under his own name, collecting a much better royalty, he would be making way more than $40k a year. Way more. He is getting screwed.

I'm not saying that being signed by a big publisher is always a bad thing, it has allowed him to be a full-time writer after all, but damn. He's too prolific and too talented to have that kind of uncertainty hanging over his head.

Also, kudos to him for having the balls to post his income on his blog. Not many people are willing to do that, let alone someone with a certain level of celebrity.

I forgot to blog about my new book.  Wow.  I suck.

Consumed is the name of the novel and it's the sequel to Devoured.  You can find all of the links and the blurb .  Let me know what you think!

Obviously, I haven't blogged lately.  Sorry about that.  I usually bog down in my office when I'm releasing a new book and don't get around to putting nonsense here.  I'll try to do better.

Now that Consumed is available, I plan on writing The Dark Gate, finally.  I'm currently doing a lot of research for it, much more than I have for other books, but I should start putting words down next week. With any luck, the novel will release in early November or so.  Maybe sooner, but I can't make any promises.

The Dark Gate will have characters from The GateÌý²¹²Ô»å The Dark, so check both of those out if you haven't already.  Read them in that order, otherwise you might catch a spoiler or two.

A few weeks ago, I asked if anyone was interested in getting killed off in my upcoming book, CONSUMED.  I tried to think of a contest to decide who the winner would be, but I came up with something better a few weeks ago.
Now, this was a major pain in the ass, but it turned out pretty damn cool.  Yeah, yeah, spit it out already. Fine.
Every person who responded to that post on Facebook has their name in CONSUMED.
Your character might only have one line, or none, but your name is in there.  Because there were so many people who responded, I had to get a little creative with how I did this.  For example, you might be a woman, but all of the female characters were spoken for, so I used your last name for a male character. I hope you are still excited to have your name in the book!
So there you have it.  Everyone is in CONSUMED.  This took a lot of work to get done, so I would appreciate it if you shared the book on Facebook, Twitter, or any other place when it comes out next week. I could really use some reviews for it on Amazon and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ too! Those are hugely important to a fledgling author (douche) like me.
Here is the list of names included:Heidi geibCrystal dragonDeb carrollKate loprestiNathaniel scrivenJayce graysonMichael loringRosemary montgomeryTerri kincknerTheresa veraaAutumn naulingShannon caplanKristal coulterKim fishSeth ClarkeNikola medojevicPamela mullins - deadWhitney HutchinsonAmanda PhillipsMelissa barrettMichelle tarpleyTravis brownAdam duplessieJoline crepsKalena mcdanielsThere you have it.  Hope you enjoy CONSUMED!  Release date is early next week.

How did people find my blog this week? Here are a few of the search terms:
He-Man Gayassholedoes roger goodell like beerelle casey recklessguy with a mullet and a monster truckhe-man homohugh jackman ass
What kind of a place am I running here?

Here is an awesome YouTube prank that I've watched about a million times. I would totally do this to The Tall One if I had the balls. People have been murdered for less.

I wonder if they've cured her poop disease yet?

I have to admit that I'm ridiculously excited to see what JJ Abrams is going to do with the new Star Wars movies.

Hearing John Williams discuss doing the score of the next film just pushes me over the top.  Is it 2015 yet?

By the way, if you don't like Star Wars... well... you suck.

An interesting article was posted at the website by Lisa Morton. It came across as ludicrous and bullshit and was basically destroyed by . Neil Gaiman even got in on the destruction, though I haven't read his response yet.

The article posed ten questions to ask yourself to determine if you're a professional writer or just a hobbyist. Now, the HWA, which I'm not affiliated with, has backtracked and said it was a joke.  It doesn't read like that to me, but whatever. I post dumb shit all the time too. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. These questions are so crazy, that she couldn't possibly believe these qualify you as a professional.

Anyway, I figured I would take this little test to find out if I'm a 'pro' or not. And lets be honest here, nothing screams 'professional' like posting a picture of yourself drinking beer while wearing a mullet wig and fake tattoo sleeves. Here we go. Oh, I'm supposed to say YES to 80% of these or else I'm a hobbyist.

1. Is your home/work place messy because that time you’d put into cleaning it is better spent writing?
No, my place is messy because I'm basically a slob.  Always have been.  I'd rather spend that cleaning time by watching movies or playing video games or beating my head off my desk.  Cleaning blows.2. Do you routinely turn down evenings out with friends because you need to be home writing instead?
Uh, no.  I believe that would make you an asshole.  Now, I have had to do this once or twice because I was running out of time to finish a project, but it's certainly not routine.  That's a dick move.3. Do you turn off the television in order to write?
No, I turn it on in order to write.  Background noise helps me blot out everything else in the house. Those episodes of MacGyver won't watch themselves....4. Would you rather receive useful criticism than praise?
Can't I have both? I need criticism, but damn I love praise.  How can my ego continue to grow to exponential levels if I don't have people blowing smoke up my ass?5. Do you plan vacations around writing opportunities (either research or networking potential)?
Fuck no.  What the hell kind of vacation is that?  That sounds like work.6. Would you rather be chatting about the business of writing with another writer than exchanging small talk with a good friend?
I think this would be another dick move.  'Screw you, friend.  I want to talk about work, not your lame life.'  .....no, I don't do this.  In fact, I think this makes you an entire bag of dicks.7. Have you ever taken a day job that paid less money because it would give you more time/energy/material to write?
Nope.  Then again, I've only been writing for a year and a half.  I'd already quit my last job by the time I started writing.8. Are you willing to give up the nice home you know you could have if you devoted that time you spend writing to a more lucrative career?I don't really understand this question.  Is this is asking if I'm willing to make less money as a writer than I would make as a professional in another career?  If so, then yes.  I'm a full-time writer and I'm poor as shit.9. Have you done all these things for at least five years?
No.10. Are you willing to live knowing that you will likely never meet your ambitions, but you hold to those ambitions nonetheless?Isn't this called life?  I wanted to be He-Man until I was 10, but that didn't happen.  (OK, fine. I still want to be He-Man.
My final tally is pretty low.  I suppose I said yes to questions 4, 8, and 10.
30%. Shit. I'm a hobbyist. Actually, my score is so low that I probably can't even call myself that. I'm basically scrawling dirty poems on shitter stalls in highway rest areas.

There is a really cool app out right now called .  I used it to create this zombie version of myself.  What's really great about the app is that you can manipulate photos on your phone, tablet, pc, whatever.  Check it out.