Not just # 7 Anymore

Wow. Busy, busy! I just got finished with the third draft of Skinners #7 and thought I’d post a little progress update. My progress is…I’ve finished the third draft of Skinners #7. Guess I shouldn't have led with that, huh? Well, it’s coming along nicely. I've even got a title....Skinners Book 7: Forged from Ash. But wait, there's more! Here's a very cool thing for Show & Tell. A sneak peek of the cover!!

 

Woo hoo!! Very cool.

In other news, I’ve entered into a working partnership with Crossroad Press. When I launched into the whole ebook thing, I was very excited. It allows me to write what I want, but I also had to do other stuff like formatting for different services, trying to network with different outlets for marketing / distribution and all that kind of non-writing thing. I thought, “If only someone else could do that stuff so I could just keep writing.” Well, Crossroad Press does that stuff and they seem very capable of doing a great job of it! They’ll be able to put my books into formats that I couldn’t figure out and a few that were simply beyond my reach. There’s a much better chance for trade paperback copies and audiobook versions. Awesome! They also work very quickly. Since there are just a few more hoops to jump through, however, the release of Skinners 7 might have to be pushed back by a month or so. I know you guys are waiting for the book, but this way it gets released in a much better and much more complete fashion than me doing it completely on my own. Thought I’d let you guys know right up front. Trust me, it’ll be worth it. 

Skinners #7

Things have been crazy lately! I’ve been doing a ton of work, although a lot of it isn’t exactly easy to find. A big part of most writers’ income includes work for hire which is along the lines of ghostwriting. Hey, work is work and bills gotta get paid. The main reason I’m mentioning this is because I’ve been talking about working on the next Skinners for quite a while and this is why it’s taken so long for me to get it completed. I’ve been working on a couple different projects at once for the last few years and Skinners has always been top of my list.

Of course, I’ve got other stuff in the works, but more on that some other time. This is a Skinners post! As lots of you already know, I’m publishing the next one on my own digitally. If there’s enough demand, I can look into print copies, but for now this’ll be the way to go. As of today, I’m closing in on finishing the manuscript for Book 7!!!! Woo Hooo!!!! It took me a while to gear up for this one and then a little while more to figure out where, exactly, I wanted to go after Extinction Agenda. I’ve always had a general idea, but the “exactly” part of that last sentence is the tricky part. Trust me, that extra gestation time pays off in the end. I’m REALLY happy with how this is turning out.

Another thing I’ve always said is that I always saw Skinners as an ongoing storyline with arcs that change Cole’s world in major ways. Basically, every 3 books is an arc and #6 (despite the rather final statement at the end of that one) wasn’t meant to wrap everything up. It was the end of an arc and Book 7 is the start of a new one. And hoo boy, are there some changes! Don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but this new arc shakes everything up while fitting in very nicely with the series.

So…Book 7. Right now, it’s called Forged from Ash and I’m shooting for a release date of this summer. My personal goal is to get it out there in June, but I’ll say summer to allow for some extra editing if needed. There’s a lot to do, but it’ll get done. As for the future of the series, I’m guessing lots of you are thinking, “Cool. New Skinners! Will it take this long between EVERY freaking book in this series?”  The answer to that is NO! My goal is to put out more books per year. They’ll be a bit shorter than the last few (I’m thinking between 300 – 400 pages each) and will cost you guys a bit less. That’s another cool thing with me putting them out digitally. I can charge what I like, which will be in the neighborhood of $2.99 - $3.99 each. That may change after a while, but not for the first arc at least.

To my Facebook friends out there, I apologize for neglecting my posts lately. Truth is, I’ve been typing so much all day that the thought of typing socially hasn’t been too appealing. I check in a lot on my phone and stuff, but just get lazy and don’t post as much as I should. Honestly, I also figured I might lose a ton of you after 219 posts of, “Hey everyone! Still writing all day. Stayed up until 6am again. I miss Twinkies!”  That’s totally true, you know. I miss the HELL out of Twinkies.

2013 is gonna be the year where I really get things out there and follow through on so many of the plans I’ve been making in previous years. Hopefully this answers a lot of questions. I’ll have a lot more to say as things progress and can’t wait to see what you guys think of the next phase of Skinners! See what I did there? “phase” like phases of the moon? Werewolves? Now you see why not hearing from me all the time is a good thing. 

1 Vote for Hibernation

Is summer over yet??? Seriously, I wish I could just sleep through this crap. I live in West Virginia, which means I was one of MANY in the path of those land hurricanes...Doritos or whatever they're calling them...that knocked out power for several days. Several days of 100+ degree weather. Fun times. Now that my freezer is back, I'm in the process of testing how much of my thawed / refrozen breakfast pastries and burgers are still edible. So far, so good!

Went to see Amazing Spider-Man yesterday. I wasn't on board with ANOTHER Spidey origin rehash, but this one was actually fairly awesome. Familiar, but tweaked just enough to feel fresh. Surprisingly enough, I still felt bad when Uncle Ben died. Spoiler?? Only for someone living under a rock. Heh. Also saw Prometheus. That was cool, but not as cool as I was expecting. If I hadn't been looking for some air conditioned place to sit during the blackout, I probably would have waited for the DVD release.

Still hard at work on writing, of course. Got some big plans for the next Skinners. Actually, I will start the actual writing on that one this month! I've got two Skinners projects coming along. One is the next book in the series and the next is a side project I've had in mind for a long time. More later!

Great for Dads!!

Here's a nice surprise over at Barnes & Noble's website!

There's a great promotion for all the Skinners ebooks! $0.99 for Blood Blade, $1.99 for Howling Legion and $4.99 for all the others.

Pretty cool. Thanks to Paul over at B&N.com. Much appreciated. If you'd like to pick up some flippin' AWESOME Nook books, just CLICK HERE.

Almost here!!!!

I know you guys have heard me go on about ebooks for a while now. Sounds like a cool idea, right? I hope so because my first book is so close to being released that I can taste it! Since I'm responsible for putting it all together, I've been taking my time to make sure it's all ready before putting it out there. Editing is almost done, the cover is coming together and I seriously think it should be ready to be unleashed onto the ebook market by mid-May.

I also know I've been saying the next Skinners book will be coming out in ebook format. The mid-May release is not Skinners, though. There's lots of reasons for this and NONE of them involve me turning my back on that series. Honestly, it took a lot out of me to write the last three and I pretty much did them back-to-back. Rather than try to get the next one out right away before it feels like the proper time, I thought I'd let it all gestate for a while. Also, Skinners is my baby and I'd rather get comfortable with the ebook process before throwing my baby out there.

That being said, the book that's almost ready to roll isn't just something I slapped together to test the waters. It's EXACTLY the sort of thing that made me want to publish in this format for such a loooong time. I've been describing it as Indiana Jones mixed with Flash Gordon and a dash of The Untouchables thrown in for flavor. It's retro sci-fi set in an alternate version of 1935 where a hard boiled PI deals with gangsters, feds, mad scientists and inter-dimensional vortexes. The more I read through this, the more I love it. Even if it would be given a chance in traditional publishing, I like the thought of handling it myself. It's first in a series and a hell of a lot of fun. I REALLY hope you guys enjoy it.

Next on my agenda is Skinners! For those of you who read Book 6, you know the Skinners world got turned on its ear. The next steps taken from there are important and the last thing I wanted to do was rush them. I've been pondering it a lot, coming up with tons of cool stuff and am PUMPED to move on with the monsters and bad-ass hunters I love so much. The next story arcs will take place some time after Book 6. They'll be a little shorter, action packed, and will branch out in several different directions. Also, I can move forward on some other Skinner stuff I've been meaning to do. For example, I've wanted to write an anthology or perhaps shorter fiction released separately (for cheaper) focusing on pivotal moments in the history of our favorite monster hunters. This series is tentatively called Skinners: Legends  and would be set in different time periods including tales of the early hunts of Jonah Lancroft, the exploits of different Full Bloods from centuries past, and accounts of Skinner pioneers like the one responsible for their shapeshifting weapons. Stuff like that. I told ya! I'm NOT leaving Skinners behind.

So that's the big update. I cannot express how grateful I am that you have stuck around. There's still a ways to go and every time I hear from a reader about how they're looking forward to something new from me, it puts wind in my sails. Thank you so much for that. I'll let you know when the first book in that new series is out and of course I'll keep you updated on any and all things Skinners. Oh, and I'm also working on another website with two other like-minded authors venturing into ebook territory for the sole purpose of writing the cool stuff we love. It's been a long time coming, but things are about to get REAL interesting!

Fallout

When I was writing Extinction Agenda, I knew I wanted it to be apocalyptic. Things in the Skinners world were never exactly cheery, but I wanted them to get pushed into a whole new realm when I made the transition from one story arc to another. As I discussed earlier, I decided to go along my intended route even after HarperCollins decided this would be the last Skinners book they would publish. What I had in mind for the next arc was cool, exciting and fell in line with all the groundwork I've been setting. To bring it all to a halt now would just feel wrong. Even so, some very important things do come to an end in this book. Just reading the title would tell you that much. For those of you who haven't read Extinction Agenda yet, I'll warn you there may be some spoilers coming up in the rest of this entry.



So...writing the end of Book 6 was difficult for me. VERY difficult. What happened in it, I feel, had to happen. It's the way the story played out when I conceived it and still feels right to me now. From the very start, I didn't want any of my characters to feel safe. Nothing bugs me more than main characters in any sort of fiction who walk away from every explosion, dust themselves off after every fight and survive every catastrophe simply because they're the main characters. Skinners, above all else, are warriors. In Book 1, one of their greatest was killed so he could pass the torch on to Cole. They've been dropping off like flies for centuries, partly because they're the nut-jobs who stand toe-to-toe with monsters and partly because they are in a VERY dangerous line of work. The sacrifice that was made at the end of Book 6 paves the way for the rest of the series. Those who were lost will NOT be forgotten. On the contrary, their memory will be carried throughout the rest of the books by everyone who was strong (and lucky) enough to have survived the events of Extinction Agenda.

That being said, and no matter how confident I felt in my choice or how well I think I portrayed those events on paper, I knew I would hear about it from readers. That's a good thing. It means you guys are out there reading my books and paying attention to what happens in them. I understand why some of you are upset. Honestly, I got broken up every time I had to read through that last scene. After all, I've been with these characters longer than anyone. Most of the responses I've heard have been good. Thanks for that. Some of you are mad and some are saying this is a crappy way to end the series. If I was ending the series here, I agree. This WOULD have been a crappy way to do it. It's not the end, though. Trust me. I'll write more Skinners books because, if for no other reason, I won't have it end this way. There's more story to tell and if you can believe anyone who says that, you can believe me. 

Finally, what happened at the end of Book 6 was necessary. If everyone had come away free and clear after having retreated to fight another day, things would have been a WHOLE lot worse for the world in general. Since Skinners don't retreat (at least, not the Skinners who are the focus of the series), they had to charge into a fight against a purely destructive force. Having everyone walk away from that with just a few more scars and a wary chuckle didn't set well with me. Not only will the survivors return with the proverbial vengeance, but they will do their damndest to make sure every bad guy out there regrets the loss of those who didn't make it. Until now, the Skinners have been fractured and fighting with their backs in a corner. Now, they can become something more. Maybe something even scarier than the werewolves they fight. Nobody will forget about those who fell at the end of Book 6. I'll make sure of it.

Release Day #6

And so Book 6 hits the shelves.
Hope all of you guys enjoy it.
Today was pretty quiet around here. As I mentioned before...no Borders to go to and sneak a peek at the shelves. Not even any big name bookstores within thirty miles (give or take). Strange. I kept my eye on Amazon sales for a little while, but I'll go nutso if I get too wrapped up in that. So far, so good though! Already, my brain is churning with where to take the series next. I've already mentioned on this blog about my plans to go the ebook route. With that new Kindle Fire coming out, this could be the perfect time for it. Even without a new device, it seems ebooks have more than made their presence known.

So get out there and buy the book. Read it. Let me know what you think. Can't wait to hear from ya!

Odds & Ends

These last few weeks have been strange. I've been working on some older projects, some ghostwriting (a guy's gotta pay the bills) as well as some new projects. The new projects include a few steampunk offerings, two of which are with editors in NY and others are going straight to ebook format. The first draft of one series is completed and I'm liking it a lot. It's pure adventure with plenty of retro sci-fi goodness thrown in that was a ton of fun to write. Thank God for ebooks because this series would never make it past the editors wondering "How does THIS tap the marketplace that reads [insert some other currently popular series here]?" Sink or swim, I'll finally be able to write the stuff I've wanted to write. Hopefully you guys will think it's just as fun to read as it was to create. More details as they come along.

Also, I've been into some new video games. Arkham City is a big one, but I'm also well entrenched in Gears of War 3. Both are awesome games that make me wish I could chuck everything else and just play. Some of that time is taken up by reading comic books. I'm still loving most of DC's New 52. At the top of my list are Justice League, Animal Man, Aquaman and Deathstroke. Aquaman???? Yes, I'm loving Aquaman. It does a great job of making him cool while also acknowledging how un-cool he's been for so very long. "So," one reporter asks Aquaman in issue #1, "how does it feel to be NOBODY'S favorite super hero?" Niiiiice.

Tuesday, Extinction Agenda is released. Since Borders has closed up, I really don't have anywhere to go to check shelves around here on release day. You guys will have to let me know if you spot them out and about. I know I've said I gave up on checking the shelves on previous release days, but who am I kidding? I go out to have a look and everyone knows it. After some of the editing blunders that made it through the process of putting Book 5 together, I'm a little nervous about that aspect as well. I tried my damndest (as I always do) on Book 6 and even enlisted some extra help, but I'm sure there will be flubs here and there. In my own defense, my books aren't the only ones with crap like that in them. All I can say is oh well. I write to provide a fun experience for the readers and hopefully that's what they are.

This last year or two have been one hell of a roller coaster ride for a great many reasons. Many are personal, including my move out to West Virginia. That's been fun getting used to a whole new part of the country. I've always been a Midwestern boy, but am liking it out here just fine. Also, the entire publishing industry has been tossed on its ear lately. I've already mentioned ebooks, but there's also been the loss of some big name retailers along with the looming arrival of game changers like the new Kindle Fire. A Kindle with some snazzy tablet computer functionality combined?? Sign me up! This thing looks to be huge and even if it flops, ebooks aren't going anywhere anytime soon. These kinds of things have scared the shit out of most everyone in the writing / publishing industry because they represent such humongous changes. My hope is to keep getting my stories out there so they can be enjoyed. Who knows? Maybe I'll even be able to get MORE stuff out there!

Anyway, look for Extinction Agenda on shelves or online starting October 25th!! Let me know what you think and I'll let you know what's next as soon as I have some definite news to share. Trust me, I'll be sending some cool stuff your way.

Busy busy!

Putting the final tweaks on SKINNERS 6. That doesn't mean I've caught every last mistake. After all, with so much awesomeness distracting my attention, some things are bound to slip through. If you'd like to know where I got my swelled head, click here to take a look at this AMAZING article that just appeared on the Barnes & Noble Book Club page about Skinners! Many thanks to Paul for bringing a much-needed smile during a hectic time.

Book 5 seems to be doing pretty well. I've abandoned the practice of checking in on sales figures and such. If they're good, I'll hear about it eventually and if they're bad, I don't wanna know. I'll keep doing my thing, always trying to do my best no matter what. Is that healthy? I don't know. I'm the guy who eats Ramen noodles most of the time for lunch and blew my load at the very sight of Brownie Crunch Cocoa Puffs. Those are pretty good, but not as good as the normal Cocoa Puffs, in case you were wondering. Anyway, I know my "don't ask, don't check reviews" policy works well enough. When I was keeping on top of it, I nearly drove myself into a heart attack.

The next project I'm working on is an installment in the Dead Man series of ebooks. These things are great! Very reminiscent of the slam-bang, hit hard and hit fast sort of books that I read growing up. The Executioner, Remo Williams, all that great stuff. Ebooks make them a lot easier to find, buy and read. Still madly in love with my Kindle, just to be clear. Heh. Not sure when my Dead Man book will be out, but the newest one is Blood Mesa by James Reasoner. The Kindle version can be found here and the Nook version here. Check 'em out!

So there's my update. Talk to you in a bit...

Get Broken!!

For some reason, I was convinced that Skinners 5 was going to be released at the end of LAST month. I was even telling people, "Check it out at the end of April!" like some kind of moron. Once I realized that was wrong, I forgot about it almost completely. Every now and then I'd mention something on Facebook, but then I'd go back to having to check the back of a promo cover for the actual release date. Well, no more of that because THE BREAKING is finally on store shelves!!

WOO HOO!!!!

This is one of the longest books I've ever written. Not such a landmark in itself, but there you go. There's a lot going on in this one and I think it's all pretty damn cool. I introduce some new creatures, some new Full Bloods, some new chaos into the world we all thought we knew, and you get to witness me unleashing my whole "what-if" wish fulfillment where monsters are concerned. It gets ugly, folks, but in a great way.


The UPS guy just showed up at my door with a box of new Skinners. This is the first time I've seen the actual finished book. Funny because some of you guys got to see it before me! I'll be digging in to my promotional attempts, but I wish I was better at that part. If I could just write new stuff and get it out there without worrying about PR, I'd be happy. I love this sort of thing as well as talking / emailing with readers, but the more official stuff isn't my thang. It's all part of the job, so I soldier on. Honestly, I feel bad sometimes for just talking about my books and harping on the titles, availability and all of that stuff. Stupid, but it's true. Most of that might come from an intrinsic belief that people don't care about what I say. The stories are one thing, but the rest.... Whether that's true or not, it makes it seem odd for me to get out there and promote as if anyone's listening. Welcome to my brain. Population: 87 (1 "eccentric" introvert and 86 other radically different voices that won't stop chattering about nonsense and evil plans).

In other release news, I hope you all have been checking out the Dead Man series of ebooks. The new one (The Dead Woman) is released today and you can get it on Kindle here or Nook here. The basics...
THE DEAD WOMAN is BOOK #4 in THE DEAD MAN saga, the action/horror series that readers and book critics alike are hailing as "an epic tale" that compares to the best of Stephen King and Dean Koontz...Matt Cahill thought he was alone with his torment, that he was the only one who could see the evil in people’s souls as rotting flesh. But in a small town in Tennessee, terrorized by a vicious serial killer, Matt meets a woman who may see what he does…and together they must confront a horrific and immortal terror that thrives on death. Amazing action in bite sized chunks and you all know I'm an expert in bite sized chunks. Heh. I'll let you know when my Dead Man book will be coming out.

Vampire Uprising released!!!

Here we go again. Another SKINNERS hits the shelves. I'm not falling for it this time. Every time there's a new release, I go out and try to find my book on store shelves and every time I have to ask someone to dig into their back room to find me a copy. That's just around here, though. I've had plenty of reports from other areas that they find it displayed prominently at their local store. Plus, this being the 21st century, plenty of people get their copies online anyway. It's a joyous occasion, but I'm NOT going out looking tomorrow.

I will be out, though. It's Tuesday which means new DVDs and games are released so I always hit Best Buy to take a peek. I've also got to run some errands before driving to Columbus, OH for the World Fantasy Convention over the weekend. Who am I kidding? I'll probably hit a bookstore just like I do every other release day. It's fun...right until my hometown Barnes & Noble doesn't include me on the Local Authors table. DOH!!!

It's all right. I'm still on the shelves eventually and plenty of you good folks will be reading my words. That's undeniably awesome. Book 6 is coming along fine and I've got lots of ideas brewing beyond that. Day 1 or not, Vampire Uprising is an awesome book and I'm very proud of it. Hope everyone likes it, so be sure to let me know what you think.

Always more to do

I really need to get crackin' on updating my main website. So far, the only real stuff I've done to it is to put new covers on when the books come out. Actually, I should say Webmaster Steve does that sort of thing. I have high hopes for the appendixes, but I have to do more than hope on those. I actually need to sit down and write some things. When I do (which won't be long), it'll be pretty cool. The MEG Files will be a reference to the main characters and the Skinner Field Guide will be a reference to the creatures. Doesn't sound like a lot for me to do, right? Well, it's really not. That's my fault.

Just got finished with the edits for Skinners 4 and they're looking great. You'd think I'd learn something by paying attention to all those copy editor's notes. I do! I pay attention, but my strong suit has never been comma usage. That's what the copy editors are for and I'd hate to put them out of a job. By the way, thanks to my copy editors. You're the busy hands dusting me off, straightening my tie and slicking back my hair before I present my books to the world.

The first draft of Skinners 5 is moving right along. Just got finished with a major action scene and some pretty cool interactions between Cole and a newly introduced Full Blood. Could I be more generic than that? Let's see...Paige is also kicking someone's butt and flipping someone else some attitude. More generic?? Seriously? Ok. Somebody else is doing some stuff and interjecting dialogue along the way. Heh. That was fun.

Through the lovely month of May

Once again, I've been invited to be featured on the Barnes & Noble Paranormal / Urban Fantasy Book Club message board. It's always a pleasure and I'll be there this entire month. After chatting about Teeth of Beasts, you can look around at all the other stuff there. It's a great site, so do yourself a favor and bookmark it.

In other news, I finally got around to seeing Avatar. I was resistant simply because I've been hearing the hype for this movie since I was about...what...eight years old? Much like Titanic, the more I was ordered to see this spectacle and COMMANDED to love it, the less I wanted to go. Contrary by nature, I suppose. Still haven't seen Titanic, but that doesn't have aliens flying on little dragons and Marines in battle armor. First of all, seeing Avatar on Blu Ray was amazing. Secondly, this one truly did live up to the hype. For the 4 or 5 of you out there who may not have seen it yet either, it's definitely worth it.

My editor is asking for title suggestions for Skinners Book 5. I always have a title in mind when writing a book, but it just gets filed under the "Nice try, but no dice" category. More often than not, the final title winds up better than my first choice anyway. My first title for Book 2 was Beneath the Flesh. I thought it pertained to shapeshifters and sounded creepy. It got rejected because it was too creepy. Heh. Anyway, Howling Legion is a lot better than that one.

Ok. I need to clean up the place and maybe dig in to some games. Maybe I'll pick up the new downloadable content for Left 4 Dead 2. Yeeeeeah....

Teeth of Beasts RELEASED!!

Every time one of my books is released, going all the way back to the very first of my westerns under the Marcus Galloway pseudonym, I tell myself I won't go out to bookstores looking for it on the shelves. I realize I'm not a huge name and the booksellers don't get around to stocking my wares right away. Even with these expectations, I still feel the little twinge in my gut when my big day comes and goes without the very important retail portion of the equation seeming to notice. No big drama. Just an uncomfortable twinge.

Or maybe it's just the stores in my home town. When I went to the major chains for BLOOD BLADE and HOWLING LEGION, I had to ask for them since they weren't anywhere to be found. The clerk had to go in back, put on a miner's cap with one of those little lights on it, venture into the bottom of the stacks, disappear for 10 minutes, take a coffee break, venture back, place their miner's hat somewhere to recharge the light's battery and then finally hand a new book over to someone who wanted to see it on the shelves FRONT AND CENTER!! Well, this time was a little different.

When I went to a local Borders, TEETH OF BEASTS wasn't on the New Release shelf. It was on the top of a stack on a cart, ready to be stocked. At Barnes & Noble, it was on the New Release shelf at the front of the science fiction / fantasy section. Not quite the super-cool New Release tower at the front of the store, but still pretty good! Progress!! And, they had copies of the first two! The whole idea is for the series to expand and take up more space on the shelf so more readers are drawn to my awesomeness. I'd even accept them being drawn to the awesomeness of the covers.

For now, things seem to be plugging away nicely. I still won't obsess about reviews or the sales numbers on Amazon simply because I can't do a lot about that stuff right now. I'll be making some rounds to spread the word either way and will always do my best to promote no matter what the numbers are. The rest is a lot of "wait and see".

So let me know what you think of the new book. Comment here whenever you like. Hopefully I can see some of you at one of these upcoming conventions. I'm also trying to arrange some more con appearances, but a lot of the good ones are in October and there are only so many weekends to work with. Fortunately, going to a bunch of horror / fantasy cons in a row doesn't sound like a terrible thing. I'll work something out. In the meantime, it's back to work for me!!

Almost Forgot

With all the work I've been doing on Book 5, the release date for Book 3 almost slipped right by me. That's right! Skinners 3: Teeth of Beasts will be released on the 27th!! This is where a lot of stuff in the Skinners-verse is shaken up. New battles. New beasts. New....lots of new stuff. It is a new book, after all. Hey, I'm a writer not an advertising exec. Just go buy it, OK? Thanks.

I'm still trying to line up convention appearances and signings so check in here for details. Also, I'll keep the offer open a little while longer for sending out those free signed covers. I've been getting requests and will send them out the next time I get to the post office.

As I'm writing this, there's some gross internet stuff showing on TV. Isn't it bad enough I have to see this stuff online? Yowza. Need to turn this stuff off and get back to work. I've got enough sick garbage in my head without more being shown to me.

REAL announcements

I already caught flak for the last April Fool's post. Heh. Can't say as I blame you for that. Prank or not, the thought of softening up Skinners just don't sit right. Fear not. I'm still on the horror track where I belong and have no thoughts of straying.

As for some real announcements, I've been lining up some conventions. This summer, I'll be appearing at OSFest here in Omaha. There's Archon at the beginning of October and I'll also be going to this year's World Fantasy Con at the end of October. I need to contact the WFC folks to see about doing any panels and such, but I know I'll be attending one way or the other. The specifics will be at the top of my blog page. Hopefully I'll see some of you at one of these events. I'll also be lining up some more when I get the chance. And for those of you who can't attend, you can always hit me up for a signed cover for Book 3. Get 'em while they're hot. Well, they'll always be hot, but I may run out. Gotta stay confident, right?

UPDATE - Just heard back from the World Fantasy Con. Looks like they've got a slot open for me! See you in Columbus.

Weekend in review

Man, did we shoot a lot of video at Villisca! The Nevermore folks and I sifted through a large chunk of DVR footage, but didn't find much of anything. Sometimes I'm surprised I don't make something move just through the sheer force of my own will while staring at a chair or stack of books on that screen. Nothing paranormal on the pictures I took, but I did find a few cool EVPs. There was some distant singing in the child's room and scratching sounds on the equipment itself. Since it was too damn cold for any of us to be singing, that raises my eyebrow. Still plenty to go through and I will report on anything else we find. Check out this picture from the cellar. I think the last scene from The Blair Witch Project was shot down there.



Other than that, it was a pretty easy weekend. I've been playing through God of War 3. That game still kicks ass. Finally completed Batman: Arkham Asylum. I haven't been able to play that as often as I like, plus I've been purposely taking my time so I didn't get through it too quickly. When something's good enough, you wanna savor it. Heh.



So now it's time to dive head-first into Skinners 5. Book 3 comes out next month and 4 should be out at the end of October. It'll be a wild ride. Be sure to get your copies and tell your friends to get their own. I'm setting up convention appearances, so keep an eye on that to get those books signed! Talk to you later.

DONE!!! For now

The final draft for Skinners 4: Vampire Uprising is finished! And when I say "final draft", I mean the draft before the editors get their hands on it and work their magic. And by "finished", I mean...well that's it. This draft really is finished. It's looking good and sets up a whole lot of great stuff for Cole, Paige and the series in general.

Books 4-6 are supposed to come out with shorter times in between them, so I'll be digging in to #5 really soon. As in, next week or possibly late this week. Very cool. That cuts down on the time for my brain to get back into Skinners mode and all the continuing threads in the storyline will still be fresh for me. So, instead of sitting here typing this blog, I need to get to Office Max and get some paper for the printer. When, o when will I be able to throw this printer out and switch to emailing everything? Sure, it's cool to see the whole manuscript in a pile of pages, but it ain't cheap!

Maybe I'll treat myself to an Almond Joy Latte at Scooters. Yeah, I've earned it.

I wonder if the movie will be as good as the book?

Picked up the DVD for the animated Planet Hulk movie. Talk about an awesome comic book! That story had it all and it was focused on a huge green dude that smashes stuff. I know the movie can't cover all the bases of a 10+ issue story arc, but I hope it's good enough to represent. I want to know where the second Doctor Strange animated feature is!

In other news, Skinners 4 is coming along nicely. My brain is already chugging on Skinners 5, which amounts to a whole lot of grinding gears and smoke coming from the space between my ears. Considering the previous paragraph, I can't help but think how cool a Skinners comic book would be. I'd take a movie too, in case any Hollywood big-timers are reading this. Heh.

I've become addicted to Jimmy John's sandwiches. Not only are they delightfully tasty, but their delivery truly is freakishly fast!! There's one across the street from my place, which means the sandwich is there sometimes before I hang up the phone from ordering. Ok, maybe not THAT freakish, but pretty darn close.

Had our first rain of the winter season. It's nice to have the piles of snow washed down to the point where I can turn onto another street and actually SEE if a car's coming or not. I know. I'm picky.

Should I get a coffee drink? An Almond Joy Latte from Scooters sounds great right about now. If the Jimmy John's guy would swing by there to pick one up for me, I'd never have to leave my sanctuary.

That's how we laugh the day away in the merry ol Omaha!

Made a few little adjustments to the blog. You may have noticed the new picture across the top title. That's been a long time coming. Also, I put some song quotes along with the books they go with on the side. When I first put this blog together, I thought of putting a play list of songs up since there are a few songs I listen to a LOT while writing the books. Then I saw how many other sites do this same thing and decided not to bother. I'm such a rebel. Some of these lyrics are just too perfect, though, so I put them here. It's some cool decoration, anyway.

Today was Tax Day for me. Since we get all of our stuff by now, I don't see any reason to put it off. Thanks to the myriad of financial forms, mumbo jumbo and black magic that go along with figuring income and deductions for the self-employed, we have to get ours done at H&R Block. It comes out much better in the long run and it's worth it to me to sit and watch an accountant sift through all of that crap than having to do it myself. Still awaiting the final verdict, but things aren't looking too bad.

Starting in on the next draft of Skinners 4. This will be the last one I do before sending it to my editor. I'm really happy with this one and excited to get into #5. Books 4-6 will be coming out at a pretty good pace. So far, the release schedule is: Book 3: Teeth of Beasts releasing on April 27th, Book 4: Vampire Uprising releasing on Oct. 26th, and Book 5: Werewolf Boogaloo releasing on April 26th of 2011. I may have to re-think the title for #5, but the release date is accurate.