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A Worthy Cause

28 Jan

For those of you who may not have heard yet, Armand Rosamilia is collecting fellow author’s books to send to the troops stationed in Kuwait and Afghanistan in April. If you are an author and want to help, join this effort and then get in touch with Armand at Facebook for the address to send your copies. Let’s do something positive for someone else! And props to Joe McKinney for previously doing an event like this and seeding the idea!

Not an author and still want to support the cause?  You can help with shipping costs AND get a really cool t-shirt, too! Just go to http://teespring.com/ASOT2014 and order the size you want.  Don’t want a shirt, but still want to help with shipping?  Reach out to Armand and he’ll get you the Paypal email address where you can donate to help.

Do it.  It’s a worthy cause.

 
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Posted by on January 28, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

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Bits of Tid…er, Tidbits?

21 Jan

Is there really a point to this late night blog entry?  Sort of.  Kinda, but not really?  Most of my blog entries are at such odd times.  While most ‘bloggers’ try to time their blog posts to where the most people will see them, I write mine when I can.  You see, I have a new full time job.  It’s as a full time Grumpy to my youngest grandson, Poot.  Yes, that is his name.  I know it is, cuz I gave it to him.  Sometimes being a grandpa has its perks.

Anyway, with mom having to reenter the work force and daycare rates being so high, I got voluntold that I get to watch him.  At 5 months old, he and I have a lot in common.  We both have few teeth, little hair, we cry a lot, have strange smells that emanate from our bodies and we both can be pretty whiny.  Really, we’re about even at the moment. While I’ve got him beat in that I’m not in diapers, he has me beat in the ‘cuteness’ department…but that’s sort of subjective.

And apparently, we both have the attention span of a fruitfly because I almost forgot the point to all of this.  Due to my new full time employment, my online presence will be greatly diminished.  Okay, it will be almost nil.  Unless it’s late at night.  Same thing goes for my writing.  But, since I did most of my writing at night anyway, that part won’t really take a beating.

Since I was roaming the halls of this blog tonight, cleaning up a few corners, updating the ‘Works’ page by adding Amazon links to COD, (which came out a day EARLY for those paying attention) and just generally making things a little more presentable, I thought I’d drop a line to those few who frequent here and let you know…I may not be around as much as I used to be.  I still intend to meet the deadlines as set forth by my publisher.  At least, I will do my absolute BEST to meet those deadlines.  We still have Caldera penciled in for a March release.  We’re still planning on May for MS4 Blood Apocalypse.  I’ve got folks looking at Forneus Corson to see if there is some way to salvage it.  I’m currently working on MS5 The Return, and we’re hoping for a January release for it.  It won’t be until 2015 that things really get messy.  By then, I’m supposed to have a new release every couple months…alternating between an MS story and (hopefully) the Caldera line.  That is FULL-TIME writing.  So unless I can figure out how to teach Poot the in’s and out’s to a word processor…I may need to invest in a Velcro wall and a special suit for the little guy…and some noise cancelling headphones.

 
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Posted by on January 21, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

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MS3 Target: Monday!

17 Jan

If you’re one of the few who have been waiting for the release of MS3, Coalition of the Damned, your wait grows shorter.  The target release date is set for Monday.  But, if we’ve learned anything over the last year, we know that sometimes things happen.  So, if it doesn’t happen Monday, please, let’s keep the hate mail to a minimum.  Angry mobs with pitchforks and flaming torches, please try to be just a little more patient.  Besides, I’m not really sure if two people cursing in my yard shaking a pitchfork is REALLY considered an ‘angry mob’ these days, but hey, I’ll call it what it’s meant to be.

Either way, as announced before, we’ve included a wee peek into the world of viral infected zombies at the end of this one.  With luck, come March, you’ll be able to dive into a whole new world where man has fallen from his perch at the ‘top of the food chain’.

Caldera

Caldera is my first dive into the zombie infected pool and it’s my hope that you’ll enjoy it enough to allow it to be my next series.

So, with that said, enjoy your weekend, wrap up whatever else you may be in the middle of reading and get ready for the third installment in the Monster Squad series.

 
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Posted by on January 17, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

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Countdown Has Begun

10 Jan

As the title to this blog entry suggests, the countdown to the release of MS3, Coalition of the Damned, has begun.  While I don’t have an exact date, it should be about a week (give or take) for the third installment to be released to the masses.

COD mini

This release will be a little bit different than the previous Monster Squad books.  This time we plan to include a peek at an upcoming release.  We’ll be including a chapter from Caldera, my first novel delving in the zombie genre.  These aren’t your typical Romero style, slow moving, mindless munchers either.  These are the viral infected, fast moving, eat-anything-that-moves, rage type.  Pulling a chapter from early in the book, I’m hoping it will tempt you to take a chance on what I hope will become my next series.  Although Caldera was planned to be a stand alone novel without follow-up, I’ve been convinced otherwise by my beta readers and my missus.

As the release date draws closer, you know I’ll let you know.  And once it is ‘set in stone’, I’ll announce it.  Until then, keep believing, keep reading and keep checking under the bed.

 

 
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Posted by on January 10, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

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A Review That I Had to Share

19 Dec

I’ve seen other authors share their reviews.  Honestly, I couldn’t understand why.  I remember thinking as I read them, “Gee, do they so seldom get a 5 star review?” or maybe, “Was this review a certain milestone for them?”
If you’ve read my previous posts, then you know how important reviews are for writers.  We live and die by them.  Numbers matter.  Whether you work in an office and have to get quarterly reports out in time or if you work on an assembly line and have a production quota, numbers matter.  As a writer…so much weight is put into reviews that…well, it isn’t worth rehashing here.  Just trust me when I say, they MATTER.

So, what made this particular review so noteworthy?  What made me keep going back and re-reading this review?  I’ve received numerous 5 star reviews in the past.  I’ve received more than my share of 4 star reviews.  I’ve even received a 3 star review.  Heck…I even got blasted by one guy who handed down a 2 star review.  And the ONLY reason he offered up 2 stars instead of 1 was because the story had solid editing.  Of course, of all of his nitpicking, he only had one valid gripe…but is it worth going online and arguing with someone and proving them wrong?  Will it change their mind?  Will it cause them to suddenly admit they were wrong and raise their rating?  No, of course not.  Pappy always said, never argue with an idiot.  They’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.  Besides, reviews are OTHER PEOPLE’S OPINIONS.  You can’t blame someone for having a different opinion or for not liking what you offered.

So, back to the point of this blog entry.  What was it about this one particular review that had me going back to it time and again, re-reading it and smiling each time I read it?  I’ll let you decide.

Whispers – A true masterpiece!
Before I begin, I just want to say that no matter how hard I try to write a deserving review for Heath Stallcup’s “Whispers”, I fear there is no way I am going to be able to do it justice. Read the book and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
Descriptive writing can be quite the challenge for authors, so I’ve been told. Too much description – too little description; there’s a fine line between the two. Heath Stallcup has without a doubt found his “comfort zone”. In my opinion his descriptions are dead on, creating the perfect imagery for me, the reader, to envision the characters and their surroundings. Speaking of character’s – there are several main character’s, each one is well developed with a personality and voice distinctive to them. As Heath tells his story, switching between the characters is clearly defined. I never found myself confused by the story line or the character’s roles. The dialog between character’s is genuine and flow’s effortlessly.
Without saying too much, told in the prologue, “Whispers” unfolds far back in Western times. The tragic events surrounding Sheriff James “Two Guns” Tolbert and the love of his life Mary O’Dell drew me in and I was hooked, compelled to continue reading. Chapter one sets the scene in present day as local law enforcement personnel, faced with a string of grisly murders, work diligently to solve the crimes. Though I am not educated in the legal field I found Heath’s portrayal of legal behavior and the interactions between these characters believable; true to life.
I strongly recommend “Whispers”. It is so suspenseful it will keep you anxiously turning the pages wanting more, desperately needing to find out what happens next. I had difficulty putting the book down.
Treat yourself, read “Whispers”, you will not regret it, I promise.

Is this review really any different than what others have said?  Is it simply a compilation of what others have written, just strung together?  I don’t think so.  I think she nailed the hammer right on the thumb…well, okay, you know what I mean.  I’ve said all along that this was one of my favorite stories to date.  I still think this is one of my best works.  Although I’ve questioned the quality of what I do, it’s reviews like this that make me think it’s all worth it.

 
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Posted by on December 19, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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A Box Set To Remember

04 Dec

My buddy James Cook has boxed up the first three books of his Surviving the Dead series just for you and in time to make a really great Christmas gift.

Don’t miss out on this holiday special!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H0IQ87Y

 
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Posted by on December 4, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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The Countdown Has Begun

23 Nov

As of right now, there’s still officially a week left for you to enter for your free autographed copy of Whispers at Goodreads.  It doesn’t cost you anything but a wee bit of time.  So what are you waiting for?  Tell your family, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers!

Oh…yeah.  I didn’t think of that.  Yeah, the more people that enter, the lower the odds are of winning, but there’s actually going to be TWO copies given away.  There!  I just doubled your chances of winning.  So go on, tell everybody.  Help me to spread the word about this one.  So far, it’s been my favorite, both to write and to try to promote.  There was just ‘something’ about this one.  I hope that you think so too.

So scroll down on this post, look for the Goodreads ad and press the ‘enter to win’ hyperlink and get yourself in the running!  Time is running out!

 
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Posted by on November 23, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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One Week To Release!

12 Oct

Whispers

 

Yes, I know I’ve been rather excited about the release of Whispers, and now the countdown has begun.  One week from today, it will be released for public availability.  Originally, my plan was to release it on my wife’s birthday (October 20th), but since that falls on a Sunday and people who get a new book like to enjoy the weekend reading it, I figure a Midnight Friday release might be more appropriate.  Still, I’m going to call it her birthday since we’ll be celebrating it all weekend.  Hopefully, I can coordinate everything with my publisher so that she can ‘push the button’ at exactly midnight CST Friday and have it ready for everybody to enjoy.

You might wonder why I’m so excited about this particular release.  Well, it’s not exactly something I can put my finger on.  It’s not part of my signature series, the Monster Squad, but it is one of my favorite stories to date.  My missus has read everything I’ve written so far and she has other favorites, but this one is closest to my heart.  I can’t explain why.  Perhaps because I dedicated it to both of my dads?  Maybe.  My father passed in ’88 to cancer and my father in law has done his level best to be there for me even though I know filling those shoes isn’t possible.  Maybe it’s because it has small town law enforcement as the central characters…people I can relate to.  Maybe it’s because it deals with a love that runs so deep that even in death it can’t be denied.  Oh, wait.  I better not say much more.  I don’t want to give anything away.

If you’ve been one to search Amazon in anticipation, you’ll note that Whispers sits on their website but it says, Out of Print–Limited Availability.  That’s sort of a teaser.  It’s populated to Amazon and simply waiting for the publisher to ‘press the button’.  So…why wait?  Well, if you’ve followed any of my posts on Facebook, then you know that the grand majority of the characters are real people who donated their names to be used in the story.  I knew that the body count would be high in a story like this.  Rather than sit and pull out the last three or four hairs that I had left trying to think of names that sounded real, I asked for volunteers.  I posted in the thread that I would only use their names, not their likeness.  I couldn’t guarantee what would happen to them or what character they might be.  I literally printed out names, cut them out, folded them in half and put them in a hat.  As I made the list, I pulled out names and filled the list.  The Fates decided who went where.  Then I decided that those who volunteered their names should get a free autographed paperback for their trouble.  By coordinating with my publisher, she pre-ordered the books so that we could get them to folks BEFORE the book was available to the general public.  Factor in shipping to me, labeling and shipping out to them and we still had plenty of time to make it available before Halloween.

I owe a big debt of gratitude to my editor Todd Brown for getting this done in time and to my publisher Denise for having everything ready to do the pre-order and having the patience to let it sit while we wait for folks to get their copies.  I know this was no easy task.  The book was written in ‘Okie’ and spell check does NOT like southern speak.  At all.  Neither does grammar checkers.  Nope.  Not one bit.  This is one he had to do line by line, word by word.  And it is not a short story.  At over 150K words, this is a long story.

So, with all of that said, I hope that those of you who enjoy a good ghost story will give this one a shot.  It may or may not be up your alley, but it was certainly a joy to create.

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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What’s In a Review?

24 Sep

Ask just about any author and they’ll tell you that we live and die by reviews.  You wouldn’t think that much weight would go into such things, but they really do.  I’m sure there’s even more to a review than I am aware of.  Reviews are, in their own way, a lot like baseball statistics.  You can take a quick glance, see how many five star reviews, how many four star reviews, how many three’s, two’s…please, not ONE’S!  But yes, numbers count.

You might wonder, which is better, to have few reviews, but all of them five stars, or a LOT of reviews and they run the gambit from low to stellar?  That’s a good question.  It’s my personal belief that the old adage, ‘there’s no such thing as bad press’ tends to ring true.  Reviews mean READERS.  Good, bad or indifferent, the higher the number, the more attention your work will get.  Don’t believe me?  Well, let’s take a look at a book that hasn’t really been out a long time, but has a TON of reviews that range from 1 star, to 5.  I’m sure you’ve heard of Fifty Shades?  Yeah.  No, I haven’t read it.  I’ve had plenty of people who have read it tell me not to waste my time.
So, what are the numbers?  We’ll get to that in a moment.
Currently, this book is being made into a movie.  That should tell you something.  Does it tell you that it must be an amazing story with a wonderful plot and perfectly developed characters?
Uh,….no.  What it tells us is that Hollywood has run out of potentially entertaining original ideas and is turning to commercialism.  Take a healthy dose of a nude Scarlett Johansson, sprinkle with a dash of Chris Hemsworth and rather than getting Avengers 3, you get Hollywood’s version of Fifty Shades.  Yeah, THAT should sell at the box office.
Let’s talk numbers now.  Since it’s release in April of 2012, FSG currently sits on Amazon with 21,247 reviews.   Honestly, that’s a ton!
Of those reviews, a healthy 9,372 are five star reviews.  That means that clearly 44% of the people who read this thought that it was top shelf stuff.
Roughly 11%, or 2,341 people thought that it deserved four stars.  That’s a pretty good score.  Four stars is respectable.  Any author would prefer five stars, but four stars beat…
Three star reviews sit at 1,914 or roughly 9%.  Well, hey.  That’s like less than 1 in 10 so…pfft.
Two star reviews.  Yeah.  These pretty much say that you suck.  No if’s, and’s or but’s about it.  They’re telling you something here.  FSG has 1,884 of these bad boys.  That’s 8.8%.  Close enough to round up to 9.  Yeah, I wouldn’t be happy.  But, when you consider that in the grand scheme of things, this is really a small number compared to the total of reviews, right?  I mean, at over TWENTYONE THOUSAND reviews??  Okay.  If I could get that many, I’d take the 8.8% of 2 Star Slams.
Here’s where things get…nasty.  ONE star reviews.
To say that FSG wasn’t well received by quite a few people?  Well, 5,736 people slammed it with a one star.  Some of the comments left are more entertaining than the book according to the huge number of replies that the comments got.  You need to keep in mind, this is 26.9% of the people who left a review.  I think we can safely round that to 27%.  That’s more than 1 in 4.

So what’s the point?
I haven’t read FSG so I’m not about to comment and say, ‘this story is awesome, ignore the numbers and dive into it!’, nor will I say, ‘this story was horrible, don’t waste your time’.  The point is what I was trying to say earlier.  ‘There is no such thing as bad press’…but with a caveat.  When your FIVE star reviews outnumber your ONE star reviews almost two to one, then it’s a safe thing to say that bad reviews are still GOOD PRESS.
But if all you have is five or six reviews and they’re all one, two or three star?  You need to find out what is wrong and FIX IT.  Read the reviews, see what the readers are complaining about and correct it.  If they say that you can’t spell, for crying out loud, run your work through a spell checker!  If they say your grammar is so bad that they couldn’t follow your line of thinking, rewrite and hire an editor.  If they say the story is just lame, well, maybe you should take up an easier profession than writing.  Maybe astrophysics?

Reviews aren’t just there for the public either.  Places like Amazon use those numbers to ‘rank’ books and authors.  Rankings are then used to determine all kinds of internal decisions that we’ll probably never understand.  Spotlights, favorites lists, recommendations, referrals to other readers in the same genre…it all comes into play.  But only if the numbers are there.

Reviews are the lifeblood of this profession.  Most readers simply aren’t used to leaving them.  Writers have to sometimes get creative to help coerce their readers along.  Don’t be afraid to use your imagination.  I’ve seen authors use all kinds of gimmicks to help.  From simply asking, to having contests, prizes, awards, even drawings to have the readers name used in an upcoming novel.

Got a favorite author?  Have you ever referred a friend to their work?  Then do your favorite author a solid and leave an honest review the next time you finish one of their books or short stories.  If you referred a friend or loaned a book, encourage your friend to do the same.  Your actions could make the difference between your favorite author or their book being spotlighted or even noticed by someone looking to make it into a screenplay.  Yes, your review could have that much power.
Now, go forth and REVIEW.

Heath

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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