Blog Archives

THE TERROR PROJECT: SALE and a RELEASE PARTY VIDEO TREAT!

Terror Project Covers 1

Want some great summer chillers to enjoy at the beach? Now’s your chance to get nine great novellas and pay less…and scroll down to get a peek at the private Three on a Match Release Party!

Books & Boos Press is offering the first two books in The Terror Project series—Triplicity, which contains stories by Stacey Longo, Rob Smales and Tony Tremblay—and Three on a Match, which contains my J-horror inspired piece “Splendid Chyna” and tales by G. Elmer Munson and Melissa Crandall—for a special sale price TODAY (June 4) through June 10 (next Sunday).

Triplicity and Three on a Match will be $9.99 (30% off) for the paperback and $1.99 for the ebook (50% off).

In addition, the third volume, Three A.M. Wake-Up Call, hits Amazon on Tuesday, June 5 (tomorrow) and is available for pre-order today. This third installment showcases novellas by Nick Cato, David Daniel, and Rob Watts.

Here’s where you can get your copies (click on the titles):

Triplicity

“Brando and Bad Choices” by Stacey Longo

“Steel” by Tony Tremblay

“The Christmas Spirit” by Rob Smales

 ♦

Three on a Match

“Splendid Chyna” by Kristi Petersen Schoonover

“All’s Well That Ends” by G. Elmer Munson

“Thicker Than Water” by Melissa Crandall

  ♦

Three A.M. Wake-Up Call

“Chew Toys” by Nick Cato

“Clinton Road” by Rob Watts

“Roons” by David Daniel

Want them on audio? Guess what? Audio books are on their way! I’ll post on this blog when those are available.

Below, get a peek at the private Three on a Match Release Party, which was held at my house in September. Don’t miss out, and happy reading!

At Rhode Island Comic Con this Weekend!

RI ComicCon Logo

I’ll be signing at the Rhode Island Comic Con this Saturday and Sunday, November 3 and 4, with fellow New England Horror Writers David Price, Stacey Longo (Malicious Deviance), Charles Day (Evil Jester Press, Legend of the Pumpkin Thief), Scott Goudsward (Shadows Over New England), and Rob Watts (Huldufolk).

The event will run on Saturday from 10 to 7 and Sunday from 10 to 5 at the Rhode Island Convention Center, 1 Sabin Street, Providence, and promises to be quite the weekend: in addition to vendors and celebrity signings, the schedule’s crammed with face painting, costume/cosplay contests, video game tournaments, Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon Tournaments, panels, and even a kids’ room. Movie cars include the Dukes of Hazzard’s General Lee, the Ghostbusters Wagon, the Delorean from Back to the Future, and more. For all the details, visit here: http://www.ricomiccon.com/#!home/mainPage

Celebrities include a mega-list for those in my age-range: Buck Rogers! Chewbacca! Q! Holly from Land of the Lost! Major Don West from Lost in Space! But wait for it: I go to lots of cons and don’t usually bother meeting the celebrities (most of the time it’s because I’m too old to know who any of these people are). But this time around, that won’t be the case. Nine members of the cast of the original Battlestar Galactica will be there, including Dirk Benedict! If you knew me as a seven-year-old, then you know what a big deal that is: Battlestar was my favorite show. Well, until The A-Team came along. Now, NOW we are cooking with gas! But the big question is, do I bring my Battlestar Galactica board game or my original TV tie-in? I guess it all depends on how geeky I want to get, right? See you in line!

We Rocked and Shocked the weekend…

The New England Horror Writers were up at Rock and Shock in Worcester, MA, last weekend. We met new friends and old, sat on panels, had a great time, and, of course, sold some books. Here’s pix from the weekend — just click on any photo for a larger view and to flip through the gallery.

Scary Scribes: Hear Huldufolk and catch Crabapples here!

HuldufolkCoverArt

If you missed an exclusive sneak peek of Rob Watts’ Crabapples and a creepy discussion about all things Huldufolk on this month’s Scary Scribes, the only thing you have to fear is the Huldufolk themselves. You can listen to the episode right here:

Scary Scribes Ep 6 – Rob Watts, 06-24-2012

or on the Paranormal, Eh? Radio Network here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/paranormaleh/2012/06/24/scary-scribes-ep-6-1

Scary Scribes tonight: Huldufolk high-jinx; Crabapples exclusive peek!

HuldufolkCoverArt

We’re pleased to feature Rob Watts, author of Huldufolk—the first in his quartet of paranormal books called The Crooked Roads through Cedar Grovetonight at 6 p.m. on Scary Scribes. We’ll not only learn all about those hidden creatures of Iceland, we’ll get an exclusive sneak peek of the second book in the Cedar Grove quartet, Crabapples!

Rob grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and has degrees in Culinary Arts and Hotel/Restaurant and Travel Management. After a long career in the culinary industry, he spent a lot of years researching and writing on the subject of Boston’s historical music scene. Rob is also a musician—and he’s combined his music and love of travel to places such as Switzerland, Sweden, France, Iceland, Denmark, Kiribati, Mexico, The Caribbean, all over the U.S. and Canada and so on—with his thriller writing, and thus each book in his series The Crooked Roads through Cedar Grove will feature an accompanying CD of original music. Find out more at www.robwattsonline.com.

Our interview with Rob will begin at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 24. Listen in here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/paranormaleh/2012/06/24/scary-scribes-ep-6-1

Rob Watts in Iceland

Rob Watts in Iceland

Strawberries and Screams: Pix of NEHW at South Windsor’s Strawberry Fest!

New England Horror Writers had a screamin’ good time at the South Windsor (CT) Strawberry Festival on June 16. Here’s pix. Like these? Even more located here, at Robert J. Duperre’s blog: http://www.theriftonline.com/1/post/2012/06/nehw-at-the-south-windsor-strawberry-fest.html…and here, by Jason Harris at the New England Horror Writers blog: http://nehwnews.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/pictures-from-the-south-windsor-strawberry-fest-and-craft-fair/

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Stop by the Strawberry Fest this weekend!

I’ll be signing books at the New England Horror Writers booth at the South Windsor Strawberry Fest and Craft Fair this weekend. Joining me will be Rob Watts (Hudulfolk), Stacey Longo, Robert Duperre (The Rift Series), K. Allen Wood (Shock Totem) and Jesse Young (The Rift Series).

The fair, located at Nevers Road Park in South Windsor,CT, will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16.

Hope to see you there!

Pix: New England Horror Writers at the East Coast Craft Fair

The New England Horror Writers were at the East Coast Craft Fair in New Haven, Connecticut, last month. Here are the pix!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Book Trailers: Boon or Bust?

I’ve been writing short stories since the age of five. At that age and into my early teens, I’d often dream of a commercial—a trailer, basically, but I didn’t know that word back then—for my tales; I could envision my characters as though they were real, talking to each other, saying their dialogue against cool music, and big letters with the title of my story and my name. I used to think, “why don’t people make these for books?”

Well, just like I had always thought “why don’t they just put a single song on a cassette?” in the late 1970s and then in the late 1980s it happened, book trailers burst on the scene a few years ago. I was thrilled that they finally existed, although some writers in some discussion groups in which I participate don’t necessarily feel the same way. There has been some debate about the value of book trailers—are they really necessary? Should I spend time on making one for my book? Should I spend money in hiring a company to make a trailer for me? Do they really sell books?

Frankly, I believe whether or not there’s a traceable point-of-purchase from your trailer to your book is irrelevant. A trailer provides content which supports your book. It takes less time to watch than a review takes to read, is easily accessible via mobile devices, and, more importantly, it’s visual, so it’s easy to remember. And while not many book trailers go crazy-viral, every book trailer has that potential.

I’m a visual person; when I read, I see what I’m reading as a “film” in my head (if that doesn’t happen, I put the book down and read no further). Therefore, a trailer is much more likely to entice me to make a purchase than a review—especially if that trailer’s unique or entertaining. Today’s audiences are so used to being bombarded with visual media 24/7—Youtube, Vimeo, Hulu, Netflix, DVRs, 24/7 Cable, watch everything instantly on your Kindle Fire, your laptop, your Ipad; in addition, the generations behind Generation X, the current and future book buyers, are primarily visual learners (Gardner, 1993)—so it just makes sense your book should have a footing there. After all, when you release a book trailer, what you’re really saying is, ‘hey, my book’s as entertaining as a movie or show! Come check it out!’

The value in a book trailer isn’t always tangible. But I know that sometimes a trailer has made a book look so exciting I had to have it—whether it was at that moment or down the road.

And isn’t that what you want?

Below, some book trailers I liked which grabbed me for one reason or another. I was going to provide a huge list of resources, but fiction writer Darcy Pattison has done such a comprehensive job of covering all aspects I’m going to let her do the work: http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/book-trailers/

The Hour Before Dark, Douglas Clegg

Breaking Silence, Linda Castillo

http://vimeo.com/23451198

Crabapples, Rob Watts

Dark Matter Heart, Nathan Wrann

Gardner, H. (1993). Mulitple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books.

Come join me and the NEHW at the East Coast Craft Fair this Sunday!

I’ll be joining New England Horror Writers Kimberly Dalton, Stacey Longo, Kasey Shoemaker, Rob Watts, and Nathan Wrann at the East Coast Craft Fair in New Haven, CT, this Sunday for signings and readings! Get a glimpse of what you won’t want to miss in this post by Jason Harris over at the NEHW blog below:

http://nehwnews.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/nehw-at-new-haven-craft-show-sunday/

%d bloggers like this: