From Z2R Media - A collection of short stories assembled in Bad Juju: Vol. 1

Includes the stories:
New Eden
Native Tongue
A Coda
Scribbles
The Secrets of Mothers
The Faster You Run
The Body Vacant

Get your digital copy now
35% off retail price w/ coupon code QK49V (Good until Jan. 1, 2011)
50% off retail price w/ coupon code if you join my email list. (Good until Jan. 1, 2011). You'll get access o it after you sign up of course.

If you're already on the list expect an email from me today or you can go ahead and access the Hooligans Only area to claim your discount.

I've updated the Books section to reflect my current sales.

Additional Holiday Sale:
Get Panic in Year 2020: A zombie story for $0.99 with coupon code ZX88X  (Good until Jan. 1, 2011)

Everyone else is having sales, so why not me?
As for deciding price point for this and future collections and releases - it's been probably the toughest thing to decide but as an indie writer I have to experiment w/ what works for me.

My zombie short story is my best seller at a retail price of $1.99 which was basically a lot higher than a lot of the other short stories in the Smashwords market at the time of its release. Yes, it was a gamble but if you're not willing to take a risk as an indie writer then I don't know what to tell you. That set the tone for this current release. I can't very well charge less than that for 7 stories. It just doesn't make any sense right now.

I'm not saying it will stay this way. Nothing is set in stone. I'm not gonna price myself out of people's hands when it comes to my current and future releases especially novella/novel length works. I want as many people as possible to get a hold of my stories but at the same time I'm not going to sell myself short.

I'm a control freak so I gather data on stats, sales, and patterns so this entire thing is one exciting experiment for me. Finding the "sweet spot" is what I'm trying to do. I'll be tweaking prices accordingly based on what I see. Stay tuned.

7 short stories. Available sometime tomorrow in digital format. I'll announce it here of course. Sign up for my newsletter to get a coupon code. If you're already on my list then you're already set. I'll be sending you the code along with some other news tomorrow.

In case you didn't know - Bad Juju means: Bad aura, bad vibe, bad karma.
A colleague of mine used to always say: "I'm staying out of that, it's got bad juju."
I like the way it sounds and I actually say it quite a bit. So there

P.S.  Volume 2 is already in the works. There are plans for  a limited edition (print) and collected volumes version. Each version will have something different to offer.

Here it is, the cover art for Tales From The Abyss.
Read the official announcement for it if you haven't yet.
Sign up to receive the free e-book on June 1, 2010.

More updates coming up this week.

Anyone want to do an interview or review the ebook, shoot me an e-mail (you will get advance copy)

Above is a sneak preview of the Sid Valentine 2 cover art that I designed myself.
The actual title for the next installment is Sid Valentine and the Fearful Goddess. The short story is finished and is now in formatting stage. I will broadcast once it's available for download at Smashwords.

Where else have I been this week?

Black T-Shirt (writing horror is punk rock) - my guest blog at Ziggy's crib.

Interview alongside with writing pal A.R. Braun done by your friendly neighborhood werewolf M.T. Murphy.

Go check out both sites and leave comments, we all love hearing from you.

If you haven't joined The Hooligans yet, it takes just a sec. Join all the other Hooligans who are awesome enough to wanna follow me on this crazy adventure.
Not only will you get Tales From The Abyss for free on June 1, you'll get access to other nifty stuff. Yes, nifty. You won't be sorry.


Return of the living Deadlines! OMFG!

• Preparing for launch of Tales From The Abyss on June 1
• Setting up material for my production journal
• Futzing around with recording software
• Writing Panic in Year 2020 (zombie novel) for podcast

Clearly, it's crunch time folks...
More juicy details will be made available in production journal once I set it all up (very soon)

See you on the flipside.

I've been working with writer A.R. Braun on some projects, this is our first ever collaboration effort.

It includes 2 stories from each of us - an awesome way to get a taste of what's to come, individually and as a writing team.
It will only be available to those who sign up and it's absolutely free in digital format.

The bottom line is, you'd have to be a complete putz to not sign up.

Tales From The Abyss sign up right here baby!!!

A couple of reasons why you should join the fun:
1. It's painless - no invasive procedure involved. (If you feel a sharp pain on your side I didn't do it.)
2. Weird-ass and scary stories for weird-ass and scary people. Yes, that means you! Yeah, you right there, don't look away...It's ok, you're amongst friends.
3. I may end up podcasting this release as well, and when that happens, only those on the list will get to hear it.

You may be eligible to receive an advance copy if:
1. You'd like to interview/feature us and our work in your blog/podcast.
2. You'd like to review it in your blog/podcast and provide us with blurbs for inclusion in the promo.

Contact me for more info.

Click HERE to claim your copy on June 1st, 2010.

Or is it: Have a beer then kill a zombie?

My latest short story Panic in 2020: A Zombie Story is now available in fancy-shmancy sleek digital format at Smashwords for a whopping $1.99.

A quick synopsis:
The year is 2020. A crew of 7 astronauts who have been in space for 10 years for an interstellar project are en route back to Earth when all contact is lost with Mission Control. They come home to realize that life as they knew it had changed.


I need your help fellow hooligans!
If you're a writer and want to collaborate contact me.
If you want to collaborate with anything contact me.
Anyone who's enjoyed my short stories / tweets / blog posts so far let me know.
Add me on Twitter, interview me for your blog, be proactive.
If you're interested in doing a review of any of my upcoming works, e-mail me.

If you dig the way I make stories up, sign up for my mailing list.
I'll be offering special deals to my list buddies. Plus advance sneak peaks and access to upcoming projects. I'm trying to come up with other special stuff to make it worthwhile to you guys so just bare with me.


Upcoming projects:

• I will be releasing at least a few more short stories via Smashwords. I'm having fun with the distribution channel so I'll continue with it.
• I'm collaborating with another writer for at least a couple of projects. (More on that soon)
  
• My short story collection will still be released this year in print. I've got a few more stories to add but it's coming together. 
• I'm working on 2 novels/novellas at the moment simultaneously - what the fuck was I thinking? They're both about 1/3 finished.
• I have another novel/novella idea just waiting and taunting me.
• I will be podcasting some of my works in the coming months.
• I'm toying with various ways to market and promote my stuff. You'll see.
  

Let's see, what else can we pile on top of that?
We are in the midst of relocating to a new home so the next week or so is gonna get really interesting.

What can I say, I like to keep busy.

Here's a sneak preview of my upcoming short story release Panic in 2020: A zombie story.
Unless the world ends on Thursday, this should be available this weekend, possibly even Friday.

If you are interested in reviewing it or any of my upcoming works, please use the form on the contact page to inquire. Send a link to your website/blog if any.

I had fun designing this image and I'm very pleased with the result. Hope you like it!

Update 10/10/10: This offer is not available anymore, feel free to sign up for The Hooligans regardless. Many thanks to all those who signed up for it.


Since the Valentine's Weekend kicks off today, just wanted to show the love with this free resource guide to writers. The title says it all I think. But in case you were wondering exactly what it is, here's the low-down on this bad boy/girl.

In a nutshell:
It's an unmissable brief guide to free web tools for writers.

I've discovered all of it as I have explored and embarked on my own personal journey as a writer.

The story:
I've written creatively as long as I have been drawing but it just seemed to take a back seat to visual arts as I've gotten older. I finally started taking it seriously around a year and a half ago - writing short stories and prose mostly and just recently a novel. Juggling a full-time job and finding the time to create became a daily challenge, and in my attempt to create some order within my schedule I started discovering these tools to increase my proficiency and productivity. It was a trial and error at first but after awhile, I finally found the "sweet spot". I'm a technology enthusiast as well so it was a fun way to research and collect info on stuff I was already very much interested in already.

Of course, I still rely on the good old fashioned pen and paper method, with my stack of notebooks and journals. so I use it in conjunction with a select few online-based / open source tools.

I'm a a big proponent of open source ware and these days money is tight on everyone so I figured I'd share what I found. At the time of creation/publication of this resource, all of the links and tools are either totally free or have a free version plus an option to upgrade.

Whether you're a novice writer, a published author, or a weekend yarn spinner - there is a business behind any art form. Sure, you can write a 3-volume novel, create a series of inter-related paintings, script and illustrate a graphic novel but at the end of the day the whole point is to make it accessible to as many people as possible. It's fun to make something but it's even more fun for people to enjoy what you've made. It's also a big fat bonus to be able to bring in income doing what you love. But most creative people don't exactly wake up thinking about how sexy marketing and promotion is. But that's another topic I'll be writing about very, very soon.

For now, if you want to download the guide, go here to sign up. You will get instructions on how to claim your digital copy. Feel free to distribute online and offline, in fact I encourage that you do, so long as you link and/or credit this site.

Send me some link love! Post comments on the blog. Follow me on twitter. Shoot me an e-mail about whatever. I love hearing from people.

There's more planned for 2010 so keep a close eye right here.

Enjoy!

Go sign up, download, take it for a test drive and let me know what you think and what else you'd like to see around here.


Update 10/10/10: This offer is not available anymore, feel free to sign up for The Hooligans regardless. Many thanks to all those who signed up for it.