Trick or Treat: It's Halloween!

As a writer of zombie fiction, I'm excited about Halloween.  Unfortunately not many children trudge up the steps to our deluxe apartment in the sky, so I'm providing a treat for my readers.  On this Halloween evening, you'll find that a couple of my works for Kindle are free.  I want you to read them.  I want you to enjoy them.  I hope you'll find them interesting, thought-provoking, and frightening.

But, before you take a treat from the bowl of literary works, I do hope you'll consider leaving a review when you are finished reading.  While I'll never get rich off of my fiction, I'd like other readers to know about my work and enjoy reading it too.

Have a wonderful Halloween, enjoy trick or treating if you have kids, be safe, be sane, and take the time to enjoy a good read!

Zombie Complex in Little Free Libraries

As part of the effort to get the word out about Zombie Complex, I've donated copies of the book to a few Little Free Libraries in Georgia.  So far, I've donated to Little Free Libraries in the cities of Atlanta, Roswell, and Young Harris.  It's probably not the most efficient way to distribute books, but it is a lot of fun.  It's like a treasure hunt, but I'm dropping off something I treasure--a novel I worked hard on.

Photo By dankeck [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

First, finding the Little Free Libraries is a bit of a challenge.  They are listed on the internet via the Little Free Libraries website.  However, the address is often approximate and once there you have to find the actual library box.  In searching for Atlanta area locations, I've traveled to some different neighborhoods and found some nice walking neighborhoods.

Little Free Library in Young Harris, Georgia.

Second, once you are in the neighborhood and at the address, you actually have to spot the library.  It's not always easy from a moving car.  They are small.  You have to keep your eyes open.  The libraries are about the size of mailboxes and sit at some location near the address listed.  Once you get the knack for spotting them, the task becomes easier.  Since there are 75,000+ around the world, you often see them in unexpected places.  My wife and I were driving through the Georgia mountains and she actually spotted the one in Young Harris.  Since I happened to have a copy of Zombie Complex, we dropped it off.

Little Free Libary in a Young Harris, Georgia, public park

If you happen to find a copy of Zombie Complex in a Little Free Library near you, please feel free to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your own blog.  Every mention and every star helps in the task of getting the word out!

Little Free Library in Roswell, Georgia

Little Free Library in Atlanta, Georgia

Zombie Microfiction: Last Stop Z

One shift selling kicks and one flipping burgers left Leon drained. On his bus, he just put on his Beats, played his list, and napped through a dozen stops. Oblivious to the biters and blood, when the driver made his turn, Leon just pulled the wire for his stop.

The Health of the Zombie Genre

It's that special time of year.  Fall is coming.  Halloween is less than a month away.  The Walking Dead - Season 9 will premiere on October 7th.  The smell of putrid, rotting, flesh is fresh in the air.  It's almost zombie time again!

What's going on with the zombie genre?  With the departure of several major characters on The Walking Dead, many people wonder if the venerable franchise will be able to carry on.  I for one hope that that TWD does continue for many more years.  The departure of Rick and Maggie is a big deal for the show.  They should both go out with a bang or a bite or in some way that changes everything.  Change is interesting.  I would like to see the survivors on TWD make some progress towards a human recovery.  I would like to see mankind start to rise from the ashes.  But, after 9 seasons of The Walking Dead and countless other zombie-themed dramas, many are wondering if zombie fatigue may be setting in.

Has the world been over saturated with zombie stories, television shows, and movies?  I sure hope not.  I still have quite a few stories bouncing around in my brain that I would really like to tell.  Unfortunately, when I search the term "Zombie Books" on Amazon, I get over 50,000 results.  There are a lot of zombie books.  As an Indie Author, it is incredibly daunting to find readers for my solitary novel and my lonesome pair of short stories.  Like surviving a zombie apocalypse, reaching readers requires almost superhuman perseverance.  However, in many ways, zombie stories are timeless and they do illuminate important ideas about humanity.  I want to keep on plugging and make sure my own tales shed some light for the enjoyment of my readers.

I recently came across this essay "A Fresh Take on Rotting Flesh:  Zombies in Media" by Alicia Dryer of Roosevelt University.  Since zombies are a classic monster in popular culture just like vampires or Frankenstein, the author thinks there is still room for creativity.  Perhaps there is still life in the dead genre?  Now, I've just got to get cracking!

Check out the Wolfpack Authors!

Getting the word out about Zombie Complex is one of the biggest challenges I face as an independent  author.  I simply don't have the budget for extensive advertising and great graphics.  But, I do have a growing network of readers like you and fellow authors.  I've recently found a group that you should check out:  the WolfPack Authors.

The WolfPack Authors are a group of indie authors that have banded together to promote their writing efforts.  They represent many genres from mysteries to monsters to science fiction and fantasy to thrillers and hot, hot, erotica.  If you'd like to find them, simply search on the twitter hashtag:  #WolfPackAuthors.  You can also find them in the Wolves' Den section of the FauphTalk Fiction website.

A Wolf Pack closes in on an Elk (photo by U.S. National Park Service)

Zombie Complex - Free Weekend (9/15 & 9/16)

If Hurricane Florence thinks it can march through the South, cancel many of our college football games, and leave people bored and worried in cheap motels throughout the region, it's got another thing coming.  All y'all can read Zombie Complex for free this weekend! If you do, I hope you leave a review.

If you are an evacuee, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Try to distract yourself as best you can from worrying about your homes. Remember, the television weather folks tend to go to the places where they can get the most dramatic video and then they show it over and over again. In a few days, you'll be able to get home and assess the situation. You'll clean up and, if necessary, you'll repair and rebuild. 

Keep your sense of humor and be strong!

Find Great Indie Fiction at Fauph Talk Fiction

Have you noticed a mysterious symbol on my blog?  It's a strange looking thing isn't it?  Is that logo a person with a goatee?  Is it a man shrugging his shoulders?  It's definitely an intriguing graphic.  What is it?

Don't worry I haven't joined a secret society.  There is no master plan to control the planet.  However, there is a new place to go if you are looking for interesting reads from new Indie Authors.  It's called Fauph Talk Fiction.  It's a website that was created to "help promote new writers, and help readers discover new voices in the world of writing."  They asked if I'd like to feature my work on their site and I jumped at the chance.  They created a really nice author profile and featured my first novel Zombie Complex.  It was a great to receive some support out of the blue for my marketing efforts as an indie author.

If you are a reader who enjoys discovering new authors, check Faugh Talk Fiction out.  They've already added talented writers like Ellie Douglas, Sarah Katz, J.W. Crawford, Jackie Dahlhaus, and Jeff Demarco.  It should be a fun space and a great place to learn about interesting indie authors and discovering their works.  If you are an independent author, it looks like a great platform for getting the word out about your work and it also has an interesting and helpful blog called writingstrong.

I'm excited to be featured on Fauph Talk Fiction and I hope the platform proves useful to authors and readers.