HF Novel Update 10/10/17 (Day 24)

Editing time: 6.5 hours

I'm mostly through the story for the third time now. Smoothing out some of the rough edges, catching continuity errors, and cutting anything that disrupts the flow of the story. I keep saying it, but this book is close.

On target for having a publishable draft by Day 28.

The cover art should be done today. As soon as I have it, I'll do another quick post where I share it. Very excited.

I am thinking about making the book available for pre-order on Amazon, with a release date right around Halloween. This is strictly for marketing purposes, not to give myself more time to polish the manuscript. I've never released a fantasy novel before and I'm doing it under my real name, so I need to build some awareness before the book goes live. I'll do that mostly through social media and maybe targeted ads as well.

New Thriller Coming This Week!

I talk about The Board, in my latest YouTube video. I'll hit publish on that book tonight, and then Amazon will do its thing behind the scenes, which usually takes a day or two before the book is live in their store.

Here's the cover for The Board:

Writing this book was such a great, fun experience for me, because I got to co-author the novel with Jim Gott, a good friend and former work colleague. The oh-my-god-why-isn't-this-already-a-movie premise was Jim's fabulous idea. It's high concept and we feel has the potential to really break out.

The Insane 2017 Publishing Experiment Has Already Begun

Hey readers - Been a while since my last post, but I have a good excuse: I've spent a good chunk of my time actually writing. And you know what happened when I did that? I actually wrote some books.

Many, in fact.

As anybody who has tried to indie publish knows, it's getting more and more difficult to gain visibility on Amazon. To put that in laymen's terms, I simply mean it's getting harder to be noticed by readers.

Big name authors, i.e. those hard-working and fortunate enough to have gained a significant following already, are somewhat immune to this increasing difficulty as they have large readerships who are willing to purchase or borrow just about anything they put out. Think Stephen King and Lee Child. They can release a book per year and be just fine. Other big-time indie authors can do the same thing and still see significant sales.

As for the rest (most) of us ... well that just doesn't work. If you're lucky enough to score a breakout, record-smashing bestseller, then you can join the ranks of the elite on Mount Olympus and publish fairly infrequently. The chances of this happening to any author are about the same as winning the lottery.

It seems that Amazon's latest version of algorithms (how it directs readers to books, and how the website influences a reader's purchasing decisions) strongly favors new releases. This incentivizes writers, especially those looking to break through to the next level, to put out quality books as quickly as possible.

So that's my game plan for the rest of 2017. Write, edit, release, repeat. As quickly as possible. So that's why:

The latest Eddie McCloskey novel launched August 29th.

And one week later, the final comedic mystery, Not Safe for Work, in my Close of Business series was available too!

And in the next day or two, the first in my new amateur sleuth series will drop. Here's the cover:

The plan is to release several more novels this year and sprinkle short stories in between book launches. The goal is to utilize Amazon's algorithms to my advantage and increase my visibility. Fingers crossed this works, and I'll strive to send out periodic updates about my progress.

Interview with JD Franx - Author of Fantasy Bestseller, The Legacy

JD Franx, indie author of #1 best-selling fantasy novel TheLegacy, was kind enough to take time out of his busy publishing schedule to answer a few questions about his writing, editing, and marketing process. Below is a Q&A with yours truly.

I urge you to check out The Legacy. It launched back in October and at the time of this writing, it sits at #2,000 on Amazon. Anybody who has indie-published before through 'Zon knows this is quite an achievement!

EVAN RONAN: Can you describe your writing process? I’m asking this question very literally. Where do you go?

JD FRANX: I normally write at our kitchen table, and sometimes in the summer I write outside while at our bistro set.

EVAN: What’s around you?

JD: Lol. Everything I need. Maps, notebooks of hand written information on Talohna and several flash drives of more information. Talohna's a big world with thousands of years of history. Oh, and naturally either a cup of coffee or a glass of diet Pepsi.

EVAN: Certain time of day?

JD: That depends on how I feel. I like writing in the morning, usually between 9-12, but when it's possible I do write in the afternoon. I rarely write at night, unless it's really late and I can't sleep-after midnight.

EVAN: What do you think about?

JD: When I'm writing I rarely think about anything, I very rarely listen to music and I try to just let the story flow.

EVAN: When you write, do you see the scene playing out in your head?

JD: I wouldn't say so, not really anyway.

EVAN: Hear the people speaking?

JD: Not when writing, no. When I'm not writing, yes.

EVAN: Or is the writing process more a gut feeling, where you know it’s working or not working by how your body is reacting to what you’re doing?

JD: As strange as it sounds, I don't worry about whether it's working until later drafts of the manuscript.

EVAN: How do you come up with ideas?

JD: I hate this question, lol. I've been asked it a hundred times or more and it's one I can't answer. The story is just there.

(I hate that question too, JD!)

EVAN: Do you outline or fly by the seat of your pants?

JD: This question I love, lol. I am purely a panster writer for every first draft I write, though I do tweak and adjust the story in subsequent drafts. I rarely plot ahead, though there are scenes that jump into my head that have to be written down immediately or they're all I think about. I've never had writer's block, so I look at it like this: I often wonder if us writers (or maybe just panster writers) have a 'connection' to the worlds we write. I never have a problem writing, except for motivation some days, lol. I sit down to write and the story is always just there, as if I'm tapped into another reality and this reality is showing me what is happening there in Talohna. I've heard other pansters say the same, so who knows?

EVAN: How do you create characters?

JD: Like the stories, they're just there. Though there are times when certain characters are 'louder' than others so I have to sometimes write their scenes first.

EVAN: Do you have to see, or hear, or feel, or all three before you start writing them?

JD: I do at times see hear or feel what I write, but I don't need to in order to write.

EVAN: Or do they come out organically as you’re writing?

JD: Most of my characters develop organically, though this one aspect I'm trying to improve upon. I have a lot of respect for authors whose characters come alive on the page and I believe I have a long ways to go before I'm happy with my own, if that's ever even possible, lol.

EVAN: Do you consciously think of theme while you’re planning the book, or while you’re writing the book, or does theme happen on its own?

JD: I do not. I have no ulterior themes hidden within, so any kind of religious or political, or any statement for that matter that does pop up is purely unintentional. My only plan or desire is to write a high fantasy world and characters that readers will enjoy.

EVAN: Do you model other authors? As you’re writing, do you say: “I want this book to be like XXX and YYY”?

JD: No. I do have my own favourite authors, like R.A. Salvatore or Tolkien, but I hope to keep my world and writing as unique as possible. Because I don't plot or plan ahead, there's no desire to emulate others, at least not consciously, lol.

EVAN: As you mention on your Author Page and from what reader reviews have indicated, The Legacy turns some tropes on their proverbial heads. I really admire when authors do this, because it shows they’re not afraid to experiment and give readers something new. Being that daring takes guts.

So … how did you strike a balance between satisfying reader expectations of the genre, while also subverting the genre as well?

JD: Personally I love all the old fantasy tropes. My two favourite will always be the portal fantasy and hero's journey tropes. But they have been done to death so I did consciously try to do something different during the revision stages. Most portal fantasy stories have the hero being hidden away in another realm/reality/world in order to hide him/her from the big bad. Instead I flipped the trope and used it to hide the big bad in a different world when he was born—in order to save Talohna from a prophesied apocalypse. As for the hero's journey quest, I often find in other books that the hero is perfect at everything(of which I also love) whether magic, sword-fighting, or whatever they happen to need at the time. In Talohna, it doesn't work that way and Kael spends most of his time screwing up these things and getting into trouble because of it, lol.

EVAN: What tropes were you willing to play with, and what tropes did you hold sacred?

JD: I'm willing to play with any trope that serves the plot or that creates something different, something readers haven't seen. That's what makes for a great story in my opinion—show readers something fresh. For Talohna I wanted to reassert what vampires and werewolves are to me. I grew up on Bram Stoker's Dracula and Lost Boys vampires—predatory killers. And on The Howling and Silver Bullet werewolves—massive beasts that stalked their prey on two legs and were often conscious of what they were doing. Today's beasts have been seriously neutered based on my childhood experiences, though I have to admit that hasn't prevented some incredible stories from being written. These creatures will just always hold a different meaning to me.

EVAN: What I’m most impressed with is how successfully The Legacy launched. This is your first book, so presumably you had no readership, no mailing list, in other words, people weren’t lining up to grab their copy. And yet, The Legacy blasted up the charts when it came out. What did you do to create such a successful launch?

JD: Good question. I have worked extremely hard the last three years to build a small but loyal reader audience. I don't do the Facebook or Twitter 'like for like ladders' and instead I've tried to follow and earn follows from readers honestly interested in my series. It helped.

EVAN: How did you get the word out about this book ahead of time?

JD: Besides what I mentioned above, not much else. I didn't have the resources ahead of time, instead I focused on the release.

EVAN: How did you build reader anticipation prior to launch?

JD: Again, with the exception of my Facebook author page and Twitter, very little.

EVAN: What other steps did you take so to give yourself the best possible chance of a really successful release?

JD: I did spend a bit of money for ads during release week, which helped get me to #1 in Amazon's smaller categories and from there it just continued to climb until it hit #1 on the bigger lists. Kindle Unlimited also helped a lot, especially with reviews and visibility. Readers are a lot more willing to take a chance on a new author when they can read it for free through their Prime subscription. I think KU is a great tool for new authors, if you're willing to monitor it and report any abnormalities.

EVAN: As a corollary to that, the next thing I’m really impressed with is how “sticky” The Legacy is. It currently sits at #2,000 on Amazon and it’s been out for over three months! So … following your launch, what have you done in terms of marketing, if anything?

JD: The Legacy is selling and being read through KU very steadily so my rank and #1 positions now pretty much rely on how other authors are doing, lol. I've been bouncing around from between the 300s-1200s overall since the middle of December. Facebook ads have been my greatest investment. I tried other services and they help a bit, where as my Facebooks often pay for themselves in a matter of days.

EVAN: What actions have you taken to keep the book sticky?

JD: My ads and word of mouth now, along with the willingness to talk and engage with fans and readers at every opportunity, I think.

EVAN: Aside from writing a great book, what other factors do you think contributed to your success?

JD: Besides those I've mentioned earlier, I have no idea. Maybe luck or the cover, maybe it is the story itself—The Legacy has 115 reviews in only 3 months, most are 4 and 5 stars. Or perhaps it's the willingness and ability to spend money on ads. A combination of all the above maybe? Who knows? I guess we'll see how well the following books do, lol. Maybe then I'll have a better idea of what works for sure.

EVAN: And last, but not least, who created that cover? It’s kick-ass!

JD: All my covers are done by a friend, artist Joel Lagerwall. He's an amazing artist and a great guy. I sincerely hope I can have him do all my covers for this series.

***

Thanks again to JD for taking the time to answer some questions and provide insight into his process. It's working for him, as his sales/borrows on Amazon show. Keep up the great work, JD!

Eddie McCloskey #3 is FREE RIGHT NOW ON AMAZON

ZOMG! You can get The Accused and the Damned for free right now. Don't wait - this deal will be over real soon.

When people ask me which is the best book I've written, it's difficult to answer. They're all my babies so I can't in good conscience pick one over the other. The Unearthed will always hold a special place in my heart because it's the first, while my collaborations with Nate Green in historical fiction I consider my best-written (and bad-ass) novels to date.

But among my Eddie books, if you put a gun to my head and forced me to answer the impossible question, I'd probably tell you The Accused and the Damned is my favorite of the series (so far).

Why, you ask?

Creatively, it was such a fun book to write. I mashed two genres together that nobody in their right mind would have tried to mix: paranormal suspense and the legal thriller.

This is also the book where Eddie comes into his own as a character, finally assuming the role of a true hero. He's still flawed, still struggles with those flaws, but he overcomes those personal shortcomings to emerge a better person. Even though everybody and their mother counts him out, he finds that hidden reserve of self-belief and figures out a way to get the job done.

And, this is also the book where I came into my own as a thriller writer. Don't get me wrong. I think books 1 and 2 are good page-turners, but with TAATD, I feel like I took things to the next level. It's fast, it's fun, it's scary, it's holy-shit-did-that-just-happen crazy, and most of all, it was a challenge. I dared myself to write something that had never been tried before (AFAIK): a paranormal legal thriller. Based on the feedback I'm getting, I think I pulled it off.

So grab it while it's free - I know the premise is off-the-wall. But you might just dig it ;-)

*******

In other crazy news, one of the best writers working in post-apocalyptic / prepper genres, Boyd Craven, was kind enough to give my new story, After the Fall, a read and leave a review on his website. I wrote After the Fall under a pen name, Elliott Ryan. It's only $0.99 and also enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. If you like end of the world as we know it stories populated with every day characters, you might dig it.

Special Offer - $0.99 for The Unearthed

Hey folks - Just a quick announcement that the first book in my paranormal series, The Unearthed, is available for the low, low price of $0.99 but for a limited time only.

Plenty of readers took advantage of this great deal yesterday, bringing the book all the way down to #232 on the Amazon bestseller list! Can't believe it? I took a screen shot -->


Already read The Unearthed? I've also got a deal running on Book 4, The Hysteria right now. It'll be $0.99 for a few more hours...

And last--but certainly not least--Book 6, The Dream Machine, releases today. It's still at its pre-order price but not for long...

Living By Fear

Not too long ago (five months, actually) I blogged about the middle-grade/YA book I was dying to write for my daughters. In my head this story had to be perfect. It was for my girls and it was my way of empowering kids to think for themselves and harness their imagination to do great things. Very quickly, this story had become more than just a story. It had become a statement, it would serve as a lasting testament of my undying and fierce love for my daughters, it had a message and a point.

It had become important.

At the time I had an outline and half a draft and was chugging along. But because the story had gotten so big in my mind, that not-so-little voice of doubt started to poison my thinking. Who was I to write this book? I hadn't done anything like this before. At that point I'd written paranormal thrillers, comedy shorts, and a zombie short story series. The paranormal books were doing okay, but nothing else had taken off. This book, on the other hand, was for a completely different audience in a new genre and it had a message.

Fear crippled me. Fear made me rationalize putting the book aside "until I was a better writer."

After all, the story was important. And I was, by no means, an important writer. No way did I have the chops.

So I put it away.

I worked on other stories and kept putting out new material, but the book for my daughters was never far from my mind. Soon enough, impatience took over.

When would I be good enough to write this book?

Not yet, I told myself, thinking up more excuses, more rationalizations, and more reasons to do something else.

***

I was in the bookstore a couple months ago, just browsing the YA section for inspiration. Every book I picked up sounded great, all these authors had put out stories with fresh premises and interesting characters and...again, I couldn't write a book like that.

Could I?

I probably spent two hours in the store that day, wandering the aisles and reading the cover copy on literally dozens of books. I love to see what other authors are doing, not to copy them, but to get inspired to do my own thing.

I left the store with a bunch of books that day and many more ideas for stories, but one thing I noticed was that nobody else had written a book like the one that was floating around in my head.

But I wasn't good enough to write that book.

***

We've evolved to live by fear. I get why. For probably 98% of our existence as a species we had to worry about our literal survival on a daily basis. Compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, we're slow and not very strong. It's only natural that our evolution would be linked somewhat to fear.

I've lived by fear more than I care to admit. Fear is good when you're lost in a bad neighborhood and it tells you not to go down that dark alley. Fear isn't so good, though, in many other situations. It absolutely sucks when you have a passion to do something that few make a living at.

Like writing.

Fear made me go to graduate school so I could get a good job. You know, the kind of job that would lead to a well-paying career in a respected field. Didn't matter I had no interest in doing that kind of work. I let fear talk me right into doing the "sensible" thing.

Three months into the job, I was miserable.

But fear made me stay for another two years.

***

It's hard not to live by fear. We're wired to. The safe and the known and the comfortable all conspire to keep us in the status quo. Because it's easier and everything is under control. Right?

Wrong.

Control is a complete and utter illusion. That job you love? It might be gone in six months. Your company could merge with another organization and voila, you're redundant. Your boss, who you got along with so well for many years, could leave and be replaced by somebody that just doesn't like you. The laws governing the work you're doing might change, making your job unnecessary. New technology might be developed that makes your work obsolete.

And on and on.

Said another way, we're at risk no matter what we do so living by fear does not necessarily put us in a better place.

***

That's a lesson that I have relearn from time to time: living by fear does not insulate us from risk.

And I realized, after that day at the bookstore, that fear was keeping me from writing this book. All the other stories I'd written or were working on, I'd been thinking of those as safe. But like I said, there is no such thing as safe. Paranormal thrillers could fall out of fashion tomorrow and my modest sales on The Unearthed series could take a nosedive. And if that was the case, why the hell not try something new?

So I picked up where I left off on the book for my daughters.

***

Fast-forward two months and I'm stoked to say I finished it.

OtherWorld is available for PREORDER ON AMAZON right now. I'll continue to polish the manuscript up until the big release, but I can say that I'm really happy with how it turned out. If I had waited another few years so I could grow as a writer, would it have been better? Maybe. Or maybe I would have never written it. I'll never know ;-) Like they say, the best time to do anything is right now, so rather than wait around and see, I just said what the hell and got to writing.

OtherWorld is totally unlike anything else I've done and, since it's YA, there's none of the cynicism that's usually present in my other stuff. It made me feel like a kid again writing it. It was a joy to work on. And to think, fear had almost robbed me of that experience.

To be clear, I'm not saying I'm a courageous person for having written a book. There are many braver acts in this world and much more important things people do. The wider point is: we let fear infect our lives, sometimes without even realizing it. I'd done that with this book. Fear has a way of disguising itself and pretending to be your friend. Fear put on a smile and told me to wait, wait to write this one, wait till you're better, just wait...

Will readers like the book? I have no idea. I've talked before about how authors are the worst judges of their own work. What I think is my strong suit (dialogue), some readers have pointed to as my weakness.

C'est la vie.

I'm okay with not knowing what to expect in terms of sales for two reasons. First, I stopped letting fear get in the way and just wrote the d***ed book. Some might not see that as a victory, but to me that's a win. Because next time I stretch myself to write outside my usual genres, it'll be a little easier. And second, we always live with uncertainty whether we realize it or not. Living by fear doesn't protect you from risk, it only gives you an inflated sense of security. Like the man says, if you're not failing, you're not trying. I'll be okay with failing here.

I'll also be happy if I succeed too ;-)

OtherWorld will be released on August 14th.

PAPERBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who prefer to read paperbacks, I'm stoked to announce Language of the Bear is now available in print through Amazon.

Authors United Doesn't Understand Anti-Trust Law

Authors United (AU)'s latest bit of non-sequitur saber rattling is infuriating.

For those not keeping score: AU, an organization nominally designed to support authors, has made a habit over the last few years of bitching and moaning about Amazon's "unfair" practices. Nothing Amazon has done is illegal, nor unfair, to date. On the contrary, Amazon:

• offers authors better royalties than traditional publishers
• offers authors fairer contract terms than traditional publishers
• permits authors to retain complete control over their IP and pricing
• allows anybody to publish

All of which has led to:

• MORE AUTHORS making money doing what they love
• MORE BOOKS being published

Know what happens when you offer fairer terms and better royalties to writers, thus making more books available to readers?

LOWER PRICES ON BOOKS

AU, please do us indies a solid and stop going after Amazon. I personally like the higher royalties and better terms Amazon offers, and enjoy retaining control over my IP. I'm pretty sure my indie brothers and sisters do as well.

For the record, AU's arguments don't hold any water (I have a legal background) so I doubt the Attorney General takes their latest missive seriously. So then, you might ask, what's got me so pissed off?

It rankles me that AU spends its time and considerable resources picking these inane fights with Amazon, when it could be doing much more important things, you know, like challenging the Big 5 to get traditionally published authors better contract terms.

There's a reason why they don't and it doesn't take a cynic to figure it out.

For better insight: Joe Konrath fisks.
For laughs: Jen Rasmussen brings the funny.

FREE STORIES

Harm is currently free on Amazon, iTunes, B&N, Kobo, and Scribd.

I'm working on getting Frontier Justice free on Amazon and elsewhere too.

I plan to make In The Blood (maybe the first two installments) free as well, as soon as my period of exclusivity with Kindle Unlimited ends.

Why all the free stories?

Well, readers have enjoyed my shorts but they don't buy them. This is not surprising to me because as an avid reader myself, I'm the same way: I much prefer novels and rarely plunk cash down on a short. For me it's a no-brainer. I can spend a buck on story I'll read in twenty minutes, or I can spend five bucks on a story that will give me hours of entertainment.

So why not just offer these stories for free and get more people reading my stuff? Win-win, if you ask me.

You can help make Frontier Justice free on Amazon by reporting a lower price. (There's a button on all book pages to do this).

And keep an eye out for more free offers in the near future. I'm toying with making The Unearthed free for awhile to see if it brings more readers into the series. We shall see.

The Unearthed Passes 50 Reviews on Amazon

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the readers who've left me reviews of The Unearthed on Amazon to date. When I first pushed the book out, I was hoping I'd one day just have fifty readers, never mind reviewers.

The series has come a long way since that day in September, 2014 when I hit publish. Since then I've finished three more books in the series and have the next two planned out. I don't know where the series will go from there. Every time I tell myself, "Okay, that's enough, I'm all out of ideas for Eddie" it isn't long before I'm thinking about him again and that's usually when 2 or 3 more stories come to mind.

I'd love to write a long series about Eddie, kind of in the way MacDonald did for McGee and Child is doing for Reacher right now. Don't know if my frustratingly limited imagination can conjure up enough plots for Eddie and keep him interesting enough to justify an extended series, but we'll see. After all that's part of the fun and challenge.

2015 is not even half over, but I can honestly say it will go down as one of the most interesting, challenging, and fun years ever for me. I'm looking forward to the second half of the year - right now the plan is to release two more Eddie books and also the next two in the historical series I'm writing with my buddy, Nathanael Green. Hopefully I'll put out a few standalones as well.

I'll never forget the first few reviews I got on Amazon. Those brave, early readers decided to give me a shot, and for that I'll be forever grateful.

go raibh maith agaibh, folks.

And no, I can't pronounce that properly.

***

I mentioned standalones above and it looks like I'll put out a couple middle-grade/YA books this year. Very excited about those, but not expecting a ton of sales. Both are standalones (which don't fare as well as series books) and, kind of like when I released The Unearthed, I'll be happy if I have fifty readers for both.

All Authors Should Be Reading These Reports

See the latest Author Earnings Report here. And if you've got questions for Hugh or Data Guy, ask away - they will answer.

Big thank you to Hugh Howey and Data guy for making this invaluable information available.

Can I get a "Hell, Yeah!"?

Language of the Bear will be available on Friday, May 8th! And here's the cover art which looks effing great.

All my books are labors of love, and this one is no exception. It's filled with action, danger, suspense, thrills, romance, and some "oh crap" reversals of fortune.

But what makes this book really special to me is I got to write it with one of my best friends, fellow author Nate Green. Collaborating on a story was such an enlightening process--with Nate's feedback I was able to see a few of my many artistic blind spots--and the end product is a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. I could not have written this good a book without Nate.

Look for it May 8th on Amazon. We're hard at work on the sequel, Through the Narrows, and will have that out soon as well.

Dear Nook Owners, I Haven't Forgotten About You

Amazon dominates the ebook market, so naturally I focused my efforts initially on getting my books available there to reach the widest audience possible. All my novels and short stories are currently available on Amazon and for one quick easy link, you can go to my Author Page to see.

From the get-go, I made sure to offer all my stories DRM-free. Said another way, even if you didn't own a Kindle, you could still buy the books through Amazon and then read them on whatever device you chose.

But readers have asked that the books be available through other outlets for a number of reasons (file conversion is annoying, they want to support this store or that store, etc.) and I'm excited to say that two of my stories are available electronically through Barnes & Noble now.

Get The Hysteria on your Nook

Get Morale Was Down on your Nook

This is an experiment of sorts to see if the readers I pick up through B&N more than make up for the loss of borrows through the Kindle Unlimited program (which requires books be exclusive with Amazon). Only time will tell but I wanted to let all you Nook readers out there know I haven't forgotten about you!

The Unearthed Is Ranked Better Than It's Ever Been Right Now!

This is one of those thank you posts.

Thank you to everyone that read The Unearthed when it first came out and left me honest reviews. Without you, I wouldn't be able to say...

Thank you to everyone that read The Unearthed based on those early reviews. Without you, I wouldn't be able to say...

Thank you to everyone that left later reviews, adding your thoughts, compliments, and constructive criticism. Without you, I wouldn't be able to say...

Thank you to everyone who has purchased the book more recently. Without you, I wouldn't be able to say...

The Unearthed is currently ranked:

• #7649 out of all books on Amazon
• #7 on the sublist for Ghosts & Haunted Houses
• #20 on the sublist for Suspense-->Occult
• #42 on the sublist for Horror-->Occult

I always believed in the book but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would get this much attention. I'd love to see it hit #1 on one (or all) of these sublists but that will be very difficult as there are a lot of good books out there and I'm still an unknown author.

So again: thank you all!

And if you haven't picked it up yet, The Unearthed is currently discounted to $0.99 for a limited time. There are three sequels out right now, with a fourth sequel out hopefully this month. Climb in to the series now!

Grab Your FREE COPY of MORALE WAS DOWN

Free on Amazon today and tomorrow, here's what early reviewers have to say about Morale Was Down:

"This is, without a doubt, the most profane and utterly hilarious short story I've read in a very long time."

"And you read it again. And again. Because "Morale Is Down" is so funny. And so realistic, like your own office. And that writing style of Ronan's is so fast paced and breezy and tongue in cheek that it even gets the Amazon reviewer to write a review in that exact same style."

"This is a quick, fun read while traveling on the Metro heading to your office. You'll open the office doors, step in, and resolve to improve the morale by telling a story ... this story."

"Oh hey, looking for gifts for your cubicle friends? Need something for the office white elephant exchange? Have friends who still talk about the movie, The Office? They will get a chuckle out of "Morale Was Down.""

"We get to follow a hapless middle manager turned sleuth as he tries to use techniques he learned from TV crime shows to grill suspect coworkers. Will he solve this crime wave before COB? You will certainly enjoy a few laughs as he blunders along."

"I have to say that it was the funniest book that I have read!"

"Hilarious short story that reminded me a bit of the movies Office Space and Clockwatchers. Nice spoof of an investigation, with all the ridiculous office politics and corporate banalities mixed in. Quick read!"

"I defy anyone to sit thru a reading of this story without soiling themselves laughing."

FREE SHORT STORY TOMORROW

Pick up your FREE COPY of In The Blood tomorrow on Amazon.

FREE SHORT STORY

Limited time offer:

Grab In The Blood for free on Friday and Saturday HERE.

Here's the blurb:

The virus has spread. A father becomes infected and his daughter must go on alone. After parting ways both struggle to hold onto that most important thing: their humanity.

Told from the perspective of the father--now a zombie--and a daughter--now forced to be a savage--In The Blood is a violent, moving short story about what it means to be human.

FREE Today and Tomorrow - The Unearthed

Today and tomorrow you can pick up a free copy of The Unearthed. It's a fast-moving, suspenseful read that's perfect for this time of year leading up to Halloween. In its short time on the electronic shelf, it's already gotten a lot of good reviews, including seven 5-star ones. Here's what readers are saying:

"The haunting in the book was very well done. It is also brutal, which is to be expected, considering the history of the home. There are a few twists and an unusual (but not weird or unbelievable) ending. I pretty much inhaled the book and have already started on the next one. Which, I suppose, is about the highest compliment you can give to an author."

"Ronan's characters are beautifully realized and the dialogue always rings true. The banter between the brothers Tim and Eddie is especially effective. This is Book I of an Eddie McCloskey trilogy. I look forward to reading Books II and III. Evan Ronan is a welcome new voice in the paranormal genre. I can unreservedly recommend this book."

"Part mystery, part ghost story, part thriller. This story takes you on a wild ride into the unknown. The relationship between the two brothers, Tim and Eddie, was so complex and realistic it made a great backdrop for the investigation to unfold. Fast-paced and full of action, I was riveted until the end. Great story!"

"I read The Unearthed in one day...couldn't put it down (except to feed the dogs)! I have already ordered The Lost and am almost afraid to start it during the week; I probably wouldn't get any work done!"

"What a great read! I gulped this down in one night. The plot builds fast and was so intense I couldn't put it down. Fortunately, as soon as I thought I had it figured out there was a hair pin turn. And they kept coming! Nary a boring moment."

"Wow, great story with an ending no one will see coming."

"UNEARTHED is not just a frightening Supernatural, it's also a character study, and oddly, this aspect is probably what I enjoyed most."

****

ADDED BONUS: For the next month, I'm going to offer my humorous short story, Morale Was Down, for free to anyone that leaves me an honest review of The Unearthed or any of its sequels on Amazon.

First Review of The Lost!!!!

For the complete review, CLICK HERE.

This coming from a reader of both The Unearthed and The Lost:

"The first book of the series is very good, but reading the second shows that rather than resting on his laurels, this author has worked hard on honing his skills. This book is tighter and more focused...Do you have to read the first book in the series to make sense of the second? No. But I strongly recommend it because it will explain the relationship between Eddie and his brother, Tim. It's also a good ghost story."