PREORDER The Dream Machine Now for $0.99

Well, well, well. The Dream Machine  is finally here (almost).

Right now, you can preorder the sixth book in my paranormal mystery series starring everybody's favorite everyman, Eddie McCloskey, for less than a buck!

The preorder discount is over when the book releases, February 1st. I'll also be running some other deals on January 31st in case you're still playing catch-up. More to come on that soon ;-)

***

I've wanted to write this particular book for many years, but only just got around to it. When the idea first came to me, though, it was a standalone horror novel and did not feature Eddie McCloskey. It was a very different book.

I put that idea aside, tried some other things, got cranking on the Eddie books, did some short fiction, worked on historical novels, and one day had an epiphany, realizing I could take this older idea and turn it into one of Eddie's adventures.

It took me longer than I wanted to write this one for many reasons, most of them good. In 2015, I tried to get some other books (under pen names) out there and worked on collaborative projects with fellow author, Nathanael Green. I spent a lot of time working on shorter, serialized fiction (which has yet to see the light of day!). I decided to rebrand my Eddie books too with new blurbs and covers and some marketing...

Long story short, I tried doing too many different things in 2015 and as a result The Dream Machine kept getting pushed back.

***

I'm real excited for this book. It takes Eddie in a different direction but stays firmly in paranormal territory. Characters from a previous book return. And I really pushed myself to make this the fastest read in the series. I'm excited to get feedback here.

I'm also hard at work on the seventh book in the series, tentatively titled The Possessed. I'm loving this one too and plan to have much less of a gap between #6 and #7 than there was between #5 and #6.

If you do pick up The Dream Machine, please consider leaving me a review on Amazon! And stay tuned for some upcoming deals!

The New Book Is On Goodreads

Language of the Bear

I am super-freaking-excited. The latest book, the best book I've been a part of (so far), is up on Goodreads and out next month.

We're still working with our kick-ass designer on the cover, and we'll have a reveal of that soon. But for now, if you're interested in the book please add it to your TBR on Goodreads. It'll help us build interest leading up to the e-release next month on Amazon.

***

Nate Green is a good friend and a gifted writer. We've both been chasing this crazy dream of writing fiction for a living for awhile. A few years back, we were in his truck, talking about stories and writing and how exciting and difficult and frustrating and interesting the process was and somewhere in that conversation we got the crazy idea to write a book together.

That book eventually became Language of the Bear.

A collaboration really appealed to me. I looked forward to doing something that for years had been a solitary, banging-your-head-against-the-wall pursuit. Working with Nate on a story he was totally invested in also gave me a great sounding board for ideas, character arcs, and story-telling. I hope I've been as helpful to him as he's been to me.

We settled on a historical novel, a good old-fashioned adventure that reminded us of the books we'd read growing up, with one notable qualification. We agreed early on we weren't going to whitewash history and we weren't going to give the characters modern sensibilities. The world would be as it was: increasingly short, often nasty, and sometimes brutish.

We shopped Language of the Bear to agents and editors and got this close several times, which was both encouraging and frustrating. But nobody bit. We passed it around to friends and family and they told us it was great, but of course you have to take the opinions of loved ones with a healthy dose of skepticism. The book, as much as we liked it, seemed doomed to live out its life on our computers.

***

Meanwhile I'd made the decision to indie publish my solo projects, and in particular my paranormal thrillers. Readers slowly but surely found The Unearthed series and once I started to see (very modest) success with it, Nate and I discussed the possibility of indie pubbing Language of the Bear as well. Eventually we decided it was a good idea. As I've said with my own books, the best judge of the work is the reader and this way readers will let us know if it's any good. ;-)

***

Nate and I had such a great time writing the book together, we decided to make it into a series and start another series as well. More to come on those books, but we're hard at work on them.

Random, Made-Up Q&A

Here are some questions I've totally made up but figure you've asked yourself ever since I put out The Unearthed and how I would answer them:

Q: Why do you use photos for all your covers?
A: Two reasons. It's cool. Also, I'm a huge movie fan and like to think my books are cinematic. I realize how ridiculous that sounds now that I've typed it.

Q: You do realize The Unearthed is written upside-down on the cover?
A: I was really drunk when I approved the cover. Now my cover artist won't right-side-up the title unless I pay him more money. He's holding me financially hostage. Just kidding. My cover artist is a great guy, very gifted with the visual arts and a talented musician. Some day (another post) I'll introduce him.

Q: Why did you make Tim McCloskey such a #*&%?
A: Believe it or not, I meant for Tim to be the main protagonist of The Unearthed when I wrote it a few years back. And he kind of is. But Eddie ultimately made for the more interesting character so....(I'm respecting the worst-kept secret here)

Q: How do you come up with your ideas?
A: Pull them out of the ether. (joking) The same way you probably get your ideas about how to do your job better, or what kind of house/car you'd like, or what shirt to buy, or how to fix that damned leak in the bathroom. Don't let any writers bullshit you and tell you their process is magic and special. For The Accused and the Damned, I literally stumbled across a news article about an accused wife-beating asshole who said a ghost had hit his wife. (unfortunately, I'm not joking here)

Q: Will Eddie ever have a final confrontation with Eamon Moriarty?
A: (SPOILER ALERT) Eddie has a confrontation with Eamon in The Hysteria. Whether it's the final one or not, I won't answer.

Q: Will Eddie ever get married?
A: Every cynic is a romantic at heart. Eddie is no different and I'll leave it at that.

Q: Did you model Eddie after yourself?
A: Eddie is not little old, boring me. He's probably the best and worst of me, all at the same time. How's that for an answer?

Q: When will Eddie finally see Stan and Moira?!?! And will they ever work together again?
A: Nice use of the double-interrobang there. Eddie does visit Stan and Moira in one of these books. But you'll have to buy/borrow them to figure out which one. (boohaha)And I'm just now toying with the idea of writing an "in-between-quel" starring Stan and Moira. I think they would make for a great "Nick and Nora Charles" of the paranormal world. (Kudos if you got that reference.)

Q: So...is Eddie a real person?
A: Maybe...No...Yes...Sometimes. He definitely is, in my mind at least.

Q: Did you really grow up in New Jersey? And my apologies if you did.
A: HEY! No need to apologize, you arsehole! New Jersey is a great state. Just ask all those annoying Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers who crowd our beaches every summer. Huh? What's up now?

Q: Do you really still live in New Jersey?
A: Enough with the Jersey cracks.

Q: Because your PO Box has a Jenkintown, PA address.
A: I'm glad you (hypothetically) noticed. By law I'm required to list a physical address to potential newsletter subscribers. I purchased a PO Box because I didn't want the world to know what my actual address was. I'm sure you understand. If you want to send me something please Think Green and email me instead. Thanks!

Q: Hey! I've got an idea for an Eddie book--
A: Let me stop you right there. I'm sure it's a great idea. I'm sure it's probably as good or better an idea than I can come up with. But please don't send me ideas for stories, or your story, or your friend's idea for a story, or your friend's story. For legal reasons I can't read them. I don't want to have to hire Denard.

Q: Do you ever collaborate with other authors?
A: I do! And I'm very lucky to work with the one and only Nathanael Green. One day Nate will realize he's a much better writer than me and that he doesn't need my help. Until then, I will ride his coattails to fortune and glory! (boohaha)

Q: So I just checked your Amazon Author Page and don't see any collaborations included in your bibliography...so have you actually written something with Nate?
A: Two things. And...wait for it...wait for it...

(still waiting for it)

A: (cont'd) Our historical novel, Language of the Bear, will be available in April, 2015 on Amazon! Here's the skinny: A young, British officer and a brash Susquehannock warrior are forced to undertake a secret mission to assassinate a rogue English lord who is stirring up trouble in the wilds of Pennsylvania in the year or so before the French and Indian War.

Q: What's the story like?
A: If it were a drink recipe:

• one part Heart of Darkness
• one part Last of the Mohicans
• one part Lethal Weapon
• one part Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• ALL BADASS

Q: ...Really?
A: Would I lie in response to a hypothetical question you didn't actually ask me?

Q: Is it part of a series?
A: Yes. We're calling it the Saber and Tomahawk Series.

Q: You said you wrote two things with Nate. What about the other story?
A: Currently being shopped to agents and editors. Can't talk details. (See what I did there?)

Q: That's pretty cool...but, seriously...New Jersey?
A: Next question.

Q: How many books long will The Unearthed series be?
A: I'm thinking 8 or 9. But if they continue to sell and I get more ideas and I can figure out a way to keep Eddie interesting, I'll just keep going.

Q: In the back of your books, you reference all these other books in different genres you're working on. When will they be out?
A: I wish I knew. I have a publishing schedule worked out but it is constantly changing. Readers keep asking me for more Eddie books, so for now it makes sense to focus my efforts there. If I didn't also have a full-time (non-writing) job, I'd pump out books even more quickly.

Q: When will your books be available as hardbacks/paperbacks/audio?
A: Some day in the hopefully not-too-distant future.

Q: Which author(s) do you admire?
A: The hard-working, no-nonsense ones who produce quality stuff over a long period of time. The ones dedicated to their craft. Guys like Chandler, MacDonald, Parker, and Cornwell.