Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 25

Review: The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men

The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillips
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

To be honest, this felt like Phillips had a nail he wanted to hammer, and whether or not the Bible supported how he wanted to hammer this nail, he was going to hammer it, anyway. Sadly, I don't "fit" God's Call to Masculinity very well - at least, as Phillips defines it - especially in that fact that I don't - as apparently a "Godly" father should - believe my daughter should grow up to be a subservient baby maker.

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Review: Hunting Ground

Hunting Ground by Charles L. Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Again, I continue to feel saddened that Charles Grant wasn't able to see this series to its completion. Ethan Proctor is a series character done only as Grant could've, and I think what I like about this series so far is that, unlike much of Grant's quiet horror (though I love all of it), it has a popular appeal of a mythos with a through-line leading to an epic conclusion of sorts. Again - wish this series could've be completed, and I wish we had new Charles Grant work to look forward to, every year.

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Black Friday Sale!

Hello, all - Happy Thanksgiving! In the spirit of the season, I'm running a Black Friday Sale from tonight (Thursday) through Sunday. What am I offering? A print copy of my newest short story collection, Things You Need and a print copy of my novella, Long Night in the Valley, for the low price of $10! Two books for ten dollars, and upon purchase, I'll send you the ebooks for both book, free. 

To order, send an email to kevinblucia at gmail dot com for payment information. Please feel free to spread the word, far and wide! 

Review: Candlenight

Candlenight by Phil Rickman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this just as much as CURFEW. Slow-burn, atmospheric horror with a real story behind it, and I especially dug the Welsh history/folklore behind the story. Only reason it took so long to get through is because I had other reading I needed to do for my CD column which got in the way.

I do have to say, though, when I read reviews of a book I thoroughly enjoyed that say "Well written but not scary" (wasn't that hideous "ice sculpture" at the end pretty horrifying?) or "boring nothing happens until the end," I truly do wonder about my place in the horror genre, and if my work will ever gain more traction. I suppose that's why it's so important to write for yourself first, then audience second.

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Review: Winter Knight

Winter Knight by Charles L. Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to be honest and say that, initially, The Black Oak series only garnered a "Cool story" from me, and that was about it. At this point, however, I'm thoroughly engaged with Proctor's adventures, and am saddened anew that Charles Grant never got a chance to continue his legacy.

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Crystal Lake Fundraiser

Hello, folks  - just wanted to drop a quick line about Crystal Lake's Fundraiser. I've been very fortunate to have a home with Crystal Lake Publishing. Editor Joe Mynhardt has been supportive of my work, and has labored tirelessly to make CL one of the best horror small presses out there. They're very close to completing funding which will help take them to the next level, and make them even better. If you can donate any amount, please do.  If you could share  the following link on your social media outlets, even better. In a market that sees small, fly-by-night horror small presses pop up and die every other day, CL is in it for the long haul. Anyway you could show your support ultimately shows me and other authors support, in the long run. Thank you!
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cr...

Free Halloween Novella: Long Night in the Valley

In what I hope will become an annual tradition, my free Halloween story - this year, a novella, Long Night in the Valley - is available for download! And yes - as you can see below, with the wrap-around cover - I have put together a paperback edition, being the old school guy that I am.


For your free ebook, however, I've got several options:

Smashwords, in .pdf or epub
Kobo, in epub 
PDF, from me
Epub, from me
Mobi, from me 

Eventually, I'll have it on Amazon, and will set it as free through Halloween. The paperback is not quite ready, and honestly, I mostly only made a paperback editon for conventions, but if anyone wants one of those, that'll be available, also. And please - SHARE. If you like it, email it far and wide, to all your friends.

Happy Early Halloween!

Blog Tour Dates

Frank Errington Michaels - September 17th - Gavin Patchett's The Name Frank Errington Michaels - September 18th - Review Anton Cancre - Sepember 19th - Hiram Grange's Vaguely Inappropriate With Gavin Patchett Amber Fallon - September 22nd - My Lament Rebecca Snow - September 24th - Interview Joe Falank - September 26th - Interview/The Man Who Sits in His Chair Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance Online - September 28th - Special Edition of "Revelations" on Cemetery Dance Online, about how the Greystone Bay Series, edited by Charles L. Grant, influenced Clifton HeightsJohn Questore – September 29th – The Crayfish God Erin Al-Mehairi – September 30th – Rest in Peace, Blackfoot Valley Wesley Southard - October 1st – The Sidewalk ScavengerRyan G. Clark - October 3rd - Review Yvone Davies/The Terror Tree – October 5th – The White Cat of Samara Hill Mark Allen Gunnells – October 7th – The Cairn

Things You Need Pre-Order Link Live!

The pre-order link for THINGS YOU NEED is now live!  Please share away!"Kevin Lucia is this generation's answer to Charles L. Grant." - Brian Keene, Horror Grandmaster Award Winner, author of THE END OF THE ROAD"This is sophisticated adult fiction. With an edge. At times, the book virtually becomes folklore: clever, witty, elegant folklore, with a sting – many stings – including moments of iconic dread." - Robert Dunbar, Bram Stoker Award Winning Author of THE PINES and WILLYThe things we want are so very rarely the things we need.Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions.The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful.But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen.Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new...Until night falls once more.Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need.

Things You Need Blog Tour

It's time to brush the dust off this blog, as the release date for Things You Need, from Crystal Lake Publishing, is right around the corner, on September 28th. There will be several things I'll be doing in anticipation of this release. First off is a blog tour, running from September 17th - September 28th, in which several fellow authors and bloggers have graciously offered up their blog space to me. 

I won't be blogging, however. Gavin Patchett, the fictional author of Things Slip Through, Devourer of Souls, Through A Mirror, Darkly, The Night Road, and now, Things You Need, will be taking center stage. He'll be talking about his fall from mid-list publishing, the terrible circumstances under which his writer career was reborn, and his odd hometown Clifton Heights, New York, where he gets so much inspiration for his fiction. Also, several bloggers will be interviewing either me, (Gavin's scribe), or Gavin himself, and I'll be writing a special edition of my Cemetery Dance column "Revelations," focusing on the anthology series edited by Charles L. Grant, Greystone Bay, and how it directly influenced the creation of my Clifton Heights Mythos. This blog will serve as the hub for the blog tour.

I'll also be running a video trivia contest called "Kevin Lucia's Office Video Challenge Trivia Thing," in which I'll be asking some trivia questions based on items from my office. I'll be taking all the correct answers and putting them into a pool, then randomly selecting winners the night of September 28th. Up for grabs will either be free ebooks of my entire Clifton Heights Saga, plus a free ebook of my first book, Hiram Grange and the Chosen One; or, Cemetery Dance ARCs and other books from my office. You choose what you want! (Or what you NEED, as the case may be. See what I did there?)

There are some other things to check out, also. At Scares that Care, horror author Jay Wilburn interviewed me on his podcast, Matters of Faith. We discussed not only horror and writing, but teaching, reading, parenting, and how my faith has intersected with my writing career. You can listen to the podcast here.

Stay tuned for the specific blog tour dates and locations!