R.W. Ridley's Blog, page 8

The Closeout Kings blasts off!

It’s alive!

The Closeout Kings is live and available to read.  The last song selection is an appropriate choice from beta reader Lee Brown.  Here is the Louisiana Swamp Donky with Redneck Revival.

The Closeout Kings musical countdown, day 4, part 2

Scott Vaughn sent me two more song suggestions.  Both were little ditties by Drive-By Truckers. This is a group I had heard of, but I wasn’t really familiar with their work.  I liked Scott’s two choices, but I started listening to more of their music, and I was really struck by their song Puttin’ People on the Moon.  It really fits the theme and tone of The Closeout Kings.  At first, I thought this was just another hillbilly tune about getting drunk and getting screwed by the man.  But, if you pay attention to the lyrics, you’ll discover this a really deep, meaningful tune about abject poverty in the rural south.  Good men turn to bad habits just to get by.  That’s essentially what The Closeout Kings is about.

Remember, The Closeout Kings will be officially released tomorrow – Oct. 24, 2014.  It is available for pre-order at this very moment.

The Closeout Kings musical countdown, day 4, part 1

Many thanks to Thom Millman’s musical suggestion today.  His choice is A Man of Constant Sorrow by the Soggy Bottom Boys, which, according to a YouTube commenter, is actually “Ralph Stanley, Dan Tymiski from Allison Kraus’ band,  Harley Allen, Nashville songwriter and Pat Enright of The Nashville Bluegrass Band.”  Thom nailed this one.  Step Crawford, our dour hillbilly hit man, is indeed a man of constant sorrow.  Don’t forget that The Closeout Kings’ release is tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, and you can beat the Kindle rush by pre-ordering today!

 

The Closeout Kings musical countdown, day 3, part 2

Today’s second song comes from one Mr. Kid Rock.  It’s his country version of Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls. Credit for this one goes to my old friend and gridiron brother Lee Brown.  He thought a punk rock-type song by Hank Williams Jr. was the best choice, but when I did a search for “punk rock song by Hank Williams Jr.” this song was at the top of the search results.  Why does this song fit the tone and theme of The Closeout Kings?  Chapter one covers the topic of fat bottomed girls pretty thoroughly thanks to our hillbilly hit man Kenny Fable.  It’ll make sense when you read the book, and if you’re a Kindle-phile you can read the book on Oct. 24, 2014.  Pre-order it today.

The Closeout Kings musical countdown, day 3, part 1

I got a few more song suggestions yesterday, so I’m going to have to do a couple posts a day to get them all in before the release date.  The release date for what?  The Closeout Kings.  When is the release date? October 24, 2014.  When is that?  This Friday.  That’s it.  That’s as subtle a sales pitch as I can give… except to remind you that it is available for pre-order right now!

Today’s song choice comes from Brian G. Riesen.  Brian is actually a beta reader from back in the day.  He’s been around since before beta readers were called beta readers.  He is one of the first peeps outside of my family to read The Takers: Book One of the Oz Chronicles.  For The Closeout Kings, he thinks Muleskinner Blues by The Cramps captures the essence of The Closeout Kings.  In his words: “I hear something heavy, metal/punk, yet rednecky.”  The Closeout Kings is definitely all those things.

The Closeout Kings musical countdown, day 2

I reached out to the beta readers for The Closeout Kings and asked them what songs they thought represented the tone and themes of the Southern crime thriller.  Today’s selection comes from Scott Vaughn, and I have to admit that I had never heard of the group or the song until he brought both to my attention yesterday.  They’re awesome, and he’s dead on.  This song is a perfect fit for The Closeout Kings.  My thanks to Scott for introducing me to Backwoods Company by The Wild Feathers.

A reminder: The Closeout King’s official release is this Friday, October 24, but it is available for pre-order now.

The Closeout Kings countdown (the musical version)

The Closeout Kings release will be on Oct. 24, 2014.  According to my calendar that’s this Friday.  As we approach the final hour, I thought I’d share with you some music that, to me, represents the theme and tone of the book.  Today I give you Mr. Johnny Cash with his rendition of The Nine Inch Nails classic song Hurt.

BTW – The book is available for pre-order here: The Closeout Kings

Pre-Order-Palooza

Books, books and… well there are just two books available for pre-order..

The upcoming releases for two of my books are just around the corner, but you don’t have to wait to order them. You can pre-order the Kindle versions today… and tomorrow…. and so on and so forth.

The Closeout Kings by C. Hoyt Caldwell (a pen name) is available for pre-order now and will be released on Oct. 24, 2014

Hillbilly hitmen Step and Kenny don’t do God’s work. They close out deadbeat crackers without a second thought, because they aren’t paid to have second thoughts. Everything changes when a girl goes missing, and the killers suspect their employers are involved. Desperate to find answers, the closeout kings broker a deal with a deputy hellbent on tying them to a double homicide. Together they uncover a ring of horror that has plagued their mountains for years.

The Takers: The Tenth Anniversary Reimagined Edition by R.W. Ridley (technically a pen name too) is available for pre-order now and will be released on Oct. 31, 2014

This is the tenth anniversary reimagined edition of the award winning story about a teenager discovering he is responsible for the end of the world. With a new ending and 40 additional pages, this is a new twist on the classic tale.

When 16-year-old Osmond “Oz” Griffith wakes from an illness on the floor of his closet, he discovers the world overrun by man-eating monsters, the Takers, and it’s largely his fault. In an effort to make things right, he gathers a band of survivors (a baby, an aged mechanic and a talking gorilla, among others), and sets off down his version of the yellow brick road, leading to the Atlanta Zoo. Along the way, he learns that his destiny was written by Steve, a boy from his past. Afflicted with Down Syndrome, Steve created new worlds, replete with battles between good and evil, in the comic books that served as his sole refuge from the teasing of Oz and his friends. Steve’s untimely suicide leaves only the comic books as clues to vanquishing the Takers.

A Note of Caution: This version does not fit into the Oz Chronicles series. This is, if you will, an alternate universe version of The Takers.

BTW – I also just finished my stage play.  Anyone out there with advice on what to do with it now, please let me know.  I’m a theater newbie.

The reason there’s an alternate version of The Takers

Release date will be on Halloween… of course.

This is the author’s note for The Takers: The Tenth Anniversary Reimagined Edition

In 2004, I wrote a book called The Takers: Book One of the Oz Chronicles. It received a much better response from reviewers and readers than I could have hoped for. It won an award or two, and it even got the attention of some filmmakers. More importantly, a few of the bigger publishing companies expressed an interest in buying the rights to the book. I proceeded to take part in some preliminary talks with a couple of the houses. One editor in particular had a great deal of interest with one small caveat. He wanted some fairly extensive rewrites. I thought his suggestions were pretty solid so over the next couple of weeks I ripped apart The Takers and rewrote it with his suggestions in mind. He never gave me any specific direction, but he gave me a fairly clear overview of what he expected.

When I finished the rewrites, I handed it off to a few people I trust to see if I had ruined this book that so many people seemed to like. I was relieved when they insisted that it was actually better than the original. They were excited by the new direction. They insisted I hadn’t ruined the original. I had improved it.

My agent sent the rewritten manuscript to the editor, and we waited confidently for the announcement that this big publishing house was going to move forward with publication. In relatively short order, we did hear back, but it was devastating news. The editor hated the changes. He thought I made Oz a horrible person. He even went so far as to insist that I had created an unrealistic view of bullies. He did not believe anyone would treat Stevie so badly simply because he was different. It was at that point that I was glad he had decided to pass on The Takers.

The book you are about to read is the manuscript this editor hated. My agent continued to shop it around for two years after that episode. Other publishing companies showed interest, but ultimately opted not to publish the book. Thanks to the age of electronic publishing I can now make it available to you, dear readers, and you can decide if it’s better than original.

A note of caution: This version does not fit into the series. It contains about 40 new pages of story, and some characters and monsters have been altered just a bit. The biggest change is the ending. This is, if you will, an alternate universe version of The Takers.

The Takers: The Secret Version

The secret is out!

For those of you who don’t follow me on Facebook, I posted a video a couple of days ago with a few huge, major, earth-shattering announcements.  Yeah, they’re kind of a big deal.

1. C. Hoyt Caldwell’s latest offering is live and ready to pre-order on Amazon via the online retail giant’s Kindle Store.  Just click the title and you’ll be in pre-order bliss in the blink of an eye.  The title, of course, is The Closeout Kings.  The official release date is Oct. 24, 2014.

2. Bad Way Out, C. Hoyt Caldwell’s first book will be available for free Oct. 4-5.  Tell your friends.  Tell your followers.  Tell three random people on the street.  Tell whomever you wish, just tell someone for God’s sake.

3. In case you don’t know, I am C. Hoyt Caldwell.

4.  There will be a “new” Oz Chronicles book released within the next 6 weeks.  Yay!  It won’t be the final book in the series.  Boo!  It will be a secret version of the first book, The Takers.  It has new chapters, a different ending, and Oz is a bit older.  This is a version of the book a big time major publisher had me write and then ultimately passed on it. I’ve been waiting awhile to release this version because my agent shopped it around, but the buzz on The Takers has buzzed-out with the majors. So, I’m unleashing it for you all to read.  The few people who have read it said it is better than the original.  Let’s call this the alternate universe version.  The image with this post is one possible cover and title option.  Let me know what you think in the comments section below or on Facebook.

5. I’m working on an non-fiction book for the first time in my life.  It’s what pushed Book Seven back to next year.  Don’t hate.  This is an incredible story of a friend of mine – Lee Deckelman.  He’s currently working as a private security specialist.  Think Liam Neeson in Taken, but not quite as tall.  And yes, he does have those unique set of skills. He’s a former Army Ranger and Green Beret. From the day Lee was born he’s lived an incredible story of tragedy and triumph.  He wants to tell his story so he can raise awareness for his Echelon Grey Foundation. The untold story about these security specialists and private contractors is the high rate of traumatic injuries they have to cope with when they come home.  The corporations they work for operate to make profit, and there isn’t a lot of profit getting these men and women help when they come home.  Lee wants to change that, and I want to help him.

That’s it.  There ain’t no more… for today.  Stay tuned. I’ve got a lot of stuff going on, including an update on my first stage play.