David Niall Wilson's Blog, page 2

A Tale of Several Agents

I’ve been in this business a very, very long time, but in all of that time the one thing I have never had is a good agent. Before you assume I’m just sour-graping here, bear with me. The bad choices were all my own, and maybe my experiences will help. Who knows?

When I was in the US Navy and starting out, I knew a couple of authors. One was a romance novelist actually selling books, and she introduced me to her agent. I literally do not remember the agent’s name. She agreed to represent me. This was in the middle of the mid-list boom. I got a letter, late, after returning from a cruise stating – just like this – if you have a finished manuscript – anything – send it. I have a slot. That is how loose things were back then. And I did have a manuscript, but by the time I got that letter, the “slot” was gone. Then I came home from the cruise to the news that said agent was heading to jail for embezzling funds from her authors. Agent one, out the window. This one I literally could not have seen coming, but even then there was a disconnect. She had not seen my book, but was sure she could just sell it without any real knowledge or enthusiasm, and that felt weird… just not weird enough for an author with no experience to trust his gut. (It’s me… I’m that author, or was).

The Navy, and life, kept me writing for some time, and I sold My Star Trek novel and all of my White Wolf novels without an agent. Eventually, though, I wanted to get back into that game. Agent #2 was a small press guy, Stanislaus Tal. Look him up. He did some cool things, published Deathrealm for a while, and then disappeared with money, properties -even tried to steal my royalties from Pocket Books for the Star Trek novel. Yes… two agents, two crooks. Two for two. A lot of folks were fooled by Tal, who called himself “The Bad Boy of Horror.” I called him the boy of Bad horror, but that’s an entirely different story. Needless to say, he sold nothing for me, and again, I was mostly turned off by agents. Again – this was not the fault of agents, but all on me.

I finally managed to hook up with a NYC agent after some queries. She submitted a couple of my books, while asking me to come up with something like The Da Vinci Code, asking for 3 chapters and an outline over and over, and over and over saying it didn’t excite her. All of those books eventually sold, but of course not by her. After time I met one of the editors she claimed to have sent my books to to find that no, they had never received anything. Turns out there was an accident of some sort, the agent had suffered a concussion, was not really active, but wasn’t telling anyone about it, so at least two years wasted.

I finally hooked up with Robert Fleck who was my agent for many years, but mostly he handled contracts after sales, or helped me get projects to people who only took agented submissions. He never really had the contacts to make big sales. There were minor sales, but I made those myself. Around that time I started Crossroad Press and while still writing, published my own work for many years. That was probably a mistake. I now have a lot of books out in a lot of genres, a nice stack of wonderful reviews, several from Publishers Weekly, but nothing important.

I’m not a spring chicken, but I am still writing, and if the reviews of my latest book are an indicator, doing it well. That sale was to Shortwave Publishing, and, again, I sold the book myself. I have never had an agent who really was excited about my work, who pushed it and sold it for me because they had confidence in it, and in me. I have a new book finished and it’s being queried. I have it out to two agents I admire and would love to work with, but the competition is huge… only time will tell if I succeed.

My point in all fo this is, be careful. Don’t get excited by the first representation that comes your way unless they have a good reputation and a track record. Don’t settle for someone who does not communicate, and does not read and understand the work they are representing. Don’t be me, in other words. I will update on all of this as time passes…but for now,

Happy Halloween…

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June 2023 Update Vintage Soul & New Words

It’s been a busy year, and I’ve not posted here much. The new newsletter is at my Substack and I am learning how to keep that rolling. I have sold several short stories this year… My short story “As Long as You Feed,” was published in the anthology Blood in the soil, Terror in the Wind edited by Kenneth Cain last August. That was sort of the start of a rebirth. My story “Secretshit.txt” sold to the Short Wave Media anthology OBSOLESCENCE – gorgeous book and presentation and great stories. My story “I Was Going to Tell You Tonight,” sold to the upcoming anthology DEATHREALM: SPIRITS (not out yet). I am writing a novella currently titled “When You Leave, I Disappear,” that I love, three novels, and am waiting with hopeful heart on a submission of a novella (short novel) titled Closing Time at the Sunny-Side-Up.

More imminent… Vintage Soul, book 2 of The DeChance Chronicles mints as an NFT on Tuesday, 27 June. Very excited about this new technology. For now it’s collectible and fun but the business that is being built could change digital publishing forever. Not going to get into that here. I posted about it on Twitter.

The Devil’s in the Flaws & Other Dark Truths is available in all formats

Information about my NFT editions is available here.

Informatkion about the upcoming mint/publication of Vintage Soul is here.

Until next time,

DNW

How to Sell a Haunted House – Grady Hendrix – Review

How to Sell a Haunted House, while actually covering the topic in the title, is much, much more than a real-estate guide. As with most of Grady Hendrix’s books, the real story is in the lives, memories, minds and history of the characters. Siblings with very different memories of a life lived together, puppets and dolls and squirrels – yes, that’s relevant – all play parts in both versions of a past that leads to places far darker and more twisted than anyone involved could individually conceive.

Children of a mother who ran a “puppet ministry,” Mark and Louise find themselves drawn together to deal with their parent’s sudden deaths in a traffic accident. The two are estranged and have fought all their lives. But do they know why? The family has secrets, and everyone believes they know what they are… but do they?

One thing is certain, you will come away from this with an inability to sit in a room with puppets without keeping an eye on them, and if someone was to slip in behind you in that room and holler COCKAWEEWEE you’d never sleep again.

Great new entry into the haunted dolls / puppets sub-genre of horror and a perfect candidate for Hollywood. Highly recommended.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, narrated by Mikhaila Aasent and Jay Aeseng. While I enjoyed having Jay tell Mark’s story, it was jarring to suddenly have Mark, one of the characters who speaks often in the main narrative, voiced by a completely different person, in a different tone and speech pattern. The book gained nothing by this and would have been better had it been a single narrator. Both are talented voice artists, but when characters are split out, they should either always be voiced by the second narrator, or that second narrator becomes more of an issue than a feature.

The Dismemembered by Jonathan Janz – Review

This was an unexpected treat. Jonathan Janz has found a way to channel the past. A lot of times when an author attempts to write, particularly at novel length, in the language and vernacular of an earlier time, the results are mixed.  Janz does an admirable job of telling his tale without dropping character in the overly dramatic style I remember so well from the piles of dark, Gothic romances I remember sneaking away from my aunt and my mother when I was young.

Of course, this is much, much darker than those books were, heading into the realms of Poe and H. G. Wells, Mary Shelly and more. Elements of the plot that seem disconnected come together as the story unfolds, revealing layer after layer of intrigue. An American author named Pearce is lured to an ancestral home near a dark keep. First one, and then another odd character draws his attention until he, and the family who have invited him into their home, are drawn into darkness they could not have dreamed of.

This is a short book, and the action hits hard, and fast, never letting up once it’s begun to gather speed. This is where The Dismembered diverges from the Gothic formula. The books I remember would have drawn this out to three hundred slow-burn pages, the Janz drags you through it as if carried by dark literary lightning.

For a change of pace and something very entertaining, this is highly recommended.

The Wingspan of Severed Hands – by Joanna Koch – reviewed.

This novella is not a quick read. The opening sequence was so intense and visceral, covering deep emotion to intricate descriptions of things that will haunt me, that when I hit the second segment I had to stop, sit back, study the book and read the synopsis again to be certain it wasn’t a short story collection and I’d somehow missed the conclusion of the first story. Robert Chambers fans are going to love this new addition to the lore of Carcosa. There is a teenaged girl experiencing dual worlds, one of mistreatment, torture, and disfigurement and the other in a place where she bonds with an angel. At least, she calls it an angel. There is a research scientist fighting to create a living weapon to prevent the world from sliding into darkness and the absolute control of the Yellow Queen and there is the weapon. Three points bonded.

Joanna Koch has a mastery of words that can be, at times, overwhelming. In this novella you can sometimes catch a breath during the periods when you are visiting the research facility, but then, those begin to slide as well.

This is a darkly poetic work that will challenge reader’s imagations. It’s a wonderful homage to classic horror while, at the same time, deepening the wounds and clawing it’s own way forward. Not for light reading… but highly recommended.

THE TOLL by Cherie Priest – Audiobook Review

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this book. I’ve read Cherie Priest’s books before, but never knew here as an author of horror, or folk horror, as this book was. I went in with no expectations and found myself enthralled.

This book has a Flannery O’Connor feel to it, reminiscent of the narrative in Wise Blood and every bit as peculiar. There is very little outright horror involved. The setting is far from civilization in an almost forgotten town beside the Okefinokee Swamp. The characters are quirky, some trapped there all their lives, some who left and returned, others who simply found themselves there, like the bartender Dave.

Titus and Melanie Bell launch the story, driving on State Highway 117 headed into the swamp, where they will spend their honeymoon canoeing. This is a thing that Titus says was his wife’s idea, but was clearly not. They bicker, argue, and find themselves on a bridge that should not exist.

This bridge and its history are woven into the pages of the story. Two old ladies who have taken in an orphan named Cameron. Raised by spinsters in the secluded town he’s a teen who speaks like an old man. There is a dog that likes to climb a tree, and a forgotten building full of dolls. There are locals who are absolutely not what they seem, but taken in stride.

And there is something in the swamp. Something that waits, and preys, that has come before this. While they search for his wife, Titus becomes enmeshed in the drama and folklore of the place, becoming more and more certain he’ll never see his wife again.

I listened to the unabridged audio of this, and the narrator, T. Ryder Smith, does an adirable job of getting all the characters just right. This book won’t scare you outright, but if you read carefully and think about all that is going on, you’ll start to experience the true creepiness of the words, and the setting. If you are on State Highway 117, and you see a seventh bridge, best to U-turn and take your chances back in Florida. Very well done and a pleasure to read. And I can’t help thinking there are more stories that could come from Staywater. I want more of the dog, and the dolls, but that is something for the author to decide.

The New Collection, HEART OF A DRAGON News

Here we are in 2023. This is going to be a word-heavy, productive year for me, and it’s time I updated everyone on some of what’s going on. My collection, The Devil’s in the Flaws & Other Dark Tales, is available… everywhere. Even in bookstores. If it’s NOT in your bookstore, ask them to order it. Please. That’s how we get out there. The reviews on that book have been outstanding. There’s a lot of “me” in that one.

ORDER THE COLLECTION HERE!

Next up in 2023 is the NFT MINT of my novel HEART OF A DRAGON – Book 1 of The DeChance Chronicles. This will come out in a limited edition of 1000 individual NFTs from BOOK.IO on the 18th of January. There will be a certain number of unique covers, then some more common covers, and at least one other rarity factor that I’m not going to divulge yet. Eventually I expect most, or all of my books to come out through that site, so don’t miss out on this first one. I have also created Worlds of David Niall Wilson NFTs that will allow the holder to get a discount on every book I do through the site. It will also make holders eligible for special collectible NFTs, deals, and giveaways that others will not see. You can mint them right here on my website. You can now buy books from JPG store (like the used bookstore for NFT books) using a credit card and they have simplified the entire project. To MINT (like a lottery for the rarest books and only available until the print run sells out) you need a Cardano (ADA) “wallet”. I’ll post instructions on my NFT PAGE.

I am about a third of the way through a novella that should be published sometime in the next year, have just completed a new story featuring Donovan DeChance and Cletus J. Diggs, and have stories in at least two upcoming anthologies so far. The collection is still discounted at $2.99 until a promo at Barnes & Noble ends (the eBook only) so you can still get a copy cheap… but it’s a pretty paperback… (Just Saying).

Hope your New Year is going well. Mecury still in retrograde and no matter how often I tell myself that’s crap, the number of odball things going wrong is starting to drive me bonkers.

Until next time – DNW

New Year’s Eve Book, Audio, NFT Giveaway!

Win eBooks, NFTs, NFT eBooks, Audiobooks & More!

New Year’s Giveaway – 10 NFTs (six of them are @Book_io NFT books and four of them are The Worlds of David Niall Wilson Member/Discount NFTs Authors include Joe Nassise, Jon F. Merz, Lars Emmerich, Alan Dean Foster and James P. Sumner). Also free audiobook codes for three different books of mine, Jurassic Ark, The DeChance Chronicles Omnibus, and The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J. Diggs & the Currently Accepted Habits of Nature – One copy of The Devil’s in the Flaws & Other Dark Truths in any eBook format and one signed copy of Heart of a Dragon, the book that will mint as an NFT on January 14th.

TO ENTER: Follow @CrossroadPress on Twitter. Like and RT the pinned post (this giveaway) and tell me what will be special for you in 2023. If you want to know more about myself and my books, visit my website. The link takes you to the home page for the NFT membership tokens, but links at the top lead to my books, my collections, my biography, and more. Possible prizes below!

BOOK.IO NFT BOOKS

The Worlds of David Niall Wilson NFT Character / Discount Tokens

FREE AUDIOBOOK DOWNLOAD CODES US / UK

Free Ebook any format of The Devil’s in the Flaws Signed paperback of Heart of a Dragon

Stories of the Eye – Book Review

From the first few pages of “The Aneurytic by Andrew Wilmot,” I knew that I’d opened a book that was a step above. The prose is bold and out on that cutting edge you hear about, but seldom experience. A new savior, tearing down art to save the world. It wasn’t the plot that caught my attention, it was the intensity, and the quality of the prose. It might have been a fluke, and I’ll admit, I was ready for that to be the case. Very seldom do anthologies even manage to hold a theme in more than tentative fingers, let alone maintain a level of style and creativity that makes the entire book feel like a creation, rather than a collection of creations.

There is an elegance to this anthology that speaks to a vision, something more than a showcase for individual talents. There are standouts. There are a few that fall slightly short of the pinnacle set by the whole, but even in those you feel a striving, a sense that the author is reaching beyond the bonds of comfort for something – something that will hurt and touch and scar, so that even while forming slightly weaker links, that inner tension bridges story to story.

I’ll mention a few stories that (in particular) worked on all levels for me. Hailey Piper’s The Deep end of You, “ “I’m the Last Person I’d Want to be,” by Ira Rat, “In Thrall to Your Cathode Star,” by Matt Neil Hill (My favorite of the entire collection ), and “All the Rapes in the Museum,” by Joe Koch.  These are stories I will remember, and think about, and remember lines and scenes from, for years to come.

What I am trying to say is that this is a very literary, very exotic book. None of these authors failed to push their limits, to try and create something beyond monsters and serial killers and the standard fare of horror. Their visions of what it might be like to be the model, the inspiration, the catalyst of stories, or art, or film, are remarkable. You will not find a lot of collections like this because reading this book requires almost as much commitment as went into the writing.  You have to love words, and images. You have to love style and deeper thought. You have to be willing to be enticed and disgusted in the same sentence.

This is the best anthology that I read in 2022 without even a close second.

Highly Recommended.

“Bones remain, they are like tiny birds…”

The Hollows by Daniel Church – Book Review

This is straight on folk/creature horror that starts out of the gate with solid action and only heats up along the way.  A strange old family on a farm with a dark past.  Sacrifice, pacts with things best left alone a storm that locks everyone on the mountain in, and anyone who could help out, all put sheriff Elli Cheetham and those she serves and protects in a danger none of them are ready to accept, let alone defend against.

One thing that struck me as a US reader is the similarities between the poor mountain people in thie story and our own Appalachian communities.  If not for some of the language, or the fact I already knew this was set in the UK, I might have thought it was taking place in Tennessee.  Crazy people, crazier monsters, and not much time to solve it before everyone dies.

A lot of fun and with perfectly believable characters.  Good stuff.