Evan Bond's Blog, page 18

Update

It's been a little while since I updated you all about what's going on. First, let me tell you about my upcoming podcast, [The] Writers' Block. We will be recording our first episode this weekend. Of course, I will let you know when the first episode airs. 

Second, I am still in the process of editing my two new books. First is Sins of the Mother, Ethan McCormick #2. The other is my horror novella. It's been a slower process than normal but I promise they will both be out this year. In fact, why don't I make it official. Sins of the Mother will be released on July 7th! 

Lastly, my personal life. We are coming to the final countdown of my first child being born. His original due date was May 8th. But, based on his current size, they are telling us it could be as soon as April 25th now. Really, it could be any day now. I'm pretty excited about this, obviously. I can't wait to welcome this new addition to my family into the world. And yes, I will read to him every night. He's gonna love books just like his father. 

Well, that's the only updates I have for you right now. I will give you more information as I get it. I hope you're as excited as I am about the release date for my latest novel. It will be available for preorder soon. As always, thanks for reading! 

New Website Feature

I'm excited to announce a new feature on my website. You can now purchase autographed copies of my books straight from the site. You can even request a personalized message by emailing me the order number and the text you would like added. Go ahead and check out the store. Let me know what you think! 

Also, I need to clarify something. Recently I told everyone about the podcast a friend of mine and I are starting. Well, the link I shared is no longer valid. We actually chose a different platform that fits our needs better. You can now find our show on Podbean. Go to www.thewritersblocktalk.podbean.com and follow the show. Like before, anyone who follows before the first episode airs will be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card. The winner will be drawn during our second episode. 

Book Cover Release

I realize I promised this cover on Saturday, April 1st. I could say it was an April fools joke, but in reality I forgot. So.......I will be revealing the book cover today. 

My new novel, Sins of the Mother, is the second book in the Ethan McCormick series. First, how about a little more info on the book? Here is the synopsis:

  The life of a private investigator is not a glamorous one, nor is it exciting. Ex-Miami police officer Ethan McCormick learned that the hard way. His cases are low profile and rather boring. All of that changes when a desperate mother and father reach out to him. Their eight year old son, Desmond, is missing. 
When the mother, Laura, becomes a prime suspect in the case, Ethan decides to do what he can to find the missing child and find those responsible. He follows the trail of murder and deception to find the truth. The truth, however, is darker than he could have ever possibly imagined.   ​

What do you think? Sound good? Are you going to read it? Let me know in the comments below. As always, I love hearing from you guys! 

Alright, without further delay. Here is the reveal of the book cover.



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Podcast

Many advancements have been made on the special project since I last updated you all. We have a title for our podcast and a host as well. We are calling it [The] Writers' Block. 

What do you think of it? Let me know! For me and my co-host, Shawn, it's got multiple meanings. It's our block of time as writers to talk about favorite books and writing habits. It's also a show that can help writers get passed their writer's block with the original content and creativity we will bring to the show. It's a podcast for readers and writers alike. 

Check out the page and go ahead and follow us. We don't have any content up just yet but I promise we will in the coming weeks. Go here to check it out. Anyone who follows the show before the first episode airs will be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card. Please give us a follow and good luck! 

In the comments below, let me know your thoughts on our podcast and if you have any suggestions. We'd love to hear from you! And give my co-host a follow on Instagram @shawnsalzmann. We will have social media pages for the site shortly! 

New Project Announcement

Those of you on my newsletter may have already read this news. I made a vague post on social media the other day explaining I was working on a special project and would update in a couple days. Now, I would like to share that information with you! 
A writer buddy of mine and I have developed plans for a............wait for it...........podcast! That's right. Soon, you'll be able to tune in weekly and hear me and my friend talk. About what you ask? Well, it's still in the planning stages so I can't reveal just yet. However, I can tell you it will be about books, reading, and writing and will be entertaining. If you're into books you'll love this podcast. I'll update everyone as the details come. Until then, let me know in the comments below what you think about this. Are you excited? Will you listen to our podcast? Let me know! I'd love to hear from you. 

Sins of the Mother Cover

For those subscribed to my newsletter, you've already seen the cover for my upcoming Ethan McCormick novel, Sins of the Mother. I've received some pretty good feedback and I'm confident the rest of you will love the cover as well. 
That being said, the original plan was release the cover on April 1st. However, I'm getting excited and want to share it with you now! So, if you would like me to post it early leave a comment below and let me know if I should. If I get enough responses, I'll post it on my blog in the next few days! Thanks for reading! 

King of the Universe II

As I've mentioned before, I'm currently reading The Dark Tower series by Stephen King for the first time. It's a fantastic series and I'm really finding myself drawn into the world of the Gunslinger and company. At the moment, I am reading The Dark Tower IV, Wizard and Glass. There are minor spoilers ahead so read at your own risk.
After our heroes get off their ride through Mid-World with Blaine the Mono (who is a pain and that's the truth) they find themselves in Kansas, our world. Except, it's not really our world. Instead, they have found themselves in our world ravaged by a plague that has wiped out much of humanity. A plague nick named Captain Trips. This is exciting! It means our ka-tet has entered the world of The Stand!
Of course, I haven't finished reading the book yet so I can't be sure of anything but as of right now I'm excited! This means Stu, Randall Flagg, the Trashcan Man, and others are all in the same world right now. Will we get a cross-over with Roland and company with the others? Unlikely. But it's still cool to think the characters in this series are in the same world as one of my all time favorite books. It makes me wonder, what other easter eggs are there in these books? How many other references are there to his other works? I'm going to read on to find out. 
If you haven't read Stephen King's Dark Tower series, you really should. I'm loving it so far. Trust me, you will too! As always, thanks for reading! 

Case Log #4

It wasn't too long ago I was contacted by a man named Sam. He came to me with tears in his eyes. Sam had started to suspect, as a lot of the clients I deal with do, that his wife was having an affair. Naturally, I took the case. 

Gathering up whatever useful information about the man's wife I could, like her schedule, I waited for night to fall. That night Sam was leaving for the weekend on business and he suspected she would have her boyfriend over. At first, I parked my car down the street and watched the house. Minutes turned to hours before anything really happened. 

I watched as the next door neighbor walked out of his front door and straight to Sam's. One knock and Sam's wife, let's call her Daisy, answered the door. From my angle, I could see she was wearing a robe and probably nothing else. Before I could snap a picture, she had pulled him inside. 

It was obvious Daisy was having an affair now, but my problem was the proof. Walking up to the window would be too suspicious and I didn't see any good vantage points from the street. I had to get that shot. 

Exiting my car with camera in hand, I walked down the street. Desperately, I wanted to find any sort of spot to snap a photo or two and run. There had to be something. On the second story a light switched on. I could only assume it was the bedroom. There would be no chances after this. 

Looking behind me, I noticed the house directly across the street was for sale. I hoped it would provide a better vantage point. First I tried the front door but found it locked. Craning my neck all around, I was satisfied I was alone. Fishing my lock pick from my right shoe, I went to work on the knob. Within a minute I was in. 

**I suppose I should make a quick statement here, for legality reasons. I did not trespass on private property nor do I admit to breaking into any building or home in the Miami area. Some parts of this story may or may not be fictionalized.**

That should do it. Carrying on, I went upstairs and found the bedroom facing the street. Staring at the bedroom window across the street, I noticed the curtains were open enough to see in. However, the bed was off to the left and not visible from the window.

Luckily, for my client, I did not give up there. Using my camera, I zoomed in on the bedroom window and noticed something glimmer along the far wall. Through my viewfinder, I saw a mirror with two nude bodies twisting and turning on the bed. Snapping a few pictures, I had clear proof his wife was having an affair, with the neighbor no less. 

A couple days later, I decided to meet Sam at a local diner early in the morning. He was there before me and looked utterly distraught. Making that long walk from the door to the table, with the manila envelope in my hand, was heartbreaking. I didn't want to give this man the bad news, but that's my job. He took it about as well as you'd expect. Tears ran down his face in the middle of the diner. I looked around to make sure his scene wasn't attracting attention. When he calmed down, he pulled a wad of money from his pocket and stuffed it in my hands. I said something I hoped would make him feel better, knowing it wouldn't, and headed out of the diner and on with my day. I think I'm getting better at the bad news. 

Book Review of Stephen King's The Waste Lands

Alright, I literally just finished this book and had to hop on here and review it right away. I absolutely loved The Waste Land by Stephen King, the third book in The Dark Tower series. Admittedly, it took me longer to read than it should, but that's OK. I was able to relish in the story and the amazing characters that King brought to the pages.

First, we have Eddie and Susannah back as integral characters that aren't just there to question the gunslinger at every turn. By the end of the book, they are becoming heroes in their own right. The chemistry between these two characters is amazing and believable. It's been a fun journey watching their relationship bloom.

Of course, Roland becomes more relatable and human. In the first book, Roland came off as an arrogant jerk and I could have cared less about him. A main character who would easily sacrifice an innocent life to further his seemingly unobtainable mission seemed terrible. But now, Roland has learned, has grown from his experiences and seems to have established friendships with these other characters. It makes me root for Roland and want him to win.

A beloved character comes back and it's amazing having them in this book. I won't mention who it is as to avoid spoilers. But I loved it.

Last we have Blaine and he is a pain. That's the truth. Blaine is probably the most terrifying adversary the ka-tet come across in this book. He can't simply be beaten with a gun or a fist. It's fun to see how these characters react to him. Especially heroes known as gunslingers. They must use their wits instead of just fists.

When it comes to the ending, I expected a cliff hanger as there are more books in the series. What I could not have predicted, however, was how effective of a cliff hanger King would leave. I want to grab the next book and start reading this very minute!

All in all, this book was great. It moved slow at some points, but that's OK. Still an amazing read that has me excited for the next. I want to learn more about this world and the tower. On a side note, I believe the monster's from Stephen King's The Mist to be the same as the creatures briefly seen in this novel.

If you're reading the Dark Tower series and haven't made it to this book yet, hurry up! You will love it!  

No Sleep

Recently, I discovered a podcast called The No Sleep podcast thanks to author Roxie Prince. It's an amazing podcast that takes stories from a site called Reddit, I'm sure you've heard of it. There's a sub-Reddit there called No Sleep where people post tales of horror. It's a lot of fun to listen to said podcast as well as read these stories. 
I'm delighted to tell you, I have submitted a story to No Sleep's Reddit page. It was a fun little story that I hope people will enjoy. If you want to read it head here: ​https://redd.it/5xciss. It's called Never Look it in the Eyes. While you're there hit the little up arrow in the top left corner to upvote. This will show you liked it! Leave a comment and let me know what you thought! 
If you want to check out the No Sleep Podcast go here: www.thenosleeppodcast.com/ I really recommend that you do. It's great! 
Also, check out Roxie Prince's website and social media pages. She's a fantastic author. You can find her information here: www.roxieprince.com/
Thanks for reading everyone!