Joe Clifford Faust's Blog, page 2
August 15, 2023
Interview
I recently had a pleasant sit-down with Laura the Library Lady at the Massillion Public Library and read a bit from “The Smart One.” Hopefully you’ll find it pleasant as well.
“Joe Clifford Faust sits down with Laura for a humorous discussion about the unlikely places he found the inspiration for his books, the definition of a ‘space opera,’ and why he turned down the opportunity to write a Star Wars novel.”
July 6, 2023
When I Heard The Voice Behind Me…
It’s finally a novel! Well, actually, it was always a novel. It’s finally reissued – and the way I always wanted to see it, along with some additional material designed to ensnare completists! Available in Dead Tree and Kindle editions – other e-formats forthcoming, I hope.
June 28, 2023
And the Cover is…
And it’s the final cover reveal for Fermans Devals – Author’s Intended Edition.
If you’ve read the book(s), you know why it had to be this way – including the deliberate errors.
Thanks to Todd Dummermuth for his usual excellent job of making one of my vague notions look cool.
Looking for a mid-to-late July release, depending on how much more grief converting the completed file gives me.
Also, congratulations to Adrian Stout, Del Baddeley, and Grey Forge LeFey, the winners of the cover feedback contest – your signed copies will be in the mail… whenever. And my thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the different covers…. even if I went in a totally different direction at the end of the day.
May 9, 2023
Opinion, Please – Round Two
Okay, it’s time for round two of JCF Wants Your Opinion! Here are two revised covers for the forthcoming Author’s Preferred Edition of Ferman’s Devils/Boddekker’s Demons. Which one do you prefer? As before, all commenters will be entered into a drawing to get a free autographed copy when this comes out, hopefully this summer. And if you commented on the previous covers, you are still in the drawings.
April 14, 2023
Reviews
Once again, I’d like to remind everyone out there in JCF Reader Land [TM] to leave a review when you read one of my novels. Or when you read anyone’s novel, for that matter. On whatever your favorite social medium of choice is.
Notice – and this is important – that I didn’t – and this may just be me speaking here – ask for a good review.
All I want is an honest review. As do a lot of – but not all – novelists out there. Especially the ones who never quite hit the heights of those Lists That Say They Matter.
Meaning, I don’t care if you like the book or not. I just want your opinion of it.
Operative word being opinion. Because reviews, good, bad, or mediocre, can help point the direction I’m going in, literature wise. So yes, even a one-star pan can be welcome… if you do it right.
Here’s my favorite One-Star review of all time, for my novel The Mushroom Shift. Why? Because the reader at least took the time to explain why she didn’t care for the book. If you’re reading this, thank you, minervaK.
On the other side of the coin, take a gander at the most useless One Star I’ve ever received. Wait, don’t bother. I’ll quote it here for you: “don’t ask”. Gee, thanks, Esther. Why’d you even bother?
Please note this also applies to good reviews. I know… even Roger Ebert admitted to having trouble writing reviews of movies he loved because writing bad reviews was more fun (this is true, speaking from my brief gig as a film critic for a small town newspaper). Kevin, I appreciate that you gave all three books of Angel’s Luck five stars, but your assessment of, “Yup. It’s good” – for all three books – doesn’t exactly give me any insight as to why they worked for you.
(For all my complaining here, at least I got reviews, and thank you to all who have left one for me thus far. But for those of you who use Amazon for books – remember those days? – keep in mind that they don’t cross promote a book until it has gotten 50 reviews. And at 75 they start mentioning your book in email blasts to readers with similar tastes. One of those few cases where quantity, not quality, matters.)
One final note – a review of a book is not a review of the seller and/or their delivery process. That three stars you gave… was that because you didn’t like protagonist, plot, or because, as you noted, the shipment was a day late?
So throw me – and the other folks you’re reading – a bone. You may never write a novel yourself, but you certainly might influence the course of one with the insight you give from a reader’s point of view. One that, sadly, authors tend to be blind to after that lengthy midwifing process.
Do these things for me and I promise to learn from your reviews and make subsequent novels More Better. And I promise not to be “that author”. You know. The one who is the first one to review his/er new novel. And gives it five stars. Without explaining why, of course.
March 29, 2023
Your Opinion, Please!
Here’s your chance to be a literary critic… or an art critic, anyway…
The final book in my backlist is on deck to be reissued, and I’ve come up with two possible covers. I’d love to hear your votes or opinions on them.
As an added incentive, I’m going to give away an autographed copy of this book on release to one lucky commenter, chosen at random – so you have a chance at a book whether or not you voted for the winning cover.
This is on multiple Facebook accounts and my web page, and one winner will be chosen from each, so no need to stuff the ballot box.
Disclaimer – this is my rough conceptual construction. It will look much better once the ace graphic designer in my employ gets done with it.
Thanks, and have fun. Looking forward to your opinions!
August 22, 2022
At long last, I can’t believe it, The Smart One finally lands
At long last – now available for Kindle and in a spiffy Trade Paperback format. Purchase links in the comments.
“Dink Stapleton is a two-bit hoodlum who lives in Wapakoneta, Ohio. All he wants to do is keep his nose clean and fly under the radar – something that’s easier said than done. His less-smart half-brother keeps trying to suck him into a plan to counterfeit twenty dollar bills. He has run afoul of a local wannabe crime figure. And his employer wants him to track down a scandalous painting by a local artist.
“Unfortunately, Dink’s boss isn’t the only one who wants the painting. There’s the stripper who posed for the painting; the loose cannon who is obsessed with the stripper; and the pretentious comic book illustrator turned pretentious artist who created the painting to begin with.
“Complicating matters are ten-grand worth of funny twenties that have gone walkabout, a missing car with the world’s worst paint job, and a girlfriend who wants him to find Jesus. It’s a lot to wade through if Dink is going to find the painting and figure out who gets it, but he should be able to work it out. After all, he’s the smart one.”
Paperback:
Kindle:
August 7, 2021
The Return of The Smart One
A quick bit of news that’s late in coming. I’ve posted the contents of my new novel, The Smart One, on Kindle Vella. This is Amazon’s latest experiment in serial storytelling, one that has already been pioneered, and well, elsewhere.
So the first three chapters/episodes/whatever are free, and the remainder are unlocked, as you read, with tokens. These are purchased from Amazon, but I think first-timers are given 200 free tokens, which will open a good number of chapters (token cost is based on episode length – The Smart One was deliberately made up of short chapters for reason of pacing, even before this Vella thing came along). And yes, I will receive royalties if you use tokens you have paid for.
Caveat for the moment: For some reason, this is only available as an iOS app, or on your computer’s web browser. Android compatibility is promised in the future (assuming this experiment works out).
And yes, there will be a paper copy available eventually. Sometime in early 2022, I suspect.
Here’s the link to The Smart One’s Kindle Vella landing page: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B094GPXT8V
And stay tuned – there’s more JCF book news coming soon. Really soon.
June 22, 2017
No book… yet
[image error]Thanks to all of you who voted for The Smart One during it’s campaign on KindleScout… unfortunately, they took a pass on this one (no reasons given, just a generic rejection email – that’s part of the game). I am planning to pursue other avenues for the book, but first I need to spend some time in (a trait I learned from a lifetime of owning dogs).
The story ain’t over yet.
June 8, 2017
The Last Day to Vote
Okay, folks – it’s the last day to vote to get my new novel The Smart One on track for publication by Kindle Press – and bag yourself a free ecopy of it in the process.
Need to know what it’s about? Check out the video below.
To vote and read a sample of the book, click here.
To get more little glimmers of the novel, check out the mini excerpts below the video link.
And thanks in advance to all of you for taking the time to watch, read and vote!
“If actors can’t be on money, then baseball players can’t be either,” said Brad.
“Now that’s your man’s pride talking,” she said, “and you just tell it to shut up.”
“You’re not testing it here. Go test it in Lima, at Rancho Muchacha. Put it in someone’s g-string, see how far it gets you.”
Only there’s no dead bodies here, but the nightmare is real.
“You can probably understand that after right now I just want to keep my head down and my nose clean.”
“Please. Next you’re going to tell me you’re on that caveman diet. You a hipster or something?”
“Son, you know, Brad’s elevator, it does go to the top but has a lot of trouble getting there.”
“Don’t you go all psycho on me. I was only checking up on you.”
“I’m paying more than minimum, but not that much more. Christmas bonus a turkey and a bottle of scotch.”
“But he always liked you, Dink. He said you were the smart one.”
Dink wanting now to start hitting his head on the steering wheel to get him to stop, just stop.
“I was almost your mom. I wasn’t stupid. Well, you’re better off without them.”
“Ordinarily,” VanDoren said, “I’d say it was too early. But it’s never to early for free beer.”
“You kidding me? For you the high moral ground is a cesspool.”
The car full of chemical smell, the one you got from overheated brake fluid or whatever it was.
“I would tell you your woman troubles are over,” Dink said. “But really they’re not.”
“This one of those things, your wife needs medical marijuana but can’t get a prescription?”
Dink was trying to figure out how to get six bags of Yoda shaped tater tots into the freezer.
“I still got this kubaton. Maybe you remember, didn’t end well for you last time. It won’t this time either, you don’t leave.”
“Shake my hand,” Dink said, “or old man Spangler will think I’m selling you coke.”
Would Mrs. James Bond hold against him all the women her husband bedded because he was doing it for England?
Crystal saying now, “Well don’t stand there like a doofus. Come in.”
“He decided to go with this thing where he paints me symbolically naked instead of really naked.”
“So you’re going to stay mad if you don’t call and you’re going to be mad if you do.”
“You’re a weenie, Frank.”
“Promise me this isn’t going to get you in trouble.”
Shaking his head. “Foolproof. It’s mostly legal.”
“If you wanted to know I’m cheating on you, shoulda asked, I would’ve told you myself, even if it wasn’t true.”
A bottle of her PMS meds struck him in one ear.
“Hello, little bro. We thought you were a Jehovah’s Witness.”
“What it’s worth, I threw coffee in his face, threw him down on a table.”
“Don’t ever play poker with me, man. I’ll strip you down to your tighty whities.”
“I heard you were smarter than you looked,” said old man Spangler.
