Richard Lee Byers's Blog, page 51

Help me choose a book cover

Hi, everybody. I could use your help. My horror novel The Vampire's Apprentice is being republished as an ebook, and there's a poll running to choose the cover. You can see the entries and vote here:

http://99designs.com/other-packaging-label-design/contests/create-next-packaging-label-design-heliosphere-books-imprint-179389/poll/28flin?utm_source=voting_app&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=voting

An interview

Here's an interview with me. I wish I'd know it was going to be a video interview and not just audio. But anyway: http://authorfeast.com

Marvel NOW

My November column on Airlock Alpha takes a look at Marvel NOW;

http://airlockalpha.com/node/9425/astrojive-musical-chairs-marvel-style.html

Dungeon Crawlers Radio

I'll be on Dungeon Crawlers Radio tonight at 6 PM EST, 7 PM CST, etc.

http://www.dungeoncrawlersradio.com/index.html

The cover blurb for Blind God's Bluff

I've learned that the terrific fantasy writer Carol Wolf (author of Summoning and Binding) has been kind enough to supply a cover blurb for my forthcoming novel Blind God's Bluff. She says:

"Blind God’s Bluff is the best kind of urban fantasy, a rollicking, fast-paced adventure."

So there!

And thank you, Ms. Wolf.


http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Gods-Bluff-Billy-Novels/dp/1597804436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352607116&sr=8-1&keywords=blind+god%27s+bluff

Arrow vs. Smallville

My October column, a comparison of "Arrow" and "Smallville," is up at Airlock Alpha:

http://airlockalpha.com/node/9401/astrojive-smallville-vs-arrow.html

A Halloween filk song

For those who care for such things, and with abject apologies to Neil Sedaka, here's a filk song for Halloween.

(To the tune of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do”)

Don’t take your blood away from me.
Don’t grab the garlic or the rosary.
Refuse me and I’ll punish you.
‘Cause staking me is hard to do.

Remember when I held you tight
And drained your veins all through the night.
So what if you turned a little blue?
Staking me is hard to do.

They say that staking me is hard to do.
That’s because they can’t find my tomb.
Don’t say you want to live.
Don’t you be no-no-no-in’ when you’ve still got some hemoglobin to give.

I beg of you, don’t call the priest.
Don’t deprive me of that crimson feast.
Give me your throat and I’ll bite it through.
‘Cause staking me is hard to do.

The cover art for Called to Darkness

For months, I've been telling everyone how gorgeous the cover art for Called to Darkness, my first Pathfinder novel, is. Check out Michal Ivan's painting here:

http://michalivan.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d5hgjo8

A little Halloween poetry

Ghost-hunting guys who make a stand
In films on Netflix on Demand
More oft than not will come to grief.
It’s not a question of belief.
You can credit; you can scoff.
Either way, your head comes off.
Mansion, jail, or old asylum,
The dead get testy when you rile ‘em.
Game show, hazing, true research,
Each will leave you in the lurch,
Blund’ring in a panicked daze
Through corridors become a maze.
First come noises, then the visions,
Then the stabbings and possessions.
There’s a mystery to decipher,
But seldom will that save your life or
Really, make a lick of sense
(At least not to the audience.)
Yet you MIGHT survive if you can last.
Sometimes one dude gets a pass.
(But sorry if you’ve got a dick.
The odds are better for a chick.)
Caked and smeared with gory spatters,
Babbling, your mind in tatters,
You’re locked up to make amends,
Blamed for the slaughter of your friends.
But still, ALIVE! A feat unequaled!
You don’t perish ‘til the sequel.

Free story coming at you

I just signed a contract for the publication of a new story. That's always a good feeling. The story is a novelette set in the Pathfinder universe and a prequel to my first Pathfinder novel Called to Darkness, which comes out at the start of next year. The novelette's called "In Red Rune Canyon" and will run as a four-part serial on the Paizo.com website starting in the second half of November. You'll be able to read it for free there, so I hope everyone will check it out.