Joshua Graham's Blog, page 26
March 24, 2011
Joshua Graham to Appear at Barnes & Noble Author Event April 9, 2011
On Saturday April 09, 2011 1:00 PM, I will appear on an author panel at Barnes & Noble to discuss the topic: How to Get Published
Here's the official announcement on the B&N Website:
Please join us as we host local authors Max Sturman, T.J. Johnson and Joshua Graham as they discuss how to get published. They will be sharing their stories as well offering insight and suggestions on how to get your own book published.
This will be interesting as I am not acquainted with Sturman or Johnson, and I don't know what their take on it is. But the fact remains: There is no one way that is sure fire. One thing does stand out in common for all methods, However: Write a great book. Getting your book completed is an accomplishment, no doubt. Getting your book in print (paper or ebook) is still another achievement. And having a traditional or small press publish your work, still another. But that is just the beginning. It's important to have a book that people will enjoy reading and enthusiastically recommend to their friends and family.
I'll speak more about this on the panel on April 9th. But I hope if you're in the San Diego area that you'll come to this event. Afterwards, our books will be available for sale and autographs.
See you there!
Barnes & Noble
Grossmont Center
5500 Grossmont Ctr Dr Suite 331
La Mesa, CA 91942
619-667-2870
Store Hours
Sun-Thu 9:00AM-10:00PM | Fri-Sat 9:00AM-11:00PM
See an in-store demo today.
Complimentary Wi-Fi
Toys & Games
B&N@School
March 23, 2011
Joshua Graham interviewed on Thriller 30 (Blogtalk Radio show)
Blogtalk Radio Interview on THRILLER 30, hosted by CJ West.
We discussed BEYOND JUSTICE, my past experiences as a college professor and the characters in my book.
You can download the podcast here.
CJ West
(Sorry about the 30 second intro commercial, that can't be helped.)
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Listen to internet radio with Author CJ West on Blog Talk Radio
March 18, 2011
Free Friday Ebook! THE ACCIDENTAL EXISTENTIALIST
Hope everyone's got great plans for the weekend! I was thinking about this recently. The hardest thing about dying isn't the physical end of life, but the sadness of leaving behind those you love, and thinking about the sorrow left in your wake when you're gone. I have often felt that this is more frightening than death in and of itself.
Taking that scenario and running with it leads us to the opening of THE ACCIDENTAL EXISTENTIALIST. This was the very first short novella I wrote in a series of "Accidental" stories, each of which center around a person whose life is irrevocably changed by events that seem to have no premeditated design. And yet, they shape this person's destiny.
All of this stems from the belief that in life, there are no accidents, really. We humans just don't have the perspective to see beyond linear time and limited human understanding/wisdom. But clearly, our lives–when seen in deep retrospect–are orchestrated by a master planner (or author).
The cool thing about all this is that I firmly believe, we can chose our own destiny. It starts with our thoughts, then our words, then our actions, then our habits, then character, and eventually all of those lead to our destiny. While we cannot always choose or control our circumstances, we can chose all of the latter factors that lead to our destiny.
In any case, I hope you all have a happy weekend. Relax and enjoy time with your loved-ones.
US Marine Corps Criminal Investigations Division agent stages his death to go dark and take on the head of a Russian Crime Syndicate, perpetrators of illegal arms dealing, human trafficking and the death of his first born son. Action-packed and filled with more twists than the Coney Island Cyclone, this story asks: How far would a good man go to rid the world of evil and avenge his son?
Free till Monday, March 21, 2011
Download link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/21777
Be sure to click add to cart, then apply the coupon code below at checkout. Double check to make sure the price is $0.00.
Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: UW94Z
Expires: March 21, 2011
Coupon code valid for Smashwords.com only. Not valid with Amazon.com or BN.com.
March 15, 2011
Why Beyond Justice Should be Made into a Major Motion Picture (Guest Blogger Scott Lowell)
I'm really excited about this new feature on my blog (new to me, anyway.) For my inaugural, I'm featuring a post by Scott Lowell, one of my the best unofficial Facebook/social media commentators I know. I hope you'll join me in welcoming Scott, as well as many more guest bloggers to come.
_________________________________________
Why Beyond Justice should be Made into a Major Motion Picture…and PG-13.
By Scott Lowell
Introduction
Ok, it was a dark and stormy night. Really, it was. I didn't feel like doing anything
so I flipped through the channels and forced myself to watch a couple "Lifetime"
channel movies. I understood why family guy depicted the channel as "Television for
idiots." Christian or not, the syrupy, Disney-like mush they show is often as far from
reality as a cartoon. This channel attempts to depict crisis, serious life-changing
traumatic events but does so in an almost 50′s Tv puritanical way. When a Marine is
shot in the head in a training accident, dad, mom and everyone else don't amble around
saying "Golly, gosh darn!" When someone is raped or murdered it's often handled in an
afterschool special standoffish way. Please. Someone give me a shot of insulin, and I'm
not even diabetic. Let's get real for a minute. I postulated: well, if this is what
Christian drama is about…leave me out. It was to realistic drama what Lawrence Welk
and Pat Boone was to rock music. I still cringe at the video of Boone performing Little
Richard. Watch to induce vomiting.
Nook, lines and stinkers.
Long about July of 2010 I did some shopping for e-readers, and decided to get a Barnes
and Noble nook. This was because it had an overwhelmingly larger library- a multiple
of what is available on Amazon's kindle and still does as of March 2011. Otherwise, I'd
really prefer a kindle DX, I am not fond of the Nook's 6" screen. I can't read a
whole page of text at once, even on the smallest font setting. I sometimes use the nook
application and read it from a 65" screen, but I digress. I loaded up on nonfiction
titles, biographies and the like. Since I have travelled the world I found non fiction
more interesting than something that never happened. I perused facebook and read a
lot of glowing recommendations for Joshua Graham's Beyond Justice, a decidedly Christian
thriller. I never even considered this genre before due to the lifetime channel poisoning
still coursing through my blood. The diverse crowd's recommendation and the extremely
low price sold me. I mean, I have wasted anywhere from $9.99 to $29.99 on dead tree
books that made me want to consider using them in a fireplace. So $3.99 was nothing.
That is less than I'd spend on gas going food shopping or a movie rental.
Don't fear the reader.
This book made me realize that there is an empty niche out there. That is: hard hitting
Christian drama/thrillers/mysteries that don't involve exorcism or Church scandal. Right
now we have the two extremes. The sappy, toothless lifetime snore fests that desiccate
the reality and ameliorate the impact so as to make them too saccharine and not
realistic or acceptable to mainstream viewers. We also have the idiotic alternative
scripture films that depict angels as evil, or the obligatory head and stomach turning
possession story. Calling Beyond Justice Christian -or not- the story is still interwoven
with faith and how it helps someone cope and overcome. Even if one is a total atheist,
they can enjoy a story of how a horrific event, false accusations and other challenges
can be coped with by faith. Long term prisoners of war all cite how faith got them
through the ordeal. They used faith to center, to focus and to survive.
I saw the faith, now I'm a redeemer…
Beyond Justice transcends the diabetes-inducing image of the puritanical and watered
down run of the mill Christian themed stories. It does not beat you over the head
preaching, nor does it go overboard and try to depict hardcore faith vs evil. It's like an
amalgam of a "Shawshank redemption" or "an innocent man" type framework that looks
more introspectively and tackles responses more thoughtfully , than just a tale of
escape and revenge. The values are Christian, and it's buildup is a realistic mirror of
what a lot of us have felt and asked ourselves: "Why should I have faith?" The story
answers that gradually, not in a quick epiphany. It also doesn't shy away from realistic
emotion and horrific events. You need to be able to see the gut-wrenching pain of a
parent and husband shattered to his soul, not some weak reference. It needs to be a
movie that retains it's edge in a PG-13 way. "R" would be unnecessarily graphic and
overboard to make the point. This book is not a splatter or slasher film and does not
need to be ruined by making it as such. "PG" would lack the intensity it should project.
That would make it a lukewarm lifetime channel effort. The events in Beyond Justice
are not "G" or "PG", nor should they be. The movie could be made to deliver the
emotion with due levels of impact if made to a PG-13 standard.
Mass has concluded.
Faithful, or not I recommend you read Beyond Justice now. It's not there to convert you,
Bible thump at you, or proselytize. It is there to add a fresh, and realistic journey
from emptiness, to the ultimate horror a family man can endure through…well you'll
have to read it. I am not a parent, but I have a feeling that this novel will really hit
home to the parents out there. Do not worry that this will be either sappy or over
the top. Expect it to flow along forcing you to turn to the next page into the wee
hours.
About the Contributing Blogger:
Scott Lowell is an honorably retired and decorated 26 year USAF veteran of Desert Storm/Southern watch, operation Enduring Freedom/Iraqi freedom with multiple middle east trips. When not serving in combat zones, he has been on disaster relief missions, Presidential support missions for President and Mrs Clinton, Vice President Gore, and President George W. Bush. He has also been on MIA repatriation missions from Vietnam via Joint Task Force in Utapao, Thailand. Scott started college at the tender age of 38 and has achieved a degree in Aircraft technology and general studies.
He is a frustrated rock drummer who currently works as a mobile communications technician in Washington state. You might see him haunting the pages of facebook, which is odd because he has always considered himself to have a great face for radio.
March 11, 2011
Two Free Friday ebooks this week!
Hi everyone!
Because BEYOND JUSTICE soared up to nearly the top of the Amazon bestseller list for legal thrillers, and because these two ebooks are similar to one another, sweet and short, I'm offering TWO free ebooks today!
Thanks you all for being such wonderful fans!
The first is THE DOOR'S OPEN, a HarperCollins Authonomy award-winning short story
The final destination, as seen through the eyes of Toby, the cat.
Download to your computer here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
Be sure to click add to cart, then apply the free coupon code below at checkout.
Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: JG45J
Expires: March 14, 2011
A children's tale of the loyalty, honor and sacrifice of a young tiger, the heir to the mystical throne in a fantastical animal kingdom.
Download to your computer here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
Be sure to click add to cart, then apply the free coupon code below at checkout.
Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: EU69H
Expires: March 18, 2011
Thanks, and enjoy!
March 9, 2011
Book of the Day at Ereader News Today!
I've got to thank the wonderful people at Ereadernewstoday.com for featuring BEYOND JUSTICE as their book of the day today. This blog site has introduced tons of free and bargain ebooks to thousands of people. In the past couple of months they've featured many of my Free Friday ebooks.
Today, as they featured BEYOND JUSTICE, my book rose up to the #3 BESTSELLING LEGAL THRILLER on Amazon.com!
Coincidence? I think not! (Good thing I'm not Descartes!)
Beyond Justice now #3 bestselling legal thriller on Amazon.com
BEYOND JUSTICE hits top 10 Amazon Bestseller booklist today!
Wow, what a day! Beyond Justice hit the Top 10 bestsellers on Amazon.com for Kindle books! Topping the titles of James Patterson, John Lescroart, and Scott Turrow!
(#10 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Legal)
Who knows, maybe it'll hit #1 today?
March 4, 2011
Free ebook and MP3s! THE ACCIDENTAL POLTERGEIST and Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata
If you've read my bio, you'll know that I'm a classical musician by training. I studied at Juilliard and Johns Hopkins and have played the cello professionally years before I became a writer. No doubt you've noticed the themes and inclusion of classical music or references in my books and stories.
This week, I'm offering a short novella free for all ebook readers. This story was inspired at a masterclass for writers given by Dean W. Smith and Kristine Rusch with the Oregon Professional Writer's network.
Kris challenged us to write stories inspired by custom picked newspaper articles. Mine was about a Russian String Quartet visiting locally and giving a concert. For some reason, I think Kris knew I was suffering a somewhat painful disconnect between my dreams of becoming a world famous concert cellist and the reality of life (making a living.) For that reason, I seemed to be avoiding about writing about one of the things I knew best: the life of a classical musician.
This is probably the first work of fiction that I've ever written expressly set in the world of classical music and the people who perform it. In many ways, it was a freeing experience and I am eternally grateful that Kris drew this story out of me. One thing she told me:
"Your dream for music need not die. It can go on living in your writing."
Thank you, Kris! I have since gone on to write many more stories and books which are now published.
THE ACCIDENTAL POLTERGEIST
Franklin King, cellist of the world famous Four Kings String Quartet has one problem (perhaps two or three). He's dead. And he can't seem to get to his final destination. Caught between here and the hereafter, Frank searches for the key that unlocks the door to his destiny.
This is available only through Smashwords here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/27639
Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: MT33D
Expires: March 7, 2011
As a free bonus, for your listening pleasure, please enjoy two free mp3 tracks of yours truly playing the last 2 movements from Rachmaninoff's Sonata for Cello and Piano:
05 Rachmaninov Cello Sonata – 3 – Joshua Graham, cello
06 Rachmaninov Cello Sonata – 4 – Joshua Graham, cello
