Bradley Convissar's Blog, page 7

Suspense Magazine, Death Bleeds Into Life update

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Two quick updates for my readers and potential readers out there:

I recently won third place in Suspense Magazine's 2010 writing contest for my short story Naughty and Nice, which has been published in their March 2011 issue.  Very exciting for me
I also wanted to make note of a five-star review given to Death Bleeds Into Life on Smashwords and Amazon:

Excellent!  All stories in this collection are great. "The Madame Penitent" is something truly special. The plot alone would make it worthwhile but it is so much more than that. Evocatively written, the prose in this story feels more like poetry (and I mean that in a good way [image error] ). The good doctor delivers!

So if you haven't picked up Death Bleeds Into Life yet, what are you waiting for?  You can purchase it from Amazon here, from Barnes and Nobles here, and from Smashwords for multiple formats here.  As always, only $.99!

And to read Naughty and Nice, check out the newest issue of Suspense Magazine

What I Am Reading, What I Have Recently Purchased

On this blog's sister site, the official Pandora's Children website, I have posted 2 new posts, one on the books I am currently reading, one on the books I just bought.  I'll be doing a weekly update on what's new in the world of books for me, so if you are interested, head over to Pandora's Children and check it out.  This week… Stephen King, Jim Butcher, Simon Green, a couple of Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books.

Technorati Tags: Books, Butcher, dungeons and dragons, Green, King, reviews

New Books

Just ordered a couple of books from Barnes and Nobles:

The Good, The Bad and The Uncanny- Simon GreenChanges- ButcherDragons Wild- AspirinDragon Keeper and Dragon Haven- HobbAgain, I love everything Butcher does.  I love how the characters from the different series cross over.  And the Nightside series is just so deliciously bizarre
Can't wait to read Changes.  I love the Dresden books, and I hear that this is a real heavy hitter in the whole Dresden mythology
I really enjoyed Aspirin's Myth- and Phule series, although they both seemed to get a little weak as they went on.  I believe Aspirin stopped writing the Phule books himself, and you can tell.  But he's a great, funny storyteller and I look forward to this new series.
And the two Hobb books... I really enjoy her stuff, though nothing has been as good as the original Farseer trilogy.  But she is one of those authors I just love to read.
Don;t know how long it will take me to get to these books.  The Nightside books are always a quick read, so i may get to that first, though I really want to dive into Changes.  Of course, as soon as I am done with the Blades of the Moonsea trilogy, I want to finish up with Full Dark, No Stars.  Will keep you updated!

What I'm Reading 3/1/11

I've decided that I should probably update this more often, so I plan to write a short post on a weekly basis talking about what I am reading, a tall order considering I am always reading between 3-5 books, as well as several short things on my Droid X.  And there will be some comic book news sprinkled in because I am a geek, after all.  So, for my first installment, here's what's going on:


Full Dark, No Stars- Stephen King's newest short story collection.  Well, three short stories and one novella.  So far, I've only read "Fair Extension", and quite frankly, I don't know where to start.  Not a great story, not inspiring... somewhat depressing actually.  You don't know how you should feel about the characters because the emotions that drive them seem so petty.  Not his worst work, and I am hoping the rest of the stories are better.  But, as this is Stephen King, his writing ability makes up for a mediocre story.So there it is, a breakdown of what I've been reading.  If any of you are reading or have read any of these books, please, let me know what you think!

Free Book Giveaway

Tired of slahers, zombies and vampire romances?

Looking for some more "classical" psychological horror, where ghosts, monsters and madmen run wild?

Have you already read Pandora's Children: Dark Interludes and are looking for something a little meatier?

For a limited time (until midnight Thursday 3/10/2011), I am giving away free coupon codes so you can enjoy Pandora's Children Book 2: Too Young To Die in any format you choose from Smashwords.  2 short stories, 1 novella, about 35,000 words.  You can visit the official Pandora's Children Webpage for details on the story.

To get the free copy, just click here to be brought to my Facebook fanpage, click on the Free Book tab on the left, click the Like button, and the book is yours.  And if you enjoy what you read, remember, Books 1 and 3, In The Chair and Death Bleeds Into Life are also available.

Book Giveaway

[image error]Tired of slahers, zombies and vampire romances?

Looking for some more "classical" psychological horror, where ghosts, monsters and madmen run wild?

Have you already read Pandora's Children: Dark Interludes and are looking for something a little meatier?

For a limited time (until midnight Friday 2/18/2011), I am giving away free coupon codes so you can enjoy Pandora's Children Book 2: Too Young To Die in any format you choose from Smashwords.  2 short stories, 1 novella, about 35,000 words.  You can visit the official Pandora's Children Webpage for details on the story.

To get the free copy, just click http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bradley-Convissar-Author/178862205471284 to be brought to my Facebook fanpage, click on the Free Book tab on the left, click the Like button, and the book is yours.  And if you enjoy what you read, remember, Books 1 and 3, In The Chair and Death Bleeds Into Life,

Pandora's Children Book 3: Death Bleeds Into Life

[image error]It's official! Pandora's Children Book 3: Death Bleeds Into Life is officially available for download. Versions are available for the Kindle and The Nook, as well as the Sony eReader and basic online HTML reading from Smashwords. Click here to be directed to the official Pandora's Children page  for more information.  And if you want to read the introduction to the book, click here to be re-directed to my Facebook Fan page (and don't forget to hit the Like button!)  And finally, if you are interested in reading previews for any of the four stories, they are available at my Smashwords account here.  The stories are: "A Matter of Faith, A Matter of Balance", "Just Meat", "The Madame Penitent", and the novella "The Transfer".

LOCKED- flash horror

[image error]LOCKED, piece of short horror in video form, is now available at Youtube four your enjoyment.  Please, leave any comments you wish so i can make the next one even better.  And if you like what you watch, please, share with your friends!  If you want to watch, open the post and just click the link below:

Locked

Technorati Tags: flash horror, Horror, short horror, short story

Spelling errors

[image error]Its embarrassing and unprofessional.  When you pick up a book, whether from a major author or from an independent author, you expect something polished for the money you spend.  And spelling errors can mar an otherwise wonderful book.

One of my friends recently picked up one of my books and alerted me of the existence of some spelling errors.  Now, i'm not trying to make excuses.  I read and re-read and re-read each story several times before I publish to look for spelling and grammatical errors.  And sometimes, unfortunately, when you don't have an exclusive editor reading with fresh eyes, things slip through the cracks.  Its unfortunate, to say the least.

Spell check on most word processing programs is a major problem and we have become lazy because of it.  We don't know how to spell anymore, and I feel bad for English teachers out there that have to read in-class essays.  But I digress.

Unfortunately, spell checkers don't always pick out those misspelled words if they are not really misspelled , but instead different words with a single letter wrong, like duck and duct.  If they are the same part of speech, then the grammar check will not tell you anything is wrong, either.

An author's stories, especially during edits, can be somewhat of an optical illusion.  When I proof read, though I look for spelling errors (and often find them) I am usually more concerned with the flow and concepts.   I remember an oldoptical illusion, a six-sided star with several segments missing and Pacman-like circles at the ends.  Its not really a star at all, but just several lines and partial circles.  But because of the length and angle of the lines and the circles, our brains are able to interpret what we are seeing as a star.  We "see" the missing lines because its what we expect to see.  Well, proof reading causes the same type of reaction in the brain.  Even if a word is spelled wrong, and even if the meaning is completely changed from what we meant, our brains don't always notice because it is our own work and we read what we EXPECT to read when we proof.  There are simply times when we'll read "The duct climbed out of the pond" and not notice the spelling error because our minds simply assume the word duck because it is what we are experting.  Its what makes sense in relation to the other words in the sentence and the theme of the sentence.

Just like we don't really see those lines in a but and assume they are there  because it's what makes sense based on the context of what we do see.  Anyone reading a story for the first time is more sensitive to mistakes because they have no expectations, but for me, well, my eyes feel like they are going to bleed after reading the same stuff over and over again.

Anyway, to any of my readers who may be upset or disappointed by spelling errors, I will make sure I go over future stuff with a fine-toothed comb to ensure that spelling errors are as dead as the dodo.

But if anyone out there did notice spelling errors, I hope they didn't take away from your enjoyment.

Pandora's Children: Dark Interludes

[image error]Today I have released Pandora's Children: Dark Interludes, which includes my five previously released short stories (to Do, As Seen On Craig's List, four Corners, On the Curb and Wood Chipper Blues) as well as 2 previously unreleased short stories, "By The Teeth Of His Skin" a story about the mind run amok and "Naughty and Nice", a dark Christmas tale.  Over 20,000 works of free horror goodness.  Only available here at Smashwords.  Read and enjoy and drop a comment or review if you have the time.

Technorati Tags: ghosts, Horror, monsters, Murder, psychological horror, revenge, Short Stories