Bob Pastorella's Blog, page 3

In Search of a City: Los Angeles in 1,000 Words/ Booked Podcasts

Happy Thanksgiving!

In Search of a City: Los Angeles in 1,000 Words is a brand new collection featuring 26 authors and photography by the editor Michael Paul Gonzales. A resident of Los Angeles, Michael took his photos near his city and let the authors write a story about one of the photos. Keeping with the age-old phrase 'A picture is worth a thousand words', each story is exactly one thousand words, no more no less. This line up of writers is impressive, and I am honored to be a part of this awesome print collection.

Here's the Table of Contents:

Ryan Wilson – "American Trash"

Stuart Gibbel – "Break on Through"

Craig Clevenger – "Obsolescence"

Nik Korpon – "South of Thirteen"

Dennis Cruz – "Smile Now, Cry Later"

Pela Via – "Bathhouse"

Stephen Conley – "Don't Feed the Animals"

Grigori Black – "This Was Heaven"

Doc O'Donnell – "Your Personal Apocalypse"

Nikki Guerlain – "Sick Ticket"

Patrick Verhagen – "Swim"

Craig Wallwork – "El Bordello Alexandra"

Nicholas Merlin Karpuk – "Ahm's Bay"

Nik Houser – "Subtitles for a Silent Film"

H.R. Tardiff – "Walls in the Sand"

Richard Thomas – "The Jenny Store"

Bob Pastorella – "Alexandra"

Simon West-Bulford – "Project Asmodeus"

Jay Slayton-Joslin – "The Fantasy of California vs. The Reality of London"

Amanda Gowin – "Gilded Bones"

Chris Deal – "Padre Nuestro"

Boden Steiner – "Here"

Gordon Highland – "Fry Girl"

edward j rathke – "All the Dreams You Dreamt Retold"

Michael Paul Gonzalez – "Tidal"

Victor Bengtsson – "Venice, Forever"

Please click here for more information on ordering. For those wanting to go the Amazon way, click here to place your order.

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Those guys at Booked are at it again, and I'm a little behind in my posting about this, so please accept my apology. First up is last weeks episode, featuring a review of Jonathan Maberry's latest, Dead of Night. Maberry's typically hails in the Zombie genre, and this book should fit in quite nicely with those needing an undead fix for the holidays. Click here to listen to the podcast. Then, this weeks episode is a review of Ray Banks'novel Dead Money and an interview Blasted Heathen Allan Guthrie. Click here to listen to the podcast. I'm thinking Livius and Robb must have those fancy 28 hour watches instead of the cheap 24 hour watch I use…where do they find the time? Make sure you check out next weeks Booked Podcast when they review In Search of a City: Los Angeles in 1,000 Words and hopefully get to chat with Thundadome Writer's Collective editor Michael Paul Gonzales.

Not From Around Here: Obscuradrome reviews Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters/ The Ones That Got Away, by Stephen Graham Jones/ Another Booked Podcast

Last month I went on a mission. With an extra twenty-dollar bill in my wallet, I went into my local bookstore and found Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters in the wild, waiting for me to casually reach out so it could sink its teeth into me. Trust me, I was bitten. Edited by Paul Tremblay and John Langan, this very affordable treasure trove hits all the masters, and includes some fresh blood definitely worth taking a gander at. These twenty-six tales will chill you to the bone. I really wanted to get this review out before Halloween, but I had a couple of deadlines to make, and that work thing that always gets in the way, but you don't need Halloween to read these stories. I really liked how the stories were grouped together, starting with some familiar faces that felt like a Famous Monsters of Filmland reunion. Here's some highlights:

"Godzilla's Twelve-Step Program," Joe R. Lansdale. The master of the macabre truly shows off his writing prowess here, and it's funny as Hell too.

"The Creature from the Black Lagoon," Jim Shepard. I LOVE it when someone takes a classic film and gives us another perspective. Well Done.

"After Moreau," Jeffrey Ford. Again, another perspective that really surprised. 

"Under Cover of Night," Christopher Golden. Golden is the master of getting into his character's heads and never letting us up for air. 

"Underneath Me, Steady Air," Carrie Laben. Once you realize who the main star is, you're so taken by her gifted prose that you can easily forgive her for mining the ole' Public Domain for this inspiration.

"Rawhead Rex," Clive Barker. A classic, and not for the faint of heart.

"Wishbones," Cherie Priest. The Steampunk Queen shows us that she really can deliver the scares.

"Not from Around Here," David J. Schow. Confession. I bought the book to have this one story. Sorry, I'm just being honest here. The King of Splatterpunk gives us a completely dark and twisted tale that I could spend a whole blog on. Thank you, dear editors, for getting this story, and thank you, Mr. Schow, for writing it. 

"The Third Bear," Jeff Vandermeer. An Epic Tale that doesn't waste any time. Relentless.

"Proboscis," Laird Barron. One of my new favorite writers. This one grabs you by the throat. 

"Little Monsters," Stephen Graham Jones. The Kevin Bacon of Horror Fiction, and that is meant as a compliment. This short little piece may be the longest paragraph ever written, but it is a damned good longest paragraph.

"The Monsters of Heaven," Nathan Ballingrud. Wow. Raw emotion combined with dread. 

"Absolute Zero," Nadia Bulkin. Mindblowing story. Definitely a rising star in the world of speculative fiction.

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 Stephen Graham Jones certainly needs no introduction here. I don't know why it took me so long to get a copy of The Ones That Got Away, and knowing what I know now after reading it, I could really kick myself in the butt. Nominated for a Bram Stoker Award, this collection represents the best short fiction by Dr. Jones. The first story, "Father, Son, Holy Rabbit" blew me away. This collection includes "Raphael", "So Perfect", "Lonegan's Luck", "Wolf Island", (a personal favorite) "Teeth", and a new story, "Crawlspace" amongst others. (Going back and editing this, I realize I need to write a complete review of this collection. So, coming soon, a full review.) Now available in ereader format, do yourself a favor and get your hands on this one before it gets away again.

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Booked Podcast is back to reviewing again, this time tackling a new edition of Chris Doomsdealer Deal's Cienfuegos and D.B. Cox's Unaccustomed Mercy. Both of these books may be short, but the stories inside speak volumes. If you click right here, you can listen to the reviews right now.

WriterDrome: Beck Returns To Fight Not Just One Vampire, But To Fight 437 Vampires, er…438 Vampires, um 439, ah…a Whole Bunch of Vampires.

WriterDrome is a monthly ongoing discussion concerning the mechanics and logistics of writing Horror, Speculative, Dark Fantastic, and Noir Fiction. The aim here is to discuss the many dynamics necessary to write, edit and publish these genres in a continuously changing landscape. Remember, opinions mentioned here are just that, opinions. I'm no expert, but I've been writing for a long time, and I feel there is a lot I can pass on to my fellow writers. Lively discussion is highly encouraged. 

WriterDrome: Beck Returns To Fight Not Just One Vampire, But To Fight 437 Vampires, er…438 Vampires, um 439, ah…a Whole Bunch of Vampires.

More is not always better, unless you're talking food or cleaning products. Who doesn't like more cheese on their pizza? But when it comes to Horror Fiction, usually more vampires doesn't work. Unless your story follows the logic that more vampires equals less blood, then the Vampire Apocalypse isn't likely to happen in your story. Of course, they may think they can rule the world, which gives them all the more reason to eliminate one another instead of us tasty humans.

I hate using movies as examples, but I'm going to anyway. The Alien franchise.

(I'm talking about the first two movies. It's not that Alien Resurrection was a bad film, it was just kind of corny, especially the ending, though that film does have one of Ripley's best comebacks:

Johner: Hey, Ripley. I heard you, like, ran into these things before?

Ripley: That's right.

Johner: Wow, man. So, like, what did you do?

Ripley: I died. )

The first one scared the Hell out of us in outer space, where no one can hear you scream. The second film returns us to LV-426, which is now a terraforming colony. James Cameron knows it just can't be about more Aliens, though more Aliens is one of the logical things that had to happen. There were tons of eggs on the planet, and now there are more people, so logically, there has to be more Aliens. It's inevitable.

Rule #1. If you must have more __________, make sure you try to even the odds. Cameron does this two ways with the Marines, and bringing Ripley back into the mix. Notice I said try to even the odds. So you've got a hundred thousand Aliens. Why not bring in half a million Marines? Job done, but boring, and very short, movie. Nobody wants to see that. The Marines come in ready to eliminate the threat, but find themselves overwhelmed and unprepared. Ripley, on the other hand, has faced these buggers before. She's experienced, and she's a survivor.

Rule #2. If you must have more__________, make sure you bring something new to the table. Through very careful misdirection, Cameron leads us down corridor after corridor with Ripley, Newt, and Bishop, killing Aliens, trying to escape the self-destruction of LV-426. We are so caught up in their story, their escape, that when he brings something new to the table, it is both unpredictable yet completely logical. All those eggs on LV-426, something had to hatch them, right? Cameron presents us with the Alien Queen, The Bitch, and let's Ripley show her who the real Bitch is. By simply including a scene with Ripley using the exosuit cargo-loader early on in the film, he sets the stage for the epic battle between the Bitches. Now, you have use your noggin here. What you bring to the table has to be both unpredictable yet logical. If all the sudden, from out of nowhere, Ash from The Evil Dead shows up with his 'BoomStick', you're going to lose me fast, and probably get sued.

So remember, more isn't always better, but if you have to have more, follow those two rules, and people will forgive you of upping the Monster factor because you've Wowed them by upping the Suspense. Now, if you're writing about Zombies, well then more is ALWAYS better. There's nothing better than seeing a handful of survivors fighting hordes and hordes of Zombies, each wave of decaying flesh tearing away at the ranks, decreasing the survivors while increasing their numbers, ripping flesh from the human bodies in a bloody rage of….

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Master readers Livius Nedin and Robb Olson at Booked take a slight break from their usual format to bring us two podcasts I have failed to mention here until now. First, there's an incredible interview with Donald Ray Pollock which you can listen to by clicking right here. Then, the guys join Amanda Gowin and Chris Deal for a review of Craig Wallwork's forthcoming story "Revenge of The Zombie Pussy Eaters" which you can listen to by clicking right here. This podcast is extra special because it's very funny, goes off on great tangents, and features soundbites by me. And if there's one thing you need MORE of, it's me, right?

Right?

Hello?

Was it something I said?

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SEO Spambot Rant/A New Booked Podcast

Lately I've received a lot of comments and emails wanting to help me make my website more SEO (Search Engine Optimized). The comments here are from Spambots, which are teeny tiny robots that crawl over unsuspecting computer users keyboards and send out annoying emails. I think this is how Cyberdyne Systems finally envisioned the T-800. These teeny tiny robots, or bots as they like to be called, are actually little tiny Terminators that beg you to check out their website. Upon clicking the link, tiny Terminators use Time Displacement Equipment to warp over to your computer. These little Arnold's are so small you can't see them with the naked eye, but they are there. Anyway, when you click the link, the page flips and you are presented with a basic advertisement explaining all the ways you can pay to become more SEO.

Yawn.

When you try to leave the page by using the back button, this is when the Arnold's take over. A small window pops up and asks: ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO CLOSE THIS WINDOW? CLICK OKAY TO…blah, blah, blah, you know the rest. Fortunately, the other Terminator, the good Arnold, comes to the rescue and allows you to just close your browser. "You have been terminated." It's annoying, but at least you're no longer trapped in Skynet. I swear I heard good Arnold yelling at me the other night, "Get down! Run, run to the mouse! Close your browser if you want to live!"

Seriously, this is one of the pitfalls if you run a website. Unavoidable, but certainly not something you have to break down and throw money at. I've been blessed with a rare last name that makes me SEO…YAY for me. But say, what about someone with a common name, like Richard Thomas. In Richard's case, not only is his name kinda common, but is easily confused with the guy from the Walton's who played Hank Williams Jr in that TV movie. So what did Richard do? His website is called, www.whatdoesnotkillme.com. You search that with Google, and you're going to get Richard Thomas, once you pass the two Friedrich Nietzsche links, of course. Richard's not going to upstage Nietzsche for sure, but here's hoping. I use Obscuradrome, which literally means Dark Arena, as the name of my website, and it gets visitors here just fine.

Use your noggin, think of something original, make sure you search it thoroughly, and use it as your tag to make your website SEO. That way you will be able to Terminate the bad Arnold's and sleep good at night, forever SEO.

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Speed readers Livius Nedin and Robb Olson at Booked review Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer's new book, Plugged, which is not a children's book. Also, next week, the guys interview Donald Ray Pollock who is certainly SEO. To check out this weeks book review, just click right here. Don't worry, this is a bad Arnold free zone.

David Boyer Just Published a Story YOU Wrote!

Now, that I've got you full attention, allow me to explain. Apparently, this David Boyer cat, who uses several pseudonyms, can't write. I mean like is untalented, as in probably the most rejected author ever. All my friends know that if I don't have anything nice to say about anyone, I tend to keep my mouth shut, and I definitely don't use my blog as a pulpit for public flogging, but sometimes you hear about someone who deserves it. So Here. We. Go.

What this David Boyer, or David Doc Byron as he calls himself sometimes, does is find stories published in print or online, changes the character names and a few trivial details, and presents it as his own, which is illegal. Plagiarism is like the worst thing you can ever do if you call yourself a writer. It's much rarer than you think, so when it truly happens, it tends to stick out like a sore thumb.

Face it, if you steal something that's been published, say a horror story, and you present it as your own to another magazine and get it published, don't you think someone, somewhere out there in the world with similar tastes is going to read your stolen story and think, "Hmmm, this sounds so familiar, deja vu?"

Sue Him, you cry. Well, according to many sources, suing him would be like getting blood from a turnip. The guy is broke.

What can we do, you ask? That's the easy part. Someone found a way to press Criminal Charges against this loser. Click on the link below and read author Brian Keene's piece about the guy. You DO NOT have to live in Indiana to participate. As a writer, I can tell you this is probably one of the most horrifying things that can happen to you. To find out that a story you slaved over for hours, days, weeks, sometimes months or years and is now tagged with someone else's byline, someone who didn't do a thing other than copy and paste your story and change a character's name, well…that just sucks, period.

Please take the time to send an email or a letter and lets stop this thief for good.

Here's the link: David Boyer is a Bag of Fuck – Brian Keene.

Tidbits, a New Booked Podcast, and THIS IS MY 100TH POST!

Rough week, and I have a sinus headache, so bear with me. The flu shot I received today has nothing to do with this sinus headache, I swear. Funny thing is reading all the warnings on the flyer they give you right before they give you the shot. (Is it me, or do these people who give you the shot look like they are perhaps a little too old to be poking someone with a syringe?) The warning is something like: Adverse reactions to the vaccine, though rare, can result in illness or death. Fortunately, adverse reactions will start within a few minutes or several hours. Great. You might die from this shot, but the good news is, if you're going to die, it's going to be in a little while. So reassuring. 

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I started a Facebook page for the website. I really, really like the concept behind Facebook. I can handle all the changes, though the having a Facebook in the upper right corner of my Facebook page so I can Facebook while I Facebook is redundant. (From Dictionary.com. Redundant: re·dun·dant [ri-duhn-duhnt]  adjective. see redundant.) In the next couple of months, I'm going to be asking my friends to please 'LIKE' my Facebook page so that I can use my private page for family and very close personal friends. Obviously, this is going to ruffle a little feathers, and I understand. I think of all of my friends as 'friends', so the actual process of unfriending a lot of people hurts me more than you can imagine. Instead of doing this all at once, I've decided to prolong the misery as long as I can. So, please 'LIKE' my Obscuradrome page, and help me turn it into the Dark Arena it is meant to be. 

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Those cool guys at Booked, how do they find the time to read a book in a week? Crazy. Anyway, master speed-readers Livius Nedin and Robb Olson review The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and you can listen to that podcast by clicking right here. After listening to the review, this is a book I'm going to have to check out. I'm going to start working on the guys to check out Southern Gods. Shouldn't be a problem for these speed-readers.

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This is my 100th post. Wow, I never thought I would make it this far. The next milestone will be my 500th post, then of course The Number of The Beast post. Thanks to all my loyal readers. This year and a half here has been fun, and I hope to be celebrating my 500th post a lot sooner than later. Coming up for the end of the year: October's WriterDrome column, Novembers WriterDrome special guest column (crossing my fingers she can get it ready by then), and all kinds of Halloween craziness for the month of October. 

Later guys and gals,

Bob

The Blues of Erich Zann: Obscuradrome reviews Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs

John Hornor Jacobs is quickly making a name for himself in the Horror fiction world. I recently finished his debut novel Southern Gods and now find myself compelled to tell everyone I know about this book. When it comes to Horror fiction, I tend to be very fussy and extremely critical. With so many titles hitting the shelves every month, I don't have time to weed through the duds to find a gem. Fortunately, my own social media connections brought this book to my attention, and for once I'm glad I'm on Twitter.

From the description at Amazon: Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music – broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station – is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil. But as Ingram closes in on Hastur and those who have crossed his path, he'll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell… In a masterful debut of Lovecraftian horror and Southern gothic menace, John Hornor Jacobs reveals the fragility of free will, the dangerous power of sacrifice, and the insidious strength of blood.

Let's get something out of the way right now. I already know what some of you are thinking. "Blues guitarist, sold his soul to the Devil. Isn't this Crossroads (NOT the Britney Spears movie!) and Angel Heart mixed up together?"

NO!

Though the initial premise is the same, Jacobs' novel simply uses that motif as a springboard to delve into deeper and darker things. Truth be told, William Hjortsberg's novel Falling Angel more than likely served as a massive influence. Of course, that's like saying the Bible is influential to Christians. Hjortsberg's novel is paramount to understanding how the Horror/Noir genre works.

Southern Gods shows us a different path for the Horror/Noir genre, a path that is fresh and new and so well-written I'm pissed I didn't think of it myself. This is the kind of story that spurs feelings of inspiration. Jacob's writing is confident for a debut novel, and it's obvious he's studied his craft. The story opens with a Prologue, something of which I haven't seen in a while. The opening could serve as a short story on its own, something reminiscent of T.E.D. Klein's The Ceremonies. While Klein's novel was an homage to Arthur Machen, Jacobs' novel leans in a very welcoming Lovecraftian way, and this is definitely where he gets the brownie points from me.

Lovecraft's themes of cosmic chaos and madness fit well here, and I must applaud Jacobs' ability to tie it all to a story set in the 1950′s American South and not make it feel forced. This is a very personal story for his characters, and what they have at stake, what they have to risk, is what drives the plot. The dual main characters are strong and memorable. Bull Ingram is a tough guy for hire who isn't afraid of anyone and doesn't mind using his fists to achieve his goals. As tough as he is, Bull is also vulnerable and caring. The other main character, Sarah, has just returned to her childhood home with her daughter Franny, escaping a loveless marriage to take care of her dying mother. Through the course of the story, Sarah learns that not everything is as it appears, and that she cannot always follow in someone's footsteps, sometimes you have to take the lead.

What makes fiction work is an unlikely mix of the unpredictable with the logical. Reader's don't want to see what you have in store for them, yet the twists and turns in your story must make sense or they are going to get frustrated. While reading this book, just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, Jacobs threw something else my way, a twist I didn't see coming, yet it made so much sense that there really wasn't any other direction the story could go.

I hate using a rating system, but if I could rate this, and I'll have to do that when I rate the book on Amazon and B&N, then I'm going to give this one a STRONG 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5. If you like your Horror a little on the Noirish side, and want to read something refreshing and unique, then you must give this book a try. You will not be disappointed.

Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs. Buy this book.

WriterDrome: My Ninja Vampire Concession Stand Worker Can So Beat Up Your Nazi Zombie Dentist

WriterDrome is a monthly ongoing discussion concerning the mechanics and logistics of writing Horror, Speculative, Dark Fantastic, and Noir Fiction. The aim here is to discuss the many dynamics necessary to write, edit and publish these genres in a continuously changing landscape. Remember, opinions mentioned here are just that, opinions. I'm no expert, but I've been writing for a long time, and I feel there is a lot I can pass on to my fellow writers. Lively discussion is highly encouraged. 

My Ninja Vampire Concession Stand Worker Can So Beat Up Your Nazi Zombie Dentist

Weird monster mashups are not a new thing. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is often cited as one of the earliest examples of Horror/Comedy. Starting in the 1920′s, Hollywood started mishmashes to draw people to the theaters, providing them with laughs and chills all in one sitting. 1948 gave us Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and that was it, a new genre was firmly cemented into the hearts and minds of movie fans the world over. Today, we all sit in waiting for Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis to get off their fat butts and finish the Ghostbusters 3 script and just make the damn movie already. Bookstores all over the world stock recent bestsellers like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (both by Seth Grahame Smith) and I have to stop and wonder what happened to making up stuff out of thin air, and why do we need to mix it up with something so unlikely? Now I've heard the Vampire Hunter book is actually fairly decent, and I'm certainly not going to attack the author for tapping into an obvious unconquered market. No, he gets my upmost respect. Unfortunately, now the bookstores will be ramsacked with copycats trying to cash in on this "new, but not really" genre.

Is it all necessary? When does it stop? How ridiculous will it get before the readers suddenly stop buying the books in droves?

Well, it's not likely to end anytime soon. It is our job as writers to make our characters different, and to do that, sometimes we need to get a little inventive. I love casting characters "against type". The country preacher seeking murderous vengeance, the little old lady who runs a brothel, the ten year old girl who runs drugs for her daddy. These characters are different and not what readers expect when they make their first impressions of them. And even though readers don't expect these multifaceted characters we've created, they do expect us to challenge their expectations or they wouldn't have bought our book in the first place. As authors, we must meet that challenge, even if that means taking timeless characters mined from the massive amount of fiction now in Public Domain and mixing them with fantastic situations and terrifying creatures.

 Ramsey Campbell wrote a great article years ago called "Avoiding What's Been Done To Death". Campbell was actually hitting upon avoiding overused cliches in this article, but I think the general concept can apply here as well, which is basically to forge your own path. If you want to mine characters and stories from the Public Domain, then by all means do your homework. The thing that makes the Vampire Hunter story work is that the author uses real people and real historical events and twists them into a vampire story, a very well written vampire story.

Imaginative Historical Fiction.

Remember that outrageous doesn't always mean better. If your outrageous mishmash of character types is well written and properly executed, it CAN become something that is better, and perhaps something a ballsy editor or agent wouldn't mind taking on. The key elements here are Well-Written and Properly Executed. As ridiculous as mixing up Ninja Vampire Concession Stand Workers with Nazi Zombie Dentists sounds, if it's written with heart and soul, readers will forgive the outrageousness of the mishmash.

It's not the mishmash they care about, but the story, above and beyond anything else. So if you want to write a story about The Three Musketeers and Werewolves, then by all means make damn sure your Musketeers do Alexandre Dumas justice, and that your werewolves are the scariest anyone has ever seen. 

Updates and a Donald Ray Pollock Book Review, an Interview with Max Barry, a Giveaway, and a Roadtrip

I'm going to blame my absence on work. Work in the form of a job, and work in the form of a writing project. The Attack of The Side Project is progressing nicely now that I've been sufficiently motivated. I hate saying I'm pretty excited about a project because I usually jinx myself, and within a few weeks or a month, I'm back staring at the screen, wanting to write, but boiled down in a cesspool of paralyzing perfectionism that won't allow me to move forward. Let me just say I like the idea I'm working on, and will do everything I can to see it through at least a first draft. It's too early in the first draft for me to elaborate much, but I will say there are Zombies. If you think a post-apocalyptic mix of The Missing and Taken, and there are super-fast and deadly Zombies roaming about,  you are pretty close to the idea I'm working on.

Livius Nedin and Robb Olson over at Booked have been busy as Hell lately. First up is a review of Donald Ray Pollock's novel The Devil All the Time. Next they scored an interview with writer Max Barry, author or the new novel, Machine Man, as well as the novels Syrup, Jennifer Government, and Company. The guys are also participating in a giveaway of a certain anthology I happen to have a story in over at Goodreads. Click the link at the top to enter the giveaway.

Finally, Booked is joining forces with Richard Thomas and Chris Deal for Frank Bill's book release party for Crimes In Southern Indiana. Wow, these guys are busy this month. You'd think seventeen back to back interviews would have worn them down or something, but NOOOOO, they just keep on bringing us the stuff we want. Keep up the good work guys.

Get Your eReaders Ready, and Turn Up the Volume. Warmed And Bound Digital and a New Booked Podcast Review

Let the shameless promotion begin. Neo-Noir Velvet Collection Warmed And Bound is now gone DIGITAL. Click here to get yours today. Here's the bonus content you get with the ebook.

Content Exclusive to the Kindle Edition eBook:

Afterword by Jesse Lawrence

Final Thoughts by Livius Nedin and Robb Olson

Warmed and Bound: Up Close by Phil Jourdan

Interview with Pela Via by Phil Jourdan

The Multiple Voices Inside Your Book by Jay Slayton-Joslin

Booked Podcast: Warmed and Bound Sessions

Transcripts of Booked Interviews with: Craig Clevenger, Brian Evenson, Stephen Graham Jones and Pela Via

Photography by Charles King

The Fuse

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Livius Nedin and Robb Olson have another Booked Podcast book review, this time tackling Max Barry's latest novel, Machine Man. Barry's been on my radar for a while now, though unfortunately, I've never read any of his work. Since his books are so highly recommended, the only one at fault is me. Chill out in your favorite recliner with a nice beverage and click here to listen to the review.

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Some of my fellow Warmed And Bound authors are living it up Hollywood style in…wait for it…Hollywood. Limited donations from my job has kept me here at home. Let's all hope they have a great time, and make it to and from their destinations safe and sound.

Bob.