R. Thomas Brown's Blog, page 40

More praise for Hill Country

Got this in the mail today. John is a writer that I admire, and feel is one of the future superstars of dark fiction (crime, horror, what have you.) These words from him really made my day.
"Ron writes like grain alcohol burning, blue and hotter than shit. In Hill Country, the story barrels down country highways towards characters hard-bit as nails and rough-and-tumble as they come. Ron's Hill Country is one of the best and freshest new entries into crime fiction today." -...

Bad Reviews: What's the deal?

We've all seen them. One star. "This was complete rubbish." The now very popular "I'm glad I didn't pay for this load of glowing, mutant, radioactive goat excrement." Most writers will get one, or more over time.

I know responding to them is useless, and I wouldn't bother doing so, but it makes me wonder something. Why bother? What could be so bothersome about the quality of a book, so offending to your literary sensibilities, that you'd take the time to leave the bad review.

Sure, if you do re...

Out today from Snubnose: The Duplicate by Helen Fitzgerald

Get this book on Amazon. Now!

Helen Fitzgerald’s The Duplicate is a tense, speculative look at the power of dreams, the price paid to achieve them, and the pain of having them dashed. The story plays with the concepts of identity, nature, nurture, hope and desperation. With a deft touch, Fitzgerald has woven a feeling of dread into each scene as she explores the pain of broken dreams, and the eternal damage of the death of hope.

The book also weaves humor, teen angst, brooding and raw heartbrea...

It's drafty up in here

So, I finished the last real draft work on a novel yesterday (I still need to do a proofread before I send it out, but no real changes to the story) and I was thinking about the weird journey that a novel is for me.

Early Stages: Here the excitement is high. The concept is still forming, and the writing is all about discovery, and mood, and character and all that fun shit. It's a blast, and I usually really like the writing that comes out of this phase. Sure, the details sometimes change (in t...

Fiction and Stuff: Confabulation Part 1

This is the new start to an old story. I still like the concept, but it needs considerable work. I'm going through it as the work in progress (Past is Prologue) is a struggle.


Henry knew, without doubt, that he’d worried about his wife’s safety for years. He just wasn’t sure when exactly he became aware of it. But worried he was, she was leaving for the day, and he needed her to stay.Henry Adamson walked from the kitchen bar to the fireplace and back again. He repeated the path again several t...

Man, it's been dead around here

This place has been a freaking ghost town for a month or more. Lots of reasons, I guess, but still it's been bad. I intend to get some more material up here, and plan to do a post a week to keep it going. Some things I intend to do around here:

Review(ish): Time I got back to what I liked doing. Just writing whatever I thought about something I read. No formal reviews, and won't always make sense, but it'll at least give you a sense of what the book or story conjured in my head.

Fiction and stu...

Peconic Nightmares at Beat to a Pulp

Beat to a Pulp is always a place for great, impactful fiction. I'm thrilled to have found my way into a weekly spot at that fine market.

Peconic Nightmares at Beat to a Pulp

Review(ish): The Truth About Scarlet Rose

The Truth About Scarlet Rose on Amazon

Julia Madeleine has a blog tour going. I'm not part of it. No, I don't know why. Maybe the blog has been so dead lately she didn't want to ask. I get that. This place has been a ghost town. I'll try to fix that.

Any, Julia has a new book out, The Truth About Scarlet Rose. This thing is crazy. Scarlet herself is one mean bitch. Selfish, vindictive, scheming. Yeah, there are some things in her past that explain the particular flavor of her crazy, but there's...

The 5-2 Blog Tour: ENTER THE SANDMAN: 31S LOVE AFFAIR by Nyla Alisia

ENTER THE SANDMAN: 31S LOVE AFFAIR by Nyla Alisia

This poem, told from the perspective of a stalker, is a great example of what poetry can do and how is can go beyond prose to evoke a feeling. The pace suggested by line length and word choice draw you into his obsession.

Your lips move beyond my hearing, but not for long,

Here, while one sentence conveys the though, the break at the line gives a sense of the pause in his thoughts and the change in tenor from obsession to menace.

as I stand in...

Llama Pants

This is a sample of the stupid song I made up and keep adding to. Drives the kids nuts.
Someone’s got a pair of big ol’ yellow llama pantsLlama llama llama llama llama llama pantsEveryboddy wants to brush against my llama pantsLlama llama llama llama llama llama pants
Even the little llamas want to touch my llama pantsLlama llama llama llama llama llama pantsHave you ever seen my big ol’ yellow llama pantsLlama llama llama llama llama llama pants
Mr. Furley wished he had a pair of llama pantsLla...