Rick R. Reed's Blog, page 87

New Review for A DEMON INSIDE

I was very pleased to wake up this morning and find a message from TwoLips Reviews, saying they had reviewed my gothic romantic chiller, A Demon Inside . The reviewer, Tina, gave the book five stars (or in their parlance, lips)--their highest rating. Tina called A Demon Inside , "...a mysterious and gripping book from the first page..."

Read the whole review here.

Read an excerpt and buy your own copy of A Demon Inside here.

Synopsis
Hunter Beaumont doesn't understand his grandmother's deathbed wish: "Destroy Beaumont House." He'd never even heard of the place. But after his grandmother passes and his first love betrays him, the family house in the Wisconsin woods looks like a tempting refuge. Going against his grandmother's wishes, Hunter flees to Beaumont House.

But will the house be the sanctuary he had hoped for? Soon after moving in, Hunter realizes he may not be alone. And with whom---or what---he shares the house may plunge him into a nightmare from which he may never escape. Sparks fly when he meets his handsome neighbor, a caretaker for the estate next door, but is the man salvation... or is he the source of Hunter's terror?

Meeting Jan Brady

I remember Jan Brady: her middle child quandaries, and her hair. My God, as a little boy back in the 1970s, my greatest secret was that I wanted that hair: Jan Brady’s golden locks, those waist length strands of perfection.

Jan and I had more secrets. We both knew what it was like to be a middle child. We both knew the same cultural touchstones, since we were the exact same age. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to marry Jan Brady, or just be her.

I would find out. A few years ago, I made my first trip to Los Angeles, that fanciful, unreal place presided over by a giant sign built into a hillside (where else but Hollywood would a city so shamelessly call attention to itself?). As I left LAX in my rental car, I expected to check out the muscle at Venice Beach, to find the grave of Marilyn Monroe, to walk down Hollywood Boulevard, to visit Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and soak in the surreal ambience of the city where creativity, greed, and marketing merged in an uneasy, passionate ménage a trios.

But I never expected to meet Jan Brady.

I stayed in a shameless clothing optional West Hollywood bed and breakfast for several days, and then moved on to the home of a married couple I knew. These friends were struggling actors (you might spy one of them on NYPD Blue as a distressed woman who finds a severed penis at an ATM or on Will and Grace as a wedding shower guest at Grace's apartment). The female half of this couple was interested in the small screen, the male half lusted after the stage, and he did find work…with Jan Brady.

My friend was starring in a play with Jan Brady and Charlene Tilton (of Dallas fame). I got the impression that the play wasn’t much, because I was forbidden to attend. However, around 11 o’clock, the call came. Charlene Tilton was having a cast party at her place; would I like to come?

Hell yes! I imagined Tilton’s mansion, the long line of limousines outside, dropping off Hollywood glitterati.

The thing I learned that night? Hollywood is all about façade. Charlene Tilton lived in a townhouse that looked like something even I could afford. She was making margaritas in the kitchen and was perky.

But it was Jan Brady, now known as Eve Plumb, that I itched to meet. And there she was, in the living room. Gone was the long blonde hair, in its place a mousy light brown bob that looked matronly. She was reserved, giving off a vibe that said “God help you if you mention the Brady Bunch.” We talked about what she was doing the following day: going to a flea market with her husband.

I looked longingly at the patio. Someone out there had just fired up a bowl and I didn’t even look back as I headed out into the California night, lured by the scent of sinsemilla and the prospect of meeting some chick who once played Blondie Bumstead. It doesn’t take long to lose your illusions once you come to Hollywood.

Dreamspinner Press Anniversary

 
 Get 25% off my Dreamspinner publications, including Dignity Takes a Holiday, Homecoming , and Caregiver !

As part of our fifth birthday celebration, all books (including in stock paperbacks) by the authors who signed with us in our fourth year of business will be discounted 25% through midnight on Saturday, May 26.

Jeff Adams, Diane Adams, Sarah Black, Jessie Blackwood, Louise Blaydon, Ashleigh Brannigan, Selina Brody, Sue Brown, Cardeno C., Scotty Cade, Talia Carmichael, Allison Cassatta, David Cheater, Alan Chin, Elizabeth Coldwell, Shae Connor, William Cooper, R. Cooper, Kate Cotoner, Justine Currie, Charlie David, Jessica Skye Davies, Andi Deacon, Zoe Devlin, Dawn Douglas, Ryssa Edwards, CJane Elliott, Phoenix Emrys, Jeff Erno, Pepper Espinoza, Etienne, Feliz Faber, J.L. Farnsworth, Jamie Fessenden, K.R. Foster, P.A. Friday, Rebecca Lynne Fullan, S.A. Garcia, A.B. Gayle, Evan Gilbert, Michael Gouda, Raev Gray, K. Roxanne Gunn, Red Haircrow, Michael Halfhill, Nick Hanson, Lou Harper, Lesley Hastings, Lori C. Hawkins, Valentina Heart, Ellee Hill, Brian Holliday, Azura Ice, Morgan James, Hayley B. James, Kiernan Kelly, M. King, Christopher Koehler, Maggie Lee, Rebecca Leigh, J.J. Levesque, Augusta Li, Pearl Love, J.R. Loveless, Ryan Loveless, Barry Lowe, Sui Lynn, Jake Mactire, Helen Madden, Sarah Madison, A.J. Mars, Anna Marie May, Belinda McBride, Moria McCain, Farida Mestek, T.C. Mill, Maria MoonStar, Michelle Moore, Ian Muise, Clancy Nacht, Elizabeth Noble, J.L. O'Faolain, M.J. O'Shea, Stephen Osborne, Timothy Owen, D.V. Patton, SJD Peterson, Wolf Phoenix, Nora Catherine Price, Amber Redd, Rick R. Reed, Tracy Rowan, G.G. Royale, Jaime Samms, Rodello Santos, Stefan Seabourne, Damon Shaw, Kate Sherwood, Corinna Silver, Ruth Sims, Joel Skelton, Amberly Smith, Shelter Somerset, JoAnne Soper-Cook, Andrea Speed, Caroline Stephens, Ethan Stone, Jan Suzukawa, Paul Taylor, B.G. Thomas, Tinnean, C.M. Torrens, Jenny Urban, Wynn Wagner, Felicia Watson, Mia Watts, Cooper West, Sullivan Wheeler, Braden Williams, Maureen Willman, Eden Winters, Lisa Worrall, Connor Wright, Beth Wylde, Sulayaman X, and C. Zampa.

Check out our home page for links to all their titles!

 

Hop Against Homophobia

I'm taking part in the Hop Against Homophobia, an attempt by over 250 GLBT authors, reviewers, and publishers to stand together and create awareness of homophobia. Each participating blog will feature a message on homophobic discrimination in its various forms. Today, May 17th, was chosen in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia and we're hoping to get people more involved with this day by inviting them to our blogs, where the visitors have a chance to win prizes.

 My prize is a digital copy of my novel, BASHED, which was inspired by the hate crimes perpetrated on GLBT people all too often (and, nearly, on me--read on). Simply leave a comment below with your e-mail address and I will pick a winner on May 21.

Homophobia comes in many forms, some subtle, some not so much. What inspired me to write Bashed is a real-life incident that happened when I lived in Chicago. Here's my story:

My close call with fag bashing came one October night in Chicago.

I had been hanging out at the Eagle and had stayed late, leaving at close to four in the morning. I had made a new friend and we were making our way to my car, which was parked on a side street that ran parallel to St. Boniface Cemetery. My companion and I weren't thinking about things like hate crimes. But we suddenly were when we noticed an idling old car. The car was a souped-up muscle vehicle and inside were several dark figures, all turning their heads as we approached. Both of us quickened our pace. Even in the middle of a metropolis like Chicago, it was easy to feel vulnerable. And we felt even moreso when the still of the night was broken by the sound of car doors opening.

Suddenly, my friend and I stopped, feeling exposed in our leather, as four young men emerged. They all sported shaved heads and were dressed in baggy jeans and hoodies.

One of them carried an aluminum baseball bat.

They didn't say anything. Their silence was more frightening than if they had hurled epithets our way. To reach my car, we would have to walk by them...and it didn't appear as though they were planning to let us pass. We froze. The four moved closer. One of the guys, the one with the bat, grinned, swinging the bat slightly.

In books, they call what happened next deus ex machina, but at just that moment, one of Chicago's finest rolled down the street, very slowly, toward us. The men got in their cars quickly. And so did we. Thankfully, I do not know what the outcome of that night would have been had not the police come along. But the incident did stick with me until I dramatized the incident as the opening to Bashed . But in my fictional world, no police car came to the rescue. It’s chilling to think that one of your characters could have been you, a you that might not have survived to tell a tale.

To read more from the other authors, publishers, and reviewers participating in the Hop Against Homophobia, visit its main page.

Good Advice from Ray-Ban: Never Hide

I think I'll go out and get myself a new pair of Ray-Bans.

Ray-Ban's latest ad for their "Never Hide" campaign, in connection with their 75th anniversary, features two gay men (from the 40s or 50s) holding hands on a busy European street.

Current Reads: Under the Dome

Amazing read...very cinematic, well-developed and large cast of characters (never had an issue with following any of them, though, they were all so well-drawn), and completely gripping.

This is one of those books I would pick up whenever I had a spare moment, just so I could have the pleasure of reading a little more.

One of King's best books, combining social commentary with apocalyptic horror. You'll barely notice that the book is more than a thousand pages.

New and Notable: DH Starr's Feed, Prey, Love

My pal and fellow author, DH Starr has a new book out that sounds quite intriguing, so I'm helping him get the word out. Below is a bit about Feed, Prey, Love (why does that title sound so familiar?) and where you can get it.

Blurb:
At Whispering Hills where mortals and paranormals coexist peacefully – and romantically - love really does bite!

Talib Eldridge is a vampire who lives with guilt. 100 years ago, he accidentally turned a human to a vampire and has been afraid to get close to anyone for fear of ever losing control as he once did. When he meets Conley Berillo, his commitment to living in isolation is challenged. Immediately drawn to the human, he can’t help but fall in love.

Conley has always felt out of place. Never fitting in with others, he too has lived in isolation. When the existence of paranormal creatures is finally acknowledged, he feels an immediate affinity to the outcasts, still feared and hated by humans. Moving to Whispering Hills in Providence, Rhode Island, he knows immediately that he belongs to this new world. When he meets Talib, that conviction is only solidified.

When Jonah Townsend, the human Talib had turned about a hundred years earlier, re-enters the picture, Talib and Conley’s newfound happiness is threatened. Conley becomes the tool that Jonah uses to get back at Talib and Talib is forced to make a choice. Fight for his own happiness and risk Conley’s life, or put Conley’s safety first and sacrifice what he’s searched and struggled for over two hundred years!

BUY:
Ai Press: www.ai-press.net
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Feed-Prey-Love-Whispering-ebook/dp/B007SZR896/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334259089&sr=8-1
All Romance: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-feedpreylove-771680-139.html
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1110061974?ean=2940014165105

Dark Arts Goes E!

Dark Arts Books: now for Kindle and Nook and iPad and…This week, Dark Arts Books launched the last of its catalog on e-book format. Now you can get Like a Chinese Tattoo (where three of my twisted stories are prominently featured), as well as the other six Dark Arts titles via Amazon and Barnes & Noble for your e-reader devices!

Featuring multiple stories from yours truly, David Thomas Lord, Michael Marshall Smith, Robert Weinberg and Gary Braunbeck to J.A. Konrath, Mehitobel Wilson, Sarah Pinborough and Jay Bonansinga (plus many more!) the Dark Arts catalog offers the best in modern horror. Get them to go from the links below:

Swallowed By
The Cracks
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
When The Night
Comes Down
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Mighty Unclean
Amazon
Barnes & Noble



Like A Chinese Tattoo
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Sins of the Sirens
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Waiting For October
Amazon
Barnes & Noble



Candy in the Dumpster
Amazon
Barnes & Noble 

Pinterest!

As a new convert to Pinterest (you can find me here), I found the article below very interesting. I learned a lot from it. It's reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. For more info: http://www.amarketingexpert.com


Feature Article: The Power of a Pin: Why Pinterest is a Game Changer
By Penny C. Sansevieri
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About 10 months ago, I listened to Gary Vaynerchuck talk about this new site called Pinterest. He was really excited about it, though at first I didn't get it. "Get on Pinterest now!" Gary encouraged. I didn't listen, thinking "oh, dear, not another social network!" But Pinterest has proven to be anything but another social network.

First, its growth has been extraordinary. According to several reports, including a blog post shared on Mashable, from September 2011 to December 2011, unique visitors on Pinterest increased by 429%. That kind of growth has never been seen in a social network and while it's still early for Pinterest, we're seeing a lot of staying power, especially with established brands like Macy's, Land's End and magazines such as Real Simple - which got more traffic from Pinterest in October 2011 than from Facebook.

For those of you who haven't been on Pinterest, the concept is almost deceptively simple. You sign up for an account (there's a waiting period right now as Pinterest tries to manage traffic and new accounts, once you sign up it should take about a week before you can get in). The site is a collection of boards, sort of like virtual bulletin boards that you name and add to your page. You can have as many boards as you want and name them whatever you want (though make sure to read through the Pinterest terms of service so you know you're not violating any of their regulations). The boards can describe your brand, book, message, or business. We'll look at some board ideas in a minute but for now, think bulletin board.

So, that said, how can you make the most of Pinterest? Like any social network, I recommend that you poke around, follow a few people in your industry and see what they are posting about. There are a lot of creative boards and a lot of companies using Pinterest as a unique brand extension. Check out http://pinterest.com/chobani/, they have all sorts of boards that tie into their brand including Chobani Champions, recipes, spoons, and sans yogurt which is a board about all things non-yogurt related.

Picking your Boards

* First, it's important to come up with creative and interesting board names. Keep in mind that these board names get shared whenever someone repins you so make them catchy!

* When you first start on Pinterest, you are a completely blank slate. It's up to you to fill your new Pinterest page with exciting boards. But where to start? Well, your business, product, message, or book will often determine the boards you put up. You should consider your audience first and what they would like to see.

Here are a few ideas:

* If you do a lot of speaking or other offline events, create a board that captures the excitement of these by posting pictures and videos. This is especially great if you have a conference or other big event you're planning. You could put the board up early with "teaser" content to encourage sign-ups, too!

* Create a customer or reader board that has pictures and/or videos of happy customers. I often talk about capturing endorsements or reviews on video when you see someone at an event, these can be posted to this board.

* How-to boards are great as well. You can create a board (or several) around how-to's related to your product or service.

* Company boards are great too, you can create one that showcases your company, sharing your core values, and also highlights your team.

* Thank you boards are great, too. Consider creating a thank you board for clients.

* If you're promoting a new book, product, or campaign you can also create a board to support that. The board can have tutorials on it, or videos of the new product. It can be a combination of how-to and showcasing what you're offering.

* Tutorials are big for our company, so we plan to offer tutorial boards to help walk our clients through how to use social media, how to continue reaping the benefits from our campaigns once they are done, etc.

* Trends and seasonal stuff make great boards, too. So don't hesitate to create a holiday or trend board if you think your audience will be interested.

* You can also let your customers work on a board with you. Create a user-generated content board and invite customers or readers to pin away!

Marketing Ideas

* If the idea of Pinterest is still intimidating, consider the following marketing ideas for your boards:

* Videos: Pinterest loves videos. What videos can you pin to a board?

* Keywords are big on Pinterest, so be sure to think carefully about what you name your picture and what words you use in the description. You can even use hashtags on Pinterest and if you're trying to get the attention of another Pinner, use the @ followed by their Pin-name to tag them. You can also use a dollar sign to add a "ribbon" to your pin that will immediately show pricing. This is great if you're selling product.

* When you add your pin, don't forget to tweet it and add it to Facebook, you can do this as soon as the pin is loaded.

* When you blog, be sure to add great pictures to your blog so that when you pin your blog post to your board, you can capture a great image. Images on Pinterest are obviously important!

* Click the "popular" link on Pinterest to see what's hot and what's trending. You might be able to make this part of your content strategy.

* Be sure to promote your Pinterest account on Facebook, Twitter, on your website, and in your email signature line, of course

A Few Final Points

Be sure to add a catchy description to your profile and when you're setting up your Pinterest account, link it to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. This will help you gain followers, and add the icons to your profile page so you can direct people there, too.

Make sure to engage on Pinterest. Repin pins you love, comment on pins and since you can see pins on the site from folks you aren't even connected with, be sure to broaden your reach when networking. You never know where the next follower will come from.

Pinterest is a fun, if not highly addictive way to start marketing. Still not sure what to do on Pinterest? Then get started by following others in your industry and get a sense of what they're doing. While the future of Pinterest is still uncertain, one thing we know for sure. The site has grown at rates that no one expected and continues to do so. It's been the quickest site to monetize (to give you perspective, it took Twitter five years to monetize) and has already become a staple for many businesses.

Happy Pinning!

New Review for CAREGIVER, from Out in Print

Got a new review today I wanted to share, for my AIDS-era love story, CAREGIVER.

Out in Print does an excellent job with its reviews--they often make me think about my work in new and different ways. And this review, by Jerry Wheeler, is no exception. He says, in part, "It's also hard not to like a book that has such clear, concise prose and interesting plot twists. And I did like it. Very much. I just wish there had been about a hundred more pages of it..." That, in a nutshell is the praise and the criticism of the book--and criticism like that, I can live with.

Read the whole review here.

Buy Caregiver.