Michael David Matula's Blog: Author Michael Matula, page 4

New Character Interview is up!

Mia Darien just posted an interview with my character Samantha "Sam" Reiss over on her blog.  Here's a link:

http://www.miadarien.com/a-chat-with-michael-matula-sam-from-try-not-to-burn/

What is Sam's opinion about me as an author? (Hint: she has a bit of an axe to grind with yours truly, after all the things I put her through in the book.)  What kind of story would she like to appear in next?  Check out the interview to see what she has to say for herself. 

The Express Aisle: 100 Words Or Less

 

The wandering eye.

Restless. Reckless. Tilting with curiosity, lingering on a flash of skin and a spark of flame. Lover of the shiny and the slippery, of the horrific and the grim. A ravishing woman and a smoldering wreck. Both will draw your fickle gaze like an insect to a spider's web.

The sweet, the sour, it doesn't matter...It all serves as candy to the wandering eye. 


 Photo Credits: "eyes" by Ahmed Sinan, Aka Scinern on Flickr

Character Interview with Samantha Reiss

My first Character Interview has just gone live on Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews.

The character, Sam, mentions who her favorite author is (it's not me?), tries to figure out what an iPod is (she died in 1993), and talks about the scariest moment of her life.

http://lauriethoughts-reviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/try-not-to-burn-by-michael-matula.html

Stories of the Week for November 5, 2013

This week, I've been invited to submit a story for Wrapped in White, Sekhmet Press' follow-up to the newly-published Wrapped in Red.  This time, instead of vampires, the anthology will focus on ghost stories. 

The deadline to get the story in is mid-January, so I have plenty of time, but I'm still a bit nervous about living up to the story I did for Wrapped in Red, titled "My Boss is a Vampire."  That one was quite fun and quirky, focusing on a young woman named Cameron Bailor, who gets a job interview for a reclusive Southern gentleman, and starts to realize that this might not be the dream job she'd been hoping for. 

In other news, I've gotten two great new reviews for Try Not to Burn, one from Knightmist's blog, and one from a top 500 reviewer on Amazon. 

I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing people say such positive things about my stories, as I'm constantly doubting myself (every time I get stuck in a book for five minutes, I think, "Well, there goes my ability to string two sentences together"), but it's incredibly encouraging to see how much people have been enjoying the book and the characters. 



Photo Credits: "PUPPY!" by _jennieMarie on Flickr. 

River of Bones by Angela J. Townsend - Book Blitz + Giveaway

 

Title: River of Bones

Author: Angela J. Townsend

Published: October 30th, 2013 by Clean Teen Publishing

Word Count: 50,000

Genre: YA Horror

Recommended Age: 14+

Synopsis:

When 17-year-old Dharma Moore moves to Bayou country so her scam artist mother can work as a Paranormal Investigator, she discovers more than ghosts haunt the abandoned plantation they now call home. Centuries ago, a voodoo curse was placed on the swamp waters surrounding the old plantation by a murdered slave. A terrible curse that snares Dharma. To save herself, she must face the terror of the haunted waters, find the dead woman's skull and convince the slave's soul to release her from its torments. However, there is more to this curse for Dharma personally than anyone else knows as she discovers an ancient secret that links herself to the property—a secret kept from her by her own family. To survive, she must accept the help of locals and to learn to embrace the truth—that magic is not only real, but that it can be very, very deadly!


About the Author:

Angela Townsend was born in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Missoula, Montana. As a child, Angela grew up listening to stories told by her grandparents, ancient tales and legends of faraway places. Influenced by her Irish and Scottish heritage, Angela became an avid research historian, specializing in Celtic mythology. Her gift for storytelling finally led her to a full time career in historical research and writing. A writer in local community circulations, Angela is also a published genealogical and historical resource writer who has taught numerous research seminars. Currently, Angela divides her time between writing, playing Celtic music on her fiddle, and Irish dancing.

Angela's first novel, Amarok, was published through Spencer Hill Press in 2012. Her newest novel, Angus MacBain and The Island of Sleeping Kings, was signed for publication with Clean Teen Publishing and released in September 2013. Her most recent young adult horror novel, River of Bones, is scheduled to release late October 2013.

Angela resides on a ranch, in rural Northwestern Montana, with her two children Levi and Grant.


Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Blog
 
Clean Teen Publishing Links:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter


Giveaway Details: There is an international tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:GRAND PRIZE:  eBook copy of River of Bones, bookmark prize pack, $10 Amazon Gift Card. a Rafflecopter giveaway



EXCERPT FROM RIVER OF BONES:

I shuffled into the living room looking for Wolf. He sat in front of the hearth staring at the skull. He glanced at me when I came in, then leaped to his feet and took my elbow.

“I’m ready for bed,” I said. “Can you help me get up the stairs?”

“Sure,” he said.  “But why don’t you just sleep down here where I can keep an eye on you.”

“Because I have to have the skull under my bed, remember? Down here there’s no bed, only a couch, and I’m not taking any chances. My throat is killing me. I’m getting weaker. Wolf, I’m scared. My whole life, I’ve taken care of myself and Benny. What will happen to my brother if I die?”

Wolf grabbed my shoulders. “Don’t talk like that. We’re gonna beat this thing. Whatever it is.”  He snatched the skull, tucked it under his arm, and bent down. “Get on my back and I’ll give you a ride.”

I hesitated. “What if I'm too heavy?”

Wolf laughed. “You're far from heavy, Dharma. Look, you need to start trusting me. And you have to start trusting yourself. You are stronger than you think you are, and you’re braver than you know. Now hop on.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and collapsed against him. “Thanks,” I said, inhaling his woodsy scent.

Wolf labored up the steps, every muscle in his strong back flexing beneath me. At the landing, I slid off and hobbled down the hallway to the master bedroom.

“Good thing I made the bed last night,” Wolf said.

“You did? Wow, thanks.”

“I had to have something to do while you were sleeping.”

He pulled back the blankets and held them up so I could climb into the soft bed. Wolf got on his knees and slid the skull underneath the creaky springs.

“You sure you’re going to be okay up here?”

“I hope so,” I said. “At this point, nothing matters but sleep, even if I don’t wake up.”

“Are you sure about that?” Wolf said. He gazed into my eyes and leaned in close, his lips almost touching my forehead. My heart skipped. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead he placed a hand against my cheek.

“You still feel like you have a fever. No wonder, with everything you've been through.” He pulled away. “I’m going to camp right outside the door. Call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” I said. It felt good knowing he would be so close. I couldn’t blame him for not kissing me. My heart sank, I'm sure I looked totally gross. I closed my eyes, listening to his hollow footsteps as he walked away.

Every sound set my nerves on edge—the howling wind, the rattling shutters, the clatter of pipes, a weird scraping outside my window. Then I heard another noise. A different kind of noise. Low. Raspy. I strained to hear against the wind, and held my breath. The eerie sound stuttered in the darkness.

Heavy, mucus-filled breathing.

Coming from under the bed.

Stories of the Week for October 29, 2013

Wrapped in Red is out today, so I thought I'd post this week's SOTW one day in advance. 

Here are some purchase links, in case you'd like to check it out:

US: http://www.tinyurl.com/13VampiresUK: http://www.tinyurl.com/13VampiresUK

The anthology just came out, and it's already starting to get some wonderful reviews in.  It's also up to #5 on the Hot New Releases list on Amazon.  :)

I'm very excited to see how well it's been doing, and Sekhmet Press has been an absolute pleasure to work with.  I couldn't have asked for a more supportive group. 


Oh, and I should have more news about another anthology before long.  A sci-fi story of mine was selected for the first edition of NovoPulp (by a publisher in Denmark, no less), and I signed and sent off the contract yesterday. 

New Vampire Anthology, featuring 13 stories, including one by yours truly

The Trouble with Bios

Does anyone else have trouble picking a bio and sticking with it?  I just changed my twitter bio yet again.  For some reason, I felt the need to add "Will brake for squirrels."

My first "5 Fireballs" Review!

After seeing another perfect review come in, I decided to create a new page on the site, called "Critics Corner."

I've been sending out Try Not to Burn to as many book reviewers as I can find, hoping to get honest feedback and spread the word about the book. 

In the last couple days, two brand new reviews have come in, and they're really encouraging.  Both reviewers loved the book, with Tome Tender Reviews giving it 5 out of 5 Stars, and Boom Baby Reviews giving it 5 out of 5 Fireballs.  (Definitely my favorite review scale, given the theme of the book.)

Mia at Boom Baby is not an easy critic to please, either.  Check her page on her site to see how she approaches reviews, and how much of a warning she gives to authors. 

If you check out the book, I'd love to know what you think of it.  Do you agree with the critics? 

Stories of the Week for October 23, 2013

Hey, there. Welcome back to the blog studio. Oh, and watch your step, there are a whole bunch of flaming pumpkins lying around. 

This week has been another busy one, and not always in a good way. I lost a ton of time trying to fix my laptop after it started to have issues (after an issue with windows update, it refused to start any programs, or even open any documents, saying that a single file was missing). The fix turned out to be quite easy, but finding it involved dual-wielding computers, since the current one was practically useless. In the end, I had to use the scannow function, which thankfully was still working, and it scanned through the core components and fixed the one that went wonky.
But before all the computer headaches—where I was scrambling to back up every file I had on my laptop, searching in vain for elusive Windows product keys, and muttering every curse word imaginable—I was still deep in promotion, both for my free ebook, my thriller novel, and an anthology I'll be appearing in soon. I did a Character Interview for the wonderful Laurie at lauriethoughts-reviews.blogspot.com, which was surprisingly fun to do. (The character I chose was Sam from TNTB, who's a female bank robber, and a rather colorful character). The interview should go up sometime in November. I also did an author interview for another site to promote my story in Wrapped in Red, the vampire anthology from Sekhmet Press, which is due to release on October 29, 2013.
And I'm happy to say I did also manage to squeeze in some writing time. The first draft of the spooky Middle Grade novel has been completed. I've also written up a query letter for it, which I really like, so I'm a couple steps closer to being able to submit it. The dreaded synopsis is still lurking ahead, as is another round or three of edits, but I'm really excited about this book. We'll see if the excitement fades as the editing and submission process starts—it usually does—but for now, I have a very good feeling about this one.


(Photo:“Halloween, 2012” by George Alexander, garussell11 on Flickr)