Glenn Rolfe's Blog, page 27
June 13, 2015
Special Announcement – The Montauk Monster on Sale To Get You Ready For Summer
Originally posted on Hunter Shea:
Right now, you can get last summer’s smash hit monster thriller, THE MONTAUK MONSTER, on ebook for only $1.99. Load up your Kindles and Nooks and iPads for the beach, and don’t be afraid of the water…just what washes up on the shore!
You can get a copy at Amazon, B&N or KOBO today. I’m not sure how long the sale will last (I wasn’t even aware it started until someone else pointed it out!), so grab it while you can.
And if monsters aren’t your bag, THE HAUNTED HALLS by Glenn Rolfe is free on Amazon aaaand Jonathan Janz’s THE NIGHTMARE GIRL is only 99 cents! You can get three great books for just under $3. I dare you to find a better dealio.
I want to write the novel equivalent of Appetite For Destruction
Uncompromising. Real. Gritty. Honest. Awesome.Raw.
These are some of the things critics, rock fans, and fellow musicians of the day said about Guns N’ Roses and their debut effort, Appetite For Destruction. Appetite wasn’t always pretty, it wasn’t always perfect, but it was absolutely right. It was nasty, it was vulgar, it was aggressive, it was honest, and, at times, it was beautiful. Those are all of the things I hope to incorporate in my future works in the horror field.
Each time out, I’m aiming for Appetite For Destruction. I want my story and characters to be uncompromising, honest, and real. I also want it to be right for the masses. I don’t want to write a book that is going to be trapped into a small niche group of readers. Yet, I don’t want to write safe, either. I want to create books that are as uncompromising as they are right for anyone who might pick them up. Is that aiming too high? Maybe, but that’s my goal.
There’s plenty of ambition here. There’s plenty of desire. If I can keep improving my skills, I think I can achieve my goals.
It’s not good enough for me to put out something that’s okay. I want my books to be great. Do I do that? Am I capable yet? Not yet, but I will continue to work toward reaching what I think my potential is and hopefully, in the process, surpass your expectations.
I love (though it is far from perfect) my debut, The Haunted Halls. I love my next novel, Blood and Rain. I hope you’ll give some of my work a chance. And I hope you enjoy what you read.
You can grab The Haunted Halls for the next couple of days for 99 cents. I promise you, if you love horror, it is uncompromising. It is raw. It is honest, gritty, sexy and mean.
Welcome to the jungle, baby…
June 11, 2015
THE HAUNTED HALLS FOR 99 CENTS Today-Monday night June 15th
“an atmospheric, spine-tingler that sustains the reader’s attention until its resolution with the inclusion of vile, cringe-worthy moments that’s sure to accommodate the churning of one’s stomach. Without a shortage of unwarrantable violence, sex, and profanity, Rolfe revels in his storytelling like that of a feverish child during a winter day; blissfully engaging himself in the act of snow angels.”- Horror After Dark
“Glenn Rolfe’s The Haunted Halls pulls out all the stops in delivering a blood-soaked, sexually charged spook show” – Peter N. Dudar, author of A Requiem for Dead Flies
“The Bruton Inn is the scariest hotel I have read about since The Overlook…”- Terry M. West, author of Heroin in the Magic Now
“Fast-paced and chilling, with eroticism and gore delivered with style.” – Russel James, author of Q Island and Dreamwalker
Today through Monday night, June 15th, get a Kindle copy of my debut novel about this horror hotel (The Bruton Inn) for just 99 cents! Also available in paperback.
Please spread the word if you get a chance. :)
June 2, 2015
Summer Sin: Samhain Horror Brings the evil
I did it because they deserved it. I did it because I deserved it.
Thomas “Agony” Agonetti: torturer, rapist, serial killer, executed by the state for his crimes. They say his ghost haunts his old stalking grounds, the decaying Twin Lakes Mall. Trevor Westmoreland, a security guard with some imagination, agrees to work the night shift, cruising in circles through vast empty parking lots, warding off trouble. But when a shopper who was Agony’s type disappears, followed by another security guard, the stories of the ghost seem all too real. Now Trevor must do what the police never could: find Agony’s hidden torture chamber and put an end to his killing streak, once and for all.
Reboot the apocalypse!
For a while, it looked like the living had won. The war against the walking dead lasted almost a decade, but it’s mostly over. There are only a few straggling zombies left to take care of. Los Angeles has returned to its lattes and long commutes. It’s up to a small Reclamation Crew to clean up the Zoms left behind. But when the undead dry up, their skin turns to dust. Now the hot Santa Ana winds deliver a new threat…because the Zoms were only the beginning of something far worse.
“Dust of the Dead is a pressure cooker of a thriller, a masterwork of world building, and a genuinely and refreshingly unique spin on the zombie genre, but above all, it is a beautiful dance on the line between life and death.” -Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Dead City “There’s never been a zombie book like Dust of the Dead.
“It’s horrifying, blackly funny, rich in pathos, and thoroughly original, and it’s also one of the best L.A.-based horror novels ever written.” -Lisa Morton, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Zombie Apocalypse: Washington Deceased Reboot the apocalypse!
The dead are coming back.
Ten naked people walk from a cemetery into artist Sean Casey’s backyard: ten Spore People who used to be dead. One, Mindy, stays with Sean while trying to reclaim her life, but her ex would rather she return to her grave. Sean struggles to protect Mindy and other Spores while battling his recurring—and worsening—nightmares. Meanwhile, the media feeds a panicked frenzy that leads both the hopeful and hateful to Sean’s front door.
As the Spore fungus spreads, so does the fear. When mutilated children match Sean’s nightmares, he realizes his own worst terror may be closer than he thinks.
There’s a killer on the road…
He’s a big rig truck driver who goes by the CB handle White Knuckle, and he’s Jack the Ripper on eighteen wheels. For thirty years he has murdered hundreds of women in unimaginable ways, imprisoning them in a secret compartment in his truck, abducting them in one state and dumping their dead bodies across the country.
Dedicated FBI agent Sharon Ormsby is on a mission to hunt down and stop White Knuckle. She goes undercover as a truck driver with a helpful long hauler named Rudy in a cross-country pursuit that will ultimately bring her face-to-face with White Knuckle in a pedal-to-the-metal, high-octane climax on a highway to Hell.
Reviews:
“Eric Red is the successor to Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch. And he proves it once again here in WHITE KNUCKLE. Every bit as memorable as Matheson’s DUEL. Literally, no filler – all killer.” – Robin Pierce, Starburst Magazine. (9/10 stars.)
“Absolutely compelling reading. While WHITE KNUCKLE is punctuated by brutal violence and high action, it’s really powered by its characters. You can’t be sure what the future has in store for any character, and you can’t get comfortable with anything or take anyone’s fate for granted.” – The Horror Review.
Grab each of these titles wherever you shop online. You can also grab them for a limited-time discount at SamhainPublishing.com
May 21, 2015
Follow Your Arrow (Part 2): Stay Gold, Ponyboy
Stay Gold, Ponyboy…
I started writing in 2011. It took me four months to write the first draft of my first novel. Ever since then, I’ve been working on getting better as a writer. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was: “Don’t let schooling change how you write” She was talking about my voice as a writer, but I think that line of advice can be applied to any sort of lesson or instruction you may receive on how to be a writer.
I know plenty of people, great authors, who pay good money to attend writing classes, or workshops, or writing boot-camps, and I think if you can afford them and have the time, go for it. The concern in taking classes and instruction is that you may take every lesson as a “how-to” manual. The problem there is that, for some writers, you begin to think that anything that doesn’t go step-by-step the way you were taught is somehow wrong.
Writing is more than that. There is definitely some structure involved. It’s not an “anything goes” venture. Not everyone can or should do it (even though Amazon says you can). You have to have an idea about how a story should flow, how to bring characters to life, write dialogue, and have a decent grasp on grammar. I believe the best way to learn is simply to read. Read your favorite authors, read the classics, and mix in some riff raff. Yes, you can learn plenty of what not to do by reading through those bad books, too. The key is to find a few authors you truly enjoy and marvel over, and note in your writing brain what they did that worked so well for you. And likewise with the bad ones–what really killed the book? Where did it all go horribly wrong? I read like crazy. I read more now that I’m writing than I did before.
I like to look at learning as taking advice. Use what works for you. Use what you’re comfortable with. I often will send my pieces to another writer friend or an editor and ask them what they think. More times than not, I get a great piece of advice in return, or some little nugget that I never thought about. When I first started the process of using beta readers, I took everything I was told to heart. Besides, the rules and suggestions were coming from professionals. Then, I began to notice things in books I love that went against the rules. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like the move from innocent reader to writer/reader, but this enlightenment is inevitable. After a while, it got a little better. Like anything in life, we go from not knowing, to thinking we know, to understanding. I started to see that what we are taught, the advice we are given, is just that–advice. Yes, the lesson is coming from a professional, someone who has been there, done that, but that does not mean you must play strictly by these rules. Your story doesn’t have to fit into the Writer’s Box. Some of the ones that fit perfectly in that box are heartless. Almost like someone was doing paint-by-numbers with their book. That is the travesty.
“Permission to Boogie”
Writing is about heart and soul. You can learn how to build the robot, but can you make it move? It’s about finding your voice. To do that you have to use what moves you to move the reader. What scares you? What breaks your heart? What makes you trust somebody? Hopefully you don’t have first-hand experience in disemboweling people (unless maybe you’re a doctor, or a mortician), but you need to use what makes your blood pump in real life and transfer that into your story. When you succeed in doing this, the magic comes to life. Your book comes alive. Your robot begins to boogie.
So yes, take the class, do the workshop, take notes when someone explains what didn’t work for them or what they would like to see, but don’t let it erase what makes you special. Apply the advice to what you already do. If your story doesn’t fit exactly into the manual, if your colors don’t stay in the lines, so be it. Art is about doing your thing, expressing who you are. Readers will find you through one of your books or stories, but they’ll keep coming back to you for you.
May 19, 2015
Goodreads–A great place to spread the gospel
Do you read a lot? Are you just a bookworm or are you a professional reviewer? Whatever the case may be, authors love to get reviewed. Goodreads is one of the top spots to find these reviews. Authors have to do the majority of their promotions these days. Sites like Goodreads and Booklikes are helpful tools that assist authors in lightening the load we have to shoulder in the ever-changing world of promotions. These sites provide a place for the readers to spread the word on the books and authors they like. As a fairly new writer, I am grateful for these types of sites, Goodreads in particular.
I read quite a bit. I try and review each and every novel or novella that I read. I love to report on my favorites reads, the ones that really surprised me, and sometimes, the ones that let me down. It’s in this latter case that we authors cringe a bit, and honestly, as a reviewer, so do I. It’s never easy to write about a book that didn’t work for you, but, as long as the review is honest and not an obvious outright attack on the author, the review is (or at least should be) appreciated.
Word of mouth, grassroots, whichever you see it as, Goodreads, and sites like it, provide a great place for readers to help authors reach their target audience. If you have a Goodreads account and appreciate any of my works, or are interested in checking out any of my works, please take a second and click the “g” below my book covers here.
I look forward to reading your reviews (good or bad) on Abram’s Bridge or Boom Town. There’s also a Goodreads page for my next novel, Blood and Rain. Werewolf fans may want to click and add this one ;)
Abram’s Bridge (2015)
Boom Town (2015)
Blood and Rain (October, 2015)
May 14, 2015
A Guest Post by Glenn Rolfe: Be the Fearless Writer
If you missed it earlier this week.. I posted this bit on Jonathan Janz’s website. It is a piece about writing with out fear. Check it out.
Originally posted on Jonathan Janz:
My friend and new Samhain Horror author Glenn Rolfe dropped by the blog tonight to share some thoughts on fearlessness. So without further ado, here he is!
Be the Fearless Writer
by Glenn Rolfe, author of Boom Town
“I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.”—Stephen King
This might be my favorite Stephen King quote. It’s definitely the most important one for me as a writer. When I began to take writing seriously almost four years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I’d read a lot of Richard Laymon, Bentley Little, and Brian Keene, plus plenty of Stephen King and Jack Ketchum, but I hadn’t taken an English course since 1995! Needless to say, I knew my writing would be pretty rough. I knew I had A LOT to learn, but the one thing I thought I understood was what would make a…
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May 6, 2015
Blood and Rain Cover Reveal: Who wants to howl?
Blood and Rain (October, 2015)
This is totally my favorite cover from my Samhain collection. I hope you guys dig it as much as I do. Blood and Rain is about a mad puppy…or a werewolf. :) Fun trivia for you here: ROLFE–This unusual and interesting English surname derives ultimately from the Old Scandanavian and Germanic pre 5th century personal name “Hrodwulf”. This was composed of the elements “hrod”, meaning “renown”, and “wulf”,a wolf. Blood and Rain will be my first full-length novel with Samhain. It’s set to come out in October. Perfect timing, right?
The werewolf is a monster near and dear to my heart. Growing up, my older brother, Greg, introduced me to the beast through movies like Silver Bullet and The Howling. He passed away in 2010, before I’d even started writing.I wish he could have been around to see this. Blood and Rain is dedicated to him.
You will hear plenty more about this book when the summer winds down and the cool nights of fall come creeping back to us. Until then…
Feel free to grab my latest novella, Boom Town.
“Boom Town is an alien invasion novel with teeth…blue, gelatinous teeth, the be exact. Rolfe weaves a wonderful tale of big, bad things happening to a small, good town. A sure winner!” -Hunter Shea, Author of The Montauk Monster and Tortures of the Damned
“Glenn Rolfe’s writing is a breath of fresh air, followed by a jolt of adrenaline.” – Iain Rob Wright, author of The Final Winter
May 5, 2015
MAY’s Crimson Blossom: New Releases from Samhain Horror
She was born with the power to cure. Now she’s developed the power to kill.
Leah DeGarmo has the power to cure with just a touch. But with her gift comes a dark side: Whatever she takes in she has to pass on, or suffer it herself. Now a sadistic criminal has discovered what she can do and he’ll stop at nothing to control her. He makes a mistake, though, when he kills the man she loves, triggering a rage inside her that releases a new power she didn’t know she had: the ability to kill. Transformed into a demon of retribution, Leah resurrects her lover and embarks on a mission to destroy her enemies. The only question is, does she control her power or does it control her?
Let the bad times roll…
Ashe had everything going for him. He had a successful career, a stable life, and a beautiful fiancée, until she died…and was resurrected. Now everything is falling apart. In addition to Mardi Gras floats, the streets of Mobile are filled with walking corpses. Somehow Ashe knows it’s all connected back to him. Can he and his friends stop the sinister forces at work, or are their revels ending—along with their lives?
The secrets of life…and death!
For centuries scientists have sought the secrets of life itself. However, these experiments have often gone very, very wrong. Gathered together in this volume for the first time are two novellas by Sèphera Girón that show exactly how terrifying these attempts can be. In Captured Souls, Dr. Miriam Frederick is determined to create the perfect human specimen—and the perfect lover—with decidedly unexpected results. And in Flesh Failure, a young woman pulls herself out of a shallow grave to roam the foggy streets of Jack the Ripper’s London, desperate to find answers…and what she needs to remain alive!
Some family legacies are best left buried.
Will Pallasso has brought his wife and young son, Billy, back to his childhood home to settle his late mother’s affairs…and remove all traces of his haunted past. But now hideous memories are coming back to Will, and Billy has started suffering from night terrors. Returning to this house was a big mistake. Some memories should not be disturbed, and some nightmares will not stay buried forever.
Especially nightmares that wear greasepaint spattered with blood.
“Manages to build some serious suspense and will easily freak out those who suffer from Coulrophobia. A satisfying, well done creep-fest.” – Nick Cato, Horror Fiction Review
Sometimes evil looks like a fuzzy teddy bear.
Still grieving the untimely death of his dad, ten-year-old Josh Leary is reluctant to accept a well-worn stuffed teddy bear from his new stepfather. He soon learns he was right to be wary. Edgar is no ordinary toy…and he doesn’t like being rejected. When Josh banishes him to the closet, terrible things begin to happen.
Desperate to be rid of the bear, Josh engages the help of a friend. As the boys’ efforts rebound on them with horrifying results, Josh is forced to accept the truth—Edgar will always get even.
They do more than frighten birds. Much more.
Early one morning in the fall of 1964, Robert searched for his missing six-year-old daughter, Cathy. He found her asleep in a nearby cornfield, covered in blood and holding a small axe. A few feet away lay the mutilated body of her classmate Emily.
Assumed guilty of murder, Cathy lived in a hospital for insane children. She always gave the same account of what happened. She talked of murderous scarecrows that roamed the cornfield on moonlit nights. Her doctors considered her delusional. The police, her neighbors and the press thought she was dangerous. And so she remained incarcerated. No one believed her. That was a mistake.
You’d better watch out!
No one in Anders Bach’s family believed his old tales of Winterwood, a place where Krampus and his Wild Hunt rule a frozen land and where bad children don’t get coal for Christmas, they get baked into pies or forced into slavery. But now the Yule Lads have kidnapped Anders’s grandsons, and he has to rescue them before they’re lost forever. Anders and his daughter must cross the divide between worlds and enter Winterwood, where evil holds sway and even the reindeer have a taste for human flesh. By the time the sun rises, they’ll learn the awful truth about Winterwood: there is no escape without sacrifice.
Seven great new releases from Samhain Publishing! All discounted for May. Click the covers to grab a copy from Amazon, or go to Samhainpublishing.com
Happy shopping!
Come back tomorrow for the Cover reveal for my next Samhian novel, Blood and Rain. It promises to be a howl. ;)
Stay tuned!
May 2, 2015
Glenn Rolfe: Past, present, and future….
For anyone that might be new to my body of work…here’s a look at what’s available and what’s to come:
The Haunted Halls (2014)
Praise for The Haunted Halls:
“an atmospheric, spine-tingler that sustains the reader’s attention until its resolution with the inclusion of vile, cringe-worthy moments that’s sure to accommodate the churning of one’s stomach. Without a shortage of unwarrantable violence, sex, and profanity, Rolfe revels in his storytelling like that of a feverish child during a winter day; blissfully engaging himself in the act of snow angels.”- Horror After Dark
“Glenn Rolfe’s The Haunted Halls pulls out all the stops in delivering a blood-soaked, sexually charged spook show” – Peter N. Dudar, author of A Requiem for Dead Flies
“The Bruton Inn is the scariest hotel I have read about since The Overlook…”- Terry M. West, author of Heroin in the Magic Now
“Fast-paced and chilling, with eroticism and gore delivered with style.” – Russel James, author of Q Island and Dreamwalker
Released July, 2014 from James Ward Kirk Publishing
The Bruton Inn, located outside of the small Maine city of Hollis Oaks, is home to something special. An icy presence has made its way from a dark past to the present day. Cold spots, shadows, and whispers permeate the halls, and guests are beginning to change.
For two front desk employees, Rhiannon and Jeff, the dark rumors are about to come to light. They call upon Lee Buhl, the urban shaman, and his connection with the spirit world to dig up the truth.
Will they be able to stand against this malevolent force? Or will they come face to face with something beyond even your most frightful dreams. Welcome to the Bruton Inn. The Ice Queen has arrived.
Slush (2014)
Released October, 2014 from Alien Agenda Publishing
A collection of shorts stories, flash fiction and micro works.Slush will include previously published stories “Skull of Snakes”, “Jackie Boy”, and “Sweet 16″, alongside a fresh batch of terrifying stories to help you sleep at night.
Abram’s Bridge (2015)
Praise for Abram’s Bridge:
“…an entertaining, tightly written ghost story that reads like a classic ghost tale with modern sensibilities. The story flows from an innocent, even sweet, ghost story, to a story of father and sons, and finally one of small towns and the secrets they can harbor. Pick this one up for an evening’s read!” – Hellnotes.com
“…Through written word or poetry in motion Glenn Rolfe’s supernatural soiree is a bona fide thrill ride for the ages.” – Horrornews.net
Released January, 2015 from Samhain Publishing
There is a darkness in this town, and it’s buried beneath Abram’s Bridge.
When Lil Ron meets Sweet Kate under Abram’s Bridge he is mesmerized. And when he realizes this beautiful girl is a ghost, it frightens him, but also draws him to her. Curiosity and a drive to make things right lead Lil Ron into a tangle of small-town secrets involving his own father and other members of this otherwise quiet community. Bit by bit, he will uncover the truth about Sweet Kate, a story of heartbreak, violence…and fear.
Boom Town (2015)
Praise for Boom Town:
“Boom Town is an alien invasion novel with teeth…blue, gelatinous teeth, the be exact. Rolfe weaves a wonderful tale of big, bad things happening to a small, good town. A sure winner!” -Hunter Shea, Author of The Montauk Monster and Tortures of the Damned
“Glenn Rolfe’s writing is a breath of fresh air, followed by a jolt of adrenaline.” – Iain Rob Wright, author of The Final Winter
Released April, 2015 from Samhain Publishing
Terror from below!
In the summer of 1979, Eckert, Wisconsin, was the sight of the most unique UFO encounter in history. A young couple observed a saucer-like aircraft hovering over Hollers Hill. A blue beam blasted down from the center of the craft into the hill and caused the ground to rumble for miles.
Now, thirty years later, Eckert is experiencing nightly rumbles that stir up wild rumors and garner outside attention. The earthly tremors are being blamed on everything from earthquakes to underground earth dwellers. Two pre-teens discover a pipe out behind Packard’s Flea Market uprooted by the “booms” and come into contact with the powerful ooze bubbling from within. What begins as curiosity will end in an afternoon of unbridled terror for the entire town.
And if you need more, there’s plenty on the way. Some will be released by Samhain Publishing, some will be self-published, others may end up elsewhere, but here’s what I’m looking at…
FUTURE RELEASES:
Blood and Rain (October, 2015) Print and eBook
Slush (2015) Audio and Print
Things We Fear (March, 2016) eBook
Where Nightmares Begin (March, 2016) Print
The Wold Comes Down (2016) Print and eBook
Becoming (2016) Print and eBook
Window (2016) Print and eBook
October House (2016) eBook
