Heath Stallcup's Blog, page 12

SZBT 2014!

If you are a zombie fan, then you KNOW what time it is.  The month of May may be Zombie Awareness month, but this JUNE it’s ‘Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2014′!

Every day in the month of June, one author is chosen to be highlighted and we learn a little something about him or her.  What makes them tick, what to look forward to in the near future, what got them where they are now, who they look up to in the field or maybe how they got twisted the way they are.  Hopefully it’s something new that you the readers didn’t already know. If you’re a die hard fan, then odds are, you already know the whole back story on all these wonderfully gifted writers.  If not, then you have a lot to look forward to.

Next week is my turn.  I don’t know yet who I’ll be hosting on my blog, but I sincerely hope to bring you something new and exciting.  Armand Rosamilia is hosting the SZBT this year and between the radio shows, the Authors Supporting Our Troops 2014, writing, blogging and saving nuns from burning buses…I honestly don’t know where this guy finds the time to DO what he does?! Secretly, I think he has cloned himself, but don’t tell anybody.  I don’t want to start any unfounded rumors…

Check back next week for the author interview HERE!  Check in with Facebook at the event, “Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2014″ to find interviews, guest posts, teasers, prizes, cool swag and so much more! 

Subtle Changes

Those of you who travel here to catch up on things will be pleased to know that I wrapped up MS5- Homecoming a couple of weeks ago and have been tapping away at MS6- Snapback ever since.  I’m hoping that this next saga will only be a three book tale, but you never know exactly where the story will take you.  I will say that I’m fairly excited about one small aspect.  I’ve been wanting to delve into the world of YA stories for a while. Well, since Phoenix really.  Originally, I intended for the Monster Squad stories to be young adult, but in my efforts to ‘keep it real’, the language didn’t allow that.  Then the story took on a life of its own and if you’ve read them, you know.  Things happen. While many may feel that they’re appropriate for young people, my publisher and I both felt it best to engage the adult filters when searching for them.

And yet, I digress.  No doubt, if you’ve been here before, you probably noticed a small change when you came here today.  Unless you’re on a mobile device.  I have no idea what you may or may not see on your phone.  BUT, the changes in layout and images that you’re seeing are in preparations for bigger changes that I hope are soon to come.

I was extremely fortunate in my internet travels and ran into a young lady that absolutely blew me away.  ‘Why?’ you may ask.  I’m so glad you did! When I first saw her, I got chills.  She IS Laura Youngblood.  I mean, when I saw her picture, it was exactly who I pictured when I wrote that character.  We began to talk and the next thing I know, she’s telling me about graphics and splash pages and…she’s web design smart.  The graphic you see at the top of the page is a crop from an image she threw together in just a couple of minutes while we were messaging each other on Facebook.  I had sent her some images I had from the book covers, t-shirt designs, logos…just different images that were sitting on my hard drive.  I’m telling ya, the lady is awesome.  I wish I could tell everybody her name, but she hasn’t really given me permission so I’ll keep it to myself for now (Lisa Vasquez and she’s AWESOME at graphics and web design, but you did NOT hear it from me…unless she’s cool with it, then I totally told you to contact her).  So if she gives me permission to spread her name around, I’ll let you know how to contact her (at http://thedevilshalo.com/ ).

It’s taking a bit of time because we both have a bunch of irons in the fire but hopefully soon, you’ll see a cleaner and much cooler site with a neat portal or splash page or whatever it was she called it. Stay tuned!

While It’s Hot

Do you like buffets?  You know what I’m talking about. Dozens of different flavors all spread out so that you can sample the things you know you like or if you’re feeling adventurous, you can experiment a little and jump into something new, just to test the waters? Yeah.  Buffets are good.

My kids love the Chinese buffet.  They know they want Chinese food, but they aren’t sure exactly WHAT they want.  The buffet is the perfect answer.  They can’t pronounce it, but they know they like ‘chicken on a stick’. Or they want that ‘white stuff crammed into the cracker flower’. They sometimes like a steaming bowl of ‘egg yuck soup’. Anything with shrimp is usually good as long as it’s not the ‘snot covered shrimp with onions’. Yeah.  There goes my appetite.

Well, back to my point.

For a limited time you can have a mind buffet…of sorts.  No, not brains for you zombie wanna-be’s.  But, for those who have yet to partake in the Epic Apocalypse box set, it is currently on sale for (get this)…less than a dollar.  Can you believe that?  99 cents buys you full length novels from the likes of John O’Brien, James Cook, Shawn Chesser and Armand Rosamilia.  They even let Mark Tufo toss in with these guys.  As a bonus, there’s a lip smacking teaser from Joe McKinney in it as well.  The only down side is, they let me put my stuff in it…sort of like that green gooey stuff over by the Sushi bar.  Yes, the pistachio ice cream has turned!

This set has a little bit of everything, and for the price, you can’t lose.

So do yourself a favor.  Check it out.  You’ll be glad you did.

World Horror Convention

Most of you are aware by now that the World Horror Convention is going on in Portland, OR.  Anybody and everybody that has anything to do with horror is converging on the city of Portland to rub elbows and hang out, have fun and network, visit with old friends and meet new ones.

While I won’t be there to enjoy the festivities, a lot of my friends and fellow authors will be.  If you are close, stop by and visit them.  If you are traveling there for the convention, spend some time at the different booths, but make sure you stop by May December Publishing and say hi to Todd and Denise Brown.  Then swing by and give the fellas from the Epic Apocalypse set a visit too.  Mark Tufo, Shawn Chesser, John O’Brien, Joe McKinney and Armand Rosamilia are manning a booth and if you are lucky, you might catch all of them at the same time.

Trust me when I say that it’s killing me inside to know that everybody is there and I’m not, but know that I’ll be there in spirit, wishing all of them the best of luck.  Plans are already in place for next year in Atlanta, but alas, that’s a whole year away.  Until then, if you want a set of autographed books, a Monster Squad coffee mug or bumper sticker you can find it at May December’s booth along with some other swag that I sent along to help spread the word.

So, have fun, see all of the cool things that Portland has to offer and enjoy yourself!

My Plea To You

I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.  Nobody likes to read through tons of unnecessary verbage so…

If you have read ANY of my published works and could take a few moments from your busy schedule to leave a review at Amazon, I would be eternally grateful.  You know (especially if you’ve read through my mind spew here) how important reviews are.  I also know how valuable your time is.  That is why I hate to ask, but I feel compelled to at the same time.

I’ve put up a standing offer at my Facebook author page for those who leave an honest review and then contact me with their address, I will send them their choice of either a silicon wrist band or some bumper stickers.

I know it’s not much, but it’s my way of saying thank you for taking your time to do something to help me. Especially at this time of year.  I realize that the school year is winding down, summer ball is gearing up, kids are excited for summer, parents are trying to make plans for summer vacations, etc.  It’s a busy time.  Taking time from your busy schedule for something like this just means that much more.

For those who can, thank you.

Heath

Tipping Point

I really didn’t like my last entry.  It definitely felt like a ‘blog filler’.  This place is supposed to be my little place on the interwebs to come to be closer to you, the reader.  A place where I keep you up on how things are going, what’s new and what’s happening. Since nothing was new but it had been so long since my last entry, I felt compelled to put something up anyway.  The result didn’t sit well with me.

Since then, little has changed.  But the ‘little’ that has is still kind of cool to me.  So I thought I’d share it with you.

First, I’ve reached the tipping point on MS5.  Things are definitely picking up and will be accelerating quickly as I reach the cliffhanger conclusion of this installment of the new saga.  Old friends may or may not survive this next offering.  As many of you came to discover, nobody is safe.  There was a reason behind the losses in MS4.  It may not be apparent, but they are there.  I got a lot of hate mail over those deaths.  I’ve also gotten a LOT more negative criticisms over the last two books, as well.  I’ve actually debated coming here and trying to address them, but…that’s not what this blog is about.  I’ve stated before, the story told itself.  I just typed it.  There are reasons for why things happened the way they did.  We don’t have to like them.  I didn’t like them, how can I expect others to?  Anywho…

Second, I made a new friend.  A new friend that SHOULD play Laura Youngblood if the Monster Squad ever got made into a movie.  Well…if she’s close to six foot tall, she should.  It’s kind of funny, but we hit it off like old high school buddies.  She decides to help me ‘dress up my site’ and when I see a current picture of her.  I nearly fell over.  When I write of Laura…THAT was the face I saw.  It was spooky. Because when I say it was Laura, I don’t mean ‘she kind of sort of looked a little like her if you turn the picture sideways and squint a little…’ No.  I mean, it was as if somebody reached inside my head, pulled the Laura Youngblood file, yanked her photo from her service record and then posted it on Facebook.  Weird, eh?  Well, it was pretty cool, anyway.  Because this gal is really sharp and she’s going to make my website look really professional.  Rather than just a blog, it will have a splash page.  For those of you who are techno-stoopid like me (she had to explain it to me, too) it’s like a portal page with neat graphics and hyperlinks to my blog, links to my books and other stuff like that.  I don’t want to say any more about it because she may scrap the whole idea and go a completely different way.

So…that’s what’s new.  I’m still pushing against the September deadline, but I think it will be good.  Hopefully, I can get this saga pounded out while it’s all still somewhat fresh on my mind and then hand it over to Todd to polish.

Ooh…yeah.  Okay.  I wasn’t going to say anything about the other novels that have been kind of standing by the wayside while I concentrated on the MS series…but.  I sent Corson to a different publishing house for consideration.  No…I’m not upset with MDP.  Let’s quash that rumor before it ever gets started.  But the fact is, they’re swamped.  And it’s just not a high priority.  I understand that.  In fact, I’m okay with that. I talked with Denise and she’s given me her blessing so I feel good about the move with that one.

I also got the opportunity to submit both Whispers and Caldera to an agent via a friend of mine.  A real agent that deals with the big NY publishers.  While I’m not holding my breath, I am hopeful that they are well received.  After all, Whispers is my personal favorite and Caldera is my missus’ favorite. I have no idea how long it will take to hear back on those two, but I’m daring to hope.  The agent is just the first step.

So, that wraps up everything.  Unless you want to know about how well supper went?  We decided to use our new grill tonight.  I made steamed carrots and steamed corn, cheesy squash and grilled sirloin.  Chicken for the girls because that’s their favorite.  Then we had…huh?  Oh.  You don’t care?  Okay.  I can take a hint.

No News Is Good News?

I hadn’t really posted much here lately because…well, there wasn’t really much new to post.  MS5 is slowly developing.  I wish I could simply say that I was being thorough.  Methodical.  Anal.  But honestly, I’ve been struggling with time management, story development and a writer’s worst nightmare…self confidence.

Add to that, I’ve been running back and forth seeing different specialists for my heart and not really getting answers, only more questions.  I find myself not getting done what I’d like to have done and the frustration level has hit a new high.  For those who aren’t privy to the whole ‘heart’ thing, we thought I had a heart attack a few months ago.  A quick trip to the ER and their tests indicated that it wasn’t a heart attack.  They couldn’t tell me what it was, but they urged me to get a stress test. I figured, if it wasn’t a heart attack, why bother?  Yeah.  Not so smart.  Anyway, a nurse friend explained what the stress test was for and two chemical mountain climbing trips later, there is restricted flow to the lower part of my heart.  They want to try to treat it with medication first before they go looking around inside. Yay for them. I’m not keen on the idea of having anybody poke and prod my innards.  Especially around my ticker.

So what does that have to do with writing?  Nothing.  But it’s just one more thing on my plate and on my mind and it’s something that takes away from my putting my full attention to anything.  It seems that between ballgames, doctor visits, being a taxi driver for mini-me’s and trying to find time to write…it all takes it’s toll.

I can say that I got some really cool feedback on the t-shirt design.  I’ve even contacted a couple of different places that print shirts to try to get quotes.  I hadn’t realized all of the different ways to make a custom t-shirt until I started this search.

Anywho, I just wanted to touch base with everybody since it had been a while.  I AM still kicking.  Nothing has really changed other than the schedule for future releases, but since that is so fluid and up in the air, I’ll save it for later when I know something more solid.

Input Needed

Yeah, I should be writing instead of penning this.  Sorry.  Even my brain needs to step away once in a while and sort of decompress.  In the meantime, I’ve been playing with different ideas for SWAG.  For those who aren’t too familiar, it’s the little freebie stuff you give out to folks to help promote your product.  In this case, it’s the Monster Squad.

I have a friend and fellow author who is also a graphic artist who designed a really cool ‘unit logo’ for me to use.  As some of you have seen, I’ve put this on some stuff like coffee cups and t-shirts and whatnot…just to get a feel for it.

While the coffee cups looked pretty darned cool, they aren’t really something that people carry around with them ALL the time.  Well, unless you’re a Chief Petty Officer in the NAVY and have a permanently hooked finger.  Sorry.  A little military humor there.

So…here’s the thing.  I talked with Jeffrey (he’s the aforementioned author and graphic artist) and he tossed together something for me to use for t-shirts.  Instead, I saw it as the cover of the hardback for the first four Monster Squads…a little project that Denise and I had been talking about for quite a while now.  With just a little tweaking, he gave me this:

I really liked it.  No.  Scratch that.  I LOVED it.  Simple, yet…striking.  At least to me.

So here is where I need YOUR input.  I mean, you guys are the fans.  You’re the readers.  You’re the reason the characters continue to grow and enjoy new life and new adventures. If you were to look for Monster Squad items, whether they be coffee mugs, t-shirts, pens, posters…whatever.  What design would you like to see?

Would you rather it be just the logo like the coffee cup above?  Or would you rather see something that reminds you of the book covers that you’re used to seeing? Something with the silhouette of the soldiers?  Both?  Neither?  Just the words ‘Monster Squad’?  Give me some feedback, please.  Because I’ll tell you, this stuff isn’t cheap and picking up little bits here and there just to see how I might like it is getting…well…expensive!  Help me decide which image best represents the squads.  What do YOU think of when you think of them?

You can message me here or on Facebook or email or drop by the house and we can chat over a cup of coffee.  However you choose, your input is valuable. Or should I say, invaluable?

 

Surprise Surprise!

Well, originally we had MS4, Blood Apocalypse, scheduled to be released in May.  Then we moved it up to April because of the World Horror Con.  Release it early so that we could compile the first four books into one big hardback edition and present it at the WHC in Portland.  Then ACX reared its ugly head and stated that if your book wasn’t under contract by March 12th, it fell under their new terms and conditions.

In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.  Guess what gets released 3/10/2014?

If you guessed Monster Squad 4, Blood Apocalypse, then you’d be right!

Beside trying to hurry and get MS4 into the system and beat ACX at their own game, there are other reasons for publishing sooner than originally planned.  As mentioned, we want to compile the first four squad stories into one very large tome…one complete edition with each story re-edited and rechaptered and attached back to back, telling the epic story of the Rise of the Sicarii from start to finish as it was originally intended.  This new hardback edition will be released at the World Horror Convention in Portland and I hope that it will be well received.

I know this is a strange new twist for those who have been following the squads since Phoenix.  Usually we plan for a certain date and hold our breath, praying that we can hit close.  Something always seems to come up that throws it off, usually at the last minute.  But this time, not only are we early, we are WAY early.

So, enjoy it.

Because now the real work begins.  Not only do I have to try to promote this, I also have to get MS5 drafted and to Todd for editing.  And MS6 and MS7 and…>sigh<

Merry early Christmas y’all.

The Meaning of a Handshake

I’m old school.

Big surprise to a lot of you, eh?  No, what I mean is, to me, a handshake has more power, more meaning than a written contract.  If someone tells you that they’re going to do something, their word is their bond.  If you shake hands on it, it’s a done deal.  It’s as good as gold.  You might as well take that to the bank, because it was DONE.

Well, there are a LOT of people out there…nay, not just people, but entire businesses, institutions, that don’t understand what that simple concept means.

What am I talking about?  Take for instance, your credit card. Regardless of whether it was a pre-approved offer sent in the mail, an offer found online or even one that your bank or credit union offered you, they give you the terms and conditions and you agree to it.  You SIGN your NAME and you enter into a contract with them.

Fast forward six months…or even a year.  You receive a notice in the mail.  “We have changed our terms and conditions…blah blah blah.”  Ummm.  No.

You see, you entered into a legally binding contract and…

Oh, no, sir.  If you’ll look at the fine print, it states that we reserve the right to…

Really?  Seriously?  Fine print?  You can change a CONTRACT midstream?

Yes, and if you don’t like it, don’t deal with us.

Well, that’s sort of what ACX is trying to do with writers and narrators.  As of March 12, 2014, ACX is changing the terms and conditions of the way they deal with WE the People who actually CREATE the stories being sold on their site.  Before, they took a full half and left the other half for us to figure out if we could hire a narrator ourselves and keep our profit or find a narrator of a good enough quality and that was willing to split our half with us.  In essence, if we were an aspiring young writer (or old writer, as the case may be), we could either pony up thousands of dollars to get it produced and then keep all of our half…or split it and hope that both the writer and narrator made money.

Now, ACX has decided that they are entitled to a full 60% of the monies.  They didn’t write the stories.  They didn’t narrate them.  They didn’t produce them.  They don’t even PROMOTE them for us.  But for some reason, they get damn near two thirds of the money?  Where the fuck does this get from?  Pardon my language, but…for reals??

Now, ACX has their ‘reasons’, and they’re all BS.  They may as well have just written, “We are feeling really greedy and since we have the market cornered, screw you guys.”  Because, trust me…that IS exactly how everybody affected by this has taken it.  ACX has forgotten what a ‘handshake’ means.  They’ve forgotten what it means to stay true to your word.  They’ve forgotten that it is all of ‘we the people’…the little guys and gals who actually CREATE the stories and market the stories and the narrators who produce the awesome sounding audio files that you the consumer actually listen to…they’ve forgotten that it is US who are the crafters.  We’re the artisans.  We are the faces behind the craft.  They’re the Wal-Mart to our product.  Except, they don’t offer the advertising. Or the ‘everyday low prices’.  They just offer…a place.  For us to go to…to get screwed!

So there you have it.  My rant.  For whatever it’s worth.

And the really truly SAD part about the whole thing?  They KNOW they have us over a barrel.  If we want our books made into audio, we’re going to have to continue to go to them and get raped.  At least, until someone comes along to compete against them.

Where is our audio K-Mart?  The Audible Target?  The Amazon against Amazon?

I guarantee you…if eBay decided to get into producing audio books, Amazon would straighten their sh!t up in a hurry!