Keith Soares's Blog, page 3
February 14, 2015
For I Could Lift My Finger and Black Out the Sun is now (finally!) available
My new book, For I Could Lift My Finger and Black Out the Sun – Part 1: DAWN, is now available for pre-order at Amazon for just 99 cents. What a huge relief and hugely exciting moment!
I began this book during the writing of The Oasis of Filth, then shelved it as I completed first that novel and then my short story collection, The Fingers of the Colossus. Why? Because novel writing is new to me, and I wanted to complete one then work on the craft a bit with short stories before jumping fully i...
January 30, 2015
Fingers of the Colossus is a Top 5 sci-fi short story collection
The Fingers of the Colossus has reached the Top 5 in Amazon’s science fiction short stories bestseller list. And what’s particularly interesting about that is the book sitting beside it at #6: Robert Heinlein’s”‘—All You Zombies—’.”
“‘—All You Zombies—’,” which I will abbreviate to AYZ for ease of typing, is Heinlein’s mind-bending story of a man who walks into a bar and meets an older man, then tells the tale of once being a woman and having a child. Through the story, we learn that all of th...
January 5, 2015
She’s a manatee
In Florida last week for a bit of vacation and possibly some writing (less than desired…), we had the rare treat of a manatee swimming right up the dock where we were staying.
The child in this photograph is definitely not my kid, and is definitely not feeding lettuce to the manatee. I swear (crosses fingers and holds breath).
Being a child of the ’80s and a nerd, I immediately began singing “Whoa-oh here she comes! Watch out boy, she’ll chew you up. Whoa-oh here she comes! She’s a man-a-tee!”
M...
December 31, 2014
Thank you, 2014. Now let’s talk about 2015…
As 2014 winds to a close, I must send out a heartfelt “Thank you!” to all the readers who have supported me this year, as well as the friends and family who supported (and massively contributed to) the work required behind the scenes.
I completed one novel and one set of short stories this year, and I am very close to completing my second novel. I never thought I would write a work of fictionthat people would actually read, much less praise. This year, I’ve seen a massive increase in sales and...
December 5, 2014
Science fiction book of the year from Red City!
The Oasis of Filth – The Complete Series has just been named Red City Review’s 2014 science fiction and fantasy book of the year! I got the news over the Thanksgiving holiday while with family, so it made a good time even better. Many thanks to the Red City folks — and readers like you — for the kudos. Makes me feel good spending those long hours in front of the computer screen, typing away.
And that’s not all the good news for the book (affectionately being called TOOF by some folks, much lik...
November 24, 2014
On ‘On Writing’
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve been a lifelong fan of Stephen King, and although I knew about this book for many years, I never even considered picking it up. I was a huge fan of his fast-paced horror tales, so a non-fiction account on how to write? No, thanks. What could that possibly have to do with me?
Then in 2013, I released my first novel, The Oasis of Filth. While I know there are many, many years of refinement and practice needed in my futu...
November 14, 2014
The Singularity
I participate in a number of boards, interact via chat and messaging, and of course use all sorts of web-enabled tools to communicate.
What I find interesting is how many people lurk.
Make no mistake, I lurk, too. But I find that the purpose of lurking is simply to figure out approximatelythe best time and place to open my bigmouth. I have failed at this as often as I have succeeded.
Perhaps my favorite expressions related to chat/forum lurking are the oneslike “I just stand in the back and list...
November 10, 2014
The Oasis of Filth – The Complete Series is just 99 cents this week
Big sale news!The Oasis of Filth – The Complete Seriesis now on sale for just 99 cents! That’s 75% off its regular ebook price and the cheapest price Amazon will ever let me make it. So, tell your post-apoc friends to snatch it up while it’s dirt cheap!
And, friends, I’ll be blunt. I’m trying to get as high in the rankings as I can with this sale. I’ve got promotions scheduled in BookBub, Fussy Librarian, eBookSoda, BookSends, BargainBooksy, Pixel of Ink (tentatively), Ereader News Today, It’s...
November 7, 2014
Songs in the Key of Life
I grew up in a family that would listen to music, but generally had no musical background. If you asked my family what instrument we played, the answer was ‘the stereo.’ To my knowledge, there were no guitar players or singers or pianists in previous generations (at least not close enough that I know about them). Still, somehow at around age 10, I developed a desire to play the drums.
Well, I take it back. I know exactly how it happened. Part hero worship, part peer pressure (or at least the d...
October 31, 2014
My Halloween Plans (Hint: Fog!)
Every Halloween, there are three major events: the annual C/D Halloween house party, Spooky Bean Halloween – the haunted maze and graveyard I host, and Halloween itself.
The party, hosted by my friend and editor Christopher Durso, was its usual zany success, with all sorts of wacky costumes. My wife and I went as Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, singing the duet ‘Islands in the Stream’ for our grand entrance. While my costume consisted of nothing more than a black suit and a guitar,I did spend m...
