T.R. Neff's Blog, page 7

For My Readers

A new promo campaign is starting today–in keeping with the approach to Halloween, it’s the Disturbing Book Giveaway:

The story I’ve included there is Whispering Dusk, a Dark Fantasy Novelette that tells a bit of the story that I am currently expanding on in a “Cthulhu-Eats-Tolkien” kind of fantasy universe (I’m a sucker for cautionary horror tales).

And the last hurrah for the Cyberpunk one is here – Clones are People Two is part of this promo, and it’s free in exchange for a review. All you have to do is sign up with StoryOrigin (which is free for readers):

And a heads up that I will be doing an every-other-day update of my wordcount using goal-setting StoryOrigin’s features (and I am excited to try it out for the first time!) What will I be working on? A Cyberpunk Noir-Thriller-Mystery in the same universe as Clones are People Two.

Check back in to watch my progress.

In the Spirit of Mischief, Part II

Last blog I mentioned the dreaded “Coffee Imp“. Well, it seems I’ve discovered another gremlin-like creature. Read on to find out more.

You wear your slippers or sandals in the house, and when you sit down you pull your feet out of them and direct your attention elsewhere, such as to the news, your reading, your writing. Absorbed by whatever holds your focus, you don’t notice when the little bugger creeps out of nowhere, plays its little prank and slips back into hiding. So when you stand up, say, to answer the door or to respond to the cat demanding he be fed*, and lower your feet into the shoes you left there–only to find they’ve been switched. Maybe they’re backwards, left for right, right for left. Or they got turned around 180. Or flipped one on top of the other. If you’re lucky, you looked down and caught the prank before you tripped on them.

When this has happened to you, know you’ve been the victim of the Sandalius grigus, AKA “The Slipper Sprite”.

Not the Slipper Sprite, but so darn cute! I’m not affiliated with the artist, but you can click the picture to link to her Etsy site and get one of your own.

They aren’t malevolent, just incredibly cheeky. Also, they are not to be confused with the elves who actually make the shoes.

GET SOME READING GOODIES

In the Spirit of Mischief

The Imp from Lucasfilm’s Strange Magic

‘Tis the season for imps, goblins, sprites and pixies, all out to do their mischief.

I’ve recently had an experience of my own with a brand new type of faerie prankster, the Larksteria java, aka “the Coffee Imp.”

This little gremlin occupies homes and offices (particularly offices, workstations and break rooms), hiding beneath coffee tables, desks, conference rooms, etc. They wait in utter silence and stillness until their unsuspecting victim places their coffee mug onto any nearby surface and averts their attention. With a hummingbird fleetness and agility, the imp hurries out of hiding, slurping down all the coffee and just as quickly rolls back into concealment–but never too far, for their magic depends on the reaction of the coffee drinker who marvels that their coffee is suddenly gone. On some occasions, instead of drinking all the coffee, they will instead stir it with their long slender fingers, robbing it of all heat in an instant.

Closely related to the Larksteria java is the Larksteria chai, who prefers tea, of course.

If you haven’t already (or you’re new to this blog), check out the freebies and sales below.

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Cyberpunk!

Cyberpunk seems to be all the rage, what with CDProjekt Red having come out with the hotly-anticipated (and, sadly, horribly flawed) Cyberpunk 2077, based on the pen-and-paper game from the 80s/90s. Billy Idol even released an underrated album with the name back in the 90s, and one very strange album cover… but I digress.

Just by those facts, you can see it’s not a new thing at all, and there’s plenty to devour out there (William Gibson is the Techfather with titles like Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive, or Walter Jon Williams with Hardwired but to get you started, here are a few newer indies (including one of my own, choom):

Don’t get stuck in the ‘Net…

Tricks and Treats for October Reading

My favorite time of year is here–leaves transforming from deep green to crimson to gold, cooler weather that makes it easier to sleep, and… Halloween. Dressing up in elaborate costumes and not having people in public take a second look. Ahem. Anyway… The whole purpose now are the treats! And while they haven’t perfected Wonkavision and the transference of tasty goodies through the monitor, I can offer these. (The best thing is they are calorie-free, so consume as many as you want without wrecking your diet!)

Different Kinds of Stories for Readers Seeking Something New October 1st to October 30th Dark Secrets, Forbidden Attraction – Free Copies for a Review

And there’s still a sliver of time to get the September offerings as well. Click HERE to view.

Trick or Treat! Movies to Binge in October!

Crows and Bats and the Moon, Oh My!

It’s a tradition in my house to start watching a movie a night (well, most nights) on October 1st that fit the scary or Halloween theme. The definition is pretty loose, in some cases, because there are a few fun titles in there. And we don’t really worry about the order, although there are one or two we save for the very last days around Halloween. So here are some of the movies we love to watch in October:

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter – I went in expecting silliness, got a not-terrible film with Rufus Sewell. Yum.Beetlejuice – does it work if you type his name three times in a row? Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Gary Oldman is an excellent version of Vlad Tepes, DraculaThe Company of Wolves – a bizarre movie (with Angela Lansbury and David Warner!) that’s a loosely-strung-together narrative based on Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories.Corpse Bride – a strange little Tim Burton gem but nevertheless good watching.Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness – you have to watch all three. Maybe AoD twice.Hocus Pocus – I can’t stand that nutbag Midler, so it’s extra special when she gets her just desserts at the end.In the Mouth of Madness – the only Lovecraftian one here, but I’m usually watching HPL movies year round by myself.The Last Witch Hunter – with Vin Diesel. It didn’t get high ratings but hey, I don’t think it’s all that bad and it at least tried to be something a little different than your run-of-the-mill films in the genre.Nightmare Before Christmas – this one gets double-duty as Halloween and Christmas (yeah, we watch movies like this in December, too.)Sweeney Todd – the one with Johnny Depp, although I loved watching the broadway version with Angela Lansbury on one of the cable networks when I was younger.Tucker and Dale Versus Evil – a comic-horror reversal of the “Rednecks terrorizing college kids in the woods”. Gruesome fun.Van Helsing – I’m a purist ofttimes, but I can say I enjoy the different take on the main horror trio – Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and the Wolf-man of this one. I don’t think it takes itself very seriously, which is perfectly fine. Doesn’t hurt that Hugh Jackman is easy to look at. I especially like short Bond-style sequence of Friar Carl introducing Van Helsing to the weapons he’s invented.Young Frankenstein – “HE VAS MY… BOYFRIEND!” (With the late Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Kenneth Mars… I think Gene Hackman and Terri Garr are the only major players still around from this masterpiece, sadly.)

On nights we don’t watch a movie? Usually Saturday, when we’re watching Svengoolie, of course, but we watch him all year round and he gets plenty of the horror classics on the playlist. You should check out his hosting, especially if you’re a fan of MST3K.

How about you? Any here you love? Hate? Any you think ought to be in our viewing list but isn’t?

Don’t be shy – let me know!

EDIT: There are still a few days to get some fantastic reads for free by helping out the authors (I’m included but there are sooooooo many more) with a review. Check that out HERE

There’s still time to grab the free Fantasy stories.

I apologize, as I’m a little late in posting but I had some other pressing issues that concluded–thankfully–yesterday, and today I spent most of the day playing catch up. I know you’ve been there too, at least in the latter case.

I’m keeping this short–I’m really trying to get things back in order–but I wanted to remind you of the freebies still going on this month in the fantasy genre. You’re sure to find at least one to read, and the best thing is the

Request a review copy, get a great read and leave an honest review. Win-win (but now I’m repeating myself).

Question for Speculative Fiction Readers

I know you’re out there! Riddle me this… Okay, okay, answer me this:

Strapped for Cash but Need a Good Read?

I’ve been absent for a little while, concentrating on my newsletter, but I’m just too excited NOT to share these tidbits:

Authors are always looking for readers, be they for the reviews on sites like Amazon, or for initial read-throughs (beta readers) to point out the obvious plot holes or flat plains where there ought to be forests or rivers or mountain peaks. A fantastic place for that is StoryOrigin* where readers can sign up on the site for free and request books for review. Sign up for the authors’ newsletters to learn about upcoming books before anyone else. You may also be invited to beta read! (BTW, if you’d like to join my newsletter for the same notifications and offers to beta read, you can sign up here: Overlord M Press)

You get a book for free and the author gets an honest review of their work. Talk about a win-win!

Two upcoming promos where I’m participating are:

*I am NOT an affiliate, at least not as of the date of this post. Not yet anyway.

Cover Makeovers

I’ve been very, very busy. Not only have I been getting the next project(s) revised, I’ve taken a “brain break” by switching to the visual arts. It’s long overdue, but my covers have been getting a makeover.

Back when I first self-published the titles* I was more worried about getting them out there for the world to see. I didn’t want to use the ultra-awful** cover creator in Kindle Direct Publishing, and I knew a little bit about using Photoshop (just enough to be dangerous, apparently), so I designed my own with covers I liked.

Now I know better. It’s not so much that I have to like the cover (though I should). It’s about the cover selling what the reader is going to be expecting within it. We do, in spite of the warning, judge a book by its cover. Would you buy a book with only a fairy-tale castle on it and be happy to find it’s a hard science fiction story about re-creating a fantasy world. Alright, bad example, because I’m sure there are people who would like that. I might, if done well and doesn’t completely take over what I started reading the book for in the first place. It should at least be hinted at in the blurb.***

Armed with a few more weapons in my arsenal (Clip Studio Paint rocks!), I’ve approached it from two different angles:

It must accurately convey the story in both content and toneIt does not necessarily have to convey ALL of the ideas in the story.Belly of The Beast
Old Cover with the silhouette of K’zirra
New cover, no K’zirra, but Ahz is there this time. At least her eyes are…

If you’d like to see the new covers, head over to the Overlord M Press site and have a look. Have to say, I’ve been having a lot of fun re-designing them. Except for the Omen-Eyes cover. That one is kicking my butt. I’ve developed three ground-up covers (not including the original) and went “meh” on all of them. I’ve been poring over the covers of books that are in a supposedly similar vein, and trying a few of the elements I find there, but… no. How do you convey an Ancient Roman-style fantasy without invoking Rome-specific elements? I can tell you a few ways that won’t work.

*Which was a long time ago in the publishing world and, believe me, I’m shaming myself here for not getting more out since then, but that is going to change here soon…

**At least at the time it was, I haven’t checked it to see if they updated anything, since I’ve been too busy designing my own.

***Too many “creatives” out there seem to be taking the idea of “subverting expectations” to heart and defiling the original intellectual property with garbage takes that make no sense, l. Like starting as a straight-up murder mystery, marketed that way with the cover and blurb, but then fingering a bunch of time travelers or a dimension-hopping dragon for the crimes. A certain series remaining nameless devolved from good urban fantasy into erotica. Even throwing too much emphasis on romance when the original work was billed as an edge-of-your-seat Psychological Thriller. Don’t get me wrong–weird mixes can be done–but as long as the new knowledge is unobtrusive and the reader is set up to expect that something off-the-wall will happen outside of genre-norms, it will be soundly rejected.