Sidney Williams's Blog, page 3
November 17, 2020
Fool's Run Audiobook Up For Pre-order
The release of my latest novel Fool's Run is just a few days away, and now, in addition to ebook and trade paper editions, the audiobook version of Fool's Run is up at Audible.
It's narrated by Josh Brogadir, who's voiced works by Charles L. Grant, David J. Schow, Steve Ulfelder and others.
Pre-order now!
November 4, 2020
Be My Valentine
I like the game of name selection for characters. I don't always drop a name on a character based on its meaning, but often I do.
At the very least, many times I check a name's meanings before finalizing it. I suppose the weight that meaning carries has always been at the back of my mind, but my friend Wayne Allen Sallee asked me a while back if I ever considered that. Since then I've been eve more conscious of the consideration.
I've always liked the name Si. Often it's short for Simon, and in my younger days it cropped up in a film or book and stuck with me. In the case of Si Reardon, the protagonist of my new novel--due at this writing in about 20 days--it's short for Silas. Many name-origin sites and tomes suggest that means "man of the forest" and that applies. He is a guy struggling through a rugged world of corruption and dark deeds, making his way through a wilderness on his Fool's Run if you will.
The antagonist's name is Valentine Alexeeva. I thought Valentine was a little different, but its root translates to "strong and healthy," according to the Wikipedia entry.
He's that both physically and in his position as a businessman with an increasingly polished veneer yet dark criminal ties.
He's definitely a formidable opponent for Si, who finds himself drawn into a dark game of wits with Alexeeva and his allies.
He's really not the valentine you want to receive if you're on the side of the angels.
At the very least, many times I check a name's meanings before finalizing it. I suppose the weight that meaning carries has always been at the back of my mind, but my friend Wayne Allen Sallee asked me a while back if I ever considered that. Since then I've been eve more conscious of the consideration.
I've always liked the name Si. Often it's short for Simon, and in my younger days it cropped up in a film or book and stuck with me. In the case of Si Reardon, the protagonist of my new novel--due at this writing in about 20 days--it's short for Silas. Many name-origin sites and tomes suggest that means "man of the forest" and that applies. He is a guy struggling through a rugged world of corruption and dark deeds, making his way through a wilderness on his Fool's Run if you will.
The antagonist's name is Valentine Alexeeva. I thought Valentine was a little different, but its root translates to "strong and healthy," according to the Wikipedia entry.
He's that both physically and in his position as a businessman with an increasingly polished veneer yet dark criminal ties.
He's definitely a formidable opponent for Si, who finds himself drawn into a dark game of wits with Alexeeva and his allies.
He's really not the valentine you want to receive if you're on the side of the angels.
November 1, 2020
Reading Spot
My wife and I were walking yesterday, and we took a small trail that stretched off the sidewalk into a little area of Williamsburg's New Town that's been left mostly natural. It's the site of what was once a homestead, and it's a great little place for reflection.
It was the perfect moment to arrive there as well with the sun just peeking through the branches above.
Looks like it would be a great place to sit and read.
It was the perfect moment to arrive there as well with the sun just peeking through the branches above.
Looks like it would be a great place to sit and read.
October 26, 2020
A Chance to Win a Signed Print Copy of Fool's Run - my upcoming thriller.
Fool's Run: A Si Reardon Novel
I know you've probably seen me talking about my new book here on Goodreads. It's always exciting to have something new in the pipeline, and it's also exciting to have some positive reviews coming in via ARCS. Crossroad Press/Gordian Knot sent out.
As the release of Fool's Run approaches, I'm happy to announce a giveaway leading up to the event.
Fool's Run Giveaway
The giveaway is underway through Nov. 22. You can enter to win one of three signed print copies.
A NetGalley ARC reviewer just gave it five stars saying: "I like this book because it's well written in a tough language, the pace is very good, there are twists and thrills, and it's fast and easy to read."
Here's a bit of the first chapter:
I wouldn’t have agreed to meet with the woman at all under normal circumstances, but my circumstances hadn’t been normal in quite a while. When she called on my new, disposable cell, I was wandering the French Quarter and wondering where my ex-wife had taken our daughter.
I’d just bought a bottle and was thinking I might employ someone to help drink it. I scanned the crowd for the right candidate.
My old friend Jerry Clement had just kept me in his waiting room at hour thumbing back issue of Security magazine before he decided I wasn’t going away. He finally had a 19-year-old receptionist show me into his office so he could tell me he was glad I was out, thought I’d got a raw deal in fact, but that he couldn’t have an ex-con working at a security firm. Not even on the cyber side. No crooks behind the firewall. The fact that my conviction had been overturned was a technicality he didn’t really want to debate. Didn’t change the headlines.
Jerry hadn’t been my first stop. I’d knocked on three doors, people I’d known on the force who now had business interests. Nobody wanted me. Not even standing guard outside a hotel room.
Until it rang, the cell I’d purchased to have a call back number was seeming like a waste of my limited cash. I answered, hoping someone had had a change of heart, decided I was at least worthy of following an errant husband and fished my resume out of the trash.
“Silas Reardon?”
A crisp, professional and efficient voice. A little deep but quite sultry.
“Yeah?”
“My name is Rose Cantor. I followed your case in the news.”
“Fame’s not all it looks like in the tabloids.”
“I thought we might talk.”
She had the number. She knew somebody. Somebody I’d talked to recently. She couldn’t be just a random groupie who’d fixated on a cop, but I couldn’t rule her out as a representative of one special interest group or another. I’d had letters from them when I’d been doing time, sitting and marking off calendar days in a protective unit in North Louisiana.
“What’s this about?” I asked.
“A possibility.”
I’d turned down various fringe group offers during the appeal. The offers hadn’t come with any big payouts. My new attorney, Clinton Laroque, hadn’t turned his meter off, but he had advised against aligning myself with anything high profile. Since the possibility of re-trial still rested in the prosecutor’s hands, that recommendation still held.
I said: “What’s the offer?”
“This would just be a conversation.”
The potential employee I’d been watching walked away on a tourist’s arm, getting lost in the crowd.
I said: “Why not?”
I know you've probably seen me talking about my new book here on Goodreads. It's always exciting to have something new in the pipeline, and it's also exciting to have some positive reviews coming in via ARCS. Crossroad Press/Gordian Knot sent out.
As the release of Fool's Run approaches, I'm happy to announce a giveaway leading up to the event.
Fool's Run Giveaway
The giveaway is underway through Nov. 22. You can enter to win one of three signed print copies.
A NetGalley ARC reviewer just gave it five stars saying: "I like this book because it's well written in a tough language, the pace is very good, there are twists and thrills, and it's fast and easy to read."
Here's a bit of the first chapter:
I wouldn’t have agreed to meet with the woman at all under normal circumstances, but my circumstances hadn’t been normal in quite a while. When she called on my new, disposable cell, I was wandering the French Quarter and wondering where my ex-wife had taken our daughter.
I’d just bought a bottle and was thinking I might employ someone to help drink it. I scanned the crowd for the right candidate.
My old friend Jerry Clement had just kept me in his waiting room at hour thumbing back issue of Security magazine before he decided I wasn’t going away. He finally had a 19-year-old receptionist show me into his office so he could tell me he was glad I was out, thought I’d got a raw deal in fact, but that he couldn’t have an ex-con working at a security firm. Not even on the cyber side. No crooks behind the firewall. The fact that my conviction had been overturned was a technicality he didn’t really want to debate. Didn’t change the headlines.
Jerry hadn’t been my first stop. I’d knocked on three doors, people I’d known on the force who now had business interests. Nobody wanted me. Not even standing guard outside a hotel room.
Until it rang, the cell I’d purchased to have a call back number was seeming like a waste of my limited cash. I answered, hoping someone had had a change of heart, decided I was at least worthy of following an errant husband and fished my resume out of the trash.
“Silas Reardon?”
A crisp, professional and efficient voice. A little deep but quite sultry.
“Yeah?”
“My name is Rose Cantor. I followed your case in the news.”
“Fame’s not all it looks like in the tabloids.”
“I thought we might talk.”
She had the number. She knew somebody. Somebody I’d talked to recently. She couldn’t be just a random groupie who’d fixated on a cop, but I couldn’t rule her out as a representative of one special interest group or another. I’d had letters from them when I’d been doing time, sitting and marking off calendar days in a protective unit in North Louisiana.
“What’s this about?” I asked.
“A possibility.”
I’d turned down various fringe group offers during the appeal. The offers hadn’t come with any big payouts. My new attorney, Clinton Laroque, hadn’t turned his meter off, but he had advised against aligning myself with anything high profile. Since the possibility of re-trial still rested in the prosecutor’s hands, that recommendation still held.
I said: “What’s the offer?”
“This would just be a conversation.”
The potential employee I’d been watching walked away on a tourist’s arm, getting lost in the crowd.
I said: “Why not?”
October 15, 2020
Fleeing the Sun
I never thought I'd have to run from the sun. Not these days.
But I have a new writing schedule.
It's up with my wife Christine when the alarm sounds. She's working from home, but she still starts at 8 a.m. and follows her usual morning routine of getting dressed and ready.
I write and do other work a while then stop for breakfast with her. Then I work out with You Tube videos or some days go for a walk--Emi Wong's a tough taskmaster.
Then...
well, Christine and I moved into our current location in 2019. It was planned as temporary while we looked for a house in Williamsburg. I first set my desk up facing a wall in my office, which on the blueprints is a second bedroom.
After lockdown had been going on a while, I decided it'd be better if it faced a window. There's more inspiration out a window. Right?
Except there seems to be very little movement out this window. Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock would've been out of luck.
Occasionally, a neighbor across the way takes her kids somewhere or a guy who looks like Michael Ansara goes for a coffee, but otherwise it's a static view of the space with a couple of trees.
Even so, the spot has been fine since May or so. When did we start this?
Except now, with the coming of fall shortly after I return to my desk post-workout and shower--kind of my peak productive time for writing since I shift gears into creative writing teacher after lunch--the sun's boring right into my eyes.
The blinds don't stop it. Sol sends rays in through the cracks like spears.
So, when that happens, I pick up my coffee mug and head down to the sofa to work there on a laptop. I sneaker net my WIP on a jump drive--Long Waltz at the moment, the next Si Reardon novel.
I'm finding the process is maybe a bit helpful with the creativity. It's a matter of shifting gears a bit and it jostles the brain.
So maybe the hassle's not so bad.
Gotta go. The sun's just rising over the next building now. See you soon.
But I have a new writing schedule.
It's up with my wife Christine when the alarm sounds. She's working from home, but she still starts at 8 a.m. and follows her usual morning routine of getting dressed and ready.
I write and do other work a while then stop for breakfast with her. Then I work out with You Tube videos or some days go for a walk--Emi Wong's a tough taskmaster.
Then...
well, Christine and I moved into our current location in 2019. It was planned as temporary while we looked for a house in Williamsburg. I first set my desk up facing a wall in my office, which on the blueprints is a second bedroom.
After lockdown had been going on a while, I decided it'd be better if it faced a window. There's more inspiration out a window. Right?
Except there seems to be very little movement out this window. Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock would've been out of luck.
Occasionally, a neighbor across the way takes her kids somewhere or a guy who looks like Michael Ansara goes for a coffee, but otherwise it's a static view of the space with a couple of trees.
Even so, the spot has been fine since May or so. When did we start this?
Except now, with the coming of fall shortly after I return to my desk post-workout and shower--kind of my peak productive time for writing since I shift gears into creative writing teacher after lunch--the sun's boring right into my eyes.
The blinds don't stop it. Sol sends rays in through the cracks like spears.
So, when that happens, I pick up my coffee mug and head down to the sofa to work there on a laptop. I sneaker net my WIP on a jump drive--Long Waltz at the moment, the next Si Reardon novel.
I'm finding the process is maybe a bit helpful with the creativity. It's a matter of shifting gears a bit and it jostles the brain.
So maybe the hassle's not so bad.
Gotta go. The sun's just rising over the next building now. See you soon.
October 8, 2020
Halloween Reading
Someone asked on Facebook about a favorite film for getting in the Halloween mood.
House on Haunted Hill came to mind for me, black and white version of course. It's creepy fun, and I always try to catch it early in the season and sometimes have it on silently on my TV when giving out candy, in years when trick or treating's not ill advised.
If you adhere to the purest tropes, and this is a bit of a ***spoiler*** if you've never seen the film, it's technically an old dark house tale and not a haunted house tale.
It has skeletons dangling about and other strangeness, but, well, it spins toward what Tzvetan Todorov dubbed the fantastic uncanny. It's Scooby Doo. Seemed like a ghostly mariner but it really Old Mister Harrigan.
Does a tale have to be supernatural to be great for Halloween? I think Something Wicked This Way Comes is a fun Halloween story, especially with it's October opening. Bradbury's just great October reading in general, and there's The Halloween Tree. Wonderfully dark fantasy.
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, which may or may not be a haunted house story, is, to me, also wonderful for October-time. It's so atmospheric and filled with fraught and dread.
Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle is definitely an old dark house story. Yet, its grim secrets, familiar magic and manipulations have a great October-season mood as well.
A Night in the Lonesome October and Night in the Lonesome October have similar titles but are like opposite sides of the coin.
The Zelazny book, broken into 31 chapters, is great to read each year and offers a Lovecraftian tale with familiar figures by allusion including Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. It's narrated by Jack the Ripper's dog who observers a recurring chess game of opposing summoners.
The Laymon story, set in a small town, is more about human evil, but it has some wonderfully chilling moments and is permeated by October atmosphere on late nights.
I've never written a haunted house tale, but I guess Dark Hours is technically an old dark house tale.
It's about a heroine trapped in the basement of her school library after closing, and she faces a game of traps and puzzles perpetrated by a masked prankster with twisted goals. It was great fun to write if a bit claustrophobic.
House on Haunted Hill came to mind for me, black and white version of course. It's creepy fun, and I always try to catch it early in the season and sometimes have it on silently on my TV when giving out candy, in years when trick or treating's not ill advised.
If you adhere to the purest tropes, and this is a bit of a ***spoiler*** if you've never seen the film, it's technically an old dark house tale and not a haunted house tale.
It has skeletons dangling about and other strangeness, but, well, it spins toward what Tzvetan Todorov dubbed the fantastic uncanny. It's Scooby Doo. Seemed like a ghostly mariner but it really Old Mister Harrigan.
Does a tale have to be supernatural to be great for Halloween? I think Something Wicked This Way Comes is a fun Halloween story, especially with it's October opening. Bradbury's just great October reading in general, and there's The Halloween Tree. Wonderfully dark fantasy.
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, which may or may not be a haunted house story, is, to me, also wonderful for October-time. It's so atmospheric and filled with fraught and dread.
Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle is definitely an old dark house story. Yet, its grim secrets, familiar magic and manipulations have a great October-season mood as well.
A Night in the Lonesome October and Night in the Lonesome October have similar titles but are like opposite sides of the coin.
The Zelazny book, broken into 31 chapters, is great to read each year and offers a Lovecraftian tale with familiar figures by allusion including Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. It's narrated by Jack the Ripper's dog who observers a recurring chess game of opposing summoners.
The Laymon story, set in a small town, is more about human evil, but it has some wonderfully chilling moments and is permeated by October atmosphere on late nights.
I've never written a haunted house tale, but I guess Dark Hours is technically an old dark house tale.
It's about a heroine trapped in the basement of her school library after closing, and she faces a game of traps and puzzles perpetrated by a masked prankster with twisted goals. It was great fun to write if a bit claustrophobic.
October 5, 2020
The Trade Paper Cover for Fool's Run
I don't think I've shared the trade paper cover art here for my upcoming book Fool's Run, which is planned as the first adventure for Si Reardon. A cop who is just out of prison and faced with a job nobody wants.
It'll drop in ebook and trade paper formats Nov. 24, 2020.
“This thriller-cum-caper will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
Here's a look at the nigh final version with a sense of the wrap-around effect.
There's one repeated line of copy that will get tweaked, but by and large, this is the look.
It's now up for pre-order on Amazon and other sites.
It'll drop in ebook and trade paper formats Nov. 24, 2020.
“This thriller-cum-caper will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
Here's a look at the nigh final version with a sense of the wrap-around effect.
There's one repeated line of copy that will get tweaked, but by and large, this is the look.
It's now up for pre-order on Amazon and other sites.
September 25, 2020
The Fun Part
I'm in the fun moments in the lead-up to the release of my new novel, Fool's Run.
Fool's Run: A Si Reardon Novel
If the writing is the hard part, finalizing details before the book drops marks the exciting and exhilarating part.
Details include working with the audiobook narrator.
In this case, Josh Brogadir will be reading Fool's Run for the Audible release. If all goes well, it'll release with the print and ebook editions on Nov. 24.
He's an exciting choice for me because he has narrated other books for Crossroad Press including some by the late Charles L. Grant, whose work I admire.
When Crossroad Publisher David Niall Wilson connected us to communicate about the book, I boldly suggested Josh could just contact me about any French or Louisiana words in the Bayou State-set tale.
I grew up in Louisiana and lived there many years in adult life. I've also heard audiobooks where words like Lafayette or Pontchartrain don't get the local flourishes, even from readers from other southern states.
Piece of cake to help, I thought.
Josh sent a list of words the other night, many of them proper names which were easy to dash off phonetically.
But a couple of words cropped up that I realized I'd read but never heard, even being from Louisiana.
It's not a huge state, but the way things like the Calliope street name are said in New Orleans aren't traditional. It's Cali-ope and not the classical.
In central Louisiana there's an area called Rigolette that's pronounced ro-gulley. I'd sometimes say it wrong if I'd recently viewed it in print.
So, I have emails out to Louisiana friends at the moment in search of clarification.
Hopefully we'll get the last details nailed down shortly.
Fool's Run: A Si Reardon Novel
If the writing is the hard part, finalizing details before the book drops marks the exciting and exhilarating part.
Details include working with the audiobook narrator.
In this case, Josh Brogadir will be reading Fool's Run for the Audible release. If all goes well, it'll release with the print and ebook editions on Nov. 24.
He's an exciting choice for me because he has narrated other books for Crossroad Press including some by the late Charles L. Grant, whose work I admire.
When Crossroad Publisher David Niall Wilson connected us to communicate about the book, I boldly suggested Josh could just contact me about any French or Louisiana words in the Bayou State-set tale.
I grew up in Louisiana and lived there many years in adult life. I've also heard audiobooks where words like Lafayette or Pontchartrain don't get the local flourishes, even from readers from other southern states.
Piece of cake to help, I thought.
Josh sent a list of words the other night, many of them proper names which were easy to dash off phonetically.
But a couple of words cropped up that I realized I'd read but never heard, even being from Louisiana.
It's not a huge state, but the way things like the Calliope street name are said in New Orleans aren't traditional. It's Cali-ope and not the classical.
In central Louisiana there's an area called Rigolette that's pronounced ro-gulley. I'd sometimes say it wrong if I'd recently viewed it in print.
So, I have emails out to Louisiana friends at the moment in search of clarification.
Hopefully we'll get the last details nailed down shortly.
September 6, 2020
All new thriller Fool's Run up for pre-order
My new novel will be released November 24, 2020.
Pre-Order link is here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
Happily we got a good review in Publisher's Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-...
Synopsis:
Si Reardon knows nobody wants to hire an ex-cop fresh out of prison unless it’s for a job nobody wants.
His only offer’s from Rose Cantor, an elegant and beautiful “special counsel” who just wants him to take a meeting.
Her clients Grace and Adam Holst are asking for extreme justice. A very bad man named Valentine Alexeeva, a criminal on the rise, once ordered the deaths of their young daughters over a business deal gone wrong. Alexeeva covered his tracks well. Now he’s still deadly but cultivating a classy façade and making friends in high places.
Si would like to say no, but he has a daughter of his own who’s in danger, and he needs money fast.
Dealing with Alexeeva means jeopardizing everything and drawing on contacts Si met in lockup plus The McCluskeys, a pair of weird, bayou-dwelling brothers with a few nefarious enterprises of their own.
And Si knows no job is ever as simple as it looks. He soon finds himself embroiled in a game with Alexeeva and his brutal minions, a game that could earn Si a bit of redemption or cost him his freedom or his life.
Pre-Order link is here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
Happily we got a good review in Publisher's Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-...
Synopsis:
Si Reardon knows nobody wants to hire an ex-cop fresh out of prison unless it’s for a job nobody wants.
His only offer’s from Rose Cantor, an elegant and beautiful “special counsel” who just wants him to take a meeting.
Her clients Grace and Adam Holst are asking for extreme justice. A very bad man named Valentine Alexeeva, a criminal on the rise, once ordered the deaths of their young daughters over a business deal gone wrong. Alexeeva covered his tracks well. Now he’s still deadly but cultivating a classy façade and making friends in high places.
Si would like to say no, but he has a daughter of his own who’s in danger, and he needs money fast.
Dealing with Alexeeva means jeopardizing everything and drawing on contacts Si met in lockup plus The McCluskeys, a pair of weird, bayou-dwelling brothers with a few nefarious enterprises of their own.
And Si knows no job is ever as simple as it looks. He soon finds himself embroiled in a game with Alexeeva and his brutal minions, a game that could earn Si a bit of redemption or cost him his freedom or his life.
September 5, 2017
New Interview About Disciples of the Serpent and Dark Hours
Black Fox Literary Magazine was kind enough to do an interview about my newest releases.
Read it here.
Read it here.
