My Shameless, Self-Promotion Blog

Oh, I’ll make you such a deal!

In my nearly 3 years of writing this blog, I’ve never done this before, but ‘tis the holiday season after all, and if I’m not going to promote myself now (and on Cyber Monday, no less), why am I bothering to update this blog in the first place? (Besides, I’ve recently received some new followers who may not know about my old books, since I’ve just been going on and on about my latest, The Electric God and Other Shorts.) For all the holiday shoppers out there looking to give your reader friends and family something for Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus this year, you could do worse than one of my four books below. (Is that coming on too strong?) Here they are, in chronological order (of when I wrote them), with their descriptions:

The Darkest Side: A Collection of Twisted Nursery Rhymes

This is a purely self-published book I released in 2006 when I was just a lad (okay, I was 29). It was on my bucket list to collect my favorite poems into one nifty compendium. Over the years, I’ve written hundreds of poems, but the best 100 or so are compiled here. Here is the book’s description (from the back cover copy):

Michael Thomas Perone has been writing poetry since he was first taught his ABCs, but it wasn’t until a deep depression hit in high school that he was inspired to write a series of poems that blends Dr. Seuss with Edgar Allan Poe and marries Emily Dickinson with Shel Silverstein. Upon graduation, he continued to write poems for more than a decade during his darker days, not-so-dark days, and times when he felt he had to explain the experience of life to himself. A few of these poems, such as “Stagnant” and “Futility,” have been published previously in various poetry collections and literary zines, including Unsilenced Voices. Many of his best works are collected here in hopes of inspiring others during unexpected bouts of depression. You are not alone.

You can read excerpts and details about how to purchase The Darkest Side at the book’s homepage.

Danger Peak

Danger Peak is my debut novel and probably the book I’m most known for. If you love action-adventure movies from the ‘80s, especially those directed or produced by Steven Spielberg, you’re probably going to love this book. I’ve been told it’s the best ‘80s kids movie never made. I personally describe the book as “The Goonies meets Stand By Me with a dash of magical realism.” Here is the book’s description (again, from the back cover copy):

What’s on top of Danger Peak? That’s what thirteen-year-old Robert Kin and his two best friends, wisecracking and loyal Chris and sweet but put-upon Rinnie, want to find out in their small suburban town of the late 1980s. The three teens are members of the motorbike-racing club the Wild Boars, and with the unintentional help of their eccentric technology teacher Dr. Howard (who prefers to be called “Doctor,” not “Mister,” thank you very much), they build Robert a better, faster, and stronger dirt bike—piece by piece. Haunted by flashbacks of his older brother Danny, who died trying to scale Danger Peak the year before, Robert becomes obsessed with conquering the magical mountain. For the respect of his friends and school, and with the aid of his improved Action Bike, he discovers what lies beyond the peak of the mountain—and maybe even beyond the bounds of Earth itself. Filled with humor, adventure, and, most importantly, heart, Danger Peak is an inspiring story about what it takes to achieve your dreams—and what it means to feel alive.

The book was the recipient of multiple awards, including The Fall 2022 BookFest Award in the category of Young Adult – Action and Adventure and The 2022 Firebird Book Award in the category of Magical Realism. It also received an Honorable Mention at both The 2022 Hollywood and New York Book Festivals. The links to purchase this book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble are below:

Danger Peak on AmazonDanger Peak on Barnes & Noble

Déjà View: A Kid Nightmare

This was my follow-up to Danger Peak. It’s not a direct sequel but more of a spiritual one, if that makes any sense. Here is the book’s description (say it with me now: from the back cover copy):

Twelve-year-old Bobby Dalton doesn’t want to grow up. All his life, he has relied on the imaginary games of childhood with his best friends Joe and Max to get him through the tough times. But this all changes when his Seventh-Grade class buries a time capsule to commemorate the end of the 1980s. Now Bobby is being haunted by visions: ghostly doppelgangers of himself, his friends, and others. He calls them “déjà view.” Are these visions real, or has his imagination finally gotten away from him? And if they’re real, what do they want? Bobby needs to figure this all out to survive his childhood…and his life. From the author of the award-winning Danger Peak, Déjà View is a darkly funny coming-of-age dramedy with a sci-fi twist, cranked up to eleven. But even more, it’s at once a pulse-pounding thrill ride and a haunting portrait of paranoia, mental illness, and the unbearable sadness of growing up.

Similar to Danger Peak, Déjà View was the recipient of multiple awards, including The Spring 2024 BookFest Award in the category of Young Adult – Literary & Coming of Age, where it received First Place, and The 2024 Firebird Book Award in the category of Coming of Age. It was also a finalist for The 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award. (Not to drag my old books, but even Danger Peak didn’t manage to achieve that.) The links to purchase this book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble are below:

Déjà View on AmazonDéjà View on Barnes & Noble

The Electric God and Other Shorts

This is my first (and probably last) collection of short stories. Over the years, I’ve composed dozens of short stories, and I compiled my six favorite ones in this book. Here is the book’s description (once more with feeling: from the back cover copy):

A small town becomes obsessed with television—to the point of madness.

A cheerful innocent confronts the harsh reality of the world and is forever changed by the experience.

A struggling author begins receiving strange messages on the paper he uses to write.

A bullied, brilliant teen is put through the wringer of his high school and comes out the other side insane.

A detective of the future discovers he may be investigating his own untimely demise—and that of the world’s.

These and one more dark fable await you from the imaginative mind of the award-winning author Michael Thomas Perone. Part fractured fairy tales, part nightmare fuel, The Electric God and Other Shorts follows characters who struggle to remain sane in an insane world and features stories that will keep you up at night, wondering what might be lurking in the shadows.

This book is too new to have received any awards yet, but I submitted it for award consideration last month (fingers crossed!). I will say if you like thriller/horror/sci-fi stories with twist endings (in other words, if you’re a fan of the original Twilight Zone), this should be your holiday pickup. The links to purchase this book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble are below:

The Electric God on AmazonThe Electric God on Barnes & Noble

That’s it! I hope I haven’t whored myself out too much, but if you feel I did, fear not! We’ll be back to regular blogs next week. Happy Holidays!

MTP

P.S.: Next week’s blog: The Top 5 Things That Surprised Me After I Released The Electric God and Other Shorts

P.P.S.: The Electric God and Other Shorts is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble (as well as all my other books—except my poetry one):

The Electric God on AmazonBarnes & Noble