I mentioned in a previous post how the Night School Knife is almost finished being made by JD Boren of JDB Knives. If you have been following the knife’s progress, you can again go to the Night School Build-A-Long on the message board at JDB Knives, by clicking here to see the recent updates.
Pricing and ordering information for the hand-crafted, limited-edition knife (there will only be a set amount made) and book set will be coming soon.
Enjoy!
I mentioned here that I’m currently working on some short stories that will ultimately become a ‘short story collection.’ As of right now, I’m almost done with the second to last story (it has grown to a long-short-story with over 10K words) that I want to include in the collection. Of course, after I am done with this one, I’ll still have one left to write.
Authors take great pride with the content of their work, whether it’s a novel, story story or a collection of shorts. Along with the stories themselves, authors enjoy coming up with a suitable title that not only the publisher will like, but for their fans, as well.
This is where you, the fans, come in.
The gist of this contest is as follows.
– Come up with a title (never seen before) that is suitable for a ‘short story collection.’ Try to stay away from common titles, such as, ’13 tales of terror’ ‘a collection of scary tales’ and the like. Delve into new territory, experiment, see what you can come up with. Remember, this will be a collection of shorts dealing with all aspects of horror (monsters, madmen, strange events, etc), so the title should be something that will grab the readers eye when it’s sitting on the book self.
What will you win, you ask?
– The person that comes up with the best ‘title’ for the collection will win a starring role in the last short I will write for the collection. Yup, that’s right, you’re full name (or only your first if you choose) will appear as the main character in the story. The only thing is, I can’t guarantee ‘you’ will still be alive at the end…
– You will be mentioned in the acknowledgements in the front of the book
– You will receive a copy of the book, free of charge, once it’s published and released
Sound good? It should. This is your chance to make a contribution to the genre that you love and possibly have a wild ride in the process – but only in the story. 🙂
How to enter and rules:
– Email me with your full name (first, last), email address and one or two ‘titles’ (please don’t list a whole slew of them, one or two is fine), by April 15, 2009.
– The suject line of your email should read, exactly: ‘Contest Entry for Short Story Collection’ If it doesn’t have this suject line, I can’t guarantee you that it will be read.
– One entry (email) per person, only.
– If your chosen the winner, you will be notified by email on or before April 30, 2009. So, if you don’t receive an email by the end of this day, you’re not the winner.
Good Luck!
As a side note…if you haven’t yet checked out the book trailer for Night School click here. Then go to the Storefront and buy the book!
FYI. If you were planning to attend the book signing at the Borders in Solon, Ohio this coming Saturday – it HAS been rescheduled at the store’s request.
The new date will be Saturday, April 18th. The time is still from 1:00 – 3:00. The Appearances page has also been updated.
As always, you can buy the book at the signing or bring in a copy you already own.
That you can still get your copy of Night School signed by me, even if you aren’t able to come to a book signing? Well, the answer is…yes, you can. Check out the FAQs page to find out how to go about it.
In other news, the hand-crafted knife for the Night School (Knife) Project is nearing completion. JD Boren (of JDB Knives), is now putting the finishing touches on the knife and it should be done shortly. We will then post a picture and announce the price of the limited edition – knife/book set. Stay tuned!
I mentioned awhile back about having a Book Trailer done for Night School. Well, Warren Provencal with Shadetree Films has completed the project and has sent it onto me – and I think he did a bang up job! The trailer is currently being uploaded to various sites on the internet, but you can view it NOW on my You Tube page, by clicking HERE.
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
If after viewing the trailer, you want to buy the book, visit the Storefront.
I mentioned here that I’m currently working on short stories that will comprise a ‘short story collection.’ Though the majority of these stories are already written, I have about 10,000 words left that I need to write to in order to meet the minimum word count requirement of 50,000.
I mention this, because with the next story I’m about to begin, tonight, I am going to go with a zombie theme – it will be something different – not like the usual – ‘ya gotta shoot em’ in the head to kill em” scenario. I have never written about zombies (but do enjoy reading books and watching movies about them), so it should be interesting what I can and will come up with that is different from the norm.
I say all this because as I was recently cruising the internet looking for zombie info and ran across a ‘How To Kill A Zombie’ Poster (you can view the poster online or download it into PDF) and thought that if any of you are into zombies, as I am, you might want to check it out. Click here to view it.
Pretty cool stuff – Enjoy!
I mentioned here about having done an interview for Blood Moon Rising #37. Appearantly there was a hurry to get the issue online for viewing and my interview (along with some other articles) were inadvertently left off.
The interview has now been added back to the issue and can be read by clicking here.
Not sure if any of you have been watching ABC’s new drama, “Castle” but it’s quite a thrill to watch. I’m not sure if I’m attracted to it because of the acting, storylines or that the main character is a horror author, such as myself. No matter what the reason, I’m enjoying the show very much and would suggest if you haven’t seen it yet, to check it out.
About the TV Series “Castle” :
“Castle is a 1 hour witty drama based on a famous crime and horror novelist who helps the NYPD homicide department solve crimes.
Richard “Rick” Castle [Nathan Fillion], a rock star of the literary world, is suffering from a case of writers block after killing off the main character in his novels and is struggling to come up with a replacement.
Castle had grown weary of having it all, “fame, fans and females”, when he was approached by the attractive Detective Kate Beckett [Stana Katic] of the NYPD to help catch the copy-cat killer staging murders based on scenes from his novels.
Castle is not a traditional investigator and his approach to solving the crimes conflicts with Beckett’s conservative approach leading to much tension and a hint of romance.
Keeping Castle grounded are his mother [Susan Sullivan], teenage daughter Alexis [Molly C. Quinn], poker playing friends James Patterson, Sue Grafton, and Stephen King and his ex wife Gina [Monet Mazur] who is also his editor.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson will play the Police Chief.
Castle is inspired by shows like “Rockford Files” & “Moonlighting” that are lighthearted with romantic tension and unlike the dark procedurals prevalent today Castle invites the viewer to invest in the relationship of two people having fun together and engaging in witty banter.
Castle is directed by Rob Bowman whose credits include Day Break, Night Stalker and X-Files and is produced by Andrew Marlowe, Armyan Bernstein, Laurie Zaks and Rob Bowman.”
To learn more about the show, the cast and when it airs in your viewing area you can visit the show’s website, here.
Oh, if you’re in the mood to read instead of watching about a horror writer, visit the Storefront to buy my novel, Night School. If it’s your first time visiting my site and would like to learn what Night School is all about, click here.
Today, I was going to post a new interview with me that took place for Blood Moon Rising Magazine #37. Although, I noticed when the issue came out (online) my interview wasn’t there – so it’s on to Plan B, until I find out what’s going on.
Alot of people ask me why I write/enjoy horror. I always tell them that as far as movies and books go, that is the genre I have always enjoyed the most. In fact, when I am in a bookstore, the first (and most of the time the only) rack I go to is the horror section. Most of the time the section is too small and only has books by the Mr. Big Name Author (though, I would have to disagree with what he writes today that is classifies as horror). But, I digress.
People then always seen to ask me, “don’t you think horror movies and books have a negative effect on people and society?” I reply, “no, no I don’t.”
And THIS is why.
My short story, ‘The 7th House’ has been accepted for publication in Sinister Tales (Vol. 4.2). The magazine is a print publication.
About ‘The 7th House’ :
A couple visits a traveling haunted house to see the attractions. At the end of a somewhat boring night, the owner of the attraction asks them to visit the 7th House, which is by invite only. The couple accepts the offer.
What started as a simple visit to a haunted house ends with a decision that one of them will never forget.
The release and availability date of Sinister Tales, Vol. 4.2 will be announced shortly.
Ty Schwamberger 