ARMAND ROSAMILIA

First off, thanks to Armand for offering to let me do this guest blog.  I’m a big fan, so this is a spectacular opportunity.Second, my latest book, a five-novella collection entitled The End in All Beginnings, is out now from Grey Matter Press.  It’s at Amazon and all the usual places, in all the usual formats.

The End in All Beginnings is a disturbing trip through the ages in five novellas exploring the painful horrors of life, love and loss. Unlimited by the boundaries of time or space, Death will always be with you. Stealing all your hold dear, breaking the heart in your chest, leaving you with the only thing left–your memories.

Here’s what people are saying about The End in All Beginnings:

“Taff brings the pain in five damaged and disturbing tales of love gone horribly wrong. This collection is like a knife in the heart. Highly recommended!” – Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of CODE ZERO and FALL OF NIGHT

“Of the current breed of authors riding the wave of digital liberation, John Taff is a standout talent. Literary, affecting, chilling, and indicative of that old-school mentality meets new-school daring, you need look no further than this collection for evidence that not only is horror not dead, there are new proponents of the craft among us more than capable of giving it the jolt it needs to carry it into the future.” — Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy, Kin, and Jack & Jill.

“The End in All Beginnings is accomplished stuff, complex and heartfelt. There’s an attention to character and an access to feeling that’s very refreshing indeed. The best novella collection I’ve read in years.”–Bram Stoker-Award Winning Author Jack Ketchum.

So I’ve got a contest going right now.  Interested?  Sure you are!  Would you like to be featured as a character in a horror story?  Sure you do!  Of course you’d like to be featured as a character in my upcoming epic horror novel (that’s not tongue in cheek, there folks!) The book is titled The Fearing and I’m working on it now, with an eye toward publication next year around this time.

I was thinking…  “Gee, John, what could we (the royal ‘we,’ of course. I am the King of Pain, for goshsakes), offer to loyal readers?”  “Well,” the opposite side of my brain answered, “How about the opportunity to be featured in an actual horror novel by an actual horror writer? You know, appear in a published novel with your own actual name, in a plot that certainly wouldn’t really actually ever happen to you. And then read about yourself (or at least a character liberally based on yourself) doing various plot-necessitated things, but managing to look cool and heroic and stuff while doing it.  Maybe you can die.  Maybe we’ll keep you alive.  Who knows?”

What a frakkin’ awesome idea, both sides of my brain said.

So, we’re gonna do it.  And what better way to decide who gets to be a character in this opus than by having a contest!  A contest to make you,  the reader, a ‘HORROR STAR!’
ENTERING THE ‘HORROR STAR’ CONTEST

How do you enter this contest, you may be wondering?  Simple.

1). Buy my current release, The End in All Beginnings.

2). Read The End in All Beginnings, and hopefully enjoy it!

3). Review  the collection, and post your review on Amazon before Oct. 31st, 2014.  (I’m not trolling for a 5-star review here.  Be honest.  But, sheesh, five stars sure are nice.  😉  )

4). Post a link to your review in the comments section here on this post at my blog, or on the Grey Matter Press Facebook Page, and you will automatically be entered to win.

5.) Share your review on Twitter using #HORRORSTAR for even more chances to win.

WINNING THE ‘HORROR STAR’ CONTEST

Winners will be chosen by a Random Drawing held at the end of October. Once we receive at least 50 entries, we’ll do a straight-up random drawing for some spectacular prizes, the chief of which will be…

‘HORROR STAR’ PRIZES

1). Grand Prize. I will use your name as a character in my upcoming horror novel, The Fearing.  It won’t be a major character, but it won’t be a throwaway, one-line character, either.  Prior to creating the fictional you, I might ask a few questions to make sure to get some of the REAL you into the character.  I promise that I will not use the character in a particularly horrid, demeaning or embarrassing way, but one in which I think you’d be thrilled to have featured in a novel. What’s The Fearing  about?  Well, it’s kind of an epic, apocalyptic horror novel, but with my own patented King of Pain twists.  When will it be out?  Well, probably sometime next year, around this time.

2). Runners-Up.  Oh, and for some lucky runners up, I might also give away some signed things, too. And Grey Matter Press is pitching in with some of their own goodies as well.  So, loot for all!  Well, all winners at least.

DON’T HESITATE!

So what are you waiting for?  How many authors offer you the chance to be directly involved in their novel by creating a character based solely on you?

Enter the ‘Horror Star’ Contest.  Buy The End in All Beginnings today. Read the collection.  Review it on Amazon. Post your review here or on theGrey Matter Press Facebook Page.  Share your review on Twitter using #HORRORSTAR.

And who knows, I might even sweeten the pot if we get more than 50 entries.  75?  100?  The sky’s the limit!*

*This isn’t entirely true. There is, in fact, a limit to my largesse, and it’s definitely before we reach the sky.  But I promise it’ll be amazeballs!

Author Bio

John. F.D. Taff has been writing dark speculative fiction for 25 years. He has more than 75 stories in publications that include Cemetery Dance, Deathrealm, Big Pulp, One Buck Horror, Horror Library V, Horror for Good, The Hot Blood Series, Shock Rock II, and two Grey Matter Press anthologies—the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Dark Visions: A Collection of Modern Horror – Volume One and Ominous Realities: The Anthology of Dark Speculative Horrors. Six of his short stories have been selected as honorable mentions in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror volumes in the past. His collection of short stories, Little Deaths, has been well reviewed and named the “No. 1 Horror Collection of 2012” by HorrorTalk. His historical ghost novel, The Bell Witch, was released in April 2013, and the thriller novel Kill/Off was released in December 2013. You can learn more about John from his blog at johnfdtaff.com or follow him on Twitter @johnfdtaff.