A lady found out I was a writer. “That’s so cool!” she said. “Well, you would think so, wouldn’t you?” I said. Youtube stars make more money. Singers don’t…
Source: Writers: Are you wasting your time?
Recently I listened to mega-successful author Paulo Coelho on the podcast On Being. I recommend the podcast when you need calming voices discussing big questions. The interview made me think about …
Source: The Curse of the Literary Snob
Let’s make this short and sweet. These are the top ten that come to mind from the books I’ve read over the last few months. Factual accuracy The best one I read this week was by an Amer…
One of my jobs is managing correspondence for Kit Foster Design. After seeing many cover briefs from authors, I came up with an information packet we send out to streamline the design process and t…
Source: Ten tips for better book covers
A few friends of mine are pinning their hopes on literary agents and traditional publishing contracts. Independent publishing is not for everyone so I don’t try hard to dissuade them. Traditi…
Tattered Remains Interview with Armand Rosamilia
It’s always been a real privilege when you get to ask one of your favorite prolific authors whatever questions that you can conjure from the dark corners of your mind.
I recently reached out to the seasoned writing veteran Armand Rosamilia for an interview. He quickly and cordially replied “I would love to.” As an author of over 150 stories you know the man is hard at work. I have about 150 questions I would have loved to ask him but I trimmed the bulky list down to 20 questions. I hope you enjoy getting to know him a little better as much as I did.
****
What inspired you to write your first novel?
A: I’ve been writing short stories since my early teens. All of them were horrible but I kept going and arguably got better. My first actual…
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I recently picked up a copy of Janet Evanovich’s (with Ina Yalof) How I Write – Secrets of a Bestselling Author (2006.) The book is written in question/answer format which makes it a little tough to read (no real continuity) BUT if you can stick with it, it’s filled with tons of good information from a very accomplished (and fellow Granite Stater) writer.
I have yet to go to see an author without someone asking if the writer is a “pantser or plotter” A pantser writes by the seat of their pants and a plotter outlines and plans what they will write (for the record I am a 100% plotter.)
It’s the question everyone wants to know – how do you do that voodoo that you do so well? Read how Janet answers this question in her book:
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Millsy Loves Books interviewed me about my upcoming appearance at Authors After Dark convention in August!
http://millsylovesbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/aad-guest-blog-armando-rosamilia.html?spref=fb
This summer I’ll be doing something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time… I want to recognize some great books in the horror fiction field. I also want to find some new books I might’ve missed myself, so…
“Lisa Mannetti’s The Box Jumper is a passionately told story of love, memory, and how we can be possessed by both. Mannetti is, simply put, a master of the dark historical fantasy, and in The Box Jumper she has all her talents on full display. The only really frustrating thing about her stories is how she manages to make perfection look so easy.”
— Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Dog Days and Plague of the Undead
(suggested by Lisa Lane, who said: It is with good reason this book has nominations for both a Stoker award and a Shirley Jackson award and won the This Is Horror UK award. It’s phenomenal)
Every soul has a dark corner. Only Victor Frankenstein was brave enough to play God in its shadows.
Man.
Creation.
Monster.
If music be the food of life… play on.
With the help of his deceased father’s work, Victor Frankenstein develops a theory to reanimate the dead. Through the art of surgery and music, Victor creates a man capable of unmaking his life and driving the Frankenstein legacy to ruin.
The story is all too familiar. Man versus monster versus man. Sometimes, trapped in that circle of death, the truest monster is revealed.
(suggested by Jay Wilburn)
“I left her when she was eight. Just a child. Too young to be alone. I killed myself because I could never atone for the things He made me do. There is something wrong with my family, you see. A fear runs through us, through our blood. A fear that circles above us, shredding the sky and clawing at our hearts, and now, from a deathless realm, I am forced to watch as my lonely daughter is tortured by the life I gave her to endure. No father should see the things I’ve seen, but then no father should do the things I did.
Forgive me Angela.”
ANGELA, a bleak and unflinching tale in which we meet a lonely, middle aged woman who must live with the legacy of her family’s dark secret, the madness that grows in the absence of love, and a closet full of delicate skeletons.
(suggested by Malinda Gibson)
* * * * *
Armand’s Bonus Suggestion
Corpse-candles. Phantom funerals. The bird of death. It was insidious . . .
For Bethan, the schoolteacher, the old superstitions woven into the social fabric of her West Wales village are primitive and distasteful, which is why she’s pleased to welcome the sophisticated newcomers: London journalist Giles Freeman and his wife Claire. Surely they’ll let in some fresh air. But the Freemans are keen to absorb this different culture, a whole new way of life, rejecting the advice of an old colleague who warns them of a hard and bitter land where they’ve always danced on the edge of the abyss. They soon learn that this community hides an ancient, bloody, and pagan secret—one that will haunt them forever.
(suggested by Armand, who said: A great writer many readers might not be familiar with. I’ve read most of his books but this one stands out for me still, even after so many years. I read the original in 1993 and devoured the rest of his books soon after)
* * * * *
I am opening this blog up to suggestions from YOU!
I want YOU to give me one horror book suggestion you loved. It doesn’t have to be new. It doesn’t have to be a certain length or within a certain subgenre of horror (although I won’t be taking zombie or post apoc books on this website because I’ll be doing the same thing on my other site, http://DyingDaysZombie.com each week for that!) It just has to be something you liked enough to want to let the world know. Or the readers of this blog.
You CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT suggest your own book. That is super tacky and frowned upon by management.
I’ll be picking 3-5 each week and I’ll post it up each Tuesday on this site and the zombie/post apoc every Thursday. It’s free of charge. It’s just a way for me to not miss what is out there, too. Hopefully it will become a place where horror readers will enjoy some new suggestions, too. I’ll even let people know you proudly suggested it, too.
Send me an email with the title/author and Amazon link to the book and I’ll do the rest. Simple as that!
armandrosamilia (at) gmail (dot) com
Armand Rosamilia
I’m interviewed over at http://jessicaknauss.blogspot.com/2016/05/branching-out-as-writer-interview-with.html
Thanks to Jessica Knauss for the great interview about Dirty Deeds!
New release today. Very excited. This book took us quite a bit of time to put together but we hope it was worth it.
When World War 3 erupts on American soil it is up to some less than likely heroes to band together and stand tall against any and all comers as a once proud nation is brought to her knees.
Cowardly terrorist attacks and indifferent Global communities have isolated America as she spirals into a desperate bid for survival.
Follow Darlene Bobich, and her group on the west coast along with Michael Talbot on the east coast as they do everything in their power to thwart those that would take everything that they and all of us are, away.
United States of Apocalypse is available on eBook and audiobook versions. Print version coming soon!
Sometimes all we want is a well-written book that makes us laugh and cringe all at one time, and Jaime Johnesee is a pro at delivering! Yesterday I sat down to enjoy Shifters, and enjoy it I did. I…
Source: BOOK REVIEW: Shifters: A Samantha Reece Mystery Book 1 by Jaime Johnesee
As a lover of all things cryptid, I’m naturally fascinated by the strange and mysterious Chupacabra. Is it an unknown animal, alien, government experiment gone wrong? Well, to help us all out, I’ve turned to one of my buds, Raegan Butcher, who has just written an excellent monster novel, FURY OF THE CHUPACABRAS. To write […]
Someone tries the #MandoMethod of writing!
This morning when I was – well let’s be honest – procrastinating over my writing, I found the hashtag #mandomethod followed by a number. I was intrigued. I clicked on #mandomethod and found all kinds of tweets that were similar – #mandomethod 417. #MandoMethod 381. #Mandomethod 591, not bad! What the heck was this Mando Method? It didn’t take much searching for me to find the original blog post that explained what the Mando Method was. I won’t explain it. Just click on the link and you can read the post for yourself. “Well, hell!” I said to myself. “This sounds like a great idea!” So, I set the stopwatch on my phone and started writing. Twenty-one minutes later I had 201 words. TWO HUNDRED AND ONE! If you took the time to link back to the original blog post, you would have seen the following:
Hour 1 – 493…
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I’ve heard the extremely prolific Dean Koontz, author of roughly 100 works (plenty of which were number one sellers) of fiction, bashed to hell and back over the last few years. I’ve heard him labeled a hack, lazy, a poor man’s Stephen King, a dime-shelf writer. You name it, I’ve heard it, and to be completely honest I’m mystified by this strange and seemingly odious stigma (it’s not deserved I cry!) that looms over Koontz’s name. For my buck, Dean is one of the most balanced authors in the business.
The man does his research, and checks his facts. The man has built a diverse body of work that covers an expansive thematic landscape. He works endlessly to bring terror to readers sans any significant break. He’s capable of being extremely detailed, without running far too long in the tooth, and when he wants to, he can throw some seriously…
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Images from ShutterStock.
Amazon KDP changed how it determines the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC).
This affects Kindle e-books enrolled in KDP Select, which can be borrowed via Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime.
KDP Select books borrowed through Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime pay by the page read, where a Kindle Edition Normalized Page (KENP) is determined based on the book’s KENPC.
(This has no impact on royalties earned through sales, just borrows.)
On February 1, 2016, the method that Amazon uses to compute the KENPC changed.
The new value of KENPC is called KENPC v2.0.
Visit your KDP Bookshelf and click the Promote and Advertise button next to a title to see what its new KENPC is.
According to Amazon, on average the KENPC has changed by 5% or less.
I checked several of my books, which had KENPC’s ranging from 170 to…
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Armand Rosamilia Interview about “Dirty Deeds” #crime #thriller
Name Armand Rosamilia
Age 46
Where are you from
Born in Newark NJ. Grew up in Belford NJ. Living in Jacksonville FL.
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc
Married to the greatest woman in the world. I have several children. I sit around and write stories all day. Eat too many M&M’s and drink too much coffee (as if there is such a thing)
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
I got a Kindle Scout contract! “Dirty Deeds” is out now, a crime thriller. It is a bit different from my other work but so far the reviews have been great.
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
Dean Koontz books at 12. After reading every paperback of his I could find in my mother’s book collection I was hooked and knew what I wanted to do with my life.
Fiona: When did…
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Great Post About Attending An Event As An Author
By Chelle Bliss
There’s been a lot of buzz about author events recently and I wanted to throw a couple things out there. There are so many misconceptions, unrealistic hopes, and harsh realities that many do not understand.
Here are a few questions I’ve been asked and what I’ve learned thus far.
No! Most events are expensive, unless they’re near your hometown and there’s no need to pay for travel expenses. If traveling far from home, the cost of an event can climb quickly.
If you’re an author and expect to make money at an event… think again.
Let me break down the expenses of my last event in Nashville.
My Out of Pocket Costs for myself and my assistant:
Hotel: $500
Airfare: $800
Food & Misc: $500
Table Fee (yes, authors pay to attend): $250
Cost of Books & Swag: $2,300
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2015 was another solid year for me when it came to releases. While the amount of new product slowed, the same amount of words was released in my estimation. My goal each year is to hit 400,000 words written and except for a couple of short stories currently awaiting publication, everything else was released via self publishing or through a small press in 2015.
I had 30 releases, which was less than the 45 a year average I’ve done the last two years. I also went through my works and eliminated all of the serialized stories that made it into complete collections as well as redundant releases I did myself.
Box sets were still a big deal for me in 2015. A lot of my secondary sales through them as well as key Amazon ranking came because of the box sets and I hope to continue to be involved in a few more in the future.
OK, time for the breakdown by month for me and 2015…
January
Ultimate Undead Collection: The Zombie Apocalypse Best Sellers Boxed Set (10 Books)
The last day in January Dying Days was published in this box set along with notables Joe McKinney, Bobby Adair, TW Piperbrook, Michaelbrent Collings, Sarah Lyons Fleming, Shawn Chesser, Rachel Aukes, David Moody, Timothy W Long and Eric A Shelman. The best part? it’s still only 99 cents!
February
State of Horror: North Carolina
February 8th I was in another State of Horror anthology (you already know my initial involvement in the franchise, so I won’t digress) which featured some really cool stories by Nathanael Gass, Frank Larnerd, Randal Keith Jackson, Kathryn M. Hearst, Spencer Carvalho, Kenneth W. Cain, Frank J. Edler, Stuart Conover/Kerry Lipp, Susan Hicks Wong, Matt Andrew, L.J. Heydorn andMargaret L. Colton
The audiobook for State of Horror: Illinois came out on February 20th (narrated by the wonderful Jack Wallen)
March
The audiobook for Dying Days: Origins came out on March 3rd, narrated by Jack Wallen. Obviously I enjoy working with Jack on these audiobooks.
March 13th the audiobook version of this came out, narrated by Jack Di Golia, who did the entire seven book run for me. I couldn’t be happier working with him, either.
Also on the 13th, the first part of a trilogy came out, a horror humor tale written with Jack Wallen, Jay Wilburn and Brent Abell. This was fun to write. We debuted this at Mid South Con in Memphis to rousing success. Fine, we sold 5 copies.
March 16th State of Horror: Louisiana I debuted, with more great stories, this time from Chad McKee, Pamela Troy, Tommy B. Smith, Amanda Hard, Allie Marini Batts, Sarah Glenn, Armand Rosamilia, Ethan Nahte, J. Jay Waller, Alexander S. Brown, Henry P. Gravelle, Jay Seate, and Margaret L. Colton.
March 30th saw the second part of LA being released, this time with stories by Stuart Conover, Herika R. Raymer, Teresa Bergen, J. Lamm, Nathan Pettigrew, Armand Rosamilia, Ambrose Stolliker, B.A. Sans, Edward Moore, Anthony Watson, Jonathan S. Pembroke, J.M. Lawrence, and Melodie Romeo.
April
Fairly Wicked Tales: Dark Fantasy Anthology
April 19th Fairly Wicked Tales: Dark Fantasy Anthology was re-released and featured one of my short stories, “The Wolf Who Cried Boy.” Over 20 great stories are in this one, so buy it. Now.
May
Anything but Zombies: A Short Story Anthology
On the 26th of May my short story “Down In A Hole” was featured in this Simon and Schuster release. Tim Curran, Jeff Strand, Rebecca Besser, MontiLee Stormer, Lee Moan, Tonia Brown, Jake Bible, Faye McCray, and Jimmy Pudge were all involved as well. Get it.
June
Tales of Magic and Misery: A Collection of Short Stories by Tim Marquitz
Tim put 19 of his stories together in this fine collection, and had other authors (such as myself) give him one of our stories to promote. He’s a swell guy. This came out June 6th. I had “Dying Days: Noah Stern” short in there.
This audiobook came out on the 10th. Narrated once again by Jack Wallen and once again featuring a Dying Days short from me in it.
June 16th Dying Days 5 was released. Putting this together I realize its my first self published full release for the year, as everything else was an anthology or audiobook previously out. I’d been writing up a storm up to this point in the year but most of it would be released later (as you’ll see) or written for the movie team and those books sometimes come out months in the future. Anyhoo… this is part 5 and it was released right in the midst of my annual #SummerofZombie blog tour.
July
This month saw the two year anniversary of Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast as well as the debut of Arm N Toof’s Dead Time Podcast, co-hosted by Mark Tufo. Both on Project iRadio.
The second book in our trilogy was released on the 21st. Another fun time was had by all: me, Brent Abell, Jay Wilburn and Jack Wallen.
August
Bite-Sized Offerings: Tales & Legends of the Zombie Apocalypse
This was a really cool charity anthology to help a friend in need who is such a big supporter of zombie authors. Over 30 authors contributed a YA zombie story, including my first-ever, a Dying Days story featuring the children of the family. It will definitely lead into my first-ever Dying Days YA novella in late 2016, too.
This is the updated version. I changed the crazy sex parts and over the top violence and made it more in line with the rest of the Dying Days books. So far people have enjoyed the less intense version, although it still isn’t for the kids. I’d give it a solid R rating instead of the NC17 it used to be.
September
September 4th this cool anthology came out. It’s a shared world anthology and written by Joe McKinney, Armand Rosamilia, Tonia Brown, Joe Mynhardt, Aurelio Lopez III, and Alex Laybourne. You don’t get any cooler than that group. Am I right?
On the 8th, right in time for the Imaginarium convention on Kentucky, we released the third and final part. Single digits of people flocked to our signing tables, creating such a noise the car alarms went off in the parking lot.
On the 17th Dying Days 4 audiobook (narrated once again by Amanda Lehman) was released.
The Louisiana Incident: Former Navy SEALs Vs Zombies
I wrote this novella based on a movie that was filmed but some people weren’t happy with it. So (because it is Hollywood and beyond me) I was listed as editor, the cover is just words and it has distanced itself from the movie by changing the title. The book is much better than the movie, by the way. Much.
Horror 201: The Silver Scream Vol 1
October 14th saw this extensive collection released. Nonfiction essays and interviews by film legends and authors such as Wes Craven, George A. Romero, Ray Bradbury, Ed Naha, Patrick Lussier, Stephen Volk, Nancy Holder, Tom Holland, John Shirley, William Stout, and John Russo. For some crazy reason they thought I had something to say on the subject, too.
Chelsea Avenue: A Supernatural Thriller
On the 30th Devil Dog Press re-released this book, one of my favorites and my first real full-length novel. Look for longer books from me in 2016, and most of them more thriller and less horror as I change things up a bit. This book is one of my favorites I’ve ever written, and you need to read it and tell me I’m right or wrong. As long as you read it.
October
On the 18th this anthology was released. My short story, “Black Tooth Grin,” joined Melodie Romeo, Rick Scabrous, Silas Green, D. S. Ullery, Brian W. Taylor, Diane Arrelle, Bryan Best, Tanya Nehmelman, Mariesa Inez, Rachel Hogan, S. H. Roddey, Jenner Michaud, Scott McCloskey, Heidi Lane, Brian Fatah Steele, Eric I. Dean, Herika R. Raymer, Lee Pletzers, and Jerry E. Benns writing fun stories about death.
The seventh and final release in the contemporary fiction Flagler Beach Fiction Series was out on the 20th. The audiobook followed in November, too, once again narrated by the great Jack Di Golia. This wraps up the series although I have a feeling we’ll see some of these characters again in the future.
Halloween saw the release of this cool anthology, where eleven authors took the kernel of the same basic story and made it our own. Hi-jinx ensued. Abel, Chesser, Evans, McKinney, O’Brien, Rosamilia, Shelman, Stallcup, Tufo, Wallen, Wilburn. So cool you don’t need first names.
November
November 3rd, at the basic start of my annual #WinterofZombie tour I always release a new Dying Days book. I still technically did, and it nicely combines characters from the first Highway To Hell as well as Dying Days: Origins.
Four novellas set in the Dying Days world are included in this massive box set: Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days, Still Dying 2, Dying Days: The Siege of European Village and Dying Days: Siege 2
Plus… the two-story Dying Shortly set (now out of print except here) and 2 short stories previously only available on a website: “Dying Days: Downtown From Hell” and “Dying Days: The Scorpion”… Over 500 pages and more than 174,000 words in all! This special box set will only be available for a limited time at a special price of $9.99 but right now its only $3.49, so get a copy. Look for the second one in early 2016, too.
November 23rd I released all three of these glorious books Jack, Brent and Jay and I had written in a convenient box set. Now you have no excuse not to read them. And its priced right now for only $3.49, so you really have no excuse at all.
Flagler Beach Fiction Series Complete
I told you I liked box sets this year. On the 30th I put all 7 of the Flagler Beach Fiction Series books together in one massive 190,000+ word ebook collection and priced it at only $3.99. You’re welcome.
December
Green River Blend: A Supernatural Thriller
My last release of 2015 and one of my favorite stories. I liken it to a Bentley Little weird tale and so far readers have agreed. A little different from my traditional horror work, which I will be getting slightly away from in 2016. I’ll still have many horror releases and more Dying Days but this book (as well as Chelsea Avenue, both released by Devil Dog Press) will further expand what I’m doing.
Also look for my Kindle Scout-winning Dirty Deeds crime thriller in early 2016, too! Mark Tufo and I wrote an apocalyptic tale together (no zombies!) featuring Darlene Bobich and Mike Talbot. Look for that in 2016 as well… big things on the horizon for me in 2016.
Armand
Finding Time to Write
K. Trap Jones
The first thing people ask me when they find out that I write is: When do you find the time?
Of course, the answer differs between writers, but for me, I write late at night. I have a full time career, a wife and three sons. I simply cannot write during the day. There are too many real life situations and the time is not there. I coach my youngest son’s soccer team and coach my middle son’s baseball team. Real life will always be more important than my writing hobby. I’ve been writing for about 6 years and have been blessed with the ability to balance my hobby with everything else.
I have a weird process with writing which reflects directly with the time. I will not write a single word until I conceive the entire story within my head. As soon as I can reach the ending, that’s when I begin writing the story. Regardless of whether it is a short story or a novel, I think through the chapters to make sure I have a complete story in mind. This helps me with the flow of writing. Every night, I am able to bust out a few thousand words or so because the story is already there and I’m not making it up as I go. With short stories, it takes me one night to write one then I use the next night to self-edit before I sub it. With novels, I find I need at least three weeks of “thinking” about the story and three additional weeks to write it down. I let it sit for a week before reading through for flow, consistency, and basic edits before sending to the publisher. It’s a crazy method, but for some odd reason, it works for me. Right now, I am currently writing my seventh novel and “thinking” about my eighth. By the time I’m done writing, I will immediately start the next.
I always thought that writing at night adds to the creepy factor of horror. When everyone else is in bed, all the lights are off and there’s music blaring in my ears… that’s where my writing begins. One Bad Fur Day was conceived over a time period of two weeks and written within three weeks. When I find the story fun to write, the process speeds up. After finishing up a night’s writing session, the next day’s chapters will be thought about during the day until the moon rises and I fire up the laptop. Since OBFD is a journey type of story, I always enjoyed thinking about the next interaction or environment Sid had to go to next in order to find the clues to his missing wife, Sally.
One Bad Fur Day
Call it odd, call it off-beat, call it fantasy; but don’t think for a moment that One Bad Fur Day is anything other than a suspense driven horror ride that blurs the lines between harsh reality and brutal imagery…
As Hurricane Katrina barrels through the Louisiana bayous, the animal population is forced to deal with the tumultuous upheaval of their world. Sheriff Sid and his wife are caught completely off-guard by the natural disaster unfolding around them as they battle not only the turbulent winds and flooding waters, but heinous acts committed by other creatures inhabiting the backwaters. Following a brutal assault on his wife, Sid is forced to fight off voodoo-priestess snakes, a junkyard raccoon, deceitful badgers, and a band of roving power-hungry alligators. While clinging to his tenuous hold as sheriff, Sid must find a way to recapture what is rightfully his and exact his revenge.
One Bad Fur Day is available at:
Amazon: US | UK | Canada | Australia | Germany | France | Spain | Italy | Japan | Mexico | Brazil | India | The Netherlands
Amazon Print: US | UK | Canada | Germany | France | Spain | Italy | Japan | Mexico | Brazil | India
Barnes & Noble (Print & eBook)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – K. Trap Jones is an author of horror novels and over 50 short stories. With inspiration from Dante Alighieri and Edgar Allan Poe, he has a temptation towards narrative folklore, classic literary works and obscure segments within society.
His novel THE SINNER (Blood Bound Books) won the 2010 Royal Palm Literary Award. His splatterpunk novella, THE DRUNKEN EXORCIST has been released by Necro Publications. His narrative horror short story collection, THE CROSSROADS is available from Hazardous Press.
He is also a member of the Horror Writer’s Association and can be found lurking around Tampa, Florida.
I’m in again this year. That’s it. I don’t care about the pros and cons of what NaNoWriMo means to the writing community, the weekend warriors who think they can write the Great American Novel for the first time or the people who use it as an excuse to write their 6th novel this year. None of that matters to me.
I love it.
I write close to 40k a month so pushing it to 50k and working on one project is the fun of it for me.
This year I’ll be writing the sequel to my Dirty Deeds crime thriller, which is currently in the running for a Kindle Scout contract. Even if I don’t make the cut the exposure was great and the book will launch sooner than later. Oh, go nominate Dirty Deeds so I can win, too…
If you’re planning on writing for NaNoWriMo feel free to add me as a friend on there. It’s always fun to see who is writing as well… of course, if you’re one of those people who writes 50k in 3 days I’ll congratulate you but curse you at the same time. Just sayin’
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/armandrosamilia
Armand
