There are many ways to write story. In his book, On Writing, author Stephen King claims he started out as a kid, printing out stories on a drum printer in his basement, using grape jelly for ink. S…
Source: Writing the Way that Works for You
I recently posted a list of fifteen writers who have had an influence on my work. One of those writers was Bruce Springsteen. Does he write books? No, but he does write stories. He creates c…
Source: Bleeding Springsteen: How Bruce’s Writing Inspires this Weirdo.
When I started blogging in 2012, creating a Facebook page linked to the blog was a natural move. Every blogger had one. I followed a few bloggers’ Facebook pages and even found new bloggers v…
Since I discovered fantasy at the young age of 10 (thanks to C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia), fantasy has held my interest and never let it go. I’ve devoured science fiction, historical fiction, paranormal, mystery, and thrillers galore, yet I always come back to fantasy. It just made sense that my works would go in the direction of the fantastical.
For many people, fantasy is a genre that is “unrealistic”. After all, our world doesn’t have magic, pixies, demons, centaurs, or elves, right? The Eye of Sauron and The Sword of Shannara are completely unrealistic concepts in our down-to-earth, black-and-white world!
I’d have to say that I disagree wholeheartedly…
The term “fantasy” is defined as “the faculty or activity of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable”. So, in many senses, the genre of fantasy does involve things that are, as the definition says, “impossible or improbable”.
But the best fantasy is based on reality. Take the A Song of Ice and Fire series by G.R.R. Martin (the books on which Game of Thrones is based). At first glance, it looks like a too-fantastical setting and plot. Dragons? Ice zombies? An impossibly tall wall? Magic? Unequenchable fire? Resurrections? How unbelievable!
Perhaps those elements are the unbelievable, but once you get past them, you see the correlations to reality. For example, the war between the various Houses of Westeros is VERY similar to the incessant wars that raged in Medieval Europe. The backstabbing, political intrigue, and murders is about what you’d expect to find in those days. The heroic villains and villainous heroes abounded during that time.
See what I’m getting at? While every good fantasy novel does have plenty of elements that are “fantastical”, they are fully grounded in reality and thus as real as a mystery or thriller!
Lloyd Alexander said it best, “Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”
Yes, fantasy does involve plenty of imagination and invention. There will always be that element of “impossible” that you won’t find in other novels. Not even science-fiction pushes into the impossible as much as fantasy.
But who cares? It is through the pages of fantasy novels that we are better able to understand the world around us. We follow the struggles of characters who are fighting to survive in a world as harsh and cruel as the one in which we live. Their trials and tribulations may be different from our own, but what remains consistent is that fact that they get put through s**t just like we do. We can learn from their examples and “fight the good fight” just like they do. We can grit our teeth, bandage our wounds, and keep facing that giant or monster in our path.
Sure, our monsters won’t be 12 feet tall, spew fire, or poison us with a spell. Our monsters will look much more like massive debt, car accidents, and horrible bosses. Yet if the characters from our favorite fantasy books can cope with the world in which they live and all the crap that world throws at them, how much more can we when we’re not really fighting for our lives?
Yes, beyond the imagination and flights of fancy, there is a reality to fantasy that makes it a genre worth learning from!
Amazon Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Bucelarii-Book-Lament-Fallen/dp/1535388668/
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Last-Bucelarii-Book-Lament-Fallen/dp/1535388668/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30973111-lament-of-the-fallen
Andy Peloquin: Lover of All Things Dark and Mysterious
Andy Peloquin–a third culture kid to the core–has loved to read since before he could remember. Sherlock Holmes, the Phantom of the Opera, and Father Brown are just a few of the books that ensnared his imagination as a child.
When he discovered science fiction and fantasy through the pages of writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.R.R Tolkien, and Orson Scott Card, he was immediately hooked and hasn’t looked back since.
Andy’s first attempt at writing produced In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent. He has learned from the mistakes he made and used the experience to produce Blade of the Destroyer, a book of which he is very proud.
Reading—and now writing—is his favorite escape, and it provides him an outlet for his innate creativity. He is an artist; words are his palette.
His website (http://www.andypeloquin.com) is a second home for him, a place where he can post his thoughts and feelings–along with reviews of books he finds laying around the internet.
He can also be found on his social media pages, such as:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyPeloquin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andyqpeloquin
www.linkedin.com/in/andypeloquin/
https://plus.google.com/100885994638914122147/about
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…
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
I’ve just come back from back to back conventions, Scares That Care Weekend in VA and Authors After Dark in GA. Both events went well but I realized something. OK, let me back up a second and be honest… I always knew I had this problem but until the past few weeks I never realized how bad my problem was… I pack enough books for every author in the room to sell.
I lost count (and too lazy to look) but I believe I am well over 50 different print books with my name in there somewhere. No way I should be able to carry a few copies of each, yet every time I go to a con I bring 3 full crates and at least 2 full boxes with me. Insanity!
So… I decided to do something drastic about it. Actually, my wife forced me to do something intelligent about it, especially since certain print books are out of print or have had an update, etc.
I’m going to sell every book listed below for the earth-shattering low price of $5 each plus $4 shipping first book and $1 each additional. Sorry, only available for U.S. buyers AND I’ll even sign them because I’m really a nice guy at heart.
Here are the print books and the number next to each is how many are available, so get your orders in asap. I will update this page as books are sold:
Highway To Hell (original naughty version) – 2 left
Highway To Hell 2 – 1
Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer (out of print) – 2
Dying Days 1 through 5 (original covers) – 1 of DD1, 8 of DD2, 16 of DD3, 9 of DD4 and 7 of DD5
Dying Days: Siege of European Village – SOLD OUT
Dying Days: Siege 2 – 9
Undead Tales anthology – SOLD OUT
Undead Tales 2 anthology – 1
Dying Days: Origins – 2
Dying Days: Origins 2 – 3
Still Dying – 2
Still Dying 2 – SOLD OUT
Zombie Writing! – 5
Creeping Death (out of print short story collection) – 5
Metal Queens: Models 2 – 6
Belford Stories (original version) – 10
Quick Bites of Flesh (out of print) – 1
Zombie Tea Party – SOLD OUT
Skeletal Remains anthology – 1
Rymfire Erotica anthology – 2
* * * * *
There ya go! 24 different titles to choose from. When they’re gone they’re gone! I won’t be printing them again. Some are still available through Amazon but at the normal $9.99 – $12.99 price and those aren’t signed, either.
How can you get your hands on these copies? Simple. Send me an email at armandrosamilia (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know which signed print books you’re interested in along with your PayPal address. I will send you an invoice and get your book(s) ready to ship.
Any questions?
Armand
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…
It’s been a truly remarkable run for the Authors Supporting Our Troops event the past three years. With your help we’ve been able to collect over 7,500 author-signed books for soldiers in remote areas of the world. We’ve helped put smiles on faces. Let a soldier forget about where they are for a few hours and read some good books.
But as the end of 2016 approaches in a few months I had to take a hard look at what is going to be the future instead of just the past.
While our goal of breaking the 3,500 books in won’t be happening (we’re currently sitting at about 1,000) I think it’s also a good sign. It is getting harder to find soldiers in remote areas thanks to troops being pulled from bad places and sent to bases in neutral or allied countries. We’ve raised enough money to send out the books we have and any stray boxes coming in from authors who still want to take part in this great event.
I’m going to set a ‘soft’ cutoff date of November 1st 2016 to get me your signed books. What this means: I’ll still take them after the date but not going to push it or announce it. You’ll only read it here, on this post. Once I amass enough books (50 per box usually) I’ll search for another soldier to ship out to.
Going forward… I’m sure there will be a small event in 2017. It might only be a 2-3 month window where I will be actively collecting signed books as well as soldiers.
Speaking of soldiers: I need a few more addresses to send the boxes already sealed to ship, so if you know anyone in a remote area (any branch of military) please email me asap so I can get them books. Email is armandrosamilia (at) gmail (dot) com
It has been my honor to run this event for the past three years and the level of authors and people donating has been unreal. I want to thank each and every one of you for being so generous.
The Authors Supporting Our Troops Facebook Page will stay active as well.
Armand
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…
View original post 2,867 more words
I’m on Patreon. I started it not to become rich (but I won’t complain if I do) but to find another outlet for my writing and creativity. To that end I post a continuing Dying Days YA novella with a new chapter the beginning of each month. I have no idea when it will end. The fun is just writing another chapter and seeing where it goes. Hell, it might end up becoming a Dying Days YA epic novel before I’m done. That’s the fun of Patreon for me.
The other thing I like to do is post short stories many readers have not seen. Stuff sitting around collecting dust I find. And after writing for most of my life, I have quite a few. I’d have more if I hadn’t lost them on floppy disks and inside a word processor and all the other antiquated technology over the years. It allows me to share a few things with the readers who are definitely interested in what I’ve written or will be writing.
Yes, I get money for it. Mostly you donate $1 and you get to read anything I post. Simple as that. I do a weekly update with all of my writing and you get to see what I’m currently working on. You also get some cool stuff if you pledge more, too:
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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Fiona Quinn interviews me about podcasting and books and stuff!
http://thrillwriting.blogspot.com/2016/07/podcasting-information-for-writers-with.html
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
Sadly, this will be the last installment of what I thought would be a fun exercise in helping other authors… not many people suggested books and I’m not going to ‘remind’ people to get their suggestions in. Also, far too many authors tried to suggest their own books or posted on the comments even though I said not to. Once some authors saw it was to help other authors and not themselves they tuned out. Very sad.
Here are the final suggestions. I want to thank everyone who played along and tried to help authors as well as have some fun with this:
Based on the best-selling, award-winning graphic novel series Locke & Key – written by acclaimed suspense novelist Joe Hill (NOS4A2, Horns) and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez – this multicast, fully dramatized audio production brings the images and words to life.
A brutal and tragic event drives the Locke family from their home in California to the relative safety of their ancestral estate in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, an old house with powerful keys and fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them. As siblings Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke discover the secrets of the old house, they also find that it’s home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all….
Featuring performances by Haley Joel Osment (Entourage, The Sixth Sense), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Kate Mulgrew (Orange Is the New Black, Star Trek: Voyager), Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Stephen King (The Stand, 11-22-63), as well as a cast of more than 50 voice actors, this audio production preserves the heart-stopping impact of the graphic novel’s astounding artwork through the use of richly imagined sound design and a powerful original score.
*Locke & Key contains explicit language and adult situations.
(suggested by Malinda Gibson, who said: it scared the be-jesus outta me)
* * * * *
Human flesh tacos, hardcore wrestling, and angry cannibal Mexicans…
Welcome to the Border!
The no-man’s land on the United States/Mexico border is the perfect place for getting away with any crime. With the right connections and with the right amount of money you can run drugs, smuggle people, commit murder, and do much worse.
Felix and Marta came to Mexico to film a documentary on illegal immigration. When Marta suddenly goes missing, Felix must find his lost love in the small border town. A dangerous place housing corrupt cops, borderline maniacs, drug gangs and something much worse… something to do with a strange Mexican food cart…
From Shane McKenzie, one of the most imaginative new voices in horror comes a south-of-the-border Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
(suggested by Frank Edler, who said: MUERTE CON CARNE is easily the best horror story I’ve read in quite some time. Author Shane McKenzie evokes the brutal spirit of Richard Laymon and finishes with an ending so dark it makes the bleakest ending of a Brian Keene novel look like the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah finale in Song of the South. MUERTE CON CARNE is tacos, luchadores and long pig and that’s just the fun parts!)
* * * * *
Vivienne realizes she is dying. All she wants to do is see her daughter Giselle one last time and apologise. But Giselle no longer exists and it is Crow, a gender-queer anarchist, who returns to a family home that is plagued by ghosts and violent memories.
With the help of a shaman ze met in a dream, Crow unravels terrifying family secrets, hoping to find closure at last. But can anyone survive the shadows that lurk behind these fairy tales?
(suggested by Jack Wallen)
* * * * *
Armand’s Bonus Suggestion
They’re coming. They are a race of sadistic spirits known as the Curburide, and they are about to arrive in our world, bringing with them horrors beyond imagination. The secret to summoning — and controlling — them has fallen into the hands of a beautiful, sexy and dangerously insane woman.
Ariana has dedicated her life to unleashing the demons in our realm through a series of human sacrifices, erotic rituals of seduction and slaughter. As she crosses the country, getting ever closer to completing her blood-drenched mission, only three figures stand in her way: Joe, an unwilling hero who has seen the horrors of the Curburide before, Alex, a burgeoning witch … and a spiteful demon with plans of his own.
(suggested by Armand who said: It’s really hard to pick just one of his books. Great author. Highly recommended. One of my favorites)
* * * * *
Once again, thank you for everyone who suggested a book and played by the rules. I really do appreciate it!
Armand
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…
From the powerful imagination of a new horror master comes a bone-chilling tale set in a small town where good and evil are joined in a terrifying, deadly battle. . .
Evil Endures
Once an idyllic Pennsylvania village, Pine Deep awoke one morning to find itself bathed in a massive bloodletting. Twice in thirty years the townsfolk have endured the savage hungers of a murderous madman. . .but if the residents think the death of serial killer Karl Ruger put an end to the carnage, they’re dead wrong.
The Nightmare Never Ends
Bodies mutilated beyond description, innocents driven to acts of vicious madness. A monstrous evil is preying on the living–and the dead–and turning the quiet little town into hell on earth. Their only hope is to find the source. But the secrets that lurk in the heart of Pine Deep are twisted into its very roots. This time the townspeople aren’t just fighting for their lives, but for their very souls…
(suggested by Nina D’Arcangela)
* * * * *
For over two decades, Detective Ray Truman has been searching for the killer or killers who have terrorized Portvale. Headless corpses, their bodies mutilated and posed, have been turning up all over the industrial district near the docks. The remains of young female prostitutes have been the killer’s victims of choice, but now other districts are reporting the gruesome discovery of decapitated bodies. It seems the killer has expanded his territory as more ‘nice girls’ feel the wrath of his terrible rage. This horrifically disturbing tale of a family tree of evil will embed itself in the mind of the reader, long after the last page has been turned. A crime thriller in the vein of other power-packed thrillers like Thomas Harris’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and James Ellroy’s ‘Killer on the Road.’
Meet the Cunninghams . . .
A family bound by evil and the blood they have spilled. The large lodging-house they live in and operate on Artaud Avenue reeks of death and the sins that remain trapped beneath the floorboards.
Meet Caleb Cunningham . . .
Caleb is a disturbed young man whose violent father is a suspected serial killer and mother, an insane alcoholic. After his Father’s suicide, Cunningham’s disturbing fantasy-life becomes reality as he begins his killing spree in earnest. His identical twin brother Charlie is to be released from an asylum and all hell is about to break loose when the brothers combine their psychopathic talents. Eventually stepping out from the shadows of his murderous forebears, Caleb puts in motion his own diabolical plan to reveal himself and his ‘art’ to the world. He’s a true aesthete. An artist of death. His various ‘installations’ have not received the status he feels they deserve, so Caleb is expanding his ‘canvas.’
Meet Ray Truman . . .
A tragic cop whose personal demons won’t let him rest. Overworked and underpaid, Truman is tenacious as a pit-bull. He won’t rest ‘til he’s brought to justice Portvale’s infamous serial killer. His battle with his own demons gives him the strength to chase the shadows and to cut corners when necessary, as he embarks on the hunt of his life. His search leads him to the Cunningham’s house of horrors. What he finds there will ultimately lead him to regret ever meeting Caleb Cunningham and the deviant family that spawned him. The hunter becomes the hunted as Truman digs deeper into the abyss that is the horrifying mind of the most dangerous psychopath he has ever met.
(suggested by Pheebz Jackson)
* * * * *
Tormented by grief after his four-year-old daughter is murdered, Charles hears sinister whispers as he tries to discover the truth about Naomi’s death. But long-buried secrets threaten to take Charles to a place where he could lose his very soul. Aycliffe is a pseudonym for Daniel Easterman, the bestselling author of Brotherhood of the Tomb.
(suggested by Noelle Kelly)
* * * * *
“The painting forced him to move back with such suddenness, he nearly fell over the side of the old wooden railing. It depicted a grisly scene, as if your worst nightmare had been splattered on canvas. Despite his mind screaming to look away, he could not avert his eyes” – Ancient
Keyport Cthulhu
Five stories with a Lovecraftian feel to them… set in the New Jersey fishing village of Keyport, where the Esoteric Order of Dagon has been planning for the awakening of the Deep One all these years…
ANCIENT
BARREN
CABAL
DAGON
EVIL
Includes two bonus stories, the steampunk tale “Rats In The Cellars” and “Cthulhunicorn” co-written with Katelynn Rosamilia
(suggested by Chuck Buda… and who can blame him, right?)
* * * * *
Armand’s Bonus Suggestion
Roaring south in a black Cadillac, John Smith is on the road trip from Hell through a nightmarish version of Americana, a place of rotting hollows and dusty crossroads, slaughterhouses and haunted trains. He doesn’t know how he woke up after sitting down in the electric chair, where he got the black suit with the slit up the back or even the cigarettes in his pocket. All he knows is that there is a woman guarding a great secret and he’s supposed to kill her.
(suggested by Armand Rosamilia, who said: Brilliantly written and the story will have you guessing at each page turn)
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
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
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…
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
Yet she spares Cas’s life.
(suggested by Loren Rhoads, who said: I finished reading Anna Dressed in Blood last week and it was so much fun! It’s a YA about a teenaged ghost killer who falls in love with a ghost)
* * * * *
A journey to the past … where a serial killer awaits.
Some believe time is a curve. The days behind us fall from view as we move forward, rounding the bend to discover what lies in store for us next. Nothing is gone … it’s merely back there, accessible again if we only knew how to reverse course.
Others believe that time is a straight line that is obliterated as our present is created, existing only in our memories … gone forever, never to be seen or heard from again.
Luke McCabe wishes the latter were true. He really does. He never wanted to be a serial killer. He never wanted to be The Cowboy.
Take a ride in Luke’s restored, 1958 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood. Buckle in and feel the desert ground beneath your wheels. Only then will you be fully equipped with the knowledge to decide how time really unfolds.
One recommendation: The Cadillac named Adeline holds dark secrets.
Stay clear of her trunk.
(suggested by Giles Batchelor, who said: I know you know Eric for his Zombie/Apoc work but this stand alone horror tale is one of his best. The story to me is reminiscent of some of the Stephen King books I devoured as a youngster. It has well developed main character and an interesting twisty plot that has you on the edge of your seat towards the end)
* * * * *
Hodgson considered his three novels, “The House on the Borderland”, “The Boats of the Glen-Carrig” and “The Ghost Pirates” a trilogy. They are not sequels and not related, except for their emphasis on the supernatural beings, who came, perhaps, from another dimension.
“The Ghost Pirates”, the third book of this trilogy, was one of H.P. Lovecraft’s favorite works.
(suggested by Morgan Griffith, who said: My pick would be an old one, but a book that heavily influenced my love of horror literature, although it might also be classified as dark fantasy. I choose William Hope Hodgson’s “The House on the Borderland”. The imagination and sense of adventure and dread is unique and withstands time. I have read it more than once, and it remains a favorite. This version also includes two other great tales— Boats of the Glen-Carrig and The Ghost Pirates. Hodgson also excelled with his dark tales of the sea)
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Marty Strauss, a gambling addict recently released from prison, is hired to be the personal bodyguard of Joseph Whitehead, one of the wealthiest men in the world. The job proves more complicated and dangerous than he thought, however, as Marty soon gets caught up in a series of supernatural events involving Whitehead, his daughter (who is a heroin addict), and a devilish man named Mamoulian, with whom Whitehead made a Faustian bargain many years earlier, during World War II.
As time passes, Mamoulian haunts Whitehead using his supernatural powers (such as the ability to raise the dead), urging him to complete his pact with him. Eventually Whitehead decides to escape his fate after a few encounters with Mamoulian and having his wife, former bodyguard, and now his daughter Carys taken away from him. With hope still left to save Carys, Marty Strauss, although reluctant to get involved in the old man Whiteheads deserved punishment, decides to get involved and attempt to save the innocent gifted addict from being another victim to the damnation game.
(suggested by Misha Burnett)
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Armand’s Bonus Suggestion
The quaint Florida town of St. Augustine is a magnet for tourists. But one site is off-limits even for the locals.
Built on the site of an ancient Indian village, Tolomato Cemetery has been closed for years. But now a slaughtered Wiccan priestess has been discovered on the grounds. Human remains have been found in a nearby Dumpster. And a cryptic message is haunting a woman’s sleepless nights–a warning that the doors between two worlds have been opened.
Whatever’s buried in Tolomato Cemetery is more than legend.
It’s alive.
(suggested by Armand, who said: just a phenomenal book by a phenomenal writer. A creepy, wonderful novel)
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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!
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…
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
Quick update for where we stand and what we need to make 2016 another successful year for Authors Supporting Our Troops
We just broke the 500 signed book mark for the year… obviously we’re running well behind the numbers from the last two years. Hopefully we can pick up the author-signed book donations coming in for the rest of the year. If you’re an author and have a few author friends (and who doesn’t?) let them know about the program and the Facebook group where all of the incoming and outgoing books are pictured.
What are we looking for besides author-signed books?
Soldiers.
I have about a dozen boxes waiting to be shipped but I need actual soldiers to send them to. Any branch of the military. The only real criteria: they need to be in remote areas where videogames, laptops and easy access to entertainment isn’t so easy. I want to reach the units that need something to take their mind off of where they are and what they’re doing. I’m looking for a personal connection, so I get these addresses from YOU. Not through a company or the USO. I want to know a soldier we touched is family/friends with someone who cares. As long as the soldier is willing to accept two boxes (about 100 books) and pass them out to his fellow soldier, we’re happy.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to drop me a line at: armandrosamilia (at) gmail (dot) com
I never publish my address online so if you want the shipping address to me please email me asap!
Authors Supporting Our Troops Facebook Page
#ASOT2016
Armand Rosamilia
Brand spankin’ new interview with me is up today! You should really read it!
http://hbsauthorspotlight.blogspot.com/2016/05/armand-rosamilia-author-interview-at.html
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!
