A Freebie For Halloween

Okay, so Halloween is almost here, and I decided I’d do a two day spooky giveaway of my “13 Horror Bundle” ebook of scary stories. I don’t usually do free giveaways like this, but, what the heck, it’s Halloween and I’m feeling a bit crazy today. Here’s how it works. Go to Smashwords, where you can click on “Buy” and when you get to the checkout screen, put in this code: JF82U

When you do that, you’ll be able to download the book for free. That’s a great deal, huh? Well, in return, you have to do something for me. Just write a review on Amazon, Smashwords, or Goodreads, and tell everyone what you thought of the book. I don’t care if you give me a one star or a five star rating, or if you love or hate the book, the review is the important thing. Reviews are very important in the ebook world, so I would appreciate one in return for giving you a free copy of my book. Okay? Good. By the way, the coupon is only good for 48 hours, so use it right away!

The David Bowie Shift

I am not a huge fan of David Bowie’s music, but I’ve always admired his sheer chutzpah. I mean, this is a rocker who abandoned the Ziggy Stardust persona he’d created at the peak of his fame in 1973 and then created a more sophisticated persona for his Diamond Dogs tour in 1974. It was the most expensive rock tour in history at that time, featuring a towering set with a catwalk and a cherry picker that lifted Bowie high in the air, and the sets alone cost $1.3 million in today’s dollars. Then, smack in the middle of that tour, Bowie took time off and completely stripped down the set, doing a 180 degree turn as an R&B singer for the rest of the tour.

I love performers like him (Neil Young is another who comes to mind) who refuse to be put in boxes. They don’t want to spend their entire careers churning out the same style of music, and they look for variety, new vistas, new challenges all the time.

I’d like to think I’m that way myself. From the beginning of my writing career I always wanted to expand my horizons. When I did commercial work I couldn’t stand being categorized as a “medical writer” or an “automotive writer” or “a business writer”. As soon as I started to hear editors and agencies label me like that, I wanted to move on to some other kind of writing. 

It’s the same thing now that I write fiction. You may have noticed that I write romance, horror, humor, poetry, and literary stories. I’m all over the block. Currently I’m almost finished another installment of my “Rose Of Skibbereen” romance series, but after that, who knows? I might want to write a mystery novel. I know that some readers would prefer that I stick to one category, one genre, but I can’t. It would bore me to tears to do that. I didn’t get into this writing game to keep writing the same things over and over. 

So, I ask that you have patience with me, and maybe broaden your reading options a bit, and explore something I’ve written that’s out of your usual taste. If you’ve read my romances, try a horror book. Or, if you like horror, dip into one of my humor collections. After all, it’s the same guy writing all these ebooks, so you’ll probably recognize my style no matter what the content is. 

Don’t worry, I won’t shift gears in the middle of a book the way Bowie did during that 1974 tour. Well, actually, I can’t promise anything. Who knows, maybe if I do I’ll invent a new genre along the way. Anybody for a horror-humor-romance?

13 Horror Story Bundle Is Published

Thanks to everyone who voted in my recent cover poll. As you can see below, I chose Cover #2. Not only did it get more votes, but I liked that it had a certain "Aztec" look to it. There's a story in this ebook that has a definite Aztec connection, so the cover art seemed very appropriate.
"13 Horror Story Bundle" is larger than my previous horror collections, and I think horror fans will definitely enjoy it. Some of these tales are on the long side, but that just gave me more room to sink my teeth (or should I say fangs?) into the story.
I know some of my fans think it's weird that I can write historical fiction like "Rose Of Skibbereen" and then switch gears and write about ghosts and vampires. That's just how my mind works, I guess. I just like creating stories, and some of them are romantic and sentimental, but others happen to be on the scary side. As long as it's a good story, I'm happy.
A long time ago, on the "American Bandstand" program, when the host would ask the teenagers to vote on the latest rock 'n roll songs, many of them would say, "I like it, because it's got a good beat." Well, I feel that way about literature. The story is what counts, like the beat in a good rock song. If you tell a good story, it doesn't matter if it's about two Irish lovers in 19th century Philadelphia or a monster in a coffee shop in present day New York -- most people will respond to it.
I hope you like this collection. And for the people who would like me to get back to "Rose Of Skibbereen", don't worry -- I'm going to work on the next book in the series now.