Halloween is Near, So Let Us Coffin Hop!

Here we are again kiddies, the baddest of bad, the scariest of scary, the Coffin Hop 2012.  Last year I wrote several posts about authors I dig that you should be digging too.  In my “10 Questions” feature I have from time to time, John Everson , Nate Southard, and Jeff Strand entered the arena and survived their battles.  This year I want to take it back a bit.  There is one guest lined up to step in the arena and as soon as the interview comes back, you’ll be in for a treat.  The other days, I want to focus on what music, movies, books, and such influence me and my work.

Before I begin however, there are some housekeeping things to tend to.  First, to see what other amazing authors are on the Coffin Hop go here and hit the Linky Link 2012 button, to check out the Scavenger Hunt at Melissa Smith’s website visit here, and to support the upcoming Coffin Hop anthology to benefit literacy programs by picking up some sweet Coffin Hop swag drag your mouse this way and click here.

For those who have found me here for the first time, hello.  I want you to step inside and get comfortable.  Fire up a cigar and pop open a beer.  Kick your feet up on the table, hell I don’t care.

But once you settle in and feel like everything is going to be ok, I’ll plunge you down into the dark depths of humanity and the evil lurking in the shadows of our very minds.

No, really…I’m glad your here and please feel free to roam around the site (nothing will bite…much).  This year is new to me because before I only had anthologies to promote, but this year I have my controversial novella In Memoriam.  A signed copy is part of this year’s prize package as well as an electronic copy of the Coffin Hop Anthology E.P. ( a short preview of next year’s full anthology), and a few nice paperbacks from some of my favorite horror authors.  To be entered in the drawing, you must make a comment on any blog post this week during the Coffin Hop or sign up to follow the blog (comment once-comment often).  You can earn extra entries by following me on Twitter or “liking” my fan page on Facebook (links are over on the side).  Already signed up for all the social media places to find me?  That’s fine, just comment and you’ll be entered!

Well, that does it for today.  Tune in Wednsday for the top 10 albums that haunt my dreams and me scream when I write and on Friday night, author Tim Lebbon stops by to answer the “10 Questions”!

Goodnight…

The Re-Introduction of Brent Abell

Hello fellow readers!  The ride is hitting the end of the first hill and the fun is about to begin.  I have a lot of things going on right now and I figured it was time to give everyone a handy-dandy and all-in-one reference guide.  So, feel free to click on one or all of the links and join the party!

 

Blog- http://brentabell.wordpress.com/

Twitter- @BrentTAbell

Facebook Fan Page-   http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/The-Dark-Fiction-of-Brent-Abell/342998632379521                      

  Amazon Page- amazon.com/author/brentabell

Once my novella and short story collection go up for sale, I will post links to those.

Bio:

My name is Brent Abell and I write horror fiction. For better or for worse, that is my calling and it pleases me. I live in Southern Indiana with a wife, two sons, and a pug who swears up and down he is the reincarnation of Alexander the Great. Oh, that last bit is fueled by my love of whiskey and a degree in history. Stop reading this now and go grab something I wrote and read it instead. What? I know I wrote this, but that’s besides the point, I meant go read something else that I wrote that is fictional.  Do you know what else pleases me?  Rum, walks on the beach, and cigars.  Yeah, they please me a lot.  So, feel free to stop by anytime to have a drink and to talk a while, I’ll be waiting.

Quick Appearance Update…Updated!!!!

A quick appearance update for everyone.  I will be with Wesley Southard at Comics Unlimited for a reading and signing on October 20th 2012.  Find all the lovely details over in the Appearances section.  I also aim to go out for beer since it also my birthday.  I accepct beer and rum donations…

I will soon be changing some things around here to prepare for In Memoriam and beyond. 

And I will also be doing a reading/interview/discussion online Monday.  Not sure if it is live or will be broadcast later.  I will give you all more details when I get them.

UPDATE:  The online interview and reading will be at a later date.  August 27 is the target date.  I’ll get links when the date is firm.

Well, things are looking up!  I have two novellas going and both are waiting to be looked at by some places when I finish with them.  After that the novel that is sitting around plotted and ready to go will be my focus.  Throw in some shorts here and there, a short story collection, and I’m going to be a busy guy for the rest of the year.

The next few post from me will be from Star Wars Celebration VI so the tone is going to skew geeky for a week.

Later…

Is Writing a Job?

I already have a full-time (plus some) job.  I put in a ton of hours and sometimes when I get home, the muse is toast and it takes a great deal of rum to awaken it again.  Every so often, by the time that happens, I’m asleep and my dreams freak me out.  The muse is a stubborn thing and can’t be held down very easily.

But is writing my second job?

Yes, I choose to look at it that way.  I have to work hard to carve out my tale, I have to work harder to polish it, and I have to make sure I follow submission directions.  Editors?  Those are my bosses.  They can tell me to fix something or tell me, “no, but please try again”.  Customers?  Everyone that will read my work is a potential customer.  I have to deliver a product they will enjoy and will make them want more.

So, how should I treat this second job?

I treat it very seriously.  My blog (you’re already here), Amazon page, and Facebook feeds (links on the sidebar) are kept clean (my Twitter – @BrentTAbell - on the other hand is where I let it all hang out and can be vulgar on occasion).  Does a new fan want to click on any of the above links and read me curse every other word?  No, I didn’t just learn the ‘f-word’ yesterday so I choose not to throw it around like I did.  New readers checking things out are sizing me up.  So, will I sound like a two-year old or will I sound like a professional trying to land a new client?  I’m treating it like a job interview.  If they like me and my work, I’m in with a new reader.  If I act belligerent in my posts, then most people would skip me over and try someone else.  If that happens, I’ve lost current and future sales.

The one lesson I’ve learned early is that to be a professional, you must carry yourself as one.  I strive to always be gracious and thankful for everything I’ve been able to do so far.  I’ve been to some cool places, done some cool things, and met tons of cool people.

What will I do with my second job?

Try to make it my only job.  Oh, here is the cramped space I have to work in until we make the house bigger and I have a whole office to myself.  Well, my bookshelves will take up most of it…

It has also been awhile since I talked about the new books I’ve read.  This is being cleared up now and I’ll be posting my thoughts on the books I’ve read from this year so far.  I just received a package from Thunderstorm Books and I am expecting one from Sinister Grin Press this week.  Let the flood gates open!

Goodnight…

Lessons Learned and Blog Winners!

First off, I would like to congratulate the three winners from the blog contest.  The winner of the signed Undead Tales 2 book was Beth Lunkenheimer and the two winners that will appear in some upcoming projects were Ashley Smith and Mark Duvall.  I’ve already filled Mark in on his role and he is very excited to be hunting and killing some zombies.  I’m sorry about the delay in posting the winners here (they were posted on the Facebook page), but life has been hectic around here.  In fact, my life is going so wonderful I’ve had to trade in my usual rum, whiskey, or beer for the glass of milk pictured next to here.  I will say that it is in a glass from a brewery, so I’m still representing!

In the past few weeks, the writing world exploded with the situation regarding Undead Press and new author Mandy DeGeit.  I will not rehash the situation here, but if you want to read about what happens when an anthology editor goes above and beyond editing without the author’s approval, click here to go to her blog and catch up on the bad situation.

I almost fell prey to the same guy.  I submitted a story to the same book trying to be in the same anthology as Mandy and my other friend Wesley Southard (link over in author links page).  The story was quickly accepted and I told Mandy we’d be sharing a TOC.  Well, that was until I received the contract.  First, it read like it was written by a third grader and some of the points in it were really bad (like a cut of any future movie options even if the rights have reverted back to the author).  I didn’t care, I wanted to be in the anthology with my friends.  Then we started a rather nasty back and forth about the signature on the contract where the publisher acted like a complete unprofessional ass-hat.  First off, the story I sent in sucked and I knew it, but it was the only finished thing I had (it was the first non-flash story I ever wrote).  When the publisher became insulting over how the signature looked, I pulled the story and went on with my life.  Looking back, I never should have even tried to sell the crappy story and secondly, once I read the contract, I should have walked  then instead of trying to continue.  I learned to read the contract carefully.  I learned to get something besides a copy of the publisher’s self-published drivel for my work.  Hey, I live and I learn.  I have myself to rely on and I try to do the right thing.  I learned my lessons. 

Now to help Mandy, the unaltered version of her story “She Makes Me Smile” is now on Kindle.  50% of what the book earns will go toward paying the anthology authors $25 for their story and the rest is going into a fund to hire a lawyer that will look into Undead Press/Living Dead Press/Open Casket Press contracts with the purpose of returning all rights back to the authors that have dealt with those presses.  So go click here to help support the cause.

Now I must get back to some editing on some short stories and work on the novel.  Editing has begun on In Memoriam and I’ll keep you posted.  The milk is calling so,

Goodnight…

Back to the Grind and Ranting!

I have returned.  I return a different person, a new man.  I’ve tasted the forbidden cigars of Cuba, got smashed on rum punch while jumping into the Caribbean, and found out there is more rum in the islands then I can consume.  The last one was a tough pill to swallow for me.  Before I go any further, I would like to state a few facts and how absurd our country is.

The islands and Central American countries I visited live in a poverty most of us never, ever have to experience.  Once you leave the nice beach fronts, the reality of the local economies set in.  The jobs most of them have is to be our guides, drivers, and clean our condos.  Behind the façade of the nice sand and tourists traps lies lands with great need of food, shelter, and infrastructure to improve their country and prospects for a brighter future.  Returning to the states, I was once again bombarded with the messages from our leaders and the vile venom they spew back and forth at each other.  The parties combined will spend almost $2 billion dollars to buy the presidency.  $2 billion to pollute our airwaves with mud and name calling, dragging each other through the dirt and grime.  $2 billion dollars that could improve the lives and prospects of many other people in countries less fortunate than ours.  Would we rather see the money spent on families who live in extreme poverty so we can lift their economies or would we rather watch commercials where one candidate calls the other an asshole and the other counters back with something witty like, “well you are too!”.  No, let them do something righteous with their war chests, see if they can rise up and do something worthwhile, and let them take a stand to the world by stopping the whoring for votes.  Please feel free to discuss below, I’m very curious to see how others feel about this situation.

Now, for something lighter.

A few things are at the press and very close to coming out.  Wicked East Press’s (WEP) Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction Vol.2 is at the press and should be released shortly.  The story I penned for the Cemetery Dance Amateur Writing Competition last year titled, Rivals, is in the book.  It has been updated with parts being tweaked.  I felt the need to make some changes before I did anything with it.  I posted the CD version at 4 in the morning and some items needed further clarification and fleshing out.

This weekend should see the release of Rymfire Undead’s Undead Tales 2 on Kindle and in print.  My ’zombies on a train’ tale, The Reaper Rides, can be found there.  A good little story about what happens when at the beginning of the zombie plague, nobody is sure what is going on.  Some other things might come out of this if I can stop blogging and just write.

A little flash story I wrote called Safety First was accepted for WEP’s Fresh Ground: Coffee House Flash Fiction Vol. 3.  It won’t be out until 2013, but I dedicate it all my friends at work.  When they hear it, they’ll know it’s for them.

Lastly, I am in contact with another author and we are planning to pen a few stories together for the hell of it.  I’ve never done this before and the results should be pretty good.  We are just starting to get the ball rolling, so I’ll let you know how that pans out.

Lots of stuff happening and I hope to have a novella update soon!

Goodnight…

The Grid

yep, the grid. I’ll be off the Internet for a week to partake in a flood of rum. I’ll be curious to see what kind of stories come out of this. I won’t be able to communicate, so everyone be nice and we’ll talk when I log back in.

Goodnight, day, whatever…