October’s Wrath

I haven’t had a post lately, but that is because I’ve been busy putting the finishing touches on In Memoriam and getting set to flip the calendar to October. 

And then it gets real scary.

During the month, I will be on a blog tour promoting In Memoriam, being a stop on two blog hops, and doing a handful of interviews and a podcast.  The cherry on top will be the release party/book signing on the 20th at Comics Unlimited in Evansville, Indiana from 4-7 pm with my brother from another mother (and great writer) Wesley Southard.  The signing is the first official signing for both of us and we hope to see everyone come down and hang out with us.  There might even be a surprise or two for you fiends brave enough to attend!

Once the dates for events get closer, I’ll let you know.  I can tell you now the first blog hop I will be on is from October 1st thru the 5th and from then on till Halloween I’ll be a whirling dervish of terror on the web.

So beware the ghosts and goblins, leave the nightlight on, and prepare for the invasion.

You’ve been warned…

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…

The Year That Was 2011

Well, this is it.  Here we are at the end of 2011 and it was one hell of a year.  When the year first started, I had just  finished out 2010 with a fun reading at Mo*Con IV and a few rejection slips from editors.  That was pretty much my writing career till 2011.  Considering I didn’t start writing until mid 2010, I didn’t expect much.  I heard all the stories and such about, ‘doing your time’.  Well, I guess I did enough time, because 2011 was a very good year.  The first half was slow, but once April hit, all bets were off.

It started in February when I was given the chance to read at Horrorfind 13 in September.  It meant I had to skip Mo*Con, but I was ok with that for this chance (and to the guy who does the selecting - thank you, I still say I owe you more and you know who you are).  I now had a conundrum…what should I read since I didn’t have anything published yet?  April brought what I thought was the answer when my first acceptance came for “Stonewall” (that anthology has been cancelled and brought back from the dead to be published at some point in 2012 I hope).  It was followed closely in May when “A Winter’s Feast” was accepted.  Stories went out and rejections came back for a few months.  Late summer and early fall would prove to be a storm.

I tried to spend most of the summer working on my novella, “In Memoriam” (I am preparing to get the first three chapters out based on the synopsis I sent out).  The short stories were on the back burner, but some didn’t want to be buried.  Through the next three months I had eight more stories accepted.  I only set myself a goal of five.  Come on, let’s be realistic, it was only my first full year.  So, if you want to see what’s coming or what is out to buy, check out the Biblio page.  There is even a nonfiction piece that will be out in January and I will give you more info when I get it.

That brought me to Horrorfind 13.  It was the most fun I could have had.  I drove with my partner in crime Wesley Southard to the great state of Pennsylvania for a weekend of books, booze, and good friends.  I learned tons from people I hadn’t seen in a year and from some new friends as well.  Then I had the reading.  I wish I would have done better, but I was nervous and it showed.  I decided to read “A Winter’s Feast” for my time in the ring.  I picked it because it was my first story to see print and because it was the only thing I had the book for.  It was sweet to be up there and read from the book.  I highly recommend it!

The year ends and I’m gearing up for 2012 with the work on the novel and another novella or two.  The short stories will keep coming and ten is the goal for 2012.  I will take some of the stories plus some new ones for a collection or two in the fall (I hope if things go well).  I have not forgotten the blog followers, you guys have a story coming just for you.

The thank you’s for 2011- My wife (my pre-pre-reader who busts me up before Troy gets me), kids, and pug: you guys are the greatest family a man can have.  To the following for their advise: Wesley Southard, Brian Keene, James A. Moore (who told me to stop screwing with “In Memoriam” and get it out there), Tim Lebbon, Bob Ford, Kelli Owen, Christopher Golden, and to John Everson and Jeff Strand for the interviews.  Troy Green for being my pre-reader from hell (and kicking my stuff in the teeth – you make it better) and to Armand Rosamilia (Rymfire Books), Jessica A. Weiss (Wicked East Press), Eric Beebe (Post Mortem Press), and Jessy Roberts  (Pill Hill Press) for trusting my work and putting it in print.  Lastly, I want to thank all who have read and followed the blog this year, 2012 will be even better! 

The top ten books of 2011 will be up on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day for you to take a look at.  If you haven’t read some the books on the list, go get them and enjoy the rides they will take you on.

Goodnight…

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Whatever (Buy A Book)!

Like I said in the title, what ever it is you celebrate… have a happy one!  To make all your family’s dreams come true this holiday season, give the gift of books.  What?  Do I know of any good ones?  Why yes I do!  As you can see to the left…Daily Flash 2012 from Pill Hill Press is now out (and please the bottom of this post).  I have two tales in it and there is a ton of great stuff in it from many great authors like my friend Wesley Southard.  The book is 366 stories, one for each day of the year, and each is 500 words or shorter so that you can read each day’s story in a few minutes.  Taking the train, taking the bus, stuck in traffic?  Pack this tome with you and never be without entertainment.  Now about my stories…

“The Conversation” is the November 23rd story and is a very personal one.  This was the one where I bleed on the page.  Every time Brantly speaks, the words coming out of his mouth are my words and my feelings.  It needed to be told.  I originally had a longer story planned, but I could never make it work the way I wanted it, so I tossed it out.  Problem with this story is that due to the subject matter, it hung around in my head.  When I saw the submission call for Daily Flash, I sat down and tried again.  The result is something I hope you enjoy, I bled it out for you.

“On the Wings of Darkness: A View From the Dark Frontier” will find you when the calendar flips to August 26th (I might have the dates flipped- if I do forgive me).  While trying to form an idea for a series or a collection of interwoven short stories, this was the first part of the concept I came up with.  Now that I’ve had time to work it the overall arc more, some stuff has been altered slightly from how it is described in this story and you’ll have to read about it later.  This one was hard to write due to trying to pack it full of background, but still try to tell a story about how one man views the new world he finds himself in.  I had fun with it, so you are allowed to have fun too!

This week also saw another anthology with a story from me go on sale.  Wicked East Press’s Under the Stairs came out with my story “Calvary Hill”.  I guess I’ll give you a quick story note on this one too.  I never really set out to write a Western and strangely enough, I find myself doing it again right now as we sit here talking books.  This one started out being focused on something and then I found myself more intrigued by the other main character more.  In fact, two characters from the story appear in the new story and the town is penciled in to pop-up again when I get the chance.  Calvary Hill still has more story left in it, blowing through the empty streets like tumble weed in the desert wind.  Overall, I enjoy the story a lot. 

I have updated the Biblio page with links to the four books with my stories at this point.  The links can take you to multiple places to shop, so have at it.  If you like something you buy, please go back and leave a review or press the like button on the book’s page.  As long as I know you want to read them, I’ll keep writing them.  This page should be changing soon as it will morph over to brentabell.com or something close to that and I am going to set up a fan page on Facebook so I can separate things over there (you are ordered to ‘like’ it when I’m done).  My Amazon Author’s Page is up and looks nice now that there is more than one book listed for me.

So, have a happy whatever and support your local and other small press authors this Holiday Season.  Goodnight…

Finishing Strong- November News

The past few days have been very busy here.  I have received the galley for Pill Hill Press’s Daily Flash 2012: 366 Days of Flash Fiction which includes my stories “The Conversation” and “On the Wings of Darkness: A View From the Dark Frontier”.  The book should be going to the printer next week and I will get the links out there as soon as it becomes available.  I am proud that my friend Wesley Southard also shares space in the book with me.  So click on his name and go check him out…now!

I received word today that I had a second story accepted to Pill Hill Press’s Daily Frights 2012 flash fiction anthology also.  “Dr. Forsythe’s Cure” will join “Monster” in that collection soon.  I cooked up the four flash tales for fun.  I’d been focused on longer works, so I felt I needed to go back and tighten up my prose by writing tales with only 500 words.  I enjoyed myself, but the longer works call and the flash muse is silent for now.

Lastly, Post Mortem Press’s New Dawn Fades zombie anthology has just gone live at Amazon.  Head over to Amazon and pick up a copy here.  My story “Spot Shoot” is included in the book.

Good night…

Crossroads (and not that crappy movie…)

Those words are like my battle cry.  They are words from a man who I respect very much and I credit along with my friend Wesley Southard of starting this whole wild ride.  Without those two would I be sitting here now blogging to the masses?  Hell no, I wouldn’t care or have anything to say.  Wes got the ball rolling, digging up a talent I had buried, and Brian gave me the confidence to carry it forward and do something with it.  I could never thank you enough Brian for the encouragement and advise. 

The market is a mess right now.  Before going forth, brandishing the banner of a completed novel, I decided to start small and work up.  The last year I have mainly written short and flash fiction attempting to find my voice and get my name out.  I have found some success with this.  There are nine stories out there now and one is already in print (if you haven’t, go pick up “Undead of Winter” with my story “A Winter’s Feast”, links are in the Biblio section to the right).

But the time has arrived.  There are still some ideas for shorts floating around, but the time has come to think bigger.  I have a short story collection in the works to submit to a place next year that will weave my “Dark Frontier” concept into a group of stories that flow as one narrative (a small peek will be in Pill Hill Press’s “Daily Flash 2012″ anthology with the story “On the Wings of Darkness).  I also have another in the works that introduces my town of White Creek through the stories of local legends during a centennial celebration.  While these are still shorts, they are really different acts in a larger piece.  I have managed to complete my first novella, “In Memorium” this past year also.  I fight with myself about some story points and my pre-readers are about two to three weeks from getting it to tear apart (I’m counting on you guys-no being soft).  I also fight about “In Memorium” because the social construct that the story takes place in is very controversial and if the opening stays like it is, it will freak people out (I hope).  I have plotted out three novels and the first three chapters of the first one are complete, but this will take some time.

So, the crossroad?  I have gotten pretty used to having success with the short stories and I’m getting ready to embark on a journey that will more than likely crush my spirit.  The days of whipping a story out in a few days and getting in some place are coming to a close.  Why?  I’ve been called an “arrogant motherf**ker” in the past month and to some extent it’s true.  My goal for 2012 is to have something I don’t share with anyone else, a book of just me.  Is that wrong?  No, it is just the natural evolution of my writing career, to take off on my own.

This is where you guys come in.  Go out and support people like Wes and I, buy the books we’re in, and then review the book at Amazon (or Tweet about it, talk on Facebook about it, help get the names out).  One of the main things I’ve learned from the authors I’ve met in the past two years is to pimp the hell out of yourself.  I didn’t feel comfortable at first, but you either learn to network and get your work noticed, or you fade away silently into the night.  I choose to survive, I choose to push myself, and I choose to write for you.

So let the journey began, let’s ride the ride, and take some names along the way.

As a thank you, I am working on something for everyone who has signed up to follow the blog before Dec. 31, 2012.  I guess my wife playing Christmas music already has got me feeling like gifting the ones who were here when it all began, were here when the heads rolled, and were here before the storm.

Good night…