I Came, I Saw, I Killed…

Evening creepers and peepers!  Tonight I bring you the future and love.  In Surreal Grotesque issue 9, the ‘Twisted Love’ issue, my story “The Becoming” makes its appearance.  It is a special treat for that someone you love this Valentine’s Day.  Granted it is not the world you know, but a bleak future where humans live in the underground and returning to the surface for extended periods of time are the things science and nightmares are made off.  So, the issue is free to check out right here.  Go give it a read and share with all you hold dear!

The contracts are all signed and returned for “Stonewall” (The Blue, the Grey, and the Scarlet, Neon Moon Press), “Tears of Heaven” (From Beyond the Grave, Grinning Skull Press), and “Winds of War” (Horrific History, Hazardous Press).  All three books are in the editing and proofing stages now and should be ready to give you nightmares in a month or so.

Soon, I will have a new story posted here on the blog for the first time.  It is part of another project with another press and I will warn you ahead of time, it is vulgar and sacrilegious.  The little tale is for ADULT audiences only and I will post a warning before the story when I put it up.  What would you do for the love of an abandoned fallen angel?

Plenty of other things going on with the finishing chapters of Southern Devils being worked on, the Top Secret Project getting ready to take off, and a new project with a couple of my Canadian friends.

On that note, if you’ve read In Memoriam, please feel free to go and like it Amazon and leave a review.  Be honest, I can take it I swear.  No, no matter what else you’ve heard I can really take it…

Goodnight…

Tonight’s Guest…Armand Rosamilia!

If I were to name one of the biggest helps with getting my writing career off the ground it would be this guy, the man with the wicked goatee, and the zombie guru… Armand Rosamilia.  His work lately has branched off into the world of spies and from what I’ve read, he’s made the spy genre his own.  Of course, there is still ‘Zombie’ in the title…

Now for your pleasure, I bring you a few words from the man himself.  I do admit, my mother is not a big fan of what I write either, but she’s not the intended audience.  Sorry mom, that’s just how it is.

Miami Spy Games

 Even Your Kids Can Read This

 Armand Rosamilia

I tend to write adult stories. OK, I write really adult stories, with plenty of profanity, sexual situations and violence. Most of my work my own mother won’t read, especially the Dying Days series. She’s a huge horror book fan, but more old school like King and Koontz. I’m sure if she read a chapter of an Edward Lee book she’d pass out. And my mom is pretty damn hip.

I can’t help it, either. I once tried to write a fun story about a pirate for my kids when they were little but he ended up being a scary and bad man who enslaved children and did horrific acts of violence against captured sailors. Needless to say, they didn’t get to hear it. Come to think of it, though, I need to find that one. It might be worth a rewrite.

But with Miami Spy Games it was fun, because I approached it as if I were writing television episodes. I imagined watching the show and writing an extensive synopsis, if that makes any sense. I also became very cognizant of profanity and over the top sexual situations. A couple of times I had to stop and do a quick rewrite of a part when I devolved into showing more than I figure you can show on TV, even HBO or Starz.

It became a fun exercise to use innuendo instead of simply telling the story like I’m used to telling the story. And maybe something my teenaged kids could actually read. I wonder if kids still read, though…

Now, when I say your kids can read this, I’m not talking about your six-year-old. Let’s try to be good parents here. But a high school kid would find it exciting with plenty of zombies and machismo fist-pumping killing action and super-hot chicks wearing nothing but… OK, need to calm it down again. It’s a good story. Trust me.

If you have any questions about the Miami Spy Games series, I’d love to hear them: armandrosamilia@gmail.com

Armand Rosamilia

Miami Spy Games on Amazon Kindle only $3.99!

Miami Spy Games: Russian Zombie Gun

What’s Going on in That Head of Yours?

Sometimes inspiration can come from the strangest places.  Hiking around a local wetland area for instance can give you such nice symbols like the one pictured here.  From the wooden bridge I found this on, I looked out, observed the dragonflies buzzing about, and I stared at the murky water below.  That my friends is when the muse kicks it into overdrive and earns her keep.

Really, it’s that simple, I find something that grabs me and my twisted mind takes over.  Who drew the symbol, what’s with the dragonflies, and what’s under the green algea floating on the water?  Once those questions dig and worm their way into my brain, they don’t just go away or vanish.  No, they fester until they are released from my imagination and onto the page.

The journey between the head and the keyboard isn’t easy though…

I’ve been thinking about how I develop my ideas lately and I think I need to refine it more.  When I write, I just let it go and have everything hang out.  I picture the beginning and the end, but the middle comes when I sit and begin typing.  In the past couple of years, that is how I approached a story.  So far it hasn’t treated me too bad, but in the last month, I’ve rethought how I do things.

For example, Southern Devils has really become the bane of my existence.  I love the story and I know people want to read it, but I’ve gone back and forth on it so much it kills me.  The layout for the complete arc has gone from 3 books, to 3 novellas and a novel, and last week I settled on 2 novels.  I struggled with the story and where the breaks would be until I wanted to delete the story files.  Seriously, I was at the end of my rope.  In my head, I had it all in the beginning and all of the end.  Driving through the middle…it got me.

Now, I jotted some things down to narrow the focus and I find the scattered writing has been contained.  There might be some rough spots in the first draft and I apologize to my pre-readers.  I promise to clean it up before you get to see it.  I’m going to try sketching out the stories in my head before I start writing and see where that takes me.  My first story doing this is about a pet rock going on a rampage through town.  Don’t ask, but maybe you’ll get to read it later this year…

Updates!

2013 has started pretty good for me.  I already have 7 stories due at this year and there will be more to come.  Two were accepted this year and in a few months you will be able to enjoy the ghoulish delights of “Winds of War” in Hazardous Press’s Horrific History anthology and I just found out “Tears From Heaven” will be in Grinning Skull Press’s From Beyond the Grave.  In short order, Neon Moon Press will unleash the dogs of war in the long-awaited The Blue, the Grey, and the Scarlet with my new take on the undead that spawned Southern Devils in a tale titled “Stonewall”.

In closing, I want to thank everyone again for the support, kind words, and the following that is slowly, but steadily building.  Without you, I’m pretty sure I’m just sitting here talking to myself.  I also want to thank all the editors for their acceptances and rejections.  While we all want to get the ‘yes’ letters, we get the ‘no’ ones more often.  The work an editor does wading into the slush pile, the hard choices, and the work it takes to pull a book together is immense.  So to them and all they do, I thank you.

And to close, you get one update for the “Counter of Responsibility”!  Southern Devils Book 1- 27,000 of ? (It will end when it does, I’m not putting a hard fast word count on it).  Really it’s not too bad considering how many times I’ve ripped huge chunks of the story away and trashed it.

Goodnight…

Goodbye KnightWatch Press, We’ll Miss You. UPDATED!!!!!

The beginning of 2013 starts with a death close to me and my work.  In the last few days, David Naughton-Shires announced he was closing KnightWatch Press.  Like most small presses in the current climate, it became to much of a draw on his personal finances.  David and crew recently published four of my 100 word drabbles in Little Stories for the Smallest Room (you can buy a copy here before it disappears).  KnightWatch was also slated to release my short story “Stonewall” in another anthology.  Every dealing I had with David and the fine folks at KnightWatch was always professional and they will be missed greatly.  I have the utmost respect for David and I wish him well with his other endeavours.  Good luck sir!

On the flip side, “Stonewall” has struck again.  For those keeping score, this is the second time a press has folded before the story got to print.  It was my first accepted story and after a long wait, the press it was with folded.  I updated parts of the tale and it was accepted by KnightWatch.  Elated, I waited for it to see the light.

But again, it was not to be…

I am left with a big question now.  The rights to the anthology it would have appeared in are now with another press (there is not a signed contract, so the story is free to leave if I wish it).  The press is new and untested, but the man in charge has left a decent impression on me (he’s also working with some other great people to get the book out).  I’m to the point where “Stonewall” needs to see print ahead of Southern Devils and I need some flexibility with the story.  I want it in a book, but if I want to use it in the first Southern Devils book,  I don’t have the luxury of waiting for the rights to revert back.  Things are pretty fluid with the situation right now and once I weigh the options and decide, you’ll be the first or third to know.

Well, 2013 has already started off with a few touches of the bizarre and I’m trying to buckle down to complete more projects than last year.  I have updated the Biblio page with some new stories coming later this year.  A few of them are listed by just the title as I am waiting on some things before making the formal announcements.

Thank you all for the views in the past year and I hope to have a more successful 2013!

Goodnight…

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!

KnightWatch Press has just been announced as a new imprint for Fringeworks Press.  There will be new anthologies under the new imprint and KnightWatch name and all KnightWatch books not passed off to other presses will remain in print now.  I wish the very best of luck to KnightWatch’s new direction and also to Fringework for letting KWP live on.

The 2012 That Was and My 10 Favorite Books of the Year!

2012 kicked ass.  Simple and awesome, it was one of the best years a person could ask for.  The writing really started to get somewhere this year and there were some great things going on along with it.  Over the course of the year, I had stories come out in six anthologies as well as a few other accepted ones that are upcoming.  I had tales in Little Stories for the Smallest Room, a short non-fiction piece in Zombie Writing!,  Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction Vol. 2, Father Grim’s Storybook, Undead Tales 2,and I received the honor of closing out Ten Silver Bullets. The big moment for the year was the release of my first solo work, a novella called In Memoriam. This year also saw me give my first book blurb for my friend Carl Moore on his novella Slash of Crimson (a very good read-go pick it up).  One of the most fun things I took part in however, was the book signing with my friend and fellow author Wesley Southard in October.  I finished up work on a handful of new stories and I am in the last stretch of the first Southern Devilsbook.  If you like zombies and history smashed together, this will be for you.

Here at the blog I had interviews with Nate Southard, Tim Lebbon, and Armand Rosamilia, a few different blog hops roared through, and I had my best viewer year ever because of all of you stopping by to take a look.  The Twitter, Facebook, and blog follower numbers have all increased this year and I hope the trend continues into the new year.

2013 looks promising too.  There are more anthologies on tap and some more surprises in store for you readers out there.  But first, without any more delay…my favorite books of 2012.  There are some older books, I wanted to branch it out to the books I’ve read over the last year.  Fear not, the focus is still on this year’s releases.

These are in no order at all…

1.  Edward Lee- The Infernal Series…  For this, I read the whole series back to back and the way Lee portrays Hell as a city called the Mephistopolis was amazing.  He constructed an entire working city-scape complete with a demonic caste system and even an evil economic system.  All three books are worth picking up and reading when you think society around you sucks.  Remember, it could always be worse…

2.  Anthony Kiedis w/Larry Sloman- Scar Tissue… Yes, there is a biography on the list.  The lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers gives ua a raw and no-holds-barred look into his life and his constant battle with drug addiction.  At times uplifting, sad, and horrific, Kiedis shows the reader everything that has made him who he is.

3.  J.F. Gonzalez and Wrath James White- The Killings…  A very tightly written tale about racism, murder, and evil.  The story takes place in two different timeframes, 1911 and 2011 Atlanta.  A series of killings in 2011 mirror a series of murders in 1911.  Carmen Mendoza is a reporter who thinks they have found the link between the two sets of murders as well as a string of other deaths that have occurred in the Atlanta area over the years.

4.  Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee- The Woman… This is the third book in Ketchum’s series about a tribe of feral people living in the wilds and the bloodbath that follows them.  She is alone and finds herself captured.  The woman is being broken.  A sick man and his family have made it their duty to domesticate her, to tame her wildness.  But all the best intentions never end well and the violence he showed her is about to be repaid a hundred fold.  The Cemetery Dance hardcover also includes the bonus novella “Cow”, which serves as a nice coda to the book and leaves the door open for more to come.

5.    Kelli Owen- White Picket Prisons… A tale of justice in the town of Valley Mill where there is no crime and when Detective Mark Baker tries to track down his sister there, he thinks he finds the utopia his burned out soul has been looking for.  But for Mark, things are never what they truly seem behind the false fronts and smiles.  Something lurks beyond the happy town’s front that could be his end.  This book came along at a time when I was preoccupied with justice and how things go unpunished.

6.  J.F. Gonzalez and Brian Keene- Clickers vs. Zombies… This was the most fun I had reading a book all year long.  At first, I thought the idea sounded absurd, but it turned out to be a full-on B-Movie like assault through both author’s mythologies.  When Ob and his minions begin to inhabit the dead bodies of the Clickers, characters from both worlds cross-over in a riotous time.  This is worth it to see some of your favorite characters in positions and jobs you’d never expect them to be in.

7.  Nate Southard- Something Went Wrong…  A short story collection where each story is a great read.  Nate’s short story writing is amazing and every tale is worth reading.  My favorites in the book were, “Team Building Exercise”, “In the Middle of Poplar Street”, and “Going Home, Ugly Stick in Hand”.

8.  Geoff Cooper- Answers of Silence… The second story collection on the list is a very dark and ironic look at the world around us.  Overall a strong collection where I enjoyed every story.  For a taste of how twisted Coop can be, I recommend “Latex: Like a Glove”.

9.  Jeff Strand- A Bad Day for Voodoo… A funny romp through the day that Tyler Churchill decided the best way to deal with his teacher Mr. Click is with a voodoo doll.  When the tables are turned on him, he must survive long enough to reverse the curse placed upon him…if there’s any of him left.  At times while it’s really crazy and bloody, it packs the laughs a Strand novel is known for.

10.  Brian Keene- Earthworm Gods II: Deluge…  If I had to pick a favorite, this is the one.  Picking up where the first Earthworm Gods left off, the survivors of the great rains struggle to live through the constantly rising waters and the new creatures coming up from the deep.  The book was at first a serial novel on Keene’s website, but he re-edited it and this is the collected version.  I waited until the book came out to read it and I wasn’t disappointed at all.  The novel also serves as a lead-in to the next stage in his mythos with The Lost Level, which he working on now.

And there it is my friends, this is the end for this year.  I’ll see you again in 2013 where we’ll start kicking ass again!

Goodnight…

The Road to 2013

2012 is rapidly coming to a close and this year has been a year of loss, sorrow, and victory.  For all the tears that have fallen recently, there have been triumphs during the past twelve months that can still bring a smile to my face.  2011 only began to get my feet wet with my writing and 2012 saw a progression ending with my first novella In Memoriam being released.  There is a notable difference in my work and everything is improving.  I did not write and submit as many short stories as I wanted, but this year shifted and the novella became the chunk of my writing time.  Since I’ve been messing around with other projects, I owe you readers a new update.

The main project I’ve been working on now is the Southern Devils trilogy (a novella series setting up a full novel).  Book 1 is at 21,000 words and will be complete in a week.  Before the new year, it will be in the hands of pre-readers.  There has been some interest in this series and I hope it lives up to expectations.  The remaining books in the series are being plotted now and will be worked on after I finish another project or two.

I admit, in 2012 I was lazy at times and I didn’t get the work done I wanted to.  My 2013 goal is stop putting things off and do them.  I hope to have some shorts released in the new year as well as to finish the Southern Devilstrilogy, two other novella ideas, and some other surprises.  A short story collection is looking to be coming and I’m taking a shot at something in the graphic novel realm.

Next week, I’ll be here with my top 10 novels I read in 2012 and… wait, I hear something.

The dog is barking like mad and the boys are yelling upstairs.  I’m going to see what’s happening.  Take care and I’ll see you…

Eulogies for my Soul (The Zombie Blog Hop)

Due to recent events, this post is different from the planned version.

The wind gently whispers through the trees and its light caress brushes against my cheek like a mother wiping the tear from the corner of my eye.  In front of me, the hearse sits dormant by the chapel door waiting for its next ride to the freshly dug grave at the bottom of the hill.  I’m scared to walk in, to come face-to-face with death as I have so many times over the last few years.  Really, no matter how much I turn back and scan the markers scattered around the hillside, I can’t bring myself to step inside and face the black shrouded figure in the doorway again.  Staring at the bright-colored floral arrangements dotting the cemetery, I pause a moment.  Inside those doors, another life fills another coffin and the cold remains lay shattered in a wave of anger, regret, and loss from those left behind.  Pulling my collar up I turn around and stroll off into the field of broken hearts and forgotten lives.  Dealing with death is not my strong suit and delaying the inevitable entrance into the funeral home should put my mind to rest.

Instead, with each step away from the chapel, my mind wanders…

Over the last week or so, there seems to be a rash of younger people filling out the obit page in the local paper each day.  I scan over the names of people only about ten years older than me.  Reading those ages makes a chill run down my spine.  How much longer do I really have left?  What will my legacy be?  When I breathe my last breath, how long before my name dies and becomes forgotten?  All that I’ve done in life, everything I’ve written, and all I’ve tried to teach my sons I hope is not lost to the cruelty of time.

To size up my issue right now, it’s a fight with mortality and the way I feel the Reaper’s grip tighten around my life.

Walking past the patches of dirt where the dead lay in their eternal slumber below me, I think I feel something.  A hand maybe, reaching up to grab my ankle and pull me down to the depths of the Underworld…to my fate.  If the bodies of those who have gone before rise up, should we be happy for them?  Should we just hurry and kick their skull in to release their soul?

I propose we envy them.  These people have gone to someplace where all our questions about life and death are answered.  These are the ones who are back to tell the tale, but their spirits are tattered and their hunger over-rides all reason (or even love) leaving us with the choice to try to learn from them (if we can) or become their food (which is the most likely scenario).

I think this is what drives many to the idea of the zombie; the ability to live again without the constraints of a conscious or the crushing expectation of life to stop them.  In a way, I do envy them.   On one hand, they rot away and can’t think, but we get to walk again if only for a little bit.  For some of us, just a chance to defy the Reaper a little longer is worth a worm crawling out of my nose or my ears rotting off.

Hey, we all have to make sacrifices…right?

Thank you for stopping by on the Zombie Blog Hop!  I hope you’ve enjoyed the show, pondered your existence, and maybe let out a chuckle.  Feel free to check out the pages (check the Biblio page for some nice zombie books with my tales in them while I write my Civil War zombie series Southern Devils) in the sidebar and sign-up for the party here, on Twitter, and on Facebook.  This is a great hop and please go take a peek at the others who have some great things planned for you today.  So head over to the main page and get hopping!

 Goodnight…

The Next Big Thing? I Sure Hope So…

Evening there folks!  Tonight is the night I dazzle you with answers to questions I know have been burning in your skulls.  I too, have now been tagged in “The Next Big Thing” bit of author pimping and I am here to show you around the dark recesses of my filthy and blood soaked mind.    So without further delay, I give you…my answers!

What is the working title of your book?

I have a couple of projects going on right now, so I am going to go with “Southern Devils”

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I have a degree in history and I really wanted to make myself feel better about it and put it to good use.  What good use?  Well, I decided to write about how a voodoo resurrected Stonewall Jackson was sent to fight General Sherman in the South during the Civil War.  I wanted zombies that were a little different and these are purely revenge driven and either once they are killed by a head injury or once the mission they were brought back for is completed, they return to the dust where they came from.  Once I got into it, the problem gets out of hand.  The story arc did the same thing and went from the plots for a single novella to a novella trilogy and then a full novel to deal with the trilogy’s aftermath.

What genre does your book fall under?

Historical fiction that leans heavy on the horror side of things.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

The main cast would be:

General Sherman- Brian Cranston

General Jackson- Sam Worthington

Lt. Mark Duvall- Matt Damon

Dunn- Jason Statham

Hettie- Naomi Harris

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Seeking the ultimate revenge, the resurrected General Stonewall Jackson is sent by Robert E. Lee to hunt down General William Tecumseh Sherman as he embarks on a mission to bring the rebellion in the south to its knees.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I want it to be released from a press and not self-published.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It has taken quite some time.  Between the research involved and the constant shifting of the tale’s scope, its been hard to finish.  I would say it has taken a year to get to the end of the first book.  The short story “Stonewall”, where the whole saga kicks off, should be out before too much longer from KnightWatch Press in their The Blue, the Grey, and the Scarlet anthology of Civil War horror stories.  The rest of the trilogy should go quickly, but then I’m finishing my first White Creek novel before beginning the ending novel Reconstruction of the Dead.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

As far as something that is a history/zombie mash-up I would say Stant Litore’s The Zombie Biblebooks.  They are a great mash-up of the bible and the zombies we all know and love.  For a look at his work I direct you to go to this little linky here.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired by the muse that has taken over my life the last two years, Wesley Southard who pulled me back in, and for the words from Brian Keene when I needed them the most at my first public reading (having him pull a lighter out and wave it back and forth during the end is still one of the best feelings I’ve had since I began writing seriously).

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Funny you should ask that!  Why if you turn to the sidebar and find the Biblio page link, it will take you the complete list of all my work out there.  I’ve been in or have stuff coming out in over 15 books (some are unannounced and not on the list yet) as well as my first novella In Memoriam.

Well, that does it for me! 

There have been some issues with rounding up the next victims.  I’ll get some links up in the next few days so you can go learn about some more great authors.

Goodnight…

Updates, the Counter of Responsibility, and the Next Big Thing

Good evening my friends and readers, it has been a while since we could sit back and talk a bit.  Things are beginning to get rolling again over at Wicked East Press.  It’s a good thing to see and is a very good press to work to work with.  The delays have been settled and the anthologies Chained in the Attic (with my story “Amos’s Song”) and Fresh Ground: Coffee House Flash Fiction Vol. 3 (with “Safety First”) should be getting the last touches and off to the printers soon.  I am waiting to iron out the details, but it looks like the month of December will see me debut in a magazine.  It is an e-zine, but I’ll take it.  A print mag is still a goal however.  October 2013 will also see another story published and there will be more on it once we get closer to the release.  So the wheels of progress are moving into the 2013 year.

Now that In Memoriam (and if you haven’t picked it up yet go here to get it)  has been released, I’ve been slowly getting back to the grind.  The plate has been filled with many short story projects and I’m loading up on longer works as well.  Tonight, I’m going to start a weekly counter to show what the progress for the novellas and novels looks like.  As you may know, Southern Devilshas been a project that has continually kicked me in the balls.  It started out as a novella, turned into a possible novel length idea, and now after reworking and cutting the crap out of it… it has turned into a novella trilogy with a follow-up novel.  If you like the Civil War and zombies, this is for you!

Southern Devils Bk.1- 17,000 out of 30-35,000 words.

Next on the list is a novella that has the potential to turn into something longer.  The world could be bigger, but if I feel the tale is told enough in the novella, I’m calling it a day on the subject for some time.  I would tell you some things about it, but it might give too much away.  There is a man who has blocked out his memory of everything before the car crash that killed his wife and daughter.  When he starts to experience weird visions and notices he is being followed, he embarks on a journey to expose the mysteries of the Red Veil and try to remember a life forgotten.

The Red Veil- 3,000 out of 30,000 words

I have two tales set in White Creek in the works including my first novel.  The novel builds on the themes touched on during In Memoriam and makes the history of White Creek come calling during the bicentennial celebration.  The other is a novella about two key characters appearing in the novel and will be nice lead-in to the White Creek mythos.  For years, evil has seeped out of the soil and it has possessed many of White Creek’s residents.  A state policeman stationed in his hometown of White Creek must come to grips with his past and how it relates to a copycat killer who seems to be the reincarnation of the killer he escaped from twenty years earlier.  And what about the dragonflies?  Both will really lay the ground work for the next few years worth of projects including a short story collection based on the town’s residents and legends (this is separate from the other non-themed collection I’m working on now).

Sins of the Fathers (working title)- 4,500 out of 80,000 (goal-might go shorter)

Wings of the Dead- 2,500 out of 25,000

There you have it, what I have going on for the time being.  Every week I’ll update the progress and you can yell at me if you see me getting behind.  If you ever want to know more, please feel free to ask.

I will have a post on Wednesday as I have been tagged in the Next Big Thing blog hop (thanks to Wesley Southard for the tag!).

So for now, good night…

Enter “The Tool Shed”!

He is an editor who took a gamble on a story from a new author and gave him the opportunity to see his first story in print.  Since Armand Rosamilia became the one to give me the chance to start on the journey I’ve been on the last two years, I have had the chance to know him as an editor, a mentor, and a friend.   Most of all, he is one hell of a writer.

Armand’s new novella Tool Shed, has been unleashed on the world today from Angelic Knight Press.

When Michael Zaun takes possession of his late grandfather’s farm, he finds out he inherited more than he bargained for. Dubbed the “Tool Shed Murders,” the details of the deaths of two girls on the property, and his grandfather’s, seemingly by his own hand, are a little murky. Was his grandfather a monster or a hero?

The discovery of his grandfather’s journal awakens within him a new confidence. But what about the demon his grandfather mentioned? Is it real or just the ranting of a diseased mind?

 With the help of his friends, old and new, Michael will find not only the answer to that question, but a new strength within himself.

Armand sat down to answer some questions for as part of a whirlwind promotional tour through the blogosphere.

 

1. What was the inspiration for Tool Shed?

The initial idea for the story began many years ago, when I was buying every Leisure Books paperback I could get my hands on. I loved the stories that Don was editing, and they were all classic horror tales. I wanted to someday write a ‘traditional’ horror tale, with a monster or demonic entity harassing our hero. I originally thought it from the grandfather’s POV, with the murders happening on the farm. Then I put it away and began writing a dozen other stories. But while reading The Rising, or one of Brian Keene’s zombie books, I came across a point where he talks about dead cows in the field. The line ‘The cows had exploded’ came to me, and I immediately thought of my Tool Shed idea. I rearranged the story a bit and began writing.

2. What other books in the genre would you compare it too?

I’d love to think my story holds a candle to classic Leisure Books work from John Everson, Keene, Douglas Clegg, and Simon Wood. But those books are amazing, and the period when Dorchester was firing on all cylinders is still my favorite books to read and re-read. I started writing it with them in mind, to be honest. Then, when it all fell down and burned, I decided to find another publisher that I wanted to be associated with. That was Angelic Knight Press. I was lucky because they obviously loved it enough to publish it, and I didn’t have it sitting at half a dozen publishers, trying to get sold.

3. Is it a series? Will we get to revisit the characters?

Kind of. There is a longer novel I’ve written called Chelsea Avenue, ‘starring’ the elementals as well but set in Long Branch, New Jersey beginning in 1987. I’m doing edits on the story and hope to get it ready to make the rounds as well very soon. It’s another story that is many years in the making, and another more traditional horror tale.

4. What made you step away from the zombies that populate some of your other writing?

I never set out to be known as a zombie author. I wanted to write horror stories, period. When I wrote Highway To Hell it was only my second zombie story, after the flash fiction piece “Anything But Luck” starring Darlene Bobich (who has been my main character in all the Dying Days zombie stories) and I thought I wouldn’t be writing too many more. Wow, was I wrong. The zombie stories struck a chord with readers, and I still find myself adding more and more to the Dying Days universe. But I still write horror stories, and just released a print horror short story collection, Skulls And Bones, that contains nine stories and none of them are zombies. I swear.

5. The main character, Michael, is a large man. No chiseled abs or buff physique there. And yet, he’s basically the hero. Why write him that way?

I’m a big guy, pushing 300 lbs. I can relate to the character and his physical limitations, although I’d like to think I’m in better shape than Michael. I didn’t want a Vin Diesel He-man in the story. I wanted a group of normal people, and even his best friend is more geek than anything. Characters that are relatable to a reader, instead of buff male strippers hanging out with super-hot chicks. I only do that in my real life.

So, go and buy yourself a good horror read for the holiday season.  You can find it Amazon and you won’t be sorry you entered the Tool Shed.

Goodnight…