Pulp Speed = 4 Books in a month!

I truly meant to spend some more time here at the blog and try to do weekly posts, and that fell pretty hard.

But on the plus side I have been able to keep writing even though I feel busier than ever despite the Corona. I'm finally starting to feel Pulp Rev speed flowing.


Between March 29th and April 22nd, I released 4 books - count them 4 books.
In my #SAVANT series of weird western/gaslamp fantasy Memento Mori, with Porter Rockwell and Elizabeth Dee (John Dee's descendant and heir to his magical legacy)

I got the rights back to my first novel Heroes of the Fallen so I have rereleased it with a new cover, slight edits and a big old glossary in the back that I always wanted included. Its sequel is coming sooner than later - I'm hoping to have Blood Of Our Fathers out in a couple months.

The eighth book in the Brutal saga WRATH is out and I'm pretty stoked for it.

and trying out a new attempt at the beginning of the series, I went and put a new book at the beginning of the Brutal saga THE USURPER which has already made #1 in the Western Science Fiction category on Amazon.


Now granted these weren't all done in a month, Heroes was completed years ago, but got new edits this month, formatting and a new cover by the phenomenal J Caleb Design (he also did WRATH's cover)

Memento Mori was written this year but despite the shortest of these books at a mere 32K it took me the longest.

Wrath is around 55K and went real quick but I did have some of t written and waiting in the sidelines for awhile now.

The Usurper is 102k and that's where I think I really shine at the pulp speed. A few of the chapters were previously written, but considering its almost all new material and was written in January 2020 and April 2020 (not between those months when I was doing the others) that is some serious speed.

In any case, felt like I needed to keep the neglected blog updated and I will try to do better soon.

A Mighty Fortress

I've got a short weird western tale in the newly released A Mighty Fortress anthology.

It is a Porter Rockwell short titled, The Tears of Nephi.

Its a little light on steampunk, but I put in a little - the collection as a whole has the unexpected grouping of being Mormon Steampunk tales, and was initially inspired by the incredibly awesome Dave Butler. He wrote City of the Saints which I highly recommend, and then later down the road put forth the idea for a collection of more tales set in a semi-similar vein and there were so many submissions that was to be one antho became two and then as of today 4!!!

I have the honor of having the closing tale of this collection.

Thanks as always to my editor and friend Holli Anderson.

Check it out if you have a mind too.

Let Sleeping Gods Lie

I've had plans for this one for years, but finally got down to business finishing up the ideas that had been percolating for a long time, ever since I read that Orrin Porter Rockwell, my real life-yet fictitious weird western character did actually spend time during the gold rush in a boom town named Murderer's Bar.

He even opened up a saloon and did all kinds of things to make money, like shooting contests! I have already written another story set in these days based on a real incident, though I'm not sure when BAD MEDICINE will see print as the publisher failed in their western kickstarter recently, so who knows, it might be awhile. In any case, LET SLEEPING GODS LIE is out there on amazon with a print copy coming soonish.

I had so much fun writing this, one of the best times ever, just living in the moment with all the action, laughs and creepy Lovecraftian vibes shaking out. I was chuckling to myself quite often with some of the supporting characters among whom is Black Bart - yes that Black Bart who also makes a casual appearance in IN MY TIME OF DYING.

It was fun to reread some old Louis L'amour books and even a couple Lovecraft stories I had missed like The Strange High House in the Mist - because I have a hardly touched Lovecraftian god = Nodens making an appearance.

Oh yeah, also gotta love this cover by the fantastic Carter Reid.

IN MY TIME OF DYING

Its been a long time coming, I started work on this one about three years ago, got a good ways in and set it aside because life gets in the way sometimes, but it was always back there asking to be let loose.

So I pushed myself this early summer and finished up and LO, it was a bigger tale than I thought at first, so in addition to writing a novella that was set after the events of the book, I went back and rethought the storyline to #SAVANT and tweaked it a little. I like thinking of it as TRUE GRIT meets THE PRESTIGE.

So IN MY TIME OF DYING was released just a day ago and is already a bestselling New Release, so I'm grateful to everyone who has grabbed a copy and helps spread the word, I had a lot of folks just jump in and share it, so thank you all!

From the back cover, -

A young woman seeking arcane knowledge. A saint of killers riding shotgun. And an immortal who wants to die… all aboard a runaway train.…

Elizabeth Dee never expected a knock at the door would have her taking sides in a power struggle between two feuding wizards, but she discovers that she is the magical key to a cursed mystery centuries old. As she evades the murderous knights and demonic minions of the sinister Count of St. Germain, she learns more of her own true power and legacy…Her father never prepared her for anything like this…

But it’s dangerous to go it alone and she is going to need some protection, enter the infamous and touched, Porter Rockwell. If the legendary long-haired gunfighter can’t keep her safe, no one can…

Oh, and my son Mathias is becoming quite the artist and I am having him do a few illustrations for the print edition (I may add them to the kindle soon too)

I'd appreciate any of you all grabbing a copy and leaving an honest review, more than ever that is a boon to the writer, Thanks all.

MEMENTO MORI and A MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN CARCOSA should be coming along very soon.

Farewell Jc Johnson

My friend and brilliant crypto researcher Jc Johnson passed away this last week from complications with pneumonia. I'm saddened and feel for his family and friends. He had so many amazing experiences that he freely shared with others and he was a giving, spiritual human being even though he liked to bill himself as a foul mouthed, hard drinking, lecherous, adventure man.

He shared a lot of interesting strange things about the southwest specifically the 4 corners area and he was the founder of Crypto 4 Corners. There are a load of interesting YouTube videos he has posted if you are into that kind of thing. He also shared some interesting things here and there which have found their way into some of my works, such as the very real "L" shaped fortress in Crazy Horses.

Its hard, I always wanted to be able to go camping with him and share stories around the fire and it just wont happen, but I'm truly grateful for his friendship and legacy. I was also working on a book of which the main character was going to be based on him. When I talked to him about the name, he said I could just use his so I'm like all right I will.

That work is probably a ways off, but I hope to give him a little pulp immortality in my own way. Thanks for everything JC, you were definitely One in a Million.

Year in Review

I can't believe it's gone, 2017, so full full of hopes and dreams and yet there were plenty of people ready to kick it in the balls like a mule, just for existing. Plenty of bad news and yet, it was pretty good for. Its been my most successful year yet as far as writing goes, beginning with great success for SCAVENGERS, the sequel CRAZY HORSES and then my first pen name novel BRUTAL which surpassed the other books easily. Audio-books (both Scavengers and Brutal - should be out withing a month or so) are coming early in the new year and I'm very excited for that, and I had quite a few short stories out this year too - always a good sign, there no money in them to speak of, but shorts have a dear place in my heart.

Things have been great with the family and I have had a blast with my writing friends at the cons and such. I am planning on really kicking things into gear in the new year - I know I always say that, but this time I mean it. I feel like I now know enough about marketing and such to crank up the success meter with writing and all I've got to do is produce, produce, produce = write, write, write!


So for the rest of Year in Review, I'll talk about things I liked.

Favorite movie? Hell if I know, I'm trying to think of anything I saw, worth a damn. I probably enjoyed the Marvel movies most.

Favorite food? I had a lot of steak this year, the more expensive cuts I get used to the more I need to keep having them and not worrying about price- ah the joys of success.

Favorite trip/travel this year? I did have a good Christmas vacation to see my folks with the kids but the best trip this year was definitely my wife and I's getaway to Maui - it was awesome, beautiful, romantic and I even got quite a bit of writing in too.

Favorite Music? New/Current music is getting harder and harder for me to enjoy, though I do like Sir Sly, Portugal the Man, and Atlas Genius. Instead I've been listening to a lot of old school funk because my 2 year old loves it so much, I'm talking Earth, Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang, Ric James, The Commodores, Sly Stone, Parliament Funkadelic, Chic, Marvin Gaye etc etc

Oh and I have been enjoying the instrumental score work of Daniel Pemberton from King Arthur Legend of the Sword and The Man from Uncle. Good writing mood music.

Now the real reason you're here Books:

I can't narrow it down to any one but I can talk about the ones that really grabbed me.

Kings of the Wyld, by Nicolaus Eames
Bear in mind that this book is actin movie fun, its adventure, ts monsters, its funny and so on, never mind that this fantasy world couldn't really exist geopolitically and there are numerous anachronisms in there - its still a very enjoyable read with great characters and dialogue. I might have said it would be better if it was a little more realistic? serius? but then it wouldn't be Kings of the Wyld.

Blackwing, by Ed McDonald
This is where you complain that there is no pleasing me. I loved Blackwing, wonderful sorcerous grit  and surprises, but what do I think would have made it even better? - If it had just a little more humor it could have been a classic. So there, too much in Kings, not enough in Blackwing, maybe if Eames and McDonald collaborated??? Again, this is all just a reflection on me and my eclectic tastes.

The Burning Isle, by Will Panzo
It has a premise similar to mine in Brutal, stranger comes to town and starts tearing it up - playing the bad guys against each other = Yojimbo, Fistful of Dollars, Red Harvest etc etc
This is a little different in that it is magic duels instead of samurai or gunfights, but still, great characters and motivations, there were some good surprises and one thing I just loved - there is a character that its totally Karl Edward Wagner's KANE. I mean its not Kane, nobody ever calls him Kane but between you and me = ITS KANE! I even asked Will on twitter about it and he pretty much confirmed.

Witchy Eye, by Dave Butler
Dave has been my friend for a long time and I knew this book was coming like five years ago! = Traditional publishing schedules people - anyhow, it is a dense fantasy world in what might have been America. I don't know of anyone else working today with as many layered nuances begging for continual rereads to catch all the depth as Butler, I'm going to have to dive in again before the sequel comes out.

There are quite a few other books I'm forgetting in the moment and several from friends I meant to get to and haven't yet, - BUT I WILL.

So, in closing, I hope you all have a great New Years and I'll see you on the other side.

p.s. Some shots of things to come

Progress Report

Wow! November came and went!
While I did not officially join the NANO club, I did hammer out more than 50K words in November, but sometimes its a little hard to tell.

I'm still tinkering with a project - it is not yet titled, but it is a novelization within a series of a popular game. It is supposed to be out next May - but I don't know more than that really. 


When it comes to my own stuff, I had an 80k (very) rough draft for what was going to be the sequel to BRUTAL titled FIERCE and I decided I didn't like where it was going, it was a fine story but it was not the next step in the progression of the overall saga, so that has been shelved and restarted fresh. 44K so far and i'm hoping to finish by the end of December so I can have a January release. I'm really planning on going big guns for 2018.

2017 has been so successful for me and I want to keep all that moving on the uptick.

I am also behind on at least two Porter projects - Book 3 in the Dark Trails saga - You Only Hang Once and a shorter Lovecraftian standalone Let Sleeping Gods Lie.

Both covers are done - along with a mess of others I'm still writing, but those are priorities along with the Brutal trilogy.

But of course I can never just stick to one thing and finish it, can I? I also did 5k on a piece I'm calling Wine Dark Sea = imagine Hunter S. Thompson going to the vanishing Aral Sea hunting for evidence of vampires in the wake of the collapsed Soviet Union - its just weird wild fun. Unknown when I'll finish it, but so far its been a blast.

Pulp Stories Galore!

October has been pretty good to me so far, not too hot, not too cold and books and books and more books are coming!

So, quite a few short stories of mine came out this month and it was a surprise.

All right, I knew this one was coming, I just wasn't sure when it would drop but Story Hack #1 is here! It's full of great pulpy stories and the man behind it Bryce Beatty, is going all out on the art!

I could n't be more pleased with both the cover and the interior art. I love this rendition of Porter Rockwell he has for it! My tale is UNDER THE GUN a creepy weird western about a possessed gun. Check it out!

The next one was a big surprise as I thought the anthology had just vanished into thin air, but Rogues Blade Entertainment which put together some top notch Sword and Sorcery collections a few odd years ago kinda went into hibernation.

I'm very pleased to see that Jason Waltz has awoken and is putting out material again. This one is the Challenge: Discovery collection. This one was begun in 2010? and features quite a list of S&S and has my tale THE SERPENTS ROOT about a thief who will do anything to save her sister, even facing down the dreaded cockatrice!
This pic of the cover is sans text, and I really wanted to share it because all of our stories were supposed to be inspired by V. Shanes art work. So I added in panthers to a story that hadn't had them before.


And another surprise is the Pulp Rev Sampler this was a collection asking for short pieces in the pulp revolution vein.
All of them are supposed t be under 2,500 words so it is literally a sampler. I turned in one titled Wings in the Night, it does say from the forthcoming Walking Through Walls and that's my bad it should read Gods & Robbers, I screwed up but such is life. It is a never before released story, so that' cool.

Its a glimpse into the escape of a prisoner and ties into some things I had previously written in The Mad Song collection and its all part of a bigger work I have planned, set in the same world as BRUTAL albeit quite far away from that setting.

In any case, hope you'll check them out while you're waiting for more novels.

All the best
David

Mirages and Speculations

A short weird western of mine has just been reprinted in Mirages and Speculations: Science Fiction and Fantasy from the Desert - available here

Many of you are likely as not, already familiar with it - Garden of Legion - a weird western about Porter Rockwell dealing with the evil spirits of Legion inhabiting an ocean of tumbleweeds.

It is a favorite of mine and I'm pleased to see it out in another collection of local authors. Thanks to Jay Barnson for recommending me to the editor and thanks to the editor Lyn Worthen for enjoying it enough to include it.

Thus far, I think the only other tale I have read yet is Dave Butler's, SEVEN STARS because I got  to read it at least two years ago, when we were talking about stories for a Western Eldritch collection that still has not happened - poke, poke, poke at Nathan Shumate.

Its delightfully weird and creepy, and I highly recomend it to any and all who like a little Lovecraft in the american west.

I personally know at least half of the other authors but haven't read any of the others as yet. I'll remedy that soon.

Til next time.

Posting over at On An Underwood 5

In case you missed it, I did a guest post over at the On An Underwood 5 blog

Talking about my affinity and kinship to Robert E. Howard.
 Thanks to Todd Vick for inviting me over.

Crazy Horses Riding Everywhere

Crazy Horses is LIVE!

And get this - I set it up on pre-order - in part to push myself to hurry up and finish = pulp speed don't you know, and it worked. Just really glad I found a great editor who works fast - thanks Jana.

But as I was saying, it was on pre-order and STILL hit #1 already in the Old West category - I'm stoked! That's a first for me a #1 before anyone can even read it!

As always much thanks to everyone who has helped me out - you are acknowledged in the back. ;)

here is the back cover description.

A kidnapped girl. A desperate father. A murderous slaver bound for old Mexico. And a certain untouchable gunslinger. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

Infamous gunslinger, Porter Rockwell made a blood oath with the Ute War Chief, Redbone, to help him no matter what. Now that the Chief's daughter has been kidnapped by the desperado Matamoros, and that favor is getting called in at a most inopportune time. Of course, Porter's closest friends--buffalo soldier Quincy Cuthbert Jackson and card sharp Roxy LeJuene--are coming along too. Too late, they learn that chasing down the kidnapper is only the beginning of a deadly path.

As they follow the Old Spanish Trail, secrets threaten to tear the rescuer's bond apart and an unexpected stowaway increases the danger. Clues to a more sinister plot quickly unfold, and dark native magics breath terrible spells over their mission. Can Porter and his friends resolve their differences and save the girl or will they sacrifice more than life somewhere along the dark trail?

Crazy Horses is a Western with colorful characters and wit straight out of an Eastwood flick. If you like strong, admirable heroes, surprising action and eerie weird Westerns, then you'll love the second book in David J. West's Porter Rockwell series.

Buy Crazy Horses to ride the trail today!

I am so happy with artist Anna Stansfield's cover for me and as a bonus here is a the new cover for Cold Slither she did too - and I am so excited to see what she comes up with for the next one in this series - YOU ONLY HANG ONCE! It is gonna be epic!

Three for Three: Pulp-Ridden Reviews

A new twitter acquaintance Jesse Abraham Lucas posted about doing a three for three indie review challenge here. He even posted a great review of Fangs of the Dragon here

So I'm joining in and posting a few quick reviews of some shorts. Novels are coming soon, because I'm long overdue.

Here we go:

Horishi Tom: Tales from the Storm  by C. R. Langille

from the description:
Utah Territories, 1867

Jeremiah Redford lost everything when his family was brutally taken from him. His quest to bring them back from the dead lands him in the abandoned mining town of Angus, Utah. What he finds in the town tests his sanity and his very soul. 

Be careful what you wish for because you might just find it.

This is a quick dark western-horror read. I found out about it at LTUE from Cody himself, He stopped by and grabbed copies of Scavengers and Cold Slither, so I'm grateful. We started talking western horror and that's when he told he me this was out. So I grabbed it. It is short, but Langille has a gift for spine chilling language and atmosphere. I'd love to see something longer from him. 4 stars

Moonlight in the Valley, by Wilson Harp

I'd been meaning to check this one out for awhile too. This had a different take than the usual tale, letting us in on the monsters (werewolves) point of view I liked the pack dynamic, in fighting and such. Plus it had a nice twist on their antagonists - the good guys. A certain LONE masked man and his Indian sidekick who both go unnamed but you can figure it out. It's not without its faults, though, the language didn't grab me and I didn't care for the lead werewolf. 3 stars

Weird Menace Volume 1, by James Reasoner, Bill Crider, John C. Hocking, Robert E. Vardeman, Scott Dennis Parker, and Keith West

This collection of new tales headed up by James Reasoner is an awesome new collection done in the spirit of the weird menace tales of the thirties and forties, all the action adventure, mad scientists and spicy danger with a damsel in distress you can shake a stick at. I bought it awhile back to support my friend Keith West (no relation) and finally got around to reading - sorry I took so long.

These stories grab you by the throat (with zombified hands) and you gotta fight to let go and move on to the next one. A lot of fun for anyone who enjoys the old school pulps. I need to grab the next one.

Life The Universe and Everything for the Weekend

Its that time of year again, Life The Universe and Everything the annual science fiction/ fantasy writers convention.

This is one of the best, mostly because there are so many writers and other creatives to rub shoulders with. You'd be hard pressed to come up with any con where you could hang with more. I have been to some other big writer conventions, but this one is full of my people - everything Spec-Fic!

And of course I'm a guest once again, so I'll be on panels, lounging in the green room and trying to even get a little more writing done to fulfill my "pulp speed" expectations.

Here is my schedule - its a little Thursday heavy.

Thursday, February 16
9am
Novel vs. Short Story
Arches (Provo Marriott), 9am - 9:50am
Tags: Writing
David Boop, Christopher Husberg (M), Terra Luft, Eric James Stone, Scott R. Parkin, David J. West
The novel vs. the short story. How can they benefit from each other? How are the skill-sets different? How do you know which to choose?

11am
I Can't Believe You Haven't Read This . . .
Juniper (Provo Marriott), 11am - 11:50am
Tags: Books
Kenna Blaylock, C.H Lindsay (M), David J. West, Jessica Day George,
Not-to-be-missed middle grade and young adult books from writers of the genre and those who know it best.

12pm
So You Want to Write Horror...
Arches (Provo Marriott), 12pm - 12:50pm
Tags: Writing
Courtney Alameda, Larry Correia, Steve Diamond, Terra Luft, David J. West (M)
Get tips for writing horror. How do you know if horror is for you? Tips for beginners.

4pm
Making a Living on the Macabre
Bryce (Provo Marriott), 4pm - 4:50pm
Tags: Books
Courtney Alameda, Cheree Alsop (M), David J. West
Fantasy horror writers and how they create their works. Let's look at the works that hit a homerun and the writers that created them.

5pm
The Art of the Hook
Arches (Provo Marriott), 5pm - 5:50pm
Tags: Writing
Larry Correia, James Ganiere, Scott R. Parkin, J. Scott Savage, Andrea Pearson (M), David J. West
First lines and first chapters matter. How do you get readers interested in your story? In your characters?

Friday, February 17
10am
Hottest Women in Science Fiction
Bryce (Provo Marriott), 10am - 10:50am
Tags: Books
Jana S. Brown, Adam McLain (M), David J. West
It's not your sexy cover babe. We're talking women writers and their works, but you knew that already, right?

6pm - 8pm
Book Signing
Zion, Bryce and Arches

I'll have print copies of Scavengers, Six-Gun Serenade and others - but this is the first time I'll have those to sign.

So for all my long-distance friends - this would be the one to someday make it too.

PULP SPEED

I've got enough writer friends out there that this post is kind of a perfect storm of encouragement and moving forward with doing what we love = writing.

I first saw this article by Dean Wesley Smith about Pulp Speed thanks to Jay Barnson and it was one of those posts that kind of makes you go, "Yeah! I need to be doing that!"

I had already meant to make 2017 my year! Producing more and gaining commercial success as well. So far that has been a BIG GO with releasing the novelette Six-Gun Serenade and novel Scavengers which gained a couple different #1 categories and made it to the Top 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 in a dozen categories too! It has done very well its first week out. So pleased with that.

Anyway I was also listening to either the  The Sell More Books Show or the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Marketing Podcast, and one of them last week mentioned someone who said they have a daily word goal of only 50 words a day.

What does that have to do with Pulp Speed and my own work ethic? The whole point was only that at 50 words a day - anybody could find the time to do that and accomplish something - no stress. If you can do more great. But don't get overwhelmed, stressed and therefore accomplish nothing - Do Something!

So I decided that I wouldn't slack off any more and gave myself the modest goal of 500 words a day no matter what - if I could do more than that = great = but no stress. I have beat myself up when I haven't accomplished what I felt I should = usually an unreasonable amount of words but that didn't stop me from still getting depressed about it.

Since then I have accomplished it, doing at least 500 words a day if not more, yesterday was 3,700.
I did do 40K from about December 20th to January 20th and I fully intend to beat that by a good stretch in the next month. I'll let you know.

So in short, I've got a basic relatively easy goal to meet every day (and hopefully beat) to get myself into at least the bottom rung of what Dean Wesley Smith calls Pulp Speed. Pretty sure I can do it, I've got lots of plans for the new year, novels and novelettes are coming in a literal barrage of pulp fiction goodness.

Until next time!

"Scavengers" Chapter One on Audio!

Hey guys and gals!
Not only has Scavengers hit #1 bestseller, my good friends Jason King and  Zach Bjorge even went and surprised me with an audio reading of chapter one! Check it put!

and if your so inclined Scavengers is still on sale for .99 cents for the next 48 hours.

Scavengers is ALIVE!!!

My latest novel Scavengers: A Porter Rockwell Adventure is out now and only .99 cents this week only!

This is the beginning of what I'm calling the Dark Trails Saga - a trilogy at least of Porter Rockwell western adventures. These won't have quite the same weird west flavor of Cold Slither - no monsters, but will still be a lot of pulpy fun.

here is the description I'm pretty proud of:

An untouchable gunslinger. A lost hoard of gold. A host of brutal adversaries. What could possibly go wrong? 

Deputy Marshall Porter Rockwell can't be harmed by a bullet or a blade. As long as he never cuts his hair, Rockwell is free to right wrongs and chase criminals without worrying about the consequences. But when he learns about a map to a mysterious cache of gold, he's embroiled in a battle for the treasure with enemies lining up on every side.

As outlaws, villains, and a surprisingly formidable Ute chieftain stand between the Deputy Marshall and the gold, bullet and blade might not be what finally take Rockwell down. It could be plain old bad luck...

Scavengers is a Western with colorful characters and wit straight out of a Tarantino flick. If you like mixing horror with your pulp, strong and admirable heroes, and weird Westerns, then you'll love the first book in David J. West's Porter Rockwell series.

Buy Scavengers to join the hunt for gold today!

Getting Out the Word!

I just had my novelette Six-Gun Serenade released a week plus ago - I'm very pleased with the reviews so far (I even had an Amazon Top 500 reviewer give it some glowing praise!) and it was all part of my plan to help drum up buzz for the sake of the bigger novel Scavengers: A Porter Rockwell Adventure which is out Tuesday! And its only .99 cents from Tuesday the 24th thru Sunday the 29th then it goes up to 2.99. (which come on ~ for an ebook is still a deal)

So in that light I've done a few podcasts and such to spread my gospel of pulpy action adventure and just to save these for posterity here are the links!





















I was on Dungeon Crawlers Radio on January 11th


I was on The New Utah Podcast on Janurary 17th

Oh and one more thing, I'm especially proud of, my friend Dave Butler - who I am sure is going to go big soon with his March release of Witchy Eye, had this to say about Scavengers:

"From its hallucinatory opening to its savage climactic exorcism, SCAVENGERS brews up a heady mix of Peckinpah-like western surrealism, genuine folklore, and non-stop action. More fun than losing your pineal gland to an Apache medicine man!"

-- D.J. Butler, author of WITCHY EYE

Six-Gun Serenade Rides Out!

And Six Gun Serenade is out of the gate HERE!  

This is an expanded tale that was originally 4 and half K in Hangmen and Bullets, I've more than doubled it, and also have a veritable deleted scene The Money Light - which was cut from Whispers Out of the Dust and then the first chapter of Scavengers which comes out in two weeks.

Here's the description:

The song of the wild west, is played with hot lead notes and some folks gotta learn the hard way.
Schoolteacher Amasa Davison, is invited to join a prospecting outfit and assay gold for them. Turns out it's really a bunch of desperadoes led by a conniving spiritualist who follows the whims of a ghostly Indian princess (so he says) but when the rest of the bandit's start to turn on each other deep in hostile Ute territory, who can a harmless schoolteacher trust? The greenhorn cook, the untested youthful quick draw or the quiet long-haired gunslinger with a killers cold eyes?

Live the excitement and mystery of the old west as you read this novelette plus another great little yarn and an excerpt from the forthcoming Scavengers novel. Treat yourself and delve into a wild treasure hunting adventure!

Download now to enjoy the ride.


(BUT Hey You regular blog readers - It is going to be free right before I do the Scavengers Launch - so even though it is a paltry .99 cents - it will be free on 1/22 -1/23 - 1/24)

I'm trying to get some marketing movement behind Scavengers which comes out on the 24th. So I'll see how this works out.


On top of that I am part of a Marketing promo this week with a slew of other authors. 

Check out this link to see the full list with a massive amount of .99 cent books out today by speculative authors.


http://andreapearsonbooks.blogspot.com/

Listen Up: There was a Woman Dwelt by a Graveyard

Inspired by both M.R. James and Robert E. Howard, I wrote a collection of western themed ghost stories told in a bizarre mashup of those two writers titled Whispers Out of the Dust.

I loved James way of bringing you in to the English countryside and telling you about this very true story told by an old man or validated by this manuscript found in a musty library. As much as I loved those stories, there was an aspect I could never duplicate; I didn't grow up in 19th century England, I don't know that place as well as others for the sake of truly bringing you into that space, but I do know the American west and that ties me closer to my favorite writer Robert E.  Howard.

Howard was a Texan and wrote about what he knew (and so much more) and I could relate to that.
Jumping off from that I know the American west, so I found an intriguing place that was perfect for my backdrop. A real old west ghost town drowned beneath the waters of Lake Mead. - St. Thomas, Nevada. It was founded by Mormons (like me) and gave me a great place to start from because I know that history like James knew the Church of England, like Howard knew Texas boom towns.

So Whispers Out of the Dust has a score of shorts and among them was a piece inspired by James that was in turn inspired by Shakespeare - There Was a Woman Dwelt by a Graveyard.

My good friend Jason King shared it for a flash fiction Friday and then surprised me with a audio reading of it.

So one of the few audio formats of my work out there yet - here is "There Was A Woman Dwelt By A Graveyard." Enjoy



I plan on making sure more of my books become available in Audio this later year. I suspect that market is just going to keep growing, just like I listen to more audio books myself each year.

Best of the West 2016

It's hard to narrow things down, so I'm helping you out.

I am still in the midst of a stack of friends books - I am a polygamist reader - I am in Utah after all - so don't anybody worry if theirs wasn't mentioned or reviewed just yet - I will get to it, but for the here and now, this is a list of favorite reads for the year.

So without further ado.

Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy is among my favorite fantasy period. So coming back to the world of the First Law with this collection of shorts was welcome indeed. The tales are all over the place with characters we know, love and hate - and best of all we get to meet some new great ones too. These stories are are gritty, action packed, and funny. Its a perfect combination.

Gritty, bizarre Lovecraftian adventure and mayhem! This is the stuff! Charles Phipps delivers some serious bone crushing action amidst a destroyed American landscape that owes as much to H.P. Lovecraft as Mad Max. Something I realize going through this list of favorite reads of the year, how much I love humor with my darkness, I think it helps balance it all out and you need that when you are dealing with  ghouls, ghasts and the undead in general - not to mention the matriarch of the Biake. Right when I wonder where Phipp's is going to take a story he throws in some great surprises and always raises the stakes! Wake the Dreamlands, we have a new walking nightmare!

I enjoyed Larry's Monster Hunter International, but wondered what I'd really think of his foray into epic fantasy. I was not disappointed, Larry has the chops for action, humor and intrigue but he also has the world building skills for a great new series. I'm glad I was surprised with this one. Built around a survivor and warrior - not your average chosen one - this had so many surprises both dark and wonderful. The villains are delightfully despicable and mysterious. We really feel like our hero is in danger  - but did I just say hero - even he doesn't really think he is.

I don't review or talk about non-fiction too often on this blog even though that's gotta be at least half of what I read - research and history and such - Steven Pressfield type books are about as close as I ever get to self-help and that's kinda why I picked this one up - Pressfield's blurb was right there on the cover. That was enough for me to crack it open. Seeing how much Holiday puts stock in Marcus Aurelius was the clincher. I had to read this. Its short but very worthwhile.

My fiend Craig is a true renaissance man. He rocks, acts, creates games and off course writes killer books. His latest could be my favorite, a trippy noir ghost story in rural setting is amazing. Mixing teenage angst and stories that feel like we know them and then getting the rug pulled out from us is a tough job, but Craig delivers in spades. Do yourself a favor and grab this!

Another friend of mine I truly admire is Dave Butler. His work is all over the place and this jump into middle grade is an amazing amalgam of Steampunk Pinocchio along with a bevy of fairy-folk creatures. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a middle grade book, Butler's work is clever, even esoteric, there are lots of folklore references inside, whether from our own world or his that is enchanting and deep. This is quite the book. Check it out. Butler has lots more coming.

This is another of the non-fiction books I use for research, though if you have read anything else by Boren it reads like historical fiction. I'm not even sure I believe everything he has to say but it literally makes for a fiction writers gold mine. Not to be missed.

My friend Jason King wrote this one a few years ago, so its an oldy but goody in this list. This is phenomenal flintlock fantasy - something I know I'll be reading more of in the new year - and even has spoiler alert - some unearthly manifestations involved. Think low magic historical science fiction or something like that - its different but great. So great I even wrote a novella in the world of Valcoria that will be released in an anthology that sits between this book and its sequel (coming October 2017)!

Much thanks to Paul McNamee for pointing this out to me. Weird westerns! I love them and this one knocked my socks off! I wasn't even halfway done and I had to write to author Joel Jenkin's telling him how great this was. It blew me away. Somebody was writing exactly the type of weird, adventure, with Lovecraftian references stories I dig. And with "Last of the Mohican's raised by Mormon's vibe to boot! These are collected from numerous anthologies of the the weird that Jenkins has been doing for awhile - he has quite the body of work out there and I've got to check out more! You should too!

This has been a great year for fiction - I still have lots more to catch up on along with working on my own and I have got big plans for 2017. How about you guys?

Oh and for the next two days, Cold Slither is just .99 cents - it could always use a little more love = reviews etc - thanks.