BLURB
In this gritty “Dark Knight” meets “The Wire” superhero
series, an ex-con tries to overcome his blackouts and memory loss with the help
of his prison psychiatrist. Along with his returning memories, he finds
evidence that his daughter and grandson are in grave danger from a brutal
killer with a grudge. But he also discovers a side to his personality that only
comes out during his blackouts: a superhero with telepathic powers. As he finds
himself in a complex world of betrayal, dangerous alien biotechnology, and a
dimensional rift to a world of waking nightmares, can he bring together the
fragments of his broken mind in time to save his family, or is everything he
thinks he knows just another figment of a deluded killer’s imagination?
Titles and links
Apocalypstick:
Tales from the Mist:
Children of the
Plague:
King of Rats:
Book one of Sand
The Shadow of the
World
This will be on KDP Select, so the only link will be to
Amazon
THE GUEST POST
Greg’s Tips for New Horror Writers
Pst. Hey, buddy, can some spare some advice?
I get asked for writing tips all the time. Well, not really. But it does happen. Has happened! Anyway, I have a few books out now, and while I'm no expert or writing coach by a long shot, I have learned a few things. Things that new-ish horror writers need to know. So bind those chainsaw wounds, tell your monstrous alien mutant mosquito-human hybrid girlfriends to quit looking at me like that, and pull up a chair.
I’m about to share some of Greg's Tips for New Horror Writers:
1. Write stuff! You might be thinking Duh! I want my money back. If so, Focus! I,m trying to teach you something here! You'd be surprised how little time a lot of so-called writers spend on writing. Facebook posts, tweets and Pinterest shares don't count. Unless you are sharing, retweeting, and commenting on my posts. In that case, carry on. You are doing great!
2. Don't skimp on cover art. I'm sure you think your cousin is a wizard in Gimp, but if he doesn't know about things like which fonts to use, light and dark balance, and color themes, not to mention a ton of other stuff that I'm not making up off the top of my head, don't use him! Use someone who charges a little more than you can afford, and you'll be ok.
3. Don't skimp on editing! I don't care how many English degrees you have. You can't edit your own work as well as a professional editor can. Plus, you can't edit you own work. And be sure to use some... You Can't Edit Your Own Work, too. It hasn't let me down yet.
4. Donuts. One per hour. Don't question it. Just eat them. Don't exercise, and drink lots of high fructose corn syrup sweetened soft drinks. When you wake up! If you wake up from your diabetic coma, you'll have learned a very valuable lesson. You can't write while stoned on carbs. You are welcome.
5. Focus on tone. You are going for something scary, here. Setting the right tone can make or break the big baddies entrance. I do a thing I call Word Storming. I think about things that are scary and I write down every word that comes to mind as I picture said scary thing. Use these words creatively in your descriptions, but don't overdo it! A little bit of Dark, stormy, shadowy, spooky, cob-webby, garlic toasty, goes a long way.
6. That reminds me, delete everything that ends in -ly. If you can't come up with a better way to say something, read a few more books and try again.
7. Include as much background information as possible in your first chapter. You can't keep that stuff in your head. It will poison your story, so get it on the page. Get every last historical, world-building detail in the first chapter, then Chapter two will really kick ass!
8. When you finish your first draft, before you let another soul see what you've written, Delete Your First Chapter. Trust me. The whole thing. It's crap, and you don't need it. You'll be surprised how well chapter two works as the new chapter one.
9. This one is sort of related to #8. Know everything about your characters. EVERYTHING! Just don't tell it all to your readers. There are a ton of character bios, interview questions, stat-sheets, etc. out there. Google it. These will help you get all of the important details and a ton that are not-so-important. Together, these details will guide you in deciding what a character will say or do in any situation. They help make your characters real and consistent. If you want readers to care about your story, they have to care about at least one of your characters. If you are really good at this, it will be the bad guy!
10. Finally-and this one is important!-Never-and I mean NEVER-take writing advice from a sarcastic horror author. Now get out! All of you. Go haunt some ruins or, I don't know, write a scary story!
~~~~~~~~~~~
THE AUTHOR
AUTHOR BIO:
Gregory Carrico is a former dental practice management
consultant and software trainer. Abandoning his dream of working the daily
grind until death, he was forced into the thankless life of a fiction writer.
Now an Amazon.com Best Selling horror and science fiction writer, as well as a
2013 HFA Author of the Year Finalist, he finds a small degree of succor in crafting
despicable bad guys and then tricking readers into caring about them.
When not creating new worlds and plotting their destruction,
he advocates for adopting rescue dogs, and politely urges slower drivers to get
out of the passing lane.
AUTHOR LINKS:
AUTHOR LINKS:
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/CWRFH
email: greg@gramico.com
Blog: www.gramico.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GregCarricoAuthor
Pinterest:
http://www.Pinterest.com/GregoryCarrico
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/Gramico
~~~~~~~~
Thank you so much Greg for visiting the blog today! I loved reading the tips! As a writer, they will come in handy for my writing!!
Posts
2 comments:
Thanks for having me at your blog, Jess! Sorry about the mess. I seem to have spilled words all over the place...
Don't worry about it!! Trust me... I do the same thing!!! You're welcome anytime!!!
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