Changes are Coming

In case you've missed it, I have totally sucked at keeping up with this site. Time, life, whatever the reason, it happens. Therefore, I'm making a change.

I'm currently working on a new website to replace this one. This blog will remain live, but it will no longer be the face I'm putting out to the world. Instead, it will be what it's supposed to be: a place to leave my thoughts when I have them and feel they're worth leaving. The new site will become my face, and will be the first point of contact for anyone heading to johnquickfiction.com.

Keep your eyes peeled, and I'll be revealing it soon! 

Yeah, I Know...

One of the things I always wondered about when I first made this site was how often I'd actually keep up with it. I did well for a while, and then it kind of fell by the wayside thanks to the loads of other stuff I've been doing. Well, I doubt that's going to get better any time soon, but I did at least do a few updates to reflect my release schedule for the rest of 2019 and 2020, and the current projects I'm working on. Here's a few more details.

First, it's NaNoWriMo, which means I'm buckling down on a project for that. I'm doing a sequel to DAMNATION TRAIL, tentatively called SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN. If things work out, I'll end up self-pubbing this at some point, just like I did with DT.

Second, I've been picking up some freelance formatting jobs, which has taken up some time, but brings some extra money in, always a good thing.

Third, I'm also working on my arachnophobia novel, INFESTED. I paused for NaNoWriMo, and plan to get back and finish it next month.

I'm also doing a collaboration with Armand Rosamilia called THE PRICE. I've got it at the moment, and will send it back to him as soon as I do my chapter. Still a ways off from being done, but it is a lot of fun.

On the release front, there's a lot going on.

First up, on December 10, 2019, HIDDEN HEARTS comes out through Silver Shamrock Publications. It's been retitled THE CORRUPTION OF ALSTON HOUSE, and details are on the Bookshelf page.

Then, on January 24, 2020, CONSEQUENCES gets a facelift, a foreword from Bryan Smith himself, and a full-scale re-release through Poltergeist Press. The old version goes out of print on December 1, 2019, so watch for information on the new one in paperback, eBook, and--for the first time--HARDBACK(!!!) very, very soon.

Later in 2020, I have two more novels coming out. SAVAGE MOUNTAIN will likely be first, from Grindhouse Press, followed just before Scares That Care Charity Weekend, VA by the second Cochran Investigations novel, ONE LAST DANCE. There are a couple of other things in the fire, but nothing ready for discussion yet, so let's leave it there.

As you can see, I've been busy. Hopefully I get better at updating this site, but don't hold your breath.

This One Time, At Writer's Camp....

It’s been close to a week now, and my brain is somewhat recovered, so I think I can detail my thoughts and feelings about my very first NECON!

One quick note before we get started: most pictures here were taken by Tony Tremblay, who acts as NECON’s unofficial photographer. If it’s an awesome shot, he gets all the credit, not me. I was just the subject.

A Quick (Hah!) Update...

Just a brief post to keep everyone apprised of what I've got going on.

First off, break out the champagne! I just signed a contract with Silver Shamrock Publications for my haunted house novel, HIDDEN HEARTS. If you look back through the entries here, you'll see a few while it was in development, and come this November, you'll get the chance to see the finished product. Stay tuned for more information as it comes closer to release.

Next up, I do have two convention appearances coming up in the next few weeks. Next Thursday, I'll be headed to Providence for NECON 39. It's going to be my first time there, so if you attend, come say "hi" and help me get over the nerves. Also, if you're interested, there will be a limited number of copies for WHAT SLEEPS BENEATH at the Bloodshot Books table, that I will be more than willing to sign if you ask.

I'll be home for a week, and then it's off to Williamsburg for Scares That Care Charity Weekend 6, where I'll be set up in the first floor vendor's room. Again, stop in and chat, and if you're of a mind, I will have copies of all my work available for purchase and signing! I'll also be doing a public reading on Friday night, August 2, at 9:00 PM, so come and listen to me and Lucas Milliron do our best to entertain you.

That's it for now, but keep watching for me to start regular posts on here again very soon!

Milestones

Okay, it's a little early to celebrate, but I'm going to anyway.

If you've been following along on here, you know I've been struggling with writing thanks to my depression lately. To be completely frank about it, I haven't been able to finish anything novel-length since at least March of last year.

It's looking like that's about to change.

I've referenced HELLFIRE on my progress bar over there, and mentioned it several times on Facebook and Twitter. I started it as my first long-form project since my diagnosis, and now, finally, I can see the end to it in sight. I've already figured out the last three chapters (if I can pull it off in the writing, they should be quite mind-blowing), and am firmly in the third act. I see the end in sight, in other words. I'm feeling that old excitement coming back, and hopefully, that will be enough to see me through.

Two more chapters done the night I write and post this, only a handful left before the climax I set up in the fist. I finally feel that same passion I did when I first started this with an eye toward doing it professionally again. I have to say: that's a glorious feeling.

My life's not where I want it to be; far from it. But at least this one aspect is finally back on track.

And that's cause for celebration!

Over the Horizon - Upcoming Event Announcements

December, and the year 2018 with it, are almost over. Now the time begins to look forward to 2019 and beyond! In that spirit, here's a few things you can expect from me in the coming year.

A Dose of Reality

I'm going to do something that, as a guy, I'm not supposed to do. I'm going to admit that I, like many, many others, suffer from mental illness. Specifically, I deal with Chronic Depression with General Anxiety Disorder.

Let me get this out of the way right up front: I'm not making this post seeking your pity or your sympathy, nor am I doing it to try and increase my sales. Beyond that sentence, I don't intend to mention any of those topics again during this post. I AM doing it to help shine a light on it, and to let people know they're not alone if they are also dealing with it.

Storytelling in the Strangest Places

While I was taking a break from writing to get my head straight, one of the things I did to fill my time was catch up on my gaming. Not tabletop, this time, but rather video games. I've been a fan of them for a long, long time, but life prevented me from getting into any good ones lately. Since I had the chance, I decided to try out some of the ones that I'd been hearing lots of good things about. As a result, I found two in particular that really struck me as having some immaculate storytelling that drew me in just as much as any book or movie or television show could.

People have been saying for years that video games are the next generation of immersive home entertainment, perhaps even poised to overtake TV and movies. With storytelling like these two possess, I can definitely see it.

Scares That Care V: Healing By Helping

For a horror author, at least one with a similar mindset to my own, there is one event every year that eclipses all others. That event is the Scares That Care Charity Weekend, held for the fifth consecutive year at the Doubletree by Hilton in Williamsburg, VA from August 3-5. Like last year, I went, and since I'm somewhat recovered from it--enough that I can think coherently, at any rate--I figured it was time to recount my experience there, and also to reveal the reasons behind my radio silence for the last few months, and how attending this horror family reunion helped me finish crawling out of a pretty dark place. To make everyone's life easier, I'll save the really personal stuff for the end, so you can skip it if you so choose to.

This was my second time attending Scares That Care, but that didn't mean it felt any less exciting or fun than the first time. Sure, maybe I had more of an idea what to expect this go-around, but that only enhanced my anticipation leading into it. My friend, Joe, who went with me last year, was unable to do so again, but I managed to convince my wife to come along, so I had the added excitement of introducing someone new to the wonderful event that is that convention weekend.

Now for My Next Trick...

Here it is, the official cover reveal for my upcoming novella, DAMNATION TRAIL!

How far would you go for justice?

Came the wanderer to the church that bright Sunday afternoon...

He was looking for a preacher, his hope gone hopeless. His heart was heavy, his soul was burdened, and misery had become his existence. He'd lost all he held dear, and found himself involved in something he couldn't get himself out of.

This is his story, how he came to find himself riding on the DAMNATION TRAIL

Experience a new take on a classic story in a classic setting from the author of THE JOURNAL OF JEREMY TODD and MUDCAT,

The sidebar and Bookshelf links will be up later this afternoon, but digital pre-orders are available now over at Amazon for only $1.99, with a print edition coming when it releases on April 17th! Make sure to check it out, and I hope you enjoy it!

All in the Name of Relaxation

Sometimes you just need to get away, even if it's just for a night. The real fun comes when even your escape refuses to let you free from the stress you were trying to avoid.

I'll explain. As a caution, this is a long post, though I think you'll find it amusing enough. Looking back on it, I certainly do....

A while back, I saw that Brian Keene was going to be at ConNooga in Chattanooga, a pretty easy 2 hour drive for me. I looked at my day job schedule and finances, and found that it was possible for me to go, as long as I went on Sunday, the less expensive of the con's three days, and (at the time) the one day I had off from the day job. Two hours there, spend some time hanging out and such, and then two hours back. A fairly easy day trip.

On the Horizon

It's been a busy week for me, and one where I haven't managed to get a lot of actual writing done. That always leaves me feeling out-of-sorts, but sometimes it's just unavoidable. I have made some progress on both SATYR and WARLOCK, as well as knocking out the prologue of my modern-day fairy-tale that will be up after one of those is done. Also, since my brain never seems to shut off, I've been tinkering with other ideas. So, in the interest of helping myself keep things straight, here's what's coming down the pipeline for me in the next few months.

First, I have made arrangements to do some behind the scenes work on books for other folks as well. I won't be going into detail on that because I'm honestly not sure how much I'm allowed to say about it, but once I can announce more, I will.

Second, if you're expecting signed books from me, they ARE coming, I promise. It's been rough finance-wise the last few weeks, and I just had a vehicular emergency to deal with, but I'll be getting those in the mail VERY soon. I am sorry for the delay, but some things just can't be avoided.

Next, as I mentioned, I'm working on two books at once again. This time around, it's easier than the last time I attempted it. I think because it's helping to keep things fresher for me, more fun. I get stuck on one, I switch to the other, and vice-versa. No more trying to hammer my way through when the story's not showing me what's next fast enough. I'm even planning a third project, so all of those should be getting progress updates in the very near future.

Finally, I'm tinkering with an idea. It was originally going to be a feature on this site, but that may be changing to something else. I'll announce it once I have more of an idea what format it's going to take, and exactly how it's going to work.

Also, I have something planned for late spring that I'll be announcing sometime next month, and have a new novel coming from Bloodshot Books near the end of this year or start of next year, so keep an eye out for announcements regarding that as summer crosses into fall. I'm also working on some other things that I hope to have announcements for in the very near future. I may not be very vocal about what I'm doing, but rest assured there is A LOT going on. I just have to wait until there's something to talk about before doing so.

That said, you can make sure to check out my latest appearance on Armand Rosamilia's Arm Cast Podcast by clicking here. He even does a brief review of MUDCAT on the air, which I had no idea was coming when I recorded the interview. It's looking like everyone so far has enjoyed reading that one as much as I enjoyed writing it, so that is an immeasurable relief!

Anyway, back to the grind stone, and keep your eyes peeled for more announcements soon!

Today Was a Good Day

Not one, but TWO cool things happened in the writing world today!

First, I officially signed with Bloodshot Books for the release of WHAT SLEEPS BENEATH, my coming-of-age / vampire novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2016! Watch for it late this year or early next year. To whet your interest, here's the pitch I gave Pete Kahle to get him hooked:

"All Ryan wanted from life was to be cool enough to hook up with the girl of his dreams. If that meant breaking into the town’s abandoned asylum and stealing a memento for the school jerks, so be it. What he didn’t expect was to find a corpse in the basement. An old, withered corpse with a wooden stake in its heart. A stake he knocked free on accident.

When a strange dream prompts him to return, he discovers that sometimes legends and myths are real, and finds himself somehow psychically linked to an actual vampire. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and it’s one he can’t even share with his best friend, Hunter.

Then Hunter goes missing, the first in a string of disappearances that rock the small town where Ryan lives. The cause is even more monstrous than his new “friend.” Whatever happens next, Ryan knows his life will never be the same—provided he survives long enough to have a life…"

And to top it off, I discovered this review of MUDCAT by Mallory Heart Reviews over at The Haunted Reading Room! Here's a snippet for you:

"The prologue blew me out of the water {intentional analogy!} with a scene of extreme horror I could never have imagined, then rocketed right on with one intensity after another! ...All this, and CHARACTER EVOLUTION! I absolutely adore MUDCAT!"

All in all, two awesome things in one day! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Exploring the Great Divide

Garbage. Unsatisfying. A waste of time. Audience rating of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.

And yet also:

Awesome. Incredible. The epic we've been waiting for. Critic rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I'm talking, of course, about The Last Jedi, AKA Star Wars Episode VIII, AKA the newest divisive chapter in the long-running saga. What amazes me is how there seems to be absolutely no middle ground in reactions this time, aside from a very, very small few. I find it interesting enough that instead of doing a review for the movie like I intended, I'm going to try and explore the possible reasons for this, as a fan and a storyteller. For the record, yes, I saw it and enjoyed the hell out of it. That said, I do understand why some fans may not care for it. I hear your complaints, and am going to try and address them here.

Or I'm just going to talk out of my ass for a little while. You decide.

Fear not, I have kept this all spoiler-free as far as The Last Jedi is concerned. All the others are fair game.

Jeremy Todd Speaks, and So Do I

A little late sharing this out, but I did an interview with The Gal in the Blue Mask book blog , and it went up a few days ago. As an added bonus, you can also check out a character interview she did with Jeremy Todd, the "author" of THE JOURNAL OF JEREMY TODD! Make sure to give them a look!

Jeremy Todd's interview.

My interview.

Both will be up on the Publicity page very shortly.

MUDCAT: Release, Pre-Order, and Promotion

The time is coming fast, now: MUDCAT is about to escape into the world.

The date is set: December 5, 2017, and you can pre-order it now using the link on the right side of this page! Digital edition will be $3.99, the paperback is TBA (but yes, there will be both)! Stay tuned for updates regarding the promotional tour stops online as they are announced by JEA Press.

Make sure to also keep tabs on their page at http://www.jellingtonashton.com/ for more information as well!

Cover Reveal: MUDCAT

You know what? I love this so much, I'm not even going to build it up first. Without further ado, here's the full print cover for MUDCAT!

Click the image to make it bigger, so you can enjoy it at full size!

Thanks go out to the appropriately named Michael "Fish" Fisher for his incredible work on this one, and for elevating my "B-Movie" theme into an "A" cover.

Look for it to escape very, very soon!

#MudcatLives

The Fun of Writing Fantasy

I have two loves when it comes to fiction: horror and fantasy. Just as I've lost myself in a novel by Stephen King or Jack Ketchum, Richard Laymon or Brian Keene, so, too have I gone to other worlds in tales by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R.R. Martin. By extension, I've tried my hand at writing fantasy, too, to mixed results.

One of the first original novels I did was fantasy. I intended for it to be the first of a series, and while I think there were some good bits, most of it was utter garbage that will hopefully never see the light of day--at least not in the form it is now. A few years ago, I tried again. I got through a few chapters, and then I put it down. It just wasn't time.

Then a friend and I came up with a fantasy world for a Dungeons & Dragons game, and something clicked. I picked that in-progress novel back up, read over it, and realized it wasn't as bad as I thought at the time. So I went back to work on it. And finished it. And then finished the second book in what will probably be a trilogy called The Time of Ashes Cycle.

Here's the problem: I'm a pantser by nature. That means I have a story idea and start writing. I don't plan things out, I don't think very far ahead, I just let the characters and story pull me along. Fantasy, due to the intricacies inherent in the genre, doesn't work well with pantsers. Therefore, I've had to do a hybrid plotter / pantser thing that I am totally not used to.

I Definitely Know How to Run My Mouth

September is creeping into October, Halloween is almost upon us (yay!), and looking back, I've had a productive summer. THE JOURNAL OF JEREMY TODD came out near the end of July, I hit Scares That Care Charity Weekend days later, and I've done three different podcast interviews that came out since then where I've talked about JEREMY TODD, CONSEQUENCES, and dropped some hints about my forthcoming novel from JEA Press, MUDCAT. In case you missed any, here they were:

Arm Cast Podcast Episode 165, Recorded Live at Scares That Care
Armand Rosamilia had a revolving door on his guest seat during this one, so in addition to the segment where I appear with Wile E. Young, you can also hear him chat with author and podcaster Tommy Clark, super fan Tim Feely, podcaster Elizabeth Katheryn Gray, and author and podcaster Frank Edler.

The Horror Show with Brian Keene, Episode 130
Brian was slammed with helping to keep Scares That Care running smoothly, so I got the privelidge of being Mary SanGiovanni's first solo interview that Sunday morning, with Dave Thomas providing occasional comments as well as running the technical end of things.

Unnerving Magazine Interview Series, September 25, 2017
I had a chat with Eddie Generous from Unnerving Magazine about the origins of JEREMY TODD, Stephen King's hit or miss movie adaptations, and other things for his Author Interview series.

In addition to those, I also made a cameo appearance in The Mando Method Episode 47, where I was a member of the live studio audience at Scares That Care, and was occasionally pulled in by Armand and Chuck as they talked about their experiences at the con.

I'll be adding all this to my Publicity page soon, but for now, you can feel free to follow any or all of the links above and see what I had to say. For that matter, check out their other episodes as well, as all of them are entertaining and - in the case of Mando Method - quite informative, especially to anyone who wants to try their hand at this insane profession of writing for a living.

You'll Float, Too: My Review of Stephen King's "IT: Chapter One"

Adapting a novel to another medium is no easy task. Add in a previous adaptation that has achieved a level of cult success, and things get even harder. When the work in question is from Stephen King, a man whose career is littered with a series of hit-or-miss (mostly miss) adaptations to the screen, the task might even start to border on the impossible. Finally, consider that the source material is a whopping 1,000+ pages, and many would prefer to give up before they even begin. The odds are almost guaranteed that you'll produce something closer to Maximum Overdrive than you will to Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile.

Thankfully, IT gets it right.

There's a balance to adapting a novel to a visual medium, be it comics or television or movies. The printed word allows you to get inside your character's heads, to be the character in a way. Since a book can be as long as it needs to be, the story can be a slow-burner to develop the characters and the world and the problems. Movies and television have a set amount of time to tell the story, so often such luxuries fall by the wayside. In Hollywood, it's generally accepted that 1 page of script is the equivalent of 1 minute of screen time. A thousand hours is longer than most television series ever get, much less a movie. So how do you adapt it, and do it right?

By getting to the essence of the story and the characters, and not spending a large amount of time on the fluff.