We’re Going Down In a Blaze of Glory!

December 1, 2011 – 2:43 pm

Change. The only constant.

We’ve had a really good run together, my fellow rockers, but after much deliberation over the last few days, I’m ready to announce that it will soon be time for us to say goodnight to Indie Author Rockstar. But before we go, rest assured we’re going down in a blaze of glory.

There will be two different ‘contests’ this month. The first will bring back our previous six rockstars to determine the Indie Author Rockstar of the Year.

The second contest will be different than anything we’ve ever done before. We’re going to ask our authors vote on every single book on our website (each author can vote for three books). That means every book on our site will be eligible for the voting. I’ll explain this soon in an email to our participating authors, and I’ll be adding some new books soon, too.

After these two contests are finished, around the beginning of the year, this website will ride off into the sunset. But before we do, we’ll have one last, glorious push, one more month in January to promote the Indie Author Rockstar of the Year, as well as some of those final books chosen by our authors as deserving of rockstar status. I’d like to see us really accomplish something for those authors.

So this month, we invite our participating authors to vote once again, to choose the Indie Author Rockstar of the Year. Here are your six options, all of them previously selected Rockstars.

MISSING, by Barry Crowther (December)

MISSING by Barry Crowther

MISSING by Barry Crowther

 

THE CURSE GIRL, by Kate Avery Ellison (November)

THE CURSE GIRL by Kate Avery Ellison

THE COMPANY OF FELLOWS, by Dan Holloway (November)

THE COMPANY OF FELLOWS by Dan Holloway

MEMORY’S WAKE, by Selina Fenech (October)

MEMORY'S WAKE by Selina Fenech

CHOP SUEY, by Ty Hutchinson (October)

CHOP SUEY by Ty Hutchinson

I WISH, by Wren Emerson (August)

I WISH by Wren Emerson

Now please, enjoy these books!

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in December 2011, Rockstars, Selections | Comments (0)

The December Indie Author Rockstar Is …

December 1, 2011 – 1:47 pm

In the past, the voting at IAR has always very tight. But this time, we have a clear winner along with a second-place book. The rockstar is …

BARRY CROWTHER with MISSING!!!

Barry is the …

Barry can now wear this badge with pride. He can also add to his product pages this badge of honor for MISSING: “IndieAuthorRockstar.com December 2011 Rockstar.”

The runner-up this month was … SILAS, by Robert Duperre. Congrats, Robert!

Now Barry is going to need our positive energy and enthusiasm. Let’s rally behind him. Consider buying and reading his books (he also has a novella), telling people about MISSING, hosting him at your blog, or getting in touch with him (Website, Twitter) to see if he needs anything. Please get behind MISSING and be generous with your support. If you have any ideas, or if you want to share anything you’re doing to help Barry, please add your comment below.

We’re going to invite Barry to write an additional blog posts for us soon, so stay tuned for that. We’re also going to have special guest posts from some of our recent winners, Ty Hutchinson, Dan Holloway, and Kate Avery Ellison. We’re also about to announce some HUGE changes to how our site works, as well as six ‘new’ selections (hint: Barry Crowther will be back again this month–ooh the suspense!). Thanks again for participating in IAR and happy reading!

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in December 2011, Rockstars | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Guest Posts from Robert Duperre, K.C. May, and Donna Burgess

December 1, 2011 – 12:53 am

Yesterday, we had guest posts from Robert Eaton, Barry Crowther, and Alex Owens. Today, Robert Duperre, K.C. May, and Donna Burgess. Later today, we’ll announce our newest rockstar. Stay tuned after that, too, for more posts from previous rockstars Ty Hutchinson, Kate Avery Ellison, and Dan Holloway.

Guest Post from Robert Duperre

SILAS by Robert Duperre

SILAS by Robert Duperre

Normally I would never forget about an opportunity to promote myself, but writing this blog post slipped my mind because it turns out someone very important in my life has been gearing up for a rather special event, which has taken up a good portion of my attention lately.

You see, my wife, Jessica Torrant, is an artist.  She has been making a living selling her abstract works (as well as hand-carved stamps) online for the last seven years, and it’s been rewarding for me, as her mate and number one fan, to cheer her on as her various creative endeavors have grown.

About a month ago, Jess got a call from an upper-end restaurant-slash-gallery, asking her if she was still interested in displaying her work from December through the end of January.  She’d been in contact with the establishment’s previous art director maybe a year ago, but hadn’t heard anything in a long time.  So of course, she jumped at the opportunity, which left her less than four weeks to create a brand new series of twenty paintings to display.

I watched my love work herself to the bone, pouring layer after layer of paint onto multiple canvases.  She would paint until late in the evenings, her easel cluttering up our kitchen (too cold to be in the outdoor studio), sometimes not packing it in until it was time for me to head off to work the following morning.  And then, after my ten-hour shift, I’d come home to see her slaving away again, either catching up on her stamp orders, promoting, or, yes, painting once more.

It can be lonely being the mate of an artist.  There are long moments of solitude, of wiling away by yourself while your partner frantically deposits the images in their mind onto the medium of their choice.  But you know what’s heartening about this?  For Jess and I, we’re in this together.  I, myself, spend long hours pounding the keys in the basement, doing my best to not miss my latest deadline, which can often times leave her feeling just as lonely, just as isolated, just as helpless to assist in the process, as I have over the last month.  But as I said, this is a partnership, a ship with two captains.

Which is what made this Tuesday such a rewarding experience for me.  I took the day off work to assist in hanging the work for the show (YES!  Some use for me!).  To be able to offer my opinions, to help with physical labor, or just to stand on the sidelines and smile at her as she drove another nail into the wall, were just as special to me as any accolades I could receive for my own writing, for which there has been plenty already.

I love my wife.  I love being an artist’s husband.  In a lot of ways, there’s no other person I could be with who would understand what it is I do, and vice versa.

Guest Post from K.C. May

THE VENOM OF VIPERS by K.C. May

THE VENOM OF VIPERS by K.C. May

Research

Some writers love it, some don’t, but most of us admit it’s a necessary part of writing fiction. Few of us have all the knowledge we need to present a realistic story from start to finish, and if we’re writing about a subject in which we’re not experts, research is crucial.

I just finished a best-selling novel in which the terms psychotic and psychopathic were used interchangeably. Most people may not know the difference, but because I’ve been researching psychopathy for my own upcoming story, I know they’re very different conditions. Insufficient research can interfere with the reader’s enjoyment of the story. Once we research and get a good understanding of our subject, we then need to gauge how much of the researched information belongs in the story.

Say I have a dead body fall from a window. The eyewitness says it took 5 seconds to hit the ground from about 50 feet high. Most readers probably have enough of an understanding of physics to know it doesn’t take five seconds for a body to fall 50 feet, even if they’ve never seen the equation g = 9.81 m/s2. Depending on my story type, either the eyewitness is mistaken or lying, the building the body falls from is not on earth, or there’s some other reason for the change in gravity — a reason that must be plausible.

Or say my novel has a virus responsible for wiping out half the population (hey! it does!), and in the last 40 years no cure has been found. I can’t simply expect readers to accept this without question, but do I have to go through 40 years of fictional research to describe why there’s no cure?

If we have an altered gravity or a killer virus, the challenge is presenting the explanation in a way that’s not only believable to readers who are experts in the subject matter, but understandable by readers who aren’t interested in the science part. This way, we establish a credible foundation for the rest of the story.

Of course, this problem isn’t limited to science fiction authors. Whether your characters plant a computer virus, ride a racehorse, fly a jet, or start a bar fight, research is crucial unless you can write from personal experience. How much research you need depends on the degree of detail needed for the story. A man writing about a woman having a baby could probably talk to a few mothers to get an idea of what it might be like for his character. He doesn’t need a medical degree in obstetrics to write a credible birthing scene.

Perhaps my best advice is to keep it simple. Explain what you must, show as much as you can though relevant character actions and dialog, and get feedback from trusted beta readers on the accuracy of your information. Many subject matter experts are willing to read what you’ve written and offer corrections for the low price of a thank you.

Guest Post by Donna Burgess

DARKLANDS: A VAMPIRE'S TALE by Donna Burgess

DARKLANDS: A VAMPIRE'S TALE by Donna Burgess

This time last year, I was sending Darklands around to agents and the few publishers that would look at unagented work. It was an encouraging process—I received some requests and even spoke to a couple of known agents over the phone. Still, in the end, there was no contract and no prospects on the horizon.

So, I took the plunge and uploaded Darklands to KDP, Pubit!, and Smashwords.  The rest wasn’t exactly history, as they say, but it has made for an interesting year.

As I celebrate my first anniversary as an “Indie” ( “shudder” ;-P), I thought I would take a look back at how my views on publishing have changed.

  • I now realize that Indie publishing is an alternative, not a last resort. I hate the term “failed author” when referring to Indies. There’s no failure in gaining readers who enjoy your work, seeing a paycheck at the end of the month, and knowing you’ve done something by yourself, for yourself.
  • There is definite “us” and “them” attitude between traditionally published authors and Indies. I used to think it was envy on our part, but I now think growing number of “them” wish they were “us.”
  • Writing is no longer a hobby, it’s a business.
  • I’m no longer shy about telling people I am a horror writer—a self-published horror writer. Yes, I still get those looks (you know the look I’m talking about), and the little “So, you’re self-published,” comment. Lately, I tend to respond with “So, you’re still a cashier (waitress, Realtor, teller, etc.).” They have no shame in what they do, so why should I apologize for what I do?
  • Things are no longer one-sided with the legacy authors enjoying the upper hand. An Indie product can be interchangeable with those from the “big guys.” Lately, I’ve noticed some backlash toward Indies, but people are allowed to make sweeping generalizations, no matter how misinformed those generalizations are. There will always be ignorant people who will try to avoid us, so it is up to us to “trick” them. We’re out to sell books, not Indie books. Traditional publishers wrap up a lot of crap in the guise of a pretty cover and a blurb from a known author. They often get away with it. We don’t have that luxury. We have to set a new standard. We are beyond the point of uploading just anything and crossing our fingers. Intelligent readers are after a good story, first and foremost, but we can’t stop there. Editing, good cover design, and proper ebook formatting are readily available, even those of us on a budget.
  • Finally, I’ve found the Indie community is one built on mutual respect, encouragement and sharing information. I’m not sure traditional publishing can claim this.

Thanks to my fellow Indie authors and to Moses for a wonderful idea and terrific site. I am honored to be a part of the Indie movement and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in Guest Posts, November 2011 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

Guest Posts from Robert Eaton, Alex Owens, and Barry Crowther

November 30, 2011 – 4:48 pm

Today, we have guest posts from Robert Eaton, Barry Crowther, and Alex Owens. Tomorrow morning, we’ll have posts from Robert Duperre, K.C. May, and Donna Burgess. Later tomorrow, we’ll announce our newest rockstar. Stay tuned after that, too, for more posts from previous rockstars Ty Hutchinson, Kate Avery Ellison, and Dan Holloway.

Guest Post by Robert Eaton

THE HERO ALWAYS WINS by Robert Eaton

What’s in a name?

I put a lot of thought into names when I write.  Whether it’s the title of my book, the names of my characters, or the cities on my fantasy map, every name has a meaning behind it.

Take the title of my book The Hero Always Wins.  It’s catchy, its cliché, and it tells you a great deal about the book itself.  Fantasy fans immediately identify with it because it suggests a theme so central to the genre.  It’s a formula that has been successful for millions of books, fantasy and otherwise.  On the flip side, I constantly hear that it sounds like the title of a Terry Pratchett novel.  In truth, my work is significantly more dark and serious than Pratchett’s.  However, in my own satiric way, I do share a bit of Pratchett’s sense of humor toward the fantasy genre.

I’m every bit as picky about the names of my characters as I am about the titles of my books.  For characters that will have a significant role in a book or series, I look for meaning in the names.  I do my research online, and I’ve spent hundreds of hours scouring websites that discuss the meaning of various names.  I like to pick a name that matches a character’s primary trait.  If a character is loyal, I look for names that mean loyal.  If a character is beautiful, then I look for names that mean beauty.

In addition to the meaning behind names, I look at the country of origin.  The Hero Always Wins takes place in a fantasy world, but I tend to think of medieval Europe when I picture the world in my mind.  The bulk of my main characters have names of English or French descent.  For characters that are more exotic in my fantasy world, I sometimes look at names from other cultures, including Scandinavian, Italian, and Japanese.

When it comes to bit characters, those that only show up for a single scene or a few brief scenes, I put less time into researching names.  Instead, I use names that have influenced me in pop culture.  A lot of fantasy authors draw on mythology, and I have done that at times.  However, one day I decided I don’t really care that much about mythology, yet I love rock and roll, movies, and sports.  So for minor characters, I often select names from athletes I have rooted for, musicians I enjoy, or movie characters I loved.  I try to do this in a subtle ways though.  For example, sometimes I use only part of a name, or sometimes I use a person’s birth name instead of their stage name.

Regardless of where I get my names, my characters are never based directly on real people.  My names have meaning, either literally or personally, but it ends at the name.  From there, the character takes over and, hopefully, brings new meaning to the name I have chosen for them.

Guest Post by Alex Owens

SKIN by Alex Owens

SKIN by Alex Owens

While browsing my go-to online bookseller the other day, I’ve noticed my tastes have changed over the last several months and that has everything to do with Indie Authors. Since becoming an Indie myself, my eyes have been opened to other independently published and thus my buying habits have changed. One might say it’s an Indie Revolution out there thanks to the brave souls that helped pave the way for the rest of us.

So how has being and Indie changed the way I shop? Well, I refuse to spend over ten bucks on an ebook these days. While the traditionally published books used to stay safely under that, the Big Six have gotten greedy lately, jacking the prices up to ridiculous levels. Sure, I could pay $14.99 for an ebook, but the smarter thing to do would be to visit an actual bookstore and snag the paper copy once it becomes heavily discounted. I refuse to do that because ebooks have spoiled me so. And paying more for and ebook than a paper copy… that’s not going to happen.

So, instead of fighting with my book budget, I gloss right over most Trad Pub’d books in search of Indie Books and I’ve discovered a slew worth reading. And the market’s always growing so my To-Be-Read list never gets any shorter!

I’ve also noticed that there are fewer “wow” books from the Big Six publishers and to be honest I’d become bored reading similarly honed novels. With Indies however, I’ve read novels that dazzle and wow all over the place. This makes sense to me as an Indie Author and Indie Reader. We have no one telling us, “That book won’t sell like that. Better add a sparkly vampire!”

In the tradition of the literary mavericks that came before us, such as Poe, Twain, and Orwell, we take counsel from trusted readers and editors, but we don’t change our novels to fit the market. We release them into the wild, in the hopes that our novels will change the market instead. We can do that, because Indie authors have all the control.

All those original stories, told in the manner in which they were created, they give a gift to readers and writers. They force us to think outside of the box, to experience something different for a change instead of the homogenized “sure bets” on the market. Indies stretch our imaginations and show us that originality and creativity are not dead after all. As a writer, Indie novels have helped me get out of my own way and my prose is better for it. As a voracious reader, I can say that my budget stretches farther too.

All in all I’d say it’s a great time to love books, whether as a reader or a writer. I hope you enjoy finding new authors and their works as much as I have. Oh, and welcome to the Indie Revolution!

Guest Post by Barry Crowther

MISSING by Barry Crowther

MISSING by Barry Crowther

Why did Amazon have to kill us all?

Recently I’ve become more aware of the mass exodus from the Amazon forums by authors. For those not familiar with the Amazon forums or the recent goings on they are basically the discussion groups that operate on the Amazon sites all over the world. They are places where readers and writers (supposedly) got together and exchanged ideas on some good books they’ve read or wrote.

It was a great marketplace of ideas. I have picked up some great Indie works due to conversations on these boards and even started a line of discussion for another author that I thought the group would like. This led to the author picking up thousands of dollars in sales and they weren’t Indie and hardly needed the cash but it was good. Good for everyone. So what went wrong?

From my own experience, it started with the spammers. I was relatively guilty of this in my earlier days of trying to find an audience for my books.

On weekends I would make one post on several discussion boards that had titles like ‘New Author? Tell us about your Mystery’ or ‘Looking for a book where I can’t guess the end.’ I thought the end of both my novels was pretty tricky so I spammed them, in a very responsible spammy way of course.

What do I mean by spam? (No, not compressed meat substitute) I posted shameless self-promotions on the boards. There was no discussion involved unless someone asked me a direct question about the commercial for my book. Which actually built some great online friendships.

Now, some bi-polar loner types (sorry, Authors who spam) felt the need to blast these online commercials out four times a day, every day. One author virtually filled my inbox with crap about the gay serial killer stalking the mean streets of a village near Crawley. Now this could be an absolute work of genius, I’m happy to hear about it, just not four hundred fucking times a week.

The boards were alive with the sound of moaning! Readers and writers alike were getting pissed off with this type of promo. Rightly so. Then Amazon got involved.

Each author who even dared to use the product link to their own novel near their signature was deleted from the discussion.  Automatically. In seconds. Gone. Didn’t matter that it wasn’t promotional. Basically, you put your link near your sign off then you are toast!

Worse still, a group of literary Nazi’s decided to jump on board. Women and Men with pseudonym logins like ScatLover or FemiNazi would then see authors posts and just start reporting them to Amazon. For no reason other than they referred to their own work. They would then get the post deleted and celebrate by posting on the board ‘got so and so author reported to Amazon and banned. How fun’ ?

Several authors accidentally posting promotional stuff, maybe they were late to the party or didn’t see the harm in it, were publically flamed on these discussion areas. It got nasty. Real nasty.

One poster who hung around the Authors Forum (Amazon’s New Author Ghetto) was suicidal due the berating he received from some faceless (name disguised) asshole who actually built up a frenzy with other Lit Nazis to leave shitty reviews against this author. They did and it worked. This poor guy got screwed nine ways from Sunday as his Amazon ranking tail spun into a black hole. From his most recent posts he seemed to be hanging on to reality by a thread.

I’m not calling out Amazon here. Amazon is the teat on which writers suckle, it’s not smart to start chomping at it. But the boards that they police are not working for writers. Indie or Trad. What I can see now as I have begun to slowly back out of the Amazon meeting room is a group of people who consider themselves elite readers who discuss all things lit without any input from those pesky sods called writers.

If Stevie King* decides to drop in then we will sit around his feet while he waxes lyrical on the future of publishing or writing or both. Guess what you dumb fucks. The future Stevie King was probably already among you, but you were too mean or stupid to even notice.

Disclaimer: Not all forums have bad people infesting them on Amazon. To see a really cool bunch of people talking about all kinds of stuff as well as books and making a discussion group work in spite of Amazons laws then try out Susie Levin’s NBIE IV.

* It is highly unlikely that Stephen King would drop into a discussion board, but I can’t help but wonder if Stephen King posted with a product link close to his signature if it would get deleted?? Hmmmm, I suppose I’ll just have to wonder.

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in Guest Posts, November 2011 | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

The November 2011 Co-Rockstars are …

November 4, 2011 – 12:29 pm

For the second month in a row, we have a tie for first place (even though we had more voters than ever this month), and so we have TWO Rockstars this month.

KATE AVERY ELLISION with The Curse Girl!!!

and

DAN HOLLOWAY with The Company of Fellows!!!

They’ll be singing a duet as the …

Dan and Kate can now wear this badge with pride. They can also add to their product pages this badge of honor for THE COMPANY OF FELLOWS and THE CURSE GIRL: “IndieAuthorRockstar.com November 2011 Rockstar.”

The voting was yet again TIGHT. The third-place book (THE HERO ALWAYS WINS) lost by one vote, so that book returns as our runner-up in November (according to da rulebook). The fourth place book received one fewer vote than the third place book. The fifth place book received one fewer vote than the fourth place book. The sixth place book received one fewer vote than the fifth place book. And the seventh place book received one fewer vote than the sixth place book. Whoo!

Now Kate and Dan are going to need our positive energy and enthusiasm. Let’s rally behind them. Consider buying and reading their books, telling people about them, hosting them at your blog, or getting in touch with them to see if they need anything. Please get behind THE CURSE GIRL and THE COMPANY OF FELLOWS and be generous with your support. If you have any ideas, or if you want to share anything you’re doing to help Kate and Dan, please add your comment below.

We’re going to invite Kate and Dan to write an additional blog posts for us soon, so stay tuned for that. We’re also going to have a special guest post from one of last month’s winners, Ty Hutchinson. Thanks again for participating in our site and happy reading!

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in November 2011, Rockstars | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

Please Welcome the November 2011 Selections!

November 4, 2011 – 1:57 am

A new month at IndieAuthorRockstar.com brings with it five new book selections plus–as always–last month’s runner up, which is Robert Eaton’s The Hero Always Wins (here’s how this works). November’s Co-Rockstars (we had another tie for first place this month) will be announced soon, later today after I return from dreamland.

We generated our books randomly this month, as always. However, I decided to narrow down the pool of potential book selections to include only those authors who had already voted for a rockstar in a previous month. This meant that any author who hadn’t yet participated in our monthly voting was ineligible this month. We might continue to follow the same policy in the future!

We’re saying thank you to our authors this month in one other way. We drew randomly from a list of the authors who have voted for our rockstars and three winners won a free kindle edition of my novel as well as a $5 Amazon gift card. The winners are: Melissa Douthit, Toni Dwiggins, and Stacey Wallace Benefiel.

We invite you to sample or purchase this month’s new works. At the end of November, our author members will vote to select one of these six to be December’s rockstar. Stay tuned to the blog for updates, including posts from November’s Co-Rockstars, from Ty Hutchinson (one of last month’s Co-Rockstars) and from the current six authors.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your sampling!

p.s. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter. Please follow us and please help us spread the word! This site only works when our community gets involved.

THE VENOM OF VIPERS by K.C. May

THE VENOM OF VIPERS by K.C. May

Ryder wants to be more than a lab rat; he wants to be free.
Katie wants him to save the world.
Purists want him dead.

In a future where humans teeter on the brink of extinction, hope lies in the genetic experiments of Katie Marsh. A brilliant young scientist, Katie is hard at work perfecting a new species of humanoid resistant to the devastating virus afflicting mankind. But not everyone wants Katie to succeed.

Confined to the lab that created him, Ryder Stone wants to live as a free man. But Ryder, whose unique physiology may provide the cure for this viral malady, must tread lightly, for in his world, friends can sometimes be foes, and the helping hand of people close to him may very well turn out to be… the venom of vipers.

SILAS by Robert Duperre

SILAS by Robert Duperre

Ken Lowery is a man at odds with his life. He hates his job, is disappointed in his marriage, and feels resigned to leading a mundane existence.

That all changes when his wife brings home a rambunctious Black Labrador puppy named Silas, who forges a remarkable connection with Ken and begins to heal his inner turmoil. When some neighborhood children start to go missing, he takes it upon himself to protect those around him and is thrust into a surreal world where monsters roam.  Not everything is what it seems to be, he soon discovers, including his new best friend.

DARKLANDS: A VAMPIRE'S TALE by Donna Burgess

DARKLANDS: A VAMPIRE'S TALE by Donna Burgess

Twenty years ago, Susan Archer witnessed the brutal murder of her beloved twin brother.

Now, the murderer, Devin McCree, has returned. Although Devin is a “Deathwalker,” Susan soon discovers that he is not the monster she has feared for so long. In fact, she realizes she is incredibly attracted to him.

Meanwhile, psychotic former Nazi vampire hunter Kasper has resurfaced from the depths of the past and is out to set the record straight with Devin.

Leaving her old life behind, Susan joins Devin on his run from Kasper.

Set against a shabby, Dystopian landscape, “Darklands: A Vampire’s Tale” is a violent tale of survival, bloodlust, and two people trying to hang on to the last shreds of their humanity.

MISSING by Barry Crowther

MISSING by Barry Crowther

Debt collector Matt Spears isn’t having a good day. He’s being framed by the cops over an alleged assault and has inexplicably found himself indebted to the blind, but ruthless gangster, Vincent Barbour. When Barbour’s supposedly dead niece, Emma, surfaces in a graphic sexual video on a porn site, he asks Matt to find her in exchange for wiping the slate clean. Within a matter of hours, Matt is plunged into a world of sex, blackmail and murder. Trying to unravel the mysteries of a troubled young girl’s disappearance, he discovers the dark side of the porn industry, complicated family secrets, government  corruption, sadistic gangsters, and narcissistic celebrities who all come together to find a girl who is simply … missing.

SKIN by Alex Owens

SKIN by Alex Owens

This collection is built around a common theme of “skin” and it crosses genres. Between the three stories this book weighs in at 9,000 words

The Tanner: A social outcast, Ari spends his days honing his craft. He is a Taxidermist, a Tanner, and quite possibly a Madman. One sweltering day, he takes his art to a new level by creating unique leather goods using the most exotic medium– Human Skin. *Warning- this story is graphic and contains brief nudity/ themes not suitable for children!

The Terminal: A short work of fiction about the reality of aging, as told by the observant nursing assistant who spends 8 hours a day watching skin turn to paper.

The Tattooist: A unique short featuring the main character of my current almost-completed novel. Claire has been through a series of major life changes while attending a business conference in Orlando. On her last night in the steamy city, Claire goes in search of something to remember the time by– a tattoo. Little does she know, her journey of self-discovery isn’t quite over yet.

THE HERO ALWAYS WINS by Robert Eaton

The knight’s oath is barely off Darcy’s tongue, and already the world is collapsing around him. As the demon hordes of Angra-Jyn slaughter their way toward the city, betrayal amongst the knights’ own ranks threatens to destroy them before they can even make their stand.

But the blood of a hero flows in Darcy’s veins. He will not be discouraged by the war he is losing. He will not be dissuaded by the traitorous assassin who continues to strike in the night. He will not give up, even as friends start to doubt him and sanity begins to slip beyond his grasp. Why? Because victory is his destiny.

Because he is the hero, and the hero always wins.

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in November 2011, Selections | Comments (6)

Guest Blog Posts from Kate Avery Ellison and Robert Eaton

November 3, 2011 – 6:00 am

Two days ago, we brought you guest posts from Athanasios, Dan Holloway, and Thea Atkinson. Yesterday, N. Gemini Sasson and Mel Comley. Today, Kate Avery Ellison and Robert Eaton. Enjoy!

Guest Post by Kate Avery Ellison

THE CURSE GIRL by Kate Avery Ellison

Even when I was a kid, I really wanted to be a writer.

Now in my mind at the time, those words conjured up visions of a sophisticated woman in a brown sweater who sipped herbal tea in a cabin in Maine, probably in front of a vast picture window overlooking a lake. She chatted on the phone with her famous editor while penning the Next Great American Novel on an antique typewriter (just because she was quirky like that). She occasionally took vacations to visit her agent in New York, where she looked very demure in a trench coat and red scarf. In her spare time, she cashed her enormous checks and accepted literary awards from around the world.

That was what being a writer was all about, I thought.

Right?

Well, wrong.

Now, about ten years (and two published books) later, I know the answer is no, at least for most of us mere mortals (I’m looking at you, Stephen King).

You see, when I think of an author now I picture someone haggard and slightly sleep-deprived, with a zombie-like pallor from too much time indoors. She’s hunched over her laptop in an exotic place called the suburbs, muttering about plot lines while balancing precariously on a blue exercise ball that is supposed to tone her stomach muscles but mostly just makes her fall a lot. Instead of tea, she eats cereal out of the box while her cats climb over her like adventurers on Mount Everest, and outside her window she has a very scenic view of her neighbor’s chain-link fence. In her spare time, the author shops at the thrift store, where she might find a nice brown sweater for half price if she’s savvy enough to shop on sale Wednesdays.

Speaking of brown sweaters… at least I got one part of the daydream right.

Seriously, though, I love being a writer. It’s a dream come true for me. I’m so happy and grateful to be able to do this with my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

But I would really, really, really like to have that cabin in Maine.

Guest Post by Robert Eaton

THE HERO ALWAYS WINS by Robert Eaton

Fantasy dorks make me want to puke.

How do you know you’re a fantasy dork?  Here’s a simple quiz:

Do you need to roll dice to find out how much charisma you have?

Are you a repeat reader of a series of books full of hobbits, dwarves, and virtually no women?

Have you cancelled real life plans because your guild had a raid scheduled?

Do you watch, or star in, YouTube videos titled “Magic Missile”?  (Go ahead, look it up, I’ll wait).

If you answered yes to any of the above, you, my friend, are a fantasy dork.  DM me on Twitter or /whisper me in game and I’ll be happy to send you a virtual wedgie.  Free shipping!

I got into writing fantasy because dorks are easy to please.  All they want are a hero (who they wish they could be), a beautiful woman (who they wish they could date), and a quest to win (because they never win in real life).  Throw in a few jokes, some names with too many apostrophes, and a magic trinket, and you’ve got yourself a fantasy book.  Maybe even a bestseller, or a twenty seven book series; like I said fantasy dorks are easy.

If I ever get my hands on a crossbow or magic wand, DragonCon, ComicCon, FanCon, and whatever other Con I can find are in big trouble.  You dorks need to be put out of your misery.

In the meantime, I offer a more peaceful alternative.  Dark, epic fantasy without all the usual tripe.  Swords and sorcery coupled with passion and romance.  With women!  Heroes with flaws that pull them down, but spirit enough to get back up again.  Villains who didn’t just wake up one morning and declare “I AM EVIL,” but have real human emotion and motivation.  Storylines chock full of mystery and suspense, so unpredictable that they’ll have you swearing out loud as you read.

Yes, fantasy dorks, I’ve gone up to Mount Doom, stolen the mold, and smashed it to bits with my war hammer.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you need to go buy a copy of The Hero Always Wins.  RIGHT F’N NOW!  Quit wasting time reading this ridiculous post.  This book is life changing.

Okay, maybe not life changing.  You’ll still be a fantasy dork afterward.

Don’t worry, dorkette, you’re covered too. In addition to the above, you get hot, sweaty, muscular men. Some of them even have some brains and shed the occasional tear. Then again, if you’re a girl and you like fantasy, there’s at least a ninety percent chance you’re actually a guy who role-plays as a girl online.

There’s no hope for you, but at least you’ve found out about The Hero Always Wins.  There are some great name ideas in there for your next Warcraft character.

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in Guest Posts, October 2011 | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Guest Posts from N. Gemini Sasson and Mel Comley

November 2, 2011 – 6:00 am

Yesterday, we brought you guest posts from Athanasios, Dan Holloway, and Thea Atkinson. Tomorrow, Kate Avery Ellison and Robert Eaton. Today, N. Gemini Sasson and Mel Comley. Enjoy!

Guest Post by N. Gemini Sasson

ISABEAU by N. Gemini Sasson

ISABEAU by N. Gemini Sasson

I have a confession to make. In high school, I hated history class. Okay, maybe ‘hate’ is too strong a word, but the truth is I did not look forward to those fifty boring minutes every day. The one salvation about the class is that the teacher liked to give essay tests and I loved taking essay tests. If you understood the main points and could string them together coherently, you got an ‘A’. Not unexpectedly, I was probably the only person in the classroom who felt this way. Normal people love multiple choice, right? You get a 1 in 4 chance of getting the answer correct.

The problem most of us had with history class is that it’s all about spitting back dates, places, treaties and Acts of Congress – when none of them have any meaning because we can’t relate to the circumstances. Plainly put, you don’t care about someone who died hundreds or thousands of years ago. Why should you, when they are nothing but a name in a musty old, doorstopper of a textbook?

That’s where stories like The Three Musketeers, Ivanhoe and Les Miserables gave me a different perspective. For some inexplicable reason, I was curious about the socio-political worlds in which these stories took place. And more than that – I was enthralled by the characters. Most of my favorite heroes just happened to wield swords and wear armor, being the tomboy that I am. That was so much more interesting than mere cowboys or astronauts.

So my escape as a teenager was to wander the library stacks, which is where I discovered Jean Plaidy (who is known by many other names, like Victoria Holt, and who was ridiculously prolific).  Later on in life, I found it harder to find the type of historical fiction that not only had the settings I preferred, but also paid more attention to character depth. Pages and pages of detail about inanimate objects were not enough to ensnare me. I wanted larger than life PEOPLE in historical settings. Basically, I stopped reading for years. Life got in the way.

Then, I saw the movie Braveheart. Mind you, it’s not the most accurate of stories, but what it did do for me is make me care about the characters – in a big way. For weeks, I kept thinking, “I want to write a story like that. Something epic.” That’s powerful. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I ended up traveling to Scotland. The moment my feet touched earth there, I felt like I was home, that I’d been there before.

There is so much about history that’s rich with the trials of the human spirit. Historical fiction, if written in a way that people of today can relate to, can bring those events and people forward and imprint them on our memories, while carrying us away to a different time and place.

History really doesn’t have to be boring. It can, in fact, be very entertaining.

Guest Post by Mel Comley

IMPEDING JUSTICE by Mel Comley

For the last month on my blog, I’ve been running Interviews with readers, you know, the people we actually write our books to entertain. Well the answers some of these guys have been giving vary widely, as expected, I suppose. Their tastes varied from snuggling down with an old time classic to diving into the new genres of fantasy and paranormal romances. Leading me to believe, as many have said over the years, that reading is subjective. If everyone read the same books the world would be a pretty dull place, wouldn’t it?

I suppose that’s the beauty of being an Indie writer, it allows us to have freedom. Traditionally published authors are told what to write, so their books fit into a certain genre that the publishing houses believe still exist.  Many writers state they have a drawer in their office full of rejection slips stating their work didn’t fit into the right genre. Which is ludicrous when you think of it, because we’re being constantly told to think outside the box and to write something that hasn’t been seen before, how can you do that? The only way to achieve that is by uploading your books as ebooks and letting the public decide if they like your writing or not.

The trad publishing houses have missed out on some great authors over the years because they didn’t conform to the norm. Now it’s heartening to see some outstanding Indie writers getting signed up by the likes of Amazon at their new imprints, i.e. Thomas and Mercer for thriller writers. Some say the Amazon chart is now the new slushpile, I’m not sure about that, but I do believe Amazon are giving a service to the general public that the big six and other publishing houses have been neglecting to do over the last few years.

I say it’s a great time to be an Indie writer, and the interviews I’ve received from the readers would corroborate that.

Long live Indies.

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in Guest Posts, October 2011 | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Guest Posts from Athanasios, Dan Holloway, and Thea Atkinson

November 1, 2011 – 3:55 pm

I’m running behind this month. I spent only three October nights in my own bed, and because of a long family vacation and a professional convention, I got behind on our IndieAuthorRockstar schedule. So here’s the new schedule:

Today: guest posts from Athanasios, Dan Holloway, and Thea Atkinson.
Nov. 2nd: guest posts from Mel Comley and N. Gemini Sasson.
Nov. 3rd: guest posts from Kate Avery Ellison and Robert Eaton.
The deadline for voting (only our authors can vote) will be changed to 10 pm (Pacific time) on November 3rd.
Nov. 4th: The November Rockstar will be announced, and the new selections will be announced, too.
Nov. 5th: I celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary. :-)
The following week: A new post from October’s Co-Rockstar, Ty Hutchinson.

Without further adieu, we bring you Athanasios, Dan Holloway, and Thea Atkinson …

Guest Post by Athanasios

MAD GODS - REVELATION: CANCELLED ? by Athanasios

I see monsters.

I’m not talking about sparkly, angst-ridden vampires or buff werewolves who have spawned their own subgenres of horror.  Paranormal and supernatural were once part of horror, but are now dangerous romantic trysts instead of being stories that instill terror or as the genre’s name states: horror.

Where are the Lucifers, Draculas, or even the Lestats?  I haven’t felt that base, primeval fear from a story since I read and then saw the Exorcist or the Omen.  The monsters we know now are all lesser fiends, dimmer evil.  They are pale imitations.

The monsters I see are evil, and have lived far longer than we’ve known history.  They’ve evolved along with us and are now the complex psychology we use to explain our worst behavior.  They stretch back to the times of myth and before our current religions.

They’re all around our world and as we subsist on lesser beings they subsist on us. They don’t munch on our flesh or blood but our fears, our terrors our pain and suffering.  They’ve always done so but did not want their human cattle to know.  It gave the anguish and horror all the more flavor.

Our world is harsh and uncertain and has always been that way.  For all of history and memory we’ve known war, torture, pain and suffering.

Philosophers and sages try to explain but always fall short.  They tell us to wait for a redeemer who will put all suffering to right.  This messiah will damn the wicked leaving the world to the good and just.

Those who are condemned to destruction see it differently.  The world is there for the taking.  The meek will not inherit the earth because the strong will never give it up.  The good and just live by naïve and weak ethics: Do Onto Others as You Would Have Them Do Onto You.  The wicked are strong and rule the world by Predatory Ethics: Do Onto Others Because You Can.  The wicked are sustained by the war, torture, and chaos the good lament.

Just as the good wait for their messiah, so do the wicked.  He’s been given many names yet he’s best known as the Beast in St. John’s Revelation of the Bible.  He’s the Antichrist or the AntiXos.  If you were this champion of evil why would you want to destroy all that there is?

The messiah doesn’t want this destiny.  Despite his stated Satanic ties he’s human, one of us and nobody wants to be blamed for destroying the world.  He rejects this fate and his refusal makes him AntiXos and Xos.  He’s everyone’s redeemer and shows the world we have created fate, we’ve created our Mad Gods, our memory, our history.

Some people could look see him as a monster.  I don’t.  When I see monsters I don’t see the AntiXos.  I see those who want him to do as he’s told.  I see those who rule us whose ethics have kept us the cattle they prey on.

Guest Post by Dan Holloway

THE COMPANY OF FELLOWS by Dan Holloway

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

By Dan Holloway ( http://danholloway.wordpress.com)

As an author we’re many things, but despite what our thoughts and common parlance would have us believe one of the last things we are is writers. Sure, we put words on the page, through one means or another, but if we “ask of each thing what is it in itself?” then when it comes to authors, putting words on the page is, as Dr Lecter would say, is “incidental”.

What is it we actually do? We tell stories. It’s one of the oldest things in the world, at least as old as the campfire itself. So why are we so hardwired with the idea that we should contain those stories between pieces of cardboard, or convert them to ones and zeros that will reappear as letters on a screen far far away?

Well, true, part of it is commercial. Most of us are aware of the concept of scalability. You can sell a million downloads in a moment, you can only read to as many people as you can get in a room.

Fine, but hang on. We all dream the dream. Of course we do. And of course “you have to be in it to win it.” But the fact is 99% of us won’t win it, won’t live the dream. On the other hand 100% of us can be storytellers. That’s what we love. More than books. More than fame. More than “the dream.”

So what I want to urge writers to do is this. Forget keeping your nose in “how I sold a gazillion copies of my ebook”, forget the endless round of commenting on everyone’s evangelical how to be an indie revolutionary blogs, forget the ambition to “get out, get anywhere, get all the way to the FBI” (but if my references seem just weird spare the time for a quick read of The Silence of the Lambs).

Spend a month remembering that nothing matters but the storytelling. And with that in mind, forget the words on the page and go find yourself an open mic or a bookstore near you and Read. Out Loud. To a group of real people. It’s how stories have been told for tens of thousands of years. It’s the most rewarding experience a storyteller can have. And if your kdp reports really mean more to you than following the whites of a person’s eyes as you drag them through hell and back again, for pity’s sake have the decency to call yourself a hack like any of the rest of us working 9 to 5s to make rent and don’t pretend to be a storyteller.

And you know what? Not only will your life be changed for the better by the experience, but so will your writing. And that – listen up – may come home to roost in your bank balance.

(There’s a full list of my upcoming readings at http://danholloway.wordpress.com)

Guest Post by Thea Atkinson

ANOMALY by Thea Atkinson

To which I explain a few things about Anomaly

By Thea Atkinson

Poor Anomaly.

It’s not a great seller. It tries to make its creator happy and slip in a few sales each month, almost as if to say, “Hey Ma! Look at me. See I can be good.” But really, they are only enough to get me thrilled and happy for a few moments, kind of like a little reminder that my favorite child was born with a few sadly genetic defects that I passed on and now it’s doing its best to have a happy life.

I gave it so many handicaps, this child of mine. It has a bad blurb. It has a homemade cover. It doesn’t fit nicely into any real niche that I can promote it in or that readers can say, “Yes! I love that type of book.”

And it has a transgender character.

OK. That’s probably the deal breaker. I’m sure some readers aren’t interested in reading what they think is a gay novel (to put it bluntly). I’ve had other writers tell me that’s a great promotion opportunity. A ready made marketing audience: LGBT. I resist that. Not because I’m afraid of being labelled a writer of gay and queer novels, but because Anomaly just isn’t that.

It has a transgender character.

That’s it. It’s not a novel about transgenderism–although, admittedly, that’s the device used to propel the character. So I don’t feel comfortable writing to a queer audience and trying to pass off my character driven novel as a LGBT genre. They would throw stones at me. Rightly so. I did my best to honor the issues and honor the humanity of the LGBT community, to make J’s journey authentic, but it isn’t a novel written for that market.

Neither is it just pure plot driven story. I write character driven fiction, So the novel is about the character. It’s about J. A person. A human being who wants something. J has flaws. J has needs. What J needs most is to find peace within.

Don’t we all want that?

I think Anomaly speaks to many issues that we live in, that our psyches process and purge a hundred times a week: the need to be loved, to be accepted, to find happiness. J is his own worst enemy, like many of us are.

Can we find love? Can we find happiness?

Above all, can we find that place within that says, “Yes, I’m going to be OK. I want to be OK.”

So every month, I have a few sales of this book that I believe is my best work so far. Robert Duperre gave it 4.7/5 stars. Big Al gave it 5 stars. These are discerning readers and honest reviewers, so I think my little handicapped child is doing OK. Its psyche, its parts, its soul, its very completeness of being is just fine, thankyou. No need for me to worry.

This little child of mine is tenacious. It’s time I told it I’m proud of it.

And I am.

Thea Atkinson is a writer of character driven fiction; call it what you will: she prefers to describe her work as psychological thrillers with a distinct literary flavour. As in her bestselling novel, Anomaly, her characters often find themselves in the darker edges of their own spirits but manage to find the light they seek.

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in Guest Posts, October 2011, Selections | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Book or Baby First? Guest Post by Selina Fenech

October 10, 2011 – 2:40 pm

Before we jump into this guest post from one of our current rockstars, Selina Fenech, you can also check out an inspiring guest post from our other reigning Rockstar, Ty Hutchinson, at Caddy Rowland’s blog.

Guest Post by Selina Fenech (Reigning Co-Rockstar)

MEMORY'S WAKE by Selina Fenech

I did something crazy last month. I decided I would write a novella and have it published before the end of October. Sure, two months was enough time to write 20-30 thousand words, do re-writes, edits, copyedits, layouts and release, right?

I blame the craziness on the one, big looming deadline I’m facing. Sometime in the next few weeks, I’m having my first baby. It’s amazing what sort of insane goals you set for yourself when faced with something so huge. I feel like I have to get everything done now, before the smelly sleep depriver takes over my life lovable bundle of joy brings us 24/7 happiness.

Baby is also the reason I jumped into self publishing this year. I had intended to devote all of 2011 to seeking traditional publishing for Memory’s Wake. I did a month or two of the query dance, got some good responses but everything ended in the “not for me” standard line. When I found out I was pregnant, the prospect of continuing querying through my whole pregnancy and potentially running out of time without getting my book shared with the world also became “not for me”.

Memory’s Wake was released in July, and I’m so happy I went DIY. My next title, Emotionally Charged, will be released very soon. Yes, I’m still foolishly clinging to the hope of a pre-birth book release! When I released Memory’s Wake, the plan was to work slowly on the sequels to it while I watched what sort of response my writing received. I’m not sure where I put that plan. Must have gotten thrown out while renovating to make room for the new family addition…

The truth is that self publishing is FUN. I love seeing reviews pop up for my book, particularly those with little 4 and 5 star ratings next to them, which is all I’m lucky to have received so far.  I want more of that. So my plan changed to allow myself to write a standalone novella in between each major novel. It’s just a shame my plan changed to that with just a couple months time to get a novella done before the Big Deadline. And who was I to turn down that challenge?

Time to start taking bets- Book or Baby first?

Find Selina on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or email her: Selina /at/ SelinaFenech.com

By Moses Siregar III | Posted in Guest Posts, October 2011, Rockstars | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)