Tomorrow is Mary’s birthday, and you should all celebrate it. In truth, Mary should be celebrated every day. She’s a wonderful mother, an incredible friend, and an awesome girlfriend, too. She is patient, kind, smart, funny, sexy, and most importantly, is able to love the freak show that is me. She also writes really good books. Two of which – Thrall and For Emmy – are now on Kindle. You should buy them for her birthday.
Happy Birthday, darlin. I love you. Chariots of the Gods…
The first review of Ghoul (the movie) is in, courtesy of Bloody Disgusting. I doubt I’ll link to all of the reviews over the next few weeks, but the first one is important to me, just like that first book review all those years ago. For information on the movie, click here. To purchase the book or audiobook, click here.
I used to have an awesome forum called The Keenedom, but it became a time sink to maintain, so I killed it. I like message boards and always said I’d be happy to participate on one if someone else was responsible for it. Well, Deadite Press have launched their new message board. In addition to myself, there are official forums for other Deadite authors Edward Lee, Bryan Smith, J.F. Gonzalez, Wrath James White, Robert Devereaux, John Skipp, Carlton Mellick, Nate Southard, and Kelli Owen. There’s even a forum for Thunderstorm Books. Basically, it’s just like The Keenedom, except I don’t have to run it. Come say “Hi.”
…that GHOUL will air on Chiller Friday, April 13th at 9pm. If you don’t get Chiller, call your local cable company and demand it. If they won’t accommodate you, watch it at a friend’s house (or even a complete stranger’s house) or wait for the eventual DVD and Blu-Ray release. If you haven’t yet read Ghoul, the paperback and audio book are on sale now.
WhoSay was down for much of the weekend, so I ended up posting premiere pics via Twitter — everything from shots of snow-covered scenery to Nolan and I hamming it up on the red carpet. I’ll re-post a few of them below.
Much of today will be spent traveling. Right now I’m sitting in the condo, staring out at the mountains while Mary, Mike, Mikey, and Dezm are still asleep. And I’m smiling. I’ve been writing professionally for a little over 15 years now, and it has taken me all over the United States and into Canada, and has provided me with an immeasurable number of good memories and special weekends, but this one — this weekend — trumps them all. The premiere itself went great. Standing room only and well-received by those in attendance — everyone from long-time readers like Dante Moriconi to Hollywood folks like Sean Young of Blade Runner and Ace Ventura fame. It was great to see Greg, Nolan, Jacob, Trevor, Andrew, and everyone else from the movie again, and to share our accomplishment together. And I even got some non-Ghoul work done — good news for the movie version of Dark Hollow and the possibility of a Dead Sea film. But the best part of the weekend for me was simply sharing it with people I love. So thanks to Mary SanGiovanni, Mike Oliveri, Michael T. Huyck, Mark ‘Dezm’ Sylva, and Tod and Suzin Clark for being there with me. That made all the difference in the world. Best Weekend Ever. “Literally.” (A private joke that will only be understood by the seven of us — or anyone else who has ever been trapped on a shuttle bus with Corbin Bernsen’s publicist and a marketing guy from Warner Brothers).
The image above is courtesy of Nick Mamatas. Click here to see why.
As you know, the movie version of Ghoul premieres in Utah this weekend, so I’ll be heading out to visit Sundance and Slamdance for the weekend. Accompanying me will be long-time friends and fellow authors Mike Oliveri and Michael T. Huyck, long-time friends and pre-readers Tod Clark and Mark ‘Dezm’ Sylva, and my lovely partner Mary SanGiovanni (yes, for those without access to a score card or Twitter, Mary and I worked things out, and that’s all you, the public, really need to know). If you would like to join us at the premiere and have me sign things for you and maybe buy you a drink. click here for full details. Obviously, I’d be remiss not to mention that the paperback and audio book editions of Ghoul are on sale now. Click here to get them. Kindle and Nook editions are forthcoming. It should also be noted that there are less than 50 copies of Clickers vs. Zombies left. Click here to get one of those. And less than 200 copies of Is There A Demon In You left. Click here to get one of those before they are gone.
I’ll be posting pictures from the premiere on Twitter. If you don’t have Twitter, you can also view the pics here. Wish me luck. Mary is wearing a black dress. Oliveri is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I’m not sure what to wear, and am tempted to reprise my drag phase or Miami Vice look. For new readers who have not had the opportunity to bear witness to those:
My critically-acclaimed coming-of-age novel, GHOUL, is back in print from Deadite Press. Click here to buy the paperback. Click here to buy the audio book. (Kindle and Nook editions are forthcoming).
GHOUL is also now a major motion picture from Chiller and Moderncine. Click here for details on the premiere and how you can join me there.
Every author has certain books they are proud of and consider among their best. GHOUL is one of mine. I’m extremely happy it’s back in print. Whether you’re a new reader or a long-time fan, I hope you’ll help celebrate it’s return. Click here to buy a copy.
Robert Swartwood, Me, Nick Mamatas
My friend and The Damned Highway co-writer Nick Mamatas gave a reading in Wilkes-Barre this week, so Robert Swartwood and I drove up to visit him today and see him off to the airport. We had the honor of being the very first customers ever to eat at the just-opened Maers BBQ, for which we were given commemorative t-shirts. Both the food and the service were excellent, and Nick made it to the airport.
But this post isn’t about that. It’s about Rob, and the current marketplace, and how digital makes possible things that weren’t possible even a few years ago.
Robert Swartwood is a good writer and a smart kid (anybody under the age of 35 is a kid to me at this point). He’s part of that Sixth Wave I talked about a few months ago. I like Rob for many reasons, one of which is that he reminds me of myself back in the day — except that he’s not a smart-ass or a troublemaker. But he does pay attention to the industry, and he’s smart and savvy and able to anticipate trends and changes. More importantly, he understands how to build an audience and market to them. Writing and publishing are very different now than they were 15 years ago when I started out. Many young writers ask me variations of this question: “If you were just starting your career now, how would you go about it?” My answer is simple: I’d do exactly what Rob has been doing, focusing on digital, and especially Kindle.
On the way home, I was grilling Rob about his success and the challenges he’s faced, and the opportunities digital has presented him with, and something occurred to me. About five years ago, a publisher asked me to pitch an ongoing adventure series similar to James Axler’s Deathlands and Outlanders, but with a horror vibe, rather than sci-fi. I did, and as usually happens with such pitches, it went nowhere, because the marketing people and bean counters got involved. But digital makes such a thing possible. More importantly, digital gives me the ability to cut out the marketing department and the bean counters, and indeed, even the publisher if I so desire.
Tonight, I have to finish the script for the latest issue of The Last Zombie. Tomorrow, I have to work on the final draft of The Lost Level. But in between, I’m going to pull out that old pitch, and dust it off, and look at it through a digital lens. More on this later…
21st CENTURY DEAD, a new zombie anthology edited by Christopher Golden, is now up for pre-order. It contains my new short story “Couch Potato” – a tale set in the world of Dead Sea and Entombed.
It also contains stories from Mark Morris, Kurt Sutter, John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow, Jonathan Maberry, Stephanie Crawford & Duane Swiercyznski, and many more.
Click here to pre-order. Ships in July.
Things will be slow here until next week’s re-release of Ghoul in paperback and the movie premiere. In the meantime, here are some things that might interest you. I’ve finished posting all the pics from last summer’s set visit to Ghoul. Nick Mamatas announced The Big Click – a new online crime fiction magazine. John Urbancik announced his 12-in-12 challenge. He’s going to write 12 novellas or novels in 12 months. Tom Piccirilli’s Futile Efforts is available on Kindle for just 99 cents! Kelli Owen’s The Neighborhood is available on Kindle for $2.99. Mike Oliveri’s The Pack: Winter Kill is also available on Kindle for just $2.99. The audio-book version of Mary SanGiovanni’s Thrall is up for pre-order. Wrath James White has not one, but two new novellas up for pre-order. And finally, the paperback of Bryan Smith’s Kayla and the Devil is now available.
Three plugs for three friends. Jeff Burk, my two-fisted editor at Deadite Press, has a cameo appearance in this week’s episode of PORTLANDIA. Nolan Gould, star of Brian Keene’s GHOUL, ruled the set of the Ellen DeGeneres show yesterday. And Logan Tracey, star of Brian Keene’s THE TIES THAT BIND, recently appeared in the most erotic donuts commercial you’ll ever see.
This month, my time is split between being a Dad, finishing up a new novel called The Lost Level, finishing the scripts for issues #4 and 5 of The Last Zombie: Neverland, and preparing for the premiere of Ghoul. Sounds like lots of friends and fans will be at the premiere. In addition to the cast and crew, fellow authors Mike Oliveri and Michael T. Huyck will be there, along with long-time pre-readers Mark ‘Dezm’ Sylva and Tod Clark. If you can get to Utah, come hang out with us. Seriously. I’ll even buy you a drink. Due to demand, more tickets have been made available to the public. Details on how to buy them are here. With all of that going on, updates here will be sporadic (and if you’re waiting for me to answer your email or phone call, don’t). Thus, here’s a big ol’ information dump regarding various things: Continue reading →
Approaching sell-outs on these three items. (Update: Due to demand, more tickets for the Ghoul premiere have been made available to the public)
Less than 200 copies remain!
Less than 70 copies remain!
Tickets going fast!
I’ll be at the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals this month. Ghoul premieres at 4pm on January 22nd at Slamdance. Perhaps you’d like to be there.
If so, there are a limited number of tickets available for purchase to the general public. Tickets are $30, and include a Ghoul t-shirt. If you would like to attend, email info @ moderncine.com.
The movie debuts on Chiller in April, and will eventually be available on DVD.
Meanwhile, the new Deadite Press edition of Ghoul is on sale now. Click here to buy one. The audio-book version is also available. Click here to buy one.
In the aftermath of a devastating tsunami, hordes of Clickers swarm onto the California coastline, slaughtering everything in their path. When the creatures begin attacking other parts of the world, humanity fights back, unaware that a second foe is about to emerge—Ob, Lord of a supernatural race of beings known as the Siqqusim, who have the ability to possess and reanimate the dead.
Now, Earth faces an invasion from not one, but two enemies—the mindless, hungry Clickers, and the evil, and equally ravenous zombies. Both groups have only one goal in mind—the total extermination of the human race. But what happens when these two forces meet…
CLICKERS VS. ZOMBIES – No matter who wins, mankind loses.
$50. Signed hardcover limited to 350 copies. CLICK HERE TO ORDER
(Yes, like the rest of the Clickers series, there will eventually be paperback and digital editions, but they are a long time off. This announcement is for people who prefer hardcovers or signed, limited editions or who want to read the book now, rather than wait a year. Respect those customers, and avoid complaining about the price or limitation).
Many of you might remember Demonstration of the Dead, the short film from Reel Splatter (aka Mike Lombardo) in which I starred as myself. Well, Reel Splatter’s latest magnum opus is finally online and available to view for free. I’m a big fan, and he’s been working on this one for a long time, so please give it a view, if you’re so inclined.
Later this holiday weekend, the long-awaited signed, limited edition of CLICKERS VS. ZOMBIES will go up for pre-order. Yes, like the rest of the series, there will eventually be paperback and digital editions, but those are a long time off yet. This announcement is for those who prefer the hardcover or for those who can’t wait to read it in another format.
Clickers vs. Zombies features the return of Ob and the Siqqusim — the zombies from The Rising and City of the Dead. It also features the return of Jim and Danny Thurmond from those books, as well. It also features 
much of the cast from the first three Clickers books, as well as cameo appearances by everyone from my occult detective Levi Stoltzfus to various characters from J. F. Gonzalez’s Primitive and others. In short, it’s a book written for the fans, and packed full of enough sly shit to make you go “Squeeeeee” in delight. What’s more, you can still enjoy the book without having read any of those other books.
Of course, even though you don’t have to have read the first three Clickers books to enjoy this one, we hope you will anyway. All of them are available in paperback and 
digital.
CLICKERS: Paperback, Kindle, Nook
CLICKERS II: Paperback, Kindle, Nook
CLICKERS III: Paperback, Kindle, (Nook forthcoming)
Check back here January 1st for CLICKERS VS. ZOMBIES!
This is spinning out of the comments on yesterday’s Blog post regarding piracy. Of note to readers in Germany, the following titles are available for Kindle: Auferstehung (The Rising), Stadt der Toten (City of the Dead), Am Ende der Strasse (Darkness on the Edge of Town), Totes Meer (Dead Sea), Kill Whitey (Kill Whitey), and Die Verschollenen (Castaways).
The only one currently available for the Nook in German is Kill Whitey. I’m told that many more will follow for both Kindle and Nook in 2012.
1. The trade paperback, Kindle, and Nook editions of GHOUL should be out any day now.
2. Still need to hear from a few contest winners. Prizes ship next week.
3. Packages shipped this week to the following Lifetimers (last name only to protect your privacy): Kent, Hansen, Haig, Sullivan, James, Milodragovich, Guthrie, Booth, Backie, Dandusevski, Donnelly, Kuhn, and Moreno. If your name is not on that list, your package ships next week.
You’ll be hard pressed to find another horror author who gives as much back to his fans as I do. That’s not immodesty or braggadocio. It’s a fact. The reason for that is because I genuinely like 99.9% of you. If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t have written a free novel for you called Deluge: The Conqueror Worms II, and I wouldn’t have offered it here for free, with the understanding that once it was finished, I’d remove it and then sell it in book form (which is how I make my living). Continue reading →
Daddy and Turtle, Christmas Eve Eve 2011
Twas a quiet holiday season here in the remote backwoods of Pennsylvania. Last Wednesday, Drew Williams came for his annual holiday visit. Kelli Owen stopped by as well, and the three of us stayed up late drinking and talking about books, writing and all the other things that writers seem to inevitably talk about when they get together. It was nice and peaceful.
My oldest son, David, was visiting his mother this year, but Turtle and I stayed up Christmas Eve Eve — just the two of us. Santa came to Daddy’s house Christmas Eve morning. After that, me, Turtle, and my ex-wife visited with my parents for the day. It was nice and peaceful.
Kelli Owen and Drew Williams
I spent Christmas Day alone in a quiet house filled only with the sounds of my fingers on the laptop’s keyboard and the occasional tick from the coffee pot. Got a huge chunk of The Lost Level completed, as well as first drafts of scripts for The Last Zombie: Neverland issues #4 and 5. It was nice and peaceful.
Long-time readers know that I’m a big believer in reinvention. 2012 will be the year of the hermit. According to R.E.M., the Mayans, and a bunch of people online, 2012 is the end of the world as we know it. I don’t know about you, but I feel fine. Things are nice and peaceful.
