THE SEA WOLVES

Really enjoyed the first one.  Looking forward to the second one in the series.  This one has pirates!

This book is evidently getting a new release because it came out a couple years ago.  Sounds really cool, and I don't know how I missed it.  But the original cover was pretty lousy and uninviting.

The Oscars Leg Everyone Is Talking About

I like the old school look, black dress and red lipstick.  Like a noir movie and Angelina is the bad girl.  She looks really thin, though.

Best Book On Writing You'll Ever Buy -- Now $3.99!

I re-read this book every year!

Now only $3.99 for the Kindle.  Get it and get an education.

Global Star

Want to fly headlong into Alien Abductions? Ready to hunt Mysterious Monsters in the Bowels of Your City? Curious about what Elvis has been up to since He Got Laid Off? Find the Story Behind the Stories, the Truth too True To Print in the GLOBAL STAR! Authors R. A. Jones, Mel Odom, and Michael Vance report on the exploits of the finest editors, reporters, and staffers working on the world's one tabloid where every word is true! Follow these pen and paper pushers as they go anywhere, do anything, and stop at nothing to bring you the news that makes the Global Star the greatest newspaper on-and off- Earth! Get the whole story in this tongue in cheek satire riddled book from Pro Se- GLOBAL STAR!



HELL ON WHEELS Cover by Keith Birdsong

Cover by Keith Birdsong.  If you're looking for a cover for your book, contact Keith here.

Everyone in Shooter's Cross knows that Mike Tucker isn't a ranch hand. He's a shootist, lightning quick and totally lethal with his Tranter pistols.

Jenny Blaylock has always been nervous around Tucker because she knows he's a stone cold killer. Something's broken inside Tucker, and she's afraid that he's going to get her family hurt.

But when her husband Sam is out of town and her daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless gang, Jenny has no choice but to saddle up and ride with Tucker. The trail is long and hard, and she knows its going to end in sudden death, hellfire and gunsmoke.

Blast From The Past!

A fun time waster that has echoes of the past.  Hat tip to Bill Crider

.

Jongor of Lost Land

I'm really looking forward to John Carter in movie theaters next month.  In the 1960s I grew up on Tarzan movies and the original Edgar Rice Burroughs books. I loved jungle adventures. Couldn't get enough of them.

In 1970, I was 12 and I discovered the Jongor books. I thought they were new. I didn't realize at the time that they had been printed first decades ago.

There was something about John Gordon (Jongor) and his mighty black bow and black arrows fighting dinosaurs that was just amazing. Of course, I did say I was 12.

All three books have been reprinted in a single volume , and you can get them on Amazon, but so far I have not return to that bit of my childhood. The book currently is only in paperback, and it's at a good price, but I'm holding out for an ebook.

And I love these old Frank Frazetta covers.

Keith Birdsong Cover

Keith Birdsong's new book cover for the Fight Card series.

If you need a book cover, contact Keith here.

FATHOMLESS ABYSS ARTIST INTERVIEW

Interview here.

DEAD MAN: CARNIVAL OF DEATH

Available for pre-order

FREE Book!

INTRODUCTION: In which I talk about the challenges and coincidences in combining my writing career with my other full time gig as a veteran detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.

RUNNING WYLDE: I’ve been a runner all my life, or at least as much of it as I can remember. I’d always wanted to write a story around a runner, but it wasn’t until a real life incident involving an LAPD officer who went running in the Santa Monica Mountains and never returned that I found the heart of Running Wylde.

THE KING OF PING: The King of Ping is a memoir piece written for my father’s 75th birthday. Memory is a funny thing, so if things didn’t happen exactly this way, they should have done.

CELTIC NOIR: Written in 2001 for the anthology Murder Most Celtic: Tall Tales Of Irish Mayhem edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Celtic Noir is the tale of a nasty little Irish bastard who’d as soon as cut you as kiss you, my kind of guy.

MERCY: Written for the anthology Flesh & Blood: Dark Desires Mercy started out as an ‘erotic tale of crime and passion’ and ended up being all that with a nasty little twist.

CONCRETE KILLER: In the mid-eighties, I was asked to write a series of non-fiction tales based on true police incidents in which I had been involved. The timeframe is 1979. I was still working uniformed patrol at the time, and was about to experience a career blunder like no other.

SQUEEZE PLAY: Squeeze Play, the second of the fact-based stories is based on occurred on New Year's Eve 1980, shortly after I'd been assigned as a detective trainee, and definitely required a change of undershorts after it came to a close.

QUINT AND THE BRACEROS: Quint and the Braceros was nominated for the Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus award in 1984 in the category of Best Short Story of the Year.

THE MAN WHO SHOT TRINITY VALANCE: The Man Who Shot Trinity Valance started with the title. I keep a journal full of plot ideas, character names, interesting quotes, and titles that strike me as having particular resonance.

EBENEEZER: The vision of Ebenezer Scrooge as a tormented private eye gave rise to this stream-of-consciousness updating of the Dickens's classic, A Christmas Carol. My warped enjoyment of mixing metaphors and stabs at Moby Dick and other classics should also be apparent.

DERRINGER: For me, stories begin in several ways—a plot twist, an intriguing title, or a character taking life as my creative muscles engage in intercourse. Derringer began with the character of Blue MacKenzie, a burned-out, ex-CIA agent, turned body-building private eye.

THE LEGENDS OF CHARLIE MCQUARKLE: Most police personnel are aware motorcycle cops are a breed apart. They have a screw loose. Officer Charlie McQuarkle is no exception to the stereotype.

NIGHT OF THE FRANKENGOLFER: Every once in a while, you have to break loose from commercial constraints and write something just for the hell of it.

THE FRAMING GAME: Originally written for Bad Blood, a young adult mystery anthology edited by Mary Higgins Clark.

THE SAMARITAN: The Samaritan was my first published work of fiction. It appeared in an issue of Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazine (1982) during the last years of that lamented publication's existence.

DEAD EASY: Dead Easy also made it into the pages of Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazine (1983). I admire the original pulp writers tremendously, and like to think I was able to join their ranks, if only for an issue or two, in one of the last surviving pulp magazines.

GOING POSTAL: A quick little story designed as a one-page mystery for the back of Woman's Magazine.

Dead Man Audio Book 1 Out Now!

Matthew Cahill is a simple man leading a quiet life... until he is tragically killed in an avalanche at a ski resort. Three months later his corpse is found and sent to the morgue - but then something inexplicable happens. He wakes up. Now he can see evil... as a festering rot that eats people alive from the inside out.

And he can see Mr. Dark, the horrific figure who gleefully spreads it like a plague... and whois the only one who can tell Matt whether he is still a man... or the walking dead.For Matt, each day is a journey into a supernatural world he knows nothing about... a quest for the answers to who he is and what he has become... and a bloody fight to save us, and his soul, from the clutches of pure evil.

Here are the first three unforgettable novels in Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin’s The Dead Man– Face of Evil, Ring of Knives, and Hell in Heaven – a horrifying new series that Post-Modern Pulps hails as “a direct spiritual descendant of the sorts of awesome pulp action adventure tales that the greats like Robert E. Howard loved to write!”

©2011 Adventures in Television, Inc (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

At The Gun Range

Spent a couple hours at the gun range destressing with my wife and my son Chandler (age 14, pictured above).  We shot up a lot of zombies, one of which is on the side table.  My wife Sherry had never shot a 9mm, .357, or .45ACP before and enjoyed herself.

My buddy, Michael Kent was there with his mom as well.

I keep a gun in the house and I make sure my kids know how to use it.  The last thing I want them to do is go over to some other kid's house who found his parents' gun and get somebody killed.  I believe it's better that your children know firearms safety so they know when someone else is being stupid with one and it's time to leave.

Our targets of choice are zombies!

Not much call for shooting them, but it's good to know we can defend ourselves!  :)

Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance

Guilty pleasure.  :)

Look! Up in the Sky!

Hat tip to Michael Kent.

Kasey Lansdale Update

Kasey Lansdale presents Songwriter 101 Workshop with country music-singer, author, songwriter and producer, John Carter Cash.

Click here for more info.

Coming soon.

Fight Fictioneers Giveaway!

FIGHT FICTIONEERS MAGAZINE!

THE PREMIERE ISSUE OF FIGHT FICTIONEERS MAGAZINE IS AVAILABLE NOW. JAM PACKED WITH ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, AND REVIEWS FROM THE UNIVERSE OF THE FIGHT CARD SERIES AND ALL THINGS FIGHT FICTION.

REQUEST YOUR FREE COPY NOW FROM:

fightcardseries@gmail.com

Freezing Fog?

This was the view on my street this morning at 7 a.m.  The OKC area was blanketed by FREEZING FOG, which I'd never heard of.

Sherry's eye was bothering her this morning, and since it IS Valentine's Day, I got drafted for the McDonald's run for breakfast.  It looked even more grim out on the streets.

I think a super-villain equipped with a freeze ray could bring Oklahoma to its knees.

And we looked at this poor car for a long time on Channel 9 News.

Snow White and the Huntsman!

This is one I'm going to see for the special effects alone, and if there's a good story/good acting, that's just bonus.  Looks wicked cool!

Honest, Abe, I'm Still Having Trouble Buying This Concept

I'm prepared to be underwhelmed, even with Tim Burton's involvement.

Cover Artist Keith Birdsong's Latest Creations

Keith's my buddy, but he's also the art talent behind RANCHO DIABLO, FIGHT CARD, the upcoming Cullen series, and several others.

If you'd like to contact Keith regarding cover work, email him here.  For a look at his work, go here.

Stealing the Future!

Just found this and snapped it up immediately.  A YEAR of fantasy and science fiction, and it comes directly to my Kindle each month for 99 cents?  I couldn't say know.  I signed up immediately and the magazine looks fantastic.  Two columns, adjustable print, easy to get around it.  Good stuff!  Man, reading just gets better all the time.

I Remember Whitney

This is the Whitney Houston I'll always remember.  The one that was young and energetic, and had her whole life ahead of her.

Back in the 1980s when Whitney first arrived on the music scene and music videos were all the rage on MTV, I fell in love with her voice and her music and her spontaneity.  There was something about her videos that were just fun.  I would watch "How Will I Know" or "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and end up with a smile on my face every time.  The heart-wrenching sadness of "I'll Always Love You" lay in the future.

But in the 1980s, the fans had this beautiful, vivacious woman whose voice was so big and so electric that you couldn't sit still while listening to her.

I had concert tickets in 1987, but she got sick and canceled.  She had a heavy load that year, lots of tour engagements.  I was disappointed that I did not get to hear her sing.  Then she rescheduled and came back in the middle of the week in November that year.  I was lucky enough to be able to change my work schedule and go see her.

The concert was awesome.  Very few times in my life have I heard a voice that was so big.  Whitney sang her heart out, flirted with the audience in the way that only a young woman coming into her life can, and filled that concert hall with music and laughter.  I don't care how good your sound system is, nothing could capture the way she sounded back then.  I've watched the videos and listened to CDs, and I've never again heard that same sound.

Every time I hear one of those old songs, I can't help but go back and remember being that 29 year old kid who had just sold his first book only days before.  I had achieved one of the things I'd always wanted to do in my life.  Celebrating with Whitney Houston that night made that event even more special.  Both of us were really just starting out in our careers.

When she started having her personal problems, I kept hoping she would get back on top.  I've seen people go through those kinds of troubles before, and I know that not all of them make it through.  I wish she had.

Safe House

This one looks great!

Promises real twists.

TV I'm Looking Forward To

I haven't seen this one.  I gotta catch up.

New Jennifer Estep Coming

Out now.

Out Feb. 28

Gotta Check This One Out!

More info?  Click here.

FREE Book

We're back. We hope you're sitting down, and that you've finally caught your breath from Top Suspense, our first bestselling anthology. You're about to take another screaming thrill ride with twelve master storytellers. Each Top Suspense Group author is an award winning, highly acclaimed pro whose compelling and unforgettable tales have been published all over the world--and, in some cases, have even become blockbuster movies and TV shows.

In this book, Favorite Kills, we've collected our very best short stories. All major prize-winning tales and personal favorites, each one a knock-out punch of suspense.

So hold on tight my friend, or better yet, tie yourself down. You're in for another breathtaking wild ride of seething sex and unexpected twists, dark humor, and certain death. And when it's all over, and you're sitting there spent and satisfied, soaked in a flop sweat of terror and exhilaration, we're gonna be right there to bring you even more.

Favorite Kills includes:

Archie's Been Framed by Dave Zeltserman
Night Nurse by Harry Shannon
Solomon & Lord Drop Anchor by Paul Levine
Number 19 by Naomi Hirahara
Sweet Dreams by Vicki Hendricks
House Rules by Libby Fischer Hellmann
Angie by Ed Gorman
Knife Fight by Joel Goldman
Jack Webb's Star by Lee Goldberg
Restraint by Stephen Gallagher
Top of the World by Bill Crider
A Matter of Principal by Max Allan Collins

LOVE This Cover

And it's out now!

There's also a prequel.

And a sequel.

Caught My Eye

This looks like a guy's paranormal series.  Got some serious attitude, love the name Deacon Chalk, but too much bad boy tats (unless they're magical in some way).  Gonna pick this one up and see.

WHIPPOORWILL by Sharon Sala

Sharon Sala has a new/old book out!  She's learning digital publishing and is bringing out some of her hard-to-get earlier books.

FREE Book

Get it now and get on board with this great series by Paul Bishop, co-creator of the FIGHT CARD series!

One More Tweak

Man, Keith Birdsong just keeps making knockout cover designs.  Look at the logo?  See the boxer?