New Sheriff In Town

 

Bordertown private investigator Luke Oliver’s beat is the dimensional fold in Manhattan between the human and supernatural realms. But now a secret from his past—the League of the Black Swan—has surfaced. Because Luke isn’t any ordinary P.I. He’s the Dark Wizard of Bordertown, and he never backs down from a fight.

But this time the fight threatens his life and his heart. Rio Jones, the only woman he loved, needs his help against a deadly menace. Luke pushed her away once before, so she’d never fall prey to the curse that threatens to destroy him. He swore he’d never let her go again.

Luke and Rio, with the help of the newly reformed League, must keep evil forces from taking over Bordertown—all the while battling a passion on the razor’s edge between danger and desire. And going to take everything they have just to stay alive.

 

Coming in May.

 

 

Caught My Eye

 

The Hunger Games meets the X-Men in an exciting postapocalyptic debut. Two years after London is struck by a devastating terrorist attack, it is cut off from the world, protected by a military force known as Choppers.

The rest of Britain believes that the city is now a toxic, uninhabited wasteland.  But Jack and his friends—some of whom lost family on what has become known as Doomsday—know that the reality is very different. At great risk, they have been gathering evidence about what is really happening in London—and it is incredible.

Because the handful of London's survivors are changing. Developing strange, fantastic powers. Evolving.

Upon discovering that his mother is still alive inside London, Jack, his sister, and their three friends sneak into a city in ruins. Vast swathes have been bombed flat. Choppers cruise the streets, looking for survivors to experiment upon. The toxic city is filled with wonders and dangers that will challenge Jack and his friends... and perhaps kill them. But Jack knows that the truth must be revealed to the outside world or every survivor will die.

Ebook Workshop on Saturday, May 4th

 

Here I am with Pioneer Librarian Cindy Stevens.  The library has invited me to speak at their 3rd Annual Writer's Workshop on Saturday May 4 in Norman, OK.  I'll be talking about the ebook boom and how you can start your own publishing empire.

 

Details here.

 

 

Set in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, the urban fantasy serialized novel follows the law practice of Thomas Brock and Evelyn Love. The duo crusades for the rights of "OTs" . . . Other Than Humans, and their clients include ghosts, gargoyles, vampires, and things they've yet to put a name to. The danger and intrigue is as thick as the mist that teases the Golden Gate Bridge.

From Spectre of Justice: The "OTs," as they were often called, tended to cluster in cities, and Thomas was well aware there were a good number of them in San Francisco, where some say true magic was born and laid heaviest in the land. OTs: Other-Than-Human, like his client Holder, who was a ghoul, an undead creature normally associated with graveyards and considered a corpse-eater.

 

The first LOVE-HAIGHT novel is out now!  Get it here!

 

 

Love This Cover and Concept!

 

Imagine an Age of Exploration full of alchemy, human dissection, sea monsters, betrayal, torture, religious controversy, and magic. In Europe, the magic is thin, but at the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest explorers to the alluring Western Ocean. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship.

 

 

Bugatti Blue Dream Kickstarter Project!

One of my students at the University of Oklahoma is writing a book about this project, but the history of the plane and the recent developments are fascinating.  To find out more, and to potentially donate, here's a link to the Kickstarter page.

Taking Quinn Home -- For Free!

 

Four men leave the local bar on a snowy night, cautiously driving an old truck down rural back roads to get home. Although the snow and ice are unforgiving, the weather conditions aren't to blame when they find themselves stranded in the woods.

And it is certainly not the freezing weather that is to blame for the terror and bloodshed that will occur before the sun rises.

There are wolves howling in the distance and the truck won't move...but these are the least of their problems.

 

 

 

 

Absolutely LOVE these NOIR styled covers.

 

Love These Covers!

 

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy. Be sure not to miss the special first edition, complete with an exclusive family tree.

 

 

 

New Fight Card Book!

 

Chicago 1925

Amidst the violent, bloody boulevards of gangland Chicago, Archie Mannis uses his fists to rise from the shadows of St. Vincent's Asylum For Boys. Forging a reputation from his earliest amateur bouts, Archie’s fists carry him through the Great Depression and into the heat of The War In The Pacific. Back home, his fistic skills put him once again on a championship road. But there are dangers lurking – the sweet taste of morphine, crooked fight promoters, and a bitter enemy whose hatred has festered since their hardscrabble childhood.

As Archie Mannis faces his last round, legendary boxers, famous writers, Hollywood celebrities, and notorious mobsters are all part of the mix – waiting to see if Archie will still be standing in the ring when the final bell clangs ...

Written in the style of the great fight biographies found in the sports pulps of the ‘40s and ‘50s, The Last Round of Archie Mannis will have you cheering from ringside ...

 

Interview here.

 

 

Rancho Diablo #1 free on March 17 & 18

 

 

Army Scout Sam Blaylock wasn’t looking for trouble when he rode into Shooter’s Cross, a small Texas town with a colorful history, but he found trouble in spades.  After being nearly killed in an ambush, Sam discovers a patch of land where he thinks he can settle his family, put down roots, and build a future.  Unfortunately, that land has poisoned water and rumors of ghosts.  Sam’s figured a way to fix the water problem, and he’s never been a big believer in ghosts, but he hadn’t planned on running up against newspaperman Mitchell McCarthy, who’s willing to kill to take Rancho Diablo now that Sam has turned the land into a profitable enterprise.

Sam enlists the aid of two friends from the army – fast talking Duane Beatty and gunhawk and fellow scout Mike Tucker – and digs in tighter than a tick to fight back.

COLBY JACKSON IS:  Bill Crider, James Reasoner, and Mel Odom – cumulatively the authors of HUNDREDS of books including Westerns, mysteries, suspense stories, horror stories, and anything else that catches their fancy.  Check them out at www.billcrider.blogspot.com, www.jamesreasoner.blogspot.com, and www.melodom.blogspot.com.

Caught My Eye

 

This action-packed ePulp Anthology unleashes four new noir tales inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Blazing brawls and gritty adventure awaits dieselpunks, nostalgians, die hard or pulp-curious fans. Hope you can take a punch, because these two-fisted tales hit hard!

For young hoods, the Aether Age streets of mob-plagued Chicago present a world of opportunity. And Mack and Mickey are headed straight for the top in "That Sort of World: a Tale of the Aether Age."

It's class-warfare in Citadel City as Pandora Driver and her Car of Tomorrow deliver rough justice to the elites and a douche named the Gooch in "Who are the People in your Neighborhood?"

"The Wise Man Says" introduces Mick Trubble: a hard drinking, chain smoking charmer who bites off more than he can chew... then chews like hell. The Troubleshooter takes the grit and slang of a hardboiled detective and drops it in a dystopian setting that mixes Fedoras, trench coats, flying cars and android policemen.

The dirty streets of Roanoketown were his home and his only family. Until he met HER. Now he'll follow HER into hell, tamahaak held high, and fight as a proud Indian against the Anglo Oppressors. He'll wager his life to be a true "A Friend of Spirits."

Download if you dare!

Caught My Eye

 

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternatea twin raised by another familyand citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriagelife.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes Wests confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, shes no longer certain that shes the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Elsie Chapman's suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

 

 

Feel Good Moment

 

 

I absolutely love the fact that the Obamas are such a down-to-earth First Family.  I've seen this video of the First Lady dancing with Jimmy Fallon several times, and every time I get a good feeling about the fact that this woman and her husband are people I could actually talk with -- and laugh with.

I know she's probably getting a lot of criticism from folks.  Every parent takes a hit from other parents at one time or another because of some parenting choice or another.  God knows I did for several things.  My kids have turned out well and still like me most days -- which is about the best you can ask for.  I can remember when I was a single stay at home dad and got criticized for not having a job, though I was writing novels and making more money than I could have anywhere else.  I just didn't advertise the fact and most people in the neighborhood wouldn't have believed it.  Now I'm listed as a Famous Oklahoman (right under Chuck Norris), and most people don't know that either.

Michelle Obama is having fun here, but her message is serious regarding the health of our kids.  My fifteen year old deal with a precursor to Type II diabetes, which directly relates to the program the First Lady champions so well.

This is still one of my favorite pictures of Barack Obama.

 

Since when has this country ever had a more approachable First Family?  We'll probably never see the like again.

 

Caught My Eye

 

THE SHADOW is a character that has lasted through decades on the pages of pulp magazines, over the radio airwaves, thru the silver screen, and in the panels of comic books. Shrouded in mystery, his origins have been explored and hinted at over the years...but never fully revealed. Much is known of Kent Allard/Lamont Cranston's years spent in the Orient and Central America-wherein he gains his powers and purpose...but not how he first developed his persona as the Master of Darkness. Eisner Award-winning author, Matt Wagner is joined by artist Wilfredo Torres in an exhilarating 8-issue limited series that will explore the dynamic events that first drew Cranston back to the States, how he first met his companion and lover, Margo Lane, how he began to assemble his vast network of agents and how he first adopted the famous black hat and cloak as his alter-ego's disguise-all secrets that, up until now...only The Shadow knew!

 

Don't know how I feel about all of the Shadow's secrets being revealed, but Matt Wagner is a good writer.  Should be fun.

This is Cool

 

They're doing them for all 50 states, but it's still neat to see the flag of Oklahoma on the cover of a Justice League comic.

Seduction of the Innocent

 

It's 1954, and a rabble-rousing social critic has declared war on comic books - especially the scary, gory, bloody sort published by the bad boys of the industry, EF Comics. But on the way to a Senate hearing on whether these depraved publications should be banned, the would-be censor meets a violent end of his own - leaving his opponents in hot water.

Can Jack Starr, private eye to the funny-book industry, and his beautiful boss Maggie unravel the secret of Dr. Frederick's gruesome demise? Or will the crackdown come, falling like an executioner's axe...?

 

I love these books by Max Allan Collins.  They're mysteries that focus on the early roots of comic books and comic strips.  A true pleasure to read and a lot of trivia/history thrown in as well.  I encourage you to pick up all the Jack Starr mysteries.  This is the third one.  They all stand alone.

 

You Say You Wanna Publish On Kindle?...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free 2/20/13


FREE for a short time!!!

New Rancho Diablo: Songbird!

 

Bill Crider wrote this one, folks, and he did an awesome job if I have to say so myownsellf.  Our cover model is the beautiful Kasey Lansdale, daughter of author Joe Lansdale, and she is a songstress in real life as well.

 

This story is truly a riot, part Western, part tall tale, and part action.  It's a blend that's just a blast to read.  When I sat down to go over it (Bill, James, and I always look over each other's stuff), I was swept away in the story and forgot what I was supposed to be there doing time after time.  Bill makes Shooter's Cross come to life, builds on the existing characters, and adds more fuel to the fire.  The Rancho Diablo world just comes to life with him spinning tales.

Grab this one.  You'll enjoy it.

Liberty Awakened by Alicia Dean

This one's by one of my best buds!

Evil lurks beneath the surface in the beauty of the tropics…

After graduation from her small, Oklahoma high school, Liberty Delacort is looking forward to a fun-filled summer before college. But when the people she trusts the most betray her, and a letter arrives claiming the father she thought was dead is still alive, she jumps at the chance to travel to an exotic island to meet him.

But her excitement is short-lived. Her father is dying, and he doesn’t want her around. In spite of its outward tranquility, the island is filled with danger and ominous secrets. Before long, the secrets begin to unravel. She learns she is a descendant of Van Helsing, the vampire hunter, and she must fulfill her destiny in order to save humans from a faction of vicious vampires. The only man who can help her learn the skills she needs is a volatile, hostile, vampire who wants her off the island.

Will her inexperience lead to her death—and the death of others—or will she rise to the challenge and realize her full potential as a Hunter?

I've been reading Bill Dietz's action SF for years and really enjoy his books.  Now there are two new ones for readers -- and for me.  I picked them both up.  You should too if you like fast-paced SF adventure.

Free For A Limited Time!

Are You Listening? Is a new short story by J.M. McDermott, author of the Dogsland Trilogy, set in the evolving shared world of the Fathomless Abyss.

The Abyss has a top but no bottom. When you fall in, you fall forever. When the Crown closes, you make a new home for yourself among the captive population from a million worlds and a million epochs…or you die trying.

For a sentient plant, the Abyss brings only pain and slavery, until it learns to speak.

Are You Listening? is an introduction to an impossible new fantasy world from the creative minds of Philip Athans, Jay Lake, Mike Resnick & Brad R. Torgersen, Cat Rambo, and J.M. McDermott.

Fall in with them, and find your place in the Fathomless Abyss.

New Favorite Commercial

I love Kelly Cuoco.  She's awesome on The Big Bang Theory.  But I love her new commercial too.  Maybe someone should do a new version of Bewitched?  I Dream of Jeannie?

New Fathomless Abyss Short Story

Are You Listening? Is a new short story by J.M. McDermott, author of the Dogsland Trilogy, set in the evolving shared world of the Fathomless Abyss.

The Abyss has a top but no bottom. When you fall in, you fall forever. When the Crown closes, you make a new home for yourself among the captive population from a million worlds and a million epochs…or you die trying.

For a sentient plant, the Abyss brings only pain and slavery, until it learns to speak.

Are You Listening? is an introduction to an impossible new fantasy world from the creative minds of Philip Athans, Jay Lake, Mike Resnick & Brad R. Torgersen, Cat Rambo, and J.M. McDermott.

Fall in with them, and find your place in the Fathomless Abyss.

New Dead Man Out Now!

On the road to Fargo, North Dakota, Matt Cahill is trapped in a hellacious blizzard on a frozen, traffic-choked interstate. He's stalked by an escaped murderer and the guards who were transporting him--all of them seemingly possessed by a mutant virus that spreads quickly among the others trapped in their cars, turning everyone into crazed zombies. Matt struggles with a small band of survivors to find the source of the horrific plague before it claims them all. The odds are against any of them surviving the night....and that includes Mr. Dark.

Coming July 1, 2013.

Lots of fireworks in this one, folks.  Had a great time writing this book and these characters.  If you liked Deployed, you'll see more military action here.

Having grown up in the foster system, Private Pike Morgan’s rough exterior and problem with authority earn him few friends among his fellow Marines. When he’s not on missions for the Marine Reserve, Pike’s rebellious attitude and eagerness for vigilante justice have the local police regularly at his doorstep. Struggling to set down roots, and nervous of his desire to, Pike’s eager to answer the military’s call for another mission.

On a peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan, Pike and his squad soon find themselves entrenched in a heated war zone. After an American journalist is kidnapped by known terrorist Zalmai Yaqub, the whereabouts of this al Qaeda leader become a top priority for the American military. But when Yaqub flees to Pakistan, will anyone aid Pike in his hunt, or will this strong Marine find himself without an ally?

Tier Zero

Hank Brown’s Tier Zero is old school action adventure pulp like the books Pinnacle was publishing back in the 1970s and 1980s.  Those books pretty much died out in the 1980s when guys like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis started hitting the big screen with their testosterone laden blowouts because it was easier to watch a VHS tape than read a book.

But the appetite for those action movies has never completely died out.  A look at the current crop of movies reveals that present day audiences still enjoy them.  Strangely enough, those same action stars of the 1980s have also made a return to the big screen, older and packing more heat than ever!

The setup in the book is very familiar to anyone in the venue.  I slipped right into the narrative as we’re introduced to the Bad Guys (despicable, actually) and the Big Mistake they make (kidnapping one of our hero’s daughter/niece).  From there we moved right into getting to know the heroes as the team begins to assemble and the mission gets laid out.

Brown doesn’t cover any new ground in his novel, but he doesn’t intend to.  This is a salute to the books that shaped him as a writer, a tour de force of the kind of fiction he grew up on and still enjoys.  Sure, the writing creaks a bit here and there, but the action gets really big and the pacing is a marathon that turns into a sprint at the finish.

Covers That Sell Books

I love military historical novels (Bernard Cornwell and others) and when I saw these covers, I picked up these books immediately.  Now I gotta find time to read them.

Wonder Bread

Ever since Hostess went bankrupt, my 15 year old has been whining.  He's not fretting over Twinkies, which so many people began hoarding (good thing they have a shelf life of, well, forever).  He's been complaining that all the other breads we've bought just haven't been the same as Wonder Bread.

Truthfully, I have to agree with him.  They haven't been the same.  Admittedly, I strayed from Wonder Bread occasionally when trying other breads to spice up sandwiches, but there's something about putting one of those colorful packages in your shopping cart that always made life feel somehow happier.

All these years and I never questioned why the loaves were packaged as they were with the red, yellow, and blue dots.  I just figured they were balloons and let it go at that.  Turns out I was right -- they are balloons.  Elmer Cline, the vice president for merchandising back in 1921, saw the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and used the imagery on the packaging.

The Wonder Bread brand, as well as other brands, have been recently acquired by Flowers Foods (Mrs. Freshley's and Tastykake) and will hopefully be back on the shelves soon.  I know Chandler will be relieved, even though now we've discovered that bread in general is the new "crack."

d

The Colbert Report

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Okay, this fun cover got might attention and made a sale today!  :)

The magical, secretive society of JANITORS will sweep the country in the fall of 2011. Have you ever fallen asleep during math class? Are you easily distracted while listening to your English teacher? Do you find yourself completely uninterested in geography? Well, it may not be your fault. The janitors at Welcher Elementary know a secret, and it s draining all the smarts out of the kids. Twelveyear- old Spencer Zumbro, with the help of his classmate Daisy Gullible Gates, must fight with and against a secret, janitorial society that wields wizard-like powers. Who can Spencer and Daisy trust and how will they protect their school and possibly the world? Janitors is book 1 in a new children s fantasy series by debut novelist Tyler Whitesides. You ll never look at a mop the same way again.

And there's already a sequel!

New Today!

I love Parker's Westerns.  Even though he's gone now, this is a new book in his Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch series, written by Robert Knott, who co-authored the movie version of Appaloosa, which is a very fine film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson.  I really recommend the books to any reader who likes entertaining stories, not just Westerns.

For years, Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch have ridden roughshod over rabble-rousers and gun hands in troubled towns like Appaloosa, Resolution, and Brimstone. Now, newly appointed as Territorial Marshalls, they find themselves traveling by train through the Indian Territories. Their first marshaling duty starts out as a simple mission to escort Mexican prisoners to the border, but when the Governor of Texas, his wife and daughters climb aboard with their bodyguards and $500,000 in tow, their journey suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.

The problem is Bloody Bob Brandice. He and Virgil have had it out before, an encounter that left Brandice face-down in the street with two .44 slugs lodged in him. Now, twelve years later on a night train struggling uphill in a thunderstorm, Brandice is back – and he’s not alone. Cole and Hitch find themselves in the midst of a heist with a horde of very bad men, two beautiful young hostages, and a man with a vendetta he’s determined to carry out.

Military SF Series Debut!

Picking up a Steve Perry book is a no-brainer to me.  I always enjoy his stuff, and this looks like the beginning of a good run.

At the close of the 24th Century, a series of revolutions has caused the galaxy to descend into chaos. With the Galactic Union’s Army stretched thin, mercenary units have arisen for those who have the need—and the means—to hire them…

Captained by former Detached Guerrilla Forces Colonel R.A. “Rags” Cutter, the Cutter Force Initiative is one of the best. A specialized team consisting of both aliens and humans, the Cutters offer services ranging from fight training and protection to extraction and assassination—as long as the target deserves it and their employer makes good on payday.

When they’re hired to find and rescue Indira, the soon-to-be-married daughter of the Rajah Ramal of New Mumbai, the teams’ first task is to identify the kidnapper. The obvious suspects are insurgents who want to overthrow the rajanate, but as other forces enter the game and an assassination attempt is made on Ramal, the Cutters realize that their in-and-out extraction job is about to get a lot more interesting—and a lot more lethal…

And for those of you who want to listen...

I really enjoy Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels, and was surprised to discover my wife likes them too.  The books are inventive and surprising, and Reacher is just my kind of guy -- tough, loyal, and a thinker.

So when I discovered Tom Cruise was going to play him in the movies (Cruise being nearly a foot shorter than Reacher's 6'5"), I wasn't too keen on seeing the film.

However, I took two of my sons and went shortly after New Year's.  We first tried to go on New Year's (big mistake) and the movie was sold out, so we hung out at Best Buy for a bit and ate at What-a-Burger.  I'm not a dad to let a moment with his kids go wasted.

When we did see the film, I had a really good time.  It was Reacher, yet it wasn't.  Cruise just didn't have the physical prowess I expected from Reacher, but the actor brought a tremendous amount of intensity.  He had the right kind of look, the quiet reserve of Reacher, the cutting-edge quips and quotes delivered with deadpan accuracy.  I think one of the things in a Reacher book that really sets the tone is the villain, and there were a few nice ones in this one.

Overall, the movie felt like two hours and twenty minutes.  The pacing was solid and engaging, but you had time to think.  A lot of times an action film will just blow you through it (any of the Transformers movies comes to mind, but I couldn't tell you exactly what was going on at any one time), but Jack Reacher pulls you along at a steady pace.  I enjoyed the clinical way Reacher dissects the investigation, how he gets there one step ahead of everyone else.  Of course, Reacher has the author and the scriptwriter in his pocket, but the story was laid out well enough that I was right there with Reacher, figuring things out.  There is a nice either/or twist at the end that's well done and had me hanging by my fingernails event though I'd figured most everything else out -- which I think you're supposed to do to properly enjoy the film.

My favorite line in the move is (close, I think):  I'm going to beat you to death and drink your blood from a boot."  Can't say how long I've waited for an action hero to say that.

I also watched Expendables 2 earlier this year and had a good time with it.  Yeah, I'm pretty easy to please.  But it's interesting matching up Jack Reacher as an action film versus Expendables 2.  They're really apples and oranges.  Sylvester Stallone and his crew chew through scenery and are a hoot to watch, but Cruise manages to bring you into the world of Jack Reacher and make the whole story more personal.

I hope this is the start of a new franchise for Lee Child and Cruise because I'd definitely like to see another Jack Reacher movie.

Mike Faricy is one of the writers for the FIGHT CARD series.  He also writes crime novels.  You can find a nice piece by him here.

Android: Mimic Out Now!

 

 

Available on Kindle and Nook.

 

In a dystopian future, a bioroid detective struggles with his own artificial identity during his search for a killer.

New Angeles Detective Drake 3GI2RC is not your average Bioroid. First, he’s one of the New Angeles Police Department’s few android cops, and second, he’s haunted by another man’s memories. But even as Drake investigates a very public crime, he must look inward for answers. After all, where does his programming end, and his own personality begin? Mimic is the second exciting novel in The Identity Trilogy, a series written by Mel Odom and set in the Android universe!