I'm really looking forward to this one coming out a week from Sunday.  My son and I have both been entranced by the trailers and the premise.  Looks really cool.

And it's funny, because the last Rancho Diablo book was named the same and has nothing to do with this show.

Flying Humvee

Found this on MSN.com this morning and was blown away.  I remember when they were talking about flying cars back in the '60s and '70s.  They were Volkswagens with wings strapped on back then.  These look really cool.  Not that sure that we need them, and they look like they'd be awfully vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire, but the concept would be fun to play with in military SF novels.

THE DEAD MAN Series -- Now at a Drop Dead Price!

New Amazon special:  The first five books of THE DEAD MAN are now on sale for 99 cents for the Kindle.

Go.  Enjoy.  Shiver from now till Halloween.

Caught My Eye

My kid checked this one out of the library today and it caught my eye.  I'm gonna read it when he's finished.

ONE BOY. UNTOLD ENEMIES. A WHOLE WORLD TO SAVE.

IT'S GOING TO BE A LOOONG THREE DAYS.

Eleven years ago, a shattered band of ancient monster hunters captured an unimaginable evil and Phineas T. Pimiscule rescued his nephew, Sky, from the wreckage of that great battle. For eleven years, Sky Weathers has studied traps, puzzles, science, and the secret lore of the Hunters of Legend believing it all a game. For eleven years, Sky and his family have hidden from dark enemies while, unbeknownst to Sky, his uncle Phineas sacrificed everything to protect them.

For eleven years, Sky Weathers has known nothing of that day.

But on the eve of Sky's twelfth birthday and his family's long-awaited return to the town of Exile, everything changes. Phineas has disappeared, and Sky finds himself forced to confront the mysterious secrets he's denied for so long: why did his family leave Exile on that day so long ago? What, exactly, has Phineas been preparing him for? And, the biggest mystery of all, who is Sky really and why does everyone want to kill him?!

Featuring an action-packed plot that covers the gamut of every monster you've never heard of (not to mention weird powers and weapons made out of garbage), Return to Exile is brimming with boy and girl appeal and is a gem for reluctant young readers. And, with a diverse assortment of well-aged monster hunters in the cast, this series will be a hit with adults young and old as well. Recommended for ages 9+.

Digital Comics

I, for one, am enjoying the fact that I can download DC comics to my iPad.  I love the colors and it's really easy to find what I'm looking for rather than searching through long boxes for issues I've tucked away.

However, not all is happiness in Digital Comics land.  Evidently DC Comics has contracted with Amazon to release the top 100 DC graphic novels ONLY on the new Kindle Fire for the next four months.  Brick and mortar bookstores are rebelling.

For the story, go here.

Zombies Caught My Eye

The cover really caught my attention with the angry red motif and the silhouettes of the zombies.  Totally creepy.

Supernatural Ink FREE!

I've created a new hero for this imprint, a guy named Joe Cates who is a hoodoo man working against curses, ghosts, and demons in rural Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico.  If you like fast fiction and monsters, check us out.  The first ebook is free for the month of October.

 

Supernatural Ink.com launches!

by Joe Nassise on October 12, 2011

in New projects,News

Veteran Authors Form

Supernatural Ink

October 12, 2011: Internationally bestselling writers Jon F. Merz, Joseph Nassise, Steve Savile, and Mel Odom announced today the formation of Supernatural Ink, an authors’ collective designed to bring quality SF, horror, and fantasy fiction to readers in the digital marketplace.

All four are veteran writers, each of them having penned more than a dozen novels for major NY publishers over the last few years. Between them they have written for some of the most popular genre franchises on the market today, including Buffy, Primeval, Stargate, Torchwood and Rogue Angel. Their original fiction includes the Lawson Vampire series, the Templar Chronicles series, and the Ogmios Team adventures, to name just a few.

Every title released by Supernatural Ink will bear the ebook “Seal of Excellence,” indicating that it has been edited, proofed, and formatted to professional standards. “The seal is our way of letting readers know, at a glance, that they are getting a quality story from a veteran writer that is packaged and presented in a way that won’t distract from the reading experience,” says the group’s founder, Merz. “Excellence in ebooks, that’s our goal.”

In addition to their individual projects, SI authors are launching exclusive series like HELLstalkers and Department One designed to maximize reader interaction in the digital age.

To help spread the word, SI has made their first publication, “Supernatural Ink Annual #1″ free for the entire month of October and readers can get a free copy just by going to the SI website and signing up for the newsletter. SI Annual #1 features exclusive stories by the four authors, including brand new material from Nassise’s Templar and Merz’s Lawson series. SI also expects to partner with a variety of digital distributors in exciting new deals that maximize both their commitment to the reader and to the standards of excellence inherent in professional publishing.

The books offered by Supernatural Ink will include an assortment of the authors’ digitally-republished backlists as well as new, never-before-available front list titles. They will be available in a variety of formats from major online distributors, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Smashwords, and the Apple iBook store. Foreign translations are already underway and should be available after the first of the year.

More information can be found at the collective’s website http://www.supernaturalink.com.

Get your free copy of the Supernatural Ink Annual #1 by signing up for the mailing list!

Don't know if you've tried Gigi's Cupcakes, but they are incredibly good and sweet enough to kill.  My wife heard about the place and went to get us a cupcake each.  They were fantastic.  Evidently they're a chain just starting out.  We have one in Norman and my son has decided he'd rather have a cupcake than a birthday cake.

http://www.gigiscupcakesusa.com/home

Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum Movie!

This looks fantastic!

Arron of the Black Forest On Sale Now!!

Arron is the last of his kind. The sole survivor of the Twelve Tribes of the Black Forest. And he's on the run.

Pursued through a raging hurricane by a ruthless bounty hunter known as the Hound, Arron is driven into the dark embrace of a crumbling old house on the edge of the world.

The mansion once known as Dragon's Cliff hasn't seen a living soul in decades. And what waits within has grown impatient. Ruled by greed and hate, the spirits that call Dragon's Cliff home want Arron as much as the bounty hunter does.

But all the Hound wants is Arron's head. The ghosts have more gruesome plans.

The New York Times best-selling fantasy author Philip Athans and veteran storyteller Mel Odom join forces to create a new sword and sorcery adventure series in the tradition of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and H.P. Lovecraft.

But Arron isn't your grandfather's barbarian. This is a whole new world of adventure.

This is the world of Arron of the Black Forest!

Today: The Sky IS Falling!!!!

Story here about falling satellite!

Duck and cover!

All The Earth, Thrown To The Sky

My buddy Joe has a new book out, and this one is for younger readers!  Review here.

Jack Catcher's parents are dead—his mom died of sickness and his dad of a broken heart—and he has to get out of Oklahoma, where dust storms have killed everything green, hopeful, or alive. When former classmate Jane and her little brother Tony show up in his yard with plans to steal a dead neighbor's car and make a break for Texas, Jack doesn't need much convincing. But a run-in with one of the era's most notorious gangsters puts a crimp in Jane's plan, and soon the three kids are hitching the rails among hoboes, gangsters, and con men, racing to warn a carnival wrestler turned bank robber of the danger he faces and, in the process, find a new home for themselves. This road trip adventure from the legendary Joe R. Lansdale is a thrilling and colorful ride through Depression-era America.

Dead Man Picked Up By Amazon.com

Big News From Lee Goldberg

Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint has picked up THE DEAD MAN series in a unique and exclusive 12-book digital and print deal ... with an option for more. But that's not all. Brilliance Audio will be also be rolling out their own editions of the books.

The five books that we've already published -- FACE OF EVIL, RING OF KNIVES, HELL IN HEAVEN, THE DEAD WOMAN, and THE BLOOD MESA -- will be re-released in the days leading up to Halloween ... so keep your eyes peeled for great offers.

The sixth book in the series will be released in November and will be followed each month by another new adventure in the continuing saga of Matt Cahill, a man resurrected from the dead to battle evil among us that only he can see.

Amazon will also be releasing three-book compilations of THE DEAD MAN series in trade paperback (as well as in specially priced digital editions). The release dates of the first compilation, and the Brilliance Audio editions, have not been determined yet ... but we’re hoping they'll be ready for Christmas.

Bill Rabkin and I will continue to run the series, which we're writing with a terrific group of action, horror, mystery, SF and western authors, like James Daniels, David McAfee, James Reasoner, Harry Shannon, Joel Goldman, Mel Odom, Jude Hardin, Lisa Klink, Mark Ellis, Matthew Mayo, Joe Nassise, Bill Crider, Marcus Pelegrimas, Matt Witten, Burl Barer, and Phoef Sutton.

And we couldn't have hoped for a better partner than Amazon’s Thomas & Mercer. I just returned from meeting with the Thomas & Mercer team (including editors Terry Goodman and Andy Bartlett) in Seattle and was blown away by their creativity, enthusiasm, and eagerness to see THE DEAD MAN reach its full potential. They get exactly what Bill and I are trying to do with this series.

And what is that, you ask?

We want to capture the spirit of the “men’s action adventure” paperbacks of the 70s and 80s – short, tightly-written books full of hard-boiled heroes, outrageously sexy women, wild adventure, and gleefully over-the-top plots – and reboot the genre for a new generation that maximizes the potential of the Kindle.

And with Thomas & Mercer behind us, I don't see how we can fail.

Arron of the Black Forest Coming Soon

Book 1 should be out next week, but here's a preview of Book 2.

Cover is by Keith Birdsong.

Walking Dead Season 2

Chandler and I can't wait to seen the new season.

POISON BLONDE by Loren Estleman

Review at Bookhound.

Alphas

Although I didn't care too much for the first show, my son decided to stick out watching the series.  He was fascinated by Gary, the young guy that can tap into the digital world at will.  I went along for the ride because it gave us something else to talk about.

I'm glad he talked me into it.  Alphas has become one of my favorite television shows.  I started watching to see the powers, but I'm staying because of the characters.  This is one of the best scripted shows out there that has engaging characters that are truly growing and becoming intriguing people.  I love the developing relationships and how everyone is meshing.

If you haven't seen this show, give it a watch.  There are three new episodes left, and they get repeated a lot.  It's better if you watch the series from the beginning.  Also, they've been renewed for a second season next year and I'm excited about that as well.

THE CLOUD SEARCHERS by Kazu Kibuishi

Review on Bookhound.

Caught My Eye

First entry in a new series with three big all newlinked novellas from multiple best-sellers Harry Turtledove, John Ringo & Jody Lynn Nye, and S.M. Stirling! After the extinction asteroid DOESN'T strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving - but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved human-like shapes, but now it's cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats.

In a heroic, bronze-age world similar to300, the Mrem Clan of the Claw and its sister warbands are expanding their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic. It's mammalian courage and adaptation against reptile cunning in a clash of steel and will that will determine which line shall inherit the Earth.

THE RANGER by Ace Atkins

Review at Bookhound

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