The Coming Race

Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of - Part 10

The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1951

As you probably know, I love subterranean settings. I also love Lost Race stories. And Bulwer-Lytton’s 1871 sci-fi novel, The Coming Race, has both. Be still my heart!

The story is fairly simple and straightforward. The unnamed narrator and a friend decide to explore a chasm that an exploratory mine shaft has uncovered.

During the descent, the rope breaks and the friend is killed. The narrator finds himself with no way to get back to the surface and decides to continue his exploration of the extensive chambers he’s discovered. Eventually he enters a vast subterranean world.

The narrator meets a couple of the inhabitants, a man and a boy, who are friendly and welcome him to their world. The narrator learns that the man is an administrator and the boy is his son.

The narrator also meets the entire family, and Zee, the magistrate’s daughter, begins teaching the narrator about the world of the Vril-ya, as the people call themselves.

The Vril-ya are very much superior to humans on the surface of the earth. Their mental powers are phenomenal, and they control a substance called vril, which can heal or destroy.

In time, Zee falls in love with the narrator. Meanwhile, her father, the magistrate, has grown wary of the "primitive" narrator. When he learns his daughter is in love with the stranger, the magistrate orders his son to kill the narrator.

Since you can find a complete summary of the book on the Internet, I’ll just go ahead and tell you the rest of the story.

Zee and her brother take the narrator away, but instead of killing him they take him apart way to the surface. There is a sad parting, and then Zee seals the entrance to the world of the Vril-ya

The narrator makes his way back to the surface and warns the world the Vril-ya will take over the surface of the world when they run out of room underground.

At the time of its publication, The Coming Race, was very convincing and many believe the vril mentioned in the book was real. It’s also claimed that vril was believed to be real by many pre-Nazi occultists, such as those in the Thule Society.

Such is the power of fiction, even today vril continues to make an appearance among occultists, in movies, and in video games.

The Coming Race is free at Project Gutenberg. It’s a historically significant book, and not a bad story — although modern readers may find it slow going. However, Bulwer-Lytton’s description of utopia is quite interesting and helps one through the slow parts.

It’s not often one comes across a book that has had a major impact on history and yet remains rather unknown. Give it a try, after it’s free. You have nothing to lose. In addition, I suspect the book may have influenced HP Lovecraft and his writing of “The Mound”.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

A Bump In The Night

Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of - Part 9

A Bump in the Night by Crispian Thurlborn

https://amzn.to/2KBx666

We think life can be difficult. But being dead has its own problems.

Mr Snaggle and Mr Snuffle, those Arbitrators of the Quick and the Dead, have a new problem on their hands: their good friend, Mr Bump (that fellow who ferries folks across the river to the realm of the dead), is fading. Fading from being a ghost to being truly dead. And if Mr Bump goes, who’s going to do the ferrying?

This is a ginormous problem and Mr Snaggle and Mr Snuffle are doing their darnedest to help their friend. Seemingly, though, without success. That is, until little Penny shows up.

Crispian Thurlborn’s A Bump in the Night is a ghost story. It’s an urban fantasy tale. It’s a literary think about the meaning of life — and death. It’s a book that is at once humorous and serious.

In a style that would make Dickens envious, Thurlborn tells us a story we won’t soon forget. The tale lingers there on the edge of your mind, just like… Well, just like a ghost.

And while A Bump in the Night isn’t a Christmas story, it does have ghosts and the themes in the book go very well with “peace on earth, goodwill towards men”.

Crispian Thurlborn is one of my favorite authors. If you haven’t read anything by him, let me say his writing is on par with that of the best writers writing today.

Do yourself a favor and get a copy of A Bump in the Night. You won’t be sorry, and you may just find yourself putting the book in your pile to read again.

Comments are always welcome; and, until next time, happy reading!

Daguerreotype

Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of - Part 8

Daguerreotype by Ray Zacek

https://www.amazon.com/Daguerreotype-Ray-Zacek-ebook/dp/B00EN3JJI4

Garth Colby finds among his late brother’s belongings a remarkably preserved early Daguerreotype depicting a Parisian street scene. Because of the remarkable condition of the photograph, Garth realizes he has a small fortune on his hands. And, of course, that’s where the trouble begins.

For the photograph has a long and sordid history. A history of producing hallucinations and insanity. Money-hungry Garth, though, is ignorant of this history. But more importantly, if he did know the history, would he care? Money solves everything, right?

Even though Daguerreotype is a horror or macabre novella, Zacek handles the form in a way that brings as much satisfaction as one would get from a novel. We are treated to well-developed characters. We experience a fully developed storyline, hauntingly told, that holds our attention right to the end. And the suspense, as Zacek weaves the past and present together, is unrelenting.

Some readers balk at the shorter prose forms. If you aren’t especially fond of them, I invite you to think of Daguerreotype as a long lost script for a never produced episode of The Twilight Zone. Yes, Daguerreotype is that good. It is well worth an hour of your time.

The book is only 99¢, and it’s also on Kindle Unlimited.

Very highly recommended!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

Ben Willoughby

Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of - Part 7

I’m back with Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of. And today we’re not looking at one book. We’re looking at one remarkable author.

Ben Willoughby and I met on Twitter, and I’m glad we did. His horror books have provided hours of scary, spooky, and at times hilarious entertainment.

He is also the very talented artist who is responsible for the awesome book covers of my Pierce Mostyn series.

In addition to writing horror, Ben has written a high fantasy novel, Gods on the Mountain, and is working on The Zeppelin Lords dieselpunk trilogy.

It is his horror tales, however, I want to highlight in this post, for they are the books I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed. So without further ado, let’s take a look at Ben Willoughby’s Reign of Terror.

Mannegishi is based on a Cree Indian legend. The small people, the Mannegishi, play pranks on people. They’re tricksters. And at first Jonathan Banks wonders if perhaps he hasn’t had the misfortune of drawing the attention of the Little People. But then things start taking an ugly turn, and so does the story. Highly recommended.

Daddy’s Girl is a ghost story you won’t easily forget. Alex never knew her father. He died when she was very young. However, through the stories about him, she learned he was a warm and loving person, and was a devoted father who loved her very much. When she goes off to college she discovers what a father’s love truly means. And woe to those who threaten Daddy’s Girl. You don’t want to miss this story.

The House That Homed is a hilarious dark comedy. And Willoughby handles the comedy and terror with equal aplomb. You just might never want to be home alone again. Thoroughly entertaining.

Raw Head is another tale based on Native American legend. A serial killer is brutally murdering children. And events cause Susie to fear that the child she is carrying may be the next victim. Can the killer be stopped? What if the killer isn’t human? An emotionally powerful tale.

Deadly Whispers is a dark comedy that takes a whole new look at Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or ASMR. And let me tell you, that look is both chilling, and funny. Very funny, in fact. There’s also a love story. Horror, humor, and love. A combination guaranteed to creep you out and warm your heart at the same time. And the ending? Well, I never saw that one coming! Very highly recommended.

If you are looking for horror tales that are well-written and come from a very fertile imagination, look no further than Willoughby’s books. They’re superb.

If you are a writer in need of a book cover, I highly recommend Ben Willoughby. He understands book covers. You can get in touch with him on Twitter.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

Four Years

November marks my four year anniversary as an independent author-publisher. And they’ve been four super wonderful years. I’m very much looking forward to year 5.

I’ve published 28 books, with number 29 coming out by year’s end. If I’d gone the traditional publishing route, I might still be looking for an agent. Screw traditional publishing. It’s the indie life for me!

Now I’d love to write that I just bought that Rolls Royce I’ve always dreamed of owning with my royalties from this year. Unfortunately, my desire has greatly outpaced my earnings.

Am I disappointed? I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t. But I’m only disappointed a teeny-weeny bit. Why? Because I have 28 books, soon to be 29, available for people to enjoy. I’m making some money. And people, at least some people, like my stories. Plus I’m doing what I always wanted to do and loving it. What more can one ask for?

I’ve learned a lot these past four years and I’m hoping the next four years will at least allow me to buy a Ford Focus. :)

While all that sounds optimistic, fundamentally I’m a pragmatist. In the end, what works is what counts. I’ve read dozens of books, articles, and blogposts by writers as to what works and what doesn’t. I don’t focus on the fads or the gimmicks or the golden parachutes. I look at what truly works.

For indie writers, there is one refrain that has been constantly sounded by virtually all the successful writers — and it’s simple: write fast, write in series, publish often, and build a mailing list. Those 4 things are what virtually all successful indie authors have done and are doing.  Sure there are exceptions. But they are the exceptions.

If you are an indie writer and aren’t writing fast, aren’t writing one or more series, if you aren’t publishing often, and you aren’t building a mailing list — then you will almost certainly fail. It doesn’t matter how good your writing is. Indie readers want lots of books, because they tend to be voracious readers, and they want them in series. It’s that simple.

Self-publishing today is easy and gaining in respectability. And I’m glad. For anyone who wants to write and publish a book, now that person can. There are no longer any gatekeepers stopping people. We can tell the world whatever is on our hearts and minds. We can tell the world all the stories we want to. And that is a good thing.

Marketing, however, remains the bugaboo — for both indies and the big corporate publishers.

Finding one’s audience is the real challenge for any artist or entertainer who hopes to make a living producing art. And fiction writers are both artist and entertainer. And this is where a mailing list can help the writer. Because a mailing list is really a list of those who like your work, or are at least interested. You won’t get that from Amazon or Apple or Barnes and Noble. They keep the email addresses to themselves.

Marketing in some form is essential to getting our name and our work out in front of potential readers and buyers. A mailing list is simply a voluntarily captive audience, as it were. There are other forms of marketing, and they should be used. But you writers, don’t neglect the mailing list.

For the curious, I’ve earned the following royalties for my efforts:

2014 (2 months) $113.48

2015   $233.87

2016   $231.04

2017   $212.53

2018 (through October) $280.53

Those earnings came from the sale of 513 books, 35 borrows, and 23,202 page reads.

As you can see, I’m no mega-star. No bestseller. No award winner. But I’m not ashamed of those numbers. Thus far I’ve achieved all that with but 4 weeks of paid advertising done at the beginning of this year. The bulk of my sales and page reads came from free advertising venues.

My fan base is tiny. And I do mean tiny. But it’s a start and I continue to be excited and encouraged with every sale and page read.

For the coming year I’m going to focus on the indie formula for success. I plan on writing lots, at least 1,000 finished words a day and hopefully I can push that to 2,000 or 2,500 on a consistent basis.

The old pulp formula, which is now the indie formula, is alive and well. Publishing 3 books in 3 months proved it to me. It’s what has given me my best year ever. I had sustained sales for 4 months after the third book was published. If I’d had more ready to go… Who knows, I might have been a bestseller.

I’m also going to work on building my mailing list. I’m a believer in the 1,000 fan theory. Which is this: all an artist needs is 1,000 super fans (those folks who will buy whatever you put out — books, recordings, cups, sweatshirts, etc.) to make a living from his art.

To find those fans, I’ll be using such avenues as Prolific Works and BookFunnel: giving away a free copy of a story in exchange for an email. The process is slow and tedious. Many unsubscribe right away. Many drop off in the first few months, and many never open an email. I’ll cull from the list those who are unresponsive. Leaving the folks who are hopefully interested in my books.

I love writing. I love being retired so I have the freedom to write all day if I choose. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Life is grand.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

Van Dyne’s Vampires

A writer is a little bit like a god. Gods in all religions are creators. They are responsible for the world as we know it, and for the world we cannot see.

Writers create worlds, both seen and unseen, every day, along with myriads of people. Like gods, writers are creators.

The act of creating is, for me, exhilarating. It is the most exciting part of writing. Someday I hope to have enough money so I can hire someone to do all the other aspects of the writing business so I can just write.

The first audience of a writer is himself. If the story doesn’t interest him, it won’t see the light of day. And it might not even see completion. After all, writers basically write about what they know and they write a story they find interesting. That’s what keeps them going. I suppose the same can be said of deities: they do what pleases them.

Yesterday was supposed to be the official launch day of Van Dyne’s Vampires (Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations, Book 4). However, Amazon is having hiccups in their KDP processing. Consequently, Van Dyne isn’t showing up on the Pierce Mostyn series page and the price (as of this writing) is still listed at 99 cents, which is what I offer as a special deal to my reading list folks. However, since the book is still 99 cents — grab a copy before the Zon finally gets its act together and raises the price to $2.99.

The Pierce Mostyn stories have been a joy to write. More and more I’m growing to truly love Mostyn and company. I’m anticipating a long relationship with him and his world.

Van Dyne’s Vampires is a bit of a departure from the previous three stories, where I riffed on a story by HP Lovecraft. Van Dyne is my own creation. Although characters of his ilk abound. Van Dyne is the Moriarity, the Zeck, the Fu Manchu of Pierce Mostyn’s world. The human evil genius. Never mind that Mostyn also has Cthulhu and his buddies to contend with.

Cthulhu and friends, however, don’t care about us. We are to them as ants on a sidewalk are to us. That is the horror of the Mythos: in the vastness of the universe, we don’t matter. We are nothing. Whether human beings and our little world continue to exist doesn’t even register in the minds of entities greater than ourselves.

The true horror of our quest to meet other intelligent life is that they will be superior to us and not care if we live or die. And maybe for them, things would be better off if we were dead. Be careful what you wish for.

However, for some, the fear of the Mythos might be a bit remote. So I created someone we all can relate to: namely, the bully; the person who uses others to satisfy his or her own needs. Valdis Damien van Dyne is that bully on a mega-scale. He is that egotist who thinks nothing of others — other than how they can best serve his needs.

We’ve all been bullied. We’ve all dealt with users. And when that bully or user has power over us, there is fear we feel deep in our gut. It is far more visceral than the fear of being nothing.

And just as we hope someone will come to our rescue, there is Pierce Mostyn and the OUP. A little bit of the cavalry coming over the hill just in the nick of time. And we like that.

You can get Van Dyne’s Vampires at Amazon, or read it for free if you are a KU member. Enjoy!

Comments are always welcome; and, until next time, happy reading!

Pierce Mostyn Investigates Again

Pierce Mostyn fighting inter-dimensional beings. Photo from a secret OUP file.

Pierce Mostyn came into being, as with most if not all of my fiction, out of thin air. Like Athena springing fully formed from the forehead of Zeus.

Technically creatio ex nihilo is reserved for gods; and since I’m not one, there were embryonic thoughts and influences swirling around in my mind which eventually coalesced into Pierce Mostyn. I mentioned a few last week.

Mostyn is a professional paranormal investigator, employed by the Office of Unidentified Phenomena; which is a dark and shadowy and mysterious federal agency. The office’s director, Dr Rafe Bardon, is an equally mysterious and shadowy character.

The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and Stranger Things were undoubtedly the immediate stimuli for Mostyn. Before those shows there was, of course, HP Lovecraft. The federal government’s interest in suppressing what was going on in that ancient seaside town of Innsmouth is a key factor in lending the story an air of authenticity.

Many of Lovecraft’s stories are written as an exposé of suppressed truth. A device The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and Stranger Things all made use of. And since I grew up in the 50s and 60s, I’m very familiar with accounts of government suppression of information some bureaucrat thought was too dangerous for us to know. That theme even found its way into Indiana Jones.

Of course, Mr Snowdon helped us realize that the government is in fact actively suppressing the truth, lying to us, and spying on us. In spite of what the socialists, and big government liberals and conservatives say — government is not our friend. A theme I allude to in Van Dyne’s Vampires.

Next week, if all goes well, Van Dyne’s Vampires, the fourth Pierce Mostyn paranormal investigation, will be available for your reading pleasure. Mostyn and company will encounter some new enemies. There is also plenty of action, and a healthy dollop of humor, along with that good old-fashioned paranormal horror.

If you haven’t yet discovered Pierce Mostyn, take a look at the series page. Some good reading awaits you!

Comments are always welcome; and, until next time, happy reading!