Category: Writing

Promoting, Writing

Update and A New Look

It’s been awhile since I last ‘blogged’, which may make it look as if I haven’t been very busy. Even Twitter has suffered in the last couple of months. Aside from work and everyday life’s needs keeping me busy, I have been working on a couple of different projects (along with the change of the look and feel of this site), that I hope to have done and out to the masses by Halloween, (we will see if that works out the way I hope).

I am working on three different writing projects personally, and I am also working with Kathryn Stelher, who is finishing her first romance novel Time Doesn’t Wait, to be published under the  Ace-Hil-Ink brand. I’m not one for reading romance stories, but I do look forward to reading and helping with editing her final product. She plans on releasing it this December.

Of the projects that I am working on, the one that is taking a majority of my time is my Serialized Fiction Series Night Dreams. – A Dream-Psychologist takes in patients who are having horrific nightmares that feel so real and dangerous that they seek help in a psychologist who specializes in extreme nightmares. Dr. Rickettes has a talent, skill, or curse that helps him rid them of their nightmares –  I plan for each episode to be in the short story/novella range of 15,000 to 20,000 words. The first one, yet to be sub-titled is already in the 13,000-word neighborhood.

I am also working on finishing my novella Floor Four. This story was released in my book, Purgatory-13 Tales of the Macabre, last October. The abrupt ending, (no spoilers here), is what I am working on, to be released as a stand-alone story. It is by far the longest of the 13 stories in Purgatory and was originally planned to be its own novella. But as I was in the middle of writing it last year, I decided to put it in the book as a teaser. Again, I hope to have this out by Halloween.

My third project is a shift in genre. It is a baseball story that I am dedicating to my father. He taught me everything i know about the great sport.  I have no deadline on this one as I am taking my time to take in all of the accounts of my personal experiences. It will be  fiction with a lot of real life experiences mixed in.

That’s the update. I plan on posting more often. I hope your writing, reading, or whatever keeps you busy is going well!
(I also hope you like the new look of the website)

~ALJ~

Horror, Writing

The Walking Dead or Falling Skies – By Land or By Sky

Being a fan of a few different television series, I found a similarity in two of them that I watch – The Walking Dead on AMC and Falling Skies on TNT. The former falls into the Zombie-Horror genre, while the latter is Sci-Fi. My first book, Purgatory, has 13 short stories and is my take on horror. None of the stories have a Zombie or Sci-Fi angle, but I plan to try my hand at those in the future.

The similarities between the two series are the, something has happened to our world theme, which is usually interesting if done right. The Walking Dead follows a group of survivors trying to find their way and learn more about what has happened and what their future holds. Falling Skies takes a similar path, only this time aliens are taking over. Groups of survivors are in the same situation of survival and learning how to defeat, what seems to be a superior enemy.

I am a fan of books, movies, and TV series that follow this trend. These two series, in my opinion, are done very well. The initial big-event happens, survivor groups are formed and the learning process begins. The stories then follow the main characters, and their own struggles and demons in dealing with, either a dead loved-one, or of them moving forward in the relationships that they forge with their fellow survivors.

As I said, I have not written a story in either genre, but they both appeal to me, so for any authors out there that have done work in either zombie-horror or sci-fi, what do you think of the two series I mentioned? (If you watch) And, if so, are they realistic from a writer’s point of view? What would you do differently if you wrote a story to base either series on?

~ALJ~

Giveaway, Horror, Promoting, Writing

Book Giveaway

PurgatoryTo help celebrate my new blog and get it off to a good start, I am giving away 4 signed paperback copies of Purgatory – 13Tales of the Macabre. To find out more about it, and read the synopsis, hit the Fiction tab above.

To enter the contest you must 1) currently be a follower of this blog or sign up to follow and 2) leave a comment with your email to contact you if you are a winner. Another way to double your odds is to follow on Twitter @acehilink and retweet one of my posts there about the giveaway.

The winners will be selected on May 7th at 11:59 pm pacific time.

We will use random.org for selecting our winners. Good Luck!

Horror, Promoting, Writing

The Making of a Book Trailer

The making of book trailers is nothing new in the writing community. It has become more trendy and fashionable in the past couple of years as a very important promotional tool for authors with upcoming books and novels. It seems that each year technology advances in every aspect of our lives, and with computers and readily available software from many different sources, making a video, and in this case, a book trailer is a much more pleasant and easier experience.

As I began to write my first book, I was aware of the concept of book trailers and how they played a role in marketing. But as I got over halfway done I realized that if I was planning on making one, it needed to be done prior to release. That’s when the reality of it hit me. It wasn’t so much about the book trailer in whole, but more about its place as part of the marketing tool as a whole. Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads are all part of the social networking world. Creating a website and or blog is probably the most important part of the promotional process. The book trailer is a different animal altogether.

There are many places to promote and show your video, with YouTube being the biggest and most popular. For my book, Purgatory I actually made two trailers. I made a pre-launch video using free software available on YouTube’s website. It didn’t take me long at all with their simple tools, and after adding a couple of my own images I had it up and running. I was surprised at how easy it was to get something that I now consider critical, on the web and available worldwide. After I had it up on YouTube I was easily able to embed it to my website. The process was almost seamless and gave me the “trailer” fix I needed until I had time to work on the official version.

By now I was almost done with my book and had my website up and running, along with all of my social media. As I was doing my final editing and getting feedback from beta readers, I began working on, what I call the official trailer. For this I used Windows Movie Maker. (I prefer the older version over the newer one.) A little info on Purgatory; it is a collection of 13 horror stories and I wanted a picture to go with each story. Sort of like its own book cover. For some of those images I purchased the royalty rights through websites that made those available. But for a few, I went to the actual sites where the inspiration for the stories took place. Most of the stories in my book are real places with my own twist on what might happen in a dark horrific way. Along with that I drove down the actual Evergreen Road, one of the stories in my book and shot video, which I then incorporated into my trailer.

Making the trailer itself took some patience and a bit of hard work but it was one of the more pleasurable experiences in my whole making of the book journey. In the end, the book trailer came out very well for someone on a self-publisher’s budget. I uploaded it to my YouTube channel at the end of last year and then embedded it to my website.

Has my book trailer created any sales for my book? Maybe, maybe not. But as I see it, no pun intended, it is another form of creativity, much like writing a book. If that form of creativeness can be seen by the reading masses or the general public, then it is yet another way to express your creative ideas and product. I hope to see your book trailer soon! ~ALJ~

Writing

On Writing

I have been writing for several years and over that time many ideas have come to mind. I will test my writing in different genres, with my favorite one being horror. I am currently working on three different projects. “Purgatory”, my first release, is a short story collection based in the horror/macabre genre. It contains 13 short stories that I hope will scare you, make you think, and most of all, entertain you. If it does any of the three, then I feel I have done my job. It was released in October 2011 and made a nice companion to go along with the Halloween festivities.

I feel horror stories should be read at night, in a dark room, with the soft glow of a reading light being your only friend and only barrier between you and that dark corner of the room; the one you keep glancing at every time you hear a strange noise. In that setting, your mind will let your senses take in your surroundings. Every sound will be magnified, and every shadow will move as you absorb each word delivered to your mind’s eye. That is the best way to enjoy a story of horror, in my opinion. Just food for thought.

This is my first attempt at making my writing ‘official’. Times have changed and it is easier for the working-man to put his thoughts on to paper and into the fast-moving digital market of eBooks. I will also release print versions of my books. Of my other projects, one will be in the horror genre and the other will be in a totally different field. I may throw you a curve ball with that one. In the meantime I will leave you with a short a teaser of “Road Trip” and “Ritter House” two of the 13 tales that I have conjured up. Located on my website. Enjoy! ~ ALJ ~