Top Suspense has launched "Lauren's Run," a new tag-team short story that's full of surprising violence, dark humor, and amazing twists. You can catch up on the first seven parts here. Parts 8-12 will run next week. If you can guess who wrote which parts, you can win lots of free books from the Top Suspense authors.
Books
E-Volution
The talk of the Romantic Times conference, at least among the published authors, was the e-volution of publishing. I was fortunate enough to spend time with two authors at the forefront of it all…Barry Eisler and Boyd Morrison.
Barry and I got together for breakfast and, while I can't go into details of what we discussed, he has some very innovative, creative, and ambitious plans for self-publishing his books. He's definitely given his controversial decision to walk away from a $500,000 book deal, and how best to capitalize on the ebook/self-publishing market, a lot of careful thought and there's no question in my mind that he will be successful.
It occurred to me that one major advantage that all of us who were published before have going for us as we enter the self-publishing world…which the newbies flooding the Amazon, Smashwords, etc. do not… is a network of other published, successful authors we can reach out to for blurbs, advice, cross-promotion, recommendations, etc. Those relationships, and that wealth of shared experience, will give us a considerable edge in the marketplace and a way to rise above the tsunami of swill for a while to come.
After our breakfast, I headed to the RT booksigning event…which was,without a doubt, unlike any booksigning I've ever attended in my career. There were hundreds of authors and thousands of fans. It was amazing. 
I was sandwhiched between a woman who wrote "man on man erotica" and Colleen Gleason (aka Joss Ware). Colleen and I passed the three hours, between signing scores of our books, talking about — what else? — ebooks and self-publishing. She's concerned, like many other authors I talked to, about this race to the bottom, in which authors are pricing their books at 99 cents in a desperate effort to sell books or crack the top 500 rankings.
After the big signing, I got together with Brett Battles, Robert Gregory Browne, and Boyd Morrison for a late lunch…which went so long, it almost became an early dinner. We had a great time talking shop and just about every aspect of the ebook/self-publishing/"traditional" publishing biz.
Boyd, you may recall, was the first Kindle sensation…and quickly got snapped up by a big six publisher with a rich, multi-book contract. He's now published in print world-wide. His take on the Amanda Hocking deal, from his uniquely informed perspective, was very interesting (without going into details, essentially he thinks it's a no-lose situation for her, even in the unlikely event that her books under the deal fail). I came away from that long, liesurely lunch with a lot to think about.
I had a great time at the RT conference…it certainly exceeded my expectations. But the best part for me wasn't any of the programming…it was talking shop with my fellow authors.
(Pictured: One corner of the vast signing hall as it was beginning to fill up. And Joanna Bourne, Stephanie Bond, and Rhys Bowen)
Giddy-up to Rancho Diablo
Novelists Mel Odom, James Reasoner and Bill Crider, under the pen name "Colby Jackson," have teamed up on RANCHO DIABLO, an original series of western ebooks. The third book in the series, DEAD MAN'S REVENGE, is now live on Amazon…and a steal at $2.99.
The three authors are experienced western writers and lovers of the genre…one that's seeing hard times in print but is ripe for revitalization on the Kindle.
They're trying to do for traditional westerns what I'm trying to do… with their help, in fact…. for the men's action-adventure series with THE DEAD MAN.
And if anyone can do it, they can. Don't miss RANCHO DIABLO #1 SHOOTERS CROSS or RANCHO DIABLO #2: HANGMAN'S ROPE
Suspenseful News
Lots of TOP SUSPENSE news today. First off, today is the official publication date of our Top Suspense anthology, which has already garnered wide-spread critical acclaim.
And to celebrate the publication, we've started a new, daily, tag team story…Lauren's Run, written by Joel Goldman, Stephen Gallagher, Naomi Hirahara, Paul Levine, Libby Fischer Hellmann and yours truly. But you'll have to guess who wrote what. There was no advance plotting, no plan…we each had to write 250 words and hand it off to the next writer in line. It was a lot of fun…and plays out over the next 12 days.
And finally, the fine folks at Kindle Nation are spotlighting Top Suspense today…and books by all twelve of the Top Suspense authors.
Have you met THE DEAD MAN?
Now's your chance to meet the DEAD MAN…for just 99 cents.
That's right, for a limited time, we're practically giving away THE DEAD MAN: FACE OF EVIL, the first book in the series, so you'll be ready for DEAD MAN #2: RING OF KNIVES…and the books that will be coming every month…from writers like Joel Goldman, Harry Shannon, James Reasoner, Mark Ellis (aka James Axler), Bill Crider, and many more!
So don't wait…the price won't be staying this low for very long.
The Future of the Serial Novel is DEAD
We got a terrific review today from Post-Modern Pulps for James Daniels' DEAD MAN #2: RING OF KNIVES
. They say, in part:
Now that the origin story in issue #1, Face of Evil is out of the way, Ring of Knives
We certainly hope they're right!
Daniels on the DEAD
Booklife has posted part two of their terrific, indepth interview with James Daniels, author of DEAD MAN #2: RING OF KNIVES. And if you want to know why we signed him up, and why we're so excited to have him writing on our series, all you have to do is read this excerpt:
What was it about Lee and Bill’s “dark mythology” that got you excited? What direction did you take in?
James L. Daniels: I love the fact that the central character in the series is a loner who travels endlessly in search of the answer to a mystery, which will heal both himself and others. To me, this type of tale hearkens back to the Grail legend, which I incorporated into Ring of Knives. I think that Matt is the modern-day equivalent of the medieval knight errant, and also of the gunslinger-in-a-white-hat, who is his American descendant. This set-up is an incredibly flexible template for storytelling, and it allows the author to take it in any direction possible. I’ve seen brief summaries of the stories to come, and they range from gritty urban shoot-em-ups to gothic Lovecraftian lore. It’s wonderful stuff. My own brand of pulp is derived pretty directly from Edgar Rice Burroughs; he’s the one (along with “The Uncanny X-Men”) who first snagged my attention as a twelve-year old, and those old-style heroics never cease to move me. So I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from John-Carter-type stories and fashioned my own tale, which I dressed up in the trappings of Clive Barker, fed raw meat, and unleashed.
What is up with Mr. Dark, anyway?
James L. Daniels: That’s a good question, and every author in the series is going to come up with their own interpretation. Lee and Bill have been enormously generous letting the writers contribute to the development of the Dark Man’s nature. And it’s interesting, because – like Matt’s character – the Dark Man is an archetype that’s incredibly versatile. A blogger recently implied that Lee and Bill may have borrowed the evil-clown idea from Todd McFarlane’sSpawn series. But this is nonsense. The unpredictable trickster is one of the oldest characters in fiction. McFarlane’s Violator was begat by Stephen King’s Pennywise who was begat by Jerry Robinson’s The Joker, who was begat by Edgar Allen Poe’s Hop-Toad, who was begat by Mr. Punch, who was begat by Shakespeare’s Fool, who was begat by Harlequino (and perhaps Sir Thomas Malory’s Merlin), who was begat by Loki, who was begat by Raven (Europe), Coyote (America), and Spider (Africa). They are all manifestations of the same principle. What is that principle? Every writer of the Dead Man will come to his or her own conclusions.
For myself, however, that principle is Entropy, and the madness and despair that arise from our recognition that all our efforts will ultimately end in death. The major challenge of life is to withstand – and maybe even overcome – that terrible prospect. In the Welsh Grail legend “Peredur”, the hero is frequently tormented by a black hag who reminds him at every turn that all his acts of valor are causing more harm than good. That hag, portrayed eight hundred years ago, is the direct ancestor of Mr. Dark. And you don’t have to be a medieval knight errant to know who she is. I’ve seen her. And I bet you have, too. How we deal with her terrible message is the biggest challenge that we face in life. And one of the ways we learn to deal with it is by reading about others who confront it head-on. Matt Cahill is a hero because he does just that. That’s why it’s a thrill to read about him. That’s why, when we read about him beating the devil, we set down the book hopeful and happy, believing – for a time – that we can, too.
Check out the rest of the interview for some revealing insights into his creative process.
DEAD MAN #2: RING OF KNIVES out now!
RING OF KNIVES is the second book in the DEAD MAN series, which readers and book critics alike are already hailing as "an epic tale" that compares to the best of Stephen King and Dean Koontz…
Matthew Cahill is an ordinary man leading a simple life until a shocking accident changes everything. Now he can see a nightmarish netherworld that nobody else does. Now for him each day is a journey into a dark world he knows nothing about, a quest for the answers to who he is and what he has become…and a fight to save us, and his soul, from the clutches of pure evil.
Matt believes a madman may hold the secret to defeating Mr. Dark, the horrific jester with the rotting touch. But to reach him, Matt must infiltrate a lunatic asylum, where he is soon caught up in a spiral of bloodshed and madness. His only chance of escaping with his life and sanity intact is to face the unspeakable terror that awaits him deep in the asylum's fog-shrouded woods…within the Ring of Knives.
BONUS FEATURES include:
* an excerpt from DEAD MAN #3: HELL IN HEAVEN by Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin
* an excerpt from GHOST BRIDE, the new novel by James Daniels.
This is James Daniels' first published novel!
I first encountered James' writing several years ago through his brother Michael Daniels, who was a screenwriting student of mine at UCLA (and who has gone on to great success as a producer of ONE TREE HILL and VAMPIRE DIARIES). Michael asked me as a favor if I would look at his brother's book and offer him some advice.
I was immediately struck by James' obvious talent and vivid prose. The problems with the book had more to do with focus and structure than with the writing itself. But I was so impressed with the writing, with his fully-realized and compelling characters, sharp dialog, and strong voice, that I recommended him to my literary agent, who worked with James for some time in an effort to get the book published. Although the book didn't see print, which is a damn shame, I remembered it with fondness and always kept my eye out for opportunities for him.
When Bill Rabkin & I came up with THE DEAD MAN as a book series, we knew we wanted the roster of writers to be a mix of seasoned pros and exciting new voices…and James was the first name that came to mind. It's an enormous thrill for us to be the first to bring James into print and to introduce him to a wide audience. I have no doubt he's going to have a long and successful career as a novelist…he is too good not to.
You can help…by snagging a copy of his first book today.
The Bobble-Head Elvis
Booklife has a great interview with James Daniels, author of DEAD MAN #2: RING OF KNIVES. Here's an excerpt:
What do you think of being on the roster with guys like Bill Crider and James Reasoner?
James L. Daniels: It’s pretty intimidating. Virtually all of the other authors writing books for this series are Pulp Fiction Gods… some of them have written hundreds of novels, many of them have published in a dozen separate genres, some have created best sellers… And then there’s unpublished me. If Lee’s lineup of authors is like a row of statues of Greek deities in a museum, I’m the bobble-head Elvis that someone set down between Zeus and Athena. No joke.
So The Dead Man project is awesome, because…?
James L. Daniels: It’s a dynamite project because the set-up they’ve created is brilliantly flexible, so every book can have a different feel, a different emphasis, a different angle; can explore a different aspect of their dark mythology, and still be true to the spirit of the original. The stories are structured to be fast, fun, and action packed, with a generous helping of chills along the way. It’s a wonderful project, and I’m really, really grateful to be a part of it.
Spur for Wheeler
My friend Richard Wheeler has won another well-deserved Spur Award, the Oscar of western writing, from the Western Writers of America, this time for his novel SNOWBOUND. Congrats, Richard!