I’m up early-ish. I was glad to get any sleep at all. My dog Vinny was attacked by wasps yesterday. Those wasps that live in holes in the ground. He walked over one of their holes and they got him pretty good. He’s done this once before, but he didn’t take it so well yesterday. And he was ornery about letting me pull the stingers out. I think I got all of them. Strange this comes on the very weekend my novel about giant mutated wasps attacking people comes out.
Welcome to Confusions, Delusions, and Formidable Impressions, my official newsletter with a title that’s a straight up mouthful.
What’s New
I had two books drop last week. The highly anticipated release of Mojave Mud Caves dropped on Friday and got the #1 in American Horror tag on Amazon. I’m seriously thinking they just give any ol’ book that tag nowadays considering Mud Caves and The Circus Oasis both go that little distinction. That or Ecyclopocalypse Publications Are the shit and rock their book releases (I’m leaning towards the latter).
A group of young Spring Breakers headed for Lake Havasu take a sudden detour in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It will be a quick stop, he said. It won’t take long, he said. It’s hot. Over 100 degrees, and no one really wants to meddle around some sweaty desert caves a mile off the highway. Then something goes wrong and no one knows what to do.
Needles, California, a town in regression, home of semi-retired truck driver Big Vic. He’s made a lot of mistakes in life and has vowed to make a change, starting by spending more time his adult daughter who has suddenly gone missing. Is it drugs, a kidnapping, murder? His investigation teams him up with an unlikely ally and he finds that tapping into his rough and tumble past is the only way to get answers.
In the desert of Southern California is something of a phenomenon. Tucked away from passersby on Interstate 40 and widely unknown, a series of tunnels crisscross through the mountains, but they’re not mine shafts or caverns. They’re not teaming with bats and stalagmites. These tunnels are deliberate. Festering with something ferocious, something deadly. Something evil.
What lurks within the Mojave Mud Caves?
Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA
The Evil Awakens trilogy is now complete with the release of Cult of Rattlesnake Mountain. I am not a big fan of sequels, so writing this trilogy I made sure each story was a complete arc that would satisfy the reader whether they read them all or not. There is a much larger arc that runs through all of the books, but each one is a story set in a different time frame. That being said, you will get the best experience reading them in order, but you don’t have to. I think they get better with each book. And more horrific.
No one has lived in the house for twelve years since madness came to Rattlesnake Mountain. All of the houses in the vicinity have become abandoned. When signs of life are seen up at the end of the cul-de-sac, neighbors Dennis Thornton, a widower with ties to the tragedy that happened twelve years ago, and Amy Stone, a hard edged new homeowner full of grit, become suspicious. They start seeing things that indicate a problem worse than mere squatters.
Rene and Angela, both with ties to Rattlesnake Mountain and with nothing left to live for, are drawn by past ties to the house. They find acceptance, resolve, power. One by one they recruit the downtrodden with promises of drugs and alcohol. Once these sorry souls step foot in the house they are helpless to the pull of the nameless entity that dwells therein, beckoning them to the crude altar out back for bizarre rituals.
In this completion of the Evil Awakens trilogy, those who survived the previous tragedies upon Rattlesnake Mountain are called back, but no one is safe from the nameless evil that inhabits the mountain, an evil that has been lying dormant for far too long. And evil that wants more lives, more land, more power! As the cult takes shape, growing in size to worship a deity darker than Satan, will anyone be able to stop them before the Cult of Rattlesnake Mountain unleashes true devastation upon the world?
Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA
Recent Reads From Hell
It’s been a slow couple of weeks as far as reading goes. Not sure why. Currently reading and enjoying The Cursed Among Us by John Durgin and Yours Cruelly, Elvira by Casandra Peterson.
I finished The School by Ed Kelleher and Harriette Vidal, an enjoyable book if not completely predictable, which made it kind of a drag in the end, especially since it’s a bit of a commitment. I also read . . .
Try Again by Wesley Southard
Well, I listened to the audiobook. There was a little Facebook dispute over the weekend about whether listening to audiobooks is reading or not. It is, but I’m not interested in all that drama. What I am interested in is telling you how cool this novella was. Had me hooked from the start with an opening that really made you give a damn about our lead, and very quickly, which is what I like. And then things go a little weird. I really don’t want to give too much away, especially considering this is a novella, but something goes off kilter, and then the story really begins. There’s a little bit of mind fuckery going on in this book, and I can certainly appreciate that.
The narrator did a fantastic job reading this audiobook. Whether you’re into physically reading or auditory reading, you should check this one out for sure.
Badass Booksale for Corrina and Brad
You need to go check out this Facebook group and perhaps buy a book or three to help out Corrina Morse and Brad Tierney, two pillars of the indie horror community. Crystal Cook has taken it upon herself to crate this group to raise some money for Brad and Corrina, both of whom can really use the help right about now. Below is a link to the group. Check it out!
Infected Voices
So, last newsletter I showed you a mockup I made for the cover of a series I will be having on Godless called Infected Voices. Well, I got to talking with Drew Stepek and he stepped up and made me a REAL cover for the series.
This is how it’s going down. Once a month I’ll be putting out a short story through godless in my Infected Voices series. Most of these stories will be originals, with maybe one or two reprints (nothing that was published recently). The first story, “The Extraction King”, comes out Aug. 23rd.
A Personal Note
I’ve had a good year as far as releases go. I have books lined up for next year. These things make me happy, and yet I have these terribly debilitating bouts of self-doubt and depression concerning my writing “career”. I don’t want to get into it all here and risk sounding like a whiney bitch, but the struggle is very real. The doubt is very real. And as much as I champion my fellow writers and their accomplishments, I would be lying if I didn’t have pangs of jealousy and envy. I try hard not to, but I am only human.
I was hungover yesterday. It was bad. I hadn’t had a drink in a month. I’m getting healthier, exercising and lifting weights, feeling so much better. My drinking had become a serious problem. I don’t really have the desire anymore, but it doesn’t take much for me to breakdown and have a drink, especially after a month of sobriety. However, I feel the hold or alcohol dissipating. Hopefully this time it’s two months, or three, or never again. We can’t all be Lemmy.
CreepyCon Knoxville
I refuse to end the newsletter on a down note, so . . .
I’ll be tabling with Chuck Buda at CreepyCon Knoxville Aug. 26-28 at the Jacob’s Building in Knoxville, TN. If you are in or around the area, please stop by and say hello. There will be all kinds of vendors and events and cool stuff to see. I hear my pal Tony Evans is gonna be there. Chuck and I will have our books available. It’s gonna be a blast! Hope to see you there!
Until next time . . .