Zombie CSU Website is Online

Okay guys…the official ZOMBIE CSU website is up and running (or, if you prefer the slow zombies, it’s up and shambling.)

 

The site was designed and built by Rachael Lavin, a brilliant young web designer.  (A decaying round of applause for the young lady!)

 

We’ll be adding a bunch of stuff to the site over the next few weeks as we count down to the August 26 release of the book.  More artwork, more links, more zombies!

 

But for now go take a peek.  It won’t bite.  Much.

 

www.zombiecsu..com

DEAD MAN’S SONG sells out its first print run

Hey guys…for everyone who has been asking why it’s so darn hard to snag a copy of the middle book of the Pine Deep Trilogy, the news is that DEAD MAN’S SONG has SOLD OUT!

 

DEAD MAN’S SONG links the first book GHOST ROAD BLUE S (winner of the 2006 Bram Stoker Award) and the concluding volume BAD MOON RISING (2008).  It gives the creepy back-story to the whole Pine Deep mystery. 

 

Bookstores (real world and online) are taking orders now so that when the new print run is ready the copies can be sent out right away.

 

So….go order your copy now!

 

THE PINE DEEP TRILOGY :

 

Ghost Road Blues (Pinnacle Books; ISBN # 0786018151)

Dead Man’s Song (Pinnacle Books; ISBN # 078601816X)

Bad Moon Rising (Pinnacle Books; ISBN # 0786018178)

 

 

http://www.amazon.com

http://www.BarnesandNoble.com  

THE LIAR’S CLUB

The writing life is always interesting but it isn’t always fun.  Most writers don’t make enough cash; reviewers can be savage; with the sagging economy book sales are down; and publishers mostly don’t spend much bread on promotion. 

To want to be a professional author you really need a lot of optimism, or you need to be just on the useful side of delusional.  Often both.  One of the key elements to making this wacky profession work is ‘networking’.  Two writers together can do more than two writers alone.  Not exactly a new concept, but it’s nice to discover that it still works.

 

Yesterday I met with three friends who are also professional authors and together we created a new organization: THE LIAR’S CLUB.  (Why that name?  Well…let’s face it, we’re authors, we make stuff up for a living.)  We started the group to network with each other authors, but over the course of a long and very funny lunch at the Irish Pub in Philly, we agreed that we could also do a lot of good for the writing and reading community.  So…were cooking up plans to do joint signings, workshops, panel discussions, speaking engagements, contests, mentoring and more. 

 

The one certain thing is that we’re going to have fun.  No doubt about it.  But I got a feeling that Liar’s Club is going to make itself heard.  Count on it.

 

Here are the founding members:

  L. A. Banks (www.leslieesdailebanks.com), author of the insanely popular Vampire Huntress series of novels. 

Gregory Frost  (www.gregoryfrost.com) author of, among other things, the recent Random House release SHADOWBRIDGE.

 

Jon McGoran  (www.jmcgoran.com), who writes forensics mysteries under the pen name of D. H. Dublin.  The third in that series, FREEZER BURN will be out in June.

 And my website is www.jonathanmaberry.com 

There are some other folks who will be joining us.  I’ll catch you up on those later

 

Right now, do yourself a favor and check out my co-conspirators in the Liar’s Club!

  

BAD MOON RISING

 

Only four months and counting…

 

BAD MOON RISING, the final book of the Pine Deep Trilogy (which began with 2006’s GHOST ROAD BLUES and continued with 2007’s DEAD MAN’S SONG) will be released everywhere on May 8. 

 

I’m getting pretty excited about the release of BAD MOON RISING, and for a number of reasons.  First, the book has one hell of a lot of action in it.  The growing threat discussed in the first two books explodes in the third and the second half of that book is basically one big, rolling battle between the dwindling forces of good and the swelling forces of evil.  The dead rise to attack the world of the living with a Red Wave of murder.  I had sooooo much fun writing that book.

 

The book also has a fun twist in that I’ve written a lot of real-world people into the book.  I tapped a number of good folks in the horror industry and asked if I could write them into the story.  Since the book deals with a massive Halloween celebration (during which very bad things happen) I wanted to have some fun with blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.  So… I contacted a bunch of friends in the horror biz and asked if I could write them into the book.  They all agreed, so in BAD MOON RISING you can expect to meet TOM SAVINI (make-effects wizard), STEPHEN SUSCO (screenwriter for the Grudge flicks), JAMES GUNN (screenwriter of the new Dawn of the Dead), BRINKE STEVENS (scream queen), DEBBIE ROCHON (scream queen), KEN FOREE (star of the original Dawn of the Dead), JIM O’REAR (stuntman and haunted attraction consultant), and JOE BOB BRIGGS (drive-in movie critic and actor).  Also making a brief appearance is MEM SHANNON (one of my all-time favorite Bluesmen!).

 

And these folks aren’t just doing walk-ons.  They actually get into the action.  Question is…will they make it out of Pine Deep alive?

 

This is going to be fun!

 

Jonathan Maberry

www.jonathanmaberry.com

 

WRITERS AND READERS

WHEN WARPED MINDS MEET

 

One of the things I love best about the writing biz is the ‘author appearance’.  Whether it’s a book signing, a lecture, a panel discussion, or a reading, I love either being in the crowd to meet one of my favorite authors or being the author sitting there at the table.

 

This weekend I’m going to get a chance to do a little of both.

 

Tonight my good buddy Jon McGoran will be signing books at the Doylestown Bookshop (Doylestown Bookshop; www.doylestownbookshop.com; 16 S Main St; Doylestown, PA 18901; 215/230-7610 ).  Jon writes terrific forensics mysteries under the pen name of D. H. Dublin.  His first book, BLOOD POISON, introduced rookie forensic investigator Madison Cross and it was one of these debut books that make it clear to anyone that this guy is going to have a real career: long, varied and interesting.  His second book, BODY TRACE, just confirms what the rest of knew all along.  It’s just as good and maybe even a little bit better.  Come on up to Doylestown and meet this guy.

 

Then tomorrow I’ll be doing a reading and signing at Between Books; 2703 Philadelphia Pike; Claymont, DE 19703; www.betweenbooks.com; 302/798-3378.  This is one of the best genre bookstores in the country.  I always have a good time at the store.  Aside from a great place for an author to meet readers it’s always my favorite place to shop for horror and SF, though like all good independent stores it carries just about everything of all genres.

 

The real jazz in these events, whether I’m there as reader or author is that everyone there has a shared love of books.  Books of all kinds, and nowhere is that more clearly celebrated than at independent bookstores.  The staff KNOW books and the LOVE books.  You can talk books all day long.

 

Come on out and join us!

  

Hanging Out with the Ghosts in My Head

For the last few years I’ve been living in a different reality with folks that don’t really exist.  And I kind of miss them.  I’m getting separation anxiety.

After nearly thirty years as a writer of nonfiction articles and books I broke into fiction with my 2006 novel GHOST ROAD BLUES, the first of a trilogy of supernatural thrillers set in the fictional town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania.  (And yes, for those of you who have asked…Pine Deep is based on New Hope, PA).  The trilogy continued with DEAD MAN’S SONG (released from Pinnacle Books in July) and will conclude with BAD MOON RISING in May 2008.

The thing is…all three books are written, the story is told and I’ve moved on.  I’m now writing bio-terrorism thrillers for St. Martin’s Press.  And though I’m loving the new book and the new cast of characters I miss that group of people I got to know in Pine Deep.  You see, to me the characters are the most important part of any story.  If I don’t bond with the characters (whether good or vile) I don’t become invested in the book.  That’s as true for me as a writer as it is as a reader, and I felt that Malcolm Crow, Val Guthrie, Mike Sweeney, Terry Wolfe, Willard Fowler Newton, Jonatha Corbiel, Frank Ferro, Vince LaMastra and Dr. Saul Weinstock were real people.  I cared about them…even the ones I eventually kill off as the series unfolds.

Recently Michaela Hamilton, my editor at Pinnacle, sent me the copy edit manuscript of Bad Moon Rising to review and make some changes.  It was the first time I’d read the book since I’d wrapped it up many moons ago, and revisiting the creepy ol’ town of Pine Deep and spending time with the characters again was strangely moving.  It was fun, and sad (‘cause I really do kill a bunch of them off and then have to leave all of them again.

 Who knows, maybe like a guest who doesn’t want to leave a party I’ll pretend I’ve forgotten my car keys and use it as an excuse to revisit Pine Deep.  One of these days.

Networking Mojo for Writers

I run a writers center called The Writers Corner USA (www.writerscornerusa.com), is located in a set of tiny offices in Doylestown, PA.  Once a month we have this free event called The Coffeehouse, which is a no rules, no agenda networking session for writers of any kind and of any level of success (from absolute I-just-picked-up-a-pen-for-the-first-time newbies to seasoned pros with multiple books on the market.)

What we do is brew a pot of alarmingly strong coffee, dig into some doughnuts (gotta have fried and sugared carbs) and just chat about the writing life.  Sometimes the mix has more beginners and then those of us who have publishing history field questions and share advice, leads, etc.  Sometimes its a more even mix of newbies and pros and in those sessions everyone’s talking about some news, gossip, insight, accomplishment or opinion related to the writing life.

This whole thing came about when a bunch of my writer friends and I were sitting around drinking coffee and talking about writing.  I said that it would be cool if there was a regular event called Writers Sitting Around Talking About Writing…With Coffee.  That title kind of morphed into “The Writers Coffeehouse”.

Cool thing is…people have been getting real career boosts from this little java shindig.  As a result of networking we’ve seen book deals, people signing with agents, collaborations forming, and a lot of traction and forward career momentum for the folks who trek to Doylestown to join us.

Won’t cost you a dime.  The parking’s even free.  So, if you’re in the area on the last Sunday of every month, from 12 to 2:30, then drop on by and share in the networking mojo.  Oh, and if you don’t like my coffee, there’s a Starbucks one short block away.

If you can’t make it…a comment for the crew (or a question) and I’ll read them at this month’s Coffeehouse.

See you there!

Jonathan

www.jonathanmaberry.com

www.writerscornerusa.com

The Legend behind I am Legend

In 7^th grade (1973) I was moved out of the regular English class and essentially given to the school librarian.  It wasn’t a punishment…I was just a book nut at thirteen and I was in a school where most of the other kids (and a lot of the teachers, as far as I could tell) thought books and reading were about as much fun as being nibbled on by rats.  Or maybe the librarian needed an Igor.  Hard to say. 

She turned out to be the secretary for a couple of groups of professional writers, and once I got permission from my parents to accompany her, she dragged me along to their monthly get-togethers.  They definitely needed an Igor, and so once a month for the next few years I made coffee, fetched beers, and hustled chips and dip for guys like Sprague De Camp, Lin Carter, John Jakes, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and a bunch of others.

And though all of those writers were (and in some cases still are) literary powerhouses, two of them took some time to sit me down and tell me about how stories are created and crafted.  And each of them gave me signed copies of their books.  I’m delighted that both of them are still alive and well today: Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury. I was incredibly fortunate in that as a young teenager I got to meet them, and both of these great writers took some time to talk with me about writing, about imagination, and about thinking outside the box.  I’m not joking when I say that it was life-changing.

Bradbury gave me a signed copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes.  The one he gave me is put away, but I read a copy of that book every year on Halloween. 

Matheson rocked my world when he gave me a copy of I Am Legend when I was fourteen.  He told me to read that one and The Shrinking Man.  These books were my introduction to allegory, social commentary, and the subtle underpinnings that make genre fiction so much more than most people give it credit for.  I Am Legend, though a very short novel, opened my mind up and truly showed me what thinking outside the box meant.

I wonder if the new Will Smith film interpretation will do it justice?

To catch the I Am Legend trailer, click here: http://iamlegend.warnerbros.com/

  

Big Scary Blog #1

In a recent interview I was asked: Where do you find your inspirations to write? 

There are two ways to answer that.  Like most writers I have more ideas in my head than I’ll ever have time to write.  It’s funny, but one of the most common questions writers are asked is ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ and another is ‘Aren’t you afraid you’ll ever run out of ideas?’.  A writer would never even think to ask those questions because there is always a process of creation going on in the writers’ mind.  Always…it never stops.  My characters begin conversations in my head.  Scenes take place.  For most people this would be a psychological cry for help and Thorazine might be called-for; but to a writer this is another happy day on the job. 

On the other hand, specific bursts of inspiration generally come from observing life as one passes through it.  Writers observe all the time, and we think about what we observe –sometimes consciously and deliberately, and sometimes subconsciously.  We listen in on conversations –not to be rude, but to hear how people speak, how they relate to one another, and how they edit themselves depending on whom they’re talking with.  More than once folks have seen me just standing and being quiet at a party and have mistaken that for shyness or ‘being lost in my thoughts’, but in reality I’m very present and am trying to absorb as much of what’s going on as possible.  Life, when closely observed, teaches us nearly everything we need to know about making good stories and real characters. 

You can read the full interview here: http://ambasadora.livejournal.com/149321.html

Swing by to say hello:  www.jonathanmaberry.com and on MySpace: www.myspace.com/jonathan_maberry

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