The Fear Behind the Smiles

FREEBIES MAY 1ST!

In case you were unaware, the Zombiebabypocalypse has begun, as evidenced by the HypnoSpawn just before he gummed the hell out of us.

Yeah, he's a funny kid. But I digress....

For those who were curious about my writing but didn't want to fork over that .99 cents for a story by a relatively unknown author, I get it, and May 1st is your lucky day!

 

In celebration of Labor Day/May Day, I've got a bunch of stories along with my first novel, NEMESIS free-to-download for the entire day May 1st ONLY.

Not sure which one you'd like to read? Here's a little about each one:

NEMESIS: First novel in the Immortal War trilogy/series. Yes, here there be vampires. No, they don't wear glitter. The other two books in the series are LAMIA and THE TOWER (note that these last two are not free).

The Four Goldfish of the Apocalypse: A short short story. Somewhat poetic, and very tongue-in-cheek.

The Demon's Tale: A short story about a topic that has always fascinated me: what's under Glastonbury Tor? The reviews are in, and the theories that the readers have come up with are far more than I ever thought of while writing it, but I'm loving every minute of it.

Enoch's Devil: A fun romp of a short story starring the biblical man Enoch himself. Guest appearances by Lilith and Cthulhu. Because what story is complete without a surprise appearance by an ancient Sumerian deity?

The Lazarus Stone (Conspiracy Edit): The most realistic story I've written to date, and written under one of my pseudonyms 'Xircon'. Very apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic novella. No zombies, sorry.

The Stonehenge Man Incident: A bit of a short story nod to HP Lovecraft and Orson Welles, but told in torn snippets of newspaper articles that outline the mysteries of an apparent apocalypse.

All of the titles are available for Kindle and the free Kindle apps (so no need to own a Kindle). They are also available to loan to friends. I'm not stingy, and I believe everyone should have access to free reading, especially in the summer, so loan away!

Happy May 1st, everyone!

~ Suzi

Second-Hand Sarah: A Blog of Quirky Optimism and Explorations of an Old House

If you're wondering about my pseudo-radio silence of late, rest assured, I've been busy. If you haven't already checked out the new blog (special note: it's NON horror!), feel free to do so now.

It's called Second-Hand Sarah, and it's a bunch of fiction with some fact thrown in for anecdotal purposes.

Pictured to the left is the actual journal I've been writing in for the blog entries. Little notes, jots, pics to include, etc.

It's a strange process, this new blog. It's almost acting, almost writing, and a lot of making stuff up, scouring old pictures to use on the blog and digging through my own roomfuls of antiques and general clutter to find things that might have been 'discovered' during a renovation.

It's a fun process. Typically I write pretty early in the morning or during lunch, and I dress the part, which makes me laugh at myself. I put on jewelry or clothes and think 'No, that's not right, Sarah wouldn't wear that.' and change.

Likewise, music. Typical playlist for a Sarah blog includes new age, old jazz, classic rock, and sometimes even pop. Little to no industrial or goth (The Cure... where do they fall - pop or goth? I guess both.).

I'm playing a part with the blog, and discovering some things about myself while I do it. 1) I'm not bad at this optimistic writing thing. Not quite chick lit, it's much more empowering and uplifting but without going the gamut to religious zealotry or militant feminism, 2) the research is just as much fun as the writing, and 3) I genuinely like Sarah.

I also really like where the story will be going. Lots of hidden elements to the house, lots of secrets and histories, and just an absolute adventure as soon as the first explorations are made. I have to admit, I'm as excited about writing it all down as I would be if I were exploring an old mansion and finding all this crazy stuff myself.

Without further ado, enjoy Second-Hand Sarah's blog.

FREE ebook download of NEMESIS for a limited time!

Happy weekend after the first Friday the 13th of 2012. In celebration of this event, the first book in the Immortal War Trilogy, NEMESIS, is FREE to download for a limited time.

For other titles, click here to check out my Amazon Author page. The Kindle edition of NEMESIS should be free on there soon, too.

Don't forget to post a review if you download NEMESIS.

Happy 2012!

Free electronic copies and a happy 2012

For those interested in saving a buck to ring in the new year, post the link to my Amazon author's page today to your Facebook, Google +, MySpace, blog, etc. today and you will get a FREE electronic copy of my first novel, NEMESIS. Read it and write a review on Amazon, and you'll get a free electronic copy of the next book in the series, LAMIA.

Not sure where my Amazon author page is? Search 'Suzi M' in the books category on Amazon. If it looks creepy and dark, you found me.

When you've posted the link/review, please be sure to let me know so I can send you your electronic copy!

Spread the word and share with your friends so they can get in on the freebie today!

Enter the Give-away!

If you haven't yet liked my Facebook page, now's your chance so you can enter for a chance to win a signed copy of The Lazarus Stone (conspiracy edit) OR The Demon's Tale.

Please be sure to read the rules for entering the give-away before posting to the Facebook page.

For those who would like to enter, post a COMMENT to the Facebook page saying you want to enter.

Winners will be drawn at random and notified via Facebook. You will need to provide a physical mailing addee so I can send you the signed copy if you win.

Good luck!

~ Suzi

Here's Your Chance to Win A Signed Copy of 'The Demon's Tale' or 'The Lazarus Stone (Conspiracy Edit)'

I'm trying out my first ever book giveaway. If a signed print copy of my work isn't your thing, you can still download the electronic versions from my Amazon Author Page. They're cheap, and they help me feed my ego for one more day.

Rules:

1. You MUST have hit the 'Like' button on my Facebook page (and hopefully actually do like my novels).
2. You should follow my blog to keep up to date with book-stuffs and happenings.
3. If you win a copy, you will need to leave a review on Amazon for the book you win. 
4. You will need to message me your address so I can mail you the book. If you've got an issue sending me your address, please do NOT enter to win the giveaway.
5. If you don't like horror, please don't try to win a copy.
6. If you win a copy, it will be signed to you, so please plan on keeping it.
7. Please be sure to enter before midnight on July 15th, 2011 if you would like a chance to win.

Four winners will be chosen at random from the folks who respond to this blog entry on the Facebook Suzi M page.

Only those who have responded on the fan page will have a chance to win.

Feel free to spread the word and repost/retweet, etc.

Giveaway will end at midnight on July 15th, 2011 and winners will be announced on the Suzi M Facebook fan page..

Has Anyone Seen My Post? I Know It's Around Here Somewhere...

Work on The Lazarus Stone (Conspiracy Edit) has stalled for now. It's almost finished, and it will be released this summer. The devil's in the details, and in this case the 'details' would be editing.

I'm blaming sunburn, but really it's just laziness on my part. I set a goal, and it was a smidge too high for my half-assed leap. A lot of things have slid by the wayside in the wake of my picking up books to read instead of write for a change. I forgot just how much I really enjoy reading a good story.

Recently finished The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. Great story, as always. I'll admit I picked it up because I really dig the TV show based on it and I wanted to find out what it was all about. I was hoping to solve the mysteries before the show laid it all out, you see, in case the show got cancelled as so many awesome shows with plot and depth often do these days. I was bamboozled, however, and I'm glad. The story is only marginally in keeping with the TV show in that they find a John Doe on the beach, and he's dubbed 'The Colorado Kid'. There's two old gents who work the newspaper, too, and they're basically the same on the page and on the screen. And that's where the similarities end, but in a good way. It's like coming to a fork in the road and taking first one way and finding where it goes. Later on, a month or so, you come back to that same fork and decide to take the other way to find out where that one goes. Same destinations, you find, but a different way of getting there.

But I digress. We were talking about the apocalypse, right?

Figured Out Why There's a Lack of Reviews on Amazon and Other Places...

While looking at some stats for my novels on Amazon, and seeing sales go up and up, but reviews staying sadly flat, I bemoaned my fate as an unknown. Granted, I could now buy a drink or two with the royalty checks, but in my drama-queen way I wanted the kudos more than the cash.

I hosted the usual Literary Night on Wednesday in Second Life and had a bit of an epiphany about the whole situation.

I wasn't unknown at all. The folks who've read my work and enjoyed it have friended me on Facebook and Goodreads and told me personally how much they loved my work. They've come out to Literary Night to chat in electric person as well. I've gotten to know every one of them pretty well, and I'm happy that they got in touch with me and best of all keep in touch with me. I like reading the news feeds about the everyday fun stuff, and I like to give an electronic hug when it seems like they need it. I love the interaction, and feel like I've known some of them forever.

So I smile broadly when I say I've got something better than numbers, I've got friends. After that mini-revalation, I realized I wouldn't have it any other way.

Reading and From the Darkness, a Heartbeat

Yesterday I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time at the doc's office. So it's official, my kid-to-be is not a zombie. That's good news.

So as not to over-do it, I've been reading a LOT. Gone through a couple of books in a couple of weeks. My Kindle is loving me right now. As is my bizarre addiction to all formats of solitaire. No idea how that happened, but there you have it: solitaire. I guess it's like breakfast, a delicious mystery.

Started teaching again, and it's wonderfully rewarding. I find I have to curb my emotions in the day to day, however. Damned hormones keep going up and down, and some days I want to hug people and the next I want to never speak to them again... or worse.

For now I have enough presence of mind to know it's the horrormones surging, but it's like a sickness. I know it will get worse before it gets better, and I know I'LL get worse and am helpless to stop it. It makes me wonder... is this how it feels to turn into a werewolf?

Will I dread the next full moon?

On Writing and The Immortal War Post At Cover Stories

Check out http://www.CoverStoriesBook.com today for my latest post on the writing process and a bit of background for The Immortal War.