Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Darkness ad Infinitum is officially released!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  I'm officially published!!  Well, I was before, but I'll actually get paid for this one, lol!!!  Darkness ad Infinitum is  now available on Amazon in paperback form, and should be available for Kindle sometime next week. 

Buy it, read it, love it (hopefully), review it. SO EXCITED!!!

Buy it HERE!!  Buy it now! Buy it a dozen times! :D

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Guest post by Paul Smith

My first guest post! So exciting!  This guest post comes from Paul Smith, a fellow writer and blogger from Miami.  Feel free to contact him via the links at the bottom of the post.

Everything was according to the plan.

They woke up in the small room with equipment, as if it was a laboratory, the last thing they remembered - it was hard to breath and they lost consciousness. Six talented physicists: Heisenberg, Frish, Feynman, Rotblat, Oppenheimer, Shweber. They had a habit to call each other by surnames…
The night before they agreed to meet together. That was one the thousands of evening that they spend together, discussing subatomic particles to the theories of the beginning of the universe; that evening they came to a favorite pub to discuss coming conference. However the last night differed from usual ones. 

That was a tough morning for everyone in the room, because physicists noticed loss of all their stuff, even including their shoes. Soon one of them, Feynman, found something strange on his body; it was covered with strange boils. The same was in the bodies of other men. 

The first, who started the panic, was Shweber.  He asked questions that each of them was wondering, “What could possibly happen that night? Why can’t they get out of the room? What are they going to do, if they have no food or water left?” In several minutes they got a note with a hint “Guess what I want from you?”  Six men, six talented physicists were at a loss… Who was the author of the note? Where was he? And what did he want? The next hint came in the room itself… There were the most dangerous species of spiders – Brazilian wandering spires. That minute Shweber, Heisenberg, Frish, Feynman, Rotblat and Oppenheimer realized they were in actual, real danger. Spiders came out of under that doorway and saw their victims got strained and nervous more and more. That was luckless morning indeed… Rotblat suggested killing spiders before they kill all the six men. Words were not enough to express their fear and confusion. Rotblat and Oppenheimer tried to trap spiders, however, despite of all physicists were bitten.

Meanwhile the boils on the men’s bodies got worse and then they received another hint. Actually that was a voice message. It reported that physicists have to create unique nuclear weapon in time and in the circumstances they were. In case of refusal, all of they risk dying, those boils were the proof.  As for spiders, they were “reminders” of speeding up. If physicists cope with the task, they were promised to get the antidote for poison and, certainly, life as a prize. That was a very tough call, however there was no time to think. Actual danger was too close: spiders surrounded men, which tried to do at least something in that laboratory… Suddenly Frish and Feynman were bitten by huge spider and in a couple of minutes they fell and couldn’t get up from the floor. In addition, the walls of the room began to draw together. Heisenberg physicist lost consciousness, because of claustrophobia, he couldn’t handle the tension. Everything turned into nightmare … It seems there was no end to that.

In a couple of hours Heisenberg came to consciousness and looked around; there were dead bodies of his friends… They were covered with exploded boils, but surprisingly spiders were dead as well… The gas that steamed entire room killed the rest of people and spiders. Heisenberg got up and said , “Everything is according to the plan”. That was him, who planned everything… That was revenge for stolen fame he always wanted. He planned to see death of those, who, he considered as betrayers…
Everything was according to the plan.

About the author: Skilled and well-read writer Paul Smith is an essential part of  Paul comes to the particulars of different genres of literature, cinema, art and design. He never stops improving his writing skills and enlarges his scope as often as he can. If you are interested, you may easily with him and talk on

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Happy Release Day!!

Ok, well, technically October 18th was the actual release day, but I've been offline for awhile and just saw that a dear old online writing friend of mine named James Stevens finally self-published his fantasy novel, "Hatch."

"Ammon's job was simple, to care for the dragon eggs in the Nest. It should have been easy, but it wasn't. When the sun rose after the hatch, he had made an enemy of the most powerful man in the kingdom, and he would soon learn that was the least of his problems!"

Check it out, read it, love it, share it.

You can purchase Hatch for your e-reader from Amazon HERE.


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Artwork reveal!


Check it out!  Artwork for my short horror story "Longboat," done by David Shearer of The Art of Oneness. My story will be published in Villipede Publications's first horror anthology, Darkness Ad Infinitum. They'll be posting more sneak peeks all week.

So cool! So excited!   


Friday, September 6, 2013

The war on obesity

This “obesity epidemic” thing makes me angrier every day. Not because people are fatter than ever, but because our culture has turned fat people into pariahs and made them objects of ridicule and public shame. In a time when bullying results in increasing numbers of suicides among children and teens, America has made chubbiness the most unforgivable of sins, and blaming fat people for bankrupting the medical industry is all the rage.

Now, I’m not saying that we should all stuff our collective faces and flip the bird to our cholesterol levels, but I’m tired of everyone acting like weight gain is nothing more than simple mathematics (calories in minus calories out = total weight). It’s just not true.

I’ve been reading more and more articles about how the chemicals we touch, eat, drink, and breathe every single day are associated with obesity:  BPA in plastics (and almost everything else); BADGE in canned foods; Teflon in everything from cookware to clothing; pesticides; herbicides; antihistamines; steroids; flame retardants in your furniture/clothing/carpeting; Triclosan in anti-bacterial soap; phthalates in shampoo, children's toys, and nail polish; Tributyltin in household paint and wood stain; Carbamates (used to slow the metabolism in greenhouse vegetables); even the paper used in cash register receipts are ALL associated with obesity, high cholesterol, and even cancer.  You can’t escape them.  They’re literally clothes, water, food, toys, plastics, your sofa, and even in the dust bunnies under your sofa.

Hormones also contribute HUGELY to one’s weight. Cortisol, leptin, thyroid hormone, testosterone, estrogen, insulin, prolactin, DHEA, progesterone…the list goes on and on. I myself have polycystic ovarian syndrome, which causes abnormal testosterone levels and insulin resistance, both of which cause weight gain.  Researchers have also recently discovered that something like 80% of obese people have a bacteria/virus in their digestive tract that blocks chemical messages to the brain that signal when they’re full.  Obese people also lack certain strains of GOOD bacteria in their digestive system.  Bottled water causes weight gain. So does tap water. So do both diet and regular sodas.  Drinking too much milk--or not enough.  Too much sleep. Not enough sleep.  Stress.  SCORES of medications.  Inflammation.  Illness.  Allergies.  Pollution.  Preservatives.  Skipping breakfast.  Not eating often enough.

Yet our society still look downs its nose at the larger folk. People behave as though one's weight is exclusively the result of simple math, and that all fat people are just lazy gluttons who don’t care about anything but satisfying his or her sweet tooth.  Children are publicly weighed, shamed, ostracized, and sent home with “fat letters” to alert parents that their children are overweight.  Which studies have shown over and over again DOES NOT WORK. You CANNOT shame someone into losing weight; all it does is cause depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and sometimes even suicide.

And don’t get me started on the BMI chart, which was invented in the 1830s by a mathematician who was trying to find an association between poverty and weight. Check out this list by NPR about the top 10 reasons why the use of a 200-year-old non-scientific weight measurement chart is nonsense.

And that’s not even touching on genetic or metabolic reasons for being overweight.  There was a time where I was consuming less than 1200 calories and walking more than 3 hours per day, yet I was GAINING both weight and inches.  I watched skinny friends eat whole pizzas by themselves and get winded walking up one flight of stairs, yet they were considered healthier than me.  When I tell people that, they smile and shake their head condescendingly, certain that I’m exaggerating, if not outright lying. I assure you I am not. Everyone knows a few people who can scarf down an entire half-gallon of ice cream in one sitting, never exercise, and haven’t gained an ounce collectively since they were 16 years old.  You know who you are.

Education about food today is as inescapable as BPA and Teflon.  People are more health-conscious than ever before. Everything in every food is printed clearly on the label. Calories, fat, salt, etc. are all right there in front of us, even on your french fries packaging at McDonald's. Trans fats are all but illegal.  Organic food sales are on the rise.  Whole grain, low-fat, low-calorie, and sugar-free items abound.  Dietary/health supplements take up an entire aisle at Wal-Mart.  Health food and diet items are everywhere. Lean Cuisine takes up half the frozen food dinner section.

So what's the deal?  Are people just eating more?  I don't think so; the other day I saw an episode of I Love Lucy where they went out to eat and everyone ordered steak AND spaghetti, plus appetizers before and dessert afterward.  People never used to think about what they ate; it was bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast, not bran flakes with soy milk.  There was no such thing as an egg white omelet.  They stuffed their food with butter and cheese, deep fried it, and smothered it with gravy and had no idea what trans fats were.  Now it's grilled skinless salt-free chicken breast, quinoa salad, veggie burgers on whole grain flatbread, and fat-free/low calorie/organic/sugar-free everything else.  So why is obesity getting worse?  Because maybe it's NOT just what we're eating, after all.

I’m not saying that we have zero control over our waistlines. Obviously if someone weighs 800 pounds and eats 5 buckets of fried chicken a day, there’s more than Teflon or a slow metabolism at work.  I know I have a sweet tooth and I eat fast food more often than I'd like because it's cheap and fast, but I don't believe that a few candy bars and a $10/week fast food habit are all it takes to make someone obese.

I see so many people, myself included, who honestly don’t eat much more than the thinner people around them, and yet are disproportionately larger.  It’s confusing and frustrating. When you’re doing the same things as your thinner friends but you’re 100 lbs heavier, why kill yourself trying to lose weight that just won’t come off?  Why spend 6 hours a day exercising and starving yourself if it’s only going to make 20 lbs difference after a year of misery?

If society is truly concerned about obesity, then maybe we should take a closer, more intellectual and well-rounded look at all the factors before we start teaching our children that it’s Johnny’s fault he’s fat and maybe if we tease him about it a little more he’ll stop eating so much.  There wouldn't be this imbecilic talk of legislating diets or banning foods because some people THINK that making sugar, vegetable oil, or bacon illegal is all it'll take to get America trim and fit again.  Trying to force feed schoolchildren wheat germ and denying them protein won't fix this problem.  Weight is not just calories in minus calories out.  It’s just NOT.  If it were, then diets would work better. 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Darkness ad Infinitum News!


Villipede has just released its table of contents on their website.  SO EXCITING to see my name listed there!!!  Tentative release date scheduled for October 2013.  I"M SO EXCITED!!!

Below is the info from their website, or view it HERE:


Scheduled for an October 2013 release, Villipede Publications' first horror and dark speculative fiction anthology, Darkness Ad Infinitum, will tenderly caress your amygdalae and viciously twist your imagination. With fifteen short stories and four poems from both established and upcoming authors, this haunting collection will force readers to reevaluate their thoughts on what darkness really is: something we're all born of yet perpetually trying to flee; a malevolent force that desires our servitude or destruction—or something that simply wishes to lock us in its cold, scaly, fathomless grip. Or perhaps, even, it's an asylum for our jittery minds and confused heartsa place of solace where humans may patiently inspect their primal natures and desires . . . a place where the barriers between monster and man begin to shift and break down.
The authors' origins span the breadth of the globe: the UK, Greece, Australia, Sweden, the US—and their stories are just as diverse. While the styles and subject matter of the stories may differ greatly, what is consistent is the dedication each author has harnessed to create unique fiction and scenarios of bewitching caliber.
This October, holding Darkness Ad Infinitum in your hands, you may find yourself faced with a simple ultimatum: Do you turn around and embrace the darkness of your own free will . . . or will it embrace you first? 

TABLE OF CONTENTS (in no particular order): 


BLESS ME FATHER  –  Lismarie Lamb

THE GOOD MAN  –  David Dunwoody


DOOR TO INSANITY (poem)  –  Mathias Jansson

IN THE WALLS  –  Adam Millard

STEALING DARKNESS  –  Geoffrey H. Goodwin

LONGBOAT  –  Becky Regalado

THE BURNING MAN (poem)    Tony Flynn  

HUNGRY AS THE WIND  –  Jonathan Moon

PILING UP  –  Kallirroe Agelopoulou

LOVE GRUDGE  (poem)    Dot Wickliff

THE HIGH PRIEST  –  C. Deskin Rink

EARTH, RISEN  –  Pete Clark  


SMUDGE  –  Jonathan Templar


A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS  –  Lawrence Salani

THE TUNNEL RECORD  –  J. Daniel Stone

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Happy Release Day!

CONGRATULATIONS to my dear friend, Catherine Peace!!  Her debut novel, This Time Next Year, just went live on Amazon yesterday! HUZZAH!!  I'm SO EXCITED FOR HER!!!

Here's the blurb about This Time Next Year from Amazon:

Vampire Kiernan Shaw has never forgotten the night twenty years ago when he’d been forced to stand by while another vampire killed a six-year-old girl’s parents in front of her. He’s spent the better part of the last two decades watching over her, protecting her and hoping for an opportunity to make amends one day.

Ever since surviving the vampire attack that killed her parents, Moira Curran has dealt with the resulting nightmares and abandonment issues the only way she could—by throwing herself into her biochemistry career, preferring a life of a hermit in her lab to facing the reality of her lonely life.

Madame Eve brings them back together for one fateful night. An immediate bond of sizzling chemistry and respect forms, but can it heal her fears and his guilt?

YAAAAAAY! Everyone go buy it!  Buy it now! :D

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Darkness ad Infinitum

Excellent, amazing, fantastical news, everyone!!

Villipede Publishing has accepted my short story, Longboat, for publication in their upcoming horror anthology, entitled Darkness ad Infinitum.  Which means, roughly, "The Infinite Darkness."  The three of you who've read Longboat know how perfectly that suits it, lol!

I'm SO EXCITED!!!  I'm going to be published in a real live honest-to-goodness BOOK, with royalties and everything!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  **Jumps up and down**

Shameless self-promotion to come...

Villipede's Website

Villipede's Facebook page

Villipede's Twitter page

Villipede's other published anthologies

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Creativity Exercise

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. Let's hope I don't embarrass myself. ;)

1. What do you think your BEST traits are (nothing sexual)? did you know??

2. What is the best place to buy something?  A store or website that has what I want for the lowest price.

3.  What color do you hate the most?  I'm not a racist, you dirty question, you. 

4.  Have you ever suffered from anorexia? there another way to feel about it? Can one ENJOY anorexia?

5.  Do you have a job?  It's more like it has me.

6.  Do you drink?   I'm trying to lose all this water weight, and drinking is counterproductive to that goal. 

7.  Have you ever talked to someone you didn't know?  No, there was never a time when I had to meet someone, I've always known everyone, forever and ever. Amen.

8.  Opinions on drugs?  Got 'em.

9.  Do you have your own crib?  No, the baby sleeps in a rented one. I find it's more expensive and dirty, which are the things every caring mother looks for in baby paraphernalia.

10.  Who is one person you could never take to the mall?  A stranger's child.  I mean, yeah, I suppose I technically COULD, but that would be bad. So, uh...a dead person, I guess. I can't take them to the mall.  At least not easily.

11.  What is one thing you will never achieve?  I will probably never be a Super Bowl Champion.  Not because I'm a woman, but because I don't enjoy sports.

12.  Do you swear?  Solemnly.

13.  Have you ever screamed so much you lost your voice?  I didn't lose it; it ran away. Took me days to track it down, and coaxing it back into my throat was super challenging without a voice.

14.  What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?  That he's not a woman.

15.  Do you like taking pictures?  Stealing is wrong.

Monday, June 3, 2013

COVER REVEAL for Catherine Peace's This Time Next Year

CONGRATS to LEXCADE, aka Catherine Peace, who is about to have her first book published! I'm so happy for/proud of you!! :D  I have the immense privilege to help her with her cover reveal, which is awesome.  Here it is!

Ever since surviving the vampire attack that killed her parents, Moira Curran has dealt with the resulting nightmares and abandonment issues the only way she could—by throwing herself into her education and then her biochemistry career, preferring a life of hermitude in her lab.

Kiernan Shaw has never forgotten the night twenty years ago when his maker killed a six-year-old girl’s parents in front of her. He’s spent the better part of the last two decades searching for her in order to make amends.

Madame Eve has managed to bring the two together. When they finally meet, will Moira be able to give Kiernan what he needs? Will Kiernan put her fears to rest? Or will old fears and guilt keep them apart?


For a moment, he thought back to Madame Eve’s email. If she trusts you, she will tell you her name. He understood the power of names, and so did Madame Eve. Something insignificant to a mortal meant everything to a vampire, in whose world names were both salvation and control. Remind a vampire of his humanity, or steal it away by forcing him to do something horrific, like watching a little girl’s parents be eviscerated right in front of her.
 “Kiernan Shaw.” Swallowing hard, he found his way back onto the coffee table. “And yours?”
Would she tell him her name? Would she allow him that kind of power?
She took a deep breath, as though considering the same questions. “Moira Curran.”
He rolled the name on his tongue and loved the way it felt. “Beautiful.” He reached to stroke her cheek, but she flinched. “Moira, I won't hurt you. I could never hurt you.”
“I'm sorry,” she muttered. “Old habits, I guess.”
He nodded, unable to speak at first. The cloying scent of her fear, like overripe peaches, almost strangled him. “Why did you ask me to stay?”
“I don't know.”
Neither did he, but he wouldn't leave until she asked him to.
“I don’t want to be alone, Kiernan. Isn’t that pathetic?”
He warmed at the sound of his name on her lips. His mouth watered at the thought of kissing her, exploring her, making his name come out of that gorgeous mouth again and again. He tamped down his desire. Nothing good would happen if he moved too fast. “Not in the slightest.” Willem had all but guaranteed him a life alone. Like he approached a scared animal, he moved next to her on the couch. She uncoiled, but didn't relax. “Talk, Moira. Please.” The silence hurt his ears as much as any scream.
She shook her head. “It's too hard.” Tears spilled but she didn't move to wipe them away.
Time to be bold, I guess. He brushed a hand against her cheek again. Instead of flinching, she eased into his touch. “I want to ease your hurt,” he said. “Will you let me?”


W00T!!  Can't wait to read the whole thing! So excited for you, Cate!!  :D :D :D