Robert S. Wilson, author of Shining in Crimson and The Quiet

Life Beyond the Minimum Safe Distance Episode 1: The Submerging of Billy Stanton's Cavalier

2012-01-19T01:11:00.000-08:00

"Episode?" You ask.

Yes, Episode!

This is part one of what will hopefully be a somewhat regular (hell, as regular as I can manage to actually get out) piece on my blog. It's about life. Life and the funny fucking things that can and have happened to me. And no, I'm not wise enough to have come up with my own title. As a diehard Matthew Good fan, I borrowed one of my favorite song titles from him. And I think the title's totally appropriate given Good's lyrics are often ironic, bitter, funny, and about the really stupid things that happen so much on this weird little ball of dirt flying around the sun. Obviously, the subtitle's mine, though. So, without further ado, let's get on with it, shall we?

The Submerging of Billy Stanton's Cavalier

I'd just turned 18, so this was roughly around 1996. I had been playing guitar and singing in bands for years. Mostly alternative rock stuff, yatta yatta. I had just started singing for this band. I only knew one of the guys very well and really not even that well. Had tried out maybe a week before hand and got the spot. I went to hang out with one of the guitarists, Billy. Billy's garage is where the band played. He lived with his parents and although we were both over 16, neither one of us had our licenses (I didn't get mine until I was 19, laugh all you want). Billy, however, had his permit.

So, anyway, I come over--hell, I don't even remember how I got there, but I get there and he introduces me to John. John's an older guy in his early twenties at the time. He's pretty clean cut compared to Billy and I with our long black hair and our band t-shirts and all that good jazz. So, Billy and John decide to teach me how to play Magic: The Gathering. (Yes, I am nerd and proud!) So, we play a few games and it's going all right. Seems interesting. Then we get the idea to go for a drive. Billy's good friends with the members of the only other metal band in the tri-county area, so let's go say hey. Since John's over 21, we decide for Billy to drive his Cavalier. He has his permit and John can ride in the passenger seat and I'll sit in the back.

So, when we leave it's already dark. Apparently we were going to the singer's house. Kurt was a pretty awesome singer, so I was intrigued to meet him. But he lived out in the backwoods south of Cloverdale, Indiana (which if you've ever been to Cloverdale, Indiana you know the town is practically backwoods on its own). In fact, he lived not far from where I set the story I wrote for the free Halloween Anthology I was in last year. Hell, I even set it in the same year. Weird...

So, we're driving along State Road 42 in Bill's little sporty black Cavalier (about as sporty as a Cavalier can get), listening to Type O Negative on CASSETTE, and it's dark and that road is the shittiest, curviest, hilliest road ever, let me tell you. To this day, I've not driven a curvier, hillier, shittier road and I've driven in some crazy ass places. Anyway, we come to what is the last point before a downward hill and the bridge that sits over Cataract Lake and right before the hill is this ROAD CLOSED sign.

Okay, most folks would have turned around here, right? Wellllll.... if you live in, have lived in, or have ever spent any decent amount of time on the road in Indiana, you are probably aware that out of all 50 states, it is numero uno when it comes to road construction. Often, especially in these little backwoods areas that look like something out of Friday the 13th part 87, people just go around them and think nothing of it, because they're typically only there to keep the majority off the road.

Come to find out there was another sign there... covered in high grass thanks to some asshole who decided not to mow his jungle of a yard. The sign said HIGH WATER.

So, we go along and, like I said, it's dark. And if you've ever been on State Road 42 in the middle of Owen County, Indiana in the dark, you really do know what pitch-fucking-black looks like because there are no stop lights, no street lights, nothing but the very, very clear stars in the sky to light your way. Oh, and of course there's your headlights. Yeah well, we go downhill and before we know anything of what's going on...

SPLASH...

The fastest two seconds of my life... EVER.

Now, what I'm about to tell you is what happened in that very short period of time. And most of it was figured out afterward as it was pieced together piece by fucking piece:

First, the headlights hit the high water that was 30 fucking feet above the bridge that was usually over 100 feet above the water and reflected the road below us. So when we hit, it looked like more road in front of us.

The second we hit the water, somehow, somehow, Bill opens his door and keeps the car from pressurizing. I'm in the backseat of a two door car and somehow, again, somehow I got out, Bill claims before him, but I could swear we got out at the same time.

John... panics! Come to find out, he doesn't know how to swim and he has a phobia of water! He sits there in the car, water up to his neck slapping his hands at the water and completely freaking out. Bill's about 5 feet tall, thin as a wire and about as muscular as a squirrel and he reaches across the front seat, grabs John with one hand, and pulls him out of the car. I can honestly confirm that the human body can do shit it wasn't meant to do when someone has an adrenaline rush; I saw it with my own eyes. And John's still alive to this day to prove it.

Then, the car toppled upside down in the water and sank.

Bill is crying and laughing at the same time and pointing pitifully out toward the water at his sinking car. We're all drenched and standing in waist-high water. John is yelling over and over again that a part of him was left in the car. Bill, still laughing and crying, announces, "Well, John, I'm sure as hell not going out there to get it back!"

We walk up the road dripping wet and knock on the nearest trailer door. I want to say this was at least 1:00 in the morning by this time, so the lady who lived in that trailer had to either be brave as all hell or had a rifle hiding behind that door when she answered it. Anyway, she let us use the phone to call the police. A fine Cloverdale officer of the law comes out to meet us, eventually. Of course, he checks to make sure we haven't been drinking, no drugs, all the usual jazz. We hadn't. Surprisingly enough for him. Then he wants to see the car.

So, with John in the front seat of the squad car and Billy and I in the back, he edges up to the water--John's grabbing onto the dash like a lifeboat hanging over a waterfall, moaning, and freaking out, and the cop is just nonchalantly waving the spotlight built into the car over the water trying to find the car. I'm pretty sure he didn't believe we even had a car at first. Anyway, then he decides to be a courteous gentleman and drive us to Billy's house. I stayed the night there. (And calmly announced to Bill's mother when she came out wondering what happened and Bill was still in the bathroom that we had, "hit a puddle," being the smart ass that I was and still am. Yes, I actually said that.)

They had to have scuba divers go down and find it the next day. Actual effing scuba divers. They found it about 30 feet below the bridge if I remember correctly. And yeah, don't quote me on any of these numbers this was 16 years ago. I'm writing this all from memory.

A few days later, not sure how many, we get to go through the car at the local garage. There were something like several hundreds of dollars worth of Magic cards of John's in the backseat. (I could write a whole other story about John's wife's reaction to that!) So, we're peeling them apart and sticking them against the top of the Cavalier to dry in the sun. (Billy actually kept some of those cards. Years later we would be playing a game of Magic and I could always tell where one of them was in one of his decks because of the discoloration.)

On a whim, Billy's brother, Rob, decides to eject the tape from the tape deck and come to find out Peter Steele sang the entire album Bloody Kisses to the fishes all night long. The goddamn tape played all the way through to the end... underwater!

So, there it was. Episode 1. You tell me. Was it worth writing out? Should I do more of these? This one will probably be one of the highlights, but I do have more. It's been an odd life. An odd fucking life indeed.

Blog humbug!

2012-01-16T00:29:00.000-08:00

So, apparently I'm guilty of absolute blog fail! Thing is, I was never that good at blogging to begin with. I tend to have a sporadic attention span and (example: in the middle of this sentence I actually went to several other webpages including Facebook and a local news page)--wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, I am the worst blogger ever. Yeah, that was it.

You see I was bad enough before, but now, between freelance editing, Horror For Good, Dead Audio, writing a zombie novella for a collaborative project, writing the sequel to Shining in Crimson, writing a sci-fi/horror/crime novella/novel called Exit Reality, writing, rewriting, editing, and developing a ton of other ideas, and generally trying to have somewhat of a life, I am overloaded just a tad. So, if you get nothing out of this blog post (and unfortunately, that's incredibly likely) you should at least walk away with this in mind: DON'T. FUCKING. OVERLOAD. YOURSELF. I, however, will walk away with nothing. Because, as Darth Vader once said on the forest moon of Endor, "It's too late for me, Son."

In fact, I'll walk away with even less because instead of effing blogging, I could be doing something like editing, reading, or writing!!! I mean sure, I'm writing, but my books aren't sitting around writing themselves, now are they? And while I'm writing in my blog, I believe it's safe to say that I'm not writing them either.

So, with that said, maybe I should actually get around to some kind of point here. Or at least to something interesting.

I suppose I could make some announcements. Everybody likes announcements. Announcements are fun! How about that?

1. I've set a tentative goal for the release of the infamous Book Two (aka Empire of Blood Book Two, the sequel to Shining in Crimson). I'm planning to have it ready to publish by May! (Vague much?) Yes, May of this year, 2012. Yes, that's right. (Wow, I forgot it's 2012 again. Strange. Wait, I'm getting distracted again.)

2. I will be (come hell, high water, or maybe even firenado!) attending the 2012 World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City in March! I'll be there mostly to help represent Horror For Good, but also to drink lots of alcohol and make a complete and terrible fool of myself--I mean to network with other writers, editors, publishers, and readers! So, yeah, if you're gonna be there, hit me up. I'll likely have copies of my books and maybe even some special items to give out here and there.

3. Some people have been waiting on a blog post that I mentioned in my portion of Richard Flores IV's blog post on self-publishing that I would do. I know I was supposed to do it like weeks ago now, but as this post has pointed out, I've been a little busy. I have been working on it though. And really the biggest reason it isn't up already is that in setting out to work on it, its scope kicked my ass and I realized that it would be a multi post endeavor. So, keep a look out for part one of my extensive post on self-publishing to go up sometime soonish.

4. For those of you who don't keep up with Dead Audio, my audio dark fiction zine, sometime in the next few days I will be finally releasing episode two featuring Scott Nicholson's Writers of the Future Gold award-winning short story, The Vampire Shortstop. Also, the zine will be open to flash story submissions for the third episode. Submissions will be open for one week, two to three stories will be selected, and I plan to have it online sometime in February. If you're interested in submitting please read the submission guidelines before sending your story.

So, that covers the announcements, news, etc. Does this mean I'm off the hook now? Can I get back to the incredibly growing pile of things I need to do? No? Entertain you? What am I? Some sort of painted-up, silly clown with really big shoes here to amuse you? If you want entertained go and get yourself a--Oh, wait. I mean, sure, here's something entertaining for you:

Good day, good night, good fun, and all that good jazz. Until next time. (Hopefully it will be this year... :p)

Happy Holidays from Robert S. Wilson

2011-12-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

Growing up, there never really was a religious representation to Christmas for our household. Sure, we would go to church on Christmas Eve and listen to the story of Jesus in the manger, etc., etc. But, like many families, Christmas morn was all about tearing open the packages as quickly as we could and just plain having a wonderful, loving time with family. These days, even though I'm an agnostic, I still choose to celebrate Christmas. However, I want to respect everyone's religious holidays. And as Strunk would say, OMIT UNNECESSARY WORDS so instead of going down the list a simple HAPPY HOLIDAYS will do.

In celebration of the holidays, I would like to give a few gifts to anyone who would have them:

1. In case you missed out, my Empire of Blood short story, What Happens in Vegas... is still free on Smashwords in all standard ebook formats and for all ereader devices.

2. Here are two Shining in Crimson holiday gifts:

How about a $1.00 off coupon for the ebook copy of Shining in Crimson on Smashwords? Just use the coupon code GQ52V at checkout on smashwords. This coupon is good through the end of the year!

Also, since I just received the proof copy of the paperback of Shining in Crimson with the new cover today and it looks good to go, I just put it back up on Amazon/Createspace for $7.99. $7.99 for a trade paperback copy! That's $2.00 off!

3. Starting tomorrow through the 28th of December, the Kindle version of The Quiet: A Novella will be free to download on Amazon.com!

So again, happy holidays! I hope all of you have a wonderful time with your families and make fantastic memories that will stay with you always.

Halloween and Coffin Hop Update for Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology

2011-10-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology, for those who don't know, will be giving all proceeds to amfAR an international AIDS research organization. I'm pleased to announce that R.J. Cavender has signed on with us as Publishing Consultant and we have received stories from Jack Ketchum, Ramsey Campbell, Ray Garton, and many more. We've also received a lot of submissions so far, but still need many more.

While we expect to receive many more submissions in November, we want to ensure we get the word out to as many horror authors as possible. Submissions are open until midnight November 30th, 2011, so you still have a whole month to get your stories in. What we aim to accomplish with this is to put out an amazing horror anthology that will bring in an immense contribution to a great cause.

While this is a nonpaying market, I believe it really will pay in two much bigger ways: 1. It will help people who really need it! 2. Stories chosen to be included will sit side by side by greats and legends in the genre! So, if you haven't yet considered it, please send us a story or start writing, revising, or polishing something to send to us! There's nothing to lose and an incredible amount to possibly be gained. In the true Halloween spirit this anthology will surely be scaring and giving all at once. Let's show the world how big of a heart horror really has.

And don't forget to checkout the Coffin Hop Web Tour going on right now! 90+ pages of giveaways, contests, and great Halloween posts! http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/

Another Halloween Freebie as part of the Coffin Hop Web Tour!

2011-10-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Just last night I put up a free short story titled What Happens in Vegas... An Empire of Blood Short Story. This is a standalone story and does not require the reader to have read Shining in Crimson. In fact, I think it will be a great introduction to the world Shining in Crimson is set in and a nice little treat for those who have read Shining in Crimson. And let's face it, what better time to read a horror/dark fantasy story than Halloween? And it's free! And don't forget, I'm still giving away 2 free e-copies of Shining in Crimson to two lucky commenters. And to be clear, I'm going to count any comment on any of my posts since day one of the Coffin Hop (October 24th). Also, be sure and check out more of the other pages as they are also having giveaways and contests! Just go to: http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/ There are over 90 other blogs participating, so there are a lot of chances to win and lots of great free content to check out! And without further ado, here's a snippet of What Happens in Vegas... An Empire of Blood Short Story

Jackie didn't really think they would hurt innocent little girls. She had only meant to scare Karen, to have a little fun. But now her sister lay dead in the passenger seat and they would soon get Jackie, too.

The girls took off on Highway 15 South with the money Mom and Dad left for food while they went on their stupid little "second honeymoon." There was already plenty of food in the house they could take with them. She could use the food money for gas and they could go out for the night of their lives. But she couldn't tell Karen where they were going, no way. If Jackie had told her, she wouldn't have come along.

So, that morning, they packed up the car with the big cooler and headed southwest. Karen was just tall enough to see over the dashboard, but she mostly read on road trips. Jackie had always wanted to see the city, especially after Robby Shelton told her about all that was left behind. Las Vegas was a huge, wealthy city in its time. She thought about all the money that was just left to rot. Just one U.S. dollar in "acceptable" shape was worth fifty bucks these days.

"Now, if Mom or Dad call, remember, we're just in town getting something to eat."

"What if they call late at night and we're still out?"

"You let me handle that, kid."

"Hey, you're not much older than me, so shut it."

Jackie gave her sister the angry face and Karen quickly stuck her nose back into her book. Jackie turned her hungry eyes back to the road. Living in Cedar City, Utah, it was only about a three hour drive to the old city. And so long as they got out of there before dark, they would be just fine. They would even get home in time for Karen's bedtime and all would be right with the world.

When they crossed the state line into Nevada, Karen watched as the sign flew by, the golden rims of her glasses reflecting the bright sun in Jackie's eyes. Most of the drive was boring. Just more and more desert. Jackie was lucky enough that Karen's face stayed buried in her book when they passed the crossed-out sign that read Las Vegas 58 miles.

It was common knowledge that the closer to the city you came, the less people you found. And nobody kept you from driving right on in.

Jackie hadn't counted on just how big of a tourist attraction the city had been. As they came up to the large sign, still mostly intact, that welcomed anybody and everybody to "Fabulous" Las Vegas, she couldn't help but gasp at what had been done to it. Karen looked up from her book and her complexion turned several shades paler.

Splotches of dried blood randomly adorned the sign and the word Necropolis seemed to be painted in dry blood right over "Las Vegas." The real thing was a far cry from the horror stories they had been told when they were younger. It was always the first thing out of Dad's mouth when they got in trouble. "Lying is a sin, Jackie. You don't wanna grow up and get sent to Necropolis, do you?" Or, "You know what the monsters in Necropolis do to people, don't you? They drink all their blood until they die. If you keep up this nasty behavior, that's where you'll go."

It took some time to calm Karen, but inevitably Jackie had to just be the boss and make her come along knowing that Karen was too scared to run away. Besides, there was all that desert out there and nobody for miles.

Jackie's friend Lori's older cousin had been sent to Necropolis. He had been caught kissing another boy and both of them were charged as homos. When Lori's aunt found out, she refused to talk to the boy anymore. It was hard for Jackie to believe that before the city had been taken, there were some states who actually allowed the homos to marry. A mix of guilt and anger waved over her at that thought.

"We're just gonna look around and try to find some cool things to bring back with us. It'll be awesome, trust me," Jackie said.

Karen didn't reply. Her book sat at her side as she stared all around at the tall, empty buildings and strange landmarks. Other than the engine and its echo off the buildings, the place was dead quiet. They drove by several huge buildings alongside a big green statue of a lady in a toga holding a torch above her head. It looked vaguely familiar to Jackie. She thought it might be something from history class.

After a while, they came to a huge replica of the Sphinx with a large dark pyramid sitting behind it. Jackie knew this was one of the places she should probably look. If there were treasures to be found, some of them would be here.

Jackie got out of the car and stood there just looking up at the huge thing. Most of the Sphinx's features were covered in sand from years of storms. A few spots of flat black could be seen through the dust covering the pyramid. If someone were to replace the other buildings with sand, the place would've looked just like Egypt.

"Come and look at this, Karen. It's so awesome," Jackie said.

Karen just sat in the car, looking pekid.

"Fine then," Jackie said as she came around to the passenger side of the car. She opened the door, grabbed Karen's arms, and pulled her from the car. "Come on. You shouldn't sit in here by yourself. I'm going inside, and like it or not, you're coming with me."

Karen let out a strange groan. Jackie couldn't believe how much her little sister was sweating. After a short struggle, Karen had no other choice but to come along.

Jackie flipped on the flashlight and tried one of the glass double doors. It was unlocked. The smell of rotting meat inside was nearly strong enough to gag Jackie, but she pulled her shirt up over her mouth and nose so she could breathe. Karen, however, didn't move fast enough and got hit hard enough to make her throw up.

"Oh god, can we please go back outside, Jackie? This is terrible."

"Just do what I'm doing and it's not so bad." Jackie laughed at Karen, who was leaned over, a long line of drool hanging from her mouth. She shined the flashlight all around the room as she waited for Karen. There were graying card tables, rusty slot machines, and large blank TV screens everywhere. It was all covered in cobwebs and a layer of dust thicker than Jackie had ever seen. But there was something else. She kept seeing other shapes in the shadows cast by the flashlight. They were so random she couldn't make them out. She started to walk toward one of them to get a closer look when a hand grabbed hold of her wrist. She jumped and let out a small scream. Karen screamed back at her.

"Don't go without me, I'm scared."

Jackie stood there a moment panting, wanting to beat her little sister over the head with her flashlight. When she caught her breath, she gripped Karen's hand too tight on purpose.

"Ow!"

"You want a guide, you got one." The two girls glared at each other and then Jackie headed back toward the shadow she had seen. Though Jackie had loosened her grip, their hands were still locked tight. God, her sister was such a scaredy-cat. She pointed the flashlight back to the card table she had seen the shape behind and headed toward it.

As she came closer, it seemed more and more to be a thicker layer of dust accumulated in a strange shape until she noticed the outline of the bony hand. Finally close enough, she shined the light full on the shape and the rest of the gray withered body, crumpled over the edge of the table, became clear. Underneath the bony hand were five cards and a thick coagulated pool of dried blood spreading out from the body's neck.

The sound that next came from Karen could have shattered a whole set of fine glasses. Jackie couldn't even find the good humor to laugh at her sister. The thought never occurred to her that they might find any bodies. Her own body started to shake without her consent. Just find where they kept the cash and then we can get the hell out of here, she told herself. She made up her mind before they even hit the road that she wasn't leaving this place without something to show for it.

Jackie backed away from the table, Karen hugging her arm. The flashlight cast more and more rising shadows everywhere she pointed it. The more they backed away, the more bodies became visible. Jackie turned to run, forgetting all about her little sister, when she tripped over something that felt like tree limbs against her legs. The flashlight flipped through the air, its randomly spinning beam resembling a disco ball. Then it landed with a thin crack and went dead, leaving the room in utter darkness. Karen screamed. Both girls were hyperventilating.

"Jackie!"

"I'm down here." Before Jackie could stop her, Karen moved toward her and fell forward in a rush on top of Jackie, knocking the wind out of her.

"Jackie, what was that?" Karen cried.

"I don't know, maybe some kind of bench?"

"Benches don't wear clothes." Both girls struggled away from the clothed "bench." Jackie thought about reaching around on the ground blindly to find the flashlight and quickly decided against it. Her eyes were still filled with the phantom glow of the flashlight, but she could remember the general direction they came in. She grabbed Karen's hand and pulled her along that way.

It didn't take long before they saw the small patch of light. It grew as they got closer, eventually revealing the glass doors it came through. Without hesitation, Jackie pushed through the door without stopping, dragging Karen along with her. Jackie turned and kicked the door, realizing she didn't get a single dollar bill from inside. I'll just go back with the flashlight and--Shit, the flashlight.

"Damn it!" she screamed, kicking the door over and over. Karen's bewildered expression, reflected in the bright glass of the door, snapped Jackie out of her fury and turned it to shame. She took a deep breath, sighed heavily, then flopped down Indian style and let her shoulders slump. How would she see to find some cash in any of these places without her flashlight? After seeing those bodies, there was no way she was going to try without it.

"Okay, let's go find somewhere else then," she said, smiling at Karen.

Karen just stared at her blankly.

"Oh, come on, don't be such a pussy, Karen."

Karen turned swiftly and stomped more than walked back to the car, got in, and slammed the door. Jackie laughed as she got up from the concrete and brushed off the back of her shorts.

They drove around for a long time. Some of the roads were completely blocked with anywhere from dozens to hundreds of cars. If they drove close enough, they could see the stiff, gray flesh of the bodies still inside. The ones with their throats torn out were the worst.

They saw their first one on North Main St. in a red Mustang convertible. He was wearing a blue camo hat that once tied around the throat. Now, both strings hung from the hat, threads hanging and blowing in the wind, framing the gaping blood-black hole where the man's adam’s apple had been. Jackie almost lurched, but managed to keep herself composed as Karen frantically sobbed about wanting to go home. When she looked back at her for an answer, Jackie made herself smile as she dug her fingernails into the steering wheel as casually as she could manage.

"Everything is fine. Stop whining. This'll be fun."

Karen's sobs died down some, but they didn't stop.

She’d been driving around in circles for the better part of an hour trying to figure out which building they should go in next. Then, the obvious choice stuck out like a sore thumb in her peripheral vision. She turned to look at the tall, white, scepter-looking building off in the distant northern sky. Jackpot. Had to be. She swerved the car northward at the next intersection.

Karen held tight to the door and seat as the car swung around. "What are you doing?"

"I just picked our next destination, sister, and you better perk up for this one, it looks awesome!"

"Where are we going now, Jackie, I told you I just want to go home, can't we just go home?" Her voice had taken on that whining tone again. The one that tore into Jackie's brain like nails on a chalkboard.

"Oh, shut up you little baby, we’re going to that one right there!" She pointed to the tall white needle-shaped building. It stood over the rest of the skyline looking like a giant bishop on a chess board.

Karen started to chew on her fingernails as Jackie slammed on the gas and swerved to miss the occasional abandoned car. Jackie noted the paleness of Karen's skin as they went along. Her first split second thought was that she looked like she belonged in the city. She almost felt guilty for the thought but instead shrugged it off and focused on the task at hand.

The large white building towered over them as they drove up the block. It had looked tall from afar, but now it looked even taller. And Karen was really beginning to be a drag, too. She had started shaking lightly and whimpering under her breath every now and then. What a big baby, Jackie thought. I can't believe how much Mom and Dad gawk over you, you little brat.

You could really see the damage to the buildings in this area. As they got closer and closer to the White Bishop, as Jackie had started calling it in her head, they saw large open spaces in some of the buildings and several appeared to have more gone than intact. Jackie was so busy looking at these tombs of decay that she didn't even notice all the debris in the road.

The ride got really bumpy all of a sudden, and before Jackie could even look at the road in front of her, there was a loud pop and the car seemed to jerk away from her. Karen seemed to convulse as the car spun out of control, and then with inertia still pulling at them, came to an abrupt stop facing away from the tower.

Jackie couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of a sign, but she was already in too deep. She'd risked this much so far, why stop now.

Karen sobbed into her lap. Jackie looked her over. She seemed fine. Jackie felt a slight jarring pain in her neck but not enough to keep her from moving. She sighed and then got out of the car to investigate. The left front tire looked more like the remains of an exploded black cloth than a tire. It draped several large chunks of steel and concrete that mirrored hundreds of others Jackie was now noticing to be scattered all over the road.

Without thinking, she kicked one of the pieces and the shock of pain that tore into her foot almost sent her writhing on the ground.

"Fuuuuck!" she screamed. Her voice echoed back at her several times as the realization of just how fucked she and her sister were clicked in her head. No wonder Karen was so upset now. They were stranded in deep in Necropolis, their car broken down, and the sun would be gone in just over an hour or so. Jackie swallowed what felt like part of her throat as the words formed in her head.

We're dead, I've just killed us.

Get your free copy for any device at Smashwords.com or read it at Scribd.com

Halloween is here!

2011-10-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

So, as usual, I'm a little late with something. Two things in fact.

I mentioned Dark Red Press's CL Stegall and the very fine cover he created for the upcoming special edition of Shining in Crimson in my last post................and I completely forgot to mention the Free Halloween Anthology that Dark Red Press put together that includes stories from J.T. Warren, CL Stegall, Brian Fatah Steele, and myself!

On top of that, today kicks off the Coffin Hop Web Tour a blog hop featuring 96 awesome sites all containing special Halloween posts plus a lot of them are doing contests and giveaways. That's right 96 pages of contests and giveaways! So, get to as many of these sites as possible and see what kinds of treats you can get your hands on. Here's the link: http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/

I'll be giving away two free ebook copies of Shining in Crimson at random to two
lucky commenters!

And for another treat, here's an excerpt of my story Chaldon's Bones from the free Dark Red Press Halloween anthology, Past the Patch:

Halloween was my favorite night of the year until the fall of '96. I hadn't seen my buddy Jeremy in over a year when he called me that afternoon. He said he had a night of horror all planned out for us. He showed up that night around 9 in an old black boxy van with two guys I'd never seen before.

One was short, heavy set with blond hair down to his chin and a blond beard, and kind of resembled Chris Farley. The other guy had long red hair pulled back into a pony tail, was dressed all in leather, and I found myself unable at first to look away from the black teeth behind his impish smile. Both of them looked like they hadn't showered in weeks.

Jeremy slid open the side door of the van and jumped out straight for me. He gave me one of those hip backwards handshakes that look more like you're arm wrestling. "Hey, duder, come meet the guys. This is Rick..."

"Hey," the Chris Farley look-a-like said.

"...and this is Darrell."

"What's up, man?" The impish smile grew and even more black teeth
showed.

"Hey guys, nice to meet you. What the hell's going on, Jer?"

"Get your shit and get in the van and you'll find out, bro."

Once I got my smokes and my wallet, I climbed into the side of the van
and sat down behind the bucket seats on the floor next to Jeremy. Jeremy
reached across, slid the door shut, and the van peeled out of my gravel
driveway.

As the van shook us around, Jeremy opened up a blue cooler sitting on
his other side, pulled out 2 Budweisers, and handed me one. We clinked the
necks of the bottles together and Jeremy said his toast.

"To a horrible, frightening night with good friends."

Rick Farley howled like a wolf as Captain Black Teeth beat his fists
against the dash. Jeremy and I guzzled our beers. I couldn't see much out the
windshield, but I could see enough trees to realize we weren't going into
town. Instead, we ventured deeper and deeper into the wooded countryside.
A few more beers and scary shows of excitement from Jeremy's other
friends and we arrived at our first destination.

I stepped from the van, my feet crunching in gravel, and noticed the
house at once. It was huge and obviously abandoned. It seemed to hover
over us, its second floor windows narrow and watching, waiting for us to
come closer. Its once-white paint was now completely faded and flaking and
the porch had sunken in some years ago. I've never had a stronger feeling of
dread toward an inanimate object. Rick took the lead, waving us to follow.
Darrell went next, and Jeremy and I followed.

"They call this The House of Bones," Rick said.

Darrell called ahead to Rick, "What the hell for?"

"How the hell should I know? Hey, maybe there's some bodies in here,"
he said stopping and looking back at us with an exaggerated sadistic
expression. He laughed and turned back toward the house.

Fenced-in fields of neatly rowed, dark yellow corn stalks surrounded
both sides of the huge yard. The darkness between those rows of corn gave
me chills as I kept imagining movement within them from the corner of my
eyes. Even as dark as it was, brightly colored leaves of yellow, brown, and
orange covered the ground demanding our attention as we walked toward the
house.

Rick stepped onto what was left of the porch. The movement of shadows
on the wall of the house gripped and squeezed my heart. The tall outline of a
man with long thin arms turned out only to be the shadow of a tree. I took a
deep breath and let it out quietly so the guys wouldn't think I was a pussy.

"Oh, wow. That's so fuckin' cool!" Rick said as he stepped into the
partially open door. I stepped experimentally onto the porch and leaned a
little to try and see what Rick thought was so great.

Stepping from one board to another like stepping on stones in a creek, I
made my way up to the front door.

"Oh that is pretty killer, man," Jeremy said.

Rick held a flashlight over his head and pointed downward. The beam
illuminated a large rundown piano covered in several layers of dust. He ran
his other hand down the keys and various out-of-key notes played. A bunch
of the keys were cracked or busted.

When I stepped into the house, I noticed a large Victorian stairway
behind Rick. I pointed to it. "What's upstairs?"

Rick laughed and said, "Let's go see, man."

So, we followed Rick up the stairs. About half of the steps were caved in
and the other half felt like a thick cardboard. All along the walls were
drawings and writing I couldn't quite make out with the little bit of bouncing
light coming back from Rick's flashlight.

When we were all at the top of the stairs, we came to a huge bedroom
just to the left. Inside, things were scattered everywhere. A bed lay at the end
of the room, its mattress and box springs pulled from the base and sprawled
out along side it. A dresser lay on its side in the middle of the room and
clothes and blankets covered the entire floor.

Rick shined the flashlight on the walls. "What's that?"

Writing like I had just seen going up the stairs covered the entire wall.
Each small section had different handwriting. Some of them were marked
with dates and years.

Jimmy was here and he fucked your mom in this room! February 12th
1962

If you're reading this it's already too late... Trevor May 1976

For a good time you won't forget, call Jannette 765-653-2997

Whatever you do, don't go digging up Chaldon's bones! - Leonard
January 1944

We stood there reading writings on the wall for several minutes before
we decided to move on. The rest of the upstairs didn't seem nearly as
interesting to us. A collective uneasiness was coming over us by that time
and it wasn't long before we were stepping right back through that front
door. But Ricky wasn't ready to leave quite yet. When Jeremy and I stepped
outside, the two other guys were nowhere to be seen.

We circled around looking for where they might have gone. The van
looked lonely sitting in the long gravel driveway with the moon morphed
into a halo of clouds hanging over it. Rick's voice called out from behind the
house and echoed off a huge old barn across the street.

"Hey, guys you're missing it. This is fucking awesome."

Jeremy and I walked toward the side of the house, following Rick's
ricocheting voice. As we came around the corner, a loud yell came from the
shadows. We both jumped and I let out a near scream as Darrell jumped out
at us.

"You fuckin' prick, you scared the shit out of us," Jeremy yelled.

Darrell laughed hysterically, his impish grin arching up the sides of his
face.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it as he continued to chuckle. As Jeremy
and I followed suit to do the same, a loud gargled scream came from behind
the house. Darrell laughed harder and Jeremy looked at me and smiled.

"You're gonna have to try a lot fucking harder than that, Ricky, you son of a
bitch!"

There was no reply.

Jeremy only laughed. I kept hearing that scream repeat in my head, my
brain analyzing it over and over for humor.

"Well, I'm gonna go see what he's up to," I said.

"Okay, have fun and don't shit your pants when he grabs hold of your
ankle or some shit," Jeremy said.

I laughed nervously and then started walking toward the back of the
house as Jeremy and Darrell chattered back and forth.

As I came closer and closer to the back corner of the house, a dim red
glow crept through a thin veil of mist covering the back yard. I stopped and
looked at the glow. My legs stiffened involuntarily. I was just about to turn
back when a loud racket like the sound of things being thrown around in a
small room started from behind the house. I managed to make my feet lift
off the ground one after another until I came around the back corner of the
house.

A small, wood-rotted outhouse stood shaking at the center of about a
dozen dead trees, the red glow coming out from between the cracks of the
door and in between each heavily weathered board.

Read more from Past the Patch...

Introducing: The Special Edition of Shining in Crimson: Empire of Blood Book One

2011-10-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

This brilliant, majestic cover was created by CL Stegall of Dark Red Press as a test drive for a new custom book cover service Dark Red Press will be unleashing at some point in the future. I couldn't be more happy with it! It's based on one of several cover concepts I've had in my head but am unable to pull off myself as I'm no real artist.

I had been planning to make a special edition already when CL came to me and asked if I would be interested in him designing a cover for Shining in Crimson. Of course, having seen his work, I was ecstatic at what he was offering me. Now, as ridiculously awesome as the cover is, a cover alone can't make a special edition on its own. You also need content. Interesting content. Well, how about two new Empire of Blood stories, one of which will be exclusive to the special edition? How about cut scenes from Shining in Crimson? And for those who have been waiting... How about a sneak peek at Book Two?

Yes, I'll be putting in several select rough scenes from Book Two as well. All of you who have been complaining that you want to know what happens next will get a taste of just that. But I'll warn you: be careful what you ask for.

Now, in the past when I have set dates, the universe has taken it upon itself to bend over backwards in order to disrupt them. So, I'm just going to say this... It's coming soon! Hopefully within the next month, but I'll make no promises as the universe just might be listening.

Speaking of special things, I have added a new page to the blog titled Specialty Items. It lists several items I have for sale that are deeply intimate and personal items related to my work. All of which are priced at a sliding scale. And once they're gone, they're gone, I won't be selling them again as they are each one of a kind.

And We Have a Merging!

2011-10-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

After setbacks left and right with the paperback copy of Shining in Crimson and my scramble to keep up with everything else I have going on, the paperback edition is live on Amazon and is now combined with the Kindle edition!

Here are some pictures of the actual book:

Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology

2011-10-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know, I'm co-editing a new horror anthology for charity called Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology. This is going to be a great one! We already have a bunch of established writers who will be contributing including Jack Ketchum, Ray Garton, Gary McMahon, David Dunwoody, Stephen Graham Jones, and more! We also want just as many newcomers and unestablished writers in the mix as well. So, if you write horror and would like to submit please do so by going to the site and checking out our guidelines.

The Real Reason Why Today is Special...

2011-10-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today, my mother, Sharon Lynn Gastineau, would've been 63 years old. She passed away far too early at the age of 57 in 2006. She was easily the biggest influence on my life and everything I do. She had the kindest heart and often gave all she had to help others. She had the strongest will and personality of anyone I've known. She was equally loving and stubborn and magnificently honest. And though it's been more than five years since she left this world, I still remember her vibrant personality more than anything.

She raised me, my brother, and my sister as a single parent. She worked hard, cleaning houses, apartments, and eventually motel rooms to put food on the table for us. We didn't always have much but we never went hungry. Early in life she was diagnosed with diabetes. Over the years, many other illnesses either came and went or she went through life dealing with them silently. She fought and beat cancer, she endured several years of randomly being attacked by bouts of epilepsy until she was finally prescribed something that kept them at bay.

One of my earliest memories of her turned out to be a real life case of foreshadowing of the darkest kind. I remember seeing a large golf ball-sized hole in her leg filled with pus and blood, the flesh surrounding it a purple-ish hue. I asked her what had happened. And I remember her telling me, in good humor, that something was eating away at the spot. Now, if that doesn't shape a horror writer, I don't know what will. Only later as an adult did I realize, looking back, that the memory had not been a strange nightmare but that the hole had actually been from a bad infection.

She beat that one. But in her last years she became susceptible to two more that caused her to have to lose both of her legs. And in those years when she was wheelchair-ridden she didn't give up. She showed the strongest will I've ever seen in any single human being. Only once in those years did I ever see her feel sorry for herself. And for that one time that she wavered, there are hundreds of thousands of times I can remember that her strength and charity would've outshone anyone else's lifetime of self pity.

And after about a hundred million years: Episode 4 arrives!

2011-09-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

This episode includes music by: Escape From Saturn, Demons of the Craft, Nomore164, Splinters in Hand, and These City Limits.

As usual you can stream it below or download it here.

***Edit*** If you enjoy this serial and want to help the book get more exposure please take the time to go here and enter to win the free copy of the paperback being given away at Goodreads.com and/or share the link I just mentioned with your friends and social networks please!

Shining in Crimson audio serial by Robert S. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Race Against Time: Call for Music Submissions for the Shining in Crimson Audio Serial!

2011-09-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

As the October 2nd release date for the paperback and hardcover versions of Shining in Crimson races closer and closer to the now, I'm trying to get back in full force to recording for the audio serial. I know I've been promising the next episode for a while and it's getting old to hear but as of this afternoon, I'm done recording for episode 4, I just need music. I've been searching all over Soundcloud.com for artists or groups who might fit the bill and have found some and even contacted them but I still have very little music. I need music submissions bad!

If you're an underground artist or part of an underground band, know someone else who is, etc. please contact me or have them contact me with either mp3s or links at shiningincrimson@gmail.com I lean toward dark music as this is a dark fantasy novel but anything with real emotion that isn't sappy will be considered. Do not hesitate to submit if you're unsure of your genre fitting. I want any and all genres, the more the better. To be honest, so far the serial has been predominately electronic music and I'd like to see a lot more other kinds of music.

The serial is Creative Commons-licensed (free to download and share), has been played on one radio station (http://phoenixfm.org/) so far, and will be going up on Podiobooks.com just as soon as I have a completed Episode 5, so it will put your music out to a lot of listeners. So, please consider submitting!

And We Go Ahhhh!

2011-09-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

Finally got some recording done tonight... Still looking for more music for this episode, but I'm getting some help with that. I'm so glad I know how to remote from one computer to another. Made my recording process very doable with using the closet as a vocal booth.

So, yeah Shining in Crimson Episode 4 coming soon for real this time. Now that everything's set up, I hope to be able to put out an episode every week until I'm done. We'll see how that works.

Bear with me here, I'm having what I call a "moment of stupid."

Oh, yeah, I remember what I wanted to talk about now! Pirates! Yes, pirates! But not the kind that sail the seven seas and such. No, INTERNET PIRATES or INTERNET PIRACY! Here goes:

A lot of people seem to think that internet piracy is taking money from musicians, bands, writers, movie stars, producers, pimps, and janitors, but I can't help but wonder...

If someone downloads a digital copy of something online would they have really ever bought it in the first place?

Or does that mean now that they've downloaded it that they will never buy it?

Or anything else from that rapper, coach, or beautician?

Is it also impossible that their downloading said file could spread the word about the author, doorman, or architect of the pirated file in question?

I mean lets think about what all happens when someone downloads a file from the internet for free.

1. They smile, knowing they just got something for free.
2. They experience what they've downloaded by listening, reading, or watching it.
3. They either like, love, dislike, hate or feel indifferent to what they just experienced.

Now's where the branching really begins. In this example let's say it's a book and they've never read a book by the author of this file.

Let's call the book "I Stole it on the Internet" by Captain Jack Lots-a-files. Tommy will be our guinea pig for this exercise.

Tommy downloads "I Stole it on the Internet" and reads the book.

Scenario 1: Tommy hates it.
Yeah, Tommy thinks it's the worst book on stealing things off the internet ever. Hell, Tommy read a much better book on this subject last week and it was free so he didn't even have to steal that one. So, Tommy then goes on with his life now knowing he doesn't like the way Captain Jack Lots-a-files writes. Oh well, Tommy wouldn't have bought it anyway. No loss. I think we can safely say the same would likely happen if Tommy dislikes it or feels indifferent to it.

Scenario 2: Tommy loves it.
Tommy loves every detail of "I Stole it on the Internet" right down to Captain Jack's description of how to use fancy downloading programs like Bittorrent and Peer-to-peer apps right on to how Captain Jack even lists all the best sites to find just what Tommy's looking for.

Tommy likes the book so much that he will likely do one of the following: Either he'll buy it, tell his friends, or buy another book by Captain Jack. Now, it may not happen overnight but one of these things will happen unless Tommy lives in a cave and has no outside contact with the world whatsoever. In which case Tommy would be highly unlikely to have internet access to begin with.

Now, does everyone who downloads files and loves them turn around and do these things? Not necessarily. There may be a few people out there who don't. But I don't know about you, when I love something, I tell people, I check out more of it, etc. But mostly I want other people who haven't experienced this beautiful thing who might enjoy it to join me in it's awesomeness!

Scenario 3: Tommy likes it:
Now this scenario is more difficult to predict. It's possible the person could more likely go either way with this one. But even if you just like something it usually stays with you and when you see other things related to it or connected with it in some way you tend to want to repeat the experience.

Anyway, that's enough with Tommy and his pirated copy of "I Stole It on the Internet." When it really comes down to it, especially when it comes to books, is it just me or does this all just really sound a whole lot like going to a library and picking up a book? I'm sure some of you are arguing that you don't keep the book and that's true. But chances are people don't read the same pirated book over and over again and not feel guilty about it. But that's just my opinion on the matter. Goodnight everyone.

It's here, finally! Shining in Crimson is now available for Kindle!

2011-09-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Shining in Crimson, Empire of Blood Book One is now available for Kindle on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.de! And very soon it will also be available in other formats on Smashwords as well. And the best part is that it will be available for only 99 cents until January 1st 2012. Then the price will go up. So, get it while it's cheap!

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller

2011-08-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

It's been another hectic week. My family moved most of our stuff into the new place this last weekend and have been ridiculously busy ever since. So, writing, editing, audio serializing, etc. have all taken a backseat to that. Sorry for the delay. Shining in Crimson is still in the proofreading stage. Given that my wife is one of the proofreaders and she's been just as busy with said move and one of the other proofreaders seems to have disappeared, things aren't moving as fast as I would like them to be. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, let's just hope it's not a big ass train!

On a brighter note: Stacey's answer on my last blog quiz won her a free chapbook of The Quiet: A Novella! And if you follow that link you will find that said chapbook is now available on Amazon and linked to the Kindle edition as well! And it's prime eligible for any fellow Amazon Prime users out there. And for those who don't have Prime, Prime gives you free 2 day shipping year round for one annual flat rate. There is a free version of Prime for students and there are various forms of free trials as well. So, if you haven't already, it's highly worth checking out if you purchase on Amazon often.

Now that things are starting to somewhat slow down here, I'm going to attempt to finish Episode 4 of the audio serial within a couple of days. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I think I'll give out 10 free ebook copies of The Quiet... The first 10 people who email me at shiningincrimson@gmail.com with the subject line "The Quiet Free" and their preference of format in the body of their email will get them.

Now to get back to work and cursing time...

The Chapbook arrives... early

2011-08-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

So, even though when I ordered proofs, I wasn't supposed to receive them until the 22nd, they came yesterday. I've looked them over and they seem to be in good order. So, as of like five minutes ago the chapbook of The Quiet is available here on Createspace for $6.99 plus shipping and will soon be available on Amazon for the same price as well. So, if you've been holding out for a really real copy, here it is!

*Edit*
Speaking of, I'm going to keep the quiz/contest going until August 22nd, so get over to this post to answer the quiz. The best answer wins one of the proof copies I just received of the chapbook version of The Quiet plus my super sloppy signature! This copy has Proof written real big on the back of the last page and will be one of only 3 copies! So, get your answers in!

It's here... Read Horror's Meet the Writer piece on yours truly...

2011-08-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm featured on Read Horror's Meet the Writer today! I just wanna take the time to thank Michael Wilson again for all he's doing for the horror writing community! If you haven't checked out Read Horror yet, and you're a fan of horror fiction, you need to get off your ass (well, not literally) and get over there! You'll find many more great Meet the Writer pieces, there's a Meet the Publisher section, some great interviews, reviews, previews, interviews, news and columns!

Enter to win a copy of Shining in Crimson and help it get more exposure!

2011-08-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Right now the Goodreads.com giveaway of Shining in Crimson is on page three of the most requested. If it gets to page one a lot of people will see it! Please, if you haven't already, help me out by entering to win! And you never know, you could end up being the winner!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Shining in Crimson

by Robert S. Wilson

Giveaway ends October 02, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Shining in Crimson audio serial airing on Australian Radio Show!

2011-08-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Shining in Crimson audio serial will be featured on the Isobelle Carmody Replay show hosted by James Roberts on Phoenix FM! To tune in from the US go to Phoenix FM and about halfway down the page is a web link to stream live. The show is this Friday morning and starts at 9 am central/10 am Eastern/7am Pacific. Here's the description for this week's show:

THE LIVE WEB STREAM IS BACK AND RUNNING—I HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY. SO TIME FOR A REPLAY OF ISOBELLE CARMODY.
This Month on Crazy Talk/ Word Berserk. It's all about Australian Authors. Here my exclusive interview with Isobelle Carmody from her recent visit to Bendigo. As well as some extracts from her Books. Remember 12-3am on www.phoenixfm.org or 106.7fm if you are in or around Bendigo. Don’t forget to tune in for your chance to win books from the Untitled Pocket Book and so much leading up to the Melbourne Writer’s Festival. And don’t... forget your chance to WIN WIN WIN! CHANCE TO WIN ONE OF SEVERAL COPIES UP FOR GRABS OF THE UNTITLED POCKET BOOK COLLECTION OF WRITING. EXCLUSIVE! Robert Shane Wilson Will also be premiering his latest vampire podcast. We are leading up to the Melbourne Writer’s Festival where I should have some great interviews and exclusive competition for all of my valued listeners.

So, check it out if you can!

Release up(dates) and a chance to win a signed chapbook of my novella, The Quiet!

2011-08-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

Release dates make a lovely sound as they swish right by, don't they?

There's a lot going on right now. In fact, if anything else were going on beyond what's already happening, I think my head might fucking explode! Shining in Crimson is at the proofreading stage. I'm still hoping to have it ready by the 15th but as that date crawls closer and closer with that murderous look in its eyes, I'm beginning to worry. Meanwhile I have a nearly similar problem with the release of the chapbook of The Quiet. I ordered proofs today for it and they won't arrive until the 22nd and I moronically set a release date for the 20th. Go figure.

So, from now on I'm not setting anymore fucking dates, I swear. I'm just going to say, "When the snake reaches the nearest mouse in the land of the withering sky, my newest book will come out!" Then I can get away with any date I want, huh? I'm more than on schedule for the hard copy release of Shining in Crimson, since I still have like a month and a half on that, though.

At this point, I'll just say that Shining in Crimson ebook will be out soonish. If not on the 15th very, very shortly thereafter. And The Quiet chapbook will be out sometime shortly after the 22nd... I apologize for the inconvenience. But so you know, this is just the sort of shit that happens to me all the time, so you'd better get used to it.

Episode 4 of Shining in Crimson.... is still not done. I will be recording it soon. A friend of mine, the brilliant mind behind Feed The Dead (a music contributor to Episode 2), has given me permission to record at his place so that I can get it done soon. So, keep an eye out on that.

Reviews will be coming for both Shining in Crimson and The Quiet soon. The Quiet is so far getting 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. So, if you haven't checked them out yet, there are excerpts for both on this page up above.

I'm going to start posting more often on here about other things than just my shitty books. Time just seems to be pushing me along and I need to just start pushing back and saying, "Screw you time, I'm sick of putting up with your static bullsh..." anyway, you get the point . So, with that said, it's time to start the process. I leave you with an apropos quiz:

If you could go back in time and change anything, the most terrible trauma from your past, would you do it? Even if it meant murdering a part of your very being, becoming a completely different person, transforming into a much darker version of yourself? If yes, why? If no, why not?

Best serious, thoughtful answer in the comments will win a signed chapbook copy of The Quiet! Be sure and leave contact info though, the last winner never claimed their prize! The proofs are scheduled to arrive at my door August 22nd. I will then immediately turn around and mail one of them to the winner as is plus my terribly messy John Henry. So, get those answers in! Just to give you a view of what you'll be writing for, here's a pic of the cover spread:

Giveaways, the anthology, and clowns... wait, no... no clowns... sorry

2011-08-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have some good news if you're one of the awesome users of Goodreads.com! You can now enter to win a free chapbook copy of my novella, The Quiet! And if you're not on Goodreads.com yet, why not? It's a great place to share what books you're reading, want to read, have read, and just about anything else with other book lovers. There are also tons of giveaways just like mine. And I guess I've never mentioned on here that there is also a giveaway for a paperback copy of Shining in Crimson, huh? Well, there is. And it's been up for a while and ends on the date of paperback publication, October 2nd. Links, you say? Well, here you go:

Enter to win a chapbook of The Quiet!

Enter to win a paperback of Shining in Crimson!

In other news we finally found our new place to live and the anthology Not in the Brochure: Stories of a Disappointing Apocalypse came out for Kindle on Amazon.com. Not only is The Quiet one of many stories, poems, and a haiku in this anthology, but all the proceeds go to help fight illiteracy! It's only $2.99, well worth the cost of helping people learn to read!

‎"Zombies aren't always ponies and cupcakes." - Jacob, my 10 year old son...

2011-08-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

So, a lot has happened in the weeks since Episode 3 went up. I've been back and forth doing final polishing on the novel and proofreading has started. It's looking more and more like an August 15th release for the ebook depending on how fast proofreading goes.

I haven't started on Episode 4 yet, I've been too busy with other things. My family is desperately fighting what feels like a losing battle to get a new place in the town we've lived in for about 6 years now at a price we can afford with enough rooms to accommodate the four of us. We've been searching all summer and as soon as something seems like it's going to work out, something unexpected goes wrong.

So, hopefully this week I can get started on ep 4. We'll just have to see. As usual if you have any music to submit please do. Just send links or mp3s to shiningincrimson@gmail.com I haven't gotten a single submission since Episode 2. I found and contacted contributors for Episode 3. So, if you've thought about submitting and are hesitant, what have you got to lose?

In other news, keep an eye out on the Read Horror site as they not only have a wonderful site dedicated to horror literature, but they also do a piece called Meet the Writer. Established and up-and-coming horror writers are fielded a series of questions about their work and their favorite horror works/authors. Michael Wilson is the editor/writer who apparently runs the show and he's doing a fantastic job with it.

I've turned in my answers for Meet the Writer so depending on how many other authors are in queue, I'll be featured there. I've already found a lot of interesting new authors to check out. I'm honored to eventually be in their company.

The Quiet has received its first Amazon review! 5 stars and an excellent review! I'm querying various review sites and reviewers to consider reviewing The Quiet. If you have a site and you're interested in reviewing it, email me at shiningincrimson@gmail.com I would prefer interested parties already be an active book reviewer. I can provide an e-copy in any format and very shortly there will be...

Drum roll please...

A chapbook version of The Quiet and a giveaway of one copy on Goodreads of the aforementioned chapbook. So, keep an eye open for that announcement when it happens. In the meantime it's still just 99 cents for Kindle on Amazon and there are Kindle apps for just about every device on earth excluding Palm WebOS devices. Get with it Palm!

But anyway, as always thanks for listening to the audio serial and/or reading my stuff and giving it a chance amongst the exponentially growing cluster of independent and traditional authors out there. In the meantime, I have a lot to do. So, I'll end this post with some shout outs. Some authors to check out in case you haven't: J.T. Warren, Scott Nicholson, Gary McMahon sounds interesting, as do Shaun Hutson, and Wayne Simmons! So, go forth and read!

The Quiet (part 1)

2011-08-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

The garage door rose slowly as James Benton rushed to his car on the morning after the first darkness had passed. Once in the car and backing out, he lit a cigarette. He took note that it was one of those rare days when none of his neighbors appeared to be leaving at the same time. He flipped his ashes outside the window as he pulled out of the cul de sac. Then he leaned over and turned on the radio. The speakers crackled out white noise. He changed the station and found that anywhere he moved the dial, nothing came through but static. He shut off the radio and muttered to himself, wondering what would go wrong next with the old junker.

When he got to the main road at the entrance of the housing complex, he stared in shock at the empty road for a moment. He peeled out, thinking it was one of those lucky times when he might be able to gun it the whole way and barely make it. He crossed under 465 and took the next right as he always did. This road was always empty. But as he pulled up to the light at State Road 31 with its large grocery store, many restaurants, and other businesses, he started to wonder what was going on. Had he forgotten a holiday? He looked at the calendar on his phone as he stopped. September 26^th. He looked back up at the road ahead of him. To his right the exit would take him over the bridge he’d just crossed underneath. Even on Christmas Day, some traffic had existed. He didn’t have time for curiosity and he needed to get to work, so he zoomed out onto the empty road.

He took the 465 West exit, looking out for oncoming cars. There were none. After a moment he saw a car up the hill. "There," he told himself, "there's nothing weird going on, you’re just fucking crazy." He tried the radio again as he came closer to the car much faster than he expected. The radio crackled static as he reached the car. He understood immediately. The car sat still in the far left lane of the three lane highway with no one in it. He looked in his rearview then. Still not a single car coming. He couldn't see any up ahead, either. His chest tightened. He thought about turning back and going home or maybe running off to his brother Joel's on the east side of town. Joel. He pulled out his cell phone again and quickly scrolled to his brother's name in the contact list and hit send. As the fourth ring sounded, he saw something moving up ahead, beyond the bridge for Mann Road. Smoke rose, way off in the distance. It became clearer as he came around the curve of the highway. Thick, black smoke fought its way up into the atmosphere from something on the ground. Joel's voicemail answered and James closed his phone.

The smoke came from the bright orange fire engulfing the 70 West exit. It must have originally been several cars, but now just looked like a burning pile of twisted metal. The flames rolled in great waves from within the pile-up. James found himself veering over to the left, as far away from the flames as he could. He let off the gas as he tried dialing 911. The phone rang and rang as he came alongside the burning metal sculpture. When he’d passed the scene, he found himself watching the fire roll up into smoke toward the sky in his rearview. The sight mesmerized him. The fire far behind him, he realized the phone was still ringing, so he closed it. He saw more and more deserted cars as he came closer to his exit. Some just sat in the middle of the road, some had veered off, and some had piled into each other. Half of the latter were on fire. He slowed down to exit, but instead passed the Sam Jones Expressway. He was pretty sure the upside-down Crown Victoria would be impossible to get around.

He continued down the road, wondering what to do. His eyes refocused from staring at a semi jack-knifed into the East Washington Street exit with a Ford Explorer wedged underneath its trailer. Along all the exits and medians of different roads, he hadn't seen a single blade of grass. Where the grass should have been, lay rich, brown soil. He shrugged it aside as simple landscaping at first, but now that he came to the sixth or seventh exit, he knew it had to be something else. He stopped the car and got out. After turning off the engine, he noticed the piercing silence. As he stepped out, the air tasted stale. He leaned on the concrete railing of the bridge that stood over Washington Street for a long time. Other than the distant sounds of factories, he heard nothing. No cars, airplanes, people. Not even birds. He looked down at the road below him, leaning over the concrete slab to see under the bridge. At the edge of the road lay the only thing to be seen shy of road, dirt, and concrete. A single battered doll with one large, black eye, one empty gash where the other eye should be, and curly, red hair lay in the earth, looking up at him. A cool wind fluttered over and he shivered.

He got back in the car and sped on to the next exit, 10^th street, finding it void of any wreckage. Going up the ramp, he saw nothing different from anywhere else. He could see a few cars abandoned randomly off in the distance. Everywhere grass should be, bare land replaced it. And then he saw the tree. James slammed on the brakes, his tires screeching against the pavement. The tree stood lonely, towering over a grassless landscape. The roots showed visibly where they entered the ground. It was an unnatural sight, making the tree appear naked in some way. James put the car back into drive and went over the median, making a u-turn toward the exit for 465 going the other way. Once he rolled back onto the highway, he began to speed. He had a few things he needed to check before he ventured east to Joel's house.

This time, as he pulled back into the housing edition he'd lived in for the past seven years, James took notice of the lifeless quiet that had escaped his notice earlier that morning. It seemed as if the life had been sucked from the place, figuratively and literally. Not a sound or glimpse of movement caught his attention as he crept down the road. His head hung out the window, listening and looking around for some sign of something, anything alive. Then it clicked. He couldn't remember seeing or hearing anything alive. Except the tree. The tree looked just as alive and healthy as him. But only one.

He looked through the bare, dirt yards for another tree. He passed his own road continuing the search, until after an hour or so he’d combed the entire complex with nothing to show for it. When he got back home, he drug himself out of his car, feeling bleak and confused. He went straight into the kitchen and turned on the water. Then he wet his hands, splashed the water over his face, and ran it through his hair. He tried to clear his mind.

Stretching his back, his eyes closed and his head back, he let a drop of water touch his tongue. It tasted stale. No, it tasted beyond stale. He knelt down and took a gulp straight from the source. It tasted purer than any bottled water he’d ever drank. Usually, his water tasted so vile you could barely drink it. It had an odor so strong, he found himself taking shorter and shorter showers over the years. He leaned down in front of the powered stream and took a long sniff. No scent at all. A thought occurred to him, striking him dumb.

Leaving the water on, he ran up the stairs to the loft. As soon as he was on the second floor, he found himself leaning over the banister, completely out of breath. When his lungs didn't feel full of razor blades, he walked underneath the entrance to the attic. Gripping the chord that hung from the door, he pulled it, bringing the door down and revealing the enclosed ladder. He experimented with putting his weight on the decrepit ladder. It seemed to still hold him. He went up, reaching blindly for the string hanging from the overhead light bulb. When he felt it, he tugged, lighting up the messy attic. The light cast an eerie, yellowish hue on the room.

He knew exactly where to look for the old microscope. He hadn't used it since college, but he used it enough then to make up for the many years since. He took a deep breath and blew the top layer of dust from the top of the box. The word Olympus appeared in bright orange letters. The sight made James smile with nostalgia.

He was back in his kitchen 20 minutes later with the dusty old microscope set up on the counter. He cleaned off its lenses and several slides. Then he turned the water down until it merely dripped. Putting the first slide under, he collected one good drop then carefully put it in the microscope. Pulling a small bottle from his pocket, he took a second slide. Opening the bottle, he let a drop of the murky liquid inside drop onto the slide. He set that one next to the other. On the third, he lightly spit and slid it into place with the other two.

He focused in on the first slide. It was more transparent than the glass itself. He couldn’t see a single living organism. Next, he looked at the murky water, gathered from the neighborhood pond behind the housing edition. Aside from murky clouds of soil, he saw no evidence of anything that was, or had ever been, alive.

The third one interested him the most. He expected to see what the other two lacked, but found nothing more than thick, slimy liquid along with traces of mucus and remnants of food. James didn't remember much from microbiology, but one thing he did remember: the human mouth flourishes with life. But the slide with his saliva contained nothing alive at all.

Buy the full novella The Quiet for Kindle for only 99 cents

The Quiet: A Novella

2011-07-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

My Novella, The Quiet, is up for sale on Amazon Kindle for 99 cents. In the coming days I'll get it up elsewhere as well. Here's the description:

James Benton might be the last man on earth. Racing to get to work, he finds random abandoned cars, smouldering pile-ups, and something even stranger. Everywhere he goes there's no grass, no people, not even a bird in the sky. Alone in a barren world, James travels west in search of someone, anyone who might have survived The Quiet.

In the future I will likely make a print book with three or four novellas together, including this one. In the meantime back to work getting Shining in Crimson ready to publish.

Episode 3 is here!

2011-07-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

This episode includes music from Escape From Saturn, Eddie Entropy, Rainnair, Andras, Ambient Fabric, Mara5, and Arc. All artists on this episode other than Escape From Saturn came from the Pale Noir netlabel. There are some uniquely talented artists there, check it out!

As usual you can stream it below or download it here.

Shining in Crimson audio serial by Robert S. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

For Sharon Lynn Gastineau...

2011-07-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a busy, busy week. I've spent a lot of time writing and promoting and I've met a lot of new awesome people, albeit virtually. The last bit of polishing on the book is going quickly and I believe at this point it's safe to say that the ebook release will likely be early to mid August now!

I will be sticking with my initial release date of October 2nd for both the hardcover and the paperback editions.

I chose October 2nd as the date for my book release because it was my mother's birthday. She passed away in April of 2006, 3 years before I even started writing SIC. She was always the most supportive person and an avid reader.

She would often clutch a paperback in one hand, reading intently, her other hand turning over food on the stove. And I couldn't possibly count how many times she burned something in the oven because she was too pulled in to what she was reading to get up and turn it off. I've since become quite fond of biscuits with a little char on the bottom.

And when I started writing at the ripe age of 23, she was, as always, completely supportive. She'd been through many ailments, diabetes, cancer, and epilepsy. But those last years she developed the circulation and heart problems that have proved common in our family and she ended up losing both her legs. Even still, she was a source of strength for so many people, myself included.

On more than one occasion, doctors gave her 2 months to live. But as kind as she was, she had a meanness to her, a stubborn will that only a fool would cross. And she used that will to keep death at bay those last few years. I miss her more than I could ever express in words on paper or said out loud. I wish so much she could see what I've accomplished. Just one last visit. So, I wanted to put out the book on her birthday because she's the one I have and will always be writing for.

A novella accepted for publication and the winner of last week's pop quiz!

2011-07-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

The winner of last week's pop quiz is (drum rolls annoy me, so let's just get on with it shall we?): Karen! Karen has one a free copy of the ebook of Shining in Crimson when it comes out, (which will be very soon!) and a bonus prize! I'll post later about the bonus prize.

Also in other news, my Novella, "The Quiet", has been accepted for the anthology, "Not in the Brochure: Stories of a Disappointing Apocalypse"! The anthology has an ad on The Horror Zine News page! All proceeds go to fight illiteracy! I'll update more on the anthology when I know more. That's all for now.

A lot to do today...

2011-07-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, Thursday's pop quiz on the blog is now closed. Now I get to decide who the winner will be. In the meantime, I have some thinking to do, a new story to edit, some mowing to do, and a decent roadtrip in the middle of it all. Wish me luck and I'll announce the winner later today!

That First Breath...

2011-07-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take the time to express how great of an opportunity I am getting by making this audio serial. I'm finding some really amazing music that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. As a music lover and musician, it's like getting to relive that first time finding something beautiful and new that most people haven't heard and feeling that close connection with it only some music can create.

As I write this, I'm listening to one of the many awesome artists I'm trying to lure into joining my dark, strange crusade here. It makes me realize that even if they don't contribute to the serial, I've still found something beautiful and new that will stay with me and add another layer of shimmer to help protect against the constant struggle that is life. It feels like that first breath when you come up out of the water...

Schooled by horror?

2011-07-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

If you haven't checked out Horror School's website and you're a fan of horror, what are you waiting for? Go there!

Join other horror fans talking about all kinds of things related to horror. You can find horror stories written by members, including the first 2 chapters of Shining in Crimson, and you can put up your own! Not to mention, you can promote your own horror projects, there's a forum, you can earn horror points, it's a great place for any fan of horror.

What would YOU do if you were dropped off in Necropolis?

2011-07-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, let me spell it out. What would you do if you were dropped off and left to die in a city of thirsty vampires? Would you fight to survive? Would you run, would you give up and wet your pants? What would you do?

Best response wins a free copy of the ebook when it's released and a bonus prize...

Edit: Contest ends midnight central time, July 25th, Monday morning...

Pre-orders available now

2011-07-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

You will find on the right top corner of the page a Paypal link to pre-order your own ebook (any format), paperback, or hardcover copy of Shining in Crimson.

I have a release date of October 2nd, but it may come out much earlier. So, for now pre-ordering guarantees you the book will be shipped for free or emailed to you no later than October 2nd. If that date becomes sooner, I will update on here and email those who have pre-ordered to let them know.

If you live outside of the United States and want to buy a paperback or hardcover copy email me at shiningincrimson@gmail.com for the price as I will have to include a shipping fee.

Now, back to work on episode 3...

Anybody out there like to read?

2011-07-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

For those who don't have the time or would just rather read than listen, I have posted chapters 1 and 2 (episodes 1 and 2) on Scribd.com and Wattpad.com.

If you've read a chapter or listened to an episode and you enjoyed it, please feel free to give me some feedback. I'm considering doing some audio short stories in the near future as well maybe in between some chapters of the book. Maybe even some stories from Necropolis that I have been working on. If you would like to hear or read those, comment and let me know.

Meanwhile, in the next episode Hank confronts one of his biggest fears, Simon goes for the ride of his life, and we learn something new about Peter. I'll keep everyone updated as the episode comes together. Thanks for listening/reading and not throwing rotten tomatoes at your screen.

Edit: I forgot to mention that episodes 1 and 2 are now up on Soundcloud and Myspace as well. I still can't get the stupid music player to work right on the Facebook page, but if I ever get the tracks up there, I will let you know. Like I said before, if there's anywhere you think I should put the serial that I haven't already, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Shining in Crimson episode 2 is finally up!

2011-07-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Episode 2 is now live!!! It includes music from Escape From Saturn, Guild, Art Flesh Gordon, Feed the Dead, O.O.O., and The Black Lanterns. Just like before you can play it in the player below or download here.

Shining in Crimson audio serial by Robert S. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

This just in...

2011-07-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

So, for really real this time I can honestly say that episode 2 will be up before the end of this weekend. I'm just waiting on a couple of tracks from one of the artists and once I have them and put them in my little audio program and cue them up in the right place and pigs fly and the cow jumps over the moon...

For those of you who listened to episode one and enjoyed it, thank you for taking some of your precious time to give it a chance. For those of you who listened and felt it a waste of that precious time, I apologize whole heartily. Time seems to be the most rare commodity these days. I never seem to have enough of it, even if it's all in my head or someone else's. Because that's all these silly little schedules really are, aren't they? They're not time so much as a mental organization of time.

But I digress...

I changed my mind on some of the changes I was going to make to the format of the episodes. I will definitely be fixing the volume problems with the narration track but I will not be shortening the intro music. I will, however, be making sure that no one's ears get blown out by the end track from now on. Sorry about that.

In episode 2 we meet a lot of new characters, learn some new things about the vampires of Necropolis, and hear some great new music. There's a new instrumental track from my solo recording project Escape From Saturn (hint: the Shining in Crimson intro music is EFS), as well as tracks from Guild, Art Flesh Gordon, Feed the Dead, O.O.O., and The Black Lanterns, so don't forget to come back and stream or download the new episode. Episodes will also be available on Facebook once Facebook will work right for me again, Soundcloud, Myspace, and just about anywhere else I can think of to put them. In fact, if you have a favorite place to get mp3s from that the serial isn't already on, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Until next time...

Episode two coming soon...

2011-06-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a few weeks unfortunately since episode 1 went up. I had planned on releasing episode 2 within a week or two of 1 but life got in the way. But this week I will be recording episode 2 and hopefully getting it up by this Friday. I have some really good music submissions that I'm excited about so far, too.

More audio serial news: The Shining in Crimson audio serial will eventually go up on Podiobooks.com Because of which the serial itself will be getting an overhaul. Some needed fixes to my recording process will be made (shortening the intro, bringing up the volume of the narration, lowering the volume of the end track, etc.) and a "fixed" version of episode 1 will be put in place of the one up now.

Meanwhile, editing for the final draft of the novel is going smoothly as well. After all that's come at me and my family this last month we are happy to be on vacation in Florida and enjoying it well. Of course, with being surrounded by such beautiful scenery, one can't help but be inspired. And though I had already started working on the sequel to Shining in Crimson some time ago, I had barely half a chapter to show for it and many questions yet unanswered in my own head. Last night answers came as well as some more writing, so with luck I'll be getting at least a couple chapters of the next book done this week.

Well, that's all for now. Back to vacation land...

Shining in Crimson audio serial episode 1 is here!

2011-06-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm a little early with this. Just a warning: this story is, in places, not child or work friendly. So, enjoy and in a week or two episode 2 will go up. Also, I want to remind musicians, artists, and bands that I need more music for future episodes.

This episode features music by ROWCO, MykroBeatz, Jason Greene, and Escape From Saturn.
You can play it below or download it here.

Shining in Crimson audio serial by Robert S. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Unfortunate delay...

2011-05-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Due to the alignment of the planets, the disarray of some tea leaves, or some other hocus pocus nonsense, I will have to delay the release of episode one of the audio serial a few days. It is now scheduled for Friday. Obviously, beyond the release each episode will be archived on this page and eventually I will figure out how to podcast them (hoping to before the first release but we'll see) for the convenience of later downloading and listening. Please, bear with me on this. I apologize most sincerely for the delay and hope it will be worth the wait. Thanks.

One slot - One band.... and not much longer to wait...

2011-05-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've set a deadline for the audio serial to begin and I'm scrambling to meet it. But I still need one last thing. A single shining star, as black as night. I need a song from one band or artist, any genre, with vocals, that has some kind of dark element to it. Something original and something great. If you think you or your band has it or you know a band or artist that does please by all means get ahold of me. Send links or mp3s to shiningincrimson@gmail.com Episode one goes up May 31st so hurry and send in your submission!

Need more music people...

2011-04-20T19:34:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I'm going to need some extra artists to contribute music for the podcast. I'm planning on having various instrumental artists through the duration of each podcast and have a feature band (non-instrumental) at the end. The only thing that matters is that the music is DARK! Interested artists send mp3s or links to shiningincrimson@gmail.com

And so it begins...

2011-03-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

So, I've spent almost two years now writing and editing a novel. It's the first in a series. The novel is about a man sentenced to death. Only the setting is a post apocalyptic American Empire and his death sentence is to be dropped off in the city of Necropolis which is a city of vampires. It's called Shining in Crimson.

I have big plans with this site.

To start with I will be serializing an audio podcast of my novel in it's 4th draft. It won't be perfect, but it will give people an idea of what it will become.

Beyond that I have several possibilities in mind that I am considering from this point. For the longest time I was decided that I would go through the traditional publishing route. But recent developments (see the links at the bottom) in the publishing world have wavered my trust in the traditional market and enticed me to the possibilities of self publication.

Typically people self publish without any understanding of what it really takes to make a book salable. I'm certainly no expert. But I'm learning new things every day and between reader feedback and possibly the help of an editor or two I plan on making my book as good as it possibly can be before either self publishing it or seriously seeking out traditional publishing.

So, here it is. My experiment. In the coming weeks I will post the first 2 or 3 chapters of my novel in plain text on this blog as well as a link to download the audio versions of these chapters. I plan on including music in the audio versions. Some of my instrumental music to start with and then possibly branching out to other groups or artists who would like to join forces with me. I will continue to do this for the entire 4th draft of my novel, cover to cover. Some things will likely change from time to time, but we will see how it goes.

One last thing:

I encourage comments, good or bad!

The promised links:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/02/time-is-money.html

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-a-Self-Published-Author-Sells-Thousands-of-Books-on-Kindle

Some Authors who have been successful with self publishing:

J.A. Konrath

Amanda Hocking

and J.L. Bryan

And for other big horror fans out there here's a treat:

David Wellington, author of the Monster Island trilogy, the 13 Bullets series, and the Frostbite series is not a self publisher however he did start a lot of his books as online free serializations (part of what gave me the idea to do an online serial).

His serials became so popular that he managed to get a publishing deal and has went on to publish three horror series and is planning on publishing a fantasy series under a pseudonym later this year.

His webpage (when it is back up) where you can find his free serials is at www.davidwellington.net.