Blake Has Written Books Part 3: Opening Night of the Dead

My third novel, Opening Night of the Dead, is the second book in the world of the Curtain, although you don’t need to have read the previous book, The Beginner, in order to enjoy it. It’s almost Halloween, and at the Climax Studios campus in Hollywood, work is being done on a new zombie movie. On the other side of the property, though, at the Climax Studios Theme Park, a real zombie has stumbled into the costumed partygoers. A pair of former cops (as “former” as you can get) are sent to try to quell the violence, joining their skills with a studio stuntman and makeup artist, plus a tabloid reporter that has strayed on to the lot. In this humorous take on horror movies, it’s these five people who stand between the world and a zombie apocalypse.

This book is a bit more lighthearted than The Beginner, and in fact, establishes the tone I really want for the Curtain universe. It’s also where the term “Curtain” comes from. If you’re into weird takes on zombies, this is the Petit book for you.

• Amazon.com Kindle Store ($2.99)
• Barnes & Noble Nook Store ($2.99)
• The iPad/iPhone bookstore ($2.99)
• Smashwords.com for every eBook format ($2.99)
• Available in print at Amazon ($12.99)

And don’t forget, gang, please, tweet and share and reblog this post, and if you’ve already read the book, why not throw up a review at any of the above websites or at Goodreads.com?

Blake Has Written Books Part 2: The Beginner

My second book, The Beginner, was also given a revised second edition a couple of years ago, although the revisions to this book weren’t as extensive as those to Other People’s Heroes. Although I didn’t have a name for it yet, like OPH, this book has served as the launching pad for a continuity of related titles. But while the tales of Siegel City have been offbeat takes on the world of superheroes, the world of The Curtain draws its inspiration from the various realms of fantasy, monster movies, and horror.

In The Beginner we meet Curtis Dupré, a young filmmaker whose debut project got him enough attention that he’s got the freedom to do his second project just as he wants: casting an actress he’s admired for years and filming in his home turf in Louisiana. But things don’t go smoothly at all — people begin to vanish from the set, leaving everybody except Curtis himself unaware that they ever even existed. Desperate to prove his own sanity and save his friends from a mysterious creature with a glittering pick for a weapon, Curtis will have to find the truth about himself to stop the devastation.

The Beginner is a story for people who love a good campfire tale. It’s also the book that taught me a valuable lesson about titles: try not to be too generic. You know what you get if you do an Amazon.com search for “The Beginner“? You get ten thousand how-to books, that’s what you get.

Here, I did the search for you:

• Amazon Kindle Store ($2.99)
• Smashwords.com, for every eBook format! ($2.99)
• Available in print from Amazon.com ($13.99)
• The Barnes & Noble Nook store ($2.99)
• And in the iPad bookstore! ($2.99)

I ask again, guys, to help me spread the word about this book. Share! Tweet! Reblog! Let people know!

Coming soon…

So as I’ve mentioned before, I intend to have several products available as eBooks before the end of the year. I’ve got two so far, my Chri– ah, hell with it. If you haven’t clicked on the links and bought ’em by now, this post won’t convince you.

But the next project that’s going to hit your  electronic reading device will probably be my sophomore novel, The Beginner, coming back to print. (Well… electronic print.) Like Other People’s Heroes, it’ll be an edited edition, but the revisions are much less extensive. Like Other People’s Heroes, I intend to include a little bonus content, but I’m not really sure what to include. Here are the options, and I’d like to hear from you guys which one(s) you would like to see in a Beginner e-book:

1. My Christmas story Promise.The reason this one is under consideration is because it has a very clear connection to the characters in The Beginner. One of them even makes an appearance. Plus, it’s a ghost story, and that feels right.
2. The prologue section of Tales of the Curtain. I’ve found that I have — quite unintentionally, mind you — divided up most of my writing into two distinct “universes.” The superhero world of Other People’s Heroes is one, the monster-filled land of Tales of the Curtain is the other. And although I haven’t had a reason to make it clear yet, The Beginner is part of the “Curtain-Universe.”
3. The short story “It’s Time to Play the Music.” This was my Halloween story from 2009, and it too is part of the Curtain-Verse, although it doesn’t have any direct links to The Beginner. It does, however, have the advantage of being a complete story and not just a preview.
4. A sneak preview of my book Opening Night of the Dead. Although I don’t have this one on the release schedule yet, the manuscript is finished and is being looked over by the Legion of Super-Editors. (If you’d like to join the Legion, by the way, please drop me a line over on Facebook or e-mail.) This is a zombie novel of sorts, and it too is part of the Curtain universe. I could easily pop the first chapter of this one into The Beginner.

So, friends… thoughts?

Check in behind the Curtain!

For those of you who have been reading Tales of the Curtain as we progress, today’s installment is an important one, the climactic scene of our first prolonged story arc. There are several stories running through the Curtain at any given time, although when any one of them approaches its climax, I’ll spend more time on that one. It’s part of the natural ebb and flow of a story, in my opinion — whenever I’ve worked on a story, I’ve found those last segments come to me most quickly. At any rate, it’s not like I’m throwing anything out right here. Today’s installment ends the story of the Golem attack on New York City, but several threads from that story are ongoing. Just who is the mysterious “God of Games” that’s watching over the battle? Who is the Boss that Annabell keeps communicating with? And what will become of Alex now that his mistake has caused so much destruction? Those things will all be answered in time. And now is the perfect time to get into the story if you’re not there already.

Sittin’ at school…

We’ve got our Open House tonight here at school. When you change up classes in January, you’ve got a whole new group of parents to meet and introduce yourself to and hope that they won’t come after your scalp when little Susie fails three tests in a row because she hasn’t bothered to fill in any of the answers.

I’ve got a bit of a commute from home to work, so on nights like this one I don’t bother to drive home, sit around for an hour, and drive back. Instead I stay up here and try to get some work done. Knocked out some reviews, wrote a new scene for Tales of the Curtain. And now, with an hour left before Open House starts, I just wish I had DC Universe online installed on my work computer.

Nobody tell me what happens on Chuck tonight. I’m DVRing it.

An update or two

My New Year’s resolution, made almost two weeks ago, was to produce at least a page of fiction writing every day. So far, I’ve managed to accomplish that, between Tales of the Curtain and the yet-untitled Christmas Eve project. I haven’t produced as much as I would like — I blame a combination of work, online responsibilities, and stupid procrastination — but I’ve made it to my goal each day. So that’s something.

DC Universe online launched this week, but I haven’t been able to play it yet… or even load it on to my computer. Why? Because Best Buy doesn’t seem to know how to hold a pre-order. I don’t buy a lot of video games, but I pre-ordered this one, put some money down, and worked under the bizarre assumption that my pre-ordering and money down would somehow translate into a physical copy of the game being reserved for me. When I arrived at the store, though, I was told that they were out, but fear not! There were a whopping six copies coming in late Thursday night, so I could try again on Friday. Try, of course, there didn’t seem to be any indication that one of these six copies would be designated as mine either. The whole thing reminded me of a certain Seinfeld episode, which Jason from BSI Comics had conveniently supplied a YouTube link to by the time I got home from the store (having vented my frustration on Twitter). Jerry’s reaction here pretty much sums up my feelings perfectly.

Why not end the year behind THE CURTAIN?

Hey, friends — Happy New Year’s Eve! Have a great time wherever you are tonight, drink responsibly, drive safely, and try not to make your hands blow up.

Okay, obligatory public service announcement out of the way. I’m going to get in one last shameless plug for 2010. As (hopefully) you know, back in October I started a new experiment in storytelling, an ongoing saga that I’ve been presenting twice a week over at Tales Of the Curtain.com. I’m telling several interconnected stories there, with new installments appearing every Tuesday and Friday, sagas about a world where monsters are very real, even if not everybody wants to admit it. I’ve been having fun writing it, and I hope you’ve been having fun reading it.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, though, why not do it today? Even if you’re at work, you and I both know you’re not going to get anything done. There are several ways you can read these stories — you can either break them down by character thread, you can jump in at today’s installment and try to catch up, or you can go through and read all of the tales in chronological order. There’s no wrong way to do it, friends. Here, for your reading ease, are all of the stories in the world of the curtain that I’ve presented so far, in the order in which they take place…

YEAR OF THE CURTAIN

October 15

• Treasures of Egypt
• Howl of the Cursed
• Monolith Attacks
• Peril From Beneath
• The Thirst
• The Huntress and the Restless Dead
• The Beginning

October 22

• It’s Time to Play the Music

Easter-Christmas

• Toyetic

YEAR OF THE CURTAIN+5

October 15

• Five Years Later
• The Stuntman and the Support Group

October 16

• Feet of Clay

October 17

• The Muckraker
• Spookseekers

October 18

• Breakfast
• The Artist
• The Gamer and the Preserve

October 19

• Marching Orders
• Songs of Solomon
• Team Building Exercise

October 20

• Making Groceries
• Interview
• Bloodsucker 101

October 21

• Activation
• Where’s it Gonna Be?

October 22

• Blood on His Hands

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 197: A Thanksgiving Quickie

With the Thanksgiving holiday this week, the Showcase boys have been a bit busy, so once more, Blake dashes off a quick conversation to sate your appetite. This week, he gets into the growing conflict between original graphic novels and monthly comics and talks a bit about Disney/Marvel corporate synergy before throwing you over to some bonus content from his newest project. Have a great Thanksgiving, everybody, and don’t forget you can contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by the Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 197: A Thanksgiving Quickie

 

A reminder

Hey, guys. I don’t really have the time for a serious blog post tonight, I’m afraid. I’ve got NaNoWriMo to occupy my time, both of my jobs (the one that pays and the one that doesn’t) seem to be in a state of chaos at the moment, and to be frank, I’m kind of getting exhausted. But I press on, because I take all of these responsibilities for which I receive no monetary remuneration very seriously. Because I’m an idiot.

So as I tap away on The Pyrite War tonight, may I direct your attention to Tales of the Curtain? My new online fiction experiment, which launched a few weeks ago and where I posted a new installment just earlier today? It’s hellacool and it’s waiting for your input.

Quickie… And some shameless plugs.

I’m wiped out, friends. The last couple of weeks at school have been rough. I’ve got NaNoWriMo going on right now. I’m pretty sure this thing growing on my shoulder is alive and plotting the overthrow of Cambodia. I’m spent. So I’m giving today to hanging out with the gang and just trying to relax for a change. I’ve heard good things about relaxation. I thought I’d try it for once.

If you’re really desperate to read some stuff I’m writing, may I suggest you check out my other two blogs, which are quickly on their way to becoming world famous and would be highly appreciative if you started adding them to sites like StumbleUpon? Tales of the Curtain has begun its regular twice-a-week schedule, and this week the first two ongoing storylines have begin. And The Back Issue Bin continues to present older reviews daily, with the occasional newer one mixed in. Do, please, check them out.