“What is essential to crafting a believable horror environment?”

It’s time for halloween: ghosts, goblins, jack-o-lanterns and horror writers! We have a packed house this week with ITW’s premier horror authors. This week join David Sakmyster, Brett Talley, M.R. Gott, Michaelbrent Collings, R. Thomas Riley, W.D. Gagliani, Rick Reed, JG Faherty, Douglas Wynne and Christian Riley as they discuss the essentials of crafting a believable horror environment.

This week's International Thriller Writer's Association Roundtable discussion - October 22 – 28: Horror: “What is essential to crafting a believable horror environment?”


http://www.thebigthrill.org/2012/10/october-22-28-horror-what-is-essential-to-crafting-a-believable-horror-environment/

Lego Zombie Apocalypse build for IF GOD DOESN'T SHOW

Out of many of the things that's happened in my career over the years, this is easily one of the most awesome things to date. 

Evan Roy over at Bricks of the Dead recently created an MOC for IF GOD DOESN'T SHOW (co-written w/ John Grover). What exactly is an MOC, you may ask? Well, it's anything you create with LEGO bricks is called a "MOC", which stands for "My Own Creation". 

I was unaware that Evan was doing such a thing, so it was a very pleasant surprise to find out he'd done just that. I was curious to find out the process of how he went about creating the build. 

Also you can check out the book review here and my author interview here



Here's what he had to say:

How long did it take for you to complete the build? 

Evan: Let's see...the background buildings were already built. Believe it or not, that car took me about 8 hours. I really wanted it to look like an RPG hit it under the car and was tipping it over. I rebuilt it over and over again. I probably spent an hour positioning the mini figs. Maybe another hour playing with lighting. About 2 hours shooting it as I am learning a new DSLR camera. So yeah, about 12 hours in total. 

As I said, before, this is a pretty awesome build, not only because it's based on my work, BUT because Evan could've chose to build anything and he took the time to do this build. Thanks Evan for all the hard work. It's certainly an honor and John and I are very happy with the end result. The more I look at the build, the more details I find. See for yourself and enjoy! 

Build in Progress Shots: 

And Final Build Shot:

One of the good ones...Tom Piccirilli

As I write this, fellow author and mentor Tom Piccirilli is recovering from brain cancer surgery. In this business, it gets lonely. As a writer, you put your heart and soul into a piece of work, and that should be enough, but then there are guys like Pic, that go above and beyond for their fans. I started out as a fan, devouring every piece of his work I could find. The books, the limited editions, the short stories. Pic transported me to another world with his words and stories. Again, that should've been enough, but he's one of the great ones.

A few years back, I worked up the nerve to email him and tell him how much I enjoyed his work. To my surprise, he wrote me back. He was humble, a down to earth guy. Since then, occasionally, I've emailed him as a writer, not a fan, and he's been extremely gracious with advice and encouragement. He even read something I wrote one time and it was an honor that he even took the time out of his busy schedule to do so.

Pic, as a person, is a stand up guy. He pays it forward. He helps out upcoming writers, such as myself, and countless others. I don't think he'll ever realize just how much his words of encouragement help other struggling authors out there.

I've never met Pic in person yet, but I want to someday. I'm sure he'd be just the same as he is online and in emails. Personable, eager to talk shop, and offer great advice. There's simply not enough guys like him in this business.

When I heard he was going into surgery, I immediately jumped at the chance to donate to help with his recovery. Why? Because he has given so much to us fans, and he's one of the good guys.

Below, you'll find some links to his work and his fundraising page. Please consider donating something to help. He's been there for us, now it's time for us to be there for him.

Get well, soon, Pic!


these links were compiled by Brian Keene, another one of the good guys, so thanks to him for putting all this in one easy to find spot.


http://www.briankeene.com/?p=12584

Ginger Nuts of Horror reviews THE FLESH OF FALLEN ANGELS

"...This novella is a lot of fun, it opens as many westerns do with a figure on a distant hill surveying the land and town in front of him, cliched yes, but a classic way to start a story.  It's not long before this great novella spurs the the reader into an action packed, gripping and rip roaring story.  Having William Quantrill, the legendary, and mythical Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War is a stroke of pure genius..." 


Read the full review here