RJ Update: Ask an Author and Feel the Fire! Oh, wait…

I’ve been a bit behind on my blogging duties, including my fiction writing posts (they will resume soon, promise) but first here’s a few things to bring to your attention.

My publisher Seventh Star Press is unleashing their second annual raffle Feel the Fire II, with all sorts of paperback and ebook bundles, and I’m pretty well represented there, with a Kindle Fire HD as the grand prize. Click here for details and to play.

Also, over Thanksgiving weekend I’ll be a part of ASK AN AUTHOR online where you get to…ask an author. I’m up Saturday 1-2 pm EST. Click here to find out more.

Also, I created a cover gallery for easy internet “window shopping” in time for the holidays. Here’s that.

In the meantime, I’m well-into the second novelette of the Red Lotus series. I think  you’re all going to love it. And watch out for the return of Lily Monstermeat as Maxine Marie. She’ll be unleashed on an ususpecting internet soon.

The Blog Tour So Far…

We’ve hit the two-thirds mark of the Virtual Blue Blog Tour, a great time to post some link updates. Highlights include:

an ongoing Rafflecopter contest for a FREE copy of Virtual Blue and two Seventh Star books of your choice at Jess Resides Her; an analysis of Virtual Blue at Jorie Loves a Story; An overview of reading my series at Come Selahway With Me; Sheila Deeth and Armand Rosamilla host two blogs on Blue Shaefer; I’m interviewed by a fictional character on the John Allen site; Two fictional characters interview each other with entertaining results at Library Girl Reads and Reviews, and Rebecca Burton’s secret journal entry gets intercepted at Spellbindings! Click each link to see its entry.

October 28     Jess Resides Here                               Contest

October 28     Jorie Loves a Story                            Review

October 28     Come Selahway With Me                 Guest Post

October 29     Sheila Deeth Blog                              Character Interview w/ Blue

October 30     Armand Rosamilia                             Guest Post

October 30     A Haunted Head                                Special Post Tba

October 31     John F. Allen                                       Ivory Blaque Interview of RJ!

October 31     Spellbindings                                     Character Post with Rebecca Burton

October 31     Library Girl Reads and Reviews        Character Interview of Rebecca Burton

Blog tour day one!

Here are the live links for the first day of my blog tour!

Jess Resides Here has a contest: http://frellathon.com/2013/10/28/virtual-blue-rj-sullivan-book-tour-mega-giveaway/

Jories Loves a Story reviews Virtual Blue: http://jorielovesastory.com/2013/10/28/blog-book-tour-virtual-blue-by-rj-sullivan/

Come Selahway with Me has a great guest post: http://selahjanel.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/tcm-presents-virtual-blue-by-rj-sullivan/

You can see the master schedule here!

Yesterday my blog hit new high numbers,three times more than I’ve ever seen. A very cool surprise. Thanks, everyone.

Thanks to everyone sharing and participating.

 

Full Virtual Blue Blog Tour schedule now posted

RJ VB banner

Tomorrow Comes Media has arranged for an intense week of blog posts in support of my new release Virtual Blue, with contests and reviews, plus several guest blogs from me: new interviews, in-depth thoughts about writing, insight into the creative process and lots of observations about my characters and stories.

We have an exciting week ahead, so how appropriate that the tour straddles Halloween! Check back frequently for new links as they go live. Fans of Blue and Rebecca Burton will find much to love here this week, and we should snag plenty of new readers as well. Check out the full schedule here and don’t be shy about telling everyone you know! 

Vampires Don’t Sparkle True Blood auction now live!

FINALVDS_coverIt’s been a privilege and honor to have the story Robot Vampire included in the anthology VAMPIRES DON’T SPARKLE because all proceeds go to cancer research. The collection is a labor of love by editor Michael West and features a table of contents of some of the most talented (and kindest) authors in the field.

Cancer has affected so many of us in so many personal ways, and we all hope for the day when it will no longer have that power over our lives again.

For this one volume, cast members of True Blood have offered their help by signing one copy of Vampires Don’t Sparkle, and publisher Seventh Star Press has put up for bid on Ebay. As with all sales of the book, all proceeds will go toward cancer research. To read all the details and place a bid on this special volume, click here!  

Spooky Author Book Bag Benefit Raffle to benefit MAP during Arts in the Park

DSCN1678This Saturday, the Mooresville Arts Partnership is re-launching Arts in the Park, an annual all day festival exhibiting and celebrating all aspects of art expression in the area. Local author R.J. Sullivan  has ask for “a little help from his friends” and gotten it from, dark fiction authors John F. Allen, Matthew Barron, Nicole Cushing,  and Crystal Leflar to instruct beginning-level writer’s workshops for all ages. Read all the details and sign up for a workshop time here!

We’ll also hold an all-day raffle at our canopy for a “Spooky Book Bag” of our work–$1 per ticket gets  you one chance to win a set of books valued at over $60 without signatures–and the authors will sign and personalize each book on request.

This way, you can personalize a book for every horror reader on your gift list–or have all the books signed to you and keep them–we won’t tell.

To enter, find the Horror Authors Canopy. Raffle tickets are $1 each. Enter as often as  you like. For each ticket you buy, we need your name and phone number (preferably a cell phone number you will be carrying with you at 5:30 that day, the time of the drawing) on the half  you leave in the raffle.

Some notes:

  • Everyone who participates in the writer workshops earns one free ticket for the raffle. Children must have the ticket filled out by a parent.
  • 100% of all proceeds go to MAP.
  • We’ll draw the winner following the 4 p.m. workshop, so some time after 5 p.m.
  • All tickets will be discarded responsibly. Tickets are to contact the winner. The rest will be destroyed.
  • Books will be “flat signed” unless the winner requests personalization. This will allow the authors to personalize books intended as gifts.
  • Parents take note: The books in the raffle and at the vendor tent contain adult content. We’ll do our best to sell responsibly, but we’re not going to card, nor will we judge what you let your kid read.

The Spooky Book Bag in detail. Links take  you to the Amazon page:

The God Killers by John F. Allen; Secular City Limits by Mattthew Barron; We Are Dust and Death to the Brothers Grimm, both with a story by Crystal Leflar; Haunting Obsession by R.J. Sullivan–and maybe more! Plus bookmarks and other doodads.

These books and more can be purchased all day at the vendor tent! Authors will be around to sign all day.

Indiana Horror Authors to offer workshops at Mooresville Arts in the Park

1017475_596956940325736_1669991594_nMooresville Arts in the Park
All Day Arts Festival Saturday, October 12!
Pioneer Park–Link to directions and park website
Flash fiction workshops and product tent!
Preregistration preferred, walk-ins welcome
Mooresville, IN
Website and Facebook

I’m very excited to announce an upcoming event taking place in my local community during the Arts in the Park festival at Pioneer Park Saturday, October 12, 2013. Several loccal local peer authors are joining me to serve as instructors during a series of free community workshops on crafting thrilling fiction. You’ll find us among dozens of community artists and performers who will sing, dance, and display their unique creations during the all-day festival. The event is free and open to the public.

We’re planning three one-hour sessions, aimed at, but not limited to, late elementary school through high school aged-writers-in-the-making. Adults who have recently caught the writing bug or who have put off their aspirations are also welcome. If you are interested in getting feedback from a professional author at no cost to you, you need to be here—don’t let the word “horror” scare you! We have an instructor to advise any beginner with a passion for writing thrilling tales of any genre.

The suggested format will be “flash fiction,” and the suggested theme will be “The Creature of Pioneer Park,” though writers are free to compose within their comfort zone. Writers can use the pens and paper provided, bring their own, or bring their laptops. Participants will spend the first half hour composing their work. During the last half hour, the authors will review the drafts and offer individualized instruction on how to best sharpen their writing skills. Writers may, alternatively, submit a pre-composed sample of their work for a critique (limit 1000 words).

Pre-registration is preferred, but walk-ins are welcome as long as we have the space. Click this link to pre-register.

The authors will strive to pair you with an instructor that best fits your style, and you will receive individualized instruction on your submission.

the-god-killers-cover SSPWhat is Flash Fiction? The unique challenge of flash fiction is to compose a “complete” story of roughly 1000 words. With fiction coming to readers on their pads, cell phones and reading devices, flash fiction has grown in popularity in recent years. It’s also ideal for a workshop. Not up the challenge? Don’t worry–writers may instead compose part of a larger story for review. To respect everyone’s time, instructors reserve the right to limit their review to roughly 1000 words per writer.

The Arts in the Park is an all-day event. The Artists’ Shelter will offer books by the instructors, who will be happy to sign and personalize every purchase. The free workshop sessions are courtesy of the Mooresville Arts Partnership, a non-profit organization that provides instruction in dance, tumble, visual arts, music, and drama to children and adults in the greater Mooresville area. Learn more at the MAP Website.

Here is the Facebook Arts in the Park event page and the Mooresville Pioneer Park Website.

The local author/instructors will include:

John F. Allen is an American speculative fiction author of Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Paranormal Mystery. He resides in Indianapolis, IN with his wife and two children. The God Killers, an urban fantasy, is his debut novel.

Matthew Barron spends his days mixing and analyzing human blood as a medical technologist in Indianapolis Indiana. His writing ranges from children’s books and short comics to robot erotica. His books The Lonely Princess and Secular City Limits are available now, and his short fiction has appeared in House of Horror, The Welcome to Indiana Comic Anthology, and the Roboterotica anthology.

children_of_no_oneNicole Cushing is an author of weird, dark fiction. Her debut novella, Children of No One, received praise from several prominent genre outlets (Famous Monsters of Filmland wrote: “If you read one debut this year, this should be the one you read.”) Forthcoming books include The Choir of Beasts and The New God.

*

Crystal Leflar is a blogger book reviewer, previously with Fantasy magazine and Afterthoughts.com, now for Horror Novel Reviews. She’s a promotion specialist and slush reader for Nightscape Press. Her fiction has appeared in a variety of anthologies and she has several projects in the works.

R.J. Sullivan (you’re on his website!) writes paranormal thrillers and is expanding into science fiction. He is known locally as the story editor for the Morgan County Business Leader and as business writer “Copybob.” His books include Haunting Obsession, Haunting Blue, and Virtual Blue. His short fiction has appeared in the acclaimed anthologies Dark Faith Invocations and Vampires Don’t Sparkle.

Context ahead!

The following is the  50th Blog Post of R.J. Sullivan on his own page, brought to you by the Department of Meaningless Statistics. You’re welcome.

So Context 26 in Columbus, OH, is now straight ahead, this weekend, the highlight of my convention season every year, and this year should be no exception. Go here to see the devoted webpage. For one thing, my publisher, Seventh Star Press, is throwing the Saturday night party alongside Loconeal Publishing. Plus, Apex Books, a publisher I feel very fond toward, will also be there.

This year marks my fourth consecutive year attending Context, each one a special memory for me. I attended my first Context in 2010, a newly signed author with Haunting Blue still a few months off from becoming a reality. I met up with fabulous author and Haunting Blue artist Ash Roland (this link takes you to her art gallery, in her guise as Ash Arceneaux) and had my first-ever conversation with Michael West.

In 2011, I spent a lot of time with Stephen Zimmer from Seventh Star Press, the year which led to the legend of the Shagin’ Wagon–I’ll let him explain–and which led in a very serious way to my deciding who I wanted to handle my next several stories. By 2012, it was like coming home to big family reunion. I can’t wait to see what this year has in store.

This year, I’m taking my first workshops ever, both the amazing Gary A. Braunbeck, who will be challenged to see what he can do with me. I’m looking forward to it, though I’m not not sure if he feels the same way. 🙂

The full RJ-schedule:

Friday

6-8:pm–Wright Room: (Workshop) Self-Editing and Diagnostics (As a student)

Saturday

2:30-4 pm McGregor Room: Series or Standalone–with Marian Allen, David L. Day, Addie J. King

4-5:30 pm Griswold B and C: How to Reach Your Readers–with Jack McDevitt, Tim Waggoner, Scott Sandridge, and Maura Heaphy.

7 pm-on Giswold D: 7 pm. Seventh Star/Loconeal Party!!!!

Sunday

10-11:30 am Griswold B and C: Make ‘Em Laugh–with Laura Resnick, Addie j. King, Evan Dicken, Amy McCorkle

2-4 pm Stanbury Room: (Workshop) Creating Character Through Dialog (as a student)

When I’m not here, you’ll most likely find me at the Dealer’s Room Seventh Star Table: Friday 5-9 pm, Sat 9-6 pm, Sunday 9-2 pm.

Looking forward to catching up with so many readers, authors, and publishers this weekend, there’s too many to list. Hope to see you there!