From 10 am- 5 pm, I’ll have plenty of copies of my paranormal thriller trilogy plus my short story collection. Check out my books alongside my SFG peeps John F. Allen, Matthew Barron, Chris Garrison, and David Jobe.
With Halloween approaching, Seventh Star Press is offering a scary low price on my sexy ghostly bestseller Haunting Obsession! From now until…?, new readers can download my most popular work and gateway story into my paranormal thriller series for just 99 cents!
Haunting Obsession, a top 100 ghost fiction bestseller during a previous 99 cents promotion, has been called “a page turner to the very last word.” by Renee Graham, Dead Speak Paranormal Radio show host. Bitten By Books praised its world building and character development in their 4/5 star rating. Eva’s Sanctuary proclaimed “The story line is well written and may actually make you believe in ghosts.” One Amazon reader posted “With Halloween coming, this is a book you will not want to miss. ”
If you’ve never yet met Loretta, Daryl, the elegantly seductive ghost and Hollywood icon Maxine Marie, or the mysterious Rebecca Burton, now’s your chance. The Haunting Obsession ebook is downloadable for 99 cents on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobobooks sites. Or, if you’d prefer to get a signed paperback copy directly from the author (for more than 99 cents,but autographs are always free and worth every penny you pay) click here to go to the dedicated page with all the links.
Last Wednesday, horror author and good buddy Armand Rosamilia posted a guest blog I’d created some weeks earlier and while I was busy attending to other things. And what I mean to say is, I’m posting it several days later completely on purpose in to maximize exposure over a period of time.
Yeah, we’ll go with that.
So did you know that being a modern author is a lot like being in a garage band? Its true! Here’s what I posted.
Me between two author co-op peeps John F. Allen and E. Chris Garrison.
The Bass Player Quit Again
Or, the Chemistry of Author Co-Ops
“She wants to be an author when she grows up!” I looked down into the wide eyes of a tween girl. Her parents pulled her over to my booth so they could tell me this, apparently in hope that I could grant some words of wisdom on the spot. So I tell her half the truth. The good half. The encouraging half.
Thanks to modern technology, specifically ebooks and digital publishing, this little girl is growing up in a time when anyone who wants to chase their dream of being an author will have more choices before them than any era before. She can choose to avoid the lifelong frustration of rejections and never getting that break. Her destiny will be in her own hands, and success or failure will be more in her control than ever. The parents smiled and the girl glowed and my duty to inspire future generations was done for the day.
I had, of course, only told her the good news. What I didn’t tell her was that her destiny will be in her own hands, and success or failure will be more in her control than ever.
The Three Amigos, L to R, John F. Allen, Me, and Chris GarrisonChris Garrison poses at the just-finished display shortly after setup.
For starters, all I can say is, WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND! So let’s start with letting the shields down and a little truth telling. Events like these are taxing. They’re outdoors, they involve limited windows to set up big displays. Sometimes, by the time it’s all set, you have to find a second effort to get your public game face on.
But two things make it much easier. 1) Partnering with terrific people and 2) a good turnout and terrific conversation. And that’s why this weekend went so well.
For starters, I arrived way early to the Historic Hannah House, much to my surprise, so I found what I considered a prime shady location for our group. E. Chris Garrison and Laura Terhune arrived shortly after, and we had everything we needed. A kind stranger (I’ve never met any other type at the Paranormal Meet n Greet) helped us set up Laura’s canopy and we were set up and ready well ahead of opening. John F. Allen arrived shortly before noon with his vampire / werewolf thriller title.
Being a display of fictional ghost stories (as opposed to stories based on actual haunted encounters), we were not everyone’s cup of tea, but lots of visitors showed interest, and everyone treated us like family, which is on par with every experience I’ve had here, and that’s why I love supporting it. We had lots of conversations, caught up with old friends, met a few new ones, and even sold some books. I’m already looking forward to next year.
L to R: James W. Kirk, Me, John F. Allen, Chris Garrison
Speaking of old friends, the biggest surprise was seeing an old colleague, James W. Kirk. He and I go back to 199*mumble* college creative writing days, and he’s gone on to create quite a horror anthology brand with himself as editor-in-chief of some dozens of books. Check out his work here.
Then Sunday I returned to VERY local territory and took a double shift at the Greater Mooresville Chamber of Commerce booth during the opening day of the Old Settler’s Fair. I saw a lot of people who know me better as CopyBob but who were very interested to see the book titles I rarely discuss amongst them. And like last year, a few folks walked off with some books and my eye-catching Lost Soles (I need to make some more).
At the Old Settler’s Fair 2015
So I arrived home VERY tired, but also very excited to see the effort we put into offering the best stories and displays we possibly can start to pay off.
I have a couple of exciting events next weekend, so let’s get right to it.
2012 Paranormal Meet n Greet with “Maxine Marie.”
First, I’m excited about the return of the Paranormal Meet n Greet at the Historic Hannah House on Indy’s south side, back again after a year’s hiatus. I always have a good time here, but the 2012 event where I launched Haunting Obsession was a special time.
This year I’ll be part of the SFG Guild vendor table with John F. Allen, E. Chris Garrison, and Laura Terhune, offering a wide array of ghost story, horror, urban fantasy, and paranormal thriller books. The event runs Noon-4 and is completely free and open to the public. Here’s more info from the event page:
Saturday August 8th 2015
Noon-4 pm Historic Hannah House, 3801 Madison Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46227. It can easily be reached from 465 by exiting US31 North, AKA East Street. The third light down is National Ave – go right. The next light is Madison Ave. The house sits on the corner of this intersection.
Then Sunday, Aug 9, I’ll at the Mooresville Old Settler’s Fair, Opening Day, at the Chamber of Commerce booth from 5-9 PM. I did this last year and had a terrific response.
This upcoming weekend marks my fourth year as a local author with InConJunction, a general SF/F con with a long and distinguished history in Indianapolis, and not for nothin’, the first con SF I ever attended waaay back in 199*mumble*.
Chris Garrison and Matthew BarronJohn F. Allen and Chris Garrison
All of my panels are in Indianapolis Ballroom C
Friday @ 9 PM @ Writing Dialog with Matthew Barron
Saturday @9 AM Small Press Publishing and Writer’s Expectations
Saturday @ 5 PM Building Your Brand: Promoting Your Work on Social Media
Inconjiunction is always a good time. I’m looking forward to seeing many old friends and making many new ones. Inconjunction will also be the first place ever that you can get a signed copy of my brand-new release Darkness with a Chance of Whimsy.
When it comes to endorsements, go big or go home,
All of my books will be priced to sell,and the more you buy, the more you save.
With the release of Darkness with a Chance of Whimsy now just a couple weeks away, I wanted to do something new and interesting with my author photo. In a way, I see the short story collection as the end of an era, the time when I was finding my voice and discovering who I was as a writer and what I have to say. While this question will never entirely go away, I feel like I’ve started to get a handle on this in the past five years, and I wanted to celebrate the moment alongside my most popular creations that have been so important in growing my readership.
Darkness with a Chance for Whimsy is a collection of ten short stories and is on track to come out in ebook and paperback by Seventh Star Press in mid-June. I will definitely have copies of the book for sale in time for Inconjunction in Indianapolis over Fourth of July weekend. Stay tuned for more details.
The collection is due out next month, and includes many hard-to-find stories unavailable since their original publications, including Assurance Salesman, Inner Strength, Fade, and Robot Vampire.
PS: Apparently trying to find the keywords to locate the image of a painting covered by cloth on an easel is an impossible task. Enjoy my creative solution of an image.
This Saturday from 10 AM to Noon I’ll be with many other local authors at the Brownsburg Public Library at 450 S. Jefferson Street, west of Indy, for their second annual author fair! I’ll be signing and selling my paranormal trilogy. 10% of all sales during this event goes to the Brownsburg Public Library Friends of the Library Group.
Autographs are, as always, free and worth every penny you pay.
John Allen and I are sharing a table at this event. So you can get your ghosts, demons, vampires and werewolves all in one place. Hope to see you there!!
This weekend, I launch into convention / book fair season with a fun gathering in Madison, Indiana. The Book Fair hosted by That Book Place is going on its fifth year (I hooked up in year two and haven’t missed it since). I can’t express enough how grateful I am for book stores in little communities like That Book Place in Madison, IN, and its owner Frank Hall, who goes far above and beyond with events like these to support us local authors.
But first, due to some recent political ugliness that has nothing to do with representing true Hoosier values, Frank offers the following to all guests:
“This store has been and always will be open to everyone. We are a safe haven for people to be themselves with out fear of harassment or ridicule. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion and we accept that, but Bigotry is something that is unacceptable.”
Frank speaks for myself and every author and book vendor I know that is likely to attending this event.
With “Virtual Blue” Nikki Howard!
Anyway, on to the cool stuff. The event has grown every year, and this year it is bursting at the seams, coming very close to 100 authors (if it hasn’t hit there by now) and will be off site from That Book Place for the first time ever. Also for the first time, food vending will be available onsite for authors and guests.
I am attending Saturday 10 am-6 pm only, but in the unlikely event you might want to see other authors as well (I suppose it’s possible) festivities begin Friday night with reader- and writer-related panels, and continue through Saturday. Author readings are also scheduled all day, with yours truly offering up a little something from Haunting Blue at 1:40 pm.
So join us for the fun! Check out the full schedule of events and driving directions at the official website and Facebook Event Page, and you can see my photo albums from previous years by clicking here and here .
Saturday is Halloween (as if you need me to tell you that) and during the day, I’ll be part of the SFG booth at the Irvington Halloween Street Fair! You can read the full write-up on the SFG Website here. 
Haunting Blue $15 each
R.J. Sullivan Fiction 