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Ten Haunted House Movies For Halloween
Halloween is just around the corner, and if you’re like me, this month has been all about watching scary movies. My personal favorites are the ones with ghosts. For me, there’s nothing like a good old fashioned haunted house tale. And if you haven’t subscribed to Shudder, AMC’s horror movie streaming service, I highly recommend you do so for at least a month. For the cost of what you’d spend on a typical rental, you get a month’s access to a huge catalog of horror movies, including many you’ve probably never seen. So, here’s a list of some of my favorites, in no particular order. I tried to slip in…
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Tools of Writing
Just as a painter requires a brush, canvas, palette, and easel, a writer needs specific tools to create a story. These days, authors use a wide variety of programs to improve almost everything about their work—from editing and plotting, to formatting and publishing. Below, I’ve listed several basic programs useful for any kind of writing.
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Horror 2018
This was another interesting year for horror. From movies and TV to books and podcasts, it seemed like horror was everywhere. I can’t let the year slip away without talking about some of my favorite stuff. First, I’ll start out with my top ten horror movies of the year. Here we go…
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How to Write a Book, Part 2
So, you’ve finished your rough draft and set it aside for four to six weeks, keeping your writing juices flowing by working on another project or the beginnings of a blog, and now you’re ready to go back to your unwieldy lump of clay and begin fashioning it into something recognizable. However, there is one thing we need to clear up right now. . .
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Horror for Halloween
Hey everyone! Hope your Shocktober is going great! Thanks to everyone who picked up a free Kindle copy of Crow Creek the first week of October. It was a fantastic promotion charging my books up the horror charts for a while there. Hopefully, everyone likes what they read. Please do me a favor and leave a rating on Amazon! Shocktober Horror Movie Challenge I’ve been watching one horror movie or show per day throughout the month of October. Most of these films are obvious and you’ve probably seen them a time or a hundred, like me. But here are just some of my favorites I’ll be watching this month…
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Shock-tober Slashing!
Crow Creek Free on Kindle Next Week Hello all! My favorite month of the year is fast approaching and I wanted to tell you about a big promo I’ve got coming up to celebrate. The Kindle version of Crow Creek, Bettendorf Tales Book 2, will be FREE from Monday the 1st through Friday the 5th!! That’s right, it’s free!!! Zero, nada, zilch! Kindle version only.
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How to Write a Book, Part 1
So, you want to write a book? Come on, you know you do, or you wouldn’t be here on my website reading this blog. You’d be doing something else with your time—something far less frustrating, and probably more entertaining. But here you are, reading this little unmistakably titled article. Heck, several of you have messaged or emailed me telling your ideas. Indeed, future authors abound on my friends list! Before I begin, let me warn you—I am no expert. I’ve written two novels of arguable and variable quality. That’s it. The only thing that gives me the authority to pontificate on this subject is the fact that I’ve done it,…
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How to Narrate Audiobooks on ACX
Last Fall, I was looking for a narrator for my first novel, Devils Glen. Like most people, a quick Google brought me to ACX, Amazon’s audiobook creation service that hooks authors up with voice talent to create and produce audiobooks to be sold on Amazon/Audible and iTunes. I went to ACX and set up my book for auditions and waited. Within a day or two, auditions rolled in, and I would be generous in saying that the quality of some performances left a lot to be desired. The one or two great auditions I did receive, asked for a considerable amount of money up front. As I thought about it,…
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Crow Creek is Here!
Finally, after almost a year and a half of writing, editing, changing, rearranging and re-writing, Crow Creek is available for your reading pleasure. It feels like I’ve been working on it forever, so it’s hard to believe there’s nothing more to do. Oh, I’m sure I’ll look through it and find a missing period or some other excruciatingly frustrating mistake, but overall I feel like it’s where it needs to be and there shouldn’t be anything major to deal with…though you never know. UGH! For the time being, the Kindle and Paperback versions are not connected together on the Amazon website. For now, you can click here for PAPERBACK,…
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Crow Creek Cover Reveal!
DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!!! Here it is! The new cover for Crow Creek. I think it fits well with the cover of the first book and looks good. It’s kinda creepy but kinda magical too, which works for this story.