What are you reading now?

[jgreenberg01]

Book FOUR was supposed to be the end. Complete. No more.
My editor called to tell me...he loved it too much. I CAN'T let the series end there. I HAVE to keep it going. So...the Monster Squad will most likely continue on after book 4.

Book FOUR and beyond?!?!? Wow dude, you're killing me here. Based on previous wait times - that's like 16 months before getting to the end... continuing adventures of the Monster Squad.

I have to admit that you've created a really engrossing story set in a really interesting-yet-hidden world. It's not the same-old rehashed vampire/werewolf stories we usually see. Although if you could work in a nekkid Anna Paquin, I would consider it a personal favor. I'm just sayin'...

The last time I was willing to wait (and wait, and wait) for books in a series to come out was Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series.

I hated waiting.



EDIT: if Anna Paquin is not available, I would gladly accept the actress who plays baby vamp Jessica. Woof.

[Cyberfly]

Oh man...you and me both. I wait for each episode with baited...er...breath?? Hoping beyond hope that if ANYBODY is gonna be nekkid, it's HER. But NOoOoOo...
More seriously though, I'm really glad you're liking the storyline Jeff. I told Jess last night that if I'm going to be making the MS series a continuing thing, I'm not holding back. You can ask Justin (who acted as a beta reader for a stand alone ghost story I did) that my novels can get a bit lengthy. If the Squads are going to live on, then I'm going to extend the stories and give the readers their money's worth. Rather than stories in the 80-100K word length I'll do my best to extend the stories to more like 140-150K in length. I want to give more closure to the stories but still leave enough strings hanging to keep readers engaged.

[Cyberfly]

I hate to do this, but my publisher is giving me fits for 'reviews' posted at Amazon. The one thing I know that reviews help with is when we get ready to convert to audio, it makes the narrators feel better when they see a lot of reviews and if there are a lot of good reviews. But,...if anybody from the forums has taken the time to read either Phoenix or Full Moon and would please leave a review, I'd really appreciate it.
Jeff, I dunno if you saw it or not, but I have the dates for future releases posted on FB. My publisher got with me this morning and we had a nice discussion about the future. She's wanting to be able to have a new release from me every two months by 2015. Since I'll be making Caldera into a series (mini-series, if nothing else) this shouldn't be too hard to do. They'll be able to alternate between Monster Squad and Caldera zombie book every other month. As for other stand alone novels, they'll work them in as they can.
Justin and Jon, I'll need you guys to make sure your addresses are current in the contact section. Whispers is set to be a Halloween release. It usually takes 2-3 weeks after it's released before I get the hardcopies, but I'm going to do everything in my power to purchase a copy for everyone who allowed me to use their names in the book and get them an autographed copy. :thumb:

[jgreenberg01]

I did see it and it's nice to see that there is actually a schedule now. I'll go to amazon and review "Moon" today. By the way feel free to use my name if you need some to kill off in future stories. Just use my porn name: Dirk Armstrong.




EDIT: Um, just kidding about the porn thing. I've never done that before, and I'll never do it again...

[Cyberfly]

OMG...dude. I spit coffee all over my screen. Makes me wish I still had my Toughbook! LOL!!
That was a FB offer I made for Whispers. I knew there was going to be a large cast of characters and a pretty good 'kill-list'. I either had to come up with a TON of names on my own or...I took a page from Mark Tufo and invited friends and family to allow me to use their name in the story. Not their LIKENESS, but their name. I couldn't guarantee their outcome. What I did was put names in a hat and as I needed them, I pulled them. I ended up with a whole team of deputies with first names that started with 'J'. It might be a bit confusing to the first time reader, but I stuck to my guns. I ended up killing off most of my kids. I think two of them became local Constables. Justin and Jon were Sheriff's deputies. A lady who used to babysit me became a local author. People just got inserted to all kinds of different characters.
I may do it again one day if the time comes when I need a lot of names. Or if I ever decide to revisit the little town in Wood County, TX and maybe revive the spirits that caused so much mayhem...
Hmmm...maybe an investigative reporter who comes to check out all of the mysterious deaths??

[Cyberfly]

Okay, this isn't really a 'plug' per se, because honestly, I don't make crap off of boxed sets. BUT, if anybody who does like to read horror/zombie/apocalyptic fiction wanted a HELL of a deal, this is the one. For a limited time, SIX complete novels in one box set, plus a teaser from Joe McKinney. Over half a million words for the price of one e-book.
Included in the set is myself, Mark Tufo (awesome and hilarious writer), James Cook (a personal fave of mine), John O'Brien, Shawn Chesser and Armand Rosamilia. I've read a little of John's stuff and it's pretty decent. Not one of my favorites, but everybody has different tastes. He has a huge following online and a monster sized fan base. I haven't read Shawn or Armand yet, but they're pretty cool guys to hang with online.
IF you are interested, check out Epic Apocalypse at Amazon. Also available at B&N, Kobo, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/Epic-Apocalypse-A ... apocalypse" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NLVMike]

I'm reading "Nothing to Lose" by Lee Child. Big deal for me because it is the last Reacher novel for me. I didn't read them in order. All out of Mitch Rapp and Bob Lee Swagger.

[Cyberfly]

Just in case anybody is interested, you can enter for a chance to win a free autographed copy of Whispers at Goodreads.
Here's the link so you don't have to wade through all the crap: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/70587-whispers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MrSlippyFist]

Just finished reading this. Great book, great author. If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll ship free. Just promise to pay it forward when you're done./



http://whatever.scalzi.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.amazon.com/The-Androids-Drea ... 0765348284" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cyberfly]

Just finished The Spirit Clearing by Mark Tufo and started Callis Rose by the same guy. Really enjoyed The Spirit Clearing. Had a nice twist at the end.

[Cyberfly]

Jeff, Coalition (MS3) just hit Amazon.

[panzermk2]

Jeff, Coalition (MS3) just hit Amazon.

Not yet!

[Cyberfly]

Okay, okay, the Kindle version hit last night.

[jgreenberg01]

Because monsters should be hunted down and shot between the eyes, not chasing teenage girls and playing kissy face.

~Cyberfly

[foxcurry]

"Who Is John Gault"
Just released. I've got an "in" with the author.

[Cyberfly]

Because monsters should be hunted down and shot between the eyes, not chasing teenage girls and playing kissy face.

~Cyberfly

The best part? "I wonder if Justin Bieber is a vampire?"

[jgreenberg01]

Because monsters should be hunted down and shot between the eyes, not chasing teenage girls and playing kissy face.

~Cyberfly

The best part? "I wonder if Justin Bieber is a vampire?"

Does it matter? Human/vampire/werewolf/spoiled effing brat... a couple of silver bullets to the chest and one to the head will rid us of the problem.

I'm just sayin'...

[Cyberfly]

I couldn't agree more.

[NLVMike]

Last week I picked up Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms". Read it cover to cover on Sunday. Felt like I was back in college and a book report was due in the morning. Good book, fascinating writing style. Started off almost like a stream of consciousness thing, then got more grounded as the book went on.

So I figured I deserved a little brain candy. I jumped back onto kindle and bought Fly's third book in the Monster Squad series, after a year or so from reading the first two. Enjoying it. I'm 51 years old, I'm not supposed to get into this crap, right?

[satellitedr3ams]

[panzermk2]

Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom Hardcover
by Andrew P. Napolitano

[NLVMike]

Really Fly? Could you possibly have left it any more hanging at the end of book 3?

Crap....

[Cyberfly]

Hey, Mike...it gets wrapped up in Book 4.

More or less.

Actually, I fully intended to STOP with that 'series' after 4. My editor and publisher at that time talked me into continuing it. Well, that and I had a lot of people email me and ask that I PLEASE continue the story line.
My wife reads everything first...in all of it's unedited, misspelled glory. I started a new 'saga' with MS5 and she swears that 5, 6 and 7 are the best yet...with 5 and 6 being her faves. 7 is at the editor and will probably be out around June/July-ish.
I'm in the middle of 8 and have hit a wall. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get my shtuff together and finish it. :skep:

[NLVMike]

OK, fly, book 4 is behind me now. Enough brain candy for a while. I think I will go read a little about what Bogle's thoughts on the federal reserve are.

[satellitedr3ams]

[jmz5]

I am going to start reading this shortly.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/549413" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[N4TAB-Tom]

I, Ripper by Stephen Hunter (author of the Bob Lee Swagger books, among others). A magnificent writer who delves into Jack the Ripper in an historical fiction style, but with two first person characters. Very well done.

Tom

[panzermk2]

I am going to start reading this shortly.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/549413" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:thumb:

[panzermk2]

Looky at what arrived today!!

[Cyberfly]

That's cool. Jay got his before I got mine.
I guess...I should probably order mine, huh? I went online to see where the heck they were. I never pressed the button to actually ORDER them. :facepalm: I would say that it's been a busy time, but...that's no excuse.
I also need to order the new copies of Caldera.

[blueorison]

LOL

Jeez, Heath, I'm so far behind, now.

I feel left out

I really liked this cover, and the last cover from the Monster Squad series.

[Cyberfly]

Jon, that's the same story, just the...third? Fourth time?..that it's been recovered.
I had my original graphic guy design a cover for it. When I was with my publisher, they sat on the story for nearly two years before moving on it, meanwhile, I pimped out the pics of the cover, trying to stir up interest in the story. Some British guy stole the graphics.


Then my new graphics guy (who lives in Italy) made a new cover. I didn't like it, but I adopted it.


Then, the girl that reworked my website wanted to break into the graphics side, so she made a new cover. I liked it, but she misspelled a ton of stuff on the back and she screwed up a lot of the formatting on the inside.


So, I went BACK to my new guy (in Italy) and he did this whole new look for me. I reworked all of the formatting inside and added a personal ad in the back. It's sort of a 'if you like this story, check out some of the other crap I've written' kind of thing. And, TBH, I like the look of the final artwork now. It's more in line with the story and I think it will help sell the book.
At least,...I REALLY hope it will.

[panzermk2]

As soon as it aloud me to press the order key for the printed version I did.

[NLVMike]

Amazon teased me with a 3 book package of "John Milton" books by a guy named Mark Dawson. Review said that Milton was the next Mitch Rapp. I'm halfway through the first. Not too bad, but I find it pretty easy to put down when I get tired. I stayed up all night for many a Mitch Rapp adventure.

[Cyberfly]

There's a lot of people trying desperately to fill those shoes. I even toyed with pulling a character from Whispers (Bobby Bridger) and using him in a story. I got about 10K words into it and then had to redirect my efforts to finish the MS saga I was working on. Maybe when I'm done, I'll go back and give it another shot.

[blueorison]

I like the first cover; the last one is good, too. Agree with ya.

[Cyberfly]

Yeah, that first one was my favorite. But once that British prat stole the image from it...I was pretty bummed.
True, different titles, subtle differences, etc, but I didn't want to have to hear from HIS fans that I stole his cover...esp when I'd had that cover for a year and a half prior to him publishing his story. The only reason mine never got released was my publisher and her belief that stand alone novels 'don't sell'. They do...just not like series books do. Which makes me wonder how the big names make it. They don't usually write series stories.