Author interivew for Welcome to GreenGrass

The multi-talented and all around awesome author Lyndi Alexander has allowed me to grace the pages of her site with an interview about my newly released novel Welcome to GreenGrass from Bedlam Press, an imprint for Necro Publications.

The interview was a lot fun and she asked some great questions. Stop over and check out the interview in its entirety over at her worlds of fancy site - 

http://necropublications.myshopify.com/products/welcome-to-greengrass-by-s-a-check

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season and I'm already looking forward to a promising 2014!!

Stein #10

          Would Santa be considered a U.F.O.? The holidays are fast approaching, whichever holidays it is that you celebrate.  It’s always a great time of year to relax, reflect, and re-focus and what better way than to lose yourself in a little creative craftsmanship. This will be the last set of snippets for the year and hopefully we’ll go out with a bang. Make sure you check out all the great snippets posted over at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com. This week, Annie finally made it out of the alley! About time! But is there more to her rescuer than meets the eye?  Read on and find out. If you need to catch up on a few, check out the previous snippets posts on my site for Stein. _______________________________________________________________________________    

          She was inside an assembly plant, metal conveyor belts running in all directions above her. At her feet, hundreds of cans of dog food sprawled around her, their contents spilled across the floor. She guessed it to be her haggard hero’s food source for the last few months.

          Turning back to the makeshift door between the factory and the garbage dumpster, Annie watched the man stack garbage bags to form a make-shift wall where the front of the dumpster existed moments before.  One of the bags fell and he shrugged, moving to the corner and plopping down on the ground. 

          Annie glanced behind her to make sure her escape route was still clear and half-whispered, “Uh…hello?”

          The crumpled figure looked her way, seemingly transfixed by the flame in her hand, before turning  his back to her.

          “I just wanted to thank you for…you know, saving my life.”

          They sat in mutual silence. She was never the most socially verbose person, even when there were still people around to be social with, but kneeling there, ankle deep in trash, she felt the need to say more to this man.

          There you have it! Another year of Sci Fi Fantasy Fun wrapped up. It’s been a great year and I’ve made some great friends thanks to this site, especially with my novel Welcome to GreenGrass coming out a couple weeks ago – the link for it is on my page. I hope you’ll check it out! I hope you and yours have a great holiday season and I look forward to sharing more of my writing next year!  See you in….well…see you next year.

Stein #9

          And here we are again – another edition of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.  The holidays are fast approaching and everyone is getting into the spirit but it’s also a time when our “to do” lists seem to grow exponentially.  I’m still in the throes of getting my new novel, Welcome to GreenGrass, out into as many hands as I can but it’s nice to take a break and do a little creating and posting for SFFSat.  This week, we’re following Annie as she is dragged into a garbage dumpster by a mysterious haggard stranger, saving her from the ravenous horde of flesh-eaters that were closing in on her at the wrong end of an alley. At least, she’s hoping it’s a rescue.

          She wasn’t sure what was worse, the smell of rain drenched rotten food in the garbage bags surrounding her or the growing fear that she may have been better off with the horde of undead outside.  The pressure around her necked released and she gasped a huge gulp of air, bringing a fresh awareness of her current surroundings.  Pulling herself up to her knees, Annie watched the hulking figure beside her pull away a manhole cover propped against the back wall.  A crude hole had been torn through the metal dumpster and the brick wall behind it, leading into the building next to them. 

          The man pointed to the hole.  “Free.”

          Annie didn’t need a second invitation and crawled over a bag of trash, clawing her way through the small opening.  She’d lost the medicine kit for Zach and they’d have to come up with another plan but she was content just getting out of that alley alive. The building was pitch-black inside but she remembered the cigarette lighter in her jeans.  Fumbling in her pocket, she pulled out the small disposable lighter and stopped her hand from shaking long enough to ignite it. 

          What’s inside the building? Safety? A trap? Valuable cash prizes? Guess we’ll have to wait until next week to find out. Make sure you stop over at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com and read all the great entries this week! And if you like my writing, check out my novel –Welcome to GreenGrass - with the link to the right.  Enjoy the weekend and see you in seven!

Some nice words from Horror Novel Review about Necro Publications / Bedlam Press and Welcome to GreenGrass

The folks over at Horror Novel Reviews posted a great article about my publisher Necro Publications / Bedlam Press and the announcement for my book's release. Check out the link for the site!  Necro has been a staple in the horror community for like two decades and they're only gaining steam - putting out over twenty titles this year alone.  

http://horrornovelreviews.com/2013/12/03/necro-publications-expands-their-sci-fi-imprint-bedlam-press-with-welcome-to-greengrass/


It's a great feeling to see some press for the book and always appreciated. 

Stein Snippet #8

          Here we are at another edition of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.  I hope everyone here in the states had a great Thanksgiving and survived whatever Black Friday shopping they were inclined to do. Kind of appropriate to share a snippet filled with zombie hordes in lieu of the masses of rampaging shoppers this season is noted for.  Which one would you rather face?  This week’s installment has Annie being pulled away from her hungry attackers but is she going from the proverbial frying pan into the fire? Guess we’ll have to find out. Check all the previous snippets for the full back story – I’ve edited them all with the Stein heading to make it easier.  Check out all the great writing snippets over at the main site – SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com – you’ll be glad you did.

          Annie turned to run but realized she was still at the alley’s end when she felt a hand ratchet down on her shoulder. The fabric of her coat pulled tight around her neck and her breath was cut short.  Her body was jerked back, dragged across the ground towards the remains of the dumpster.  She gasped for air as the zipper of her jacket bit into her throat.

          “No, wait.”

          Twisting, Annie helplessly watched as the zombie in the orange jumpsuit clawed its way through the mass of body parts and stumbled towards them, hungrily reaching for her.

          Her unsuspected rescuer raised his hand at the lumbering mass and uttered, “Mine.”

          The frothing corpse stopped, sniffing the air surrounding them before turning away.

          “How?” Annie asked, watching the zombie absently stumble away, as she was pulled into the darkened remains of the trash container.

_________________________________________________________________________

          Poor Annie! Is she rescued or trapped – again. We’ll find out soon enough.  If you could, leave a comment before you leave – they are immensely appreciated!  AND – check out my new novel – Welcome To GreenGrass – available now over at Necropublications.com and all major eBook retailers.  I just posted a new video trailer for it-check it out here– http://youtu.be/pySEgjZ8R3o        See you in seven!

WelcomeToGreenGrass Book Trailer

Video book trailer for Welcome To GreenGrass!! 

Welcome To GreenGrass is now available

My novel is up and available over at my publisher's website Necropublications.com and all major eBook retailers. A quick run down of the story is below and some of the great endorsements I've received so far. A special thanks to everyone who contributed. You are all awesome! I hope you'll check the book out!  Have a happy Thanksgiving!!!

John Traveller never asked to be ripped from his life as a police detective on Earth. He definitely never expected to find himself trapped inside a patchwork alien city of magic and technology, locked down under an impenetrable dome. But when a high profile death rocks the citizenry of GreenGrass, Traveller is forced into the middle of a brewing civil war between the city’s two dominating factions.

Racing beneath the city’s twin red moons, on a search for a cloaked stranger, Traveller and his team consisting of a pacifist demon, a cast out demi-god, and a telepathic female, find themselves drawn into dark alleys and guarded secrets, facing bestial street predators, techno-assassins, amphibious conmen, and a vampire acting troupe. The answers they discover may save their new home or bring the walls of the dome crumbling down around them all.

“Author S.A. Check bursts onto the Science Fiction scene on fire, as if he’s got a vendetta against boring purple prose. You’ll get none of that contempo trash with Welcome to GreenGrass —as Check weaves a sinister tale of intrigue and murder against a decidedly hostile alien landscape. Elements of noir fiction and otherworldly skullduggery combine to create an impressive, intoxicating mix of die-hard action and teeth-chattering suspense. Just when you think Check can’t possibly show us more—the author pulls back, reloads and blows us away again. Exciting as it is intricate, Welcome to GreenGrass is an excellent sci-fi novel for any fan… A book you’ll proudly display amongst your collection of Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury classics.”
— Ian MacMillan, Founder InveterateMediaJunkies.com

“What would you do if you woke up in a strange world filled with futuristic technology, high sorcery, and fantastic alien creatures? Would your first question be “am I dead?” or would you assume you’d gone crazy? Welcome to GreenGrass answers those questions with a colorful story that combines elements of J.K. Rowling, R.L. Stine, and Mickey Spilane into a wholly original tale. With new creatures, threats, and mysteries on every page, it is easy to find yourself being drawn into the alien world of John Traveler.”
—James Kuhoric, author of Freddy vs Jason vs Ash and The Six Million Dollar Man Season Six

“Men in Black meets interplanetary Columbo in S.A. Check’s sci-fi adventure novel Welcome To GreenGrass. Fascinating, detailed world-building, compelling characters and a mystery that keeps the pages turning—sure to be on must-read lists everywhere!”
—Lyndi Alexander, author of Windmills and the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series

“A man on a mission, tough and resourceful John Traveller strides purposefully through the richly detailed alien domed city of GreenGrass in S.A. Check’s gripping debut novel. A suspenseful mystery drives the story, but the diversity of well-imagined characters—from a haughty telepath and an unruly demi-god to cyber-enhanced assassins—who are plunged into constant action will keep readers turning these sizzling pages.”
—Nancy Martin, author of the bestselling Blackbird Sisters mystery series published by Penguin

“Fall into the weird and wonderful world of GreenGrass, the strangest “afterlife” you could ever be condemned to. Intriguing, with a darkly humorous edge, this sci-fi murder mystery where magic and technology clash will keep you hooked from the first dark alleyway to your final encounter. A captivating read you’ll find difficult to escape from!"
—Pippa Jay, author of Gethyon, and 2012 SFR Galaxy Award Winner

“An intriguing world, imaginative characters and a tale that’s just begging to be told.”
—T.K. Toppin, author of The Lancaster Trilogy and To Catch A Marlin series

Stein Snippet #7

          Hi everyone!  It’s been a crazy couple weeks.  The launch of my novel, Welcome to GreenGrass, is fast approaching.  It’s available for pre-order now over at necropublications.com.  It’ll be available next week for paperback and eBook download.  Exciting stuff and I hope you check it out.  Now for this week’s snippet from Stein (I finally chose a title – you’ll see why soon enough).  We left poor Annie alone in her alley with the zombie horde that was chasing her and closing fast.  In a last act of defiance, she threw her only weapon, a bottle, at the approaching mob of rotting flesh.  Luckily sometimes fate has a way of intervening.  Enjoy.

___________________________________________

          The bottled hurtled through the air, moving in slow motion, as Annie pulled her arms up to guard her face.  The sound of metal ripping free from metal pierced her ears.  Peeking from between her elbows, she watched the side of the garbage dumpster explode, tearing free and smashing into the oncoming horde.  The wall of shrapnel tore into the mass, separating arms and heads, as limbs slammed into the alley walls.  Those not directly in its path of dismemberment toppled backwards, creating a wall of squirming flesh. 

          One of the errant appendages struck Annie’s waist, knocking the breath from her as she dropped to her knees.     

          Gasping for air and fighting back the dull pain in her gut, she watched as a crumpled figured emerged from remains of the dumpster.  Her eyes filled with tears as she watched a hand emerge from the patch-worked blanket approaching her.

          “No die.” The voice snarled.

          Who is this mystery stranger?  And what does this mean for Annie’s chance of survival?  Tune in next week to find out.  Leave a comment on your out.  They’re always appreciated.  Make sure you stop and check out all the other great snippets at the main site - scififansat.blogspot.com -and don’t forget to check out the link for Welcome to GreenGrass on my blog.  Thanks and see you in seven!

Welcome to GreenGrass - Pre-Order

My novel - Welcome To GreenGrass - is now available for pre-order over at necropublications.myshopify.com.  Very exciting time and I hope you stop over to take a look at it.  It will be available for ebook and paperback soon.  The cover art by Travis Anthony Soumis was just outstanding and really captured the team atmosphere of the book.  He really did a fantastic job with it.

David Barnett and Necro Publications have been an awesome publishing company to work with and I can't say enough good things about them.  Getting to release this book under their Bedlam Press imprint has been a smooth and flawless process thanks to David's experience and expertise as a publisher.  He's been in the business for somewhere around twenty years and it shows.

As soon the book officially releases, I'll update here and any other news that comes up along the way.  Thanks to everyone for all their support.

Stein Snippet #6

Well, Halloween has come and gone.  The goblins and ghouls have went home but we’re still cranking out the stories over at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday, a group of authors and writers providing entertaining writing snippets for the masses.  Make sure you stop over at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com to check them all out.  This week, we’re still following Annie trapped in the alley with only a broken bottle to save her and the zombies are closing in.  Will she make it out alive?  Or undead?  Guess we’ll have to read on to find out.  If you haven’t been following this latest collection of snippets, check out the previous ones posted here.  Enjoy!____________________________________________________________

           The herd of zombies rushed in, each looking to be the first to taste fresh blood.  Thirty feet out and the post-mortem paramedic was pulled back into the surging pack.

          Annie pulled the jagged edge of the glass up to her neck.  She could feel the sharp bite against her skin.

          Twenty feet out and Annie saw the froth forming on their mouths.  The smell of decayed and rotted flesh filled the air in the cramped space.  Blood trickled down her neck as the bottle cut deeper.

          Ten feet and she could feel the ground shake under their collective stomp.

          Annie pulled the glass away and flung it at her attackers.

          “Eat this!”

_________________________________________________________

          Poor Annie – I bet she wished this would move along faster than ten sentences a clip but that’s what makes it so much fun.  Comments are always appreciated.  Have a great weekend and see you in seven!

Stein Snippet #5

         

Halloween is just around the corner and the crew here at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday are prepping with a new round of snippets fresh for the reading.  What better place to get your dragon/zombie/alien/assassin/bump-in-the-night fixes?  Make sure you check out all the great pieces over at the main site – SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com.  My short this week is still following Annie, trapped in an alley as a hungry pack of zombies closes in.  Feel free to check out the prior snippets from this same story posted here.  Enjoy!

          Annie searched for a weapon, a club, a pipe, a rusty nail, anything lying at her feet.  She saw the small medical kit, its contents spewed across the alley’s floor, a few bandages, some salve, and antibiotics, nothing that would save her own life in these circumstances.  She never thought of herself as a hero, but sacrificing her life in an effort to save a ten year old boy that she’d only known for a matter of weeks, staring at the herd of monstrosities looking to tear her flesh from her bones, she’d have taken the same chances.

          She picked up a broken bottle and turned.  At least she hoped to take one or two of them down with her.  The glass shook in her hand.

          “Come on!  I haven’t got all night!”

          And there you have it.  I promise the story will move out of the alley eventually but I am having fun taking it ten sentences at a clip.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  Enjoy the week leading up to Halloween and see you in seven.

Stein Snippet #4

        Hi all!  Welcome to another Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.  What we have here…is not a failure to communicate.  It’s a band of authors and writers who enjoy sharing snippets of their various science fiction and fantasy works, which equates to good readin’ fun.  I’ve been sharing from a WIP story I’m writing just for the SFFSAT crowd, still untitled at this point.  To catch everyone up to speed – Annie is trapped in an alley and a zombie horde is hot on her heels.  Nowhere to run, and there’s something creepy in the dumpster.  Not her best night.  I hope you enjoy.  Please stop over at the main site – scififansat.blogspot.com to check out all the great snippets contributed by an even greater group of writers over there.

____________________________________________      

          When Annie first learned the dead could talk, she cursed every zombie movie she’d ever watched.  It wasn’t creepy enough to have animated corpses hunting down every beating heart they could catch a whiff of, but the color commentary they spewed while doing it sent extra chills down her spine.  A limited vocabulary at best, Annie felt their words were more verbalizing some kind of primal urges than actually looking to carry on a conversation but it still freaked her out.

          A second zombie collided with its orange suited cohort, smashing its face into the wall.  One by one, more of the pack filtered into the alley until over a dozen hunting corpses sniffed wildly into the night air.  Mostly men, a few women, and one child no more than fourteen, scoured for the source of their anticipation.  More eyes focused on Annie as she stood braced against the alley wall.

          Illness and old age had become the new American dream and the prospect of making it through any given day proved a crap shoot.  Still, when death stared you in the eye, you were never ready.

          Hope you enjoyed.  If you could, leave a comment in passing.  They’re always appreciated and help fuel the writing process.  Have a great weekend! 

Stein Snippet #3

Bwahahahahaha!  Just needed to get that out of my system.  It is October, you know.  Halloween is just around the corner and even better than that, we’ve just stumbled into yet another Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.  What is that you ask?  Well, only a group of some truly inspired sci-fi/fantasy writers that contribute weekly snippets of their work.  Don’t believe me?  Go check out the main site at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com for a complete list.  And what better time to tell a zombie story than the scariest month of the year!!  Quick recap – in the last few snippets, Annie has been on the run from the meat patrol (ravenous zombies) and took a bad turn into a dead end.  With the running dead closing fast, her only hope is jumping into a trash filled dumpster.

          Annie pulled back the lid to the dumpster and threw her leg up onto the ledge to crawl inside.  A hand shot up from inside the darkened container, slamming the top back down.  Annie stumbled away, dropping the tin medical kit she carried under her arm.

          “Mine, go ‘way!”  The voice sounded like someone choking a dog after they just let it drink drain cleaner, low and coarse, more consonants then vowels.

          The first of the zombies crashed into the wall at the mouth of the alley, clinging to the bricked wall with rotted fingers.  One of the arms from his orange jump suit hung empty at its side.  Annie guessed it for a paramedic or E.M.T. that came across the wrong patient.  Their eyes locked on to each other’s in the little light the corridor provided as its eyes glazed over with the hunger.

          “Pretty food.”

          And there you have it.  I'm still working on a title.  Hope you enjoyed and come back next week to see what happens to Annie and the rat pack.  Please, leave a comment before you go.  They’re always appreciated.

Twelve Sunsets

What’s that I hear in the distance?  Is it thunder?  The ice-cream man?  No.  Then it must be another installment of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.  Due to universal forces out of my control, I missed posting last week but I did add some to the WIP I posted from the last few times.  I was all ready to post from there again but, to my own amazement, I caught the message that this was cue word week, like college week on Wheel Of Fortune but cooler.  Anyway, the word suns appeared nowhere in that snippet, considering it’s night in the scene, so instead I got all prose-like and came up with this.  I hope sunsets make the cut – it was as close as I could get.  Something a little different but staying in the zombie state of mind (Is that a Billy Joel song?).  Enjoy and check out all the other great suns related snippets over at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com.

___________________________________________________________________________

Twelve sunsets lay rid

The ghost town of Manhattan

Where zombies dwell in the spas and

Walk through fountains

With weekend hats and plastic souls

Driving down brick laden paths

To farmer's market filled with

Spoiled fruits from forgotten realms

Burning out their retinas

Watching blurred horizons

I never claimed to be a poet.  Seeya next week where I’ll return to Annie trapped in an alley while being chased by a ravenous pack of zombies.  Maybe they’re vegans?

Stein Snippet #2

Here we go on another Science Fiction Fantasy weekend go round.  I’m back into the swing after taking a few weeks off and last week I decided to start a new story (is this like writer therapy? – share with the group).  This one is still untitled but it’s moving along nicely.  I think.  I’ve toyed around with some zombie adventures before but I figured this was a great venue to spread my un-dead wings and see where it takes me.  We pick up directly from last week and Annie’s on the run from a hungry zombie mob.  Let’s see where her decisions take her.  Arrgghhh…urrggg (that was zombie speak – like pig latin but without the finesse).   Enjoy and don’t forget to click over to SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com and check out all the other writing goodness happening there.
__________________________________________

          She darted to the left, between two old warehouses, and then a quick right into what she hoped was a service entrance leading back out to the main road.  Instead, she found herself trapped in a delivery bay designed for big rigs to back their cargo up to a large bay door.  She pulled up on the latch, which held fast.

          “Great.”

          The guttural roars echoing behind her told her the pack had turned the same corners she had and would be filtering into the cargo bay any minute.  Frantically, she searched for another access door, a fire ladder leading up the roof.  Nothing.

          She leaned against a wall, trying to catch her breath, and spotted a rotted metal garbage dumpster against the far side of the alley.  Annie figured it was her best shot, provide some protection, maybe mask her scent.  That and it was her only available option.

          Short, sweet, and directly into a dead end.  Dum dum dum.  Hope you enjoyed.  Please leave a comment or two.  They are always appreciated.  You can even use zombie-speak, I just can’t promise to know how to respond.  It’s a very tricky dialect and they’re such a sensitive lot.

Stein Snippet #1

          Well, here we are again.  Another dose of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday fun.  I finished up the last short story I shared a couple weeks ago, Snips And Snails, and I had a lot of fun doing it.  While I'm waiting for the release date of my novel, Welcome To GreenGrass, to get closer, I was deciding what to share next.  I decided to take a page out of T.K.'s playbook and just run with it on a week to week basis, so I sat down and cranked out a few paragraphs.  I'm not a pantster by any means but I figured it would be a fun exercise.  No title yet - just some fun zombie rampaging.  I have a kinda cool idea where I want it go but we'll see where it goes.  Hope you enjoy!  Go check out all the great writers over at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com.  You'll be glad you did.
_________________________________________________________________________________

          Whoever said always turn left and you’ll never get lost, never had a pack of rampaging zombies chasing them through the back alleys in the middle of the night.  Annie sprinted right at the next corner, changing her path and, she hoped, her outcome.  She knew better than to scavenge that late but Zach’s arm wasn’t healing and without some type of medicine, he was a walking advertisement for the meat patrols.  She pulled an old pizza rack down behind her as she ran.  Another universal un-truth - the undead sauntered along, dragging wayward appendage in their wake, was a crock.  They were fast…and hungry, always a bad combination.

          One of the rabid corpses tumbled into the metal shelving she toppled, the crash echoing down the alley.  The rest of the pack shrieked as their meal gained some much needed distance.

          The boy wasn’t her responsibility, she knew that, but in a world that had forgotten how to care for one another, Zach became her line in the sand.  If she let him down, she feared she’d loose what was left of her own humanity.

___________________________________________________________________________________

          Well?  I hope you enjoyed it.  Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment.  They're one of the best parts of contributing to SFFSat.  Enjoy the weekend!

SnipsAndSnails#9

         Saturday – it rhymes with…well, I’m sure something.  But even more entertaining than my lack of skills of alliteration is the fact that another round of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturdays is here again.  Okay, down in the front row.  And with that I give you the final installment to the short story I’ve been sharing here, Snips And Snails.  After multiple failed attempts at scaring the young boy the creature has been forced into sharing a bedroom / closet with for the past several weeks, we come down to this.  I hope you enjoy it and please make sure you go over to the main site, scififansat.blogspot.com and check out all the contributions there from a great group of authors/writers and leave a few comments in your wake.  They are always appreciated and enjoyed.

_____________________________________________________________________________

          “Why can I not frighten you, bloodling?”

          “You don’t have anything I haven’t already seen, Booger.  You’re an outdated concept in a well-educated world, the analog to my digital.”

          They stood facing one another as the creature towered over the boy.  After all these centuries, the creature had never encountered a child like him.  What if this is what his future held and his time on that plane frightening the small humans of the world had come to a close?

          The boy raised both hands over his head and screamed, “Say something, you big dummy!” 

          In one swift motion, the creature grabbed the boy’s waist with both hands and thrust him into his now gaping jaws, swallowing hard.  Turning towards the closet, a content grin on his face, the creature burped.

          “How bad can purgatory really be?”  

          What?!  Did you really think I was going to give it a happy ending after all that?  It was fun to see the support the creature was getting over the last few weeks, being tortured with bear traps, toilet paper wraps, and of course, the dutch oven incident.  Moral of the story – when faced with real danger, maybe we shouldn’t rely on movies and the internet to guide us.  Facing fear is one thing, shooting paintballs at it is another. 

          Now, I have to figure out what to share next.  The short story from, mostly, front to back was fun but I enjoy sharing excerpts from WIPs also.  Down the road, I’ll share more from my upcoming novel, Welcome To GreenGrass, coming from Bedlam Press and Necro Publications in December (shameless plug) but for now I guess I need to dig into the archives.  Until theh, have a great weekend!

Snips And Snails #8

Saturday salutations all! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  It’s been a good last few weeks for me, having found a publisher for my novel – Welcome To GreenGrass via Bedlam Press, an imprint for Necro Publications.  We’re shooting for a December release date and I’ll definitely be sharing more as we move forward with the process. Check out my previous post for more details, if you like. Back to the action with this week’s snippet from my short story, Snips And Snails. Last week, we watched the creature get terrorized by the small child whose room he is trapped in and a little background how he ended up there.  This week, tensions mount as the creature’s frustrations get the better of him and we have a little “scare down”. Hope you enjoy and please leave a comment (or two – they’re low on calories). Make sure you go over to the main site at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com and check out all the great writing happening over there. Enjoy!______________________________________________________________________________ 

          Too focused on his re-avowing his mission, the creature barely noticed the boy sneak up behind him until he felt the five thousand volts of electrical current course through his neck.

          Reeling away from the jolt, the creature spun around to face the boy, who still held the tazer, the current flaring between the two prongs.

          Smirking, the boy said, “That’ll teach you not to pay attention.”

         The creature snarled and grabbed a toy from the desk as a green mist seeped from his nostrils, flowing down over his hand and melting the victimized space ranger into a puddle of plastic. 

          “I already saw that on Space Terrors 2 and that was a limited edition by the way.”

          Turning away from the child, the creature rammed two fingers into its eyes, turning back to display an eyeball on each pointer finger, the right one winked at the child.

          “Peepers – The Return but they did it better.”

          Flinging his eyes to the floor, the creature grabbed the horns on either side of his head and roared in pain as he ripped his head from his shoulder and hissed, “Your eternal soul is mine.”

          The boy sighed, “My Dearly Beheaded but yours has less blood.”

          Bending down to retrieve the remnants of his melted toy, the boy glanced up as the monster re-adjusted his head and added, “You owe me like two hundred buck for this.”

______________________________________________________________________________

And then there's this

Exciting news on the book front.  Welcome To GreenGrass - my sci/fi/fantasy adventure based around the adventures of misplaced terran police officer, John Traveller, and his friends in the strange and exciting city of GreenGrass has been picked up by the awesomely creative and talented David G. Barnett and Bedlam Press, an imprint of Necro Publications.

Necro Publications, a well known leader in publishing dark modern fiction, has been around for years and the Bedlam Press imprint for the publisher handles the modern urban fantasy, humor, sci-fi, and more side of their catalogue.  They recently added a new imprint, Weird West Books, for horror, fantasy & sci-fi on the western side of things.  Check out their website over at www.necropublications.com.

I've been hoping to find a home for this novel and I couldn't be happier to have partnered with Necro / Bedlam.  We're looking at a December 2013 release date and I'll be sure to add updates as the time grows near.  Thanks for the support and I hope you follow along the ride until the release.

Welcome to GreenGrass

A city filled with amazing and strange creatures living on the brink of a civil war.  Rising tensions between the enchanters and technologists threaten to disrupt the city’s delicate balance when a high profile murder shocks its citizenry. 

Enter John Traveller, terran police officer, and his band of unorthodox housemates consisting of a pacifist demon, a cast out demi-god, and a telepathic female, who find themselves at the center of a mystery that can alter the lives of every being trapped within the city’s domed walls.

SnipsAndSnails#7

 

An original thumbnail sketch when I was
plotting out one of the below scenes
Yeah, I know, stick with writing.

Did you know that the early Romans considered Saturday or “sun’s day” the first day of the week?  Neither did I until I looked it up on wiki, but that’s not the point.  What I’m getting at is what better way to start your week (okay weekend) than a fresh batch of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday snippets (say that five times fast) provided by the talented pool of authors and writers over at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com.  Oh yeah, I submitted one too.  For the past several weeks, I’ve been sharing pieces from Snips and Snails, a short story about a boy and his closet monster and the strange relationship they’ve formed.  I left off last week with the creature trying to sneak attack the boy in bed only to find a pillow stuffed under the covers before being pelted by something in the head. We pick up from there.  Enjoy and leave a comment or two if you’d like.  They are always appreciated!

______________________________________________________________________________

          Covered in a veritable rainbow of colors, the creature spun to face the wide eyed boy still pointing the paint ball gun at him from behind the cover of a wooden toy chest.

          “Are you the Booger-man?”

          That was the first of many nights, as images flooded back to the creature longingly watching a batch of clouds wash across the star scattered sky. 

          His eyes were still recovering from the laser pointer incident and he had trouble focusing on the puncture marks on his hands from the bear trap under the bed fiasco.

          He swore he’d never leave a child behind that hadn’t been taught the principles of fear, the very core of his existence.

          Brushing his hand over his scalp, a small scrap of paper flaked onto his nose, a leftover from the toilet tissue and shaving cream dousing from last week.

          Learning how to fear was intrinsic to a human’s survival and he remained bound to that duty.

          He sighed and took in a deep breath, the smell of burned hair and lighter fluid still lingered, mixed with the remnants of something the bloodling referred to as an oven made by the Dutch.

          One mistake and he would be exiled to purgatory forever.

          Running his claws down the glass, the creature formed a fist against the pane and re-asserted under his breath, “Failure is not an option.” ______________________________________________________________________________

          Thanks again!  Have a great weekend and don’t forget to check out all the great writing snippets over at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com.

Snips And Snails #6

 

Hello.  I’m not just a Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday endorser but I’m also a client.  Nothing else on the market keeps those ideas brisker and scrubs away those nasty moments of writer’s block.  Now, new and improved with a fresh midnight epiphany smell.  Act now and you’ll get to read a second snippet of equal or lesser value just for commenting in only a week’s time (Hopefully).  Seriously, thanks for stopping over.  I know I’ve been WMIA (writer missing in action) for the last couple weeks but I’m glad to be back with another snippet from my short story Snips and Snails.  Over the last few snippets, we’ve been introduced to the creature in the young boy’s room and their unique relationship and the boy’s poor choice in video downloads leading to the creature’s near up-chuck.  We pick up directly after that.

______________________________________________________________________________

          The creature stumbled over to the window and forced down the bile growing in his throat as he watched the darkened street running through the quiet residential neighborhood below.  The anguish in his face distorted in the glass as he turned his attention to the cloud covered moon, regarding the dead star as one would a long lost friend. 

          “There’s an extended un-edited cut and I’m so downloading it.”  The young boy called out behind him.

          Sighing, the creature rested his hand against the window pane as images from the prior weeks flooded his memories.

          The setup was the same as the countless thousands before, a darkened bedroom, a slowly opening closet door with just a hint of un-oiled hinges, and the ominous cast of a shadow stretching towards a young child’s bed.  Perfected by the screams of generations, it was the stage for his aria of terror.  Looming over top the huddled mass of blankets, his fangs shimmered in the glow of his hungry eyes.  Tearing away the façade of protection, the creature howled directly into the grinning face of a certain geometrically shaped cartoon character printed atop the empty pillow.

          That’s when he felt the first impact pinging against the side of his face.

           Thanks for reading and before you go on with the weekend, make sure you go on over to SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com and check out all of the fantastic writing and writers who have contributed their own snippets over there.  You’ll be glad you did.  Hurry – this is a limited time offer (not really).   

Snips and Snails #5

          Could it really be that time already?  Then bring on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday!  Today’s snippet is a continuation from my short story, Snips and Snails.  So far, we’ve met the monster in the young boy’s closet and found out their relationship is anything but typical.  Check out the earlier posted snippets for the full back story.  Here we find the two in the middle of some more monster/bloodling bonding.  Drop a comment if you care to.  They are always appreciated!  Don’t forget to go over to SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com and check out all of the great writing from a truly talented group of authors posted weekly over there.  You’ll be glad you did. 

__________________________________________________________________________

          “Check this out, Booger.”

          Turning to the computer, the boy typed something into the keyboard and a web page sprung up.

          Remember the oath - the creature repeated the mantra over and over in his thoughts.  The tradition passed down among generations was his to uphold and he wouldn’t allow shame to befall him and his lineage because of this human pup.

          Bending over the boy’s shoulder, the creature stared into the screen and said, “Do not call me that.”

          The boy clicked the mouse and said, “They call this one two mimes, a jackhammer, and an albino goat.”

          The creature’s hand involuntarily shot up to its mouth and shielded the screen from view in a decidedly unfrightening stance.

          “By Beezlebub’s blackened beard, turn that sickness off, bloodling.”

          Laughing hysterically, the boy spun around in the chair and typed in something else. 

          “If you thought that one was bad, wait until I get the next one loaded.”

          I hope you enjoyed this week’s snippet.  Come back next week to see what these two are up to next.  Thanks and have a great weekend.

Snips And Snails #4

     

   

          Hi all!  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and for those of us in the U.S., having a great Fourth of July celebration filled with barbecues, fireworks, and family fun.  What goes better with summer holidays that a heaping dose of science fiction and fantasy and what better place to get your fill than over at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday?!  Make sure you stop by and check out all the great authors who post their work at SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com.  This week’s snippet for me comes from a short story, Snips And Snails, which explores how we view fear as society evolves.  In the previous snippets, we met up with a captive monster and found out his captor was a small boy and his closet the creature’s prison.  This week, we have the first real interaction between the two.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          “Its high moon, bloodling, and one your age should be in slumber.”

           Oblivious to the creature’s reprimand, the boy dragged him across the room.          

           “Don’t be such a wuss.  Come on, I want to show you something.”

          Wild patches of hair sprouted up and down the creature’s arms, legs, and shoulders with a long black tuft banded behind its head.  Well-muscled and scarred arms hung down to its knees with leather strappings wrapped around each wrist and across the bare orange skin of its chest.  A massively wide head, home to two rows of sharpened teeth, frowned as the mismatched duo stopped near the boy’s computer.

          “Didn’t I tell you boys don’t wear dresses?”

          The creature stared down at the animal skin wrapped around its waist and bound at the center with a blackened snake skull that had been passed down to him from his father.

          “It is more of a kilt, bloodling.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          I hope you enjoyed the snippet and comments are always welcome and appreciated.