Jason’s Authors You Should Know – Brian K. Morris

Today’s author you should know is Brian K. Morris.

Brian is a man of many talents. According to his website:

BRIAN K. MORRIS has been a comic shop manager/owner, on-air talent for his local PBS station, manager of the print division of his local Big Box office supply store, a stage/film actor, paperwork pusher for a local utility, and an assistant mortician.

Since 2012, Brian has been the publisher and “chief set of hands” at Freelance Words and Rising Tide, his independent publishing businesses as well as a popular freelance writer.

In addition, Brian is the Editor-in-Chief at Silver Phoenix Entertainment of Oak Park, Illinois, the Midwest’s largest publisher of horror, public service, and Roller Derby comics.

A popular guest at conventions and book signings, Brian lives in Central Indiana with his wife, no children, no pets, and too many comic books.

Let me start by saying Brian is a great guy. He’s full of energy and is amazing to watch him work a crowd.

I first met him last year at the Eclipse Comic Con in Carbondale, IL. He moderated a panel of writers for the Con which I was a participant of. I hadn’t met him before the Con but he treated me like we were old friends. Since then, I’ve come to know more about him and even helped Beta read one of his books. You couldn’t ask for a better advocate on your behalf than Brian.

He writes comics and recently published a collection of horror short stories, The Haunting Scripts of Bachelors Grove. You should take a moment and visit his website and check out his books. He’s an excellent writer and well worth taking a chance on.

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Come back tomorrow for another author you should know!

Jason’s Authors You Should Know – Amy Hale

The other day I had the thought of featuring an author a day throughout the month of June. I wrote down a list of authors I’ve met since I started writing and sharing my work and I came up with a pretty good list. I didn’t tell any of these authors I was gonna do this so I hope they’re ok with it. They all write in various genres but I figured why not share people I know and appreciate.

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First up is author Amy Hale.

I first met Amy at a small horror convention called Con-Tamination back in 2016. It was a small horror/pop culture convention held in St. Louis at a scary hotel. All I had at the time to sell was my first book (Almost) Average Anthology. All the other authors had way more books, but I had to start somewhere, right? Anyway, Amy was one of the other authors there and we talked a little but that was about it.

 

Then I met her again last year at the Eclipse Comic-Con in Carbondale, IL. Our tables were right next to each other so we talked a lot. Turns out, she lives pretty close to me! I met her whole family (her husband John is a great dude!) and we got along great. We also were both going to PennedCon in St. Louis a few weeks after the Eclipse Con and we hung out a lot there. She’s been a great supporter and advocate for me since, even offering to share her table with me so I could check out Cape Con in Cape Girardeau, MO.

Amy writes a lot of adventure with romance sprinkled in. She’s a prolific writer with at least 10 books out. She’s also part of a shared world project called Havenwood Falls where each author writes within the same world.

Welcome to Havenwood Falls, a small town in the majestic mountains of Colorado. A town where legacies began centuries ago, bloodlines run deep, and dark secrets abound. A town where nobody is what you think, where truths pose as lies, and where myths blend with reality. A place where everyone has a story. Including the high schoolers.

Amy is super talented and an all around great person. Please go check her out, buy a book or two, and share her work with others that might be interested. You can find her at authoramyhale.com and follow her on Amazon.

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Come back tomorrow for another author you should know!

Indie Comic Creator – Todd Black

Not to discount our brethren in the realm of indie comics, I wanted to share about writer and comic creator Todd Black.

Todd Black, second from the right, amidst the Power Rangers.

I met Todd at this past weekend’s Eclipse Comic Con on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. Todd was with me on the panel discussion on writing. It was a fun hour that went by way too fast.

He’s created several titles including Guardians and Home. He’s a dynamic talent and never ending source of energy.

 

His next project is called 10,000 Miles and he describes it like this:

It’s about two brothers who are about to be separated in life, and decide to go on one last, great adventure to make their last moments together memorable. And so…THEY DECIDE TO DIG THEIR WAY TO CHINA!!!!

You can be part of this adventure through Todd’s Kickstarter campaign. Every dollar helps bring this new tale to life. To find out more and how you can part of this amazing journey, check out the Kickstarter page here.

 

Eclipse Comic Con Recap

This past weekend (Aug. 10th-20th) I participated in the Eclipse Comic Con on the campus of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Tied in to the upcoming solar eclipse that crosses the United States on Aug. 21st with the point of longest duration just minutes from Carbondale, this event had a lot going for it.

I’ve not done too many local events since I released my first book. I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in art and blues festivals out at Blue Sky Vineyards in Makanda, IL but this was my first big local event and I wasn’t disappointed.

I was set up next to another local author, Amy Hale, who I’ve met at Contamination in St. Louis in 2016. However I hadn’t really gotten to know her until now. We had a blast all weekend as we engaged new readers and got to talk with each other about our books and our journeys as writers. Her and her husband John are good people and I can’t wait to meet up with them at Penned Con in St. Louis.

The Con itself was larger than I expected. There were comic vendors, memorabilia booths, and I think five to six authors selling books or comics. We even participated in a panel on writing during the Sunday session. Authors Amy Hale, Kenny Sills, Cathy Jackson, Todd Black, myself and moderator author Brian Morris spoke about writing paths and fielded questions from the audience.

My setup at the Eclipse Comic Con. My friend and cover artist Dan Brown was a few booths away working for our local comic shop and snapped the pic for me.

I knew going into the event I needed to sell 10 books to cover the cost of my table. I had that done within the first 2 hour of the event! That kind of early success calmed my nerves and helped me to enjoy the event quite a bit. Sales on the first day were more than expected, though on Sunday they cooled quite a bit. I’m ok with that since I was able to cover my costs and get my books in the hands of readers from all over the country as visitors to the region for the eclipse were in high attendance at the show. Because I live 15 minutes from the campus of SIU, I didn’t have hotel or travel costs making this Con a no brainer for me.

I heard by the end of the Con that organizers were fairly certain they’d be doing the event again next year. I certainly hope so. As a reasonably priced event with lots of potential growth, I’d easily add it to the list of events I plan on attending next year. Even without the eclipse drawing visitors to the region, I think the area can support such a Con.