Jason’s Authors You Should Know – PC3

Today’s author you should know is PC3.

Author PC3 (Patrick Harrison III) is a super talented author of horror. His work is gripping and realistic, even when dealing with the dark side of fiction.

I was made familiar with PC3’s work when we were both in the Hellbound Books anthology Shopping List Vol. 2. Once I read his story, I was hooked! I’m currently reading his novel Inferno Bound and the Hell Hounds and I cannot recommend it enough for those into horror. It’s bloody, dark, and perfect for an escape from our reality.

Since I came across his work, we’ve been in several Facebook groups together and I’m slowly learning more about this amazing writer. He’s crazy talented and definitely worth your hard earned cash. Go buy his books!

From his Amazon page:

Patrick C. Harrison III (PC3) is a writer of horror, bizarro, splatterpunk, and dark erotica. He lives with his wife and children on the outskirts of Greenville, Texas. He is a scary person.

To find all the books available from PC3, check out his Amazon page or his website.

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Come back tomorrow for another author you should know!

Jason’s Authors You Should Know – Thomas S. Gunther

Today’s author you should know is Thomas S. Gunther.

Thomas is an absolutely brilliant horror writer. I’ve read several of his short stories and loved them all. He writes excellent tales of dark and dread and they are so entertaining. You really need to try his work!

I met Thomas through Twitter where he’d comment on a few posts of mine and I’d do the same with his posts. I was able to read one of his stories and his talent blew me away! On top of that, he has been a big advocate of my work for which I’m super appreciative of. We’ve both had short stories published in Hellbound Books anthologies with Thomas’ stories finding homes in their collections The Big Book of Bootleg Horror Vol.2 and The Big Book of Bootleg Horror Vol.4.

Thomas’ bio from his Smashwords page:

Thomas S. Gunther enjoys reading and writing fiction of all kinds, though he is partial to horror. Like the original American horror writer, Edger Allen Poe, he favors the short story over longer works, though he is currently working on a novel (or two), as well. He is employed as an aquatic transfer engineer on a tree farm but also works as a writer/editor for occasional private clients. While his parents had hoped he would pursue his artistic talents, he chose to draw with words instead, having been inspired by various writers, including but not limited to, Jack London, Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, and Clive Barker. In turn, his work may be described as being a mix of brutality, dark humor, and the macabre. The stories showcased here are just a sampling of the many he has written. Three of his short stories have recently made it into print within the pages of three separate anthologies with another publisher (whose initials are HBB). While not stabbing at his novel(s), Thomas works diligently on a collection–long overdue–of short stories entitled, “Mumbling Darkly,” (sharing the same name as his WordPress page), which he hopes to publish soon, possibly 2019). He has one son from a previous relationship (very handsome and much brighter than his father), and two older kids, and several grandchildren via his second marriage. When not working or writing, Thomas S. Gunther spends his days helping his beautiful wife around their home in Kalamazoo, MI, making sure the dog doesn’t eat the youngest grandson, eat the flowers, or dig up the cats buried in the backyard.

You can find more of Thomas’ short stories on Smashwords or check out his blog for more about this super-talented writer!

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Come back tomorrow for another author you should know!

Jason’s Authors You Should Know – Donna Maria McCarthy

Today’s author you should know is Donna Maria McCarthy. She’s a horror writer from the UK and crazy talented.

I first met Donna when we were both included in the Hellbound Books Anthology Shopping List 2. She has works published by Hellbound Books including Biddy Trott and The Meddler. Her first book The Hangman’s Hitch came out in 2016.

Since meeting Donna, she’s been super supportive of my work, even when it’s not horror related. She tirelessly works to promote other authors and share their stories with readers. She’s got a great sense of humor and a sense of comradery with her fellow writers. Add to that her wonderful ability to craft dark tales, and you’ve got an author to look out for!

Check out her author page over at Hellbound Books to find out more about her. You can also follow Donna on Twitter by going to @roast914_k.

2017 Year in Reading

Every year in January I revisit the past year in reading and share my books with you. What follows is the list of books and magazines I read in 2017. At a quick glance, I noticed my year was dominated by indie authors (a topic I’d like to revisit in a future post).

I continued to read Daily Science Fiction and Every Day Fiction in 2017, though in all honesty, I don’t read them much anymore. With all the longer work commitments I made, I don’t write short stories. I may on occasion turn back to the short form but I haven’t written any in a while. What that means is my reading tastes have changed. I now read more novels and I think that’s due in part to what I’m writing.

I did get a subscription to Nightmare Magazine, but I’d always lose my place because as new issues were released and I’d download them to my iPad, I couldn’t tell what month they were. So..I ended up not reading as much as I wanted. I still have some catching up to do and most likely won’t renew my subscription because of how far behind I am. It’s well worth the money if you have the time to stay in top of the current issues.

Here is my 2017 reading list.

Magazines

SciFan Magazine, Issue 1

SciFan Magazine, Issue 2

SciFan Magazine, Issue 3

Nightmare Magazine, May 2017 

 

Novels/Short Stories

John Scalzi, The Human Division

Callum Wallace, The Walker

Christa Yelich-Koth, Illusion

Nicole Lutrell, Station 86

Nate Southard, Scavengers

Crystal Lake Publishing, Writers on Writing Omnibus

Joe Chianakas, Nightmares Under the Moonlight

Kevin T. Johns, The Page Turners: Blood

Harriet Darling, The Haunting of Wicker House

Stan Faryna, Francesco Augustine Bernadone

Ryan Holiday, Perennial Seller

Iain Robb Wright, Animal Kingdom

R.J. Batla, Fire Eyes Awakened

Schreyer Ink Publishing, Twilight Madhouse, Vol. 1

Bryan Caron, Year of the Songbird

D.L. Richardson, Poison In the Pond

Greg Alldredge, Lights In the Night

Hellbound Books, The Big Book of Bootleg Horror, Vol.2

Miranda Nading, Eldorado Gold

Michael Bray, Meat

Schreyer Ink Publishing, Twilight Madhouse, Vol.2

Philip K. Dick, Second Variety

Crystal Lake Publishing, Where Nightmares Come From

Derek Murphy, Guerrilla Publishing

Leland Lydecker, Necrotic City

MD Parker, The Ghosts Between

Joanne Van Leerdam, The Silver Feather

Jim Driver, How to Write a Novel the Easy Way Using the Pulp Fiction Method

A.K. Taylor, The Newbie Author’s Survival Guide

Philip K. Dick, The Crystal Crypt

 

Beta Reading

R.J. Batla, Tempus (Beta Reading)

Aaron Hamilton, To Die One Death (Beta Reading)

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Have you read any of these? What did you think? What are some titles I need to add to my 2018 reading list?

NaNoWriMo 2017 and More

NaNoWriMo has been over for about a week now. How’d you do? Did you cross the 50K threshold? If not, did you at least make progress on a new project or work on an existing one?

I nailed my target on the last Sunday of November. This makes my fifth NaNo win since I started many years ago!

The book I wrote, titled Soul Windows, is probably my darkest one yet. I wanted to write something closer to a pure horror novel than anything I’ve done before. I think I did it, but time will tell. I haven’t gone back to revising it yet. Immediately after I finished it I went back to an older manuscript set in the same small town of Soul Windows. I have a third book also set in the town and my plan is to release all three of them in rapid succession for a horror “series” in the sense that they’re all in the same world. There might be a few minor tie-ins between them, but other than the setting they are stand-alone books. Once I’m done with the older manuscript, I’ll get back to Soul Windows.

While writing during NaNo, I was also busy revising and working with my editor for the new sequel to my scifi novel The Selection. I’ve rebranded it as The Selection: The Forgotten Chronicles Book 1. My plan is a trilogy with the possibility of a series of 4-5 novellas set in the same world but not part of the main storyline. Think of it like the Star Wars movies where there are the main movies with other movies set in the same galaxy. The new book, Rise of the Forgotten: The Forgotten Chronicles Book 2 is due out January 19th. It’s actually up for pre-order now though the cover is a placeholder until I get the actual one. Feel free to grab it for .99 today! (Oh, btw…if you’ve read The Selection and would like to be part of my ARC team to help me launch with at least 10 honest reviews, let me know. I’m assembling my team now!)

And as if that wasn’t enough, you may have missed my release of The God’s Eye: A Collection of Horror Short Stories. This might be the last short story collection I release. I have so many longer projects in the works that I haven’t written short stories in a long time. I only have a couple reviews on it, but wow–I struck a chord with my readers! I’m humbled by the kind words. You can get it here: The God’s Eye.

I’ve also got a short story in the new collection from Hellbound Books called Shopping list 2. It’s one of my darker pieces and something that made me squirm as I wrote it! Check it out here: Shopping List 2.

Finally, my book The Selection is part of a 22 author, 22 novel international collection called On the Horizon. We’re offering it now for a preorder price of only .99! That’s 22 novels for less than .05 each! The theme of the collection is scifi and fantasy with little to no technology. My book was a perfect fit and I might be adding something to it that’s exclusive to the collection. Please consider preordering it on the Nook or Amazon. You’re support would be most appreciated by me and the entire collective of international authors.

So, yeah. That’s what I’ve got going on. What about you? Share with us your new releases, projects, or other awesome news in the comments below!

New Release Alert: Shopping List 2

Hey everyone, I have a new release alert to share with you!

The good folks at Hellbound Books have a new short story collection called Shopping List 2 that’s available in paperback (and ebook soon) with one of my stories in it!

I’m so excited to be part of their growing stable of authors. They’ve published a couple short stories by my friend Thomas Gunther (an amazing writer you need to check out) and a novel by my friend and supremely talented author Pamela Morris.

Shopping List 2 carries on the premise of “These authors are so good, I’d read their shopping list!” Each story also has a shopping list submitted by the author and it could be a real list or made up one. You’ll have to buy the book to see which one I did! My short story A Tiny Piece of Soul will entertain and scare you. It’s probably the darkest piece I’ve published to date.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of horror, you gotta check out this new collection. I’d appreciate the support. Thanks! You can get it on Amazon here: Shopping List 2.