The Summer of Zombies Blog Tour – Mark Tufo

For the second year in a row I have been invited to participate in the Summer of Zombies Blog Tour and as luck would have it, I am honored to welcome back Zombie/Horror author Mark Tufo as my guest blogger.

Mark has a couple of new works he’d like to tell you about. One them sounds particularly interesting…it’s a horror novel called Tim 2 (catchy title – don’t cha think?).

Just reading this post should stir your interest in Tim – I know it did mine.

So moving right along…please enjoy this short guest post from Mark Tufo, check out his website here, and please look for the rest of the Summer Zombie Blog posts here.

Take it away, Mark!

Back by popular demand Tim 2!!!! Okay so not really. Most folks who enjoy eating or have a fear of clowns will steer clear of this novel. Back in 2011 Severed Press had approached me and asked if I had a zombie story that I wanted published, at the time I told them I did not. A couple of weeks later, I pitched them the idea of Timothy, it is the story of a zombie apocalypse through the eyes of a self-aware zombie. S.P. was happy with the idea but said that seldom do these types of stories do well. Well that was really all the incentive I needed to get going. At the time I was busy writing Zombie Fallout IV and moving cross country it was a pretty stressful time in my life and I could only spare bits and pieces of time to cobble together the story. Took me somewhere in the neighborhood of six months to get them out a novella. Although I was happy with the results and more importantly so were they.

I had let the inner demon out to feed, he was sated and I put him back in the deep dark recesses of my mind, where apparently he festered. Late 2012, Tim 2 began to burp and belch his way forward to where I began to put pen to paper.

Three months later I had a full length horror novel on my hands. I don’t know what it is about writing about such a revolting creature as Tim. He has absolutely no redeeming qualities yet I find myself rooting for him. Maybe I should ask my doctor to up my meds, or cut them off, one or the other. There’s something to be said for traveling into your inner psyche, odds are you won’t like all that you see when you pull up those old wet moss covered stones, and if you can grab and write down what it is before it scrabbles away maybe you can ink it to life (Or death)!

My Zombie Fallout series revolves around Michael Talbot, love him or hate him with all his flaws, he is still an everyman doing his best in a world gone to shit to save his friends and family. My other series the Book of Riley is a zombie apocalypse through the eyes of an American Bulldog, both are characters I have come to love as I explore them. But Tim…I don’t know what it is, his stories are magnitudes of order darker than anything I have written to date and for that I love the bastard. I still hate clowns though, of which he is.

So if it’s a dreary Saturday, and the rain is coming down hard, your significant other has taken the kids to his or her parents house and you have the house to yourself perhaps you should give Tim a chance. I mean first I would make sure your doors and windows are locked. Check the closets and under the beds, and best go see what that weird noise in the basement is before you begin but after you get all that resolved grab a blanket, gun and a big dog and go hunker down on the couch, preferably with your back to a stout wall. And enjoy. Thank you for this opportunity to hang out on your blog for a few moments!

Join Mark Tufo and Eight other Zombie authors during the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2013, going on all of June. Visit the Facebook event page for more information, too!

https://www.facebook.com/events/389530304488870/

Ike Strikes Again

In our last discussion we talked about the legend of Ike. Those of you who missed it can catch up here—go ahead, we’ll wait…

In my humble opinion, Ike is a great character. He isn’t perfect, but he is more good than bad—much more. I guess the technical term is anti-hero.

It’s not uncommon for him to break a few rules, and maybe a kneecap or two, but when the story ends the balance of the universe has been restored.

But I’m not here to repeat the last post (once again – read it here) I’m here because, for the second time, Ike’s reputation has landed him a role in somebody else’s story (you can read the first time here).

So what is Ike up to now?

Well, it all begins in a real life café called Kokomo’s, located here in Flagler Beach. Kokomo’s is a quaint, family-run café a block from the ocean. It’s the kind of place where you feel welcome as soon as you walk in the door. My friend, and fellow author, Armand Rosamilia spends his days there writing, drinking coffee and eating a wide variety of great food, usually served on a cinnamon-raisin bagel.

Armand’s zombie/horror stories are, like my novels, also set in Flagler Beach.

He’s been writing in Kokomo’s for several months now and, as a writer, he also spends a lot of time people-watching (it’s what we writers do). Not too long ago he had a great idea—writing fictionalized stories about his days in Kokomo’s, using real-life customers as a basis for his fictional ones.

Not only did I love the concept, I was thrilled when he asked me if he could feature Ike in one of his installments—since Ike is such a larger-than-life, albeit fictional, character here in Flagler Beach.

He let me read the story and I must say he pretty much nailed it. His writing style is close enough to mine, and he has read all of my books, so he was able to capture the essence of Ike quite nicely. A writer’s characters are like his/her children, so you can imagine the leap of faith required to “loan” a character to another writer.

Armand justified my faith.

In Armand’s story, a young girl is trying to escape an abusive boyfriend. Who better to rescue her? It’s a perfect scenario for Ike—and Ike doesn’t disappoint.

The story, along with the entire Flagler Beach Fiction Series, will be available on Amazon for only 99 cents each. Here is a link to the Ike story and here is a link to the facebook page where you can find information on the rest of the series.

Armand’s plan is to write ten installments at Kokomo’s and then move to a different local establishment and write ten more, then to another locale and so on. And since the stories all take place in Flagler Beach some of the characters will make repeat appearances—so it’s possible that Ike will return (as if he could be restrained!).

So please check out Armand’s Flagler Beach Fiction Series – if for no other reason than to witness the growth of a legend.

As always – Thank you for reading.

You Can’t Lose if You Don’t Play

Well, once again I didn’t win the Powerball jackpot, so it looks like I’ll have to set the alarm clock again tonight.

I’m getting closer, though…the winning ticket was sold in Florida so the jackpot gods are zeroing in on my location.

 

Even though I didn’t win, I’m glad the hype is over. Now we can resume normal behavior and stop pondering how we will spend all those millions…New car, caviar, four star daydream…think I’ll buy me a football team…

Now it’s time for the reverse philosophy. Telling ourselves how glad we are that we didn’t win because of all the hell we’d have to deal with after our number came up.

The “old friends” who come out of the woodwork, the relatives who suddenly treat you like their favorite and let’s not forget the charities who only want a minute of your time (and a stack of your cash).

Yeah, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with all that crap.

I can keep writing and waiting for that phone call from Steven Spielberg telling me he wants to make movies of all my books.

A quick look at the Powerball website will tell you that you had about a 1 in 175,000,000 chance of winning the jackpot. That’s 1…ONE…out of One-Hundred-and-Seventy-Five- MILLION.

I figure my chances of hearing from Steve (Mr. Spielberg to you) have to be better.

So while everybody else is plunking down their cash to buy lottery tickets, I’ll keep pecking away at the keyboard and waiting for the phone to ring.

Naturally, I’ll need help from you.

YOU are my lottery ticket…

Without your support, Spielberg will never know what he’s missing. So now that your lottery fever is gone and you’ll need something else to drop your dough on…try my books.

Hell – for a little more than $10 (five powerball tickets) you can get all of my books on your e-reader. Click here and take your pick. What a deal…and when you’re done reading them you won’t have to tear them up in frustration and throw them in the trash while you think about all of the things you were going to buy.

Plus, you’ll get to read some fun stories where the good guys (if you can figure out who they are) always win.

As always…Thank you for reading.

Who the Hell is Ike?

It’s no secret – I live on Facebook. I admit it, I’m a Facebook junkie.

As an Independent Author, I find Facebook a great place to market myself. It reaches millions of people and it’s free – can’t beat that with a stick.

Even though I use it as a marketing tool, I try not to come across like a used-car salesman. Everybody has their own methods…some of my other author friends post links to their books daily.

Me? I’d rather post a picture of a guy wearing a Batman cape and mask along with rainbow stockings standing in a fountain. Something to make you laugh.

Occasionally I will post something philosophical, just to make you think.

But I hardly ever (not never – but rarely) post anything that asks you to buy my books.

Why not?

I guess I don’t want to be a nuisance.

With all that being said, I have come up with, what I think is a clever marketing gimmick.

I’ve started taking iconic photos from movies and TV and inserting my own “Ike-isms” into them.

Here’s an example:

The idea came to me after I created one for my friend, author Armand Rosamilia. It was from the movie The Breakfast Club and, after I made it, I thought, Hmmm – I need to do something similar for myself.

So I started with a Mother’s Day themed one. It was an image of the most iconic TV mother I could think of – June Cleaver – and I inserted text that said something to the effect of “Give your mom what all moms want – a healthy dose of Ike.”

Before I knew it I had made about 25 of them and had to create a new folder on my jump drive to hold them so I could post them at various times. After about the 3^rd or 4^th day I started getting private messages from people asking me “Who the hell is Ike?”

The plan was working, I had raised curiosity about Ike (and by default, my books) without becoming a pain-in-the-ass.

So – let me tell you about Ike:

Ike was written into my first book Living the Dream as a minor character. His role was intended to be strictly support, in fact I think he only appeared in three or four chapters. I didn’t know much about him then, other than that he lived on a boat and worked as an “enforcer” for a local bookie named Ralph.

In Water Hazard, I brought Ike back as the best friend of the protagonist, called in for assistance with a deadly scenario. This is where Ike’s personality really began to grow. Here it was revealed that Ike was an ex-Navy SEAL. He is 6’-6” tall and weighs about 275 lbs. He has long hair that is beginning to gray and he wears it in a ponytail. He is a ladies man and afraid of nothing. But most importantly – even though he has a tendency to bend the rules and he works for a known felon, he has a very strong moral compass.

Physically Ike is a guy built like The Rock…with the looks and bad-ass-itude of Sam Elliot’s character Wade Garrett in the movie Road House, and with the charm and personality of Sam Axe (played by Bruce Campbell) from Burn Notice.

Throughout the next three books, Ike remained a key figure—sort of a knight-in-shining-armor. He was always there to make sure bad things didn’t happen to good people. By the time Pump It Up was released it was especially challenging (and a lot of fun) to see how Ike would fair in the world of transsexuals, transgenders and transvestites.

Ike is such a strong character that Armand Rosamilia, who writes zombie/horror stories, asked if I’d be willing to co-write a zombie novella with him and put Ike in it.  At first I was skeptical, because Ike lives in (are you ready for this) “the real world”.  There are no zombies in Ike’s world…so I was a little unsure, but eventually I decided that fiction is fiction so what the hell.

The book, Dying Days: The Siege of European Village, was a ton of fun to write and I have received lots of feedback from fans who loved Ike’s role in it. Adding further to the myth…now he even kills zombies!

So that’s about it on Ike – at least as far as I know.

There is not much doubt that I will eventually have to write a pre-quel to get the full story on Ike, but at this point, it’s a mystery to me.

*Update – Read the riveting sequel to this post here!!

As always – Thank you for reading.

Interview with a Teenage Ghost Whisperer

My friend and fellow Indie-Author Becky Pourchot has recently released a new book called “To Kiss a Ghost”.

Becky M. Pourchot

The book is the second in her “Hungry Ghost” series and revolves around the continuing mis-adventures of Gala Rhyce, a teenage girl who doesn’t have enough trouble with teenage girl stuff…now she sees ghosts.

Even though Becky’s target audience is “young adults” – I read the first book in the series and enjoyed it very much. I’ll read the second one too, because I really like Becky’s writing style. She has a great sense of humor, which she combines with a vivid imagination, great characters and, of course, a fantastic setting (Flagler Beach).

Naturally, since we are friends, I offered to interview Becky for my blog in hopes that it would increase her fan base (she deserves it), but she had a better idea…

She suggested I interview Gala – her character in the books.

I didn’t even have to think about it – I thought it was a great idea!

So – without further delay, here is my interview with 15-year-old Gala Rhyce…Flagler Beach’s own Ghost Whisperer…

Welcome Gala…it’s a pleasure to meet you. Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

I’m fifteen years old and I live in Flagler Beach, Florida with my mom and Joey my ten year old brother.  I like to draw—monsters and stuff.  I’m big into graphic novels.  When I grow up I’d like to be an illustrator or something.

And how long have you been living in Flagler Beach?

I’ve been here…um…since June, so two months…and a couple days.  I start school on Monday.

Do you like living here?

Well, I mean, the beach is cool.  But the kids are really different here.  Surfing and skate boarding is like their life.  And the girls, if they’re not surfing, are hanging out at the beach in their bikinis trying to impress the guys.  It’s just not my thing.

Okay…little confession, don’t laugh—sometimes I’ll hang out at Nerdz comic book store, thinking some kid with my interests will show up, but it’s like all thirty year old guys who played Dungeons and Dragons when they were my age…not that there’s anything wrong with that, but thirty year old geek-men really aren’t my thing.

Also, I’m not so sure about Florida weather.  I can’t believe how frickin’ hot it is here. That school better be air conditioned.

Was it difficult to make friends?

Yeah. I’ve made almost no friends. The guy that I was dating left for college a week ago.  That did not end well.

I understand you have a…unique ability when it comes to making friends?

Okay…so obviously you’ve heard about my “skills”.  Really I don’t want this getting out to the kids at school, so please, promise not to tell anyone…

I’m not crazy.  Really.  But since I got here I’ve been seeing ghosts.  Actually not just seeing them but hanging out with them, making friends with them.  So I suppose I have made friends—but I don’t think friendships with dead people really count.

Some of these ghosts are okay…annoying, but tolerable.  The only problem is these nasty spirit beings called Ashen Ones.  They’re these creepy shadow creatures that expect me to “clean up” Flagler Beach—you know, get rid of all the ghosts that have been lingering around for the past hundred years.  It’s not always clear how I’m supposed to do that though.  I usually have to figure it out as I go.  Trust me, this whole thing is really screwed up.

Ghosts? Are you sure about that? How do I know you’re not making this up for attention? After all, you are a teenage girl…

Oh believe me!  I don’t want any attention from this.  If I could just close my eyes real tight and wish them all away, trust me I would.

What was it like the first time you saw a ghost?

It wasn’t scary like you’d think.  I had been communicating with her for a few days…then when I finally saw her, it was so cool…she was in front of me, sort of transparent like.  We were friends at that point (before she went all nutty on me)…so it was sort of like finally meeting a friend face to face that you had been chatting with on the computer for a long while before.

Tell us about these ghosts, if you can…

So, first there was Trista.  She was haunting my house.  She died in the Eighties so her whole fashion style was stuck in the last century.  She was nice at first.  I sort of felt sorry for her.  But then she got really greedy and demanding.  When she tried taking over my life I was done with her.

Then there’s Roy.  I think he was like in his forties.  He used to be a local ghost hunter—then he died.  Roy has the soul of a big teddy bear—no, not literally. (Do teddy bears have souls?!)  Roy’s from New Jersey, so he’s got like that mafia accent…and he’s bald.  He looks like he’s some big tough guy, but he’s really nice.  He’s super clumsy—always knocking stuff over.  And when he knocks over stuff at the Mermaid Inn people really freak out. Ghost tourists come from all over to watch his apparition bump into lamps and stuff.  It’s actually quite funny.

Oh, and another ghost– Serendipity the dog!  She sort of caused me to have my little accident…but she’s also the reason that some really good things happened to me…

Okay you probably want me to say something about Jaylen too, right?  I fell for him—even though he’s a ghost and now things are totally weird…I mean weirder than any relationship you’ve ever had.  It sort of hurts to think about him, so I don’t want to say anymore…okay I will say that he is the sweetest, kindest guy I’ve ever known…and there’s still a chance things will work out, so cross your fingers.  I miss him.

Are they friendly?

LOL…other than the Ashen Ones, so far they’re all friendly…but also pretty needy.

So you’re sort of like the daughter played by Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice?

I LOVE that movie!  Yeah we’re sort of alike…though she dressed way better than me.  That show was pretty messed up.  It’s like how my brain works… I’m putting it in my Netflix cue right now.  Must watch again!

Do you know why you only meet certain ghosts? I mean there must be lots of ghosts around…why don’t you see all of them?

Hmm.  That’s a good question.  I think the Ashen One’s set me up.  I know this sounds crazy paranoid, but I think they watch me and make situations happen.  I mean I still have free will and all, but they’re manipulating things so I meet up with certain ghosts.   Seriously, my life is not quite my own anymore.

Do you think it has something to do with the house you live in or do you think you would encounter ghosts no matter where you lived?

I think it’s two things.  First I have the DNA for seeing ghosts—it’s in my dad’s blood line or something…but it wasn’t until I opened up the channel with the first ghost and figured out how to “clear” her that the Ashen Ones started paying attention. After accidently demonstrating how skilled I am, the Ashen Ones decided I was the girl for the job.  So now it looks like I’m stuck with it.

Did you ever encounter ghosts in Wisconsin?

When I was five my stuffed animal fell off the shelf and I was totally freaked out and I was sure a ghost did it…but now that I think about it, it was probably just the wind blowing in.  My mom’s always been into paranormal, new age stuff.  I just thought it was stupid.  Never really believed in it until we moved here.

How does your family and friends feel about your “gift”?

Mom has no clue.  Joey thinks its “wicked cool” and friends?  Uh…remember I don’t have any of those. J

Does these ghosts want you to do anything specific for him/her? What if you don’t want to do it…can you “just say no”?

Well, my first ghost was totally pushy. After her I learned that I had enough power to say no to them…But the Ashen Ones are different.  They’re like a completely different type of creature all together.  I don’t think they try to be mean, but they’ve got an agenda that they need me to follow to “keep the Universe in balance”.  They’re sort of like the boss for a job you can never quit.

Does the ghost do anything for you? You know, like scare the crap out of the mean girls at school or give you the answers to the history exam?

LOL  That’d be nice. One ghost could heal people.  That was pretty awesome.  He could kiss too…but that’s none of your business.

Your adventures have been chronicled in two books…how do you feel about this? Isn’t it worse than having your little brother read your diary?

OMG!  Are you kidding?  In books?  Crap.  I hope they at least changed my name.  Before I know it they’re going to be following me around for a reality show.

Obviously, since you have seen more than one ghost, this is not a “one and done” sort of thing…do you have any idea how often it will happen? Do the ghosts give you any kind of advance notice or do they just show up?

I wish I got advance notice.  I’m hoping as school starts up, the ghost thing will settle down, but I keep seeing the Ashen Ones out of the corner of my eye, slithering against my bedroom wall late at night.  They’re still watching…and making plans.

Okay – Thank you Gala – it’s been a pleasure talking to you. I hope things work out for you!

 

And thank you to Becky for allowing Gala to talk to me.

Becky also has two very funny non-fiction books. One is a personal memoir called “I Look Better in Binary” and the other is a collection of great stories about her lack of housekeeping skills called “Forgive Me Martha”. https://www.facebook.com/ForgiveMeMartha

Please check out Becky’s web site www.hungryghostbooks.com

Independent authors rely on you, our fans, for support – so please help out as much as you can…if you can’t buy our books – please share our names with others and help spread the word!!

As always – thank you for reading.

Making Noise in the Backseat

In April, 2004 my brother-in-law and I drove from Rhode Island to Florida in a 22 hour non-stop marathon. In order to save us the trouble of thinking of stuff to talk about, we stopped at Cracker Barrel in RI and grabbed a couple of audio books to listen to. We made sure they were action-filled spy stories, hoping they’d keep us awake.

It worked…we stayed awake, listened to 2 good books and returned them to the Cracker Barrel in Florida when we arrived.

Prior to that, my only other experience with audio books was during high school English class when we had to read Shakespeare.

Our teacher was a young woman who, I believe, could still identify with our difficulty in understanding old-timey English. She mercifully allowed us to listen to a recorded version of the story (Romeo and Juliet) which made it much easier for us.

Believe it or not, I have a reason for telling you this stuff…

After six months, I am pleased to announce that my novel Backseat to Justice is finally available as an audio book.

Backseat is the story of Florida Private Investigator Steve Salem who is hired to tail an unfaithful husband, only to have the husband get executed before his eyes.

Needless to say, he figures his fee is history—until the wife of the slain cheater hires him to solve the murder.

Things take off after that and just when Steve thinks he’s solved the case it takes the most bizarre twist imaginable.

That’s all I’m telling you – if you want to know what happens you’ll have to buy the book.

One more thing about this book – as with the print and e-book versions – half of all the profits are being donated to a Rhode Island based dog rescue organization called Golden Huggs Rescue.

So without further ado – here is the link…

Download your copy now and please share this link with your audio-book-loving friends!

As always – Thank you for reading.

Blog Hop Interview

Last week I was invited by my good friend Armand Rosamilia to participate in this “blog hop interview”. The idea is this; He sent me some interview questions, which I answer and then at the end I tag 3 other writers who will in turn answer the same questions on their blogs next week.

Please check out Armand’s answers to the questions on his blog at His Blog. Feel free to leave a sarcastic comment at the end and tell him it’s from me…he loves it when I do that!

So without further adieu – here are the questions;

What are you working on right now?

Unfinished Business will be released in June, 2013

Mainly, I am in the process of editing my next release, “Unfinished Business”. It will be released in June of this year. The editor and I have completed the first ten chapters as of April 24^th.

How does it differ from other works in its genre?

“Unfinished Business”, like most of my books, doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre. It has elements of the supernatural as well as some suspense/mystery and it also has some of the fast-paced action the rest of my work is known for. So it isn’t a matter of being different from other works in the genre, because it doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre to begin with.

What experiences have influenced you?

I have drawn on experiences from my entire life, as well as stories told to me by others. I like to include as much real-life in my books as possible in order to make them more believable.

Why do you write what you do?
Mostly because it’s what I like to read.

How does your writing process work?
It starts with a very basic idea. I call it the “What If” idea.

For example; “What if a woman who embalms bodies for a living suddenly had to carry out the last thoughts of the dead people she was embalming?”

From there I construct a basic story line, come up with the major conflict/challenge and then I start writing.

I don’t use an outline and I only have a basic idea of what will happen…I let the characters drive the boat.

What is the hardest part about writing?
For me the hardest part is finding time. I have to fit writing in between working full time and having some sort of life.

What would you like to try as a writer that you haven’t yet?
The book I want to write, that I haven’t yet, will be a World War II historical fiction story.

Who are the authors you most admire?
My favorite authors are Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiassen and Tim Dorsey. I also like Nelson DeMille, Lee Childs, Michael Connelly and Greg Iles.

 What scares you?

Religious extremists.

That about wraps up my answers…I now tag these three authors to answer the same questions next Wednesday.

Belinda Frisch – http://belindaf.blogspot.com/

April M. Reign – www.aprilmreign.com

SB Knight – http://sbknight.wix.com/sbkh#!blogger-feed/c175f

Please try to take a look at their blogs as well. We are all Independent Authors trying to support one-another – and you are the first responders in that fight!

As always – thank you for reading!