ECTOSTORM Cover!

What you see above is the final front cover for my newest novel, ECTOSTORM:  Book Three of the Stanley Cooper Chronicles, put out by Twisted Library Press (Formerly Library of the Living Dead).  The cover was done by the same insanely talented fellow who did the covers for VERMIN and PAGES, Romik Safarian.  I'd provide a link, but there's nothing on his website right now, and that's a damned shame because he's my go-to guy for all cover art.  

In this chapter of Stanley Cooper's life, he meets a group of people who, like himself, died and came back.  But, because life can never be warm and fluffy, someone starts killing the members of that group. A bloody message on the wall leads Stanley to believe that the killer is none other than the betrayer of Evergreen, who wants him to surrender for purposes unknown.  On the other side of the coin, demons want to kill Stanley to keep him from surrendering to the traitor.  Either way, Stanley seems hosed.  

ECTOSTORM is a very special book because it was funded by fans through Kickstarter.  

When ECTOSTORM becomes available, you'd better believe I'll post a link and maybe even run a contest for a few free copies!  

The Art of the Rewrite

Once you've finished your first draft, passed it off to your first reader (if you don't have one of these, you really need one), gotten notes, cried, cursed and pouted, then let the cold realization that your words aren't perfect when freshly vomited from your brain set in, then it's time to do that thing that every writer I know hates:  Rewrites.  Keep in mind, this is a crucial part of the whole writing process.  This is the point where the actual "craft" of being a writer comes in.  So sit down in your chair, pour yourself a big mug of coffee, and dive in.

There are several things to look for when rewriting your novel.  In my mind, they break down to two categories:  Technical and Creative.  On either side are things that could make or break your novel, and while one has hard and fast rules (that we break all the time, so they're more like guidelines than actual rules) at which you can point in making corrections, the other is a much more diabolical, and easily offended, aspect.