Spooky Stories for Halloween- With Free option!

What a month! It's been a thorough up and down fright ride, for sure.

So tired of all the real horror.

To get your mind off that, here's some fictional scary stuff that you can read- or listen to.

Just in time for Halloween month!

My collection of five short stories, The Return of Fear, is now available as an audiobook!
https://www.amazon.com/Return-Fear-Story-Collection/dp/B08KKBD257/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=the+return+of+fear&qid=1601741399&s=audible&sr=1-17

Narrated by the talented Ken Strecker, a perfect break to give you some chills.

Better yet, you can get it for FREE with a no-cost Audible trial!
(Or just 6 bucks without- the price of a sub!)

Happy Halloween!

Kickstarter for cool anthology: My Peculiar Family Volume II

Do you like story collections by new writers, who take a theme and run with it?
Check out this great project- and if you've got a buck or two, consider kicking in to make this happen.

Kickstarter link

For a few bucks more, you get terrific rewards! And be a part of something great!
Since I have a story in this collection, I'm supporting it by giving away five books (your choice),
and there are plenty more things for donors, including original artwork!


My Peculiar Family Volume II – Celebrations is the second anthology of unusual original tales!

This volume combines well-known and emerging writers, who have been on Sci Fi Saturday Night and unites them, writing together in a shared universe to discover the fictional lost family of Chyna Dale.

When she discovers a box of old tintype photos in her attic, her quest becomes finding out who they are. Each picture features a mysterious portrait of a single person. Who are these people? What are their stories? What makes them so…peculiar?

Each author had to answer these questions in their unique tale. All of the authors received one of Chyna Dale’s tintypes, a name for the photographed person, and a celebration of some sort.

Some of the stories are more on the horror side, some more paranormal, some science-fiction/fantasy, but all are linked together by Chyna Dale’s family.
Come join us on this second journey into the dark history of the Dimsdale Family.

New Cover Look of A Sharp Medicine

A number of readers have been asking when the next Zack Taylor book will be out.
Number 5 in the series.
I keep saying I finish writing and publishing the books quicker than George R.R. Martin...  :-)

A Sharp Medicine will be out this Fall- no exact date, because it's still in production.
But it'll be good, and good takes time.

The title and theme are taken from the amazing Sir Walter Ralegh (yes, that's the proper spelling- no i in the name). His life ran from (1552-1618).
He was an English courtier in the Court of Elizabeth I, and one of her favorites. He tried to colonize Virginia, and introduced potatoes and tobacco to England. Both crops had an immense historical impact.

This quote is supposed to be what he said as his last words before his beheading.
Tis a sharp medicine, but it will cure all that ails you. 

Ouch. To be able to remark like that, with insight and wit, at your execution.

Here's a peek at the cover. Pow.

So here's an offer- when it's ready, I'll send you an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) if you'll consider posting a review. A free read, before it hits the worldwide market.

And if you like that, and would like more Zack Taylor, here's a link.
And the first in the series, A Memory of Grief, is only 99 cents for the ebook!

Free- Insanity Tales Giveaway

Hello again- good news! The second Insanity Tales anthology, Insanity Tales II- The Sense of Fear, will soon be out. The advance reviews have been spectacular! And we're getting an Introduction from the talented Joe McKinney.

So we the authors have put up a special event- we're giving away 3 print copies of the first Insanity Tales to pique your interest. It's a Goodreads giveaway, so just follow this link to enter for a chance to win!

To make sure you win something, we'll even offer you a free audiobook (a $14.95 value) of the first Insanity Tales, spoken by noted audio narrator Fred Wolinsky. Just shoot me an email so I can send you instructions on how to download the free audiobook! Check out a sample here.

Here's the cover for the first, and book II is also going to be creepy and unsettling!

Free Audio Book For You- to Celebrate New Releases

It's been a busy Summer, with several of my titles coming out on audio (for a free audio book, keep reading), and another book release. (This one isn't out yet on audio, but will be by September!)

And much more to come out in the near future. More Fables and Fantasies will be published later this Summer, 5 short tales dealing with fantasy and fairy tale worlds.

With other writers, there's Insanity Tales 2: A Sense of Fear (due out this October), as well as another anthology I'll be in, Red Dawn: Level Best Books Best New England Crime Writing, due out this November.

I'm also editing the fourth Zack Taylor novel, A Certain Slant of Light. The cover image is from a photo taken by my daughter at Notre Dame Cathedral, and is pretty chilling, with Death standing by to collect. Look for it to come out in September.

In the meantime, you can listen to lots more of Zack Taylor. Books #2 and #3 in the series were recently published as audiobooks.

So to get you primed and ready for the fourth book, I'm offering any one of the first three Zack Taylor audiobooks for free! A $19.95 value!

Each one has a different narrator, so you can listen to the samples and decide which one you prefer.

A Memory of Grief

A Fall From Grace

A Shadow on the Wall


Just send me an email with your preference (to: daletphillips@comcast.net), and I'll send instructions with a free code for you to download. Audible is a great place for audiobooks, and you can sign in with your Amazon account, if you have one.

Featured My Mystery- and Upcoming Audio

The Fussy Librarian features A Memory of Grief today-- only $1.99 on all ebook platforms.

And-- we've just picked up a terrific narrator for the audio version of A Memory of Grief-- soon to be out on audio on Audible.com!
This is the first of the Zack Taylor mystery series, and it's going to be BIG!

To commemmorate this auspicious day, we're giving away a free version of the audiobook when it's released (likely a $25 value).

Send me an email (daletphillips@comcast.net) with the phrase "I bought it," (ebook or print, doesn't matter) and we'll enter you into a drawing for the free audiobook version.

Free Kindle Ebook and Featured Twice

You like free ebooks? Want to find other good books? Have I got deals for you!

We're celebrating the release of A Shadow on the Wall, my third Zack Taylor mystery, by offering
 A Memory of Grief, the first one in the series, for free.

And for the next few days, you can also get a Kindle version of Fables and Fantasies, a collection of twisted tales. Fun little stories, and a few scary ones.

"But I don't have a Kindle!" you say. No problem. Contact me, and I'll tell you how to get these books free in other formats.

Today is rather special, as I'm being featured on not one, but two Author Spotlights.

The first one is Free Ebooks Daily, where they feature Fables and Fantasies-- and I do some Q&A and some fun facts. Yeah, check them out, as they have other books to offer. Scroll down to see the full enchilada.

And the other is Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog, a great spot to find features on many books and authors. I talk about the craft of writing, and the importance of hard work. And they're showing
A Shadow on the Wall there.

So- happy Wednesday, and good reading!

A Shadow on the Wall Coming Soon- and Big Holiday Giveaway

This is the 400th posting on this blog-- and to celebrate, we've got some
great news for you!

First- we're in the editing stages of A Shadow on the Wall, the third Zack
Taylor mystery, out soon from Rosstrum Publishing.

This is the long-awaited followup to A Fall From Grace, and Zack gets into even deeper trouble.

If that's not enough of a Christmastime gift for you, how's this?
To celebrate the holiday season, a bunch of authors and publishers decided to get in the spirit of things-- and we're all giving away free ebooks and stories!

Wow, you say-- how do I get some of that? Look below for authors and links.
Follow directions to email them, or leave a comment on their blog (with your email) and tell them which book of theirs you'd like to win!

Around Christmas, each author will select a lucky winner for each book, and notify each person on how to collect.

Feel free to enter on all author sites-- giving you mutiple chances to win!

Here's the current list, but check back on this page-- we'll add more books as other authors get in the giving mood! Most books are available in multiple ebook formats.

Debbi Mack, NY Times Best-Selling author, is offering her Sam McRae mystery, Riptide:
To enter to win, go to her blog My Life on the Mid-List and leave a comment saying, "I'd like to win Riptide."

Vlad Vaslyn is offering Brachman's Underworld, novel of Stephen King-like horror.
And a copy of Yorick, a creepy novella.
To enter to win, go to his site and give him your info.

Cathy Dougherty is offering In Polyester Pajamas, a fun read of women's fiction:
To enter to win, go to her site and give her your info.

Rich Feitelberg, fantasy author, is offering two stories:
Sans Boat
The Last of Her Kind
Go to his blog and enter a comment stating which item you want, and in what format (PDF, Kindle, ePub). Be sure to include a valid email address.

Katherine Tomlinson has three to give:
Toxic Reality
Poisoned Teat
12 Nights of Christmas
Go to her blog and comment, telling her which book you want (leave your email). She'll pick winners on December 20.

Pete Morin is donating a book and a story:
Diary of a Small Fish
Club Dues
Drop him an email and let him know what you'd like.

Brian Hammar has got a pair of books and a pair of stories for you as well:
Wind Castle
Anastasia's Quest for Wind Castle
Fisherman's Justice
Shoes
Drop him an email and let him know what you'd like: jenchrisonlineventures@gmail.com

Ann Everett is offering her books:
Laid Out and Candle Lit
You're Busting My Nuptuals
Check her website and send her a message via any of her contact points, and say "Ann, I'd like to win... (your choice)"

Rosstrum Publishing is offering a slew of books, both fiction and non-fiction!
Go to the website to check out the books, select Contact Us, and leave them an email with your book desire.

How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills

366 Tips for a Successful Job Search

Lawless in Brazil

Timberline

Pursuit

The Dave Maynard Spin (Coming soon- check the website)

And of course, there's my offerings-- I'm giving you a shot at all of them!
Leave a comment on this blog (with an email), or email me, and tell me what you'd like to win!
You can enter for multiple books, but you can only win one.

A Memory of Grief

A Fall From Grace

A Shadow on the Wall (Coming soon- check the website)

Crooked Paths

Fables and Fantasies

Apocalypse Tango

Strange Tales

Halls of Horror #1

Halls of Horror #2

Jumble Sale

Any of the stories, too:

Froggy Went A Courting

Our New Queen

The Little Guy

Blades and Butchery

Free Books, and Writers Pushed too Far

Yet another data point in telling how the big publishing houses take the money and leave the writers nothing but scraps. This is up on Joe Konrath's site.
Author Ann Voss Peterson who has 25 books, including one that sold 180,000 copies, and has earned her a mere $20,000.
On other books, she made less- 6 cents a copy. Pathetic.

At a conference panel, someone asked a big pub house rep how they expected writers to live on these miniscule payouts.
The response-- they didn't! They said that people should consider this a hobby, and keep their day job.

Wow-- another reason I will weep no tears for these dinosaur sweatshops going out of business, as their writers leave to self-publish and Indie publish. Bye-bye, big profits! Too bad you screwed your help so bad-- they might have stayed with you a little longer.

And The Passive Voice has a good posting on this subject: Ciao Publishers. Ciao Agents. Ciao slavery.

Kinda says it all.

***
So-- on to the free stuff. For a limited time, Ann is offering her thriller Pushed Too Far (no, it's not about her publishing experience, but it could be!) for free- grab a copy while you can.

And David Gaughran  is offering Let’s Get Digital for free-- a must-read for writers!

Belated Merry Christmas

Howdy folks. It's been a few days while I enjoyed the holidays with my family. So I didn't blog a lot.

But I'm making it up to you. Want some cool FREE ebooks by a couple of guys who got famous selling a lot of self-published books? Sure you do- you're curious as to how good or bad they can be.

For a limited time, Joe Konrath and Blake Crouch are putting up some of their many titles for free- load onto your new Kindle for nothing.

How's that for a belated Christmas gift? Forgive me?

Giveaway Contest and Guest Post

Giveaway contest starting today at Book'd Out!

Enter for a chance to win an ebook of "A Memory of Grief."

Also with a guest post by me-- just a few thoughts of my take on writing.

Super Summer Sale!

For a limited time, my publisher, Briona Glen, is offering the ebook version (in all formats) of "A Memory of Grief" for only $2.99.

Go to the following link, and when buying, enter the Coupon Code SE86U: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59556

Book Deals

Such deals for you!

Tomorrow is the Amazon book launch for the print version of Debbi Mack's mystery novel LEAST WANTED. If you buy a copy on June 15th, she's offering a FREE autographed copy of her other novel, the New York Times fiction bestseller IDENTITY CRISIS. You can read the details in the launch Web site:
http://midlistlife.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/buy-one-book-get-another-free-tomorrow/

Be sure to bookmark the site, so you can enter the confirmation of purchase to redeem your free copy of IDENTITY CRISIS.

In addition to the 2-for-1 special, this book launch has a charitable tie-in. If it reaches a certain level on the charts, she's donating a nice percentage to good causes.

But wait! There's more!

And a free one! For a limited time, author Ken Hoss is offering his new mystery, Storm Rising:
http://kenhoss.blogspot.com/2011/06/limited-time-offer.html

Discover a new author!
I know I'm checking both of these out!

Now how's that for good stuff?

Job Help Special

Know anyone looking for a job soon?
Rosstrum Publishing is running a special discount for Tax Season on my ebook, How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills. From now until April 15th,

• Go to Smashwords (this link).
• Enter coupon code ZH82X at checkout
• For only 99 cents, get an ebook of good advice on how to give the edge in an interview!