I'd like to take a moment to wish all my readers and the people who have supported me all along this year a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. May the new year bring you and your loved ones peace, health, wealth, and happiness. I will see you all in 2008. Stay safe!
Now that I finally have my own office and that things are winding down a bit, I can discuss a few projects already in progress. First off, about the Haunted Voices Radio interview of Tuesday, Oct. 30; it was cancelled due to HVR's urgent need of cable repairs. A new interview hasn't been scheduled yet. We'll most likely do one to coincide with the release of something next year. In the meantime, if there are any of you out there hungry for another interview, mark down your calendars because it's happening sooner than you think. I will be a guest on Darker Side of the Moon Radio on January 10, 2008 at 9 PM Eastern/8 PM Central/6 PM Pacific. It will be a two-hour long interview and I will give away a signed and inscribed copy of Bitternest. I've been getting a lot of e-mails and MySpace messages asking when a new book or story is scheduled to see the light of day. My reading of The Rattling Man, a Halloween story, is available for download at Dread Central. Click here to get it in MP3 format. There's also a direct link to the story in the Bibliography section of my website. The story's about 12 minutes long and around 13 MB in size. Second, one of my earliest and dearest short stories, The Bypassed Mind, will be available for download at the low price of $0.49 on Amazon.com as part of their Amazon Shorts. Stay tuned for the release date in the days (or weeks) to come. As far as new material is concerned, my second novel, Fractured Time, which I finished writing two weeks ago will be in the rewrites stage soon. I'm currently writing a novella which I think is my best work yet. It's called Cellar Door and is a suspenseful ghost story. I'll follow it up with a long short story I've been meaning to write for nearly two years, and another novella, which happens to be the closest thing to a sequel to my first novel, Bitternest. The three tales will form a book that will hopefully see a release sooner than later. This is a project that is very dear to me; three stories I'm very passionate about and which further develop the Bitternest mythology. Last but not least,
I have a very limited amount of copies of Bitternest in hand
so if you don't have a copy yet (blasphemy!) here's your chance to get
it at the cheapest price on the Web, autographed and personally inscribed.
It's yours for the price of $16.95 plus $6.00 shipping. I'll even throw
in a Bitternest bookmark. Visit the Media
section and click on the Paypal link to buy it directly from
me. On that note, I bid you a fine farewell and will see you soon in
cyberspace.
For those of you wondering if I'd been missing in action the past few weeks, here's what I've been up to. At long last, I've finished writing my second novel, Fractured Time, minutes ago and I'm damn proud of it. It stands at 361 pages--101,000 words. I'll leave it alone for a month and then start the rewrites in December. It's a dark fantasy/horror time travel story. It has a healthy dose of occult and spirituality as well as an epic battle between good and evil. That's all I'll say about it for now. Next up for me, I'll prepare the outline for my upcoming novella which I will be writing throughout November and early December. We're moving tomorrow and my Internet access will be suspended until sometime next Thursday so I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Halloween! Be sure to tune in to Haunted Voices Radio on Tuesday, October 30 at 9 PM Eastern time/8 PM Central Time for another interview with yours truly. I'll be reading another chapter from Bitternest as well as the first chapter of a short story titled The Bypassed Mind which will be available soon on Amazon.com as part of their Amazon shorts. Also, just in time for Halloween, my reading of The Rattling Man, a Halloween-themed short story of mine will be up on Dread Central so check it out! Till then, stay safe and have a good time trick or treating!
Hey folks, tomorrow's the big day--my first radio interview at Haunted Voices Radio!! I'm a bit nervous, but I'm confident it'll go well. It'll take place Friday Sept. 21 at 9 PM EST/ 8 PM CST over at www.hauntedvoicesradio.com To listen in, all you have to do is go to their website; you don't even need to register or anything. The interview will be in streaming audio. We will be taking questions by phone via their toll free number and from their chat room. We will also be giving away two copies of my book, Bitternest, to the listeners who can answer my questions correctly. If for some reason you can't make it, the show will be available during the week in the archives section as a 90 Mb download. See you there!
Time for an update. First off, congratulations to the winner of the e-Bay auction; Rachel is now the proud owner of a personally inscribed and autographed copy of BITTERNEST. In the review circle, a new review has popped up on Vampress.net, scoring 3.5/5. You can read it here. Last week, Johnny Butane from Dread Central recorded my reading of The Rattling Man, a Halloween-themed short story of mine. The story'll be up on Dread Central.com in downloadable audio format just in time for Halloween. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again to Johnny for his continuing efforts to get more people to read horror; it's much appreciated! Last but not least, I want to tell you about something very special happening in November. It's called National Novel Writing Month and it's organized by the folks at NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000 word) novella by midnight on November 30. I will be taking this opportunity to write a novella that's been gnawing at me for the past year. It's quite an intimidating amount of pages to write in such a short period of time--especially for a part-time writer, but I gladly accept the challenge. You'll find all the details at the link above on how to register and more. Till next time, stay safe!
All right, here goes. I've sold the second to last copy of BITTERNEST I had for sale and for the very last one left, I'm putting it up for grabs on E-Bay at the starting bid of $1.00--yes, you've read right, one dollar!! The copy will be autographed and inscribed to the winner's name upon request. Let's see how much it can go for. Shipping will be $6.00 if you're in the US and $5.00 if you're in Canada. I only accept Paypal and the bid war will end Saturday, August 4th. So what are you waiting for, click this link and place your bid!!
Time for a status update folks. First of all, Shocklines has now sold out all their autographed copies of Bitternest. Since Shocklines will be shutting its doors sometime this fall, they won't be restocking. A big thanks to Matt for believing in the book and stocking it at the last minute. The only way to get a personally inscribed and autographed copy now is to purchase it from me while I still have some. I have less than 5 copies left. After that, I won't restock for awhile so it's your last chance until this fall. Go to the media page for details on how to proceed. Although I will say this: there will be 2 autographed copies up for grabs in the upcoming weeks on a horror-related website. Also, stay tuned to this website for the chance to buy one autographed and inscribed copy at a ridiculously low price in the days to come. I'll explain everything soon. On the review front, another stellar review of Bitternest has surfaced at Authors After Dark, scoring a 9/10. As far as interviews go, my very first radio interview has been scheduled for Friday September 21st, 8:00 pm CT/9:00 pm ET on Haunted Voices Radio. It will either be a one or two hour block. I might also be doing one or two more interviews until then, but it's still under discussion at the moment. The sales for Bitternest
have picked up, the manuscript for my second novel is coming along well
(almost 2/3 of the way through), and other surprises are lurking on
the horizon. As usual, I will keep you updated of any further development.
I'd like to wish my fellow Canucks a happy Canada Day; I hope you celebrated in style this past weekend, and I'd like to extend my wishes for a great 4th of July to all my American pals out there. Party hard, but drive safely! On a different note, I've received my first bad review; incidentally, it was my thirteenth review! So much for unlucky 13! Oh well, I can't win them all. To forget about it, here's a link to the best review I've had so far, from Dread Central. Also, for those looking for autograohed copies, you can purchase the book directly from me but hurry; I have less than ten copies left and have no intention of getting more any time soon. You can also buy it from Shocklines and get free shipping, so it's actually a great deal.
As you might have noticed, the site has a new entry page featuring blurbs from some of the reviews on Bitternest. I'll post more of them (both from readers as well as professional reviewers) as they surface. The background has also changed for the better, the header now sports "Author of Dark Fiction" instead of "The horror writer's official website", and the navigation menu has also been improved. I hope you like the new look; I find it suits the site better than the previous one--it's with trial and error that you sometimes find the right choice. As more positive
reviews keep popping up (4 out of 4 up to now), there's also a interview
conducted by Front Street Reviews which you can find in the Media
section of the site. The sales have also been going up so
all's good. By the end of the week, I should finally be at the halfway
mark in my second novel. After many changes in the first 100 pages,
I'm now satisfied with the way it's going.
I've just received my third good review (that's 3 out of 3 so far), this time at Front Street Reviews. You can click here to read it. About ten days ago, my book received a stellar review over at Book Pleasures. The site also interviewed me; head over here to read the in-depth interview. Also of note is the addition of a few stores that carry my book at bargain price. Visit the Media section for a complete list. Buy.com has the lowest combined price right now: $14.25 plus $3.79 shipping for a total of $18.05. That's unbeatable!! Paradoxal Press, a POD publisher, also sells it at $14.11 but shipping is a tad higher. As usual, if you want an autographed and personally inscribed copy, you can buy the book directly from me through Paypal. Go to the Media page for that as well.
By popular demand, here it is; you can buy an autographed copy of my horror novel, Bitternest, inscribed to you directly from me. I'm such a nice guy, I'll even throw in a Bitternest bookmark :) Bitternest is the story of a detective who forms an uneasy alliance with a group of vampires to prevent a powerful entity from enslaving the fog-shrouded city of Bitternest. The book is a 8.5" x 5.5" trade paperback and stands at 354 pages. It is priced at $19.95 and shipping is $7.00 in the US and $5.00 in Canada (yes, I'm a Canuck!). I only accept Paypal. E-mail me at info@alandraven.com to let me know you want a copy. If you want more details or to read the first chapter, you can always head over to the Media Room. Get it fast before I run out of copies!!
I just received my author copies yesterday and man, they look awesome! I'm so happy with the book, I even got a little choked up when I opened up the box! I've shipped the books to the contest winners so check your mailboxes in the next two weeks. On a different
note, Indigo.ca
started listing the book today and are doing a great job of promoting
Canadian talent: they're stocking the book, so it ships within 24 hours
and they're giving a huge discount of 24% off the list price, at $17.86
CAD (about $16.13 US) and $16.97 CAD ($15.32 US) if you're an iRewards
member. On top of that, the book is eligible for the "shop for
$39 CAD or more and get free shipping". Pay them a visit!
The day has finally arrived and I have three winners for the contest "A book in exchange for a review on Amazon.com". The winners were randomly picked out of a Led Zeppelin cap by my fiancée and they have been notified by e-mail. They are: Laurel G., Jim A., and Michelle O. Thanks to everyone
who entered!
Heys guys and gals,
the day we've all been waiting for has arrived (okay, maybe not all
of us, but I sure have), my novel is finally ready and for sale on Amazon.com
Word of mouth and good reviews sell books and I intend to spread the word about my new horror novel, Bitternest. Here's the deal: I will draw three copies of my book to anyone who will agree to review it on Amazon.com within 30 days of receiving it from me. The release date is May 1st but nothing is set in stone so let's put it for early May. If you're interested, drop me a line at info@alandraven.com I'll be accepting names until May 1st. After that, I'll announce the winners and will ship your books. For any additional information on the book, visit the media section of the site. Hope to hear from you in large numbers!
Hey folks, I've posted the first chapter of Bitternest as well as all the info concerning the book in the Media Room section of the website, so head over there to view it. I've also set up a Bitternest Gift Shop over at Cafe Press so you can get all sorts of cool Bitternest merchandise like T-Shirts, caps, bags, mugs, stickers, buttons, and mousepads. You can access it via this link. Make sure to add it to your bookmarks!
My publisher just e-mailed me to let me know the cover and proofs for my book are ready. I'm really happy with the cover and will go through the proofs this week. Shouldn't be long before the book is off to the printer. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, check it out here!
It's been a busy week folks. First off, my short story Silently It Creeps is now online for you to read over at Midnight Syndicate's Legions of the Night website on their "Inspired By Midnight Syndicate" page. I've also finally created a profile and am now officially part of the MySpace community. I'm enjoying it a lot so far; I've been talking to a movie director and some horror writers. Be sure to bookmark my page here. Drop me a line if you want to become friends. As for the status of my book, I'm in the final stage!! I'm going over the changes the line editor suggested; after that, the graphics team will start working on the book cover. It shouldn't be too long after that for the book to go off to the printer; a matter of a few weeks at most, so we're back on track! I'll keep you posted of any other developments. Till then, keep on reading horror books.
The Bram Stoker finalists were announced a few weeks ago (in case you're new to this, these are the Oscars of Horror literature). The winners will be revealed at the World Horror convention in Toronto on Saturday, March 31. Scroll down for the complete list of nominees. I'll post back when the winners are crowned. Good luck to all! On a more personal note, there's been a bit of a screw up at my publisher's so my book might not come out late April/early May as planned, but we're hoping we can still make it for the end of May. Let's keep our fingers crossed that everything will go well. Ah the joys of publishing ... --STOKER NOMINEES-- NOVEL
-- Headstone City by Tom Piccirilli (Bantam)
If you're a casual visitor, you might have noticed the fresh new look; I decided to redo the header, background, and menu of my website. I'm happy with the new look. At least, now everybody sees the same thing no matter what resolution they have. Let me know if you find it's an improvement. I just finished the third round of editing on Bitternest following my editor's input. I trimmed 11,000 words this time around! I made the dialogue more natural, restructured a little to improve the pace, and entirely removed a character from the story. The result is a book that flows much better. It currently stands at 101,000 words. I should get it back from the line editor within three weeks and will add the finishing touches to it. The release date is getting closer and I'm thrilled!
It's finally ready. I'm done editing my manuscript and have sent it out to the editor yesterday. It went from 116,000 to 112,000 words and it'll shrink even more once the editor's gone over it. I'm happy with it; in its present incarnation (third draft), it's even better than I had anticipated. I've also updated the Media Room portion of the website with the back cover copy and keynote. I'll add some photos and the graphics for the cover once they're ready. Stay tuned for a release date; until then, stay safe and keep reading horror!
Welcome to my new website! After nearly three months of being hosted for free by Bravenet, I've made the jump to my own domain right here at www.alandraven.com (which means no more annoying ads) so adjust your bookmarks accordingly. I'd also like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year; may 2007 bring you everything your heart desires: Health, success, love, and more. As for an update on the state of my Bitternest manuscript, it's almost ready; with the holidays and all, we've been falling behind with the editing process but it should leave for the editor's desk within two weeks and hopefully ready for release this April. Until then, stay safe!
It's finally done; after exactly six months, this past weekend, on Saturday November 11, I completed the first draft of my first novel, Bitternest. It feels kind of strange now that it's done, not having to create anything new for these characters that I've been living with every day for the past six months. I'm proud of how it came out, it exceeded my expectations. I also feel a bit sad, like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend. Of course, now I'm entering the editing process in which I'll spend the next month or so rewriting. Then my girlfriend will go through my second draft and after making changes per her input, the manuscript will be ready to send to the editor. I've got a deadline of December 31st, so I'd better get to work! In the meantime, I'll also be writing a short story this week and probably one more until the year ends before I go on to start my second book in January 2007. I'll post back when it's all done and ready to go. |
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