New Release: Little Monsters

A Collection of Appalachian Horror

Click on cover for more info or to order!

Synopsis:

19 Stories by master Appalachian storyteller, Tim Wellman! Academically sound, these horror stories are sure to scare you, entertain, and amuse you. All the stories revolve around little girls, either evil, or fighting evil. And as a long-time Appalachian writer, educated in Creative Writing at Marshall University, these stories from the former editor of the literary journal, Et Cetera, are sure to please even the most discriminating reader! 300+ pages!

About the Author:

Tim Wellman was born and raised in West Virginia. He attended Marshall University for four years as a Creative Writing major and won several state and school awards for writing, and has written several novels for younger readers, YA, and adults. He was the editor of Marshall University's literary magazine, Et Cetera, for two years. He has also had several horror short stories published in anthologies.

Monday Motivational

Monday motivation

One of the toughest things you will ever do is say no to quitting.

Fridays 5 with Robert Knox

I am a husband, father, rabid backyard gardener, Boston Globe freelance writer, and blogger (prosegarden.blogspot.com) on nature, books, films and other subjects. My short stories, poems and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous literary publications. I was named a Finalist in the Massachusetts Artist Grant Program in fiction for a story about my father (“Lost”).

My story "Marriage" placed in a fiction competition held by Words With Jam and was published recently in the anthology "An Earthless Melting Pot." Another story, "Love in the Other Place," was published in the latest issue of The Tishman Review. "Commitment" recently appeared in the debut issue of 3288 Review. My nonfiction story "Preparing A Place" was published last month in Lunch Ticket, and my short story "House Mates" is currently up this month (January 2016) on Scarlet Leaf Review.

My novel on the origins of the Sacco-Vanzetti case, "Suosso's Lane," was published in October 2015 by Web-e- Books.com.

As a contributing writer for Verse-Virtual.com, my poems appear there every month. Poems have also appeared recently in Guide to Kulchur Creative Journal, The Poetry Superhighway, Bombay Review, Earl of Plaid, Rain, Party, & Disaster Society, Semaphore Journal, Metaphor, and Scarlet Leaf Review. Some poems were also accepted for the upcoming anthology "Peace: Give it a Chance," and a collection of poems ("Gardeners Do It With Their Hands Dirty") will be published in 2016 by Coda Crab Books.

1.) When did you first get serious about writing?

A.) In my twenties. I had just been fired from my teaching job (four different jobs in four years). I had no idea what I was going to do for a living, but I had been writing poetry for a few years and keeping one of those running self-consciously serious writer's journals, from which (I hoped) I would material for "stories" once I got around to writing them. I moved to Boston, then Cambridge, and became part of a self-publishing poets co-op. We published a tabloid newsprint poetry quarterly with our own work in it, gradually opening up to outside writers, and gave group readings in the Boston area. It was great to have something in print, but I was still not making a living.

2.) What is the hardest part for you about writing?

A.) Getting published. I was determined to write novels. I pushed poetry to the side when I went to graduate school in English literature to improve my employability. I would finish a novel but couldn't find an agent or a traditional publisher, and self-publishing was looked down on then. I worked as adjunct faculty teaching English composition at various colleges and writing on the side, as we say, but resenting the time teaching and correcting papers took away from 'my own' work. Eventually, I switched to working for newspapers. Same deal. Except newspapers were way more fun than teaching, but they did not open doors for my creative projects.

https://www.web-e-books.com/suosso/default.php

Synopsis:
Historical fiction, Suosso’s Lane dials back the clock to revisit the flawed trial of Italian immigrant Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a believer in "the beautiful idea" of a classless society in which all would work for the common good.

A sober-minded laborer, Vanzetti suffers from the exploitation of industrial workers in the early decades of the twentieth century. Outraged by the greed and injustice that mar his idealistic hopes for the "New World," he joins other anarchists in promoting strikes and preaching revolution.

In 1920, Vanzetti and his comrade Nicola Sacco are nabbed by police looking for radicals and subsequently convicted of committing a spectacular daylight robbery and murder. After seven years in prison, even as millions of workers and intellectuals around the world rally to their cause, the two men are executed.

Seventy years later, when a young history teacher moves into Vanzetti’s old house in Plymouth, Massachusetts, he learns of a letter that might prove Vanzetti’s innocence. But his search for the truth faces obstacles posed by a local conspiracy theorist, the daughter of Vanzetti’s lover, a shady developer, and a fatal fire set during his search of an old Plymouth factory.
3.) How did you feel upon publication of your first completed project?

A.)  It's hard to say what my 'first' was. My recent first was the accomplishment of that long-ago goal of publishing a novel. My novel "Suosso's Lane," published last October by Web-e-Books.com, takes off from the famous (and infamous) Sacco and Vanzetti case, which exposed American prejudice against southern and eastern European immigrants in the 1920s, especially Italians. Conventional wisdom said "ignorant, backward" Italians could never fit into American society. What does history say about that prediction? When that book finally saw daylight last fall I was ecstatic. I had pushed for years to find a publisher and rewritten it about a dozen times along the way. An earlier would-be publisher had collapsed before getting to my book. Writing and publishing that book was the water tower on my bucket list. I have a half-dozen other projects backed up behind it. Whether they'll see light remains to be seen. But one thing I know: I'm in print. And I feel like I earned it.

4.) What is more important to you, story, or character? Why?

A.) What's important to me is voice. Somebody has to be telling something -- let's say 'story' -- in a compelling way. Somebody has to have something to say, and has to know how to say it. The writer, through whatever artifice -- first-person narrator or third-person omniscient or anywhere in between -- has to speak with authority, invite, seduce, or demand the reader's attention. And hold it by delivering the goods. You probably need both story and deep, complex, credible characters to do that job, but you don't get in the door, at least my door, without a tongue in your head.

5.) What is a typical day like in your world?

A.)  Sleep late. Sort through email for the free-lance job I still do for the Boston Globe. Decide what I'm going to do that day to promote "Suosso's Lane." Write emails to possible sources of interest? Mail out promotional copies? See what social media forums such as Goodreads has for me? Then I write a poem or work on my current novel. I'm a contributing writer for an online poetry journal called Verse-Virtual.com, so I produce publishable work each month for that journal. I spend my days mostly in solitude, but they're not carbon copies. I grow flowers and vegetables in the growing season. Take walks in autumn. Go to the gym some days. Eat dinner and spend the evening with my wife. Go back to doing stuff like this after she goes to bed. I am mostly free, often quite happy, and still rather driven.

New Release: God's Rogue

Click on cover for more info or to order!

Synopsis:

Kaden Hunt has been fighting a hidden war for humanity, alone. A war That changed one night when his oldest friend tried to kill him. Now Kaden the most powerful human in existence has drawn the complete focus of Enki and Shamash the two warring leaders of the Annunaki; the aliens who created humanity. Both are determined to stop Kaden from becoming what he once was, who he once was. For if he becomes the Traveler a more powerful enemy will be freed.

About the Author:

Kevin S. Chambers was born May, 3, 1990. Kevin has always had a wild imagination, often creating and writing stories during, church and school when he should have been paying attention. Not
only did Kevin like to tell stories, he loved to read; until he entered high school.

Rich Martin a shop teacher at Kevin’s high school handed him a book, Eragon. For over a year Kevin held onto the book, until he finally read it. After which he continued to read, eventually finding the Sword of Truth Series.

Since 2010 Kevin has spent his time between reading, and writing not only novels, but screenplays as well.

1.) When did you first get serious about writing?
A.) Well I've been writing for a long while, stories to entertain myself. I would say that when I really started writing, it was back during my freshman year, when I had just finished Brisingr, and did not want to wait 3 years for the next book. So I began writing my version of the final book.
Then I found Terry Goodkind, and began reading his novels. When I finished the Sword of Truth series, I decided to write my own series, and to get it published. Since that time, about 2010 I've been switching back and forth between novels, and screenplays.

2.) What is the hardest part for you about writing?
A.) Actually having the time to write. With a full time job, a wife, and a social life; sometimes I'm just out late. That and the fact that I had an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for English and Grammar. Which is now a 504.

3.) How did you feel upon publication of your first completed project?
A.) Great, I'm nervous. Sitting here is this going to do well? Is it going to flop? You put so much work into a novel, that you wan it to succeed. Just like you'd want a child to not fail.

4.) What is more important to you, story, or character? Why?
A.) The story is the character to me, so they are both important. The story shapes the character, and without the character there is no story.

5.) What is a typical day like in your world?
A.) Up before the sun comes out, working on marketing my book, or writing. Take care of our animals, eat a little breakfast, go to work as an Operations Manager for a well drilling company. Come home, make dinner with my wife, eat, watch some TV, work on marketing or my book, and go to sleep.

Kevin on Goodreads.

Monday Motivational

Fridays 5 with Exie Smith

Exie is a Spiritual Medium, Energy Reader, Best Selling International Author and Speaker.  Her daily life has spirits and Ghosts coming to call no matter where she happens to be. 

When she was 12 years old her life changed, forever.  In one night, she knew she was going to have to grow up keeping a secret.  The fact that she could hear and see things that other people could not. 

“I never went in search of the dead, but it seems the dead has come in search of me.”

In her first book, Welcome to My Para“Normal” Life, talks about the growth of my gift.  “As time went on, what I thought was a single event, became more. More than a seriously creepy thing in my closet, and occasional footsteps on the basement stairs.”

In her second book, “When The Dead Come Calling,” she goes into detail as never before about ghosts, spirits, shadow people, orgs and vortices and taking ownership of her gift.  

Join her on the journey of a lifetime, but it might be a good idea, to leave the light on while you do!

Links:  Website:  www.exieparanormal.com

Facebook: Welcome To My Para”Normal” Life

Twitter: @exieparanormal

Email:  exieparanormal@gmail.com

1.) When did you first get serious about writing?

A.)  In 2007 I started to write and in 2009 I quit my job to write full time. 

2.) What is the hardest part for you about writing?

A.)  At first it was finding my time of day to write.  Meaning, what time of day were my sweet hours.  I am a morning person, so moved some items out of that time slot so I could write everyday.

Click on cover for more info or to order!

Synopsis: 

In this, my second book, I go into detail as never before about ghosts, spirits, shadow people, orbs and vortices. An excerpt from the book: "Working on the computer all afternoon I took a break and visited my social network page. Looking at different pages, someone had posted a picture that literally jumped off the screen at me. I was taken back at how much this picture spoke to me. I could tell by looking at the picture, which was someones home, that it was haunted. Preoccupied with the picture, I had not read the caption with the photo. "Looking for help, what do you see in the photo?" "...I could not see any spirits with my eyes. I felt that something was there. At first I felt one spirit, a child, I thought. Then, I thought no but realized I was picking up a second spirit an adult, male possibly Native American." I found spirits in this woman's home, believed in what I was feeling and knew I had to have the courage to help her. On this paranormal journey one of my goals is to achieve a balance within myself while helping people find peace in their world. The book also contains the amazing experiences people have share with me, and with their permission sharing with you. I want you to know that you are not alone in your experiences. People all around you are seeing, hearing and feeling things from a different realm. Join me on my journey, see if any of it mirrors your life!

3.) How did you feel upon publication of your first completed project?

A.)  I told my mom one night, as she sat and read me a bedtime story, “I want to do what this person has done, I want to write a book too.”  I was 3 years old.  When I got the first copy in my hot hands I cried!  They were tears of happiness and of a life long dream fulfilled.  Then I jumped around the room hooting with laughter grinning like a fool.

4.) What is more important to you, story, or character? Why?

A.) My books are paranormal memoirs with events taken from journals that I have kept for over 43 years.  My goal with these books is to get a message of understanding to people.  An understanding of what the paranormal is, what hauntings are, what spirit is, etc. 

5.) What is a typical day like in your world?

A.)  I work out first thing, then settle into a bit of computer work.  That might be marketing, booking author events, conventions or speaking events.  Ship materials.  Work on speeches, I do at least 2 different ones and each of those has a 30 min, 45 min and 60 min length.  Emails, social media pages and phone calls.  I also do research, read other authors paranormal, spiritual works and define definitions of words in my world. I journal almost everyday, it depends if the event is something I think will work with my 3rd book.

Election 2016

Wow!

To say I'm stunned would be an understatement.

Truthfully going into this election I felt neither candidate really deserved my vote. Yet I feel I had an obligation to make a choice, and let my voice be heard. As a veteran it became a matter of who I felt had my back, and the backs of those who continue to sacrifice every day in the defense of this great nation. Men and women who have freely stood up and taken an oath to defend our country against all enemies foreign and domestic. With that in mind I could not in clear conscious stand behind a candidate who publicly likened the death of a United States Ambassador to a bump in the road.

Remember Benghazi?

So yes, I voted for Trump.

I am part of a silent majority, we don't post political or religious stuff on our Facebook walls if we even have one, we tend to ignore the pollsters when they call. We are tired of elected representatives making empty promises as they fight to keep their job. We are fed up with elitist, out of touch, politicians who believe they know best. And we've had our fill of being told that we have to pay just a little bit more to make things work out right when we've already paid more than our fair share.

So the election didn't go the way you had hoped it would. You're angry, upset, mad at the world, or at least those who disagree with you.

Remember choice? We all have the right to make our own choice, right? After all isn't that what freedom is all about? Doesn't choice lie at the heart of our democracy? It was one of the reasons I raised my right hand and took an oath to defend this country to the best of my ability. Because that choice made us the greatest nation in the world.

What will happen with Trump as the president? None of us can say for sure. He may rise to the occasion and become one of the greatest leaders our nation has even known. He may fall flat on his face while his four years in office pass uneventfully. What happens remains to be seen. So stop with the doom and gloom and all that drama. If you feel the need to flee this country and rescind your citizenship, I have only one thing to say to you.

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out

Just an update.

While work slowly progresses on Library of the Damned, book three of The Dreadland Chronicles, I have been rewriting my novel A Father's Love that I plan to submit to a publisher upon completion. I've always believed in aiming high so I'll start at the top and work my way down from there. There are a couple of smaller publishers I'd love to work with to bring this story to life, unfortunately neither of them will be accepting work in the foreseeable future.

I have been working on the cover for Library of the Damned while time permits. I know, covers are something better left to those who know what they're doing, but I enjoy the process of uncovering that final image. This time there are two distinct directions this cover can go in so I'm pursuing both. I'll share them here when they're ready.

In the new year I'll be transitioning to a static website and when my obligation to those who submitted their interviews for Fridays 5 ends in February I'll be closing this blog. There has just been too much for me to keep up with. I work a full time job and write when I'm able, and my blog along with social media,  which I'll be cutting way back on, have interfered long enough with my need to write.

It's been fun, and I've enjoyed having  everyone stop by, but it's time I refocused my energies on what's really important to me, my writing. I'll be fifty eight at the end of this year and the time I have left has grown shorter than the time I've been here. I want to spend that time wisely.