Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

With Smashwords turning into a ghost town lately (no doubt due to Amazon's new Kindle Select program) I am migrating a few legacy stories from there over to Amazon. It began with "The Intersection" a few weeks ago, and thanks to everyone who downloaded it. Special thanks to whoever gave it the Facebook "like."

No, it does not take much to make me happy!

That said, I've moved over my zombie short Fortunato's Ghost and am making it available free, for three days, beginning tomorrow through Saturday. Not necessarily the sort of blood 'n guts story perhaps most zombie aficionados prefer, but I like it. So there.

Can't say I'm not disappointed that offering free stories doesn't seem to result in more sales or reviews. For example, there were more than ten-thousand downloads of "Hope Town" when that was free, however I saw no increase in sales of other books and no additional reviews. More than two-hundred downloads of "The Intersection" resulted in the single Facebook "like."

On the other hand, I do take some comfort that they're (apparently) not bad enough to bring disgruntled readers to Amazon bearing pitchforks and torches and trashing them! The very last thing I want to do is waste a reader's time.

As always, thanks for your indulgence! Enjoy "Fortunato's Ghost."

And if you did enjoy Fortunato's Ghost . . . see below:

If you liked "The Intersection"

On the off chance that someone who downloads my free story The Intersection finds their way here, welcome! And thank you.

If you liked the story, I'm pleased to say there's more where that came from. But where to start?

If you want to check out a few more short stories, try my collection Adamson's Rock and Other Stories. The title story is one I'm particularly proud of, about a close-knit New England family coming to terms with the end of the world. Adamson's Rock won an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest.

The first volume of my vampire saga, Applewood tells the tale of a group of teen outcasts, close friends who are forced to confront an ancient evil that awakens in their small Massachusetts town.



Next in the Applewood series, Fledge continues the story of protagonist Scott Dugan, on the run from those who would kill him and all his kind. My most recent book, I think too that Fledge might be my best.



If you're looking for something a little lighter and with some humor, try Swash!, my tale of eighteenth-century pirates let loose in the modern world. Something of a cross between Christopher Moore and Willy Wonka, Swash! is sure to leave you feeling good. May be my favorite of all the books I've written.



If you're looking for a sweet coming of age tale with some supernatural twists and young romance, my novel Sumner Gardens might be something you'd be interested in. My most personal and autobiographical novel.



If you're a Red Sox fan (or even just a baseball fan) you'll enjoy A Truck Story, my novella about two young brothers and their uncle who become trapped in the Red Sox equipment truck while it makes it's way to spring training. Aside from the kidnappings, the alligators, the serial killer, and the car chases, the trip is relatively uneventful.



Of course, if you're looking for some more free fiction, click the "Free Fiction" tag in the categories on the left, and a few stories I've posted right to this blog might make for some light lunchtime reading!

Anyhow, thanks to everyone who downloads The Intersection over the next few days, and special thanks to those who might be motivated to read more of my work.

200!

When I put up my previous post about two weeks ago, Blogger was kind enough to let me know it was the 200th post on this blog. Now, given how long this thing has been around, that milestone is probably not one that should be celebrated, as it averages out to about two or so posts a month.

And really, if a blog is going to be successful at all (in my case, success would be measured in book sales) you need to update the thing a few times a week, probably more.

But in all honesty, I simply don’t have that much to say. In terms of writing, I don’t have the expertise or education to give you advice on how to improve your own writing (and given some of the reviews I’ve gotten, you probably don’t want to take advice from me anyway.) I certainly don’t have any advice on how an “Indie” writer can improve their book sales.

For a while there, I thought I’d add content by writing book reviews. I posted a few reviews both here and on Goodreads, and even got contacted by Simon and Schuster to review a pre-release thriller (which was kind of cool.) But then . . . I got my own review from one of the premier book review sites in publishing, and let’s just say it wasn’t kind. After the dry heaving and the tears, I swore off writing book reviews.

I mean, who the hell am I to judge another writer’s work? But I will point out that when I did them, the worst rating I ever gave was two-stars. In one instance, as much as I thought the book detestable (and it was by a very famous writer) I simply couldn’t give it one star. I guess like the SATs, I give folks points for simply signing their names, maybe because I know how hard it is to write a book, even a bad one.

In other news, I’m writing again . . . slowly . . . painfully. About 5,000 words into a sequel to “Hope Town” and 10,000 words into the next in the “Applewood” saga.

Oh, and apparently, I’m a very big deal in Spain.

When I gave away “Hope Town” those few weeks over Christmas, more than a few folks at Amazon.Es downloaded it. Therefore, I was delighted this morning to see that my very first sale this month came from . . . Spain.

Muchas gracias, mi amigos!

And have a good day.