Free - One Last Time

Tomorrow, Sunday April 22, my novella Vengeance is Mine will be free for downloading to your Kindle or Kindle app.  Beginning next week, I will be making it available for the Nook, Sony eReader, Kobo reader, and available in the iTunes store for you Apple device (iPod, iPad, etc).

It's been a fun adventure having Vengeance Is Mine as part of the Kindle select program.  Because of the promotion, I've met new friends and discovered many, many new authors.  I will be using the Select program from here on out to introduce new books that I will be publishing throughout the year.

Next up will be a novel Beneath the Tor.  It's not horror - more of an alternative history fantasy.  Think along the lines of a Dan Brown story (not that I am at all comparing myself to Dan Brown).  But if you liked his books and if you liked the Avalon series of books by Marion Zimmer Bradley - you might want to watch for when this one goes live.  To give it a tag line - Mists of Avalon meets New Testament Christianity.

Stay tuned!

The Indie Author vs The Indie Movie Maker

Been pondering this for a few days.  The indie movie maker is applauded while the indie author is stigmatized.  Why is that?  What really is the difference?

Indie movie makers can sometimes make great movies.  They have won awards and picked up Major Studio distribution. And sometimes the indie movie maker makes crap or a mediocre (at best) motion picture.  And many just fall into the middle - somewhere between crap and great.  The biggest difference I see is that the indie movie maker, when they fail, is told something to the effect of 'don't worry, you're next one will be better'.  Something along those lines.  Every week in this country, somewhere there is a film festival, for the indie movie maker to showcase his work.  Heck, Arkansas alone has at least seven that I can think of, off the top of my head.

Now let's look at the indie author.  This is the person that spends hours and hours behind the keyboard crafting stories to the best of their ability.  They may decide to self-publish from the get-go, wanting to be in control of every part of their beloved book.  Or, they may have tried to get past the gatekeepers for the Big 6 and failed miserably.  Or they may be established authors republishing both their back lists (where rights have reverted back to the author) along with new stories they write.

For whatever reason, many people believe that anything self published is pure crap - 100 percent of the time - no exceptions.  And yet, some of these people are the first to flock to the film festivals to see what is new and innovative.  I mean, I don't get this.

Why are people so willing to accept an independent movie maker's work as something worth seeing, yet feel that an independent author isn't worth reading?  I'm missing something somewhere, obviously.

I will admit, I do both - along with my better half, I make short movies and I write short stories and novels.  And for the most part, the only support I see for what I am trying to do is from other independent creatives.  When I tell a person outside the film community, we make short films the general reaction is "how cool" or something like that.  When I tell someone outside the writing community I have a new book out - first question is almost inevitably "who published it?".  When I say, myself - you can almost hear their eyes rolling upwards in their head.

Why is that?

Okay, rant over.

How cool is this?

Just received an email from a lady I handed a print copy of Vengeance Is Mine to the other evening.  In part, it reads:

"I enjoyed reading “Vengeance is Mine”.  It was a book I didn’t want to put down until I had finished it.  I envy your ability to pen such a story.  I could feel Macie’s pain (not that I could share personally) but your writing made it so a person could be there with her and hoped someone could and did do something for her.  Just wanted to clap for joy at the ending!"


That truly made my day!  Amazon reviews are nice, but when a reader takes a moment out of their busy day to contact an author personally - it means the world, at least to me.

Slowly but surely I'm adding to this blog.  Decided it would do just fine for a personal website - which is why www.katyares.com is now redirected to here.  Redoing my previous website was much more work than I wanted to do - I'd rather just write story.

So today, it's write a bit, edit a bit, cook a bit and enjoy the beautiful Sunday it is.

A Matter of Will

Although I like to think of myself as a horror writer, I rarely write a vampire story.  This weeks offering is one of those rare ones - A Matter of Will.  A story of a vampire and vampire killer, but no, nothing like Buffy or anything sparkling.  I promise.

This story was first published on a now defunct website called Something Wicked Online.  I think it was the first story I was paid for - at a whopping quarter-cent a word.  But I can remember how proud I was.

The only other vampire story I've written is now in post production editing as a short motion picture.  I will be releasing the short story, The Truth of Becoming, when the movie becomes available also.  Just need to find more hours in the day to get it done.

For now, tho, enjoy A Matter of Will.  It's short and I believe you will like it.

The Sinkhole

Put up one of my favorite stories on the Kindle today.  Inspired by a novel I read years ago called The Creepers, I wrote The Sinkhole as I delved into childhood memories.

We've all been afraid at one time or another of the 'boogeyman' in his many shapes and forms.  For me, growing up was a large enclosed sinkhole dotted with small caves around its perimeter.  Although all the kids in the neighborhood loved to play there - I was always leery of the place.  Although it had snakes, that wasn't what disturbed me - it was what lived in those caves.  (Overactive imaginations will always get you in trouble, for sure)

So the story The Sinkhole was born.  Allowing my imagination to wander, the creatures that lived in those caves came to life in the story.  Unlike the young hero of the tale, I've never been back.  But I did the place up on Google maps and it is still a desolate, barren place.  The houses that my friends lived in are all gone and the fence around the perimeter remains.

Oh and my old house now sports a swimming pool in the backyard.  Wish that had been there when I was a kid.

Now Holding in My Grubby Little Paws

The paperback edition of Vengeance Is Mine.  Sweet.  As anyone who knows me will say, I poured a lot of tears into this story.  Poor Kevin had to put up with an emotional roller coaster as I wrote Macie's story of oppression to freedom.  Of all the things I written over the years (more than 30 of them), this story hounded me until I had it on paper.

Even through all the edits, critiques by others and writing the story in screenplay format, I never tired of any of the characters.  I hated a few of them, but they never bored me or let me down.  Vengeance Is Mine touched my heart from the very first paragraph.

So to finally hold the finished book in my grubby little paws is sweeter than molasses on honey wheat bread.

If you're interested, check out Vengeance Is Mine.  Currently available on Amazon.

Paranoia

One of my first, and still one of my favorite, short stories went live for the Amazon Kindle last night.  Paranoia was inspired by two vastly different things.  One a neighbor who was so terrified of life, she simply existed.  The second, an segment on an old television movie called Trilogy of Terror, starring Karen Black in all three parts.

I simply took the stand that if thoughts become things - then your greatest fear will become your reality.  While the main character of the story feared dogs, myself I fear snakes.  Both are reflected in Paranoia.  But, as you read this story, whatever your fear may be, will also be reflected and give you something to ponder.

I did notice I've picked up a follower or two since I started this blog all over again.  To those followers, I thank you.