Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Cover Reveal: Skateboard Zombies


About the Book
Title: Skateboard Xombies: Search for the Crystal Coffin
Author: Ace Antonio Hall
Genre: YA Horror
On a normal school day in Lunyon Canyon, California, teenage necromancer, Sylva Fleischer, bickers with her teacher in class over an unfairly graded paper. But when the principal announces that all teachers should lock their door and not let any students leave class, the entire school is trapped in a world of terrifying zombies that not only bite with their teeth, they bite with their minds.
Since all life on Earth faces extinction at the hands of the perilous undead, a guardian of a secret society of vampire monks saves Sylva, her friend, Half-Pipe and her family, and lead them to an alternate world. And that's when the real terror begins ... on a planet full of every imaginable type of undead creature that ever lived ... Including those telekinetic zombies!

Praise for Ace Antonio Hall and Confessions of Sylva Slasher: 
"As I say on the front cover … A treat for Buffy fans–but 100% Ace Antonio Hall's own twisted vision. Breathes new life into the living dead; run, don't shamble to get a copy." –Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author, Robert J. Sawyer
“In a vast sea of zombie tales, Hall's tale is more than a cut above. He brings the entire genre to heel and treats us to one Hell of a ride.”
Art Holcomb, Editor-in-Chief, Andromeda Entertainment




About the Author
Ace Antonio Hall is an actor, former music producer, and ‘retired’ educator with accolades as a Director of Education for the Sylvan Learning Center and nearly fifteen years experience as an award-winning NYC English teacher. He has a BFA degree with a concentration in screenwriting and has published poetry, short stories and fiction in magazines, anthologies, newspapers and novels.
Inspired by his father, Chris Acemandese Hall, who penned the lyrics to the Miles Davis jazz classic, “So What”, sung by Eddie Jefferson, and his sister, Carol Lynn Brown, who guest starred in the 1970’s film, “Velvet Smooth”, Ace spawned his creativity into developing the beloved but flawed teen character, Sylva Slasher.
Ace was the Vice President of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society (2009-2011), and continues to head the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror (ScHoFan) Critique Group as Co-Director of critique groups within the society. He is also a member of LASFS and the International Thriller Writers.
On April 14, 2013, Montag Press published his YA zombie novel Confessions of Sylva Slasher. His next release, Skateboard Xombies, is coming out later this year, and he has already begun working on Skateboard Xamurai for the third installment in his Sylva Slasher series.

Looking for some zombie gear? Check out Ace’s Zombie Pop Shop!

Giveaway
On the cover reveal day, you can win a $10 Amazon gift card. Fill in the Rafflecopter form below to participate!
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Book Excerpt
“Okay, fifteen points,” Ms. B. said calmly, from over my shoulder.
I straightened up from the water fountain, and turned to her. “Really?”
“Find someone or a credible source to give credence to your theory and you will get an A-plus on that paper. Additionally, get rid of that section on biocentricism.”
My mouth opened to protest, but she didn't let me get a word out.
“I know that Dr. Lanza is the third most respected scientist in the world,” she said. “He's interesting and I've read some of his theories, but there just isn't enough data to back up his claims that our consciousness continues to live after our bodies die.
Once the body dies, the spirit, the soul, everything is as dead as a red shirt on Star Trek. Sorry, I know that your family business raises the dead for grieving families and such, and you'd like to believe that there is some kind of place we resurrect from, or ascend into, but there is no heaven. No hell. No afterlife, and no facts to support them. Scratch that section and you have a deal.”
Before I could respond she was already walking back into the class room, so I jogged up behind her and was about to open my mouth in protest until our principal, Mr. Lee, interrupted over the loudspeaker.
“May I have your attention,” he said. “This is not a test. I repeat, this is not a test. I need every teacher to listen carefully. Please lock your doors—right now. Close your doors, and lock them. Do not let any students leave your classroom for any reason.”
From outside, emergency sirens started wailing. They were heading toward school grounds.
“Above all,” Mr. Lee said, “staff and students must remain calm.”
“What's going on?” I asked.
“I don't know,” Ms. B. said, hustling me back to the door.
“The school,” Mr. Lee said, “is on lock-down until further notice.”
Murmur buzzed through the classroom. Ms. B. shut our door quickly, and locked it.
“I repeat,” Mr. Lee said. “I need everyone to remain calm.”
“Do you think it's a gunman?” asked a boy named Roger.
“Okay, students,” Ms. B. said. Her face had turned rather pale. “Stay in your seats.”
Emergency engines were getting louder and louder.
Ms. B. looked at her desk. “On second thought, R-Roger,” she stuttered. “You and Terrence move my desk to block the door.”
“Okay, Ms. B.,” Roger said, getting up.
He and super-tall Terrence, the school's all-city basketball forward, lifted the desk and sort of duck-waddled across the floor to place it in front of the door. Red flashing lights seeped through the cracks in the blinds.
“Thank you, boys,” Ms. B. said. “Now go back to your seats.”
On the way back to his seat, Terrence walked over to the windows. “I hope it's not some psychotic joker out there with orange hair.”
I hope it's not another school shooting.
The siren blared so loud it started to hurt my ears. Terrence was about to peek through the blinds when Ms. B. ran over to him, and ushered him away from the window.
“Sit down, Terrence,” she said. “Let's do as Mr. Lee—”
The windows shattered. Walls imploded with a thunderous sound and a fire truck slammed through our classroom, taking Ms. B. and Terrence with it.


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus




“KRAMPUSNACHT: TWELVE NIGHTS OF KRAMPUS”
EDITED BY KATE WOLFORD

Alpena, MI (October 22, 2014) – World Weaver Press (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced the Christmas horror anthology Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus, edited by Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine editor and publisher Kate Wolford, will be available in trade paperback and ebook Tuesday, November 11, 2014.
The joy and terror of the season. For bad children, a lump of coal from Santa is positively light punishment when Krampus is ready and waiting to beat them with a stick, wrap them in chains, and drag them down to hell--all with St. Nick's encouragement and approval. Krampusnacht holds within its pages twelve tales of Krampus triumphant, usurped, befriended, and much more. From evil children (and adults) who get their due, to those who pull one over on the ancient "Christmas Devil." From historic Europe, to the North Pole, to present day American suburbia, these all new stories embark on a revitalization of the Krampus tradition. Whether you choose to readKrampusnacht over twelve dark and scary nights or devour it in one nacht of joy and terror, these stories are sure to add chills and magic to any winter's reading.
With new stories from Cheresse Burke, Guy Burtenshaw, Jill Corddry, Elise Forier Edie, Patrick Evans, Scott Farrell, Caren Gussoff, Mark Mills, Jeff Provine, Colleen H. Robbins, Lissa Sloan, andElizabeth Twist.
Krampusnacht will be available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, WorldWeaverPress.com, and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. You can also findKrampusnacht on Goodreads.
Kate Wolford is editor and publisher of Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine at fairytalemagazine.com and editor of the book Beyond the Glass Slipper: Ten Neglected Fairy Tales To Fall In Love With. She teaches first-year college writing, incorporating fairy tales in her assignments whenever possible.
World Weaver Press is an independently owned publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction. We believe in great storytelling.


Publication Date: November 11 • Folklore/Fantasy/Horror Anthology

$11.95 trade paperback, 205 pages  • $6.99 ebook

ISBN: 978-0692314746




And now a visit with Scott Farrell who wrote "Krampus Carol."



1. How did you come up with your story idea?
I’ve been intrigued by the folklore surrounding the Krampus for years. I really enjoy learning about regional folklore of any kind, and the Krampus is a marvelous combination of the spookiness of Halloween/harvest and the sentimentality of Christmas. So, in “A Krampus Carol,” I wanted to craft a story that included elements of both seasons in the plot. It had to be more than just a story of a hairy monster wreaking havoc in the middle of the holiday season - I wanted to include a redemptive, emotional element to it that would bring out the archetypes that lie behind the Krampus myth - like all good folklore.


2. What is your favorite/scariest memory of the holidays?
I’m afraid my “scariest” holiday memory doesn’t involve anything supernatural. Several years ago I was on a snowmobile trip along the Continental Divide with my wife, and my snowmobile caught a tree that was hidden under the deep snow. I flipped and was thrown about 30 yards, and broke my arm pretty badly in the landing. The temperature was about 10 below zero, and we were a hundred miles from the nearest doctor - and I realized, as my wife was trying to construct a hasty splint before her fingers went numb in the cold air, that this was a pretty serious situation. Fortunately, we made it to a hospital okay (some major surgery was required to put my arm back together), but the bleak landscape and biting cold gave me a sense - just a little bit - of what it might be like to be trapped out in the elements before the time of modern transportation and communication.


3. What are some of your favorite movies during the holiday season?
I have to say I really love A Christmas Carol - just about any version of it. (Though I really like the ’84 version with George C. Scott.) Though most people think of it as a “holiday classic,” it’s easy to forget that it’s also a wonderful ghost story! Dickens does a great job of infusing the story with a dark sense of dread, which makes Scrooge’s transformation at the end all the more powerful.



4. If I were your favorite holiday treat what would I be?
A steaming peppermint mocha with an extra shot of espresso! And if you brought along your friend, “slice of pumpkin pie,” I would be even happier.

5. What was the worst/best Christmas gift you ever received? Why?
I hate to sound sappy and sentimental (horror authors are supposed to be dark and twisted, right?) but I can’t say I’ve ever gotten a “bad” Christmas gift. Any present from a friend or loved one means they are thinking of you - and that’s what the holidays are all about. Though I must admit that any gift that can be immediately put to use in making a big holiday breakfast - whether it’s a new griddle to make pancakes on, or a pound of gourmet smoked bacon - will be well-received in my house! I love Christmas breakfast.


6. Regifting-love it or hate it.
I’m fine with recycling gifts. (It’s the thought that counts!) I’d rather have someone actually enjoy a gift, even if it arrives “second hand,” than have it mouldering in a closet somewhere. (Although it sounds like there could be some sort of creepy story in that concept.)


7. Plotter or Pantster?
I’m definitely a plotter. I’m more creative if I know the basic framework of the story is as I’m writing - although I’m not adverse to changing that framework once the writing starts. For example, “A Krampus Carol” started out as a story about the Krampus terrorizing a group of teenage kids. Only after getting through a first draft did I feel that the story would be better if the target of the Krampus’ wrath was someone other than the young vandals. So, my plot-points definitely went through some revision.


8. Name three things on your writing desk.
1) A coffee cup - definitely can’t get much writing done without that. 2) A studio recording microphone - I record a periodic podcast through my Chivalry Today educational program, which includes interviews with authors working in historical fiction, Arthurian literature/fantasy, and non-fiction medieval history. (Anyone out there interested in being a guest on the show?) 3) The latest issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 comic, which is my current “project completion reward.” When I finish a writing project, I let myself take a break and do something fun, and reading the latest exploits of Buffy and the Scooby Gang is what I’m planning to do when my interview questions are complete!


9. What advice would you give to new authors?
Write a lot, rather than thinking and talking about writing a lot. I give seminars at several writers conferences every year, and I see the same writers at these events, time and time again. Yes, it’s very helpful to sit in on presentations, get advice from established authors and agents, and share ideas and critiques with other writers. But I think a lot of young writers get paralyzed in thinking that just one more seminar, or one more agent meeting, or one more reading with a critique group will make it easier to start that story or book they’ve been thinking about. No, it won’t. Nothing will make it “easy,” and at some point you’ve got to make your own habits and your own process for writing.


10. What's next for you?
I’ve been invited to write a chapter for a book (to be released in 2015) titled “Superman Vs. Batman And Philosophy,” which will be volume number 100 in the “Pop Culture and Philosophy” series from Open Court Books. My chapter will be “The Dark Knight, The Man Of Steel, And The Philosophy Of Chivalry.”
After that … I’m working on a short story about a zombie plague outbreak in the 1930’s in Fordlandia, a rubber plantation (which never produced any rubber) established by Henry Ford in the Brazilian rain forest. The history of Fordlandia is full of hubris and tragedy, and I thought it would make a remarkable setting for a horror story of some sort. (Interestingly, I was inspired to write the “zombies in Fordlandia” story when I saw a request for submissions for the anthology “Dead Harvest,” which I see you, Dana, have a story included in. Obviously I wasn’t able to get my story done in time to make the deadline for that anthology, but I’m looking forward to reading a copy of it. Congratulations on getting your work included!)

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Dead Harvest Release Day



It’s always darkest before the harvest. Each year, as summer fades to memory, and the sky begins to grow dark, and the leaves change color and fall, the faint, fetid scent of death--of slowly rotting things--begins to drift in, hanging on the chill air like a ghostly pall. Making us wonder, what this year’s harvest will produce. Well... the harvest is here. And it is dead. With these 50 dark tales and nearly 700 pages of terror, you will experience fear, depravity, love, and loss. And a kind of chill, that won’t soon leave your bones. DEAD HARVEST is a crop like no other! Enter the field and get lost... Edited by Mark Parker Includes stories from Tim Lebbon, Richard Chizmar, Ronald Malfi, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Jeff Strand, James A. Moore, Tim Waggoner, Greg F. Gifune and many more...

I am thrilled to be included in this anthology with so many great authors. Fifty tales of terror. Fifty facets of glimmering fright to keep you reading late into the early hours of the morning. I hope you will enjoy the book and if you want to catch a short read from my story, check out my episode on the Liz McMullen show.





Check it out in paperback on Amazon. Release date coming soon for e-book.