Quick Review of Duma Key by Stephen King

 I just finished reading one of Stephen King's latest novel, Duma Key.  Ever since Bag of Bones, I have been less enthusiastic about King's new novels, and often wait several years to read them.  Don't get me wrong, I go out and buy them as soon as they are released, but I let them fester on my bookshelf while I attend to shorter paperbacks.  I did the same thing with Cell and with From a Buick  8.

Belinda Frisch, Author: On Pricing Self-Published Work

Belinda Frisch, Author: On Pricing Self-Published Work

Wag The Fox: Guest Post by Bradley Convissar: Self-Publishing, Story Length, and Pricing

Wag The Fox: Guest Post by Bradley Convissar: Self-Publishing, Story Length, and Pricing

Excerpt of "The Madame Penitent"

In addition to the weekly, or bi-weekly, "Story Behind The Story" series, I am going to be posting excerpts for all 22 stories in the Pandora's Children The Complete Nightmares collection.  Up first is "The Madame Penitent", one of my favorite stories.  So click below to head over there!

http://darkestdayspublishing.blogspot.com/2011/08/madame-penitnent.html

Story Behind The Story- Four Corners

Want to know what inspired me to write "Four Corners"?  Click the link below to be brought to the post at my new website for all things book-related, Darkest Days Publishing.  The first entry in my new "Story Behind The story" series

http://darkestdayspublishing.blogspot.com/2011/08/story-behind-story-four-corners.html

Darkest Days Publishing

I have finally decided to create a publishing page, separate from this blog, for my books.  Everything I publish will be published under the Darkest Days Publishing Imprint, and details can be found at www.darkestdayspublishing.com.   This page will focus on the books themselves and only the books themselves; no opinions, no reviews, no dental stuff.  Only info pertinent to my books.

To that end, you will find things at Darkest Days Publishing that you will not find here, including direct links to any new reviews as well as new series of blog posts called "Story Behind The Story".  This series will focus on the events in my life or stories which I have read which inspired me to write a particular story.

First up is "Four Corners", one of my favorite short stories.  The entire post can be found here.  And please, "Like" the page, Tweet the page, share the page!

www.darkestdayspublishing.com

What I'm Reading, What I Just Bought

Let's see... I am currently in the middle of 4 books:

• Dragons of the Highlord Skies- Book 2 in the Dragonlance Lost Chronicles.  Enjoyable.  Makes me a little teary-eyed for the early nineties when I was first introduced to Tanis, Sturm, Kitiara and the rest of the Dragonlance characters
• Storm Dragon- Book 1 of the Draconic Prophecies.  A little slow, but I've enjoyed most Eberron stuff I've read.
• Key of Stars- Book 3 of the Abolethic Soverignty.  I'll be honest, a little disappointed with all of the post-Spellplague books
• Black Train by Edward Lee

Meth Mouth

Time for your weekly oral health post from your favorite horror/thriller writer:

Someone recently asked me if you could tell if someone had a crystal meth habit by looking at their teeth.  And the answer is a resounding: Hell yeah!  Just like you can tell if someone is bulimic (pitting of the enamel on the back of the teeth).  Or if they smoke (thick generalized stain).  The teeth offer a lot of clues to a person's habits.  Below is a classic example of Meth Mouth.  This is actually the least disgusting picture I could find:

Teeth- Not Just For Chewing

Real comforting, I know.  And yes, I took this one out myself.

Seeing as I am a dentist first and writer second (as of now), I decided I should write a blog post about the importance of dentistry.

I know people don't like going to the dentist.  I don't take it personally anymore.  People just don't like the dentist.  Why?  The needles.  The perceived pain.  The nosies.  All of the above.  A dozen different reasons.

But I want to tell you why its important to visit your dentist, not only for your regular check-ups, but also when he or she tells you that you need work done.

First off, what good are teeth good for?  Several things:

1. Eating.  With teeth, eating is easier.  Simple.
2. Talking.  Without teeth, talking,  and being understood, is much more difficult.
3. Smile.  Keep you teeth, you get a nice smile (in most cases)
4. Face structure.  Ever see granny not wearing her dentures?  Sure you have.  It's ugly.  The whole face sags.  Without teeth, your face is quite scary.  Like melted wax.

So there it is.  Why bring this up now.  Because of a certain type of patient I see too often.  Here's the scenario:

End of Day 1

Well, Day 1 of my promotion has come and gone, and look at what we have:

Still quite a ways from finding itself in the top 100, but hey, it's a start.  Nice to find it in the top 100 horror.

So in day 1, we have 41 copies of Book 1 sold and 5 copies of Book 2.  Thanks go out to everyone who has purchased one of the books; all profits will be going to cover the massive medical bills my dog just incurred after needing some surgery.  So Friday, my dumb Daschund, thanks you, too.

So we have 46 copies sold all together.  That's one $25 Amazon gift card, only 15 copies away from giving out another.  Just remember, if you want to enter, read the rules on the previous post.  And please, Tweet about Pandora's Children and post about Pandora's Children on your Facebook pages.

Thanks again.

-Brad

Official Pandora's Children/ Dogs of War Contest!

Okay fans and fans-to-be, in honor of the release of Pandora's Children The Complete Nightmares: Books 1 and 2, I have decided to have my first contest.  Each book contains eleven stories and over 90,000 words (300-400 printed pages depending on how you calculate it), and well worth the $2.99.  Read the rules below to get started.  And remember, NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY: