Jane the Ripper is coming for you

Want to read my first full length novel, the 350 page horror/thriller Blood, Smoke and Ashes?

Own a Kindle device or Kindle software?

Have a friend or family member who may enjoy it?

Don't want to pay for it?

Well you're in luck!  Until Thursday, January 3rd I will be gifting an eBook copy to anyone who is interested.

All I ask is that you try to read it before the end of the month and post a positive review at Amazon if you enjoy it.

How do you get a copy?  It's simple.  Either e-mail me at darkestdayspublishing@gmail.com or private message me at my author FB page http://www.facebook.com/BradleyConvissarAuthor and leave your e-mail or the gift recipient's e-mail.
Don't worry... your e-mail will not be given to anyone else or used to harass you, only to send you a copy of the book.

Be advised, this book HAS been professionally edited by an honest-to-god professional editor who not only fixed spelling, grammar, syntax, etc, but also advised on pacing, timeline, and overall story.  I made many changes after the final editing, though, and while I did my best to make sure there were no errors, we all know small things can slip through.  If anyone notices anything, either minor or glaring, I would love if you would contact me so that I may make changes before my advertising campaign begins in February.

And keep your eyes open starting February 4th at all three of my sites for a contest where I will be giving away a $20 Amazon gift card every week for 6 weeks and possibly a $100 and $150 Amazon gift card.  No purchase will be necessary to enter the contest.

Announcements

I have two announcements to make:

• Coffin Hop winners
• Cover reveal

Coffin Hop Winners
I am feeling quite generous in the wake of Sandy.  So here is what is going to happen:

• Anyone who commented on my Coffin Hop post is entitled to a free eCopy of Blood, Smoke and Ash, a free eCopy of Reflecting on Midnight AND a free signed paperback copy of Blood, Smoke and Ashes.  Yes, I will send anyone who left a comment a physical copy of the book when it is released in February.  True, you may have already read the eCopy, but it's always fun to have a physical book. 
• So what do you have to do?  Just e-mail me at darkestdayspublishing@gmail.com with your e-mail address so I can gift you a copy of both eBooks and a real address so I can send you a physical copy when it is released.  My novella collection Reflecting on Midnight will be sent by the end of the week while Blood, Smoke and Ashes will be sent as soon as it is available. 
• Unfortunately, both are only available for Amazon in eBook form.  Of course, if you don't have a Kindle or Kindle software, you will be able to enjoy Blood, Smoke and Ashes in paperback as soon as it is out.  And if you don't have a Kindle, I can still send you an HTML copy of Reflecting on Midnight  for you to enjoy on your computer.  So drop me a message, make sure you let me know what your Blogger name was so I can make sure you actually left a comment, and you will be added to the list!

Cover Reveal
I have been working with the wonderful and talented Scarlett Rugers at http://booksat.scarlettrugers.com/ for the past month to create a cover for Blood, Smoke and Ashes.  And after half a dozen concepts and a dozen tweaks, we have a winner:

It's exactly what I wanted and I couldn't be happier.  It's simple and sleek and not too cluttered.  For a larger view and a book synopsis, stop by www.darkestdayspublishing.com.  And don't forget to share, share, share! 

The wait... well, you'll have to wait a couple of days more

Coffin Hop is officially over, and I promised to announce winners today, but it will need to wait a couple of days more.  Hurricane Sandy has made life a little difficult here in NJ, and getting stuff like this done is not easy.  But I will have winners announced in a couple of days.  Thanks for your patience!

Coffin Hop 2012

I will admit, I don't get into the Coffin Hop, or any hops, as much as I would like to.  A forty hour work week, two crazy kids, a wife with her own hectic schedule, a dog that seems intent on creating as much chaos as possible, multiple ongoing writing projects... they all conspire to keep me from getting as involved with blog hops as I should be.  And with the Wii U being released in a short three weeks, my on-line presence will even more diminished. 


Anyway, excuses aside, a brief note about me for anyone who is visiting here for the first time.  My name is Brad Convissar and I am a dentist by trade.  And if anyone knows horror, it's a dentist.  The look of terror on a patient's face as I, clad in mask and special glasses, lean in with needle that looks like it is ten feet long, aiming for their mouth, is simply unique.  And there is nothing more enjoyable in my profession than yanking out a nice, infected tooth.  Other writers may talk about blood, may try to describe it, but my hands are covered with it every day.  I know blood.  I live blood.  And I know what true horror looks like.

I would love to be able to write full time, but I can't complain about my job.  I enjoy what I do.

By the way, don't forget to visit the main Coffin Hop website at http://coffinhop.wordpress.com where you can discover over 100+ other awesome horror authors

Anyway, on to the Coffin Hop...

Last year I simply gave away some eBooks.  All I asked was the people told me their most embarrassing Halloween costume.  This year I am going to give away some physical books.  I, like many people, still love the feeling of holding a real book in my hands.  Do I read eBooks?  Sure I do.  I read a lot of Indie authors   I'm always reading at least one Indie/small press book at a time on my Droid X.  Would I prefer a physical book?  Yeah, but and let's be honest: a $2.99 eBook is much more appealing than a $14.95 soft cover.  Anyway, this year I am going to be giving away 2 signed copies of Reflecting on Midnight, my novella collection (collects the novellas Dogs of War, King of the Merge, FotoShop of the Gods, I Never, and two short stories The Butcher and Drop House).  I am also going to give out 2 signed copies of my first full length novel, a supernatural thriller called Blood, Smoke and Ashes.  Unfortunately, this will not be available until February, but I will keep e-mail addresses so I can contact winners when they are done.  (Note: the eBook version will be finished beginning of January, and I will gift the winner copies of this in addition to the signed books).

This year, I'm going to ask something slightly different but not difficult: in the comments section, simply tell me the best Indie or small press horror book you have read this year and why.  On November 1st, I will randomly select four winners and announce them on a follow-up post.  If you want a chance to receive a book, you must leave an e-mail address for me... this will allow me to gift you an e-copy of the book as well as contact you about an address where the signed copy can be mailed.

If you you want to know more about me,  click on the "About Me" and "Welcome To My Chair" tabs above.

If you want to know more about my books, which include 2 large short story collections, a two-story short story collection, and  four novellas, hop on over to my official page www.darkestdayspublishing.com.

You can also find my on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BradleyConvissarAuthor.  Don't be shy about following me.  My Twitter handle is @bconvisdmd.  Find me if you dare.

So that's it... I look forward to hearing from you guys.  And next year, next year I hope I will have the time to put together a nice swag bag full of Halloween and horror goodies... maybe I'll start saving the teeth I rip out...

It's Been a While

Well, as the title says, it's been a while.  So many other things going on.  And as they say, every minute spent on writing blog posts is a minute not working on actual writing.  But with my first full-length novel at the editor's, being beaten up by a professional, I find myself with a little free time.  Yes, I could be working hardcore on the novella I am finishing up, "The Fountain", or start working on the next book, The Hum, but I am enjoying a couple of days without any writing responsibilities.

Once Blood, Smoke and Ashes returns from the editor for a final go through, I am going to be spending a lot of late nights polishing that up, so there will be little time available for these mundane but necessary tasks, like: setting up advertising dates for February and March (done), putting together a new Darkest Days Publishing site (done, at www.darkestdayspublishing.com), writing up an intro page, an acknowledgment page, an end note (working on it), putting together a new biography (done), putting together the basic eBook document (need to start), putting together the basic print version document (need to start, not looking forward to that) and updating this blog site (still doing).  And those are just the tasks I can think of off the top of my head.

At least I can now cross 'writing my first blog post in over half a year' off the list.  It isn't exciting, but it is done.

Anyway, I'm going to put something up for the Coffinhop in the next day or two.  As soon as I figure out what I am doing.

Keep your eyes peeled for that.  And  I will be posting information, including firm release date and cover image, for Blood, Smoke and Ashes as it becomes available.  But for now, you can click here to be brought to the book's official page over at Darkest Days Publishing.

Thanks for your time.

The Short Story- Novella-Novel Quagmire

As any of my fans know, I have yet to write a novel.  I am in the middle of one right now, but I have yet to publish one.  I have spent the past three years working on shorts works, and to this day have published 26 or so short stories and 4 novellas.

Now, I did this for one main reason: exposure.  In the time I spent working on these shorter works, I could have written two or two and a half books.  But then I would have had 2 or 3 works published  instead of the 16 or so collections and novellas I have available.  Was it the right choice?  Who knows.

Goodreads giveaways

I am currently running a pair of giveaways on Goodreads, so click on the links below if you would like a chance to win a copy of either Reflecting on Midnight or Pandora's Children: The Complete Nightmares Book 1.

What's wrong with short stories?

After looking at various reviews of my free short stories, "Blink" and "Last Dance of a Black Widow" one of the most common complaints I found is... "I expected more" or "I was hoping for more" or "This would have made a good book but it was too short."  Or something similar.  People simply wanted more.  They enjoyed the story but needed to have more of it.  The killer is, these people then give me three out of five stars, not because they didn't enjoy what they read, but because they felt cheated.  Now, readers can't feel cheated monetarily because these stories are free, though I guess they can feel cheated time-wise because they spent ten minutes reading something that they thought never really ended... but that's a different issue altogether.