I’ve been writing professionally for quite a while now, from newspaper journalism, magazine columns, speech writing to book doctoring. And books, of course.
On my main author site, I have a new page that gets into the details of the journey and how This Plague of Days came to be.
Working on a fresh story in this series, a prequel. Stay tuned.
Hopes to save the nation have faded but Kismet Beatriz remains defiant. The intrepid young survivor embarks on a desperate mission to storm the castle of the Select Few. To win, she must face the future without flinching.
The same is true for all of us.
Don’t hope. Do.
This series presents a fascinating and original take on the zombie apocalypse story. I was drawn in from the opening scene…and I found myself instantly connecting with the fate of the Spencer family. The writer did an excellent job interspersing the family’s story with details about the broader world. Every time it seemed that something was understood or under control in that sphere, the story would shift to reveal a new wrinkle in the plot.
~ Judge, 2nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards
The TPOD Omnibus won honorable mention in Genre for these awards in 2014.
Next month, the second book in the Ghosts & Demons Series will launch. In the meantime, get in on the ground floor of this really cool series with The Haunting Lessons. It’s a little bit Buffy and a whole lot of fun.
I’m pleased to announce that the TPOD Omnibus is now available in print. It’s a big book and it’s only been made possible through the imaginative and artful formatting work done by Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign. It’s a thing of beauty to behold. On the print version, you’ll also notice an extra sticker on the cover:
Meanwhile, my co-author on The Haunting Lessons, Holly Papandreas…
has two creepy ghost stories in Kindle Short Reads.
It’s been in the Top 100 Kindle Short Reads list since its release!
Following a terrible tragedy, Tamara Smythe, a girl from Iowa discovers their are phantasms everywhere, watching us and waiting. But ghosts aren’t enemy. The Unseen is much bigger and more dangerous than Tamara imagined. Click it to get it!
To claim the free book, readers go to a secret YouTube link at the back of the book, answer a simple question and send me an email address. I haven’t asked anyone to sign up for a newsletter or anything. Readers get the new book delivered to them immediately via Amazon. Easy-peasy.
Hearing directly from happy readers! I need reviews of my books, of course, but it’s also been truly wonderful and educational. It’s wonderful to hear how readers engaged with a mystery that is sifted through the story. I’ve got so much feedback now that I can say with confidence that the plot worked effectively the way I hoped it would. It’s also educational in that, with a little pull and a push, I’ve hearing from a lot of readers who wouldn’t ordinarily leave a review. (Again, I need those happy reviews and encourage them but the comments I’m getting are fun, too.)
It’s also fun to reward new readers with something unexpected, both in the major plot twist of This Plague of Days and in my latest thriller, Intense Violence, Bizarre Themes. (There are only three reviews of that one as I write this, but they are three of my favorite reviews of all time! Check them out here.)
The truth is, I had a time travel book in the editorial pipeline, but, to be honest, it’s not ready for primetime yet. The time travel novel is a very complicated story and I can’t let anything come farther down the editorial pipe until I’m satisfied with it. It’s on hold for now until I can rework it. So let me tell you something about my next book, The Haunting Lessons.
A publisher approached me about contributing to an anthology. I was interested, but I wasn’t sure about the subject matter. It had a supernatural theme that I did not groove on. Still, it kept me awake nights in much the same way This Plague of Days did. How could I take the familiar and give it a nipple twist to make it work? I never want to do the expected. When I figured it out, I couldn’t wait to get the first draft down.
The Haunting Lessons is about a girl from Iowa named Tamara Smythe. After a shocking and tragic accident, she discovers she has acquired supernatural powers. She reveals the truth which, of course, lands her in a mental hospital. Not for long. Soon she moves to New York to begin a new, better life and to forget the past. Instead, she runs straight into a supernatural war.
The hook is ghosts. The twist is demons. The Haunting Lessons is a heartfelt and funny training manual for any who would join the fight to save the future for humanity. Forget winter. Armageddon is coming and it’s Hell hot.
This one is shorter and has a faster pace than This Plague of Days. I love TPOD, of course. Remember, I don’t let anything out of the bunker unless I love it. But the jokes and action in The Haunting Lessons come faster and are packed tighter. This Plague of Days was, in part, an homage to Stephen King’s The Stand. I don’t know what to compare The Haunting Lessons to, though there is a tiny influence of Harry Potter and not a little Hunger Games in there, I suppose. But with more jokes. And swords. Lots of swords! This is apocalyptic fiction with a paranormal twist that takes the story in a fun and funny direction (with just enough tragedy to make it matter.)
You’re really going to like Tamara Smythe. I’m hoping to have it ready in time for Christmas.
In the book I’m working on now, Tamara Smythe suffers a tragedy and a paranormal world, once hidden, opens up to her. Now she’s in New York, touring a secret society’s fortress in the middle of Brooklyn:
The top of the wall was just wide enough for two people to stroll abreast. Shards of broken glass and crosses lined the top of the stone parapet.
“This is our bailey,” Victor said. “It’s the outer wall of our little castle. One of New York’s first Roman Catholic churches once stood here and this rampart kept men out of the nunnery. That’s the legend. I think it’s true. This is our sanctuary from the war.”
“No sentries on your castle wall?”
Victor looked pleased. “Observant. Good. Most unusual. People rarely see what’s in front of them. Fewer still think to ask what is missing.”
“I watch a lot of Game of Thrones.”
“What’s that?”
I thought of the armoury and the Blade Room, stocked with so many swords. “It’s kind of like your life, Victor. You’re just short one handsome little person and a lot of gratuitous nudity.”
I think this new book will be a nice follow-up to TPOD. It has fun supernatural elements plus funny pop culture references readers have come to expect from the crime novels. Some of it reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, except Tamara doesn’t really have superpowers. She’s smart and strong, but other than that she has the same experience of anyone who can see dead people walk the earth. Oh, and there’s a war coming and she’s out to save humanity, between working shifts at a funeral home, picking up and dropping off corpses.
This one is going to be a lot of fun.
~ Check out the podcasts and books by Robert Chazz Chute at AllThatChazz.com.
RCC: Aside from all the scary beasties running around, I suppose one theme that emerges is:
RCC: Really? Dad is an atheist and Mom is a Christian. When Jack talked about her faith, did you think that was preachy? I think the parents
have discussions that come up naturally when you’re constantly facing mortality. Just like a story, in life, we all want to know what happens next, even after we die. Make that, especially after we die. I explore a lot of ideas in This Plague of Days. I leave it to readers to draw their own conclusions. I think I give all the ideas I explore a fair hearing.
What I believe doesn’t matter, anyway. It’s about what you think as you read. I’m happy to provide stimulation, but if I tell you what side I’m on, somebody will say I’m “preachy.” Instead, consider the last chapter again. There’s optimism, but there’s also a deep questioning of what forces were working against each other. Please, meet me halfway and decide for yourself.
RCC: After TPOD, I’m not sure what’s left for me to say about zombies, at least for a while. My mission is always to do something different and unexpected with all I write. That’s why I consider myself a suspense novelist first. I played with zombies and vampires in TPOD (sort of) but it wouldn’t be fresh if I dragged it out or did more in that world. Never say never, but…no more zombies for now. I do promise all my books will be shorter with a faster pace from here on out. TPOD took years.
RCC: I’m committed to three thrillers this year: the autobiographical crime novel, the time travel savant novel and the third instalment of the Hit Man Series. I have plenty of other books in various stages of writing, but I’ve settled on those three next. At least one or two before the end of summer, I hope.
5. Which of the TPOD Seasons is your favorite?RCC: #3, easily. Despite the weirdness and Jaimie’s unique point of view, I think Season One starts off in a place closer to what people expect in a disaster novel. I allow the crisis to unfold internationally and went deep into how slowly and how quickly civilization’s fall could occur. Many of the expected elements are there, despite the autistic twist and Jaimie Spencer’s other gifts.
#2, I like for the fast change in pace. People who appreciated the literary depth of Season One got a slap across the face with the evolution of the virus and of species. A few readers are uncomfortable with the paranormal turn Season Two takes, but I hope there’s enough going on and enough cool characters that they’ll hang in for the ride. A couple of reviewers have made the connection to Stephen King’s The Stand in a disparaging way. I can’t think of a higher compliment to my work.
Season Three gets crazy meta, metaphysical and a little psychedelic amid the carnage (and several beta readers said it could stand on its own as a book, with or without Seasons One and Two.) I love where things ended up because I always want to defy expectations. If anybody thought this was “just” a zombie novel, surprise! There’s enough action for lovers of Zompoc but jokes and brain tickles, too.
~ The TPOD bargains continue and I’m back in Amazon’s Top 100 horror authors again. Word must be getting around. Thanks so much to everyone who spread the mind infection.
TPOD tickles you to zomgasm & braingasm. #Book #deals at ThisPlagueOfDays.com to get a bonus ebook. #suspense #Top100 #horror
I’ve just sent the new cover through to Amazon. Within hours, this will be the new look of This Plague of Days, The Omnibus Edition.
Thanks to Kit Foster of Kit Foster Design, I have a lovely cover! If you need a book cover (ebook or print), a new web banner, advertising…whatever your design needs, Kit is The One. Check out his portfolio at KitFosterDesign.com.
I’m so pleased with the way the story developed over time. I thought about writing it faster, but it’s a delicate clock and I had to take the time to get the teeth of the gears meshing correctly. I’ve always said with all my fiction that you should expect something different. Genre fiction isn’t just a well of goofiness. I have something to say, dammit!
This book has been years in the writing. One of the things I love, and will miss, about serials is the ongoing contact I’ve had with readers as I write and tweak the manuscript. Your feedback made a huge difference and the readers who connect with me on Facebook have been really helpful.
Editors and agents (famously) don’t like epilogues. A survey of my readers showed you guys do want an epilogue. You want things wrapped up so I did it in a big way.
In the end, the epilogue added a new dimension and more opportunities for twists and surprises. This sort of feedback simply isn’t possible with a book that’s a one-off. TPOD has a group of readers anxious to see the finale and I promise a big and surprising finish.
Whatever you’ve read before, this ain’t that. Yes, zombies. Yes, vampires. No, no easy answers and no solutions you’ve seen before.
Yes, your questions will be answered, though there will be a few you’re going to have to answer yourself. Meet me halfway in the give and take of the experience.
We’ve added three new beta readers and discovered the bug in production that allowed some typos to slip into Season 1. It wasn’t the editorial folks, but a file management issue. We’re working to fix that as quickly as possible so a corrected volume will go out previous to the release of Season 3 and This Plague of Days, The Complete Series.
I’m sticking with Amazon for now. You can read it on any device using the free Amazon reading apps. (Google “free Amazon reading app” to get one for your device, whatever your device.)
I do have books available on other platforms, but it seems Amazon is still the platform that moves my books. Eventually all my books will be available in Nook and Kobo and Barnes and Noble, assuming those platforms are even around next year. (But that’s another topic for another blog.) Suffice to say, if I thought I could sell books on the other platforms, I wouldn’t hesitate, but so far, they haven’t proved themselves.
Unfortunately, it’s too big a book for my regular printer to handle. I’m exploring other options but I’m concerned it might be prohibitively expensive unless it’s a limited edition just for collectors and superfans. My main thought was that it should be in one big book for promotional purposes. Fortunately, a friend in the film business has taken an interest in my books. It’s way too early to get excited over a bunch of variables outside my control, but there’s hope that TPOD will find a wider audience through film.
When we have a solid publication date, I’ll let you all know. I’m doing all I can to make it all close to perfection. When you board my crazy train, all I want to do is blow you away and melt your brain.
Stay tuned.
~ Follow me on Twitter @rchazzchute and on Facebook here.
Just $0.99 on Amazon! Click it to grab it now!
The virus has evolved and no one is safe, even in their dreams.
This Plague of Days 