If it seems to you like the world has devolved into chaos, you are not alone. We are all looking for more control in our lives. In Amid Mortal Words, that wish is granted to Lt. Col. Zane Salvador. The results could be wonderful for the human race. On the other hand, Zane might end up summoning the apocalypse.
The story begins with Zane Salvador on leave from NORAD. He awakes on a train bound for Chicago. Beside him sits a mysterious stranger with a book that has the power to delete all the evil in the world. The catch is, how much collateral damage is acceptable?
This may sound crazy, but I got the idea for Amid Mortal Words as I was surfing the internet and reading comment threads. It seems that no matter how benign the subject of a post, a tweet or a YouTube video, there is always a troll ready to pull the trigger and snipe with some awfully negative comment. It’s draining. These people are quick to tear things down but have they ever brought anyone any joy?
I’m not even sure how many trolls actually mean what they say. Some merely enjoy cranking up a fight. There are dumb and negative people who genuinely believe the nonsense they spout, of course. It occurred to me, as I’m sure it has occurred to you, that life would be better if all these trolls suddenly got raptured to Stupid Heaven, erased or otherwise deleted from public discourse. That was the seed of Amid Mortal Words.
I used to sit on a committee for freedom of expression. I was a rabid free speech advocate. I even believed the old saw about how I would support your views but I’d die for your right to express them. Um. Not anymore. After trying to digest some people’s views, I can say with certainty that their shitty ideas and lousy prejudices aren’t worth my life. They aren’t worth an iota of my time, either.
We all play King or Queen for a Day in our heads, imagining how the world might run so much better if we were in charge. Amid Mortal Words is a surprising exercise in wish fulfillment. However, all good things come at a cost and Lt. Col. Salvador has to figure out the cost/benefit analysis on eliminating evil from the world. Together with his guide, a mysterious young woman named Quire, Zane travels across the United States to figure out how he’ll handle the awesome power of the killing culling spells in Amid Mortal Words.
If you’re into apocalyptic epics, I’m sure you’ll have fun with this adventure.
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.
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:
Honorable Mention from the Writer’s Digest Self-published Ebook Awards
has two creepy ghost stories in Kindle Short Reads.
Check them out by clicking the covers below:
It’s been in the Top 100 Kindle Short Reads list since its release!
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If you liked This Plague of Days, you might like this!
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!
Congratulations! Your e-book, This Plague of Days, Omnibus Edition was awarded an Honorable Mention for Writer’s Digest’s Self-Published e-Book Awards in Genre.
So there’s that. But, you’ve probably already read TPOD.
No worries. I’ve got you covered.
If you liked This Plague of Days, you might even love this. I have a new book that’s the beginning of a series and, though it’s a fast and fun dark fantasy, there are elements of it that remind me of This Plague of Days. There’s horror here, but the tone is surprising and quirky.
The Haunting Lessons is about a girl from Iowa who has the perfect life planned out. When tragedy strikes, her world is upended and she discovers she has capabilities she never suspected. The world is a far more dangerous place than she imagined and now she’s thrown into a secret war in the Secret City of the Unseen: New York City. Expect swordplay, jokes, holy gunfire and instructions on how to survive the coming Armageddon.
Click it to get it now!
And while you’re at it, check out my coauthor’s novella. My friend Holly Pop had a real experience that will freak you out. She and a couple of friends messed around with a Ouija board. Read this story and you’ll need a night-light to fall asleep. It’s creepy and compelling and worrying and a necessary read: to pick it up, click the cover image below.
It’s been in the Top 100 Kindle Short Reads list since its release!
More developments, as they happen, reported here. Film at 11. Merry Christmas!
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.
But you know what the best part of the giveaway is?
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.)
I hope new readers will dig what I’m doing with my books and, heads up, if you liked This Plague of Days, you’re going to love my next book.
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.
This one is a lot of fun. It has a strong female protagonist with a quirky sense of humor. Here’s the deal:
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 meantime, be sure to finish the Omnibus before New Year’s Eve when the offer of the gift of Intense Violence, Bizarre Themes runs its course. (Sorry, can’t give a novel away free forever!)
Someone asked, “Do you really believe we’re headed for an apocalypse?”
Dude! The apocalypse is already here!
Sci-fi writer William Gibson said the future arrives at different speeds. Same is true of the end that could throw us backward a hundred years.
I look around and I see the power of antibiotics fading as the bugs come back stronger. There’s an excellent chance we won’t be able to have the surgeries we have now because our antibiotics will no longer work. Do you want to go back to pre-1928 medicine? Of course, not. Nobody wants to die of a sore throat, a bladder infection or appendicitis. But that is our present course.
I see fracking causing earthquakes and flammable water in kitchen sinks.
I see perma-war.
Most disturbing, I see an unwillingness to change, anti-science and anti-intellectualism.
Worst? I see a lack of compassion.
Citizens are in big trouble on Spaceship Earth and a lot of people, speaking from fear and ignorance, seem determined to be dicks about it.
One reviewer of This Plague of Days asked, “Why does everyone have to act like assholes in the apocalypse?”
I answer that reviewer directly in Season Three, but look around. The answer is obvious. People don’t think we’re in an apocalypse now (if they aren’t from Detroit or along the Mexican border or in Uganda.) But there already assholes everywhere. Panic and pressure brings out the nastiness stronger. It’s a scary world and people can be monsters. I didn’t invent it. I reflect it. You need look no further than the instincts of your average Internet troll.
But pressure makes diamonds, too.
Heroes can emerge. Will they? I don’t know. Are you willing to be a hero? An apocalypse — to nature, to people and to human dignity — is everywhere.
If you’re waiting for the siren call to action, it’s already howling. If we wait for the actual civil defense sirens to crank up?
To get the This Plague of Days trilogy all at once for an awesome binge-read this summer, read This Plague of Days Omnibus Edition and find the secret video link to get another free thriller.
1. The last book of the series kind of freaked me out. What’s the message about life and death going on there?
RCC: Aside from all the scary beasties running around, I suppose one theme that emerges is:
Our Existence is brutal, but we have it in us to make the future great.
2. I thought the atheism was preachy in Book 1. By Book 3, you seem to move beyond that. What do you believe?
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.
3. When is your next zombie book?
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.
4. What book is next?
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.
I love to tickle readers to zomgasm & braingasm.
~ 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.
Want to help out? I’d appreciate it. Please tweet this:
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.
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This Plague of Days 