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Showing posts with label #shortstories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #shortstories. Show all posts

Saturday, January 7, 2023

A New Year, Continuing Health Problem, New Beginnings...

 

Hello everyone, Happy New Year! Hope the holiday season treated you well. You probably noticed that the ever since I finished the "Red Fang" storyline, I've been re-sharing older short stores (or not so short like the "Cannibal Killer" tale). You are no doubt understandably wondering why there hasn't been anything new for so long. Well, up until September, my biggest concern was trying to get the left side of my sacro-iliac joint sorted out through physical therapy, and pain control injections. I was lined up to have ablation surgery done on the joint area in question, when I began having an unexplained increase in my heart rate. We're talking into the low-mid 100's even at rest. 

This of course alarmed my wife and my physician who has been subjecting me to a battery of tests, CAT scans, and X-rays. I'm pleased to report that the heart is in fine shape, and there are no irregularities in my heartbeats, aside from the elevated rates. Since then, I've been off work due to nearly passing out at one point and suffering fatigue and dizziness quite frequently. As of this post, we are zeroing in on a possible cause, but there are more tests to be done so I'll keep you updated. 

Now a quick rewind. After I finished the "Red Fang" story, I started focusing on the next novel "The Vampyre Blogs - Family Ties" and was making some good progress. I was also finishing the cover art for Helen's newest book (a short story collection which is part of her own series "The Forever Detective" books, which involve a private investigator who becomes a vampire but continues to be a detective and hold onto his humanity set in the 1940s).



I also act as her formatter and submit her books to KDP Direct and Draft2Digital to get them into e-book and print forms, and I had that to take care of as well. 

And of course, I have become a voiceover actor and have turned four of her books into Audiobooks on Audible and Itunes:
    


So, I was still keeping busy, in spite of my illness. I just didn't have a lot of creativity flowing for the most part until I was given a new medication for my high blood pressure which also has quieted down my heart rate to more normal levels. However, there are still other concerns regarding levels of sodium and cortisol which are continuing to plague me. But as I said before, we're getting closer to answers so I'm not too worried.

Anyway, since I've been feeling more creative once more, I've come up with a number of new tales for Nathan and company to be dealing with. A couple of them are slated for the second Vampyre Blogs Anthology, which I'm hoping might be released before this year is over. I've got a number of old stories that have not seen the light of day since their original release on this blog, but I really wanted a few never before seen ones as well. One involves a German U-boat during World War I, another involves a sex traffic ring which I will be putting a trigger warning for readers in case they want to skip that one. That tale will also show a little of Nathan's 'darker' side when it comes to harming innocents. 

I am also planning a special Halloween tale for you all on this blog, which may put a few of you in mind of old classic film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". I won't say anymore, because I want you all to have fun reading that one when it comes out.

In the meantime, I'll be doing a few more re-runs of older stories here, but I wanted you all to know what's happening here on the homefront. 

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I am currently taking some professional voice acting classes, while I have the down time from my work. I'm hoping this will lead to auditions and some paying work before the year is out. Who know? Maybe, I'll be able to one day retire from the county and do voice work full-time, as well as my writing. 

We'll see. But now you're in the loop. I thank you for your support of this blog and ask you all to keep on visiting and leaving your likes and comments. 


Monday, July 19, 2021

A Blog Milestone - 100,000 Views!



Wow, I cannot believe we've had this many views! It took 7 years, but we've done it. And it's all thanks to everyone who comes to read about Nathan and his friends. Your comments and continued visits mean so much to us and we hope to keep bringing new content later this year. I've still got a lot of audios to record, some of which will be tales about Nathan and company, and I will be sharing them here along with new tales. 

The "Christmas Carol" project which I will be releasing on YouTube in December is more than halfway completed. However, I'm also continuing on editing another collaborative novel with my old high school friend Rich Caminiti, and an amazing illustrator Gabrielle Callan. This book does not involve th Para-Earth series, but is an entirely new series which we will be kicking off hopefully in October. The first novel with be titled "The Pass". What will this book be about? Here's a little tease:



Was it just bad luck and weather that doomed the Donner Party in 1846, or was it something 'else', something evil and powerful? And is it still there waiting to help bring about the fall of the Union army during the final years of the Civil War?

Conspiracy and Intrigue meet Asian mythology, Native American folklore, and something as old as Earth itself in the first installment of this epic trilogy that spans the continent and distant shores.  

Sound interesting? I'll keep you all informed in future posts.

In the meantime, I'm also going to be working on a cover for Helen's 4th novel in her "Forever Detective Series", which will be titled "Forever Festive".  As you can guess this will be a holiday story, where her vampire detective Rafael Jones, goes home to celebrate the season with his parents who have no idea that their dear son is now one of the undead.  But it gets even more interesting when besides trying to hide his condition, he's also working on a missing person's case for a Guardian Angel. Intrigued, then I suggest you all check out the first three books in her series over at Amazon: The Forever Detective Series where you can find them in e-book, paperback, and Audible formats. (PS: I did the narration for the Audible, and they've been getting 5 star ratings and reviews)

Getting back to Nathan and company, the sequel to their first novel "The Vampyre Blogs - Family Ties" has been coming along. That novel now sits at 12,000+ words so far, and will finally see the light of day next year (2022), just in time for the Halloween festivities. Which is rather appropriate since the events of the story will be happening at Halloween. 

We're also in the process of gathering tales for another anthology starring Nathan, Otto, Lisa, Marisa, and others, so there's a lot going on behind the scenes. 

So we hope you'll stick with us and stay tuned for more tales here on this blog. In the meantime, here's to keeping this blog going and hitting 200,000 views in the not too distant future.

Again thank you all for getting us to this huge milestone. We love and appreciate you all, and please stay safe.


Wednesday, January 2, 2019

"Happy New Years" From Nathan and Company


This is what one of our authors posted on FB and it's a sentiment Otto, Lisa, Marisa, Isabella and the rest of us share. I know things have been a little slow here on the blog, what with our 1st anthology , "The Vampyre Blogs - One Day At A Time" (available now in Kindle and Trade Paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KMN78B2) having just come out and all, but rest assured new tales are on the way. And so are some long overdue volumes of work such as "The Door" which will be the fourth full-length novel in the Para-Earth Series, which me and my friends are a part of. 

Up until now, the authors have kind of taken a Terry Pratchett approach to the series. When Mr. Pratchett created his Discworld Series he had different groups of characters he'd focus on in each book, but all the stories were taking place in the same reality and on the same world. He had his rag-tag bunch of police constables led by the crotchety Commander Sam Vimes in 'The Watch' books, then he had his wizards and their Unseen University in books focusing on them, Death himself had a number of books focused on him and his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit, then there were Granny Weatherwax, Tiffany Aching, and the other witches who had their own area in the series, and so on. However, every so often Mr. Pratchett would mix his cast in some books to help solidify the idea that all of this was taking place in the same world.

Well, Allan and Helen are getting ready to do the same thing with us and the cast of characters from "The Bridge" and "The Ship". This has been an idea that has been long in development for them, especially for Allan who we have come to lovingly refer to as "Mr. Decisive". The reason we do this is because he's been working on "The Door" since 2014. While he had a clear vision for a beginning, most of the middle section, and an ending for the book, he could never quite find the right sequence of events to take place in between which bring them all together in a nice cohesive tale. 

Realizing he was getting nowhere fast, Allan took a break from that book and focused on us with Helen. This led to "The Vampyre Blogs - Coming Home" along with the creation of this blog and the short-stories contained within. For those who've been following this blog since the beginning, and have read "The Bridge" and "The Ship", you will know that on a few occasions some of the characters from those books have appeared in this blog along with Otto and myself in the past. Those past encounters will be the basis for what is about to come in "The Door", where I will come face-to-face with my old flame Police Sergeant Veronica Ross. This meeting will lead all of us to a haunted house unlike any you've ever seen before, as well as many more adventures to come. There will also be plenty of new short stories here on this blog.

So strap yourselves in and get ready for the long haul, because there's a lot coming your way. 

Until next time, thanks for all your support and please keep reading.  



  


Saturday, December 1, 2018

Available NOW on Kindle!


Just $3.99, or FREE for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.


26 Tales of Para-Earth Encounters
Spanning 150 years answering many questions about your favorite vampyre and his friends such as:


- How did a Nathan manage to continue to serve the 
Union Army in the Civil War after becoming a vampyre? 

-How did he and The Professor meet?

-Why did Lisa and Marisa drift apart?

-Has Nathan or his friends ever met any of the 
characters from "The Bridge" or "The Ship"?

-Who else has had a Para-Earth encounter?

Plus much more!


So go ahead grab your copy today!


*And remember the holidays area almost upon us and you can order Kindle books for family and friends, you can even have them delivered on a specific date such as Hanukkah, Christmas, and birthdays. 

Just click below to start your shopping:

https://www.amazon.com/Vampyre-Blogs-Anthology-Para-Earths-Para-Earth-ebook/dp/B07KMN78B2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543590262&sr=8-1&keywords=the+vampyre+blogs

*And remember to check out the other books in our Paranormal/Sci-Fi series which have been compared to the Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, as well the works of Dean Koontz, HP Lovecraft, and other creators of surprise and suspense.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

PRE-ORDERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR "THE VAMPYRE BLOGS - ONE DAY AT A TIME"

****COMING DECEMBER 1st, THE LATEST INSTALLMENT OF THE PARA-EARTH SERIES****

Twenty-five stories, spanning 150 years...


“The Vampyre Blogs – Coming Home” introduced a new cast of characters to the Para-Earth Series. This anthology answers and raises questions about their backstories and relationships. 


What otherworldly threats has the Professor dealt with? How did Nathan’s altered self affect his service in the Civil War? What other mysteries linger on Nathan’s estate? What did a German like the Professor do during WWII? Who are some of the other people Nathan has met over his unnaturally long life? Are Nathan and the Professor the only ones who’ve had close encounters with Para-Earth beings?


These and more, including the return of certain characters from “The Bridge” or “The Ship” will be explored within these pages.




KINDLE PRE-ORDERS BEING TAKEN NOW AT THE LINK BELOW: