STG has popped on the 'currently reading tab' at Paperback Horror! Paperback Horror is a book review blog that covers the horror genre, which Succumbing to Gravity can fall into.
Remember in a previous blog post where we discussed genre? I don't think what I write falls neatly into a genre bin, but you have to put a label on books so that they can be filed in the right section of the book store, or library, right? And I am a member of the horror writers association...so.
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror are often grouped under the title 'Speculative Fiction' or Specfic. Horror can be further split into a large number of 'subgenres'; supernatural horror, psychological horror, splatterpunk (think blood splatter) and on and on. It gets more complicated when you realize that the psychological horror novels are often also marketed as crime. Think Silence of the Lambs or the Red Dragon- psychopathic serial killers. Sounds like Horror to me.
As I mentioned, I don't think STG fits neatly into a genre, though I am glad PBH is reading it. The non-neatness-of-fit is not just my opinion. I sent it off to a number of agents before I sent the manuscript to Reliquary and a common complaint was that it didn't fit 'neatly' into a genre. Complaint because agents want big books that can be easily marketed, not untidy books that one must equivocate on the genre from the start. STG had elements of religiously or supernaturally inspired horror, dark fantasy; one agent even said after review that it seemed more urban fantasy than horror but with elements of both. (I queried around 50 agents, 20 of them asked for partials to review and almost half of those asked to read the whole manuscript. So I did get a good sampling of people who knew what they were talking about.) And here I thought it was just a little road-trip book about a fallen angel, with a heroin habit, that was just trying to get by in the world.
Anyway, I can't wait to see what the reviewer thinks about STG. Unless he pans it, of course. That I can wait for.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Hellnotes and HWA
David Silva runs the Hellnotes blog, a blog about...well, hell. Really it's a book review site for horror, dark fiction, movies books, etc. He was swamped with reviews so didn't have time to review STG, but being a Class Act he posted my press release all the same.
Check it out here. (Click on 'here' -I figured out how to do that hyperlink thing)
Also, since I'm a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) I rated a note on their members new release website. Also cool.
Check it out here. (Click on 'here' -I figured out how to do that hyperlink thing)
Also, since I'm a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) I rated a note on their members new release website. Also cool.
Invitation Only Anthology
You know you're making headway as an author when you get an Invitation to submit a short story to an upcoming 'Invitation Only' anthology. Most anthologies have open calls, you submit a story, wait a year, bump your way up from slush, to hold, to final selection list to contract etc.
Jen Brozek sent me a note the other day asking that I submit a short story for consideration in the new werewolf anthology by Graveside Tales. (Gift of the Bouda appeared in the first GST werewolf anthology.) Exciting. Not the same as a a guaranteed slot- that's the next step (and it's a big step). It should be a great anthology as Jen just published a really nice one for Apex (Close Encounters of the Urban Kind) that is on the Stoker recommendation list for 2010.
First a book published, then an anthology invitation. Hooty hoo.
Jen Brozek sent me a note the other day asking that I submit a short story for consideration in the new werewolf anthology by Graveside Tales. (Gift of the Bouda appeared in the first GST werewolf anthology.) Exciting. Not the same as a a guaranteed slot- that's the next step (and it's a big step). It should be a great anthology as Jen just published a really nice one for Apex (Close Encounters of the Urban Kind) that is on the Stoker recommendation list for 2010.
First a book published, then an anthology invitation. Hooty hoo.
Hotcakes and Giveaways
Well, STG is moving. It peaked (so far) as the 65,000th most popular book on Amazon!
Admittedly it has a ways to go to make the NYT bestseller list (or to be compared to hotcake sales), but still, copies are moving and this is good. My own copies will be here from Reliquary any day now (and I can hardly wait).
The ladies (and one dude) in the book club at work were generous enough to select STG as their book for August, and they asked me to sit in on the lunch-time review. Yikes. I'm not sure how I'll stack up against Reading Lolita in Tehran, or the Kiterunner..but they also read Paluniak's Survivor and Gaiman's Graveyard book, so maybe not so bad.
So the Giveaway you ask? I loaded a picture in Amazon, and tagged the book, but I stop short at providing a review. So I leave that to you dear reader. To the first person that leaves a (generally positive) review I will mail you your own free copy of STG. Gratis. Freeeeeee. Should you have already purchased one on which to base your review, and don't want another, I would be happy to substitute a copy of Abominations: 17 Spine-Tingling Tales Of Murderous Monsters And Horrific Creatures (Shroud Publishing, ISBN-10: 098018701X) which holds pretty steady at under 200,000th most popular book. Yes, I have a story in it- BEKs.
So there you go, post a copy of your review and email in the comments section, and I will delete your email before I post it. I'll contact you and get a shipping address, and these fabulous prizes will be yours!
Admittedly it has a ways to go to make the NYT bestseller list (or to be compared to hotcake sales), but still, copies are moving and this is good. My own copies will be here from Reliquary any day now (and I can hardly wait).
The ladies (and one dude) in the book club at work were generous enough to select STG as their book for August, and they asked me to sit in on the lunch-time review. Yikes. I'm not sure how I'll stack up against Reading Lolita in Tehran, or the Kiterunner..but they also read Paluniak's Survivor and Gaiman's Graveyard book, so maybe not so bad.
So the Giveaway you ask? I loaded a picture in Amazon, and tagged the book, but I stop short at providing a review. So I leave that to you dear reader. To the first person that leaves a (generally positive) review I will mail you your own free copy of STG. Gratis. Freeeeeee. Should you have already purchased one on which to base your review, and don't want another, I would be happy to substitute a copy of Abominations: 17 Spine-Tingling Tales Of Murderous Monsters And Horrific Creatures (Shroud Publishing, ISBN-10: 098018701X) which holds pretty steady at under 200,000th most popular book. Yes, I have a story in it- BEKs.
So there you go, post a copy of your review and email in the comments section, and I will delete your email before I post it. I'll contact you and get a shipping address, and these fabulous prizes will be yours!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Succumbing to Gravity- Now available
Yes, I know you have all been waiting with bated breath for the release of Succumbing to Gravity. Well, wait no longer, here it is! (Click on 'here')
The Back cover copy:
**************************
Succumbing to Gravity
by
Richard Farnsworth
Greg used to be an angel, but that was an eternity ago. Back when he was Araqiel, part of the celestial chorus. Back before he gave in to his temptations. Before he fell. Now he roams the wet streets of a hopeless city, feeding his addictions and punishing himself for sins that cannot be forgiven. But when a desperate girl and a host of vengeful demons cross his path, Greg must choose between redemption and damnation. For him, the two may not be so different.
**************************
Succumbing to Gravity
by
Richard Farnsworth
Greg used to be an angel, but that was an eternity ago. Back when he was Araqiel, part of the celestial chorus. Back before he gave in to his temptations. Before he fell. Now he roams the wet streets of a hopeless city, feeding his addictions and punishing himself for sins that cannot be forgiven. But when a desperate girl and a host of vengeful demons cross his path, Greg must choose between redemption and damnation. For him, the two may not be so different.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Author Interview
My author interview for STG is up at the Reliquary Press website. It doesn't seem to have come out too schmarmy. My interview for the Beast Within anthology is still up also, so I have 2 interviews floating around in cyberspace.
Waiting
Mike Stone is a friend and fellow writer I met through my online critique group, critters. We shared a table of contents in the GST 'Beast Within' anthology, he's a fabulous writer and is working on, what else, but a novelization of that same short story. Anyway, I found this sight on his blog that will tell you which famous author (and I am unsure how many there are) your writing resembles. Here's me, a Cory Doctorow wannabe. Could be?
The things I do while waiting waiting waiting for my proofs to come back from the printer...
The things I do while waiting waiting waiting for my proofs to come back from the printer...
Thursday, July 22, 2010
STG the Novel- update
My first novel, Succumbing to Gravity- is in final proof.
It has an ISBN number. (978-0-9841833-4-0)
Next it's going to the printer.
Then it will be available online at all your favorite online book buying places...
I'm sending ARCs (advance reader copies) to all my favorite book reviewers.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Dead Bird is still great
Was it, 'I Want Candy' by the Bow Wow Wow's, or "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles? How about 'Ride Captain Ride on Your Mystery Ship' by the Blue Images or 'In A Big Country' by who else, Big Country?
Nope, it wasn't.
Of all the one hit wonders to ever hit big, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was clearly the biggest of big. Since it's publication in the 1960's Ms. Lee's book has sold well over 30 million copies. 30 Million. Can you imagine? And if you check Amazon it's in the top 2000 books right now. (If my book spikes at 2000 for an instant I'll fall over, apoplectic.)
I finished it for the second time in several years (the first time being in middle school which was... like I said several years) and really appreciated it more now than I did then. I can see why I was made to read it. It's elegant, understated, and emensly powerful. I don't need to run through a critique, there are 50 years worth of those. If you haven't read it since you were made to do so as a kid, then you should revisit. In spite of the blantant racism, the adult content that I didn't catch when I wasn't an adult (for instance, the accusation of incest that Tom R obliquely makes against the little terd Ewell- do you remember it? If not that's what I mean) it's still great both in spite of and because of, for different reasons.
As far as a one-hit wonder (Ms Lee never published another book) I am reminded of a quote from Joe Heller I once read. Paraphrasing: An interviewer noted that in his subsequent writing Heller had never written anything as good as Catch-22. He replied that the interviewer (nor most people that write) had never written ANYTHING as good ever.
Here Here.
Nope, it wasn't.
Of all the one hit wonders to ever hit big, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was clearly the biggest of big. Since it's publication in the 1960's Ms. Lee's book has sold well over 30 million copies. 30 Million. Can you imagine? And if you check Amazon it's in the top 2000 books right now. (If my book spikes at 2000 for an instant I'll fall over, apoplectic.)
I finished it for the second time in several years (the first time being in middle school which was... like I said several years) and really appreciated it more now than I did then. I can see why I was made to read it. It's elegant, understated, and emensly powerful. I don't need to run through a critique, there are 50 years worth of those. If you haven't read it since you were made to do so as a kid, then you should revisit. In spite of the blantant racism, the adult content that I didn't catch when I wasn't an adult (for instance, the accusation of incest that Tom R obliquely makes against the little terd Ewell- do you remember it? If not that's what I mean) it's still great both in spite of and because of, for different reasons.
As far as a one-hit wonder (Ms Lee never published another book) I am reminded of a quote from Joe Heller I once read. Paraphrasing: An interviewer noted that in his subsequent writing Heller had never written anything as good as Catch-22. He replied that the interviewer (nor most people that write) had never written ANYTHING as good ever.
Here Here.
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