Neon Sands on Preorder

It's finally happening! Neon Sands is on preorder until next Friday. Been a while coming, but book 2 and 3 won't be too far behind. Hanging around on Kindle Scout seemed like forever!

Kindle: http://amzn.to/2FX3tNT
Paperback: http://amzn.to/2ubcGwq

Also in Kindle Unlimited when out!

Neon Sands KindleScout & reading update

I'm not reading half as much as I wish I was! Something about writing a book that is all consuming... hmm, I wonder what that could be.

However, I am currently taking a break with Daniel Barnett's 'My Hungry Friend' (which you can find on Goodreads here). His book, Longreave, is my favourite indie book to date, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.










It's also the final week of Neon Sands' Kindle Scout campaign. It started really well but then began to flounder in the pool of words and titles on offer. I barely marketed it when it was 'Hot & Trending' and when it fell out of that category, it was a killer. Went from 400-500 pagereads a day to single and double figures. If you want to put your book on Kindle Scout, never let up on the marketing!

Still, you never know, it could be picking up the nominations in the background without the numbers of pagereads (that's not a stat you're allowed to see). Either way, it's good publicity, and has taught me a lesson in case I try the same approach again.

If you haven't checked Neon Sands out yet, you can do so from here. It's book one in the first trilogy of three trilogies, with mysteries to discover, strange technologies, and sand to clean from eyes and otherwise clean cracks. It gets everywhere.

Read the Ends Meat short story introduction.

Neon Sands - Kindle Scout Nominations

Hi everybody! The first book in the Neon Sands trilogy is now up on Kindle Scout awaiting nominations.

Link spam: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/M0AVK7KHQVAB

What is Kindle Scout? It's an Amazon affiliate - if a book gets enough votes in a 30 day period, they publish it and market it, making the whole exercise a lot easier for the self-published authors. Voters also get a free copy!

Link spam: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/M0AVK7KHQVAB

Sand like powder smothers the decimated planet; those that eke an existence scavenge and utilise old technologies they barely understand, wanderers drifting from outpost to outpost. But the sand hides secrets, and when it shifts, questions unasked and allegiances long forged are challenged. What else is the sand hiding? A sci-fi/punk adventure in an inhospitable landscape, Neon Sands is the opening book in an epic series that will explore Man’s technological and innate potential, and the search for hope when all looks bleak.

IF YOU VOTE I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL!

Neon Sands nearly complete

I've had a lot of fun writing this book and I can't wait for people to be able to read it. It's the first in the Neon trilogy of trilogies and sets the series up perfectly. I'm also conscious of not having it end with a massive cliffhanger - it may be an opening book but it's also important for it to have a beginning, middle and an end. I know how I'd feel if there wasn't at least some resolution to some arcs.

The cover will need a bit of tweaking, the manuscript editing, and then proofs ordered. I may also try this on Kindle Scout, so watch this space.

Sand like powder smothers the decimated planet; those that eke an existence scavenge and utilise old technologies they barely understand, wanderers drifting from outpost to outpost. But the sand hides secrets, and when it shifts, questions unasked and allegiances long forged are challenged. What else is the sand hiding? A sci-fi/punk adventure in an inhospitable landscape, Neon Sands is the opening book in an epic series that will explore Man’s technological and innate potential, and the search for hope when all looks bleak.

Add to your Goodreads shelf here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36371205-neon-sands

Movie Review: IT - For the Constant Reader

I'm about 30 hours into the IT audiobook, with another 20 to go. That'll tell you something about the impossibility of translating IT to the big screen with any kind of satisfaction for the Constant Reader. And yet, IT succeeds in the places the Constant Reader would want. Stephen King's novel is as much a coming-of-age parable as it is about horror. When I first read it in my very early teens, it was transformative: here's this seriously scary horror novel, written by an adult, but about kids. I loved it, and I loved the characters. Stephen King's style is informal, sometimes unfocused and often tangential, as you may expect at over 1,000 pages, but it is immersive. There's plenty of major plot points to hit, but the journey between them is just as important, and that's what I took from the movie.

The kids are great, written with an edge and comedy that reflects the novel well. Inevitably they are condensed versions, borderline caricatures of themselves, but they are played with such enthusiasm by the actors that you can be forgiven. There's a couple changes; Haystack is no longer Haystack; when they called him simply the New Kid, it didn't feel honest, simply because it wasn't a proper nickname I think. Ben Hanscom instead becomes the foil that bring the kids together; being new, and being a loner, he researched the town and its history to shoehorn the myth and cyclical nature of past events into the movie. A little backstory.

Richie Tozier is perhaps the most memorable of the kids; as the comedic relief, he gets all the best lines. Some laugh out loud. But not to do a disservice to all the kids, they all get moments to shine and make the viewer smile; subtleties that you might miss the first time round, such as Eddie (or perhaps Stanley) being the only one to hitch their bicycle while the others chuck them down to the ground.

Where the film falls is when it pushes too far with its horror. Bill plays Pennywise just fine, it's just that Pennywise's effectiveness comes to a height about two-thirds in, and thereafter loses all tension. Spoilers follow. Two great horror moments in this are set pieces that don't rely on jump scares or quick movements, or individual stupidity, but instead on visuals. The bloody scene in Beverley's bathroom was executed brilliantly, gushingly. As a recent reader, there was even more blood in the movie than there had been in my head. The other high point was the projector scene in the garage, with slow reveals of the clown being shown on the wall, culminating in the best jump scare, simply because of the size of the his head as he comes at them. The CGI lets it down in the end, with too much of the scene cutting away so you can't get a clear idea of what's going on and then miraculously they get the garage open and all is well.

The trouble with these scenes is they are outlandish and extreme, but with very little time after them for reflection. That none of the kids were harmed in the garage too, when the chance was obviously there (and they were all in 'fear' and could have fed Pennywise) just took the edge away. And later, when the kids truly lose their fear, it stops being a horror while continuing to try and be one, simply because the tension is gone.

There's too much reliance on CG, more practical effects would have been great for authenticity. On top of that, the movie tried too hard to scare us, pushing the kids into one-on-one situations that just made you want to scream at the screen, seconds after saying let's stick together. In other words, it became cliched and formulaic. Which is why it's the kids that hold it all together. There's barely an adult in the whole film who isn't a total asshole, which fits with the lore of the novel well (at least when they're kids). The movie pushes this to the extreme, ensuring we end up rooting for them.

This is why the Constant Reader will like this movie, and this is why I give it 4 out of 5. There's plenty of straight up horror movies out there, cliched and formulaic, whose characters you don't care about, that have no energy and life or humour; that don't even have high points of horror. But IT does have all those things, even romance! Bring on chapter two.

Free Download Week - Hereafter & Other Short Stories

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073Q67J4S

28/8 - 1/9

Book Preorder: Hereafter & Other Short Stories

Exciting news, folks. You can now preorder my upcoming collection of short stories. You know you want to! Here's some links:

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1546448780
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073Q67J4S

The release date is the 25 August. If you do grab a copy - THANK YOU! Please remember to add a review, for better or worse, as these are the indie author's lifeline!

Discover how the boys grew into men forever influenced by the suicides of the Lisbon sisters. How the Frontier is transformative for a group of modern families. How sometimes the urge to strip to your birthday suit is a force you have to release. How even Big Brother can be murdered, and how easy it is to tie yourself up in time. Finally, discover what happens when possessions own you. 

Take the journey through an eclectic array of short stories designed to make you think and wonder.

The proof copy of Hereafter lands!

Putting pen to paper again as I read through the proof of my next book: a collection of eclectic short stories to suit many tastes, I hope. Then it's onward to set a release date, get it on pre-order, and offer review copies! Maybe then I can finally settle down and crack on with my next full length manuscript, Neon Driver, which is evolving in my head by the day. It's going to be epic!

New book coming out

Hi all - I'm pleased to announce I'm in the final proofing stage of my next release; a collection of eclectic short stories. Here's a sneak at the cover:

It will go on preorder soon. Additionally, review copies will be available. If you're in the UK you could even get a hard copy! Drop me an email at aj.smith@writeme.com if interested!

Supporting fellow Indie novelists

I've recently been doing more and more articles for other sites (namely Cultured Vultures), as well as being more proactive on Goodreads and Twitter. I've also recently been able to cut down my reading list due to some car issues and becoming a bus wanker. The novelty soon wore off, but I did manage to finish 3 books.

Thus, I shall be reaching out to indie authors and self-publishers to offer to review their books. Reviews will be posted on Cultured Vultures, with shortened versions on Amazon and Goodreads, and linked through from here, posted on Twitter and Facebook.

If you'd like your book reviewed, drop me an email to aj.smith@writeme.com and let me know the details. PDF is the preferred format until I actually get a Kindle or proper eReader,

The Risen Giveaway

To be in with a chance to win a signed copy of The Risen, check it out on Goodreads and enter the Giveaway (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31917043-the-risen). It will be running from the 15 September to the 15 October.

Good luck!

When society collapses... and the undead rise...

The Risen is a horror-thriller, set mid-apocalypse, exploring the themes of isolation and purpose in a world that has been irrevocably changed. In middle-England, Nate and his family are cut-off from the rest of the country - London in particular - keeping calm and carrying on, until tragedy strikes. And there's Ruby and her mother, risking it all, exposed on the open roads. They must find each other, and find a way to deal with the new world; coming to terms with life as it is now, where every day just stepping outside your door can mean death. 

Neon Driver cover competition

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Art / Graphic design competition - Neon Driver

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I would love to be able to afford to hire an artist to create some amazing, cool, cyberpunk-style artwork for this, but alas, I am poor. Maybe the promise of credit and 5 free hard copies of Neon Driver would be enough?

I'm opening up a competition which won't close until the final book proof has been made: design me a book cover that you think would match well with this story, or even just artwork in general that I could use to adorn a website, and I will post you 5 hard copies of the finished book. Email me submissions or questions to ajsproof@yahoo.co.uk.

Artwork and covers I love (ha-ha, I'm dreaming)

http://josan.bigcartel.com/category/original-art

https://igorpiwowarczyk.artstation.com/

http://thanuka.com/kubrick/

http://amzn.to/2blPXCo

Having fun with covers and new novel update

Walking around bookstores and looking at horror and thriller covers, I came to the conclusion that I didn't like mine much! So I changed it up and 'rebranded' my image slightly, setting a template that I could use for future books. Here are the results. Check out the blurbs for Spirits of Eden and Neon Driver to see if they whet your appetite!

The journey of a novel

My journey for The Risen was a pretty pragmatic one. I've procrastinated for years (in part because I didn't feel ready though) but last Nanowrimo I told myself to complete a project, and so I wrote it in a month, doing around 2,000 words or more a day. I began with a theme and a couple characters, and an idea of the world, and that was it. Previously I had planned too much and what I was coming up with didn't feel very natural. With Nanowrimo, the goal was to let the characters lead the way, and to write an adventure-style narrative; and overall, to go for quantity over quality. It was a lot easier afterwards to edit, as the hard work had already been done. When you're so involved in your story every day, you live with it, and ideas come easy. I didn't know the ending until half-way through, but when it came, it was very natural.

The Risen Promo

In the interest of spreading the word and climbing the auspicious Amazon ranking ladder,The Risen will be available as a free download for Kindle from the 25 - 29 July.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H9VETZ4

Otherwise, it's only £0.99 or $0.99, so grab yourself a copy now if you like stories that are simultaneously awesome and about apocalypses and zombie-like undead that are so numerous they are like a carpet of flesh clogging the daily commute run. Also, sex, because books with sex sell. Also, shit hitting the fan stuff. Also, horrible things in general happening.

Do hashtags work here? #KindleUnlimited #KindlePromo #Horror #Suckit

Edit: No

Goodreads blogging

I'm now blogging on Goodreads! here's the first.

Congratulations to everyone following me before the inevitability of my novel The Risen becoming this summer's blockbuster. You'll be able to say you were there on the ground floor - the very first of my amazing, loyal, well-adjusted and highly informed fans.

I can see it now; you're sly, knowing look as someone around the water cooler mentions my book in passing - this new kid on the block. You'll nod and skulk away with a grin on your face, remembering you were the first review, the first star-rating. You began the groundswell of success.

Maybe you'll get a little jealous. Maybe you'll think you deserve a little of that sweet Kindle Unlimited pot. Maybe you'll track me down, bundle me into a van, tie me up and perform horrific acts on me until I relent and agree to have your name in my next novel.

I guess time will tell on that. One thing's for sure: I thank you for following, and for taking a punt on an unknown writer without a star or review to his name. I'm sitting here, seeing the pagereads and wondering - Are they enjoying it? Are they moved or vaguely interested at all? Time will tell on all that while I wait for the reviews to trickle in. Be sure to let me know what you think.

If you entered the Goodreads Giveaway - and indeed if you won - thanks again and congratulations. Signed copies will be in the post on Monday. I'll have the tracking info, so if you get worried, drop me a message or comment and I will see why the postal service is being slow!

Spirits of Eden

There's another novel incoming - hopefully in a couple months. So soon, yes. But I'm a frustrated 33-year-old writer with 23 years' worth of ideas to fulfill. And so the journey begins now, and I hope you'll follow me. Spirits of Eden is a ghost story set on the Frontier, In Montana, where the Frontier itself is the narrator, and where past and present merge. I'll post more info as it develops, including extracts. 

Well, it's Sunday, and the roast is waiting. Not long now until I can afford a live-in chef. Until then - I best go get my hands dirty.

The Risen Preview

Any questions or comments, feel free to get in touch!

Novel The Risen now available - plus giveaway!

The Risen By Adam J Smith

Blurb: Embark on a mind- and body-changing horror-adventure with Nate and Ruby; two souls struggling to cope in the fallout of an international epidemic. In the months following an apocalyptic event, we find Nate, struggling to survive in the new landscape, trying to provide for his mother and brother while avoiding the infected and lethal non-infected. In middle-England, they feel cut-off from the rest of the country; London in particular, and have been forced to ‘sit and wait’ for a solution to come by. But then tragedy strikes, leaving Nate alone and without purpose. And then we meet Ruby; imprisoned by a monster taking advantage of the lawlessness. Will she escape? How will she live with the consequences of her actions? We follow their journey – Nate’s and Ruby’s – discovering along the way the rules of this new world. Are they infected too? Why are the infected getting stronger? What purpose has life when everything they treasured has been lost?

Physical copy:

UK: £6.80 http://amzn.to/24ZtigY USA: $9.85 http://amzn.to/26bqcZM

eBook:

UK: £2.80 (FREE on KindleUnlimited) http://amzn.to/1OxqyFE USA: $4.02 (FREE on KindleUnlimited) http://amzn.to/1PB6jSn

For a chance to win a free review copy:

    Enter Giveaway