Friday, October 12, 2012

Monday, June 25, 2012

Today Only - Two Books Free for Kindle

Today is the LAST DAY you can check out my books "Warmth" and "The Moon Cried Blood" for free from the Kindle Library if you are an Amazon Prime member... if you ARE an Amazon Prime Member, you may wish to check them out today, while you can still do it for free.

In related news. starting tomorrow these books will be available for the iPad and Nook (I can't offer them for the iPad or Nook until I'm out of the KDP Select Program). When that occurs, of course, they will cost good money. But for now you can check them out for ABSOLUTELY FREE! Today only, because tomorrow they will end their period of exclusive involvement with KDP Select.

Let me give you the links, so you can easily check them out, if you want to.

Warmth - For Kindle


Book Description

 March 27, 2012
"I hate the dead. They have no self-control" - Sera. She is ghula - one of the extremely long-lived though not immortal flesh eaters whose lives can end in only one way - in resurrection as a hungry, ambulatory corpse who will spend the short days of its unlife rotting, eating, and infecting as many as possible. Sera compares her life to a dark comedy - trapped with an unwanted pregnancy for the past 600 years, constantly afraid that the fetus will die and go zombie in-utero, always cold and constantly running a fever like every other ghoul on the planet. Luckily, two things in life sustain her: her joy in hunting and destroying the Dead, and the constant seeking of comfort in warmth.


Warmth actually has one user review: it's for the paperback version, and it's over on Lulu, but I am going to go and paste it here for your convenience.

    
By Desdemona Ekaterina Gare-Frantisek
Mar 15, 2012
Another book I had trouble putting down, I stayed up until dawn totally blown away by all the interesting twists in the story. The characters are compelling, well thought out and unique. Not everything is what it seems and no matter how much you try to hide it, reality has a way of catching up with you in sometimes thoroughly gruesome ways. It was one hell of a ride, sad to see it end. If you have a sick sense of humor, add this to your must read list!


The Moon Cried Blood - For Kindle

Book Description

 March 27, 2012
It is said that the Wolf may howl at the Moon, but the Moon never howls at the Wolf. In the gritty urban streets of Los Angeles in 1975, Leticia Gordon is forced to come to terms with many things: the tragic death of her stepmother and baby sister in a car accident, fear she’ll wind up in foster care, and the sudden revelation she belongs to a long line of powerful witches known as Luna – who exhibit first power at the start of womanhood. Running from foes natural and supernatural, will her newfound powers be the turning point that elevates her position of honor, or will it destroy her like the dark forces that consumed her father? In a world turned upside down where time itself seems in flux, in whom can she trust?

I don't have any reviews for The Moon Cried Blood yet, so perhaps you can be the first to review it?






My first book, "Solitude", is NOT available for KDP Select, but I am going to include it here just in case you want to buy it:  It is available in Hardcover, Paperback, and eBook formats. And it has several great user reviews.

Solitude - for Kindle
Solitude - Large Format Paperback
Solitude - Trade Paperback
Solitude - PDF
Solitude - Hardcover

COMING SOON! Solitude for the iPad and the Nook



Book Description

 March 26, 2012
To what extent does the presence of others affect our thoughts and actions? What do we believe when we are truly alone? Solitude is the riveting tale of diverse individuals isolated in a San Francisco seemingly void of all other human life. In the absence of others, each journeys into personal web of beliefs and perceptions as they try to determine what happened to them, and the world around them. Each of them view events differently. One suspects aliens have invaded, another believes it's a sign of Revelation and end times, some don't know what to think, and others find their minds unraveling as they struggle to cope with unimaginable events. Soon, threats both natural and supernatural leave them too busy fighting to survive in a world of strange and unpredictable events where all of the luxuries of civilization are being slowly eroded to even stop to wonder. And unless they can find each other, they will have to face it all alone, in the dark.

Book Reviews

 




By Desdemona Ekaterina Gare-Frantisek
Dec 6, 2011
Don't read this book before going to bed, you'll never get to sleep! The suspense and attention to character development is impeccable. You get to know and build a personal relationship with them, the story weaves and arch that binds them all together in one unexpected conclusion. READ THIS! You will love this novel.

    
By Michael Lee Totten
Jan 15, 2012
I love the mystery of the beginning of this novel and how it builds up in sinister intensity in its sheer horror!

5.0 out of 5 stars very good, epic novel, evocative of Stephen King's the Stand,April 4, 2012
By 
neutrino78x ('Silicon Valley', California, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Solitude (Kindle Edition)
This is a fascinating and epic novel, evocative of Stephen King, especially his more grandiose works such as The Stand and The Dark Tower. It involves a group of people who wake up to find that everyone in San Francisco seems to have disappeared except for themselves, and soon discover that there are great forces at work. The drama unfolds as they discover the nature of their predicament and attempt to resolve it.



Friday, June 15, 2012

Time Management in the absence of Time Travel

This is a screenshot of me writing this very blog.
I currently have four tabs open in my browser.... and before this sentence is finished, I will have opened and closed Photoshop in order to save a screenshot of my four open browser tabs, because I am busily attempting to multitask. In between these episodes of either frenetic or non-frenetic lazy, slacker-like multitasking I have to go outside, and attend to the daily functionality of my life. This includes things like working, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and getting exercise. Sadly... or perhaps, fortunately, my brain is not yet able to connect to a cybernetic computer matrix directly, and casually browse the web or focus and work on projects while jogging. Even if the technology did exist, I would probably be unable to afford it. I'm still a starving artist. I bust my ass to keep my bills covered, and I can't make a living off of book sales. When I do sell a book, I'm often selling it out of my trunk haggling with someone who wants to see if they can get away with paying $12 instead of $17.95. No... the book costs that much. What? Yes, I will accept a payment plan.

Me posing with my certificates
In the meantime I have had a Day Job, or Two Day Jobs, and/or School occurring throughout  the time I've been a writer. But not always. I've got a part-time long term job that's 16 hours a week/flex time as a care worker for a relative with a mobility impairing health issue, and I take part-time jobs as a computer repair technician - yes, IT, but not as any kind of programmer, I'm the person who replaces your broken fan, upgrades your memory, installs the latest operating system, and runs Norton on your junk. I do this as a temporary worker, which means I'm on temporary contract jobs through an agency, which means sometimes I'm on assignment, and sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I'm at home, and sometimes I'm furthering my education. I wrote the book "Solitude" during a three month period where I was at a technical school working on my A+ and Network+ certification (because my old Novell certifications are dated, expired, largely useless) and renewing my Apple Macintosh Certified Technician (AMCT) certificate. I worked with Stephen Douglas on editing it during a 9 month period where I had two different part time contract jobs as consecutive second day jobs (aside from IHSS/carer). When I have two day jobs, or am in school, I plan my time around these activities. It's the times when I have a lot of free time that are problematic.

Thanks to Kira Fisher and Google + for this toilet clock.
A lot of unstructured, free time creates difficulties for me. I have a tendency to overbook myself. At the moment, I have a bunch of reading assignments connected to interviews or reviews I wanted to do for my blog. I've got a copy of Richard Cotton's short story "The Reaper" in the other window, because I want to give it a much closer read-through because he just asked me for my opinion in a bit more detail over on Facebook. I will do it...later. Right now, I need downtime. I need time to digest my own thoughts. I guess it's no different than other people - with a day job, who have times when they want to watch reruns of "Heroes" on Netflix and play Diablo (these are my recent leisure activities). The only difference is, when you have a set schedule, such as school, or work, it's a lot easier to understand that you need time at ease to regenerate your mind. It's a lot easier to compartmentalize work from leisure than it is when you are working at a flex time job and at a small business. Because I don't have a day job, I find it harder to say "no" - easier to feel like my me-time is just me flushing time down the toilet.

Me in front of Lokal Boy in Oakland, CA
Different people deal with this unstructured time differently. In my case, I make lists of things that I know that I need to do, and I keep calendars, so that I can get everything done that I feel needs doing (or that actually does need doing - like going to the doctor, paying bills, collecting money to pay bills with) on a calendar and/or a list. Because otherwise, I'd forget what I needed to do. I really would. I'm curious as to how the rest of you deal with this kind of thing: I mean, can you leave some comments? I could use any advice I could take on my weak subject of time management. In case you were wondering about the Time Travel, well, I'd never seen "Heroes" before and I'm watching every episode in a row, and thinking how if I had any of these powers, I think Hiro Nakamura's time traveling power would be pretty awesome. All those do-overs. But no, I don't have that. I have to manage the time in a linear fashion, alas. You know that saying "Necessity is the Mother of Invention?" - I think that it's also the mother of entrepreneurial effort. Now that my day-job income is cut back, I notice me and my fiance Greg are both a lot more focused on book sales. A couple of days ago, Greg got the books into a new local outlet, ironically called Lokal Boy.

Go, Team Solitude!


Friday, June 1, 2012

Voting Time! Zombie Contest


Guess what today is? June 1st, the final day of the...

Zombie-Ghoul Contest Thingie

Click on the link above for the Contest Rules. Anyway, today being the final day, I am asking that all of you go over and VOTE for your favorite entry HERE:


... at my author Facebook page. You vote on the entries by "liking" them on the page.  Each of the entrants would appreciate you taking out the time to vote for their work (and some of you probably know some of these people, so you can vote for your friends).  Winners will receive a signed copy of my novel "Warmth". Here I am talking about the novel:

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We had a fun Zombie Video Shoot out on Shattuck and Tommy and Seames would like to enter to win an autographed copy of Warmth, too, so we will be including those entries in the contest.
And now, our lovely contestants:

ZOMBIE CATEGORY:
Radioactive Zombie by Katernya Fury
Radioactive Zombie by Katernya Fury
Zombie - Julie Hoverson
Zombie - Julie Hoverson
Zombie - Jimmy
Zombie - Jimmy
Zombie - Seames Castelblanco
Zombie - Seames Castelblanco
GHOUL CATEGORY
Ghula, Scarlet Winter by Kateryna Fury
Ghula, Scarlet Winter by Kateryna Fury
Ghula - Des Hobbit
Ghula - Des Hobbit

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Critics... Already?


“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” - Cyril Connolly
I have a lot of respect for people brave enough to post snippets of whatever it is they have to be writing at the time. I have no such intestinal fortitude: I really don't feel like opening myself up to critics before I've reached a certain point in my writing: for a novel, this is generally about a third of the way through, which is the point at which it has gained some momentum. For short stories, I won't share them until they are complete first drafts. There is a reason for this: and that is that publishing of any sort invites critics.
The Critic
This Critic was bought to you by Al Jean and Mike Reiss
Posting a blog invites critics: there is always the possibility of persons who will post criticism in the comments field. Writing on your damned Facebook page invites critics. Given that writing things for which you have no intention of gaining anything concrete (okay, maybe the thumbs up likes on your Facebook page...) attracts critics, it should come to no surprise to you that as soon as you begin to label anything you write as some category of literature, you'll invite criticism of aforementioned work. You're writing really, really serious thing now. What did you expect? Well... let me tell you something, as much as most of us hate criticism, there are certain types of criticism you should welcome and invite. There are other kinds you should ignore. Which are which?
Ignore Generalized/Personal Criticism by Non-Readers
Groucho Marx
"Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member." - Groucho Marx
In separating the chaff from the weed, the first step is one most of us wouldn't even imagine would be necessary: and that is to eliminate the people whose criticism is on the level of Junior High School students out to identify who the Cool Kids are. Another variant on this are people who have decided that you knowing them, in and of itself somehow lessens your capacity. For instance, shortly after I stated that I'd written a novel, an acquaintance posted a sarcastic comment about people who claimed to have a novel in them most likely being constipated. There was nothing wrong with what she said: some people thought it was funny, and she got a few likes on her page. However, you as a writer should ignore criticism that has to do with who you are as a person, and not in any way with what you actually have written. You should categorically ignore criticism by people who haven't read any of your works. The word for this sort of criticism is "irrelevant". Relevant criticism has to do with the content of your work, the effectiveness of publicity for your work, and in general: it revolves around the work itself. It is not personal. What makes personal criticism irrelevant is its basis in a logical fallacy known as a "genetic fallacy". That is where an idea is judged by its source rather than its merit. Such criticism is not relevant.
Pay Attention to Specific Criticism, Especially by Readers
Reading-a-book-001
Always pay attention to what your readers have to say.
Always pay attention to specific criticism: even when it's by non-readers. For instance, the initial observation about the cover of "The Moon Cried Blood" - which was that it appeared to be the cover for a Young Adult novel - came from non-readers, specifically bookstore owners. That criticism was right-on:  as soon as I changed the cover art to something more grown-up I began to sell copies to readers of my previous work, "Solitude".  If I was trying to open a new niche as a writer of Y.A. fiction, I may have shrugged and said, "well, that's the audience it is for." But I wasn't trying to, and the inappropriate cover art only made it difficult to sell it to the audience I already have.  Criticism by actual readers of any description should be taken even more seriously. I don't care if the only thing they read was the dust cover for your book. The fact that they have read anything is showing that they've put some time and interest in you. You should pay close attention to anything that a person who shows interest has to say until you become well known enough to have a staff of assistants - then, have them pay close attention.  If your readers have an issue with spelling, typesetting, continuity, grammar... anything that can be qualified specifically so that change is possible - consider what they have to say, and consider if you need to change what you've done accordingly. I don't just mean people who paid for your work, I mean anyone who happens to have taken the time out to read it. Readers are a valuable resource. If you have any readers you are a lucky B, regardless of whether or not those readers are fans. Treasure them.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

At least its not writer's block


In case you're wondering why I haven't been blogging lately - it is because I've started writing again.  I am working on two sequels to "The Moon Cried Blood" and on a book of short stories.  On average - it takes me about three months to write a book, and another two to five months to edit it/work with an edit. I won't be releasing anything new until next year. In addition to the amount of time it takes to write and edit, it makes little sense to release more than one work every year or so, because it becomes impossible to promote them if they are released that rapidly (I should say: hindsight 20/20 since I released three books in a 9 month period).

"The Moon Cried Blood" looks like it's turning into a trilogy, which makes a lot of sense, given it's race memory/time (not exactly travel) themes. If you've read it, well, you know what I mean.
Speaking of promotion, I'm happy to report that I have my first newspaper advertisement for my first (and most thoroughly edited) work, "Solitude".
First Newspaper Ad for Solitude
First Newspaper Ad for Solitude


Saturday, April 28, 2012



Who doesn't love zombies, ghouls, and the half-eaten humans left in their wake? Here at "Things that Go Bump in My Head" we like to feed your hunger for human flesh... eating supernatural creatures, that is. That is why we are pleased to introduce the first official contest for "Things that Go Bump In Your Head": the "Feast: Flesh or Foul" Contest! to celebrate the Year 2012, the Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse, and the perfectly timed release of "Warmth"

WHAT TO ENTER:
We are looking for photographs in one of three categories:
  • THE AFFLICTED (Ghouls)
  • THE DEAD (Zombies)
  • THE FOOD (Humans)


See an overview of each type of entry below. You should enter a photo of yourself in one of these three roles as described at the end of the article.

HOW TO ENTER:
Post a photo of yourself dressed up as The Afflicted (Ghoul), The Dead (Zombie), or The Food (Human) on Sumiko Saulon's Facebook Author Page here: https://www.facebook.com/authorsumikosaulson - you will need to have a Facebook account to do this, so if you don't have one, create one. I'm pretty sure you will need to "like" the author page to upload the photo. When you upload it, write "CONTEST ENTRY:" with the kind of creature you are afterwards. For example: "CONTEST ENTRY: Ghoul".

HOW TO WIN:
Get as many people as possible to "like" your photo on the Author page, because the one with the most likes wins. In the event of a tie, we will have a Run Off between the winning entries.

THE PRIZE:
You Win: You get a copy of "Warmth" signed by the author, and you have the opportunity (optional) to be included in an upcoming promotion for the book, where you are in costume holding the book. That means you'd have to take another photo with the book when it arrives. No, you don't have to (although we'd love it if you did)

THE AFFLICTED (Ghouls):
The Afflicted: Sera, the good ghoul
The Afflicted: Sera, Unpretentious Ghoul
The Afflicted are Ghouls: Their ghoulish affliction causes them to age very slowly, and run a constant fever so that they are at most times sweating profusely. They require human flesh and blood to survive. Ghoulism is caused by zombie bite, so many ghouls have unsightly healed-over zombie bite scars. They fall into two basic categories:

- The Unpretentious Ghoul
The Unpretentious Ghoul accepts the fact that he/she is a ghoul, you may consider that he or she is a traditionalist. Most of your unpretentious ghouls still bear the scars of the zombie attack that cause the original transformation. They know that as ghouls, they do not require fresh human flesh or blood, and can survive on the flesh of the dead. The unpretentious ghoul may eat rotting corpses, human flesh jerky, and other substances that the pretentious ghoul would find gross and disgusting. Unpretentious ghoul heroine Sera had her teeth sharpened like shark teeth by the Mayan's to make flesh eating easier. She is a ghoul hunter who hates the Dead. Ghouls are not immortal, but age very slowly. Sera is pissed off because in her case, this has lead to a 600 year long pregnancy. 

- The Pretentious Ghoul
The Pretentious GhoulSome of the Afflicted are more pretentious than others. Pretentious ghouls, like Lizbet, like to pretend they are vampires, because vampires are just a lot more glamorous seeming than sweaty, rotten-flesh consuming, sickly long-lived mortal ghouls. Of course putting on such pretentious means investing a lot of money in plastic surgery to cover up nasty zombie bite wounds, and dental work to install fangs sharp enough to inflict a bloodletting bite. That kind of vanity keeps Sera's old friend and former lover Fadrique, Plastic Surgeon to the Stars (and more secretly, to the Afflicted) constantly in the money. In order to disassociate themselves from their ghoulish origin, the pretentious also drink the blood (and at times, eat the flesh) of the living, considering eating dead people as "low". The Afflicted are never able to make new Afflicted through bite wounds: after all, they aren't vampires. Only Stage 2 Afflicted, or Zombies, can make new Afflicted. 

THE DEAD (Zombies):
The Dead (zombie)
The Dead are always hungry.
The Dead are Zombies. The final stage in the life cycle of a Ghoul is as a member of the Resurrected Dead. When a ghoul dies - whether it is after a long period of extended life as The Afflicted, or immediately, following a fatal zombie bite that the parasitical combo causing Ghoulism is unable to heal, he or she resurrects as a hungry corpse whose only goal in unlife is to perpetuate the species: the symbio-parastical species, that is, of strange gut flora living in the host systems of the Afflicted Stage A (Ghoul) and Stage B (Zombie).  Zombie slayer Sera hates the Dead - they are always hungry and have no self-control. If the planet becomes infested with them, the whole Ghoul-Human part of the ecosystem would go to hell, leading to the end of all mankind. And all ghoulkind - they'd starve. No ghoul in its right mind wants that.

The Food (Human):
The Food is Human
Solyent Green is People: The Food is Human
The Food is Human:  Ghouls and Zombies have a lot in common with people: the thing is, they are people. It all starts with a bite: the first step in the Human-Ghoul-Zombie cycle is the part where the Zombie bites the human and infects it: so the human because the Afflicted (part A or B). Some humans become food because they are bitten while still alive: either unwillingly, though a hostile attack, or because they are masochistic vampire groupies who haven't discovered (yet) that the Afflicted Ghoul is incapable of granting eternal, or even extended, life. Some human beings are eaten after death, in various states of decomposition or even after cooking and other methods of preparation.
THE DEADLINE: This contest will be accepting entries until June 1st, 2011. Remember: the sooner you enter, the longer you have to ask people to "like" your picture. Yes, you can use an old photo of you dressed as a zombie, a ghoul, or a ghoul we presume is pretending to be a vampire because in Warmth, vampires don't bleeping exist, an old photo of you with an apparent zombie bite, or whatever works for you.

REMEMBER: HAVE FUN!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012



Interview with A.L. Peck,

author of  “Abstract Murder”

This is the first in a series of interviews with women in horror fiction.
I hope you will enjoy this interview is with psychological horror/suspense writer Andie Lee Eames, who writes under the penname A. L. Peck. Today we will talk about writing, perceptions of women and women of color in the horror genre, and why female writers would still feel a need to use a gender neutral penname 150 years after the Bronte sisters did. 

The Book:

Abstract Murder (Paperback)
Abstract Murder
Abstract Murder is a disturbing psychological suspense tale told from the viewpoints of various characters. The characters speak directly to the reader taking them into the dark recesses of dangerous minds while calling into question the validity of good and evil.
If you liked "Pulp Fiction Silence of the Lambs" then you'll love Abstract Murder, which is told in flash forwards, backs, and present time.
It is a high concept thriller not for the faint of heart and one hell of an emotional rollercoaster ride. There are three different killers and you'll get to see what made them that way.



The Author:

Born in Washington D.C., Andie Lee Eames is a free-lance journalist and author. She wrote the well-received novel “Abstract Horror” under the pen name A.L. Peck.
Abstract Murder is her first novel, and she is currently working on a prequel. Links to other writings by the author that are available online can be found at the bottom of this page.

The mother of two teens, Andie Lee Eames is an American of Irish, Mexican and Caribbean heritage, and divides her time between the US and Belfast, Northern Ireland.






The Interview:

Sumiko Saulson:
How did you get started writing?

Andie Lee Eames
I began writing seriously with my cousin Sarah in Ireland on Bebo where we've created an epic sci-fi fantasy Carpe Ominous=Take it All! That's where I got the idea of building up a fan base and writing on line.

Sumiko Saulson
When did you start writing, and what were you doing before?

Andie Lee Eames
I was once a fire fighter/ medic, but once I got married and had kids I started
Paula Patton
In Andie's Dream Cast for the book, Paula Patton plays FBI Supervisory Special Agent Lenie Larson
writing. I released Abstract Murder published by Authorhouse September 2008 It took me two years of research to learn the correct terminology and I got assigned an F.B.I agent to help so it was cool and frightening to be at Quantico

Sumiko Saulson
Women in horror are rare; women of color in horror are exceedingly rare. I wanted to do the interviews as a way to bring exposure to women in the genre but also, to encourage others who are just getting started. What advice would you give to other ladies getting started in the genre, what do you think?

Andie Lee Eames
I know when I looked up horror writers/directors etc. and they stay within their race and that's fine but to me there's only one race and it's human but with religious and cultural differences

Sumiko Saulson
It is true that there is only one race, scientifically. Prejudice is not a construct of scientific fact but human perception - the hateful comments about the dark skinned girl in Hunger Games being played by an African American actress all over Twitter are a good example. The fact that there is no scientific reason for a culture bias or, in that case; one called colorism (which is bigotry against a skin tone) doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

Andie Lee Eames
Exactly, I wish more people viewed the world that way. So what the little girl was black does that really make a difference?

I want to break down these racial barriers

Sumiko Saulson
What was it like releasing your first novel back in 2008, and how did you like working with Authorhouse?

Andie Lee Eames
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb plays Meghan McHugh in the dream cast for "Abstract Murder".
It went really well and I recommend authors who go the self-publishing route to try them out. I've a cult like following around the world and recently found out that the book as reached Japan and been translated for them

Sumiko Saulson
It must be exciting to have readers as far away as Japan.

Andie Lee Eames
It is, I'd no idea but it's really cool. Most of my fan base is UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand and now Japan; it's strange how it works out

Sumiko Saulson
Women in the horror genre are still rare; women of color exceedingly rare. I wanted to ask you: what made you decide to write in the genre of psychological horror?

Andie Lee Eames
I wasn't aware of how rare we are until you mentioned it. I like to understand the reason that people do horrible things to one another and the best way for me to do this without sounding preachy was the horror genre

Sumiko Saulson
And as a follow up... do you think there is any reason that mostly men have been writing horror? Such as do you think women have any cultural identities that make us believe it's not ladylike to write scary things?

Andie Lee Eames
I honestly don't know why it's a predominately male dominated genre but I
Zoe Saldana
In Andie's dream cast, Zoe Saldana plays Detective Mena Vincent.
plan to change that. Women have so many ideal thrust upon us as to what constitutes being a lady. I think it limits some of us in what we think we should be instead of who we really are. I do not like that double standard

Sumiko Saulson
So if I understand you correctly, you believe that in an ideal future, we would begin to be motivated internally by what we care about - such as figuring out why people do horrible things in your case - and not externally by what we think society believes we should care about?

Andie Lee Eames
Yes, in a way but we're visual creatures by nature. I think that more women will change from the horror vixen to more powerful positions. The reason I published under A. L. Peck is because I didn't want the reader knowing I was female. I wanted the book to stand or fall based on its contents not because I'm female. There’s a bias about women in horror most are models or actors who are paving the way for the female writers of psychological horror.

Sumiko Saulson
Understood. That's why J.K. Rowling published “Harry Potter “ under a gender-neutral name. It's also why Emily Bronte published Wuthering Heights under a masculine pen name Ellis Bell. But isn't it interesting that 150 years later women still have to do as Ms. Bronte did in order to be taken seriously? Do you
James McAvoy
In A.L. Peck's dream cast, Brian Thomas is played by James McAvoy.
think this will at some point change?

Andie Lee Eames
I hope that it will change at some point but it's going to take for more women to succeed before that. I actually had someone tell me that if they'd known I'd written Abstract Murder they wouldn't have met me and I thought that was pretty messed up because you don't say that to a man who has written horror...people choose to see what they can process and right now it's easier to be gender neutral.

Sumiko Saulson
That is an excellent example of gender bias in horror - and the stereotypical thinking that suggests that a woman isn't as capable as a man of creating a terrifying character without being disturbed - no one seems to think Dean Koontz is disturbed, or Stephen King.

Andie Lee Eames
Exactly and it's not a fair assumption for people to make but they do it anyway. I want to be able to change that because when people realize that Abstract Murder was written by a woman some give you that doe in the headlight look. Some people not all

Sumiko Saulson
Different writers have different processes. Notably regarding you and your process: I see that on your popular Facebook page, you role-play your character Mr. Nobody. That is a unique approach. Do you think this kind of thing is part of your creative process, as well as an effective marketing tool?

Andie Lee Eames
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murpy - Andie's ideal actor to cast as "The Artist/Mr. Nobody" if Abstract Murder were made into a movie.
I've tried role-playing on other sites with characters from different stories that I've written and it worked out really well so I figured to try it out here on FB. In this market you have to be competitive and try new things, so I thought by putting an actual face and speaking in the voice of the characters was worth a shot

Sumiko Saulson
And the face is of the actor you envision playing the role?

Andie Lee Eames
Of Mr. Nobody?

Sumiko Saulson
Yes. Because that's who you currently use on Facebook. But I also notice you had photos of the actress you had in mind for the young female detective, so in both cases.

Andie Lee Eames
In the book he doesn't really have a face so when I decided to do the behind the book series. The first face I saw when writing was Christian Bale then when I
Christian Bale
Christian Bale - in the Dream Cast as FBI Special Supervisory Agent Michael Hallard
decided to do this I had to find the actors that I saw in my mind when I was writing the book
In developing Mr. Nobody referred to as The Artist in the book I wanted a face that could easily do or get what he wants and be forgotten as easily by those who have seen him
I wanted an actor who could pull this off and Cillian Murphy was the first actor that came to mind to be Mr. Nobody

Sumiko Saulson
I see. And I notice that in your writing, you trying to emphasize the frightening notion that this serial killer could be anyone - the reader's next-door neighbor - and that really underscores the menacing nature of this character. Is the way he looks part of this unnoticeable persona as suggested by the book?

Andie Lee Eames
Yes, I am because when you break it down and this is going to sound jaded but it's anything but. I don't think that we can ever truly know someone and that instills horror and awareness. In the book he's a much less likeable characters who isn't really one of the primary characters but one of three killers in the book. I decided to develop him and the other characters more without spoiling the book for those who haven't read it yet while keeping those who have further entertained. Thanks I don't have many reviews on Amazon but I hope that the information on Amazon is enticing and insightful

Sumiko Saulson
It's been great speaking with you. Before we wrap this interview up, can you let my readers know where they can find you on the Internet, where they can pick up a copy of your book, and things like that?

Andie Lee Eames
Thank you. Abstract Murder can be found on line around the world on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Other Writing By Andie Lee Eames

A tale of erotica, horror, suspense and viciously biting comedy
This is a behind the book and fan site where you'll be able to interact with other fans and the author
The story of mixed up young girl whose journey through her life is brutal and unrelenting.
This is a behind the book and fan site where you'll be able to interact with other fans and the author on Facebook


Dream Cast Video