Category Archives: Shameless Self-Promotion

Interview with Jerome Brooke

aaxzMirage_2.cropJerome Brooke is a fellow Goodreads author who agreed to do an interview swap with me. He writes dark and erotic fantasy fiction, set in an alternate ancient world. Here’s what he had to say when I interviewed him about his work:

I noticed your books’ subject matter tends towards vast empires, warriors, warrior-priestesses, and dark rituals. Are you inspired by golden-era pulps like Conan the Barbarian and The Dying Earth?

I use the Conan tales as a model – long novels do not work with ebooks – on Amazon, longer paperbacks are expensive – So, I write short stories or novelettes – tales that can be read as solo texts – but have serial elements – and have narrative elements. Like Conan or Sherlock Holmes, the stories read as a group resemble novels or television serials.

Your stories take place in an alternate ancient world. How close to you stick to real historical events?

I use traditions, myths and other historical elements. For example, people may wear Roman togas etc.

How do you do your research?

I may check a fact in Wikipedia.

Are there any special challenges to writing erotic fiction?

I have had stories under contract with publishers, with rewrites, and even had artwork done. But had publishers cancel. This is true for “sexy nuns” stories or interracial taboo topics.

I noticed Good Samaritan Press, your publisher, is based in Thailand. How did you find them?

I have operated GSPress myself for many years.

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And there you have it. If you’re interested in learning more about Jerome Brooke’s writing, you can check out his page on Goodreads.

Free Review Copy of Cannon Fodder

Are you on Goodreads? Do you want a free copy of Cannon Fodder? For the next few weeks, I’m giving away free copies of Cannon Fodder on Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. If you’ve been on the fence about picking up a copy, and you like being opinionated about books, here’s your chance.

Check it out here on Goodreads.

A note on the Norgolian Empire

I have to admit something. The name of the Norgolian Empire, the home of the characters of Cannon Fodder, isn’t original by me. I lifted it from “The Eye of Argon,” a remarkable short story by Jim Theis.

Now in the public domain, the short story was first published in 1970 in OSFAN, a fanzine. It’s … well, it’s more or less Conan the Barbarian fanfic, but that doesn’t do it justice. I first ran into the story at a party game at Science Fiction and Fantasy club back in college. We’d printed out copies of the story and handed them out to the participants. The object of the game was to read an entire page of the story out loud, pronouncing all the spelling errors, and keep a straight face. I’m pretty sure nobody won that night.

You have to see this story to believe it.

I’ve read godawful writing before, but “The Eye of Argon” manages to transcend godawfulness and become a kind of work of art. I wanted to celebrate this story by throwing the name of the Norgolian Empire into Cannon Fodder. Theis’s short story is about the Empire’s outer reaches, so who knows what might be going on at the capitol? Hence the setting for Cannon Fodder. I like to think that at the time of Alec’s kraken problems, Grignr is still out there somewhere, hacking away at other barbarians.

Cannon Fodder’s Kickstarter campaign is complete

As of the closing of the campaign on March 28, we’d raised $266, or 118% of the $225 goal. Thanks to all the backers, here’s the cover art that you have made possible:

CannonFodder_Type_small

Yeah! Again many thanks to Kelsey King, the illustrator who drew this. E-books of Cannon Fodder with this cover will be available at Smashwords and Amazon very soon. I’ll keep you guys posted.

Cool Kickstarter Projects

The campaign for this little guy is over, but I still want one.

The campaign for this little guy is over, but I still want one.

I have a Kickstarter campaign running right now for my book’s cover art. So throughout the month of March, while that’s running, I’m going to point out other Kickstarter projects that are cool.

To start off with, did you know that Kickstarter has special pages dedicated to projects about Cthulhu and robots?

Cannon Fodder

Hey, guys? I have exciting news. My last ebook, The Confederacy of Heaven, was published in the fall of 2010. Now, after three and a half years, I’m finally ready to publish another ebook.

Kelsey's concept of what the book will look like.

Kelsey’s concept of what the book will look like.

It’s called Cannon Fodder, and here’s a taste of how it goes:

The good guys always win – and Alec Nightshade isn’t going to take it anymore. Alec’s a fifteen-year-old member of the Norgolian Society of Evil Overlords, which means not having much of a life expectancy. When a hero hunts down and kills his aunt, the Viper, he sets off on the first evil scheme of his life to set things straight.

Starting an evil scheme proves to be harder than it looks. Alec catches a break when a friend tips him off about the Eggbeater of Doom, a device that can summon a kiloton-sized elder god with a grudge against those puny hairless apes. If Alec blabs about the Eggbeater, gets a hero to go after him, then kicks the hero’s ass, he can break the cycle of prophecy that dooms his side never to see the age of fifty. He doesn’t mean to hurt anybody else. But when another overlord steals the Eggbeater with the intent to actually level a city, Alec knows what he and his gang of minions will have to do: save the day. He will never get to live this down.

Like the sound of it? I’m running a Kickstarter campaign starting today to raise money for professional cover art. I’m working with Kelsey King, a local artist who’s illustrated my other ebooks. If you preorder a copy of Cannon Fodder through the Kickstarter, not only do you get to help support the cover art, but you’ll get the book at a discount.

Check out the Cannon Fodder Kickstarter campaign.

Want to know more about the project? Drop me a line. I’ll keep you guys posted about the campaign’s progress now through the end of March.