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Showing posts from September, 2012

10 Questions with Bram Stoker Award-winning Horror Writer Benjamin Kane Ethridge (@bkethridge)

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This Author Spotlight features horror writer Benjamin Kane Ethridge. Benjamin Kane Ethridge is the author of the novel BOTTLED ABYSS (see above), BLACK & ORANGE (Bad Moon Books 2010), for which he won the coveted Bram Stoker Award, and the forthcoming DUNGEON BRAIN (Nightscape Press, coming fall 2012). For his master's thesis he wrote, "CAUSES OF UNEASE: The Rhetoric of Horror Fiction and Film." Available in an ivory tower near you. Benjamin lives in Southern California with his wife and two creatures who possess stunning resemblances to human children. When he isn't writing, reading, or videogaming, Benjamin's defending California's waterways and sewers from pollution. 1. How did you get into writing? My parents had a typewriter, and to my utter astonishment, I discovered I could type both black and red colored words. After I ran down the red ink ribbon, typing gibberish, I just continued on from there with black ink, which

10 Questions with Writer Michael E. Gunter (@Michael_Gunter)

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This Author Spotlight features Michael E. Gunter, author of BLACKWELL. At the age of ten, Michael saw his first episode of The Twilight Zone and got hooked on mystery. At eighteen, he had an encounter with Jesus Christ that changed the course of his life. In 2001, he discovered his passion for writing. Today, he writes about the mysteries of life from a biblical Christian perspective; sometimes in straight up nonfiction and sometimes in the garb of fiction. His aim is to write great books that entertain and provoke meaningful contemplation and conversation. When Michael is not writing, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, playing guitar, and refilling his favorite coffee cup. Now through Monday, Michael is offering a limited number of free ebook copies of BLACKWELL. Simply leave a comment on this Author Spotlight. Be sure to include your EMAIL ADDRESS to which Michael can send your free ebook, as well as which ebook format your prefer (epub/mobi). 1. How d

AMPED by Daniel H. Wilson (@DanielWilsonpdx) - Review by Author Ryan Schneider

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A well-written, scary look at our inevitable technological future. A solid read. After enjoying ROBOPOCALYPSE, I was pleased to find AMPED in my library's ebook inventory. AMPED wasn't quite as epic in scope as ROBO, but Wilson uses his insights into robotics and technology to predict what I truly feel is a technological inevitability. Technology which already exists TODAY need be tweaked only slightly in order to be realized as the vision painted by Wilson in AMPED. And it's a controversial one. Specifically (and without giving anything away!), the story revolves around neurological implants used to treat maladies such as epilepsy and Parkinson's. As I said, the technology exists and is in use today. Now, imagine such an implant which could generate a mild, steady electronic pulse which would nudge your brain waves into a constant state of concentration. As Wilson states in the novel (and I'm paraphrasing), such technology will make a dumb person normal and a no

10 Questions with Romance Author Elaine Levine (@ElaineLevine)

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This Author Spotlight features Elaine Levine, author of The Edge of Courage . Elaine Levine lives in a small town on the Plains in Colorado with her husband, as well as a blind German Shepherd and a middle-aged parrot (who feels he raised her two children and lives for visits from her son as well as long-distance phone calls from her daughter in the Coast Guard). Elaine’s first published story, Rachel and the Hired Gun, won Romance Writers of America’s® Golden Heart® Award for Best Long Historical in 2007. Elaine is also the author of Shattered Valor. 1. How did you get into writing? I was a big reader when I was a kid. I discovered romance fiction in my teens and decided, when I was in college, that I wanted to write it. There’s something cathartic about happy endings, good trumping evil, and hot, smexy sex. 2. What do you like best (or least) about writing? The answer to both questions is “writing.” Seriously. I don’t like writing, but I love bei