So I was tagged in this 7 by 77 meme going around in the writers circles on the Crackbook. Damn you Crackbook. This is why I have to write a book about taking you down, forcefully, violently, and with much intervention by the endangered future of the human race… But, The Mighty McHugh tagged me, so I must comply.

Tagged authors are supposed to post 7 lines from either page 7 or page 77 of a WIP. My new WIP is viddy hush-hush-hush. My other WIP is a smattering of shorts that have not been compiled into something resembling a book with 77+ pages (as of yet). SO! Here’s a little taste of HOT SINATRA… coming soon… if you fancy a slightly bigger morsel, you can get the first 3 chapters as “added material” when you pick up my story LIVING DEAD AT ZIGFREIDT & ROY (which you can get for a measly BUCK, peoples!) on Kindle:

“In a heartbeat the air was filled with silence and then the cars screamed off down Montana Avenue. I rushed to my knees and poked my head out from behind the table and watched them tear off down the street and squeal around a corner. Two dark, late model sedans. The kind Joey Thumbs and his friends employed for their more nefarious outings, one of them suspiciously similar to the car that had followed us earlier. I turned back to Rosie, who was tearing a tablecloth out from under the overturned table across from us and wadding it up to push on Arturo’s chest. A horrible, wet sucking sound – like a vacuum cleaner in six inches of water – was coming from under the cloth. Arturo’s face was pallid and sickly looking. I looked at Holly, her face a mask of shock and fear, and pulled her close to me.” – Hot Sinatra by Axel Howerton

And for those of you wondering about the pic up there, the “77” made me think of my ol’ Wagbeard 77 t-shirt. So here’s a taste of them ol’ bastards…

Soooooo close. The final revisions on HOT SINATRA are done. One little epilogue and he’s in the bag. Ring-a-ding-ding!

And right now, you can get the first three chapters for FREE when you get Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy on Kindle! FREE! March 15th and 16th. Can’t pass that up can you?

Don’t forget to check yesterday’s post for a list of other free ebooks by some of the best indies around.

REJOICE! FOR THE IDES OF MARCH ARE UPON YOU! 

ALL HAIL FREE E-BOOKS!

Originally a party to celebrate Mars, God of War, the ides (or half-way point) of March took on a slightly more sinister note 2, 056 years ago, when Mighty Caesar (the salad-dressing dude) was savaged by a mob of malcontents with knives.

In honor of his ancient evisceration, I give you the following celebration of modern scare-meisters, giving it up for you.

March 14th and 15th: Ruth Barret’s Base Spirits: ‘In 1605, Sir Walter Calverley’s murderous rampage leaves a family shattered. The killer suffers a torturous execution… but is it truly the end? A noble Yorkshire house stands forever tarnished by blood and possessed by anguished spirits. Some crimes are so horrific, they reverberate through the centuries. As an unhappy modern couple vacation in the guesthouse at Calverley Old Hall, playwright Clara, and her scholar husband, Scott, unwittingly awaken a dark history. Clara is trapped and forced back in time to bear witness to a family’s bloody saga. Overtaken by the malevolent echoes, Scott is pushed over the edge from possessive husband to wholly possessed… Inspired by a true-life drama in Shakespeare’s day, this is itself a play within a play: a supernatural thriller with a historical core. Only one player can survive.’
Grab yours here: http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-ebook/dp/B005L38G8E

Bryan Hall’s Whispers From the Dark:. ‘What if your hometown hid a terrible secret? What if the vintage LP you brought home was more than just a record? What if your neighbor’s pond held an evil only you knew about? What if your dying daughter’s only hope lay in a strange shack deep within the Appalachian wilderness? This collection of fourteen short stories from the author of Containment Room Seven asks those questions and many more. You won’t find vampires or zombies here – only pure, dark, unrelenting terror on every page. http://www.amazon.com/Whispers-From-The-Dark-ebook/dp/B005Q339DQ

Robert S. Wilson has his whole library on the block for you! Shining in Crimson, The Quiet and short stories What Happens in Vegas and Born to Kill. http://www.amazon.com/Robert-S.-Wilson/e/B005EU57AY

Renee Pawlish has free today and tomorrow 4.5 average – The Emerald Quest – first in the Noah Winter action/adventure series for young adults/middle grade readers.
http://www.amazon.com/Emerald-Winter-Adventure-Series-ebook/dp/B007CDUIZ0

And finally, March 15th and 16th, pick up Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy for FREE: Blood and Coffee. Cowboys and Zombies. Welcome to the Last Diner at the End of the World. The coffee’s hot and the ghoulish army of the undead isn’t due for a few more minutes. Take a load off, fill your cup and listen to the last story of how the world ends. Not with a whimper, nor a cry, but with the roar of white tigers and the blazing neon of the Vegas strip.

This 5-star rated zombiepocalypse novella from author Axel Howerton has been lauded as “a truly enjoyable, bloody, fantastic, pulse-pounding read.”, “full of action, well-developed characters and explosive description” and “A fun, wild read!”.

And now including a special sneak peek! The first three chapters of HOT SINATRA!! http://www.amazon.com/Living-Dead-Zigfreidt-Roy-ebook/dp/B005V5QT04

JOHN CARTER (OF MARS)

Studio: Walt Disney Studios
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Domenic West, Thomas Haden Church
Directed by: Andrew Stanton

Rated: PG-13
Running time: 132 Mins
Release Date: March 9, 2012

John Carter is a big, exciting, well-crafted behemoth of summer blockbuster movie-making. Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Nemo and Wall-E (two of the best, and most heartfelt, animated films ever made), brings Edgar Rice Burroughs prototypical Space Adventurer to life as a steely-eyed, no-nonsense Civil War vet turned reluctant saviour.

The script, written by Stanton, Pixar scribe Mark Andrews and Pulitzer prize-winning author Michael Chabon, deviates a great deal from the books (this is kind of a mash-up of the first and third books), both in set-up and in details, but the overall theme remains the same. John Carter, Civil War vet and prospector, flees a rampaging band of Apache and finds himself in a strange cave which transports him to Mars. Upon arriving on the Red Planet, Carter finds he can leap like Superman and throw punches like Mike Tyson on Red Bull. He’s caught by the Martian equivalent of Apache, a tribe of Tharks – green four-armed giants with a taste for violence and a communal nomad society that is both primal and advanced. Meanwhile, Deja Thoris, princess of the city of Helium, is being forced to marry a bloodthirsty warlord to save her people. She, of course, escapes with the help of our shirtless hero and they traverse Barsoom (the proper Martian name for the planet) in hopes of saving Helium and returning Carter to Earth. Along the way we meet Thark cheiftan Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe, commanding as always), the unfortunate Sola (Samantha Morton), and Carter’s new bodyguard, a slug-dog creature (remiscent of Falkor from The Never-Ending Story) called Woola that scurries along at light-speed. As always happens in these stories, the odds are stacked in the bad guys favour, in this case, Sab Than (the ever-charming and always devilish Domenic West) prince of Zodanga, who is annihilating everyone he sees with the help of the mysterious Matai Shang (Mark Strong in full-on evil baldie mode). I’ll spare the spoilery details beyond that.

Suffice it to say, this is the best Sci-Fi Fantasy flick in recent memory. The effects are magnificent, specifically the animation of the Tharks, White Apes and Woola. The action is plentiful and thrilling. Despite my trepidation going in, Taylor Kitsch grows on you and acquits himself well by the end of the film. Dafoe, Morton, and the rest of the supporting cast are in their usual top-form. Lynn Collins, who plays Deja Thoris, is mesmerizing on screen. Hopefully this will be the project that takes her to the next level, after coming so close so many times. She imbues Deja Thoris with the perfect combination of self-assuredness, intelligence, strength and femininity that the character has long stood as a prime example of. Little girls could do a lot worse than an ass-kicking scientist warrior princess for a role model these days. Little dudes too. We all need a few more strong women who stand up to tyranny and a few less Snookies and Mileys in the world right now, don’tcha think?

Having said all of that, something still fell a little flat with John Carter. It’s a forgone conclusion that most people have not read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom books. The first book, A Princess of Mars, was written a hundred years ago and inspired just about every science fiction saga from Star Wars to Battlestar Gallactica. The unfortunate side-effect of that is going to be a distracted sense of “been there, done that”. This is technically brilliant, sure-handed filmmaking with a great cast, a good script and a bigger budget than the GNP of most countries. Still, I fear that most viewers will feel like it’s all old hat, after having seen so many bits and pieces used in everything from Superman and Flash Gordon to Star Trek, each and every Star Wars film, and even last summers lacklustre Cowboys and Aliens. My advice? Go see John Carter, enjoy it for what it is, and hope like hell that Stanton gets to make a few more that will inevitably blow our minds. Besides, when’s the last time you got to see decapitation, Bryan Cranston or tattooed chicks in a Disney flick? And after you see it, go get the book.