FLESH AND FIRE, Up for Preorder on Amazon Kindle

DARK OF NIGHT – FLESH AND FIRE (Journalstone’s Double Down Series, Book VIII) is now available for preorder on Amazon Kindle.

DARK OF NIGHT

The dead rose. We fell.

The survivors are trapped in a world of monsters who prey on the helpless. Some of them are zombies…but they are not the only predators who feed on pain and suffering.

DARK OF NIGHT is a story of worlds in collision. Three heroes who have survived the apocalypse are in a deadly race to save a busload of children from ravenous zombies and ruthless human scavengers.

This brand new novella brings together three of New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry’s award-winning novel series.

Captain Joe Ledger (PATIENT ZERO and CODE ZERO), Officer Desdemona Fox (DEAD OF NIGHT and FALL OF NIGHT), and Rachael Elle (BITS & PIECES, a Rot & Ruin novel) are caught between an endless wave of the living dead and an army of corrupt men who want to enslave the last human survivors.

Jonathan Maberry teams with debut novelist Rachael Lavin to tell a sweeping story of adventure, horror, and heroism.

FLESH AND FIRE

In the midst of a midlife crisis, Todd is haunted by Chloe, the lover who died not long after their relationship ended. When Chloe escapes Hell in search of the peaceful rest that has eluded her, a demon named Samael is on her trail and she needs Todd’s help.

While on the run Todd and Chloe face demons real and personal, soul-threatening danger, and their long-buried feelings for each other.

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You can preorder the Kindle here.

Trade paperback should be available soon.

Saving the Best for Last

Friends, as most of you know, I’ve been working on a novel called Flesh and Fire for the last two and a half years. It’s a dark fantasy novel about a man going through a midlife crisis whose life becomes even more complicated when the former love of his life returns from the dead and requires his help escaping Hell and the demon who held her captive there. I’m happy to announce that this novel is done, almost done.

Almost.

Currently the manuscript clocks in at 50,000 words which is that of a short novel. The industry standard length for a horror/dark fantasy novel is somewhere between 70,000 and 90,000 words. Thankfully, I know how to expand the manuscript to this length while making the story richer, rather than bloated. The key is my villain, Samael.

He’s got a large backstory that could be its own novella (20-35,000 words). I’ve known this and kept it in mind while writing the manuscript because, frankly I wanted to tell his story last. I did this for two reasons. 1) I wanted it to be as linear as possible, and since it was so big I didn’t feel right only doing a little at a time between writing the novel’s other threads (even though Samael’s story will likely be broken up throughout the book in the final version). 2) I’m scared.

Scared, you ask? I write horror, what could possibly scare me? Um, spiders, really deep water, and vagina dentata for starters.

But, more specifically, what scares me about Samael’s story?

Next to the main thread of the novel, his is the largest so there’s some small level of intimidation, but that’s not quite it. No, friends, his story scares me because it is dark. Without giving too much away, he’s a human that grew up during the Inquisition and through a series of events he grows into something far more than human. Specifically, something demonic.

What sorts of things can happen to transform someone into a demon?

I shudder to think, and you, my friends, will have to wait until the book is released to find out.

Just know this, I’ve started his journey. I’m right there with him and it’s not pretty.

I hope I survive.

Flesh and Fire – The Playlist

How many of my fellow writers can work while listening to music? I can barely focus without it. Even if it’s a song that I know the lyrics to, there’s something about hearing a kickass song while I’m typing away. Over the last six months as I’ve done another draft of Flesh and Fire, I’ve made a playlist of essential listening to be played while working on the manuscript. I usually have a different playlist for every project and I try to choose songs that have themes similar to the piece I’m working on.

For instance, to go with the dark romanticism present throughout Flesh and Fire, I chose songs like “Devil Tree” by Philadelphia-based band The Bailey Hounds, the acoustic version of Marilyn Manson’s “Leave a Scar,” and Glenn Danzig’s gloomy ballad, “Blood and Tears.”

Midway through this draft, my friend Shannon Lafferty released a couple of tunes via her YouTube Channel. Her song, “Till I’m Gone” has a quiet desperation to it that I just love.

No playlist of mine would be complete without David Bowie, so I chose not one, but two of his songs to help immerse myself in the writing process. The Scary Monsters-era classic, Because You’re Young, is filled with youthful vigor and all the uncertainty that comes with it, but the most fitting of the two tracks is the Gothic dirge “Bring Me the Disco King.” It appeared on the soundtrack to Underworld and features Tool’s Maynard James Keenan on backing vocals.

My friend James Manderson has a couple of tunes on the playlist as well. I write to his music, I run to his music, and sometimes I put it on just to relax. He brings a grand cinematic quality to what would otherwise be mere techno music. His song, “Hollow Earth,” puts me in the zone right away, the manuscript’s images of hell become so vivid, the characters’ quests all the more urgent. Check it out:

For my complete Flesh & Fire playlist, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz9dKomyrBw9T7UYMJ_uNhkIaLFFqvvt7