DIG TEN GRAVES is free

Today and the next few days, I'm giving DIG TEN GRAVES away for free on Amazon. Click here to download it. It's that Kindle promotional deal you've probably heard about, in which authors can offer their work for free in order to... what? Entice? Seduce? Gather more reviews and tags?

Whatever the outcome, I like the idea of reaching more readers. If you don't already have DIG TEN GRAVES on your Kindle cue, pick it up, why don't you, or help me spread the word if you're feeling particular generous. If you aren't easily offended, you'll probably like it. If you ARE easily offended, it'll give you the momentary joy of having something to be upset about. Win-win.

Writers to Fill Up Your New Kindle

So maybe you got a brand new Kindle for Christmas. Congrats, man. Those things are pretty cool. Fortunately for you, there is no shortage of books you can buy relatively cheap to fill that bad boy up. No doubt, if you're like most new Kindle owners, you're going to spend a lot of time perusing titles that are absolutely free-- stuff in the public domain mostly, or stuff by writers who aren't sure themselves if they are worth money and so are giving their work away to test the waters. The public domain stuff is mostly tried-and-true, so no worries there. But you'll find the latter is mostly crap. Granted, some exceptions exist, but mostly...

Anyway, point being: when you're done downloading your selection of free stuff, may I point you in the direction of the ever-evolving, excitingly unpredictable underground of genre fiction now making its mark on the e-book market? There's a Noir Underground here, but it crosses over and bleeds into the Horror Underground, the Speculative Fiction Underground, and even the Western Underground. These are writers from all over the world, connected only by their commitment to writing great stories that pull no punches.

Here are some writers I very strongly urge you to check out, download, and enjoy:

Patricia Abbott
Edward A. Grainger
Anthony Neil Smith
Katherine Tomlinson
Paul D. Brazill
Nigel Bird
Jason Michel
Matthew C. Funk
Aaron Philip Clark
Dani Amore
Julia Madeleine
James Reasoner
Christian Klaver
Icy Sedgwick
Charlie Williams
R. Thomas Brown
Thomas Pluck
Keith Rawson
Pete Risley
Lynn Kostoff
Allan Leverone
Ray Banks
Charlie Stella
Tom Piccirilli
Mike Dennis
Matthew McBride

And I'm probably forgetting a few, sorry to say. I'll expand on this list as they occur to me, so check back.

But regardless, these are all writers I more-or-less discovered this past year or so. Some of the names are "bigger" or more well-established than others, naturally, but what they all have in common is unflinching sensibilities and mind-boggling talent. Download anything by any of them and you won't be disappointed.

And while you're at it, look, man, I have a few things out my-own-self that you'd probably enjoy. They're listed over there to the right. I do solid work, honest; I wouldn't lie to you.

Happy New Year, and Happy Reading, friends.

A Kindle Explosion

Hoo-boy, there’s lots of good short story collections and novellas just out at the moment, aren’t there? It seems that we’ll have a dry spell of a month or so when nothing of note comes out, and then—whammo—all the stuff we want to read hits at once and next thing you know you’ve fallen waaay behind.

Here are some superior collections that have seen the light of day just in the last few weeks. I’ve tried to be very selective here about the ones that are absolute must-reads. Let me know if I’m missing any gems, okay?

A few weeks ago, Keith Rawson released his collection THE CHAOS WE KNOW. Brilliant and brutal stuff. My review for it is here.

Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan edited the comprehensive PULP INK, which I only just reviewed a couple days ago. That’s here.

And speaking of Nigel Bird, his new one is called SMOKE. Haven’t read it yet, but looking forward to it. Nigel is one of my favorites.

Luca Veste, the fella putting together the upcoming anthology OFF THE RECORD, has just released LIVERPOOL FIVE.

The long-awaited collection from Patricia Abbott, MONKEY JUSTICE, is out as of today.

Edward Grainger (David Cramner) has just released the second volume of killer Western tales featuring Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles in, appropriately enough, THE ADVENTURES OF CASH LARAMIE AND GIDEON MILES, VOLUME TWO.

The always concise and remarkable Katherine Tomlinson hits us with her new collection JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE.

The latest in Paul D. Brazill’s DRUNK ON THE MOON series comes from Richard Godwin, and it’s called GETTING HIGH ON DAISY.

And Jason Michel of PULP METAL has put together a “best of” from that twisted e-zine, called LAUGHING AT THE DEATH GRIN.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. Anybody else? Regardless, I can tell you that each one of these is bound to be well worth reading. Enough good stuff to see you right through the Halloween season, at least…

Kindlegraph Me

A few readers (okay, five of them) have, over the last month or so, requested that I sign their Kindle edition of THE BASTARD HAND. At first I dismissed these requests as jokes, or the mad ravings of lunatic minds. Turns out you can actually DO that.
Allan Leverone, my good friend and the author of FINAL VECTOR, THE LONELY MILE, and the upcoming DARKNESS FALLS, pointed me toward Kindlegraph. I'm all set up over there now, comrades. If you're interested in me signing your Kindle with my magic virtual pen, here's the link: Kindlegraph Me, Sidney.

Kindles and Robot Overlords

It’s pretty much a given by now that e-readers aren’t going anywhere. They represent the future, and it won’t be long before we all have computer chips put right into our skulls and we’ll be able to download info from anywhere in the world by blinking our right eye and making a funny gesture in the air with our fingers. Our Robot Overlords will allow us one half-hour every week for recreational purposes before getting back to work on the Brain Feed, supplying virtual candy corn to the Automated Council of Top Dogs.
Yeah, I’m okay with that. We have a while yet before the current crop of presidential hopefuls reveal themselves to be automatons from outer space. So we should use the time we have left to take full advantage of the e-reader revolution.
I mostly don’t mind reading e-books. I mean, they’re okay. Would I rather have an actual paper copy of a book to read? Yes, I would—it’s just what I’m used to is all. The feel of an actual book in your hand, one that requires you to turn pages and stuff, is comfortable to me and I suspect I’ll always prefer that. But reading a book on a Kindle or Nook or laptop is fine—whatever it takes to transmit the story from the author’s head to mine.
My own personal criterion comes down, totally, to price. I rarely buy books—actual paper books, that is—brand new anymore. Honestly, I just can’t afford them. I wish I was in a position to support my favorite writers in that way, but man… times is hard, yeah? I have a car payment coming up, for christ’s sake, and I haven’t been to the dentist in three years.
So when I buy paper books, it’s almost always at the used book store. Being able to buy a stack of old books for five or ten bucks is one of the greatest feelings in the world, and brings home how precious the actual book can be—an e-reader can’t replicate that feeling.
But: if you’re milling around Amazon, window-shopping at the Kindle store, you come across so many great books for SO cheap… a book for anywhere from .99 cents to 3.99 is, honestly, just a killer deal, especially considering that you get to read it within SECONDS of finding it.
When an e-book is priced at more than 3.99, though… I’d rather have it as an actual paper book. It slays me when I see a book put out by one of the major publishing houses, and it’s priced at 10 or 12 or even 16 bucks on Kindle… for real, man?? Honestly, are you fucking serious? My gut reaction to that is: Screw you and your fucking book, okay?
My novel, THE BASTARD HAND, has been available as an e-book for a couple-three months now, and it’s priced at 3.99—which is, honestly, the most I could see paying for an e-book (oh, and it’s totally worth it, I promise). It’s actually selling TONS better than it did in paper. And my short story collection DIG TEN GRAVES (which I put out myself) is .99 cents. It’s been moving steadily, and I suspect the reason for that is how cheap it is. Folks are willing to give something a chance if it’s that cheap.
My point: the so-called “e-book revolution” could be a great thing, if it keeps prices reasonable and brings reading material that would otherwise be unavailable to the masses of us who are hungry for it. But if the publishing industry doesn’t get its collective head out of its collective ass and realize that it’s a different ballgame entirely, then… screw e-books. Give me paper.

image by Ron Warren Photography