The Romance of Horror

 Five years ago I met an author by the name of Stephen Zimmer. He was with this press called Seventh Star Press and they did speculative fiction.  Stephen was a pretty cool dude and we became friends. A couple of years go by and I end up at Fandom Fest in Louisville, KY at one of the.hottest weekends of the year and don't you know it, the AC goes out in the hotel. Needless to say it was a horror. However, Stephen was there manning the booth for Seventh Star and trying to run the literary track and the gaming track, too, if I remember correctly. We talked some when we could and he needed some help that weekend so I manned the table and got the first hand experience of seeing just how cool Seventh Star was.

It was then I knew I wanted to write for them. Now all I needed was a story.

And it wasn't going to be romance either. It had to be something that got me back to the roots of what I started writing.

Horror it was.

In high school and through college, I wrote horror or some fantasy. The first series I wrote is more horror with erotic and romantic elements woven through the storyline. Nevertheless, my very first publisher seemed the series to be erotic, paranormal romance, which it is not, and there it has stayed ever since.

In most of my books there is darker element. While I enjoy writing romance, I'm a little burnt out on it. So while thinking of the story to write for Seventh Star, I kept on romanticizing the horror until the idea of Death's Dance was born.While it grew I worked on other things until I had the plot down and I agonized over writing it. Four drafts later, I had a book and a year and a half had passed.

So I sent in a proposal for a series to Seventh Star and waited. And waited. But while the months passed, I wrote books 2 & 3 of the series with a fourth one metastasizing in my head.

And then the day came, I got my acceptance and it made for an early Christmas present of 2013. It was a great day, but the even greater day was seeing my book finally come out. I'm always proud when one of my books is released into the world. But I am extremely proud that Death's Dance is out now. It took a lot out of me to write the book and I hope it will be well received by those who pick it up and read it.

The plot originally started with one question, what would happen if you accepted a dance from death?

What do you think would happen?


Blurb:

Being a psychic, you would think talking to the dead was a walk in the park. However, it’s not always that simple. The hooded specter haunting me is one I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid. One day, he appeared in my bedroom mirror. Good. Evil. I don’t know what his true intentions are.

Enter Jackson, ghost hunting show host extraordinaire, and my ex, to save me from the big bad ghost.

From there…well…it’s been a world wind of complications. My house burnt down. I’m being stalked by an ancient evil and gotten myself back into the world of being a ghost hunting psychic. Jackson dragged me, along with a few other psychics, to a ghost town wiped off the map called Death’s Dance.

From there things went from bad to worse. 

Buy Links:

Amazon          KOBO

Guest Post by Jason Sizemore author of Irredeemable

Let's welcome Jason Sizemore to the the blog today. It's awesome to have him here. Make sure to get a copy of Irredeemable. 

There’s a man named Stephen Zimmer. He runs a small press named Seventh Star Press. Stephen is a rather dashing gentleman, even of nature, full of poise and charm. 

There’s another man, this one is named Jason Sizemore. He sees himself more a publisher and editor, and he operates Apex Publications and the Hugo Award-nominated Apex Magazine. This fellow, a bit of a rough-around-the-edges type from southeastern Kentucky, likes to dabble in the fine art of short fiction writing. Over a period of approximately 8 years, he had 35 or so short stories published.

What strange things happened when these two men of letters met at a writer’s convention in Indianapolis? Some things aren’t meant for public consumption and will remain a secret. Irredeemable, on the other hand, it is for everybody. 

Okay, I’ll stop with the high-minded prose and end the silliness. The reason Irredeemable happened is Stephen Zimmer. Stephen had been following my intermittent writing career over the past few years. He enjoyed my fusion of Southern Gothic with Appalachian sensibilities and genre trappings. So at a convention last year, he approached me about doing a collection with his press.

Like any writer would, I was blown away and honored that he was interested in publishing my work. Yet, I had reservations. I spend a lot of time running Apex Publications. I also have a moderately demanding day job that saps a large amount of my mental reserves each weekday. I worried that if I did a book with Stephen, I would not be able to give it the full promotional attention both the book and Seventh Star Press deserved. I told him I was interested, but needed to think about it.

Yeah, that sounds kind of lame. You get handed a wonderful gift that many writers dream about and you say “Uh, let me think about it.” To Stephen’s credit, he smiled and told me to take my time.

Since the book is now out, there is no surprise ending. A few months later, I decided not to be lame. The hardest part was convincing myself my short fiction was worthy a collection. My writer friends got me over a severe case of imposter syndrome. Thankfully, the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. 

So I learned one important fact from this whole experience. Put your trust in Stephen Zimmer. He’s a walking +5 to everyone’s karma score when he’s around.

About the author: Jason Sizemore is a writer and editor who lives in Lexington, KY. He owns Apex Publications, an SF, fantasy, and horror small press, and has twice been nominated for the Hugo Award for his editing work on Apex Magazine. Stay current with his latest news and ramblings via his Twitter feed handle @apexjason.

Book Synopsis for Irredeemable: Flowing like mists and shadows through the Appalachian Mountains come 18 tales from the mind of Jason Sizemore. Weaving together elements of southern gothic, science fiction, fantasy, horror, the supernatural, and much more, this diverse collection of short stories brings you an array of characters who must face accountability, responsibility, and, more ominously, retribution.

Whether it is Jack Taylor readying for a macabre, terrifying night in The Sleeping Quartet, the Wayne brothers and mischief gone badly awry in Pranks, the title character in The Dead and Metty Crawford , or the church congregation and their welcoming of a special visitor in Yellow Warblers, Irredeemable introduces you to a range of ordinary people who come face to face with extraordinary situations.

Whether the undead, aliens, ghosts, or killers of the yakuza, dangers of all kinds lurk within the darkness for those who dare tread upon its ground. Hop aboard and settle in, Irredeemable will take you on an unforgettable ride along a dark speculative fiction road.

Author Links:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/jason.sizemore1

Twitter:

@apexjason

Tour Schedule and Activities
 6/16 The Rage Circus Vs. The Soulless Void Review
6/16 Come Selahway With Me Interview
6/16 Sheila Deeth Guest Post
 6/16 Beauty in Ruins Guest Post
6/17 Little Red Reviewer Review/Interview
 6/18 The Word Nerds Guest Post
6/18 Book in the Bag Interview
6/19 Alexx Momcat's Gateway Book Blog Guest Post
6/20 Tiffany Apan's Blog Top-Ten’s List
6/21 Novel-ties Review
6/22 L. Andrew Cooper's Horrific Scribblings Review
6/22 Vampires, Witches, and me oh my! Guest Post  

Tour Page URL:
 http://www.tomorrowcomesmedia.com/jason-sizemores-irredeemable-tour/ 

 Tour Badge URL: http://www.tomorrowcomesmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/IrredeemableBadge.jpg 

 Amazon Links for Irredeemable Print Version
  http://www.amazon.com/Irredeemable-Jason-Sizemore/dp/1937929590  

Kindle Version
http://www.amazon.com/Irredeemable-Jason-Sizemore-ebook/dp/B00JUC8PN8

Top Ten Favorite Books

Hi Guys,

Quick post today. I've neglected my TBR pile of late because I've been busy proofing, editing, writing, and doing cons and other stuff. The books on my shelves are getting lonely and my TBR pile almost overflowing not to count what I have on my Kindle so I thought I would share my top ten favorite books. People as me all the time what they are so today that is what you get.


1.The Making of a Monster- Gail Petersen
2.The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
3.The Mammoth Hunters - Jean M. Auel
4. Our name is Melancholy - Leliah Wendell
5. Angels on  Fire - Nancy A. Collins
6. The Vampire Lestat - Anne Rice
7. It - Stephen King
8. The Vampire Diaries - L.J. Smith - (Now I'm talking the original 4. The Awakening, The Struggle, The Fury, Dark Reunion.)
9.The Mirror of Her Dreams - Stephen R. Donaldson
10. The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

What are your favorites?

The Art of Sex Panel

Hello all,

Sex.

Yes that is the topic of discussion today.

This past weekend I was on an awesome panel with many wonderful authors including, Marica Collette, Alexandra Christian, and Susan Roddey. And of course the topic was about sex.

Now when you include alcohol, a late night, and sex you are bound to end up with some interesting conversations. However, even with the giveaway including the Big Bags of Sin that were won the six inch rainbow penis sucker was the talking stick and stole the show.

Although no liquor was imbibed on my part, it was a very informative panel and hopefully we were able to give some readers some insights into how to write sex and that no. Erotica writers don't practice everything they write. There is some rules one has to follow when writing sex.

1. Keep it interesting.
2. Keep it fun.
3. Make sure all the body parts are inserted in the right place and a third hand appears from out of no where.
4. Make sure the sex moves the story forward.
5. Last, but not certainly not all, please make sure that safe book sex is practiced. No one wants to get a paper cut on their sensitive parts while reading.