Back-To-School Book & Blog Block Party

Today it’s my turn at the Rave Reviews Book Club’s big party. The party runs all through the month of September, and it features some cool prizes. One of the first things I’m supposed to post is whatever today’s prize is. I’ll do that, but first I want to tell you about this great club.

RRBC is made up of authors and readers. We support each other by helping spread the word about each other’s books. I’ve been the beneficiary of this support on several occasions. I was a Push Tuesday recipient. I was promoting Panama at the time, and my Twitter feed blew up before I even got out of bed. I entered a little friendly competition regarding blogging about the club and won that about six months later. My prize was a week long blog tour all set up by folks who know what they are doing. Last week I was selected as Member of the Week. It was good timing with my book release, and I doubt there’s anyone left on social media who hasn’t seen my cool cover.

I’m only giving away one prize today, but I think it’s a good one. I’ve already pre-paid for a one year membership to the Rave Reviews Book Club. I’d like to encourage folks to join, and this is my attempt. If you’re already a member, I’ll extend the winner’s membership for another year. You can check out the club at this link: RRBC. The way to enter is to leave a comment here today. Winners will be posted here tomorrow. I already won a free book, and they notified me by email too.

I’m supposed to tell readers about my wares today. I’ll just say that I write speculative fiction and leave it at that. There’s more info in my sidebar and on the ‘about me’ page. I want to have some fun at this party too. So here we go:

***

Dawn filtered through the trees just east of the writing cabin. I gathered up an armful of stuff from the refrigerator and shoved it into a cooler before dragging it into the paranormal office. Nothing too scary, a few shrunken heads and one old hand of glory.

I made sure the Will O’ the Wisp was safe in its bell jar before yelling up the stairs. “Lisa*, can you throw the Raven of Doubt in here too before we lock the door? I don’t want any of our visitors to walk away with a head full of doubts.”

Lisa and Doubt

“No problem, boss. Then I’ll set up that cask of Dwarven lager for your guests.”

“Oh my God, what are you wearing?”

“You said it was a party.”

“That’s more red carpet than what I had in mind.”

“Fine. I’ll change then. Maybe you prefer overalls and my straw hat.”

“There’s no time. Cars are coming up the driveway right now. Is my tie straight?”

“You look fine. Relax, the cabin’s nice this time of year. I haven’t seen a wolf since the migration last Spring. I even put all your carnivorous plants in the basement. You don’t want one belching in front of your friends.”

“Okay, you tend the bar, and try to stay out of trouble. I’ll mingle and have some fun today.”

“You need it. You’ve been wound up like an eight day clock.”

“What did you say?”

“I said, don’t forget to tell everyone about the free paper dolls at the top of the page.”

Good idea, the ‘Look Free Stuff’ tab. Okay, remember to smile. As my spokes model, we want people to like you.”

“Everyone likes me. It’s you I’m worried about.”

*Lisa Burton is the main character in my first novel. She’s a robot, and serves as my assistant out at the writing cabin these days. She’s also the official spokes model for Entertaining Stories.

***

I hope everyone enjoys my stop on the party tour. Have a beer, look around, click some book covers. Avoid the basement.

My new book, The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack is on pre-order right now from Amazon. This is a book of short stories and micro-fiction. I’m only asking 99¢ and would really appreciate a few more early sales. Amazon will deliver your books tomorrow. (That’s why I picked today as my party stop.)

In October I’m running a blog series I call Macabre Macaroni. This involves me posting a new micro-fiction every week for the month. I’m asking folks to contribute artwork to display with the stories. The theme is Macabre Macaroni. I will include all of your links when I display the art. If I only get one, I’ll display it every week. If I get too many, I may have to do a separate art post to cover them all.

Note for Jason Zandry, kids can send in stuff too. The stories will be more Goosebumps than Stephen King.

Tacky stuff is welcome here too. If you want to send me a macabre picture you made by glueing dried macaroni to a board, I’ll display it. Maybe some of you have mad photoshop skills and can create a dish of maneating macaroni, send it over. Macaroni with tentacles or medical waste would be awesome. I’d love to see what you come up with. Let’s avoid anything that might be adult themed though, please. Artists are welcome to contact me at: Coldhand (dot) Boyack (at) gmail (dot) com.

Ya’ll come back now.

Update: To bring closure to the contest. The winner of the fully paid membership in Rave Reviews Book Club is Ali Isaac. Wonderful addition to our book club.