Friday, December 11, 2015

Hallowmass Horror Novel Coming Christmas


Far Beyond My Capacity

Name Change for 'Dunwich Diversity Seminar'

I typed out the old title followed by a page of possible replacements. In the end, I settled on the new moniker "Hallowmass." It refers to a black magic ceremony in the book as well as the climactic sorcery clash atop haunted Sentinel Hill in this update of Lovecraft's Dunwich Horror. Hallowmass is one word, evocative of dark doings, and takes up less space on a thumbnail than the old title. (I also came up with titles and story lines for books two and three, but let's not get presumptuous.)

Beta readers finished their tasks and I collated such of their notes as I thought helpful. Cover art is on the way. Alas, my wife and copyeditor/production manager has been swamped with day job work, hence unavailable to provide the final edit. But it appears her schedule will clear enough to allow the Hallowmass eBook version to go live on Amazon right before Christmas. Hopefully, the soft cover version will be out in late January.

After around six weeks of depression, I'm ready to start the next book, chosen from the many drafts I completed in 2013. Something genre, I believe. I'm looking at another horror story set at sea, a sic fi bildungsroman—fancy talk for coming-of-age-story—taking place in a decaying section of our galaxy, and a fantasy comedy-thriller about a forensic, crime-fighting bear from another dimension which was formerly an animated series pitch.

All shine with the high gloss finish of a new project, untested by the fires of story construction. In three months, I'll be complaining about the new book and thinking about dropping it for something easier.

In other words, business as usual.



11 comments:

Authors 4 Characters said...

WOW!!!! Scary. Well, I'll likely order it just after Christmas, but I won't read it til Halloween.

JP Mac said...

The way things are shaping up, I might not even have it up by Christmas. Might try and go with a small press instead of self-publish.

More will be revealed.

Authors 4 Characters said...

Go for it! If they know your rep. they'll be happy to, I'm sure. And let's face it, you write WAY better than what I heard from the ORIGINAL 50 Shades of Grey. Even with the comedic talents of Doug Walker (Nostalgia Critic) and friends, I was still wondering what the heck I was hearing.

I'll be sure to buy a copy for Halloween reading.

JP Mac said...

You're very kind, Gillian.

A fluid situation, but I'll keep you posted.

Authors 4 Characters said...

I don't know if this will be of any help, but http://www.everywritersresource.com/bookpublishers/2014/08/austin-macauley-publishers/ It's a small publishing house out of ...ENGLAND. Maybe you're looking for something closer to home, but publishing times, they are a-changin' so you know more about what's goin' on than I do. If it works, go for it.

Authors 4 Characters said...

http://www.everywritersresource.com/bookpublishers/ Another publishing source if that might help.

Armando E. Torre Puerto said...

I just realized that Dagon and Jill can be seen as a commentary of how political correctness can be indulgent to the point of blindness with toxic cultural practices and beliefs. Or maybe I am reading too much into it. I think it's a very contemporary topic, at least as a question to put out there.

JP Mac said...

Spot on re. Dagon and Jill, Armando.

My new book also builds on the same theme with over indulgent pc characters.

Armando E. Torre Puerto said...

I'm on it. I don't know if I'll finish on time. The first page made me laugh really hard, I'll start checking the rest tomorrow.
Now that I've been reading about writing, I've realized how much we rely on sound and entonation for comedy. I get good feedback on my comebacks and jokes on social media, but creating a funny story without sound or images seems so challenging.

JP Mac said...

Look forward to your thoughts.

Armando E. Torre Puerto said...

Big question. From where, exactly, do the Old Ones come from?
As I understand it, they come from another dimention, yet they rule the universe. Many of them have come to Earth and dominated the world, yet somehow we have none now. I have not read many Lovecraft stories, so it gets confusing for me (almost as confusing as trying to read Dunwich dialect).

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