Hah! Sorry to dissapoint...

Where you been?

You know...the usual. Little bit of minor brain surgery a couple years ago (no kidding). Readying myself for military retirement, moving across country and writing a second novel.

Good luck with the goat

Sorry to hear about the minor brain surgery. Though I guess its better than having major brain surgery. It must have been a success because it seems like you've come to your senses and you're retiring from the military. Good for you.

And all kidding aside, thank you Sir for your service.

Good luck on the second book. It's gotta be better than your first one.

I don't mean that in a bad way, I just meant practice makes perfect. I've never even seen a copy of your first book but I'll try to hunt one up and read it. If you do publish a second book it will be interesting to compare the books to see if the brain surgery made a difference in your writing.

I'm just kidding...really!

What happened to Bleeding The Vein? I thought that was going to be your second book?

Its gonna be tough for you to publish nowadays, unless your first book really was a big hit. Even the "living in Maine' thing doesn't help any more. Though Nate Kenyon does live in Mass. and he's doing well with Leisure. I live in New Hampshire by the way, been up to your neck of the woods quite a bit for work and pleasure. Its snowing here so I'm sure its snowing back home for you too, unless you did move to Florida. But now that I think about it, even if you did move to Florida, Maine would still be "back home" so forget the last part of the last sentence.

T.G., as you can guess there never really was a goat. It was all a clever ruse to entice you to come back here to Horror World and talk with your fans and other lovers of horror fiction.

So....

Welcome back and good luck with novel number two.

Ttzuma

Damn...I really was hoping there was a goat.

Thanks for the kind words. It will be 21 years next year, and I'll probably be done at 22. Trying to get things set over the next 18 months and make a smooth transition. I'm in Rochester, NY where the job market is pretty decent, though I'd like to make New Hampshire my permanent home in the future. Florida didn't work out...medically disqualified from the job I wanted due to the brain thingy. Could have been a lot worse, as they didn't have to skull-cap me (saw a guy down the hall that this happened to and it wasn't pretty), and instead found a way through my thigh and into my melon with a few gadgets and souvenirs to leave behind.

Bleeding the Vein will be my second, and I've been really happy with it thus far. Finishing it up as I write this. Learned a lot from the first and will never complain about the experience. Five Star was awesome and I even got a tour of their facilities in Maine. Very nice people to work with.

Take care,

Tim

I ordered your first novel today. I'll let you know what I think of it Tim, but first I have to read it.

Tt

Wow, thanks! Looking forward to hearing what you think.

It just came in today. What a nice looking hardcover! It looks and feels so fresh I can feel the stickyness from the tree sap, you'd never know it was printed 3 years ago!

That was a nice thing you did for your Uncle Randy by the way.

Give me a couple of weeks to pick it up, I've got to finish one long, and I mean long, book I started and I never start a new one until I've finished the one I'm reading.

And if you see this before the holiday's (the year I am writing this is 2008) ....Merry Christmas T.G. to you and yours!

Ttzuma

Thanks for the kind words and getting a copy of my book, ttzuma! I love the cover as well. Alan Clark did it and I'm still in awe. I actually bought the painting he did for it...awesome!

Hope you like it

Merry Christmas to you as well! And thanks for pulling me back into this site. I kind of disappeared for a while.

Thanks and you're welcome T.G.

Hey Tim, I just finished Forgotten Souls. You wrote a pretty good book I must say, especially for a first novel! I’ll give you a few observations: First I really liked the premise. I thought it was pretty original as I can’t say I’ve ever read a horror book taking this theme where you took it. However, I was unsure what your definition of what a forgotten soul was. You included paragraphs where you said family members still remembered them and visited their graves, if only occasionally. That made me think that everyone who died, unless they were a historical figure I guess, would be a forgotten soul.

I loved the sexual tension you created in the first half of the book. It got me all excited to get to the part where Andrea and Darren would do the nasty deed. But I was a bit disappointed when it happened. After all that build up, the act was a bit disappointing. It must have hurt like hell to do it on a hard bathroom floor… couldn’t he have at least carried her to the bed? Ha! I understand why you wrote it as you did, but I think it should have been a bit more enjoyable for both of them.

Your way with words is exceptional and your descriptions of scenes were very vivid. But having said that, my opinion is you tended to overwrite. Instead of some scenes being tight and producing fear and apprehension in the reader, the overuse of similes and rumination by the characters deluded the effect of the horror.

I loved Andrea’s character and would have liked you to explore her life a little more. You wrote of her earlier partners but I never got a feel for what kind of person she was back then (how'd she get so good with guns?). I’m pretty sure you called them partners by the way, which also confused me as I thought she was waiting for THE partner and would know him when she came upon him.

And you may hate me for saying this, but I thought the very end was too neat and too predictable.

These are just observations that came to my mind while reading and you can take them for what they are worth. I did enjoy the book, took my time with it, and finished it in a couple of days. When you do get you’re next book published I will be first in line to pick it up, unless it is a vampire or werewolf novel.

Take care Tim! I’m glad you are back.

Ttzuma

ttzuma,

First of all, thanks so much for picking up a copy of my book and VERY much for the critique. Your comments are dead on and I definitely learned a lot of the mechanics of writing with this being my real first novel. I wrote the first half of the book many years before the second half. Since this was indeed a first novel, it probably would have been better used as a learning tool then put away to start on another. I'm definitely working hard to make my writing much tighter and smoother and hope I'm getting there. Since you just finished FS and are familiar with where I have been, would you be interested in being a first reader for Bleeding the Vein? Your comments would be very much appreciated and would be a great tool for editing after the letting the first draft sit for a little bit. If so, please let me know. First draft should be done in the next month or so.

I don't mind helping you out at all Tim, but you might be better served by someone who's more qualified than me though. As an average horror reader I can certainly let you know what I think, so if you still want me to look at something, let me know what and when you want me to do something.

I just hope its not about a vampire or a werewolf.

Tt

I think just having a reader "read" the book is extremely valuable. No, it isn't a vampire or werewolf story. Something a weeeeeee bit different:-)

T.G. hows the new book coming?

Tt

Hey Tt!

Sorry...been incommunicado...again:-(. Been plugging away and its coming along; however, a bit slower than I anticipated since I tend to edit as I go....unfortunately, a habit that takes away from my overall productivity. Looking forward to the ending, which is going to be fun to write. Don't want to give much away, but the book involves my own twist on the Filipino legend of the Aswang.

Those of us that are reading this are pulling for you man!

When you get close, (well...really anytime) you should go on over to the Cellar here in Horrorworld and introduce yourself. It's a great place and there are some good people there who love to read horror novels. A lot of horror authors stop by to chat and give their opinions on just about anything. You could rub shoulders with some of the best (Tom Piccirilli, Steve Vernon, Gary Braunbeck, James A. Moore, and a slew of others from the mainstream pubs and the small press). You could do some pre publicity while your at it.

Ttzuma

Thank you, much appreciated!

I looked it up on Monstropedia...it looks like a really cool monster!

Tt

My wife is part Filipino, hence the idea. Her mom (born and raised in the Phillipines) is a great source for some cool ideas. The legend also has some different variations that make it fun to toy with.

Wow, that's cool having someone that close to you that inspired an idea, and where you can do some first hand research also.

When I wrote my novel I used a similar mythical creature from Korean folk lore in the first chapter and I had a fun with it. I love Asian culture, Asian food, and I think Asian women are beautiful.

You got me hooked T.G.

Tt

Me too

I got to spend a short time in the Philippines before the volcano took away the base a short month later. Also some time in Korea and Japan. Much fun!

T. G.! Where the heck are you? How you doing on the novel? You all settled in? You find a job? I got a goat and he's got your name on it!

Hope you're doing alright.

Tt

Hah! Doing well, actually, and getting a lot of writing done...at last...and in the closing chapters....finally. Courtesy of Uncle Sam, I got to spend 2 months of my summer in hot and humid Alabama training. Took some vacation and started spitting out the word count.

Thanks for checking in on me.....tell Timmy greener pastures are coming.

Soon, the draft will be complete....so soon.

Hope you are having a great summer....take care, my friend.

Tim

Tim, where you been? How's retirement? Have you moved? Jumped out of any more planes? Where's Bleeding The Vein? How's the head? Geez, now that I think about it, I hope you're o.k.

Tt

Hey Tony,

Thought I'd crawl out from under my rock and pay a visit. Just returned from a vacation to Maine. Also been extremely busy with a new job. Retirement is good and I retired from skydiving as well...too risky. Going through a final edit (of many) to Bleeding the Vein...needed to weave in some backstory a bit better, but should be done soon. Just had my short story appear in the Made You Flinch anthology, so that was nice to see:-)

How about you? Things going well?

They are going well Tim. You should have gone to Necon while you were up visiting! It would have been a fun to meet you and you could have hung around with your peers and a ton of fans!

I had one story published this summer and have one being published in October. I have a few more out and we'll see what comes of those. This writing thing is fun.

Glad to hear you are still working on Bleeding The Vein! I am so looking forward to that being published and buying a copy. I'll have to send it for you for a personalized signature!

I understand about the sky diving, you don't want to get hurt, even if its doing something you love. I bet that last one with your son will be extremely memorable.

And congrats on the new job! I hope its something you really enjoy.

Let us know when Bleeding The Vein gets close, there's a bunch of people following your threads and I bet they would love to know.

Tony

Good for you Tony, Congrats!!

I've had a rough year adjusting to civilian life and other things, so writing was put off for a bit, but I have pulled out of the slump and am back at it once again! Should finish up with my final edit of Bleeding the Vein this weekend and then I suppose, it's query, query, query. I really do like this one and hope others will as well. My third is still in the beginning stages, but I am very motivated to get working on this again, and have an idea for a YA series brewing for #4.

Wish I could have made it to Necon as well. Definitely have to go to another convention soon...for the motivation alone. Amazing what a weekend can do among others will the same love for the craft.

Take care, Tony and best of luck in your writing endeavors. We will cross paths one of these days:-)

Tim

Happy Thanksgiving Tim!