Tag: seventeen skulls

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day Three

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Onward we go, further into the first week of our book tour. Today, as with yesterday, we’ve got two stops along the way.

First, we drop by Girl With Pen‘s blogspot, where I notice for the first time the counter that appears on each site we visit. That counter’s keeping track of the number of people entered into the free giveaway at the end of the tour, and just three days in I’m somewhat surprised to see nearly 800 people have signed up. This seems like an incredibly high number of people showing interest, and I’m pleasantly surprised.

Next up, we’re off to visit The Bookshelf Fairy, another prolific blogger whose followers I hope will like what they see when they check out Seventeen Skulls.

As always, thanks to my hosts for featuring Seventeen Skulls (and, by association, me!). To the newcomers here on my site, welcome on in, I hope you enjoy your stay. If you know someone in your life who enjoys chilling horror, thrillers, and tales of things that lurk in the shadows, feel free to let them know about me and invite them to drop in here for a look around. To stay up to date and first in line for all the news and updates, pop on over to my contact page and you’ll get posts just like this one delivered straight to your inbox.

We’re back tomorrow with still more tour stops. In the meantime, be sure to take a few minutes to pop over and check out my gracious hosts – they’ll love the visitors, and you never know when you’ll find something new you’ll like. Until next time,

Stay safe, talk soon.

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Tour Day Two

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Day two of the virtual book tour for Seventeen Skulls, and it’s a double header day. On the heels of a great kickoff, today we can be found at All Things Dark and Dirty, and also over at Scrupulous Dreams.

The feedback and participation has been awesome so far, and that’s with just one day down! I’m looking forward to the rest of the tour dates and meeting all kinds of new people along the way.

Big thanks to today’s gracious hosts, and as always, you can see the full schedule here. For up to the minute news and updates, pop on over to my contact page and have notices and news delivered directly to your inbox. Speaking of which, a hearty welcome to all the recent newcomers, glad to have you aboard!

Tomorrow we’ve got another double bill, with two new sites taking the time to feature Seventeen Skulls including cover art, an excerpt from the book, a Q & A with yours truly, and more. If you enjoy reading book reviews, why not drop in on some of these fine folks and see what they’re all about? I’m sure they’d appreciate even a quick visit!

Thanks again to everyone for your continued support, it means a lot. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Let’s Take This Show on the Road!

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Seventeen Skulls has hit the road on a virtual tour!

For the next thirty days you can follow along as my new novel, Seventeen Skulls, hits a whopping 39 stops on its official world-wide* blog tour.

*(Okay, I don’t know if it’s actually world-wide, but readers from around the world will have access to each and every stop along the way so I’m going with that!)

Click here for the official itinerary and the first stop on the tour. We’re also featured over at A Pinch of Bookdust today, in case that’s one of your regular stopovers (or if you’re looking for a new review site to add to your go-to list).

The paperback edition of Seventeen Skulls has been out for a couple of weeks now, but for those who prefer their horror be consumed digitally, today’s tour kickoff also coincides with the kindle release. Click the pics below for links to the paperback (left) and Kindle (right) versions on Amazon.ca below:

(Seventeen Skulls is, of course, available on multiple other platforms (including the dot-com and dot-uk Amazons) for the many of you who do not happen to reside in Canada.)

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to those of you who have taken the time to not only read Seventeen Skulls but also leave a review, either at Amazon, Goodreads, or both. Reviews mean so much to all authors, and are the easiest and, along with word-of-mouth, arguably most effective way of showing your support for an artist or particular piece of their work. Always greatly appreciated!

Check back here often for tour dates and info, as well as other news and goings-on. Remember to pop over to my contact page to get emailed news and updates sent directly to your inbox. Thanks as always for following along. Until next time,

Stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Just a quick little update post today, and an announcement: Seventeen Skulls is going on tour!

The official ebook version of Seventeen Skulls launches on August 23rd, and will coincide with my first ever virtual book tour! Hosted by Silver Dagger Book Tours, it’s a month-long whirlwind that will see Seventeen Skulls featured on the pages of numerous bloggers, reviewers and more. I’m excited to participate and be involved with the tour and meet lots of new people who, in all likelihood, are unfamiliar with my work.

Check out this cool tour banner!

Keep an eye on this space for updates and information and a full listing of stops along the tour. I, of course, will add updates here as well. Speaking of news and updates, Seventeen Skulls is now on Goodreads and is already drawing positive ratings and its first (lovely, I might add) review.

I’m thrilled with the positive attention the book has received so far, and hope it continues as more people discover and enjoy it. Thanks as always for coming back here to read what I have to say, I love and appreciate all the support. Don’t forget to pop over to my contact page and sign up for instant updates delivered right to your inbox.

Until next time,

Be safe, talk soon!

-JP

Long-Distance Murder

Posted on by joepowersauthor

There’s a killer on the loose. The police appear disinterested despite the mounting body count. He strikes without warning and leaves no trace. He knows they’ll never catch him, and he’s not going to stop.

This is the climate in Beaverbrook, New Brunswick, the setting for Seventeen Skulls. From the back cover:

“Someone is stalking and killing the residents of a homeless shelter in Beaverbrook. And he’s doing it from a cell at the Garden Island Super-Maximum Security Penitentiary, over a thousand miles away.

Notorious serial killer Eldon Grant has discovered the ability to travel through the Shadow Realm – a dark and sinister conduit that lies in the murky fissures between the physical and astral planes. This allows him to return to his old stomping grounds and resume his rampage without leaving the cozy confines of his cell. It’s the perfect crime.

But his actions haven’t gone unnoticed.

As the bodies pile up, shelter worker Jennifer Brennan vows to get to the bottom of the murderous spree. Along with a disjointed group of companions, she sets out to learn who’s responsible and figure out a way to stop him before they draw his attention and become his next victims.”

Seventeen Skulls is available now in paperback on Amazon, and coming on Kindle in August on various platforms. Updates here as they become available, get instant updates and news here!

-JP

Surprise!

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Ever since I signed the contract for my new novel, Seventeen Skulls, I’ve been excited to get the finished product wrapped up and out there for the reading public to get their hands on. It’s quite a process, from hand-scrawled manuscript to polished novel. A lot of time, energy and effort goes into bringing the spark of an idea into the book you pick off the shelf or spot on your online shopping destination of choice. So once it’s done, the wait for the release date can be interminable.

With that said… surprise! The wait is over. I, along with my publisher, World Castle Publishing, am proud and excited to announce that the official launch date has been moved up – to today! I have learned that pre-ordered paperback copies are already being delivered, as evidenced by this happy fellow:

This may, in fact, be a rare photo of the very first copy of Seventeen Skulls to reach the masses. I also happen to know that this particular gentleman lives in Ontario, where much of the action takes place, which may explain the look of abject terror on his face.

(Don’t worry, Mike, he’s a nasty character but he can’t get you. He’s safely locked away in prison. Right…?)

Paperbacks are available right now, but the Kindle version doesn’t release until next month. Sorry, all you e-readers!

Seventeen Skulls is available today on both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Keep an eye here in this space for updates and info, more release news, and more. I hope you enjoy the book, thanks to you for following along here and supporting my work, it’s deeply appreciated. Until next time,

Stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

New Releases

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Some Exciting and long-overdue news to report today. Two cool things, actually, as more news has trickled into the Powers household since I began writing this.

Just before I struck off for a weekend in the wilderness this weekend, I received the news that Seventeen Skulls, my next novel, is slated for release on August 23rd. I’ll be posting all sorts of stuff over the next month, including excerpts and updates. For now, as a reminder, here’s a peek at the cover art:

Having returned home from the wilds, wild-eyed and scraggly, freshly showered and laundered and with a solid sleep in my own bed under my belt, I can now focus my attention on my upcoming release and all that entails. But then, as I sat to write this and share the news with you, more good news. My better half, Sheryl, received a contract for her second release, a sci-fi romance. This comes on the heels of her young adult horror thriller, which is in editing and pre-production as we speak and slated for release later this year.

So all in all, a big week here for everyone. It’s always an exciting time when a new book or short story comes out, so to have so much activity compressed into such a short time is pretty amazing. And this doesn’t even take into account my short story collection, Old Bones, which I’ve been tormenting all of you with over the past few months. Never fear, that one is still in the works and coming soon. But for now the focus shifts to a little town in New Brunswick, Canada, where a series of violent murders just might be connected to a prison inmate incarcerated over a thousand miles away…

Seventeen Skulls is now available for pre-order! Here are the links:

Seventeen Skulls in Canada

Seventeen Skulls in the US

More to come. Until next time, be safe, talk soon!

-JP

Tying Up Loose Ends

Posted on by joepowersauthor

March is slogging its way to a close, and has apparently decided to end on a snowy note this year. After several days of weather in the high teens this weekend has dipped back below the freezing point and today is the third in a row it’s either rained or snowed, or both. Our newest grandchild is just a little over a week old now, and hopefully the warmer weather isn’t far behind her arrival.

It’s a rare down time for me in terms of writing. The forthcoming Seventeen Skulls and Old Bones are still in the pipeline, and the winter sessions of my classes have all concluded. With the spring classes still a couple of weeks away from kicking off, I’m cleaning up a couple of projects that have taken a back seat lately.

First on the docket: edits on my next novel, Putting Down Roots. This is one of those projects that feels like it’s been on my to-do list forever. In a way, it has been kicking around for a long time. I came up with the original idea for this about five or six years ago and wrote the bones of the first draft, then put it aside for a while to let it marinade. Time went by and other projects pushed it down the list of priorities, but it’s always been a good enough story that it was never entirely forgotten. So the skeleton became a more complete body as I put meat on the bones and fleshed out the story. Now it’s more or less finished, albeit very rough and in need of a lot of polish.

About a year ago I started work on another novel idea I had. I started the fleshing out process, worked on developing some of the characters and researching the settings and such. To date it isn’t finished, but it will be. I’m usually loathe to work on too many projects at once – I prefer to finish one before diving into another for fear I’ll abandon the first one unfinished. But what this means is that I have two novels in various stages of completion, and it’s time to close one of them out.

The editing process is a lot less fun than writing, no question. It’s probably why I procrastinate and put it off as much as I do. But the fact of the matter is, whenever there’s an incomplete project waiting for me, I think about it pretty constantly until it’s off my plate. So the process now involves setting aside a block of time with as few distractions as possible and just push through a chunk of what needs to be done. Each time I do that, the sense of accomplishment pushes me to press on and get through to the end.

Of course, getting to the end isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of the next round of edits. But that’s another story…

Anyway, that’s what’s new here. As much as I enjoy this novel, it’s time to lay this old friend to rest. The sooner it’s done, the sooner I can share it with the world and give the next big project the attention it deserves. Thanks as always for reading and following along with me. Until next time,

Be safe, talk soon!

-JP

Horror in the Books

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Just a few notes to bring everyone up to date on what’s new in my little corner of the world. We’re mere weeks away from the first day of spring! If you’re in a part of the world that’s still clinging to the daylight savings thing, it happens this weekend.

The inaugural offering of Writing Horror: The Dark Side concluded tonight. I have to say, it went extremely well, even as I worked out the kinks and smoothed out the syllabus. What are the key elements to writing horror? How do you write for maximum emotional impact? At the same time, as with Crafting the Short Story, my emphasis is always on good writing habits and practices. So the challenge is to fit everything in, cover some of the basics while keeping it fresh for those who have already taken the short story course. I was thrilled and very proud as I watched my students, some of whom hadn’t written anything in years, churn out some chilling and creepy stuff. I’m already looking forward to the next session, which kicks off April 12th.

Seventeen Skulls and Old Bones are on the horizon, still working their way through the arduous process of becoming books. Next on the docket: the first draft of the next novel is done, now the process has begun to repair all the fissures and cracks and transform it into something that resembles a finished product. This one’s still several steps down the road before it sees the light of day, but it’s never too early to throw out a teaser!

Finally, thanks to everyone who read my post about the Donnelly massacre last month. It garnered a lot of interest and generated lots of positive feedback. It’s a subject of great interest to me, and a story I always enjoy recounting to anyone who isn’t familiar with the history. I suspect there may be more such entries in this space along the way.

That’s all for now. As always, thanks for stopping by for a visit. Feel free to sign up for updates via email through my contact page. Until next time,

Stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Cover Reveal

Posted on by joepowersauthor

A couple of weeks ago I released a sneak peek at the cover of my upcoming short story collection, Old Bones. I’m excited about its release later this year, and I think the eye-catching cover art really does it justice.

At that time I promised to do the same for my new novel, Seventeen Skulls, in the near future. Well, the future is now. Allow me to present to you, for the first time anywhere, the cover of my forthcoming novel, Seventeen Skulls:

I’ll have more to say about the novel itself in future posts. For now I just wanted to share the cover, and my excitement for its impending release. Watch this space for more information including teasers, blurbs, excerpts and launch date!

-JP