Horror for a Cause: Book Sales to Support Bullying Prevention

You may or may not be aware of this, but October is National Bullying Prevention Month. As the primary theme in my book “Feeding Lazarus” is a message of anti-bullying, during the entire month of October, 50% of the total profits from the book’s sale will be donated to PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center in support of this cause and to help bring awareness.

As a personal victim of bullying, abuse, and social exclusion, this is an issue I feel very strongly about. I’ve not only been a victim, but I’ve also been a witness. I’ve seen it happen numerous times. Some of those times, I’ve done something about it. Other times, I haven’t. The latter, well, those are times I’m not very proud of.

Let’s face it, the truth is, we’ve all been there. We’ve all seen it happen in some form or another.  Sometimes, we’ve done something, and sometimes we’ve chosen to look away. We can’t all be Superman, but we CAN choose to be a hero; we can do something about it. NOW. We can all stand up to bullies. We can choose to say something when we see it happening; we can tell them to stop. We have that power. We can also donate, fundraise, or just help spread the word. And please keep in mind, that bullying, abuse, and social exclusion are not just inherent to schoolyard pranks and high-school antics. It happens to adults, in the workplace, in our homes, even within our own families.

Bullying is an atrocity. Lives are lost. Suicides result. It needs to stop. We all need to stand up and say, “The End of Bullying Begins with Me.” Daniel, the main character in “Feeding Lazarus,” represents all the times I looked away; writing his story, that’s me doing something about it. That is me beginning.

I’d like to say thank you to my publisher, Jaded Books Publishing, for their wonderful support of this truly important cause with matching contributions.

Please do share and spread the word. Also, I highly encourage you to visit PACER’s website on Bullying Prevention. While there, consider leaving a small donation if you are able, and also discover many other ways you can help this cause to End Bullying. Thank you for your time.

Feeding Lazarus to be Published by Fat Lip Press!

So here’s that awesome news I hinted about last week:

On September 2nd I will unleash Feeding Lazarus upon the world. The contract with Fat Lip Press is signed and the gears are in motion. I must say, for such a short book, this has been a long time in the making. What started out as two individual short story concepts that got fused together after I realized they were in fact different parts of the same story, and what then aspired to become a short novelette, but after countless rewrites and revisions over the last five years, has grown into a short novel/extended novella.

I believe one reason I’ve taken so long with this is simply due to the nature of this story. Have no doubt, this is a tale of visceral horror, and it deals with some extremely horrific real world issues, primarily that of bullying and abuse. Though Feeding Lazarus  is a work of pure fiction, I have both witnessed and experienced such atrocities in my own life, and that makes this a very personal story for me.

My hope is that the themes and underlying messages in Feeding Lazarus will resonate with others who have had similar experiences, and perhaps bring to light the severe impact these real life nightmares have on their victims. Perhaps it could also become a catalyst to inspire those who witness such things happening to stand up, stand strong, be the hero and take action to stop the bullying, the abuse, and the social exclusion that torments the lives of so many each and every day.

So mark your calendars, for on September 2nd I bring you Feeding Lazarus from Fat Lip Press! And stay tuned, I’ll post updates as we get closer to the release including excerpts from the book and the all important cover reveal. Oh, and happy Father’s Day!

Cheers!

 

A Few Things, and a Tease

So I know it’s been quiet on the blog here lately, the cobwebs are even getting stale, but fear not, I have been quite busy doing all the stuff I usually do, you know, lurking in the shadows, stalking about in people’s dreams, harvesting the Blood of the Dragon, oh and writing of course.

I currently have some sixty-plus new poems written that I’m starting to shop around to various markets. A few of those have hit publication recently or are forthcoming, like my poem From Corn to Sea in April’s Devolution Z Magazine, these poems just published at Tuck Magazine, oh and some reprinted work here on UFO Gigolo. There are a couple of other poetry projects I’m working on like this: In So Many Words: Interviews and Poetry from Today’s Poets, edited by Adam Levon Brown and Claudine Nash.

Now, the title of this post promised some teasing, and I’m nothing else if not a man of my word, so here we go. It appears that I have a pretty AWESOME ANNOUNCEMENT to make, but I’m not going to tell you about it right now (hence the tease).

See, we writers tend to be a sadistic bunch, and I get far too much pleasure out of keeping people in suspense. Well that and I’d like to iron out more of the details first. Honestly, I received this news so recently that it still feels a bit surreal, and I’d like to marinate in it for a bit I suppose. But once a few more things come to light, I’ll make the announcement right here on the blog, so stay tuned (but please don’t hold your breath, there are enough corpses in my writing as it is). I will tell that it has to do with a certain fiction project  I’ve been working on, off and on, for about the last five years.

So until next time, stay thirsty my friends, or stay classy, or drunk, or something. Whatever.

Cheers!