Friday, December 23, 2011

Happy Holidays from Robert S. Wilson

Growing up, there never really was a religious representation to Christmas for our household. Sure, we would go to church on Christmas Eve and listen to the story of Jesus in the manger, etc., etc. But, like many families, Christmas morn was all about tearing open the packages as quickly as we could and just plain having a wonderful, loving time with family. These days, even though I'm an agnostic, I still choose to celebrate Christmas. However, I want to respect everyone's religious holidays. And as Strunk would say, OMIT UNNECESSARY WORDS so instead of going down the list a simple HAPPY HOLIDAYS will do.

In celebration of the holidays, I would like to give a few gifts to anyone who would have them:

1. In case you missed out, my Empire of Blood short story, What Happens in Vegas... is still free on Smashwords in all standard ebook formats and for all ereader devices.









2. Here are two Shining in Crimson holiday gifts:

How about a $1.00 off coupon for the ebook copy of Shining in Crimson on Smashwords? Just use the coupon code GQ52V at checkout on smashwords. This coupon is good through the end of the year!

Also, since I just received the proof copy of the paperback of Shining in Crimson with the new cover today and it looks good to go, I just put it back up on Amazon/Createspace for $7.99. $7.99 for a trade paperback copy! That's $2.00 off! 

 






 3. Starting tomorrow through the 28th of December, the Kindle version of The Quiet: A Novella will be free to download on Amazon.com!



So again, happy holidays! I hope all of you have a wonderful time with your families and make fantastic memories that will stay with you always.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Halloween and Coffin Hop Update for Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology

Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology, for those who don't know, will be giving all proceeds to amfAR an international AIDS research organization. I'm pleased to announce that R.J. Cavender has signed on with us as Publishing Consultant and we have received stories from Jack Ketchum, Ramsey Campbell, Ray Garton, and many more. We've also received a lot of submissions so far, but still need many more.

While we expect to receive many more submissions in November, we want to ensure we get the word out to as many horror authors as possible. Submissions are open until midnight November 30th, 2011, so you still have a whole month to get your stories in. What we aim to accomplish with this is to put out an amazing horror anthology that will bring in an immense contribution to a great cause.

While this is a nonpaying market, I believe it really will pay in two much bigger ways: 1. It will help people who really need it! 2. Stories chosen to be included will sit side by side by greats and legends in the genre! So, if you haven't yet considered it, please send us a story or start writing, revising, or polishing something to send to us! There's nothing to lose and an incredible amount to possibly be gained. In the true Halloween spirit this anthology will surely be scaring and giving all at once. Let's show the world how big of a heart horror really has.

And don't forget to checkout the Coffin Hop Web Tour going on right now! 90+ pages of giveaways, contests, and great Halloween posts! http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/

Friday, October 28, 2011

Another Halloween Freebie as part of the Coffin Hop Web Tour!

Just last night I put up a free short story titled What Happens in Vegas... An Empire of Blood Short Story. This is a standalone story and does not require the reader to have read Shining in Crimson. In fact, I think it will be a great introduction to the world Shining in Crimson is set in and a nice little treat for those who have read Shining in Crimson. And let's face it, what better time to read a horror/dark fantasy story than Halloween? And it's free! And don't forget, I'm still giving away 2 free e-copies of Shining in Crimson to two lucky commenters. And to be clear, I'm going to count any comment on any of my posts since day one of the Coffin Hop (October 24th). Also, be sure and check out more of the other pages as they are also having giveaways and contests! Just go to: http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/ There are over 90 other blogs participating, so there are a lot of chances to win and lots of great free content to check out! And without further ado, here's a snippet of What Happens in Vegas... An Empire of Blood Short Story


Jackie didn't really think they would hurt innocent little girls. She had only meant to scare Karen, to have a little fun. But now her sister lay dead in the passenger seat and they would soon get Jackie, too.

The girls took off on Highway 15 South with the money Mom and Dad left for food while they went on their stupid little "second honeymoon." There was already plenty of food in the house they could take with them. She could use the food money for gas and they could go out for the night of their lives. But she couldn't tell Karen where they were going, no way. If Jackie had told her, she wouldn't have come along.

So, that morning, they packed up the car with the big cooler and headed southwest. Karen was just tall enough to see over the dashboard, but she mostly read on road trips. Jackie had always wanted to see the city, especially after Robby Shelton told her about all that was left behind. Las Vegas was a huge, wealthy city in its time. She thought about all the money that was just left to rot. Just one U.S. dollar in "acceptable" shape was worth fifty bucks these days.

"Now, if Mom or Dad call, remember, we're just in town getting something to eat."

"What if they call late at night and we're still out?"

"You let me handle that, kid."

"Hey, you're not much older than me, so shut it."

Jackie gave her sister the angry face and Karen quickly stuck her nose back into her book. Jackie turned her hungry eyes back to the road. Living in Cedar City, Utah, it was only about a three hour drive to the old city. And so long as they got out of there before dark, they would be just fine. They would even get home in time for Karen's bedtime and all would be right with the world.

When they crossed the state line into Nevada, Karen watched as the sign flew by, the golden rims of her glasses reflecting the bright sun in Jackie's eyes. Most of the drive was boring. Just more and more desert. Jackie was lucky enough that Karen's face stayed buried in her book when they passed the crossed-out sign that read Las Vegas 58 miles.

It was common knowledge that the closer to the city you came, the less people you found. And nobody kept you from driving right on in.

Jackie hadn't counted on just how big of a tourist attraction the city had been.  As they came up to the large sign, still mostly intact, that welcomed anybody and everybody to "Fabulous" Las Vegas, she couldn't help but gasp at what had been done to it. Karen looked up from her book and her complexion turned several shades paler.

Splotches of dried blood randomly adorned the sign and the word Necropolis seemed to be painted in dry blood right over "Las Vegas." The real thing was a far cry from the horror stories they had been told when they were younger. It was always the first thing out of Dad's mouth when they got in trouble. "Lying is a sin, Jackie. You don't wanna grow up and get sent to Necropolis, do you?" Or, "You know what the monsters in Necropolis do to people, don't you? They drink all their blood until they die. If you keep up this nasty behavior, that's where you'll go."

It took some time to calm Karen, but inevitably Jackie had to just be the boss and make her come along knowing that Karen was too scared to run away. Besides, there was all that desert out there and nobody for miles.

Jackie's friend Lori's older cousin had been sent to Necropolis. He had been caught kissing another boy and both of them were charged as homos. When Lori's aunt found out, she refused to talk to the boy anymore. It was hard for Jackie to believe that before the city had been taken, there were some states who actually allowed the homos to marry. A mix of guilt and anger waved over her at that thought.

"We're just gonna look around and try to find some cool things to bring back with us. It'll be awesome, trust me," Jackie said.

Karen didn't reply. Her book sat at her side as she stared all around at the tall, empty buildings and strange landmarks. Other than the engine and its echo off the buildings, the place was dead quiet. They drove by several huge buildings alongside a big green statue of a lady in a toga holding a torch above her head. It looked vaguely familiar to Jackie. She thought it might be something from history class.

After a while, they came to a huge replica of the Sphinx with a large dark pyramid sitting behind it. Jackie knew this was one of the places she should probably look. If there were treasures to be found, some of them would be here.

Jackie got out of the car and stood there just looking up at the huge thing. Most of the Sphinx's features were covered in sand from years of storms. A few spots of flat black could be seen through the dust covering the pyramid. If someone were to replace the other buildings with sand, the place would've looked just like Egypt.

"Come and look at this, Karen. It's so awesome," Jackie said.

Karen just sat in the car, looking pekid.

"Fine then," Jackie said as she came around to the passenger side of the car. She opened the door, grabbed Karen's arms, and pulled her from the car. "Come on. You shouldn't sit in here by yourself. I'm going inside, and like it or not, you're coming with me."

Karen let out a strange groan. Jackie couldn't believe how much her little sister was sweating. After a short struggle, Karen had no other choice but to come along.

Jackie flipped on the flashlight and tried one of the glass double doors. It was unlocked. The smell of rotting meat inside was nearly strong enough to gag Jackie, but she pulled her shirt up over her mouth and nose so she could breathe. Karen, however, didn't move fast enough and got hit hard enough to make her throw up.

"Oh god, can we please go back outside, Jackie? This is terrible."

"Just do what I'm doing and it's not so bad." Jackie laughed at Karen, who was leaned over, a long line of drool hanging from her mouth. She shined the flashlight all around the room as she waited for Karen. There were graying card tables, rusty slot machines, and large blank TV screens everywhere. It was all covered in cobwebs and a layer of dust thicker than Jackie had ever seen. But there was something else. She kept seeing other shapes in the shadows cast by the flashlight. They were so random she couldn't make them out. She started to walk toward one of them to get a closer look when a hand grabbed hold of her wrist. She jumped and let out a small scream. Karen screamed back at her.

"Don't go without me, I'm scared."

Jackie stood there a moment panting, wanting to beat her little sister over the head with her flashlight. When she caught her breath, she gripped Karen's hand too tight on purpose.

"Ow!"

"You want a guide, you got one." The two girls glared at each other and then Jackie headed back toward the shadow she had seen. Though Jackie had loosened her grip, their hands were still locked tight. God, her sister was such a scaredy-cat. She pointed the flashlight back to the card table she had seen the shape behind and headed toward it.

As she came closer, it seemed more and more to be a thicker layer of dust accumulated in a strange shape until she noticed the outline of the bony hand. Finally close enough, she shined the light full on the shape and the rest of the gray withered body, crumpled over the edge of the table, became clear. Underneath the bony hand were five cards and a thick coagulated pool of dried blood spreading out from the body's neck.

The sound that next came from Karen could have shattered a whole set of fine glasses. Jackie couldn't even find the good humor to laugh at her sister. The thought never occurred to her that they might find any bodies. Her own body started to shake without her consent. Just find where they kept the cash and then we can get the hell out of here, she told herself. She made up her mind before they even hit the road that she wasn't leaving this place without something to show for it.

Jackie backed away from the table, Karen hugging her arm. The flashlight cast more and more rising shadows everywhere she pointed it. The more they backed away, the more bodies became visible. Jackie turned to run, forgetting all about her little sister, when she tripped over something that felt like tree limbs against her legs. The flashlight flipped through the air, its randomly spinning beam resembling a disco ball. Then it landed with a thin crack and went dead, leaving the room in utter darkness. Karen screamed. Both girls were hyperventilating.

"Jackie!"

"I'm down here." Before Jackie could stop her, Karen moved toward her and fell forward in a rush on top of Jackie, knocking the wind out of her.

"Jackie, what was that?" Karen cried.

"I don't know, maybe some kind of bench?"

"Benches don't wear clothes." Both girls struggled away from the clothed "bench." Jackie thought about reaching around on the ground blindly to find the flashlight and quickly decided against it. Her eyes were still filled with the phantom glow of the flashlight, but she could remember the general direction they came in. She grabbed Karen's hand and pulled her along that way.

It didn't take long before they saw the small patch of light. It grew as they got closer, eventually revealing the glass doors it came through. Without hesitation, Jackie pushed through the door without stopping, dragging Karen along with her. Jackie turned and kicked the door, realizing she didn't get a single dollar bill from inside. I'll just go back with the flashlight and--Shit, the flashlight.

"Damn it!" she screamed, kicking the door over and over. Karen's bewildered expression, reflected in the bright glass of the door, snapped Jackie out of her fury and turned it to shame. She took a deep breath, sighed heavily, then flopped down Indian style and let her shoulders slump. How would she see to find some cash in any of these places without her flashlight? After seeing those bodies, there was no way she was going to try without it.

"Okay, let's go find somewhere else then," she said, smiling at Karen.

Karen just stared at her blankly.

"Oh, come on, don't be such a pussy, Karen."

Karen turned swiftly and stomped more than walked back to the car, got in, and slammed the door. Jackie laughed as she got up from the concrete and brushed off the back of her shorts.

They drove around for a long time. Some of the roads were completely blocked with anywhere from dozens to hundreds of cars. If they drove close enough, they could see the stiff, gray flesh of the bodies still inside. The ones with their throats torn out were the worst.

They saw their first one on North Main St. in a red Mustang convertible. He was wearing a blue camo hat that once tied around the throat. Now, both strings hung from the hat, threads hanging and blowing in the wind, framing the gaping blood-black hole where the man's adam’s apple had been. Jackie almost lurched, but managed to keep herself composed as Karen frantically sobbed about wanting to go home. When she looked back at her for an answer, Jackie made herself smile as she dug her fingernails into the steering wheel as casually as she could manage.

"Everything is fine. Stop whining. This'll be fun."

Karen's sobs died down some, but they didn't stop.

She’d been driving around in circles for the better part of an hour trying to figure out which building they should go in next. Then, the obvious choice stuck out like a sore thumb in her peripheral vision. She turned to look at the tall, white, scepter-looking building off in the distant northern sky. Jackpot. Had to be. She swerved the car northward at the next intersection.

Karen held tight to the door and seat as the car swung around. "What are you doing?"

"I just picked our next destination, sister, and you better perk up for this one, it looks awesome!"

"Where are we going now, Jackie, I told you I just want to go home, can't we just go home?" Her voice had taken on that whining tone again. The one that tore into Jackie's brain like nails on a chalkboard.

"Oh, shut up you little baby, we’re going to that one right there!" She pointed to the tall white needle-shaped building. It stood over the rest of the skyline looking like a giant bishop on a chess board.

Karen started to chew on her fingernails as Jackie slammed on the gas and swerved to miss the occasional abandoned car. Jackie noted the paleness of Karen's skin as they went along. Her first split second thought was that she looked like she belonged in the city. She almost felt guilty for the thought but instead shrugged it off and focused on the task at hand.

The large white building towered over them as they drove up the block. It had looked tall from afar, but now it looked even taller. And Karen was really beginning to be a drag, too. She had started shaking lightly and whimpering under her breath every now and then. What a big baby, Jackie thought. I can't believe how much Mom and Dad gawk over you, you little brat.

You could really see the damage to the buildings in this area. As they got closer and closer to the White Bishop, as Jackie had started calling it in her head, they saw large open spaces in some of the buildings and several appeared to have more gone than intact. Jackie was so busy looking at these tombs of decay that she didn't even notice all the debris in the road.

The ride got really bumpy all of a sudden, and before Jackie could even look at the road in front of her, there was a loud pop and the car seemed to jerk away from her. Karen seemed to convulse as the car spun out of control, and then with inertia still pulling at them, came to an abrupt stop facing away from the tower.

Jackie couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of a sign, but she was already in too deep. She'd risked this much so far, why stop now.

Karen sobbed into her lap. Jackie looked her over. She seemed fine. Jackie felt a slight jarring pain in her neck but not enough to keep her from moving. She sighed and then got out of the car to investigate. The left front tire looked more like the remains of an exploded black cloth than a tire. It draped several large chunks of steel and concrete that mirrored hundreds of others Jackie was now noticing to be scattered all over the road.

Without thinking, she kicked one of the pieces and the shock of pain that tore into her foot almost sent her writhing on the ground.

"Fuuuuck!" she screamed. Her voice echoed back at her several times as the realization of just how fucked she and her sister were clicked in her head. No wonder Karen was so upset now. They were stranded in deep in Necropolis, their car broken down, and the sun would be gone in just over an hour or so. Jackie swallowed what felt like part of her throat as the words formed in her head.

We're dead, I've just killed us.

Get your free copy for any device at Smashwords.com or read it at Scribd.com

Monday, October 24, 2011

Halloween is here!

So, as usual, I'm a little late with something. Two things in fact.

I mentioned Dark Red Press's CL Stegall and the very fine cover he created for the upcoming special edition of Shining in Crimson in my last post................and I completely forgot to mention the Free Halloween Anthology that Dark Red Press put together that includes stories from J.T. Warren, CL Stegall, Brian Fatah Steele, and myself!

On top of that, today kicks off the Coffin Hop Web Tour a blog hop featuring 96 awesome sites all containing special Halloween posts plus a lot of them are doing contests and giveaways. That's right 96 pages of contests and giveaways! So, get to as many of these sites as possible and see what kinds of treats you can get your hands on. Here's the link: http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/

I'll be giving away two free ebook copies of Shining in Crimson at random to two
lucky commenters!


And for another treat, here's an excerpt of my story Chaldon's Bones from the free Dark Red Press Halloween anthology, Past the Patch:

Halloween was my favorite night of the year until the fall of '96. I hadn't seen my buddy Jeremy in over a year when he called me that afternoon. He said he had a night of horror all planned out for us. He showed up that night around 9 in an old black boxy van with two guys I'd never seen before.

One was short, heavy set with blond hair down to his chin and a blond beard, and kind of resembled Chris Farley. The other guy had long red hair pulled back into a pony tail, was dressed all in leather, and I found myself unable at first to look away from the black teeth behind his impish smile. Both of them looked like they hadn't showered in weeks.

Jeremy slid open the side door of the van and jumped out straight for me. He gave me one of those hip backwards handshakes that look more like you're arm wrestling. "Hey, duder, come meet the guys. This is Rick..."

"Hey," the Chris Farley look-a-like said.

"...and this is Darrell."

"What's up, man?" The impish smile grew and even more black teeth
showed.

"Hey guys, nice to meet you. What the hell's going on, Jer?"

"Get your shit and get in the van and you'll find out, bro."

Once I got my smokes and my wallet, I climbed into the side of the van
and sat down behind the bucket seats on the floor next to Jeremy. Jeremy
reached across, slid the door shut, and the van peeled out of my gravel
driveway.

As the van shook us around, Jeremy opened up a blue cooler sitting on
his other side, pulled out 2 Budweisers, and handed me one. We clinked the
necks of the bottles together and Jeremy said his toast.

"To a horrible, frightening night with good friends."

Rick Farley howled like a wolf as Captain Black Teeth beat his fists
against the dash. Jeremy and I guzzled our beers. I couldn't see much out the
windshield, but I could see enough trees to realize we weren't going into
town. Instead, we ventured deeper and deeper into the wooded countryside.
A few more beers and scary shows of excitement from Jeremy's other
friends and we arrived at our first destination.

I stepped from the van, my feet crunching in gravel, and noticed the
house at once. It was huge and obviously abandoned. It seemed to hover
over us, its second floor windows narrow and watching, waiting for us to
come closer. Its once-white paint was now completely faded and flaking and
the porch had sunken in some years ago. I've never had a stronger feeling of
dread toward an inanimate object. Rick took the lead, waving us to follow.
Darrell went next, and Jeremy and I followed.

"They call this The House of Bones," Rick said.

Darrell called ahead to Rick, "What the hell for?"

"How the hell should I know? Hey, maybe there's some bodies in here,"
he said stopping and looking back at us with an exaggerated sadistic
expression. He laughed and turned back toward the house.

Fenced-in fields of neatly rowed, dark yellow corn stalks surrounded
both sides of the huge yard. The darkness between those rows of corn gave
me chills as I kept imagining movement within them from the corner of my
eyes. Even as dark as it was, brightly colored leaves of yellow, brown, and
orange covered the ground demanding our attention as we walked toward the
house.

Rick stepped onto what was left of the porch. The movement of shadows
on the wall of the house gripped and squeezed my heart. The tall outline of a
man with long thin arms turned out only to be the shadow of a tree. I took a
deep breath and let it out quietly so the guys wouldn't think I was a pussy.

"Oh, wow. That's so fuckin' cool!" Rick said as he stepped into the
partially open door. I stepped experimentally onto the porch and leaned a
little to try and see what Rick thought was so great.

Stepping from one board to another like stepping on stones in a creek, I
made my way up to the front door.

"Oh that is pretty killer, man," Jeremy said.

Rick held a flashlight over his head and pointed downward. The beam
illuminated a large rundown piano covered in several layers of dust. He ran
his other hand down the keys and various out-of-key notes played. A bunch
of the keys were cracked or busted.

When I stepped into the house, I noticed a large Victorian stairway
behind Rick. I pointed to it. "What's upstairs?"

Rick laughed and said, "Let's go see, man."

So, we followed Rick up the stairs. About half of the steps were caved in
and the other half felt like a thick cardboard. All along the walls were
drawings and writing I couldn't quite make out with the little bit of bouncing
light coming back from Rick's flashlight.

When we were all at the top of the stairs, we came to a huge bedroom
just to the left. Inside, things were scattered everywhere. A bed lay at the end
of the room, its mattress and box springs pulled from the base and sprawled
out along side it. A dresser lay on its side in the middle of the room and
clothes and blankets covered the entire floor.

Rick shined the flashlight on the walls. "What's that?"

Writing like I had just seen going up the stairs covered the entire wall.
Each small section had different handwriting. Some of them were marked
with dates and years.

Jimmy was here and he fucked your mom in this room! February 12th
1962

If you're reading this it's already too late... Trevor May 1976

For a good time you won't forget, call Jannette 765-653-2997

Whatever you do, don't go digging up Chaldon's bones! - Leonard
January 1944


We stood there reading writings on the wall for several minutes before
we decided to move on. The rest of the upstairs didn't seem nearly as
interesting to us. A collective uneasiness was coming over us by that time
and it wasn't long before we were stepping right back through that front
door. But Ricky wasn't ready to leave quite yet. When Jeremy and I stepped
outside, the two other guys were nowhere to be seen.

We circled around looking for where they might have gone. The van
looked lonely sitting in the long gravel driveway with the moon morphed
into a halo of clouds hanging over it. Rick's voice called out from behind the
house and echoed off a huge old barn across the street.

"Hey, guys you're missing it. This is fucking awesome."

Jeremy and I walked toward the side of the house, following Rick's
ricocheting voice. As we came around the corner, a loud yell came from the
shadows. We both jumped and I let out a near scream as Darrell jumped out
at us.

"You fuckin' prick, you scared the shit out of us," Jeremy yelled.

Darrell laughed hysterically, his impish grin arching up the sides of his
face.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it as he continued to chuckle. As Jeremy
and I followed suit to do the same, a loud gargled scream came from behind
the house. Darrell laughed harder and Jeremy looked at me and smiled.

"You're gonna have to try a lot fucking harder than that, Ricky, you son of a
bitch!"

There was no reply.

Jeremy only laughed. I kept hearing that scream repeat in my head, my
brain analyzing it over and over for humor.

"Well, I'm gonna go see what he's up to," I said.

"Okay, have fun and don't shit your pants when he grabs hold of your
ankle or some shit," Jeremy said.

I laughed nervously and then started walking toward the back of the
house as Jeremy and Darrell chattered back and forth.

As I came closer and closer to the back corner of the house, a dim red
glow crept through a thin veil of mist covering the back yard. I stopped and
looked at the glow. My legs stiffened involuntarily. I was just about to turn
back when a loud racket like the sound of things being thrown around in a
small room started from behind the house. I managed to make my feet lift
off the ground one after another until I came around the back corner of the
house.

A small, wood-rotted outhouse stood shaking at the center of about a
dozen dead trees, the red glow coming out from between the cracks of the
door and in between each heavily weathered board.

Read more from Past the Patch...

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Introducing: The Special Edition of Shining in Crimson: Empire of Blood Book One

This brilliant, majestic cover was created by CL Stegall of Dark Red Press as a test drive for a new custom book cover service Dark Red Press will be unleashing at some point in the future. I couldn't be more happy with it! It's based on one of several cover concepts I've had in my head but am unable to pull off myself as I'm no real artist.

I had been planning to make a special edition already when CL came to me and asked if I would be interested in him designing a cover for Shining in Crimson. Of course, having seen his work, I was ecstatic at what he was offering me. Now, as ridiculously awesome as the cover is, a cover alone can't make a special edition on its own. You also need content. Interesting content. Well, how about two new Empire of Blood stories, one of which will be exclusive to the special edition? How about cut scenes from Shining in Crimson? And for those who have been waiting... How about a sneak peek at Book Two?

Yes, I'll be putting in several select rough scenes from Book Two as well. All of you who have been complaining that you want to know what happens next will get a taste of just that. But I'll warn you: be careful what you ask for.

Now, in the past when I have set dates, the universe has taken it upon itself to bend over backwards in order to disrupt them. So, I'm just going to say this... It's coming soon! Hopefully within the next month, but I'll make no promises as the universe just might be listening.

Speaking of special things, I have added a new page to the blog titled Specialty Items. It lists several items I have for sale that are deeply intimate and personal items related to my work. All of which are priced at a sliding scale. And once they're gone, they're gone, I won't be selling them again as they are each one of a kind.

Friday, October 21, 2011

And We Have a Merging!

After setbacks left and right with the paperback copy of Shining in Crimson and my scramble to keep up with everything else I have going on, the paperback edition is live on Amazon and is now combined with the Kindle edition!


Here are some pictures of the actual book:

  
  






Monday, October 3, 2011

Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology

If you don't already know, I'm co-editing a new horror anthology for charity called Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology. This is going to be a great one! We already have a bunch of established writers who will be contributing including Jack Ketchum, Ray Garton, Gary McMahon, David Dunwoody, Stephen Graham Jones, and more! We also want just as many newcomers and unestablished writers in the mix as well. So, if you write horror and would like to submit please do so by going to the site and checking out our guidelines.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

The Real Reason Why Today is Special...


Today, my mother, Sharon Lynn Gastineau, would've been 63 years old. She passed away far too early at the age of 57 in 2006. She was easily the biggest influence on my life and everything I do. She had the kindest heart and often gave all she had to help others. She had the strongest will and personality of anyone I've known. She was equally loving and stubborn and magnificently honest. And though it's been more than five years since she left this world, I still remember her vibrant personality more than anything.

She raised me, my brother, and my sister as a single parent. She worked hard, cleaning houses, apartments, and eventually motel rooms to put food on the table for us. We didn't always have much but we never went hungry. Early in life she was diagnosed with diabetes. Over the years, many other illnesses either came and went or she went through life dealing with them silently. She fought and beat cancer, she endured several years of randomly being attacked by bouts of epilepsy until she was finally prescribed something that kept them at bay.

One of my earliest memories of her turned out to be a real life case of foreshadowing of the darkest kind. I remember seeing a large golf ball-sized hole in her leg filled with pus and blood, the flesh surrounding it a purple-ish hue. I asked her what had happened. And I remember her telling me, in good humor, that something was eating away at the spot. Now, if that doesn't shape a horror writer, I don't know what will. Only later as an adult did I realize, looking back, that the memory had not been a strange nightmare but that the hole had actually been from a bad infection.

She beat that one. But in her last years she became susceptible to two more that caused her to have to lose both of her legs. And in those years when she was wheelchair-ridden she didn't give up. She showed the strongest will I've ever seen in any single human being. Only once in those years did I ever see her feel sorry for herself. And for that one time that she wavered, there are hundreds of thousands of times I can remember that her strength and charity would've outshone anyone else's lifetime of self pity.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

And after about a hundred million years: Episode 4 arrives!

This episode includes music by: Escape From Saturn, Demons of the Craft, Nomore164, Splinters in Hand, and These City Limits.

As usual you can stream it below or download it here.

***Edit*** If you enjoy this serial and want to help the book get more exposure please take the time to go here and enter to win the free copy of the paperback being given away at Goodreads.com and/or share the link I just mentioned with your friends and social networks please!



Creative Commons License
Shining in Crimson audio serial by Robert S. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Race Against Time: Call for Music Submissions for the Shining in Crimson Audio Serial!

As the October 2nd release date for the paperback and hardcover versions of Shining in Crimson races closer and closer to the now, I'm trying to get back in full force to recording for the audio serial. I know I've been promising the next episode for a while and it's getting old to hear but as of this afternoon, I'm done recording for episode 4, I just need music. I've been searching all over Soundcloud.com for artists or groups who might fit the bill and have found some and even contacted them but I still have very little music. I need music submissions bad!

If you're an underground artist or part of an underground band, know someone else who is, etc. please contact me or have them contact me with either mp3s or links at shiningincrimson@gmail.com I lean toward dark music as this is a dark fantasy novel but anything with real emotion that isn't sappy will be considered. Do not hesitate to submit if you're unsure of your genre fitting. I want any and all genres, the more the better. To be honest, so far the serial has been predominately electronic music and I'd like to see a lot more other kinds of music.

The serial is Creative Commons-licensed (free to download and share), has been played on one radio station (http://phoenixfm.org/) so far, and will be going up on Podiobooks.com just as soon as I have a completed Episode 5, so it will put your music out to a lot of listeners. So, please consider submitting!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

And We Go Ahhhh!

Finally got some recording done tonight... Still looking for more music for this episode, but I'm getting some help with that. I'm so glad I know how to remote from one computer to another. Made my recording process very doable with using the closet as a vocal booth.

So, yeah Shining in Crimson Episode 4 coming soon for real this time. Now that everything's set up, I hope to be able to put out an episode every week until I'm done. We'll see how that works.

Bear with me here, I'm having what I call a "moment of stupid."

Oh, yeah, I remember what I wanted to talk about now! Pirates! Yes, pirates! But not the kind that sail the seven seas and such. No, INTERNET PIRATES or INTERNET PIRACY! Here goes:

A lot of people seem to think that internet piracy is taking money from musicians, bands, writers, movie stars, producers, pimps, and janitors, but I can't help but wonder...

If someone downloads a digital copy of something online would they have really ever bought it in the first place?

Or does that mean now that they've downloaded it that they will never buy it?

Or anything else from that rapper, coach, or beautician?

Is it also impossible that their downloading said file could spread the word about the author, doorman, or architect of the pirated file in question?

I mean lets think about what all happens when someone downloads a file from the internet for free.

1. They smile, knowing they just got something for free.
2. They experience what they've downloaded by listening, reading, or watching it.
3. They either like, love, dislike, hate or feel indifferent to what they just experienced.

Now's where the branching really begins. In this example let's say it's a book and they've never read a book by the author of this file.

Let's call the book "I Stole it on the Internet" by Captain Jack Lots-a-files. Tommy will be our guinea pig for this exercise.

Tommy downloads "I Stole it on the Internet" and reads the book.

Scenario 1: Tommy hates it.
Yeah, Tommy thinks it's the worst book on stealing things off the internet ever. Hell, Tommy read a much better book on this subject last week and it was free so he didn't even have to steal that one. So, Tommy then goes on with his life now knowing he doesn't like the way Captain Jack Lots-a-files writes. Oh well, Tommy wouldn't have bought it anyway. No loss. I think we can safely say the same would likely happen if Tommy dislikes it or feels indifferent to it.

Scenario 2: Tommy loves it.
Tommy loves every detail of "I Stole it on the Internet" right down to Captain Jack's description of how to use fancy downloading programs like Bittorrent and Peer-to-peer apps right on to how Captain Jack even lists all the best sites to find just what Tommy's looking for.

Tommy likes the book so much that he will likely do one of the following: Either he'll buy it, tell his friends, or buy another book by Captain Jack. Now, it may not happen overnight but one of these things will happen unless Tommy lives in a cave and has no outside contact with the world whatsoever. In which case Tommy would be highly unlikely to have internet access to begin with.

Now, does everyone who downloads files and loves them turn around and do these things? Not necessarily. There may be a few people out there who don't. But I don't know about you, when I love something, I tell people, I check out more of it, etc. But mostly I want other people who haven't experienced this beautiful thing who might enjoy it to join me in it's awesomeness!

Scenario 3: Tommy likes it:
Now this scenario is more difficult to predict. It's possible the person could more likely go either way with this one. But even if you just like something it usually stays with you and when you see other things related to it or connected with it in some way you tend to want to repeat the experience.

Anyway, that's enough with Tommy and his pirated copy of "I Stole It on the Internet." When it really comes down to it, especially when it comes to books, is it just me or does this all just really sound a whole lot like going to a library and picking up a book? I'm sure some of you are arguing that you don't keep the book and that's true. But chances are people don't read the same pirated book over and over again and not feel guilty about it. But that's just my opinion on the matter. Goodnight everyone.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

It's here, finally! Shining in Crimson is now available for Kindle!

Shining in Crimson, Empire of Blood Book One is now available for Kindle on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.de! And very soon it will also be available in other formats on Smashwords as well. And the best part is that it will be available for only 99 cents until January 1st 2012. Then the price will go up. So, get it while it's cheap!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller

It's been another hectic week. My family moved most of our stuff into the new place this last weekend and have been ridiculously busy ever since. So, writing, editing, audio serializing, etc. have all taken a backseat to that. Sorry for the delay. Shining in Crimson is still in the proofreading stage. Given that my wife is one of the proofreaders and she's been just as busy with said move and one of the other proofreaders seems to have disappeared, things aren't moving as fast as I would like them to be. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, let's just hope it's not a big ass train!

On a brighter note: Stacey's answer on my last blog quiz won her a free chapbook of The Quiet: A Novella! And if you follow that link you will find that said chapbook is now available on Amazon and linked to the Kindle edition as well! And it's prime eligible for any fellow Amazon Prime users out there. And for those who don't have Prime, Prime gives you free 2 day shipping year round for one annual flat rate. There is a free version of Prime for students and there are various forms of free trials as well. So, if you haven't already, it's highly worth checking out if you purchase on Amazon often.

Now that things are starting to somewhat slow down here, I'm going to attempt to finish Episode 4 of the audio serial within a couple of days. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I think I'll give out 10 free ebook copies of The Quiet... The first 10 people who email me at shiningincrimson@gmail.com with the subject line "The Quiet Free" and their preference of format in the body of their email will get them.

Now to get back to work and cursing time...

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Chapbook arrives... early

So, even though when I ordered proofs, I wasn't supposed to receive them until the 22nd, they came yesterday. I've looked them over and they seem to be in good order. So, as of like five minutes ago the chapbook of The Quiet is available here on Createspace for $6.99 plus shipping and will soon be available on Amazon for the same price as well. So, if you've been holding out for a really real copy, here it is!

*Edit*
Speaking of, I'm going to keep the quiz/contest going until August 22nd, so get over to this post to answer the quiz. The best answer wins one of the proof copies I just received of the chapbook version of The Quiet plus my super sloppy signature! This copy has Proof written real big on the back of the last page and will be one of only 3 copies! So, get your answers in!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

It's here... Read Horror's Meet the Writer piece on yours truly...


I'm featured on Read Horror's Meet the Writer today! I just wanna take the time to thank Michael Wilson again for all he's doing for the horror writing community! If you haven't checked out Read Horror yet, and you're a fan of horror fiction, you need to get off your ass (well, not literally) and get over there! You'll find many more great Meet the Writer pieces, there's a Meet the Publisher section, some great interviews, reviews, previews, interviews, news and columns!


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Enter to win a copy of Shining in Crimson and help it get more exposure!

Right now the Goodreads.com giveaway of Shining in Crimson is on page three of the most requested. If it gets to page one a lot of people will see it! Please, if you haven't already, help me out by entering to win! And you never know, you could end up being the winner!





Goodreads Book Giveaway





Shining in Crimson by Robert S.  Wilson



Shining in Crimson


by Robert S. Wilson



Giveaway ends October 02, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.




Enter to win


Monday, August 15, 2011

Shining in Crimson audio serial airing on Australian Radio Show!

The Shining in Crimson audio serial will be featured on the Isobelle Carmody Replay show hosted by James Roberts on Phoenix FM! To tune in from the US go to Phoenix FM and about halfway down the page is a web link to stream live. The show is this Friday morning and starts at 9 am central/10 am Eastern/7am Pacific. Here's the description for this week's show:

THE LIVE WEB STREAM IS BACK AND RUNNING—I HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY. SO TIME FOR A REPLAY OF ISOBELLE CARMODY.
This Month on Crazy Talk/ Word Berserk. It's all about Australian Authors. Here my exclusive interview with Isobelle Carmody from her recent visit to Bendigo. As well as some extracts from her Books. Remember 12-3am on www.phoenixfm.org or 106.7fm if you are in or around Bendigo. Don’t forget to tune in for your chance to win books from the Untitled Pocket Book and so much leading up to the Melbourne Writer’s Festival. And don’t... forget your chance to WIN WIN WIN! CHANCE TO WIN ONE OF SEVERAL COPIES UP FOR GRABS OF THE UNTITLED POCKET BOOK COLLECTION OF WRITING. EXCLUSIVE! Robert Shane Wilson Will also be premiering his latest vampire podcast. We are leading up to the Melbourne Writer’s Festival where I should have some great interviews and exclusive competition for all of my valued listeners.

So, check it out if you can!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Release up(dates) and a chance to win a signed chapbook of my novella, The Quiet!

Release dates make a lovely sound as they swish right by, don't they?

There's a lot going on right now. In fact, if anything else were going on beyond what's already happening, I think my head might fucking explode! Shining in Crimson is at the proofreading stage. I'm still hoping to have it ready by the 15th but as that date crawls closer and closer with that murderous look in its eyes, I'm beginning to worry. Meanwhile I have a nearly similar problem with the release of the chapbook of The Quiet. I ordered proofs today for it and they won't arrive until the 22nd and I moronically set a release date for the 20th. Go figure.

So, from now on I'm not setting anymore fucking dates, I swear. I'm just going to say, "When the snake reaches the nearest mouse in the land of the withering sky, my newest book will come out!" Then I can get away with any date I want, huh? I'm more than on schedule for the hard copy release of Shining in Crimson, since I still have like a month and a half on that, though.  

At this point, I'll just say that Shining in Crimson ebook will be out soonish. If not on the 15th very, very shortly thereafter. And The Quiet chapbook will be out sometime shortly after the 22nd... I apologize for the inconvenience. But so you know, this is just the sort of shit that happens to me all the time, so you'd better get used to it.

Episode 4 of Shining in Crimson.... is still not done. I will be recording it soon. A friend of mine, the brilliant mind behind Feed The Dead (a music contributor to Episode 2), has given me permission to record at his place so that I can get it done soon. So, keep an eye out on that.

Reviews will be coming for both Shining in Crimson and The Quiet soon. The Quiet is so far getting 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. So, if you haven't checked them out yet, there are excerpts for both on this page up above.

I'm going to start posting more often on here about other things than just my shitty books. Time just seems to be pushing me along and I need to just start pushing back and saying, "Screw you time, I'm sick of putting up with your static bullsh..." anyway, you get the point . So, with that said, it's time to start the process. I leave you with an apropos quiz:

If you could go back in time and change anything, the most terrible trauma from your past, would you do it? Even if it meant murdering a part of your very being, becoming a completely different person, transforming into a much darker version of yourself? If yes, why? If no, why not?


Best serious, thoughtful answer in the comments will win a signed chapbook copy of The Quiet! Be sure and leave contact info though, the last winner never claimed their prize! The proofs are scheduled to arrive at my door August 22nd. I will then immediately turn around and mail one of them to the winner as is plus my terribly messy John Henry. So, get those answers in! Just to give you a view of what you'll be writing for, here's a pic of the cover spread:


Saturday, August 6, 2011

Giveaways, the anthology, and clowns... wait, no... no clowns... sorry

I have some good news if you're one of the awesome users of Goodreads.com! You can now enter to win a free chapbook copy of my novella, The Quiet! And if you're not on Goodreads.com yet, why not? It's a great place to share what books you're reading, want to read, have read, and just about anything else with other book lovers. There are also tons of giveaways just like mine. And I guess I've never mentioned on here that there is also a giveaway for a paperback copy of Shining in Crimson, huh? Well, there is. And it's been up for a while and ends on the date of paperback publication, October 2nd. Links, you say? Well, here you go:

Enter to win a chapbook of The Quiet!

Enter to win a paperback of Shining in Crimson!



In other news we finally found our new place to live and the anthology Not in the Brochure: Stories of a Disappointing Apocalypse came out for Kindle on Amazon.com. Not only is The Quiet one of many stories, poems, and a haiku in this anthology, but all the proceeds go to help fight illiteracy! It's only $2.99, well worth the cost of helping people learn to read!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

‎"Zombies aren't always ponies and cupcakes." - Jacob, my 10 year old son...

So, a lot has happened in the weeks since Episode 3 went up. I've been back and forth doing final polishing on the novel and proofreading has started. It's looking more and more like an August 15th release for the ebook depending on how fast proofreading goes.

I haven't started on Episode 4 yet, I've been too busy with other things. My family is desperately fighting what feels like a losing battle to get a new place in the town we've lived in for about 6 years now at a price we can afford with enough rooms to accommodate the four of us. We've been searching all summer and as soon as something seems like it's going to work out, something unexpected goes wrong.

So, hopefully this week I can get started on ep 4. We'll just have to see. As usual if you have any music to submit please do. Just send links or mp3s to shiningincrimson@gmail.com I haven't gotten a single submission since Episode 2. I found and contacted contributors for Episode 3. So, if you've thought about submitting and are hesitant, what have you got to lose?

In other news, keep an eye out on the Read Horror site as they not only have a wonderful site dedicated to horror literature, but they also do a piece called Meet the Writer. Established and up-and-coming horror writers are fielded a series of questions about their work and their favorite horror works/authors. Michael Wilson is the editor/writer who apparently runs the show and he's doing a fantastic job with it.

I've turned in my answers for Meet the Writer so depending on how many other authors are in queue, I'll be featured there. I've already found a lot of interesting new authors to check out. I'm honored to eventually be in their company.

The Quiet has received its first Amazon review! 5 stars and an excellent review! I'm querying various review sites and reviewers to consider reviewing The Quiet. If you have a site and you're interested in reviewing it, email me at shiningincrimson@gmail.com I would prefer interested parties already be an active book reviewer. I can provide an e-copy in any format and very shortly there will be...

Drum roll please...

A chapbook version of The Quiet and a giveaway of one copy on Goodreads of the aforementioned chapbook. So, keep an eye open for that announcement when it happens. In the meantime it's still just 99 cents for Kindle on Amazon and there are Kindle apps for just about every device on earth excluding Palm WebOS devices. Get with it Palm!

But anyway, as always thanks for listening to the audio serial and/or reading my stuff and giving it a chance amongst the exponentially growing cluster of independent and traditional authors out there. In the meantime, I have a lot to do. So, I'll end this post with some shout outs. Some authors to check out in case you haven't: J.T. Warren, Scott Nicholson, Gary McMahon sounds interesting, as do Shaun Hutson, and Wayne Simmons! So, go forth and read!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The Quiet (part 1)

1



The garage door rose slowly as James Benton rushed to his car on the morning after the first darkness had passed. Once in the car and backing out, he lit a cigarette. He took note that it was one of those rare days when none of his neighbors appeared to be leaving at the same time. He flipped his ashes outside the window as he pulled out of the cul de sac. Then he leaned over and turned on the radio. The speakers crackled out white noise. He changed the station and found that anywhere he moved the dial, nothing came through but static. He shut off the radio and muttered to himself, wondering what would go wrong next with the old junker.

When he got to the main road at the entrance of the housing complex, he stared in shock at the empty road for a moment. He peeled out, thinking it was one of those lucky times when he might be able to gun it the whole way and barely make it. He crossed under 465 and took the next right as he always did. This road was always empty. But as he pulled up to the light at State Road 31 with its large grocery store, many restaurants, and other businesses, he started to wonder what was going on. Had he forgotten a holiday?  He looked at the calendar on his phone as he stopped. September 26th. He looked back up at the road ahead of him. To his right the exit would take him over the bridge he’d just crossed underneath. Even on Christmas Day, some traffic had existed. He didn’t have time for curiosity and he needed to get to work, so he zoomed out onto the empty road.

He took the 465 West exit, looking out for oncoming cars. There were none. After a moment he saw a car up the hill. "There," he told himself, "there's nothing weird going on, you’re just fucking crazy." He tried the radio again as he came closer to the car much faster than he expected. The radio crackled static as he reached the car. He understood immediately. The car sat still in the far left lane of the three lane highway with no one in it. He looked in his rearview then. Still not a single car coming. He couldn't see any up ahead, either. His chest tightened. He thought about turning back and going home or maybe running off to his brother Joel's on the east side of town. Joel. He pulled out his cell phone again and quickly scrolled to his brother's name in the contact list and hit send. As the fourth ring sounded, he saw something moving up ahead, beyond the bridge for Mann Road. Smoke rose, way off in the distance. It became clearer as he came around the curve of the highway. Thick, black smoke fought its way up into the atmosphere from something on the ground. Joel's voicemail answered and James closed his phone.

The smoke came from the bright orange fire engulfing the 70 West exit. It must have originally been several cars, but now just looked like a burning pile of twisted metal. The flames rolled in great waves from within the pile-up. James found himself veering over to the left, as far away from the flames as he could. He let off the gas as he tried dialing 911. The phone rang and rang as he came alongside the burning metal sculpture. When he’d passed the scene, he found himself watching the fire roll up into smoke toward the sky in his rearview. The sight mesmerized him. The fire far behind him, he realized the phone was still ringing, so he closed it.  He saw more and more deserted cars as he came closer to his exit. Some just sat in the middle of the road, some had veered off, and some had piled into each other. Half of the latter were on fire. He slowed down to exit, but instead passed the Sam Jones Expressway. He was pretty sure the upside-down Crown Victoria would be impossible to get around.

He continued down the road, wondering what to do. His eyes refocused from staring at a semi jack-knifed into the East Washington Street exit with a Ford Explorer wedged underneath its trailer. Along all the exits and medians of different roads, he hadn't seen a single blade of grass. Where the grass should have been, lay rich, brown soil. He shrugged it aside as simple landscaping at first, but now that he came to the sixth or seventh exit, he knew it had to be something else. He stopped the car and got out. After turning off the engine, he noticed the piercing silence. As he stepped out, the air tasted stale. He leaned on the concrete railing of the bridge that stood over Washington Street for a long time. Other than the distant sounds of factories, he heard nothing. No cars, airplanes, people. Not even birds. He looked down at the road below him, leaning over the concrete slab to see under the bridge. At the edge of the road lay the only thing to be seen shy of road, dirt, and concrete. A single battered doll with one large, black eye, one empty gash where the other eye should be, and curly, red hair lay in the earth, looking up at him. A cool wind fluttered over and he shivered.

He got back in the car and sped on to the next exit, 10th street, finding it void of any wreckage. Going up the ramp, he saw nothing different from anywhere else. He could see a few cars abandoned randomly off in the distance. Everywhere grass should be, bare land replaced it. And then he saw the tree. James slammed on the brakes, his tires screeching against the pavement. The tree stood lonely, towering over a grassless landscape. The roots showed visibly where they entered the ground. It was an unnatural sight, making the tree appear naked in some way. James put the car back into drive and went over the median, making a u-turn toward the exit for 465 going the other way. Once he rolled back onto the highway, he began to speed. He had a few things he needed to check before he ventured east to Joel's house.

This time, as he pulled back into the housing edition he'd lived in for the past seven years, James took notice of the lifeless quiet that had escaped his notice earlier that morning. It seemed as if the life had been sucked from the place, figuratively and literally. Not a sound or glimpse of movement caught his attention as he crept down the road. His head hung out the window, listening and looking around for some sign of something, anything alive. Then it clicked. He couldn't remember seeing or hearing anything alive. Except the tree. The tree looked just as alive and healthy as him. But only one.

He looked through the bare, dirt yards for another tree. He passed his own road continuing the search, until after an hour or so he’d combed the entire complex with nothing to show for it. When he got back home, he drug himself out of his car, feeling bleak and confused. He went straight into the kitchen and turned on the water. Then he wet his hands, splashed the water over his face, and ran it through his hair. He tried to clear his mind.

Stretching his back, his eyes closed and his head back, he let a drop of water touch his tongue. It tasted stale. No, it tasted beyond stale. He knelt down and took a gulp straight from the source. It tasted purer than any bottled water he’d ever drank. Usually, his water tasted so vile you could barely drink it. It had an odor so strong, he found himself taking shorter and shorter showers over the years. He leaned down in front of the powered stream and took a long sniff. No scent at all. A thought occurred to him, striking him dumb.

Leaving the water on, he ran up the stairs to the loft. As soon as he was on the second floor, he found himself leaning over the banister, completely out of breath. When his lungs didn't feel full of razor blades, he walked underneath the entrance to the attic. Gripping the chord that hung from the door, he pulled it, bringing the door down and revealing the enclosed ladder. He experimented with putting his weight on the decrepit ladder. It seemed to still hold him. He went up, reaching blindly for the string hanging from the overhead light bulb. When he felt it, he tugged, lighting up the messy attic. The light cast an eerie, yellowish hue on the room.

He knew exactly where to look for the old microscope. He hadn't used it since college, but he used it enough then to make up for the many years since. He took a deep breath and blew the top layer of dust from the top of the box. The word Olympus appeared in bright orange letters. The sight made James smile with nostalgia.

He was back in his kitchen 20 minutes later with the dusty old microscope set up on the counter. He cleaned off its lenses and several slides. Then he turned the water down until it merely dripped. Putting the first slide under, he collected one good drop then carefully put it in the microscope. Pulling a small bottle from his pocket, he took a second slide. Opening the bottle, he let a drop of the murky liquid inside drop onto the slide. He set that one next to the other. On the third, he lightly spit and slid it into place with the other two.

He focused in on the first slide. It was more transparent than the glass itself. He couldn’t see a single living organism. Next, he looked at the murky water, gathered from the neighborhood pond behind the housing edition. Aside from murky clouds of soil, he saw no evidence of anything that was, or had ever been, alive.

The third one interested him the most. He expected to see what the other two lacked, but found nothing more than thick, slimy liquid along with traces of mucus and remnants of food. James didn't remember much from microbiology, but one thing he did remember: the human mouth flourishes with life. But the slide with his saliva contained nothing alive at all.



Buy the full novella The Quiet for Kindle for only 99 cents

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Quiet: A Novella


My Novella, The Quiet, is up for sale on Amazon Kindle for 99 cents. In the coming days I'll get it up elsewhere as well. Here's the description:

James Benton might be the last man on earth. Racing to get to work, he finds random abandoned cars, smouldering pile-ups, and something even stranger. Everywhere he goes there's no grass, no people, not even a bird in the sky. Alone in a barren world, James travels west in search of someone, anyone who might have survived The Quiet.

In the future I will likely make a print book with three or four novellas together, including this one. In the meantime back to work getting Shining in Crimson ready to publish.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Episode 3 is here!

This episode includes music from Escape From Saturn, Eddie Entropy, Rainnair, Andras, Ambient Fabric, Mara5, and Arc. All artists on this episode other than Escape From Saturn came from the Pale Noir netlabel. There are some uniquely talented artists there, check it out!

As usual you can stream it below or download it here.



Creative Commons License
Shining in Crimson audio serial by Robert S. Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License