Life's Sunday Paper
Life's Sunday Paper
Because I want to reach you without the gatekeepers
Today is Sunday, Oct. 24th, if I sent this first issue out correctly - and I’m new to this Substack site so it’s possible I didn’t - that means exactly eight days ago I published what I believe is my best book yet. Let’s come back to that.
First, let me welcome you to the first-ever edition of Carver’s Horrific Sunday Paper. Why the Sunday paper? And can you keep up with this, Carver?
When I was a kid, the Sunday paper was everything. That big door stopper, that tome of information, had a little bit of something for everyone and even I, as a small child, got excited when I saw it sitting on the coffee table. If you think about it, that big chunk of folded-over paper was a lot like the cell phones of today.
Need a job? Check the Sunday paper. Wonder what the weather will be like next week or did you miss the week’s lottery numbers? Check the Sunday paper! Dad got the sports scores and highlights from the games he missed out of that thing, Mom clipped her coupons out of it, and I sifted through it until I found the comics. Family Circus was always my favorite. Perhaps the most important part of the Sunday paper was the coveted TV guide.
But that’s not all!
Its pages soaked up dog piss, lined bird cages, and oftentimes served as a good reminder I was pissing Dad off when the business section was rolled up and used to swat my ass as I ran by. Dare I even say I remember a time we ran out of toilet paper and I was told to crinkle up a page of the Sunday paper over and over again until it was soft enough to use on my ass? True story.
You probably just learned way too much information about my ass and the papercuts I suffered on it.
Oh, the good ol’ days.
The things I reveal to remind you how important that Sunday paper was. Now, I may not be able to provide information that will satisfy everybody in the family and take care of your pets’ urinary problems (hopefully you don’t use my books to soak that shit up) but this will be the one place I can round up all the information I have for you and deliver it without fear the social media gatekeepers and goalies might swipe it, kick it, or bunt it away before it actually reaches you.
This is my Sunday paper where I can tell you what I want without Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, or any of those other guys watering down my information or hiding my links.
Can I keep up with it? We will see, but I think so. I’ll do my best. Sometimes I feel like that guy at the circus spinning porcelain plates on the tips of my toes and on my knees and fingertips, nose, and forehead. With my YouTube show, a podcast, social media, and trying to pump out books, I do my best to keep my plates from shattering. I’ll try not to go mad.
And speaking of mad… (see what I did there?)
I should probably mention The Maddening is available on Amazon. The ebook and paperback. I’ve enrolled it in KDP Select so you can get it free on Kindle Unlimited if you’re subscribed to that program.
This is the final book in my Diablo Snuff series. It’s, in my opinion, the best book I’ve written so far. It has so much going on and really does touch on everything in the series. For anyone with questions about the series order, the books can be read in any order really, as long as The Maddening is read last, but they were published like this:
With this being the first issue of my newsletter, I’m going to keep it strictly about upcoming info and stuff going on right now, but I do plan to tackle some info about the indie author world in upcoming issues and even answer mailbag questions and stuff like that. This is my direct connection to YOU. So let’s have a good time with it.
Before we move on, I should mention to the people just stopping by or just peeking in to see what this is all about, you can click the following button to make sure you don’t miss an upcoming issue of this newsletter:
Upcoming Books and Works in Progress
My story, Blueberry Hill, will be published in the Uncomfortably Dark Presents: The Baker's Dozen anthology. This book is packed with awesome stories from a dozen authors with the foreword written by four-time Bram Stoker Award-nominated author, Jeff Strand. There’s still time to jump in on this Indiegogo campaign and get yourself listed in the book as a supporter. Click HERE to go to the page with all the details.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m working on a book called Faces of Beth. I’m about 40,000 words into that one and I’d say I’m right around the 3/4 mark on it, so it shouldn’t be much longer before that one is out. I’ve been trying to figure out how to say what this one’s about without giving too much away. I have a newsletter topic coming up about teasers, blurbs, and how much is giving too much away, so I’ll touch more on this title later.
You should see my WIP folder right now. It’s insane. I have so many books I’m excited about right now but I always worry about saying too much too early on. I promise to keep you all updated as I decide which book is coming up next.
First Chapter Freakshow Episodes
For those of you who haven’t watched my show, I have a YouTube show called First Chapter Freakshow where I read the first chapter or two of fellow horror authors’ books. I don’t vet these books for grammar, style, readability, or content prior to putting them on the show. In the indie author community, we hear “no” way too often. So, I pretty much accept any author’s book as long as it’s horror. I put their name on a list for the chance to make it on the “Wheel of Horror.”
Each episode, after reading an author’s chapter, I spin the wheel to announce which author’s book I’ll be reading from in the next episode. I leave it up to the readers/viewers to decide whether or not they think the book sounds like it’s for them. Then, if they like what they’ve heard, hopefully, they’ll go dig deeper into that author’s Amazon page or wherever the book is being sold. Here are the books read so far in October. Click the links to be taken to YouTube where you can see the readings. Make sure you wear earbuds or don’t have kids around because some of the content is pretty filthy.
Episode 25 - Between by Russell C. Connor
Episode 26 - You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy and J.C. Michael
Episode 27 - This is Pure Fucking Filth by Sean Hawker
Written in Red Episodes
I’m also part of the 4-person team that makes up the Written in Red podcast. That’s the Horror Reader and Writer’s podcast where indie horror authors Aron Beauregard, Daniel J. Volpe, and Rowland Bercy Jr. and I discuss shit about the indie horror author world and the ins and outs of self-publishing. You can watch us on YouTube or listen wherever you listen to podcasts. So far in October, we put out the following episode:
Episode 16 - NJ Horror Con and Mailbag Questions
Upcoming Events
This Saturday, Oct. 30th, I’ll be at the Haunted Majestic in Huntington, WV from 7pm until closing at around 11pm. I’ll be with a bunch of my HWA WV author friends signing books at the center of the attraction. Special guests Jeff Strand and his wife, the badass artist and book cover artist Lynne Hansen will be there. We’d all love to see some friendly faces. To get more information about the event and about tickets, go to http://www.hauntedmajestic.com.
I’m going to the first-ever Scares That Care Authorcon! Let me make it clear. This is the new authorcon. So there won’t be all the movie and TV celebrities you’d usually see at Scares That Care. The good news is this one is all about books and the authors/publishers slinging ‘em. I’m excited about this one. It takes places April 1st-3rd of 2022 in Williamsburg, VA. All the Written in Red boys will be there along with so many other awesome horror names. To get tickets, make sure you click HERE and get tickets for the authorcon.
I think that about wraps it up for this Sunday paper. I’m sure the format will change and I’ll come up with new and interesting info to add in future issues but for now, I just want to make sure I’m doing this right, I’m reaching you, and you actually want to receive this email. Thank you so much for reading.