My Pre-Thanksgiving Stress Disorder
My Pre-Thanksgiving Stress Disorder
And other pre-holiday nonsense!
Yes, I totally stole the title of Rowland Bercy Jr.’s book to get you to open this email. I can do that though because Rowland’s my friend and because I’m totally going to post the image of his book below and tell you to go buy that sucker. Buy multiple copies and place them around the dinner table for tomorrow’s holiday. I dare you! Or maybe don’t. Rowland is the author of Unbortion, so things might get messy.
Click the image to go get the book on Amazon or click HERE grab the audio version. Rowland always puts a lot of effort into his audiobooks. This one kicks ass.
I added “my” before his title in the subject of this newsletter because I’ve been a bit stressed out lately and trying to find some balance. The holidays always kind of stress me out a bit. Jules and I together have 7 kids. Yes, that’s seven! My four are in Panama and her three go back and forth between our house and their dad’s. We really are like the Brady Bunch. We’re working on making it all work. Jules is a saint. I lose my patience sometimes, but I’m trying.
BTW, this part of this newsletter is unofficially sponsored by Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade and Dad Jokes.
Hey, don’t make fun of my drink. I can hear you now. I get harassed enough by my Written in Red co-hosts lol. Bud Light Seltzer Lemonades don’t mess with my blood sugar and even those I don’t drink very often because of other health issues. As much as I wish I could claim to be one of those whiskey sipping horror authors unfazed by hard liquor - I just can’t. That shit fucks me up.
At this point in my life, I have to be careful what I put in my body. I drink mostly water, some coffee, a diet soda here and there, and if and when I drink alcohol it’s these wimpy things. They work for me.
Well, fall is practically over. Winter is coming. Jules and I were able to snag a couple of pictures prior to the beautiful leaves disappearing and leaving the trees skeletal.
Below is a pic from the last JV football game we attended. I got sicker than shit this night as it was pretty cold out and it kept raining. This is actually the night that I got the long cold that caused me to miss the Haunted Majestic signing.
You’d think with all this natural beauty around, I’d go outside more often. I work from home and the days just fly by between writing, doing my day job, keeping up with First Chapter Freakshow (my YouTube show), and all the other aspects of the book world. I try to shut everything down and spend time with Jules once she gets home around 5:00 pm. Still, it’s important to get outside and breathe fresh air from time to time. Not only that but I need to give my muscles a stretch and a good workout. As I get older, I feel every ache and pain my body has to offer.
The difficult thing is dodging all the trucks that come zipping around the winding roads. I always think of how Stephen King almost got his life snuffed out when he went for a walk that day and got hit by a car. Here that’s a very real threat. I live right in the middle of a back road that’s five miles in each direction and both ways are very curvy. Wearing earbuds and listening to music while you walk isn’t smart at all.
I once tried the Drew Stepek method, he’s the founder of Godless, and worked on a book in Google Docs while I walked.
Uh… nope. Not a good idea.
I know. I know. Ditch the music, take a break from writing, and just get out and enjoy nature. I plan to. It’s going to happen.
What I’ve been up to…
Since finishing The Maddening, the final book in the Diablo Snuff series, I’ve been trying to switch gears a bit and focus on some other work.
Most of you know I also write romantic suspense (motorcycle club and Mafia) books. Kind of like Sons of Anarchy kind of stuff. It’s been so long since I wrote a book in that world that I’ve realized I’m a bit disconnected. So, using the Evernote app, I’ve gone back to book 1, Calm’s Storm by CM Genovese, (Click on that title if you want to check it out) and started taking notes on everything from the characters to settings to side stories. I’m going to do this for every book I’ve written in the series. That way I’m back on track for the new one and any book I write in the future, I’ll have all these detailed notes.
I also got the rights to my shark shifter book back from the publisher, so I re-published Oh, Bite Me by Chris Genovese. This is an erotic romance/paranormal Romance. I’ve written two in the series. I wanted to do something similar to werewolves but not wolves. So, I figured sharks are the alphas of the sea, right? These are fun, badass stories.
The first book looks like it’s got horrible ratings right now since the 106 reviews (average 4.5 stars) that were linked to the book when the publisher had it aren’t linked to my new version and Amazon won’t link them for me. So right now there are 2 reviews and it’s sitting at 3-stars. Looks bad, but it’s a really cool book. The two books in the series are as follows. Click on the images if you’d like to check them out on Amazon:
And:
In addition to fixing those books, I did a live Q&A in the Horror Nerds group on Facebook for those who’d read Slaughter Box in their Book of the Month group read. That was a lot of fun. I had a blast hanging out with readers and answering all their questions. Plus, it was nice to give some background info on some of the scenes from the book. If you’re not a member of that group, you really should join. They have a lot of fun in there and usually do these live Q&A sessions with the authors whose books they’ve read.
And, yes, I’ve been writing some Carver Pike stuff too. As mentioned in one of the Written in Red episodes, the crew and I are working on a project together. So we’ve been punching out some of the details for that. Hopefully, we’ll be able to have that done in time for the Scares That Care Authorcon event in April. In addition to that, I’m at about 48k words in Faces of Beth. I’m hoping to publish that one by the end of January if all goes according to plan. That will be a stand-alone story, and I think you’ll like it a lot. All I’ll tell you is it’s kind of a possession story.
Things I’m Excited About…
Aron Beauregard has a new substack. Yes, if you’re into extreme horror and you’re not already subscribed to his newsletter, you need to be. He uploads personal videos to his readers and always has cool shit going on. Make sure you check out his Maggot Mail newsletter at aronbeauregard.substack.com
Marian Elaine (TF_did_i_just_read) and Christina Pfeiffer are starting a new extreme horror podcast called Mothers of Mayhem and it sounds rad. They just finished recording the pilot episode so it should be up and running soon.
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.
Each episode, after reading an author’s chapter, I spin a 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 since my last newsletter. 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 28 - Hank Flynn by Candace Nola
Episode 29 - Things Were Easier Before You Became a Giant Fucking Mantis by Matthew Clarke
Episode 30 - Leviathan by William Joseph
Episode 31 - Dust by Chris Miller
Episode 32 - Extinction Peak by Lucas Mangum
Episode 33 - Scapegoat by Adam Howe and James Newman
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, 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. Since my last newsletter, we put out the following episodes:
Episode 17 - Halloween Special (Spotlight on Jonathan Butcher)
Episode 18 - Another Horror CONversation (Spotlight on Angelique Jordonna and Eric Butler)
Episode 19 - Thanksgiving Special (Spotlight on Lucas Mangum)
I think that’s about it for this issue. If you’re not already following me, make sure you’re hitting me up in all these places:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carver.pike.98/
Facebook Author Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/carverpikereadergroup
TikTok: @carverpike
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CarverPike
Instagram: @carverpike
Twitter: @carverpike
And please make sure you subscribe to this substack and share it with your friends.