Announcing another new novel

Just got the go ahead to make this public today.

Leisure Books has accepted Depraved, the backwoods horror novel alluded to in a previous blog post.  This will be my sixth novel for Leisure.  No word on the publication date yet, but at a guess I'd say late 2009, early 2010.  I'll let you know for sure when I know.  The first two chapters of Depraved will appear in the back of Soultaker, which will be released February 2009.

More later,

Bryan

Currently listening : Booze, Broads and Beelzebub By Chrome Division Release date: 2008-08-19

11:05 PM - 6 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

New Story

A new story of mine entitled "Living Dead Bitch" was posted today at new online endeavor The Chop Shop Horror Show.  Now, I know you may be asking yourself, 'But, Bryan, why do you have a new story on a blog of all things?'  The answer is because I got paid, and paid well.  Word has it other writers of note in the genre will be appearing at the Chop Shop in the months ahead.  My story will be up through the end of October, and then, word has it, there'll be a new story by J.F. Gonzalez.

Check out "Living Dead Bitch" here:

http://www.chopshophorrorshow.blogspot.com/

Advisory warning for parents and those with fragile sensibilities--this story is absolutely awash in profanity and drug use.  Don't click on the link if you're one of those easily offended types.

And a reminder--you can now pre-order my next novel Soultaker on Amazon.  Get yours here:

http://www.amazon.com/Soultaker-Bryan-Smith/dp/0843961937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219716942&sr=1-1

There may be some more big news coming later this week, so stay tuned.

Later,

Bryan

11:27 PM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Soultaker on Amazon

Soultaker, my next blood and guts spectacle from Leisure Books, is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Go forth and pre-order your fucking asses off, okay?

http://www.amazon.com/Soultaker-Bryan-Smith/dp/0843961937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219714708&sr=1-1

Later,

Bryan

1:43 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Bit Of An Update

I've written seventeen chapters of a new novel I am convinced will wind up being my definitive horror novel.  I don't mean I believe I'm writing a new classic of the genre or anything as egotistical as that.  But I do feel that when my name comes up years down the road, part of the conversation might go something like this:  "Oh, Bryan Smith.  Yeah, if you're gonna read anything by him, check out TITLE STILL UNDER WRAPS.  That's the one where he finally really put it all together."

I truly believe that.  And, no, there is nothing I can tell you about a potential release date for this book.  That's all still a ways down the road.  I don't even want to talk about the plot too much, but I will say that this story feels the most "real" of any of my stories.  Oh, there's still a supernatural element, but it stays in the background for most of the story and doesn't come to the forefront until the final act.  And fans of my previous books will still find a lot of the same stuff they enjoyed in those, so don't worry about that.  This one will keep one foot in very familiar territory while also greatly expanding beyond the reach of what I normally do.

One more thing about the new novel.  One little tease.  It's going to be the brutal, balls-to-the-wall backwoods horror novel some probably thought House of Blood would be.  There's a supernatural element, yes, but there's no sweeping fantasy angle.  And the story will be much, much, more hard-hitting.

I would be even further along than seventeen chapters, except that I took a break after chapter sixteen to write a short story, the first I've written since 2005. It was a fun little break to start and finish something short for a change. I'll do it again soon, too. This one might or might not see print, I'll let you know. It's crazy and schlocky, but was meant to be. It's sort of Cheech and Chong meets Fear and Loathing meets Dawn of the Dead.

AC/DC's new album finally comes out this fall.  I can't fucking wait.

Later,

Bryan

Currently listening : Motorizer By Motörhead Release date: 2008-08-26

5:45 PM - 12 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Soultaker cover

Don at Leisure just sent me the cover for Soultaker.  As you can see, it's very different from any of my previous covers, and I think that's a good thing.  We consulted closely on this one, and they captured what I wanted.

6:46 AM - 10 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment

New Queen of Blood review at FearZone

I'm not really down with this critic's whole "have the old characters face a new evil" notion.  I've got a very specific story arc in mind for these characters, so that's not going to happen.  But otherwise it's a pretty positive review, with some good quotes I can pull from it.

Check it out:

http://www.fearzone.com/blog/queen-blood

Later,

Bryan

6:30 AM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

To Nicole--About House of Blood

Someone named Nicole sent me a message asking why she couldn't find an affordable used paperback copy of House of Blood online.  I tried to reply, but Nicole's settings only allow friends to send her messages.  Tried to get around that by sending a friend request with a message.  But her settings only allow friend requests from people who either know her last name or email address, neither of which I know.  So you see my dilemma here.  She probably won't see it, but I'm posting the reply I couldn't send here:

I'm sorry to hear you're having a hard time finding a copy of House of Blood.  I'm aware that the used copies are going for ridiculous amounts.  It's not tecnnically out of print, but is currently out of stock from the publisher.  Meaning the publisher still holds the rights and can do a reprint at any point.  They just haven't yet, and I don't know when that will happen, though I suspect it will at some point.

5:13 AM - 7 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Soultaker teaser...

My editor at Leisure just sent me the back cover copy for Soultaker.  I thought I'd share it here:

Beautiful.  Sexy.  Inhuman.  Jake McAllister knows that his brother Trey's new girlfriend is a bad influence, but he doesn't know what Myra's really after—Trey's soul.  Trey is just one of her new playthings, a pawn in her centuries-long game.  One by one, Myra has seduced and enslaved the young men of the town.  The women have joined her cult as eager priestesses, lured by promises of sex and power.  But Myra's unholy plan is almost complete.  Can one man hope to battle such seductive evil?  Will he be able to resist the...

SOULTAKER

Want to find out what happens to Jake?  Well, you only have to wait until February 2009 to find out.

Currently listening : '74 Jailbreak By AC/DC Release date: 2003-07-01

2:00 PM - 8 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Friday the 13th Part Whatever

Friday the 13th Part Whatever

by Bryan Smith

The van pulled up at the lake house on a clear sunny day in June.  Its doors opened and several young people spilled out of it.  The girls were skantily clad and nubile, their bare flesh glistening in the sun.  The guys all looked like your typical frat jackasses, except for one skinny guy with glasses and tousled hair.  He was the nerd of the group.  They all liked to tease him, but he was part of the gang too.

Another car pulled up behind the van.  Even more young people climbed out of the car.  Some of the guys started removing weekend party supplies from the vehicles.  Cases of beer.  And...more cases of beer.  And perhaps some other stuff they'd probably never need.

And just as the fun was really getting started, one of the frat guys said, "Hey, who's the dude in the hockey mask?"

They all turned to look.  The nerdy guy with the glasses said, "Oh.  That's probably Jason Voorhees.  We're near Camp Crystal Lake, you know."

One of the girls, drunk already on three wine coolers, wobbled a bit and threw her arm around nerdy guy's bony shoulders.  "Like, what's this Crystal Camp thingy?"

Nerdy guys sighed. "You'd know if you ever read a newspaper.  How dumb are you guys?"

One of the frat guys crushed an empty beer can and belched.  "Fuck that.  I got better shit to do with my time.  Like drinkin' beer and bangin' chicks."  He made a sound sort of like a war whoop.  "Wooooo!!!  Paaaaaaaaaarrrr-tay!"

The other frat guys did a round of high fives and popped some more beers.

Another of the chicks said, "Like, what's he doing with that, like, metal thingy?"

The nerd guy heaved another heavy sigh.  "That's a machine gun.  Hmm.  Strange.  Not his usual modus operandi.  Say...we might want to--"

The guy in the hockey mask was close now.  He raised the machine gun and opened fire.  The stutter of automatic fire continued for several moments.  Then it stopped.  He surveyed the carnage and, satisfied, nodded.  The guy in the hockey mask turned around and walked back into the woods. 

***

Jason stepped into the little cabin and headed for the kitchen.  He set his new machine gun down on the table and went to the fridge.  He took out a beer, pushed the hockey mask up on his head, and sighed.

His mom walked ino the kitchen.   "Oh, hi, Jase.   Didn't expect you back so soon."

Jason shrugged and drank some beer.  "Went down to that lake house.  It was like I thought.  Bunch of kids with some beer and whatnot.  Girls in bikinis and some frat assholes.  No good could've come of that."

His mom frowned.   "You didn't kill them?"

Jason smiled and nodded at his new weapon.  "Oh, I killed 'em.  Shot the shit out of 'em while they were all standing around.  Figured it'd be a nice change of pace to get 'em all at once.  Beats the shit out of stalking the fuckers one at a time at night and impaling them with pointy things.  I'm gettin' too old for that shit."

His mom smiled and patted him on the shoulder.  "That's a good boy.  Come watch Dr. Phil with me."

Jason groaned.  "Oh, all right."

THE END

9:59 AM - 6 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

Queen of Blood contest at Horror World

Horror World and Dorchester Publishing are sponsoring a contest this month to win a copy of my new release, Queen of Blood.

You can enter the contest here:

http://www.horrorworld.org/leisurecontest.htm

There’s also an excerpt from the novel at the link above.

Later,

Bryan

1:15 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment