<strong>I’m getting near the end of my signing tour for ZOMBIE CSU.  Along the way I’ve hit several independent bookstores, and that’s always a lot of fun.  Indie stores are different from the chains in a lot of important ways.

First, they really know their customers.  There’s more of a conversational back-and-forth between Indie store owners & staff and their regular customers.  Which leads to a second and very important difference –since they know their customers they know what they like.  These stores often have a lot of specialty stuff on their shelves that you won’t find anywhere else.

Good example… my second novel, DEAD MAN’S SONG, sold out of its first print run.  All of the major chains (including Amazon) are out of copies, but you can find new, signed copies at some of the indies, including:

DOYLESTOWN BOOKSHOP (Doylestown, PA) http://www.doylestownbookshop.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp

BETWEEN BOOKS (Claymont, DE)  http://www.betweenbooks.com/

CLINTON BOOKSHOP (Clinton, NJ)  http://clinton.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp

These stores support writers and their honor readers.  And as a writer AND a reader, I love 'em.

Check ‘em out!   And…support your local independent book store.

-Jonathan
www.jonathanmaberry.com </strong>

Tags: bad moon rising, cryptopedia, dead man's song, ghost road blues, independent bookstores, vampire universe, zombie csu

Hey guys…for everyone who has been asking why it’s so darn hard to snag a copy of the middle book of the Pine Deep Trilogy, the news is that DEAD MAN’S SONG has SOLD OUT!

DEAD MAN’S SONG links the first book GHOST ROAD BLUES (winner of the 2006 Bram Stoker Award) and the concluding volume BAD MOON RISING (2008). It gives the creepy back-story to the whole Pine Deep mystery.

Bookstores (real world and online) are taking orders now so that when the new print run is ready the copies can be sent out right away.

So….go order your copy now!

THE PINE DEEP TRILOGY:

Ghost Road Blues (Pinnacle Books; ISBN # 0786018151)

Dead Man’s Song (Pinnacle Books; ISBN # 078601816X)

Bad Moon Rising (Pinnacle Books; ISBN # 0786018178)

http://www.amazon.com

http://www.BarnesandNoble.com

Tags: bad moon rising, bram stoker award, dead man's song, ghost road blues, jonathan maberry, pine deep, vampires, werewolf

Hey guys... I'm back from a long absence (to LiveJournal at least). Been busy working on some new projects. Here's what's been going on:

Recently I co-created (with Emmy Award-winner Laura Schrock) ON THE SLAB, a horror entertainment news show for ABC Disney Stage 9, to be released on the Internet in October 2008. We've been having a lot of fun with that.

I'm gearing up for the release of my next nonfiction book, ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (due from citadel Press at the end of August). The premise is: if something like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD were to happen, how would our real world deal with it? So, I interviewed over 250 experts in forensics, law enforcement, medicine, various branches of science, the military, psychologists and the clergy, lawyers and journalists --as well as folks from the pop culture world (Max Brooks, Brian Keene, Tony Todd, Robert Kirkman, etc.). The result is a book that starts with a 911 call following an eyewitness to the first zombie attack and follows the case through investigation and speculation. All of the science is accurate, as are the police and military tactics. I talked with folks from fingerprint experts to Homeland Security.

I'm also doing book signings for BAD MOON RISING (the conclusion to my Pine Deep Trilogy of supernatural thrillers); touring bookstores with members of the Liars Club; writing the sequel to that, and basically keeping a lot of irons in the fire.

Whew! Life's a wild ride, but I love it.

Jonathan
www.jonathanmaberry.com

Tags: abc, bad moon rising, brian keene, disney, joe ledger, liars club, max brooks, on the slab, patient zero, pine deep, robert kirkman, stage 9, tony todd, zombie

BAD MOON RISING

Only four months and counting...

BAD MOON RISING, the final book of the Pine Deep Trilogy (which began with 2006’s GHOST ROAD BLUES and continued with 2007’s DEAD MAN’S SONG) will be released everywhere on May 8.

I’m getting pretty excited about the release of BAD MOON RISING, and for a number of reasons. First, the book has one hell of a lot of action in it. The growing threat discussed in the first two books explodes in the third and the second half of that book is basically one big, rolling battle between the dwindling forces of good and the swelling forces of evil. The dead rise to attack the world of the living with a Red Wave of murder. I had sooooo much fun writing that book.

The book also has a fun twist in that I’ve written a lot of real-world people into the book. I tapped a number of good folks in the horror industry and asked if I could write them into the story. Since the book deals with a massive Halloween celebration (during which very bad things happen) I wanted to have some fun with blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. So... I contacted a bunch of friends in the horror biz and asked if I could write them into the book. They all agreed, so in BAD MOON RISING you can expect to meet TOM SAVINI (make-effects wizard), STEPHEN SUSCO (screenwriter for the Grudge flicks), JAMES GUNN (screenwriter of the new Dawn of the Dead), BRINKE STEVENS (scream queen), DEBBIE ROCHON (scream queen), KEN FOREE (star of the original Dawn of the Dead), JIM O’REAR (stuntman and haunted attraction consultant), and JOE BOB BRIGGS (drive-in movie critic and actor). Also making a brief appearance is MEM SHANNON (one of my all-time favorite Bluesmen!).

And these folks aren’t just doing walk-ons. They actually get into the action. Question is...will they make it out of Pine Deep alive?

This is going to be fun!

Jonathan Maberry
www.jonathanmaberry.com

Tags: bad moon rising, dead man's song, ghost road blues, horror, jonathan maberry, stoker award

For the last few years I’ve been living in a different reality with folks that don’t really exist. And I kind of miss them. I’m getting separation anxiety.

After nearly thirty years as a writer of nonfiction articles and books I broke into fiction with my 2006 novel GHOST ROAD BLUES, the first of a trilogy of supernatural thrillers set in the fictional town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania. (And yes, for those of you who have asked...Pine Deep is based on New Hope, PA). The trilogy continued with DEAD MAN’S SONG (released from Pinnacle Books in July) and will conclude with BAD MOON RISING in May 2008.

The thing is...all three books are written, the story is told and I’ve moved on. I’m now writing bio-terrorism thrillers for St. Martin’s Press. And though I’m loving the new book and the new cast of characters I miss that group of people I got to know in Pine Deep. You see, to me the characters are the most important part of any story. If I don’t bond with the characters (whether good or vile) I don’t become invested in the book. That’s as true for me as a writer as it is as a reader, and I felt that Malcolm Crow, Val Guthrie, Mike Sweeney, Terry Wolfe, Willard Fowler Newton, Jonatha Corbiel, Frank Ferro, Vince LaMastra and Dr. Saul Weinstock were real people. I cared about them...even the ones I eventually kill off as the series unfolds.

Recently Michaela Hamilton, my editor at Pinnacle, sent me the copy edit manuscript of Bad Moon Rising to review and make some changes. It was the first time I’d read the book since I’d wrapped it up many moons ago, and revisiting the creepy ol’ town of Pine Deep and spending time with the characters again was strangely moving. It was fun, and sad (‘cause I really do kill a bunch of them off and then have to leave all of them again.

Who knows, maybe like a guest who doesn’t want to leave a party I’ll pretend I’ve forgotten my car keys and use it as an excuse to revisit Pine Deep. One of these days.

Tags: bad moon rising, dead man's song, ghost road blues, horror, pine deep, pinnacle books, supernatural thriller, trilogy, vampires

In a recent interview I was asked: Where do you find your inspirations to write?


There are two ways to answer that. Like most writers I have more ideas in my head than I’ll ever have time to write. It’s funny, but one of the most common questions writers are asked is ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ and another is ‘Aren’t you afraid you’ll ever run out of ideas?’. A writer would never even think to ask those questions because there is always a process of creation going on in the writers’ mind. Always...it never stops. My characters begin conversations in my head. Scenes take place. For most people this would be a psychological cry for help and Thorazine might be called-for; but to a writer this is another happy day on the job.

On the other hand, specific bursts of inspiration generally come from observing life as one passes through it. Writers observe all the time, and we think about what we observe –sometimes consciously and deliberately, and sometimes subconsciously. We listen in on conversations –not to be rude, but to hear how people speak, how they relate to one another, and how they edit themselves depending on whom they’re talking with. More than once folks have seen me just standing and being quiet at a party and have mistaken that for shyness or ‘being lost in my thoughts’, but in reality I’m very present and am trying to absorb as much of what’s going on as possible. Life, when closely observed, teaches us nearly everything we need to know about making good stories and real characters.

You can read the whole interview here: http://ambasadora.livejournal.com/149321.html

Tags: bad moon rising, dead man's song, ghost road blues, jonathan maberry, publishing, writing
Current Location: Borders in Bucks County
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Tom Waits 'Rain Dogs'