IT’S HERE!
My first small press novel!
Typically, I publish my novels myself through Project 89 Media, but after meeting Mike Esola of Primal Publishing, I felt he had something special going on. He runs Prehistoric Magazine, a publication that has since gone on to publish three of my short stories. I quite liked working with Mike, and when he approached me about submitting a novel to his new indie press, I knew I couldn’t pass up the chance.
After some delays out of both of our control, the book has finally been released! Island of Legends is the first novel in the Godqueen Trilogy, a set of novels written to take the prehistoric thriller to where it’s never gone before. Think Jurassic Park, then add more than a few cryptids like Bigfoot and the Chupacabra, top it off with a bit of Lord of the Rings, and you’ve got my latest release!
A bit about the novel:
Monsters didn’t exist.
Now, they do.
Genetics research has been allowed to run wild off the coast of Japan. Extinction is a thing of the past. Cryptids and mythical beasts have been brought to life. Even the scientists themselves aren’t always human…
In the midst of a coup led by the head of security, graduate student and reluctant employee Mars Spencer is forced to fight for her life as all hell breaks loose in this tropical paradise…
OH, YEAH!
I FORGOT TO POST ON MY BLOG ABOUT SWIM!
“You could’ve been a star.”
Dr. Alton Silas, the owner of a failing public aquarium, accidentally stumbles upon the greatest zoological discovery of the new century.
“You could’ve been something special.”
Pisciviri sila, the Silas merman, a primal, humanoid, deep-sea creature with a disturbing secret.
“You were something special.”
Against all odds, Silas’s new exhibit fails. The merman refuses to appear before the public, except to scare and try to attack those who linger too long.
But as young marine biologist Dr. Sean Morgan is about to find out, this is the least of the aquarium staff’s worries…
I completely forgot to post about Swim, a novel I co-wrote with Faryl! Why? Because it was a HUGE SUCCESS!
How successful, you ask?
In under a month, Swim eclipsed all but two of our books’ total earnings. And those two books it didn’t outdo? One was Faryl’s questionMark, and the other was Michael Ridding, Project 89’s two oldest books! And guess what? As of this writing, Swim has eclipsed questionMark in eBook earnings! This book is KILLING IT, and it hasn’t even hit conventions and other in-person events yet!
It has a ways to go before it beats Michael Ridding, but at this rate, it could topple that novel in just a few more months!
I guess we need to start planning the sequel!
I ALSO HAVE A NEW SHORT STORY OUT!
That’s right! I will also have a short story in this month’s issue of Prehistoric Magazine! “Mystery Egg” is a fun little story I was inspired to write when I began keeping quail and learned about hatching-egg culture. The short version: Some people will keep livestock birds and hatch the eggs themselves using an incubator, but a lot of people will order mixed bags of eggs from chickens, quail, or whatever else that could be differently colored, differently sized, or that may be a different species altogether. So I got to thinking, what would happen if someone got a genetically-engineered dinosaur egg, be it by accident or on purpose?
That then brought me back to an idea I’ve wanted to pursue for a while: writing a story inspired by Michael Crichton’s original plan for Jurassic Park. Originally, Crichton said the novel was going to be about a college kid who was able to clone a dinosaur in his dorm room.
Once I combined the two, there was no stopping me!
If you aren’t subscribed to Prehistoric Magazine, definitely check them out! The magazine is sent to Mike Esola’s newsletter subscribers as a FREE PDF every three months or so. Or if you want the physical copy, you can buy that here!
Worst case, I will be republishing the piece in T-REX, which you can read about below!
Well, I think that is about it. I’ve been working hard on T-REX, my novella that is due out in December. It will also come packaged with my three previously published works from Prehistoric Magazine and one or two original stories! I’ve been dying to write an Old West novel for a while, so the Western setting of T-REX is something I’m particularly proud of. I just wish there was more of a market for straight-up Westerns these days. Fair warning: If I find one or the market gets better, I will 100% write nothing but Westerns and DenCom.
Otherwise, I think that’s it! I look forward to seeing what you guys think of Island of Legends, Mystery Egg, and of course, Swim!
-Sam
What am I reading?
I’ve been reading Greig Beck’s Seed of Evil. It’s a great book that takes a lot of turns I did not expect. I’m loving most if not all the characters. My favorite has to be the old Indian. He’s a hoot.
If you don’t mind too much gross imagery, I think you’ll enjoy Seed of Evil!
What am I listening to?
My sibling Sara had asked me to listen to Starset forever ago, and one day when she was driving, she made me listen to them in the car.
Don’t sleep on this band. Don’t be me.
Their fourth album just came out, so don’t wait! Every song is gold!
3TEETH was a pivotal band when it came to writing Siron. Especially when it came to their previous album, Metawar.
Recently, they released a single featuring HO99O9, and it’s now inspiring me for a totally different project, so needless to say, it’s been in my ears a LOT lately.
Fair warning, 3TEETH and HO99O9 are not artists for the faint of heart.
What am I watching?
I’ve been looking for some good Bigfoot movies lately, and I’m pretty sure I found the best one!
It’s all killer and barely more filler than necessary for good, tension-fueled horror! This movie got panned, of course, because critics back in 2014 couldn’t tell their own assholes from Citizen Kane. Film reviewers are the worst, honestly. Sure, Exists references other famous works in the genre, but that doesn’t mean it relies on those movies and television shows to tell its story (looking at you, Another Life).
Anyway, reviewers. Don’t trust a word they say. Just like what you want to like. It’s not rocket science.
Anyway, this was a great flick. I’d highly recommend it this Halloween!
Here’s another Bigfoot classic, in my opinion. Nowhere near as good as Exists, but rather “so bad it’s good”. I remember watching this movie with my father and uncle, the latter of whom had been trying to hunt it down for a year or so. As soon as the creature appeared, my father screamed, “THAT’S what it looks like?”
Yeah, it’s that kind of movie!
Needless to say, just viewing the film with them was a great memory, but the film itself is still enjoyable in that MST3K way! It’s even on YouTube, complete and uncut for the moment! Not sure for how much longer, though, since they left in a full-frontal nudity scene, and it wasn’t one of those “official” Youtube movies with ads.
I’ll link it right here if you have a spare hour and a half!