New Book Trailer Up!

How could I forget to post this one for so long! The book trailer for Dreams of the Boardwalk is now up in the Book Trailers archive! But just in case you don’t want to go that far, here it is right here!

If that makes you interested in a copy of the book, just head on over to Amazon!

Excerpt from City of Dreams: George Fuller’s Last Day at Coney Island – Part 2

The picture above is he latest draft of my novel-in-progress, City of Dreams. What do you think?  The young woman above is Aislin Rourke, heroine of City of Dreams, but I’m afraid you’re not going to meet her in today’s passage.

Today’s passage is the second half of the story of George Fuller and his accidental journey into the Dream of Coney Island, begun in this post last week.

George’s story is an illustration of the classic advice to writers: “Murder your darlings”. George’s story is intended to be an interlude in City of Dreams, but it’s more than forty pages long. You can’t have an “interlude” that’s 10% of the total length of the book. That means that you, the readers of this blog, are getting to read an uncut version of this story that will not and cannot make it to the final book.

So join me for the story George Fuller, Sally, and their last day at Coney Island. 

Beware.  NC-17.   

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Continue reading “Excerpt from City of Dreams: George Fuller’s Last Day at Coney Island – Part 2″

Excerpt from City of Dreams: George Fuller’s Last Day at Coney Island – Part 1

One of the classic pieces of advice for authors is “Murder your darlings”.  You have to be willing to sacrifice any individual part of the story – any scene, any character – for the greater good of the story as a whole, no matter how much you love them.  

This passage is a classic example.  This story – and the second part, coming next week – are intended to be an interlude between chapters in my Novel-in-progress City of Dreams.  They tell the story of an old man who accidentally crosses over into Dream when such a thing shouldn’t be possible, and illustrates that Dream can be just as dangerous in its way as Nightmare (though you do die happy).  Between the two sections, this “interlude” is more than 40 double-spaced pages long.  Clearly, some darlings need to be murdered and some serious trimming needs to be done before the final draft of the book.  You can’t have an “interlude” that’s 10% of the total book.  But I love the story of George Fuller, Sally, and their summers at Coney Island.  So I’d like to share it with you in its uncut form for perhaps the one and only time.

Beware.  NC-17.   

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George Fuller sat on a bench on the Coney Island boardwalk and looked out at the ocean. 

Continue reading “Excerpt from City of Dreams: George Fuller’s Last Day at Coney Island – Part 1″

Excerpt from City of Dreams: Aislin Enters Nightmare

The picture above is our first look at Aislin Rourke, heroine of City of Dreams, the novel I am currently writing.  What is our heroine getting ready to fight…and why is she looking UP to do it?  That would be telling.

City of Dreams is a sequel to Dreams of the Boardwalk, or rather, Dreams of the Boardwalk is a prequel to the series of books that I hope to begin with City of Dreams.  In any case, it is a story of the worlds of Dream and Nightmare, and the Dreamwalkers who protect the one and strive against the other…which is which depends on the Dreamwalker.

With that in mind, I decided that instead of starting with Aislin’s very first scene, I would start with her first experience in Nightmare, so I can introduce both at once. 

Rated R. 

PS – As with all the covers for my major works, this cover is being drawn by the marvelous Ruben de Vela.

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Continue reading “Excerpt from City of Dreams: Aislin Enters Nightmare”

Excerpt from Dreams of the Boardwalk: First Visit

Here we have our introduction to the titular Dreams of the Boardwalk, and our first glimpse of the dangers beneath the surface.

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Announcements

Hey all!

Three pieces of news!

1) I have broken 200 pages on my new novel, City of Dreams!  Look for sample first draft excerpts to be coming soon!

1a) Of course, excerpts from my older works will continue to be posted.  Watch this space.

2) My author interview is up at Booksgosocial!  Go and have a look!

3) And finally, the book trailer for Dreams of the Boardwalk is complete!  Have a look!

First Promotional Art for City of Dreams!

So here we have the first piece of artwork commissioned for City of Dreams.  Note that this picture isn’t symbolic or representational in any way; this scene actually takes place in the book.

What you’re seeing is the protagonists – or rather, the protagonist and her love interests – being attacked by one of the Mara, a servant of Nightmare.
Continue reading “First Promotional Art for City of Dreams!”

The Dreams of the Boardwalk Giveaway Is Coming to a Close

Just one more day to go in the Dreams of the Boardwalk giveaway!  To give you a taste of what you might be missing, here’s an excerpt:

I knew the exact moment that they realized I was on to them, because their faces…split.  Huge grins stretched much farther than a human mouth could open, almost literally ear to ear, and they were grinning mouthfuls of fangs.

I don’t think they expected me to react as quickly as I did.  Greaser grabbed for me as I spun away, but gave a cheated shriek as his fingers just skated across the back of my shirt, and then I was off and running.

Usually in nightmares like this, it’s like the world goes into slow motion.  No matter how hard I try to run, I don’t get anywhere.  Or maybe the boardwalk would stretch into forever in front of me, so no matter how far I ran, there was no escape.  Or no matter where I ran, the monsters would always be there in front of me.  But none of that was happening.  I was booking it, and it was a good thing, too, because Greaser’s shriek brought more shadowy figures pouring out of the darkness.  They appeared out of the pools of shadow near broken streetlights, they climbed up through the gaps in the boardwalk, they came up from the darkness beneath and crawled and skittered over the railings, a horde of street thugs from all ages of New York City.

(And I do mean all.  There was someone who looked like he’d stepped straight out of Gangs of New York running beside Scary Punk.)

I vaulted the railing and dropped down to the sand.  I don’t know why I did that; it was crazy.  In the waking world, the sand was level with the boardwalk, but here, it was a fifteen-foot drop, and if I’d broken my leg, I would have been helpless.  Trapped prey.

But I didn’t.  And I didn’t let myself think about it.  I hit the ground, let myself fall, let myself roll, let the sand take the shock, rolled all the way back to my feet and I took off.

Or tried to.  Coney Island beach sand is deep, and running in it is hard.  I think I surprised them, going over the rail (but how do you surprise the monster in your nightmare?), but I wasn’t gaining enough ground.  Worse, I was tiring out again.  That first run had taken a lot out of me, and a second burst of adrenaline wasn’t going to carry me far.  Not far enough.

I looked over my shoulder, and oh god, they were swarming.  Swarming down off the boardwalk, leaping like insects, swarming up from underneath like cockroaches.

I floundered and struggled across the sand, my legs and my chest burning, trying to squeeze out that one last ounce of speed.  Why had I even done this?  Where was I going?

Then the West End jetty came into sight, and I understood.  Sometimes in dreams you know you desperately have to get somewhere, you don’t know why, you just do.  And that unconscious knowing was leading me right to my tide pool.  I had no idea why, how it was supposed to save me from a horde of monsters in street gear, but –

Oh god, what if it wasn’t there?  It was a tide pool!  I might be making a desperate break for a stretch of damp sand!  And with the heat and the endless run sucking the life out of me, where would I go from there?  How much further could I push on before I just collapsed in the sand?

But no, the tide was high, washing syringes and garbage high up on the beach.

I buttonhooked around a fence and there it was, free of garbage and shining like the Moon.

Now what?

Stand in knee-deep water and hope that helps?  It wouldn’t even be enough to save me from the heat!  Why did I come here?

I turned around and looked back.  They were coming – howling and shrieking and laughing that high, insane laugh, halfway across the beach now.

I had to wake up.  I had to wake up!

I spun around, shut my eyes tight, and dug my fingernails into my arm, hard enough to draw blood.

Nothing.  It wasn’t working.  I couldn’t wake up.  I couldn’t wake up!

That was the breaking point.  I was too tired to run any further, and there was no place to run anyway.  This terrible dream just wouldn’t end, and I couldn’t even wake up.  Exhausted and beaten, I dropped to my knees in the sand.

“Damn you, Dream Boy,” I whispered as the first of my tears dripped into the pool “Where are you?  What good is it to have a dream boyfriend if he’s only there to dance and eat cotton candy and screw?  Where are you when I need someone to fight for me?  Fight like Justin never – “

“You need to give him a name.”

“Who said that?” I looked around wildly, but there was no one.

“Over here.”

I looked at the tide pool, and it was like looking through Alice’s Looking Glass.  On the other side of the tide pool’s surface, it was a bright, sunny day.  Standing there on the other side of the pool was a young man – maybe thirty – with a black goatee.  He was wearing sunglasses, a top hat, and a black bathing suit, the old-fashioned kind with the shoulder straps.  In his hands, he held a big Key to the City that read “Coney Island”.

Help!” I screamed into the water. “Please, you’ve got to help me!”

“I’m trying,” he answered. “But you’ve got to listen.  Your dream boy – you need to give him a name.  You can’t call him without a name.”

I looked over my shoulder.  They were so close, they were coming around the fence now, and this guy was talking about names.

“What?”

Listen!  Your dream boy can help you, but you have to call him, and in order to call him, he needs a name.  You already know it – you dreamed him, he’s your perfect teenage boyfriend, all you have to do is let yourself realize it.  What is his name?

And that was when I realized he was right.  I’d known Dream Boy’s real name all along.  It was a name that none of the actual boys I’d known when I was a teenager had worn, but it had always seemed to me to be the name of restless teenage ride-on-the-edge funtimes, of hot summer nights, leather jackets and cheap wine.

“Jimmy,” I whispered.  Ripples began spreading across the tide pool, and the image of the man on the other side disappeared.  Somewhere, I knew, Jimmy’s hair had just turned a lighter shade of blond, and a spray of freckles had appeared across his nose and cheeks, as was appropriate for a Jimmy.  And those things would stay; he was more real now, more solid and defined.

And he was coming.  He was on his way.  He just needed –

JIMMY!” I screamed.

And then he was there.

Want to know the rest?  Head on over to Amazon and pick up your free copy of Dreams of the Boardwalk.  Promotion ends today!

Dreams of the Boardwalk Now Available for Free Download!

Lost in the Dream of the City.

Sarah Brannigan’s life has fallen to pieces at the age of forty-five. Her fairy tale marriage has ended, her job history has been a downward spiral since 2008, and she’s paying way too much rent to live in a tiny room in an apartment that she shares with five roommates.

To escape it all, she walks the streets of New York City, seeking out the hidden wonders of the City. And like many before her, she falls in love with Coney Island. Then one day, she falls asleep on a boardwalk bench after a long walk in the hot sun, and she falls into a dream. A dream that seems to reach into Coney Island’s past. A dream of everything she wished for when she was young. A dream whose effects linger even after she’s woken up.

Soon the dream begins to take over as Sarah uses it again and again to seek escape from her failed life. She’s getting everything she ever wanted: youth, love, and adventure. But as she goes deeper into the dream, she gets ever closer to nightmare.

Sound good?  Head on over to Amazon and download a copy!  Absolutely free, today through Tuesday October 16! 

And for the love of God, would somebody please review this thing?