Happy Tenth Anniversary, “A Sour Chord” – Big Sale Celebration!

Let’s flash back together. It’s May of 2014. I’m about to click publish on Amazon for my very first book, A Sour Chord. Up until that moment, the only person I’d told I’d written a book was my now wife, Megan. And even then I’d only told her a couple of months beforehand. I don’t know why I kept it a secret, but I did. Other than Megan, my editor, Austin, was the only person to know this book existed.

That day was filled with anxiety, fear, imposter syndrome, and, most importantly, hope. I don’t know what I planned to get out of writing that book, but I knew I wanted to. And now, ten years later, I’m here celebrating its anniversary. I published that book ten years ago next month, though I’d written the short story that was its foundation—a play, of sorts, really—way back in 1999. It’s been a journey, and I’m grateful to have you all with me.

Here we are, today, together, celebrating this work. And what better way to celebrate than to get my books into your eager little hands, no? From April 22nd through May 22nd, all paperbacks in my online store are $10, and hardcovers are just $15. But you need to order them from this special link. If you go right to the books themselves, the special pricing isn’t going to be there. So be sure to click that link.

And, as always, I wanted to say thank you. For those of you who’ve just stumbled onto my work, welcome. For those of you who’ve been here since the beginning, thank you for your support, kind words, encouragement, and nagging me to keep writing when I feel defeated or unsuccessful. I won’t delve into how hard it is to be an independent, self-published author, but I will say that it’s more work than I could have ever anticipated. If you’d told me ten years ago that writing the book(s) is the easiest part of the process, I may have reconsidered doing it.

Dudley Road Audiobook Now Available WorldWide!

If you know me by now, you know I can never focus on just one thing. So, while working to promote My Best Friend, Marty, I’ve also been working behind the scenes to get the audiobook of Dudley Road on a bunch of platforms other than Audible.

As of this morning, you can now listen to Dudley Road on Spotify, Chirp, Nook Audiobooks, Kobo, Storytel, and Libro.fm

I have 25 free codes to listen on Spotify. If you want to listen to the only spooky story I’ll likely ever tell, just get in touch and I’ll get you a code!

And if you haven’t pre-ordered your signed copy of My Best Friend, Marty yet, what are you waiting for‽‽

All Sold Out!

On Wednesday of last week, I posted this silly photo to a Facebook group for book lovers.

The caption was something to the effect of “oh, poor me, what a horrible problem I have in having to sign these books and write witty and unique inscriptions. Woe is me. Send help,”

Completely in jest, I obviously wouldn’t offer it as an option on my site if I didn’t mind signing and inscribing books.

I had no intention of trying to sell any books.

But I did. As soon as the first person asked where they could get a signed copy and I posted the link to my website, the orders started pouring in. My email was dinging all night, overnight, and into the morning.

I’m very thankful that my experience as a web developer lead me down the path of building some “buy other books and save” functionality into my site, because it worked. People were buying two and even all three of my books, saving 15% on all of them. I also offered free shipping over $25, but realized, once I did the math, that I was losing money on that deal, so I upped the free shipping to $35.

I sold out of every copy I’d pre-ordered of Dudley road, in both hardcover and paperback.
I sold out of every copy I had on hand of My Last Days, in both hardcover and paperback.
I haven’t even gotten the first-time-in-print copies of A Sour Chord yet, but I sold out of that whole batch, as well.

So I ordered more. Unfortunately, Amazon takes about 12-14 days to print and deliver them.

And I sold out of all of those, as well. In all three books.

So I ordered more.

This cycled repeated 5 more times during last week. I’d order more, they’d sell out. I put up a notice on the site saying that all books were out of stock until the end of the month, and while that slowed sales down some, it didn’t seem to deter everyone, as the orders have still come piling in.

I’m so humbled, for a number of reasons.

First, complete strangers not only bought my work, but they wanted me to personalize a signature to them. Strangers who’ve never heard of me before took a chance just based on my book covers, as well as my descriptions.

I also did something I’ve never done in the almost 10 years since I published my first book; I made a profit on the whole endeavor. There’s so much cost that goes into publishing a book yourself that folks don’t think of, but it adds up. The artwork for the cover, editing (is the biggest cost, by far), the book trailer I had made, the books themselves, the boxes to ship in, shipping costs. The list goes on and on. But, as of today, I’ve earned more than I’ve spent. It’s not much more than I’ve spent, but it’s in the black for the first time. And while I don’t do this for the money, it certainly doesn’t hurt to motivate me for the next book (which, for the record, I’ve already begun planning out!)

Others have bought directly from Amazon, including the Kindle version, which has been wonderful, as well.

I’ve gotten more reviews through an Advanced Reader service I signed up for that my first two books combined, and while they’re not all five stars (you can’t be perfect all the time, right?), this one in particular really made me so happy:

The book ‘Dudley Road’ was intelligently written. Each chapter commanding your attention and ensuring that you kept turning page after page. It had the right amount of creepy without being over the top scary, the right amount of suspense and mystery.
Overall, Dudley Road is a masterpiece and if you are a fan of mystery with a little horror, this is the book for you.

“Intelligently written” and “masterpiece” for a silly ghost story. How? Why? What? Is this real life? I’m printing and framing it.

I’m sure this level of sales won’t continue forever, and that’s fine. I spent about 2 hours every day last week signing and packing books. It’s exhausting, but so rewarding. A big time author I know and am friendly with signs and ships books himself with the help of his manager. He posts photos of him with literal palettes full of books and I don’t understand the how of it all. It’s crazy pants.

So, if you’re reading this and you’re one of the folks from The Book Lounge Facebook Group who ended up here from my silly little post, thank you so much for your support. I really hope you enjoy my book(s) that you bought and come back for more the next time.

I’m so grateful and humbled and appreciative of everything that’s happened this week.*

* except for losing my wallet yesterday. I am not appreciative of my doofusness.

The Legend of Dudley Road

It’s just four weeks until my new book, Dudley Road, will be available. Pre-orders have been going great and I’ve already beat the goal I had set for myself. Which was simply outselling My Last Days’ pre-order numbers!

Since launching the campaign, a few folks have reached out to me to ask how true the real events are that the book is based on. So I thought I’d clarify some.

Dudley Road is an actual place. Virtually every teenager who grew up in or around Billerica, Massachusetts, knows the urban myths surrounding it.

I first heard the myths in high school, which I detail in the first few chapters of the book. Back then, we didn’t have easily accessible internet to just go look things up on. Google literally didn’t exist yet. Therefore, we had no way of knowing what was real and what wasn’t. Or if any of it was real.

That’s why we went exploring, initially. My friends and I had always been into oddities, hauntings, ghosts, etc. So, when I heard the story, I knew they’d be game to go check it out with me.

I’d love to detail exactly what events in the book are real and which are spruced up to make the book more interesting, but I don’t want to spoil anything before you’ve read it. I’d love to say “everything up to page 201 is real”, and while there is an aspect of “everything up to this page is real”, there are also a lot of real things that happen after the book changes from non-fiction to fiction. So it’s not as cut and dried as I’d like it to be.

With all that said, here are some photos I took of the haunted convent when I went back to visit one day in 2020, right as I was starting writing the book. Yes, it took almost 3 years to write the book. It’s a lot of work!

I won’t go into great detail about what each of these photos are, because then you won’t read the book and I’ll be sad. But under each photo, I’ll briefly describe what you’re looking at.

One of the many shots I took of the street sign. One of which would become the cover of the book.
One of the many shots I took of the street sign. One of which would become the cover of the book.
The security fence wrapping around the convent. Almost every night we went there, it was wide open. It seems they've since started closing it up.
The security fence wrapping around the convent. Almost every night we went there, it was wide open. It seems they’ve since started closing it up.
Another view of the security fence, and driveway leading into the compound.
Another view of the security fence, and driveway leading into the compound.
This house is likely unrelated to the convent, but we always thought it was a security lookout. We'd wait until the lights went off or motion stopped to sneak by it.
This house is likely unrelated to the convent, but we always thought it was a security lookout. We’d wait until the lights went off or motion stopped to sneak by it.
This is what is widely believed to be the haunted convent. It is not. This is St. Thecla's Retread House that now sits on the same property.
This is what is widely believed to be the haunted convent. It is not. This is St. Thecla’s Retread House that now sits on the same property.
Another view of the building.
Another view of the building.
The state park marker at the head of the trail leading into the woods, where we'd find the fallen down house.
The state park marker at the head of the trail leading into the woods, where we’d find the fallen down house.
This is what is referred to, in the book, as the "turnaround spot". You'll be more familiar with it when you read the book.
This is what is referred to, in the book, as the “turnaround spot”. You’ll be more familiar with it when you read the book.

And now for something a little… different. Welcome to Dudley Road

Three years in the making. Just over 83,000 words. More memories and nostalgia than I can recount. But we’re finally here. I’m so pleased to announce the release and pre-order of my next book, titled Dudley Road.

It strays from the genre I’ve traditionally written in, but this was a story I just had to tell.

You can pre-order a paperback, hardcover, audiobook or any combination you’d like at this link.

Here’s the book summary and the exclusive (and admittedly a little cheesy) trailer:

Everyone knew the urban legend. We lived it.

I’ll never forget the summer of 1997, not for as long as I live. We’ve all heard the disturbing tales and creepy urban legends about the decaying old building sitting on Dudley Road. But when my friends and I finally gathered up the courage to visit, we concluded they were nothing more than silly stories.

We were wrong.

When we left, we took something with us – and now they want it back. I’m being haunted, and they swear they won’t rest until I return it to them. I try to ignore them… but when paranormal events start terrorizing me; I know they’re dead serious.

And when my friends start going missing one by one, I’m terrified that I’m next…

Step into a chilling horror story where spirits lurk in the shadows and nothing is as it seems. Based on real-life events and dripping with hair-raising suspense, Dudley Road is an unforgettable and bone-chilling read that’s perfect for anyone who loves to be on the edge of their seat. Grab your copy today… if you dare.