Monster is published!

After much fiddling with the cover and formatting I can now announce that my second short horror story 'Monster' is now published. You can currently get it from: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPGA150 , but I'll update this post with other places it's available once I get my head around smashwords.

For more details about Monster including an extract longer than the one on the kindle sample, check out this post: http://samaustinwriter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/monster-due-out-in-two-days-cover.html

For those not in the know, Monster is a short horror story about a newly turned vampire fighting for humanity to see her as anything other than a monster.

I'm really happy that it's finally ready to be published. I now have two published short stories. My goal for the year is ten, so I still have a ways to go, but it still feels awesome. 

Monster due out in two days (cover reveal and longer extract)

My short horror story 'Monster' is going to be published in two days! Look out for it in amazon stores, and other retailers.

For those not in the know, Monster is a short horror story about a newly turned vampire fighting for humanity to see her as anything other than a monster.

Here's the finished cover:

 As promised here is a longer extract:

“What about my rights?” The long chains pinning the handcuffs to the floor clatter against the metal table. I don’t believe this. I don’t believe any of this.

The man flinches at the sound, like I’m some kind of dangerous creature. I’m not. I’m just Honey Mason, eighteen year old checkout girl at the local supermarket. I don’t smoke, get drunk, or do any kind of drugs. I do my taxes. I eat right. I don’t deserve to go to jail.

“Humans have rights”, the man finally takes off his sunglasses, revealing pupils constricted to pinpricks. He pretends he’s not afraid of me, but I can smell it on him. He stinks of fear. “You aren’t human.”

I want to argue, but I’m terrified he’s right. Two months ago I was human, before I met my new ‘friends’. Now I’m not so sure. The things I’ve seen, the things I’ve done, they exist in the world of monster not man. The world tastes different - I’m not even sure it had a taste before all this. I feel different; stronger, faster, weaker, hungrier.

“I haven’t killed anyone”, I say, even though I am not sure that is true.

"You will", he says, and there’s no trace of a lie on his face. He believes it’s the truth. His conviction makes my faith waver. "It's only a matter of time."

I want to scream I'm not like them. I will never kill anyone, but I pause wondering if what he was saying was the truth. After they turned me they said I would be like them. I would feel the hunger as strong as they did. Nothing would stand between me and the blood, not even the life that held it.

The month old blood feels stale in my veins. From across the table I can hear his blood, can see the artery in his neck flutter with every beat of his heart. My eyes linger too long on his jugular and the rate of fluttering increases.

I think on blood the way I used to ponder which takeout to get after a long day of work. His blood would taste wonderful, so refreshing after so long without. It would slip down my throat, warm and comforting, like the warm glass of milk and honey I used to chase away nightmares as a child. The metallic tang would be further deepened by the salty taste of fear. His blood holds everything mine has lost, energy, health, sustenance. Drinking it would bring life back to the sluggish movements caused by my long fast.

Then as every time before, I remember that this is a human, and I am a human despite what they say. The desire to bite vanishes into repulsion. But maybe they are right, and one day the desire will be too strong. If I kill, I will surely die as well, and all that will be left is the monster. I can’t risk it.

My shoulders slump in resignation. “I’ll go”, I say in a small voice.

His face is impassive despite the fear that leeches off of him. “You don’t have a choice.”

---------

To receive updates when this and future stories are published, you can subscribe to this blog or send an email to me on: saustin259@gmail.com with the words 'mailing list' in the subject line, and I will send you an email when a new story is published. Emails will only be sent when something is published, with a description, cover and short extract from the piece, so no worries about spam.

Update

Well, work knocked me off my feet. I'm still tired, but I'm going to do my best to tear through editing lesson seven today. I'm a little behind as usually I am starting the next lesson by now. Lesson eight is the last lesson of this section, and it is sitting downloaded in a folder looking awfully tempting.

I'm also woefully behind in my writing. Second Chance was supposed to be finished yesterday, but still has four and a bit more scenes left to write.

My goals for the end of this month (eight days) are to:

- Finish editing lesson seven on 'Truth Seeker'

- Finish writing first draft of 'Second Chance'

- Finish editing lesson eight on 'Truth Seeker'

- Finish full edit of 'Demon Teddy Bear'

- Make a cover for 'Monster' (due for publication on the 30th June) that I'm satisfied with

- Publish Monster (30th June)

So look out for Monster at the end of this month. It's a short horror story about a newly turned vampire fighting for humanity to see her as anything other than a monster. It's on schedule. Everything sorted except the cover.

Playing with covers

I've been playing with book covers today, my reward for a hard week of work. I've been trying to get my head around the art program gimp (like photoshop - but free), and so far it's not going that well. I'm sure I'll understand it eventually. It took me ages to understand photoshop when I had that, but eventually I mostly understood that, so hopefully this will be similar.

I am playing with other designs, but here is one I've done so far:

The awesome picture is from desideriasp-stock .

Undecided whether this will be my new cover or not. I still have over two weeks to decide before the story is released on the 30th of June. Decisions, decisions. I like it, but I may play around on gimp to see if I can make anything I like even better.

Holly Lisle - how to edit your novel lesson six. Fifteen lessons to go.

This lesson was actually quite fun, which is a big thing for me to say about editing. I finished it a while ago but was busy with work so hadn't got around to editing my progress. With the completion of this lesson I am 28.57 percent of the way through editing my novel 'truth seeker'.

Tonight I start lesson seven which is all about editing the world I made for the story. Currently truth seeker is set in modern day London. I may change that, I'm not sure yet. I want to keep it set in modern times, but I may change the location, but I'll think on that during the lesson.

When I finish this lesson I will be one third of the way through editing this novel. With such a long process its important to keep reminding myself of the progress I am making so I keep trucking through it. I'm learning a lot, which is important. 

Hopefully by the time I finish this Truth Seeker will be pretty darn shiny and something I can be proud of.

Holly Lisle - editing course update

Well, as some of you may know I am in the middle of taking Holly Lisle's 'how to revise your novel course'. Today I finished lesson five, and started lesson six. I am 23.8 percent of the way through editing this novel.

Lesson five was straight forward enough. I would have finished it sooner if it hadn't fallen on such a busy week of work. Lesson six looks long, but good as well. I aim to work really hard on it tomorrow, and hopefully get most of it done before I head back to work.

I love the systematic way the course works, it really meshes with how my brain works. Four more lessons breaking this thing apart then I get to start piecing it together again.

As for my story Monster (see last post for a preview), it is going well. I'm planning to work on the cover next weekend, but am using a new program so don't know how long it will take. Release date is still set as the 30th of June.

I'm also working on a new short story (horror of course). It's called 'second chance', and is really only just started so look for a more detailed description later on. 

Monster - a teaser

As promised here is an extract of my upcoming short horror story 'Monster'. It is due out on the 30th of June. I may post a longer extract closer to the release date, and keep an eye on the blog for previews of the cover.

This is the story of Honey, a girl struggling to keep her humanity when the government lock her up for being a newly turned vampire.

Extract:

 “What about my rights?” The long chains pinning the handcuffs to the floor clatter against the metal table. I don’t believe this. I don’t believe any of this.

The man flinches at the sound, like I’m some kind of dangerous creature. I’m not. I’m just Honey Mason, eighteen year old checkout girl at the local supermarket. I don’t smoke, get drunk, or do any kind of drugs. I do my taxes. I eat right. I don’t deserve to go to jail.

“Humans have rights”, the man finally takes off his sunglasses, revealing pupils constricted to pinpricks. He pretends he’s not afraid of me, but I can smell it on him. He stinks of fear. “You aren’t human.”

June. New month.

My short story Monster is back with betas awaiting more feedback from the edits I put it through.

This month I have a number of goals. I want to polish up Monster and publish it. I also want to polish up my other story 'What You Wish For 2'. I plan to outline and write another short story 'Second chance'.

I also want to complete editing sessions 5, 6, 7 and 8 on my novel 'Seeker of Truth'. With a busy day job this is going to take a lot of work, but I'm going to do my best.

Today I made a good sized dent in lesson 5, and started outlining 'Second chance'. My short story 'Monster' is still on schedule for publication on the 30th of June. So all in all, it's an exciting month to look forward to.

Keep an eye on this blog for extracts from 'Monster' as the release date looms closer. Less than a month to go now.