Time Is Running Out On My Kickstarter

It's down to nail-biting time for my Kickstarter, in support of my novel Quitting the Grave. If you are a fan of this website, please consider contributing. Even a small amount will make a huge difference.

For 5 dollars, you'll receive a copy of my collection of microfiction, Picasso Painted Dinosaurs. For 10 dollars, you'll also get a copy of Quitting The Grave.

You can also help out massively by sharing the link to my Kickstarter with your friends and family. You can read more about the project on the Kickstarter page or on Facebook, but I'll just reiterate that I've made a firm commitment to publish as an independent author, which means I need to work extra hard to find my audience. The fact that you're on this website indicates you should at least take the time to go read about the project.

Thanks a million!

The Kickstarter For My Upcoming Novel Is Now Live

Hey there! Do you like novels about murder, grave robberies, and ghosts? Do you like historical fiction? Did you ever play the Oregon Trail computer game while you were growing up?

Then do I have the Kickstarter for you!

What is Quitting The Grave?

Eugene, Oregon. October, 1999. After three graves robberies--in each case, the abducted corpse was a John Doe--the police have few leads and little interest in the story. Caya Blumenshine, a reporter for the local newspaper, canvasses Eugene, questioning anarchists, wyccans, and politicians, until her search hits upon a secluded house on the outskirts of the city. Its owner, Alexander Hilyard, a history-writing hermit who hasn't been seen in years, may be involved in the grave robberies, or may have been the most recent victim.

As Caya digs deeper into the mystery, she becomes absorbed in Hilyard’s controversial narrative of Eugene's earliest residents and their cross-country journey from Indiana to Oregon in the summer of 1846. She realizes that the recent crimes may somehow be linked to events from 150 years in the past. And she discovers people may be willing to commit murder to prevent Caya from unearthing their long-buried secrets.

What exactly would I be donating to?

Quitting The Grave is intended to be more than just an e-book. As my first entirely original novel, Quitting The Grave will take full advantage of its digital format. This Kickstarter will help me raise the money to travel the Oregon Trail along the same route as my protagonists in the book and conduct interviews with historical experts on the characters and events of the historical section of the story.

I'm going to travel from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Eugene, Oregon over the course of a month, with stops at Fort Sutter in Sacramento and Fort Vancouver outside of Portland. Once finished, I'll compile the interviews and footage into a series of one- to two-minute documentaries on the history of the Oregon Trail that will be included in the enhanced e-book version of Quitting The Grave.

In support of my Kickstarter campaign, this month is Oregon month at The Chaos Factory. Expect daily posts on Oregon history, the Oregon Trail, pictures of rain, etc! I'll also be posting excerpts of the novel, to whet everyone's appetite. Please help spread the word, and go to Kickstarter to find out more about how you can support the effort and make this enhanced e-book a reality.

And believe me, it's a lot more than 100-words long.

Our Kickstarter Is Now Live!

And now for something that's not so completely different. After a short hiatus to get all the behind the scenes work done, our Kickstarter for Picasso Painted Dinosaurs has finally gone live. What are you waiting for? Go donate now!

So what is Picasso Painted Dinosaurs? It's an e-book collection of Microfiction, 100 100 word stories to be exact. Some stories will be familiar if you are a regular reader here, but the majority are brand new, never before read, exclusive stories that will only be found in this e-book. In addition, the collection includes two essays that I wrote, one on the Art of Microfiction, and another on Finding Daily Inspiration. Most fabulous of all, the collection features original artwork from Mike Simon.

This Kickstarter is something of a test run. We're only asking for $300, enough for us to publish the book across all major e-book platforms, including iBooks, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. In the future, we'll be launching more ambitious projects, including a multimedia version of my long-gestating novel, Quitting The Grave.

Please donate now. Even the minimum contribution of two dollars will make a difference in us reaching our goal. And even if you don't donate, tell your friends about the project. The most important thing for us at this point is to get the word out.

Thanks.