Once again, I learned about something amazing via social networking. A couple of days ago, I saw that namenick of PasswordIncorrect and a number of my #weblit acquaintances were tweeting about #ebookweek. It turns out, this awesome event has been around for years and I was just hearing about it for the first time.

Read an Ebook Week is a week-long annual event that runs from March 7th thru 13th. Many major ebook retailers and writers participate by sharing information about ebooks and offering massive discounts–up to 100% off numerous ebook titles.

Coincidentally, I already had a FREE ebook offering in the works. I only had to speed things up a little bit to make it available, in time for this week’s event.

Fancy a Free Ebook?

Download EARTHBOUND EXOTICA

EARTHBOUND EXOTICA is a small selection of some of my urban fantasy flash fiction and short stories. These stories are already available for online reading at www.tonyamoore.com but I wanted to make a small sampling of my favorite Urban Fiction pieces available for Free download.

You can download your very own copy in the format of your choice from Smashwords and it should soon be available from Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo (formerly Shortcovers) and Amazon.

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Purple Magazine Issue #9: Finding the Bliss Lense is one of several planned bonus offerings of the otherwise, bi-annual publication. Highlights include featured afro-punk musician, TreZure the Empress, as well as a glimpse into the fertile inner-worlds of Dwayne White, and Anyabwile Love & Aki Hirata-Baker.
Part 6 of Valjeanne Jeffers‘ The Story of Eve: A War from Within is in good company with a review of Basanta Kar’s The Unfold Pinnacle and Dara and the Dream Engine–an excerpt from Dazjae Zoem’s afro-steampunk fantasy omnibus, WonderDark. This excellent issue is a tantalizing offering of bold and unique works of art, poetry and literature.

Independently launched in 2006, Purple Magazine started as a grass-roots endeavor to overcome the narrow scope and prejudices of mainstream publications and expectations. In addition to the efforts of a growing number of artists, photographers, designers and spiritualists, creative works showcased by PurpleMag run the gamut of Speculative Fiction genres–including but not limited to esoteric cosmology, Afro-centric fairy tales, steampunk and modern interpretations and futuristic permutations of oral lore.
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Silverthorn Press Ezine is a free bi-monthly paranormal fantasy ezine. Corbin Silverthorn and  Staff brings us writing industry news and highlights, as well as Creative Writing advice and inspiration. Each issue of Silverthorn Press Ezine features authors and artists of the speculative fiction and fantasy genres.

The Bleeding Pen Writer’s Showcase presents proactive writers of paranormal fantasy. The aim is to help spread the word about their work and engage readers and industry professionals alike. I was recently interviewed by Corbin Silverthorn for the January 15,2010 issue of Silverthorn Press Ezine. It was a really interesting experience which prompted a fair amount of introspection and set me thinking about things that hadn’t crossed my mind in years. You can read my interview here.
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Media Whores is currently available electronically from Smashwords and will be paired with Made in DNA’s upcoming title, Bukkake Brawl for Print release next year.

Made in DNA is the pseudonym of an American author, living in Japan. He describes his special brand of fiction as sex-punk/sex-fi. After reading a short teaser from one of his latest works, I jumped at the chance to read the erotic, cyberpunk novella, Media Whores.

Media Whores takes place in New Tokioh, a techno-punk’s dystopia lurking beneath the radiation contaminated mess that was once Nippon. The unapologetically depraved sex-idol, Kurarua is the product of an absurd, sensation seeking society. A beautiful and monstrous vortex of unchained desire, dealing out a mess of pain; she makes our dubious hero her bitch and drags him along in her violent and doomed quest for the ultimate climax.

Mind you, these are not characters for whom one is apt to feel much sympathy. Is there really any need though, to feel anything but awe for a woman who is both able and eager to make a badass yakuza bend over and scream like a girl, whether he wants to or not? Like our haplessly addicted protagonist, we’re just along for the ride.

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Cassandra Baron is the star character of my NaNoWriMo novel, tentatively titled CASSANDRA.  In this second novel of a series Cassandra Baron, becomes infatuated with a human named David Kilpatrick.

David happens to be the right hand man for Dominic Locke, the interim leader of the ancient race of predecessors to werewolves, known as the Rath. She becomes embroiled in the internal conflicts of the Rath and soon find herself facing off  with Dominic’s daughter, who is destined to be another new Power in the world.

Origin & Circumstances

Cassandra’s mother was the progeny of an amphibious civilization, long gone. Her father is the human musician, Jonathan Baron who discovered that his mother was a sea-dwelling, aboriginal remnant of that ancient race. Her genetic makeup was determined by the avatars of an ancient race of sentient ships known as the Vorsha. She was designed to be their perfect creation.
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In early October of 2005, someone on my LiveJournal “friends” list mentioned something called NaNoWriMo. I became curious about this “National Novel Writing Month” that a bunch of people were suddenly talking about and decided to check it out. I was blown away by the idea of trying to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I was amazed at the fact there seemed to be a worldwide movement of sorts, as thousands of people were participating in what had somehow become a global event of unbelievable proportions. I decided at the very last minute that I would hop on the bandwagon, as well. My first attempt at NaNoWriMo was a bust. Nevertheless, I had a blast. With the exception of 2008, I’ve been throwing myself into the NaNoWriMo fire with fervor, ever since.

I’ve decided to not let the life and health issues that bogged me down last year, prevent me from participating this year.  Maybe I’m being grossly optimistic–but hey–isn’t that what this whole thing is all about? Maybe I’ll write something nebulously macabre and witty, thereby purging all of this darkness festering inside.
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Let’s forget about the gut wrenching part of ending the existences of fictional people. Whether it’s a character to whom you’ve grown attached or one that you despise, once you get down to the business of plotting his or her demise, things get pretty interesting. I dare say… fun?

One of the biggest challenges to a Spec-Fic or Horror writer is making death fascinating. The macabre needs not be senseless or excessively bloody to grab the reader’s attention. Even gore can be disappointing or overdone if not handled with finesse.

I won’t dispute that immolation, evisceration or decapitation makes for a far more intriguing turn of events than say… someone dying in their sleep. I can’t even remember the last time I read about a good, old-fashioned poisoning.
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Speculative Fiction by its very nature, lends itself to all manner of conjecture.  When creating fictional characters, gender is almost-always a fundamental characteristic that needs to be determined.  Some time ago, I found myself wondering why the majority of Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction writers out there seem to stick almost religiously to the standard male and female constructs.  This invariably led to the question of how much gender diversity already exists on our awesome planet.
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My current pick for new favorite anime from the Summer 2009 line-up is the eye-catching, heart-stopping Bakemonogatari.  Four episodes in, even a jaded anime enthusiast such as myself is excited and looking forward to watching more.

Bakemonogatari is a rather playful turn of phrase on the Japanese words bakemono, meaning monster and monogatari, meaning tale or story.  This superb series of “monster stories” is the brain child of the amazingly talented NisiOisin and features a series of predicaments suffered by various humans resulting from personal tragedies and encounters with supernatural entities. 
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When I first developed an interest in Japanese anime several years ago, I came across scanlated artwork from the manga Clover.  Clover is a rare work created by the creative team that goes by the well-known moniker, CLAMP.  Clover was serialized in Kodansha’s Amie from 1997 until the magazine ceased production in 1999.

The main character of this wonderfully Steampunk endeavor is a tragic a young girl called Su, who lives in a futuristic society. The military sought out gifted children dubbed “Clovers”, who seem to possess the innate ability to magically affect technology. Clovers would then be capable of incredible feats such as, teleportation and materialization of weaponry at will.  Classed according to how powerful they are, the children are then branded with a symbol of the Clover Project.  The number of leaves represent each Clover’s power level.
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