A Tribute, A Deal, & Two Charities

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my dad's death. One year ago, ALS finally took him. Right at the end of ALS Awareness Month. Adjacent to Memorial Day. The Thunderbirds rocketed over us as I arrived at the house to wait until his death could be called. Neighbors who'd come out to watch for the Thunderbirds and their annual flyover saw emergency vehicles outside our house. I imagine they knew what had happened. After all, they'd come out just a few years earlier to celebrate dad's birthday in the form of the ice bucket challenge.

I've been down during the lock down, but as it turned to May and the trees blossomed, birds swarming back into the neighborhood (along with the miller moths), I started to dread this anniversary and how everyone in my family will handle it, especially with the isolation. I'm not sure I'll ever look at another Memorial Day without thinking about my dad. Interestingly, it was most likely his stint in the Air Force that led to ALS in the first place, meaning he's earned his rightful place among the veterans honored. It's just that the long term damage occurred on U.S. soil, likely at the bloodied hand of the U.S. government.

I sat down the other day and wondered what I could do to honor him in some way, and to change my thoughts from the negative to the positive. That led to the following:

I'll be doing a Kindle Countdown deal for one week with Bruised Souls & Other Torments. The e-book will be priced at $.99 from 8 AM (MT) tomorrow morning to the afternoon of May 31, when it will change to $1.99 until Wednesday, June 3, at 11 PM. It only let me do this in one region, so it's only applicable in the U.S. as far as I know. I'm not positive, though, as this is my first time doing this.

I can also ship a signed paperback copy to anyone who'd like one. Book + Shipping will be $15.00 (U.S. only).

All profits from e-book and paperback sales this week will be donated to the ALS Association and Team Gleason. I will personally match those profits, so both charities will receive the full profit amount. Both organizations helped my dad during his 6 1/2 years battling ALS. Many of his friends in the ALS community are still fighting to this day, and they need all the help they can get. #nowhiteflags

Links:

E-book

Secure Paperback Checkout via Square (it only asks for email--I will email those who purchase to get shipping/inscription information)

Team Gleason (for more information on what they do)

ALS Association (for more information on what they do)

All donations will be made in memory of my dad, Greg Kenoyer. If anyone is interested in donating directly to either of the charities, it would be wonderful if you did so in his name. However, I also know that times are hard right now, so hopefully none of this feels like pressure. 

If no sales are made, I will still donate something to each charity in his name.

I'll also be doing a couple readings online. I'll post on my Facebook page, and if I'm able, I'll repost to here.

Also, I'm doing some research. For readings and/or author interviews, what software/online program would you most recommend? Right now, I'm most familiar with Zoom, so would likely use that, but I'm open to other ideas.

Stuff I've Been Enjoying:

I haven't finished a book this week, but will finish it tonight or tomorrow, so should have at least one to pass along next week! All I have for today is a movie.

Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood

I didn't expect to like this. In fact, I'd avoided it like the plague, because I kept hearing it was boring and had no point. But once I watched it, I enjoyed it. It meanders a bit, but I kept watching, wondering what was going to happen. When they showed the year and the location, I was sucked in, because it implied a certain historical event was going to happen in the course of the film, and I wanted to see if it would actually go up to that point. There ends up being quite a twist, but the end of the movie had me laughing. It's preposterous, silly, and violent. The rest of the film? Laid back, watching two friends and their neighbor...Sharon Tate.

Link Time!

Bear in mind I'm merely passing these along, not endorsing them. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

And Lately, The Sun is seeking short fiction about our future in a changing climate. 2000 to 8000 words. Pays $80. Deadline June 30.

Fabled is seeking eerie gothic tales about women who dwell in the forest. 2000 to 8000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline June 30.

Writer Shed Press is seeking stories with the theme Love and Sacrifice. Up to 2500 words. Pays $20. (Must have Venmo to get paid). Deadline July 1.

Any of these links sound interesting? Anything to share? If you've lost a parent, what did you do to commemorate the one year anniversary, if anything? Have you seen Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood? What did you think? What recording software do you prefer for video?

May you find your Muse.

Author Meet and Greet Update & Links

I'd love to be able to post something of consequence right now, to put out an informative post, or to even post fun horror stuff since this is usually my favorite time of year, but the election and just plain PEOPLE have me so depressed right now that I sit here staring at this blank screen and can't think of anything I want to talk about. I'm thankful it's not impacting my fiction writing, but it's just not happening for me on here.

So instead I'm going to post about the fun Author Meet and Greet I was part of this weekend. Because I had a great weekend until I went on social media tonight, so I'm just going to back up and pretend this evening didn't happen.

A local small press put on a signing event Saturday, and I was invited to be a part of it as one of two horror authors! It was held in a local art gallery, so we were surrounded by paintings and other forms of visual art, which is a great setting. There was wine, there were goodies, and there was a talented group of local authors. Friend and fellow horror author DeAnna Knippling shared the table with me, so we had some fun decorations.

The sign is new. My husband got up early and made it for me that day. Isn't he awesome? He even dropped by and said hi about partway through, and to see if I needed lunch or anything else.

I had four of my titles there, and I sold out of two of them! Not to say I had a big inventory of them or anything, but it was still exciting. Especially as my biggest fear going in that morning was that I would sell a big goose egg, thus letting down the friends running the event. I imagine it helped that it's the month of October. You know, formerly my favorite month. It's the month some folks who don't otherwise touch horror check it out. Even bigger than selling out, I sold to strangers! We authors try to support each other by buying books, but strangers, people who were not writers, they bought my books! Meep!

Now I have to decide whether I'll go through the work of selling my books at MileHiCon at the end of the month. It involves getting sales tax licenses for state and the city of Denver, and I only have two of my books. While I might be able to get my books in time for MHC that I sold out of, I'm not willing to pay expedited shipping to ensure it. So I need to decide this week, and to determine whether it's worth trying to get at least the one book shipped out now. SO MANY DECISIONS!

A lot of people stopped by and chatted, and even when they didn't buy a book, it was nice. All in all, I'd say it was a successful event, but I'm not the one who has to do the bookkeeping on it. If it was, in fact, successful, they'll hopefully be doing it again with other authors, but I don't know how soon that will be. Organizing events is stressful, and nothing teaches you that like doing it!

Now for some links. Bear in mind that I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Ellipsis, a Westminster College literary journal, is open for their annual publication. Poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, drama, and art. Pays $10-$50. Deadline November 1 for most categories.

Belmont Story Review is open for fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. No word limit mentioned. Pays a cash honorarium. Deadline November 1.

Mofo Pubs is open for submissions to their anthology Wanderlust. Sexually explicit literary erotica. 1000-5000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline November 3.

Lamplight is open for submissions. Dark literary fiction. Up to 7000 words. Pays $.03/word up to $150. Current deadline November 15.

The Lorelei Signal is open for fantasy short fiction. Up to 10,000 words. Pays between $2 and $7.50. Current deadline November 15.

Contests:

Don't forget the Insecure Writer's Support Group 2016 Anthology Contest. 3000-6000 words. Fantasy with the theme "hero lost." Pays in royalties. You will be published in an e-anthology. Deadline November 1.

New York Encounter is holding a poetry contest. Theme: Reality has never betrayed me. Cash prizes up to $300. Deadline November 1.

For Fun:

It's always good to find new scary books. Here's a list of 40 Scariest Books of the Last 200 Years by Sarah Mangiola on The Lineup.

How was your weekend? Bought any good books lately? Read any books in the last month or so you'd recommend? Are you ready for Halloween? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.