The Weaving

A Distant Call now available!

2011-12-24T04:18:00.000-08:00

VTP has released two of my short novella stories as single ebook downloads for under a dollar, and both are doing well. I would like to think a few of the sales are because people recognize the author and liked other stories I wrote, but I'll take a "Sounds like it doesn't suck and it's cheap enough" motivation.

And the digital covers VTP commissioned are fantastic!

Available at Smashworlds, and Amazon.com or by following the link at the VTP site.

A Plethory of Powers now available!

2011-06-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

Two tales between one set of covers! This book is both a prequel to The Weaving, and a set of novella-sized stories that stand on their own.

In "The Case of the Missing Succubus," Rose, the Witch of the Woods, must solve a murder mystery and find a missing girl before someone else winds up dead. When the girl turns out to not even be human, and her assistant is a shapeshifting coyotie named Keyotie, events are bound to get complicated.

This is followed by "A Conference of Powers," an old-fashioned pileup of mislaid plans and hairbrained schemes as all the magical powers in the land are invited to a conference at the King's palace. Rose and Keyotie again make an appearance along with elves, dragons, and various wizards and witches. And did I mention the Royal Wizard, the man responsible for keeping everyone on their best behavior, is new to the job?

A Plethory of Powers is available in paper or electronic format at the usual online stores.

The Villain

2011-04-01T02:36:00.000-07:00

Glen Mayo, author of Circle of Dishonor and celebrated author in the murder mystery genre, posted a short discussion of the Villain in my story A Distant Call in the Victory Tales Mystery anthology. You can read it on her blog at http://gwenmayo.blogspot.com/

This made me think more deep thoughts about the Villain. To me, how a writer fleshes out the character of the Villain makes or breaks the story--in particular, when it comes to the Villain's motivations. The Hero is motivated by love, compassion, duty, justice, and perhaps revenge (if so, the Hero will learn that Revenge Is A Mistake, usually). The Villain is motivated by hate, greed, lust, or fear. "Hiss! Boo! Go getem Hero!" We hate the Villain, right? Well, sometimes.

Many very good stories have villains motivated by greed and hatred, because real life is full of such people. Heck, our prisons are full of people like that. But, sometimes your story needs something different. Sometimes life pits our Hero against someone who might also be motivated by their own version of love, duty, passion, or revenge. This Villain is a likable fellow, but fatally flawed. We can identify. If not identify, we can feel compassion for this one and understand why he or she is doing what they do. We might cry when this Villain gets it in the end.

In Gwen's novel, Circle of Dishonor, the Villain is as much the restrictive social rules of post civil war America as it is the killer motivated by greed and hatred. These attitudes about gender and race are directly responsible for deaths and suffering and an ever present threat that our Hero Detective, Nessa, must battle. Yet how do you punch an attitude? How do you defeat an assumption? Her world is full of Villains, but they are good people infected with bad beliefs. We can identify. We are all Villains at one time or another, basically good people capable of doing stupid things.

Mystery anthology kickoff!

2011-02-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

Alright! On March 1st, the mystery anthology by Victory Tales Press will be hitting the markets. The authors of the novellas contained in the book are celebrating by throwing a blog party. So here's the deal. On Tuesday, March 1st, go to Miss Mae's Blog , sign in, read some excerpts from the stories, and leave a comment. At 8pm, Miss Mae will pick four lucky posters using some random method like names in a hat, to receive an absolutely FREE copy of the book.

So that's a good shot at an absolutely free book, for just stopping by and saying "Hi!"

Shadows and Light Vol 2 now out!

2011-02-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

My story "Master Race" is in this one, and it's chock full of tales about the struggle between good and evil. Opening up one of Pill Hill's anthologies is like opening a box of assorted chocolates, except for the tummy ache from eating too much at one time. OK, metaphores are not my strong suit.

Anyway, available in electronic format thingies and hard copy. That's Shadows & Light Vol. II accept no substitutes! Available online book sellers, kindle, nook, and wander over to Pill Hill Press Store

A wonderful review of Mars Needs Men

2011-01-15T02:21:00.000-08:00

Remember the story published by Victory Tales in their Christmas Anthology? I just received notice that the Coffee Time Romance blog has posted a review of the book. What did it say about my particular story? Here's the end of the review:

Gerald Costlow thoroughly entertains with this inventive short story. Any tale that can successfully use toilet humor while still weaving a believable love story is a winner. This one made me cry and giggle and I enjoyed every second of it.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-20T02:26:00.000-08:00

So here's a Halloween picture to celebrate. Nobody can accuse me of being out of touch!

A Christmas Collection now available!

2010-11-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Christmas Romance anthology is now available on Smashworlds, and here's the link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29148

Rebecca of Victory Tales Press http://www.romancewithatwist.com/ not only has some other great anthologies currently available , but is a wonderful writer and many romantic novels. Check her out.

And now for something a little different...

2010-10-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

So I'm a big romantic softy at heart. My wife and I watch Ghost over and over and I still cry at the end. I think WALL-E is the best love story ever written. A trash compactor and a featureless egg fall in love and the viewer laughs and cries and celebrates along with them? If I could only write half as well.

Anyway, I did weave a love story into my novel The Weaving, and my online friend and fellow writer Rebecca of Victory Tales fame challenged me write something a little more focused on the eternal dance between man and woman for her series of romance anthologies. I did so, and she liked it enough to include it in her Christmas anthology.

Available November 15, a steamy, definitely for mature audiences collection of romantic stories, all with a Christmas setting.

Hardcover edition of Haunted!

2010-10-04T02:19:00.000-07:00

Pill Hill Press is making available for I suspect a limited time a hardcover edition of some of their anthologies. The one that a story of mine, Home Schooling, appears in is on the list. To check it out, head over to http://www.pillhillpress.com/

On an unrelated note, I am working with Rebecca of Victory Tales on final edits of a spicy story to be included in her Christmas romance anthologies this year. Yeah, I'm a big romantic at heart (as the plot of The Weaving should have indicated) and my all time favority film is WALL-E. A love story between a trash compactor and a featurless egg of a robot, with no dialog? Them's good writers!

Pill Hill Books available on website!

2010-09-14T03:43:00.001-07:00

For anyone checking in here, you can now buy books from Pill Hill Press directly from their website, http://www.pillhillpress.com/

On top of that good news, my newest novel, A Plethory of Powers, is on sale for the low, low price of 9.99 American dollars!

Pill Hill books available at Espresso machines!

2010-09-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

Recently Pill Hill Press announced their books were available through the Espresso Book Machine. Since I'd heard rumors of a book vending machine in the works, I checked out the Espresso website at http://www.ondemandbooks.com/home.htm and it does seem like we are entering the age when a vending machine will replace whole racks of books, if not an entire inventory.

There aren't too many of them out there yet, and half of those are at university stores, but I was delighted to discover one listed very close to where I live. This one was sitting at Schuler Books and Music in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I took along a publisher's copy of my recent novel, The Weaving, and paid them a visit to see how the vending machine version stacked up to this one.

For information on a fine bookstore and a picture of the Espresso, check out the Schuler Book store website at http://www.schulerbooks.com/ I arrived on a Friday afternoon and showed the workers my book and explained what I wanted to do, and they were happy to help me out.

First impressions, this is a big machine, and this was the smaller version. It was also a complicated looking machine of the type that made you certain a thousand little adjustments had to be just right to get it to work. That impression was confirmed since there was a roped-off area around it to keep destructive hands away.

This one was shut off and as the worker turned it on, she explained it would take perhaps 10 minutes to warm the glue to the proper 335 degree temperature (At this point I must stop and explain that one woman spent a lot of time demonstrating this to me and I totally forgot to get her name, so she must remain "the worker" with my apologies).

Then she entered the ISBN in the computer screen, waited for the file to download, and began the process, saying it would normally take about 5 minutes to print and bind a book of about 300 pages such as mine.

However, it seems the machine had other ideas. About halfway through the printing, the pages started jamming in the machine, necessitating her repeatedly halting the printing and manually stacking and sorting pages. To be fair, she was not the usual operator, and I suspect a more extended warm up period might have been needed. But eventually the pages were printed, the cover bound to the pages with glue, and the edges trimmed. One copy of The Weaving slid down the shoot into my hands.

So, my overall impression? Well, the machine is fussy and requires specially trained operators and is very expensive. It obviously is prone to the same ailments as any copy machine. Also, you cannot search the database of available titles for the Espresso. You have to ask for a particular book and the store worker will look it up, and if they don't have it in stock and it's on the list of Espresso books, you're good to go.

As for the book, it seemed identical except the cover is a semigloss instead of the varnished gloss of my publisher's copy. It doesn't really detract from the artwork or look. Of more concern, when I sat down at home and did a careful inspection, I discovered the Espresso copy of my book has little squares printed at the beginning and end of most italic lines, slightly larger than the initial letter. I'd say it's a problem with the driver or translation of formats. Since my book contains a lot of italic lettering, this is a very obvious defect.

So my judgement is that the day of corner book vending machines is not quite here, but otherwise most small press published books would have no chance at all of being bought anywhere but online.

Free book drawing on Blog Bites!

2010-07-27T01:56:00.000-07:00

For the week of 26 July, my book The Weaving is featured at http://annlory.blogspot.com/ (An Lory's Blog Bites) and anyone who drops a comment there will be part of a random drawing for a free copy of The Weaving!

It's here!

2010-07-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

A Plethory of Powers is now listed on Amazon.com. I have my advance copies and I absolutely LOVE the cover painting. It captures Rose and Keyotie perfectly, including her "why me?" expression and Keyotie's grin. Cover art by Greg Smallwood (he has a gallery at http://gregsmallwood.deviantart.com/# and graphics/design as usual a perfect match by Alva Roberts. Kudos, mates.

Coming soon from Pill Hill Press

2010-07-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Next novel on the way!

2010-07-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

Pill Hill Press is going to publish my next novel! It's titled A Plethory of Powers, and is a collection of two novellas set in the world of The Weaving, with some of the same characters, and can be considered a prequel of sorts. Both adventures take place before The Weaving, but one is a detective story called The Case of the Missing Succubus, and the other is a pileup of plans gone awry, a comedy of errors titled A Conference of Powers.

The cover art is fantastic!

What's happening updated.

2010-06-05T02:47:00.000-07:00

Did I mention Pill Hill's books are also available in electronic format from Smashworlds? And there is a Kindel link now for their books?

Also, a short story of mine, 'Home Schooling', is in their recently published anthology titled Haunted. It is, as you might expect, a collection of quality ghost stories.

What's been happening

2010-05-08T03:32:00.000-07:00

Well, the book promotion continues to go great! Among the interviews and reviews I've scored is a great review by one of my favorite authors, Piers Anthony! http://www.hipiers.com/10april.html

Also, the Absolute Xpress flash fiction anthology was published to great acclaim, and I have several more flash pieces accepted for publication later this year.

And I still don't have a professional website developed. I had one started over at my Comcast personal space, but something glitched and now it won't let me update it, or even delete and start over. So far, appeals to the Comcast technical department result only in a form email with instructions to access the file that don't work. Ah well.

What's Happening on the writing front

2010-03-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

What's happening? Well, reviews for The Weaving are still coming in, and still looking strong. I will post links to them as I get them. For instance, we have http://www.staticmovement.com/theweavingreview.htm

On my other writing, I have been relaxing and experimenting with flash fiction while writing down ideas for plotting my next novel. I have had one accepted for Cup of Joe, by Wicked East Press, and another for the Daily Flash Anthology, by Pill Hill Press.

Also, the flash story in Thieves and Scoundrels by Absolute Xpress http://absolute-x-press.com/ is being published 1 April.

Page Turner radio inteview!

2010-03-12T03:16:00.001-08:00

Finished an audio interview with Nancy of Page Turners, and had a great time talking about the book and writing in general. About halfway through, we even had one of those technical glitches where we lost Nancy for about 30 seconds, and I didn't know if anyone could still hear me. Only sheer luck kept me from blurting out something over the air before we came back. The player button will be added to the page soon as I figure out how to do it. IN the meantime here's the link to the site.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/promote.aspx?HostID=52088

Results so far.

2010-03-08T02:37:00.001-08:00

Well, the book is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, has had several reviews online, an interview, and so far I'm pleased with the response. I also donated a copy to the local library, and it's already checked out with a reserve hold on it when it gets returned, and the library has ordered several more copies. This tickles me as much as anything else. It's too bad our public library system is under attack by the forces of budget trimming.

Here's a few links to some of the reviews and interviews.

http://www.rebeccajvickery.blogspot.com/
http://cyberwizardproductions.com/AbandonedTowers/
http://www.staticmovement.com/theweavingreview.htm

Video Promo done!

2010-02-25T14:22:00.001-08:00

My friend Gabe Strong came through with a great promo video for The Weaving. I had fun doing the voiceover, and here's the link to the video on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtCxSGnnldQ

Available at Amazon.com!

2010-02-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

Yeah! The Weaving has made it through the Amazon.com computer and is now listed and for sale. It's here:

http://www.amazon.com/Weaving-Gerald-Costlow/dp/1617060070/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1266364259&sr=8-1

And is also at Barnes & Noble

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Weaving/Gerald-Costlow/e/9781617060076/?itm=1

And the journey begins....

2010-02-19T02:30:00.001-08:00

Watch this space.

This will become the official webspace of The Weaving, a novel by Gerald Costlow, published by Pill Hill Press.