Advanced Copies!

So excited! I got home last night to find a package from my editor. I was expecting page proofs (loose pages with all the mark-ups from copy-editing), and to my surprise, there was a little bonus.

You've probably already guessed what that was (see, I included a hint in the title of this post... also, there's that big picture right there). They sent me a couple advanced copies. Let me tell you, it's so much fun after all the work to finally see your words in actual bound-book form.

The cover illustration is still so creepy. The interior design echoes The Stone Child, but adds something new. I can't wait to share this one with everyone!

Cheers,
Dan

And here they are... The Girls.

Nightmarys Cover Art

Came home through the blizzard tonight to find a package from Random House waiting for me. My editor and designer sent me the final cover proof for my new book, The Nightmarys, which comes out this August. It's the first time I've gotten to see the back of the book, read the cover copy, and see my author photo (by my friend Nic).

Wow, is the image scary! It's the kind of scary that makes you want to hold it at a distance... or maybe put it in the freezer. I'm sort of shocked that this thing actually came out of my brain...

Can't wait until August!

The Ghost Story Answers

In October, I held a contest here at enigmaticmanuscript, posting ghost stories every few days, I asked you to guess which were true and which were not. Whoever guessed the most correctly won a free signed copy of my book. (It's on its way, Wooden Spoon!)

I also promised that eventually I would post the answers here. So if you haven't read any of them yet and still want to be surprised, you may want to stop reading here...

Spoilers ahead!

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And the list goes like this:

1. The Eye at the Door: True

2. Hell Shower: True!

3. The Burns Street Disturbance: True

4. The Lady in Red: True!

5. The Hounds of Blairsden: (Though it was based on a very real place, the story itself is) False

6. The Bullet Hole: True

7. Boo!: True!

8. Mrs. Lee: True

9. Another Burns Street Disturbance: True (my dad's house is totally haunted!)

10. The Drowned Dog: False (though unfortunately I did once come across a drowned dog on a beach... so sad!)

11. The Yowl: Totally true!

12. The Devil's Tree: True

13. The Driveway: The murder story is true... The ghost story is fake... so the answer is ... duh... False.

14. Yet Another Burns Street Disturbance: True

15. The Ouija Board: True

16. After the Spirit Board: True

17. The Kelsens: .... .... .... and the final answer is... False! (obviously. though wouldn't it be cool if it were true? I think so.)

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Anyway, thanks to everyone who played. If you haven't read the stories, it's not too late. Share 'em with your friends, classes, family. This could be a fun party game... IMHO.

Cheers, during a very unscary December,

Dan

Gone for Awhile, Back Again

Haven't posted lately. I've been busy with the new/ old job, back at the cancer hospital. And no, I'm not kidding... I work at a cancer hospital, something I didn't feel the need to put in my author bio. I actually really enjoy it.

I'm finally excited about an old project that sucked me back in recently. I started writing this story about four years ago, got 180 pages into it, then quit. Last January, I began again, a new version, revised, but I still wasn't able to commit to it. In my head, it just seemed too big, too much. And after revising The Stone Child last year, finishing the first draft of The Nightmarys, and writing an entire other manuscript between October and December, I guess I just needed a break.

So I'm happy to say, I'm finally back at it. A great big wallop of a story that I'm excited to write. It only took about a year to recover... and it'll probably take me longer than that to complete a first draft... but if there's one thing that 2009 has taught me, it's that I've got plenty of time to grow, to keep going. I can't be in a rush, because the universe is certainly not in a rush for me. It's a difficult lesson to accept when you feel like you're on the cusp of big things.

These are the moments to remember the little things. Those are what give us patience...

Happy December, everyone.

Dan

If on Sunday, you're in NJ

Come out, come out, come out!

And we have a winner...!

Congratulations to Ms. Wooden Spoon! You are the winner of the October Ghost Story Project and a free signed copy of The Stone Child (and though you are currently sending me your own copy to get signed, I will be sending you back an extra, because you deserve it! Do with it what you will! And thanks for the cookies! Can't wait...)

And thank you to everyone who played the game. It was so much fun to remember my spooky childhood and write these stories.

In a few days, I'll be posting a list of which stories were true or not. Check back to see if you were right to be skeptical or whether I fooled ya good.

xo Dan