“It is a long road that has no turning.”— Irish proverb 1 No happy ending ever started in a bar. The old friends had chosen to murder the afternoon drinking in the shadowy hotel pub mostly to evade December’s bitter chill. “All I’m sayin’ is that any son of a bitch who sets off … Continue reading Excerpt: The Running Kind by Craig McDonald
Kat and Edward at Christmas
Jackie Mallon about her story in our Christmas collection GIFTS
Excerpt from Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Kevin Stevens
From “The Return of Eddie Sloan” by Kevin Stevens: “She checked on Wardell. He was fast asleep, dreaming of sugar plums. All the doors were locked. The backyard was deserted and the thin cover of fresh snow showed no footprints. In the parlor, the Christmas tree stood lightless and lonely, the angel on top askew. … Continue reading Excerpt from Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Kevin Stevens
Excerpt from Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Colin O’Sullivan
From “Be Good for Goodness Sake” by Colin O’Sullivan: “It is Christmas Day and they are having Christmas dinner, and Anita is trying her best to enjoy herself, trying to acclimatise. But the dreams keep coming back to her, the nightmares, the flashbacks, she doesn’t even have to be asleep, all she needs to do … Continue reading Excerpt from Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Colin O’Sullivan
Excerpt from Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Craig McDonald
From “Echoes” by Craig McDonald “You two are the closest thing to family I have, Hem, and it’s Christmas and that’s about the giving. You’ll just have to live with the receiving, you righteous son of a bitch.” Hector pointed to the gift for our son. “I’ve got no brother or sisters, so I’ll never … Continue reading Excerpt from Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Craig McDonald
“Giving voice and face to character: The Lassiter audio books” by Craig McDonald
Craig McDonald on new covers for The Hector Lassiter audio books, recorded by Recorded Books. Read the article here: http://craigmcdonaldbooks.blogspot.ie/2014/12/giving-voice-and-face-to-character.html
Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Jackie Mallon
From “Blue and Unassuming under a Christmas Star” by Jackie Mallon: “In Sean Kat recognizes not a point of conversation anymore but the repository for all her frustrations. “Give that money back, you little shit. Go on, hand it over.” She holds out her hand and several shoppers gasp. “Come on, it’s Christmas, let it … Continue reading Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Jackie Mallon
Meta-games: Hector Lassiter in the Crossover Universe
Craig McDonald's character Hector Lassiter is now officially part of the Philip Jose Farmer Wold-Newton universe which attempts to link all popular fictional characters in a sort of massive family tree of legends that has become a cult fiction sub-genre: http://www.crossoveruniverse.com/2014/11/crossover-cover-great-pretender.html
Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Richard Kalich
From “The Party” by Richard Kalich: “The entire affair was catered by the world’s greatest chefs, and platters of sumptuous foods were served by geishas in kimonos and men in black. Champagne flowed like April rain. Every guest was given a token of appreciation for not attending, diamonds and gold; and for those who didn’t … Continue reading Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Richard Kalich
Donald Finnaeus Mayo on our Christmas Collection: “The perfect Gift for anyone who loves writing!”
Take the pain out of giving this Christmas – look no further than Betimes Books’ Gifts
In many ways, it was born out of frustration. Frustration with editors who want the same formulaic junk that sold by the bucketload last year, frustration with editorial decisions being made by accountants, frustration with marketing departments who reserve their entire budget for the same half dozen or so big names, frustration with being constantly depressed by the gloomy state of the publishing industry.
People still like to read good books, don’t they? I know I do. They can’t all want the latest ghosted biography from some C-list celebrity or yet another Andy McNab knock-off.
So I was delighted to join the list of Betimes Books, a new imprint designed to retain the best elements of publishing (good taste, rigorous editing, high production values) whilst taking advantage of the digital revolution that, frankly, caught…
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Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by David Hogan
From “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” by David Hogan: “It’s because of this spark that Mary called her brother, Brendan, back to Boston just before Christmas when he’d have preferred to be with his own family. It’s because of this spark that Brendan is now gathering leaves on this grey and bitter December morning. … Continue reading Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by David Hogan
E-book edition of GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories is here!
Our Christmas collection "Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories"from all Betimes Books authors is now available as e-book for only 0,77£/0,99$ here Read it in PDF format here or contact us to receive a free PDF or Mobi copy of GIFTS! For a print collector edition, click here!
Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Sam Hawken
From “Feliz Navidad” by Sam Hawken: “It’s Christmas tomorrow,” Mr. Martinez told Raúl one day. “I know. There is a lot of talking about—” “I know what they’re talking about. They’ve been on about it all week. Don’t listen to them.” “But something must happen on Christmas,” Raúl insisted. “Maybe something will,” Mr. Martinez … Continue reading Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Sam Hawken
Craig McDonald on GIFTS: our free Christmas Short Story Collection
"My piece is structured as a believed-to-be Ernest Hemingway-penned lost chapter of his Paris memoir, A MOVEABLE FEAST." - Craig McDonald Read more: http://craigmcdonaldbooks.blogspot.ie/2014/11/betimes-posts-free-christmas-short.html
Excerpt from GIFTS by Hadley Colt
From “Slay Belles” by Hadley Colt: “Given his very reason for needing the disguise, and his attendant obligation to escort Selma to her misbegotten agency Christmas party, Ace desperately needed to find some way to pack a piece for swift and easy access. Looking down, he settled on his right, fur-topped Santa boot. Yes, an … Continue reading Excerpt from GIFTS by Hadley Colt
“Outside your Bedroom Window in the Rain” by Colin O’Sullivan
Been struck down with the neck hernia thingy again, thus the posts here have been a bit scant.
Never mind, I’m still rifling though old poems and stories and casting them out to see where they land. Who knows, there may be a “Collected Poetry” book someday, or a “Complete Shorter Fiction of”…you never know.
Here’s a poem, from the mid-nineties I reckon. Another one about rain (must be the Irishman in me).
Outside your Bedroom Window in the Rain
Wrapped,
a warm blanket,
your rich black hair
festoons the pillow.
Wrapped
in home things:
the soft rug that
takes to your toes,
the piano
you tinkle
every now and then,
the grandfather clock
and its quaint chime.
No need to stir
I’m outside
upping my umbrella.
Rain beats a thousand rhythms,
we’re both as sheltered.
Tonight you do not hear my puddle dance,
tomorrow you will not know my…
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Craig McDonald: Cover me #3 – Forever’s Just Pretend & The Great Pretender
"This edition is all "pretend" in terms of exploring more about how Betimes Books and I went about our strategic relaunch of the Hector Lassiter series, for the first time presenting the entire series in a mix of old and new titles, uniformly branded and sequenced in chronological order. Having established the look of the … Continue reading Craig McDonald: Cover me #3 – Forever’s Just Pretend & The Great Pretender
Book trailer for Hector Lassiter series by Craig McDonald
Watch the book trailer for The Hector Lassiter series by Craig McDonald here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDlqi3kxepw
Craig McDonald: Cover me #2 – Toros & Torsos
"Covers can make or break a book. The fact is, we do judge books by their covers. This is the second in a series of posts examining the strategies, concepts and creative process behind the repackaging of the Hector Lassiter series into bestselling, uniform editions for Betimes Books." - Craig McDonald Read more: http://craigmcdonaldbooks.blogspot.ie/2014/11/cover-me-2-toros-torsos.html
“Illustrated Adventures in Fashionland” by Jackie Mallon
To accompany the special week-long Kindle promotion of Silk for the Feed Dogs, I thought I’d post together all my drawings of scenes from the novel. I’ve been asked many times if I’d consider doing a graphic novel version of Silk for the Feed Dogs. A chance would be a fine thing, I say! Although graphic novels tend to have less text than regular novels. That would be the challenge. I like words too.
If only illustrated novels like Alice in Wonderland or all the Charles Dickens classics were the fashionable model nowadays. Illustrated plates, as they were known, are just not part of our reading experience anymore. And they would be too expensive to produce in our print-threatened times. Already we don’t like to pay as much for books when digital versions are cheaper and more portable.
But the Sir John Tenniel in me is itching to get…
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