Book Two--Off to the Editor!

Big day today. I sent off my draft of "Enemies of the Cross", Book Two in "The Coming Evil Trilogy", to my editor. I know, I know, you haven't read Book One yet, but it should please you to know that the road ahead is already being paved. In a few months, Book Two will endure the arduous editing process. I have no clue when the projected release date is for "Enemies of the Cross", but it's nice to know the ball is now rolling. Together with the Realms team, we'll get the second installment prepared to shatter your senses! What's in store for you in Book Two? Keep an eye out for an upcoming interview where I begin to talk a bit about what the future holds for "The Coming Evil" universe :)

Tune in tomorrow on this, here, blog, where I will interview horror author and real-life paranormal investigator Bob Freeman!! What a way to kick off the Halloween season!

Final Cover For "The Strange Man"...Again!

You may recall back in August when I posted my *ahem* "final" cover for "The Strange Man". Well, as it turns out, during Realms' sales meeting to potential buyers across the country--the cover proved too frightening! Naturally, when I was told, my first reaction was "awesome". But, the implications began to fall into place. If buyers think the cover is "too scary", then they feel that their readership will think it's "too scary" and, hence, won't buy it. Therefore, buyers won't buy it for their stores and risk losing the money. I always knew my cover was a bit different than most you see decorating your local Christian bookstore, but now that's working against us.

So, the fine folks at Realms have cooked up another final cover that they feel still conveys the "horror" of the book, while not scaring the CBA crowd. While this might sound like a bad idea, I'm actually really impressed with the new cover. To be honest, I think it captures the look of the Strange Man, himself, wonderfully.

But I'll let you judge for yourself.



There you have it. The new final cover :) Let's see if this one sticks :p And, a special note to everyone who's been supportive and has been flashing the old final cover all over the internets, feel free to notify your people of the change!

Something fun for Friday

Hey, everybody! As revealed in my latest "tell all" interview, "The Strange Man" began life as a sequel concept I pitched to Christian filmmaker Rich Christiano to his 40 minute movie "The Appointment". Though "The Coming Evil" has evolved far beyond that original pitch, the heart remains the same. And, as I'm one who likes to reflect on humble beginnings, I thought it'd be fun to show the trailer to Rich's original film "The Appointment".

Enjoy your weekend!

New Interview Up

Recently I was interviewed by Noah Arsenault on his blog, "Books I Recommend". I talk about the genesis of "The Strange Man" and also, for the first time, some hints at what's to come in "Enemies of the Cross"--the second book in "The Coming Evil Trilogy". Head over to his blog to check it out!

Thanks to Noah for giving me an opportunity to talk up "The Strange Man"!

http://noahsreads.blogspot.com/2010/09/greg-mitchell-interview.html

"The Strange Man" Available for Pre-Order

Stumbled upon this on Amazon yesterday: "The Strange Man", Book One of "The Coming Evil Trilogy" is now available for pre-order. The book hits shelves in February, but you can pre-order your copy now and save 20% off the cover price. Click the link to order your copy today!

http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Man-Coming-Evil-Book/dp/1616381949/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283736797&sr=1-2

UPDATE: This page was changed to reflect the final cover art. Now...buy the book already!

Cyberpunk just got Biblical.

Actually it got Biblical back in 2007 when Frank Creed released "Flashpoint", Book One of "The Underground", published by The Writers Cafe Press. But, because I'm a slow reader and an inconsistent blogger, I'm just now making the declaration. So there.

My best friend, Johnny, is a huge cyberpunk fan. Growing up, he told me all about William Gibson, we went to see Hackers and Johnny Mnemonic, and we played the RPG (that's "Role Playing Game", for you non-geeks) Shadowrun many a summer afternoon (I was an orc with bionic-enhanced senses...and lots of guns). Now, while I'm not a cyberpunk expert by any means, seeing anything cyberpunk takes me back to simpler times in my youth.

Back in 2007, when I first poked my head out of my writer's cave and began to notice other authors in the "Christian Speculative Fiction" world, Frank's was one of the first names I heard. And, to hear that he had written--what he described as--a "Biblical Cyberpunk" story, I immediately grinned, thinking back to my Shadowrun days.

I've gotten to know Frank a little bit over the years and, now that I've finally read "Flashpoint", I begged him to let me do an interview. The gift of Biblical Cyberpunk must be shared with the world. "Flashpoint" is a crazy, gun-toting, dystopian adventure--and it's fun! Never has the End of All Things been so snarky and carefree. It's like the Book of Revelation by way of Anime (again, "Japanese Animation" for the non-geeks in the audience) with heavy doses of futuristic pop slang--which can sometimes be distracting as we're in the head of the main character--cool weapons, technology, and real true blue heroes who manage to do the right thing, even when the odds are stacked against them--and they always are.

I had so many questions for Frank while reading "Flashpoint", and wanted to interview him after I read the first chapter. But, I buckled my enthusiasm and waited until I finished the thing. So, I'm finished. So, I interviewed. Frank was kind enough to take some time writing about the End Days to sit with me and talk "Flashpoint"!

GM: Hey, Frank! We're finally here! The interview to end all interviews! Okay, anyway... Let's start with the obvious. What's "Flashpoint" about?

FRANK CREED: Thanks, Greg, for this chance to talk about "Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground"! It is about having fun with Dave Williams in the year 2036. In Dave’s world, any who believe in the fundamental truth of a religious text are considered terrorists. In this thought-crime world, Dave and his sister, Jen, Bible believing Christians, are forced underground and take the street names Calamity Kid and e-girl.

As underground saints they have almost superhero powers from a process called "re-formation" that nudges their bodies a little closer to their spirits. Armed with high-tech toys the team must face down peacekeepers, gangers, One State Neros, and fallen angels in Chicago’s dark Post-Modern age of Transhumanism.

GM: I want to go back to the beginning. I can tell from reading this that this is obviously a labor of love for you. How long have you been developing this world of Flashpoint and the Underground?

FC: Over a lifetime. Newscasters indiscriminately using the term "Fundamentalist terrorists" in reference to Muslims bothered me way back in the late 1970s. Calamity Kid’s long coat and twin automatic pistols were inspired by the cartoonist character in one of the Freddy movies. But my first solid "Flashpoint" notes date back to 1992.

GM: Ah! I believe you are referring to A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child! Yes! Now you're speaking my language, brutha! That character was Mark, right? I loved that guy. That was my favorite part of the movie. He should've beat Freddy, too... Poor, poor Mark :(

Back to "Flashpoint", I was completely hooked when I saw the way you combined faith with tech. I thought it was one of the most ingenious ways to turn the whole “we fight not against flesh and blood” spiritual battle that Christians face, and bringing it into a very real and physical context—-but without losing the spiritual aspect of it. Did all that come about naturally, or was there a lot of trial-and-error involved in trying to find the right balance of faith and technology?

FC: Using lethal weapons is a battle against flesh and blood. Sending someone to hell, or even wounding them makes me think of Christ’s arrest in Gethsemane and healing the centurion’s ear after Peter sliced it off.

Using non-lethal weapons, especially when your enemy is playing for keeps, is something of which Christ himself might approve. The concept came to me early but different methods developed throughout the manuscript.

I do wish that modern police and security forces would use non-lethal methods rather than real bullets.

GM: Without getting too spoilery, one of the things that really impressed me was your villain. When he makes his dramatic appearance, he actually comes bearing a very well-thought out argument against Christianity. Some might consider it gutsy to, almost literally, play the Devil’s advocate in a Christian novel. Was this a conscious decision, or did you just get lucky?

FC: I used to debate on discussion boards and had wished that Greek style dialog was still an acceptable form of popular fiction. But it does make for a tedious read. Action movies, however, commonly have heroes and villain tossing witty verbal barbs at each other as they struggle. Meaningful jibes during a duel seemed like a good naturally flowing alternative.

That’s what I love about fiction; if you can find a way to make it acceptable to your reader, all rules are bendable. As I wrote the combat, the dialog came from the characters.

GM: I see on your website that you’ve got Join the Underground : The Role-Playing Game, an anthology, and a sequel in the works. What is it about this world that keeps drawing you back?

FC: You mentioned Join the Underground-—more hours went into this work than any other. The game allows Underground fans years of cheap entertainment by gaming in the setting-—with or without Calamity Kid as your sidekick. A gamer is only limited by their own imagination. RPG designer Mike Roop did a wonderful job on the project, and I hope it does as well as the fiction.

My favorite novel is "1984", and one of my purposes for The Underground series is a modern reminder of what Orwell has already done so well; a warning for what the immediate future may hold. The near future aspect of sci-fi’s cyberpunk sub-genre suits such fiction so well.

Another purpose is to make readers of the series ask themselves if they might have something in common with Christ’s contemporary Jews. They expected the Messiah to be a liberator who saved them from the Roman Empire. What if the Second Coming is not what we’re expecting?

GM: How far in advance have you planned this series? Do you have an ideal number of books that you’re aiming for-—a complete story arc in mind? Or perhaps you’re just writing as the mood strikes you?

FC: There is no ideal number of books, but I have solid notes on books three and four. Beyond that I leave things to His will. The books are spaced between 2036 and 2038, so plenty of fiction (of any length), could pop up anywhere along the timeline.

I guess the most honest answer, though, is that I have such fun in the setting and with these characters. Reviewers are shocked that a dystopia can be so upbeat.

GM: It really is! But I think that that's good--it shows that, even in the worst of scenarios, we can still find something to laugh about, a hero to cheer for, and the will to fight back against the depressing state of the world. I think that's an important lesson that we can learn this side of the Apocalypse, too. So, any hints at what's to come in Book Two of "The Underground" series?

FC: A favorite character from "Flashpoint" is Legacy, who disappears. In "War of Attrition: Book Two of The Underground" we just may learn of Legacy’s fate as Calamity Kid and the crew encounters the power of Mega-corporations. That’s all I’ll say! WoA will *finally* become available in a matter of weeks.

GM: Great! And now, for a very "writer question": What's next for Frank Creed?

FC: The finishing touches are being applied to The Underground anthology: a collection of short fiction by authors that may surprise readers. I love the concept of opening the setting and characters to other creative minds. There are some great tales in this book, all by members of the Lost Genre Guild. I’m hopeful that the title will be available for this Christmas’ shopping season.

Promoting these books and all Biblical speculative fiction of our Lost Genre will be a project in itself for the rest of the year.

GM: I hope it's available this Christmas, too! I've waited long enough! :p In the meantime, what kind of stories can we expect to see in the anthology?

FC: The anthology stretches the novels’ timeline a little, and most stories take place outside the Chicago Metroplex (that's where "Flashpoint" takes place)—-two are even set outside the USA. What remains the same? The cyberpunk toys and fun continue, and the literary quality of the fiction remains constant.

I’ve had a great time with this project and even got to co-author a few of the titles. Some of my own original short stories appear as well. I do believe fans of "The Underground" will be pleased. I am as thankful for them as I am for this interview opportunity. I owe you one, Greg!

GM: Yes, you do. And, remember, Frank. I always collect. Mwuahahaha!

Thanks to Frank Creed for stopping by and thanks to everyone for reading. Go buy the book already, will ya? Here's the trailer!



Buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Flashpoint-Book-One-Underground-Bk/dp/1934284017
Visit Frank at: http://www.frankcreed.com

"Weird" Interview with Michael Vance!

Back in 2007, I had just released the self-published version of "The Coming Evil" and, in the words of Old Ben Kenobi, I was beginning to take my first steps into a larger world. I joined the Lost Genre Guild, a haven for Christian sci-fi/fantasy/horror writers. It was during this time that I met Michael Vance and discovered his Light's End stories.

For years I thought I was the only "Christian Horror" writer in the world, but Michael had been working in this genre for decades. We started corresponding and I read some of his Light's End stories and, I tell you, they could have been found in the pages of the original Weird Tales. They were pulp, and classic, and very much the contemporary of the works of Lovecraft, Bradbury, and Wellman.

It's no wonder then, that when his Light's End stories finally got their due and were picked up by Airship 27, that they were packaged into a "braided novel" appropriately titled Weird Horror Tales.



The first volume was released in February of 2009, and since then, I've been wanting to do an interview with Michael. I am endlessly fascinated by the craft and care he's put into his Light's End mythology--one that no doubt rivals the Cthulhu Mythos in unnameable dread--but time is elusive. This week, however, he announced the upcoming release of the second volume of Weird Horror Tales, and I knew now was my chance to pick his brain.

Michael did me the honor of sitting down and discussing the books and the origins of his massive continuity.

GM: What's the story behind Weird Horror Tales? What's it all about?

MV: Light's End is a town without God, and the overarching theme is what that would actually look like if it were true. For me, that would be the ultimate horror.

GM: It's described as a "braided novel". For those who don't know, how is that different from an anthology?

MV: While each story stands on its own legs, so to speak, it is also interlinked to all of the other stories in the series by setting, overarching theme, town history, a few repeating characters, and style. Each story was also meant to be a chapter that progresses a larger story creating a novel. In this case, these stories were always meant to end up as a trilogy of novels. But each book can be read alone and enjoyed.

GM: Light's End has an incredible timeline. Exactly how many years of the town do you have mapped out?

MV: Approximately 400 years at this writing.

GM: How long have you been writing Light's End stories?

MV: I’ve been writing the prose stories for about twelve years. The first Light’s End comic book stories predate the prose short stories. They were written in the 1980s.

GM: Let's go back to the beginning--what's the genesis of your "love affair" with Light's End? How did all this start for you?

MV: Horror is my favorite genre. In years past, I wrote several eight page horror stories for comic books. I also wrote a few within the larger framework of a comic strip I did for five years called “Holiday Out”. In fact, I wrote “Holiday Out” while working for the newspaper in the town that serves as the template for Light's End. These stories directly and indirectly lead to the creation of my fictional town.

The first Light's End comics stories were "Where Bright Angel Feet Have Trod" (first published in a magazine), "In The Out Door" (magazine), "Wishful Thinking", and "The Zoo" (both first published within my “Holiday Out” comic strip). All have been rewritten as short stories as well.

The Maine setting for the town is an homage to horror writer H.P. Lovecraft's fiction, while the name of my fictional town just came to me in an unexplainable epiphany. I liked the sound of it and it also suggested the use of a lighthouse as an icon, so I used it in my second and then third story. The town's name not only hints at the end of light and the triumph of evil, but at the resolution of the entire series.

“The Fall Guy” was the first Light's End prose story. It was written in a week during a low point in my life when I had been fired from a newspaper and had no idea what direction my life would then take. It took ten years to sell it to a small, semi-pro magazine.

When I wrote it, I decided to make the town a major "character" and underlying continuity in what I envisioned as a series of stand-alone and interconnected short stories.

Although not named Light’s End, it is a real town; I lived there for twenty years, once in the 1950s as a little boy, and once in the mid 1970s-1980s as a young man. At the end of each novel is a Flickr address where you can see hundreds of images of the actual town which most readers tell me is a very nice touch.

(That address is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miklvance/)

GM: How many Light's End stories have you written?

MV: Counting the third novel I'm writing now, I've written twenty-nine stories set in Light's End.

GM: Weird Horror Tales is obviously a labor of love. What was your journey like to see this in print?

MV: It took ten years to get the first prose Light’s End short story published. It took another ten years to write the first book and find a publisher.

GM: How did your partnership with Airship 27 come about?

MV: I submitted to them as I had done dozens of other publishers. I originally knew nothing about Airship 27.

GM: Well, that certainly worked out for the best. Airship 27 has an impressive line-up of pulp style novels, so I think Weird Horror Tales is a perfect fit. Tell us about the art! That's some great art you have in these books! Who are the artists and how did they come to work on this project?

MV: Keith Birdsong did the cover for the first book. He is an incredible artists probably best know for his painted covers for many Star Trek novels, but he has done much more than just the covers for novels. The cover for the second novel, Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting, was done by Christophe Dessaigne, a journalist, scenarist for role playing games, and photographer from France. I found him on Flickr, an image ‘community’ on the web. His work is desolate, vast and dream-like featuring huge structures and visions, and has appeared in cover art books, on music CD covers, and in magazines including Advanced Creations and PSD Photoshop.

GM: This is more of a comment, than a question, but your stories are so classy. They are really poetic and old-fashioned—in a cool pulp way, not in an “out of touch with modern day” way. But the stories are also pretty shocking with the horror! Maybe I’m lulled into a sense of safety because you’re such a “gentleman” with prose that when the horror happens, it’s extra startling and gruesome. You’ve really found something, I think, that’s quietly horrifying. What are your influences? How did you find this voice that you have?

MV: Thank you for your very insightful comments on my style. I became a writer because of the influence of H. G. Wells. Over the years, my greatest influences now include William Faulkner, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Hitchcock, and the EC comic books published in the 1950s. The original version of The Twilight Zone on television had a big impact on me as a boy as well.

GM: I see in your stories a lot of repeated phrasing—it’s almost like a musical theme. It adds to the poetry of the prose and kind of gives the monstrous events depicted a sort of lyrical quality. Is that something that you’ve planned or just a happy accident?

MV: My use of repeated phrasing is intentional, and a touchstone of my style. It was directly influenced by repetition in music.

GM: I know that you are a professing Christian, as well, and while I wouldn’t say these were “Christian stories” in the traditional Christian bookseller sense, religion—both Christian and pagan—plays a huge role in the Light’s End mythology. I know that, in my own experience, people assume that writing from a “Christian worldview” just means I won’t have cussing or extreme violence or blatant sex or whatever—but I think you’ve tapped into the deeper things that a Christian worldview can bring to a story. It’s very subtle, but there are questions of faith and religion and the supernatural’s place in our everyday lives and how the beliefs of our ancestors shape our own reality. How has your faith affected your writing, or do you feel that it hasn’t?

MV: My faith has deeply influenced every aspect of my life, and, therefore, must be present in my writing for me to be true to myself. It was never my intention to write traditional horror stories, or even traditional short stories; I wanted my style, while steeped in the culture that has surrounded my life, and influenced by the writers that I have loved so much, to be my style, my voice, me. I knew that the style itself would not only limit my audience, but the number of editors and publishers who would accept it, but I had come to that time in my life where I wanted to write exactly what I wanted to write whether it sold or not.




GM: Winding down, now, when’s Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting slated to be loosed on the world?

MV: The second braided novel will be published in September or October of 2010.

GM: I'll definitely be looking for it! Alright, Michael Vance, any parting words of wisdom?

MV: Live life for the glory of God.

Thanks to Michael Vance for stopping by, and everybody be sure to check out Weird Horror Tales! If you're a fan of old school pulp horror, you won't be disappointed.

Go here to order your copy of the first book for the best price: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/weird-horror-tales/4321967