Release Day!

It's February 1st--The Strange Man is now in stores!



Run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore and purchase your copy today. And, if they don't have it, demand to know why. Cause a scene. Incite a riot in the streets!

If you prefer to do your shopping online, click over to Amazon--it's waiting there for you!

Finally, if you're on the fence about whether or not this book is for you, howabout a great review from TitleTrakk.com to lure you in?

Well, folks, what can I say about this day that I haven't already said a billion times before? I'm very grateful to God to have reached this point and realize I have many miles to go in my journey, but I think sometimes you gotta take a moment and savor the smaller victories along the way.

Thanks to all who have taken the journey with me thus far. I hope you'll stick around for the long haul and we'll gather more to our ranks. To victory!

"The Strange Man" Soundtrack

Music is an intregral part to my "process" as a writer. I plot scenes in my head while listening to music, I write to music--oftentimes putting a single song on repeat for hours until I've finished a certain segment--, and I also read to music (which I'm told is weird). As I've been writing The Strange Man for over ten years, I've built up quite an internal soundtrack, and today, as February 1st nears ever closer, I've selected the ones that stick out the most to me.

Please note that this is totally unofficial. These songs have not been approved nor reflect the opinions (or musical tastes) of the fine folks at Realms Fiction. This is something for fun. I've arranged the songs in order as they compliment the story, including "scene names" and page numbers to help you pinpoint where in the book they might occur. Listened as a whole, I belive the soundtrack will take you on the emotional journey of The Strange Man.

So go hunt them down on iTunes or whatever it is you kids listen to nowadays (can you believe I actually had some of these on CD? Remember those dinosaurs?) and enjoy.



1. "Silver" - The Pixies - PROLOGUE, page 1
2. "The Broken" - Coheed & Cambria - TITLE TRACK
3. "Blue Monday" - Orgy (cover) - RAVE SCENE, page 39
4. "Send Me An Angel" - Real Life - A NEW ARRIVAL, page 45
5. "Don't Fear the Reaper" - The Mutton Birds (cover) - FLEEING THE DEVIL, page 58
6. "Resurrection" (Hellraiser Theme) - Christopher Young - SUBMERGED AND EMERGING, page 61
7. "Flower Man" - Tonic - AN UNLIKELY HERO, page 65
8. "Hellbound" (Hellraiser: Hellbound Theme) - Christopher Young - DEAL WITH THE DEVIL, page 148
9. "Running Up That Hill" - Placebo (cover) - THE FOOL WISES UP, page 168
10. "Maybe Baby" - Buddy Holly and the Crickets - ONE NIGHT AT SMOKEY'S, page 201
11. "Freedom Rock" - Frank Black - GREMLIN NIGHT, page 206
12. "Enjoy the Silence" - Anberlin (cover) - RAVE SCENE AGAIN, page 247
13. "Ache" - James Carrington - ALL FOR ME, page 255
14. "Silver" - The Pixies (reprise) - THE BATTLE IS ONLY BEGINNING, page 265
15. "Horror Show" - Third Eye Blind - END CREDITS

Guest Blog at Cloud Ten Pictures

"Do we really have power over the devil?"

That's the question I pose over at Cloud Ten Pictures' blog today.

Cloud Ten Pictures--producers of the popular Left Behind movies based on the mega-hit book series (not to mention my boss for Apocalypse V)--were gracious enough to let me come over and write up my thoughts on spiritual warfare in light of The Strange Man's impending release. Head over there and show some love.

Debut of the Feature Trailer for "The Strange Man"!

Big day, folks! Tomorrow marks the one-week countdown to the release of The Strange Man! Over a decade of struggle comes to a close--and a fresh beginning. To help get you pumped for February 1st, Realms has released the brand new feature trailer for The Strange Man.



Cast
Millie Walker--Meredythe Edwards
Dras Weldon--Jeff Mitchell
Rosalyn Myers--Meghan Mitchell
The Strange Man--Me, yo!

Crew
Music--Dan J. Schulte
Killer Strange Man art--Thomas Mason
Nifty Realms animated logo--Conlan Brown
Written, shot, and chopped--Me, again, Chief.

Read Bob Freeman's "The Cabin in the Woods" Free!

Real-life occult detective and horror author Bob Freeman is a friend 'round these parts. Last year he saw the publication of his occult detective novel Descendant--a "braided novel" composed of inter-connected short stories. Like most of Bob's work, Descendant takes place in his epic Liber Monstrorum magnum opus.


His publisher, Belfire Press, have posted the first story featured in Descendant--"The Cabin in the Woods"--available to read for free on their site. This is a perfect introduction into the madness that is Bob Freeman. In this story, you will meet Federal Agents and full-time spook hunters Selina Wolfe and Martin Crowe--the titular characters of Descendant. As a special treat (well, to me, anyway :p), this is also the story that introduces that most famed and ill-fated Nightstalker...Greg Mitchell! Read of his gruesome demise, get yourself hooked on this uber-cool monster mythology, then order your own copy of Descendant today. I mean, seriously people, what are you waiting for? Are you allergic to awesome or something?

Read my exclusive interview with Bob right here!

Dan J. Schulte's "Unit Revelation" Now Available

I'm forever indebted to composer Dan J. Schulte. I first heard Dan's work on the Halloween Returns to Haddonfield CD that accompanied the Halloween 25th Anniversary Convention. I listened to it on the flight home and loved it. When it came time to do my first trailer for The Coming Evil, I called Dan up and asked if he'd contribute the score. He did, and I was really pleased. He's also written a new score for the brand new trailer of The Strange Man, set to debut in a couple weeks.

Dan is now adding "writer" to his list of duties, having just released his first novel Unit Revelation straight to the Amazon Kindle. Dan's a do-it-yourself kind of guy, having produced a number of awesome CDs that I've used as background writing music. Unit Revelation is a story close to Dan's heart, I know, as we've talked about it over the years. Here's what Dan had to say about it on his site:

"This tale began in 1984 when I sat down with two friends of mine and we began to draw science fiction super heroes, villains, robots and mutants warring against each other. Unable to get the themes and characters out of my head I continued to evolve a story throughout the years inspired by the dozens of pages of art we had done. Originally produced in the early 90's as 'Revelation Club' (an ashcan comic of which I had eventually done over 70 pages of artwork) the story and art hibernated until I finally decided to transfer the story from graphic novel to manuscript in 2010. Technically 26 years in the making, the Unit Revelation novel finally makes it's debut in January 2011."

I wish Dan all the best with his story. Scroll below to see the cover art, read the synopsis, and click the handy link to order your own copy.



About the book: In 1987 Jake Dust, along with 299 other scientists and specialists, took the offer of a lifetime: a five year contract living and working on a robotically constructed, planet-sized space station called Project Escape. What began as a peaceful operation designed to preserve the human race in the event of nuclear war became a war-ravaged hell of robotic devastation, genetic mutation and technological darkness. Defeated and out of options, the last of the specialists send Jake Dust back to earth in a desperate search for help to reclaim the Project from its tyrannical leaders. When Dust returns to earth in the new millennium he finds that Project Escape is little more than an ‘urban legend’ and all evidence of its existence has been covered up. Ignored and ridiculed for his surreal claims of Project Escape’s desperate reality and history, the janitor turned war hero descends into alcoholism and defeat until Unit Revelation, a small band of extremely eclectic and unlikely heroes, arrive from Project Escape and reluctantly revitalize Dust’s cause to return to the war-torn Project and end the abominations thriving there once and for all.

Buy the book at Amazon.

Interview with Jo Beth Mitchell: Photographer

Around here, The Coming Evil is a family affair--mostly because I've been writing this since before I was married and had kids. After Realms finished designing their killer cover for The Strange Man, it fell to me to provide an author photo. Seeing as how I had only a weekend to get it, I was hard pressed to find someone with the skill and eye for detail I needed to perfectly capture my likeness. I mean, this was an important picture. If you can't trust my grinning mug, why buy my book?

I turned to my loving and supportive wife, Meghan. She's been by my side nearly every step of the way, offering encouragement, love, and--when needed--brutal honesty. The Strange Man wouldn't exist without her, so I trusted her to do the honors of taking my author photo.

Well, as it turns out, as caring, loving, and supportive as Meghan is, she's not so great behind the camera.

After that failed, I sought out our last hope.



Our daughter, Jo Beth Mitchell.

Time and again, Jo has impressed us with her picture-taking abilities, and we both knew we had found the expert we needed. Here's the picture Jo took:



Getting my advance copy of The Strange Man today, I'm proud to see my little girl's first professional photo (albeit cropped and re-sized to fit the format's needs) featured on my book. In honor of this event, Jo Beth was gracious enough to spare me a few minutes of her time for this exclusive interview!

Greg Mitchell: How old are you now, Jo?

Jo Beth Mitchell: Four.

GM: You recently started pre-school. Are you enjoying that?

JM: *nods*

GM: What's your favorite part?

JM: Uh, when we go out for recess.

GM: You’re also an aspiring writer, with your short fiction "The Princess and the Ant" and "The Mermaid" (both unpublished) under your belt. Any new ideas on the horizon?

JM: Well...hm...well...um yes.

GM: What are they?

JM: Well, I don’t have the ideas for them, but I do know which ones I want.

GM: Okay! You took a really good picture for my book. Do you like taking pictures?

JM: Yes.

GM: Jo, what are your dreams for the future?

JM: Being a princess.

GM: Do you like having me for a daddy?

JM: Of course I do! *hugs*

GM: What’s the best thing about having me for a daddy?

JM: Wrestling! *jumps up and down*

GM: One last question: If Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake had a wrestling match, who do you think would win?

JM: Rainbow Brite.

GM: I agree.

Special thanks to Jo Beth for taking the time to sit down with us. You can head over to Amazon and purchase a copy of her picture for $13.99--and get The Strange Man attached to it for FREE! How can you beat that offer!