Hello again!

I know, I know. I *say* that I’m going to be better about blogging, but then months fly by, right?
I have a bit of an excuse this time. The period of time between January and, oh, about two weeks ago was filled mostly with recurring bouts of flu, anxiety attacks, and general unpleasantness.
With that being over now, I’m a much happier (and healthier) person.
And while I am SUPER behind on my writing, I’m now going to be hitting it pretty much full-time so I plan to be able to get caught up soon.

What this means for you, dear readers, is that Jianghu – the 3rd Randall Lee mystery – will likely be available in mid-summer rather than late spring. Also, fear not Nephilim Codex fans! Down – Canto II – is the absolute next thing on my list. I feel bad about pushing it back, but I really felt like I needed to finish out this first semi-trilogy in the Randall Lee stories, especially since some readers are not especially happy with me after the cliffhanger ending of Pressure Point…
For any of the Star Wars fans out there, think of Pressure Point as my Empire Strikes Back. As Dante noted in Kevin Smith’s brilliant Clerks, “Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader’s his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that’s what life is, a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets.”
Jianghu is conspicuously missing muppets, but otherwise the comparison is a pretty good one, I think. Randall will (hopefully) make it back up into the light, but he’s got to go all the way through the darkness to get there. That being said, I’m trying to fit in as much humor and lightheartedness as is appropriate for a book about a guy hunting a child killer. There are quite a few funny moments so far (and I plan on sharing a bit of that with my newsletter members, so send me an email to join if you haven’t already! charlescolyott@gmail.com)

Anyway, I could write about how awesome the book is going to be…
Or I could work on making the book awesome.

I think some of you will appreciate if I do the latter.

Who IS this Randall Lee I keep hearing about..?

Find out for yourself! For FREE this weekend!

4.7/5 Star rating, with 45 reviews.

“Charles Colyott is a fresh and bold new voice on the mystery scene. Just when you think it has all been done before, here comes Randall Lee.”
–Scott Nicholson, author of Liquid Fear

“Charles Colyott’s novel, CHANGES, is a stunner. A thrill-ride from start to finish that will stay with you long after you’ve finished the last page. The characters are unique in detective lore, the situations are mesmerizing and together they draw the reader into a world quite unlike anything previously encountered. Read this book to learn, laugh, and fall in love with a brilliant young writer’s work.”

–Lisa Mannetti, two-time Bram stoker nominee and winner, The Gentling Box.

“With slick action reminiscent of Barry Eisler, and witty dialogue in the league of Jeff Strand, Charles Colyott creates a thriller all his own. The compulsively readable prose of CHANGES will keep you reading long into the night, and when you’re through, you’ll be hoping for another thriller starring the sometimes troubled acupuncturist/Tai Chi Chuan expert, Randall Lee.”

—-Glen Krisch, author of Brother’s Keeper, Loss, Where Darkness Dwells, and The Nightmare Within

When a young woman is found murdered in a seedy massage parlor near his neighborhood, the police recruit Randall Lee – an American acupuncturist and Tai Chi master — as a translator and expert in Chinese culture, to assist in the investigation. Lee discovers that the murderer is an expert in a forbidden Chinese martial art – the dark mirror to his own healing practices – and joins in the hunt for the killer to escape his own inner demons and save the woman he loves.

Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Changes-Randall-Lee-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00771XOLC/

Grab a copy and feel free to share this link with all of your friends!!!

My Favorite Books of 2012

Well, it’s that time again… Time to get bombarded with everyone’s top whatever lists. And since you’re already getting bombarded with them, why not have one more, eh?

First off, here’s the thing… I cheat. Some of these books are not from 2012, but that’s when I read them, so there.

1. My favorite book of the year was probably Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One. 80’s stuff, D&D, Atari games…It’s basically Willy Wonka meets The Matrix, and I mean that in the best possible way.
2. Jeff Strand’s Lost Homicidal Maniac (Answers to “Shirley”), the latest in his Andrew Mayhem series. If you haven’t read these, ignore the rest of this list and go buy them all right now. Most horror comedy is hokey; not so with Strand. Mayhem’s adventures will have you giggling and cringing (frequently simultaneously). Check ‘em out. Seriously.
3. The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick is a good pairing with Ready Player One, actually. Are you a nerd? I am. Wanna learn how to channel that nerdery into something positive and productive? Booya. Buy this book. Simple as that.
4. Where Darkness Dwells by Glen Krisch. I’m not going to say too much about this one… It’s more fun if you just go into it blind.  A Great Depression horror story that reads like a cross between Ray Bradbury and Clive Barker… Give it a try, you won’t be sorry.
5. Carole Lanham’s collection, The Whisper Jar. I’m extremely partial to the story, The Good Part, which may give you a case of the jibblies for the rest of your life.

So those are the tippy top ones. I read lots of other good stuff, too, like King’s 11/22/63 and Brian K. Vaughan’s Y the Last Man. I also finally gave in to peer pressure and started on the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher (and they’re great fun, btw).

If you like this sort of stuff, add me on Goodreads here: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1125254.Charles_Colyott

What were some of your favorites this year?

I neglected to mention…

…that I’ve released a short e-chapbook containing 3 of my horror stories for the measly price of just 99 cents.

Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Entropy-Machine-ebook/dp/B00ACX6D W4/

And let me know what you think! This is all a sort of experiment, really, so I’d love to hear from you.

The Next Big Thing

I was tagged by Jochem Vandersteen to be part of The Next Big Thing. Each author tags 5 other authors to answer 10 questions. Here are mine:

1. What is the working title of your next book?

I’m simultaneously working on Down – Canto II of The Nephilim Codex, Jianghu (the 3rd Randall Lee mystery), and a collaboration with Glen Krisch called Attrition.
(Phew!)

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

The Nephilim Codex series came from being a teen geek in the 90’s.

Jianghu was an idea I had about bringing together my favorite recurring character from some of my horror stories with my detective character, Randall Lee. People who have kept up with Lee’s adventures (through Changes and Pressure Point) know that he has a bit of a dark side. Jianghu (which roughly translates to something like ‘Underworld’) is very much about that darkness. We’ll still see the funny, smart-ass side to Randall, but this book essentially takes him straight into the heart of hell… it’s a real test of his character, and I’m excited to see what readers think of it.

Attrition was Glen’s baby. I don’t want to say too much… except to say that we take a pretty conventional literary “monster” and do some pretty freaky things with it.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

The Nephilim Codex books are a bit tough to categorize. Let’s say Dark Fantasy…for comic geeks, music nerds, and awkward goth kids. Clearly, it’s the next big thing.

The Randall Lee books are mystery, with a bit of humor, romance, and action.

Attrition is definitely horror.
4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I really have no idea who I’d pick for The Nephilim Codex books…

For the Randall Lee books, I can’t shake the image of Johnny Depp as Randall and Mindless Self Indulgence’s bassist, Lindsey Way, as Tracy.
And… In the kind of magical, wish-fulfilling universe that would a) get my books made into films and b) be able to land someone like Johnny Depp, I would happily sit through the hours of makeup it would take in order to play the 88 year old Tai Chi master Chen Xing.

 5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

To rescue a kidnapped child, Randall Lee enlists the aid of an unlikely group of heroes to track his oldest adversary through a horrific criminal underworld.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Down and Jianghu will be self-published. I’m not sure what the plans are yet for Attrition.
7. How long did it take you to write a first draft of the manuscript?

Still working on them! Pressure Point – my last book – took about 3 months, though.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

For the sake of time, I’ll just use Jianghu here…

The Spencer books by Robert B. Parker…with action choreography by Yuen Woo Ping.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

All of my books are inspired by little visual flashes. Like a single panel from a comic book, I get a glimpse of something… and my need to figure out what it was drives me to write.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
Fans of the Randall Lee series know that Randall uses Tai Chi the way it was originally meant to be used: as an effective, sometimes deadly, martial art. What you’ll see in Jianghu, though, is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. The things Randall has to face in this book make him question everything he knows, everything he is. And to fight these people, all restraint and mercy sort of have to go bye bye.
It’s going to be a wild ride.

Next week, be sure to check out these fine writers:

Lisa Mannetti
John Palisano
Glen Krisch
Darcia Helle
Robert Gray

I got two turntables and a microphone… minus… the, uh, two… turntables…

…And I swear I’ll get better about posting to this more frequently.

But I have not been lazing around, playing Xbox 360.

In fact, I am currently recording the audio version of Changes for Cherry Hill Publishing. It’s been quite a learning experience so far!

Since I have the week off, I’m hoping to get a lot of things accomplished, including finishing up my teen romantic comedy, I’m the One, and working on my collaboration with Glen Krisch (If you haven’t read him, you should. I just finished Where Darkness Dwells, and it’s my new favorite).

I should also mention – since I’ve neglected to update in so long – that the second Randall Lee mystery – Pressure Point – is available and (So far) has been well-received by readers.

Anyway, it’s time to get back to the recording…

Happy Thanksgiving, all, and – as always – thanks for reading!

The exhaustion. It burns.

Phew.

We spent the weekend in Gettysburg, PA for the Horrorfind Weekend convention. I just got back into town around midnight on Monday night.

This time my wife and I decided to take both of the kids (AND her mom, to help watch the kids), which added a different level of stress to what is already a fairly whirlwind kind of trip.

But all went well.

Mostly.

My reading was Friday night, and we had just managed to roll into town about three hours before my scheduled time slot, so there was no time for a nap or anything. I read “Comfort,” my story in the Zippered Flesh anthology.

I really thought I sucked pretty bad, but everyone told me that they liked it.

My reading partner was the very cool James Newman. If you like horror, definitely check out his homage to 80’s horror, The Wicked (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00838YGVU/)

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with old friends, meeting new friends, and, of course, introducing the kids to the magical world of horror-geek culture.

Lil Anya met her first world-destroying battle mage.

The kids with the costume contest winner.

My 3 year old, rockin’ her Dr. Who shirt. She is weirdly obsessed with this episode…

Devil bears. They bought devil bears.

p.s. Pressure Point is coming. I swear it. My cover artist is hard at work and expects to be done around the 15th of September.