To celebrate the release of my new YA Horror book, Skulls, I’m offering folks the opportunity to win a signed/personalized copy of the trade paperback in the hopes of spreading the word. To sweeten the deal, I’ll even throw in a $20 gift card from Amazon.com.
Now for the hoops: All you have to do is post a comment on my blog that gives your opinion of my writing. What you write is up to you, good, bad, or indifferent, makes no matter to me. All I ask is that you don’t make it x-rated so we don’t offend folks visiting the blog. (All posts must relate to my writing in some general way, and any posts that fall outside of human decency will be deleted and discounted.)
For those of you who haven’t read any of my work, I have a couple of short stories posted on my page that you can take a look at for absolutely nothing. Here are direct links to them: Whisper (A story about a serial killer) and Grave Times (A humorous post-apocalyptic, zombie tale)
On May 3, right after I return from my trip to World Horror Con, I will randomly select a person from the collective comments. That person will win the signed copy and the gift card. I will also choose a couple of random folks to whom I will give eBook copies of Skulls and Armageddon Bound. And if there are any comments I find truly amusing, I’ll probably reward those folks too.
I’ll post the names of the winners on the 3rd and ask that they get in touch with me so we can work out the details. (tim [at] tmarquitz [dot] com)
Thanks for checking out my work. Good luck.
Your writing seems very twisted and i wouldn’t mind giving your book a try!
Thanks, Doug.
I read “Grave Times”(the title says it all!! ) and I really enjoyed your descriptions of the rotting corpses and their hanging body parts! LOL
It was the first zombie story I read with ACTUAL meaning behind it. Good job!
The end was almost… comforting. *-*
kah_cherub at hotmail dot com
Thank you, Karla. I don’t intentionally write with a message, but this one seems to have seeped into the story. Glad you enjoyed it.
I enjoy your work! I will say that I didn’t like how in Whisper the appostrafy (sp?) was replaced with a square, it was a bit frustrating but nontheless great work man, jeep it up!
That’s actually an issue with the character decoder in your web browser that reads the apostrophes that way. Stupid technology.
Thanks for the read.
I’m glad to see you branching out into YA horror. Your writing is very accessible, and the transition to writing for a younger audience will hopefully work for you! I have a few of your Damnation Books e-releases (I’m always there on the first day when they post them). Fun stuff!
Thanks, Robert. Glad you like my work. I’ll keep at it.
Tim, I myself am a huge fan of dark stories that make chills run up and down spines and make the hair on your neck stand on end. Of course that great dark story also has to have epic battles where death is a touch away. I think your writing is great, gripping and very unique. I have to say unique because despite the fact that you admire certain writing, I feel that your art is your own. Sweet! Hope I win!
Why thank you. I’m definitely trying to go my own road. We’ll see how it works.
I’m not really into horror, but I do like your writing.
Thanks.
I read ‘Grave Times’, and while I think you’ve got beautiful descriptions, I really wasn’t expecting the ending. I actually was a little bummed. I tend to like my serial killers to get away, though.
The highlight for me were the phrases you use, though, descriptions of body types, and personalities, that added a lot to what could have been sort of the typical descriptions
Good luck with Skulls!
Thanks, Shoshana.
Sorry, I read Whispers. It’s way, way too late here, and I have way too many tabs open right now, sorry!
Tim, I read both stories and enjoyed both–Whispers was so creepy I was glad I read it during the daytime. I gotta say I like Grave Times best. I love humor and horror together, delicious! And of course, I love dead things and shiny objects–only thing missing for me from the story was the shiny objects–hm, maybe the shovel counts?
Thank you, Conda. I’ll see what I can do about the shiny objects on the next one.
Tim, I was fortunate enough to pick up an e-copy of Skulls during Variable Pricing over at the Damnation Books website. If this was any indication of the quality and style of your work, I’ll be happy to pay full price going forward. Believe me when I say I’m not squeemish. But I actually squirmed in my chair as I was reading your description of Terrance’s demise in Skulls. I found the work to be imaginative and original as well as disturbing. Your treatment of the tragic relationship between Jacob and his Father became vivid in my mind’s eye. I’ve been reading a number of stories by younger writers lately and this was, by far, one of the better efforts. My only negative comment would be that you might want to have a better proof-reader going forward. I noticed two grammatical errors that word processors would have trouble picking up on. When Jenks and Jacob were getting out of the truck, it read “Jenks slide” out of the truck instead of “Jenks slid” and earlier when Jacob was in school there was a line “bags under his eyes and cuts all over his face wasn’t exactly conspicuous.” Actually that might make him “conspicuous.” So, I’m thinking “inconspicuous” is the better choice there. But really, that’s jist nitpicking. Loved the story and look forward to more.
Thanks, Frank. While Skulls was written a little differently, more psychologically where I normally write a bit more viscerally, it’s pretty representative of my current style. As for the mistakes in the book, I’m sorry they slipped past. Skulls was a little rushed in release but I can only blame myself for the mistakes. Inconspicuous should have been what was written. just my fingers missing keys and my brain not catching it.
As for your comment regarding you reading younger authors lately, I’ll take it that you haven’t checked out my web page yet or I’m misunderstanding the comment.
I’m hardly young, but I’ll take it as a compliment.
If you’d like to see some samples of my other books, you can go to http://tmarquitz.com and check out the books section. Thanks again for picking up Skulls and for the great feedback.
Thanks for the Amazon review, Frank.
I read “Whisper,” which may or may not be the first piece of your work I have read. I thought it very interesting. I think it would have been better, if you wouldn’t have wasted so much time trying to metaphorically explain every emotion, and been able to just let us know how the character felt without having to compare it to something else.
Of course, I’m no expert. I know it made me want to read more of your work, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
The only horror story I ever wrote was only published for Amtgard. When I read it now, I cringe with every sentence.
Good luck with your writing, I think I’ll be reading more.
OH, by the way, I wanted the free one.
Whisper was written a long time ago, and it’s far from my best work.
It was kind of an evolution piece for me. Thanks for the feedback, though. I always need more.
Its great to hear you have another book out. I am still hoping you will get someone to publish the full Armageddon Bound Series. Your writing has a compelling aspect that I truly enjoy.
Demon Squad – Armageddon Bound. The characters are easy to relate to. If you were a little subtle on the sexual perversion you might attract a larger audience.
Whisper – Awesome retribution!
Grave Times – I am not fond of zombie stories, to me surprise, I really enjoyed it.
Hey, Vivian. The sequel to Armageddon Bound will actually be released June 1st. The sexual commentary is still there, but less pronounced. It’s a part of the character, but as he endures, he matures…ever so slightly.
Thanks for the kind words.
I enjoyed “Whisper”–love the Victorian feel.
Flo
Thanks, Flo.