PJFriel

    Stop #4 on the Death Sparkles Blog Tour – Murder & Mayhem in Nine Voices!


In case some of you were unaware, I made my publishing debut on October 12th.  I am one of nine authors who wrote stories for the anthology, DEATH SPARKLES.  This anthology centers on a prompt sentence – "The diamond necklace dangled from the dead woman's hand."  Being associated with such talented authors who each have such wonderful, distinct voices is truly an honor.
As an artist, I have been a part of the "support team," I guess you would call it, of several authors.  I offer my talents as a graphic designer to publishing companies and self-publishing authors in the form of book covers and marketing materials.  For DEATH SPARKLES, I was both support and author.  

It has been an eye-opening experience.  

My inbox has exploded with emails about editing, galley proofs (that last chance copy of your story to catch anything wrong before the book goes to print), cover issues, publishing formats, marketing materials, advertising and blog tours.  It's been wildly chaotic, but magnificent.  The energy generated by nine authors all focused on a single endeavor could power a starship.  I feel like I'm standing on the bridge of the Enterprise, looking at George Takei saying, "Warp factor 5, Mr. Sulu!"

Awesome.  

Knowing all that, you'll understand why I think the following picture is so funny.  

I received it from my friend and fellow contributing author of DEATH SPARKLES, Nina Benneton.  Nina had been on a trip with her family to Madame Tussauds, the famous wax museum in Hollywood.  While there, her husband came up with the idea of putting her book, COMPULSIVELY MR. DARCY, on the various figures and taking a picture.  

Hilarity friggin' ensued.  

Nina sent me pictures with subject lines like "Forest says read Compulsively Mr. Darcy" and "Robin likes the book."  At first I thought she had used Photoshop on pictures of the actors to put her book with them.  (I'm an artist!  What else was I supposed to think?!)  THEN she told me what she had actually done.  Reference the afore mentioned hilarity.  When she told me that she had gotten a picture of William Shatner's figure with her book, I begged for a copy.  I'm a huge Star Trek fan and I loved Nina's contemporary take on PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, so that was one photo I had to have.  Nina's subject line for that picture?  "Beam me up with Mr. OCD Darcy."

One ticket to Madame Tussauds?  $20.  William Shatner's wax figure recommending COMPULSIVELY MR. DARCY?  Priceless.

So now that we know that the stars are all recommending Nina's book, I'd like to ask you a question, dear audience.  What actor, actress, singer or author recommendation would inspire you to instantly purchase a book?  I have a book to sell, after all, and I want to know whose recommendation will give me the most bang for my buck.  *wink*

You can purchase a copy of DEATH SPARKLES at Amazon www.amazon.com/dp/B009OX9V2W/r…  and Smashwords www.smashwords.com/books/view/…  

Coming soon to iBooks and Barnes & Noble!

It's reasonably priced (only $1.99!) and the proceeds are marked for donation to a literary charity.  Help us help them.

-PJ

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Excerpt from my story, THE NEEDING:

The diamond necklace dangled from the dead woman's hand.  Or had it? The woman's hand was empty now. Where had the necklace gone? Moments earlier, her hand had been clenching it, but now there was only blood, gathering from her slit wrist.  

"Detective, are you OK?" a man said behind her.

She looked around. Detective? Who was he speaking to?  There was no one else in the bedroom. She was alone with a dead woman. She turned and faced the man, who was dressed in a police uniform. "Are you talking to me?"

"Um. You're the only other person in here, ma'am. You were first on scene and asked us to leave you alone with the...with her almost an hour ago," the young officer said, giving her a confused look. "The CSI team would like to come in now."

She glanced down at her belt and saw a shiny badge clipped there, felt the weight of a gun hanging at her side. Her eyes went out of focus and she sucked in deep breath. I'm a detective? She scrambled for some logical explanation as to why her mind was a complete blank, but her thoughts were a fog, wispy and formless.  She decided to bluff her way through it and pasted a smile on her face, nodding.  "I'm fine. I was just thinking."
"Are you sure? You're looking a little pale." He stepped closer to her.  

She held up a hand. "No, really. I'm fine. I'm done here.  You can take her away...or whatever." She brushed by the officer, praying that he didn't try to stop her. What the hell is going on? Where am I? Who am I?

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Next up on the DEATH SPARKLES blog tour is Nina Benneton!  Nina interviewed yours truly about my story, THE NEEDING, and about my process as an artist.  I was stunned to discover that I actually DO have processes.  Wow!  View the interview here - www.ninabenneton.com/37-death-…

KT Wagner, author of the short story SHINY THINGS, also posted about our Anthology.   - northernlightsgothic.com/blog

Also, please check out the 3rd stop on the DEATH SPARKLES blog tour--Devon Ellington's post about how her story, SEA DIAMOND, took form. - biblioparadise.wordpress.com/