Horror Writer's Association Member

Horror Writer's Association Member
Horror Writer's Association Member

Sunday, April 17, 2016

SHADOWFALL IS HERE!

Finally! After almost two years of trying to get my first book out, SHADOWFALL is now available in kindle/ebook and paperback formats!



You can get it through Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Shadowfall-Greg-McWhorter-ebook/dp/B01DPTUIV8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1460909059&sr=8-4&keywords=shadowfall

SHADOWFALL is a pulp-style horror-adventure story. It can be read by all-ages and features an eye-popping cover by legendary Mexican pulp artist, Jorge Avina! Here is a blurb about it from the back cover: The place is London. The time is now. Ghost-like apparitions start materializing late at night and start to kill. The Greater London Investigators of the Paranormal investigate just as the bodies begin to pile up and discover a sinister attack plan left over from World War II. Can they stop a supernatural evil that originates from ancient times? Get ready to run...or die!

I don't want to give away too much of the story here, but I ask you to take a chance and read it for yourself. If you have Amazon Prime, you can download it for FREE.

Signings: I will be signing copies of the paperback version and the poster of the front cover at the following places:

April 23 @ Norman F. Feldheym Central Library in San Bernardino, CA
May 7th @ Player's Comics in Moreno Valley, CA
May 15th @ StokerCon in Las Vegas, NV at 11AM (half-hour only)
More to come! Check back here for updates.

Fun Facts:

#1) I based a lot of the names, places, and ideas on real historical fact for extra realism. I enjoyed all of the research that led me toward completing this book.

#2) The way I found my cover artist, Jorge Avina, makes for a great story. I actually purchased a piece of original cover artwork that he had done for a Mexican horror pulp off eBay. I got the piece in the mail and searched for him using Google until I found the right 'Jorge Avina' and asked him if he would be interested in doing my cover. We agreed on a price and within two weeks he had the whole cover finished and shipped to me! During our emails back and forth it turned out that the piece of artwork I purchased from him was never returned to him from the publisher that was going to use it; so it had been sold illegally. I contacted the eBay dealer (who lives in Mexico like Jorge) and they said they had purchased three pieces of his artwork from a guy who knew Jorge! Luckily the dealer was very nice and contacted Jorge and returned the other two pieces back to him in-person. I offered to compensate Jorge for the one I had purchased off eBay, or return it, but he insisted I keep it as all had worked out so well. I was now a paying client and the other two lost pieces were now returned. It never ceases to amaze me how serendipity can play a role in life. Here are Jorge's original sketches for the cover based on my ideas:



Although my book is the first piece of Jorge's printed in the U.S. for U.S. consumption, he is willing to work with anyone around the world and he is a great guy and fast artist. Here is the link to his website for his info and contact: http://www.jorgeavinailustrador.com/#!formulario-y-mapa/cwrv

#3) Another interesting thing happened as I was putting my book together. I met a cool guy at my work that is a computer graphics wizard named Jonathan Kittleson. Jon is a young guy with cool tastes and really knows his layout and design. We talked and I asked him if he would help me out with the cover for my book. He agreed and did a wonderful job creating text for the cover and laying out the front, back, and spine making everything ready for the printer. He read my mind and even blew up a portion of Jorge's artwork for the back cover. Here is Jon's complete layout:



Jon was also able to print posters of the cover for me at a fantastic price! These are the posters that I will take to signings and they look mind-blowing!

#4) Lastly, before I found Jorge Avina, I had tried several other artists. One artist did some sketches for me, but none of them were exactly what I was looking for and all of sudden I quit hearing from that artist even though I had offered to pay them! I tried contacting other artists who had astronomical prices. I even found the guy who did all of the Walking Dead artwork for AMC and he offered me a discount as he liked my subject matter, but I really could not afford him either. I found a local emerging student artist, Veronika Gorchkova, at my local comic book shop and offered to pay her if she could deliver a good painting of what I wanted. Although her painting was good, Jorge's art fit my story much better and I felt so bad that I paid her anyway for her time and effort. Here is her piece that almost became the cover:



Although Veronika's piece did not get used, I wish her all the best in furthering her art career!

Personal thoughts: I am thrilled to finally get this out. I had a lot of rejections from larger publishers. Some of them flat-out didn't want it as I have no big 'name' recognition or I wasn't in their clique (at least that is the impression I felt from many of them). One larger publisher said I made it into their last round of picks from out of their large pile of stories, but in the end they passed.

I finally went to someone I have worked with over the years that I trust to be a good person and do their best to meet my demands and that was James Ward Kirk and his imprint JWK Fiction. James has always been open to encouraging new writing talent and does not discriminate. If your story is good, that is all he cares about. So, I handed him my story and all the artwork and said "Go for it!" and now it is out. I will be publicizing the heck out of my book over the next year and James and his publishing company will reap the benefits of my efforts. Thanks again James!

Lastly, I would like to give a shout out to the Riverside Writers Group that read through each chapter of my book as I was writing it. They are very nice people and gave me some great ideas for edits; James, David, Nancy, Gene, Kat, Danielle, Lucio, Don, and others. I thank you all!

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Long Time No See

Hey everybody! I have not written a new blog in quite a while so I need to catch you up on a lot of cool happenings. First of all, I have had some personal issues that have caused me to become very lax about keeping up with my blog. I also understand that many people do not need to know what is happening with me on a month to month basis, so I plan on updating this blog quarterly from now on, with exceptions as I feel necessary. Now to the horror at hand...

I have been featured in a couple of anthologies that I want to mention. First of all, Jennifer Miller should be commended highly for her on-going yearly anthology; Ladies and Gentlemen of Horror.



I missed out on being in the 2014 edition, but Jennifer remembered me when it came time to do the 2015 edition and I am thrilled to be included in such a fine book. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. It would be awesome if you bought a copy for that reason alone. You actually have several buying options with this anthology.

You can buy just the "Ladies" stories:
http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Horror-2015-Amanda-Spedding/dp/1517511356/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460066450&sr=1-1&keywords=ladies+of+horror+2015

Or you can buy just the "Gentlemen's" stories:
http://www.amazon.com/Gentlemen-Horror-2015-Greg-McWhorter/dp/151751147X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460066529&sr=1-1&keywords=gentlemen+of+horror+2015

Or you can buy the mega-edition with both:
http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Gentlemen-Horror-2015-McWhorter/dp/1517511550/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460066578&sr=1-2&keywords=gentlemen+of+horror+2015

You also have the choice with each format to purchase a Kindle or paperback copy. So what are you waiting for? Get one and help support the American Cancer Society and get some great horror stories too!

I actually received high praise for my contribution by an Amazon reviewer (Hydra M. Star) who wrote: "Greg McWhorter gives us half a dozen stories in this volume to enjoy. “The Horror at Engle Farm” is the one that I believe is the best. Set in the proper time period, it seemed like the sort of story one would expect to read in an old issue of Weird Tales. Yes, it was really that good." Yowzaaaa!!!

Next up is a beautifully designed tome of mighty horror entitled; Southern Haunts 3: Magick Beneath the Moonlight.



This is put out by the great folks at Seventh Star Press. They always have exceptional cover art! I have one short story in this collection that you can get in Kindle or paperback form here: http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Haunts-Magick-Beneath-Moonlight/dp/1941706339/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460066899&sr=1-1&keywords=southern+haunts

Another anthology that I am proud to be a part of is the newest incarnation of Axes of Evil: A Heavy Metal Horror Anthology -vol. I.



Editor Alex Johnson is a stalwart on the horror writers circuit who refuses to buckle under peer pressure and he carves his own destiny, right or wrong. I respect that. I think likewise. You can't please everyone and some times you leave unhappy people behind in your wake toward your goals. Well, to the anthology itself...Although other anthologies have come out with this same title, the stories in this one are all unique to this volume including the one I wrote specifically for it; "The Collector." I will say that my story mirrors my own life a bit and it is a disturbing take on collecting rock memorabilia. Get it on kindle or paperback here: http://www.amazon.com/Axes-Evil-Heavy-Horror-Anthology/dp/1522748113/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1460304712&sr=8-2&keywords=axes+of+evil

Fourth, and last, for now...Dead Guns Press who released some of my crime fiction in their Hardboiled anthology have just released a limited hardcover version of Hardboiled, but I think you can only order it directly from their website at: www.deadgunspress.com

I have some amazing news about my own novella, Shadowfall, that I will share soon in a separate post now that I have caught up!