My fourth novel release, “The Rabbi and the Condemned” coming this year

 

Every year on Yom Kippur, Jews seek atonement from God and ask people to forgive them for the wrongs they’ve done, but what if someone’s life depended on righting your biggest wrong?

My next novel “The Rabbi and the Condemned” takes the theme of atonement to death row, but this isn’t like any prison on Earth.

Here’s the debut of the book jacket blurb from my novel, which will be released later this year by Silver Leaf Books.

 

For 31 years Rabbi Samuel Rabinowitz has known Jameer Pace was innocent of murder and he has the bloody t-shirt to prove it. With his bully of a brother now dead, he finally hopes to tell the inmate in person before setting him free. But in 2053, Florida’s death row is Stark Station in the asteroid belt, where the condemned inmates are forced on deadly missions to mine radioactive rocks.

 

The radiation weakening him by the day, Pace doesn’t have much time left. Rabinowitz quickly realizes that achieving redemption would come at a terrible cost. Setting Pace free would have harsh repercussions for the rabbi, especially from the station’s vindictive warden. Yet, he can live no longer with the horrible secret. Upping the stakes, Rabinowitz tells a journalist that Pace is innocent and shines the spotlight on the abusive practices in Stark Station.

 

The more Rabinowitz sees how Pace has suffered, the harder it becomes to ask for forgiveness. With a near-suicidal mission on deck for the inmates, the rabbi’s gates of atonement may close forever.

 

This will be my fourth novel with Silver Leaf Books, but it’s the first one where a character has religion as a primary motivation. Asking for forgiveness is hard. Not only does it require humility, it often means making yourself vulnerable. In this story, Rabinowitz doesn’t have anyone to protect him on Stark Station. The warden has final say over everything, and anyone who opposes him can take a walk out the airlock.

Why set my death row novel in the asteroid belt? Besides having cool scenes with inmates in space suites bouncing across space rocks with sharp drilling equipment, it enhances the urgency of freeing the inmate. Pace is withering away from radiation exposure, and any mission could kill him.

And, of course, a Shawshank Redemption moment of tunneling to freedom is out of the question.

But there are still tough questions for Pace. Even if he could return to Earth a free man, what’s the point when his body has been ravaged beyond repair? How can a man who has been devastated by the system and spent most of his life wrongly imprisoned find a purpose in the rest of his days? That’s where faith comes in. The rabbi must liberate Pace from both death row and his prison of hopelessness.

Obtaining atonement and asking for forgiveness doesn’t have to wait for Yom Kippur, and it’s not too late if you didn’t seek them this year, or the last 31 years. Whether you’re Jewish or not, there’s never a wrong time to set things right.

Stay tuned for the official release date for “The Rabbi and the Condemned” and a schedule of speaking appearances.

South Florida book signings set as Silence the Living makes Kindle debut

I’ve been booked at four events in South Florida this fall as my novel “Silence the Living” rolls out.

For over four years, I’ve been imagining the world of his scary science fiction novel and painstakingly crafting it word-by-word. I’m excited to share those words, and to see the thrills, fright and shock of readers as they experience this story.

My novel can currently be downloaded on Kindle from Amazon. It’s available for e-book purchase or for free for KindleUnlimited members ($9.99 a month after a 30-day free trial). The print version is available for pre-order now and will be released on Sept. 10.

After you read the book, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads and share it on social media.

My favorite part of releasing a new novel is reading part of the story to an audience and discussing it with them. There are some questions I can anticipate, like “How long did it take you to write this?” and there are always some people who took something from the story that I didn’t even realize.

Here are my upcoming signings for "Silence the Living.”

Oct. 9, 6:30 pm, Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, free, (305) 442-4408. This well-known store will soon have "Silence the Living" available for sale.

Oct. 11, 7 pm, Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore, 273 N.E. 2nd Ave., Delray Beach, free, (561) 279-7790.

Oct. 24, 11:30 am, Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale at Global Grill at First Baptist Church at 416 NE 1st Street, Ft. Lauderdale, Non-members must pay $25 and first please contact Jaybe Abbate jayea@artserve.org  (954) 462-8190.

Nov. 18, Miami Book Fair, Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, 3:30 p.m., Centre Gallery, Building 1, 3rd Floor.

I’m opening to adding more book signings. I’ll update this blog if I schedule more.



Is there a certain passage in “Silence the Living” you’d like to hear me read? Let me know and maybe I’ll read it at a signing, or on a video blog.

My novel to be published in September, featured at Miami Book Fair

Silver Leaf Books will publish my third novel “Silence the Living” on September 10. I’m excited to finally share this heart-pounding story with  everyone.

Want a taste of what’s in store? My publisher’s landing page for my book has the first chapter, where you learn what it’s like for Moni living with an infectious alien life form inside her body. It’s not easy being in a relationship with someone when touching one drop of their bodily fluid might kill you.

I’m super appreciative for the support from the Miami Book Fair, the country’s best literary event and an amazing platform for authors. This will be the third year I’ve spoken there.

The Book Fair hasn’t finalized the schedule yet, but I will likely speak on Sunday, November 18. Now I just have to work on my “act”. Okay, maybe calling it an act is a stretch. I’ll select a thrilling - and not too long - passage of “Silence the Living” to read and then explain my motivation for the book.

There are plenty of other great reasons, besides me, to attend the 2018 Miami Book Fair. See their website for information about other authors participating and to sign up for alerts. The street fair has fun activities for kids and plenty of opportunities for readers looking to unearth literary gems at a good price.

Finally, I have one more update. I’ve written the first draft of my fourth novel. It revolves around a fictional Miami bank that failed during the Great Recession and the mystery of who killed the CEO.

The tentative title: “Save the Bankers."

Cover revealed: Silence the Living

This book release is feeling more real every day. Here’s the cover for "Silence the Living".

My idea was to show our cursed hero Moni Williams in the New Mexico desert at night, staring at an army of glowing purple eyes from beasts that are threatening her.

Initially, I tried to find a photographer with great shots of the New Mexico desert at night. I was really impressed by some photographers in the Southwest, but they didn’t have book cover experience. It was clear that it would take a skilled graphic artist to add the purple-eyed beasts to the cover. Landscape photography and book cover design are different things.

The covers for my first two novels were fantastic photographs, with some design work added. I felt this idea would work better as an illustration.

Taking suggestion of my publisher, I looked over the cover art used by other writers from Silver Leaf Books. I loved the cover for “Day of Vengeance” by Martin Berman-Gorvine. The author recommended that I contact the cover artist, Christian Bentulan.

I was blown away by the dozens of amazing covers on his website, coversbychristian.com. A resident of the Philippines, Christian was persistent in designing the cover just how I wanted it. Yeah, Moni's in a tough spot.

Look for “Silence the Living” to be released by Silver Leaf Books this summer. If it doesn’t scare the hell out of you, you don’t have a pulse.

Book it! I've lined up two great author events

I'm excited to announce two upcoming author events in support of my second novel "Famous After Death."

Come see me at Books and Books - Publishers Weekly's Bookstore of the Year in 2015. I'll be speaking at the 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables store on Monday August 17 at 8 p.m. I've been practicing an animated read of an explosive chapter from "Famous After Death."

Here are the details of the event. You can also purchase the novel directly from Books and Books now. Wouldn't you rather shop with a local businessman like Mitchell Kaplan than Jeff Bezos?

The Miami Book Fair International has confirmed me as a speaker on Sunday November 22 at Miami-Dade College's downtown campus. Details will be worked out later. This will be my second speaking engagement at the country's largest book fair. It's a must-go festival for book lovers.

Finally, if you want a preview of what I will likely discuss at events, check out my guest post on Criminal Element about "The Top 8 Crimes That Went Viral." Can you believe that people promote their crimes on social media? It's not just fiction.

If you comment on my Criminal Element story before July 30, you are entered in a sweepstakes to win a free copy of "Famous After Death". So let me hear you!

  

Guess who’s speaking at the Miami Book Fair this year…Me!

I’m thrilled to be one of the authors the Miami Book FairInternational has invited to speak this year.

If you haven’t attended the fair, it’s a must-see event for book lovers. Thousands of people pack the Miami Dade College campus downtown, where there are hundreds of street vendors and presentations from notable authors from around the world.

The headliner this year is Dan Brown, as he will kick it off on Nov. 17. I’m perhaps a little further down the lineup card, but I’ve still got a nice spot.

It’s amazing. Years ago I was in the audience at the Book Fair, an aspiring author trying to gleam a nugget of wisdom from the professionals. Now I’m going to be behind the microphone.

I’ll be presenting on Sunday, Nov. 24. The exact time and place haven’t been determined, as the fair hasn’t released its final schedule yet. I believe I will be grouped with other Florida authors and, of course, I will talk about my novel Mute.

I’d also like to mention the other projects I’m working on. There will be a Miami-set thriller coming out next year with my name on it. More on that to come...

Lessons from successful authors on Striking Terror panel at Book Fair

I had a pleasure of introducing three successful apocalyptic horror authors at the Miami International Book Fair’s “Striking Terror” panel. Hugh Howey, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes all had some great advice that I’d like to share. First, some background on the authors.

Howey started as a self-published author and then Wool caught fire and started selling thousands of copies. Now Random House is releasing the novel in the U.K. and Ridley Scott bought the movie rights. He also wrote the Molly Fyde Saga.

Due and Barnes are a husband and wife team, having co-authored Devil’s Wake. Individually, Due won an American Book Award for Essence. Her other novels include Blood Colony, The Living Blood and The Good House. Barnes has publishes 28 novels and has been nominated for Hugo and Nebula awards. He also wrote for Outliers, Twilight Zone and Baywatch. And don’t mess with him, because he’s an accomplished martial artist.

Here are some pearls of wisdom from these authors.

Howey – When I asked him what made sales of Wool really take off, he said it was word of mouth from readers. The novel he ignored in terms of marketing is what did really well. He said the best marketing is the keep writing and releasing stories.

On writing for young adults, keep in mind that they are more mature than you think. Don’t talk down to them. They want to read about mature topics, and aren’t afraid of gore. He made an alternative version of Wool without the handful of four-letter words so young adults can read it.

On the popularity of apocalyptic novels, he said people are afraid of dying alone so they want to see the whole world go with them.

He writes a rough outline of his novels before he starts, and that often includes the final scene so he knows where he is going.

He’s producing a show for BBC now.

Due – She likes to write novels that come from her deepest desires. Her mother showed her creature features and that got her interested in the genre.

She doesn’t like weak characters who fall and get eaten.

On the popularity of apocalyptic novels, kids today are sheltered to the real world, although they are savvy to what’s going on because of the Internet. So when they are forced to confront the world and leave that shelter, it will feel like a zombie attack.

On collaborating with her husband, she admits that they’ve had arguments about their books, but they agreed early on to separate their writing from their married life.

She’s working on a screenplay for My Soul to Keep. 

Barnes – He’s got four books coming out in the span of 16 months. The next is Domino Falls (sequel to Devil’s Wake) in February. These novels are his first venture into straight horror, where the dominant emotion is a sense of unease.  

In the classic movie Psycho, there’s the murder in the shower and then nothing really happens the rest of the movie. But the murder was so graphic that the viewer doesn’t want to see it again, and that creates the tension. A similar technique can create tension in horror novels.

On the difference between adults and young adults, an adult is someone who takes responsibility for their actions and no longer relies or blames others for them.

In Devil’s Wake, the group of youngsters have banded together to survive a world full of zombies. That forces them to take responsibility and be honest with each other about their issues.

“You can’t afford not to be honest with each other when one wrong step and you can get bitten by a zombie,” Barnes said.

Good writing comes in a state of unconscious competence. Like a martial artist, you perform the technique without thinking about it. When writing, this closes the distance between you and the page. Writer’s block is the confusion between the writing self and the editing self. Separate your writing – not worrying about grammar and spelling in the first draft – from your editing.

If you practice anything for 10,000 hours, you can be an expert.

Make your bookworm squirm with chilling Halloween reads

Stuffed werewolves and plastic skeletons are mildly frightful, but real terror comes when the imagination is stimulated, especially by a haunting story. Sometimes a creepy book can conjure up the most fear on Halloween.

While it isn’t hard to find classics like Pet Sematary, there is a new breed of novel awaiting readers that enjoy a good scare. From zombies on the beach to a skin-melting lagoon, here are some recent novels that have terrified readers and critics – in a good way. All of them can be found on Amazon.com.

“Halloween Jack and the Devil’s Gate” by M. Todd Gallowglas (Bard’s Cloak of Tales) – It was Jack o’ the Lantern’s job to chase demons away from earth, but his powers failed and the minions of hell threaten to overrun the world. They spend Victorian-esque robots called steam soldiers storming across the globe. Jack’s three decedents must out-wit the ultimate evil. 

“Halloween Jack is a perfect blend of Harry Potter and Harry Dresdon, only with no magic and just the right dash of attitude.” – Fantasy Flight Games.

“Mute” by Brian Bandell (Silver Leaf Books) – Things have gone terribly wrong in the once scenic Indian River Lagoon in Central Florida. The water is turning acidic and smells like rotten eggs. Seemingly harmless animals like manatees and dolphins are dragging people into the toxic depths. Headless bodies are popping out of the water, and the only witness is an eight-year old orphaned girl who saw her parents killed. Mariella has gone mute and it’s detective Monique “Moni” Williams’ job to protect the girl while at the same time figure out what’s behind the scourge from the lagoon. 

“Bandell, who grew up in Indialantic, shows Brevard’s beauty in scenes set in the Indian River Lagoon that are as breathtaking as they are scary.” – South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

“Dying Days” by Armand Rosamilia (Rymfire Books) – Many people like the beach because they see people showing off sexy skin. But for zombies, those skimpy bathing suits make it like a buffet. The undead hit the beach in with an appetite as they take the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine, Fla., and try making it the most undead city. 

“The Tour Bus of Doom – Spam the Cat and the ZombieApocalyps-o” by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough with K.B. Dundee (Gypsy Shadow Publishing) – The author of over 23 solo novels and 16 collaborations, Scarborough returns with a tour bus that rolls into a coastal town blaring loud drums and a zombie horde. Fortunately, the town has a brave defender: Spam the Cat. In this comedic horror, our hero has help from Rocky the vampcat. After the zombies sack the cats’ beloved fish n’ chips restaurant, the battle lines are drawn. 

“The voodoo zombie dust stuff was alarming, some of it was really breath-holding scary, especially the basic idea that zombie labor is even cheaper than slave labor.” – Kerry Greenwood, author of the best-selling Australian series Phryne Fisher. 

"Diaphanous" by Roy C. Booth and R. Thomas Riley (MinnKota Publications) – Arachnophobia is one of the core fears. Spiders creep most people out even though most aren’t harmful. Yet, these eight-legged baddies give the people of earth a very rational reason to fear them. Ted and Loretta are looking for their lost family member Mitch. The police think he abandoned his family. Not exactly. He’s been claimed by a family of little creatures bent on colonization. 

"A tale full of creeping dread and suspense, Diaphanous is a cool retro throwback to 50's and 60's creature horror.” – John Grover, author of “A Beckoning of Shadows.”

“Devil Eyes” by Prudence Foster (Wing ePress) – A remote key off Florida’s Gulf Coast sounds like an ideal vacation spot, but not when you check into a cursed hotel. The renovation of the recently reopened Tarpon Inn didn’t remove its ancient curse, a fact that its unfortunate guests are soon to discover. Florida crackers and the Seminole tribe struggle to survive the murderous visions foreseen by the child who is burdened by this dark magic. And if that isn’t bad enough, here comes a hurricane. 

“Invitation to a Murder” by Esther Luttrell (L & L Dreamspell) – Dena Brooke hoped to enjoy some relaxation at her beach cottage in Fort Myers, Fla. but the murder of her friend’s young son drew her back to Kansas. It is anything but a quaint prairie scene in Topeka as drive-by shootings, stalking and dark family secrets turn this into a pulse-pounding thriller. 

 “The Witness WoreFur” by Nancy Clark Townsend (Blue Dragon Press) – It starts with a wounded dog in Wendy Malcolm’s yard. When the window seeks help for the animal as it suffers from stab wounds, she’s dragged into the mystery of two missing coeds and psychopathic killers. If they would do that to a cute dog, what would they do to a person?

If you have any other scary suggestions, please let me know...