2012: A Writer's To Do List

So, I thought I might give you a quick bullet list of the work I have had published, will have published, or am working on this year. In all honesty, this list is more for me than you. I'm very list oriented.

1. Galley Proof, from Dreamspinner Press. My comedy/memoir-lite novel about a writer named Logan Brandish and his search for love, an editor, and himself. I've received some bitter criticisms for this book, but it's one of my personal favorites.

2. "She's Come Undone", from Untreed Reads. A short story about a former school teacher on the edge - she's looked at as a town joke and gets very little help raising her handicapped daughter - and how she finally throws down.

3. "Miss Locks", from Untreed Reads. A horror short about a woman who finds herself standing outside her home, but cannot remember how she got there. When she goes back inside, however, something terrible awaits. This is actually based on a...feeling I had when I was very sick a couple of years ago.

4. "Roids, Rumps, & Revenge", from Seventh Window. Maybe the last erotic story I'll ever write...and it's filthy! About a cocky football coach at a small college and his plan to keep his players winning. Cover by Absolutbleu.

5. SuburbaNights, from Dreamspinner Press. To be released on July 11th, the third book in my Jasper Lane series might be the strangest. This contains one of my most favoritest Jasper Lane scenes ever. And Nanna Hench is back causing trouble.

6. Simple Men translations, from Dreamspinner Press. I've learned that the Spanish and Italian versions are soon to be released. The German version is being worked on. I still can't believe I'm going global!

7. Galley Proof translations, from Dreamspinner Press. The Italian version is ready, and the Spanish version is being translated.

8. Woke Up in a Strange Place audio book, from Dreamspinner Press. My friend Charlie David (Dante's Cove, Ugly Betty) - who did the audio book for Simple Men - is in the midst of recording this afterlife fantasy (and Gaybie award-winner).

9. Bubbles n Gordy, from Class Comics. My erotic comic with artist Absolutbleu and another writer (who shall be named later) about two dumb-as-blocks, hot-as-hell college muscle studs who fight evil on the campus of Pro State University. This is still being worked on, so I'm thinking it won't be out until 2013.

10. Three manuscripts I have with publishers: The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles & Men (spec fic); The Rest Is Illusion (for possible reprint); and The Rascal (horror).

11. What am I writing now? Thanks for asking! I'm writing a multi-layered speculative fiction piece that seems to want to go on and on. New characters keep coming in quite unexpectedly. The title: Terms We Have For Dreaming.

New Erotic Short: 'Roids, Rumps, & Revenge' (Excerpt)

While you are all anxiously waiting for the release of SuburbaNights on July 11th - wait for word on a special deal on that one! - here's a new erotic short I wrote for Seventh Window. It's extremely filthy, and possibly even a bit controversial, but it's a lot of fun. Look at that awesome cover by my pal, Absolutbleu! You can get it HERE on July 2, or Amazon, All Romance, B&N, etc. Also, don't forget my horror short "Miss Locks" from Untreed Reads (HERE). Look at me! I'm a Renaissance man! Here be an excerpt:

Excerpt:

It was the damndest thing I ever saw, what got our coach put up in the hospital on the eve of what was supposed to be Pro State University’s greatest football victory ever. I was there to witness that game, and I was also there the night before to see how its outcome came to pass, trapped in the coach’s office and peaking out the window into the locker room. If I hadn’t a seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. No sir.

Coach Mauler is the best football coach in the state. Ain’t no question about that. And he’s got the respect of all his players, including me. I will admit to having been a little put out with him at the time the events in this story took place. But that’s nothing new. He’s an easy man to get irritated with. A dick and something of a hypocrite. Still, I’m dang proud to be on the team. We’ve gone on to win the division championship three of the past four years. There’s no other school in the state that can claim so many victories.
Now, I ain’t a big guy, and I ain’t necessarily the best on the team either. When I look around at some of my teammates I feel downright tiny. I watch ‘em in the shower sometimes. Just to size them up, you know.

Chazz is the biggest of the group, with a dick to match. When he showers his cock swings from leg to leg like he’s a damn grandfather clock. His big dick head smacks each of his huge thighs like it’s angry with ‘em. There always seems to be a stream of pre-cum dribbling from the thing as well. Like it’s full and ready to burst. He’s got a girlfriend, but he’s never stuck that thing in her. Having heard the rumors of Chazz’z monster cock size, her own daddy took Chazz aside one day and told him there would be no sex else Chazz would lose his balls. But, dammit, anyone could tell that dick was just waiting to get inside of something. It looked plain pissed off.

Then there’s Jay, the quarterback. His dick can’t compare with Chazz’s in size, but it sure makes up for that in personality. He’s got the largest dickhead I’ve ever seen. It’s totally disproportionate to the rest of his cock. Kinda like a fleshy cork. Jay’s got a sweet ass on him too. I don’t mind saying that either. When he bends over to wash his feet I can see between his bubbled cheeks and there be a puckering hole. And let me tell you, it is wide open and ready for business. Shoot. If Jay’s ass is virgin then I’m Burt Reynolds.

Being in the weight room with these guys is difficult for anyone with a self-confidence issue like me. We got a set of twins on the team, Evan and Lucas. Nice guys with those bodies you see in sexy magazine ads. All abs and ass. There’s so much testosterone coursing through them while they workout that their dicks are as hard as poles. And God bless ‘em for not wearing underwear. Sometimes, when one of ‘em is on the bench press, I want to go over there and knock that dick around a bit, like it’s a weeble-wobble. I don’t think they’d mind. Those guys are always yanking on each other in play in the shower. Seriously. You walk in while the two of them are getting soaped up and it’s like a game of elephant. Twins have a special connection, you see.

Shannon Yarbrough: Writer of Note

Shannon Yarbrough is a fellow writer who is gaining a nice following. Just read below what the critics are saying about his writing. Plus, he's a damn nice fella! The book itself sounds damn interesting. Like a good holiday read.

Are You Sitting Down?

By Shannon Yarbrough

ShanLian WordLit Press

Copyright © 2011

Paperback ISBN: 0984238336

270 Pages

About The Book:

A rape victim raising a biracial baby. A drug addict haunted by a dead girlfriend. A homosexual mourning a dead lover. A teacher having an affair with his student. And a businesswoman sexually harassed by her boss. What do they all have in common? They all sit at Lorraine White's holiday dinner table; they are also her children.

But Lorraine's children are not the only ones in the family dealing with ghosts of the past. This is the first Christmas the Whites have spent together since the death of their father. And it very well could be their last, as arguments ensue, secrets are revealed, and perhaps a murderer walks among them.

In his latest novel, Shannon Yarbrough explores the damaged soul of one small town family and breaks through the boundaries of love, convincing his readers that no matter how hard life gets, sometimes the support of family is often the only true foundation we have left to depend upon - whether we want it or not.

What Reviewers Are Saying?

Yarbrough's best book yet-a well-crafted blend of interesting characters, a wistful small-town setting and a tense family dynamic that serves up discomfort food for Christmas.

--Jerry L. Wheeler, author & book critic - outinprint.net

Yarbrough weaves the lives of a band of disparate characters into a rich tapestry complete with death, secrets, and murder, tied up with a Christmas bow.

--LK Gardner-Griffie, author of the Misfit McCabe series

From the moment that I started to read, I felt comfortable and that I had entered a family—with all of its ups and downs (and downs and downs and downs) that was still a family. (Think the Walkers on “Brothers and Sisters”). Love is not always evident but somehow I felt it was there from the very first page.

--Amos Lassen, book and film critic

The ties that keep families together ... and the secrets that threaten to tear them apart ... are blended skillfully as if a tapestry, by a talented author who never disappoints.

--Bob Lind, Echo Magazine

"Are You Sitting Down?" deals with themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, and a journey to wholeness, but Yarbrough's writing makes clear that death is always just around the corner and that despite the hope of family togetherness, each of us is stumbling through life alone dealing with our past and our secrets.

--Gabriella West, author of Time of Grace and The Leaving

About the Author:

Shannon Yarbrough is the author of two previous books, The Other Side of What, first published in 2003, and Stealing Wishes, first published in 2008. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his partner of 9 years and their five pets.  He is currently at work on another novel. Visit him online at www.shannonyarbrough.com, friend him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter @slyarbrough.

What the Author is Saying About His Book:

While I wrote Are You Sitting Down? to expel a few demons of my own, I really wanted to break down the walls that family secrets sometime build up between loved ones.  I tried to push each of my characters as far as I could take them.

While the book and its multiple storylines are filled with tragedy, I still wanted the reader to come away with a positive outlook on the White family’s life and maybe even on their own.  More than one reader has commented with “And I thought my life was F’ed up!” 

I purposely did this by using the metaphorical themes presented by the two families – the Whites and the Blacks. Though their surnames are the most obvious, I also used their lives to represent good and bad, light and dark, happiness and sadness, and so on.

Each chapter is told from a different character’s voice to give it a real multilayered family drama feel, just like a soap opera. It is my intention that I hope readers will purposely relate to one of the characters in some personal way, or with the book as whole.

My Ghost Story

I posted this last Halloween on Daventry Blue. It got such a wonderful response there I thought I'd post it here:


Growing up a Jehovah's Witness, I was taught to believe there were no such thing as ghosts. Sure, there were demons acting on behalf of Satan to fuck with us. But ghosts? No. How silly! It didn't hit me until much later how ridiculous it was to believe in demons and angels and an almighty bogeyman yet to not believe in ghosts. I mean, if you're gonna go out on that particular limb, go all the way, right? It's the same issue I have with people who believe in God, but won't believe in aliens. But that's another blog post altogether.

There have been times in my life that I have distinctly felt the creeping presence of something supernatural. There was a time in Rome where I felt, for lack of a better word, possessed; there was a time in college, staying in the rack room of the Phi Delt fraternity completely alone, that I was certain I heard a woman singing right beside me; and, of course, there were my hospital visions in 2010, most of those, I believe, past life regressions. There have been around a dozen or so experiences like these in my life that have left me scratching my head.

The first one that I can recall - and it just recently occured to me after years of having shelved it away in some corner of my mind - happened when I was a child, around four or five years old. I was with the fam at a get-together across the river. A get-together with a bunch of other Jehovah's Witness families. Can you imagine? Oh, the comedy!

Anyway, it was an outdoor thing, but the house was huge and the children were allowed also to play in the basement. There was nothing creepy about the house or the basement, though living by the river offers its own special ambience. It was full of light. The house itself was actually newly built.

There were a lot of children there. Some of them I had never met before. There was one girl in particular around my age who I took an immediate liking to. I remember her take-charge attitude and long brown hair, though I can't remember her name. And I don't really remember playing with anyone but her while I was there. We played mostly outside on a hill above the house.

Well, we came back to the house when food was served. I went to eat with my family and, after I was finished, went searching for the girl again. She was sassy. I was shy. I guess she balanced me out. I didn't find her and so went inside the house to the basement to play with the other kids.

Suddenly, there was a commotion. We were told that this girl, my friend, had taken a tumble down some stairs and was in a bedroom resting. I was so worried. I don't remember precisely what happened next, but I do remember specifically standing at the bottom of the basement stairs and looking up at another girl on the landing. I shouted for her to tell my new injured friend that I loved her. (I know, right?) Well, then the strangest thing happened. My injured friend was told of my great and undying love and was brought to the top of the stairs to hear it for herself. (Very dramatic, I must say!)

But it wasn't her. It was a girl with long brown hair and the same name as the one I had been playing with, but the face wasn't hers. She, too, looked at me as if she had never seen me before. I kept insisting, No, not her! The other girl with the same name. But everyone said,Yes, this is the girl who fell. 

It was a disorienting experience. I don't remember anything about the get-together after that, but I do remember being quite irritated that someone had taken my new sassy friend away. I never saw her face again after that. I have been searching ever since...

Ha! Just kidding. I haven't been searching ever since. But it was a very weird experience for me.

SuburbaNights Gets a Cover!

Charlie Esquiaqui designed the cover for SuburbaNights, Book 3 in my Jasper Lane series! To be released July 11th. Woot! Here be the blurb:

On Jasper Lane, Cassie Bloom is gearing up for Halloween; Becky is expecting, and her father is overbearing and paranoid; Rick and James are their usual happy selves, though James has developed a porn obsession; Terrence is putting together an all drag cheer squad; and David is helping Cliff transition from adult film star to bodybuilder. Of course, that’s just what’s going on at the surface. This is suburbia, and its underbelly is teeming with secrets.

Like what’s up with that rather odd family that moved in down the street—the family with the big cross in the front yard who look nothing alike. Like where Cassie’s son, Jason, has disappeared to and why he hasn’t called. Like what on Earth Nanna Hench is doing with a scooter, a megaphone, and a clown car full of religious zealots.

When Cliff suddenly disappears, Jasper Lane goes on high alert. Terrence posts fliers, and Rick and James scour the gym. David is determined to get his husband back, but when he goes missing too—and with Cassie and Melinda on a road trip to find Jason—it’s up to Terrence to solve the mystery and save the day.

The List

1. Received the final edits and galley for SuburbaNights, the third book in my Jasper Lane series from Dreamspinner Press. It will soon be ready for release on July 11th. Woot!

2. My new erotic - and by "erotic" I mean "absolutely filth" - short story, "Roids, Rumps, & Revenge", will soon be released by Seventh Window with a cover by the ever dependable Absolutbleu.

3. My friend and fellow sexy writer Jim Provenzano won a Lambda Literary Award for his lovely romance Every Time I Think of You. I'm only slightly jealous, because he's such a nice guy.

4. Charlie David (Dante's Cove), who recorded my book Simple Men to audio book, is in the midst of recording another: Woke Up in a Strange Place! I'll keep you all informed as far as the release date.

5. Charlie Esquiaqui is taking on the cover duties for SuburbaNights. Like HVH before him, I think he really gets the mood of the books.

6. My short horror tale, "Miss Locks", was released this week by Untreed Reads. I really enjoy writing horror, so I think you might be seeing more from me.

7. Twin Peaks. Lost. Battlestar Galactica. What do these have in common? I was obsessed with all of them. Still am. Add another TV series to that list: Game of Thrones. Wow.

EXCERPT: Miss Locks

From my BRAND NEW short story, just released Friday from Untreed Reads: "Miss Locks." It's a bit on the disturbing side. I think I'm finding a niche in horror. You can get it HERE or through Amazon or - soon enough - anywhere you download from:




MISS LOCKS
Eric Arvin

Virginia Locks, a woman of established career and notable grace, found herself standing on the walkway in front of her house. 

“What am I doing here?” she wondered. 

The night was still around her. As if it was staring her down. Up and down the street of old Victorian homes she could see there had been a blackout. This was strange, as there had been no bad weather. But there were no lights. There was no life. There was hardly a sound to be heard at all. Not even the night bugs. 

“What is going on?” 

Her career had made her a world traveler. She knew the ins and outs of every major airport and expensive hotel on earth. She knew where to get the best gifts and souvenirs. She had put off settling down because she just couldn’t see herself being locked in to one place for very long. But she had found this city on one of her many trips and had fallen in love with it. Then she found this old house on this old street. It was perfect and seemed as traveled as she. She had been living there for a few months now. In a place as old as this there were ghost stories, but she had never thought twice about such things. That’s not to say she believed in ghosts or didn’t. She simply never thought too hard on the matter. 

Virginia—Ginny to her friends—placed her hand to her chest, as was her habit when, on the rare occasion, she faced confusion. Confusion was not affordable when one traveled as much as Virginia. She wore a slimming summer dress, the one she had chosen for the blind date her friend had set her up on. The description she had been given was of a nice handsome doctor. At least that meant he had to be somewhat intelligent. Virginia had not dated in a while precisely because of the seeming stupidity of every man she ever met. But, no matter his intelligence, how would her date ever find her now that the power was off? She wondered if it was off in his area of the city as well. He would be there soon to pick her up. She decided to go back in the house and finish… 

Finish what? She was already dressed. What more had she to do? And why was she outside? 

Strange that there was not a sound. Not a single insect chirp.