Canister X – A.P. Fuchs: Zombie, Paranormal Romance and Superhero Novelist, Blogger, Artist, Publisher

The Lifeless by Lorne Dixon is now available at the following on-line retailers:

Paperback:

Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes and Noble
Other On-line Retailers

eBook:

Amazon Kindle
Fictionwise.com
Drivethruhorror.com
Mobipocket

The story:

A school full of kids.

A mysterious yellow rain.

High school will never be the same.

They are outcasts and misfits, teenagers lost on the path to adulthood, living day-to-day inside a high school culture of taunts, humiliation, and isolation. They are the misunderstood, the neglected, and the abused. They are . . . The Lifeless.

For them, every school day is a nightmare.

But on Monday, October 2nd, they will discover the true meaning of terror.

Classes are cut short by news of explosions in the city across the river, part of a series of horrific terrorist attacks that paralyze the nation. But that is only the beginning: amber clouds fill the sky, burning rain pelts down, and the surviving students of Verlaine High learn that their tormentors have mutated into something far worse—reanimated corpses with a primordial instinct for murder.

It’s time to stand up to the in-crowd . . . or be consumed by it.

What folks are saying:

“Lorne Dixon’s The Lifeless is a book no fan of horror should miss. Its darkness will grow and fester in your mind, leaving you with nightmares long after the story is over and the book is closed” – Eric S. Brown, author of The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies and World War of the Dead

“Gooey-zombie goodness, lots of action . . . Dixon’s prose is quick . . . guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.” – Nick Cato, author of Don of the Dead

Also by Lorne Dixon: Snarl

The last Coscom Entertainment release: Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes: Zany Zombie Poetry for the Undead Head

For our full list of books, please see: www.coscomentertainment.com

As a publisher I get loads of queries every month and, at present, ALL of them are out of our reading season. However, because I know how hard it is to get a publisher’s attention, I do read each and every one just in case there’s that gem of a book waiting to be found.

Here’s what I’ve been noticing about queries lately: writers just don’t care about the publisher and only care about being published.

Let me explain because this “me me me” attitude is hurting you big time.

I can’t begin to tell you how many queries I get that are pure garbage. Probably around 85%, if not more.

Each of the automatically rejected had one or more of the following wrong with them:

- query not properly punctuated or even spelled properly. For example, “i get a lot of queries that look like this. hey, i have this book. it’s about ghosts. wanna publish it?”

- writers sending in manuscripts when the guidelines clearly state to not do that but to only query first

- writers sending me queries about books that aren’t even in the genres we publish (i.e. children’s picture books, non-fiction, etc.)

- writers begging me to publish their book

- writers not tell me what the book is about in their query but only giving the title and some personal information

- writers telling me how wonderful their book is but barely telling me what the book is about or even catching my interest

And, the best of the worst:

- mass mailings. These are the ones where, as per the CC area in the query’s email, the writer has mass mailed 15+ publishers at once in the hopes someone will bite. Not only does this show extreme laziness, but it shows the writer is utterly desperate. Look, even if you are desperate, don’t show it to a publisher. It’s an immediate turn off. Don’t start your query with “To whom it may concern” or “Dear Publisher.” Queries are to be ALWAYS personalized to whomever or wherever you’re sending it.

Want to write a good query? The place to start is to be professional in your approach. I’m not even talking about the actual writing of one. You need to have the right attitude. Even if you’re buddy-buddy with a publisher, that should have no bearing on how you query them. Personal relationships and business relationships are completely separate things. Period.

Then, with your attitude in the right place, FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES. If a publisher wants you to query them a certain way, do it. Don’t take the chance that they’ll look past it. Some publishers do, but most don’t. How you query a publisher says a lot about what you’ll be like to work with and if you can’t follow guidelines or decide to treat the publisher like garbage right from the get-go (and, yes, this has happened to me), then there is no way you’re going to land a book with them.

Now, to write a proper query–there are a few different ways, but Coscom Entertainment prefers our queries in the following format:

- proper “to” and “from” addresses on the top of the page
- proper address to whom you’re querying (i.e. “Dear Mr. Fuchs” or “Dear Acquisitions Editor”)
- hooking first sentence or two, catching our interest about the rest of your query
- identification of the book, genre and length
- synopsis
- why it’s marketable
- any personal info about you
- proper sign off (i.e. Sincerely, Joe Author)

Failure on the above, save for a few exceptions, will pretty much destroy your chances of getting your book read by us. We got lots to choose from and don’t have time to handhold an author in the basics of querying.

So if you do any of the things listed above that just drive us up the wall, please stop. You’re only hurting yourself.

Click Here to Order from Amazon.com

3 out of 5

Two Face has been terrorizing Gotham for a while and after executing a terrible sentence at Gotham Circus, he inadvertently changes the life of the Dark Knight forever by setting in motion a chain of events that lead to the birth of Batman’s legendary partner, Robin.

Continuing in the “double villain” trend as established by Batman Returns, a disgruntled—and stalker-ish—employee of Wayne Industries, Edward Nigma, gets revenge on his boss by becoming the Riddler, and steals his way to the top of the technology enterprise game.

It’s two-on-two in this third installment of the Batman franchise.

Riddle me this: what do you get when you cross Adam West and Michael Keaton? You get Val Kilmer’s portrayal of Batman, one who is part serious and part humorous. This is the film that I’ve always viewed as the “transition piece” between the dark Bat flicks done by Tim Burton and the all-out camp-fest that is Batman and Robin.

Though a bit over the top, the story of Batman Forever is a good one and if you watch it just for that, you’ll highly enjoy it.

It was the humor that brought this film down.

First, Batman ain’t funny. He’s so serious and dry he makes Al Gore look like Superman.

Second, Two Face isn’t funny. Tommy Lee Jones, as much as I enjoy him as an actor, got the character wrong. Two Face is a gangster not another version of the Joker.

Third, Riddler isn’t all whacky and zany, though by director Joel Schumacher’s choice to cast Jim Carrey in the role, it’s evident he was after Frank Gorshin’s Riddler from the ’60s instead of the comic book Riddler. Jim also got this part shortly after he became super famous so obviously this role was playing to his strength of being a rubber-faced whack job.

Fourth, though it was a neat thing to add Robin to the mix, Chris O’Donnell was too old, but, I suppose, having a kid running around in an anatomically correct rubber suit would have raised too many questions.

This film was 50/50 for me. Had its pluses and minuses. I’m going to leave this in the “decide for yourself” category.

Language warning: Blasphemy