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

Things are pretty busy here at the Coscom office as we prepare to launch off for the Central Canada Comic Con this weekend.

That said, I apologize there will be no Zomtropolis this week. Between the booksigning last night and con prep all week, I haven’t had time to write the new installment. Don’t worry, we’ll be back next week with a vengeance. Thanks for your patience, and please don’t let that stop you from swinging by the convention this weekend. I’d love to meet you in person.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Like last year, I’ll be conducting a post-con report right here.

Peace.

Canister X Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 7

October 2010

As noted in the last newsletter, September was a whirlwind, and in a lot of ways, October was, too. It was very much a month of aftermath of all of September’s hard work.

The beginning of this month was difficult for me after September’s all-out writing-fest. I was pretty burned out and, though I worked during the day, my productivity level was down. Thankfully, by the second week or so, I had recovered.

I launched Possession of the Dead earlier this month, both in print and in eBook. I was also in the newspaper and on the radio. Tonight I’m off to sign books at Coles, then this weekend is the Central Canada Comic Con so I’ll be selling a TON of Coscom books there.

Go, go, go. That seems to be the mantra here.

My wife, Roxy, is in the same boat. She just launched her webcomic, Fuzz Society, and aside from her posts on Tuesday and Thursday, she also got her art ready to sell as prints at the con. We’re off to the printer this afternoon to pick up the hardcopies of issue one, and we’ll be picking up the prints tomorrow. You should also join her Facebook group.

I’m also excited for her because Coles has graciously allowed her to sit in on my signing tonight to hand sell her comic without paying any commission to the store. (Good deal; if I could do that for my own books, I’d avoid that 40% discount they require, but ’tis the biz.)
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Got good news from Hollyweird as there’s been interest in one of Coscom Entertainment’s properties. Here’s hoping the book in question gets optioned for either film or a TV series.
____________________________________

If you haven’t already been tuning in to Zomtropolis every Friday, please do so. My hope is to get the book going twice a week, but until things settle down, I simply can’t. Hopefully at some point during November, but no guarantees.
____________________________________

In reading news, I’ve been gorging (almost literally) on graphic novels. Since I last wrote, I must have read at least five or six of them. For sure I read: Invincible Vols. 1 and 2 by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, The Walking Dead Vols. 1 and 2 by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, Phase 7 #001-004 by Alec Longstreth. American Splendor by Harvey Pekar et al. is there, too, along with Supreme: The Story of the Year by Alan Moore et al.

All of the above was just terrific. All completely different comics, all differently paced, all with different styles. And they were all pure good.
____________________________________

Also, Axiom-man trading cards came in the mail the other day. He’s part of the massive comic book crossover, War of the Independents. Creators with characters involved who also wanted to be part of the trading card set sent in art for it. In return, we got a free deck of the entire set (50 cards). I also ordered in an extra set at discount and 100 Axiom-man cards for the con this weekend. Not sure if I’ll sell them or give them out as incentives for the books, or whatever. We’ll see.

Speaking of the con again, Axiom-man cover artist Justin Shauf is coming into town. Originally from Saskatchewan, he moved here for school (where I met him), then a few years later he moved back. It’s awesome that we’ve stayed friends for about ten years now despite living so far apart. He’ll have a table in Artist Alley at the con, so if you’re in Winnipeg this weekend, stop on by the Convention Centre and say hello to both of us.
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That’s pretty much it for me. The clock is ticking and there’s loads to do.

Peace out for now.

Best,

A.P. Fuchs
Winnipeg, MB
October 28, 2010

This game is going to be the greatest superhero game ever.

Period.

Amazon.com has discounted quite a few of my books for the Kindle. Hey, it’s all good with me, but I wanted to let you know so you can get a deal instead of having to pay full price.

So far, the following titles are on for $2 or $3 a piece. That’s 70-80% off the cover price. I do know these discounts are temporary so act soon to ensure you get them on the cheap.

Thanks. Just click the links below to be taken to that book’s page at Amazon.

Zombie Fight Night: Battles of the Dead

Magic Man Plus 15 Tales of Terror

Blood of the Dead

Dead Science (as editor)

Axiom-man: The Dead Land

Axiom-man

Axiom-man: First Night Out

When: Friday, October 29 at 4:00pm – October 31 at 6:00pm
Where: The Winnipeg Convention Center, 375 York Ave., Winnipeg, MB

Hi folks,

Coscom Entertainment is back at this year’s Central Canada Comic Con. We’re talking a crazy huge venue with all kinds of comics, games, toys, celebrity guests, artists, costumes and more. Three days of super fanboy and fangirl fun!

Myself and Coscom Entertainment will be back again this year. It’s our fourth year and we’ve had a blast at each and every one of them. It’s honestly the thing I look forward to most every year.

We’d love for you to attend not only for a good time of all things fandom, but also to celebrate the release of my zombie novel, Possession of the Dead, and my wife, Roxanne’s, loveable comic book, Fuzz Society.

What’s Possession of the Dead about? Glad you asked. (Okay, I asked for you, but whatever.)

Angels.

Demons.

Giant Zombies.

Things have changed.

Ever since returning through the Storm of Skulls to the present day, Joe, Billie and August have discovered the world they now inhabit, is not the world they left behind. The zombie threat has evolved to gargantuan proportions. Now aided by giant undead—massive monsters with phenomenal strength and power, with deadly appetites just as vast—the zombie population moves to devour any and all life.

Separated from his friends, Joe learns that not all hope is lost for humanity when he meets, Tracy, a woman who exudes a strength to rival his own. Tracy brings him to the Hub, an underground sanctuary where life continues in a dead world, but his thoughts linger on his missing friends.

August and Billie have problems of their own, and soon learn the same plight that affected a past friend of theirs now affects many: zombies with shapeshifting capability. Now, anyone is suspect. Yet even with this newfound knowledge, more is heaped upon them when the agenda of the undead is revealed and humanity is the one caught in the crossfire.

A war is raging, one between angels and demons, monsters and man.

And it’s only escalating.

Please note this is the sequel to Blood of the Dead, which is always a hot item at the cons.

***

As for Fuzz Society, it’s the polar opposite of zombies, but cool nonetheless. The story is:

Come along for a big-scale adventure with Lyra Ladybug–the cutest bug you’ll ever meet–who’s full of curiousity, and who’s not afraid to stand up for herself even though she’s tiny. Watch as she gets carried along through Gossling Park on a gum wrapper, and finds herself lost in a land so familiar yet so far from her own, only to meet up with new friends along the way. Perhaps even one who’s more than friends.

It’s fun, adventure and budding romance in this first issue of Fuzz Society!

***

We’ll also have a table LOADED with zombie and superhero books, plus a few other cool fandom-related items. Just look for the table with the black and white Coscom Entertainment banner, or me, the big hairy guy standing next to a cute ladybug.

Come by, say hi, and let’s talk comics and art, books and writing, and anything else you want!

See you there.

Thanks.

Alice in Zombieland by Lewis Carroll and Nickolas Cook is going out-of-print very soon to make way for the new Source Books mass market edition. That said, this is your last chance to own the original before the new version–complete with illustrations–comes out.

Like our other first editions of mash-ups going out-of-print, there’s a chance the originals can be worth something in the future.

Thanks.

Presently, the book is still available at:

Paperback:

Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.co.uk
Barnesandnoble.com
Other On-line Retailers

eBook:

Amazon Kindle
Fictionwise.com
Drivethruhorror.com
Smashwords.com

Synopsis:

Can Alice escape Zombieland before the Dead Red Queen catches up to her?

When little Alice falls asleep, she finds herself in an undead nightmare of rotting flesh and insanity. Following a talking rat, she ventures further into this land of zombies and monsters.

There’s also something else troubling poor Alice: her skin is rotting and her hair is falling out. She’s cold and there’s the haunting feeling that if she remains in Zombieland any longer, she might never leave and forever be caught between life and death.

Have a seat at the table for the Tea Party of your life and explore the wondrous adventure that is Zombieland.

The last Coscom Entertainment release: Possession of the Dead by A.P. Fuchs

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

Copyright 2010 by A.P. Fuchs. All rights reserved.

26: I Left my Life

“No!” I ran over to her, dropped my bat and got down beside her. “Selena, wake up. Come on, you have to wake up.” I leaned over and listened for breathing. I had my ear nearly right against her lips. All that came out was a soft wheeze. I put my head to her chest. Her heart still beat, but the beats were very far apart.
“Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease . . .” I said and gently cupped my hands around her head and lifted it slightly off the ground. “Wake up, Selena. We can’t stay here.” Tears licked the corners of my eyes. I couldn’t lose her. Not again.
Moans drifted on the air and an immediate shudder went through me. I checked back over my shoulder. A string of undead had rounded a corner not far from us and were stumbling down the road in our direction.
“Selena, get up! They’re coming!”
She lay there, still, almost peaceful. I listened for breathe again. The groans of the dead must have obstructed my hearing because I couldn’t hear anything escaping her lips. I checked her chest once more. Her heart beat so slowly, barely there.
The zombies drew nearer. There were six of them.
“Come on,” I said, and scooped my arms up under her. I adjusted my grip around her small frame and got to my feet. She was light, maybe around a hundred and twenty pounds. I took a few steps further from the dead, then quickly rounded back.
My bat.
The undead were maybe forty feet away. They’d be here any moment.
Selena still in my arms, I crouched down and with my right hand felt around between the back of her knees and the ground, searching for the bat’s handle. I found it and got my fingers around it–backwards, so my thumb and forefinger were at the bottom of the handle–then pushed my heels against the ground and stood. The bat dangled beneath Selena’s legs. I checked her face. Her head and neck were limp. She was completely unconscious.
As fast as I could, I started jogging down the road, already thinking three or four blocks ahead, the goal being to get back to my place as soon as possible if I couldn’t find another hideaway spot on the way there.
More zombies came out from the alleys and from around corners. The nearest group of them, all decayed, their stink reaching my nostrils, were a mere twenty feet behind me.
Heart racing, blinking the tears from my eyes, I moved as quickly as I could. I went down the road, hopped over a curb, and rounded a black skyvan that had marooned itself there in days long gone.
“Wake up, Selena!” I screamed. I didn’t mean to, but the words just busted out without restraint. I needed her awake.
I needed her alive.
The next corner was a messy intersection of an upside down waste truck, a few zipcars, and bunch of debris and litter. The ground was cracked in a wild spider web all around the vehicles. These no doubt fell from the sky when the world changed and everything started dying.
The street was blocked, so I jogged as fast as I could to the next corner.
Undead moaned behind me.
I checked over my shoulder. More must have joined their kin because as rotted hand with one finger missing went to grab me. I pushed my jog into overdrive and the creature missed.
I rounded another fallen vehicle, then my foot caught something hard and slick and my right heel went out from under me as if I was on ice. I fell on top of her Selena, her limp form rolling with the impact. My knee scraped the ground under her. My elbows were scraped as well.
The moans of the dead loud and raspy, I worked quickly to get my arms back under Selena, but before I could, I was grabbed from behind and a rotted face came down on my shoulder. Immediately, I thrashed about, elbowed the creature in the face, and got to my feet.
There were four of them at first, two old ladies with open stomachs and their guts hanging out, and two young men, one with an eye missing, the other just a mess of torn-up flesh and flaky gray skin.
The two young men knelt down beside Selena and pawed at her body.
“Get off her!” I yelled, and ran over to them. I kicked one in the head, knocking him back. I spun around to do the same to the other, but one of the old ladies grabbed my wrist and jerked me in her direction. I kicked her in the shins, her rotting bones snapping from the blow. She fell down and I jumped a couple steps back.
My bat. It was under Selena. I went to grab it, but more undead crowded about the two young guy’s clawing at my girl.
“No!” I screamed. My eyes immediately clouded over with tears. I wiped them away and started to push through the undead. Many shoved me back, as if Selena was more important to them then me, another live human being trying to rescue a loved one.
When I was able to poke my head between them, my heart cried out within me. Their fingers dug into Selena’s flesh, blood gushing from the holes they tore. They ripped at the meat beneath her skin and brought it to their foul lips.
I wanted to scream, to curse them, to cry out to God for help–but my voice caught and all I managed was a weak rasp.
A big undead black guy shoved his hand against my stomach, his fingers opening and closing as if trying to dig into my flesh. For a moment, I considered letting him, but then–at that time, as if a new idea and something never thought of before–I realized I could run.
I could get away from there and survive.
But Selena . . .
The undead’s lips smacked; their moans escalated. More zombies joined the horde.
I ran. I didn’t want to, but I ran.
Adrenaline surged through me and I gave it everything I had.
I left Selena.
I left my love.
I left my life.
< Last Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter >

This past Tuesday my wife, Roxanne, released her webcomic, Fuzz Society. I’m super stoked for her because I read the first issue and it’s really good.

She’s got the bulk of the website up for the comic, and we’ll be fine-tuning it as we go along. A new page is to be posted every Tuesday and Thursday, so please be sure to check back on those days for some ladybug comic goodness.

If you don’t want to wait for the issue to air in its entirety online, you can jump ahead and download a copy of the eComic edition from the following online retailers. A print edition will be available through her site later next week.

Amazon Kindle.com
Amazon Kindle.co.uk
Wowio
DrivethruComics
Scribd.com

What’s it about?

Come along for a big-scale adventure with Lyra Ladybug–the cutest bug you’ll ever meet–who’s full of curiousity, and who’s not afraid to stand up for herself even though she’s tiny. Watch as she gets carried along through Gossling Park on a gum wrapper, and finds herself lost in a land so familiar yet so far from her own, only to meet up with new friends along the way. Perhaps even one who’s more than friends. It’s fun, adventure and budding romance in this first issue of Fuzz Society!

Please show her support and read the comic here. Trust me, you’ll dig it, even if the cute animals aren’t zombies.

Possession of the Dead is now out, which means it’s time for book signings and con appearances.

This is where I’ll be next week.

Where: Coles Bookstore in Kildonan Place, 1555 Regent Avenue West, Winnipeg, MB
When: October 28, 2010 – 6-8pm

Announcement:

Come join A.P. Fuchs as he celebrates the release of his latest zombie novel, Possession of the Dead, the second book in the Undead World Trilogy.

Come for thrills, chills and a host of zombie goodness.

Plot synopsis:

Angels.

Demons.

Giant Zombies.

Things have changed.

Ever since returning through the Storm of Skulls to the present day, Joe, Billie and August have discovered the world they now inhabit, is not the world they left behind. The zombie threat has evolved to gargantuan proportions. Now aided by giant undead—massive monsters with phenomenal strength and power, with deadly appetites just as vast—the zombie population moves to devour any and all life.

Separated from his friends, Joe learns that not all hope is lost for humanity when he meets, Tracy, a woman who exudes a strength to rival his own. Tracy brings him to the Hub, an underground sanctuary where life continues in a dead world, but his thoughts linger on his missing friends.

August and Billie have problems of their own, and soon learn the same plight that affected a past friend of theirs now affects many: zombies with shapeshifting capability. Now, anyone is suspect. Yet even with this newfound knowledge, more is heaped upon them when the agenda of the undead is revealed and humanity is the one caught in the crossfire.

A war is raging, one between angels and demons, monsters and man.

And it’s only escalating.

Thanks in advance for your support. See you all there!

A new interview with me is up at Kindle Author, in which I discuss writing, publishing, self-publishing on Kindle, zombies and more.

Please go here for the interview.

Thanks.