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

Here’s a bit of art I did inspired by Keith Gouveia’s and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat and the Ghoul.

As a reward for putting up with no Zomtropolis this week, I’m pleased to present you with the pencil-and-inked cover image to Axiom-man No. 1, drawn by me.
Just wait until you see this baby in color!

While waiting for the comic, why not get to know Axiom-man and start reading his life story? Right now there’s a .99 cent book sale happening on Amazon for the Kindle edition of the book. Here’s the link. If you don’t have a Kindle, don’t worry, as Amazon has free apps you can use for your PC, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry and more. Just go here.
If you’re old school and would like the paperback versions of Axiom-man’s adventures, those can be accessed here.
Thanks.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to post the new chapter of Zomtropolis tomorrow. The reason? I have some other writing that I need to do tonight that’s pressing, and since Zomtropolis is a for-fun/on-the-side thing, I need to take this liberty.
Sincere apologies for this, however I will blog something tomorrow as part of my Mon-Fri blogging effort.
Thanks.

Just watched this now. Rivals the movies, in my opinion. It’s like a Batman: The Animated Series episode brought to life.
Congrats to Bat in the Sun Productions for doing such an awesome job.

Because it’s just plain cool and I love it every time I watch it.

October 29, 2010
Blog: Not-Really-Southern Vamp Chick
Web: http://not-really-southernvampchick.blogspot.com/2010/10/scott-nicholson-kindle-giveaway-blog.html
Comment:

Hey Scott,

Throw me down for a Kindle, man.

Thanks.

Ps. Dig the docu-vlog.

October 30, 2010
Blog: Mindful Musings
Web: http://themindfulmusingsbookblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/guest-post-with-scott-nicholson-and.html
Comment:

I hear you. I’m the black sheep of my family as well, my desire to march to my own drummer having been the cause of countless arguments, debates, frustrations and, eventually, my leaving home . . . twice.

Perhaps creative people–as pretentious as this sounds–fall in that category more than others as we see the world differently than “practical” people and we’re often the ones more easily able to take risks, live on less and just roll with the punches of life because we can always retreat inward to escape.

It’s cool to have that ability and to know that wherever you are, you can journey inside and live a brand new life internally without the need of a book or television. This also gives us the ability to project those internal worlds outward and provide escape for those who have a less-active imagination and tend to get down with the struggle that is life.

The only times I get scared is when reality and fantasy merge and I sometimes have trouble telling the difference. But at the same time, having the echoes of reality bouncing around my head, I’m thankful that when those lines do merge, I’m not stuck living in a world that’s cruel, unkind and just loves to beat people down.

Viva la escapism!

October 31, 2010
Blog: Leilani Loves Books
Web: http://www.leilanilovesbooks.com/2010/10/blog-tourscott-nicholson.html
Comment:

Thanks for the chuckle. That was an awesome video, man.

Hope they didn’t bite ya otherwise, last I heard, you won’t be writing any more books. Zombies have an issue with self-expression.

November 1, 2010
Blog: Brian Keene
Web: http://www.briankeene.com/?p=4937
Comment:

As always, keep plugging away, Scott.

(Glad to have you on board the self-publishing team.)

November 2, 2010
Blog: Daryln and Books
Web: http://darlynandbooks.blogspot.com/2010/11/interview-author-scott-nicholson-kindle.html
Comment:

Been enjoying the tour, Scott, and I agree that it’s very refreshing you’re bringing new content to each post. Being an avid blogger, I understand what a challenge that is because sometimes new ideas for blog posts don’t always present themselves.

Nice work.

The Black Cat and the Ghoul by Edgar Allan Poe and Keith Gouveia, the second book in Coscom Entertainment’s Monster Novella Series, is now available at the following on-line retailers:

Paperback:

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

eBook:

Amazon Kindle
Fictionwise.com
Drivethruhorror.com
Smashwords
Scribd.com

Synopsis:

On August 19, 1843, horror master Edgar Allan Poe released one of his darkest short stories, The Black Cat, his exploration of the psychology of guilt. Now, over a hundred and fifty years later, the tale of an unreliable narrator is continued by author Keith Gouveia.

After killing his wife, John Mohr is sentenced to die at the gallows. But when an unlikely visitor turns into a reluctant partner, John embraces the monster within and becomes the god of the underworld’s instrument of death. Doomed to walk the earth as an undead aberration with an insatiable hunger, John must send souls to Hell in his place or face its wrath.

Also included are two bonus poems, and two short stories: The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, and Broken by Keith Gouveia.

This is the second book in Coscom Entertainment’s Monster Novella Series.

Other titles by Keith Gouveia: Bits of the Dead (editor), Revolt of the Dead, Animal Behavior and Other Tales of Lycanthropy

The last Coscom Entertainment release (and first book in the Monster Novella Series): The Weaponer by Eric S. Brown

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

I’ve hinted on this blog that an Axiom-man comic series is underway.

Ever since 2007 I’ve wanted to get back into drawing comics and ever since winter hit in November, I’ve gotten even more gung ho about it. I started a couple comics projects throughout 2010, but didn’t finish them. In total, I made enough to fill an issue, but it’d be a hodge-podge so it’s not going anywhere but into my files. But late last year I decided that if I’m going to devote the time and energy it takes to make comics, I needed to heed Dave Sim’s (author/artist/publisher of Cerebus) advice and write and draw something I’m really passionate about.

In the end, it all comes down to Axiom-man for me. His story is more than just superhero slugfests, and good versus evil. It’s about a young man, his insecurities and his journey of being a superhero. It’s very much a life-and-times piece as opposed to your traditional comic book fare (which is why I suppose reviews of the series have fallen either in the love or hate categories and nothing really in the middle). That’s the novels (on sale right now for Amazon Kindle for just .99 cents each–plug-plug). For the comic, I want to tell the same story visually but, of course, tell stories that aren’t in the books so that I’m not rehashing stuff I’ve done before. At the same time, I’ve had to consider newcomers to the character, and if one item needed to be retold in the comics as in the books, it was the origin. Every superhero has one. It’s part of who they are and what defines them in the end.
So I’m pleased to announce the Axiom-man comic series has a whole new adventure for readers, along with a visual retelling of the origin sequences as potrayed in Axiom-man and First Night Out.
When will the comic be released? Right now, the answer is this year sometime. As of this writing, the script for the first issue is written, the first four pages are penciled and inked, and the cover of issue 1 is penciled. I’ve also begun work on the letters column for the first issue. It’s 1/3 done. I’m writing it in three stages: pre-production, production, and post-production. I thought it’d be an interesting way to convey the process of making the book and where my head was at during each stage. My ideal is to release the first issue sometime between now and June, so we’ll see. Then it’ll be every six weeks or so after that for the issues afterward.
I should also point out that Axiom-man novels and novellas will continue to be written. I know I’m due for one this year because the last one, The Dead Land, was released summer of 2008. I’ve had people asking about the next story and it’s time to deliver.
What can you do in the meantime to show your support for the character? Tweet about him, Facebook about him, word-of-mouth. And if you’ve read one or more the books, I kindly request you write a brief review of them on Amazon as reviews help move copies. And if you haven’t read any of Axiom-man’s adventures and are looking for a different take on a superhero’s life, then, like I mentioned, now’s a good time because the books are just .99 cents for the Amazon Kindle (and if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle app here for free).
Thanks for all your support. I’m excited to see where this thing goes.

Copyright 2010-2011 by A.P. Fuchs. All rights reserved.
37: On the Way Home

Both Jay and I are sore this morning. Sleeping under a bridge will do that to you. No matter. We’re just glad we’re still alive. The worst that happened last night was the calls of the dead floating on the night air. That, and one of those sleeps where you’re more dozing than actually sleeping.
So this is what went down since then:
“Hungry?” Jay asked.
I nodded, but said, “I ain’t having worms for breakfast. Feels like they’re still crawling around my gut.”
“Well, food is on the B-list right now. Main thing is staying alive.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“But a true one.”
“I want to go home, see what the damage is.”
Jay looked off toward the buildings in the distance. “Not sure they’d be gone by now.”
“Let’s head that way anyway and play it by ear. If we see too many of them, we run. If not, one step at a time. Cool?”
The way he shuffled on his feet told me he was reluctant, but I’m sure he knew as I did that we’d be better off indoors someplace familiar than out here in the open. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Jay and I walked at a casual pace, keeping against buildings and cars, trying our best to blend in with the scenery. If we saw one of the creatures, we’d freeze and hope it’d pass us by. There was this rickety old codger out by the baseball stadium with most of his legs rotted away. His limbs were like a series of toothpicks all glued together. It was amazing they kept him standing. He saw us and, with head tilted back at an angle, started stumbling toward us, his dead eyes fixed on us the whole time.
We picked up our pace. The old guy seemed to try and pick his up, too. After a few stumbly steps, he must have realized he didn’t have a chance at catching us so slowed down.
But still kept coming.
“Hope he doesn’t follow us home,” I said.
“We’ll lose ’im.”
I picked up a broken chunk of curb about the size of a hardball from the side of the road. I lightly tossed it between my hands as we walked, every so often glancing over my shoulder at the old guy shambling behind us. Soon he was joined by a pale-skinned Goth chick with bright red hair, the lower half of her jaw missing.
“Cute,” Jay said.
“If she wasn’t dead.”
“Still cute.”
I gave him a wry glance.
“What?” he said. “A man’s still got needs.”
“Are you kidding me?”
We quickened our steps. Unarmed aside from the piece of curb, I didn’t want to go toe-to-toe with the undead unless I had to.
At the street corner, I checked around the bend. A couple more undead milled about. I checked the other way. Same thing. Going straight would take us out of our way, and there were a couple zombies off in the distance anyway.
“Better make a choice, man,” Jay said.
“We go right,” I said, and readied the piece of curb in my hand.
As we went down the street, the couple undead that were there started toward us.
“Keep moving,” I said.
“Duh.”
More zombies started in down the street up ahead.
Jay growled and shouted, “That’s it!” The boom of his voice sent a jolt through my ribcage and launched my heart into a panic. He ran toward the undead, waving his arms and screaming like a banshee. He didn’t touch them, but kept several feet away, all the while yelling at the top of his lungs and jumping up and down on the pavement.
No response.
“They don’t care!” I called after him, the whole setting me at unease.
Still screaming, Jay took a swing at the dead businessman to his left, socking the guy in the head.
“Great,” I muttered and tore off after him. Idiot.
Arm cocked, I hurled the chunk of curb at the blonde, anorexic-looking chick coming up on the side. The curb struck her in the forehead, bounced off, and left a splat of blood in its wake. She dropped to her knees, eyes fixed forward, and fell over. I grabbed Jay by the shoulders as he kicked the business zombie in the nuts.
“We got to go!” I said.
The blonde crawled on the ground toward us.
“AAAHHHHH!” Jay’s scream rang in my ears as I steered him away from the two undead.
We bolted down the next street and, now familiar with my surroundings, led him on a bee-line to my place. At one point I had to stop and throw up, my gut hurt so bad from the stitch in my side. Warm, brown mushy hit the pavement, worms from the night before.
“You all right?” Jay asked.
“Yeah,” I said, catching my breath. “Just sick of running.”
“Me, too.” He took me by the arm. “Come on, let’s go.”
As we walked down the street, a tingle came over me. Something was wrong. I glanced over my shoulder and there, heading into an alley across the way, was Selena.
I grabbed Jay. “Wait.”
“What?”
Selena had already gone into the alley. I didn’t know if I should go after her, if I was hallucinating or what.
“What?” Jay said again. “What did you see?”
I exhaled a slow sigh. “Thought I saw someone I knew.”
“Unlikely.” He tugged on my arm again. “We’re leaving. Tell me which way to go.”
I went with him, all the while periodically checking over my shoulder to see if Selena would come out of that alley. How many times was that now that I saw her, killed her, come back, saw her die, saw her in a group of zombies—I’ve lost count to tell you the truth.
Something’s seriously wrong, either with me or with her or maybe even both. I couldn’t tell Jay about her living and dying yet. I still needed to figure it out for myself. What was certain, though, was I was running out of time.
My sanity was going quickly.
< Last Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter >

Massive Kindle sale: AXIOM-MAN Superhero Novels on Sale for Just .99 Cents Each!

From Axiom-man Central:

For a very short time I’m offering my superhero novel series, The Axiom-man Saga, for just .99 cents a book for the Kindle. That’s a crazy discount, but I really want to spread the word about the character so I figure offering it cheap is the best way to do that.

Master link to The Axiom-man Saga on Kindle: http://amzn.to/gJd47V

Here’s a list of what’s available is (again, for just .99 cents, listed in reading order). I’ve also put an abridged synopsis beneath each title. Just click on the thumbnail to download your copy.

Axiom-man:

One night Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.

First Night Out:

The messenger has fled, leaving Gabriel alone with mysterious abilities he knows little about. As he embarks on the path of discovery, Gabriel must try to understand why he was chosen to receive the most powerful of all gifts and, with the help from no other, come to a decision as to what to do with them. Even if it takes the death of an innocent to convince him.

Doorway of Darkness:

Gabriel Garrison’s secret identity has been compromised and the timing cannot have been worse. Redsaw has become more powerful than when Axiom-man last fought him, and he has determined to attain unstoppable power through the only means he knows how: murder. Chaos ensues and Axiom-man must find the means to stop Redsaw before the whole world is swallowed in a web of death.

Black Water (short story):

Bodies litter the sand of a friendly beach. Axiom-man flies down to Florida to investigate only to discover this isn’t your average series of murders. Something else caused the deaths of these innocent people, and something else has caused them to rise. Something unnatural, perhaps even supernatural. Something . . . from beneath the ocean’s black water.

Of Magic and Men (comic book):

For a time, people were going missing, without a sign or trace as to their whereabouts. Then, for a time, they resurfaced, mutilated and broken, some with bizarre attachments surgically grafted onto their severed limbs. One name has surfaced as to the architect of these twisted acts of violence: the Magic Man. Axiom-man takes it upon himself to bring the Magic Man to justice, and uses the only bait he has to draw out this deadly maniac: himself. Welcome to the underground.

The Dead Land:

A young boy goes missing. No clues. Nothing except the remnants of a black cloud, like the one coughed up from inside the Doorway of Darkness. A black cloud that takes Axiom-man to a world not his own. A dead world, where a gray and brown sky shrouds an entire city in a miasma of decay. The streets are empty. The young boy is nowhere to be found. Those he does find…are dead. And walking.

A full synopsis of each story is at the links above.

What’s also cool is you don’t need a Kindle Reader to read these books! Amazon has a free Kindle app available for a ton of devices, everything from your PC to your Blackberry to your iPad and more! Here’s the link to whatever you need: http://amzn.to/hJG7t1

Again, the .99 cent deal is only going to be on for a short time so please jump on this as soon as possible. I’ve been known to change prices within days of announcing a sale.

I hope you enjoy The Axiom-man Saga. It’s the most favorite thing I do and it’s my hope my love for superheroes really shines through its pages.

Recommended for fans of Spider-Man, Superman and Batman.

Here’s the master link to the entire saga once again: http://amzn.to/gJd47V

Thanks again.