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

It’s been awhile since I talked about my daily schedule here on this blog, so I thought now’s a good time to give an update on how I manage my time.

In short, I live and breathe what I do, which is writing and publishing, six days a week, sometimes seven.

For the longer version, you need to understand that I have a bad habit first. About fourteen years ago I was in high school–grade eleven, to be exact–and during my last semester I had a 3-hour break in the middle of the day. Part of it was the standard lunch break, the rest spares from class as my first semester was the one where I worked like a dog. So, I’d walk home for lunch, eat, maybe watch a bit of TV, then have a nap until it was time to go back to school. Sounds harmless enough, but it was then I got in the habit of staying up late, getting up trashed, going to school then coming home in the afternoon to recuperate before finishing off my day.

Well, that late-night bug has haunted me ever since, and when I first started working from home fulltime, I was still in day job mode so getting up at about 8 and going to be around 11 was just fine. However, even with the day job, I was still known to come home from work, catch a nap, get up, do family and writing/publishing stuff, then stay up late and finally go to sleep.

The flexible hours of writing and publishing for a living is very helpful in a lot of ways, and a tremendous privilege, but it can also lead to issues on schedule keeping, especially in light of the bad habits mentioned above.

Staying up an hour later soon led to staying up two hours, to three hours, to four hours, until eventually I was a useless lump lying on the couch in the middle of the night, surfing the channels in a mindless state until I was so exhausted I’d either pass out right there or crawl up the stairs to bed.

So even though I still work all day six days a week, my workday usually doesn’t start until noon. I’ll do my Internet, email and other administration work during this time, then log off and start book production, with a break or two in between. That goes until 5-ish and then I cook dinner. Afterward, I hang out with my kids until they go to bed at 8, then get back in front of the computer until 10 or 11, before retiring in front of the TV.

But it doesn’t stop there, as I often bring the laptop with me and do my own writing or marketing or whatnot, then watch some more TV, then go to bed.

It’s kind of cool because I don’t have many activities to choose from to help fill the hours, and to be honest, I really don’t know what to do with myself unless I’m either creating, reading or watching TV. It’s also kind of sad, I suppose, because that’s all there pretty much is to me and as such has made me something of a hermit who really doesn’t like going anywhere and in turn stores up his errands to minimize on outings from the house.

In terms of what I do specifically during my work hours, it varies day-to-day, all dictated by which deadline is soonest and what project needs my attention first. However, my workday can be broken into two halves, with the afternoon hours devoted to Coscom Entertainment, and the evening/late-night hours devoted to personal projects. Sometimes these two switch places or overlap, but for the most part I stick to a 50/50 split.

It’s the greatest job in the world, though, and something I busted my butt for for almost nine years to make happen, and a dream I’ve been living for nearly two. Very blessed that way. Very grateful.

My supernatural thriller novellete, Undeniable, went live as an eBook-only download on Amazon Kindle, the Nook, Fictionwise, Smashwords, etc. back in December 2010.

It’s a fantastic story, one that I’m really proud of, but one thing that I felt needed work was the cover. Not that the art was bad, but my personal artwork falls more into the realm of comic book and sequential art rather than standard book cover art.

So . . . as things would have it, this month I was fortunate to acquire a piece of artwork that fit perfectly with Undeniable‘s hardcore and martyrdom-based setting, and so used it as the new cover with new lettering.

It is posted below, and by clicking in on it you’ll be taken to the book’s Amazon page, where you can download it for less than $3. The new cover art will update at the other e-outlets soon. Just waiting for the computers to do their thing.

Here’s what Undeniable is about:

When Duncan and his son Kyle are arrested for their faith, they are subjected to bloody and horrific torture that brings them to sanity’s edge and death’s door.

Physically broken and emotionally spent, the real threat is if they will finally break spiritually.

His eyes removed by his tormentors, Duncan is blind, and it’s only when he asks God to see again is it revealed to him what is really going on beyond the natural realm.

Amidst all the blood, the pain, and the hissing of demons, will Duncan break, or will he prove that Jesus is Undeniable?

Recommended for fans of Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker.

Copyright 2010-2011 by A.P. Fuchs. All rights reserved.
41: A Perfect Night Gone to Hell

Have you ever watched someone sleep? Have you ever taken the time, or are you too focused on your own fatigue?
Selena captivated me that night the way she lay perfectly still beside me, mouth slightly open, her eyes closed, a strange world of dream and thought dancing before her vision, a secret known only to herself.
She had the blanket right up to her chin, only her head peeking out, the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest a balm to my aching heart.
We’ve been here before, both before the undead plague and after. I’ve seen her sleep many times, wondering if she’s resting comfortably or if she’s merely dozing. Wondering if there’s peace inside her or if sleep was her escape from this wretched world filled with the undead.
I could watch her forever, but, I admit, a part of me wanted to wake her. Every moment she spent in sleep’s embrace meant one less moment with me, and moments with Selena were always precious, especially these days.
I gently kissed her forehead, then placed my lips upon hers. Even though she didn’t return the affection, there was still an electric tingle when our lips met.
“Good night, princess,” I whispered, and lay down my head beside hers. I looked her over one last time, then closed my eyes.
All was dark. No dreams came, none that I could recall.
When I woke up, it was still dark, and a tired headache hovered behind my eyes. My body ached to reach over and hug Selena and fall asleep pressed against her. I looked over. She wasn’t beside me.
Probably gone to the bathroom, I thought. I closed my eyes, thinking she’d come back to bed any moment.
I don’t know how much time passed, but I was jolted out of my sleepy haze by low, gurgling gasps and ear-splitting coughing. I bounded out of bed, and followed the noise, made a beeline for the bathroom. I started to shake immediately upon seeing her. Selena knelt before the toilet, naked, blood and partly-digested food smeared on the seat and the floor around her. Her body shook with each gut-based lurch. A splash of red throw up gushed from her mouth, half landed in the toilet, the rest running down her chin and chest.
If this was the old days, I would have called 9-1-1 immediately. These days there was no one to call.
Heart galloping, I grabbed the towel off the rack and draped it over her shoulders, and pressed my hand to her back. Her body shook beneath my touch, then lurched as another gob of blood and stomach fluid burst from between her lips.
“Let it out,” I said, not sure if that was even good advice.
Right after I said that, she started dry-heaving, her body rising high then settling low as everything within her locked and nothing came out of her mouth. It kept happening, and I could see she was trying to gasp for breath, but everything was so spasmed inside she couldn’t get air into her system.
“Come on, Selena, breathe,” I said, tapping her back, thinking maybe my effort would somehow shake something loose.
Her whole body quaked as it locked up again, her eyes wide behind the sweaty and blood-coated bangs dangling above them. It looked like she wanted to speak, but didn’t have the strength to say anything.
“Talk,” I said. “Scream, yell, burp—anything! Breathe!”
She kneeled there, frozen, not a single muscle moving. Her body was like stone beneath my touch, every muscle taut and strained over her bones. More blood oozed out of her mouth. She remained still, letting it run over her lips and onto the toilet and floor.
Everything was so tense she shook head to toe—then released and fell to the bathroom floor.
“Selena!” I brushed her hair away with my fingers, her face smeared with blood and puke.
She lay perfectly still, eyes closed, mouth slightly open—as if she was sleeping.
Except she wasn’t. She wasn’t breathing. I put my hand to her chest and confirmed my suspicion that her heart had stopped.
She was dead.
Again.

____________________________________________________________________________
I sat just outside the bathroom door, Selena’s towel-covered body not two feet from me. I needed the wall against my back to keep me from slumping over. I started blankly at the wall across from me.
“Over and over and over again, I wish you were here, my sweet tender friend.”
Don’t know where I heard it, but it seemed to fit. Every time I glanced over at the blood-soaked towel covering my ex-girlfriend’s body, a wave of electric emotion ran through me, the kind filled with numbstruck awe, hate and frustration. Longing and pain.
“Over and over and over again, I wish you were here, my sweet tender friend.”
A perfect night gone to hell. Imagine a world where all is well. “Tell me again, Selena, my dear; tell why you’ve left me here.”
The rhymes somehow helped me think even though they were awful. This wasn’t a poetry contest.
Just couldn’t believe I lost her again.
And even when her body stirred beneath the towel, I wasn’t surprised.
Jay’s words from before came back to haunt me: you’ll be dead by morning.
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This past week has been a strange awakening for me. From what I know, I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, I didn’t take in anything I don’t normally do.
I don’t know.
But I will tell you this: I haven’t been this jazzed about writing and publishing in a long time. To be clear: I love my job. It’s the greatest job in the world and I enjoy every minute of it. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since I started writing and publishing fulltime that I went, “Oh, man, I really don’t want to do this anymore.” But this past week, something’s clicked over inside and I’ve been given a new vision for my own career and for Coscom Entertainment. This whole week has been spent busting my hump getting things done. I even put to paper my goals for this year rather than just logging them mentally, like I usually do.
The way the publishing business is going, the way my current career is going, the way Coscom Entertainment is structurally set up–everything is perfect. I’m pleased to say that with the behind-the-scenes deals going on, stuff coming out, personal projects and more, 2011 will mark a year of change for the company for the better.
It seems I’ve stumbled upon a little secret, one that I’ve known for years, but one that has seemed to come to life only recently: just shut up and do your own thing.
I’ve never been popular in this industry–from what I know. Lots of people know my name, lots of people read my stuff. I do my best not to be a jerk and, from what I gather from a fellow author, I’m one of the last good guys left in horror. That’s encouraging, and I don’t share that here to brag, but only to make a point: I’ve tended to go my own way in this business and face a load of opposition from writers and even publishers for my decisions. At the same time–and by God’s grace–I’ve benefited from those choices and “doing my own thing” has paid off.
I’m at a crossroads again: you may or may not be aware that I’m at odds with the current writer mentality about this whole eBook thing. I assure you, I’m all for eBooks and self-publishing. Have been for years. Ask anyone. But the enormous amount of bogus info floating around the blogosphere about it drives me crazy because a lot of it is hot air. So, yeah, I have a choice: do I pipe up, go against the flow, and make some enemies just to make a point? Or do I sit down, shut up and work?
I’ve opted for the latter for the time being. Oh, yes, don’t get me wrong, I plan on putting together a kind of self-publishing bible for the indie author soon, as the info being shared online is only the tip of the iceberg of what independent publishing is all about, but in the meantime, yeah, my mouth will be closed and I’m just going to pay attention to my own stuff and that of my company. It’s been good for me, good for my authors and, I hope, good for the horror genre as a whole.
Which brings me back to my vision for the year: a year of change, a year of growth, a year of getting stuff done, both in terms of putting out books and comics, but also in terms of growing careers.
Coscom Entertainment is the best small press out there as far as I’m concerned and I’m not saying that because it’s my company. It’s a place of good authors, a good readership, and a place of opportunity. (Stay tuned for announcements regarding that last bit.) And for any author, it’s also a place where honesty and integrity are paramount. You’d think those things would be automatic, but this is publishing, a business loaded with crooks and people who shouldn’t be running a publishing house and writers who enjoy complaining instead of actually doing. Sad but true.
Coscom’s success has made a lot of people happy–most importantly the readers–but it’s also made folks angry, usually writers outside our circle looking on. Sometimes the child-like drama in this business is worse than the stuff you’d find in an elementary schoolyard. No joke.
I’ve chosen to ignore it. To shut up and work.
That’s my vision for this year: keeping my head down and working harder than ever to make Coscom a force to be reckoned with.
If you’re a writer reading this, I hope you’ve been inspired. If you’re a reader, I hope it’s helped you see the mentality behind bringing you the best stories we know how. And if you’re neither, hey, that’s cool, too. Maybe you were still able to take something away from it. Either way, I’m going to shut up now. I got work to do.

This book from longtime zinester, John Porcellino, is amazing. It’s the first graphic novel in a series of King-Cat graphic novels from Drawn and Quarterly that collects the best comics from the early years of Porcellino’s 20-plus-year comic book zine, King-Cat.

I strongly recommend it for anyone searching to read comics with meaning, depth and something that celebrates the ups and downs of life.

Click Here to Order from Amazon.com

I stop by author Amanda Hocking’s blog once in a while to see what she’s up to, and her latest entry addressed this whole seeming mentality that the “Kindle revolution” is a get-rich-quick scheme for writers.

I agreed with her thoughts on the subject and posted a couple replies. They are definitely worth permanently logging here at Canister X.

I said:

“I’m really glad you posted this because, as a veteran self-publisher of 7 years, and a traditional publisher of other people’s books for around as long, I’m happy that you’ve stepped up and said self-publishing is hard work.

It is, and a lot of the eBook hype out there seems to be pointing in the other direction of just “upload and go,” which is something I’ve taken a stand against ever since eBooks have grown in popularity. (And this is coming from someone who’s been making money with eBooks for 7 years.)

Self-publishing–properly–isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme, as Amanda’s pointed out. There isn’t a secret formula to success as a self-publisher. The hardest truth about publishing that most writers don’t want to hear–but the veterans will admit to–is that it is a big crapshoot to a large degree. Some books hit, some don’t. Some make no money, some make okay money, and others make tons of it. Why? If anyone knew the answer, they’d be cranking out bestsellers all the time and have an empire unlike anything the world’s ever seen. And, no, James Patterson and his endless output of books don’t count. He’s not doing it. There’s a whole whack of people working that empire.

Self-publishing, as is my experience, 10% creative, 90% business. But if you’re willing to put in the hours and work like a dog, you will find success. Sometimes it’ll happen quickly, other times years. That’s the nature of the game.

Is self-publishing for everybody? Absolutely not. Those saying it’s the best way to go are either the victims of freak success or are too new at it to say so with authority. Publishing, whether self- or traditional, is about finding what works for YOU and running with it. Some projects are better off indie, others are better off going under someone else’s imprint.

I can say the above with certainty because as a publisher I’ve faced choices about selling books to a mass market press or keeping things under my imprint. It’s about where you’d get the better mileage, and the only way to know that is to experiment and see what works, and what, historically, has been accomplished.

I can rant on this for pages so I’ll leave it at the above for now, but thanks again, Amanda, for bringing this up. ”

And:

“Should also add that I agree that buying one’s own book to boost rankings IS NOT standard practice for self-publishers. To me, that’s just as bad as getting everyone to buy your book on the same day and time to “make it a bestseller.”

Cheating is cheating.

Real bestsellers are bestsellers without gimmicks. ”

Absorb and learn as you will.

1. When did your zombie odyssey start? From what I know, Autumn was your first foray into the genre. Is this true?

You’re right, Autumn was my first zombie story. When I wrote the book I was pretty much unaware of the existence of any other zombie fiction and I certainly hadn’t read any. Like most people, I guess, my fascination with zombies began with movies. Growing up as a teenage horror fan in the 1980’s UK wasn’t a lot of fun. A moral minority with too loud a voice and far too much influence convinced a large proportion of the population and the government of the day that horror movies were responsible for all of society’s ills. As a result, legislation was passed which effectively banned virtually every horror movie (they classed them all as ‘video nasties’ – you’ve probably heard that expression). Luckily for me, I had a friend whose dad owned one of the first comic book shops in the UK. He used to go on regular shopping trips to the States, and after one of those trips I discovered he’d managed to get hold of a laser disc player (remember them?) and a stack of discs. During one school holiday a few of us sat around the TV and watched Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. A huge thunderstorm broke outside, and the day turned black as night. And that afternoon was the beginning of my zombie odyssey!

2. Now that you’ve hit it big with New York, any plans on remaining independent for certain projects, or have you left your independent days behind?

Signing with a mainstream publisher has been an incredible experience, and I’m eternally grateful for the exposure it’s given me. That said, there are aspects of independent publishing which I really miss. For example, the speed of ‘real’ publishing is very much slower than when you’re doing things by yourself. I used to finish a book one day and have it on sale in print and as an ebook within a couple of weeks. Now it’s often longer than a year between finishing a book and getting it onto the shelves. When you’re independently publishing, you have complete control over every aspect of the book, and that’s another thing which is different now. Now there are editors, designers, marketing people and lots of other folks involved. That’s great because it means I can concentrate on writing, but it can also be a frustration. Looking forward, I certainly would consider independently publishing again. For one thing, the market has changed massively in the few years since I ran Infected Books. Most noticeably, the long-predicted ebook explosion has finally happened, and many people are now generating huge sales figures and decent incomes for themselves without major publishing house support. I have a few projects in mind which perhaps aren’t commercially viable, and maybe those will be the ones I publish myself. Another really exciting thing that I’ve started looking into is film. As technology made the mechanics of publishing more accessible a few years back, so it’s now becoming financially viable to produce decent quality movies in the same way. I can’t say much more at the moment, but independent movie making and delivery of those movies via the same channels I used to use when I self-published is something I’m actively looking into.

3. Are there plans for any more installments in the Autumn saga, and if so, when can fans expect more?

Yes! There is already an unpublished Autumn novel – Disintegration – which will be released next year. It’s a book I’d written and was about to publish via Infected Books when the series was bought by Thomas Dunne Books, so it hasn’t yet seen the light of day. There will also be another novel to round off the series, and that will most likely be released in 2012. I’m also working on another couple of Autumn-related projects which will see the light of day soon and which will compliment the original series.

4. Since you’re now writing as a fulltime gig, are you putting words to paper every day or are you in that getting-stuff-ready-for-publication stage?

Both! Since signing with Thomas Dunne Books I’ve written two sequels to Hater – Dog Blood and Them or Us (due out in 2011), and I’ll also start writing the final Autumn book soon – but a lot of my time right now is spent working on the existing Autumn novels and getting them ready for publication. I’m working with the US and UK publishers at the same time, and both have different editing requirements. At the last count I’m working through each book about six times to get them ready! I also have a couple of older novels I want to go back and rework (Trust and Straight to You). I have a stack of ideas for new books, but present commitments are stopping me getting to them just now.

5. Who would be your top choice to work with on a collaborative zombie novel?

I’ve never really considered writing a collaboration. I don’t think it’s something I’d be very good at. Writing to me is such an insular and personal process and I’m not sure I’d work well with another author. That said, I’d love to write in other people’s zombie universes. I think every zombie author would like to take a crack at Romero’s world, and I’d kill to get involved in The Walking Dead. There’s no harm dreaming…!

6. Though, of course, zombies fall into the realm of fiction, do you ever foresee a day where a zombie apocalypse could happen?

Actually, yes. Maybe not a full-on Romeroesque re-animation of the dead, but I definitely think we could be hit by a rabies-like, 28 Days Later style rage virus. I wonder how people would react? Most zombie movies and films assume that people will immediately take up arms and start fighting, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the case. A lot of folks would just crumble and implode. If it does happen, I think the zombie apocalypse will be just as devastating as we’ve always imagined, but maybe not as bloody and violent.

7. Imagine you were captured by a horde of the undead and you knew it was game over for you. Which body part would you like them to chow down on first?

That’s a good question! The sick zombie author in me would probably want to watch everything, so I’d want them to do a Captain Rhodes (from Romero’s Day of the Dead) on me – a mass brawl for my guts. But, in reality, I couldn’t think of a more horrific way to die. I’d probably want them to bite through something that’d kill me instantly. Also, as per Captain Rhodes, I’d like the diseased bastards to really “choke on ‘em!”

8. Do you believe zombies are the best fictional depiction of humanity, both superficially and, perhaps, “beneath the skin”?

I think that zombies give us an unparalleled view of ourselves. My book Hater is often described as a zombie novel, although it’s clearly not. I think it’s labelled as such because it deals with a split in society: a new division occurs which turns people against each other, and one of the immediate side-effects of the change is that all other divisions – race, age, sex, beliefs, existing relationships etc. etc. – are immediately forgotten. I think the living dead in zombie stories do much the same thing – by introducing a new ‘type’ of human into the mix, writers and film-makers can examine the reaction of ‘normal’ people in close detail. Zombies give us a great opportunity to look into the mirror and study ourselves. Unfortunately, what we see reflected back is often more horrific than anything the undead can throw at us!

9. In terms of the zombie market as it is today, do you think we’ve reached over saturation, or are we not quite there yet?

I think we’re almost there. For a long time zombies have been fodder for countless cheap, gore-fest movies, and I think that’s starting to change. The Walking Dead, World War Z, Autumn (forgive me for plugging my own stuff!)… those kind of books and movies are presenting a new and far more serious side to the living dead. Zombies can be (and should be) bloody terrifying, but for too long they’ve just been a staple of knockabout, slapstick horror films and books. I’m hopeful that we’re about to enter a ‘golden age’ for the living dead! I really hope that no-one does a Twilight on us, and turns the genre into a piss-weak memory of what it used to be. I remember the days when vampires used to be foul, diseased, blood-sucking creatures, not sparkly teenagers. Here’s hoping the same thing doesn’t happen with the undead!

10. No gun’s in sight. What would be your top choice for a weapon against the undead?

Maybe it’s because I’m in the UK (where firearms of any sort are pretty hard to get hold of), but I wouldn’t go for a gun anyway. Okay, so once you shoot a zombie in the head, it’s not getting up, but the side-effects concern me. All that noise… it’s just going to let the dead know exactly where you’re hiding. And you need ammo. If you’re the last survivor surrounded by thousands of corpses, are you ever going to have enough bullets? I like the idea of a crossbow – silent and deadly – but you’ve got the same issue with ammunition there. Personally, I’d go for a sword. Silent. Deadly. Never needs reloading. Okay, so you might need to get a little too close to the dead for comfort when you’re dealing with them, but you’ll look so damn cool swinging a sword around and sending the limbs flying!

November 15, 2010
Blog: Can’t Find a Bookmark
Web: http://findabookmark.blogspot.com/2010/11/scotts-tour-stop.html
Comment:

Wonderful variety in your promoting, Scott. And that’s really the key, isn’t it? Coming at this book promotion thing from all angles. Why? Because readers come from all angles. Sure, some promoting techniques work better than others, but my philosophy has always been to use every technique possible and only discard the ones that have proven themselves to be a waste of time.

Simply having a Facebook page or even a website doesn’t cut it anymore. You got to plug, plug, plug your book at every opportunity. Sometimes it pays off right away, other times it takes awhile, but in the end, you get to share your stuff with readers and, ultimately, that’s what this storytelling thing is all about–The reader.

November 19, 2010
Blog: Smash Attack Reads!
Web: http://smashattackreads.blogspot.com/2010/11/guest-post-scott-nicholson-kindle.html
Comment:

That’s one thing I’m not getting about publishing these days: the dreaded “H-word.” Why is horror as a label so taboo? It’s just as valid a genre as any other.

I’m not a publishing historian, but obviously publishers’ choices to substitute “horror” with stuff like “thriller” is a marketing decision. I’m just curious as to when that decision was made. Did they see things trending in the thriller genre that they thought, “Hey, let’s disguise our horror titles, lie to the reader and move more copies by calling them ‘thriller’”? It’s possible.

This is why the small press is special. The readers matter. We don’t lie to them and cover up genres with other labels. We tell them what they’re getting.

As both a publisher and a reader, there’s a tremendous sense of intimacy between the small press and the reader as opposed to corporate publishing.

That’s a good thing, and I’m thrilled to serve on both sides of that particular fence.

November 20, 2010
Blog: Geranium Cat’s Bookshelf
Web: http://geraniumcatsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2010/11/just-another-backward-book-launch-guest.html
Comment:

Most definitely agreed. I think the future of book marketing will be a combination of the publisher marketing a title and the author marketing their title. How is this different from now when the same thing goes on? It’ll come down to how consumers buy books and, ultimately, the fate of the bookstore. That precious “real estate” on the shelves is indeed precious now, but with consumer reading choices turning more internet-based–whether for eBooks or simply for online shopping–it’ll be the publishers’ and authors’ internet muscle that’ll really matter in the end. That’ll be the co-venture between publisher and author.

We’re becoming a tech-obsessed, Net-obsessed society. Some areas–like music–are more ahead of it in terms of reaching folks than others, but in the end, books’ll be there, too.

It’s my personal opinion that each bookstore should opt for an Espresso machine and a very user-friendly database for folks to pick out books they want printed up for them on the spot.

November 21, 2010
Blog: Teresa’s Reading Corner
Web: http://teresasreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2010/11/author-spotlight-guest-post-and-kindle.html
Comment:

A lot of writers are touting cheap eBooks as the way to go.

I disagree, as I went experimenting this year and for months had books on the cheap. ($2 or $3.) Download quantity was the same as it was when it was priced higher. The problem was I was making less money, and since this is my sole source of income, I had to increase the prices and I’m happy to report that sales are still the same. Okay, not happy, in that we all want as many sales as possible, but happy because at least I didn’t lose any sales in the process.

So as it stands, I’m sticking with the price range I have unless the publishing game dictates otherwise.

November 22, 2010
Blog: Magic Faerie’s Paranormal Review
Web: http://magicfaeriesparanormalreview.blogspot.com/2010/11/guest-post-scott-nicholson-kindle.html
Comment:

Please put me down for a Kindle, Scott. Thanks.

Copyright 2010-2011 by A.P. Fuchs. All rights reserved.
40: Two Bodies

Selena was on the couch, lying on her side, her legs on my lap. I sat there massaging her feet as she slept, thinking to myself how beautiful she was.
“Why’d you come looking for me?” I asked quietly, not wanting to wake her. “Out of everyone else, you came here.” For a moment, I forgot I was looking at someone who had the uncanny ability to die and come back to life over and over. “Why you, sweetie? Why you?” Why me? “I always dreamed you and I would be together again. Just couldn’t have imagined it’d be in a world like this, and that you, of all people, would tear me apart like you have. I’ve lost you so many times I’ve lost count. Are you real?” I sighed. “I know you are. Jay saw you, too. So it’s not just me. But what are you? You can’t be one of . . . one of the dead because they don’t come back to life once they’re killed, they don’t come back beautiful and pure like you do.”
Selena quivered. I put the back of my hand against the skin of her arm, thinking she might be cold. Instead, her skin was warm, but I thought maybe I should get her a blanket anyway.
Just as I moved to stand and place her feet on the couch cushion, she said, “No. Not . . . don’t . . .”
“Selena?”
“I SAID NO!” With a yell, she jerked awake, sat upright, and stared straight ahead, breathing in and out good and hard.
“Hey,” I said softly, and reached out to her. The moment I touched her shoulder, she screamed and bolted up from the couch so fast my own heart jumped into panic mode.
She stood there, frozen, staring at me.
We stood there together, and I waited for the moment to pass.
Selena took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Just had a bad dream.”
Bad dream? I thought. I’ve heard this before. From her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
She put her hands on her hips and breathed steadily in and out. “So real,” she said to herself.
I had to know. Was just she prone to nightmares or was this something else? She never said anything while we dated. “Tell me.”
She sat back down on the couch. I sat beside her. Gently, I placed my hand on her back and rubbed it. “It’s okay. If you want to talk, I’m here.”
“So real,” she said again. Then, “It was dark. Some kind of hallway with silver walls. Silver floors and ceiling, too. Had it not been so dark, I’m sure it would have been beautiful. The air had this lemon-like scent, but also this funky stench of garbage.
“There were footsteps, Marty. Soft ones that dragged on the ground. At the other end of the hallway was a humanoid shadow. The way it held itself–it had to be dead, you know, like those things. I ran when it started moving toward me. No matter how fast I ran, it was like the creature was able to keep pace despite how horribly it moved.
“Then the sounds started, the calls of the undead as their moans filled the hallway. When I looked to see where the sounds came from, a pack of girl zombies were not far behind, twenty or thirty feet. All dark hair and pale skin. They didn’t seem too decayed or rotten, but their jerky movements and shuffling feet were enough to tell me they were the undead as well. I kept running through the halls, all that silver making one hallway look like the next. No way out. Then the undead grabbed me and pulled me to the ground. Immediately they crouched down around me and clawed at my hospital gown. Once they tore through that, they started digging into me with their fingers. Eventually they broke through my skin . . . and started into my flesh. Blood gushed out, spraying me, then, everything. Their bloodsoaked hands pulled out my stomach, intestines, kidneys–all that was within me.”
The same dream, the one she had before when she came here. I couldn’t forget it. Not when it scared her so much. Not a dream where my baby was killed.
“You’re safe here,” I said, not really believing it myself. The undead had come here before. Who was to say they wouldn’t again.
“I’m scared, Marty,” she said.
“You’re safe.” I put my arm fully around her and squeezed her gently. She lay her head on my shoulder. A moment late she reached around the front of me and wrapped her arms around me. They way she held me in her arms, so tight, so sure–I felt her shake as I returned the embrace.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I said. “I’ve got you.”
She just squeezed me tighter.
A flurry of emotions ran through me, and I didn’t know if this embrace was solely because of the dream or because maybe–just maybe–she still cared about me.
Why– “–are you doing this?” I didn’t mean for the words to come out.
“Hm?”
“Nothing.”
She held me tighter. I adjusted my body and brought her as close to me as I possibly could. Her body fit perfectly into mine, as if my frame was carved out in such a way to accommodate only her.
When she pulled away, she looked at my face, a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.
Then she leaned in, and kissed me.
At first, I didn’t reciprocate, but instead just let the feeling of her lips against my own finish sending a bolt of lightning into my heart.
She moved back and her lips left mine. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s okay,” I whispered.
Her arms were still around me. She looked at me again, then fell into me, our lips meeting again. This time I didn’t hold back but instead poured out my love for her as our lips moved across each other’s, our tongues gently touching then backing away, meeting and moving. She held me so tight, it was as if she had never hugged anyone else in her life and only now was discovering the power of an embrace.
I didn’t care. I needed her. All the time we had spent apart began to fade away like a bad dream. Our lips never left each other’s, and even as she began to slowly undress, we still kissed. I followed her lead and began to remove my clothing as well, my heart pumping so quick I got lightheaded.
Our naked bodies met, fit into the other‘s, and though I wanted to open my eyes so I could appreciate her beauty, I couldn’t. So lost in her passion, I just let myself and my heart sink into her.
We made love on the couch; it was like we’d never been apart. Together, we shook with each tender movement, each reveal and each moan. I kisssed her all over and she did the same to me. It was like the first time we did this. Why here or why now, I didn’t know. Maybe she just needed to feel loved? Maybe she was so scared and I was able to offer enough sense of security she simply lost herself in the moment.
Maybe she still loved me.
Time lost its meaning, and her and I came together several times throughout the night. Out of respect for Selena, I won’t write every detail, but the rest of the world faded away. There was only us, love, and a joy I thought I’d never feel again.
After, lying in each other’s arms, I could only manage three words: “I love you.”
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