exlibrislarsen

Five Prohibition-era gangsters murdered in the basement of a northwest suburban home get together for one more score in THE BLACKENING OF FLESH. And this Saturday, those same ghosts rise again at the Barrington Area Library.

The past won’t stay buried.

Come to the Barrington Author Fair this Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to find out more about the book, which was inspired by an actual mass murder. While you’re there, meet these outstanding fiction authors who will also be on hand signing their books:

• Richard Bell, author of LIFE SEEMED GOOD, BUT….
• Bani Bhattacharyya, author of GARLAND OF DILEMMAS
• L.C. Blackwell, author of FOR SALE: MURDER
• Adela Crandell Durkee, author of A SHIP OF PEARL
• Lance Erlick, author of ANDROID CHRONICLES: REBORN
• Martha A. Klemenz, author of THE GATEHOUSE
• Dawn Napier, author of STAR PACK
• Pamela Olander, author of THE DISAPPEARANCE OF FRANK MEISNER
• Marsha Portnoy, author of AFTER TONO’S PARTY
• Georgann Prochaska, author of THE CASE OF THE EX WHO PLOTTED REVENGE
• Laura Quinn, author of PUNK CHARMING
• Anne Grall Reichel, author of THE UNITED FOREST OF KIND
• Cynthia Ripley-Miller, author of THE QUEST FOR THE CROWN OF THORNS
• Edward Schwartz, author of TAPESTRY
• Jean-Michel Smith, author of AUTONOMY
• Sheryl Steines, author of BLACK MARKET
• Christine Todd, author of TORNADO DAYS
• Jeffrey Westhoff, author of THE BOY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
• Patricia Shinn Wojtowicz and Christine Petersen Street, authors of RELATIVE DISENCHANTMENT

If biographies and memoirs or anything non-fiction are more your speed, then check out these authors:

• Alicia Marcos Birong, author of CHANGING THE CHATTER
• T.D. Arkenberg, author of TWO TOWERS
• Catherine Chifflot, author of ART & CHAKRAS
• Dennis Depcik, author of WOULDN’T IT BE SOMETHING
• Cara Cipolla Kretz, author of DELICIOUS DETOX AND POWER FOODS
• William Marsh, author of MEMORY AS LIFE, LIFE AS MEMORY
• W. Nikola-Lisa, author of DOG EARED: A YEAR’S ROMP THROUGH THE SELF PUBLISHING WORLD
• Jim Proebstle, author of UNINTENDED IMPACT
• Janet Riehecky, author of SHOW ME DINOSAURS
• Susan Marie Schulhof, author of FUN4BABIES
• Ellen Shubart, author of WHAT’S WITH CHICAGO
• Diane Sleger, author of THE GREAT WAR
• Eleanor Anne Sweet, author of THE NEW RULES FOR JOB SEARCH
• Victoria Vestuto, author of A BFF’S GUIDE TO DIVORCE
• Donn Ziebell, author of GORKY: RUSSIA: FIRST MAN IN

And that’s just a sampling of the event’s confirmed names and titles. Last year’s fair hosted almost 50 authors, so you never know who or what you’ll find this Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Barrington Area Library at 505 N. Northwest Highway.

Got a fresh shipment of books just in time for the Wakanda Wauconda Author Fair tomorrow from noon to 3. That’s the last BLACK PANTHER reference I’m going to make, unless I think of something really funny, which is a long shot at best. But if you love to read, and why would you be here if you didn’t–you’re going to find something great to read at the event.

The past won’t stay buried.

Come find me in the Lincoln Room at the Wauconda Area Library, rubbing elbows with other area literati. I’ll be personalizing copies of my ghosts and gangsters novel, THE BLACKENING OF FLESH in which a lonely high school graduate’s house is inhabited by the ghosts of five Prohibition-era gangsters–who are planning more than a heist … or a haunting.

Plus, I just got a fresh shipment of LOSING TOUCH, just in time for tomorrow’s author fair. Featuring a foreword by NY Times-bestselling author Piers Anthony, my debut novel is the story of Morgan Dunsmore, an out of work, down on his luck husband and dad who finds out he can walk through walls, but the answers to his problems aren’t as neat as he’d hoped.

If that’s not your bag, man, there will be plenty of other others across all sorts of genres, including: John C. Bader, Larry Bernstein, Marcy Browning, Donna Codell, Dennis Depcik, Toni Louise Diol, Benjamin Dueholm, Larry Eichman, Mary Furlong, Dr. Deborah Karas, Peggy Krause, Dawn Napier, Florence Osmund, Gabriela Pattison, Ed Piotrowski, Hillary Scaletta, Daniel Shulman, Diane Sleger, Mark Spreyer, and Don Ziebell, plus the  Lake County Historical Alliance will be there. Will you?

It all happens tomorrow at the Wakanda Wauconda Area Library (sorry, I did it again, and it wasn’t any funnier) at 801 North Main Street in the general vicinity of Wauconda. It runs noon to 3:00 p.m. in the Lincoln Room.

Ice cold books. Get ’em while they’re hot!

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

Jack Ketchum, the award-winning author of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, RED, and THE CROSSINGS has succumbed to cancer at the age of 71. During his career, Ketchum nabbed four Bram Stoker Awards®, a World Horror Convention Grand Master Award, and was dubbed “the scariest guy in America” by Stephen King, who acknowledged Ketchum’s passing this afternoon:

Ketchum was born William Dallas Mayr on November 10, 1946 in Livingston, New Jersey, and worked as an actor, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk before his first novel, OFF SEASON, hit bookshelves in 1980.

He also wrote under the pen name “Jerzy Livingston” as an homage to his birthplace and author Jerzy Kosinski. A number of his works were also adapted to screen, including THE LOST...

And THE WOMAN…

The news of the author’s passing broke at midday today with a Tweet from Ketchum’s webmaster, Kevin Kovelant:

In 2012, Ketchum’s “Amid the Walking Wounded” appeared in the charity anthology CHIRAL MAD, edited by Michael Bailey. While I never met Ketchum in person, this was where our professional paths crossed for the first time when “Mirror Moments” also made the cut. Ketchum was kind enough to tweet a line from my story:

The next year, I asked Ketchum for feedback on a manuscript I was working on, and he sent me the following email: “Had a chance to read LOSING TOUCH this week. Enjoyed it. It’s an intriguing premise, well executed.”

Everyone needs a little encouragement, and when I saw that email, I thought I might actually have a little talent of my own. So Dallas, wherever you are tonight, I hope you’re resting well. And thank you. I am forever in your debt.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

We’re two-thirds of the way through another STAR WARS trilogy (with a “Han Solo” solo movie due at year’s end), but if you’re wondering what happened between the ewok bender and Father Merrin’s showdown with “Matt the Radar Technician”, pick up a copy of Chuck Wendig’s STAR WARS: AFTERMATH and have him sign it at the Elgin Literary Festival, January 26th and 27th at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.

Wendig also contributed AFTERMATH: LIFE DEBT and AFTERMATH: EMPIRE’S END to the STAR WARS canon, and co-wrote the novelization of THE FORCE AWAKENS, which is pretty cool, and then there’s his non-STAR WARS output: BLACKBIRDS, MOCKINGBIRD, UNDER THE EMPYREAN SKY, BLUE BLAZES, DOUBLE DEAD, BAIT DOG, DINOCALYPSE, BEYOND DINOCALYPSE, and GODS & MONSTERS: UNCLEAN SPIRITS. Gamers out there might also recognize him as the developer of the HUNTER: THE VIGIL game line.

Wendig blogs at terribleminds.com about his novels, screenwriting, and game design projects, but he’s kind of all over the map. And the language? It sometimes veers into filthy. You cans see what I mean if you check out his panel presentation on Saturday from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. Just don’t let the Q&A session devolve into a flame war. He’s liable to unleash a flume of profanity that could blister the paint right off the walls.

My virgin ears!

And did I mention it’s free? Saves you some scratch for the book sale from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Pick up fresh new reads in genre literature, literary literature, biography, memoirs, poetry, children’s, and humor. I’ll be signing copies of my ghosts and gangsters novel, THE BLACKENING OF FLESH and the Bram Stoker Award®-nominated sci-fi/horror anthology, QUALIA NOUS, featuring my story, “Cataldo’s Copy” and “The Jaunt” by Stephen King.

If that sounds like your bag, check out these exhibiting authors: Donald J. Bingle (FORCED CONVERSION), Justin Hamelin (THICKER THAN BLOOD), Mandy Madrox (NEPHILIM: HOUSE OF MEPHISTO), Georgeann Prochaska (THE CASE OF THE EX WHO PLOTTED REVENGE), Nan Sampson (RESTLESS NATIVES), Gregory M. Thompson (NIGHTCRY), and Bradley James Weber (FEAR AND LOATHING OF THE UNDEAD ’78). And don’t forget Chuck Wendig. He wrote DAMN FINE STORY, BLACKBIRDS, and THE RAPTOR AND THE WREN.

Justin Hamelin and little ole’ me. Literally. He’s that much taller than me.

Click here for an in-depth look at this year’s Elgin Literary Festival itinerary, set for January 26th and 27th at the Hemmers Cultural Center at 45 Symphony Way in downtown Elgin, thanks to the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, the Blue Box Cafe, SideStreet Studio Arts, and Marquee Media and special thanks to Jamey Bouwmeester, Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, Amanda Harris, Richard Johnson, Karly Kirkpatrick, Roberto Martinez, Tanner Melvin, Jeffrey Pierce, Erin Rehberg, Butch Wilhelmi.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

I love anthologies—the sampler platter of the literary world. You get a little taste of different talents, with each short story coming from a different author. I love them even more when you don’t have to pay. Right now, read THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE and SHRIEKS AND SHIVERS for free with a Kindle Unlimited membership from Amazon.

Featuring a forward by John Russo.

Including a story by Joe Hill.

SHRIEKS AND SHIVERS features my 1930s carnival yarn “Center Stage Sideshow” and a foreword by John Russo (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD). Ellen Datlow named this title in THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR (2015).

THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE is a steampunk-inspired anthology about haunted machines. It includes a tale by World Fantasy Award℠-winner Joe Hill and my story, “The Talent’s in the Bones” about a boy and his piano.

Other titles free to read with a Kindle Unlimited membership include the zombie-themed anthos NEW DAWN FADES and DEAD SOULS, cosmic horror in FEAR THE ABYSS, a touch of Lovecraft in TORN REALITIES, fiction from Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee, Jonathan Maberry, and F. Paul Wilson in DARK DOORWAYS, and MON CŒUR MORT containing 27 tales of heartbreak and woe.

Novel and novella titles free for Kindle Unlimited readers include John Boden’s JEDI SUMMER, John Leahy’s HARVEST, and Steve Wellington’s  PRACTICE TO DECEIVE.

All these titles … and more!

There’s no telling how long this will last, so read them quick with your Kindle Unlimited membership. You already have it—make good use of it and give yourself a treat this holiday-shopping season. Save your scratch for the people on your list.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

It’s Black Friday—that most mercantile of holidays. The very name conjures up images of soccer moms and hockey dads racing to the mall and battling it out over the last de rigeur mechanical plush. If you’re looking for something, um, a little quieter … how about a new book or two?

Now through Sunday, save $5 when you bundle THE BLACKENING OF FLESH and LOSING TOUCH in paperback from Amazon. THE BLACKENING OF FLESH is a paranormal thriller about a high school graduate who’s house is haunted by five Prohibition-era gangsters, and LOSING TOUCH is a magical realism tale in which a down-on-his-luck suburbanite learns to walk through walls without leaving a trace.

The past won’t stay buried.

Hold on tight.

Maybe you’ve had these titles in your “sounds-interesting-but-not-now” pile. Maybe you’ve already bought and read them, and you think they’d make nice holiday gifts for somebody with impeccable taste. Or maybe you’re just now hearing about them for the first time, in which case, hi, there! My name is Chris and this is my website where I talk about my books a lot. Maybe too much? Hey, it is my website, after all.

Whatever the case, it’s a great way to save money on my books, or really, pretty much anybody’s books, to be totally honest. Just enter promo code GIFTBOOK17 at checkout to qualify for $5 off print book purchases over $20 through midnight on Sunday. Use it to shop for the people on your holiday list, or use if on yourself.

You deserve it after that trip to the mall.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

Pick up your personalized copy of THE BLACKENING OF FLESH  today from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m at the Tinley Park Public Library during its 2nd Author Expo and Book Fair.

Not only will I be bringing ghosts and gangsters to the mix, but I’ll be joined by these fine authors:

• Karen Bedore (THE BROTHERHOOD)
• Rob Besecker (EVEREST STRONG)
• Valerie Bowman (THE RIGHT KIND OF ROGUE)
• Dorris Burch (DON’T BE INVISIBLE, BE FABULOUS)
• Pat Camalliere (THE MYSTERY AT BLACK PARTRIDGE WOODS)
• Cynthia Clampitt (MIDWEST MAIZE)
• Barb Warner Deane (KILLING HER SOFTLY)
• Dennis F. Depcik (WOULDN’T IT BE SOMETHING)
• Chris Drnaso (THORN)
• Ann Dura (THE ENAMORED TUTOR)
• Barbara Gregorich (NINE MEN CHASE A HEN)
• Gene Gryniewicz (DREAMING BY THE DUELING TREE)
• Ralph Horner (LOST LEGACY)
• Nichel James (EXCEL FOR KIDS)
• Tom Kens (STAYING POSITIVE IN A NEGATIVE WORLD)
• Naomi R. Kilpatrick (FROM GRACE TO GLORY)
• Ericka Glorious Moore (MEMOIRS OF SINGLEHOOD AND THE STEPS TOWARD MARRIAGE)
• Robert Mueller (THE BULGE BATTLEFIELDS)
• Larry Pinsky (SAVING THE PROVINCE: THE SYMBOL)
• Jerry Prosapio (ONE POGO JUMP TO HEAVEN)
• Jeanne Roppolo (GRANDMA GOES TO ANTARCTICA)
• Gia Suggs (SHATTERING THE GLASS CEILING)
• Donna Urbikas (MY SISTER’S MOTHER)

Be sure to visit all of our adult, teen, and children’s author tables to increase your chances of winning one of the raffle prizes: three bestseller book baskets and a $25 Amazon gift card. Each author will have 200 drawing tickets to hand out to patrons who visit their table, so the more tables you visit, the better your chances of winning!

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

If you’re not hearing Christmas music yet on your “favorite” light rock station, give it a minute. But let’s slow down a second. This is the month of thanksgiving. Sorry, let me try that again. This is the month of Thanksgiving–capital ‘T’. It’s coming … November 23rd. Turkey. Stuffing. Pumpkin pie. Maybe a little football. Let’s not whip by that.

But another date to circle is Saturday, November 18th. That’s when I’ll be at the Tinley Park Author Expo, signing copies of my ghosts and gangsters novel, THE BLACKENING OF FLESH in which a lonely high school graduate’s house is inhabited by the ghosts of five Prohibition-era gangsters–who are planning more than a heist … or a haunting.

The past won’t stay buried.

If you’re looking for something a little more, um, upbeat, you’ll find plenty of humor, romance, fantasy, and self-help among the mystery, history, science-fiction, suspense, thrillers, and more. With more than 25 children’s, teen, and adult authors on hand, you’re sure to find something that appeals to you, or readers on your holiday gift list.

Sorry. Too soon?

Plus, the more authors you visit, the better your odds of winning a special gift basket filled with an Amazon gift card, bestsellers, and some library swag. Each author will be handing out drawing tickets in addition to talking about their publications, the craft of writing, and topics related to their preferred genres.

It all happens Saturday, November 18th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Tinley Park Public Library at 7851 Timber Drive in Tinley Park. No registration. No tickets needed. Just come ready to find a new title or two.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

At first blush, it might seem like horror writers never get out–that we spend our lives hunched over a manual typewriter, tapping out nightmares barricaded in our homes like Dr. Muñoz from H.P. Lovecraft’s “Cool Air”, but we were out in force last night. Stephen King and his son, Owen, visited the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee as part of their tour to promote their collaborative novel, SLEEPING BEAUTIES. To the horror community, what better excuse is there to come out for a few hours and associate with the living?

It was our Woodstock.

I attended the event with Rondo Award-winner Justin Hamelin, author of THICKER THAN BLOOD, and Stephen King enthusiast Will Reckling, who helped us navigate from the Illinois border to downtown Milwaukee, got our beers and nachos for us at Mo’s Irish Pub, and was the best darn Event Dad a kid could ask for. Also in attendance were fellow writers Dawn Napier (STAR PACK), C.A. Verstraete (LIZZY BORDEN, ZOMBIE HUNTER), W.D. Gagliani (WOLF’S BLIND), and David Benton, author of the upcoming novel, FAUNA (watch out for that one because it’s really good).

Me, some guy in the background, and Justin Hamelin at Mo’s Irish Pub.

The stage was bare except for a couple of chairs and a small table between them when the Kings walked out and sat down to talk to each other and to us, “just folks”. After both Stephen and Owen made some brief and informal introductory remarks, they each read a short passage from their new book together, and then asked each other questions. New questions every night, they said. Owen joked that by the end of the book tour, he might ask his dad when he last cut his toenails.

Now I’m wondering what Stephen King’s toenails are like. Horror.

Photo courtesy of Event Dad.

We weren’t supposed to record the event, and I wasn’t taking notes, so right now in the cold light of dawn I’m having trouble remembering everything they talked about, but at some point (and it might have been during the audience Q&A session), Stephen talked about what inspired him to write IT. He said he was living in Boulder at the time, and he was crossing a bridge wearing cowboy boots that knocked on the wooden planks. That reminded him of “Three Billy Goats Gruff”. Instead of a troll under a bridge, what if the monster lived in the sewers? He also apologized to clowns everywhere.

The evening ended with everyone getting a hardcopy of SLEEPING BEAUTIES, and 400 people even got copies flat signed by both authors. I didn’t get a signed one, but at least two people mentioned above did. Overall, not a bad way to end September.

Now bring on Halloween!

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

Less than a buck? Yes, please.

It’s October. Time to check the couch cushions for spare change, because for a limited time, you can pick up select eBook titles from Post Mortem Press for just 99¢, including LOSING TOUCH, my story about an unemployed family man who tries to take control of his life with his newfound ability to walk through walls.

Featuring a foreword by New York Times-bestselling author Piers Anthony, LOSING TOUCH won the Preditors & Editors™ Award for Best Horror Novel and the DRAWA® for first novel.

I realize that you may already have LOSING TOUCH if you’re reading this blog, but I didn’t forget about you. With Post Mortem Press’s “31 Days of Discounts” sale, you can download each of the following eBooks for 99¢, which I super recommend:

• NECROMANCER by C. Bryan Brown
• JASMINE’S TALE by Brian Dobbins
• THE BARN by Jason Downes
• THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN by Hugh Fox
• THE SHATTERED VISAGE LIES by Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano
• TRY NOT TO BURN by Michael Matula
• PINS by Jessica McHugh
• TRULY, DEEPLY DISTURBED by Andrew Nienaber
• FIVE WORDS IN BLACK by Ian D.G. Sandusky
• SANTA MUERTE by Cynthia Pelayo
• I’M NO PI by Alan Zacher

The above titles retail for as much as $5.99, so hey … strike while the iron’s hot because it’s going to be a long winter. And if you’re a fan of single-sitting reads, collect these fine collections/anthologies for your personal Kindle library, just $1.99 each:

• BACK ROADS AND FRONTAL LOBES by Brady Allen
• DARK DOORWAYS by Eric Beebe
• RED WINE AND WORDS by Emma Ennis
• IN LOVE, IN WATER by P. Andrew Miller
• BONE WHISPERS by Tim Waggoner

Skip a couple vending machine snacks and you’ve got even more options, like THE BLACKENING OF FLESH or any of these fine books for just $2.99:

• TOXICITY by Max Booth III
• THEY ARE AMONG US by C. Bryan Brown
• UNITED STATES OF THE DEAD by Kenneth W. Cain
• WITCH’S CARTEL by Brian Dobbins
• THE BOGEYMAN by Jason Downes
• DELLWOOD by Ginny Gilroy
• FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano
• SECOND CHANCE by Michael Matula
• BLACK DEATH OF BABYLON by Edward J. McFadden III
• STZ by Andrew Nienaber
• THE MISSING by Cynthia Pelayo

And then there’s these new and favorite novels for just $3.99. Prime rib for the price of ground chuck:

• DEVIL IN BLACK CREEK by D.R. Bartlette
• OUT OF THE WOODS by William D. Carl
• (dis)COMFORT FOOD by Brad Carter
• THE DRAGON, THE WITCH, & THE DETECTIVE by Brian Dobbins
• WHAT DO MONSTERS FEAR? by Matt Hayward
• RABBITS IN THE GARDEN by Jessica McHugh
• DEMONS, DOLLS, AND MILKSHAKES by Nelson W. Pyles
• THE SONG IN THE SQUALL by Nathan Singer

Click on those links. It won’t cost you nothin’. And if you’ve read any of these titles and are so inclined, please leave a review and help spread the word, but first and foremost, now’s the time to take a flier on an eBook. All it costs is the jingle in your pocket.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.