Let the bloodshed commence!

Okay, after a long and bitter battle with the dreaded "Writer's Block", my full-length time travel novel is getting shelved for the time being.

I will be going back to the short horror stories for a while, and for those that are interested, these won't be the Twilight Zone style stuff of Dark Musings, Volume 2, these will indeed be HORROR stories.

Let the bloodshed commence!

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Making progress on 'The Pilgrim'

It's been an uphill climb, but 'The Pilgrim' is coming along nicely.

There's no way that this one will be published any time soon, but with luck, I'll have it ready relatively soon.

The Dark Musings series is now available through the iBookstore!

The Dark Musings Series is now available in the iTunes store! Just search 'Dark Musings' and you'll find them!

Dark Musings, Special Edition

Dark Musings, Volume 2

Dark Musings, Volume 1

Sample Chapter Excerpt From 'The Pilgrim'

 The following excerpt is a sample of the upcoming book "The Pilgrim' by Jason Mott, and the text contained is the property of the author and subject to all copyright law.

 Copyright © 2013 Jason Mott

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

***SAMPLE***

Chapter One

As the sun beat down on the barren, heat-baked desert landscape, the solitary figure of a man emerged atop one of the hundreds of mighty dunes.

His faded black duster wafted behind him with each gusting blast of hot air, as he trudged forward using his tattered hat to shield his face from the blistering heat and the sandblasting effects of the wind.
His lips were cracked and dry, with a whitish appearance against his leathery, sunburned face. Several days worth of rough stubble stood out on his jaw; it had been nearly a week since he'd had an opportunity to shave, or bathe, for that matter.
His throat begged for water, wrestling with the pleas of his stomach for food, for his undivided attention.
He ignored both and continued on.
To the many places he'd visited, and the people he'd met, he was known only as 'The Pilgrim', a traveler of unknown origin and even lesser known intentions.
A strong gust of wind stole his equilibrium and he stumbled to his knees. He began to crawl, knowing that if he were to stop moving and give in to fatigue, he would certainly die.
Struggling to his feet, he chanced a look toward the horizon.
His gray eyes fell upon what he thought looked to be a settlement, though he couldn't be sure, he'd hallucinated a day ago when he expended much needed energy to dash toward what he thought was a caravan, which turned out to be nothing more than a deceptively shaped collection of sandstone boulders.
He decided to make for the settlement, whether it was a mirage or not.
After several steps, he collapsed again; this time, he didn't get back up.
He'd lain where he'd fallen for what seemed like hours, feeling the heat of the sun roasting him through his clothing when a blessed shadow overcame his prone form, blocking out the ball of fire in the sky.
He thought that his journey was finally over, and he would be claimed by whichever deity had standards low enough to take interest in one such as he, but instead, he felt a rough pair of hands pulling him from his sweltering, sandy grave and hefting him onto what felt like a wagon.
He didn't have the energy to open his eyes.
Warm water cascaded over his lips, which seemed to absorb more of the liquid than could pass into his mouth, but what did reach his tongue, was greedily gulped down.
He managed to look into the shadow that hovered over his face, the bright sun behind it, obscured anything beyond a silhouette, but even that seemed to have a savage outline to it, then it spoke in a gravelly male voice.
“You better just rest until we get to Haven, mister,” his gnarled hand adjusted The Pilgrims' hat until it covered his face and blocked out the glare of the sun. “I'll make sure you get there in one piece.”

In a moment, he was unconscious, and the wagon began to move.

*******

His eyes opened to reveal the blurry face of what appeared to be a man peering at him.
“You feeling better, friend?” the man asked, “you've been out cold for hours.”
The Pilgrim was braced by the mans' strong arms when he attempted to sit up, “not just yet, I'm afraid,” he croaked in a voice that made him sound like he gargled with razor blades, “your body ain't quite ready for all that moving.”
“Who are you?” The Pilgrim rasped, “where am I?”
“My name's Jed,” the stranger replied as he stuck out his hand and The Pilgrim took it, “I found you out on the dunes, and you didn't look like you were going to make it.”
“Where am I?”
“You're in Haven,” Jed answered as they shook hands, “what were you doing out there anyhow?”
As he propped himself up on his elbows, The Pilgrim realized that he'd been stripped of his belongings, and with a speed that would seem impossible in his current condition, he lunged at the man sitting before him and wrapping his arm about the other mans' neck.
“Where's my stuff?!” he barked.
Jed's face was turning a deep shade of red as he struggled in vain, “It's- it's in the- the box!” he spat.
The Pilgrim saw the box on the floor, and released Jed as quickly as he'd seized him.
“Wha- what'd you do that for?!” Jed coughed, “I'm helping you!” his hand was massaging his throat as he gulped air.
The Pilgrim had flopped off of the bed and was rifling the box, paying little mind to the spluttering man behind him, after a moment of searching, he withdrew an old, weathered-looking pocket watch from the box and examined it closely.
“That's why you attacked me?!” yelped Jed, who was still rubbing his throat, “why would I steal a piece of shit like that?!”
“If you had, you'd be dead now,” The Pilgrim muttered as he began to dress himself.
Jed had backed away to allow his guest some space.
“Look mister, I was only trying to help you,” he pleaded as he took another step away, “I don't want no trouble, take anything you want,” his filthy hands were shaking as he raised them to show submission to the younger mans' will.
The Pilgrim finished buttoning his shirt, “relax, I'm no thief,” he said as he took a step toward the trembling man, who he could now see was of an advanced age, and didn't look dangerous at all, “I'm sorry that I attacked you, it was a gut reaction,” he looked down as he exposed the palms of his hands, which were cris-crossed with scars, “I haven't had the luxury of meeting well-meaning strangers.”
This seemed to relax Jed, who'd stopped backing toward the door of his shack.
“I appreciate your help, Jed,” The Pilgrim explained, “I'm just not used to it, that's all.”
“Well, that's fine, but don't go doing that again, you hear?” Jed replied, more calmly than he felt, “what's- what's your name stranger?”
The Pilgrim had emptied the box of its contents and was now sitting, fully dressed, in a chair by the cot that he'd woken up in, “Just call me 'Pilgrim',” he answered as he surveyed the room, “that's always served me just fine.”
“Okay then, Pilgrim, what were you doing all the way out there in the dunes?” Jed asked as he pulled a stool out from under the rough-hewn wooden table that sat in the center on the small room, his grimy, gray hair clinging to the fresh perspiration on his leathery, ancient-looking forehead as he seated himself, “it ain't too hospitable out there, and you had no supplies,” he rubbed his scruffy chin and continued his observations, “I know the nearest settlements to Haven, and to get where you were from any of them would've taken weeks on horseback.”
Pilgrim leaned forward on his elbows and stared vacantly at the sand-covered wooden floor, “if I'd had a horse, you wouldn't have found me, I'd be relaxing in a tavern somewhere by now, none the worse for wear.”
The older man rose slowly and made his way to a barrel, from which he drew two tall mugs of water, and brought one to his guest, “here, drink some more and then tell me a bit about yourself, mister, if you don't mind, of course.”

Taking the mug, Pilgrim nodded to his host in thanks, “well, since we're going to do some sharing, why don't you tell me a bit about who you are, and what there is to know about this place, Haven, did you call it? And then, I'll tell you a little about myself,” he took a sip of the water, which had a slight oily taste to it.

***END OF SAMPLE***

Obviously, that isn't the end of the chapter, just a sample. So what do you guys think?

Please feel free to leave comments.

'The Pilgrim' is in the works..

I just picked up an older project and am currently re-working it. Hopefully, I'll have something more extensive on it soon. If you notice me mentioning 'The Pilgrim', you'll know that I got somewhere with it.

A Plea to My Readers...

If you have purchased and are reading, or have read one of my books, please write a review for it on the page that you bought it from, be that Amazon, Nook, Kobo or Smashwords; The sites will push the sale of my book if enough reviews are written. If you enjoyed the book, please let potential customers know, and help keep my dream of writing for a living, alive.

Sincerely,
Jason Mott

Dark Musings, Special Edition is now available!

Dark Musings, Special Edition can now be purchased at the following sites:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

Here's the cover:

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is available for sale! Special Edition to follow shortly!

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is now available at the following sites:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

Dark Musings, Special Edition will be available very soon, it is published and currently processing for sale!

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is finished.

The book is finished, I'm waiting for my 'editorial staff' (aka: My Wife) to finish proofreading it before I publish.

Dark Musings, Volume 2 is nearing completion.

For anyone that has been following my progress on Dark Musings, Volume 2, expect to see it published by the end of this week!

I've been on vacation from my regular job this week and have managed to get a fair amount of writing done, so, with a little work and some editing, it'll be publishing time!

For a small taste, here's a sample of the cover:

Dark Musings, Volume 1 is 50% off!

Dark Musings, Volume 1 is 50% off for the month of July on Smashwords!
Use the coupon code SSW50 at Dark Musings, Volume 1 at Smashwords

Dark Musings, Volume 1 is available at more stores!

Dark Musings, Volume 1 is available at Smashwords and Kobo Books

Dark Musings, Volume 1 is now on BookRix.com!

That's right, Dark Musings, Volume 1 is now available at BookRix.com!

Dark Musings, Volume 1 at BookRix

Blog Readers, post an idea for a story you'd like to see written.

The title says it all... You guys comment with ideas for a good horror story, and the best one will be written by me.

If it is a decent story, I may include it in my next story collection.

Have at it.

Looking for honest opinions....

I am contemplating releasing my short stories individually as well as in collection form, and my question is: Does that seem like an appropriate method of distribution?

I just saw my sales report for Nook...

I have recorded my first sale through Barnes and Noble! I hope that this is merely the beginning and that Nook proves to be a viable delivery method for my ebooks.

Dark Musings, Volume 1 at Barnes and Noble

Dark Musings, Volume 1 on the Nook!

It's official! My book, Dark Musings, Volume 1, is now available at Barnes and Noble for the Nook E-Reader! Check it out at Dark Musings, Volume 1.

Uploading to Nook...

With the termination of my exclusivity arrangement with Amazon.com, which, I had agreed to originally with the intention of capitalizing on the five free days available to those in KDP Select, I have proceeded to upload Dark Musings, Volume 1 to the Nook store.

This move will allow me to accomplish a couple of goals: First, I will be able to appeal to an even wider audience through the EPUB file type, and second, I will be able to gift free copies of the book to reviewers and close friends.

On the horizon: I will be looking into expanding even further by selling through Kobo as well.

Hot Date gets good reviews from test audience!

A test reader read my new story 'Hot Date' and gave the following review:
"It is Dark, twisted, graphic, and not ready for the mainstream." LOL! Easily the greatest review I've ever received! (This reader is not a personal friend and has never read my work before.)

A Simple Ghost Story

I've never been the type to get spooked when it came to things the go bump in the night, but recently, there was an occurrence in my home that refuses to be ignored.

My home is one half of a duplex that is one hundred and twelve years old and stands a couple of hundred yards from the ancestral home of Abigail Adams.

The house itself is rather unimpressive, being of the standard suburban Boston fare. When entering, you must pass through what in the past was a screened porch that had been converted into an entry way and an addition to the dining room. The staircase to the upstairs bedrooms is the very first thing that you see when entering the house. To the left of the entryway is the dining room which is where the original house terminated; the kitchen lies beyond that if you were to continue to the left. To the right of the entryway is the living room, or parlor.

The stairway that leads to the upstairs bedrooms wraps around on itself, so if you climb the stairs from below, you will end up facing in the opposite direction when you have reached the top of the first staircase. There is a window immediately in front of you and a bedroom to the left and the right. The stairs wrap around again to ascend to the attic bedroom, whose door lies to the left once the stairs have been climbed.

Having lived in the house for several years and not having experienced anything strange, My wife and I had assumed that the house was to be considered 'inactive' in the paranormal sense; boy, were we wrong!

My wife and I had both had interests in the world of the paranormal in the past; having both been involved with various investigation groups and fancied ourselves rather accomplished whenever the subject arose in conversation. So, when the following account happened, it did not take long before we'd realized that we were not quite up to snuff.

It happened while the two of us were lying in bed in the attic bedroom, reading, as we were wont to do before going to sleep. There was a ruckus that appeared to come from the first floor; it sounded like furniture was being thrown and broken.

"What the hell was that?!" I exclaimed. The noise was extremely loud and had continued for several seconds.

My wife had already leaped out of the bed and was at the doorway peering down the staircase. "I have no idea. It sounded like a table had been flipped over or something." She replied. Her voice never betrayed the looked of concern in her eyes.

Fearing an intruder, I rose from the bed and searched the room for something, anything, that could pass for a weapon; I had no intention of wandering into a dangerous situation without some form of protection in hand. I had to settle for a miniature wooden baseball bat that Wendy, my wife, had purchased at a major league baseball game some years prior; why it was so handy, I'll never know, but it fit the bill as well as anything else I would have found in the bedroom.

Clasping the tiny bat, I began to make my way down the stairs toward the second floor. I would never have admitted it at the time, but I was petrified of what I might discover when I had reached the first floor.

I made every effort to keep my footsteps as silent as possible, but the old wooden stairs seemed bent on announcing to the world that I was descending them. With every creeeaak of the steps, I winced as though I was stepping on upturned nails. Eventually, I made it to the second floor landing, sweat had begun to bead up on my brow.

The second floor landing is small enough that I could peer around the corner to the first staircase that leads to the next landing; the darkness was unnerving enough, but the sound of footfalls from below made the hair on my neck stand up and my heart skip a beat.

Looking up the stairs toward the doorway of the attic bedroom, my eyes met those of Wendy; She's heard the footsteps as well. "Want me to call the police?" she whispered, the fear in her eyes had multiplied by this point.

I shook my head and turned my attention to the stairs leading to the first floor once again; gathering my resolve, I began the slow descent into the unknown.

I was about half the distance down the stairs when another deafening crash sounded from the floor below me; I froze instantly; every fiber of my being was tensed as I fought to keep myself from darting back up the stairs to relative safety. The darkness of the staircase was no longer my friend, it had become an even more potent enemy than whoever, or whatever was trouncing around the first floor of my home. I resisted the urge to turn the lights on; they could keep me from obtaining any semblance of the element of surprise on the intruder.

There were more footfalls, heavy footfalls. I silently prayed that this person wasn't so large that I would be overpowered too quickly to be able to make this trip worthwhile. The beating of my heart had become deafening, and I took a moment to try to calm myself down somewhat; the effort hadn't accomplished much.

Once I had at least gained some composure, I began to descend once again when the footfalls from below grew louder; they were approaching the stairs! I stood stock-still and gripped the small bat to reassure myself that I would be able to knock someone unconscious in the event of a struggle. I also realized that I was holding my breath. As I exhaled as quietly as I felt was possible, the footsteps ceased; at what sounded like the bottom of the stairs.

Had they heard me? Was my position compromised? I had no idea; no idea that is, until I heard the steps resume, and they were now ascending the staircase,

Fear gripped me tightly. I prepared myself for the fight that was surely coming up those stairs. Each step that the intruder took shook the small amount of resolve that remained within me. I was standing solidly on the landing above the first floor when the footsteps of the intruder indicated that they too, were now on the landing with me. I swallowed hard and decided to tell them that I had a weapon and wasn't afraid to use it.

"Stop right there!" I croaked. "I don't want to have to hurt you!"

The footsteps ceased and there was a long silence; a foreboding silence, and I could swear before a judge that I heard breathing that did not belong to me.

With a blinding flash, the hall light snapped on and I found myself staring directly at the wall of the staircase.

"Are you okay?" Wendy called from directly above me. "I heard you yelling."

I was dumbfounded; Where had the intruder gone? How the hell could I be alone on the landing?

"Are you okay!?" she called as she made her way down from the bedroom.

"I'm fine, I don't- I don't understand it." I stammered.

We embraced briefly as Wendy explained that once she'd heard me calling out, she couldn't bear to stand idly by. I reassured her that I was okay, regardless of the sheen of perspiration that had collected on my face and soaked through my t-shirt.

Making our way downstairs, we investigated the first floor entirely; nothing was out of place, nothing was broken, and all doors were closed and locked. Eventually, we decided that perhaps we'd heard noise from one of our neighbor's homes and turned in for the night. Though neither of us was really convinced.

To this day, I have no idea what had really happened that night, and I'm not sure that I want to, but I know that I was not alone on that landing, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

I just finished writing the first story of Dark Musings, Volume 2; 'Hot Date'. It's been very difficult to find time to write lately, so this is a big boost for me personally.

I'm hoping that this will push me to make time to write more often.

Free promotion ends this weekend!

RT Dark Musings, Volume 1 is #free this weekend! Get yours at #Amazon now! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BH5TCL0 

Free promotion is going well.

So, I can't say that my decision to offer my book, Dark Musings, Volume 1 for free for this week was a mistake as I have seen a very quick jump in the book's ranking on Amazon. Not to mention, I have FINALLY sold copies overseas! Not free copies, but paid copies overseas! That means a lot to me. My work is now being read internationally. 

I hope that after this promotion, I will see an uptick in regular sales so that writing may become a real paying career for my family and I.

Thank you to all on Facebook, Twitter and Shelfari who have aided me in this endeavor!

Dark Musings, Volume 1

Free Ebook Promotion!

Dark Musings, Volume 1 is being given away for free on Amazon starting tomorrow and ending Thursday, March 28th!

Dark Musings, Volume 1

Still Seeking Reviews.

I'm still seeking amazon reviews from people who have read my book. Dark Musings, Volume 1. In order to get the book listed on some sites, I need to get as many reviews as possible on the amazon page for the book, so if you have read the book, please give it a review on the page.

Wrote some more of 'Hot Date'

It has been difficult getting time to write lately, but I managed to add some good stuff to my latest story 'Hot Date'!

'Hot Date' is one of the new stories that will be put into my next book: 'Dark Musings, Volume 2', If you haven't read 'Dark Musings, Volume 1', check it out at Dark Musings, Volume 1

Work Work Work....

Getting ready to go to work. It's 3:30 AM. I really wish I could stay home and write.

Hot Date is in the works!

My newest story, 'Hot Date' is coming along nicely. I do have to admit though that it is of a dark nature and the content will probably disturb some readers. I hope they find it to be as entertaining as it's been to write!

Lots of strange dreams lately....

I've been having some very interesting dreams lately. Most of my time has been spent morphing them into stories for Dark Musings, Volume 2.

Put your money where your mouth is.

I just bought my own copy of my new book, Dark Musings, Volume 1!

Dark Musings, Volume 1

God just spoke to me, and He said you guys better get my book, or He's gonna smite you!

Dark Musings, Volume 1

Working on new stories while juggling a 2 month old, a full-time job and family life is NOT as easy as it sounds! What I wouldn't give for more free time in the day.

Hello and welcome to my blog. I will be sharing thoughts and ideas on my novel which is currently available through amazon.com.

Dark Musings, Volume 1