While hunting around online tonight, I found a catalog from Harper Voyager that includes the first cover copy I’ve seen for my forthcoming novel, By The Blood of Heroes, book one of the Great Undead War series.  Not sure if it is final copy (in fact, I’m reasonably sure it isn’t, as the issue with the drilling vehicle changed in a later draft) but it certainly gives a sense of what the book is about.

Take a gander and let me know what you think…

An alternate history zombie novel set during World War I that blends the take-no-prisoners heroic grit of Inglorious Basterds with the irreverent inventiveness of Dawn of the Dead…

At the end of 1917, the increasingly desperate Germans introduce a new gas to the battlefield: T-Leiche — “corpse gas” — that radically alters the face of the war. Unlike other chemical weapons that attack the living, T-Leiche resurrects the bodies of the dead, giving the enemy an almost unlimited, if not quite fresh, source of troops.

When legendary Allied pilot and war poster-boy Major Jack Freeman is shot down and taken captive by the Germans, veteran Captain Michael “Madman” Burke is the only man fearless and wild enough to try to rescue the American Ace. With a small squad of heroes — his right-hand man Sergeant Moore, Clayton Manning, the filthy rich big-game hunter turned soldier, and professor Dan Richards, Tesla protege and the resident authority on all things supernatural — Burke must traverse the putrid ground of no man’s land to infiltrate the enemy’s lines.

Using an experimental drilling vehicle, the team faces incredible danger and finds risk and peril at every turn, including ruthless traitor smugglers and marauding bands of the Kaiser’s undead. But only when they arrive at the prison camp is the true importance of their mission unveiled…

Veteran Authors Form

Supernatural Ink 

October 12, 2011:  Internationally bestselling writers Jon F. Merz, Joseph Nassise, Steve Savile, and Mel Odom announced today the formation of Supernatural Ink, an authors’ collective designed to bring quality SF, horror, and fantasy fiction to readers in the digital marketplace.

All four are veteran writers, each of them having penned more than a dozen novels for major NY publishers over the last few years.  Between them they have written for some of the most popular genre franchises on the market today, including Buffy, Primeval, Stargate, Torchwood and Rogue Angel.  Their original fiction includes the Lawson Vampire series, the Templar Chronicles series, and the Ogmios Team adventures, to name just a few.

Every title released by Supernatural Ink will bear the ebook “Seal of Excellence,” indicating that it has been edited, proofed, and formatted to professional standards.  “The seal is our way of letting readers know, at a glance, that they are getting a quality story from a veteran writer that is packaged and presented in a way that won’t distract from the reading experience,” says the group’s founder, Merz.  “Excellence in ebooks, that’s our goal.”

In addition to their individual projects, SI authors are launching exclusive series like HELLstalkers and Department One designed to maximize reader interaction in the digital age.

To help spread the word, SI has made their first publication, “Supernatural Ink Annual #1″ free for the entire month of October and readers can get a free copy just by going to the SI website and signing up for the newsletter.  SI Annual #1 features exclusive stories by the four authors, including brand new material from Nassise’s Templar and Merz’s Lawson series.  SI also expects to partner with a variety of digital distributors in exciting new deals that maximize both their commitment to the reader and to the standards of excellence inherent in professional publishing.

The books offered by Supernatural Ink will include an assortment of the authors’ digitally-republished backlists as well as new, never-before-available front list titles.  They will be available in a variety of formats from major online distributors, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Smashwords, and the Apple iBook store.  Foreign translations are already underway and should be available after the first of the year.

More information can be found at the collective’s website http://www.supernaturalink.com. 

Get your free copy of the Supernatural Ink Annual #1 by signing up for the mailing list!

Woodland Press just announced that it’s latest anthology, The Mothman Files, is now available for pre-order.  Since my story, Money Well Earned, is being reprinted in the volume, I thought I’d share all the details.

THE MOTHMAN FILES

Edited by Bram Stoker Award winner Michael Knost

Foreword by Jeff Wamsley, Author of “Mothman: Behind the Red Eyes”
Afterword By Thomas F. Monteleone

Cover art by Rick Kohler

Strange occurrences and alarming sightings in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia—including the shocking appearance of a bizarre winged apparition that became known as the Mothman—troubled the once tranquil community from November 1966 to December 1967. Mysterious lights sparkled and moved across the winter heavens. Domestic animals were found slaughtered and mutilated. Weird speculations among townsfolk began to emerge that have never been fully confirmed or explained.

Most alarming, many say the strange Mothman visitations never stopped. The terrifying legend was birthed in the mountains, but now visitations have been documented around the world. Credible eyewitnesses abound—from every region of America and South America, from Europe to Asia—of a winged beast of mammoth proportions.

The stories inside this volume further this legend and are penned by some of the best storytellers in the nation. Contributing authors include Chandler Kaiden, Bev Vincent, S. Clayton Rhodes, Karin Fuller, Brian J. Hatcher, Lisa Morton, Victorya Chase, Orrin Grey, Jessie Grayson, William Meikle, John J. Barnes, Adrian Ludens, and Joseph Nassise. They have done their research and have much to say about the creature. Be prepared. Many of their final conclusions are petrifying.

Softcover, 164 pages

ISBN: 978-0-9829937-5-0

Pre-order your trade paperback edition today!

As the Templar Chronicles series grows in popularity (no doubt thanks to many of you who have helped spread the word!), I hear from fans on an almost daily basis, asking if there will be another book. I’ve been a bit evasive on the topic before this, primarily because I wasn’t sure if the series would support another volume.

Thanks to the hard efforts of all you Templar fans out there, I can finally give you a firm answer to the question.

No, there will not be another Templar book. There will be two!

The first, INFERNAL DREAMS, picks up right where A TEAR IN THE SKY, left off. I hope to have the book completed sometime next month and available shortly thereafter. Then, later this fall, the as-yet-untitled fifth (and possibly final volume) of the series will be released.

I can’t thank my fans enough for supporting the Chronicles all these years and I’m looking forward to giving you some of the answers you’ve been clamoring for! Stay tuned to the mailing list for more information, including a sneak peek at the opening chapters of INFERNAL DREAMS in the next few weeks.

I’m very pleased to announce that I’ll soon be working on THE DEAD MAN, an exciting new series of original novels created by Lee Goldberg, bestselling author of the The Walk and the Monk novels, and William Rabkin, author of the wildly successful PSYCH books.

This original ebook series of short novels blends the horror of Stephen King’s THE GUNSLINGER with the action/adventure of Don Pendleton’s THE EXECUTIONER…

Matthew Cahill is an ordinary man leading a simple life…until a shocking accident changes everything. Now he can see a nightmarish netherworld of unspeakable evil and horrific violence that nobody else does..

For Cahill, each day is a journey into a dark world he knows nothing about…a quest for the answers to who he is and what he has become…and a fight to save us, and his soul, from the clutches of pure evil.

Book one, THE DEAD MAN: THE FACE OF EVIL, introduces our hero, Matt Cahill and details the events that lead to his initial confrontation with Mr. Dark.  It’s a terrific tale in and of itself, never mind being a great set-up for the tales to come, and it is still available for just $0.99!

Book two, THE DEAD MAN: RING OF KNIVES, was written by James Daniels and debuted two weeks ago to even more acclaim than the first.

Matt believes a madman may hold the secret to defeating Mr. Dark, the horrific jester with the rotting touch. But to reach him, Matt must infiltrate a lunatic asylum, where he is soon caught up in a spiral of bloodshed and madness. His only chance of escaping with his life and sanity intact is to face the unspeakable terror that awaits him deep in the asylum’s fog-shrouded woods…within the Ring of Knives.

Coming hard on the heels of RING OF KNIVES will be the next installment from Goldberg and Rabkin entitled HELL IN HEAVEN.

Even better, the first three books will be followed by more all-new adventures in THE DEAD MAN saga by some of the most talented and successful mystery, western, horror and sci-fi authors out there today… including Bill Crider, James Reasoner, Matt Witten, Joel Goldman, James Daniels, Burl Barer, David McAfee., and yours truly.

Visit the official DEAD MAN website for the latest news and reviews!

I’ve always been a fan of both diversification and experimentation when it comes to my writing career. From my soon-to-be-launched cell phone project to making my work available in a variety of digital formats, I’ve tried to examine different ways to bring my writing to the people who value it the most – my readers.

2010 is going to be an adventure in living out that belief; I’m going to try different things and see just what folks respond to the most.  And I’m happy to say that I’m here to announce the first of these experimental ventures – The Mirror’s Road.

The Mirror’s Road is a novel I’ve had hanging around in the back of my head for awhile.  It’s such a mix of genres that I’ve never even tried to sell the idea to a publisher – it would probably give the guys in the marketing department fits as they tried endlessly to pigeonhole it into one genre or another without success.  But it’s a story I want to tell, one I want to share with all my fans, so I’ve been looking for a way to do just that.

I found it through a little site called Kickstarter.

You see, Kickstarter is a site devoted to doing just what its name implies – kickstarting projects with the help of others.  People pledge money to a project in return for cool rewards and a behind-the-scenes look at the development process from beginning to end.  The site is backed by Amazon.com, which provides an appropriate measure of security to the entire process.  It’s all or nothing funding, too; if a project does not meet its financial goal in the timeframe set (between 1 and 90 days) then no money changes hands.

I’ve turned The Mirror’s Road into a Kickstarter project, as you can see from the widget below, and I want to  invite you all along to share the ride with me.  If you decide to back the project – and there are various levels of doing so from $5.00 to $100.00, with appropriate rewards for each – you’ll get to participate in the project with me, providing suggestions on everything from character traits to plot lines.  You’ll get to follow along from development of the intial idea to the actual writing, from the production of the cover art to the final printed product.  And regardless of the level of backing you chose, you are assured of getting a copy of the completed book as my way of saying thanks for supporting the project.

So what’s the book about?  I can tell you it’s an urban fantasy novel, full of things that shouldn’t exist in a world that doesn’t quite believe in them. And it’s a road story too, about a young man on a journey, searching not only for his destiny but also for the almond-eyed girl that appears in his dreams each night, the girl that calls him on through the darkness. Who they are and what they mean to each other? Well, I think we’ll find that out in time.

If you want to get involved, and I really hope you do, simply click on the widget above which will take you to the project’s home page.  Click on the pledge level you want, select your reward, and follow the Amazon check out process.

And remember, the pledge period runs until April 16, so your card won’t be charged until then and only if we meet our goal.

Remember that secret project I’ve been hinting about?

On November 23rd 2009, scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland will run a fifteen second test on the newly completed Large Hadron Collider.

For that brief period, protons will swarm back and forth along the seventeen miles of carefully constructed tunnel and slam into each other with devastating force, generating power the likes of which has not been seen since the moment of the Big Bang.

Fifteen seconds.

That’s all it will take for things to go horribly wrong.

From bestselling authors Joe Nassise and Jon F. Merz, creators of the Templar Chronicles and the Lawson Vampire series, comes a new adventure full of action, suspense, and all-out high octane excitement!

Visit the HELLstalker Facebook page to learn more!

In 2006, the Templar Chronicles Trilogy (HERETIC, A SCREAM OF ANGELS, A TEAR IN THE SKY) introduced you to Knight Commander Cade Williams. A former SWAT officer with the Boston PD, Cade was scarred, body and soul, in a chance encounter with the supernatural, leaving him with unusual abilities of his own, including the power to cross into the realm of the dead. Now Cade leads the prestigious Echo Team, the top combat unit of the resurrected Templar Order, and is charged with defending mankind from the supernatural threats and forces that surround us.

In late 2008, EYES TO SEE will introduce you to the hedge witch, Denise Clearwater. Mystically tied to the power inherent in Nature, Clearwater uses her arcane abilities to maintain the balance between all living things. When evil grows too strong and surges past the boundaries that normally hold it in check, it is Clearwater and her coven who step forth into its path, determined to cull the tide and return things to the way they are intended to be.

In the not-so-distant past, these two champions of the light met for the first time in the midst of a supernatural crisis that threatened to wipe an entire town and all its inhabitants right off the map, forcing them to put aside their differences and work together for the common good. Now, for the first time, that story can be told in BABYLON DREAMS.

…Something unwanted has come to the town of Herring’s Cross.

Something dark and twisted with an unfettered taste for human flesh.

Something that stalks the streets of this once quaint Long Island community, leaving death and destruction in its wake.

When word of the abomination reaches the ears of the Templar Order, the High Command dispatches the Echo Team to deal with the threat. Things will not be easy for Cade and his men however, as they come face to face with an enemy unlike any they have ever faced before.

The long-lost Book of Hours has surfaced after being missing for more than three centuries. The Book gives its bearer the ability to open doorways between this world and the next. One after another the denizens of that dark realm are being called up and released into our own, freed to wreak havoc and terror among the inhabitants of Herring’s Cross.

Cade quickly realizes that the demonic hordes infesting the town are simply cover for the enemy’s true intentions, but his hands are so full dealing with the former that he doesn’t have the time or manpower to take the fight where it really needs to go.

But the Knights are not facing this threat alone. Knowing the Templar’s reluctance to deal with individuals utilizing arcane abilities, Clearwater and her coven have made a point of avoiding the men of the Echo Team, but when the strength of their enemy leaves them no choice but to reveal themselves to the Knights, they suggest an alliance against their common foe.

Reluctantly, Cade agrees. By combining the arcane power of the hedge witches with the military firepower of the Templars, the allies are able to gain the upper hand against the demonic forces invading the town and begin driving them back.

Their biggest challenge still awaits them, however, as they come face to face with the angel of Babylon, the half human-half demon sorcerer at the heart of the assault.

A sorcerer with the power of the Book of Hours at her beck and call.

A sorcerer determined to make Herring’s Cross her own little patch of hell on earth.

This new novella-length work will be published in beautiful collector’s formats in both a limited hardcover edition and a leather-bound lettered edition by Bad Moon Books early next year. (I know you all want it NOW, but I still have to write it first!) Like all Bad Moon publications, this volume with featuring interior artwork, a stunning cover, and be available only in a limited printing.

I’ll be sending out advance ordering information to allow you to reserve your copy as soon as it becomes available via my newsletter, so if you haven’t signed up yet, be sure to do so!

(PS – This is only the first of three major announcements concerning the Templar Chronicles that I’ll be making in the next thirty days, so stayed tuned for more!)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21,2007

Hatfield Innovative Studios inks deal with Joseph Nassise

While a veil of secrecy hangs tightly over any specifics regarding the project’s
content, Hatfield Innovative Studios (HIS) has confirmed that it finalized negotiations
with internationally best-selling author Joseph Nassise to pen their EPIC graphic
novel trilogy late last year. Secretly working behind the scenes since 2006, Nassise
brings his own brand of supernatural suspense to what promises to be a very unique
project.

HIS owner Patrick Hatfield had the following to say about the inception of the project
and what led him to select Nassise for EPIC. “I had been involved with the comic
industry for a number of years doing everything from sub-contracted inking projects
to partnering on three self-published titles to collaborating with Rob Hunter on two
major projects for Marvel. Thanks to negotiations with a former McFarlane editor-in-
chief, some interesting projects surfaced and I was considering moving out west
when tragedy struck – I was involved in an accident that injured my drawing arm for
life.”

“Recovering took time and because of it I had plenty of opportunity to consider
myself and my place in the industry, to decide exactly what it was that I wanted to
do. In an industry filled with projects that had all begun to look so similar, I noted
that only a few select artists and writers were standing out as original and unique. I
decided I wanted to do the same.”

“Sometimes you have to pull yourself away from things that you truly love in order
to grow. Sometimes you have to take the path less chosen.”

“I had been kicking around concepts for my mythology for several years—ideas that
had continued to evolve and change the more I worked on their development. I
decided to let the research that I did on those concepts become my new muse—let
the characters and ideas channel through the research. For a year and a half I did
nothing but read, study and fill journals with notes concepts and ideas. Finally I felt
that I had enough to take the next step. With over 500 pages of concept notes and
designs, I searched for a writer,” Hatfield said.

“It wasn’t until I got the audition script from Joe that I knew that I had found the
perfect match for the project.” Surfacing out of over 100 candidates from around the
world, Joe’s well-read knowledge and interests fell completely in line with the
project. And while he won’t say exactly what the project is about, Hatfield did
indicate that there were certain similarities with Nassise‘s internationally-acclaimed
Templar Chronicles series of novels that made it easier to bring him up to speed on
the characterization and themes that were a core component of EPIC. “After reading
that script, I knew right away that HIS had found its writer.”

Nassise, it seems, feels equally strongly about the partnership. “Patrick’s drive and
enthusiasm for EPIC knows no bounds and it has been a sheer pleasure working with
him. We very quickly settled into the type of collaborative relationship that spurred
us both on to new heights of creativity and accomplishment. I’m very proud of what
we’ve done to date together and I can’t wait for Patrick to unveil it to the many fans
out there that share our passions for the subject matter.”

“I have a very bold unique vision for this project that encompasses all the things I
love – action, adventure, science fiction and fantasy, and, of course, heroes and
horrific villains. I hope to give comic fans something that they aren’t expecting yet at
the same time will be immediately obvious that it is just what they have been
searching for.”

For more information on Hatfield Innovative Studios visit their website at
http://www.hatfieldis.com.

For more information on author Joe Nassise, visit his website at
http://www.josephnassise.com.

I’m going to be working on a new series this summer – can you guess what it is?

My first addition to the series, THE LOST TOMB, is due in June and the second, YIN AND YANG, is due in October.

For those not familiar with the series, here’s a quick summary cribbed from Wikipedia:

Annja Creed is a world-traveling archeologist with a penchant for adventure, lost cities, mysterious codes and puzzles, and shadowy history that was never recorded. Heir to Joan of Arc’s mystic sword, Annja finds herself drawn into the webs of darkest villainy with lives on the line. The books deliver high-octane action, a bit of history with a twist on the fantastical, and more than a hint of derring-do.