Newest novel will give you the creeps

My latest novel, a scary, sexy ghost story called Dream House, is now available as an e-book. It is being distributed by Out of Bounds Press. Order it here.

Here is an excerpt:


Greg collapsed to his knees, and he was squeezing his right wrist with his left hand. His right index finger was pointing skyward, as if blaming the heavens for his unexpected predicament. I felt bile rising in my throat. The finger had become nothing but bare bone, yet somehow it still wriggled.

Greg was screaming, a high-pitched female scream, and then he looked at me with pleading eyes, as if begging me to make it all stop, to take it all back. I took out my cell phone and dialed 911, but when I held the phone to my ear it squealed so sharply I cast it away, and it plunked into the now broiling water. A small geyser followed, as if I had tossed a live hand grenade into the green muck.

I staggered toward Greg with tears in my eyes, and my legs felt heavy as sodden wood. Now he was bent over, his face between his knees but his finger still pointed straight out. Only now even the bone was dissolving, and it smoked like the end of a lit cigarette.

“What’s happening?” I said, sounding as pathetic as a little boy. But I seemed to have nothing else to offer. Then I saw Greg’s cell phone in a case attached to his belt, and I took it out and dialed 911 again. The same squealing, as loud as a siren, caused me to cast the phone down. Only this time the phone hit a root and shattered like glass on terrazzo.

Suddenly I felt the urge to run. I could make it back to my house in just a few minutes, call the police from there, and then wait at the house while they went to Greg’s rescue. Or I could even lead them to the opening in the trees and wait there. After all, I would only get in the way if I tried to help further. Leave it to the pros, right? But Greg was in serious trouble. Now he was puking. As terrified as I was, I had to do something.

I leaned over, grabbed his left bicep, and in a fit of super-crazed strength yanked the man to his feet. His face was pale, his eyes swollen and bloodshot. I’ve never seen anyone look quite so terrified. Perhaps my face mirrored his.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” I said. But it was as if I was shouting into hurricane-force winds that muffled the words.

Still, he seemed to hear me. He nodded weakly and then leaned toward the opening where we had entered the now-nightmarish cove. But as soon as he did that, something occurred that was more frightening than anything I had yet encountered, even dwarfing the face in the bathroom window. All the strength left my limbs, and I fell back on my rump and began to whimper. A pink-skinned arm, tiny yet impossibly strong, sprang from the green gook, and a hand the size of a baby’s somehow seized enough of Greg’s skinny ankle to pull him into the water.

In just a few seconds, he was dragged beneath the surface.

He pleaded with me before he went under.

“Help me!” he squealed.

Then he was gone.

Anyone out there looking for books 3 and 4?

While my search for a new publisher continues, my series is currently out of print. However, there are a few copies here and there on Amazon, and I've noticed that books 1 and 2 continue to sell. However, there is only one copy of book 3 on Amazon, and it is way too expensive. So .... if there is anyone out there who has purchased 1 and 2 and would be interested in purchasing 3 and 4, please contact me at the jsmhimes email address at the very bottom of this page and I'm sure we will be able to work something out that is very affordable.

Who is this man?

During the three years that it took me to write The Death Wizard Chronicles, I prided myself -- sort of, I guess -- on being the type of writer who focused on just one project at a time. When it came to DW, I started on page 1 and finished on page 2,800 or so, and never once wrote anything else of any significance -- not even a short story.

I knew many other writers who were not this way. Some of them had three or more novels going at once, and they would bounce back and forth between them depending on their moods. This always seemed kind of foreign to me. I preferred to focus on one thing at a time.

Fast forward to now ........ and I am currently working on rewrites on DW, on revisions on a horror novel, and on the first draft of a YA fantasy with a woman who lives in Japan. (And yes, she and her family survived the earthquake. :) )

So I guess I've switched camps, huh?

It's kind of fun, I have to admit.

Rewrite of The Pit

I just returned from a week alone in a cabin in the mountains during which I did an entire rewrite of Book 1 of the series, entitled The Pit.

I removed most of the back story and introduced characters into Book 1 that previously had not appeared until Book 2.

Book 1 is now longer and more detailed, and it is very front-story driven. Instead of being about 70-30, it is now about 95-5. I replaced probably 60 pages of back story with about 100 pages of front story.

A new publisher has shown some interest in the rewrite. I'm hoping that this will result in a happy ending. Of course, there are no guarantees.

Being married with three of my five daughters still in the house, you can imagine how peaceful it was being by myself for such a long stretch. Of course I missed my family, and I did have some bouts of cabin fever, but overall it was a rewarding experience. I kept a log while I was there, and recorded that I worked on Book 1 for more than 60 hours in about 5 1/2 days of writing time. No world record, of course, but not bad.

Haunting development

I continue to make progress on my ghost story. I've finished the first draft and am four-fifths of the way through the first revision. It's going to be relatively short -- probably no more than 85,000 words -- but it's very scary and also very sexy ... maybe too sexy. I'm still considering toning down the graphic aspects of the sex. A few scenes feel gratuitous. (But sometimes gratuituous sex is the most fun of all!)

I'm hoping to begin shopping the novel by early January. With The DW Chronicles still without a second publisher, it's going to be fun to have another player in the game.

DW will always be my masterpiece. I'll never write anything better, and hopefully it will one day get the credit it deserves, even if it is post-Jim Melvin. But like any writer who has failed to strike it rich, all I can do is keep writing.

And that's what I've done.

Pour little me

It's raining tonight, really hard. An unexpected rain. I live in an area that's had below-average rainfall for several years now, so whenever it does rain -- no matter how frequently -- it's welcomed. I hope it keeps raining until after I go to bed. Is there anything better than falling asleep to the sound of rain?

I'm 66K into my horror novel. I feel like I've got about 20K to go to wrap it up. It's scary and sexy and wild. It'll be fun when it's finally finished. Maybe this one will hit it big -- and then carry The Death Wizard Chronicles along with it.

I just got back from a wonderful vacation in the mountains. It rained there too.

I so envy the people who can afford to just write.

Horns!

I'm 120 pages into the ghost story. I can't seem to keep the sex out of it. What's wrong with me?