Tag Archives: creativity

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Cinema of Shadows

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Seventh Star Press is proud to unveil the brand new cover art by Matthew Perry created for Michael West’s Cinema of Shadows, which will make Harmony, Indiana a household name with horror readers everywhere.

A pre-ordering window is now open for readers interested in a limited edition hardcover of Cinema of Shadows, which features a Matthew Perry illustration not included in the regular editon.  Only 75 numbered copies of the limited edition will be issued, at a price of just $34.95.

There is also a special pre-order offer for the regular trade paperback edition.  Both of the pre-order offers include an array of Cinema of Shadows collectibles, including a beautiful 14X20 poster of one of the interior illustrations (also by Matthew Perry), a set of 5X7 glossy art cards, bookmarks, a pair of buttons, and a magnet.  Copies can be pre-ordered in the online store at http://www.seventhstarpress.com and will be shipped August 1st, to ensure arrival before the book’s August 7th street date.

Cinema of Shadows welcomes you to the Woodfield Movie Palace.

The night the Titanic sank, it opened for business…and its builder died in his chair.   In the 1950s, there was a  fire; a balcony full of people burned to death.  And years later, when it became the scene of one of Harmony, Indiana’s most notorious murders, it closed for good.  Abandoned, sealed, locked up tight…until now.

Tonight, Professor Geoffrey Burke and his Parapsychology students have come to the Woodfield in search of evidence, hoping to find irrefutable proof of a haunting.  Instead, they will discover that, in this theater, the terrors are not confined to the screen.

Cinema of Shadows will ultimately be available in trade paperback, hardcover, and a variety of eBook editions.

Spook House, the next Harmony, Indiana novel from Michael West, is slated for 2012 release, with another title coming in 2013.

Updates and additional information can be obtained at the official site for Seventh Star Press, at www.seventhstarpress.com , or at the author’s site at www.bymichaelwest.com

 

 

General Posts

Tuesday Afternoon Ramblings

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January 2008 was one of the darkest periods of my life.  My children had just moved to Florida with their mother, and I was left with the enormity of cleaning out my old apartment to move into my mother’s house.  On the fourth or fifth day after the boys were gone, I called my aunt, Carolyn, for moral support.  She and I had always been close and had talked often over the years.  We had much in common, including our quirky sense of humor, and we laughed often whenever we talked.  At that moment, I needed to laugh desperately.

Aunt Carolyn had been battling breast cancer for several years, and around that time, she had taken a turn for the worse.  Her health had declined precipitously that winter, and though neither of us acknowledged it directly, we both knew that would be the last time we would speak to each other.  We talked for a couple of hours, mostly about the divorce and my kids, but also about life.  As we talked, I moved around the apartment, cleaning and packing as much as I could with one free hand.  Despite the fact that she was sick and dying, she comforted me and gave me strength.  We told each other how much we meant, and I’m grateful that I had the chance to tell her directly.  I’ll never forget that conversation and will cherish it for the rest of my life.

She passed away a month and a half later, on the day I had to take the boys back from their first return stay with me.  Literally, I was carrying them down the stairs to the car when I got the call.  I was already distraught over the trip and couldn’t handle more grief, so I stuffed it away and dealt with the turmoil of reliving the separation from my kids.  To this day, I haven’t grieved for her properly.  I’ve cried a few times, and I think about her often, but I haven’t really mourned for her.  That causes me quite a bit of guilt, though I’m certain she would understand given the circumstances.

Aunt Carolyn was one of my biggest fans.  She absolutely loved Brotherhood and as much as anyone encouraged me to keep writing.  Her words stick with me whenever I’m working on the series.  She was a good friend and a great aunt, and I’m lucky to have had her in my life.  This entry doesn’t do justice to the impact she had on me, but it’s a start.  Thank you, Aunt Carolyn.  I miss you.

General Posts

Friday Afternoon Ramblings

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“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

 Calvin Coolidge

I live by these words.  I now lecture on them in every class I teach.  If my students learn nothing else from me, I hope they learn the lesson of persistence.  History is littered with the successes of the the people who had the courage to push forward despite failures, setbacks, naysayers, critics, self-doubts, and struggles.  Thomas Edison comes to mind.  So does J. K. Rowling, who was rejected by 12 publishers before one accepted the Harry Potter series.  Colonel Sanders fought back from bankruptcy in his 60’s.

In graduate school, the will to write was crushed from my spirit.  My creativity and passion literally withered away, and I was left a hollow shell of a person.  For three to four years, I didn’t write anything to speak of, and I look back at that period as one of the bleakest of my life.  I gave up on myself, and looking back, I’m ashamed of that as much as anything in my life.

Life has knocked me down many times.  From the shotput accident, to graduate school, to the divorce, to the struggles to launch my writing career, the most important lesson I’ve learned is to keep fighting, to find my inner strength and believe in the possibilities of the future.  Three years ago I had every excuse to quit, and be perfectly honest, I nearly did.  Losing my children was by far the worst thing I’ve experienced.  Without them, nothing mattered.  Many nights I saw no hope of ever recovering from the loss, no hope of ever achieving success, no hope of being the man I wanted to be.

But something inside me held together, and I came to know that if I didn’t press on, I truly had no hope.  But if I fought with everything I had left, I at least had a chance to get to my feet.  Today, I’m a better man for it.  Nothing has been easy, but now, every little success is more fulfilling, each victory that much sweeter.  I won’t consider myself a success until the farm is running and my writing is profitable, but I will not stop “pressing on” until both of those have been accomplished.  If you are reading this and facing adversities of your own, please know that you too can overcome any obstacle and find your success.  All you have to do is dig in and fight with everything that’s in you.  And if you are willing to do that, good things will eventually come your way.