The Ugly Little Q&A is now available to watch!
April 11, 2014 in Blog by Todd
Many thanks to everyone who tuned in, and a very special thanks to Mercedes for moderating the chat. We had a lot of fun, as I’m sure you’ll see when you watch:
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by Todd by Todd LIVE Q&A TONIGHT!
April 11, 2014 in Blog by Todd
This month’s entry in the ULT series brings an end to the first sequence of stories, and to commemorate this milestone, I’ve decided to go live on Google Hangouts to take your questions.
But I won’t be alone. Joining me is my dear friend Mercedes Murdock Yardley, author of NAMELESS and the Hugo-nominated novella, APOCALYPTIC MONTESSA AND NUCLEAR LULU. She has volunteered to be a moderator for the Q&A, an act which is entirely selfless and also incredibly masochistic. Seriously, I don’t think she knows what she’s getting into.
How will this work?
First thing’s first: You need to RSVP for this event. Once you’ve done that, post your question(s) on the event page’s wall. You can ask as many as you like between now and the day of the event. I can’t promise we’ll get to all of them, but I can promise that I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can.
The Q&A will go live this Friday evening, 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST. We’ll post a link to the YouTube stream about ten minutes before show time.
But wait! THERE’S MORE!
As an incentive for you to actually show up and participate, I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while—a giveaway. One lucky participant will be chosen at random to receive Kindle copies of the entire ULT library. I might even throw in some extras. You’ll just have to tune in and find out. 
To recap: Friday, April 11th. 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST. RSVP and post your questions to the event wall. A link to the YouTube stream will be posted a few minutes before the broadcast.
We hope you’ll join us!
TK
by Todd [REMINDER] Ugly Little Q&A Tomorrow Night!
April 10, 2014 in Blog by Todd
This month’s entry in the ULT series brings an end to the first sequence of stories, and to commemorate this milestone, I’ve decided to go live on Google Hangouts to take your questions.
But I won’t be alone. Joining me is my dear friend Mercedes Murdock Yardley, author of NAMELESS and the Hugo-nominated novella, APOCALYPTIC MONTESSA AND NUCLEAR LULU. She has volunteered to be a moderator for the Q&A, an act which is entirely selfless and also incredibly masochistic. Seriously, I don’t think she knows what she’s getting into.
How will this work?
First thing’s first: You need to RSVP for this event. Once you’ve done that, post your question(s) on the event page’s wall. You can ask as many as you like between now and the day of the event. I can’t promise we’ll get to all of them, but I can promise that I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can.
The Q&A will go live this Friday evening, 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST. We’ll post a link to the YouTube stream about ten minutes before show time.
But wait! THERE’S MORE!
As an incentive for you to actually show up and participate, I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while—a giveaway. One lucky participant will be chosen at random to receive Kindle copies of the entire ULT library. I might even throw in some extras. You’ll just have to tune in and find out.
To recap: Friday, April 11th. 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST. RSVP and post your questions to the event wall. A link to the YouTube stream will be posted a few minutes before the broadcast.
We hope you’ll join us!
TK
by Todd Proof of concept.
I decided to invest in some audio equipment last week, and last night, after finally figuring out how to set it all up, I recorded this. It isn’t mastered, I didn’t rehearse the voices, and there are some volume issues, but this will give you an idea of what a Monochrome audio book would sound like if they ever happen. And they may in the future, once I manage to develop a better recording space. In the meantime, listen to this scene from ALT. Listen to what could be:
by Todd DIRTBAGS!
At long last, my good friend Eryk Pruitt’s debut novel DIRTBAGS went on sale this weekend. On my birthday, to be exact, and while I haven’t finished it, I’m far enough along to say that it’s good. Really good. If you like pulpy noir tales with a really dark sense of humor, you should check out this book. Here’s a synopsis:
In the southern town of Lake Castor, the old mill closed, and jobs vanished. But Calvin Cantrell doesn’t care for those jobs anyway. Instead, he dreams of becoming a famous serial killer. When sleazy restauranteur Tom London hires Calvin to kill his ex-wife, Calvin’s dreams begin. And so do Lake Castor’s nightmares.
Check out this hilarious trailer:
Dirtbags by Eryk Pruitt from Nick Karner on Vimeo.
DIRTBAGS is available now in print, on Kindle, and on Nook. Check it out!
TK
by Todd AN UGLY LITTLE Q&A!
This month’s entry in the ULT series brings an end to the first sequence of stories, and to commemorate this milestone, I’ve decided to go live on Google Hangouts to take your questions.
But I won’t be alone. Joining me is my dear friend Mercedes Murdock Yardley, author of NAMELESS and the Hugo-nominated novella, APOCALYPTIC MONTESSA AND NUCLEAR LULU. She has volunteered to be a moderator for the Q&A, an act which is entirely selfless and also incredibly masochistic. Seriously, I don’t think she knows what she’s getting into.
How will this work?
First thing’s first: You need to RSVP for this event. Once you’ve done that, post your question(s) on the event page’s wall. You can ask as many as you like between now and the day of the event. I can’t promise we’ll get to all of them, but I can promise that I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can.
The Q&A will go live this Friday evening, 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST. We’ll post a link to the YouTube stream about ten minutes before show time.
But wait! THERE’S MORE!
As an incentive for you to actually show up and participate, I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while—a giveaway. One lucky participant will be chosen at random to receive Kindle copies of the entire ULT library. I might even throw in some extras. You’ll just have to tune in and find out.
To recap: Friday, April 11th. 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST. RSVP and post your questions to the event wall. A link to the YouTube stream will be posted a few minutes before the broadcast.
We hope you’ll join us!
TK
by Todd ULT #4: THE HARBINGER IS ON SALE NOW!
Welcome to Dalton.
Take a tour of the Dalton Dollworks. Grab a bite to eat at Meyer’s Diner.
Just stay away from the church, and try not to mind the smell . . .
by Todd A homework assignment.
By the time most of you read this, we’ll have moved forward on the countdown to THE HARBINGER by one day. So with that in mind, I have a little homework assignment for you.
Ready? Okay:
I want you to tell three people about the ULT series. While I’d prefer they be horror fans, they don’t have to be. It can be on Facebook, on Twitter, any other social media outlet, or even better, in person.
The important thing is that you utilize the most important promotional tool in existence: word of mouth.
Let’s get people talking about ULT. Let’s get them as excited for the final ULT entry as you are–because you are, right? (It’s okay, you can lie to me.)
Thanks for your help, folks. More soon.
TK
by Todd Paying it forward with Patreon.
March 31, 2014 in Blog by Todd
Followers of this blog may remember that last year was not a good year for me in a lot of ways. I won’t recap why. The bottom line is that back in October, I woke up to the fact that if I ever want to earn a living with my writing, I need to change a lot of things, and in the last several months I’ve made drastic attempts at doing so. In fact, the last four months have treated me well. I’m not blind to this, and in recent months, I’ve made it a point to pay things forward as much as I can.
Enough about me, though. This post isn’t for me. It’s for my friend Tony, or as you know him, Anthony J. Rapino. He’s an English teacher, a horror fan, and best of all, he’s a damn good writer. You already know how I feel about his first novel, Soundtrack to the End of the World, and his audio book, Reality Engineers. He writes great stories, and like me, he’s trying to find a way to earn a living by doing what he loves most: writing.
Last week, Tony kicked off a campaign at the website Patreon. It’s sort of like Kickstarter, except instead of a single project, you get to support a content creator’s ongoing endeavors. You can commit a minimum amount per month, sort of like a subscription, and there are benefits to pitching in higher amounts. For example, I’ve pledged $2 a month. It’s not much, but it’s a start, and if more people pledged even at this low level–say, 50 of you, for example–that would be $100 extra a month that Tony could invest into a new camera for his video blogs. It would allow him to buy a copy of Scrivener to use for his next novel. Hell, he could even use it to hire an eBook designer to bring Reality Engineers to Kindles.
Whatever he chooses to use it for is up to him, but I know this guy, and I’ll vouch for his honesty and integrity: he’ll use it for the right reasons. Tony’s worth at least $2 a month, and I have no problem pitching in if it means we get more stories from him.
So go check out his Patreon page. Contribute if you can. Support the artists you enjoy and admire.
TK
by Todd A Call to Arms!
March 29, 2014 in Blog by Todd
Okay, folks. We’re officially less than a week away from the release of the last story in this volume of UGLY LITTLE THINGS. It’s been a hell of a ride since January, and I want to thank each and every one of you who bought, shared, and reviewed these stories. Although the last story is almost here, we’re not quite done. Not by a long shot.
I want to end this volume with a bang. ULT #4 has the potential to do so–but I can’t do it without your help. The release date is this coming Friday, April 4th, which means we have five days to tell everyone about it. Here’s what I have in mind:
These are a digital flyers. Click the image to load the full size (careful–it’s 2.6 mb). Share them with your friends this week across your favorite social media site. If you know anyone who loves horror, or if you’re involved in any of the thousands of horror-focused groups and communities on the internet, please spread the word about this story. Tell them what the story’s about. Here’s the synopsis:
Welcome to Dalton, West Virginia, home of the famous toy company, Dalton Dollworks. Founded in the late 1970s, the Dollworks has built a reputation around its quaint, lifelike dolls—and now the company is poised to go worldwide.
Meet journalist Felix Proust. He’s been invited to Dalton for an exclusive interview with Maggie Eloquence, CEO of the Dalton Dollworks. Thing is, he’s been in town for all of five minutes and he already knows something isn’t quite right. The stench of manure is everywhere, all the adults seem to be over sixty, and the children regard him with silent contempt.
Felix isn’t about to let this odd town get to him. He does have a job to do, after all. But as the day wears on, Felix learns there’s more to Dalton than meets the eye, and that some dark secrets should remain buried deep in the earth at all costs . . .
THE HARBINGER is the latest entry in Todd Keisling’s Ugly Little Things series, offering a startling new vision of unsettling horror that leaves the reader holding their breath until the very end.
Out of the four stories in this volume, THE HARBINGER is what I would consider to be the most traditional horror story of the bunch. It’s my ode to Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Additionally, I’ve created a couple of Facebook banners to be used on your profiles. If you’re willing, please use one of these as your banner this week. As above, click the images to load the full resolution version:
Lastly, if you happen to be a reviewer or a blogger and are interested in reviewing ULT #4, please email me ASAP. I will provide a Kindle copy free of charge for review purposes.
I think that’s about it. Are you ready? Let’s do this!
TK
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