Blood Spring Back in Print

My very first published book, Blood Spring, is back in print! It's been around as an ebook since it first came out, but if you weren't lucky enough to pick up one of the limited edition trade paperbacks Bad Moon Books released way back in 2010, well, here's your chance to get a hard copy.

Henry just wants his garage back. Well, he wants his wife back, too. He lost both six months ago when Claire helped an injured deer on the side of the road. In went the deer and out went the BMW. Their marriage went on hold to save what some would consider a damn good meal.

But the day has come to return everything back to normal. The deer is healthy and Henry and Claire spend a quiet spring morning releasing it in the woods. Serenity soon turns to terror as they realize they are lost in the labyrinth of the forest with no food and hardly any water.

Food and water are the least of their worries. In these woods a long-forgotten god is worshiped. Its followers believe in sacrifice, and Henry and Claire have stumbled into their dark world.

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Bison People Now Available in Paperback and as an Ebook

Many years ago, I wrote a dark crime novella called Stamped with Blood and published it under a pen name (Lou McBride). No one bought it so I revised it, made it darker, and retitled it Father & Daughter and published it under my name.

Some people bought it but I was never happy with it and it never came out in anything other than electronic form. So, I've gone back, revised it, and retitled it.

I bring to you Bison People. In print and ebook formats. Here's the pitch:

In the gritty criminal underworld, survival means making choices—sometimes between bad and worse. For Samantha, life has always been about facing storms head-on, just like her father taught her. Raised by a man who transformed from a high school teacher to a ruthless drug dealer after her mother’s brutal murder, she knows the rules of their dark world all too well.

Caught in the crossfire of her father’s escalating violence and depravity, she grapples with the darkness inside her, trying to determine how much of her father’s legacy she can accept without losing herself. The lines blur between victim and accomplice as she navigates a life filled with drugs, exploitation, and relentless manipulation. But when her father’s eyes turn cold with intent to kill, she faces a choice: let the cycle of violence continue or find a way out before she’s ensnared forever.

Will she break free from her father’s shadow, or will the sins of the father become the sins of the daughter?

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Train Pagans Now Available as an Ebook

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Sometimes, an anthology comes along with a specific theme and has a call for submissions. Recently, I wrote a story for an anthology with a very specific theme, got short-listed, waited a couple of months, only to get the word my story didn't make the final TOC.

Which is okay. I can handle rejection. Of course, though, when there's an anthology with a very specific theme, there tend to be a lot of stories that suddenly flood other markets with that theme that also got rejected by said antho.

Well, rather than add to the pile of rejected stories flooding other markets, I took my story and put it up as a standalone e-book.  Above are the links if you're interested. Below is the summary.

Roald Foote’s routine trip from San Diego to Los Angeles takes a sinister turn when he encounters a bizarre clown and his unsettling young companion at Santa Fe Station. Initially amused by the clown’s outlandish appearance, Roald soon becomes unnerved as the pair board the same train and initiate a chilling tarot card reading.

With each card drawn, the clown and the mysterious child reveal increasingly disturbing insights into Roald’s past and present, culminating in the horrifying truth about his recent actions. As the train hurtles towards its destination, Roald realizes he cannot escape the darkness of his deeds or the malevolent entities that have targeted him for retribution.

I am Vision, I am Death Now Available as an E-book

 

My story I am Vision, I am Death is now available as an e-book for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. Just $0.99!

Elijah has a lot of problems.

-One, his mother is about to die and he's trying to get to her one last time before she kicks the bucket.
-Two, he's a bit of a loner.
-Three, he has visions of future murders. Murders he can prevent. Which leads to-
-Four, he's a stone-cold killer of those willing to kill the innocent.

As he races to get to his mother's side, he collides head-on with the brutal truth of his ability. A truth that forces him to stand at the crossroads of reality and choose between the hard narrow road of life or the wide open road of death.

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The Muerte Sequence Now Available!

THE MUERTE SEQUENCE

A mosaic novel chronicling one man's lifelong dance with Death—both as her prey and her partner. Haunted by loss from a young age, he finds himself both victim and agent of Santa Muerte. As he navigates a shadowy world of vengeance and justified evil, he grasps for those rare moments of light—fleeting connections with lovers, friends, and family. For in the presence of Death, every human bond carries the bittersweet knowledge that it all ends.

THE MUERTE SEQUENCE spans a lifetime to explore the many guises of that most intimate and coldest stranger: Death herself.

Featuring the novelettes THE REVEREND’S POWDER, CONSECRATED HIGHWAYS, and THIS WAY TO THE GLADIATOR SHOW collected all in one place.

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This Way to the Gladiator Show Now Available

 

This Way to the Gladiator Show, the third installment in The Muerte Sequence, is now available for the first time in both electronic and print editions. I say first time as it's the first time it's appeared in either format solo.  It originally appeared in the electronic version of The Muerte Sequence collection in 2012, which didn't stay available very long.  It also had a different title then: Gladius or, Marty Robbins Doesn't Play Here Anymore.

So, why change the title and do a solo version?  Well, to complete the trilogy of standalones that includes The Reverend's Powder and Consecrated Highways.  In addition, I wanted to change the title so, this gave me a chance to do both.

Like its predecessors, the print version is a short chapbook so be aware you're getting a small paperback if you pick it up.

Included in this version is the story Door to Ever, which tells the story of that guy on the cover up there.

Anyway, the summary:

Twenty years since the events of CONSECRATED HIGHWAYS. Thirty since those that transpired in THE REVEREND'S POWDER. Seems like a long time.

But time means nothing to the Great Mother of Death. Once she chooses you, she'll have you, regardless of the passage of time.

In Baja Mexico, a bus of Christian volunteers travel toward a home for poor and disadvantaged people to perform works of mercy. On the way, the bus is stopped by a group of local bandits and militiamen. Bandits in the employ of the local drug cartel.

Soon, the volunteers find themselves pitted in gladiatorial combat for the entertainment of the cartel. Entertainment that demands blood is spilled as an offering to the Mother of Death. Among them, is seventeen-year-old Scott, who has more of his dad, former hitman turned holy man Matthew, in him than he knows.

Killing runs in the family. And the Mother of Death may have found her best recruit.

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Consecrated Highways Now Available

 

That's right, the sequel to The Reverend's Powder is available once again in e-book after about a decade of being out of print.  In addition, it's also available for the first time in paperback as a chapbook!  How about that?!?!

Available in Paperback

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Available as an E-book

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The Reverend's Powder Now Available in Paperback

 

Yes, that's right, The Reverend's Powder is once again available in paperback.  As noted before, it originally came out in limited edition paperback and hardcover formats way back in 2010 from Sideshow Press.  Since then, it's pretty much only been available in e-book unless you went hunting on the secondary market for a print edition, or picked one up from me at a convention in the past.

Anyway, why release it again in paperback?  Well, I like the idea of releasing my longer pieces as small chapbooks, if only for vanity reasons.  In addition, it gives me a chance to work on my layout skills.  I'd never used InDesign before so I got to teach myself that! Yay, me!

Plus, it keeps my stuff in print and under my control, which is nice.

Anyway, if you're interested, it's available right now on Amazon with more online retailers to follow soon.

The Reverend's Powder Now Available on Nook

 

The Reverend's Powder is now available as an e-book for Nook for you Barnes & Noble types.  FYI.

The Reverend's Powder Now Available on Kobo

 

In addition to being available on Kindle, the e-book version of The Reverend's Powder is now available on Kobo.  

For more on The Reverend's Powder, check out the original Kindle post!

The Reverend's Powder Available Again on Kindle

 

My novelette, The Reverend's Powder, has made its triumphant return to Kindle!  It'll also be making its return as an e-book on other platforms in the near future!  As well as in a slim paperback format for those interested.  The above cover is for the e-book only.  The paperback will have different artwork.

For those of you that don't know, or don't remember, The Reverend's Powder was one of the first long-form stories of mine that was published in the small press.  Tom Moran and Sideshow Press scooped it up and published it as a chapbook way back in 2010.  There were two limited editions.  One was a limited edition trade paperback and one was a limited edition hardcover.

Here's what some people said about it oh those many years ago:

 “The Reverend's Powder explodes out of the gate from the very first sentence and is a one-sitting thrill ride through love, life, faith, and the bittersweet taste of revenge.” -Gord Rollo, author of THE JIGSAW MAN 

"With the white-hot intensity of a holy-rolling blowtorch, Williams delivers a blistering gutter-Gospel on the deception that preys on blind faith, and the long, bloody road to truth and forgiveness. When there's no more room in Hell, let the worst sinners burn in the mind of Erik Williams." -Cody Goodfellow, author of RADIANT DAWN and PERFECT UNION 

"The Reverend's Powder is a gripping little tale. I’d say 'It grabs you from the first sentence and never lets you go!' but that’s kind of trite, so instead I’ll point out that...it comes highly recommended." -Jeff Strand, author of DEMONIC

"If less is more, then Erik Williams's The Reverend's Powder is definitely more. With stripped-down prose that foregoes flowery wordplay in favor of in-your-face brutality that cuts to the heart of the protagonist's plight, Williams has created the perfect horror tale for a quick read in bed, lights off, blankets up, sleeping partner oblivious to the violence your ingesting." -Kevin Wallis, author of BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THINGS

Anyway, if you're interested in the Kindle version, you can get it here.

Qualia Nous Volume 2 and Me

It's with pure delight that I can now tell you my short story "Bilocation in Liminal Space" has been accepted by Michael Bailey for inclusion in Qualia Nous Volume 2. Publication will probably be in 2024 but nothing is firm yet.

There are still a couple of more writers to be added to the ToC but the majority of them are listed right there in the image.  Check it out.  You may recognize a few (other than me).

More to follow.

If you're wondering what to expect from Volume 2, and if you haven't checked out Volume 1, here's the write up:

QUALIA NOUS, winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award and nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology, is a literary blend of science fiction and horror. Contains short stories, novelettes, and poetry from established authors and newcomers from around the world. Features Bram Stoker Award winning stories by Usman T. Malik and Rena Mason (both tied for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction), as well as stories by Stephen King, Emily B. Cataneo, Erinn L. Kemper, Patrick Freivald, William F. Nolan, Elizabeth Massie, John R. Little, Gary A. Braunbeck, and many others. 

And to learn more about the antho and the other splendid works published by Written Backwards, check out their site.

No Context Post #4

No Context Post #3

No Context Post #2

Because I like Tombstone.