Big News and a Weekend Giveaway
The month of May has been flat-out crazy. And I mean crazy in a good way. I’ll start off with the great news. I signed a deal with Samhain for the sequel, yes, I said sequel, to Forest of Shadows. The next book is called Sinister Entity and takes several characters from the first book, over a decade later. Who made the cut to book two? You’ll have to wait until April, 2013 to find out. Until then, I can show you the amazing cover that just got into my hot little hands 2 days ago.
This wait is going to kill me!
As you all know, my second book with Samhain, Evil Eternal, was released at the beginning of the month. The promotional wheels have been spinning and I’m gearing up for the big Books Without Borders fair on June 9th. Word is there will be thousands of folks attending. I’m just offering up a few prayers to the sun god to keep it bright and dry.
I saw the first official review for Evil Eternal this week and it was a doozy. It’s from the folks at Ginger Nuts of Horror. Here’s just the beginning:
“Some horror books are excellent because they delve into the deepest parts of our psyche, and try and shed light on what makes us us. Some are excellent because the author has an amazing talent for writing wonderful prose, and some books are just excellent, because they entertain the reader with a blockbusting balls to the walls story. 
I’m happy to say that Evil Eternal is one of the most refreshing entries in the balls to the wall type of horror novel that I grew up reading, in many a long year.”
Click here if you want to read the rest of the review.
I fininshed the first draft of an all new novella that will hopefully be out in the Fall this year. First revision starts right after I post this.
And now on to the fun part. I’m giving away signed prints of the cover for Evil Eternal to anyone who comments on this post. If you were a fan of Forest of Shadows, let me know what you think of the cover for Sinister Entity and take a guess at who the star of the show will be. If you read Evil Eternal, let me know what you think of it. Hell, just come by and say ‘what up’! I’ll start sending out the signed covers this coming week.
The Art Behind The Evil
I thought it would be fun to share the vision of a couple of artists I had worked with on Evil Eternal, back in the day when I had dreams of starting it as a graphic comic. I haven’t given up that dream. Please feel free to petition your favorite comic publisher to make Evil Eternal come alive in the panels of a comic!
This first one of the character Father Michael was drawn by my close friend, Mike Chella. Dude looks badass. Unfortunately it comes out grainy here, but I loved the dark style that Mike brought to the project. The panels Mike drew are what inspired me to keep working on the story and escalating the madness!
Next is a slick, computer graphic version of our favorite undead priest by author and artist, Ron Leming. The crucifix trident is pretty freakin’ cool.
And speaking of comics, Saturday, May 5th is National Comic Book Day. If you’re a fan, please visit your comic book store and pick up a few issues of your fave. I also wrote an article, more an ode to comic books, to celebrate the day. Click here to take a gander.
It’s Here! Evil Eternal vs. The World
It’s a great day here in the Shea neighborhood. My second book with Samhain Publishing, Evil Eternal, is now available and can be had a pretty damn good price (under $5!). I’m honored to be part of the Samhain family and have been impressed every step of the way since they took this orphan in last year.
Now, I’ve already given you an excerpt in a previous quote, breakdown of the book on my Books page along with some advance reviews. So, what the heck esle do I have to talk about (other than the various posts and article on my blog tour—see previous post)? I figured I’d give you a little Shea family snapshot and show you how Evil Eternal grew from a tiny idea to a full-fledged, demon-killing novel.
Way back when Bill Clinton was asking the world to define the word ‘is’, I got a spanking new computer. The best way to test drive that Gateway was to write a short story, preferrably something with larger than life characters, demons and gore. Hey, it’s what I was in the mood for at the time. Well, I cranked out a short story about this undead priest called Father Michael who stumbles upon scenes of carnage wrought by a demon called Cain (he of Cain and Abel infamy). 
I wrote it, I read it, I liked it. So did other folks I showed it to. I went on to write another story, placing Father Michael in the NY sewer system seeking demons in dark, filthy tunnels. About a year after I had written both stories, a Bram Stoker nominated horror website came to me to see if I had any ideas for a monthly e-serial. I thought, hey, I’ve got just the thing!
So for a few months, I wrote new chapters for the website, leaving each on a cliffhanger. It was great fun. Alas, the website shut down well before the story was finished.
There were plans to make it a graphic comic and a great friend started preliminary artwork. Comic publishers were contacted, but no one took the bait. Oh well. I may be a big comic book reader, but I was never too saavy about the business side of the medium.
I had an ending that was just itching to be written, so I went back and finished what I started and had a dandy novella. And that’s the way it sat for quite a while.
Enter Samhain, stage right. As I was digging through my drawer of misfit manuscripts, I showed my editor the novella. The next question was, “Can you flesh it out and make it a novel?” Hell yeah, I can! I dove back into the Evil Eternal world and added a new beginning, ending and beefed up everything in between. I had a ton of fun writing it. This is ‘let your freak flag fly’ territory.
And now it’s finally here. Be sure to check in at the ‘ol blog and chain and the various blog tour stops for giveaways and fun. Next time you’re in church, thank a priest. They may save you from death at the hands of a demon some day. 😉
The Blog Tour Cometh!
We’re just days away from the global release of Evil Eternal (poor, poor world). Not one to sit on my duff, I’ve been hard at work at some other exciting things, but I’ll save that for a later post.
Below is the official Evil Eternal Blog Tour. Be sure to check in at each stop because there will be all kinds of freebies and signed books.
Dreadful Tales (5/1)
Wodke Hawkinson (5/1)
Cate Gardner (5/2)
Jonathan Janz (5/3)
Joseph Pinto’s Horror (and things not so horrible) Blog (5/4)
Paul D. Dail’s Not So Horrific Blog (5/4)
Oh, For The Hook of a Book! (5/5 for National Comic Book Day!)
eBook Swag (5/7, 5/15, 5/16, 5/22, 6/11)
The Happy Horror Writer (5/7)
Last Krist on the Left (5/10)
Frazer Lee (5/14)
J.C. Martin, Fighter Writer (5/17)
Damien Walters Grintalis (5/21)
Macabre Republic
PromoteHorror (5/2 & ongoing)
Signed Copy Giveaway and the Latest Updates
First, I want to thank everyone who has come to this blog, FB, Twitter, offered words of encouragement, bought my book or helped get the word out. Sales have been great and as of today, I’m still haunting the top spot with my publisher. Your support and responses have truly made my heart grow 3 sizes.
Since the NFL playoffs are going to be starting soon and I still have to get the beer for the day’s festivities, I’ll make this quick. My debut novel with Samhain, Forest of Shadows, is now available as a trade paperback. I’m all for the whole e-book thing. I 
know it’s the wave of the future…or more like the reality of the present. I even have a Kindle (as does one daughter, with wifey owning the lone Nook in the house). But man, there is nothing like the feel and smell of a new book. I know I’m not the only one who takes a good long whiff as I flip through the pages for the first time. Come on, you can tell ‘ol Uncle Hunter.
To celebrate the print release of Forest of Shadows, I’m giving away 2 signed copies to random folks who comment on this blog post. It’s that easy. “But what should I say in my comment?” Well, anything that comes to mind. Let ‘er rip, or be short and sweet. Winners will be announced Monday night, 1/16/12.
In other news, I finished the first draft of the sequel to Forest of Shadows, tentatively titled Double Walker. For those of you who already read FOS, I leave it to you to guess which character the follow up will focus on. We’re just 5 months away from the relase of my next book, Evil Eternal. Guaranteed to blow your mind. Last but not least, a short story of mine, Commandment Eleven, has been picked up by Dark Moon Books and will be unveiled in time for the World Horror Convention.
Okay, enough of Mr. Big Mouth. Comment away and good luck!
New Book Cover Preview and Other Bits and Bobs
Despite the title of this post, I am not a resident of the UK. I just like to pretend I am from time to time, like when I call people punters and say things are brilliant.
My own national identity issues aside, I was bowled over when my editor sent me the cover for my next book, Evil Eternal, which will be out in May, 2012. It has demons, damsels in distress, blood and guts galore and even a touch of humor from time to time. Here’s the cover:
Pretty freakin’ cool, right?
In other news, the reviews for Forest of Shadows have been glowing, which brings a tear to this writer dude’s eye. I just saw this review posted on Dreadful Tales and really feel my wife and I must have a baby so we can name it after the reviewer. I swear, I never met the guy and no money exchanged hands. Here are some excerpts. To read the whole review, go to Dreadful Tales.
“Hunter Shea is absolutely ruthless. The man writes with a passion and aggression that will leave you helpless in its grasp. Shea keeps his eyes on the prize and everything else is secondary. He wants you to cringe. He wants your skin to crawl. He wants to positively scare you out of your god-given wits. Above anything else, Forest of Shadows is a genuinely scary book. It took a few restless nights and one incredibly vivid nightmare about whispering shadows and the floating visage of a young boy, before I realized how successful this book was at scaring the living daylights out of me. It had worked its way into my brain and nestled in there, coiled to spring at any given moment. This book scared me in a way I haven’t been scared in a very long time.
I can respect an author who takes the ghost story and completely disregards its well worn conventions to create something truly original. He preaches from the Altar of Pulp- spewing a sermon filled with his own merciless interpretation of what this genre should be. I love seeing a newcomer just completely rip it and own the living daylights out his writing. “
And for those of you who aren’t hip to my Facebook fan page, you have to come over and like the page, if only to take part in the super simple weekend giveaways that I do every week. You can win signed copies of stories, gift cards, or even have your name used in a book! Stop by every Saturday to catch the latest giveaway.
I’ve been very busy working on the sequel to Forest of Shadows and will soon post a little something I wrote about every writer’s fear : putting your work out there for the whole world to critique. Yikes! So far, I’ve been lucky, but it ain’t always pretty. I’ll also be filming some new Monster Men podcast episodes and we’re going to launch our brand new author interviews. We’re lining up authors this month and should have them live in a few weeks.
Thank you to everyone who has read this blog or gotten in touch with me on Facebook, Twitter, the Samhain Cafe, and all the other places I pop in and out of from time to time. You’ve been simply amazing and recharge my battery every day so I can sit my ass down and get to writing!
Hunter Shea 