Where Have I Been?

Working! That, in a nutshell, is what I've been doing for the past month and a half. So if I've agreed to review your book, it'll happen eventually. I just don't know when. I basically bit off more than I can chew when it comes to reviewing. All of my reading time has been devoted to editing, so I haven't spent any time reading for review.

Along those lines, I don't think I'll be taking on any new books for review for the foreseeable future. In fact, this site has pretty much been dormant for the last six months or so, and I'll probably use it just to share any books that I read in my spare time. As much as I love reviewing books, I just don't have the extra time to devote to it regularly. But there are plenty of awesome book reviewers out there, so I have no worries that you will find spots to learn about awesome books.

General Update and Freebies from Nicholson and Others

I usually like to do an end-of-year top-ten reads list, but since most of my reading this years was for copyediting and proofreading I think I'm going to skip any sort of lists. Don't get me wrong. There were a number of good books that I read, but I just don't feel right putting them on any sort of best-of list. I will, however, try to do some sort of wrap-up and look forward, but it may not be until the new year when I post it.

There is one thing I want to make sure you Kindle owners are aware of. Right now there are a ton of freebies being offered to Kindle owners. In fact, my favorite author is offering a number of free e-books through Amazon. I remember when I first discovered Scott Nicholson. Somehow I happened upon a copy of The Red Church a few years back. I thoroughly enjoyed Nicholson's writing and wanted to read more. The only problem was that I had to hunt down his books online because most of them were out-of-print. I ended up getting all of his print titles after some work. Now fast-forward to the Kindle age, and he's giving away e-copies of his books. Talk about easy. Here's a link to all of the books he's giving away: http://hauntedcomputer.blogspot.com/.

Another freebie is from author Brenda Wallace. Brenda's a great person and talented new author. Her debut novel, Brilliant Prey, is currently free at Amazon for a limited time. Grab it while you can! Click here to go the the Amazon page.

If you own a Kindle, make sure you're checking out book clubs and freebie sites to get the latest information about available free books. It seems as though Santa's bag burst open after Christmas! Some authors that have had freebies or currently have promotions running include J. A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, J. R. Rain, and Aiden James.

If I don't talk to you before the new year, happy new year!

New Review Posted at Novella Reviews

Posts have been scarce around here recently, but I thought I'd let you know that I do have a new review posted over at Novella Reviews. I review Paul Salvette's novelette, America Goes On. Stop by and check it out.

Also, since I don't have a lot of new reviews planned for here in the near future, I'll be posting some of the reviews I've done elsewhere during this past year. That way I'll have all my reviews consolidated in one place.

I hope you're doing well and reading something great!

Review Schedule

My review for Jarrett Rush's Chasing Filthy Lucre will be posted next Tuesday over at Jenna Anderson's novella-review site. I should also have a treat for you here at Bookhound's Den the same day. And finally, I'll have a review of the newest Spectral Press title posted here sometime next week.

I hope you have a great weekend and you come across some great reads!

Update

I can't believe it's already August! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. Or maybe I'm just having a difficulty keeping up with time because we're not talking about whether or not Brett Favre will stay retired this year. So, will he or won't he?

Things are quite busy right now. In case you've missed it, I went off the deep end and decided to work full-time for myself. So I've been fairly busy with editing projects and working on pages for my business site, Hock's Editing Services. I do have a couple of things that I'll post here in the next week or so. While on vacation this past week, I read a great novella by Jarrett Rush, Chasing Filthy Lucre. I should have a review of it up by this Friday. I should also have a review of the new Spectral Press novella up in the next week or so.

Things should become a little more lively around here soon. I'll probably be reviewing many more novellas, just because it takes me a while to get through a full-length novel right now. Heck, I may even pull out my soapbox and stand on it a day or two. Who knows? I'll probably fall off of it, though. But at least you'll get a good laugh.

Am I Here?

The rumors of my demise have not been greatly exaggerated. Okay, okay, maybe demise is a bit too strong. Hibernation, withdrawal, disappearance . . . call it what you will. Bottom line, I haven’t been around much lately. And there’s a good reason. Really, there is. I promise.

I’m at a bit of a crossroads in my life right now. I’m transitioning from the world of “real” work to the world of self-employment. During this transition, I’ve been nonexistent online for the most part. I’ve been working fifty to sixty hours a week with my freelance business while still working at my “real” job. Needless to say, this hasn’t left me with time to do much else.

I’ll be honest: I don’t know how often I’ll add reviews to this blog. I worked hard to build it up, and I love to share my thoughts about the books I read. I’m appreciative that anyone would take the time to read what I have to say about a book. However, I’m simply not reading books for review right now. The last book I read for enjoyment was a couple of months ago, and I don’t foresee any reading for review in the near future.

But never fear. There are a bunch of great sites out there with talented folks reviewing dark fiction. Just a few of them off the top of my head are The Crow’s Caw, Dreadful Tales, The Man Eating Bookworm, and Little Miss Zombie. Make sure to check them out to get your fix for the dark and macabre.

Who knows, maybe once I fully transition to being self-employed I’ll have a little more free time and update this blog a little more regularly. In the meantime, while I’m chasing my dream and working to do something I love, I’ll sporadically post a review here.

So to answer the question asked in the title of this post, yes, I am here. I’m just lurking in the shadows.

Update

Howdy fellow book lovers, hope all is well in your world. Just want to let everyone know that I'm still here and I'm not just sitting around watching the grass grow (although that sounds very tempting at times!). Life’s been pretty busy lately, but that’s a good thing.

The main reason you haven’t seen any book reviews here recently is because I haven’t read any books for review. My reading has been dominated by proofreading and copyediting. Since I lost ten days that I hadn’t planned for when I had my surgery last month, I’ve been playing catch-up for the past month. The good news is that I’m almost caught up. So, hopefully, you’ll start seeing some reviews around here in the not-too-distant future.

In other news, I’m working on a new blog that will focus on my proofreading and copyediting services. I think it’s time to separate those things from this blog, because this blog was intended for more of the “fun” stuff, not business. So be on the lookout for that new blog; it will have all the information you’ll need about my services and I’ll blog about some common mistakes I see when I’m proofreading. In the meantime, if you are interested in my services, please see this page for more information. Here’s a sneak peek at the logo that my lovely wife created for me:

I’m pleased to say that I recently teamed up with Stephen James Price at Book Looks to offer Indie authors a one-stop spot for all the services they need to publish their e-book. Stop by and take a look!

Lastly, I am reading a few books for review right now: Ravenmarked by Amy Rose Davis, A View from the Lake by Greg F. Gifune and The Drummer by Anthony Neil Smith. All of them have been a lot of fun so far; I look forward to finishing them up and sharing them with you (or as I tend to say in “real” life, y’all). Oh yeah, and I'm writing a blog entry for Grade Z Horror's Laymon Month celebration.

That’s all for now. Be good and make sure you have a compurgator in your life. You never know when you’ll need one! (Sorry, I learned a new word and think it’s a lot of fun. :-P)

In All Seriousness

The post below was a bit of fun for me and hopefully gave one or two of you a small laugh. Or maybe it's just me that has an unhealthy fascination with woodchucks.

Anyway, I want to give you quick look ahead of what I've got coming up next week since it'll be quiet around here this weekend due to me travelling. I'll have two book reviews that I'll be posting, The Summoner by Layton Green (not yet finished) and Abominable by William Meikle (just finished it and loved it). I'll also have two guest blog posts next week from authors and along with each of the guest posts I'll be giving away an e-copy of one of the author's books. So make sure you tune in next week for your chance to win a free e-book!

Happenings

I've got a few things going on right now, so unfortunately my blog is what gets neglected. But never fear, I have a few topics I want to explore in the upcoming weeks. For right now, here's a quick update of what's happening:

1. I'm almost finished proofing a novel. This is one reason I'm a bit behind, albeit because of my self-imposed "deadline." I traveled over the weekend and really didn't get anything done with this, so I'm in catch-up mode right now.

2. Just started reading my review copy of Brian James Freeman's The Painted Darkness. So be expecting a review of it sometime in the next week. So far, it's a really good little book.

3. There will be another giveaway this week. I'm still deciding on which book I'll giveaway, but rest assured, it will be another easy contest. Just stay tuned.

4. I've got my next copy-edit project lined up.

5. I still plan on trying to update the look and feel of this blog. I just need to find a little "extra" (yeah, I know, real funny) time and a halfway reliable internet connection. Hopefully, by next week I'll be able to work on it.

That's about it for now. Please be patient while I adjust to my new work schedule and try to work out some sort of a "regular" (again, I know, real funny) routine.

Touching Base

Just a quick update of what's going on with me. There are a number of things on my "To Do" list, but my time seems to be shrinking awfully fast! But here are a few things that I have planned or that are in the pipeline:

1. I WILL write a review of Scott Nicholson's Speed Dating with the Dead. I finished this ebook (my first one on my new reader) last week, and it was a very enjoyable read. A bit different from Mr. Nicholson's other books I've read. I'd definitely recommend it.

2. I WILL get my "Books Read" section updated on the main page here. I believe it stops at 34 or 35, and as of right now I've finished 54 books this calender year. By far my best year ever for reading.

3. I am currently Beta reading a new Scott Nicholson book, and enjoying the heck out of it. It's the best "worst" novel I've ever read.

4. I plan on posting here more consistently. I know, I know, I've said it before. But I really want to use this blog to share my love for books, and I feel it is a good way for me to practice my writing skills. Just need to find where I placed all my time.

5. This weekend I'm going to a signing with Brian Keene and Mary Sangiovanni in Williamsburg, VA. Needless to say, I'm super stoked about this!

6. I plan on sharing more about my experience with ebooks. I'm a newbie to them, but folks like Scott Nicholson and J. A. Konrath have me really excited about them. Plus, they're doing some cool stuff and there are some awesome books available in ebook form only.

I think that about covers it for now. I'm going to probably start pecking away at this list tomorrow, as I've been up for 28 hours right now, and I'm a bit tired. I'd like to have a clear mind so I can enjoy things!