Best Graphic Novels of 2014 (according to the Village Voice)

The Village Voice posted an article on their website along with sample illustrated panels listing the top graphic novels of 2014. Here they are:

 The Man Who Laughs by writer David Hine and artist Mark Stafford. This is an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1689 novel.

 A Night of Gatecrashing / Book One by writer Zachary Mortensen and artist Sutu is about corporate terrorism.

Sing No Evil by writer JP Ahonen and artist KP Alare is about a dysfunctional metal band.

Skies of Fire by Pablo Peppino and Bryan Valenza is a steampunk saga revolving round Captain Helen Pierce.

 75 Years of Marvel – just as the title indicates.

Harlem Hellfighters by writer Mel Brooks (World War Z) and artist Caanan White is about African American soldiers in World War I.

 John Carpenter’s Asylum by John Carpenter and artist Leonardo Manco is about devils in Los Angeles.

Climate Changed by Philippe Squarzoni is about a coming weather apocalypse.

Second Avenue Caper by writer Joyce Brabner and artist Mark Zingareli is about gay activists in the 1980s running anti-viral drugs to fight the AIDS epidemic.

Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi is about Shackleton’s ill-fated South Pole journey.

The Love Bunglers by Ray Dominguez is a well crafted story of loss and entry into middle age. My Opinion: this may be the best of the pile.

Pirates in the Heatland: The Mythology of S. Clay Wilson Vol. 1 by Clay Wilson is an underground style, dirty comic.

Motherless Oven by Rob Davis revolves around school kids in a dystopian future.

The diversity of theses titles indicate to me that graphic novels aren’t emerging as an art form- they’ve arrived.

To see some of the graphics and to learn more, go here: http://www.villagevoice.com/microsites/2014-graphic-novels/

The Field Free Download

The Field is on promotion on Amazon.com and will be a free download ending on Friday, December 19th.

Get it here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Field-John-Silver-ebook/dp/B00QVYW91W/ref=zg_bs_158592011_f_37

The Field

The Field was released on Amazon.com as a Kindle book last night. I hardly ever reveal what a character in the book actually looks like or what my mental image of a character is, but this is an exception. A little dog named Everett is a big supporting character in the book and I modeled him after our rescue dog, Hank. Not to give much away, he has it pretty rough in the book.

Check out The Field here: http://www.amazon.com/Field-John-Silver-ebook/dp/B00QVYW91W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418422168&sr=8-1&keywords=the+field+john+silver

Warp 9 Comics

I stopped in Warp 9 today to get the November issues of The October Faction and Wytches. I asked Trey Hunt, the new owner, if I could blog about Warp 9 and he said okay.

Warp 9 has been in business since 1999 and Trey took it over earlier this year (he’s in the photo below).

 

If you’re into graphic novels and comics, then Warp 9 is the place to go. The inventory is extensive and Trey is a great source of knowledge and is happy to answer any questions. I asked Trey what got him into comics and he said his Aunt had a lot to do with it. She collected comics, which, among other things, sparked Trey’s interest in comics at an early age.

 

Comic books stores such as Warp 9 are much like local, independent books stores used to be and should be treasured. Unlike  Barnes & Noble or e-tailers such as Amazon, shops like Warp 9 make the comic experience personal The world of comics and graphic novels has its own unique culture and shops like Warp 9 help keep it alive.

Warp 9 is located in downtown Clawson, Michigan on 14 Mile Road just west of Main Street. Check it out- you won’t be disappointed.

For more, go here:  http://www.warpninecomics.com

Text to Speech Readthrough

There are fourteen days left until The Field is released and I’m going through the final read throughs. I’ve found the best way to catch errors and to tweak a manuscript is hearing it read out loud.

I use Scrivener for my books and one great feature is the speech synthesizer. You can read your manuscript out loud yourself, but after awhile your throat starts to hurt and you still miss a lot. At least I do. Having a separate voice read it helps immeasurably. I’m making three read-through passes through the book to catch all the typos and polish the manuscript. It’s drudge work at times, but necessary. If you’re considering releasing a book, listen to it at least once before hitting the upload button.

The System – A Detroit Story – Free Download

The System – A Detroit Story – is now part of Kindle Prime and will be a free download on Amazon.com from Friday September 26th through Tuesday September 30th.  It’s available here: http://www.amazon.com/System-Detroit-Story—ebook/dp/B005HZKIBE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1313788718&sr=1-1

The Field Update

t’s been a long time since I’ve posted on this blog. I’ve been working on The Field for about a year now, a lot longer than any other book I’ve written. This is a tough one. It’s at about 85,000 words and a working draft is heading to the beta readers next month with the word count of around 90,000.

This is one of those books that could go on and on like a Stephen King tome but that goes against the way I like to write. I like to write short novels a person can finish reading in a matter of hours, but I get consistent complaints that my books are too short. This time I’m going to take the advice of my beta readers and expand it to around 120,000 words if they believe it should be longer. Please let me know if you would consider being a beta reader on this or future books. 

Regardless of length, the book will be out by December 2014 at the latest.

The System Goodreads Contest Winners

The winners of the The System – A Detroit Story – book giveaway was announced by Goodreads today. Four hundred and ninety people entered and there were five winners.

The winners are:

Deb from New York

Christina from Michigan

Chessie from Texas

Jeff from Connecticut

Olivia from Washington

I wish everyone could have won, and again, thanks to everyone who entered. The books will be sent to the winners early next week.

 

Goodreads Giveaway

A giveaway is running on Goodreads for The System – A Detroit Story. Five paperbacks will be given away which retail for $8.17 on Amazon.com. The giveaway runs until February 11th. All you have to do is click the giveaway button on the side of this page or go here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13611266-the-system—a-detroit-story–

Free Download: The Day Detroit Went Dark

To celebrate and help promote The Day Detroit Went Dark audiobook, the Kindle version of The Day Detroit Went Dark will be a free download on Amazon.com starting December 24th through December 28th.

Get it here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Detroit-Went-Dark-ebook/dp/B00BIOR5K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361485307&sr=8-1&keywords=the+day+detroit+went+dark

Here’s a few reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying and excellent, June 19, 2013

This review is from: The Day Detroit Went Dark (Kindle Edition)

As an ex-Detroiter I can assure you that if what happened in the book really did happen, this is about as close to what would happen without use of a crystal ball. Sadly the city of Detroit has been little more than a war zone for the last fifty years and it only gets worse with each passing decade. Mr.Silver has crafted a great and terrifying read. At once gut-wrenching and in some very small ways hopeful. I finished this in less than twenty four hours. Haven’t done that in a long time. Great book.

4.0 out of 5 stars good story!, March 30, 2013

This review is from: The Day Detroit Went Dark (Kindle Edition)

This is one of those books you just can’t put down, plenty of action and you “just have to know what’s going to happen next.

5.0 out of 5 stars PHENOMENAL BOOK!!! February 22, 2013

This review is from: The Day Detroit Went Dark (Kindle Edition)

This book is incredible. The author pulls me in and keeps my attention throughout. I love the characters. It’s like I’m literally watching a movie and it’s an easy read. Great Job!*****

4.0 out of 5 stars Much better than I had anticipated!, September 23, 2013

This review is from: The Day Detroit Went Dark (Kindle Edition)

So nice to be pleasantly surprised when giving a book a chance! Not to say that this was a pleasant book! No. In fact, both the implications AND feasibility of the story is frightening to say the least! The storyline was smooth and non stop. Not lots of flowery filler. Every word necessary to moving the story along. The short length of the story was enough time to get to know and care about thanks to the author’s style.

The audiobook is here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Day-Detroit-Went-Dark/dp/B00HEFDJCK/ref=tmm_aud_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1361485307&sr=8-1

And here: http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Day-Detroit-Went-Dark-Audiobook/B00HCP9C64/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1387841012&sr=1-1

The Day Detroit Went Dark is also available on iTunes.

Thanks, everyone for making this book a success and Happy Holidays!