Don't look now, but this weekend N&L Publishing published my fourth book of fiction, The Breaking Point and Other Stories. My debut novel, The Red Scorpion, became available on Kindle and Nook on 9/11 followed by two collections of short fiction: Unremembered Histories (9/30), Newmanesque (10/15).
It's gratifying to find that TJ (my 16-year-old collaborator) and I have accomplished the task we set out to do in July: get these four books published by November. (Now I can move on to pursue my dream of a career in magic.) Like my other two collections of short stories, this collection likewise has a unifying theme. To order any book, click on the book cover over in the right hand column here.
With the exception of the light-hearted and wry Liz Mills, the stories in this short collection explore the emotions, expectations, illusions and delusions of mundane characters. In the midst of their ordinary lives there is a decisive, extraordinary event. The lead story, The Breaking Point, won the 1991 Arrowhead Regional Arts Fiction Competition. Ironically, it was the one year that the winning story was not printed. Maybe someday... for now, it's being shared in a digital version accessible to anyone with an eReader or equivalent.
Other stories in this collection include For One Night of Love, Episode on South Street and A Brief Transaction. Episode on South Street, the story of an obsessive-compulsive artist and good Samaritan, was translated into a short film that received accolades at the Erie Horror/Suspense Film Festival in 2004.
The next step for TJ & I will be promotion. As you know, with all the static and noise out there it takes more than an announcement to get attention. Each of the three volumes of short stories is available on Kindle or Nook at $1.99 each. Here's the deal:
ANYONE WHO POSTS A REVIEW of any of these books from now through the month of November will receive a signed Ed Newman ACEO (Art Card Editions & Originals) free.*
Art Cards are essentially the same size as baseball cards, and mine come in a plastic sleeve like the one I keep my Mickey Mantle card in. My ACEOs are reproductions of my art. They make great stocking stuffers. Prices for ACEOs vary widely on the Internet, but I've been selling my current ones for $5 each. (Right: With guest at my opening December 9.)
Here's a review of the book Newmanesque which was posted yesterday at Amazon.com.
"An excellent set of five unusual short stories of varying length. As usual with Ed's writing, I like that he prompts me to think. In fact, I placed a dozen bookmarks in my Windows Phone reader while reading these stories, most of them in "The Unfinished Stories of Richard Allen Garston". One word of warning: The story "Terrorists Preying" has a scene of violence with significant detail. I think that story could have glossed over the gory part without harming the story, but I'm the kind of person who hates horror movies, so maybe that's just me."
Collect All Four refers to the books, by the way, not the ACEOs pictured at the top of the page.
I have more than two dozen styles of art cards, and it's unlikely you'll collect all of those.
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Thanks for following our ongoing story. I trust you're pursuing your own dream as well.
*Due to postage, this offer is good in the U.S. only.