Tag Archives: Fresh Blood by Lawrence Dagstine

Free Ebooks: “The Paraplegic” by Lawrence Dagstine – May/June 2013

Memorial Day weekend through June 30th 2013 is FREE vampire month.  As promised earlier this year on Facebook and Twitter, I am celebrating summer and vampires by making my novelette, THE PARAPLEGIC free to download.  Just go to Smashwords and enter coupon code: GW38Q

At checkout you will obtain it at NO CHARGE.  But ONLY for late May up until June 30th at midnight, 2013.  July 1st it goes back to 99 cents.  Simply click the picture or button at the bottom and be redirected.  Also, check out my other titles in the ebooks & Kindle section of my website or while you’re perusing Smashwords.

FREE EBOOKS

FREE VAMPIRE FICTION

MAY/JUNE 2013 ONLY

TheParaplegic-Amazon

ONLY ON SMASHWORDS

COUPON CODE: GW38Q

“Doc, I’m telling you.  I just woke up in a hole in broad daylight.  No memory!”

When Herbert was told he had amnesia, he knew things were bad.  When he couldn’t feel anything below the waist, he got scared.  When the doctor told him he’d be paralyzed for life, he got depressed and wanted to die.  After all, no one wants to be a paraplegic.  But what made him crippled so suddenly? Did somebody do this to him? And if so, why? Now in the hospital, undergoing intensive surgery, little does Herbert know that the force responsible isn’t done with him, not by a long shot! Something’s coming back.  There’s a little unfinished business to take care of, and it comes in the form of vampires.

Smashwords_Tall75

Lawrence Dagstine: “Historical Works in Progress…”

On Alternate History, Historical Weird Tales, and SF Serials…

In the next couple of weeks I will be continuing my bimonthly series of Free Fiction.  This time I will be serializing a science fiction-themed novella about two orphans that get stranded during an interplanetary adoption. It takes place on the largest planet in the universe — The planet Ragnarok (aptly named after the warring Gods of Norse Mythology, which later supposedly caused a lot of catastrophes concerning Mother Nature and the like for Mankind).  You’ll understand why as you get into it over the course of the year.  There are even a few flashback sequences similar to the series LOST.  On Ragnarok, Quadrant 4, located on the outer rim of the Cat’s Eye Nebula, like most of my worlds, there are eighteen seasons.  Unlike Earth, which has only four.  The good guys are a bunch of giant lizards with chest communicators.  Think the Silurians from Doctor Who, only bigger, stronger.  Bad guys are a bunch of elemental wind creatures who harvest meat by “shadowy” & “vampiric” means.  These guys are the horror element to the story.  Main orphan characters are Chelsea and Blake, and you are sure to fall in love with these two kids.  Mind you, this serial is FIRST DRAFT, so if you see the occasional typo or a bit of redundancy, I don’t plan on publishing this anywhere but my homepage.  Entertainment purposes only.  I could best describe the early portions as a cross between Lord of the Flies, the movie Pitch-Black, and Living Amongst the Lizards (short story).  Serials shall run between 2,500 and 5,000 words in length.  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.  Once again, all first draft.

Name of planned Bimonthly Serial: “Orphan’s Prey” – Stay Tuned!

On The Great Depression and post-Civil War era…

I already have a batch of finished short stories and novelettes set in these two eras.  Some accepted, too.

Story One: “A Town of Crows” – Killer Scarecrows after the Civil War now appearing in Steampunk Tales #6.  See eBooks & Kindle.

Story Two: “A Time and Place for Monsters” – a very long novelette with vampires and werewolves during the Great Depression coming to Cover of Darkness.  Also, a bit of back history concerning President Hoover and The Monsters.  Never before done.

Story Three: “The Two-Sided Market” – Dedicated to H.G. Wells/Parallel Piece.

Story Four: “The Great Martian Depression” – Scifi currently appearing in The Martian Wave Issue#1.

Story Five: “FDR and the Locusts” – Franklin D. Roosevelt and BIG Insects, with a plot twist.

Cleopatra VII - Brooklyn Museum of New York 2008 - 2009

On Cleopatra and Alternate History…

There are two finished stories, finally edited, featuring Cleo as a fourteen-year-old.  They take place between Ancient Egypt and Rome. Alternate History meets Historical Fantasy, and there will also be mages, sorcerers, the undead, gods, and demigods! Also, the stories begin with Mark Antony as narrator for the first page and ends with him conceptually.  Here, I decided to experiment.

Story One: “Young Cleopatra and The Whispering Ancients”

Story Two: “Young Cleopatra and The Eye of Horus.”

Story Three: UNTITLED (coming 2011, and concerning the suicide of Mark and Cleo).

On Pompeii and Rome…

Next, later in the year off to Pompeii and some more fiction in Rome.  Introducing the Children of Ash short stories/novelettes.  All stand-alone tales, which I often prefer.

Story One: “The Children of Ash” – After Volcano Day.

Story Two: “The Nightmare Lair” – Inside the Volcano.

Story Three: “The Vampires of Pompeii” – The Romans have some neighbors. 😉

I’m also thinking up a totally “messed-up” Caligula-style crossover piece as well.  Of course, this is still not a guarantee that a market will accept all of them.  Never is.

I also noticed that a lot of Fresh Blood PDFs were sold.  Like 40 or 50 in the first two, three weeks.  At $3.50, yeah, it’s a great price. If you own a reader, click on eBooks & Kindle and treat yourself to a copy.  You can also now read PDFs on the Amazon Kindle, or download the free iPhone/iPad application off of Amazon.com as well.  I’d like to thank all of you.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  The same with my scarecrow story in Steampunk Tales #6 (www.steampunktales.com).

Other than that, there are ten brand new short stories and novelettes completed, my first novella is in the editorial screening stages, and ten brand new acceptances for 2010-2011.  I wish I had the time to blog ten times per day, but life does not permit me such luxury.  I’ll try and fit what I can.  Historical stories take two, three weeks alone.  However, some acceptances are to print anthologies.  So stay tuned! SF serial starts Late April/May 2010.  It’s gonna be fun!

Cheers,

Lawrence Dagstine

Print Magazines * Amazon Kindle * The iPhone/iPad * Sony & PDF Download

Other New Entries: “General News”

P.S.: Speaking of crazy historical tales, enjoy the new season of Doctor Who.   Series Five with Matt Smith!

FRESH BLOOD by Lawrence Dagstine… (PDF and E-Format!)

My 2009 debut short story collection, FRESH BLOOD, filled with 160 pages of dark science fiction stories and twisted horror tales is now coming to PDF/e-Format.  You can get it from one of the largest RPG retailers on the Web. DriveThruRPG.com! Or, for just a few dollars more, you can splurge for the print copy and see what all of last summer’s buzz was about. Just do a search for “Sam’s Dot Publishing”.  It might take a while for the publisher’s page to go up.

Vampires * Zombies * Ghosts * Giant Lizards * Alternate Universes

FRESH BLOOD: TALES FROM THE SPECULATIVE GRAVEYARD

Published by Sam’s Dot Publishing

Author: Lawrence R. Dagstine

FRESH BLOOD in PDF/E-Format - ISBN: 978-0-9819696-2-6

Order the PDF or e-Version for upload to your readers at… DriveThruRPG.com:

www.drivethrustuff.com

For a little more, the softcover version at The Genre Mall:

http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#freshblood

Fresh Blood by Lawrence Dagstine - PRINT VERSION

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

Hungur Magazine #9, November 2009… (Now Available!)

Vampires get your fangs ready! I’ve got a story in the latest issue of Hungur Magazine, No. #9.  Fall 2009.  Edited by Terrie Leigh Relf, and published by Sam’s Dot.  If you think the Obama Administration or any administration is safe from a vampire threat, think again! It’s an issue you won’t want to miss.  Because this issue… The Vampires are running the show.

HUNGUR MAGAZINE

Late Fall 2009 – Issue #9

HungurMagazine_9

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/HungurGL.htm

ORDER DIRECT FROM SAM’S DOT & THE GENRE MALL:

http://www.genremall.com/zinesr.htm#hungur


Bloodletting works by: Tyree Campbell, Lawrence Dagstine, Scot Coon, William Marden, Lawrence Barker, Dev Jarrett, John H. Stevens, Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, Jared W. Vickery, J. Jay Waller, Lawrence Buentello, Allan Wise, Marge Simon, Brian Rosenberger, G.O. Clark, Debby Feo, Terrie Leigh Relf, Tom Galusha, Justin Bohardt, and illustrations also by Marge Simon.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Lawrence Dagstine: “FRESH BLOOD Aftermath…”

Or… The BEST WEEKEND EVAH! Thank you sooo much to everyone who stopped by my booth and picked up copies of my books, pulp magazines, and other wares.  Many of you told me you’ve never read genre before, many of you took my card, and a couple of you even stood in line and actually waited.  You don’t know how good that made me feel.  Thank you again.  Here I thought folks don’t read anymore (well, that was before this weekend, assuming I now have new readers – I really hope you enjoy the tales and stay tuned to this spot). 

ISBN: 978-0-9819696-2-6

ISBN: 978-0-9819696-2-6

Good news: I’ll be back next weekend.  Some marketing, diversifying, and injecting the right pitches clearly doesn’t hurt, I see.

Bad news: If you’re new here, I’m temporarily sold out of Fresh Blood.  I only have five copies left, and at the moment I need to mail out to review venues.  I will, however, still have a few copies of other books and pulps on hand.  But these will be sparse.

Oh yeah, and I’m planning a contest too!

Order FRESH BLOOD direct from The Genre Mall:

http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#freshblood

Check out some of the other goods:

https://lawrencedagstine.com/books-anthos/

https://lawrencedagstine.com/magazine-credits-dagstine/

Order the Post-Apocalyptic SATIRICA ANTHOLOGY:

https://lawrencedagstine.com/2009/04/27/satirica-anthology-nominated-for-ippy-award/

Some of the merch, some of the profits.

Some of the merch, some of the profits.

Fresh Blood scores BIG in Brooklyn, New York!

Fresh Blood scores BIG in Brooklyn, New York!

Even more merch; Dagstine bulk filled almost two big suitcases

Even more merch; Dagstine bulk filled almost two big suitcases

It was a great few days.  My count may be off, but I pushed somewhere well over 130 mixed Dagstine titles: hardcovers, softcovers, magazines, etc.

With that said, I’m off to eat in my favorite sushi restaurant.  I feel like a kid living his dream.  Once again, thank you!

Lawrence R. Dagstine 😉

Lawrence Dagstine: “FRESH BLOOD Signings Pt. 3…”

Technically this should be part 2, but since it laps into the following week, I’ll leave it as is, because it will be 3.  I’m coming back! I’ll be signing copies of FRESH BLOOD at Flea by the Sea on the weekends in Coney Island, New York.  I’ll have copies of obscure pulp mags on hand (with stories of mine in it), hardcovers, other books, and you have Famous Nathan’s Hot Dogs just up the street.  So come say hi, pick up a book or two by yours truly, go to the beach or amusement park, and on the following dates below.

Flea by the Sea

Transportation, Directions, and More Details:

http://www.fleabythesea.com/about.php

LAWRENCE DAGSTINE

Fresh Blood Signings!

July 25th & July 26th

August 1st & August 2nd

 Fridays, unfortunately, no… Saturdays & Sundays, YES!

11:30-12PM up until roughly 7-8PM (when I head out).

Available through The Genre Mall

ISBN: 978-0-9819696-2-6

ISBN: 978-0-9819696-2-6

FRESH BLOOD: Tales From The Speculative Graveyard

PUBLISHER: www.samsdotpublishing.com

PURCHASE THE BOOK AT ‘THE GENRE MALL’:

http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#freshblood

With that said, August 2009 will be a pretty low-key month.  That and my laptop screen is falling apart at the edges.  However, be here in September and October.  Autumn time, as usual.  Because I’ll have a plethora — and I do mean a handful — of new publications and new stories you’ll want to check out.  Own a Kindle? An iTouch? Or Sony eReader? Well, my first e-title debuts in September from DAMNATION BOOKS, and at Killercon 2009.

VISITATION RIGHTS – A different kind of ghost story

VisitationRightsEBOOK

DAMNATION BOOKS:

www.damnationbooks.com

VISITATION RIGHTS: Coming Soon…

ISBN (10): 1-61572-008-1

ISBN (13): 978-1-61572-008-8

Lawrence Dagstine: “Digital Stories Coming Soon…”

It is with great pleasure that I announce a couple of things.   One, now that the writing population is slowly starting to embrace the digital age, this site will not only act as a homepage and plug-page for magazines and upcoming science fiction, fantasy and horror venues, but also be a store.  You will be able to buy and then download short stories, novelettes, and novellas — most brand new, no reprints — from yours truly.  I am open to further freelancing, networking, and marketing with other authors if they too would like to be a part of this store (like trading purchase info links).  I advertise you, you advertise me.  I sell your work, you sell mine.  With that said, stay tuned to this site between now and mostly 2010.  The future may be digital, but it still looks good from where I’m at.

Alas, print is dying...

Alas, print is dying...

This site will also act as the occasional home of the “short story review”, the science fiction media news source and, later down the road, a new and unique kind of cross-marketing, branding-upon-branding, product placement and more.  To be honest, I’m surprised most bigger houses haven’t jumped on  a similar bandwagon yet.  Who knows, maybe it’s because the economy is still shoddy.  It’s what will also hopefully help fund the new venture come 2011.  I’d have to say that 2010 will also see an end to a majority of all print-related periodicals in “genre” featuring my stories in it.  I’ve been informed that 2011 would be a sort of conversion stage.  Or a few months after Kindle 3 comes out and prices on readers drop.  Whichever comes first.  Oh well.  However…

The best part of all this is you will be able to go to places like Mobipocket, Fictionwise, and Amazon.  You will be able to own my works on such reading devices as the Sony eReader, Kindle, Jetbook, iTouch, and so much more.  Matter of fact, my first e-title will be debuting shortly.   So stay tuned to the tab at the top of this page, entitled: “eBooks & Kindle”.

Thank You,

Lawrence R. Dagstine

Edited to Add: Fresh Blood Contest also coming soon…

The Martian Wave, Issue #1… (coming soon!)

It’s no secret that over the last ten years some of my earliest science fiction works first appeared in venues such as The Fifth Di… and The Martian Wave, or on the Sam’s Dot Publishing roster in general (they’re also the publisher of my debut collection, Fresh Blood).  Over the years, The Martian Wave has provided a home to such prolific talents as Bruce Boston, Rick Novy, Kristine Ong Muslim, Aurelio Rico Lopez III, Justin Stanchfield, Scott Virtes, Terrie Leigh Relf, and David Lee Summers.  And that’s only the tip of the list. 

THE MARTIAN WAVE

Edited by J. Alan Erwine

MartianWave

Published by Sam’s Dot Publishing

www.samsdotpublishing.com

I’m pleased to announce that in just a few weeks from now The Martian Wave is going to finally be a print magazine focused around good, hard, interplanetary SF and space opera.  I’m talking tales of other worlds and alien life — and I’ll be in their premiere issue with… Well, what else? Something about Mars! This also begins a three-story arc of Mars-related shorts I wrote due out between 2009 and 2010.  So stay tuned!

SamsDotPublishing

I’ll provide ordering information and cover art when the time comes (love the new logo, by the way).  Naturally, this magazine will be available through The Genre Mall.

THE GENRE MALL:

http://www.genremall.com/contents.htm

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

The Horror Fiction Review: June 2009… (Now Posted!)

THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW is now up.  Horror author and book reviewer, Nick Cato (Novello Publishers), has now put up the book reviews for June 2009.  It’s a delightful little site and I highly recommend checking them out.  If you scroll down, you’ll find a positive review of my debut collection FRESH BLOOD in-between authors Jack Kilborn and Louise Bohmer.  The site also has an interview with Robert Dunbar.

THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW – June 2009 edition

The Horror Fiction Review

The Horror Fiction Review

MAIN SITE: http://www.freewebs.com/hfrzine/

JUNE 2009 REVIEWS: http://www.freewebs.com/hfrzine/june09reviews.htm

Other New Entries: “Author Resources” 

Lawrence Dagstine: “Coney Island’s Summer of Horror…”

It’s the Summer of Horror! No, not just Fresh Blood signings and book promos.  If you happen to be in the Brooklyn, New York City area between now and September on a Saturday evening, hop on the subway.  You might just be interested in checking out a couple of old-school movies at The Coney Island Museum.  The Coney Island Film Society presents: “SUMMER OF HORROR!”

Dante's Inferno

Dante's Inferno

The Coney Island Film Society – Schedule 2009:

http://www.coneyisland.com/films.shtml

Psycho, Army of Darkness, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and much more! Admission is $5.00 for non-society members, $3.00 for film society members.  Free popcorn.  Series run: May 16th thru September 26th 2009.  Doors open at 8pm, film starts at 8:30pm.

Photo Credit: Lawrence R. Dagstine, 2008.

Author of Fresh Blood: Tales from the Speculative Graveyard