The Samaritan is the story of Dale Sampson, an awkward, lonely, and loveless young man dealing with a life of tragedy while coming to terms with an unexplained power he discovers within himself.  One part coming of age tale, one part twisted super hero-esque revenge drama, two parts Catcher in the Rye, The Samaritan does what too few novels these days are able – combine character and story into a thought provoking and highly entertaining read. Venturini has created a world that envelops, suspends disbelief, and most importantly rivets an emotional connection between character and reader. It’s a gripping read.

The writing itself is great – concise and compact where it needs to be while still vividly descriptive when necessary. The voice of the main character is unique and heartbreaking, almost scary, and best of all, real. Oh so real.

The Samaritan is darkly tragic, hilariously engrossing, and remarkably spellbinding. It’s available now for Pre-Order from The Blank Slate Press website.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

And so with that awkwardness out of the way, let’s continue on with my top 5 list of superpowers I’d love to have, #3…

Time Travel!

Imagine you’re having a really, really bad day. You were late for school, your principal called you a slacker, you realized your entire family was a worthless bunch of losers, and  then you watched your crazy inventor friend get gunned down by seriously pissed off Libyan terrorists while you videotaped the whole thing. I’m talking a really bad day. How can you fix things?

By jumping back in time. Possibly to, oh say, 1955.

It’s a wild thought. And an intriguing one for sure but not without its drawbacks. Let’s take a look at them:

Disadvantages

How can the ability to travel through time be anything but awesome? Well, inevitably I’d somehow get stuck in the Past/Future at some point, because that’s always seems to be what happens to time travelers for some reason. That would be a major downer. And like Super Speed, there’s the inherent risk that I’d inadvertently destroy the universe and/or Space Time Continuum through some cataclysmic Butterfly Effect. But hey, a guy’s gotta live, right? 

Advantages

Almost too many to count.  I’d maybe even be able to finally defeat Skynet.

What I’d do

Buy a sports almanac in 2015, then turn Hill Valley into a seething, sinful playground with the gambling winnings, be the first on my new block with a hover car, stop Indiana Jones IV from ever being made.

If you haven't already read "Looking Through You," you should. It's excellent if I do say so myself. Download it for free here.

"Looking Through You" Commentary

Stephen King says that the seeds of all stories exist in the ethos in some way or another and that it’s our job as writers to dig them up, give them life, and let them unfurl for the reader. With Looking Through You, that’s exactly what happened for me.  

It began with just that single opening line—I wake up screaming—and took off from there, flowing relatively easily, as if the story were already a part of me and all I was doing was writing it down. The voice of the narrator felt very natural to write and every section (with the exception of the end) came very quickly to me. This sort of writing was unlike what I was used to, but very refreshing.

The premise itself pulls from my life and my first house. Lying in bed, I could see the door of my spare bedroom just across the hall. As I drifted to sleep, my crazy brain would begin to wonder if maybe, just maybe, that rarely used room might be haunted. And if it was, what would I do? Who would believe me? And from that kernel of a premise, this story blossomed.

The rest of the story also grabs pieces and parts from my life – the old woman across the street is very blatantly based on a very sweet lady in my old neighborhood, the dreary cellar in my grandmother’s house, the game my girlfriend and I play at Maymont Park here in Richmond, dreams I’ve had. These elements give to the story what I hope is a feeling of realness, almost a familiarity that allows the reader to relate to the two main characters as much as possible. This is important in most stories, but absolutely elemental to the success of this one.

Because ultimately, this is much more than just a simple ghost story. It’s a story about life and about living, about the struggle we all go through to understand the world and our place in it. 

Excited? Me too!

But wait, what’s in this Special Edition you ask? Well, allow me to elaborate. In Search of Monsters: Special Edition is a never before released version of my book with an intro to each story detailing its inspiration, evolution from idea to finished product, bumps I hit along the way in writing it, and its previous places of publication. It’s perfect for die-hard fans, fellow writers, and any lover of fiction that’s always wanted a behind the curtain look into the sausage-making process that is writing.  The best part, the only way to get one is by WINNING IT HERE FIRST.

Now, on to the important stuff. The ways to enter are these:

1. Post a comment here in this post. It can be literally anything, from how much you enjoy this blog to how your cat’s breath smells like cat food. Just be sure that you use a valid email address when commenting so I can track you down. This will earn you one entry.
2. Tweet about this post, including a link. Make sure you mention me (@JoshCov) so I know what you’re up to. This gets you two entries.
3. Post a link in your Facebook status to this entry and email a screenshot to joshuacovington [at] yahoo.com. This also gets you two entries.
4. Write a post of at least 100 words on your personal blog about me, my book, or this contest. It doesn’t have to be much but must include a link back here. When your post is up, shoot me an email at joshuacovington [at] yahoo.com to let me know. This will get you five whole entries.

At the end of the month, I’ll pick a random winner from this batch of entries. Contest ends Feb. 28^th.

It’s as simple as that. And guess what? You can do all of these if you’d like (and believe me, I’d love for you to) and earn a grand total of ten entries. So go forth, spread the word, and good luck.

Super Speed!

Imagine being really fast. And I don’t mean the fastest guy in school or even so fast you’ve allegedly never lost a race. I mean fast enough to travel back in time or vibrate through walls. Fast enough to take physics, bend it over, and make it your woman. That kind of fast.

Advantages

If you could run at super speeds, would you ever get on an airplane ever again? As much as I would miss airport security, the smell of recycled air, and the fat guy with the sinus infection that ALWAYS buys the seat next to me, neither would I.

And even the more practical, every day benefits are nearly endless. Yardwork? Done before the lawn mower gets warmed up. Snowy sidewalk? Shoveled and back inside watching Wonder Years reruns in no time. Silly blog post? Typed and published in seconds.

Disadvantages

First of all, being super might actually break every law of the universe that we know of, therefore creating a rift in space time and destroying everything as we know it. That would, of course, be bad. More research would have to be done to prevent that. I can’t have that on my conscience.

Then there’s the pesky issue of finding clothes that won’t disintegrate at super speeds. Apparently, The Flash had some type of invisible aura around him that protected his clothes. But come on, that was in the comic books. We’re talking for real here. What’s the point of being able to forgo commercial air travel if you arrive at that big business conference totally naked?

Things I would do with this power

Win a gold medal in every Olympic event including women’s softball and rhythmic gymnastics, reap the rewards of endorsement deals from every major athletic shoe manufacturer in the world, retire to someplace where snow doesn’t ruin my every weekend.

Next time, the countdown continues!

Liar.

No, like me, you’d wish to be granted a super power. Come on, you and I both know it’s true. But you can only have one. So which to choose? Well lucky for you and your selfish ways, I’ll be spending the next few posts counting down the very best super powers to have, just in case you’re ever forced to choose. You’re welcome. Now, on to #5!

Laser Vision!

Whether it’s blasts of concussive energy or beams of searing heat, the ability to shoot lasers from the eyes has to be in the top five. Just think of the possibilities.

Advantages – Imagine a world where waiting in line at the supermarket is no longer an issue. Where you no longer have to fear terrorists, car-jackings, grizzly bears, or many moderately powerful super villains. This is the world I dream of. This is the world of the laser visionary.

Disadvantages – This really depends on how well you could control the laser vision. Assuming you could handle the power as Superman does – consciously able to turn it on and off – laser vision really has no downside. But it’s a different story if, like X-Men’s Cyclops, it’s something you’d need special ruby crystal glasses to control. The last thing you need is an errant optic blast tearing through your cubicle wall, incinerating that graphic designer that sits across from you. The paperwork involved with something like that would be ridiculous. And don’t get me started on the mess.

Things You Could Do

                Cook really awesome cheeseburgers with your FREAKING EYES, scare the ever-loving crap out of the dog, maybe fight a little crime.

Next time, #4!

But busy as I may be, I'm a man of my word. As promised in my previous post, here are the top referrers for this blog based on number of visits.

A few notes:

Direct Traffic - This includes anyone who either typed www.joshcovington.com into their browser or reached the site via bookmark. While not technically a referrer, this number is typically a good indication of how well your blog is doing as a brand. It indicates returning visitors that keep coming back for more. 

Search Engines - Includes anyone that reached the site by searching for me or keywords in this blog. This piece of pie also includes visitors that found me via image searches, even though I don't consider that useful in any way.

Blogs - This is traffic generated by posting comments or writing guest entries for other blogs. The majority of these referrers came from my good buddy Jamey Stegmaier's blog. If you haven't already, check out my posts written as this alter ego.

Social News Sites - Includes traffic from sites like Digg, Propeller, and StumbleUpon. While not a huge driver of traffic for this site, these types of outlets are great ways to bring your work to new sets of eyes. Consistently generate remarkable content, and your chances of going viral increase exponentially by utilizing these sites.

As expected, paperback sales of In Search of Monsters ruled the roost. It makes sense, since I pushed the paperback here and on other sites harder than anything else. Not too bad considering up until a week ago, the book was available exclusively on this site. Digital downloads in their various forms did pretty well for me too, though Smashwords has been a little bit of a let down so far. Those ebook listings are now up on BN.com and other premium sites though, so I expect those numbers will spike when I get my next quarterly sales report from them.

Biggest surprise

Kindle Sales 

I didn't expect a lot from Kindle sales mostly because I wasn't sure how reader's would find my work in the giant haystack that is the Kindle store. But thanks to a post-Christmas surge, it didn't do too badly at all, especially considering I only launched the book and a few individual stories there a month or so ago. Because they're the early adopters and prosumers of the literature world, Kindle users are some of the best readers to reach, so every one that does stumble across my work is awesome. Now if only Amazon didn't take a 65% bite out of every sale...

Biggest disappointments

Direct downloads

I had hoped that more people would choose to download individual stories direct from this site to sample some of my work. So far, that hasn't really been the case. I use Ejunkie to host the downloads and handle the credit card transactions. They don't take a commission but charge a flat monthly fee instead. If those downloads don't pick up in the next few weeks to start covering that fee though, the download page may just go away completely. No huge loss since readers can still download those stories in almost every digital and ebook format imaginable over at Smashwords.

Scribd

I was really excited when I found and joined Scribd. The response to my writing was great and I immediately assumed that sales through their premium storefront would be significant. I turned out to be very wrong. To date, sales through Scribd have totaled exactly $0. I'm sure there's value there as a marketing and networking tool, but as a revenue stream, it's a big, smelly fail.

So there you go. Next week, I'll be posting my biggest driver's of blog traffic for 2009. Happy New Year!

The paperback version of In Search of Monsters is now totally available from the largest bookseller in the world, Amazon.com. Are you as excited as I am? Probably not, but you certainly should be. This is a huge day for me and for this book. If you don't own a copy, head over and order one right now. If you've already purchased and enjoyed In Search of Monsters, I'd love it if you gave it an honest review on Amazon. 

Thanks to everyone that's supported me along the way and helped me make this possible! Now, let's sell some books.

Order Yours

13A

Part 4

Gerald staggered to the couch just as his knees gave way, collapsing in a heap. “Mrs. Kratz. Please. This is crazy.” He tried his best to keep his voice even.

“Crazy? Who are you to call me crazy? I'm not making this stuff up. Hell I kept all the papers. Here, I’ll show you. They don’t lie.” The old woman shuffled into the kitchen and returned with a stack of newspapers. She flipped through them for a moment, then flopped a paper onto his lap. “Here we go. Six days ago, just like I said.”

Gerald looked at the headline.

Explosion Rocks Peruvian Village, Officials Blame Meteoric Activity

“And this one too. This was two days ago.”

More Die Mysteriously in South American Locale

“I don’t remember seeing these.” His mouth was dry. A twinge of worry crept into his gut. He shoved it away. It was ridiculous.“You don’t watch the news?”

“The news is depressing. Murders, rapes, child molestation. No, I never watch the news.”

“Then you’ve missed out on a lot, cowboy.”

 “But none of those articles say anything about zombies. It’s just some kind of weird virus or something.”

“You’ve got to read between the lines. You think they’d put something like that in print? What respectable journalist would?”

“But the articles don’t say anything of the sort. They don’t prove anything at all. I mean, why zombies? Reading this you could have just as easily said it was werewolves or vampires or something.”

“Goddamn it, son. Are you mocking me or something? You think I need to prove myself to you? Why zombies? Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Because it’s the only thing that makes sense, damn it. I can feel it in the air. Something’s wrong here. I don’t need to read it in the paper to know that. Some things a woman just knows. I know what’s out there just as sure as I know you’ll be torn to pieces if you try to face it alone.”

Gerald put his face in hands and rubbed his temples. The headache he had awoken with pounded his skull and the room suddenly felt too small, as if the walls might cave in and crush him. The air felt thick and sticky. He could feel his heartbeat behind his eyes, in his throat. An image, gray and evil, flashed in front of his eyes, a remnant of the past.

He had to hang on.

Gerald took and breath and lumbered to the window again, hoping, praying that this time he’d look out to see a bustling street full of people.

But again it was empty.

Gerald stood in disbelief. It was impossible. Ten o’clock on a weekday and the streets were as morosely bare as if it were midnight in some Bosnian war zone. Where the hell was everybody?

“Starting to figure it out, aren’t you, get that feeling that I’ve got? Starting to make a little sense?”

“None of this makes sense.” He pointed out the window toward the street below as sweat began to bead on his upper lip. “And this still means nothing.”

“I think it means quite a bit of something. And I also think we both know that life often makes little sense eh, Mr. Dozier? Isn’t that something you learned in that hospital bed? Or can you even call that place you were in a hospital?”

Hearing those words come from this woman, this near stranger, shook him. How could she know? How could she possibly?

“You alright there, cowboy?” a voice asked. “You’re looking a little pale.”

“Yeah. Fine.”

“Some water maybe? Better grab you a cold bottle from the Frigidaire. Tap might be tainted already.”

As Mrs. Kratz turned and stepped into the kitchen, Gerald sprawled himself onto the couch. The hangover and the heat of the room were making the room spin. Again, he wondered where Nicole was, what she was doing. He wished she was there with him, crazy old woman or not, just so he could know she was safe. Though with the way Mrs. Kratz had been wielding that shotgun, safe was a bit of a relative term. Still, better here than out there with the zomb—.

My God, enough of this craziness, he thought. Nicole is fine. The world is fine. This insanity ends now.

Gerald sprung from the sofa. If he was lucky, he could be back under the covers of his own bed before Mrs. Kratz even realized he was gone.

Now or never.

He took a breath and broke for the door. As his legs struggled, stiff from the adrenaline, the ten feet began to feel like miles. Five feet now, the world in some strange slow motion, as if he was running through a thick oil. Three feet. He reached out and placed his hand on the knob. Freedom.

But before he could turn the polished brass something stopped him—a sound, so soft it was almost inaudible, coming from the other side. He paused, put his ear to the door, and listened. Gerald found himself immobile, literally frozen with fear.

Someone was scratching at the door.

In shock, Gerald took two steps backward, striking the back of his knees on the coffee table and tumbling to the carpet in a heap as Mrs. Kratz returned from the kitchen, bottle of water in hand. As if responding to the commotion inside, the sound grew louder, quicker still, almost frantic.

Mrs. Kratz walked across the room with a cool determination, her face blank and expressionless, the hitch from her gait gone. Without a word, she grabbed the shotgun, and strode toward the door as a woman with a purpose, a woman with a destiny.

Gerald lay there motionless on the floor. Terror seeped into every limb, swelled into every finger and toe. His head pounded. As he watched, Mrs. Kratz brought the butt of the gun to her shoulder, gripped the doorknob, and turned, opening the door to reveal the vast world that awaited them both.

He did nothing to stop her.

THE END