The David Niall Wilson Bookstore

JOINED AT THE MUSE

When two distinct literary voices come together, a new and unique voice ensues. Collaboration is one of the oldest and most intriguing literary practices still in existence.  In Joined at the Muse, you’ll find thirteen stories.  Each of them was written by author David Niall Wilson – and someone else.  Many of these are award-winning authors.  All of them are very different.  Two of the stories included, “Within an Image, Dancing,” and “A Wreath of Clouds” are previously unpublished and presented here for the first time ever.  This is a long book.  Within the covers you’ll find lycanthropes, science fiction, horror, everything from the nearly whimsical to the very, very weird.

Contents include:

A Poem of Adrian, Gray – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson
A The Purloined Prose – by Patricia Lee Macomber & David Niall Wilson
A Wreath of Clouds – by Stephen Mark Rainey & David Niall Wilson
Moon Like a Gambler’s Face – by Richard Rowand & David Niall Wilson
La Belle Dame, Sans Merci – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson
La Belle Dame, Sans Regret – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson
Ribbons of Darkness Over Me – by Brett Alexander Savory & David Niall Wilson
Death Did Not Become Him – by Patricia Lee Macomber & David Niall Wilson
Within an Image, Dancing – by John B. Rosenman & David Niall Wilson
That Extra Mile – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson
Virtue’s Mask – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson
Sing a Song of Sixth Sense by Patricia Lee Macomber & David Niall Wilson
Deliver Us From Meeble by Brian Keene & David Niall Wilson

DOWNLOAD THIS E-BOOK NOW AT THE MACABRE INK DIGITAL STORE

This e-book is available in .pdf, Kindle, epub and Mobi formats.   Mobi format,can be read using the free MOBIPOCKET READER for the PC, or on KINDLE, or the free KINDLE FOR PC or the free IPHONE KINDLE APP .

In 1712, a remarkable man named Johann Bessler unveiled an amazing invention. It was a Perpetuum Mobile – a Perpetual Motion Device – a wheel that spun after being set into motion until it was stopped with no mechanical input.  It was capable of sustaining this motion and producing enough energy to complete “work” – meaning, literally, that there was something from nothing.  Bessler never revealed his secret.  He was hounded, mocked, and chased through a very rough and adventurous life.  His secret died with him.

Except that it didn’t.

Elly Kassel is the granddaughter and heir of Evelyn Kassel, though the two were not close.  Elly is called into the offices of eminent London Solicitors Ratliff & Brownridge, where she discovers that her grandmother was a rich woman.  She also receives a trunk, and an envelope, which she is not to open until she reaches New York City.  In New York, she is told, all her questions about her grandmother, and her inheritance will be answered.

She takes the flight with some trepidation, and is met by a man named Jonathan at who whisks her away from the airport without even time to grab her luggage.  She is taken to a country estate, where she is introduced to Maxwell Black.  Black tries to win her trust, but is not very diplomatic.  As he is about to try to wrest the envelope she was given from her hands, she is rescued by two men and a woman and again dragged off into the night.

What follows is a series of harrowing near-misses as Elly studies and learns the secrets of The Orffyreus Project, where free energy might be a very real possibility, and her grandmother’s dream of bringing the perpetual motion wheel into production and wide-spread use for the good of mankind seems very possible, and Maxwell Black does everything in his considerable power to stop her, to steal the technology, and to see that the interests of the Petroleum industry are protected from the imminent disaster of obsolescence.

The novel follows parallel paths, showing the odd life of Johann Bessler as he tries to sell his invention to the highest bidder, and Elly Kassel as she tries to prevent her grandmother’s re-discovery of that invention doing exactly that.  The two story lines bear down on one another, traveling along at a breakneck pace.  Will Black repeat history and bury the wheel forever?  The answer lies in “The Orffyreus Wheel.”  Buy it Now!

This e-book is available in .PDF, Kindle, E-pub and PRC formats.  PRC format can be read using MOBIPOCKET READER for the PC, or on KINDLE, or the free KINDLE FOR PC or the free IPHONE KINDLE APP .

I am proud to announce the first of hopefully many digital titles available through Macabre Ink Digital by authors other than myself.  Now available, DAUGHTERS by Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem is a fantasy novel that has seen very little distribution.

Pick up your copy HERE!

Four diverse characters collide in an ancient world of darkness and magic: the amazon Gwynn, the princess Evonna, the wizard Alden, and the beast Thet. Out of that collision comes an unforgettable novel of endings and reconciliations, the death of magic and the birth of technology, and the eternal struggle between darkness and light.

Highborn Evonna is unhappy with her constricted choices and troubled by her brother Alden\’s dabblings in wizardry. In the great city that is her home, where nothing unplanned ever happens, something has gone terribly wrong. Everywhere are signs of chaos and creeping madness, rumors of plague, and intimations of worse to come. But what can Evonna or Alden do? The answer comes unexpectedly, with the terrifying visit of the subhuman Thet and the sudden appearance of the amazon Gwynn, who harbors a shocking secret. Together, the four unlikely companions bring unimagined change to the city… and are themselves changed in unimaginable ways.

Yet the chaos continues to spread. Desperate, our heroes leave their dying home and embark on a hellish journey to the far mountains. There they will come face-to-face with a malignant darkness determined to forever unbalance the world… a darkness as insane as it is evil.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Award-winning author, poet, and playwright Melanie Tem is the author of fourteen published novels. Her works have won, among many accolades, the Bram Stoker Award and the British Fantasy Award. Dan Simmons called her “the literary successor to Shirley Jackson,” and readers and reviewers consistently rave about her deeply involved stories of the terrors that haunt families.

Steve Rasnic Tem has been called “a school of writing unto himself” (Joe R. Lansdale). His surreal stories have earned him comparisons to Franz Kafka, Dino Buzzati, Ray Bradbury, and Raymond Carver. He has also won the Bram Stoker award and been nominated for the British Fantasy and World Fantasy awards for his short stories, novels, and collections.

Together, Melanie and Steve won the Bram Stoker award for their multi-media collection Imagination Box, and won a Stoker, International Horror Guild, and World Fantasy award for their novella The Man on the Ceiling (the only work ever to win all three). In 2008 they turned it into the novel of the same name.  They live in Denver, Colorado with the family they have made for themselves.

In April, 2010 Centipede Press will publish IN CONCERT, a collection of all their collaborations, in a beautiful edition illustrated by Howie Michels.

Visit the authors’ Web site at www.m-s-tem.com

Here’s the deal. I’m trying to get things rolling for my new novel, “On the Third Day,” just out in digital for Kindle, Mobi, PDF, and just about every sort of e-book reader on the market. I know that sometimes it’s hard to get people to take a chance on something new, so I’m going to sweeten the pot. For the next week, through January 24 at midnight EST, if you order “On the Third Day” you get one of my other book-length titles for free. This includes. “This is My Blood,” and “Defining Moments”. I’m not going to describe all of these titles here, I’ll just link to them. If you decide to make the plunge, buy On the Third day, and in the comments block of your Paypal payment section, tell me which of the other two books you want, and I’ll e-mail it to you in whichever file format you prefer.

Now…go buy the book. What are you waiting for?

BUY ON THE THIRD DAY

THIS IS MY BLOOD

DEFINING MOMENTS

READ AN EXCERPT!

On The Third Day

By David Niall Wilson

Father Darren Prescott is a seeker of truth.  He works for The Vatican, but his real work is within his own mind and heart; Father Prescott hunts miracles.  Father Thomas is a young priest with a quiet congregation that worships at San Marcos by the Sea, a small cathedral outside San Valencez, California.  One Easter Father Thomas’ Mass is interrupted by something he cannot explain – something powerful that shakes his world, and that of his congregation.

Father Thomas experiences the Stigmata.

On The Third Day is the story of Father Thomas and his search for answers.  He turns to the church, and his immediate superior, Bishop Michaels, for support and assistance and is shocked to find that not all priests seek miracles.  Some are comfortable with the status quo and vicious in their defense of it.  Bishop Michaels is battling his own demons, not the least of which is a barely controlled love of alcohol.

Despite the distaste it engenders, Bishop Michaels attends Easter Mass the year after the first “incident.”  He comes armed with an attitude of furious disbelief, and a video camera.   When Father Thomas not only repeats the previous year’s experience, but with much greater intensity, collapsing across the altar and causing a near riot, the Bishop escapes with his camera, and his sanity, and makes calls of his own.  He still does not believe, but now he feels he needs a greater power than his own to prove his disbelief, even to himself.

At the request of Bishop Michaels’ superior, and his own mentor, Cardinal O’Brien, Father Prescott arrives and begins his investigation with a third Easter Mass looming.  The Bishop is determined that Father Thomas be proven a charlatan and a fraud.  Father Thomas is frightened for his life, and for his faith, and only wants answers.  Father Prescott?  He wants the miracle he’s waited his entire life to overcome, to make up for what he considers past failings of his own.

What all three men find is the powerful, thrilling conclusion to On The Third Day, an experience that draws them together and pushes them apart in ways they never could have imagined.  The answers are there, but some answers are too difficult to bear.

This is a brand new, never before published novel.  You can buy Part One – the first six chapters, for $1.00 to try it out…

Or buy the novel now for $5.00 and save a buck on the final price. The $5 price is good after purchasing the first four of six parts.  If you purchase part 5 without buying the whole book, you’re in for $6.00 to see the ending.

This e-book is available in .PDF, Kindle, E-pub and Mobi formats.  Mobi format can be read using MOBIPOCKET READER for the PC, or on KINDLE, or the free KINDLE FOR PC or the free IPHONE KINDLE APP .

Okay..I think I figured this out.  I’ve created three coupon codes.  There are now more than 12 short stories available in the Digital Store.  If you choose 12 of them (a personal collection) you can use one of the following coupons to get your collection at a discount.  I couldn’t do the exact 9.99 price, but it’s close.

If you choose all stories that are $1.00 apiece your coupon code is:

ReaderChoice1   – $2.00 off

If you choose eleven stories that cost $1.00 and one that costs $1.50 your coupon code is:

ReaderChoice2 – $3.00 off

If you spend more than $13.00 on any combination of digital downloads use the coupon code:

ReaderChoice3 – $3.00 off
That should work.  Now you can get your downloads automatically when paying through Paypal. Now, head over to the DIGITAL PRODUCTS PAGE and start shopping!  Our downloads are available in PDF, KINDLE, MOBI, and EPUB formats for your convenience.

I’ve had a very uplifting, heart-warming Christmas season.  I’m going to pass that on.  From now until New Year, any book in my store except for the digital offerings, and the new Book, Vintage Soul, which I have to buy before I can re-sell, is forty percent off.  Just e-mail me what you want, and I’ll send you a Paypal or e-mail Invoice for the amount minus 40 percent.  Happy Holidays.

-DNW

I’ve just released the e-book Joined at the Muse.  Those of you who know me might be surprised at the format for this one, but hear me out.  I have over eighty short stories that have never been reprinted or collected.  I have several novels that have been published, received stellar reviews, been read by the 300 people who bought limited editions, and disappeared.

In a business, if you have inventory, you find a way to move it.  It occurred to me recently that in this digital age, while I still prefer my books made of paper and bound in leather, when possible, that the words and stories still need to be read.  Moving into a new paradigm is always a bit shaky at first (as you may note in the format of the book if you download it).

Anyway…I started with my collection, Defining Moments, which is available (so far) for Kindle.  I will be publishing that through MOBIPOCKET – where I also just released this new title, Joined at the Muse.  The Mobi site makes books available for a multitude of platforms, and through a big list of sellers, and they are non-exclusive.  Still good for the Kindle lovers out there, but not Amazon specific.

Anyway…last night, when I first posted that this book was available, I promised a story by story breakdown of how it came to be.  Without further ado – Joined at the Muse:

Over the past twenty years I’ve had the good fortune to write and publish in partnership with some truly amazing, creative people.  These stories are always a little more than they could have been with either author working solo – and always a little different than either imagines they will be from the start.

*A Poem of Adrian, Gray – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson

Brian and I wrote this story for a contest.  There was a fiction contest to be judged at one of the first World Horror Conventions.  We were already working on this strange piece involving the Millenium computer bug, designer drugs, and poetry, and thought…what the heck.  The story placed – it was second or third, I can’t quite recall.   Then we sold it to Gothic.net – a sale that started a long string of success for me in that market.

In this story, a man who makes his living trying to fix bugs in computer software is up against the Millenium bug, trying to eradicate the year 2000 glitches before the year itself arrives and things go dark.  Most of you will remember the hooplah surrounding that.  He also manufactures designer drugs, and through this has access to exclusive clubs.  Along the way he meets a girl – a poet – who “writes” people.  From there we descend through verse and surreal imagery into our tribute to Dorian Gray.

*The Purloined Prose – by Patricia Lee Macomber & David Niall Wilson

This began as a story for a themed anthology involving Edgar Allen Poe as a character.  In the long run, it was too long for that market, and was eventually published in two parts by The Book of Dark Wisdom – and will also be reprinted in their first anthology.

In this story, during a chance encounter in a bar, Poe comes into possession of a secret that leads, in the end, to his stories, and his success – but not without a price.  This was a lot of fun to work on, particularly because I got to write it with Trish, who is always my sounding board and partner in anything I do on my own.

*A Wreath of Clouds – by Stephen Mark Rainey & David Niall Wilson

This story began through shared e-mails. I had a snippet of a sort of Lovecraftian tale on my hard drive that I could never seem to move forward on.  I sent it to Mark to see if he had any ideas, and he did.  We moved it forward very slowly.  In fact, though we started it easily ten years ago, we just finished it last month.  This is the first time this story has seen print.

There is a house on a mountain, overlooking the sea.  When author and researcher Daniel Schell notices an odd light surrounding the place and decides to take a drive up the mountain to check it out, his world shifts.  Other dimensions and the strange old owner of the mansion draw Daniel farther and farther from his comfortable reality.

*Moon Like a Gambler’s Face – by Richard Rowand & David Niall Wilson

I truly enjoyed this collaboration. Richard Rowand bought my first professionally published story for his magazine, STARSHORE, way back in the day.  He and I attended a writer’s group in Virginia Beach, VA – a group that another collaborator on this list, John B. Rosenman, was also an integral part.  Rich was famous for beginning his critiques with the line: “Keep in mind, all criticism is subjective.”  It was a dreaded line.

Anyway, he had a story he wanted to write, and since it was a big ghostly and spooky, and that was what I did exclusively at the time, he asked if I’d like to work on it with him.  Rich is a very precise writer.  Every word is precious, and we worked this over for quite some time.  Eventually we submitted it to a contest at the Chiaroscuro website, and placed.  We were published at chizine.com and got some money.  Now I want to share that again.  Strangely, perhaps, another collaborator here is Brett Alexander Savory, who is the founder and managing editor at Chizine.

In “Moon, Like a Gambler’s Face,” a man contracts cancer.  He had a pair of old uncles, long dead at the time of the story, that come to mind when he gets the bad news from his doctor.  Through very odd circumstances, our protagonist is drawn into a graveyard and comes face to face with death.  There is to be a horse race, and that horse race is against Death himself.  This story is littered with memorable characters and (I think) has the spirit of the horse race embedded firmly.  It stands as one of my favorites of the stories I’ve been involved with.  Thanks Rich.

*La Belle Dame, Sans Merci  And *La Belle Dame, Sans Regret – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson

I’m going to describe these two together.  The first was also my first collaboration with Brian A. Hopkins.  We wrote it for a super hero anthology that it was never printed in (there’s a pattern here).  When I published my own magazine, The Tome, I printed a story titled “A Darker Kind,” by Brian.  In fact, I illustrated that story myself…though that’s another story entirely.  That story is also a winding collaboration involving others in the book.  The initial story had been submitted to Rich at Starshore.  He thought it was more a horror story, and so, he sent it to me.  He also thought it was missing something.  I read the story, and made some suggestions to Brian, which he took.  What resulted was the story of a lycanthrope – a woman who turns into a huge black panther and kills people when her hunger grows too great.   In “Of a Darker Kind,” she is trying to kill herself by drowning (she fears water) and fails.  Then she finds herself face to face with a killer.  A serial killer.  When she takes his life, she realizes that if she can’t end her life – maybe she can put her ability/curse to a higher purpose.

Brian and I took that character and wrote “La Belle Dame, Sans Merci,” starring Brian’s creation – Martin Zolotow, a detective with a cross-wired brain that allows him insights other investigators miss…but also causes him trouble.  He has to recite poetry at times to unscramble his brain.  He is on the trail of a serial killer who likes to use a nail gun to pin his victims to the wall.  So is “Kat.”

Throughout “La Belle Dame, Sans Merci,” he closes in on her…in the sequel, “La Belle Dame, Sans Regret,” he has gone on an extended hiatus from the force to track her.  I’m not going to go into details, but these are two wonderful stories.  I loved every bit of working on them.  The first was published in Ken Abner’s “Terminal Frights” anthology, and the second was published by (you guessed it, someone else on the contributor’s list) Mark Rainey when he was still publishing Deathrealm.  This is the first time the two stories have seen print together.

*Ribbons of Darkness Over Me – by Brett Alexander Savory & David Niall Wilson

Brett Savory and I have collaborated so often that we have our own book of stories – the novella “My Eyes are Nailed But I Still See,” which has been favorably compared to Donnie Darko – and which is available for digital download now over at The Horror Mall.  If you like e-books, you should check out the selections in their DARKSIDE DIGITAL section.  If you just like books -and horror – they have you covered.

This story, though, “Ribbons of Darkness Over Me,” (title from a Gordon Lightfoot song) is unique here.  I wrote a story long ago.  I kind of liked it, but knew it was juvenile and not ready for prime time.  I wanted to rewrite it, but thought some fresh eyes might help.  What I did was to send it to Brett and ask if he’d like to help me rewrite it.  He did.

This is the story of a man who invents a thing called a “Balancer” – a device that can measure the electrical impulses of one creature and balance it with those from another.  For instance, a healthy animal, and a sick animal.  An aggressive animal, and a happy, friendly animal.  They both reach a “harmonic balance.”  There is a secret involved, though, a secret that just might cost the inventor his life…or his mind…

*Death Did Not Become Him – by Patricia Lee Macomber & David Niall Wilson

Again, Trish and I wrote this for a themed anthology.  This time, however, that is exactly where it was published.  The them was H. P. Lovecraft Meets Sherlock Holmes.  In our twisted little tale, Watson gets a pair of visitors in the night.  One is a solicitor, the other his client – a man Watson pronounced dead only about a week prior.  Confronted by the impossible, Watson becomes the client and takes the mystery to Holmes…what follows is Sherlock Holmes meets Reanimator – an ancient abandoned asylum – and mystery.
*Within an Image, Dancing – by John B. Rosenman & David Niall Wilson

I’m not really sure why John and I haven’t collaborated more than we have.  We’ve known one another almost from the beginning of my writing career.  John teaches English at Norfolk State University, and he writes horror, science fiction, and fantasy.  A lot of it.  He may be the most prolific author I’ve ever met.

We wrote this story in the 1990s.  For whatever reason, we set it aside.  It was never published.  Recently I pulled it out and gave it a quick polish, but it’s presented here very close to the way it was written those long years ago…and for the first time.  It’s a sort of romantic science fiction story.   I hope you’ll enjoy it.

*That Extra Mile – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson

The only form of exercise I truly enjoy is running.  When I first started, I learned about the sensation endorphins can provide when they kick in, and I started thinking about how that might work into a story.  Enter Brian.  Brian has something I do not – the research gene.  When we started writing this story, he brought in some information he’d learned about “smart drugs” and “brain food,” and it all clicked.

Our protagonist is a runner. He’s just started to push himself, and the endorphins have him in their thrall.  Then something odd happens.  He sees a murder taking place.  Then, the scene disappears.  The story is built around flashes of different time lines he reaches through uses of psychotropic drugs and endorphins, and is one of the more interesting collaborations I’ve been involved in…

*Virtue’s Mask – by Brian A. Hopkins & David Niall Wilson

Imagine a world where sexually transmitted disease is so rampant and dangerous that actual human contact is forbidden except under extremely controlled conditions.  Imagine a place where you paid to have “sex” and could only touch through a plastic shield?  We imagined that.  Then Brian brough in more of his research.  He found a species of vole that is genetically mongamous, and envisioned a government plan to spread that genetic code to mankind before disease and promiscuity wipes us from the planet.  That is “Virtue’s Mask,” a romance, tragedy, and thriller all in one.  This was first published in “Symphonie’s Gift,” and then (basically) dropped out of site.   Here’s your chance to catch one you almost certainly missed.

*Sing a Song of Sixth Sense by Patricia Lee Macomber & David Niall Wilson

Trish plays piano.  She is very good.  She likes ragtime, and (TMI, I know) I call her kitten.  Anyway…this was the first short story we wrote together.  It’s about a piano player in a bar, a puppet, a curse, and an abusive childhood.  It’s also about the song “Kitten on the Keys.” This was published in an electronic anthology called “The Harrow.”  This is it’s first reprinting.

*Deliver Us From Meeble by Brian Keene & David Niall Wilson

Possibly the strangest story in the book, and at the same time the strangest collaborative experience, “Deliver Us From Meeble” concludes this book.  There used to be a site where the editor found two authors he thought would be compatible.  You did not know who the other author was.  I was paired (without knowing it) with author Brian Keene, who has gone on to make quite a career and publish a number of very cool books.

We were not in communication with one another or aware of identities during the writing.  The editor took what one wrote and passed it to the other, back and forth, until the story was done.  In some ways, this is easier, because you aren’t worried about hurting a friend’s feelings if you change something – but it was harder, as well, like taking over someone’s chess game without fully understanding their strategy.

In the end, the story is unique, bizarre, and I was happy to see that Meeble made a return appearance in Brian’s book : “Tequila’s Sunrise,” still available.

*~*~*~*~*~*

So, in a nutshell, what this book contains is a number of obscure stories you have probably never seen.  They are formatted to the best of my current e-book creating ability – and the whole collection is only $7.50 – a bit below the average cost of an e-book of this length.  Considering the lineup – it’s a bargain.  I hope you’ll give it a shot and download it.  The Mobipocket books are readable on Kindle, PC, Blackberry, Iphone, and a number of other platforms.  If you read it, please come back and comment.  I’m trying to figure this digital thing out, and working now on some audio presentations as well.

Go!  ORDER IT NOW!

Darkside Digital has just released the digital version of the novella I wrote with Brett A. Savory, “My Eyes Are Nailed But I Still See,” available exclusively through The Horror Mall.  This novella has been likened to Donnie Darko, and when available, copies of the HC limited go for pretty big money.

Description:

Johnson Milhone’s mind is a world unto itself—maybe several worlds. Therapy doesn’t penetrate, but nails do. Leather doesn’t sew easily, and pigs don’t talk—but don’t tell Johnson. Enter a world where spiders stalk sentient stuffed animals that may or may not be carved from the flesh of family members who may or may not be psychotic killers, slaves, and sadistic torturers. Find new uses for lime green Jell-O and lose it as a viable dessert. Find new darkness in Poe’s Pit and the Pendulum and dine at the best table at the Fear Factory. Learn why you should only keep toothpicks in the drawer if you really trust your mother, or your brother, and never—ever—fish in Scotland at Midnight.

My Eyes Are Nailed, But Still I See is the culmination of an odyssey through a warped young mind that leads one way, and then another, through gruesome imagery and psychotic delusion to an ultimate truth you will never see coming.

The following formats are available:

• PDF
• MOBI (for Kindle & MobiPocket)
• EPUB