Jake Bible Fiction

  • Views From The Captain’s Chair! Episode Twenty-Four: Switching It Up!

    Captains ChairBlogAhoy, Mateys!

    I know I said I’d be too busy writing novels this summer to post from the Captain’s Chair, but I had a couple of cancellations (i.e. late blog post submissions from lazy ass writers. LAZY FREAKIN’ WRITERS!) and decided to ruminate on a subject that’s been in my head for a bit now.

    You see, I’m writing some space opera the next couple of months. I am sure some of you are all like, “Space opera? Jake is going to have lasers and spaceships and aliens and lots of pew-pew action and space blood and space guts!”. Which is a nice thought, but that’s not where this novel is going. It may get there in the next book in the series, but this one isn’t my usual action and blood novel.

    I like to call it medieval space fiction. You know, like medieval historical fiction, but in space? Or, better yet, Game of Thrones in space! But maybe not so brutal. And no magic, because space. Yeah, that.

    Will there be action? You betcha! Romance? Oh, for sure! Blood? Of course! But it’s not horror and it’s not a thriller. There will be more story and character. And no lasers. Nope. No lasers. This is low tech space, y’all.

    With that said, I wonder what my fan base is going to think. Those looking for my brand of action/gore may be doing a little head scratching. I could lose a couple readers. I could also gain some new readers that dig space opera for the intrigue and plot and all that good stuff, but don’t like the heavy gore or action of my other novels.

    It’s going to be an interesting trade-off. Time will tell.

    I have to say that I really like switching it up. Letting the story unfold and characters breathe without having to horribly mutilate one in each chapter is nice. Again, there will be blood, just not the level of blood in my horror and action novels.

    The other part I’m digging is playing with tropes. Space opera, as many have defined it, is essentially fantasy in space. I’ve never really written fantasy. I’ll also be honest and say I don’t read fantasy. At least, not high fantasy. I watch it, but don’t read it. And this may come as a shocker- I don’t really read space opera. Which may be a good thing, in a way, because I don’t have any preconceptions of what I’m supposed to be doing. I get to wing it as usual! Huzzah!

    Where does this all leave me? And how does it relate to you as either reader or writer? Where does it leave the folks that read this blog?

    Well, it leaves me still writing a novel a month, but with a fresh perspective. I timed this perfectly so I’m kind of taking a gore/horror/action vacation, but still writing books.

    As readers, it leaves you with something new to look forward to; a little different style and genre to mix up that Jake Bible goodness.

    And as writers, it shows y’all that you don’t have to stay in one genre, one style, one way of writing. You get to switch it up when you want to. Don’t worry about what comes after, just write a great story and let the readers/fans sort it out.

    Speaking of sorting it out, I have a bit of medieval space fiction to get back to and make all shiny and new. Or gritty and old. It depends on where this story takes me. We’ll see.

    Cheers!

     

    Disclaimer: Views From The Captain’s Chair are just that: views. These are not laws. These are not set in stone. I could be totally wrong. I could be off my rocker (shut up). I could be full of S-H-I-T. I could change my mind next week. All of that is possible. Who knows? But if even just a little of this helps you then I’m happy with that. If it just makes you stop and think then I’ve done my job. Which I really need to get back to. Blogging don’t pay for the bourbon! Oh, and the whole Captain’s Chair thing? Yeah, I write in a captain’s chair. It’s true, Mateys! Got a question? Need some one on one? Shoot me an email, a DM, a PM (no BMs) or comment below.

    Jake Bible lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and two kids.

    Novelist, short story writer, independent screenwriter, podcaster, and inventor of the Drabble Novel, Jake is able to switch between or mash-up genres with ease to create new and exciting storyscapes that have captivated and built an audience of thousands.

    He is the author of the bestselling Z-Burbia series for Severed Press as well as the Apex Trilogy (DEAD MECH, The Americans, Metal and Ash), Bethany and the Zombie Jesus, Stark- An Illustrated Novella, and the forthcoming YA zombie novel Little Dead Man, and Teen horror novel Intentional Haunting (both by Permuted Press).

     

  • Friday Night Drabble Party!

    Who is ready to Party? YOU ARE!

    No, seriously, you are. Ahhh, come on. Party. There’s a free Drabble in it for ya.

    There ya go!

    Friday Night Drabble Party is ready to rock this planet across the Milky Way! Or something like that.

    But, before we get to that interstellar rocking, how about I make a couple of announcements?

    Z-Burbia 3: Estate of the Dead is now available as an audiobook on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes! Go get some of that audio goodness!

    The other announcement is that Little Dead Man is available for pre-order! That’s right, you can order the trade paperback right now, lock in that early bird savings, and then it will be delivered to your door on July 15th! Or something like that. Click the link or here and you can choose your retailer! THE FUTURE IS NOW!

    Word!

    Now to the drabble!

    Enjoy!

    ***

    Corner Market
    By
    Jake Bible

    Corner market. Sitting there like a hollow tumor, sick and dying.

    The last remnants of the city, left alone to rot and sag.

    The tinkle of glass and a small cry. Silence follows. Desperate silence. Pleading, begging silence.

    Nothing.

    A shuffle of footsteps, an angry whisper, the hint of a face. Watching, waiting, praying.

    A howl.

    A whimper.

    No hint of a face. More shuffling footsteps. A door opens, a door closes.
    Silence.

    A howl.

    Feet slapping on ancient, cracked pavement.

    A howl.

    Feet stopping, body quivering, mouth salivating.

    Corner market. Sitting there like a lunchbox, waiting to be opened.

    ***

     

    Cheers!

    Disclaimer: Careful where you shop.

  • Friday Night Drabble Party!

    Time to get your Drabble on! It’s Party time!

    I have actually prepped tonight’s drabble, and post, well in advance due to the fact I’ll be in Charlotte, NC when this posts. I’ll be on panels and have an author table at ConCarolinas! Come on out and see me, yo!

    But int the meantime, how’s about you read some micro-fiction that will blow your mind!

    KABLOOOOOSH!

    Mind. Blown.

    Enjoy!

    ***

    Under The Influence
    By
    Jake Bible

    The speedometer read “TWORK”. No worries, he’d seen TWORK before. Just a hallucination. He was sure he was going only 20 lps. Totally safe.

    “Next left,” Bisch said. “Past the third asteroid.”

    “Your left or my left?” Hollis asked. He didn’t want to ask about the asteroids; he assumed the giant floating baby heads were probably what Bisch was talking about.

    “We have the same left!” Bisch snapped.

    Hollis took the left and slammed on the brakes, sending the spacecraft into a power slide.

    “No way I’m driving through that marshmallow,” Hollis said.

    “Griff! How high are you?” Bisch yelled.

    ***

    Cheers!

    Disclaimer: Just drive!

  • Views From The Captain’s Chair! Episode Twenty-One: CON!!!

    Captains ChairBlog

    Ahoy, Mateys!

    Short post today due to deadlines, deadlines, deadlines!

    Which segues right into my reminder of last week’s post. I’m looking for guest writers! If you have an idea for a blog post on writing then let me know! You can read the original call to words here.

    This week’s post, however, is about something I’m still new to: cons.

    Just for full disclosure, I wanted the title of this post to be COOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNN!!!! You know, like a play on Wrath of Khan? Except I quickly realized it looked I was just yelling coon. Probably not the best way to make friends. Why did I share that? So you don’t make the same mistake one day. I’m just looking out for you. The more you know.

    But, on to the subject!

    Cons. Con is short for convention, if you were not aware. There are a billion of them out there put together on subjects from comic books to steampunk, pop culture to zombie culture. Scifi, horror, romance, adventure, what have you. If there is a fan base then there is a con for it.

    Which is pretty cool.

    I’ve only attended six cons, four of them local. I’m about to be an invited guest this coming weekend at ConCarolinas. Very cool. Especially since the Guest of Honor is none other than George RR Martin.  There are still Friday and Sunday tickets left, so go get some and come see me.

    Why do I do cons? To meet fans, make new fans, make new friends, see old friends, and also to network. As a writer, that is the key right there: networking.

    My first con, Horror Realm in Pittsburgh, is where I met a ton of my fellow horror authors I now call friends. It’s also how I got the idea to write Little Dead Man. Which ended up getting me my first agent and is now a Permuted Platinum title ready to be let loose on the shelves of Barnes & Noble and other bookstores come July 15th!

    Word.

    Without having gone to that con I would never have been directed towards the idea of writing a YA zombie novel. That would have meant I wouldn’t have been signed with Permuted Press and wouldn’t have been contracted to write my Middle Grade scif/horror series, ScareScapes. Or been given the chance to write my new space opera series based on the great English kings Edward I, II, and III (and the Black Prince!). One con got me all of that. After a few years of hard work, of course.

    So what will this next con bring me in terms of my career? I don’t know.

    What I do know is it will bring me expenses: gas, food, hotel, cost of books to sell at my author table (which wasn’t free, although it was very, very reasonable). Sure, I get to write it all off at the end of the year on taxes, but that money still comes out of my pocket up front. I’d probably do a lot more cons if it wasn’t for the cost.

    And that’s the balancing act: what it is worth to my career versus what it does to my bank account.

    I’d say, so far, cons have been way worth it, but I read horror stories out there of authors attending cons and the aisles were dead. Or just filled with costumed attendees that aren’t looking to buy anything and really just want to win the cosplay contest. What will ConCarolinas be like? Will I network or will I flounder and lose my shirt? Again, I don’t know.

    But I’ll make sure and document the experience for you (pics!) and let y’all know how I thought it went. I’ll get to hang with some awesome folks, take part on some cool panels, maybe sells some books and make some new fans. Who knows? Sky’s the limit!

    So be on the lookout for my post-con report! And also be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter so you can get the “live” reporting.

    Word.

    Cheers!

    Disclaimer: Views From The Captain’s Chair are just that: views. These are not laws. These are not set in stone. I could be totally wrong. I could be off my rocker (shut up). I could be full of S-H-I-T. I could change my mind next week. All of that is possible. Who knows? But if even just a little of this helps you then I’m happy with that. If it just makes you stop and think then I’ve done my job. Which I really need to get back to. Blogging don’t pay for the bourbon! Oh, and the whole Captain’s Chair thing? Yeah, I write in a captain’s chair. It’s true, Mateys! Got a question? Need some one on one? Shoot me an email, a DM, a PM (no BMs) or comment below.

    Jake Bible lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and two kids.

    Novelist, short story writer, independent screenwriter, podcaster, and inventor of the Drabble Novel, Jake is able to switch between or mash-up genres with ease to create new and exciting storyscapes that have captivated and built an audience of thousands.

    He is the author of the bestselling Z-Burbia series for Severed Press as well as the Apex Trilogy (DEAD MECH, The Americans, Metal and Ash), Bethany and the Zombie Jesus, Stark- An Illustrated Novella, and the forthcoming YA zombie novel Little Dead Man (available July 15th!), and Teen horror novel Intentional Haunting (both by Permuted Press).

  • Friday Night Drabble Party!

    Heeeeeelllllllllooooooooooo, Friday! Time to get our Drabble Party on!

    Free micro-fiction for you and me, baby! Ahhhhhhh, yeah!

    But, before we get into the drabbletasticness, let’s talk about Little Dead Man!

    That’s right, I have a new novel out! This one is by Permuted Press and is my YA debut. I kid you not, folks, it is Jake Bible goodness for the WHOLE family (if your family is 12 and up)! If you love my novels then you’ll love this one!

    What’s it about? Have a read:

    LDM Cover

    Decades after the zombie apocalypse, seventeen year old Garret Weir just wants to be a normal teenager. As if dealing with the zombies isn’t hard enough, his annoying twin brother refuses to leave him in peace. And it’s not like Garret can just go to his room and shut the door to get away. His brother Garth is a zombie and conjoined to the top of Garret’s spine. Good times.

    Forced from his hidden, mountain compound, Garret must learn who to trust and who to fear as he and Garth are thrust into a world more horrific than anything they could imagine. Fighting for their lives in a foreign landscape, the brothers head north to find their father who may have the answer to the deadly virus that caused the zombie apocalypse. Along their way they meet new friends, learn betrayal the hard way, fight for their mother’s life, run from deadly enemies, and discover that life may have seemed difficult before, but can always get a whole lot worse.

    A fast-paced, high-action novel that doesn’t pull any punches, Little Dead Man is a surprisingly sweet story of two brothers – one living, one undead – that struggle with a mother that is mentally unstable, a missing father that has kept too many secrets, and a lie their parents have always told – that they are the last survivors on Earth. When the truth of that lie is revealed, Garret and Garth quickly find out that having other survivors in the world isn’t exactly a good thing. In fact, it’s quite deadly.

    What do you think? Crazy cool, right? Right. What’s that? You’d rather have the print version? Well, that will be available very soon! July 15th, in fact! Feel free to pre-order that puppy by clicking on teh same link and choosing the paperback option!

    Now, on to our drabble!

    Enjoy!

    ***

    Coin Flips, Man
    By
    Jake Bible

    Two doors.

    A choice.

    “One could be my girlfriend, right?” the young man asked.

    “Yes,” the Council above the pit replied as one.

    “And one is, like, what? A man-eating tiger? Those still exist? I thought with deforestation and crap there, like, weren’t any man-eating tigers left?”

    “Choose!” the Council shouted.

    “Jeez, chill, bras. This isn’t easy.”

    He stood there facing the two doors and frowned.

    “Anyone have a coin I could flip? Doesn’t have to be a quarter. Nickel will totally do.”

    “Carl!” a woman’s voice rang out from behind one door. “Just pick a fucking door!”

    ***

    Cheers!

    GO BUY LITTLE DEAD MAN! DO IT!

    Disclaimer: BUY LITTLE DEAD MAN!