And then the windows steamed up...

... The third and final episode of Season II of my new erotic noir series, The Handyman, Savage Women, is here. It's got all the graphic stuff you might expect of a steamy if not erotic story, but it's also an edge-of-your-seat, or bed, suspense thriller.

In this episode, crime writer, Victor Casey, is being hunted down for three counts of Murder One by a beautiful, blonde bombshell of an APD homicide detective by the name of...wait for it, Lawless. But when Casey's muse and newlywed wife, (the sexually insatiable) Stella, falls head over heels for the detective, all bets are off.

When I started writing this series I wasn't sure I could pull it off. Sometimes, as an author, you need to force yourself to experiment and to push yourself beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone. I've definitely managed to accomplish that with The Handyman series. Case and point? The raw, energetic, passionate, sexy, steamy graphic noir series is collecting reviews like, “Superb,” “Captivating,” and “Just beautiful.”

Who'd a thunk it?

I hope you indulge in The Handyman erotic noir series this weekend and realize there's more to Vincent Zandri than just your garden variety mystery.  And don't forget, this one ain't for the kids.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Books signings suck...

A fun place to sign: Thriller Fest in NYC. Yup that's Diane Capri and Lee Child

...unless that is, you're an angry celebrity politician like Hillary or a witty cable television news anchor like Gutfeld or Sleepy Eyes Chuck (sorry, couldn't help it). A few authors can still command a decent audience at book signings. Lee Child, and of course, JK Rowling. Maybe if you write children's books you can gather a tribe of school kids who love your books. Some romance authors maybe. EL James and all her "Shades of Grey."

I do maybe one or two signings per year, and it usually takes place in Manhattan. These are usually quiet affairs but fun nonetheless as we like to make a night of it, no matter how many people show up (or don't). I guess I'm known mostly for my eBooks, but naturally, all my work is available in print and audio too (shameless plug).

This about sums it up...

Bad book signing memory: I show up to my signing and an old dude is standing in my place at the very front of the store as you walk in. I recognize him as a local news anchor who's penned a tall-all about the local Albany news scene. The book is published by the bookstore owner. When I enter the bookshop, I'm told to "Go to the back of the store. There's a table set up for you there." This is back when an earlier edition of The Remains was published (sloppily I might add) by a small press. I sign maybe 12 books in the hour I spend there, and then I walk out, tossing my pen in the garbage.

I never went back to that store again. Why should I? Writers have power now in this the new golden era of writing and publishing. We no longer have to be bullied and trampled on by stores, publishers, or agents who think we need them more than they need us. Hit the road Jack...

But The Remains would go on to be sold to a major publisher (Thomas & Mercer at Amazon Publishing) and overall I believe it's sold 200K units over the course of its two editions. Not bad for a guy who was pushed to the back of the store not that long ago.

Even now, I can promo my books online and sell hundreds if not thousands while doing something else, like writing new fiction for instance. Because after all, I'd rather be writing than standing like a dope in the middle of a bookstore. However, that doesn't mean I don't love meeting my fans. It's just that book signings no longer need to happen at bookstores. They can happen at conferences, bars, eateries, book clubs, you name it.

Yesterday, I told around 2K books while whooping it up in a bar for St. Patty's Day. It was a hell of a day, let me tell you. A home run kind of a day. Not all days are like that, but every now and again, you need one both for your bottom line and your head.

I love bookstores, especially those that sell rare editions. They're not going away anytime soon, or so I hope. But unlike the old days, I don't feel the need to come crawling to them in order to "move the units." When I sign live and in person, it's just more of a fun, interactive kind of thing. Bottom line: I'm happy to sign books for anyone who wants one. But it may not happen at a brick and mortar bookstore. And why should it?

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Deadly Dozen Delivers and Shivers

There's power in numbers.

Since joining the thriller collective, THE TWELVE, I've learned an awful lot about the publishing business. You'd think that by now, a fifteen year veteran would know everything there is to know about this crazy endeavor.

But I've learned something else to. The members of this group truly care about their audience, their fans, their readers. When they came up with the idea to put together twelve of our novels in a boxed set called DEADY DOZEN, I thought it was good idea. But I had no idea that it would literally explode onto the scene.

Now, as the end of the third week of the book's publication approaches, we've sold close to 24,000 units. That's right, 24,000 units sold, earned 47 5-star reviews, and even made the USA TODAY Bestseller list. With your help, we might even make the  NYTime's list. But make no mistake. This collection of twelve novels isn't for our benefit, it's a gift to you, our readers. Please enjoy the thrill of it all.

TO PURCHASE DEADLY DOZEN FOR LESS THAN A BUCK, CLICK HERE!

PULP! The Boxed Set!

Boxed sets that contain a few novels and hundreds of thousands of words seem to be all the rage these days. So I decided to jump into the deep end and put out my first boxed collection of Two Novels and a Novella that will Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat. At least, that's supposed to be the point of PULP!

The collection contains:

1. Moonlight Sonata (A Dick Moonlight PI Thriller)
2. The Shroud Key (A Chase Baker Thriller)
3. Full Moonlight (A Dick Moonlight PI Novella)

So without further verbal bloodletting, here's where you can get yours for your Kindle: Pulp!

I'm pricing it at .99 for a limited time so I hope you take advantage. And don't forget to Join Up with the Vincent Zandri "For Your Eyes Only" Newsletter at WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM



 

I'm Packin' a Full Twelve

Don't let the title fool you.

It is however the bloody truth.

Oh, haha, I know what you're thinking. Shame on you. This Twelve isn't the kind that measures out to be a foot long. We're not talking foot long subs, Fruit Roll Ups by the foot, or Magic Johnson's johnson for that matter.

The Twelve for me is a collective of master thriller writers who have banded together not only to co-market our work and to exchange ideas, both creative and businesslike, but we have also established our own publishing imprint. First up on The Twelve's new list of killer thrillers is the aptly titled, THE DEADLY DOZEN. It's currently in e-book stores near you. So grab hold of one for your smartphone, tablet, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, or computer. Doesn't matter, just grab one.

Nab the US Kindle version HERE.
Nab the UK Kindle version HERE.

So, like I said. I'm not lying. I'm packing a full twelve. In this business where you sit at the typewriter and bleeed, and do so all alone, it's nice to know that you have eleven other writers who are watching your back. There's strength in numbers and in this case, there's twelve times the talent, as the novels and novellas collected in THE DEADLY DOZEN will demonstrate. Killer stories by Diane Capri, J. Carson Black, Alan Leverone, Joshua Graham, Vincent ... well you know the last name... and many more.

Go ahead and grab hold of the full package.
DEADLY DOZEN Alert! Since its official publication on Monday, February 17, the "Deadly" boz set has hit the Top 150 in Overall Amazon Kindle Books. Plus it's been killing it on Kobo, Nook, and iTunes. Here's a list of links that will take you directly to some Deadly Dozen thrills:

The Deadly Dozen Website:  http://thetwelvexii.com/deadlydozen/
Other Smart Links: 
http://smarturl.it/deadly12
http://smarturl.it/deadly12-bn
http://smarturl.it/deadly12-itunes
http://bit.ly/1f7It0V

Sign up for the Vincent Zandri "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY" Mailing List @

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Turning a Bad Thing into Gold

I'm by no means a Midas type of guy. Meaning, not everything I touch or write, for that matter, turns into gold. But I have become a survivor. Case and point: Eight years ago this week, my second wife and I split up. I packed up my stuff along with my then thirteen and nine year old son's stuff, and moved from a huge four bedroom, three bath house to a two bedroom, one bath apartment. My youngest son was forced to leave his school and his friends while my oldest son became quite angry and at the same time, withdrawn over what to him, seemed like yet another life rejection. Both boys also had to leave behind their little sister. 

But here's the hard truth of the matter: I had no one to blame other than myself. I'd become a frustrated and unhappy young man. Having achieved some major success just a few years before in the form of quarter million dollar two book deal with Delacorte Press, I felt that I was entitled to more success. When that deal eventually went sour due to the publisher's corporate problems and I was left high and dry, I fell into a tailspin of despair that made life with Vince pretty unlivable.

Still recovering from the ill effects of a very expensive first divorce, my finances were in a shambles, my debt was enormous, and I had no real cash coming in. To make matters worse, I had no publisher and even my then agent was no longer returning my calls. That Christmas morning I was so depressed, I woke up, went straight for the refrigerator and cracked open a beer. I had reached rock bottom. As I stood there with the beer in hand and a tear running down my cheek, I knew I had two choices. I could either keep sliding south, which of course means six feet under. Or I could pull up my bootstraps and start climbing out of the hole I'd dug for myself. Luckily I tossed out the beer and got digging.

It was around this time I started writing THE REMAINS, a story about twin girls who were abducted back in the 1970s when they were only twelve by a madman who lived in a house in the woods behind their home. In part, the story was based upon my breakup with my second wife and I was able to utilize some of our relationship as the basis for the main characters. In this case, my protagonist, the artist and art teacher Rebecca, still maintains a friendly if not loving relationship with her ex, Michael. Michael is a writer who, having once before hit it very big, fell into a trap of partying like a rock star until one day he woke up in a hospital only to realize that everything he worked so hard for had turned to shit. And like me, he had only himself to blame.

Michael still loves Rebecca and since she is his muse, he insists on writing inside her apartment. When Rebecca begins to receive strange paintings with messages hidden inside them from an autistic savant who is her student, she comes to realize the paintings are warnings. The man who abducted her all those years ago has been released from prison and he's out to finish the job he started with she and her twin sister all those years ago. Only this time, he plans on doing it right. That said, Michael and Rebecca team up not only to solve the mystery, but also to rekindle their love.

Just the other day it dawned on me that if I hadn't broken up with my second wife whom I loved very much, I might never have written THE REMAINS. In fact, I'm quite sure I would not have written the story at all. if I hadn't reached rock bottom and survived it all, I never would have written the character of Michael. Nor would I have nailed the desperate-need-to-survive-at-all-costs that Rebecca experiences when she's being hunted down in the woods by the same man who abducted her many year ago. In a word, I had taken a very bad thing like a breakup, and turned it into gold.

Last month, THE REMAINS sold over 30,000 copies in paper, ebook, and audio. It reached the Top 10 in the UK and the US. It was also, or so my agent tells me, Thomas & Mercer's No. 1 seller for the month of September. Not bad considering the hundreds of books they publish. But the point here is not how well something sells. The point is that I was able to turn a bad situation entirely onto its back, and write something that I am entirely proud of. Something that can stand up in both the literary and suspense genres (since September 1, the book has earned more than forty new 4 and 5 star reviews). 

Today, I'm sitting at my writing desk in my studio and reflecting on all that has changed in the eight years since my wife and I split up. I've published hundreds of articles and photographs for some major news outlets like RT and magazines like Living Ready. I've traveled to from Moscow to the Amazon Basin, and from Shanghai to West Africa. I enjoy extended one and two month writing retreats in Italy. I've written more than half a dozen new short stories and two novellas. More importantly, I've written thirteen new books and have recently completed the first draft of my seventeenth. My debt is gone, and I even have enough money to invest. I don't enjoy the benefits of one publisher. But several.

A number of years ago a prominent local bookseller looked me in the eye and said, "You will never score another major book deal again." Since then I've published (and re-published) seven novels with perhaps the hottest major publisher in the business today. I will be publishing more with them to be sure.

I love proving naysayers wrong. But more than that, I love proving myself wrong. Eight years ago I felt like there was nothing to live for anymore if I couldn't be a working writer, and do so on my own terms. What I had to grow up and realize is that this is a business full of ups and downs and the work ethic must be adhered to like a priest and his daily Our Fathers. But if there is one thing I've learned more than anything else, it's this: Happiness is a choice. It's not something that arrives and departs like the cavalry. Happy people seem to attract other happy people. They also attract success. They are healthy and hopeful. Their dreams are vivid and real. Conversely, the miserable attract misery. They are physically and mentally incapacitated and they are the perpetually plagued. Avoid them at all costs.

Just like Rebecca and Michael from THE REMAINS, my ex and I are giving our relationship another try. Why shouldn't we? We've both changed and managed to ride out our separate storms. We've grown up in the process and learned a whole lot about life. We're survivors.

Want to read THE REMAINS?

Get it at http://www.amazon.com/The-Remains-ebook/dp/B0073I2QHM%3FSubscriptionId%3D1QZMGW0RRJC2PX87HDR2%26tag%3Dsalranexp-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0073I2QHMERE!

  

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

How My Books Are Born

"Awww, I've got so many stories to tell..."

A prominent lit blogger has asked me to pen a guest blog that details the-story-behind-the-story so to speak of all my books. Talk about an intimidating task, and considering this is a blog and not paid journalism, I'm more inclined to lean towards brevity and my humble wits than get into something that could arguably take a few days and cover an expanse of at least twenty thousand words.

So the question looms large. How are my books born?

My first novel, Permanence, a literary romantic/suspense/thriller (did you get all that?) is a fictional recounting of my my honeymoon to Italy and something I overheard about a psychiatrist who entered into what would be a fatal love affair with a disturbed client. "Wow, I gotta write that one," I remember telling myself as I wiped the peach fuzz from my chin. It was the spark that lit the fire. I was a young literary neophyte and convinced I would set the world on fire with my words.

Course, it took a while for the fire to start. But it's still burning and I'm still stoking it with my follow-up novels like The Innocent, Godchild, The Remains, The Concrete Pearl, Moonlight Falls, Moonlight Rises and the whole kit and kaboodle Moonlight Collection. More traditional gumshoe novels with quirky and sometimes brooding protagonists...anti-heroes...who on occasion find themselves doing some pretty bad things in order to do what's right and to uncover the truth behind a series of lies and injustices. Characters inspired by the authors who came before, like Robert B. Parker, Jim Crumley, James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben and others.

The Innocent is derived from the real-life story of a prison escape that occurred at Green Haven Prison and also the Attica uprisings of the early 1970s. The Moonlight stories, however, are mostly made up. The product of my vivid imagination and love of over-the-top plot lines. They are inspired by Charlie Huston, one of the contemporary noir greats. Also, Boston Terrain, another contemporary great.

I'm currently working on two more novels. Moonlight Sonata...again, entirely made up...and Aziz, a fiction based upon a truth I overheard about an American officer who becomes a casualty in Afghanistan after ordering an airstrike on a Tajik village. Now in Venice with his fiancee nursing his wounds, which also include unexplained bouts of temporary or hysterical blindness, he finds himself in the desperate position of having to find and rescue his future bride when she goes suddenly missing.

I guess Aziz means I'm back to combining the literary with the thriller and romantic suspense genres. Which means I've come full circle. But then, that's what writers do. Invent and reinvent and steal from what's happening in the world around us. Capturing a portrait of the truth and reinventing it for the page like Monet reinvented a garden scene for the canvass, and in doing so making it more real than than God intended.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

 

Change is Good

Change.

It's sometimes difficult to accept. Just ask Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo who claims, "The Amazon threat is real." In an interview with Publishers Weekly, he blames Amazon for putting the independent bookstores out of business. But the fact is Rich, indies have put themselves out of business, in part by adhering to a an antiquated system of returns. I've had books published by majors and small presses. While my "big" books were carried by the independent bookstores for as long as they sold, the independent books stores were always uncomfortable with the small press productions. They feared that my the titles might be "POD" and therefore "unreturnable." In fact, they would often sell my small press efforts "On consignment only."

I assume Richard Russo doesn't have to worry about returns.

Now that the digital age of E-Books is here and I am selling hundreds of thousands of them per year, I also no longer have to worry about returns. Sure my stuff comes out in paper and audio, but readers are embracing change. They are reading more than ever and they are devouring E-Books.

I'm sorry for independent booksellers. I used to love to browse the shelves to see what was new by my favorite authors. But later on, when I became an author myself, I could see the writing on the table: I wasn't going to survive for very long in a system of returns that allowed for booksellers to remove my product from their shelves after only a few weeks. It also meant that being published by a small press was useless. If I were to survive, I needed to be published by a major legacy publisher. Only then could I guarantee that my books would be carried by all the stores.

Now I am published by Thomas & Mercer. I couldn't be happier. They not only know how to produce a great book, they know how to sell directly to the reader. Amazon embraced change because readers were begging for that change. Amazon hasn't put booksellers out of business so much as they have liberated authors from the chains and bonds of a system that crushed us.

Yes, Richard Russo, the Amazon threat is real.

Thanks God almighty....

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Wake Up!

There are days when you wake up and go through the motions.
You brush your teeth, splash some water on your face, put on your clothes, stand in line to grab a lottery ticket and a coffee, and head out to a job you hate. It could be a rainy Monday like today. You think neither of the past nor of the future. You exist to exist, and if for no other reason than your heart beats and your lungs breathe. And oh yeah, you're in debt.

But on occasion, perhaps once every few years, if you are very lucky and if you still have hopes and dreams no matter your age, you wake up and something quite extraordinary happens. You realize that you are beginning a brand new phase of life. That this morning, this very minute, is the beginning of something entirely new that will bring with it, new adventures, new places to see, new people to meet, new experiences and challenges that will both test your body and soul, and cleanse it.

You begin to live unconditionally, no longer burdened by other people who hurt you, drag you down, spread bad toxic vibes, shower you with guilt, sink their greedy teeth into you, laugh behind your back, plot, steal, lie, and cheat. These are the gluttons. The blind people who go nowhere and live only within the scope and range of their envy. They are poison and you are not obligated to tolerate them no matter their connection. They live sad and will die bitter.

This wake up moment will be one of complete clarity and peace. You will leave the past's successes and failures behind like a book you've finally finished reading and now placed on the shelf beside so many other books. You take a deep breath and you begin the day knowing you are reborn and that today is your first day of a brand new cycle. Your birthday so to speak. A clean slate

Make plans.
Have hopes.
Dream.
Buy plane tickets.
Get in the car and drive.
Take a train.
See the world.
Write a new book
Quit your job.
Leave the bills unpaid.
Get out of a bad relationship.
Be alone.
Realize that you have only one chance.
Help people.


Wake up!

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

So I Finally Went and Published It Myself!

A lot of people...readers especially...associate me directly with Indie Publishing. There's good reason for this since for the past two years I have been publishing with arguably the hottest indie-based publisher in the country, StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink (Get the full story on my indie journey here at SUSPENSE MAGAZINE). And I've done very well with them. So well, I've landed a major deal with Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint. But that doesn't mean I won't continue to work with the StoneGates.

Not by a long shot. 

But it also means something else too. For ages now I've been preaching that for an author to be successful he or she needs to engage in a variety of publishing methods. Those methods are, and I repeat: Traditional major, indie-based small press, and self-publishing. I've engaged in the two former methods sometimes successfully and other times dreadfully. But the latter of the three, self-publishing, has eluded me for some time now, even if a whole lot of people out there assume that's what I've been doing for a while now.

But now, I have gone and done it with the re-publication of my literary psychological suspense novel, Permanence, first published in 1995. For my first venture into the world of DIY, I wanted to make sure I did it right, so I hired the best editorial and conversion pros I could find. I also hired a great cover artist, and just one look at the stunning woman-in-the-water book cover might make you realize this is not going to be your everyday thriller.

I also rewrote some of the book, having added a brand new plot point towards the end. I know some fans might consider this cheating, but to be perfectly honest, I'm a better writer now and I wanted to give the reader his or her money's worth. That includes well written sentences and a well developed plot.

This is not your everyday Vincent Zandri thriller. It's a bit of an experiment and the narrative relies heavily on image. Something I was very into at the time. Through the years, some of my fans who read the original version have called this my best, most powerful book. I'm not sure about that, but who knows. Like I said, it was a departure when I wrote it and now, in this second edition published by my own Bear Media label, it remains a departure. But a good read nonetheless and an important stepping stone in the evolution of my noir career.

I hope you think so too

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

    

The New Stand-Alone Thriller: SCREAM CATCHER!

THIS IS HOW YOUR LIFE ENDS: NOT WITH A WHIMPER, BUT A SCREAM!

My first stand-alone thriller in the Stephen King tradition since the bestselling THE REMAINS: SCREAM CATCHER is now released by StonGate Ink in all E-Book formats...


To Order Cick here: SCREAM CATCHER


This is how your life ends: Not with a whimper, but a scream!

Jude Parish is afraid. The former violent crimes cop turned bestselling true crime author has a fear-filled demon lodged inside of him. A demon so real he can only imagine a slimy reptilian beast with scaly skin, black eyes, and razor-sharp fangs having taken up residence inside the place where his once confident and fearless soul resided.

Now, in the wake of his literary success, the ever anxious Jude is hoping to lead a quiet, peaceful life in the idyllic Adirondack vacation town of Lake George, New York with his new pregnant wife, Rosie, and Jack, his young son from a previous marriage. But when Jude becomes the accidental witness to a bizarre “kill game” in which the killer, video game designer and master of disguise, Hector “the Black Dragon” Lennox, insists on recording the screams of his victims prior to shooting them dead, the ex-cop’s life is turned upside down.

When Lennox is arrested by the L.G.P.D. and Jude is asked to act as the state’s “star witness,” he has no choice but to fight his demon-fear and take on the role. But what he doesn’t realize at the time, is that the killer’s arrest is actually the first level in what is a carefully designed and scripted first-person video kill game that will involve his entire family as “players” and “victims.”

How will the kill game end?

Like all violent video games, it will end in death. But it won’t be “Game Over” until Hector Lennox catches the screams of his tortured victims.

“If you want a novel that runs wild like a caged beast let loose, Zandri is the man.”
—(Albany)

“Sensational…masterful…brilliant.”
—New York Post

“Probably the most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.”
—Boston Herald

“A thriller that has depth and substance, wickedness and compassion.”
—The Times-Union (Albany)

“Vincent Zandri explodes onto the scene with the debut thriller of the year. As Catch Can is gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting. Don’t miss it.”
—Harlan Coben, author of The Final Detail

To MY Readers: Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure what it is about Sunday mornings that make people, or me anyway, reflect. Of course, I'm always thinking about what I have yet to accomplish and what I've already managed to accomplish, however successful or otherwise. But on Sunday mornings the whole process is that much more pronounced and in your face.

Some people go to church and think a lot there, and others like me go for a long run and hit the gym and in many ways that's like going to church. Still others just lie in bed and dread the coming week. I thank God I'm not included in the latter category.

This morning, while I sip coffee on the stone terrace outside my apartment, I thank God that I have a new publisher, a couple of new books that are doing great, new books in the works, old books being republished, new trips to look forward too, new friends to make, healthy kids and parents, my own health, and even now at 46, lots of hopes and dreams and goals.

I'm also grateful to the many fans and readers who have bought my books (especially The Remains which has been an Amazon bestseller and Hot New Release for weeks and weeks...) and gracefully, not to mention patiently, put up with my rather aggressive online marketing approach. I owe you guys my life and I won't forget that you deserve the best writing I can produce. Anything less than that would be like cheating on your spouse.

So, I'm about to go for a run, and soak in the sun on this beautiful Sunday in upstate New York. And once again to my readers:

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!!!