WOODEN BONES – Now Available!

First, the big news:  Wooden Bones, my dark children’s fantasy that chronicles the untold story of Pinocchio, is now available in both hardcover and ebook from Simon and Schuster.  What happened to Pino, as he came to be known, after he became a real boy?  The answer:  It turns out he can bring puppets to life himself, which gets him into a whole lot of trouble.  Giant hungry wolves?  Dead trees brought to life?  Life-size puppets that march about like zombies?  The book’s got all of that and more.  I hope you check it out.  It’s aimed at the 9-12 age group, but I think adults might like it as well.

It’s been a busy couple of months.  In late July, I co-taught the Think Like a Publisher Workshop with Dean Wesley Smith, where we helped another room full of professional writers learn how to take advantage of all the ways writers can now go direct to readers — even while continuing to work with large traditional publishers, as I am.  It was a great group and always fun to hang out with Dean and all my other writer friends on the Oregon coast.  Hard to believe, but I’ve known Dean over twenty years, ever since I walked into his writing workshop in Eugene, Oregon when I was a nineteen-year-old college student and realized, right away, what a goldmine that workshop was for a newer writer like me.

The first half of August, my wife and I took off for Europe, embarking on a five country, ten plus city Mediterranean cruise, tacking a few days on at the beginning and the end.  In all, we were gone 17 days, and it was quite a trip — Barcelona, Athens, Rome, Venice, Istanbul, I’m still mentally unpacking everything we did on the trip.  It was expensive, no doubt about it, but we have no regrets; it was something we’d been wanting to do for a long time.  And no, we didn’t take the kids.  They stayed with the grandparents (we took them to Disneyland last year, which was the family trip), and had a much better time  than if they’d been with us.  Somehow I don’t think they would have appreciated the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or the Parthenon in Athens quite as much as we did.

Other news?  Well, I’m buckling down into the writing, working on a dark paranormal suspense novel based loosely on one of my short stories.   More than that I won’t say until it’s finished, but the writing is going well.  I also have a number of new audio books out.  None of them are narrated by me (when I have more time, it’s something I plan to do, but not now), but they’re all excellent reads.  All of them are available for digital download at Audible.com and Amazon, and should be available at iTunes shortly.

With the summer winding down toward fall — I was stunned to realize that the kids go back to school in two weeks — I’m hoping to have a nice, productive stretch of writing for the rest of the year.  Traveling is great, but I truly am a creature of habit, and it feels good to get back in a creative groove.

What I’ve Been Reading Lately:

  • The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins.  Fantastic read, and fully deserving of all the attention it’s gotten.  Felt a little like Ender’s Game meets The Princess Diaries, in the sense that it’s very much told in the voice of a teenage girl (complete with a makeover!)   but the action and war-heavy themes are there in abundance at the same time.  I’d say the third book was the weakest of the three, but it was also the most ambitious in scope.
  • Now and Then by Robert B. Parker.  Another great book in the Spenser series, touching on infidelity, the meaning of marriage, and what makes two people stick it out through thick and thin.  Not his best book, but then it’s Robert B. Parker, and even a run of the mill Parker is superb.

New Book: The Man Who Made No Mistakes

Exciting news!  I’m pleased to announce the publication my latest short story collection, The Man Who Made No Mistakes, available as both a trade paperback and an ebook.  Although I sometimes release ebook-only mini collections, this is what I consider my third major collection.  (The Dinosaur Diaries and A Web of Black Widows being the first two.)  It contains stories published in Analog, Realms of Fantasy, and other magazines, as well as a few original tales.  It also bears a striking cover by Billy Norby.  I’m very happy with the book and hope you enjoy it, too.  A little more information is below.


The Man Who Made No Mistakes

What if you had the power to rewind time?

Make a scene in a restaurant, give your boss the finger, rob a bank just to see how it feels — you could satisfy any whim, fulfill any desire, make any wish you’d ever had come true. The man who wanders into Father Holder’s Las Vegas confessional says he has just such a power. The ultimate in wish fulfillment, he calls it. And if something goes wrong? No problem. He just rewinds. He’s the man who never makes mistakes.

Until, in a moment of weakness, he succumbs to the darkest impulse he’s ever had — and can’t find a way to undo it.

This remarkable tale leads off Scott William Carter’s latest short story collection. A dragon addicted to eating humans, a robot on a devastated planet with a spellbinding story to tell, Abraham Lincoln in a world of one-eyed dragons and drafty castles — hopping across time and space, genre and style, Carter offers up eleven provocative tales that are sure to please his growing number of fans as well as win him new ones.

Ebook:
Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

Trade Paperback:
amazon-logobandn

Praise for the stories:

“The Man Who Made No Mistakes is by far the most ambitious and morally complex story in this issue and arguably in any issue of the magazine since its last resurrection . . . It’s one of the strongest stories I’ve read in months, and I expect to see it on the awards ballots.”–Adventures Fantastic

“Beautiful and haunting.” —SFRevu

“A touching story about loss, and what it means to have someone with whom you want to experience life . . . Riveting.” —Tangent Online

“Carter shares the story of Karvo Portano, a biological-robot hybrid grizzly bear who sings opera. Well at least he used to, until someone pilfered his voice module . . . The story dazzled me. It is a witty, zany trip across the universe with a nice twist at the end and even a message of hope.”–Reading with Mo

“Carter weaves a successful tribute to old-school detective stories with the modern twist of exposing man’s foibles.”–Tangent Online

“I really enjoyed the spin on the classic android becomes a human motif, and this story is a great example of putting a fresh view on old ideas . . . Overall, the witty dialogue was one of the greatest strengths of the story . . . The plot was well stitched together, admirably so. I enjoyed the twists and turns of Duff’s journey, and its profound alieness transported me to this other world . . . a pulpish romp through space. —Nicky Drayden, Diary of a Short Woman

New Gage Book Now Available: A DESPERATE PLACE FOR DYING

As many of you know, I also write mystery and suspense books under the name Jack Nolte.  Well, after far too long a wait, I finally have exciting news to share:  The next Garrison Gage book is now available — A DESPERATE PLACE FOR DYING. As of this moment, it’s only available as an ebook, but the paperback should be out in early April.  Special thanks to all the people who helped bring this book into being, from my wife, who always serves as my trusted first reader, to the copy editor who helped me weed out as many typos as possible.

I really enjoyed writing this one and hope readers find it fun as well.  I’ve also appreciated all of your wonderful emails.  And if you want to help?  Well, spread the word any way you can!  Facebook, Twitter, random graffiti . . . Oh, and most importantly, if you enjoy the book and have a few minutes, please consider posting a review online at Amazon, B&N, or wherever you bought it.  Even if just the people who emailed me did this, it could really make a difference.  Most readers don’t realize how much those reviews help, and only a tiny, tiny fraction of readers ever do it.

More information is below, including where you can currently buy it.


A DESPERATE PLACE FOR DYING

by Jack Nolte

An old flame.  A killer on the loose.  A crazy cult on the rise.

Nearly a year has passed since Garrison Gage became the reluctant guardian of a troubled teenage girl, but neither fatherhood nor the the intervening months has improved his mood. His right knee is still mostly worthless. He still prefers to drink his bourbon alone. And even with a certain blonde bombshell a persistent part of his life, he still can’t be bothered to buy a cell phone. Or any phone, for that matter. Why? Then somebody might call him.

But grumpy as Gage can be, he still finds that life on the Oregon Coast has settled into a comfortable if not happy routine — until the man who murdered his wife shows up in town.

That’s just for starters. A desperate plea from an old flame — his first love, in fact — soon entangles Gage in a high profile case involving a famous and brazenly outspoken lecturer on evolution and atheism, a crazy fundamentalist cult that uses all means necessary to silence its critics, and a brutal local murder of a far more personal nature.

Before the mystery can be unraveled, Gage’s abilities and beliefs will be put to the ultimate test. And the man who claims he doesn’t need anyone will discover he may just lose everything.

Available in Ebook Format Now:

Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

Paperback:

Coming soon

The Care and Feeding of Rubber Chickens: A Novel

Yep, that’s the title, and it’s certainly one of my crazier ones.  If memory serves, I made a joke years ago saying that was going to be the name of my next book — and then realized that, actually, I kind of liked it if I could find the right book to go with it.  So I jotted it down and forgot about it until I thought of this first line:  “My dad owns a rubber chicken factory.”

With that, I was off and running, and the result is a strange combination of wacky and poignant as I tell the story of Trevor Livingston and his thousand-mile quest to tell the girl of his dreams how he really feels about her.  And of course, nothing goes quite as expected.  More about the book below.  (It’s available as an ebook now, with the paperback to follow in a few months.)

If you liked The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys or President Jock, Vice President Geek, you’ll probably like this one.  It has a very similar tone and feel.  It’s aimed at young adults in the 16-18 range, but I think adult readers might like it even more.

And this is also completes, at least for the short term, what I consider my contemporary YA trilogy.  By contemporary, I mean there’s no fantasy, aliens, or any of that crazy stuff that happens in a lot of my fiction — just modern day teens struggling with modern day issues.  I happen to have a pretty broad taste when it comes to both reading and writing, but for now at least, I’ve said what I want to say on this front and I’m turning my attention to other books for a while. 

What will those books be?  Ah, to answer that question would be to spoil the fun, wouldn’t it?  And of course I don’t always know myself.  Sometimes all I have to go on is a strange title . . .


The Care and Feeding of Rubber Chickens:  A Novel

by Scott William Carter

Seventeen-year-old Trevor can’t catch a break. Just when he finds out that Janna, the girl of his dreams, is finally available, his mom tells him he’s being shipped off to a boarding school because of his awful grades. A desperate call to his dad, who owns a rubber chicken factory in Las Vegas, gets him nowhere. His father is more interested in enlisting Trevor’s aid writing what he sees as the perfect gag gift – a how-to manual about rubber chickens. That’s Trevor’s life for you. Everyone around him is totally and utterly insane.

But there’s still Janna. He’s had a crush on her since sixth grade. Can he get himself to say the words to her that he’s been rehearsing for years? He finally musters the courage to visit her house and find out.

That’s when everything goes crazy.

*****

Grade 10 Up – “My dad owns a rubber chicken factory.” With this zany first line, readers are launched on a surprisingly poignant coming-of-age journey. Part buddy story, part road trip adventure, and part ruminations on the difference between love and infatuation, Carter offers up a vivid portrait of a young man – Trevor Livingston – who blunders into a thousand-mile quest to tell the girl of his dreams how he really feels about her. Although the book is appropriate for more mature young adult readers, adults may find even greater enjoyment in Trevor’s distinctive voice and abundant references to popular culture – Star Trek and The Princess Bride, for example, are favorite targets. Fans of Carter’s award-winning first novel, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys, are certain to find this heartfelt look at the angst and insanity of modern adolescence an equally riveting read.

Electronic Edition:
Amazon | B&N | Smashwords   

Paperback Edition:
Coming soon.