Tag Archives: lie with the dead

Progress Report

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Yes, I’m alive. I’ve just been too busy to post to the blog.

Most of it is due to the extra time I’ve been putting into my martial arts training lately. I’ve got a big day coming in March and I need to be prepared. To do so has meant extra training with fellow students, extra classes, and both studying and practicing at home. It’s been like this since Fall, so I’m looking forward to more breathing room this Spring.

It goes back to making the time we need: I make some time to write, and that’s more important than making time to blog. There are a few things I’ve been meaning to post for a while, including a follow-up to my Gone Digital post, but there are other, more pressing projects that require my attention.

There’s an announcement coming soon on one of those projects, and I’ve recently turned in the latest draft of a work-for-hire project that’s consumed a chunk of my writing time (I’m waiting to hear from the editors on whether it will be the final draft). The final edits on Lie with the Dead have suffered as a result of the extra karate practice, the unannounced project, and the work-for-hire project, but it will be back on the high priority list this week.

There’s more in the works. I want to re-release an old short story through Kindle, and I have plans for more The Pack short stories as well as the third novel. I’ve got a crime opportunity I’m working on, and plans for separate projects I can’t talk about yet. After said Big Karate Day in March, things should open up dramatically for all of it.

I’ve also learned the Cadence in Decay anthology is officially dead. Relics & Remains is still out there, but I haven’t heard any news about how it’s doing. If you’ve read it, an Amazon review would be appreciated.

So, yes, I still live. And now I must dash off to a few hours of karate classes, as well as the dojo’s annual Chinese New Year party. Afterwards, I plan to camp out at a Starbucks and get some work done.

Tomorrow? Motorcycle show! \m/ I should be home in time for—you guessed it—more karate practice with the team for the Big Karate Day. Yep, it’s been a big commitment.

It’ll be worth it.

About Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.

Production Update

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Things may look quiet around here, but I’ve been busy as hell in the background.

First, I’m happy to announce I sold a short story called “The Wrench in Her Works” to the first Shotgun Honey anthology, which I believe is scheduled for an October release. The full contents are not public yet, but there are some great contributors lined up and I’m looking forward to reading the whole thing.

Second, I’ve signed a new contract for Relics & Remains, so my horror short “Good for What Ails Ya” may make an appearance before long after all. It sounds like the anthology is in good hands, so if all the contributors are aboard for the second attempt, the book will drop sooner rather than later.

Lie with the Dead is still under review with my editor at Evileye, and I hope to have the last round of revisions back soon. Then it’s one last round of proofing and editing before it goes into the publication pipeline. I hope to have a release date for you soon, hopefully before the end of the year.

LwtD is a sequel to Winter Kill, which is still available on Kindle and in TPB. You can also get an extended preview of Winter Kill with the “Bravo Four” short for only 99 cents on Kindle. Expect another Pack short before long, too.

This week I’ll be wrapping up the scripts for a comic mini/OGN. I’m under contract, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. When the company makes their announcements and editorial has approved the first draft and things are moving along, then I’ll share. I hate jinxing projects, and I’ve had enough books fall out from under me over the years that I’m starting to feel like a tease.

Any Oliveri completists in the house? Check out Financial Intelligence from Smarter Comics. I adapted the book to script. Probably one of the toughest gigs I’ve taken (I’m just not an accounting guy), but it paid some bills and it’s set me up for some more work from the publisher. These are the kinds of gigs which get me one step closer to writing full time and escaping IT hell.

Finally, this weekend I’ll be firing off the third entry in my new Dispatches from the Front column over at Indie Pulp. The first two entries, “Darkness is Darkness, Blood is Blood” and “Gods vs Engineers” are still available.

The rest is all hush-hush and in development. I’ve got some research to do, and of course I need to put in a lot of keyboard time. I may be facing an artist hunt before long, which I’m both excited about and dreading.

Just gotta keep moving forward.

About Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.

Last Night, This Happened

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Last night I lit up a cigar and made one last push to complete the latest draft of Lie with the Dead. Five minutes after I tossed the stub of that cigar, I posted the following to Twitter:

It felt great to get that off my plate for at least a while longer. My editor will comb through it one more time, then I’ll have a final run-through, and then it’s just proofreading and prep for publication. I do not have a time frame on that, but of course I will continue to keep you updated.

For the new readers out there, Lie with the Dead is the next book in the The Pack series, a sequel to Winter Kill. If you haven’t read Winter Kill, I recommend downloading “Bravo Four” for the low low price of 99 cents. “Bravo Four” is a short story, and it also includes an extended preview of Winter Kill.

In the meantime, there is no rest for the wicked. I’ve got another writing gig cooking, I need to write a column by month’s end, another short story, and if I can swing it, I’ve got yet one more short story due by August 1st.

It’s been a good summer for the Exit Strategy.

About Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.

Coming Soon

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You will soon, at last, have some new Oliveri work in your hands.

First up, Evileye Books this weekend released a cover teaser for a new The Pack project, “Bravo Four”:

Bravo Four short story cover

I think you’re gonna dig this one.

I don’t have a firm release date as we’re still wrapping up some of the ancillary materials, but the true content of the piece is done and ready to go. Fans of The Pack will dig this one, and it will also be a good introduction to the series for anyone who hasn’t read Winter Kill (or, for that matter, Call of the Wild). As soon as it’s ready to go, believe me, you’ll hear about it.

Also, my editor had this to say:

“That’s great, Mike, but what about Lie with the Dead?”

I’m glad you asked. Lie with the Dead is on track, despite delays. I’m wrapping the current round of revisions as I type this update, and then it will go back to my editor to kick around for the final draft. I apologize for the delay on this, but I still believe in this series and hope to keep it going for a long time.

In comics, I’m told this will be available in August:

Pig Money

Art by Jorge Fornes

When Greg Kishbaugh at Kaleidoscope Entertainment asked me to send in a short comic script, I was happy to oblige. The result is “Pig Money”, an 8-page crime piece which will appear in the debut of the A Dark and Stormy Night quarterly anthology. I’ve worked with Greg a bit through Evileye Books, and his biz partner Rafael Nieves has a long history with comics. Both are sharp guys, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else they’ve got up their sleeves.

I will, of course, supply purchase information when it becomes available.

Finally, I’ve been told The Burning Maiden will drop on Kindle in the middle of this month!

The Burning Maiden

Complete with a new cover illustration by Daniele Serra

Folks have been waiting for this one a while now. It’s had its challenges on the back end, but I believe you will find it well worth the wait. I’m very excited to be a part of the lineup Evileye has put together for this one.

Unfortunately I have no further updates on some of the other projects I’d expected to appear by now. Publishers have gone incommunicado, things have been canceled, or there have just been general delays while editors and publishers assemble the books. There are at least three more anthologies I was hoping to have in your hands by now.

More news soon.

About Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.

Production Updates

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I have bad news and good news.

First, I just learned Relics & Remains was canceled by the publisher, without warning to the original editor. My apologies to those of you who have been waiting on it. I wasn’t given a reason, but I’m assuming the problem is financial, a common problem for most small presses.

The good news is the editor re-sold the anthology to a new publisher. I don’t want to say which one until all of the contracts are signed, and it’s too early to speculate on a release date. I’m hoping it won’t be long, though, as the stories are already done; it’s just a matter of getting them into print.

I’m told the signature sheets for Cadence in Decay, forthcoming from Mansion House Books, will go into circulation soon. Excellent. This will get it one step closer to publication.

Finally, Lie with the Dead is still in draft status. In the meantime, might I entice you with The Burning Maiden, due to drop at any moment from Evileye Books? Trust me, you’re going to dig this one.

About Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.

Some Rambling on Writing

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If you follow me on Twitter, you saw my mini-rant about developing an exit strategy from your day job if it’s not one you’re content to do for the next ten, twenty, even thirty years. My goal is, and always has been, to write full time, and after some problems and distractions this year I’ve been rebuilding the plan for that goal, including putting together the exit strategy.

Things are moving in the right direction. Lie with the Dead has been delivered to Evileye Books, and depending upon how much still needs to be rewritten, fans won’t have to wait much longer. For those of you new to The Pack, you may want to start with Winter Kill, which is only $2.99 on Kindle or $12.99 in paperback. You can even get a free taste in comics form with Big Bad Wolves over at Indie Pulp. Big Bad Wolves takes place prior to Winter Kill and features art by Mike Henderson.

Brainstorming

Gotta keep the magic coming

Also from Evileye, The Burning Maiden is due early next year. I’m excited about the lineup for this one, and if production goes well and the rumors hold true, we’ll see an e-book edition soon. Expect news of another Evileye anthology soon after, including yet another short story from yours truly.

Crime/noir fans may want to check out the latest issue of Needle Magazine. Folks have been very complimentary of my contribution, “With This Bullet”, and I plan to do more work like that soon. For a free taste of my crime fiction, check out “Tweet Tweet, Little Twat” over at Shotgun Honey.

In other short story news:

  • Relics & Remains is still going to happen, but I have no news on it yet
  • I just sold “Dead Cache” to the anthology Cadence in Decay due early 2012 from Mansion House Books
  • “Bravo Four”, a The Pack piece, is undergoing final rewrites and I’ll have more news soon
  • “‘Til Undeath Do Us Part” is still waiting for publication in a zombie anthology
  • I hope to have publication news for a commissioned short featuring a pulp heroine soon
  • “Inazuma” is still available as a free download

Short stories don’t pay the bills, and sometimes the wait before they see print can be frustrating, but they’re fun to do and they help promote the big stuff. In the next few months I’ll be mining my short story and novella backlist to see what else I can get to you, too. No sense letting their bits rot away on the hard drive.

Moving forward, there’s a lot going on. In fact, it was my intention this weekend to put together the outline for the third The Pack novel and plot out another novel and a commissioned novella. Then the Christmas tree had to go up and I lost a ton of time putting plastic over our windows for the winter. Wonderful.

The third Pack novel will have the priority from here out. A huge part of the exit strategy is getting The Pack back on track. Both The Pack 3 and the novella are due in fairly short order, and the novella will be part of a Mansion House Books trilogy antho including Ty Schwamberger and Gord Rollo. Once they’re both turned in, I plan to start tinkering with that other novel, Sick Day.

Some of you may recognize that name. Yeah, I’ve been sitting on it a while. I’m seeing some opportunities open for it, however, so it’s coming time to put it to paper and get it into an editor’s hands. Contracted work will have to come first, but I still want this book to happen.

This, by the way, is the short list. There are two semi-aborted web comics I’d like to do, one of which I’ve thought about turning into a prose book or a novella series instead. A half-complete novel called Powerless may still have value. A trunk crime novel needs a rewrite (or I at least need to salvage the title for something else). There’s another property I’ve mentioned to one of my editors and he’s shown interest, but I have yet to put the pitch together because I’ve been so tied up with The Pack. Finally, two people have told me I need to try my hand at young adult work, and that led to a really solid idea for another project.

That’s the problem: I’ve got plenty of things happening that could keep me busy full time, but it’s still the day job that keeps my family fed and I’m stuck for a while. If I stick to the exit strategy, though, that will change soon enough.

About Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.

Smoke Blog: Celebration Time

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Saturday afternoon, I sent the latest draft of Lie with the Dead to my editor at Evileye Books.

This calls for celebration! I busted out the cigars.

Gurkha Beauty

The Gurkha Beauty. Now I need to find the Beast.

I finished the draft just in time to grab another Thanksgiving dinner (and thus help my friends polish off leftovers), and we followed it up with smokes in the garage. I busted out a K. Hansotia Park Avenue 44, a slender stick with a Connecticut wrapper.

Very nice. Smooth, creamy, and light on the palate. I liked its clean burn and thick, white smoke. Good stuff. No less than one would expect from the man behind Gurkha cigars.

Which made a nice prelude to hitting another friend’s man cave today for football, stuffed pizza, drinks, and smokes. It made a great spot to break out the Gurkha Beauty (pictured above) my publisher gave me over the summer, and I promised I’d hold out on smoking it until I finished Lie with the Dead.

If I’d known it would be this good, I would have had a much harder time waiting.

Billed as a medium-body smoke, I found it loaded with flavor, most notable a hint of leather. Its clean finish surprised me, given the heady flavor. It boasted a smooth draw and solid construction, and it never burned too hot. I was most impressed, however, with it’s near three-hour burn time. I lit up after lunch and only put it down long enough to grab a refill on my drink, but it still burned slow and steady.

It jumped to my top five, easy. I may need to track down the Beast next summer.

We had time for one more, so I selected a Nub Maduro. I’m not sure I would have tasted anything less after the Beauty, and the Maduro’s hints of cocoa worked out just fine. I generally like Nubs, but I find they often burn out easy. This one was no different. It didn’t harm the experience, but it’s just part of the process for such a thick cigar.

All in all, a well-celebrated occasion. I have no release date information for Lie with the Dead yet, but I hope to be through a final draft with my editor before long. Then the publisher will start nailing down a release schedule.

In the meantime, you may want to pick up Winter Kill in trade paperback or on the Kindle. You will be able to read Lie with the Dead on its own, but it will be a far more enjoyable experience if you stick with the series.

In the meantime, I’ll get back to plotting Book 3. After fans read Lie with the Dead, they’re not going to want to wait long for the next installment in the series. \m/

About Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri is a writer, martial artist, cigar aficionado, motorcyclist, and family man, but not necessarily in that order. His Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Deadliest of the Species, was just reprinted by Evileye Books.