This is another short passage from my book, "Off the Rails and Other Tales", now available as an ebook at http://www.hocfocprod.com/off_the_rails .  It will soon be available in paperback as well.

This passage has been altered just a bit from the actual book because in its original form it did contain some spoilers.  It takes place a bit later in the story and I don't want to give too much away, but you will get to "meet" three of the story's stranger characters.

Enjoy.


     Jackson swung around to face the ramp. The light from the lantern shone down upon three approaching figures. To his left he saw the woman from earlier; her shirt still stained with the blood and brains of her friend. To his right the fat man that had attacked Fox was dragging himself up the wooden ramp, pulling himself forward with his arms because his one good leg wasn’t strong enough to support his massive weight for very long. The figure in the middle is the one that made Jackson shudder. He was covered in course black hair and his arms hung long at his sides. Jackson decided that it must be the “ape-man” Sandra and Chuck had said stabbed Mrs. Phillysworth in the face.

     It took only a split second for Jackson to take in the whole scene. On the other hand the three would-be attackers were still reeling from the blinding sudden brightness of the lantern light when Jackson fired his first shot. He fired without really taking aim. He was still swinging the rifle around to face his enemies and let the first bullet fly when he was sure that none of his new friends were among the group on the ramp. The muzzle flash from the rifle blinded even the sergeant. The bullet burst forth, followed by a cloud of burning black powder. It tore through the thigh of the cannibalistic woman. The burning powder singed the shirt of the ape-man. The fat man let out of cry of fear and the woman fell off the side of the ramp.

Illustration from "Off the Rails"

      Jackson cocked the lever under the stock of the rifle to load another round. This time          he  raised the stock to his shoulder, intending to take careful aim at the ape-man and finish him off. Sgt. Jackson had made a fatal error, however, and underestimated the speed of the creeping fat man. Even wounded the huge man was powerful enough to grab Jackson’s ankle and swing the man to the floor of the train car.

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By the way, the ebook does include all of the interior illustrations that the regular paperback version will and you're welcome to request JPEGs of the front and back covers if you order the ebook.

Books, movies and shows, oh my!

So, the e-version of the book, Off the Rails and Other Tales has been availabel for a few days now and I'm hoping to get some feedback and reviews soon.  Meanwhile I'm getting ready for a casting in 11 days that will launch us into production of several shorts and two features.  I'm trying to decide what will be my next book (why wait for this one to be successful?  It will be and then I'll be able to hit the ground running.)  Also, a movie I exec produced is out on DVD and I want the world to know about that.

Meanwhile, I have 3 episodes of the The Simplest Things left to finish to round out season 2, several more Johnny Pitchman's to shoot and some CGM interviews to move on with.  The trouble with a lot of this is continuing to promote when cross promoting is becoming more and more difficult.  Cult Goddess Magazine leaves the door open to promote many projects, but the movies and books don't currently intersect.  Some of our shows our comedies now and some horror.  Most cross over at sci-fi, but do comedy audiences want to be scared?  Do people who watch Z-movies read?  Books I mean. 

I'm going to have to start making a promotional schedule.  So, when should I promote comedy, sci-fi and scary stuff?  Who is going to cons and wants to give stuff out?  Anybody have a horror related business and want to do the flip side of some bookmarks or mini-posters?

You guys are my cheerleaders.  My front line.  Tell your friends, enemies and strangers on the street about our website and they can find the rest from there.

http://www.hocfocprod.com/

Help Spread the Word about HFP.

With Facebook's new "Timeline" format taking over, people now need a "cover photo" for their profile page.
Well, we've got a bunch of cool, funny and cute ones and I'll keep making more.  Check my Facebook page to find out the monthly promotion that is going on for carrying one of our banners as your background image.  You might be able to get free stuff.

I tried to vary the designs a bit.  Some are more lighthearted and will work better on pages with brighter themes.


Using "stars" to push these down past the widgets.  I wanted to keep the photos the original 850x315 size so that they will fit correctly for anyone who decides one as a cover photo on Facebook.

Find out "Off the Rails" cover photo in an earlier Blog.

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Looks the same, but targets a more specific audience.

Use this one to make your own.  Copy it and "paint" over the text with black.  The white box approximates the space your profile picture will cover.

Be sure to let us know if you run with one of our banners, so we can thank you and maybe send you a goody.

Have fun!
Thanks.

The final image for Off the Rails!

This is a wider version of the paperback's cover.

Poster Art for "Off the Rails and Other Tales"

The book will be available in paperback and as a .pdf direct from my website at www.hocfocprod.com

Currently we're giving 5 people an opportunity to get an advance copy on .pdf for FREE.  Why?  Simple, we need some reviews and word of mouth and the method of getting the free book is promotion in itself.

Post the banner below as your Facebook Cover Photo in a Timeline profile for 1 week.  The first five people to do that and let us know so we can verify the 7 day period will get a copy of the book in a .pdf file as an email attachment.  (Obviously we'll need to see your Facebook page and your email address to send the file to).

Layouts

Adding new pages to the book always changes the layout a bit.  I've had the page numbers and contents pages in place for awhile, so I've tried not to mess with that second half of the book, after the contents page, unless I've had to do so.  Somehow, saving the file over and over and rewriting the old file always makes me nervous.  Anything before the contents page is fair game with one exception.  If I add an odd number of pages it shifts all of my two page designs. There are no pages that RELY on a two page look to complete an illustration, but I did have some illustrations opposite specific pages for effect.

Well, today, I added a single page "About the Author".  It threw my whole layout off and I already had a copyright and title page and all of my illustrations and dedications in place.  I could have added a blank page, but that seemed wasteful, so I decided to create another, introductory, illustration.  Still a simple line drawing, but something to set the mood. 

I took some elements from existing pages and mixed them and then added a background.  I tried using blurring, not easy with drawings this simple, to add a sense of depth.  Hopefully the print is sharp enough to show the full effect.

From "Off the Rails and Other Tales"

Another Excerpt from "Off the Rails".

Being the longest story, "Off the Rails" offers a few opportunities for posting passages here while still leaving plenty for you to read in the book later.

Here our characters are hiding out in a train car at night.  Chuck has been left to guard the women and something goes wrong.

EXCERPT FROM "OFF THE RAILS":

Mrs. Phillysworth huffed and paced over to the door. She folded her arms and leaned against it. The small square window near her head shattered and a thick, hairy arm burst in from behind her.
The old woman screamed and tried to run back into the car, but a tremendous hand with fingers like sausages caught hold of her hair. Sandra screamed. Chuck straightened up and drew his gun. He pointed it toward the door, but he couldn’t get a clean shot past Mrs. Phillysworth. The old woman was screaming like a captured animal and squirming to break free from the grip of the powerful hand.
A loud grunt sounded from the other side of the door and Mrs. Phillysworth was snapped back against it. The wood creaked from the impact of her body. She cried out.
“For God’s sake, help me!” she screamed.
Sandra desperately looked around the car for anything that could be of help. Chuck charged over and holstered his gun. He grasped the hair-covered fingers of the attacking hand and tried to pry them loose from the woman’s head. With a loud grunt she was snapped back again. This time the door cracked a bit and blood ran from the back of her head.
“Shoot him!” Mrs. Phillysworth demanded. “Shoot him!”
“I can’t see enough of him to shoot!” Chuck argued.
“Your knife!” Sandra shouted. “Use your knife!”
She ran up and grabbed Mrs. Phillysworth’s dress.
“I’ll do my best to steady her,” Sandra explained to Chuck. “You cut his arm.!”
Chuck nodded.
“Ready, Mrs. Phillysworth?” Sandra said, tightening her grip on the woman’s waist.
Mrs. Phillysworth took a hold of Sandra’s shoulders and gasped, “Ready.”
“Pull!” Sandra shouted.
The two women pulled against the force of the seemingly monstrous arm. Chuck slid the knife from his boot and ran the blade across the callous skin. He barely got a deep enough cut to draw blood.
With a powerful pull the two women were dragged back toward the door. Mrs. Phillysworth cried out again as she struck the now splintering wood.
“Stab him!” Sandra shouted. “Pull, Mrs. Phillysworth!”
The two ladies dug in and pulled against the force of their attacker. This time Chuck used both hands to thrust the knife down deeply into the hairy forearm. Blood shot out into his face. The hand released its grip and Mrs. Phillysworth and Sandra tumbled to the floor.

The Final Teaser for "Off the Rails" !

This is it, gang.  The final teaser image before we unveil the cover.

I'll be uploading a photo to my Facebook page that sort of clues you in on the last element.  Look for it.

By the way, it's great that people are stopping by and looking at the photos here and on Facebook, but we need to spread them around a bit.  Tell EVERYONE you know who reads about this book.  Word of mouth and social networking are the only marketing tools we have right now.

Thanks.

Teaser photo for "Off the Rails and Other Tales"