Post-Release Post #4: FAQs

Before I begin, don't forget about the Aberration Blog Hop which will be held on June 6th and 7th to celebrate the release of my second book!  Prizes, people!  There will be prizes!  Go here to sign up.

Now that that's out of the way, welcome to the 4th installment of my Post-Release Series.

So now that my book has been out for six months, I've had enough time to field questions about it and about being an author and surprisingly, many of them come up over and over again.  Here are the most frequently asked questions and yes, they are in the order of the frequency with which they are asked:

"Oh, you have a book out.  How much did that cost?"

For me, this just reinforces my observation that the average reader just assumes that everyone is self-pubbed these days.  I'm beginning to think that actual publishers really only hold weight among other publishers, writers and major reviewers like Publishers Weekly or Kirkus.  Readers just want a good story and they don't really care where it comes from.

Anyway, the answer is that it didn't cost me a dime.  My publisher does all the work and incurs all the cost.

Most people look vaguely confused when I tell them this.  I'm not sure why.

"Is it available in e-book?"

It is actually shocking to me how many people are no longer interested in real books.  I don't know why I find this shocking since I have both a Kindle and a Nook and cannot live without either one of them.  But yeah, this is important to people.

The answer is of course it is!

"This seemed so real.  Did this happen to you?"

Obviously, this is only from people who've read it.  I take it as a huge compliment that so many people have asked me this.  To me, it means I did my job.  I wanted to put readers inside the mind and world of an abducted teenager who stays in spite of opportunities to escape, and for many readers, it appears that I did.

The answer is no, this did not happen to me.  I was not an abducted child.  Everything you read in the book is simply a product of my tortured imagination.

"Is it scary?"

I never really know what people mean when they ask me this.  Are they wondering if I write in the horror genre?  I don't know.  So my answer is:  it depends on what scares you. If demons and ghosts and vampires scare you, then no, it's not scary.  If crime scenarios based on real life situations scare you, then it's terrifying.

"Are you going to write another book?"

I'm not going to lie.  It really does make me gleeful to answer this question by saying, "I already have-it comes out in June."  Hee hee hee.  I love the look of surprise/delight on peoples' faces when I tell them.  Hopefully, book two won't tank on an unimaginably grand scale.  Anyway, yes, I did and I am.  Aberration comes out on 6/6/13 and I'm hard at work finishing a second draft of my third novel and making notes for my fourth novel.  If I can ever again squeeze some writing time out of my hectic life, I will actually finish one or both of those and try to sell them as well.

You can add it to your TBR on Goodreads here.

Getting Behind the Violence (in my book)

I've often thought about doing a post explaining why I chose to include so much violence in my novel, Finding Claire Fletcher.  I haven't done this post because I'm not in the habit of defending my own work.  As I've said many times in the past, not everything is for everyone. But now I feel this post is necessary--not in defense of my book, but in defense of people like the three Cleveland women who were recently rescued from captivity after ten long years, because Claire's story is my fictional exploration of what people like these women may have been through.  It was meant to ask and possibly answer the questions that so many people have when they hear about stories like this:  why didn't they just leave?  Why did they stay so long?  Why didn't they ever try to escape?  How could another person possibly keep someone enslaved for so long?

Before I begin, let me say this:  I abhor violence.  I really do.  I don't understand it, and I don't condone it except in exceptional circumstances like when it is necessary to defend your country, your child or your life.  This may seem strange since I'm a crime writer.  I write about crime because I am trying to understand it and how victims recover from it.  I know, that doesn't seem right either.  What I can tell you is that a decade ago, my family was shattered by violence--the worst possible kind, if you ask me--and I spent years trying to understand how it could have happened.  How a person could do what this person did to other human beings and why.  From this side of a quadruple murder trial, all these years later, I can tell you that you will never fully understand it, or even accept it, but some things will make it easier to deal with.  For me, it was reading true crime books and crime fiction.  I devoured every true crime book and crime novel I could get my hands on.  Knowing that other people had gone through what we went through--understood what it was like and survived it--made me feel less alone.  The problem was that after awhile, reading true crime became far too upsetting.  These were real people I was reading about and my heart ached for them.  So I turned to crime fiction.  It was easier to read and a really good crime writer will be able to get across all the difficult and conflicting emotions that everyone involved have to deal with from the victim to the families to the law enforcement trying to make it right.  For many people who have been victims of violent crime, they have the exact opposite reaction--they can never again read those types of books. But I'm not one of those people. So yes, even though I abhor violence, I write books in which violence plays a very large part.

Part of the problem I had in selling Finding Claire Fletcher was my portrayal of the extreme amount of abuse that Claire endures during her captivity.  And let me tell you--feel free to cringe--the final product that you can hold in your hands today was actually toned down.  If you've read the book, you'll find that really hard to believe.  Whenever a reader tells me that I spent too much time on the abuse, or it was too graphic or gruesome, or they couldn't finish because it was too disturbing, then I know for sure I've done my job.  Because for children or even adults in these situations, believe me, the abuse takes place far too much, it is far too gruesome and they wish it would be finished.

My feeling was that as a society we've become so desensitized to these types of stories that the only way to really make people cringe when they read the book--and for it to have real impact--was to show this type of violence for exactly what it was.  Think about it.  I don't know about you, but every night when I watch our local news there are a dozen or more stories of people being raped, beaten, maimed or killed.  Violence--even against children--has become so commonplace that we, as a society, don't even flinch when we hear these stories.  A news story about extreme, horrifying violence--even against children--has no impact on us anymore.  None.

People have become so desensitized that when they hear stories like Claire's or like that of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, many of them--not all, I'm not saying all, but many--react with little more than puzzlement and exasperation.  There is a pervasive attitude toward these stories that goes a little something like this:  "She was beaten, starved and raped?  So what?  Why didn't she just escape?"  In the case of grown women this attitude is even more prevalent, "They were grown women and they couldn't escape from one guy?  Puh."

Do people not understand what the words beat, rape and starve mean?

Obviously they do.  I just don't think these words have any impact anymore.  What I wanted to do was make readers have a visceral response to Claire's story.  Why?  Because maybe if the story gets to you on a visceral level, then in real life you'll be more sympathetic, more empathetic and more sensitive to real crime victims--especially those in the types of situation portrayed in my book.

This week, I did an interview on Kellie Larsen Murphy's blog which you can find here.  I'm going to reproduce a paragraph from that interview because it goes to the heart of why I chose to include so much violence in my book.

When I started writing this book, I kept asking myself:  what would make a person who was forcibly torn away from everything they knew and loved and systematically tortured on a daily basis stay in that situation?  What would make that same person unable to reach out for help when all they had to do was walk up to the nearest person and say ‘my name is so and so, I was kidnapped, I need the police’?  I think people find this phenomenon so hard to wrap their minds around, and yet it happens to varying degrees all around us every day.  Women stay with men who are physically and emotionally abusive.  Children don’t breathe a word when a trusted adult is abusing them.  Rapes go unreported every single day.  I did a lot of research on these three issues–domestic violence, molestation and sexual assault.  I think the key for me was the idea that if you torture someone on a daily basis–and I do consider repeated sexual assaults to be a form of torture–every moment of their lives becomes only about survival and nothing more.  They are unable to think past that.  I’ve always likened these children to prisoners of war, and I think that is a good comparison.  Also, if you strip away every single thing down to the most basic dignities like using a toilet, the person becomes completely dependent on their captor.  Where freedom should be their dream in life, something as simple as having a blanket instead becomes all that they strive for.  When Shawn Hornbeck was recovered, I read an article that talked about how children in his situation are infantilized.  That was exactly what I had written about without ever knowing there was a word for it.  Finally this idea that their terror is so great that they cannot reach out for help even given the opportunity–first, what people forget is that usually captors will threaten the person’s family.  From the outside it is easy to say, oh but if you just go to the police then he can’t hurt anyone else.  But if you’re the person he is torturing, I think your thought process is more along the lines of, “He got me, didn’t he?  He’s hurting me, isn’t he?  If he can do this to me, he can do it to anyone.”  The captor becomes all-powerful, and the captive is so beaten down in every sense that their fear is paralyzing.  I think if you’re in it and you’re living it, your perspective is vastly different. 

No one looks at Prisoners of War and says indignantly, "Why didn't he just go all Rambo on those guys and escape?"  I don't think it is fair to look at children like Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart or even adults like the three Cleveland women and ask, "Why didn't they just leave?" without some long, hard consideration of what it means to be tortured on a daily basis.  If you don't believe that being starved, chained, deprived, beaten and repeatedly raped (i.e. tortured) can break a person down then I invite you to revisit the definitions of these words.  I can assure you that when someone is merely trying to force themselves on you or when someone merely has a knife to your throat, the last thing you are is calm, cool and collected.  (Yes, you should read the merelys as sarcastic). You'll be lucky if you can see straight or even hear anything.  When these things and worse happen to you over and over and over and over and over and over again--it changes who you are and it severely cripples your ability to "go all Rambo".  (Until you've known true terror, I would ask that you not judge these women and children.)

My hope was that for some people, reading Finding Claire Fletcher would give them a more sensitive view of people in Claire's situation.  I did not believe I could achieve that by glossing over the violence.  As I've said before, you wouldn't write a book about a Prisoner of War and never touch on the torture they endured.

Returning with Lots of News

I hadn't planned on returning till next week, but two things happened in the last 24 hours.  One was that three women who had been missing for 10 years were found alive in a house in Cleveland.  Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. At the time of their abductions they ranged in age between 14 to 20.  The similarities to my debut novel, Finding Claire Fletcher were, to say the least, chilling.  I started receiving countless messages from friends, family and readers about this news story and how eerily similar this real life story is to my book.  We have almost no details as to what happened to these women at this point, but I will say that I'm so happy they've been freed and I will be praying for them for a very long time, that they are able to effect some kind of recovery from all the trauma they must have endured and go on to live happy, fulfilling lives basking in the love of the friends and family they've been reunited with. I'm heartened that their families will finally have answers after a decade of wondering what happened to them and hoping that they were still alive, in spite of the high probability that they were not.  I wish that more missing children and adults would be reunited.  If you know me at all, then you know that cases like these hit close to home for me--otherwise I wouldn't have written a whole book about this very subject.

Second, on a more buoyant, less grave note, I discovered today that Finding Claire Fletcher has been nominated for the eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards in not just one, but THREE categories!

Best Novel
Best Thriller
Best Hero/Heroine (Claire Fletcher)

Pretty amazing stuff. I can't tell you how much this means to me and how excited I am. To think that my little book--the one that took me six years to get published--has been nominated for an award?  That is crazy!  It is the best kind of craziness!  I'm so flattered and humbled that someone considered my book good enough to nominate for these awards.  Words actually fail me right now.  I just want to say to the person or people who put Finding Claire Fletcher down as a nominee for these categories:  thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Truly.  This business is so incredibly hard, so when something like this happens, it really puts you on Cloud 9!

Finally, if you look up at the tabs along this blog you'll see one for The Aberration Blog Hop:  Finding the Most Aberrant Characters June 6-7, 2013.  That will stay up until after the hop and people can sign up there.

For the release of my next book, I'm hosting a blog HOP instead of doing a blog tour.  I think it will be way more fun.  

Here is the definition of aberration and the details of the blog hop:

ab·er·ra·tion
Definition of ABERRATION
1 : the fact or an instance of deviating or being aberrant especially from a moral standard or normal state
2 : unsoundness or disorder of the mind
3 : an aberrant individual
— ab·er·ra·tion·al  adjective
From the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary


What:  The Aberration Blog Hop: Finding the Most Aberrant Characters

Where:  Sign up below or here, feel free to spread the word about this blog hop on your own blogs

When:  June 6 & 7, 2013

What to do:  All you have to do is list your top 5 choices for the most aberrant characters in fiction, television or movies.  Also, if you're a writer, you can then include a short paragraph about who you think is the most aberrant character from your own work.

Where do I sign up?  Below!  I'd also ask that you use the lovely blog hop button you see here which the incomparable Carrie Butler designed for me.

All participants will be entered to win one of the following:

Amazon Gift Card $25.00
Amazon Gift Card $15.00
Amazon Gift Card $10.00
Signed copy of the paperback, Aberration (3 copies for giveaway)
Aberration the ebook (5 copies for giveaway)

Please feel free to spread the word on your own blogs!  

Winners will be chosen at random and announced on June 10, 2013.

You can check out the book and put it on your TBR on Goodreads here!

A Short Blogging Hiatus

As you've probably noticed in the last month, I haven't been around the blogosphere very much.  The truth is that I can't keep up with 2013.  No matter how hard I try.  Not at home, not at work, not on social media.  About the only thing I can keep up with is at least taking my prescription medication every day . . . and even that gets dicey sometimes.  I used to be able to do it all plus half of everyone else's shit.  Now I can't seem to  complete even a simple task.  I can't remember anything, and I'm at the point where I'm pouring my tea into my cereal in the morning because I'm just that distracted thinking of all the things I need to catch up on--that I never make a dent in.

I need to recharge!

I think I need to pare down the amount of things I'm trying to accomplish for a month or two and get back to the basics--like writing, which is the reason I'm here in the first place.  The first draft of my third novel has been languishing on my hard drive for months.  (Seriously, we're approaching a year.  There's just no excuse.)

Instead of desperately trying to catch up and never getting there, I'm going to give myself permission to just stop for awhile and come back in a month or two hopefully feeling refreshed and begin again.  

So one of the things I'm going to take a bit of a break from is blogging.  I think this is the perfect time for me because I will never survive the A to Z stuff in April.  I'm going to try to focus on my writing--finishing that third novel up and getting started on the fourth.  I'll still be around so, my fellow writers, don't hesitate to email me. I'll still be on Facebook and you can still reach me via Twitter.  As a rule, I try to always make time for my fellow writers. Even though I haven't been making it to your blogs every day, and will continue to be scarce in April, I will still make myself available to my fellow writers.  I'm just going to make writing my first priority until the summertime.  Then I hope to return to all forms of social media with renewed vigor!

Also, as you probably know by now, my second novel, Aberration is due out 6/6/13.  I'm thinking about hosting a blog hop during release week so stay tuned for that.  Once I've got the details ironed out, I will post in mid-May about that.

FYI, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

aberration:  the fact or instance of deviating or being aberrant, especially from a moral standard or normal state.  

Strength Blog Tour: A Guest Post by Carrie Butler

I'm thrilled to have my wonderful and brilliant friend, Carrie Butler over today for a very poignant guest post. I hope you'll read on because it's a good one . . .and stay tuned to hear more about the Strength Giveaway.

And if you haven't read the book yet, you really, really, really, really, really should cause it is beyond awesome!

And now to Carrie:

From My Lowest Point (to My Highest)

Thank you for having me over, Lisa. I'm going to share something personal today, because, well... March 19th is always difficult for me. The story is a little long, but maybe it will help someone who's found themselves in a similar position. :)

I completed my college courses a quarter early. There were still a few months left until the official graduation ceremony—which I would later skip to participate in Relay for Life—so I decided to spend that time getting a jump on job applications. My last day was March 19th.

It was a cold, windy Thursday morning, and I was scheduled to work my last shift at the campus bookstore. Naturally, I had mixed feelings about this. I loved my co-workers and the fun environment we'd created, but I couldn't wait for my "real" life to begin. So, I locked up my car and hurried through the parking lot.

That's when my phone rang.

My mom's voice was strained, and I froze dead in my tracks on the sidewalk—something was wrong. She said my uncle had a sudden heart attack, but that was all she knew. She would call me back as soon as she heard something. We hung up, and I stood there, letting people edge around me.

Our family was close, very close. In fact, I had just talked to my uncle a week or so before that, confiding that I was worried about finding work. "You'll find something," he assured me, in that ever-patient tone of his. "You will."

And I believed him.

So, with our last conversation echoing in my ears, I made my way into the bookstore. Everyone was all smiles for my last day, but I vaguely remember stumbling past them to talk to my supervisor. I asked if I could leave my phone on, and then I wandered into the back room in a fog...

Only to find myself the guest of honor at a surprise going away party.

My coworkers had outdone themselves. Cake, balloons, cards, etc. The whole nine yards. I tried to smile, I tried to thank them, but my mind was miles away. Thankfully, we had to do this "party" in shifts. Someone had to be out on the floor, after all, so I took my turn at the register.

I'm not sure how much time passed before my mom called again. I barely remember getting someone to cover the front so I could run outside. My mom was crying, I was crying, and I didn't even know what happened—though, there was no mistaking the feeling of dread that had settled into the pit of my stomach.

My uncle had died.

I went back to the bookstore a mess, stammering that I had to leave. While my coworkers packed up the cake, I mumbled apologies and struggled to find my keys. Finally, a friend passed them off with an apologetic look in her eyes, and I made my way to the car.

That was when it hit me. Tradition. The look she gave me. We always trashed the person's car who was graduating.

My sad little Plymouth—which most of you know had already been on fire, home to unwanted snakes, and knocked down a hill—was covered in toilet paper. And shrink wrap. Balloons. Glass paint all over the windows. I opened the door and colorful, star-shaped confetti flew everywhere.

I left my things on the driver's seat and returned to the bookstore. My friends were full of apologies, but I didn't blame them. They couldn't have known what was going to happen. So, I grabbed my favorite box-cutter, a wad of paper towels, and some Windex, and then made my way back to the parking lot.

Of course, that was when everything hit me—my uncle's death, graduation, my sudden unemployment. The next thing I knew, there were tears streaming down my face, and I was laughing like a maniac. A few people approached me, but kept their distance. I didn't blame them, either. If I came across a similar scene, I would've done the same thing.

It took a good twenty minutes before I was able to clear a spot on the windshield. I ran the supplies back inside, said quick goodbyes, and then made the long drive home. Broken.

The next week was a blur. Family camped out in my aunt's living room and passed around stories. Neighbors stopped by with food. Calling hours. Pain. Funeral services. Emptiness.

And it didn't get better. Weeks turned into months, and I threw myself into the job hunt, desperately seeking a distraction. Unfortunately, you all know this part of the story. Depression and unsettling thoughts followed. The point is, I'm here now, years later, and my uncle was right.

I did find something—this.

Writing became my passion, and now I'm doing everything in my power to make it my career. Things are in motion. My book is out, people are reading it, and I'm already hard at work on the next one. I like to think my uncle is proud of me.

Because I'm finally starting to feel proud of myself.

About Carrie:

Carrie daydreamed her way through college—until they thrust a marketing degree into her hands, slapped a summa cum laude seal on the corner, and booted her out into a less-than-stellar job market. Instead of panicking at the prospect of unemployment, she used her Midwestern logic to steer into the skid and point her life in the direction she really wanted to go: writing out those daydreams.

Links

WEBSITE  |  BLOG  |  PUBLISHER  |  TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  GOODREADS  |  GOOGLE+  |  LINKEDIN

About the amazing book, Strength:

When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, she’s stunned. Wallace Blake is everything she’s ever wanted in a man—except he can’t touch her. His uncontrollable strength, a so-called gift from his bloodline, makes every interaction dangerous. And with a secret, supernatural war brewing among his kind, there’s no time to work it out. To keep Wallace in her life, Rena will have to risk a whole lot more than her heart.

Retailers:
AMAZON  |  KINDLE  |  BARNES AND NOBLE  |  NOOK  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Release Day, Carrie Butler!

I'm super thrilled to celebrate the release of Strength by the lovely and brilliant Carrie Butler.  I'm neither a romance nor a paranormal fan and yet this book had me in its clutches.  You will love it!  So check it out!  And CONGRATS to the incomparable Carrie!

    Title: Strength

Series: Mark of Nexus – Book 1

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing    Category: New Adult (NA) Genre: Paranormal Romance (PNR) Release Date: March 07, 2013

Available at: Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Nook, Sony Reader Store, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo, Diesel, and Baker & Taylor.

About STRENGTH  

When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, her rumor-laced notions are shattered. Handsome, considerate, and seemingly sane, Wallace Blake doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, screaming and banging on the walls of his dorm room. Hell, he doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, period. Too curious for her own good, Rena vows to uncover the truth behind Wallace’s madman reputation—and how two seconds of contact had left her with bruises. Of course, there are a few minor setbacks along the way: guilt, admiration, feelings of the warm and fuzzy variety… Not to mention the unwanted attention of Wallace's powerful, supernaturally-gifted family. They’re a bloodline divided by opposing ideals, two soon-to-be warring factions that live in secret among us. When Rena ends up caught in their crossfire, Wallace has no choice but to save her by using his powers. Now they’re really in trouble. With war on the horizon and Rena’s life in the balance, he needs to put some distance between them. But Rena won’t let go. If fighting is what it takes to prove her own strength and keep Wallace in her life, then that’s what she’ll do—even if it means risking a whole lot more than her heart.

Book Trailer  

About the Author:

 Carrie daydreamed her way through college—until they thrust a marketing degree into her hands, slapped a summa cum laude seal on the corner, and booted her out into a less-than-stellar job market. Instead of panicking at the prospect of unemployment, she used her Midwestern logic to steer into the skid and point her life in the direction she really wanted to go: writing out those daydreams.

  

Where to find Carrie:

WEBSITE  |  BLOG  |  PUBLISHER  |  TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  GOODREADS  |  GOOGLE+

Where to find Strength:

BOOK PAGE  |  GOODREADS  |  PUBLISHER  |  FACEBOOK  |  PINTEREST  |  BOOK TRAILER

GIVEAWAY
a Rafflecopter giveaway

To Entice You . . . A First Chapter from a Friend

I've been given permission to post the first chapter of Michael Infinito's In Blog We Trust which is available now. This book had me turning pages all through the night so I'm thrilled to be able to whet readers' appetites with this chapter.

First Chapter of IN BLOG WE TRUST

1996

           The crowd erupted into chaotic screams as Incorrigible, the world’s biggest rock band, made their way to the stage. Wasting little time, they picked up their instruments, immediately breaking into the song, “Are We Alone.”  With a bombastic riff behind his gravelly voice, Kirk Cochoran belted out the lyrics, eventually screeching the final lines.
         
            The candles and the stained glass
            Comforted my heart
            As the bitterness in my brain
            Tried to tear their world apart
         
            I am no one
            I am someone
            Isn’t life so odd
         
            I am no good
            I am so good
            A child of some God
         
            The audience went crazy as the feedback from the guitar Kirk was playing continued to hum, even after the song had come to a thunderous conclusion. He let the instrument hang from its strap, freeing up both of his hands. Kirk then grabbed the microphone stand and pulled it up to his skinny, five foot nine inch frame, almost as if he were humping it.
             “It’s great to be fuckin’ home!” he screamed, causing the crowd to cheer. “We’ve played all over the world, but I can tell you, Portland’s where the party’s at. This is also a special night for us. One year ago today, we released “Corporate Generation” as a single.”
               Tommy Hanes, the band’s bassist, and Carlos Russo, the drummer, began to play the rhythm section of the song, while Kirk tantalized the fans with his introduction to the decade’s biggest hit.
               “Tonight we want to bring it back to where it all started,” he continued, unplugging his fancy red Fender guitar and trading it for an old, worn out, black model.
                The feedback from the amplifier intensified as the old guitar came to life. The high pitched humming was so loud it brought pain to Kirk’s ears.  He immediately tried to turn it down using the control knobs on the instrument, but nothing was working. The unsettling noise became shrill enough that even the half-stoned crowd couldn’t take it any longer. Kirk reached down to unplug his line, and that’s when all hell broke loose. A surge of electricity made its way through the guitar and into the rocker’s body. He began to shake from the current ripping through him. Saliva boiled from his mouth as he fell backward onto the stage.
                “Cut the mother fucking power!” Tommy Hanes screamed.
                Security, roadies, and emergency officials stormed the stage. The electricity was cut off, but sparks still flew from Kirk’s gyrating body. By this time, the genius songwriter of his era was on fire. His eyes had exploded from out of his head, and cooking brain matter splattered the stage like popcorn from a popper. Security officers tried to spray him with fire extinguishers, but nothing could douse the blaze. The power was completely dead, and so was Kirk. The electricity that had settled into his body refused to leave. Blue sparks continued to fly as the pile of charred bone and flesh burned its way through the bottom of the stage and down to the next level of the building. Hoards of people soon pushed their way to the scene, hoping it was all some sort of tricky gimmick that had been perpetrated by the band. The sight of Tommy Hanes down on his knees, throwing up, and Carlos Russo bawling hysterically, should have been a clue to them it was no hoax. By the time the event was over, all that remained of Kirk Cochoran was fourteen pounds of cremated ashes and a rock and roll mystery for the ages.
         
To read more, the entire novel is available on Amazon, Black Rose Writing, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.  It is also available in both paperback and e-reader format.