Tag Archives: writing

Brutal Light back in print! [brutal light]

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

Brutal Light

“When the light comes… pray for darkness. All Kagami Takeda wants is to be left alone, so that no one else can be destroyed by the madness she keeps at bay. Her connection to the Radiance–a merciless and godlike sea of light–has driven her family insane and given her lover strange abilities and terrible visions. However, the occult forces who covet her access to the Radiance are relentless in their pursuit. Worse, the Radiance itself has created an enemy who can kill her–a fate which would unleash its brutal light on a defenseless city.”

About nine months ago, my first and so far only novel, Brutal Light went out of print and e-print after I regained the rights from its former publisher. I’d meant to bring it back sooner, but, between moving and family drama and my secret life of fighting crime in spandex, there just wasn’t time.

Until… waiiiiit for it… riiight about… now!

Brutal Light is now back, and… well, still the same book as before. Only now it’s available only from Amazon, in e-book and in print. I’ve improved the formatting on both–the Kindle edition now doesn’t have spaces between paragraphs, and the print edition has less tiny print (and the title is actually visible on the spine). The prices are down to somewhere in the vicinity of reasonable: $2.99 for the Kindle edition, and $9.99 for the print edition.

For more, including an excerpt of the prologue, check out my Brutal Light page.

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and a contributor to the dark fiction anthologies Fairly Wicked Tales and The C.A.M. Charity Anthology: Horror and Science Fiction #1. His blog originates here. Brutal Light cover art by Dawne Dominique.

The C.A.M. Charity Anthologies now available! [c.a.m. anthology]

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

CAM Charity Anthology Horror and Science Fiction 1“All of the CAM Charity Anthologies are made up of donated short fiction stories. Some of these tales are written by well-known authors, others by ordinary people who just want to try and make a difference. 100% of the profits from these collections will go to charity as explained below.

“Michael Robb Mathias Jr. aka M. R. Mathias, owner of Mathias Publishing, is producing the C.A.M anthologies in honor of his mother, Carol Ann Mathias, who passed away in 2017 after a grueling five year battle with cancer. The profits of these collections will be divided equally, each year, between three of her favorite charities.

“A collection of Fantasy stories is also available and we hope there are more volumes to come.”

The C.A.M. Charity Anthology: Horror & Science Fiction #1 is an anthology of science fiction and horror originally published June 8th, 2017, by Mathias Publishing, with cover art by Jack Hoyle and interior art by Gideon Deschain, and includes my horror short story The Path of Needles. It’s available as a Kindle e-book from Amazon.

While you’re at it, get The C.A.M. Charity Anthology: Fantasy #1 as well! More great fiction, more cancer-fighting donations — this one too is available from Amazon.

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Table of Contents:
“The Uninvited Guest” by Brian Barr
“Giving It Fourteen Percent” by Ani Fox
“Autumn’s Breath” by Michael Robb
“Inbound” by J.T. Arralle
“The Devil & Klaus Kristiansen” by Jeremy Hicks
“The Path of Needles” by Gary W. Olson
“Star Dragon 13” by Michael Ender
“Ozymandias Revisited” by Ani Fox
“They Thought the Brain Would Be the Hardest Part” by Michael Pogach
“Brainwaves” by Ed Faunce
“Upgrade” by J.T. Arralle
“Demons” by J.T. Arralle
“The Bungen-Strausse” by Matt Broadway

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and a contributor to the dark fiction anthologies Fairly Wicked Tales and The C.A.M. Charity Anthology: Horror and Science Fiction #1. His blog originates here. C.A.M. Charity Anthology: Horror & Science Fiction #1 cover art by Jack Hoyle.

the long way ’round again, again [it burns! it burns!, writing]

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

WritingLook, I didn’t mean to be gone for so long. I took a wrong turn on the expressway, and next thing I knew, I was in Tijuana, herding llamas and putting worms in those little bottles. You know how it is. I only just now got back.

Well, ok, maybe not. Maybe I just took an ill-advised two-and-a-half-year detour into buying, owning, and then ultimately selling a house someplace I shouldn’t have considered in the first place. Maybe I made a few starts at writing during that time, but couldn’t keep it going because of the constant distractions and pressure. Maybe there were llamas, but they were herding me.

Whatever the case, all those maybes are in the past. I’m in a new place, the lessons are learned, the pressures are lessened, the llamas are on their way to Hollywood, and I’ve carved out a regular block of time when I can just write (or edit, or blog, or whatever). I’m finally back to writing.

I’ve revamped the blog, and this site–added a new picture of my meaty mug, and cut down on the clutter of the sidebars. I also added a mobile theme for people viewing the site on their magic rectangles, figuring it was about time the site joined this decade.

As far as my books go… I regained the rights to my novel Brutal Light at the start of this year, and plan on self-publishing a new edition later this summer. I took down all my self-published short stories at the same time, and am planning on publishing my first collection in the spring of 2018.

Writing-wise, my top goal for the last seven months of this year is to finish my next novel, Redscale: Severance, though I’ll likely do a couple short stories in that time as well.

Finally, I do have a new short story, “The Path of Needles,” that will soon be published, in The C.A.M. Charity Anthology: Horror & Science Fiction #1 in a couple days. I’ll ramble on about that in another entry.

It’s good to be back! Watch out for llamas!

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and a contributor to the dark fiction anthologies Fairly Wicked Tales and The C.A.M. Charity Anthology: Horror and Science Fiction #1. His blog originates here.

Fairly Wicked Tales reissued by Ragnarok Publications [Fairly Wicked Tales]

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

Fairly Wicked TalesFairly Wicked Tales, the anthology of twisted fairy tales (including my contribution, “Sweetheart, the Dream is Not Ended”) which was published by Angelic Knight Press last summer, only to go out of print at the end of the year when Ragnarok Publications bought AKP, has now been reissued by Ragnarok (under its AKP imprint). To your left is the hella-awesome new cover art by Shawn T. King.

The e-book is available from Amazon only at the moment, though I expect it will be arriving at other fine sellers of e-consumables soon. The print edition with the new cover isn’t available yet, but should be soon.

For more information on FWT, check out my Fairly Wicked Tales page, which includes links to reviews as well as buy links, and will be updated as un-irregularly as I can manage given that my brain got changed out for a whack-a-mole game last year and I keep eating the replacements I order.

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and a contributor to the dark fiction anthology Fairly Wicked Tales. His blog originates here. Fairly Wicked Tales cover art: Shawn T. King.

Get Fading Light before it fades away! [Fading Light, Fairly Wicked Tales, writing]

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

Fading LightIn case you haven’t read the news, Angelic Knight Press, which published two anthologies featuring stories of mine, has been acquired by another press (and is set to become that press’s new horror imprint).

That’s good news for Fairly Wicked Tales (which includes my story “Sweetheart, the Dream is Not Ended”), which will be reissued in early 2015. Not such good news for Fading Light: An Anthology of the Monstrous (which includes my story “Goldilocks Zone”), which will be going out of print at the end of the year.

So… if you’re still hoping to get a copy of Fading Light, either ebook or dead-tree version, you don’t have a lot of time left. Get thee hence to a bookseller!

(If you’re into the whole actual physical book thing, you hardcore antiquarian you, you can get a copy of Fading Light from CreateSpace for 25% off with this coupon code: EQHG7CPV )

Happy Christmas! Merry holidays! Hail Krampus!

Edit (4/24/15: Removed links, as Fading Light is now out of print)

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and a contributor to the dark fiction anthologies Fading Light and Fairly Wicked Tales. His blog originates here. Fading Light cover art: Jesse Lucero.

Fairly Wicked Tales has been released! [fairly wicked tales]

Posted by Gary W. Olson on

(Edit 4/24/15: updated links to point to current reissue of this anthology by Ragnarok Publications)

Fairly Wicked Tales“Once upon a scream…

“Think you know the real story behind those fables and fairy tales you read as a child? Stories are written from the viewpoint of the heroes, but the lines between hero and villain, good and evil, are often blurred.

“We’ve gathered twenty three tales that turn those stories you think you know on their heads by letting the villains have their say. What if Snow White wasn’t as pure as the newly driven snow? What if Red Riding Hood was far more dangerous than the Big Bad Wolf? What if Rapunzel was hell bent on revenge? Forget Disney, forget the Brothers Grimm, say hello to Fairly Wicked Tales—re-imaginings of both fairy tales and fables.

“Fairly Wicked Tales, a book for adults who harbor the wicked child within.”

(Click on the cover art by Rebecca Treadway to see it in full-sized wicked beauty!)

Fairly Wicked Tales, edited by Stacey Turner, is an anthology of dark fantasy and horror published August 6th, 2014, by Angelic Knight Press, and includes my horror short story Sweetheart, the Dream is Not Ended (a reimagining of the lesser-known Grimm fairly tale “The Robber Bridegroom”). I’ve got a blog post in the works regarding how utterly strange “The Robber Bridegroom” is and why I had to make it the basis for my tale, but for now, I wanted to get the word out that the anthology’s been released.

So far just as e-books, but fear not, dead tree lovers, physical book form is on its way. Fairly Wicked Tales is now available from Amazon.com for Kindle and in Print.

Here’s the table of contents, in the format of: “Story Title” by Author: Fairy tale it gives a good hard twisting to.

Table of Contents

“Song of Bones” by Vekah McKeown: A retelling of “The Singing Bone”.

“Red” by Katie Young: A retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood”.

“Sweetheart, the Dream is Not Ended” by Gary W. Olson: A reimagining of “The Robber Bridegroom”.

“Crumbs” by Adam Millard: A retelling of “The Crumbs on the Table”.

“A Thrice Spun Tale” by Suzi M: A retelling of “The Three Spinners”.

“His Heart’s Desire” by Fay Lee: A retelling of “Sleeping Beauty”.

“Little Beauty” by Matthew Hughes: A retelling of “Beauty and the Beast”.

“Hare’s Tale” by Jay Wilburn: A retelling of “The Tortoise and the Hare”.

“The Golden Goose” by Robert Holt: A retelling.

“A Prick of the Quill” by Lizz-Ayn Shaarawi: A retelling of “Hans My Hedgehog”.

“Sacrificed” by Laura Snapp: A reimagining of “Snow White”.

“The Glass Coffin” by D R Cartwright: A retelling of “The Glass Coffin”.

“The Price of the Sea” by David R. Matteri: A retelling of “The Little Mermaid”.

“A Blue Light Turned Black” by Wilson Geiger: A retelling of “The Blue Light”.

“Let Down Your Hair” by Eugenia Rose: A retelling of “Rapunzel”.

“The Wolf Who Cried Boy” by Armand Rosamilia: A retelling of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”.

“It Comes At Night” by JP Behrens: A reimagining of “The Billy Goats Gruff”.

“Bloodily Ever After” by Reece A.A. Barnard: A retelling of several fairy tales.

“Al-Adrian and the Magic Lamp” by Tais Teng: A retelling of “The Arabian Nights”.

“The Fisherman and His Wife” by Bennie L. Newsome: A retelling of the story “The Fisherman and His Wife.”

“Rum’s Daughter” by T. Eric Bakutis: A retelling of “Rumplestiltskin”.

“The Ash Maid’s Revenge” by Konstantine Paradias: A retelling of “Cinderella”.

“Gingerbread” by Hal Bodner: What happened afer “Hansel and Gretel”.

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and a contributor to the dark fiction anthologies Fading Light and Fairly Wicked Tales. His blog originates here. Cover art: Rebecca Treadway.