For the next couple weeks, Painless will be making the rounds on a blog tour, thanks to the incredible help of Xpresso Book Tours – http://xpressobooktours.com. If you have a book to promote, I highly recommend them!
What is a blog tour you ask? Each day, a few new sites will be posting reviews, excerpts, and interviews to promote Painless. There is also a giveaway, with a chance to win a $25 Amazon card and a signed copy of… you guessed it… PAINLESS!
Here is the schedule for the tour. Check it out and enter for a chance to win!
I listened to a lot of music while I wrote PAINLESS. Most of the list below was part of that — some of it played many, many times. Other songs have connections to the personal side of this story, which I have yet to fully explain publicly.
For those who have only seen the artwork and brief mentions of the story, all I will say for now is that this is not just a fun horror tale but a very meaningful story for me, with difficult personal and family history intertwined.
Also, as it turns out, a lot my favorite music fit the story well. So I hope you’ll listen and read along. I’ve included links to the full lyrics and excerpts of the bits that meant the most to me.
For those that have read the book, I’d love to hear what it might have added to the experience!
Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way
Am I wrong?
Have I run too far to get home?
Have I gone?
Left you here alone
Am I wrong?
Have I run too far to get home? Yeah
Have I gone?
Left you here alone
The man said “Why do you think you here?”
I said I got no idea
I’m gonna, I’m gonna lose my baby
So I always keep a bottle near
He said “I just think you’re depressed”
This me “Yeah, baby, and the rest”
Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer
I will deliver
You know I’m a forgiver
Reach out and touch faith
Let him soothe your soul, just take his hand
(Dr. Feelgood)
Some people call him an evil man
(Dr. Feelgood)
Let him introduce himself real good
(Dr. Feelgood)
He’s the only one they call Feelgood
Come on (come on), now
I hear you’re feeling down
Well I can ease your pain
And get you on your feet again
Relax
I need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?
Okay
Just a little pin prick [ding]
There’ll be no more “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
But you may feel a little sick
Can you stand up?
I do believe it’s working, good
That’ll keep you going through the show
Come on, it’s time to go
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that’s real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
Nirvana – Lithium
https://genius.com/Nirvana-lithium-lyrics
I’m so happy ’cause today I found my friends
They’re in my head
I’m so ugly, that’s okay, ’cause so are you
I like it, I’m not gonna crack
I miss you, I’m not gonna crack
I love you, I’m not gonna crack
I killed you, I’m not gonna crack
Whatsoever I feared
Has come to life
Whatsoever I’ve fought off
Became my life
Just when every day
Seemed to greet me with a smile
Sunspots have faded
And now, I’m doing time
Now, I’m doing time
How would I know
That this could be my fate?
How would I know
That this could be my fate?
Down in a hole, feeling so small
Down in a hole, losing my soul
Down in a hole, feeling so small
Down in a hole, out of control
I’d like to fly
But my wings have been so denied
Feeling, sweet feeling
Drops from my fingers, fingers
Manic depression is catching my soul
Metallica – Sad But True
https://genius.com/Metallica-sad-but-true-lyrics
I’m your dream, make you real
I’m your eyes when you must steal
I’m your pain when you can’t feel
Sad but true
I’m your truth, telling lies
I’m your recent alibis
I’m inside, open your eyes
I’m you
Sad but true
Can you feel pain inside?
Can you love?
Can you cry?
I wanna run through your wicked garden
Heard that’s the place to find you
Cause I’m alive
So alive now
Out of the dark that blinds you
I’ve given everything I need
I’d give you everything I own
I’d give in if it could at least be ours alone
I’ve given everything I could
To blow it to hell and gone
Burrow down in and
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside world
Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knockin’ me
Back down on my knees
There been times when I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will
Tool does not allow streaming of any kind, so could not make the Spotify Playlist. Please watch…
I am just a worthless liar
I am just an imbecile
I will only complicate you
Trust in me and fall as well
I will find a center in you
I will chew it up and leave
Trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me!
Why can’t we not be sober?
I just want to start things over
Why can’t we sleep forever?
I just want to start this over
Over the weekend, I held my first ever “Meet the Author” event at the Holmes Public Library in Halifax, MA. It marked the start of promotion for my psychological horror novel, PAINLESS. I wasn’t sure what kind of turnout to expect, but I certainly did not expect to have an audience of over 20!
While it was mostly friends and family, there were also a good number of people who knew nothing about me or the book and attended anyway. Since most of the attendees had not yet read the book, the discussion centered around a quick description of the story and why I wrote it.
I was happy to find that everyone was eager to ask interesting questions. I’ll detail a few highlights below. I don’t have the exact quotes but these were some topics that stuck out to me.
Q: “What was your character’s motivation?” (Referring to Dr. Menta, the mad scientist of a doctor). Answer: I don’t like to explain too much, especially about a character that has questionable morals and motives (to put it nicely). But the prologue gives some clues.
Q: “Was this a one-off project or am I now interested in continuing to write more?” Answer: Definitely not a one-off project. I’m working on an outline of a story that would end up being a series of three books.
Q: “Do you write about local towns, areas, etc… People seem to enjoy reading about locations they know.” Answer: In general, yes. All my future ideas are going to be set in a fictional version of a town like Plympton and Halifax. The location of PAINLESS is purposely never mentioned, so it could be anywhere.
Q: “What were your influences?” Answer: I am much more influenced by films. Hitchcock, David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick to name a few. PAINLESS would be very much along the lines of a David Cronenberg “body horror” film. As far as writing I can really only name Stephen King and Harlen Coben (which I FORGOT to mention at the event!) as at least inspiration, if not an influence. With this being my first novel, I don’t know if I’ve defined a style enough to name any influences for style.
Once a book is listed, the author also gets to claim an author page and link to all their books.
Pretty cool!
Goodreads
I found out that as soon as a book is available on Kindle, it can show up in Goodreads. (Actually it took a day or two, but pretty quick!)
If you don’t know about Goodreads, it is a site for book lovers to track what they are reading, what they want to read, and write reviews of books once they are done.
The book gets a page where you can see everyone who has read or reviewed it within Goodreads.
It lets you add a bio, some pictures, answer some “Ask The Author” questions, and Goodreads users can follow you as an author. You might notice in the shot, I have a whole 3 followers! (Okay, one of them is me).
