I’ve been blessed with a terrific schedule for my first-ever SoonerCon, including moderating panels with some tremendous guests, a reading session, an autograph session, and a trifecta of chat/klatch events. David Rike will be there, too.
Saturday Night at 10pm will also be my 25th “Inside the Liar’s Panel” event. For my silver anniversary, I again get to interview some of the most creative people on the planet about stories and secrets that otherwise might never see the light of day!
Here’s a cheatsheet for those who will be joining us this weekend!
Friday
Noon | Immortality in Storytelling
02:00 PM | A Fantastic Time: Time and Storytelling
07:00 PM |Literary Beers
09:00 PM |Late Night Artists Chat
Saturday
11:00 AM | Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem in Audiobooks, Film, TV, and Podcasting
Today’s newsletter from Evolved Publishing highlights a special 99cent promo for three first-in-series horror titles including book one of The Holocaust Engine.
That’s perfect timing for anyone wanting to grab a story set at the beach (although the Key West of The Holocaust Engine might not be too relaxing) and get caught up on our series before book three comes out this Fall.
The other 99 cent series-starting titles include “The Green-eyed Monster” by Mike Robinson (Book 1 of Enigma of Twilight Falls) and “Whispers of the Dead” by C. L. Roberts Huth (Book 1 of the Zoe Delante Thrillers).
This is a bucket list item for both of us, since we’ve both spent decades exploring the shelves of our home town booksellers. We will be talking about our series, our writing, books we love, and sharing insights into our process. There will be snacks, a fun little survey, and a chance to buy signed copies of the first two books in The Holocaust Engine series before Book 3 drops later this year. We hope you’ll join us for a chat, or just swing by to say hello.
Here’s the official notice, courtesy of Half Price Books Flagship:
Stephen Patrick & David Rike Book Signing
Meet local award winning authors Stephen Patrick and David Rike at your Flagship HPB on Sunday, April 7, from 1 to 3 p.m. They will promote their novel The Holocaust Engine: A Post-Apocalyptic Pandemic Thriller, the tale of population that descends into chaos after a brain-rotting virus leaves its victims disoriented and hyper-violent. Books will be sold independently by the authors while supplies last.
2024 was my 16th FENCON and David Rike’s 1st. We had a great time, met a ton of folks, friends, and fans and can’t wait to do it again.
For those that are interested, I’ve posted my panels on Facebook but here are a few of my favorite moments:
Moderating the audience-driven and panel-maddening 1st ever MonsterVMonster cage Match!
Exploring “The Hot List” to examine what we should be reading right now!
“Networking for Introvert Authors” which explored how being an introvert can be a strength!
“Spies in Fiction and Fantasy”
“City as a Character in fiction”
“Nurturing The Writing Habit”
AND
My special thanks to the folks who attended my reading! It was great to crack open a new case of our books, postcards, and business cards for the folks in attendance.
One of our mutual traditions is the reading list. Some are to inspire, others to critique. Some are for fun, some just jumped off the rack at us and others, well, just seem to deserve a read. Here’s Stephen’s list, in no particular order. The covers follow and any comments are welcome!
(Bonus points if you can decipher what projects may be coming up next.)
Thoughtful Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy – I’ve wanted to work through this collection of daily readings for a while, so here we go.
Back From The Dead– anthology edited by Greenberg and Waugh
quick note: some of the scariest stories I’ve ever ready are ALREADY in this book. I can’t wait to reread them and see what other horrors have crept in.
One of our mutual traditions is the reading list. Some are to inspire, others to critique. Some are for fun, some just jumped off the rack at us and others, well, just seem to deserve a read. Here’s David’s list. The covers are below and any comments are welcome!
1) 3 Alexander Kent Age-of Sail books.
2) Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland.
3) The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu.
4) The Great Wizards of Antiquity by Guy Ogilvy.
5) Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
6) The Prepper’s Guide to Grid Down Survival by Ron Johnson
7) 100 Deadly Skills by Clint Emerson
8) Perpetua, a Novel by Amy Peterson
9) Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
So excited that Book 2 of The Holocaust Engine is here.
Fluid Shock
A team of investigators and military operators join the survivors in a race to stop the spread of an otherworldly plague.
After one year of quarantine, the Lower Florida Keys have descended into madness. The last of the local officials cling to power, hoarding supplies and using sheer brutality to force submission. When a second strain of disease burns its way through the enclaves of survivors, the military targets the islands for purge… until a cryptic message from inside the cordon halts the bombing.
Now, a broken former detective and a group of military operators race to unravel the claim that the disease is already out, weaponized, and ready to bring the world to its knees.
EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS the second book in the thrilling, award-winning post-apocalyptic horror thriller series, “The Holocaust Engine.”
…CLICK HERE to order from most other online retailers.
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ALSO AVAILABLE (CLICK THE BUTTON) AT:
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Check out the series page at Facebook, and be sure to LIKE it.
~~~~~ Click the BookBub button to keep informed of special deals on this book and others by David Rike & Stephen Patrick. Just FOLLOW them on BookBub, and be sure to add their books to your WISHLIST—that way you won’t miss out.
It’s hard to believe our book is two years old today! As we look forward to books 2 and 3 and all of the amazing things that happen on our little island, this time capsule is great reminder of where it all started (alongside other great books and authors). We can’t wait to share where we are going!
Folks that know us are familiar with the varied reading lists that David and I keep. There’s some overlap, but one of the benefits of a writing partnership is that we bring different perspectives and interests to every project. We also both love bookstores and find different treasures every time.
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For 2022, David’s working through the following:
The Pioneers and America in 1876. This year is “understand the old west better” year.
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Hoping to get more on the depopulation of Russia and Asia Minor and what that (medieval post apocalyptic) was like.
Ezra Pound is this year’s poetry collection
Stephenson’s “Baroque Cycle”. Read book one years ago but it didn’t really click. Attempt number two.
Metro 2033 a Russian post apocalyptic I’m reading now. A little exposition heavy but still interesting.
Worldly Goods and The Age of Secrets are this year’s Renaissance history books.
The Rift. Another post apocalyptic by an author I’m not familiar with… hope springs eternal.
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For Steven, this year has been a bit chaotic. However, I’ve continued my yearly tradition of exploring a new skill/trade/discipline and a new area of culture/history/philosophy.
This year, I wanted to learn more about India, so I started a new yoga practice, which brought me to Iyengar’s Light on Yoga. The Bhagavad Gita had been a terrific companion and I’ve enjoyed several different translations. However, I have not found one that I truly love, so I tend to cross-reference several, and Patrick French’s India – a Portrait has been helpful in teasing out some of the culture, geography, and history that I clearly did not get back in school.
Nial Ferguson’s The Square and the Tower came from a recommendation of a friend and I love the exploration of networks and how they influence all of us. Everything from social media to traditional social structures and worldviews gets a turn.
On the fiction front, Clive Cussler’s Plague Ship was a fun beach read. Richard Power’s Pulitzer-winning Overstory was the perfect companion to my morning readings immersed with nature on the beach (yes, there were no trees, but it was easy to see the power of mother nature with every sunrise, wave, and gust of wind).
It’s not Key West, but I wanted to send a thank you to the South Padre sunrise. Over the years, my semi-regular pilgrimage to the southern Texas coast has resulted in 10 short stories, 5 published pieces, three novel ideas, and given voice to hundreds of embers my muse uses to fuel the writer in me. Thanks to the great people and places we always meet along the way. We will be back soon.
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