September 2014 – The South Side of the Moon

The secret is out!

For those of you who don’t follow me on Facebook, I posted a video a couple of days ago with a few huge, major, earth-shattering announcements. Yeah, they’re kind of a big deal.

1. C. Hoyt Caldwell’s latest offering is live and ready to pre-order on Amazon via the online retail giant’s Kindle Store. Just click the title and you’ll be in pre-order bliss in the blink of an eye. The title, of course, is The Closeout Kings. The official release date is Oct. 24, 2014.

2. Bad Way Out, C. Hoyt Caldwell’s first book will be available for free Oct. 4-5. Tell your friends. Tell your followers. Tell three random people on the street. Tell whomever you wish, just tell someone for God’s sake.

3. In case you don’t know, I am C. Hoyt Caldwell.

4. There will be a “new” Oz Chronicles book released within the next 6 weeks. Yay! It won’t be the final book in the series. Boo! It will be a secret version of the first book, The Takers. It has new chapters, a different ending, and Oz is a bit older. This is a version of the book a big time major publisher had me write and then ultimately passed on it. I’ve been waiting awhile to release this version because my agent shopped it around, but the buzz on The Takers has buzzed-out with the majors. So, I’m unleashing it for you all to read. The few people who have read it said it is better than the original. Let’s call this the alternate universe version. The image with this post is one possible cover and title option. Let me know what you think in the comments section below or on Facebook.

5. I’m working on an non-fiction book for the first time in my life. It’s what pushed Book Seven back to next year. Don’t hate. This is an incredible story of a friend of mine – Lee Deckelman. He’s currently working as a private security specialist. Think Liam Neeson in Taken, but not quite as tall. And yes, he does have those unique set of skills. He’s a former Army Ranger and Green Beret. From the day Lee was born he’s lived an incredible story of tragedy and triumph. He wants to tell his story so he can raise awareness for his Echelon Grey Foundation. The untold story about these security specialists and private contractors is the high rate of traumatic injuries they have to cope with when they come home. The corporations they work for operate to make profit, and there isn’t a lot of profit getting these men and women help when they come home. Lee wants to change that, and I want to help him.

That’s it. There ain’t no more… for today. Stay tuned. I’ve got a lot of stuff going on, including an update on my first stage play.

Yes, I’ve been gone for awhile, but I had a good excuse.

I’m such a bad self-promoter. The fact that I write a bi-weekly blog for CreateSpace that is, in part, about self-promotion is especially unforgivable when I disappear from the blog for a couple of weeks. The good news is that it’s because I’ve been exceedingly busy. The Closeout Kings final edit is done. Release coming soon. The first draft of my stage play, Never Living, is done. I’d love to arrange either a complete or partial read just so I can see what works and what doesn’t. It all works with me acting out every part, but I’m a fantastic actor, so it’s really not a great barometer for the piece.

Another project fell into my lap shortly after my last blog entry. It’s a new adventure for me. Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. This new adventure is a non-fiction piece. You read correctly. This guy, me, writer of monsters and hillbillies, has been given an exciting opportunity to write a biography of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Lee Deckelman. I’ll have more details later, but let’s just say Lee has lead an incredibly interesting and inspiring life that I’m privileged to get to tell. For you fans of the Oz Chronicles, you should be especially interested in Lee’s story. I modeled Oz’s resilience and toughness after Lee. The cool thing is that years ago I had the opportunity to let Lee’s kids know that in a signed copy of The Takers.

This will put Book Seven on the back burner for a little while, but to make up for the delay, I’ll have a surprise announcement in a week or so, maybe sooner. So, stay tuned.

Will I be frequenting the blog more often? I hope so. I can’t make any promises because I’ve got so much to do, but I shall do my very best.