The Worlds of Michael D'Ambrosio

Hello, everyone! I’ve just returned from Phoenix and an awesome weekend with the “Dark Ones” at DarkCon. These people were an absolutely great crowd to be a part of. I have to give special thanks to Mike and Blaze for all their help this weekend. I’d also like to thank everyone at DarkCon who purchased books from me. It was a very unexpected but successful trip.
The new edition of Dark Horizon, from Az Publishing made its debut at DarkCon as well. With a retail price of $12.00, this is a great reduction from the $17.95 that the previous edition was retailed at. When I go to CapriCon next month, I should have copies of the new edition of Twisted Fate, which is retailing at $12.00 as well. This is down from $16.95. By February, I expect to have the new edition of Fractured Time out as well at the same price as the others. I will likely offer the set for $30.00 at conventions as well.
Thanks again for joining me.

Michael D.

Well, it’s not the real big news (a movie deal) but it’s exciting. The Fractured Time Trilogy has been picked up by AZ Publishing. The third edition of each will be ready in a few months with some modifications. When I wrote the screenplay, I also wrote a 13 episode TV series to go with it. That was one way to use all of the material in the book in a screenplay. In the process, I also created some new scenes which I always wished could be in the book. The first two books (Fractured Time & Twisted Fate) have a few additional chapters and the opportunity to improve on the original story. As soon as it’s available, I’ll attach a new “Buy Now” link in each book’s submenu.
Night Creeps has been released and should be available on-line within a nother week or two. Remember, this is an adult horror tale that was inspired by stories on the road from “very” unhappy couples. It’s funny how a warped story can be twisted even further.
PhilCon was much improved this year over last year. The staffers are a hard working bunch and their efforts were reflected in its success. The attendance seemed to be up as well, which is tough to do in this economy. I was very pleased with book sales there as well. Thanks to everyone who came by and double thanks to those who purchased my books.
LosCon was also a very pleasant success. While sales were down a bit for obvious economic reasons, there was a very good attendance there and the programming was excellent. I was really impressed with the attendance at each panel as well, particularly at 10 a.m. on Sunday. I really enjoyed that crew. They were very energetic and their participation made for a very exciting discussion. Thanks, everyone. I spent an evening in Santa Barbara and was impressed by this beautiful area. It was great for winding down after the convention. Stearn’s Wharf is the perfect place to relax and enjoy great dining, wine tasting and a little shopping as well.
After the holidays, I should have some news on The Devil’s Playground, book 3 in the Space Frontiers Series, as far as a release date. I expect not until summer at the earliest but we’re working diligently on some of the details (jacket details, etc.). For those of you who have read books one and two, you’ll find this a very surprising and exciting follow-up to Dangerous Liaisons.
I’m working on my schedule of appearances for next year and I’m listing them as I commit to them. I’m afraid I might have to cut back a bit so I can spend more time writing again. These last two months have been a whirlwind and I’m falling behind on both my novels and screenplays. Keep an eye on the home page for my updated schedule. Thanks to my web wizard, Jason Curran, I can now update most of the site at anytime.
Thanks for joining me. I wish you all a very happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

All the best,

Mike D’Ambrosio

Hello, everyone and welcome to my new site. I’m finally catching up to the 21st century and I have to thank Jason Curran, my webmaster for a great job. I just returned from AstronomiCon (Rochester) and WindyCon in Chicago and still have PhilCon (Cherry Hill, NJ) and LosCon (Los Angeles, CA) to go. I had an excellent time with some very good people at the Westin Lombard in Chicago. Andi and Deborah, it was good seeing you again and I hope you enjoy the books. Darlene and Walter are two of the kindest and entertaining people I know. I can’t wait to come back and see you all again. I’m hoping it will be CapriCon in February.

Well, now for some really interesting news. Night Creeps should be appearing soon on Amazon and I’ll attach a link on its page under “novels”. In addition, I am no longer under contract with iUniverse for the Fractured Time Trilogy. Az Publishing is picking up the trilogy and it will be expanded with new material as well. As soon as I have the information for the availability of the books, I will post it.

I’ll have more to say on things in a few weeks when I return from the left coast after December 2nd. In the meantime, check out chapter one of Night Creeps and get ready for a warped story that is different than anything I’ve written thus far. I am nervous about it since writing this type of horror is a little new to me.

Thanks again for your support,

Mike D.

Welcome back to another edition of Author’s Corner. I recently attended Fright Night Film Festival in Louisville Kentucky, my first horror convention, and Archon near St. Louis.  There were a number of very talented people at Fright Night that I had the opportunity to meet and talk with.  Among them were famous celebrities like Linda Blair and Michael Madsen. From the lesser know but very talented ranks were Alex Del Monacco, Tucky Williams, Steve Zimmer, Fred Olen Ray and George Wilbur. Two artists that deserve mentioning are Scott Blair and Jeff Gaithner. Scott creates impressive pinups of models from sketches he draws while Jeff creates just about every kind of horror creature you could imagine using the same process.  It was also a good opportunity to start a new fan base as I had never been to Kentucky before. I’m looking forward to returning next year.

Archon is a great convention and I’m developing a growing fan base there. Over the last two years, I’ve gotten to know quite a few fans and earned a few new ones as well.

Recently, I contracted with Film Literary Group to help with the marketing and promotion of the screenplay for The Eye of Icarus. Their experience has helped to create a better script and I’m hoping their track record will open the door to a deal soon. I haven’t heard any new news from Du Jour Entertainment in a while on the script for Fractured Time.  Everything seems to have slowed up with the economy as it is so no bites on Night Creeps or The Christmas Solution either. I’m working on developing a different plotline for The Queen of Spades since Sarah Palin and John McCain came too close to making my script the real thing. There’s nothing worse than stealing a writer’s thunder with reality. I have been so involved with the conventions, marketing and promotion, that I haven’t had much of a chance to write.

Listed under reviews, I’ve added a podcast that was listed by Gail Martin of Ghost in the Machine podcasts. Check out her website at www.GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com .

October and November will be busy months as I hit the road again for Tampa, Rochester, Chicago and Los Angeles along with a local convention in Cherry Hill NJ. Also added is DarkCon (Phoenix) and Frolicon in Atlanta for Easter weekend. This is an adult science fiction convention which should be interesting.

Thanks again for joining me and please come back again.

All the best,

Michael D’Ambrosio

Welcome back to another edition of Author’s Corner. I see that the Screen Actors’ Guild in Los Angeles has settled on a new contract with the motion picture producers. I expect that the number of leads coming out for screenplays should significantly increase finally. During the drought, I entered my screenplays into contests with Story Pros and Wild Sound.

I also subscribed for feedback on each project which was my main goal anyway and was very pleased with the responses from both. While I think that each script was very good, I found that I could take it to another level of detail thanks to the contest committees. It wasn’t hard to edit based on their recommendations, it was just a matter of realizing what could be added to enhance the story to a viewer.

Such things as implementing flashbacks, bits of characters’ pasts, and a broader description in the world that they play instead of just the scene itself can be used to make a script much more attractive. There are some things that you can only learn from experience.

My horror story, Night Creeps, was submitted and accepted by Helm Publishing, my current publisher for Space Frontiers. I’ve given up on responses from big publishers and continue my run with Helm with whom I’ve been very pleased.

The Devil’s Playground, book three of the Space Frontiers Series, will likely be released by Helm in the second half of 2010. Thus far, the series has done very well with The Eye of Icarus and Dangerous Liaisons. The series has really caught on with the younger readers (ages 12-18).

I’m still constructing the story lines for Galaxy of the Damned and book 5, untitled as of yet. I do expect this series to extend to at least ten books.

Coming up for me is WesterCon in Phoenix and Context in Columbus. If you are in either of those areas and would like to talk about writing with books or screenplays, you are welcome to join me for a discussion on most any topics. Join me again in August for an update on my worlds of science fiction and fantasy.

Thanks again,

- Michael D’Ambrosio