J.C.’s “The Next Fix-Kindle” Promo

March 30, 2009

Professional writer, dark god and all-around badass Matt Wallace recently asked me to create a video promo to celebrate the release of the AWESOME Kindle release of his short story anthology, The Next Fix. Here’s what I cooked up; I hope you enjoy it.

More important, I hope you by The Next Fix for the Kindle. At four bucks, you’d be a fool not to snag a copy.

–J.C.

Posted by J.C. Hutchins | Filed Under All Posts, Announcements

“Personal Effects: Dark Art” Book Trailer #2

March 24, 2009

The innovative “vlurb” book trailer series for Personal Effects: Dark Art continues with this installment featuring bestselling horror authors Jeremy Robinson and Scott Sigler. These guys are horror maestros, and I’m honored to know that the book gave them a case of the wiggins.

Co-producer/editor Michael Bekemeyer gets a big hat-tip for his continued brilliance in the cutting room. Find the first video trailer here.

Please spread the word about this ongoing, groundbreaking video promotion by embedding the video on your blog. Email this page to friends. Tweet it. Facebook it. If you think this video is worthy of sharing, please do what you can to spread the word.

So click play. Crank it up. Be afraid of The Dark.

More videos are coming. Personal Effects: Dark Art. In bookstores everywhere this June. Pre-order now.

–J.C.

"Personal Effects: Dark Art" Book Trailer #2 [1:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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iPod version: “Personal Effects: Dark Art” Book Trailer #1

March 17, 2009

Personal Effects: Dark Art is fiction like you’ve never experienced — and it deserves an equally innovative book trailer video. This ain’t your father’s book trailer. It’s an ambitious mashup: part trailer, part author blurb. It was assembled on a shoestring budget, though I insist you’d never know.

Co-producer/editor Michael Bekemeyer and I spent months crafting this video for you. It’s the first in a series; expect more “vlurb” installments in the weeks ahead, each featuring testimonials from icons in the horror storytelling industry. We’re rewriting the rules of book promotion. We want you along for the ride.

Click play. Kick it into full-screen mode. Crank it up, and enjoy. And … if you’re feeling generous … evangelize.

Please spread the word about this groundbreaking video promotion by embding the video on your blog. Email this page to friends. Tweet it. Facebook it. If you think this video is worthy of sharing, please do what you can to spread the word.

More videos are coming. Personal Effects: Dark Art. In bookstores everywhere this June.

Be afraid of The Dark.

–J.C.

iPod version: "Personal Effects: Dark Art" Book Trailer #1 [1:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted by J.C. Hutchins | Filed Under All Posts, Announcements

“Personal Effects: Dark Art” Book Trailer #1

March 16, 2009

Personal Effects: Dark Art is more than a book — it’s an experience. Combining the narrative drive of a novel with a brainbending Alternate Reality Game, it blurs fiction and reality, making you part of the story. (Learn more about the book — and pre-order it — here.)

Personal Effects: Dark Art is a genre mash — part thriller, part procedural, part supernatural horror.

Crank it up, and enjoy. And … if you’re feeling generous … evangelize.

Please spread the word about this groundbreaking video promotion. Email your friends. Embed the video on your blog. Rate it. Comment on it. If you think this video is worthy of sharing, please do what you can to spread the word.

More videos are coming. Be afraid of The Dark.

Personal Effects: Dark Art. In bookstores everywhere this June.

–J.C.

"Personal Effects: Dark Art" Book Trailer #1 [1:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted by J.C. Hutchins | Filed Under All Posts, Announcements

REVIEW: “Patient Zero” by Jonathan Maberry

March 16, 2009

Jonathan Maberry must be stopped. No writer should be allowed to be this good, ever.

Two weeks ago, Maberry’s latest novel, Patient Zero, hit bookstores … and I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since. Part 28 Days Later, part 24, this book is the unholy offspring of George A. Romero and Tom Clancy. It’s bloody brilliant stuff.

Maberry — who is a multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author — has knocked it out of the park with Patient Zero. The concept is killer. So is Maberry’s execution.

Meet Joe Ledger, a Baltimore cop who’s got badassery in his genes. He’s ex-military, can kill you with a single martial arts punch, and is whip-smart. He’s the man Alpha males dream of being. Stellar detective.

But Ledger soon finds himself far from his precinct — and his comfort zone — when he’s recruited by an ultra-secret government organization called the Department of Military Sciences. The DMS has big plans for him … after all, they need Ledger to kill the very terrorist he offed less than a week ago.

You read that right. Ledger killed the terrorist. The terrorist was d-e-d, dead. He came back.

The DMS taskforce was created to deal with the problems that Homeland Security can’t handle. In this case, the problem is zombies. Lots of ‘em, many created by a super bio-weapon engineered by a terrorist group. The stakes are high — the only way stakes should be, in my opinion — and Ledger is in way over his head.

Maberry spins a tale that’s ferociously scary, over the top … and yet, absolutely rooted in reality. Hero Ledger is an authentic character, and the technology he and the DMS use are pulled from the front lines, not the space age. The supporting ensemble cast — including Ledger’s psychologist friend; a mysterious leader of the DMS; and an unlikely love interest — are realized as truly human characters, not cannon fodder cutouts.

And the villains. Oh, how they rock. A billionaire with ambitions to jump-start the apocalypse to make a financial killing. A beautiful, genius — and deadly — biochemist with a jones to set forth the greatest jihad the planet has known. A terrorist mastermind who’s far more clever than he appears.

And behind it all, pulling the strings like a master, is Maberry. His prose is well-grounded, visceral and frightening. His plotting is superb. Patient Zero is a must-read, not just for zombie fans (who will appreciate the biomedical thriller twist Maberry’s cooked up), but loyalists of Clancy, James Cameron (a master writer of the ensemble cast) and action thrillers.

It’s awesomely scary stuff. Highly recommended.

–J.C.

Posted by J.C. Hutchins | Filed Under All Posts, Announcements