Category Archives: Uncategorized

Reading FEED by M.T. Anderson and 68 KILL by Bryan Smith

I get to read a lot of young adult/middle reader books because, well, that’s what my boys read. So I picked up this book called Feed by M.T. Anderson, which is a young adult novel set in a future where everyone’s hooked into a constant feed from, well, somewhere – sort of like Facebook and Amazon on steroids. Imagine getting messages beamed right into your head based on what you just looked at or listened to or bought – like what Amazon does with its book recommendations and many other sites do now when we surf the net. (Buy a pair of sneakers for an eighth grader? Suddenly all the ads at your favorite music site are for shoes from Reebok or whatever…) “TV” programming is beamed directly into the characters’ skulls and instead of drugs, they go “mal”, which seems to be visiting a site that sort of scrambles the feed to a point where you’re disoriented and you seem drugged. Everything is at the tip of one’s…well…mind.

The drama in this one comes when the main character Titus is attracted to a girl (Violet) and Violet has problems with her feed, and because these things are so integrated with the brain, it threatens to kill her. How Titus reacts is a large part of the story, but just the way their world works is just as big. It could be falling apart around them and no one would notice because they’re too distracted by their feeds.

It extrapolates what we’re experiencing today, with political distraction from huge, important issues that have the potential to help all of us, and instead are framed to benefit corporations. I’m enjoying the book, though I think it could be better structured. And it’s a bit confusing, being in Titus’ head for much of the book. He’s a teenager in the future, where the slang, the actions, the terminology, are very different from what today’s slang, actions, and terminology are. And then it’s more confusing because I’m not a teen and I don’t understand some of the stuff from TODAY!

I’m not going to have my 13-year-old read it yet because I think it’s a little above him still. But later, it may contain some important lessons and food for thought.

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I’ve also started 68 KILL by Bryan Smith. Can’t say too much about it yet. I like Smith’s other horror offerings. Hoping this one is as good.

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The Hypnotic Power of Amazon…

So over the weekend I got two short story pairs published on Amazon. It gave me a couple of starts and stops, but I finally got there. (Thanks to author Sean Hayden for making that little suggestion that got me there!)

And as I looked in today, I noted that I actually sold a short story! With no promotion, I sold one! Amazing, huh? So now I see how writers can get sucked into checking sales numbers all the time.

I haven’t gone back yet, but I’m sure I will do so again before the end of the day.

Need…..To……Know…..Did…..Anyone……Buy…….Another?…..

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Odd Man Out is Live on Amazon!

And then there were two…

Odd Man Out has gone live on Amazon as of today!

Here is the description…

When making their annual visit to a cabin in the woods , Paul and his six friends are prepared for a fun weekend of relaxation, good eats and quality time with their significant others. And they are all looking forward to playing their annual game. But it’s Roger’s turn to choose the game, and who knows what he has in mind?

A short horror tale of approximately 1600 words.

Includes the bonus horror story HOUSE AT THE BEND IN THE ROAD (approximately 1800 words).

You can buy Odd Man Out at Amazon for $0.99!

Thanks!

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Sole Occupant is Live on Amazon!

Sole Occupant is live on Amazon!

Here’s the description:

Even though they frequently told their guests that their house was haunted, none of the eight college students living there really believed it was. But when one of them finds himself home alone on a weekend night, the big old house makes him rethink his beliefs. Is a ghostly resident playing games with him, or is it all in his imagination?

A 2400 word short horror tale.

Includes the bonus flash fiction story: The Only Solution (685 words)

You can buy Sole Occupant on Amazon for $0.99!

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The Second Cover: Odd Man Out

Here’s a look at my second cover for my upcoming short story, Odd Man Out. This story will contain the bonus story, The Moment.

Odd_Man_Out_Dyson

The cover was done (again!) by my friend Rich Siegle. Check out Rich’s band, The ExitSpecialists on Facebook, where you can link to their music. (It’s the least I can do in return for Rich!)

Watch this blog for announcements very soon about the publication of these two works!

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A Look At My First Cover: SOLE OCCUPANT

Well, here it is! The cover of the first of those short story pairs I wrote about.

I’m not going to talk about the contents of the story right now – I figure that the best time to talk about it is when the story is actually coming out. But I hope the cover gives you a glimpse of the content.

The cover artist is Rich Siegle. Rich is a good friend of mine, besides being a talented graphic artist and a talented musician and songwriter. Check out the page for his band The ExitSpecialists on Facebook! (Thanks Rich!)

Check back for the next cover in a day or two!

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What’s coming…

I have a plan. It’s taking me some time to execute it, but certain things are starting to come together. Like this website, for example. And Deadlock Press, which should be up and running by next weekend. Then comes the publishing.

I plan on starting with short stories. I am going to publish four short stories as soon as I get the publishing company’s business stuff done. They are:

Sole Occupant
Odd Man Out
Jack’o’lantern
The Gateway

All are short stories, between 2000 and 3000 words, I believe, which is a little short. So each will come with a bonus short story as well. And more short stories are on the way.

After I get the short stories done, I will be releasing a collection of all of them. I plan on doing a paper version of the collection as well.

Then come the longer works. There are three finished at this point; the shortest is about 27000 words, and the longest is about 45000 words.

Look for the cover art of the short stories here soon. Maybe even later today on a couple of them.

Thanks for looking in!

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The Writings of Scott Dyson

Hello!

So you’ve found me here! I’m glad. I was starting to get lonely!

Welcome to the website of Scott Dyson, writer of horror, mystery and science/speculative fiction. That’s me. By day I am a health care professional, and have been for over 25 years. When I have a few spare minutes, I write stuff.

I’ve been writing since I was in elementary school. It is a passion I have always had, to go along with my habit of reading. I cut my teeth on Asimov and Heinlein, but when I was exposed to a young author named Stephen King, that’s when I really decided I wanted to tell stories like he did.

Of course, I don’t consider myself to be a King-like talent, but I think I have stories to tell and I just want to tell the kinds of stories that I would like to read. I tend to gravitate toward horror fiction with forays into mystery and science fiction/fantasy.

Are they any good? Entertaining? Well, that’s for you to decide. I think they are, and I hope that you agree, of course. Eventually I plan to have some free short stories on the site, as well as sample chapters.

On this blog, I plan on writing about my experiences with self-publishing, my writing issues, my love of music, film and themed entertainment (yes, I’m talking about places like Disney and Universal), and maybe even some sports talk.

I’m glad to finally be here, and I will be happy to use this space to announce my own new releases, along with letting my readers know about releases from other indie authors that I like and want to support. (Let’s face it – the likes of Stephen King and Michael Connelly and Janet Evanovich probably don’t need my help, so I won’t go out of my way to give it – unless they come out with something that strikes me as extraordinary!)

So…Stay tuned…