Daily wisdom

Perfection is what it is, not what we think it should be.

I wrote this quote almost two decades ago. But, what does it mean?

It means that we, as humans, expect perfection. From ourselves, from others, life, God, work, relationships. We strive for perfection. We complicate our lives, when really, we should be doing the opposite. We're adding to something that doesn't need adding to, when we should actually be taking away. Simplicity is really the closest thing to perfection there is, and funnily enough, simplicity is difficult to explain.

It's like taking 5+5 and turning it into a quantum equation. So, when life gets tough, when you want something so badly you think you're going to burst, step back, breathe, and instead of making a problem bigger by adding to it...

Use the eraser. Our minds tend to overcomplicate things. Life was meant to be enjoyed, to learn, to laugh, to love. Don't turn it into an maze.

Walk forward, smile, and smell the roses.

Note: I will post more bits of wisdom like this more frequently, so if you're interested, definitely comment and let me know.

Puppeteer of the Dead 2 is now available for preorder!

Ebook will be released on June 1, 2018! Or you can get the paperback now from Amazon. Subscribe HERE to my mailing list for a free ebook (you must verify via email).

Some things are worse than zombies, and they're alive and well...

Click here for ebook preorder link

After a disastrous zombie outbreak ravages the majority of the population of the United States, the remaining survivors are rounded up and flown to remote locations—safe-zones—until the pandemic can be resolved. Maynard Dunn, his family, and new acquaintances soon find themselves on Conlaven Island, a perceptible paradise... at first. But only days after they arrive, they learn that not all is as it seems. People go missing, some are found dead—then undead—and the destructive military force has apparently become unhinged by the broken state the world is in. Maynard, as well as everyone else, soon learns that zombies may just be the lesser of the two evils compared to deranged, reckless humans.

These wolves in sheep's clothing, unlike the zombies, are armed.

The civilians are not.

How will they survive this—what's supposed to be a secure refuge?

Read to find out!

To all my readers and fans: sorry it took so long to write part two. It was one of the most arduous books I have ever written, and the longest. Part 3 will come out sooner than 2. I am a slow writer, not because I choose to be, but because I try making my books a joy to read, thus am a perfectionist (or try to be) with my work. Thanks for understanding!

My NEW YA/coming-of-age drama, Suriviving High School

I normally write horror novels. Short stories, screenplays, everything horror. It's my forte. It's what I enjoy most. But now I've ventured out of my comfort zone and wrote Surviving High School (The aNT'S Club Way). This YA novel is for every confused, bullied, victimized, and lonely outcast in the world, whether they be in school, at work, or wherever. The profanity is mild; I never use the eff word, and only use curse words at all because all high school kids do so. I did not want to water it down too much and make it unbelievable, and I believe this novel hits every delicate nerve of the high school experience. It's available for pre-order now (ebook version is on Amazon online; paperback to come soon, weeks before the ebook is released).

We are not alone in this world, even though it may seem so. We are one, and we are not losers, weirdos, or any one of the numerous derogatory names all the minorities like to call us. We are beautiful. We are strong in a different way. And we have a place in this tough world. I wrote this tale for you, for all of us. A blurb, link, and cover reveal, is below :)

Sixteen-year-old Matt Ingis is just trying to survive high school. But every proceeding day is always worse than the last. The constant bullying, combined with the crippling anxiety and depression, makes Matt's life a living hell. Duke Rogers, the biggest, baddest kid in Blake High, beats him up whenever he sees him. Everyone else either blatantly ignores him or belittles him. His parents are too wrapped up in their divorce to listen to his problems. And the only thing his therapist's been able to do is fuel his anger.

Stumped for a solution, Matt has an impromptu idea one day while watching an ant crawl across the lunch room table. He consequently decides to create his own therapy group in order to overcome his growing list of problems. With the help of his only friend, Ray Miller, they seek out two other troubled high-school rejects into The aNT'S Club. But will it work? Only one thing is for certain. If Matt doesn't get the help he needs soon, his repeated truancy will inevitably lead him to Briarwell, a juvenile detention center. And he would rather commit suicide before ending up there.

FREE for July 25th,2017: The Music of 1997

If you liked the film, The Butterfly Effect, you should read the novella, The Music of 1997, by Troy McCombs. It is the literary equivalent of The Butterfly Effect. Below is a blurb.

Stephen Stanson had it rough: no job, no friends, no girl, no life. He hasn't even listened to any modern music that he's liked for quite some time: 1997, to be exact.

The first song he hears from that era, he learns one night while flipping through TV channels and finding a music video station, can take him back to 1997... where suddenly he has a chance to fix everything that went wrong.

But there are two complications: he only has the time of the duration of the song(s) to work the problems out, and the songs themselves only work until Stephen gets used to them. After that, they can't transport him back to 97 anymore.

So here he is, stuck between 2001, his present, and 97, the best year of his life before everything fell apart.

Can he repair his broken past? Only time will tell, and of that, he's got little left.


https://www.amazon.com/Music-1997-time-travel-story-ebook/dp/B003DTMUJO/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1500964399&sr=8-20&keywords=troy+mccombs

Wanna know why people really kill themselves in the Suicide Forest? This is why:

Enter above (on picture) for a chance to win a free e-copy of the short story. Four will be given away. Below is a blurb. Click on picture to go to site for entry in contest!

Some drugs are dangerous... but this one might damn your soul...

Determined stoners Chaz Markis and Hayden Couter set out to find Devil's Root, a little-known and perhaps mythical hallucinogen that may or may not exist. Supposedly, it only grows in Japan's Aokigahara Forest, the infamous Suicide Forest, and is somehow responsible for the rash of suicides and odd occurrences that have happened there. As they venture deeper into the woods and farther from civilization, they soon discover that maybe all the other drugs they have a past with are much safer and far less powerful.

Nothing is worse for Adam McNicols than high school. Soon, when he breaks, nothing becomes worse for his enemies than Adam himself! Graphic violence! Reader's discretion is strongly advised! Free ebook today only, the 26 of October.

 

Damaged

 

 

 

My NEW zombie epic, Puppeteer of the Dead, is almost here!

Puppeteer of the Dead: Book 1: The Living Dead

 

 

 

The end of the world begins at 30,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of miles from land. A military aircraft en route to Denver, loaded with deceased American soldiers, disappears into an aberrant mass of storm clouds that appear almost out of nowhere. The pilots are startled by a sudden commotion in the cargo bay, where the air trays are kept. What they find stuns them all: the dead moving, alive and angry and hungry for human flesh--this is the first reported incident.

Days pass. The bodies of the recently deceased return to life, first near landmasses near the ocean, then elsewhere. They cannot be killed in any practical way, only incapacitated by dismemberment or blinding. Medical and military facilities around the globe work together in order to solve this baffling, unparalleled mystery. What they discover is maddening. These zombies are ingrained with a malignant root system, put there by some unknown and sinister force which is controlling them remotely.

The fate of the world rests with a small, unassuming group of people looking to find refuge from the dead and hopefully survive Armageddon. It's Maynard Dunn, a family man and ex-marine, who will lead them: Peter, an unrenowned psychic; Andrew, a brilliant scientist and biologist; Tony, a reckless teenage boy with homicidal tendencies; Faith, a suicidal and agoraphobic young woman; and Don, an old geezer with dementia who can hear the voice of pure evil.

This is Book 1 in a series of three, titled Puppeteer of the Dead: The Living Dead. Book 2, which I haven't started yet, will deal with the internal corruption among the remaining survivors; and three, the malign force behind the zombies themselves.

IF you're interested in winning a free paperback copy, comment. I'm giving away a select few, randomly. Thanks