New Cover Designs Posted

As you can see to the right of this post, the new cover designs are now available in the Killer Series. Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes look like they match and they should match, since they are parts one and two in the Killer Series. I hope that Book Three, when it's written, will be another matching cover. You never know, since I had two different cover artists for the first two books.

I would like, one day, to illustrate my own book covers. It is, after all, something that artists do. And since I am an artist, it would behoove me to illustrate my own covers. No one knows better than I do what my characters look like, and what my book covers should look like. Being an art teacher, I've kept my artistic skills in shape, and I've always had it in the back of my mind to illustrate my own book covers.

On that note, I think I'll start with the John Dunn cover. The Killer covers are done, so, for now anyway, they're already taken care of. As is The Vase. So John Dunn, being published next year, will benefit from my first endeavor at a book cover. Time to go to work.

Sweden Leading Blog Viewers

I happened to check my stats page and it seems that within the last week 76 of the blog's viewers were from Sweden. Sweden? I don't understand that. Germany came in second and the United States came in third. Do people understand English in Sweden? I suppose the Germans are bilingual, but Sweden? That's a mystery to me how they even heard of my blog.

I guess they Google stuff in Sweden and Germany, so that's how they come across the blog. Btw, Russia, too, is often a source of visitors to the blog, which I'll never understand why. Well if they speak English, here's to hoping all these people read English so they buy my books.

Killer Eyes will be released probably by mid September, so sorry for the delay. I expected it to be released by August, but it's no big deal, since September is still in plenty time for the holidays. So three books will be ready by Christmas. Killer of Killers and its sequel, Killer Eyes, and The Vase. Order one or all three of them today!

Full Cover Designs-Front and Back

With the imminent release of Killer Eyes, I thought I'd post in advance the full cover designs of both Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. I like them well enough, and hopefully prospective buyers will, also. Here's Killer of Killers:

And here's Killer Eyes:

 

Buy your copies on the Melange website or at Amazon.com. Let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see in Book Three.

What's Up With Dustin Clare and Amber Heard?

I had written some posts about Dustin Clare and Amber Heard as up and coming actors who I thought would be right for the parts of Trent Smith and Samantha Jones in my book Killer of Killers. But that was two or three years ago, and the careers of neither have taken off. Since Spartacus, Dustin Clare hasn't done anything of note, although he's finally resurfaced in the CineMax TV series Strike Back. But it seems to be a very small role.

As for Amber Heard, the biggest news about her has been her marriage to Johnny Depp. Other than that, the news about Amber Heard seems to be legal trouble involving Depp's dogs in Australia. I know she had a role in a B movie Machete Kills, and she's had parts in other movies that never made it to the big screen.

So it looks like my judge of talent is far from exemplary. Maybe it takes a movie like, say, The Transporter, which made Jason Statham into a big time star. Wouldn't it be terrific if Killer of Killers was that movie for Dustin Clare?

Well, Killer of Killers is unlikely to be a movie in my lifetime, anyway, so it's not something to worry about. But if anyone were to read the Killer stories, and like the characters, those would be the faces you could put on the names. That's all.

Fear the Walking Dead

I like the AMC channel's Walking Dead series, so I gave the new series Fear the Walking Dead a chance last night. I didn't get past the first commercial. I may or may not get back to it and watch the entire series, but it reminds me of producers who want to capitalize on their popular show or heroes. Usually, it's a female version of whatever male hero that was a hit.

For example, The Six Million Dollar Man put out the Bionic Woman. The Man from Uncle put out The Girl from Uncle. Superman put out Supergirl, Bat Man put out Bat Girl, and Spider-man put out Spider-woman. I'm sure that list goes on and on.

Then there's the spin offs, which are innumerable. All in the Family spun off The Jeffersons, Happy Days spun off Laverne and Shirley, Mary Tyler Moore spun off Rhoda, etc.

But there is another version of this. It's when the producers of whatever popular series just go overboard with it. It happened in comics when you had the original Amazing Spider-man, then they put out the Spectacular Spider-man, Marvel Team-ups featuring Spider-man, and several more.

When the X-Men took over as the most popular comic book, the original series Uncanny X-Men put out just plain X-Men, then X-Factor, X-Force, Excalibur, The New Mutants, X-Man, and so many more I can't keep up with them.

I used to love Spider-man and the X-Men, now I can't stand any comics at all. I just got sick of them and I stopped collecting. The only reason for these producers going overboard is money. There's a point where the amount of a particular product is just right, and then there's the overboard point. Some call it the bottom line. Make as much money as possible. In my opinion, when it reaches that point, it's no longer art. It's nothing more than greed. And when it reaches that point, I lose interest. I wonder if anyone else is like me in that regard.

New Cover Design on Print Version, but...

The new cover design to Killer of Killers is on the print copies, but I'm not sure if it's on the digital copies yet. I don't suppose it matters one way or another which cover design is used. It's the inside that matters, and the writing and the story, characters, plot, etc. is the same no matter which cover is on it.

As for the sequel, Killer Eyes, I'm still waiting for my print copy, so I can't say yet when it will be released. I'm expecting it any day now. As for Killer on the Payroll, I'm still perfecting the plot in that one. Basically, it's about a martial arts tournament held on an unnamed island in the South China Sea. But unlike the underground fighting circuits held in Japan, which named the world's greatest martial artist, the winner of this tournament will be named the world's greatest killer.

Of course there will be a lot of other things going on in the story. Like the ultimate fate of the Eternity drug, and the characters from the first two books in the series. I haven't decided if I will leave the story open for a fourth book, but I don't think I will. That doesn't mean there won't be a fourth book. That's always possible. That's what series are...the continuation of a story.

I mean look at Batman, Superman, and Spider-man. Their stories didn't end after three episodes. Those characters have had literally hundreds of continuing stories or episodes, although they were comic books, not novels. James Bond is going on three dozen, I believe, at this time. But that includes a few rehashed stories with different actors in the role.

Whether or not the Killer Series exceeds three books is up in the air. I will write a third book. That much is certain. A fourth will depend on reader interest. If the readership increases to the level of a print run book, I will. If it remains small, like the POD versions, then I won't. It remains to be seen.

Trilogies

I've noticed that it's not unusual for movies or books to be trilogies. The Lord of the Rings is a perfect example of a book trilogy that became a movie trilogy. The Bourne movies/books are a more recent example of a trilogy. The Transporter, too. And the Godfather, unfortunately became a trilogy, but that should have just remained a two movie deal, since the third one sucked.

The thing is, however, if said trilogy became a money maker, the producers will want to extend the trilogy to more sequels or movies. That's why a fourth Bourne movie was made, albeit with another actor in the role, and even the Transporter is coming out with a fourth movie, and again with another actor in the role. The bottom line is money, so if the movies make money, they'll keep making movies. It's why there's twenty-plus James Bond movies, with a bevy of different actors in the role.

As for my book, Killer of Killers? It does need one more book. Which will make it a trilogy. Should I extend it to more books? Probably won't happen. I left the story open for a second book, which is why I wrote Killer Eyes, and even a third, but beyond that? Well, nothing is certain. I suppose it could go beyond a trilogy, and maybe I would like to see it happen, but realistically, I would not count on it.

I will write a third Trent Smith martial arts thriller, a book three in the Killer Series, and only the right circumstances will pave the way for a fourth book and/or more. Only time will tell.