No More Mr. Nice Guy!

Have you ever felt following the rules and being nice got you whacked with the short end of the stick?

I mean, seriously. You grow up taught that if you do this or that a certain way and take everybody's crap nobody will come along and slam your fingers in the car door. Life will be easy if you just accept and acclimate.

A pity life sometimes doesn't work that way, and the phrase "Nice guys finish last" sometimes rings only too true.

Small case in point from a few weeks back. Been going to my local gym for years. Often I bring my 12-year-old niece with me. She sits at one of the table reserved for those waiting for friends or loved ones to finish a workout. She waits. Quietly. Reads or texts to one of her little friends. She looks a few years older than she is and acts that way.

In the five plus years I have been a member, no one has said a word about it. I see other kids there waiting. Some quiet, some that would make monkey poop flinging look respectful.

My niece and I follow the rules. Get along. Hassle no one.

So one day New Manager Girl apparently decides some kids are OK and some are not. She singles me out and tells me no one under 13 is allowed "on the premises" anymore, though clearly that does not apply to her friends. I'm told, "It's OK for today but in the future..." She does this in front of everyone.

Uh-oh, Embarrassing.

"What?" I say, my face flushing. "Really? Is that a new rule?"

"No," Miss McBitchy proclaims. "We just let it slide for some long-termers. Sorry."

Like I said, I've always followed the rules. My niece does, too. But I am a bit black and white on some issues and I think if you enforce rules they should be enforced for everybody fairly. I'm not much for nepotism but maybe it's time it had its use.

Not being able to take my niece all summer would have caused a huge adjustment in my schedule, because even at 12, there's no way I leave her home alone. Not in this screwed up world or pervs and Internet stalkers.

Normally I would suck it up and accept the decree. I hate making waves. I don't like to argue and I don't like folks being angry with me.

Which is strange, because I write characters who are the ooposite. Chloe Everson in my Chloe Files series never takes "no" for an answer. A closed door is an open invitation to her. A "Don't go there!" means "Here I come! She can be a bit of a squeaky wheel, in a good way that protects her friends and loved ones, and herself. But she is never an ass about it. That would be worse. She smiles and kills with kindness and a bit of bump and grind.

Since I don't have the bump and grind Chloe does, I normally just shut up and take it.

But not this time.

It probably didn't help I had already been cut off and fingered by an idiot driver on the way there. That I had had one of those mornings where you just wake up either bumping into or dropping everything. So as Alice Cooper sings...No More Mr. Nice Guy.

What Miss McBitchy didn't know was that the owner was a friend of the family. I detest asking friends for favors. I am introverted in person. I don't being treated differently than everybody else, though in this case I already had been. But sometimes enough is enough.

My niece again comes with me to the gym. Miss McBitchy glares at me with the Evil Eye each time I sign in. I act pleasant and respectful. I'd like to think she just thought she was doing her job. I know she doesn't like me much, but I can live with that because a greater good came out of it. The rule has now been changed to accommodate all kids close to the age mark who are well behaved (which is a good thing because many single moms go there trying to lose weight and cannot afford daycare. The gym membership is only ten dollars a month. Since that is heavily the gym's base, it seemed like a good idea to point this out to the manager above Miss McBitchy).

I guess sometimes you have to break the rules or be stepped all over. Sometimes your wheel has to squeak a little.

That's what Chloe says. I think she might be right... ;)

My name is Chloe Everson. My mission is just beginning. I kick demon ass... The Chloe Files. $2.99 on: Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLCRYK
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Chloe-Files-1/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012513571

Fighting Real Demons 2: Amy Winehouse

Chloe Everson, the heroine of my paranormal series The Chloe Files fights demons. While Chloe battles mostly supernatural baddies in her adventures, usually frightened enough to pee in her panties but always having the courage to tell the Devil to stuff it up his muffin, there are real demons in this world, the personal demons, and far too many people we know and care about are battling them.

And too often lose.

Yet, they fight with more courage than Chloe could ever muster. I have personally witnessed many family members battle the demon of addiction—alcohol, prescription medication , even cocaine. They’re fought, somehow, against all hope, looked that dread dependence square in the eye and told it to piss off. That takes incredible bravery. A few, like the character I write, have fought their demons and won. But it’s rare. Celebrities like Robert Downey, Jr. and Alice Cooper come to mind. Both have recovered from addiction/alcoholism and have gone on to give so much more of their talent to their fans.

Sadly, Amy Winehouse did not. Her passing at such a young age after a lengthy battle with her personal drug demons might well have been expected. That makes it nonetheless tragic and less a loss. In a performance in Ireland on what would be her final comeback tour, she was booed off stage. It didn’t take a genius to look at that girl and see she was stunned, barely able to function, a deer caught in the headlights. Yet some fans, the very people who professed to care about her, booed her.

The prognoses for recovery from an opiate addiction is worse than that of cancer, according to statistics. Without a support network, even less. What does Cancer have to do with addiction? A lot. Cancer eats away at everything the body is, overriding the body’s systems before shutting them down. It causes extreme pain. So does addiction. Addicts become someone they are not as the drug of choice overwrites their very nature. It causes tremendous emotional pain. It eats away at their health and well being until little more than a shell is left, a shell begging for help. They are often unable to stop the overwhelming demon possessing them. If that’s not a disease, I don’t know what else is.

Yet, who would boo a singer suffering from cancer off stage? We would applaud them for getting out there and giving of themselves, despite their condition. Did Amy Winehouse deserve any less?

I recall some pretty horrible nights as a child when one of my grandmothers was battling alcoholism (encouraged by an abusive husband). I was probably eleven or twelve. She was staying with us on one of her separation periods from my grandfather. I’d be asleep and wake to the sound of choking. I would sneak up the stairs to see my parents desperately tipping her upside down, trying to dislodge a pill from one of her medications caught in her throat she had tried to swallow with whiskey. That sight burned itself into my mind. I loved my grandmother. To see her falling into such a pitiful position left a scar on my childhood, the first of many.

Chloe is not real. Her fights against the supernatural aren’t real. I script her battles, though I would swear to it SHE tells me what to do, who she is. But her courage and willingness to help her friends in trouble can be real.

In us.

No, not everyone can be saved. No, friends and family cannot always help, nor let the affected one drag them to Hell with them. But too many times the problems are either swept under the rug or even, tragically, exacerbated by those around the affected person, perhaps worse so with a celebrity surrounded by too many yes men.

Chloe has a motto in her battles with demons: Don’t enable, don’t ignore. I think that applies to the situation in real life as well. That’s a tough course to follow, and we’re not always strong enough. But isn’t it the right one? The HUMAN one? Isn’t a life worth fighting for?

These people are fighting demons. Whether we see it or not. I’m sure Miss Winehouse fought hard, but was simply overwhelmed in the end. And in the end you have to respect her because she TRIED.

Few people would label addicts as heroes. Perhaps rightly so. But their personal battles can be, indeed, heroic.

It’s just too bad that heroism sometimes just isn't enough…


My name is Chloe Everson. My mission is just beginning. And I've just begun to kick Demon ass...
The Chloe Files...Only $2.99 on Kindle and Nook
Exorcist not included.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLCRYK

Growing Up Bullied...

When I was ten I was afraid of the bus.

Well, not the bus itself, exactly. Rather, who was on the bus.

I remember my legs shaking as I trudged up the street at seven in the morning to the bus stop. Palms sweating. Heart thudding.

I would wait there, dreading its arrival. A few moments later, the telltale rumble of its wheels from around the corner and the grr-grr-grr laboring of its engine as it stalked toward me would send shivers down my spine and make me consider a mad dash back home. But the hiss of its door opening like a great yellow mouth wanting to swallow me froze me where I stood—until the driver peered at me like I was a dork and said, “Well, are you coming today?”

Riding the bus was a nightmare because I knew who was waiting for me. Every single day.

I won’t reveal his name, because it is an unusual one and would be instantly recognizable to some reading this. I liked to call him--“The Booger.” Though not to his face.

I was The Booger’s daily entertainment. It didn’t matter where I sat. Because wherever it was he would move to sit behind me. I would try to slouch forward. It never worked. I would quiver in dreaded expectation of what was coming. And it always did.

The first thing I would feel was a horrendous thump on the back of my head. He would use one knuckle, just one hard-as-concrete knuckle, to slam me in the skull. Hard.

My eyes would water and I would hear his laughter behind me. I didn’t dare cry because, well, that would have gotten me a harder thump.

I could hide from him most of the day in school, but on the bus…there was nowhere to hide.

It was torture. I dreaded school. I knew everyday he would get his chance to hurt me (and not just me, because he had other victims, including his younger brother, whose nose he broke, though I might have been a personal favorite) and nobody would do a thing about it. Teachers never saw it. The bus driver was too busy watching the road and I didn’t dare tell him.

Other kids thought it was hilarious.

I spent a lot of my young life in a state of panic. I was the odd kid out, for the most part. I didn’t fit in and that made me a target. In fact, I can recall trying to see behind my head in the mirror to see if there were actually a target painted on my scalp, or if some kid had taped one of those idiot “Kick me” signs to my back.

My early neighborhood life was like that. Always three certain kids who hung together, lions searching for the weakest antelope. Sometimes I tried to fit in, compromise myself and do the “normal” things kids my age liked to do. But that didn’t last long, because they would find ways to make me or another kid like me have “an accident”. “Oh, we’re so sorry you got nailed in the head with that baseball…it slipped.”

Getting bullied is never fun, and often what seems like light-hearted horseplay to those doing it, is sheer torture to the ones receiving it. It’s NEVER funny.

And no one seems really to do much about it. Tell the teacher, they say. Yeah, right. Invitation to a beat up. The bigger they are the harder they fall, they say. Uh, nope, the harder they hit. Bullies are just insecure people who need our understanding. Uh, really? I'd be much more inclined to show them understanding if they weren't causing me pain and terror. Stand up to them, they're really cowards. Well, I can testify from a position looking up from the ground that, no, not all of them are.

It didn’t change until I was an adult and got into martial arts and bodybuilding, but that didn’t make up for a childhood of fear.

I think that’s one reason I included a bully in my children’s horror series, The Nightmare Club. The kids in the book are misfits, kids who don’t quite fit in. So a Fonzie wannabe name Jimmy Gibbens (The Gibb as they call him in the book) is always trying to beat up (or worse) one of the gang. But in the books The Gibb, unlike real life, often comes out on the short end of the stick and winds up needing the Club to save him.

Of course he never appreciates it and stops trying to torture them.

Bullying kids often grow up to be bullying adults. Spousal abusers, the like. It needs to stop. Kids need to feel like they belong, not like they are alienated, and certainly not in fear everyday of their lives. Aren’t there enough bad things in this world for adults to deal with? Can’t we at least provide our kids with a safer environment growing up?

Of course, we all need life lessons. But there’s a limit. And bullying is it. I took solace in my comic books and books. They helped me cope. Helped me escape. I hope my Nightmare Club series helps a few kids escape, too. That’s at the very least. At the most I hope a bully reads one and perhaps realizes there are other options.

Not so far fetched as you might think. A while back, a teacher friend read the book to her class. They are a class of troubled kids, kids without dads, bullies, etc. They had discussions afterward. Discussions that led to a few revelations for some of them. It IS possible. Parents and teachers taking the initiative, responsibility. A fist step. A big step.

And to The Booger, wherever you are, I hope you grew out of it and became a better person. I really do. And I hope you taught your own kids not to bully others.


The Nightmare Club—Where everyday is Halloween!
On Kindle & Nook and in paperback.

The Nightmare Club #1: The Headless Paperboy http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0052O5AIQ
The Nightmare Club #2: The Deadly Dragon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CFEIWY
The Nightmare Club #3: The Willow Witch http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CK4RVQ

Who Fights the Real Demons?

I spend a lot of time with Chloe Everson, the lovely heroine of my series of books called The Chloe Files. I like her and hope readers do and will like her, because not only is she an amalgam of some of my traits, or traits I wish I had, but she is also a composite of people I have known, people fighting some kind of personal demon.

And while Chloe battles mostly supernatural baddies in her adventures, usually scared enough to pee her panties but always having the courage to tell the Devil to stuff it up his muffin and win against Evil in the end, many of the people I know or knew who faced their own demons did not win their battles. Yet, they fight or fought them with more courage than Chloe, and especially myself, could ever muster.

Over the past few years, I've seen too many people perish from cancer, yet somehow, against all hope, look that dread disease square in the eye and tell it to piss off. That takes incredible courage. Courage I doubt I would have. A few, like Miss Everson, have fought the demon and won. And I'm sure, more than any treatments provided by their physicians, raw strength of will and a courageous spirit were responsible for their recovery.

I've known others who've suffered under the demon of spousal abuse. Some fought with all their heart, but in the end could not overcome the domination of another, stronger person. My grandmother was one such person. She died from a blow to the head. Still, she, and those like her, was every bit as courageous as Chloe, every bit as determined to rise above their fear and prevail. Whether they did or not in the end, while sometimes tragic, isn't the point. The point is, they had the courage to fight against odds. The same can be said of those who battle addictions, such as drugs and alcohol.

They are the real demon fighters. The real demon fighters, unlike those within the fictional worlds I create, don't always win their battles, but in a way they win the war. Because they teach those of us who are inclined to throw up our hands too easily in defeat, the true nature of our humanity is not always winning--it's using everything we have in our heart in trying.

Those stricken with terrible diseases such as cancer, those oppressed under the abuse of a spouse or tormented by a bully, those hated for their race, religion, political or sexual persuasion or whatever but still brave enough to stand up and spit in the face of the Devil--they are not only the real demon fighters...they are the real heroes...

"My parents died in a plane crash when I was 13. My twin sister, Patricia, and I were separated shortly thereafter. I've spent my life trying to find some trace of her. I don't know if she's alive or dead. Today she appeared to me as she was then, 13, but she wasn't real. She couldn't be real. Because what I saw was a ghost. My name is Chloe Everson. My mission is just beginning. And I've just begun to kick Demon butt..."
The Chloe Files...Only $3.99 on Kindle and Nook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLCRYK

The Willow Witch Flies onto Kindle & Nook

I'm pleased to announce the third Nightmare Club adventure, The Willow Witch, is now available for Kindle and Nook for only $3.99. This is probably my personal favorite of the series, and focuses on outcast girl "Alliecat," who wants nothing more than to wheedle her way into the ghost-chasing group of misfits, The Nightmare Club. When she spots the Willow Witch flying across the November full moon, she thinks she finally has her chance...but things are not quite that simple.

The Nightmare Club series takes place in the spooky seaside town of New Salem, Maine, where strange and mysterious things happen--hauntings, creepy monsters and supernatural mayhem. Fortunately, a ragtag band of kids who feel they don't quite fit in with their classmates have formed a club just for solving ghostly mysteries and keeping the town safe.

So follow Nerd, Moose, Sparks, October, Orie, Alliecat and Barnabas the pig on their biggest and scariest adventure yet--The Willow Witch!

Your laugh, you'll scream, you'll pee your pants!

You can get in on Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CK4RVQ

And on Nook here: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Nightmare-Club-3/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012850799

Ghost Stories vs Gore Stories

I have always preferred the spookier aspect of Horror, especially ghost stories, things that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up in a wave, as opposed to the hockey-masked stalker with an ax and buckets of blood. Things like Dark Shadows, TV's Ghost Story/Circle of Fear, The Sixth Sense series in the '70s and Night Galley gave me a spook-on. When I first started writing horror, splatterpunk and Books of Blood were the rage, so I was sort of cutting against the grain by harking back to the shiver style.

But I think the things you don't see are often far more scary than the things you do. Got a zombie shambling after you? Get the hell out of the way. The buggers aren't that fast. But have something unseen messing with your mind? How do you escape that? How do you not imagine the worst?

I have certainly used both in my novels, though the more gorier aspect of the genre far less often and not to a descriptive extreme. That was my main inspiration for developing my Chloe Files series after the more pulpish horror of Grimm, where the character began her literary life. While I do spatter in a few more gruesome aspects, I wanted a series that focused more on paranormal and things that go bump in the night and even the day.

The second Chloe Files novel, Sliver of Darkness, was the result of that thinking. Though it has a horror staple, a ripper who is somewhat living-impaired, it is first and foremost a ghost story (as was the first Chloe novel, despite the demon.)

Ghosts are the ultimate peeping creeps. I mean, really. In Sliver of Darkness, the ghost shows up in the dead of night in Chloe's apartment, while she is somewhere south of dressed and vulnerable. And vulnerable is how we all might feel to have something spooky showing up in our bedrooms in the middle of the night. Burglars we can hit with a baseball bat. Ghosts? Not so much. And if they are invisible most of the time...well, nobody wants to clean up ectoplasmic ghost drool...

The thing I like most about writing horror, then, is that creep factor. It is also the toughest thing to write. A blow by blow dismemberment is not that difficult, assuming one has the stomach for it, but to really give somebody a chill...you have to get into the essence of what scares us as human beings.

And many times that is the fear of the unknown.

That was the aim of Sliver of Darkness. I hope I succeeded just a raised hair...

The Chloe Files was written in front of a deceased studio audience...
The Chloe Files #2: Sliver of Darkness. $3.99 on Kindle & Nook http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057U3PH8

The Nightmare Club #2: The Deadly Dragon Now on Kindle

I'm proud to announce the second book in my Nightmare Club series for kids 8-12+, The Deadly Dragon, is now available in Kindle format.

This one introduces new member Orie to the group, a boy with some anger issues who needs to learn how to channel his aggression into something more constructive--such as fighting the mysterious dragon boy's ghost who lives in the old deserted house on Tuttle Street. Teaming up with the band of misfit kids known as the Nightmare Club--Nerd, Moose, Sparks, October, and Alliecat, he soon learns running from problems or punching them out is no way to deal with them, but if the ghost of the Dragon Boy has anything to say about it, it may just be a lesson learned too late!

Grab your copy The Deadly Dragon on Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CFEIWY

The Nook version will be available within a day or two.

Monster Fridays

Summer is sizzling and I find myself reverting to old habits from those long ago school summer vacations. Friday, late night, was always Monster Night. That's when the local station either played Hammer Dracula movies, The Night Stalker TV show or some other monster type movies from the vaults. They started the show at 11:30 and went to two or three and every week I awaited them eagerly.

So usually when mid June rolls around and my niece's school year ends I get the urge to slip in a DVD and relive those childhood days. It's a bit easier now because I can determine the programming, but also a bit less fun because some of the thrill was not knowing which movie was coming until the next week.

This week's movie will be the classic Valley of Gwangi. Voracious Dinos, teeny horses, cowboys, gypsies and poorly dubbed voiced over Spanish--what more could you ask? It's one of my favorite guilty pleasure summer movies.

Anyone else have any summer traditions they'd care to share--um, ones that don't involve farm animals and oddities with lawn gnomes? Let me hear 'em!


My parents died in a plane crash when I was 13. My twin sister, Patricia, and I were separated shortly thereafter. I've spent my life trying to find some trace of her. I don't know if she's alive or dead. Today she appeared to me as she was then, 13, but she wasn't real. She couldn't be real. Because what I saw was a ghost. My name is Chloe Everson. My mission is just beginning. And I've just begun to kick Demon ass...The Chloe Files...$3.99 on Kindle and Nook http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLCRYK

Terror Roma: Night Demons Goes to Italy

It's been an interesting week and it's only Tuesday. I'm in the process of signing a deal with Gargoyle Press, based in Rome, that will send my horror novel Night Demons on a trip to the land of the Leaning Tower and Sophia Loren--Italy.

It's actually quite a thrill for me, as this will be the first of my works translated into another language and I share company at the publisher with some names I have much respect for, such as Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Gargoyle puts out some very attractive books and it will be fun to terrorize another country with my tale of dark secrets and things that bite your ass in the night.

In the meantime, and for those of you who don't read Italian, you can get Night Demons for $3.99 on Kindle, Nook and i apps and the Apple store. Ciao!

Night Demons on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057YD006

On Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Night-Demons/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012898463

On iPhone, iPad, etc.: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781257224777

You're a Writer

You're a writer. You write because you have a passion to do so, a burning need to get the voices in your head onto the screen or printed page. Those voices can be very demanding, stubborn, and they simply must make themselves heard.

There are few things more satisfying than completing your story or novel, letting all those characters out of the ethereal realm of your creativity. They become real to us, and hopefully to those reading our work. But let's face it, as good a feeling as it is to finish our tale, we, as writers, don't do it simply for our personal validation.

We do it because we want to reach out to others, have our hard work and blood, sweat and tears creation read by people, who will, we hope, enjoy it in the least and become rabid Potterlike fans at the most.

Writers are somewhat selfish, and egocentric. That's a given. We have to be to be able to spend so much time perfecting our opus, sometimes shunting aside our family and obligations to grab a few hours to write. But writers are also, I think, some of the most altruistic people--if they are writing for the right reasons. To entertain our readers for a bit, take them away from the everyday world of petty crap and constant stress. Reading can often invoke a sort of self-hypnotic state, relaxation and enjoyment. That's what writers aim for in their victims, er, readers. Yes, we love to hear praise on our work, know that it is appreciated. But the most awesome thing to hear? Something like, I loved you book, it made me feel good. Or, It really took me away from my problems for a little while.

That makes all the sacrifice and work worth it. Of course, making money from it is great. But knowing you touched somebody's life in some way? Priceless, as the commercial says.

I remember how some writers touched me, though Doc Savage or comic books, when I was a kid. That appreciation never goes away. If we as writers can bring a fraction of that to another person in this turbulent world...then we have succeeded and not only our characters, but we ourselves had grown...

I know Evil wants me. All I can say is...Bring it on! The Chloe Files $3.99 on kindle & nook http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLCRYK

Olivia Newton-John: Portraits

It's been a long time since I bought an Olivia Newton-John record. Yes, just the fact I said record should be a clue! (with the exception of her Christmas CD).

Back in the day, well, my day, I loved her early works and had a big-assed crush on her. I thought she'd hang around waiting until I grew up and come whisk me Down Under. I fear an evil witch put a spell on her because she never came. Ah, well.

About the time she got Totally Hot, however, I went totally cold on her music and Physical and Soul Kiss just reinforced that. I had all her albums up to then, Have You Never been Mellow having been my first and favorite. So years went by and I pined no more for Livvy and kangaroos and fuzzy bears sitting in trees eating eucalyptus leaves--not necessary all together and for the same reason.

But she recently put out a new album titled Portraits, which featured a tribute to women of song, mostly '60s and '70s, such as Karen Carpenter and even Minnie Ripperton. Amazon had it at a nice price so I took a chance.

I'm glad I did. If you are an old style Livvy fan, you'll probably enjoy this album. It's very mellow, sometimes soft jazz and standard and a totally hot I really enjoyed. She does a lovely job on the standard "How Insensitive" and "Love Me or Leave Me," and the old torch "Cry Me a River." My favorite is probably the Bacharach penned "Anyone Who had a Heart." Nice soft version of the folkish hit "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," sweet rendition of Karen Carpenter's "Rainy Days and Mondays" and the late Minnie Ripperton's "Lovin' You" (without the glass-breaking high notes). Judy Collins' "Send in the Clowns," a song I never particularly liked when it came out, sounds pretty good here and topped off with "Summertime" without all the wailing of Fantasia and "Alfie" this album is a prefect mellow listen. If you enjoy that style of music and Olivia, don't pass it up.

Doc Savage Returns to Print This Week

After a hiatus of 19 years, Doc Savage, the golden-eyed 1930s pulp hero who appeared in 181 novels from 1933-1949, as well as new tales in the early '90s, returns to print in trade paperback and hardcover editions from Altus Press. Penned by author Will Murray, heir to the Kenneth Robeson house name pulp publisher Street & Smith assigned to the Man of Bronze's adventures, The Desert Demons will be the first offering in this series of brand new adventures that promises to take Doc to the limits of his superhuman abilities. Mr. Murray penned a number of new Doc Savage novels, based on unused plot snippets and discarded chapters from the original and primary author, Lester Dent, following the reprinting of original 181 novels, as well as an unpublished manuscript that was completed and skipped called In Hell, Madonna (later published by Bantam Books, who reprinted the entire Doc series, and retitled The Red Spider.) Covers are painted by Joe DeVito, who painted Murray's Bantam editions and who is working from photos of the late Steve Holland, who posed for the original Bama Doc Savage paperback covers, as well as The Avenger.

This will mark the first original Doc in hardcover, as well as in a number of ebook formats, such as Kindle, Nook and Apple i applications. The trade paperback will sell for $24.95 and the hardcover, which contains a number of extra goodies for Doc fan, for $34.95 and will be available for order this coming week. A special website, www.adventuresinbronze.com, is dedicated to the new series and will have ordering information in a few days. The books will also sell through Amazon and comic shops at a later date.

Mr. Murray will again be working from Lester Dent's unused plots and chapters and notes in writing the new adventures, some of which were considered too progressive at the time. He promises this will be THE Doc Savage fans know and love, not the altered sometimes unrecognizable version for recent comic book adaptations.

Doc fans are pretty excited over the new novels, and rightfully so. It's been a long time since the Man of Bronze thrilled his fans with his death-defying acts and blood-curdling action. Along with Sanctum Books' official monthly double Doc novel reprints and Radio Archives' releases of Murray's Doc novels on audio book, this is indeed, as Mr. Murray dubbed it, the Summer of Doc Savage!

Who or What is Genie Lansing?

And why does she pal around with a 600-year-old dead monkey named Bob?

When I first introduced the character of pixyish white-haired Genie Lansing in the pages of my horror novel GRIMM, I knew who and what she was, but never intended to let the readers know. I wanted them to figure it out for themselves. I didn't want her to be a deus ex machina or foil when needed--she had to be an integral part of the story in some way that wasn't immediately obvious.

When she appeared in the Chloe Files novels, often annoying our heroine to the point of a thrashing, and accompanied by her equally annoying hairy little cohort, I decided to keep dropping clues to her real identity, since no one had figured it out. And upcoming Genie's ante in the building sub-story of the War of Darkness and Light Chloe will eventually be facing, as well as in the secrets of our heroine's murky past.

Who is Genie? What is Genie?

I'm not going to tell. You'll have to read the novels and deduce it for yourself...if you can. She's a mystery, but the clues are all there if you look between the lines. Miss Lansing has quite a "history". She seems to have a certain magical ability about her, too, vanishing from closed rooms and appearing in locked houses. She knows far too much about the supernatural Big Bads in New Salem. She may be a help to Chloe, or she may be leading her into a demonic trap. Who knows?

The Chloe Files #s 1 and 2 (and Grimm) are now available for $3.99 on Kindle and Nook (as well as paperback at a higher price).

For Kindle:

#1: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLCRYK

#2: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057U3PH8

For Nook:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Chloe-Files-1/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012513571

and

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Chloe-Files-2/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012898548

Wield the Shield

As much as I have enjoyed the superhero summer movies so far, as excited as I was to begin the season with Thor, then X-Men, then Green Lantern, I am now starting to work myself into a level of excitement I haven't felt since I was a kid awaiting the George Pal Doc Savage flick (an excitement quickly executed by a John Phillips Sousa firing squad, I might add).

Because in about two weeks my favorite superhero of all time, Captain America, hits the screen in Captain America: The First Avenger. I literally have my Cap underwear and T-shirt ready to go. I got the Dunkin' Donuts cup. Really.

I have high hopes for this movie. I am probably one of the few who enjoyed the two CBS telefilms in the '70s, and the Matt Salinger bomb later, because, well, it was Cap. The scenes I have seen so far from this movie look very promising.

I recall my aunt buying me a 12 cent issue of Cap, issue 106, back in '69 (along with Iron Man 6--I must have done something good that day, or at least refrained from lighting her cat on fire), and then purchasing issue 152 for 20 cents on my own when I really got into comics in '72. I still have the issue, drawn by Sal Buscema, one of my favorite Silver Age artists. It began my life long love of the character.

The next two weeks are going to be a tough wait, and I hope the movie proves worth it. I also hope it does well enough to warrant sequels. Whatever happens, for me July is Captain America month. Now just to get one of those replica aluminum shields to replace the metal trash can lid I painted as a kid...

Looking to put a chill in your hot summer nights? Want to get your zombie on? Pick up GRIMM by Howard Hopkins for $2.99 on Kindle or Nook and shiver yourself silly... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051BUXFU

Western Wednesday: Trail Bits

It's time to ride the electronic range with another Western Wednesday and remember, digital cow flop doesn't stick to your boots.

Black Horse Western writer and all around good guy Ian Parnham (writing as IJ Parnham) reports on the Black Horse Express blog and Black Horse Westerns Yahoo group, Robert Hale, spurred by the success of their first four-pack BHW collection on Kindle, is continuing their digital releases with one of his novels. This is exciting news for Western and Black Horse fans and since IJ Parnham is a fine writer this is also an excellent pick to ride point. Keep an eye on the Express and Ian's blog, The Culbin Trail, for further news. In the meantime give the Black Horse Western four pack a try.

So I decided to do something I haven't done much since I was a kid when I used to listen to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater on those hot summer nights during school vacation. The show aired every weeknight at 11pm and ran over a 1000 episodes in the early '70s to 1980. I had Season Three on Disc in MP3 format, but since I had only converted Season Two to regular CD format, I hadn't listened to any of the third season episodes yet (at least since 1974). I stuck the disc in the computer while doing some editing work, and lo and behold this western fan found an episode called Ghosts at High Noon. The show concerned two women who break down on a deserted desert highway, after spotting flashes of images--buffaloes, horses, Indians, etc. Their car is toast and the heat is 120 degrees outside. From nowhere an old prospector appears and takes them to a ghost town called Mirado. He tells them there they will stay, that they have come home. A very interesting western ghost story.

So what does the picture accompanying this blog have to do with anything? Perhaps nothing. Or perhaps it means something. Who knows? Only the future will tell...or the past...

Breaking Boards and Writing Books

I remember way back when I joined a karate studio all I wanted to do was be able to break a board. Of course, in the dojo I was in you weren't allowed to attempt that until you were a blue belt. That meant white-yellow-orange-purple to go through first. But by the time I got my purple belt I couldn't wait any longer. I was going to break a board.

Except I really didn't believe I could do it. I had always thought it was some sort of martial arts trick, something they did in movies and on TV that shouldn't really be attempted in real life. This despite being assured by my instructor it was indeed possible--I just wasn't ready for it yet until I got the magical blue belt.

Yep, that's right--I did not believe I could do it, but of course went ahead and tried it anyway.

And damn near broke my hand. The board...not a splinter or a crack. Not even a groan when my hand slammed into it--except from me. My hand promptly swelled up. The board mocked me. Of course, it was a hard oak board of some sort and I hit it against the grain.

But the big problem was--I knew it wouldn't break before I hit it. I was convinced since I didn't have a blue belt the board would be impervious to my blow.

Writing is a lot like that. Too many authors don't seriously believe in their heart of hearts they can get their novel published and have it sell, despite months of hard work having written it. So they try once or twice, get rejected, then shove the thing in a drawer, where it languishes and acquires dust for years.

It's not that it isn't good enough to be published. It's that the writer didn't believe in himself/herself enough and gave up, or accepted the words of the editor doing the rejection. They believed their book wasn't good enough, the way I believed I needed a magic blue belt to defeat a six wide by twelve long piece of wood.

But I am a stubborn sonofabitch. After my hand healed I got another piece of wood. This time pine and with the grain in the right direction. Despite that, I was still scared of that sucker, that little piece of board, the way we writers get scared of being rejected.

But I refused to let that board beat me, unmagical purple belt and all. So I took it down to the cellar, placed it between to barrels and hi-yah!

And damn near broke my hand again.

But something was different. I had felt the board blink. Just a fraction. My hand didn't swell. It had more bounced this time, too. I figured out I had come down wrong, missing the heel of my hand and getting more of the wrist bone. I imagined my hand going through it. I saw the board breaking in my mind. And I tried again.

The board broke. My hand went straight through and it didn't hurt. Um, much. But I had done it! I had beaten up a defenseless board and it felt pretty damn good about it.

The moral of the story--writers, don't give up. Come at it from a different angle or do whatever you need to do to break that manuscript. You CAN succeed. You don't need a magic purple belt, you just need confidence and a plan and perseverance. Just because one editor says they don't want it, doesn't mean it can't be sold. Just because you don't have a magical blue pen doesn't mean your purple one can't write a saleable novel.

Hmm, I wonder if I could break a brick....nah, not worth finding out.

Waking up in black and white can be a bitch...The Chloe Files: Sliver of Darkness on Kindle, Nook and in pb http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057U3PH8

Have a Grimm Holiday Weekend

Heading out to the beach with your trusty Kindle or Nook this Fourth of July holiday weekend? Need a bit of a chill to cool you down from the scorching summer heat?

Then GRIMM, a tale of the darkest supernatural, may be just the thing. And just in time for the long weekend, GRIMM is available on Kindle at the sale price of $2.99. That's cheaper than Starbucks, folks, and much better for the lactose intolerant.

GRIMM is the horror/supernatural tale of a retired detective on the New Salem Police Force who refuses to accept the death of his youngest son was a mere drug bust gone wrong. But when he looks for answers, he looks too deep, and not only does he cross paths with the town's political machine but with a renegade band of Salem sorceresses trying to resurrect the demon, Czcarabus. This book marks the first appearance of exotic dancer Chloe Everson, who continues to battle the Big Boo in her own series, The Chloe Files, also available on Kindle and Nook.

So why be happy for the weekend festivities when you can be...GRIMM?

Get it on Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051BUXFU
Get it on Nook there: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Grimm/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012502018

Sanctum Casts a Hundred Shadows...

This week, with the publication of The Shadow double novel #50, Sanctum books has done what no reprint publisher has since The Master of Darkness' original pulp run began 80 years ago--broken the 100 novel mark. Previous reprint programs in paperback folded after a handful of books, HBH/Pyramid having the highest number, clocking in at 24 novels.

In honor of this the occasion and aiming towards the 200 mark, publisher Anthony Tollin selected three novels for this volume, instead of two, each spotlighting one of the three original authors writing as Maxwell Grant--Walter B. Gibson. Ted Tinsley and Bruce Elliot.

Adorned with the gorgeous Rosen cover from The Shadow's original 100th pulp adventure, The Man from Shanghai, this book sells for $14.95, a bargain at twice the price. The volume includes extra historical articles by pulp expert Will Murray and Tollin himself, one of the foremost authorities on the radio Shadow program and Old Time Radio in general.

You can get this volume at your local comic book shop or order online from a number of sources, including www.radioarchives.com

Waking up in black and white can be a bitch...
The Chloe Files: Sliver of Darkness on Kindle, Nook and in pb http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057U3PH8