ANDREW BISS

Yes, it's that time of the year when otherwise normal-seeming people everywhere cut loose, get wasted and scream like banshees between shots of Jägermeister (or heaves). Thanks to all who follow my blog, visibly or otherwise, and for taking the time to read my posts. Next year I'll continue to update this place with news of my books and current writing projects, but I also plan to have a lot more random posts about anything that interests me (though whether they'll interest you remains to be seen :). 2011 has been a mixed bag for me. On the plus side, I began my ePublishing journey (inspired in no small part by the most lovely Helen Smith), and 9 months since I first went up on Amazon I can tell you I've learned so much. Sometimes the hard way, but sometimes that's the best way. So I enter 2012 with a lot more knowledge than I had at the beginning of the last, and a determination to get my work in front of as many people as I can. The adapting will continue, of cour...

Yes, okay, it's a free download, but trust me, getting big downloads, even for free copies, can be quite a challenge. Yesterday I decided to do a 2-day free promotion of my short story collection The Impressionists to see if I could get it some attention that it had been severely lacking. I consider the stories in that collection some of my best writing, and as proud as I am of them, it pained me to see them drift off into that vast sea of obscurity in Amazon's mega slush pile. So imagine my surprise (not to mention happiness) when I saw that it had reached the #1 spot for short stories (free bestseller list) on Amazon US! I just hope that when those who have downloaded it get around to pulling it out of their (probably massive, with all the free books that are available right now) TBR list, that they enjoy them. Meanwhile, I'm just enjoying having reached this little milestone. Back later with my end of year final post!

The End of the World is featured today on Pixel of Ink! Please head on over there and click its "like" button. If you do, I'm going to be sending you the largest package of good karma you've ever received! I don't expect to sell Amanda Hocking or J.A. Konrath numbers, but hopefully it'll get a nice boost. Many thanks and be sure to get lashings of good karma now!

I've finally got around to doing something that I'd wanted to do for a while now, and that is to produce a book trailer for my contemporary fantasy novella The End of the World. I hope you'll take a look. It's only a couple of minutes long, which in the big scheme of things is really just a nanosecond of your life. And if you do, I hope you enjoy it!

I'd just like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas wherever you are in the world. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then I wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday season and many good tidings. Sadly it seems I'll be denied a white Christmas yet again this year. In fact, here in the Northeast it's going to be almost balmy, which is kind of barmy, but there's nothing we can do about the weather. If you're lucky enough to live somewhere where it snows all the time you'll be fortunate enough to enjoy the wonders of a white Christmas. But then again, if it's snowy all the time, I wouldn't imagine it would feel that special. But whatever the weather, this time of year is very special, so Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Ah...as soon as I wrote that title, I of course thought of the great Etta James and the terrible news this week of her now terminal condition. In the news reports this week, they naturally mentioned a couple of her most popular songs, but in the reports I read, at least, not the one I'd consider my favourite of hers - "I'd Rather Go Blind." If you're not familiar with it, I'd strongly encourage you to check it out. Is there a more gut-wrenching lyric than "I'd rather go blind than see you walk away from me"? And sadly today, we learned of the passing of Cesaria Evora. I got into her music back in the early 90s and it really sort of defined much of that time for me. Check out this song if you're not familiar with her. Such beautiful melancholy. Rest in peace, Cesaria, and thank you. But the "At Last" in the title of this post refers to the fact that at last I have a cover for my upcoming short story A Stunning Confession. It's be...

I realized I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I'd give a quick update at this most wonderful (and busy) time of the year. I'm currently working feverishly at completing my next short story, A Stunning Confession , from my upcoming and as yet untitled short story anthology. This "untitled" business is currently the bane of my existence, as I'm very particular about titles and I can't seem to settle on one for this collection. It could be simple or it could be rather more thought out and crafted - it really doesn't matter as long as it feels right to me. But so far nothing has felt right. So I'll keep going back to that drawing board in my head until something clicks. Don't forget, the first tale from this anthology, A Familiar Face , is now available from an Amazon or Nook store near you. In the meantime, look out for the upcoming release of #2 of "Untitled" in the next few weeks, which fortunately does have a title - the afore...