Hello there readers, 

I wanted to share some news with you that you may have been unaware of. Did you know you can read an exclusive short story featuring the upcoming protagonist in my paranormal thriller? Here's a quick story behind the...uh... story. 

There was a short story contest I entered last year. The challenge was, write a ghost story with a twist. Throw a spin on an old legend. That sort of thing. So, I started thinking about the stories about ghosts like the woman in white. You know the legends. A ghostly woman stalks a stretch of quiet road. She's dressed all in white and hitchhikes rides with her unsuspecting guests. I took that legend and gave it a fun twist. What if the hunter became the hunted? 

Jeffrey Raines is Death's bounty hunter. He reaps souls that wander the Earth and prey on the living. And my short story, Death Loves Her Balance, started it all. The story, unfortunately, didn't win the contest. But I think, in the end, I came out the bigger winner because it gave me my next series idea. And I've been having a lot of fun crafting this world and writing the story. 

If you want to read the story for yourself, all you have to do is sign up for my monthly newsletter. That's it. You'll get the short story delivered directly to your inbox! Click here to sign up. Every month, I share behind the scenes info, first looks, upcoming works, and much more! Sign up today and read that story! And let me know what you think in the comments below. 

The story goes, a secret dungeon was found in 1883 behind a secret wall in the back of the fort. Two skeletons were found shackled to the wall and were identified as one man and one woman. Rumors of a secret love affair between a Colonel's wife and a captain blossomed. When the colonel found out, he had them chained to a wall in the bowels of the Castillo and walled them up alive. Were the long lost lovers found that day? 

Maybe not. But it makes for a good creepy story, right? I've visited the Castillo many times over the years and I've been in the very room which is dubbed "the lover's dungeon" and have never seen this story or heard it from tour guides. There's a lot of haunted history pages online which speak to its truth but it seems like there isn't any true evidence of this secret dungeon. 

The Castillo de San Marcos, however, was used as a prison for a long portion of its history. Many Native Americans were imprisoned there in 1875. Many people died at the Castillo, regardless of the lover's rumor being true or not. 

This haunted history makes it the perfect place for my upcomong paranormal thriller. Jeffrey Raines, Death's bounty hunter. visits this very fort during the first several chapters of my book. I couldn't think of a better backdrop than this. The Castillo is an amazing structure which is well worth a visit if you are ever in St. Augustine, Florida. And if you've heard the story of the lover's dungeon, I'd love to get your take in the comments below. Do you think the story is true? 

What is a blog style story, you're wondering? Well, it's a story told in the form of a blog. Uploaded one week at a time. Interested? Let me tell you what it's about. 

Donna Mitchell finds a journal hidden in her home. It references something called The Devil's Journal. Donna decides to document the events as they unfold on her weekly blog. As she gets further into the journal, strange things start to happen to Donna. Before too long, Donna's world is flipped upside down. She may have stumbled on some dark secret that should have stayed locked away from the world. 

If this sounds like something you would like to read, then consider signing up for my Patreon page. It's going to be an exclusive story for patrons only. Patrons help fund my writing career in a way nothing else can! I've been so happy for the support over on Patreon and I wanted to give my patrons a little something cool that only they get to read. If you want to join this exclusive club and read this upcoming blog novel, consider signing up today. The plan is to release the blog story in October. See you over on Patreon! 

If you're looking to get your hands on some hot, steamy benefits then I've got some news for you! Here are some awesome benefits you can get by becoming a patron over on Patreon. 

Ebooks- Get rewarded with ebooks delivered right to your Kindle or favorite e-reader at certain tiers. 
Paperbacks- Get signed paperbacks delivered right to your door! 
Access to Patron only posts- Things like updates from me and my writing journey, exclusive short stories, exclusive flash fiction, my upcoming blog novel, first looks at covers and excerpts, and more!
Discord server access- Talk to me whenever you want and chit chat about books, writing, or whatever on my Discord server. 
Acknowledgements- Get a shout on in each book in the author's note section for as long as you're a patron. 

There is so many exciting benefits to becoming a patron. Think of it like a monthly subscription box without all the pesky waiting an entire month. You get amazing things every week!

Also, I'm bringing back a limited time perk with a little change. A few months ago, I did something I called Dedicate or Die. Patrons got to choose a death scene in my upcoming book OR listed in the dedication section in the beginning of the book. Well, I'm bringing back the dedication portion of that promo. From now until the end of August, sign up for my Patreon page and you will be listed in the dedication section of the beginning of the book! So don't wait. Head over to Patreon and sign up!

Fort Matanzas in St. Augustine, Florida. Named after the river it stands guard over. Fun fact, the Matanzas river gets its name from the Spanish word meaning killings or slaughters because several Protestants were shipwrecked in the 18th century and executed on the spot by Spanish Admiral Pedro Mendez. Seems like a fitting place for spirits to hang out, doesn't it?  

Fort Matanzas was built by the Spanish in order to control the Matanzas inlet. The inlet was a rear entrance into the city of St. Augustine. The fort was only used once. It fired warning shots to scare away British scouting boats. The twelve ship armada turned around and never attacked the fort. Shots were never fired from Fort Matanzas again. Despite not having seen a lot of action, the small fort is a pretty interesting sight to see in St. Augustine. 

First of all, the admission if FREE so you can't beat that. The only way to get to the fort is by boat which the park rangers graciously provide transport back and forth to. So, best to tip them if you go. Once on the little island which houses the fort, you get the real sense of what it must have been like to be stationed there. Out in the middle of seemingly no where on a river with no communication to the world around you. It's almost impossible to imagine. 

Jeffrey Raines spends some time at this very structure in the opening chapters of my upcoming paranormal thriller. He's there to fight off a wandering spirit as Death's bounty hunter. A certain type of spirit which likes to hide in lonely places such as this has started to prey on the park rangers there. Jeffrey is ordered to put a stop to it. Of course, I won't tell you how the scene plays out or how it ends. You'll have to read the book when it comes out!

If you decide to visit St. Augustine and you love history, check this place out. It's a cool piece of history. Not to mention, you'll literally be stepping into the pages of my book! Stay tuned for more information about this book coming soon! And if you want to read the opening chapter of the book, please consider signing up for my monthly newsletter. This month, readers will get an exclusive look at the first chapter! Not available anywhere else. Click below to sign up. And enjoy these photos I took of Fort Matanzas on my last adventure there!
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Hello there readers, 

By now, you've probably heard that Tampa Bay Comic Con has been cancelled due to the rise in COIVD-19 cases. This was to be my first year attending so I'm pretty bummed. But honestly, a little happy too. First off, I was worried the turn out would have been very low due to the social distancing rules and the virus still affecting people. It's pretty pricey to attend TBCC. But also, there would have been a good chance to catch it at the convention. So, it's probably best that it gets cancelled. But it's still sad. 

Of course, next year I will be attending TBCC so come next year and say hi. My goal is to have my new paranormal thriller released before the next convention. That should be easy but we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll even have some cool merch to sell there? Who knows. 

Selling my books at these conventions has been a lot of fun. Even the slow days are really fun. You get to meet a lot of cool people. Creators and people attending. I've actually created a few friendships with other creators while working on these cons. People like Todd Kelly who is an awesome comic book creator and you should definitely check him out! Click here. I very much look forward to working more in the future. 

So, I will see you all at Tampa Bay Comic Con next year and hopefully many others! Don't forget to follow me on social media. This weekend was supposed to be TBCC so I may do a sale or a giveaway or something. Haven't decided what yet. Have a great week everyone!
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SONG WAS NOT IN THE BOOK 1/5 STARS

Just kidding. I recently read the first book- or more like the .5 book?- in The Witcher Series. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. After watching the Netflix series and loving it, I wanted to dive in to the world of Geralt and see how things panned out in the books. I must say, I wasn't dissapointed. 

If you've seen the show, then you would recognize most of the tales in this book. It's made up of short story collections featuring Geralt and his quests. Much like the show, it shows Geralt going from town to town as he earns coin for killing monsters. Basically, this first book is the first season of the show. Minus the ending which really gets the plot rolling for the next season. 

But enough about the show. Lets talk about the book. It's a very fun read. Geralt is a bad ass. He talks a lot more in the books than he does in the show, which is one of the major differences. It's very fun to read these tales after watching the show. I have a conundrum now. Do I read the next books before the second season? Or do I read them after? Tough call. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. 

Have you been to the above location? I have. It's called Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. Do you know who else has been there? A particular spirit named Jeffrey Raines. If you don't know about Jeffrey, let me give you a little info. 

Jeffrey Raines is the main protagonist of my upcoming paranormal thriller book. He works for Death as her bounty hunter. He reaps souls that wander the Earth and prey on the living. His travels will take him to many locations. This is just but one place he will visit in the book. 

Flagler College is gorgeous. It started as a Hotel in 1888, built by Henry Flagler. It was a luxury hotel for the wealthy. Back then, it was known as the Ponce de Leon Hotel. Words really cannot do this place justice. It's beautiful. If you find yourself visiting St. Augustine, do yourself a favor and take a tour through the building. You won't regret it. Just imagine, staying here in the late 19th century. It must have been jaw dropping back then. Now, it's a beautiful piece of history in the middle of St Augustine. 

And the college serves as a backdrop for my introduction to Jeffrey Raines and the unseen spirit world. I couldn't think of a better place to kick off this series than the oldest established city in America. Check out some more images of Flagler College below. I took them on my last trip out to St. Augustine. And if you want more inside information about my upcoming book, please consider signing up for my monthly newsletter. I will be sharing information, first looks, and more behind the scenes stuff on my newsletter. PLUS get exclusive access to the short story that inspired the book! Click here to join. 

Hello there readers and happy Friday. 

I've posted a flash fiction story over on my Patreon page. If you don't know what flash fiction is, it's generally a story under 1,500 words. Great stories told in a short format. They're some of my favorite things to read and write. And I post them occasionally on my Patreon page. You can read this one and several others over on Patreon. 

Over there, you can also receive exclusive flash fiction stories or short stories written just for you. Access to my upcoming blog novel. Listed in the acknowledgment section of my books. And so much more. Patreon is such an awesome way to support your favorite creators and make sure they can continue to create. Hopefully, I'm one of your favorite creators and hopefully I'll see you on Patreon. 

Hello there readers and happy Monday. 

Today, I wanted to give you a brief story about my latest Terror Tube video. You see, it was inspired by real events. If you haven't watched the video, please go check it out. It's nice and creepy and the rest of this post won't make a lot of sense if you don't. Scroll down to the bottom to watch the video then come back here. 

Done? Alright. So, here's what really happened. A few months ago, some people came to our door to preach the word to us. I was polite and listened to what they had to say and then nicely ended the conversation. Nothing more than that. A week or so later, they came back while I was in the shower and my wife answered. She told them we were busy and couldn't talk. I mean, she was juggling a 2 year old and an infant at the time. So, technically not a lie. 

A few days later, we check the mail only to find a letter written to us from these people. I've never had that happen before. Of course, this was when all of the safer at home orders were starting due to COVID-19, so maybe that's why? Either way, it was strange. 

But we threw the letter away and ignored it. I mean, we probably wouldn't hear from them again, right? And if they showed up to the door we could just say we were interested. But then as we sat on the couch watching TV, my wife's phone went off. When she read the text message, things were a bit weird. It was a text from the lady who had knocked on our door. We never gave her our phone numbers. I have no idea how they got her phone number. I tried doing a quick search on the yellow pages and we're not listed. And we rent the house we're living in so we're not listed as owners. It was really creepy. If they had texted me, I wouldn't have been so nice with a response. However, my wife blocked the number and ignored it. We haven't heard from them since. 

But the creepy thought of them searching for our phone number after knocking on our door was weird. So weird, that I decided to make a story about it on YouTube. I think my story might end a little bit creepier than the real thing. But you decide. Let me know in the comments below what you would have done if this happened to you. And don't forget to check out the video and subscribe to my channel!

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