Meet Author Joseph Carrabis at the Portsmouth, NH, Barnes&Noble Sunday, 9 Feb 2020, 1pmET

“Bad Ass just got a new poster boy…in The Augmented Man” (and the author’s not bad, either)

I’ll be signing The Augmented Man at the Portsmouth, NH, Barnes&Noble on Sunday, 9 Feb 2020, from 1-3pmET.

FWIW, I received my first royalty check today. THANKEE TO EVERYONE BUYING THIS BOOK! Come on by and I’ll sign your copy for you! Come on by, buy half a dozen copies for your friends, and I’ll sign all of them, too!

 
A bit about The Augmented Man
The US Military concedes that any kind of combat leaves soldiers psychologically damaged and makes reintegration to society difficult.

The solution is to find individuals who are already so psychologically damaged the most horrendous combat experience will seem trivial by comparison. Better, find individuals psychologically damaged who’ve also experienced massive physical insult and trauma. Best, individuals psychologically damaged, physically traumatized, and emotionally vacant.

But where to find such individuals?

Captain James Donaldson suggests using massively abused and traumatized children as the basis, arguing “…they’ve already experienced more at home than they’ll ever experience in the field. All we need to is help their bodies catch up to where their psyches and emotions already are.

Nine individuals are selected for Augmentation and entered into combat.

One survives.

And comes home.

Anecdote
I read the the Surface section and the first Apache helicopter gunship scene (pgs 228-230 in the print version) of The Augmented Man as my text.

I finished and looked up to see the audience staring at me, wide-eyed, deers caught in headlights. One fellow whispered, “Intense.” Everyone else nodded.

YES! Score one for the author!

About me
You can find out more than you need to know at my About page.

Fantasy Horror Author A.F. Stewart and I talk Deviltry, Noveltry, Shipbuilding, Agony and Ecstasy

Watch, leave a comment, gain a friend!

A.F. Stewart, aka @Scribe77, did me.

Interviewed me, I mean.

 
We talked about

  • The differences between writing short stories and novels (not much from a crafting standpoint, me thinks)
  • Creating sympathetic villains (even the worst person has one humanizing detail)
  • Genre writing (I don’t believe I write in a genre. My regular readers tell me my genre is “Joseph”)
  • My incredible anthology, Tales Told ‘Round Celestial Campfires
  • Being able to do amazing things with words when you’re an author
  • The link between Satan and Hamilton Burger
  • Getting kudos from your readers
  • Ritchie and Phyl, my incredible work in progress
  • How writing Flash fiction is like building a ship in a bottle
  • Great Opening Lines
  • My incredible scifi/military/thriller, The Augmented Man
  • Writing about characters rather than genre (the story comes first, the genre comes second)
  • Empty Sky and my standing offer; read the book, leave a review, and I’ll send you an autographed copy of the rewrite when it’s published.
  • Children growing up
  • Stories that grew out of my anthropology studies – Mani He and The Goatmen of Aguirra
  • Getting kudos from editors and publishers
  • Writing almost fantastic fantasies (okay, the story’s fantastic. It uses almost fantasy elements – The Weight)

So, yeah, we covered a few things.

Enjoy!

Carol Ann Kauffman Vision and Versed Me

I did a slightly different type of interview with retired school teacher and prolific romantic action adventure (with a sci-fi/ fantasy twist) and mystery author Carol Ann Kauffman a while back.

I offer slightly different as the questions weren’t ones I normally get: favorite food, favorite artwork, perfect evening. There were the usual questions, too, and it’s my responses to the off-axis questions that amuse me (we did the interview a while back).

Responses to the common questions have changed since we did the interview. The Augmented Man was indie published in Jul 2019 and is available at most book sellers. I’ve completed the rewrite and editing of the new draft of Empty Sky and am sending it out to agents and publishers (there’s a standing offer, by the way; anybody who buys a copy and writes a review will receive an autographed copy when the new version is released. Go for it. Buy a copy, write a review. I dare you).

And the interview has one of my favorite photos of Susan (wife, partner, Princess) and me.

Please give Carol Ann Kauffman’s Interview with Author Joseph Carrabis (that’s me!) a read and let us know what you think.

 
Enjoy!

Interviews with Writers Did Me!

I like being interviewed.

Let’s me know somebody out there is listening.

It’s like writing Goodreads reviews. I’m shocked when people like or comment on my reviews. I responded to one person, thanking them for the Like and sharing that I didn’t think anybody paid attention. After all, who am I to review a book?

They understood and felt the same way re their reviews.

I wonder who reads/watches/listens to my interviews. Are they bored? Are they curious? Do they know me from a previous life?

I’ll read/watch/listen to a review if I’m interested in the author, often if I’ve read and enjoy their work, often if I know them personally and wish to support them.

What’s your reason for reading/watching/listening?

You can read my Interviews with Writers interview here.

 
Enjoy!

Give a Listen

Don’t I sound good?

I got a slot on The Authors’ Show today, 4 Dec 2019, all day.

All you need do is go to The Authors’ Show and click on The Augmented Man in the broadcast schedule to listen to me waxing lyrical.

Okay, more like me talking about the book.

In any case, hope you enjoy.

And if you get a chance. Let me know what you think.