June Self-Promotion Party!

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Hello everyone! It’s now mid-June, the weather is warmer, and it’s time for a self-promotion party!

Don’t be shy; tell us about your books!

Be proud of your writing!

Share your book(s) with the world!

Be your own best publicist!

To help as many as possible see your work, reblog, like, and follow others.

Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

My radio interview:

A Few Quotations On Courage

Twain1909

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”

Mark Twain

https://en.wikipedia.org

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Nelson Mandela

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“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face. . . we must do that which we think we cannot.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

“We must always have the courage to oppose tyranny, bigotry, and ignorance. We must speak out, use the power of our voices, and we must vote!”

Charles F. French

March Self-Promotion Party!

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Hello to everyone! We are now in Spring, and I thought it would be a good time to share what you have been writing and what you have written. I want once again to offer an opportunity for all writers who follow this blog to share information on their books. It can be very difficult to generate publicity for our writing, so I thought this little effort might help. All books may be mentioned, and there is no restriction on genre. This includes poetry and non-fiction.

To participate, simply give your name, your book, information about it, and where to purchase it in the comments section. Then please be willing to reblog and/or tweet this post. The more people that see it, the more publicity we can generate for everyone’s books.

Thank you for participating!

Keep on writing!

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Celebrate and promote your writing! Shout it out to the world! Let everyone know about your work!

Feel free to promote a new or an older book!

I hope this idea is successful, and I hope many people share information on their books!

I will continue to have this party every few weeks.

Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

A Review of Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book 1 by Charles F. French

Elizabeth Gauffreau

A Question of Evil

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

Charles F. French’s debut novel, Maledicus, is the first in The Investigative Paranormal Society series. The Society is comprised of three long-time friends, who couldn’t be more different from one another: Sam, a retired police officer, Jeremy, a retired antiques dealer, and Roosevelt, a retired history professor. Their common bond is a compelling interest in life after death. Each man has lost a loved one before his or her time, so their interest in the paranormal is not idle or academic curiosity. The stakes are high, and they’re very personal.

Before we meet Sam, Jeremy, and Roosevelt, the novel opens in ancient Rome with the introduction of one Lucius Antony Caius, a trusted advisor and procuror for the Emperor Caligula. For his own treachery, debauchery, and torture of innocents, he is known as Maledicus. He will become the evil entity with whom the Investigative Paranormal Society must do battle. And an evil one he is!

My favorite parts of the novel were the scenes set in ancient Rome with Maledicus. Anyone who thinks he could be a match for the evil (and insane) Emperor Caligula immediately has my attention. In addition, these scenes were well-researched and executed (pardon the pun).

I was surprised that Caligula dispatched Maledicus so quickly–although I probably shouldn’t have been, given Caligula’s reputation. However, I would like to have spent a bit more time with Maledicus in his earthly incarnation before he was sent howling into the netherworld.

The Investigative Paranormal Society are brought in when Maledicus sets his sights on the five-year-old niece of a local teacher. He proves an intractable enemy for Sam, Jeremy, and Roosevelt, as well as the people they enlist in their fight. In fact, there were several times I was genuinely shocked by what Maledicus did, which for me was one of the biggest strengths of the novel. Although shocking, the horror was not gratuitous or stomach-churning.

I would recommend Maledicus to readers who enjoy horror, the paranormal, and the question of the difference between an evil person and an evil spirit–which I found a fascinating one as I read the novel. If a person can be truly evil, how can this evil outlive its corporeal existence?

Thank you to Elizabeth Gauffreau!

Please be sure to visit her site: lizgauffreau.com

Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Reviews Of Two Of My Short Stories

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Hello to everyone! I wanted to share a few reviews of two my short stories.

First, “The Phone Call”

Available on Amazon

Deep messages packaged in an entertaining short story

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2021

This short story tells the tale of a young man, Cathal, who is not coping with the stresses and strains of his job and his life and is using alcohol to give him endurance and help him relax. His behaviour has spiraled out of control and he has already had an accident due to driving under the influence. He is not performing at work and his job is under threat which is making him more stressed and anxious. One evening, on his way home he gets a phone call from a strange number and the voice message is from his father. The complexity is that Cathal’s father is dead.

This short story examines a few themes, despite its brevity, including the lack of concern for employees and their mental health and general well being exhibited by employers who focus only on making money and are ruthless in their behaviour, as well as the genetic predisposition of some people to become alcoholics and follow in the footsteps of alcoholic parents. These messages are packaged in an entertaining paranormal story of a father’s whose love for his son and determination to help him extends beyond the limitations of the grave.

Can Cathal get his life back on track or will a ghostly visitation from his father drive him deeper into the bottle? You’ll have to read this short story to find out.

Eerie but well told

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2021

Losing your parents is an awful experience. But when your life spins out of control, and you find yourself drinking way more than you should, how can you turn it all around? Charles F. French, a great horror and supernatural author, shares one option in his short story, The Phone Call. I’ve previously read the first book in his ghost-hunting series but wanted to try something different too. He adds layers of emotion as a man drinks himself to healing. How is it possible that someone who died a decade earlier could be calling from a strange phone number? What could he want? Is it a trap? Or is it a test of one man’s strength in a world we’ve yet to uncover. Give this one a chance; it’s reminded me to pick up the second book in his series this fall.

Available on Amazon

“The Christmas Ghost: An Investigative Paranormal Society Adventure”

An exciting and well written short story

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2021

The four members of the Investigative Paranormal Society are called in just before Christmas to assist with a suspected haunting of the local children’s home.

Roosevelt is keen to take the case which will present a welcome distraction from memories of his beloved wife, Sarah, whose passing has left him bereft, especially at Christmas time.

As the foursome start digging into the case, they unexpectedly come across some new information about an unsolved murder case. The victim was a a good friend of Sam’s and a supporter of the children’s home.

The four must unravel the details of Randell’s murder and engage with his spirit in order to resolve the haunting and enable the orphans to return home before Christmas.

This is an exciting and well-written short story.

A Poetry Reading by Robert Fillman

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(Candid By Liz)

I am delighted to report that my wife Liz and I attended a poetry reading by Robert Fillman at the Firefly Bookstore.

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(Candid By Liz)

Robb read from his new book House Bird, and it was wonderful to be in attendance at this lovely store in Kutztown, PA and to experience the poet giving us his poetry directly. Robb’s poetry is extraordinary and powerful, and I believe that he is one of the best poets in the U. S. A. Robb’s writing is compelling, honest, imagistic, and moving. If you have not yet read any of his work and you enjoy poetry, you should order his new book as well as his previously published chapbook November Weather Spell. He is a poet you do not want to miss!

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(Candid By Liz)

Robb’s books can be found here:

Again, please order Robb’s book!

To Writers: Please read!

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“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Stephen King

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“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”

William Faulkner

(pixabay.com)

“We live for books.”

Umberto Eco

book-794978_960_720

(www.pixabay.com)

“Reading is essential to writing, just as breathing is necessary for life.”

Charles F. French

Quotations On Opposing Evil

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“He who does not oppose evil……commands it to be done.”

Leonardo Da Vinci

NPG 655; Edmund Burke studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds

studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds, oil on canvas, (1767-1769)

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Edmund Burke

Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The oppression of people anywhere is an injustice to all of humanity, and it must be opposed. We need to speak out and have our voices be heard. This is not a time for silence.”

Charles F. French

A Reminder and A Call For Help

Hello everyone!

I will participate today in an event on Twitter called #SFFpit, in which authors pitch their books in a tweet in the hopes of attracting an agent or publisher.

For those of you who have Twitter, please consider helping me with a RT and/or comment on Thursday from 8 am. to 6 pm. Please DO NOT LIKE the pitch; liking is how agents show they are interested.

My pitch will look something like this:

Stranger Things x The Magicians

In 1968, in small town in PA, three bullied teens, Dancer, James, and Micah, find refuge in their kind English teacher’s class. When he goes missing, to save him, they must defeat a supernatural creature and its followers or die trying. #SFFpit #YA #FA

Thank you again for your help!

Best always,

Charles F. French

Please Help Me with #SFFpit

Hello everyone!

On Thursday 2/24/2022, I will participate in an event on Twitter called #SFFpit, in which authors pitch their books in a tweet in the hopes of attracting an agent or publisher.

For those of you who have Twitter, please consider helping me with a RT and/or comment on Thursday from 8 am. to 8 pm. Please DO NOT LIKE the pitch; liking is how agents show they are interested.

My pitch will look something like this:

Stranger Things x The Magicians x It

In 1968, in a small town in PA, three bullied teens, Dancer, James, and Micah, find refuge in their kind English teacher’s class. When he goes missing, to save him, they must defeat a supernatural creature and its followers or die trying. #SFFpit #YA #FA

Hello everyone! It’s now mid-June, the weather is warmer, and it’s time for a self-promotion party!

Don’t be shy; tell us about your books!

Be proud of your writing!

Share your book(s) with the world!

Be your own best publicist!

To help as many as possible see your work, reblog, like, and follow others.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”

Mark Twain

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Nelson Mandela

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face. . . we must do that which we think we cannot.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

“We must always have the courage to oppose tyranny, bigotry, and ignorance. We must speak out, use the power of our voices, and we must vote!”

Charles F. French

Thank you to Elizabeth Gauffreau!

Please be sure to visit her site: lizgauffreau.com

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Stephen King

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”

William Faulkner

“We live for books.”

Umberto Eco

“Reading is essential to writing, just as breathing is necessary for life.”

Charles F. French

“He who does not oppose evil……commands it to be done.”

Leonardo Da Vinci

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Edmund Burke

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The oppression of people anywhere is an injustice to all of humanity, and it must be opposed. We need to speak out and have our voices be heard. This is not a time for silence.”

Charles F. French

Hello everyone!

I will participate today in an event on Twitter called #SFFpit, in which authors pitch their books in a tweet in the hopes of attracting an agent or publisher.

For those of you who have Twitter, please consider helping me with a RT and/or comment on Thursday from 8 am. to 6 pm. Please DO NOT LIKE the pitch; liking is how agents show they are interested.

My pitch will look something like this:

Stranger Things x The Magicians

In 1968, in small town in PA, three bullied teens, Dancer, James, and Micah, find refuge in their kind English teacher’s class. When he goes missing, to save him, they must defeat a supernatural creature and its followers or die trying. #SFFpit #YA #FA

Thank you again for your help!

Best always,

Charles F. French

Hello everyone!

On Thursday 2/24/2022, I will participate in an event on Twitter called #SFFpit, in which authors pitch their books in a tweet in the hopes of attracting an agent or publisher.

For those of you who have Twitter, please consider helping me with a RT and/or comment on Thursday from 8 am. to 8 pm. Please DO NOT LIKE the pitch; liking is how agents show they are interested.

My pitch will look something like this:

Stranger Things x The Magicians x It

In 1968, in a small town in PA, three bullied teens, Dancer, James, and Micah, find refuge in their kind English teacher’s class. When he goes missing, to save him, they must defeat a supernatural creature and its followers or die trying. #SFFpit #YA #FA

Thank you again for your help!

Best always,

Charles F. French

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”