Saturday, January 16, 2016

Updates and Down Dates


Well, I haven’t been on the blog for a while, so I thought it might be a good idea to give a few updates and let people know what is happening in the Dark World these days. 

In the dying days of 2015 I finished the first draft of my new novel, Highwayman. After getting the first draft out of the way, I decided to put it away and tinker with something else. And that’s what I did. 
     First, I finished a short story submission to an upcoming Anthology, which I am still waiting to hear back on, but I also put together a short story collection. Some years back, I attempted to launch a PDF based Horror Periodical which I called Dark Passages. The indie publishing world was still in its infancy at this time and, quite frankly, so was my knowledge on the subject. 
    The PDF version saw three issues and then slipped away into the night never to be heard from again. The problem wasn’t getting an issue together. There were plenty of enthusiastic up and coming talents wanting to contribute and I thought I was actually on to something. 
    The problem was time. Putting together a publication is an arduous task. First you have to find the talent, which means reading submissions, then you have to edit and finally you have to format, publish and promote. Actually, in the context of a single sentence, I just made it sound really simple, but I assure you it is not. 
     Take my word for it.
    On my birthday, January 7th, I released: DARK PASSAGES A collection of 6 Short Stories. The collection is a mashup of tales that have been in and out of publication and was edited by Jake Anfinson. Jake is a sometime guest host on THE QUIET ROOM and staff member at writingforums.com.  It includes six stories that have all seen publication in one form or another. Anyway, if you want to check it out, you can head over to Amazon and pick it up on kindle or in print.




Also, in the world of MJ Preston there have been a number of things on the go. First of all, I just recorded another episode of THE QUIET ROOM PODCAST, with writer Patrick Lacey. Taking time out from his daily shock therapy, at the Hawthorne Mental Health Institute, Patrick talked about his latest novella: A Debt to be Paid from Samhain Publishing. I have been reading this novella and I have to say that I am enjoying it quite a bit. Pat was a fantastic guest and he only freaked once out over his muse, which he claims is trying to kill him.
Cat's are often used to calm Pat before shock therapy.
    The Quiet Room is a pleasant distraction for me and I really enjoy doing it. Some might think it’s a stuffy writing podcast based on the tagline: A Podcast about writers, books, writing and publishing. It is that and much more. We usually have quite a bit of fun and don’t limit ourselves to just books, but also movies and other forms of entertainment. In this episode, we spent considerable time beating up our friend, of Dark Discussions Fame, Philip Perron. 
     Topics breached, were Philip’s inability to control himself, his love for the film THE INNKEEPERS and the deportation of his ancestors from Canada for reasons that are still unknown.
      All tongue in cheek of course. We love you Phil.
     Finally, I have to announce that THE QUIET ROOM will be going dark in the coming months. I am heading back to the majesty of the north to run the ice roads one last time. The slowdown in the economy has definitely affected my day job, so off I go to search for Skentophyte and stolen diamonds in Canada’s winter paradise. I’ll be dragging my camera and giving the odd update, so stay tuned. You have not heard the last of MJ Preston.
     So, on that note I gotta get. 
     I wish everyone a Happy Prosperous New Year.
     MJP
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Author Mj Preston creates an epic page-turner, with Canada’s frozen north as the setting and the Earth as the ultimate prize   --Gregory L. Norris, author of Tales from the Robot Graveyard

In 2012 and 2013, Author, M.J. Preston set out to run the worlds longest Ice Road. Now he's returned with the much anticipated novel Acadia Event.
Marty Croft has it all.
A beautiful wife and a successful career as a commercial artist. However, he has a secret and it has come back to haunt him. Enter Gordon Shamus. Gordon is a psychopath with a short fuse who won't take "no" for an answer. Forced back into a world he thought he had left behind
Marty heads to the ice roads of Canada to do one last heist.
In a twist of fate, that becomes least of his worries. At the Acadia Diamond Mine they have made a major discovery. Something buried in the ice, not of this world and it is about to be unleashed.
Get it on Kindle or available in Trade Paperback
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Preston turns what could easily have been a stock horror story into a tale that horrifies while dispensing generous dollops of Native American mysticism.    --TT Horror World
A Must Read for Traditional Horror Enthusiasts.
When a tribe of native people in the Northwest Territories of Canada are snowed in from the world, they are forced to resort to inhuman ways of survival. When a presence is drawn to their suffering, an evil blankets over their continued existence until a misfortunate occurrence results in the spread of the terror to more populated lands. 
With its ensemble cast, the novel takes paths that lead to a serial killer, demonic monsters, and a police department that slowly discovers that there may be something deeper into the crimes that have transpired in their small farming town in Manitoba.

Get it on Kindle or available in Trade Paperback



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JUST RELEASED IN JANUARY 2016!
A collection of 6 short stories by M.J. Preston that take you into the dark passages of his writing. Whether it's serial killers, apocalyptic zealots, man hungry spiders or even skinwalkers, the tales intertwine with many of his other works.
  • Run-off 31
  • Revelation Lamb
  • Passion
  • The Children of Romani Phoneutria
  • Counting Paces
  • End of the Line
Get it on Kindle or available in Trade Paperback


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