New Member Greetings and Ramblings

[Joel Reeves]

Greetings fellow writers. I've gotten the nod from Captain Tight Pants so looks like I'm an official member of the club.  All right, everyone, stop looking so disappointed.  In any case, I look forward to seeing more issues of Erie Tales at my local bookstore, Horizon Books in Traverse City.  I'm hoping to do a book signing at that location sometime in September or October.  A fairly new Comic Con (Cherry Capital Comic Con) in Traverse City is slowly gaining traction.  It could be something GLAHW might want to investigate further as a place to promote its authors and books.  A GLAHW promotional function at the Horizon Bookstore during the Traverse City Film Festival (usually the last week in July) might also be worth considering.  I'll end my introduction with a shameless plug for my short story collection, Odd Birds, now available on Amazon.

www.amazon.com/dp/B07WTS6QCY/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=joel+reeves&qid=1566378714&s=gateway&sr=8-3

[J.M. Van Horn]

Glad to have you aboard. Even better when you bring some great ideas like these.

[clarkroberts]

Hi Joel,

Just wanted to say I've ordered the Kindle version of Odd Birds. I've only had one night to dive into it, but what I've read so far I've enjoyed tremendously. "And Baby Makes Three", "The Runaway", and "Boneless Chuck and the Screamers" fully entertained me. "And Baby Makes Three", is a great opening to a collection--completely accessible in that it's somewhat rooted in reality but also strange, strange, strange. Nicely done. From the 3 stories I've read thus far there truly is a Twilight Zone vibe. When I completely finish the collection if I have more positive things to say (I'm thinking I will), I'll post about it on facebook. Man, keep it up!

Respectfully,

Clark Roberts 

[peggychristie]

Hey, Joel. Welcome! We did a reading event at Horizon a few years back and got some of our books on the shelves. It's been a few years, though, so it might be something we get back in stock over there (especially since we've had a few books published since last we were out there). The CCCC isn't all that new (I believe they're on year 12 for 2020) but now that they jury the applicants, we might want to give it a try next year. I did it as a solo author and it was a LOT of fun! The TC Film Fest could be a cool place to set up!

[clarkroberts]

Hello Joel,

I've finished reading ODD BIRDS. Between work, parenting, husbanding, and devoting time to my own craft of writing I really don't have a ton of free time. But the first story in this collection had me hooked, and I then made it a priority to read 3-4 stories each night before bed. Man, I woke up early solely for the purpose of reading the last story before heading to work this morning--that should tell you something about much I enjoyed this collection Great, great job! Do you have another collection of stories floating around out there? If so, where can it be purchased?


To others, honestly if you are interested in weird stories this collection is for you. The stories do not rely on gore or splatter-punk (so if that's your thing maybe look elsewhere). ODD BIRDS contains some of the smartest and most creative stories I've read in the past few years. I rank this collection right up there with Eric J. Guignard's THAT WHICH GROWS WILD--and that collection won a Bram Stoker award, so that lets you know how highly I praise ODD BIRDS.

Often, the writer in me is wringing my hands and staring wide-eyed at the bedroom ceiling after midnight trying to force a new idea to pop in my mind. You can imagine my jealousy as I read each story in ODD BIRDS, because the ideas were for the most part original. Yes, there is a TWILIGHT ZONE vibe, but the plots were fresh and some left me shaking my head thinking--COME ON, WHY DIDN"T I THINK THIS ONE UP?

If you're looking for something different that doesn't waste words, then ODD BIRDS might be for you. Certainly, I think it was money well spent for the quality of story-telling.

[WeirdNicole]

Welcome, Joel! Glad to have you!