Writers Cantina Presenter Spotlight: Jay Barnson...Gentleman, Author

 Jay Barnson is an author and computer programmer and another featured presenter at this year's Writers Cantina Writing Convention taking place on July 8, 2023 in West Valley City, Utah...exactly sixty-five days from today.

He's also a great guy.

I remember first meeting Jay at a steampunk convention almost ten years ago. I was attending my very first event--even got to participate on a panel. I was there trying to sell books, specifically my first published work, a short story in a steampunk anthology called, Mechanized Masterpieces.  My Story, Little Boiler Girl changed my life.

The table was set up and Jay stopped by along with his family. They were all decked out in awesome steampunk garb...they cosplayed and did a wonderful job at it, too. I remember talking to him about the publisher and how they were looking for authors and they used their anthologies to mine for talent. Fast forward a couple of years and Jay and I were both in another anthology. Then, because apparently Jay can't stop writing, he's published a series, then he goes and starts another.

I've gotten to know Jay better in those ten years, as well as his family. They are great people. Before the great shutdown, we used to see each other several times a year. It was always fun catching up. If you attend this year's inaugural Writers Cantina convention, be sure catch any panel in which Jay in involved. It'll be well worth your time. You can access the convention's website by clicking: HERE, and find out more about Jay at the convention by clicking: HERE.

Jay Barnson...gentleman, author, all-around great author and even better person.

Jay Barson's "Blood Creek Phantom"...Available Today

There are some things going on that--for the slightest of moments--make you believe life is operating as normal. No, it's not being able to do many of the things we used to do without thinking of the ramifications. But, when a new book is launched into the world, well...that's something that used to happen and still happens now.

With today's release of Blood Creek Phantom, Jay Barnson has added to his Blood Creek Series, all published through Immortal Works. Since it's the third in the series, and I believe there will be at least one more volume. However, you never know what plans the muse has. Here's a short description of each book so far:

Blood Creek Witch, Blood Creek Series Vol. 1

Deep in the Appalachian Mountains, a monstrous evil rises, and the only one who can stand against it is a teen-aged witch who doesn’t believe in magic.

Grieving and lost after the death of her parents, Jenny Morgan is sent to West Virginia to live with an aunt she’s never met. It’s there that Jenny is confronted with an unbelievable family heritage of witchcraft and magic – something she immediately dismisses as old-fashioned superstitions. However, once her new home is threatened by deadly horrors straight out of myth and folklore, her aunt’s stories become impossible to ignore.

Now Jenny and her three new friends – friends with dark secrets all their own - are the only ones who stand a chance of stopping the growing evil, but only if Jenny can embrace her arcane heritage. But little does Jenny know, becoming a witch will attract the attention of an even greater evil - the same un-killable creature her parents died to protect her from.

Blood Creek Beast, Blood Creek Series Vol 2

For years, Jack Parsons dreamed of escaping the tiny community of Maple Bend, West Virginia. Now he is trapped in another world entirely. Seeking help to protect the crossroads from the immortal “man in the white suit” and his Coven, Jack ventures into the world ‘Round the Bend, a mirror-image of West Virginia more wondrous, and more dangerous, than he had ever imagined.

On the other side of the crossroads, the Coven pursues Jessabelle Rose with plans to use her shape-shifting powers for their own dark ends. Jessabelle must choose between flight or fight; to escape the Coven forever, or risk everything to protect her family.

What began with mysterious deaths deep in the Appalachian Mountains now threatens to engulf two worlds. Witchcraft and creatures of folklore mix with shadowy high-tech organizations and political intrigue in this thrilling tale of magic and adventure.

Blood Creek Phantom, Blood Creek Series Vol 3

An army of the living and an army of the dead converge on the Crossroads, and the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance.

Sean Williams can see the ghosts of the dead rising in Maple Bend. They can see him, too—including the vengeful spirit of a serial murderer hunting him. To save Maple Bend from the plans of the Man in the White Suit, Sean must put the dead to rest—but doing so may cost him the girl who haunts his dreams.

Beyond the Crossroads, a powerful army approaches, led by the evil daughter of the Man in the White Suit. Jenny Morgan, an inexperienced witch self-exiled to this magical parallel version of West Virginia, stands with the defenders to halt a vastly superior force. But is she truly part of the last line of defense against the darkness, or is she the key to its victory?

You can order the book today from Amazon: HERE. 

Writing any book is an incredible feat. Writing three--expanding the universe--compounds the difficulty with each volume. I'm so impressed with friends who have the creativity, the self-discipline to complete the project, and through it all, remaining sane.

The writer's triple threat.

Congrats to Jay! Well done on Book 3!

On to the next!

Today's The Day For Jay To Say..."Blood Creek Witch" Is HERE!

Today Immortal Work's latest book, Jay Barnson's Blood Creek Witch, is available to the public. Jay posted a picture of himself holding his creation. And not only is Jay wearing an amazing Commodore 64 shirt, he's wearing a smile.

I know that smile.

I've worn that smile.

It comes when you receive that box of books for the first time.

It's an incredible feeling holding a book that exists because you wrote it.

I have not read Jay's latest, but I have read things he has written. In fact, Jay has a boatload of things published. You can check out his Amazon author page: HERE. You can also order your copy of Blood Creek Witch from Amazon: HERE.

I can't help but be excited for my friend. He's worked hard getting his book published. He's worked hard getting his short stories published, too. And he has a job (unlike me...) where sometimes putting in forty hours a week means he's just getting started. I can learn a lot from him about writing, putting in the time, and finishing projects.

Reading books written by people you know is a pleasure. Reading great literature is wonderful by itself, but when you know the person who wrote it, it adds an extra dimension to the reading experience. I can't wait to read Jay's novel. Congrats Jay on the book! May it sell a million copies!

John Olsen's New Book..."Crystal King" Is Coming Soon!

I met John because I met Jay and Jay works with John and so I met John. 

And I'm glad I did.

There's a few of us who, because of Xchyler Publishing, have gone from published short-story authors to published novel authors. John's the first. My novel comes out early next year, and Jay Barnson's novel should come out shortly after that.

But today it's John's turn and his book looks amazing! It's called Crystal King, Riland Throne, Book 1. I have not had the opportunity to read it--it's something I plan on doing and something I'm excited to do. You can access the book's Amazon website and pre-order: HERE. Of course, if you go to Salt Lake Comic Con tomorrow or Saturday, you can get a copy now!

From that website, here's a brief description of Crystal King:

An army has overrun and destroyed the royal council and much of the kingdom of Riland's leadership. Now, Gavin Stoutheart’s father the baron is missing, along with Gavin’s brother the heir- both presumed dead. After tormenting his instructors and father for years with his rebellious antics, Gavin must step up to lead his people as they flee before an invading army, one that can outpace his motley collection of castle staff, peasants, and children. Gavin’s only hope for survival is the forbidden animal magic wielded by his closest friends combined with his gift for strategy as he searches for allies along their trail. Will it be enough to keep them alive as they desperately trek through a fractured, leaderless kingdom? For the army of human and animal predators will show no mercy.

Will it be enough? Will they survive? How does this thing turn out?

On October 17th, you'll have to check out Crystal King to find out!

"Beyond The Wail" Reviews...Jay Barnson's "Cold Spot"

In Xchyler Publishing's Beyond the Wail, there are two stories by authors with the last name "Barnson." This post focuses on the second story, the second Barnson, Jay Barnson's Cold Spot.

For those of you who don't know, Jay is a computer guy, which helps explain his story's premise. It begins in an office/warehouse setting where Mike Bradshaw's computer is missing. But, it's not missing in the traditional sense. He believe's he's misplaced it. Nope. He's checked everywhere. The only other option is, it's been stolen.

Well, sort of...

Mike solicits help from his best friend, Nate, computer genius. The two find out the computer's not missing, but is still at work. Thus begins the mystery. Jay's story reminded me of something Stephen King would conjure up. If you've read Insomnia you might understand why it came to mind while reading this. I also saw a bit of Michael Crichton in the story with the use of technology throughout the story.

Mike and Nate become prisoners of a sort. They're trapped and have a short period of time to escape. Due to their technical knowledge, they utilize cellphones and wi-fi signals in an attempt to save themselves from certain death. Jay's story could have been longer, and I don't mean this as a criticism. He's introduced many fascinating elements to his mystical world, a world full of traps, creatures and alternative universes. I wish the story could have been longer to explore some of these elements, but I understand why it wasn't. Like Stephen King, Jay could easily expand the take advantage of the characters, their situations and the world in general.

I've explained in previous blog posts that I feel a certain level of responsibility for seeing Jay's stories in print. We met several years ago and I introduced him to Xchyler Publishing and how Xchyler finds new authors. Of course, he could have spoken to someone else had I not been to that particular convention. I'd like to think that if I weren't there, he would have sought out someone and submitted his story to another anthology, the anthology that published his first story. But, it was he and I that spoke and now I'm fortunate enough (as are all of you...) to be able to read about Mike and Nate and the cool--and frightening--situation in which they find themselves.

It's a great little story! You can get it through Amazon, or on Kindle and read it instantly before Halloween. I recommend it.

To Maw...Or Not To Maw?

*

This afternoon I posted a simple question on Facebook, and it has to do with the word: Maw. And before I get any further in this post, I need to thank the people at Twisted Pixel Games LLC for creating (and hopefully allowing me to use...) the above visual. Their game is called The Maw and you can get information on it: HERE.

Needless to say, I received several responses to my simple question, which was: Has there ever been a speculative fiction work that doesn't include the word "maw?"

Now, I know it's a perfectly good word, however, like almost anything in life, too much of a good things is anything but. I've read SO many stories in speculative fiction over the past couple of years and almost every time, the word maw can be found within the text.

I got a lot of great responses. One of my FB friends, Justin posted a link to a similar blog post he penned a couple of years ago. I'm glad he did that because I wondered if I'm the only one thinking that. I recommend you read his post: HERE.

But, the best response I got was from another friend, Jay (who is an author AND a video game designer...). Here's what he had to say:

JAY: Gonna suggests titles for Scott's next story:

"A Maw Too Far"
"A Maw for Emily"
"The Lord of the Maws"
"Rendezvous with Maw"
"The Maw of Time"
"The Mawing"
"Pet Maw"
"Black Maw"
"The Tell-Tale Maw"
"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Maw"
"The Maw Whisperer"
"The Maw of the Wild"
"Star Maw"
"Papa Married a Maw" (Well, yeah...)
"If You Were a Maw, My Love"
"Old Maw's War"
"Maw and Empire"
"War of the Maws"
"Around the Maw in Eighty Days"
"Maw Hunters International"
"A Song of Fire and Maws"
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Maw"
"What the Maw Saw"

And of course... duh, DUM! duh, DUM!!!!

"Maws."

And if I could, I'd add one of my own to this fantastic list--in honor of Jay's short story in Mechanized Masterpieces 2: An American Anthology:

The Maw-Less Horsemen.

To Maw...or not to Maw? Turns out that's a pretty good question!

* Artwork used without permission from: http://www.mawgame.com/

POLAIK, The Gamer...Jay Barnson

My next POLAIK (Profile Of Local Authors/Artists I Know...) is Jay Barnson. Jay is a fellow Xchyler author that I met at my very first convention--the 2013 Salt City Steamfest Convention held in Layton, Utah.

And, he may not agree with this, but I feel like I had a little something to do with Jay's literary success. 

That convention was very eye-opening, and not just because of all the steampunk costumes (with the top hats, goggles and corsets...). It was the first time I had a book for sale on a table that had my name on it. Granted, there were seven other names on that same book, but I didn't care. My name was one of the eight. Still, as far as convention protocol, I really didn't know what I was doing.

I learned, at that convention, that fellow authors like to support each other. I learned that fellow authors are interested in what other authors write. I learned that people who attend these conventions really like to get to know the other attendees. So when I met Jay and his lovely family at that convention and I asked him if he liked to read or if he was a writer, he said "yes" to both. Turns out not only was Jay a writer, but he had a project he'd love to see published. I told him about Xchyler and my brief but favorable experience with the small-press publisher and he was very interested in learning more.

Fast forward a few months and Jay's name appeared on the cover of a book that found itself for sale on tables at conventions all over the world. Fast forward a few years and both Jay's name and my name appeared on the cover of the same book.

In addition to being a writer, Jay's also a video game maker, and a talented one at that. I am not a big gamer but since Jay's local and we've attended many of the conventions together, there's a lot of time to chat in between sales. The more he's told me about the video game industry, the more respect I have for anyone willing to jump in and give it a go.

So, if you're at a convention and Jay's in attendance, he'd love to talk to you about writing or gaming. He's good either way.

Salt City Steamfest, 2014 Edition...

It's late, my feet are killing me, and I lost my eye glasses. Still, I had a blast at this year's Salt City Steamfest. It's a two-day event, but tomorrow I'm busy with a tech day. Here's a few pictures of just some of the atmosphere found within its walls.

And, I met three Xchyler writers I had not met before. I would mention that had those authors been in attendance for my Steampunk throwdown panel (and they had picked my argument that the Clockwork Tinkers were superior to both the molemen and the airship pirates...), I would have won the competition. But since I'm not that kind of person, I won't mention it.

It was a good day!