Annoucement: The Electric Mile

So team, big announcement today. Earlier this year I had a book called The Electric Mile up on Amazon for a cup of coffee before pulling it down for various reasons. Today, I'm happy to report that The Electric Mile is back in business all thanks to the good people at Baronet Press Publishing. Casey McKay and her team have been fantastic to work with and I couldn't be happier that they took a chance with a story that I consider to be one of my finest.


With its release right around the corner, what I'd like to share with you guys today is the awesome cover that their designer, Craig, came up with for the book.

To me, this perfectly captures the video game like feel that the plot line has.

Before I go, I wanted to bring back the playlist I listened to while writing this book. Some of you might remember it from before, but for those who are new, here's the 14 song mix-tape I created to jam out to while dropping some words on pages:

The Electric Mile Soundtrack

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Bring Me to Life - Evanescence

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin

Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne

Creep - Radiohead

Here I Go Again - White Snake

War Pigs - Black Sabbath

Slow Ride - Foghat

Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum

Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra

Baba O'Riley - The Who

Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane

The Unforgiven - Metallica

Through the Fire and Flames - Dragonforce

I encourage you to get those songs through legal means and when you grab your copy here soon, jam out just like I did.

Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow for the second part of the Friday Freebies with Jack, as we continue looking into the past of Derrick Grimm, aka Death!

Jack

jack.crosby25@gmail.com



The New Grimm's Reapers!

A guy is gone for a month or so on business field trips and comes home to find his inbox full of angry messages about where the Grimm's Reapers series has gone. Here are a few examples:


Jack -
I purchased Death Among Us and Old War Stories. Where the hell are the rest of the books? Seriously not cool.


Mr. Crosby -
Just logged into Amazon to get Divide and Conquest and was told its unavailable. Is this an error? Can you please let me know when I can get the last book?


Grrrr,
I'm so mad that you pulled your books. NOT HAPPY!


As you can see, I'm not exactly Mr. Popularity right now amongst my good people. As I explained before, the reason for the pull was to improve quality. Just as many readers sent me email after reading one or two books stating how poorly edited they were. I was young, naïve, and thought I could handle shit on my own. I learned from those mistakes and wanted to put out a better quality product.


I'm happy to report today that by Halloween this year, all four books will be back out under new titles and 150% better. With the help of Jeremy Croston over at Bolt Publishing, the two of us were able to take my hot messes and make them shine. In April, Death Among Us was re-released as Demons in D.C. Here's the cover if you haven't seen it yet:





The second book of the series, Old War Stories, is just about done its makeover. Renamed In the Nyx of Time, it is up for preorder on Amazon with a release date on June 6th. If at any point you dropped the series due to the errors, I'd like to extend you a welcome back. The under construction signs are being torn down and The Chronicles of Death are sure to delight all you heathens.


Before I go today, here's the new cover for In the Nyx of Time. I love it.



-Jack
www.amazon.com/author/jackcrosby


PS - If you're still here, look for the Feast or Famine remake in August. Rumor has it that its new title will be Abaddon Rising...


*Special thanks to all the people who've helped me turn shit into gold: CG Blade, Stephanie Croston, Galuh Obodi, Cindy Calloway, Morganna Williams and many more.

Reflections

Sometimes getting the truth is the hardest conversation to have with someone. No one wants to hurt feelings or upset anyone, so they sugarcoat things. It's only by pressing that you get the truth, and once you have it, the realizations that come along with it.


I finally got the truth yesterday and it's time to deal with it.


When I started my writing journey a few years back, it was for fun. I had stories to tell and never really thought any more of it. As I kept going, it went from hobby to something that I started to take more seriously. Then, as more books sold, it became a passion. It wasn't overnight, but I remember one day thinking, "This is something I could totally see doing one day on a more full-time basis."


As a computer guy, I have spreadsheets and limitless pieces of data lying all over the place. One of those spreadsheets shows how my books do, obviously. The other day, it dawned on me that the series retention rate from Death Among Us through the current book, Jacoby's Revenge, ended up being only about 25%. That surprised me. So I sought out some opinions from those closest to me.


No one wanted to offend me. I kept pressing, until one brave soul told me the truth - there are numerous errors and some plot point inconsistencies. Finally, someone told me what I needed to hear. So, with that, what to do? A few authors said just to have it edited and just update the version on Amazon. However, one author gave me another idea, one I liked even more. Pull the books completely, revamp them, and release them under new names and cover art. "Let's give your books a brand new identity."


And that's what I am going to do. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to start pulling stuff down. Death Among Us is already in some very capable hands, getting revisions and corrections handled as we speak. I'll keep everyone posted as this new beginning really takes place, but in the meantime, feel free to email me any questions you might have. I'm always around.


-Jack
jack.crosby25@gmail.com

Roxanne Short Story - Red With Lust

Greetings my fellow humanoids. I hope you had a great Christmas and have some cool plans for New Years. Me, I'm going to chillax in Chicago as I am off for the rest of the year!! No need to tell me it is only 4 days, I will take my vacation and run.


So, my tag team project with Morganna Williams has been very well received. The Primal Heat/Merciless: A Pirate's Tale combo platter is up on Amazon and neither of us realized just how popular it would be. Well, when something is good, you keep running with it. Morganna asked me if I had another Grimm's Reapers tale to tell and, naturally, I did. So with her next novella that'll be released right at the kick off to 2017, Roxanne is coming back for more.


In the short story, Red With Lust, our favorite demon has been tasked with assassinating JFK. What happens next is a tale that sends us from the east coast to the heart of Texas as we follow her adventure. By the conclusion, you'll know a lot more about her and how she came to be in Derrick Grimm's (aka Death) life.


Real quick, The Witch Wars Volume 2 is coming along nicely - should be an early 2017 release there. Plus, my other new(ish) book, The Electric Mile is free this week. You should grab it at www.amazon.com/author/jackcrosby. Video games, hot ladies, and a wacky plot that makes little sense? What's not to love?! And finally, me and some dude named CG Blade are up to no good with the Grimm's Reapers series. I am super stoked to continue to work with that mad genius. Just don't tell him I complemented him, okay? Good.


That's all I got party people. Have a safe and great New Years and I will see you in 2017.


-Jack
jack.crosby25@gmail.com

The Itch Doesn't Leave

As I sit here in my hotel, far away from Chicago, I'm feeling the need to write.  I'm tired from working all weekend in a small cramped space with no air circulating.  I have a headache from a very annoying man who won't give me the space to do my job.  I should either be drinking a beer or trying to sleep, but I have this need to write.


I miss my characters.  I miss the antics that the Grimm's Reapers cast gave to me.  Oz's story is in my head.  The story idea I bought off my buddy has been consuming my thoughts.  If I don't do something soon, I'll go nuts.  I honestly thought it was for the best not to try to keep up my author pursuits while I was expanding my day job.


I can man up and say I was wrong.  My tablet isn't going to cut it.  Today I'm going to go to this little specialty computer store I found and build the perfect lap top.  I'm going to email my buddies Jeremy and Jeff to see what dates this fall are open for a book release.  Then I'm going to start Oz's story.


Damnit people, Jack is back.


-Jack
jack.crosby25@gmail.com

Intro

Hey everybody, welcome to The Crosby Files. My name is Jack and I'm the author of Death Among Us which I'm excited to announce will be part of a series entitled Grimm's Reapers. If you have downloaded my book off of Amazon, hey thanks! If not, WTF is wrong with you?!?! Just kidding... I think.

So, a bit about me. First, I'm self employed, working as a free-lance IT guy. I travel the country helping different companies get their networks in order. It's not as glamorous, high paying, or fun as it seems. That's why I channeled my inner deviant and started writing. It gives me something to do between awful gigs.

Currently I'm in California working helping a small auto parts store get there inventory system in order. But really, I'm starting the second book in Grimm's Reapers. Derrick and Roxanne are back and even through the first chapter, shit hits the fan. If all goes well, I'm hoping for a mid-summer release on Amazon.

Last, I'd like to thank Jeremy Croston and Jeff Trelewicz for their help in getting this project off the ground. I had no idea what I was doing and when I reached out to Jeff, he got his buddy involved and poof, the book became reality. Their company name is Two Dudes, Brews, & Books, so please give them a shout out too. We all need some help and after plenty of rejections because of my material and 'I'm too busy to help you peon,' those two guys did me a solid. In fact, it was Jeff that encouraged me to start this blog, so if you hate it, spam him on twitter @Trel67. You can also annoy Jeremy @jeremycroston81. Tell them Jack sent you.

Well, I have to get ready to go tell an old man that his internet connection is 800 years obsolete. While I'm suffering, try out my book, Death Among Us at http://www.amazon.com/Death-Among-Us-Jack-Crosby-ebook/dp/B00SYVPPV6/

-Jack Crosby
jack.crosby25@gmail.com