Curious about my books?
Have a Kindle?
Well then, all of my books are available on Kindle (save for Back from Nothing but that’s WAY pre-Kindle so it’s only in paperback…from me).
Better -
All of my story collections are .99 cents.
The novel is $5 but that’s a behemoth.
Best -
If you have Amazon Prime all of the books are free to ‘borrow’ on there.
Awesome. .
The saying goes ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ and it couldn’t be more true – when you are an artist or a writer and you don’t get your book further out than your immediate area you will hit a very, very large wall of indifference. It isn’t that people don’t like you, and not that they don’t like your work but that they have seen both, even the new stuff, so often and so many times that at a point they are bored with you. You are backdrop. And heck, they can see/buy your work any old time, right, because they have seen you a few times before.
This happens with friends and strangers alike, and it’s heartbreaking and it’s something I struggle with. For me, I have been writing for a looong time and doing shows for almost as long and I have been doing this long enough that I have run out of steam. There are only so many times you can query publishers, do art shows, and hype up new work to little interest where you just get burned out. And for me, someone who had ten years between books, I feel like I have wasted enough time and don’t want to waste it anymore. Alas, in haste to produce I didn’t realize that I was becoming furniture. And I see this all the time at conventions when they get the same guests year after year after year, and with artists who do the same shows over and over again. And it isn’t you, per se, it’s that people get bored of seeing the same or similar work all the time.
Just how people are.
Heck, I am still coming to terms with the general indifference I have faced from many after publishing my first, and odds are last, novel. To me it’s a big deal but everyone else, it’s nothing. Part of that is that I have released five other books in the past three years, and part too is that in the era of social media, when EVERY event is OHMYGOD big it’s hard to really get people to react to some things. It seems like someone is ALWAYS getting married, or engaged, or having kids, or breaking up, and it’s hard to really make people care. We’ve just become a very self involved culture. Not having to help your neighbors build a barn, or fight off invaders, or grow food, or having to do a hundred other things that we used to have to do has made us lose touch with each other. (which, parenthetically, has also made a lot of us utter cads out in public but that’s for other blogs to examine).
Familiarity breeds contempt.
You have to pace yourself and your work.
You have to time your releases and shows so that you give people space and room to breathe.
You have to make sure you do shows out of your immediate area so you can give yourself a chance to reach a new audience.
And you must be patient, with yourself and those around you because it isn’t you that they are bored with but with the familiarity of everything these days, and that’s what breeds the contempt.
c
Last night was an amazing night for me. I have wanted to see the release of my novel A Shadow Over Ever for a long, long time and it’s amazing to finally have it out.Here is a sample from deeper in the book, when things are established and the true danger is becoming apparent.
This scene is my little homage to DAWN OF THE DEAD and sets two of the characters, brothers Terrence and Cloot against a mall full of the living dead. The world is changing, you see, due to a war between Heaven and the first children of Eden and the war is taking its toll on all of existence.
(this is from an earlier draft of the book so don’t mind any grammar bumps, they’ve been fixed!)
Fifteen minutes and about a hundred pounds of weaponry and ammo later the three of them, Terrence, Cloot, and Warren a.k.a. Flyboy, re-enter the fray. They are all three armed with as much as they can carry, which for Warren is the small squirrel rifle Cloot had been carrying, but are ready for a war, though Warren looks rather queasy under the bright mall lights. Before them await the dead, the smell of their rot filling the hallway, suffocating their minds. They must have heard the three inside the store arguing because as soon as they left Kill World they found themselves all but surround already by them. And as the three of them prepare for combat the dead approach slowly, tightening their circle and readying for an attack. The three men level their weapons. Beneath the sound of the shuffling they can hear the screams coming from the underwear store. The dead though, they make no sound. The only sound they make is the sound of their movement, which sounds like paper being rubbed together, and it is a chilling sound. And slowly do they approach, their limbs stiff, bodies frail, one two falling apart as they approach. And on seeing them Warren lets loose a pathetic whimper and retches onto himself, washing his overalls in orange, dropping the gun, and falling limply against the wall. Terrence and Cloot turn to him, eyes wide, pulled from their own fear by his falling, and suddenly they realize that it’s too late to do anything else but fight. And on come the dead, their arms reaching out, their bodies moving slowly, so slowly, their jaws opening wide in soundless moan. And behind them come the screams of the trapped people again. And within Terrence and Cloot lay trapped their screams.
“Pick up that goddamn gun Flyboy, get it, get it goddammit…”
“I…no, no…I can’t…”
“You can and you will goddammit. Too late to run chicken now. You got no choice. None of us got any other choice. Fight or die, that’s the choice we gots. ‘Cause them fuckers there don’t care ‘bout you but to kill you. You wanna die motherfucker? If you do wanna die then we’ll do it for ‘em and save you the pain and get you outta our goddamn hair. ‘Cause if you ain’t gonna fight yer a liability to us and we ain’t gonna have that.”
Terrence raises his rifle and aims it at Warren’s head; taking dead aim on his quivering face. Once, a few days ago, he would barely have done this as a joke but now, after the Calling Station and the baby, there is no turning back. Cloot looks away, uncertain what to do anymore, looking instead to the dead coming closer to them as he raises his own handgun.
“No, don’t look away brother. You need to see this. This is war. This is…this is war…and in war there ain’t no thing as prisoners…close yer eyes Warren, just close yer eyes…”
Three new paintings for tomorrow’s show. BOOM!
Eighteen years ago I began a journey. It started with a short, weird little story about an angry man with a pumpkin on his head and it became the seed for what would eventually become my first and perhaps only novel. This novel has been with me for a long time. From that short story it grew to a second, then a third, then a final story. This novel was never intended to be as such, but I fell in love with the cantankerous old man in it, and I fell in love with the world where he lived, bleak as it can be at times. A SHADOW OVER EVER truly is one of the things I am very proud of because it took a long time to get it out, to get it to the world, but it was worth it.
On Friday, August 10th I am celebrating the release of my novel by having a release party with my dear friend Charles Shaver, who will also be releasing books that night. This is my way to celebrate not just this book, but all of the books, and the long journey it took to get them out. I will have my art and books on display and for sale but more than that I will have stories and art dating back to when I was still just a kid in the ’80s and ‘90s so we can see the weird little path that this and all my stories took.
This night isn’t about me, about my book, but about you, all of you. Because without the friendship and encouragement of all of you there would be no art, no stories, and certainly no books.
There will be snacks, and music, and lots of awesome on hand on August 10th from 6 – 9pm right downtown in Flint at 625 S. Saginaw St., and I really hope you can make it.
https://www.facebook.com/events/233371616781885/
Thanks,
Chris R.
To order A SHADOW OVER EVER
Kindle - https://www.createspace.com/3942067
On Friday, August 10th, Flint author Chris Ringler will release his first novel, A SHADOW OVER EVER. This novel is the story of the end of the world and the angry man that must risk everything he stands for to try to stop it from happening. The living dead, old gods, the first Children of Eden, and a healthy helping of hillbillies are all part of this dark epic. This is Chris Ringler’s seventh book and first novel and will be released during
On Friday, August 10th join author and artist Chris Ringler for the release of his newest book, A SHADOW OVER EVER. This night will see the release of night just Mr. Ringler’s book but the release of local author and filmmaker Charles Shaver’s newest book as well. At their event – A Declaration of Co-Dependence – they will have their newest offerings on hand as well as their past releases and a collection of their art they shall have displayed for this event. This is a free event open to the public during the Downtown Flint Art Walk and will be held at 625 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI from 6 – 9pm.
Chris Ringler is the author of seven books that range from fairy tales for all ages to dark fiction for only the strong of heart. Chris has been published in BARE BONE and CTHULHU SEX MAGAZINE, received Honorable Mention in THE YEAR’S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR twice, was voted Best in Blood on HORRORADDICTS.COM, and has been working on his writing and art.
Chris is a writer, artist, weirdo, and creator of the Flint Horror Convention.
A SHADOW OVER EVER
https://www.createspace.com/3942067
A Declaration of Co-Dependence
Friday, August 10th
6 – 9pm
625 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI, 48502
Free.
For more info please contact Chris Ringler
grimringler@gmail.com
