FREE - All My Ebooks Now FREE on Smashwords!

For those picking up my ebooks to read, Thanks . Enjoy! Been getting emails that they are getting downloaded. All of my ebooks on there are now temporarily FREE until April 20th because of the pandemic. Check it out and then check out their other authors, maybe one of your favorites. Get them while you can! 

From Smashwords to customers:

For one month only, thousands of Smashwords authors and publishers will provide readers deep discounts on ebooks. Discount levels include 30%-off, 60%-off, and FREE.

This sale is a direct result of several Smashwords authors who suggested it. These indie authors want to support readers around the world who face unprecededed anxiety, economic hardship and social isolation as the world community fights to stem the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

More than ever, these ebooks from indie authors and publishers offer readers unlimited hours of low-cost entertainment, distraction, comfort and knowledge during these trying times.

Smashwords is being hammered with downloads. Can't imagine why. But keep trying, they may be up and down with all the requests.

I was just wondering, as all my ebooks are free for a month, which is good (or bad, or bad good?) for pandemic reading?

So I surveyed my available titles. I have a complete other manuscript of new stories as yet unpublished which I've been wanting to get around to, but...not yet.

So...

ANTHOLOGY OF EVIL - a collection of my older writings available in print on Amazon
In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear - Sci Fi / Horror
Gumdrop City - Horror / based on True Crime and my new film
Quantum History - Sci Fi / Humor at MIT
The London Mea Culpa Document - Lead into next story
The Mea Culpa Document - Medieval / Horror
Poor Lord Ritchie's Answer (To A Question He Knever Knew on the knight that the Knight lost all") - Medieval / Horror / Surreal - this comes later from another "Breaking on Cave Island"
Sarah - Horror / Surreal Alzheimer's on Twilight Zone
The Fall - short short Horror that led to an indie industry article written about my writings
Japheth, Ishvi and The Light - Horror / Zombies at a religious commune and ... God
Andrew - novella - Horror / Surreal / Sci Fi the story that led to the next book...

From author and reviewer Michael Brookes: "The book [DEATH OF HEAVEN] starts well and has a Clive Barker, Books of Blood vibe, which really works well. It's in these tales that the author's writing ability shines. He demonstrates a lovely turn of phrase and some of the writing is almost poetic in its beauty."
DEATH OF HEAVEN - epic horror sci fi with standalone stories in it you will understand when you read it. A complex and some have reviewed, a beautifully written book that is hard to describe: Available in print on Amazon
The Conqueror Worm - two 12-year-old boys dig up treasure
Rosebud -beware imposing your mind on your gf
Thirst Divine - terrifying entities from above can be erotic
Harbinger -be good, terrifying entities are watching from above
"Sweet Jane" - be careful who you marry. I wrote this after watching Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians one night back in the 90s when they played on SNL and being inspired.
Marking Time - avoid ghosts in Afghanistan, even if you're special forces. Originally written about my own childhood in the Civil Air Patrol in search and rescue, ported over to adulthood.
Going Home - runaway gets in the wrong car, classic story.
Vaughan’s Theorem - a scary serial murderer story and rather long.
The Mea Culpa Document of London - medieval witch hunter

ALSO other shorts:
EarVu - horror in the lab
Mr. Pakool's Spice - father and 2 young kids in the zombie apocalypse in the back winter woods of Oregon. Originally published in an anthology with other authors.
Expedition of the Arcturus - sci fi on earth's first trans-generational spaceship, originally published in PerihelionSF.com magazine in their second edition ever.. A great hard sci fi mag for free reading.
Xibalba Unleashed - serial murder in a Mayan cave and university campus

Simon’s Beautiful Thought - short sci fi romance I wrote about a guy and his phone's AI, before most or all of the more famous stories like that.

NON FICTION (I have a degree in psychology, thus...)
On Psychology: With Illustration in Psychopathology via Synesthesia and Schizophrenia

Psycho-neurologically Approaching a Field Theory Understanding of Schizophrenia via Research of a Non-normative, Non-pathological Syndrome: Synesthesia, and the need for more information Title Case Recommendation
Unpublished

SO...jump over to Smashwords and look around. Wishing you all the best through this difficult time. But there are options to lose yourself for a time in some great books!

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Happy April Fool's Day (and no, this ain't no joke).

I wanted to come up with an April Fool's kind of story to offer for a free download (I just now thought about this, so I have to choose from what there is).

"Japheth, Ishvi and The Light"

Free download coupon code (expires 4/4/2016): LF98T

The closest thing I have written I can think of that fits today as there is a kind of joke built into the story.

It's a Zombie story, and yet... more.

Sláinte!

Cyber Monday Special - Mind of a Writer, the Evolution of a Story... Andrew

Welcome to CyberMonday! Today I have for you a blog about the evolution of a story.

Once a short story, now a novella, it is called, "Andrew". Want a free download of it? If you wait, you can have the re-edited version, but it might take a while, we're working on it now. Or you can have both! Either way.

Currently I am re-editing it with my editor, Ilene Giambastiani. If you are interested in reading it as it is now, here is a coupon ( GN32P ) good through this week. If you contact me later after we re-released it, just let me know you read this blog, I will give you a coupon for a free copy of the new version at that time. But stick with me, there's more coming.

This, is a story that has had big ramifications for me.

"Andrew", cover by Gosling called "Andrew's Final Vision"

This is the story of that tale....

Before we get started however, allow me to invite you to read my ongoing story on Wattpad titled, The Unwritten. A mixture between old fashioned horror, sci fi and biblical nightmares, I doubt you've ever read anything quite like it. But then, that's my forte. The odd, the unusual, the macabre and the horrifying.

Okay now, let's get on with it....

In 1983 I was a senior in the Psychology Department at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, up near the Canadian border. I was taking my first university fiction writing class. Finding that I had enough credits to get a double major if I took another two or three quarters of classes, I decided I would settle for a minor in Creative Writing .

I took Fiction 101 as my first class toward that minor. I wanted to force myself to actually write a story, beginning, middle and end, as I had written quite a few interesting stories with no endings, much to the frustration of my friends.

Our professor in Fiction 101 tasked us to write a story, make enough copies for all in class, then everyone would read the stories for the next day, the night before, and the writer would read the story in class. We would then round table and critique it.

There were some interesting stories, but mostly as I remembered it, there being more females than males in the class, there was a high degree of romance based stories. The Assistant Editor of our school magazine wrote a story but I found it rather dry, though well written. Then it came to my day. I wrote a story that I titled, "When Fades The Shadows" (later titled, "Andrew").

After I read it in class, I discovered two things. They all liked my story. Our Professor hated it. Perhaps partly because I was overplaying my hand, writing beyond my capabilities, but also because he didn't like how melodramatic it was. He especially mentioned a scene in the TV room when five year old Andrew envisions a horror all around him in the room.

Cover art by Marvin Hayes

I was voted along with another, to write one extra story than the others in class to be read on finals day, as we had no finals in that class.

Also available as an audio book

My stories were, "Mea Culpa" (which I've expanded now and have included in my collection of short stories, "Anthology of Evil" and as a standalone ebook); and, Sarah (same situation), about a woman with Alzheimer's disease and based upon the story of a coed's grandmother that she told me right after Abnormal Psych class one day at Western Washington University.

Cover art by Marvin Hayes

Over the years I fooled around with Andrew and it grew and changed. But the core of the story is the same. A child who is very advanced, who has parents who were into using their child as an experiment, did everything in their power to push his intellectual capabilities to their extreme limits and beyond. This is juxtaposed with his adult pursuits and an ending for Andrew that is really just a new beginning.

Years later, I had an opportunity to put my stories into a collection of my works but it was over 1,000 pages. So I made one volume ("Anthology of Evil") with the stories in it that I couldn't fit into a more novel like book I titled, "Death of Heaven" (for more see, DeathOfHeaven.com). Here is a coupon for this book, good through December 7th: RM89D - feel free to share this with your friends and their friends.

Here is what one reviewer had to say about it:

"[Death of Heaven] ... has a Books of Blood vibe [referring to Clive Barker's seminal book series], which really works well. It's in these tales that the author's writing ability shines. He demonstrates a lovely turn of phrase and some of the writing is almost poetic in its beauty.
Michael Brookes - Author & Reviewer

All that from two tiny little stories. Well, little stories with massive story lines. Story lines big enough to evolve into an epic science fiction horror story.

To create that book, I also took another short story I wrote on a lark at midnight one night on a single page, single spaced and then turned it in to my Psychology professor the next day. He then made copies and passed them out to all his classes so that I walked in the next day and received an unexpected handout of a purple inked, mimeographed copy of my own short story, "Perception", which is now included in the back of "Death of Heaven".

Between those two stories, in 2012, "Death of Heaven", was born.

I finally got an editor, end of 2013 and she agreed to work on Death of Heaven with me. We republished that on my birthday August 30, 2014. Because that book meant so much to me and the reviews were so good,

Cover art by Marvin Hayes

I realized I should try to re-edit all my stories in my first book. In that book was my first ever published story, "In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear" and the last story was "Andrew", the lead in to my next book, Death of Heaven". I just thought that Andrew and In Memory, both, especially, deserved to be properly cleaned up and re-released finally.

So now I am working on the re-edit of Andrew, my first short story written for Fiction 101 at my university in 1983. Now a novella, it is the basis in part for my book, Death of Heaven, along with another story titled, "Perception".

I had originally labored so hard over this first story while both fear and trepidation watched over each shoulder as I concocted this story that brought such great irritation to my writing Professor and yet such awe and fascination from my fellow students on that day that it was read in class for the first time.

Now after so long, so much tinkering with it over decades, after publishing it and now working on it with my editor (thanks Ilene Giambastiani), it is so very strange indeed to be thinking once again on those words burned so long into my mind. I find myself once again struggling to find the rightness in the morass of meaning and words that it is or maybe, has become.

The words are there and like a sculpture chiseling at stone, I'm trying hard to find the art that has been set in stone for so very long. It's a process of birth and death, joy and sorrow, of rebirth and, like a phoenix rising, honing it down to a deft flame of time and tale into an appropriate foundation for what a vast story that has come of it since it was originally conceived and shared.

Here is the original version presented to my class that day in 1983, the first published version released in 2012 and the newest version, so you can see how it has changed over the years. In these three snippets, you can see how I was writing in the beginning, how I had gotten to be after several decades had passed, and finally how I am now after several very intensive years of writing in the public eye.

Original version of Andrew:

When Fades The Shadows (1983)
"Invisible movements. Billowing, cotton-like breaths of pressure descended gently from on high. "Appearing to be only a breeze, the molecules conveyed along ever so imperfectly, the breeze gathered unto It any and all particulate matter; whatever was accessible to it; thereby hiding somewhat, It's violent loneliness. The gregarious animation of those particle's, was forced plastically, and yet...gently...tenderly, even perhaps, affectionately. One whispering sigh of wistful ardor, slowly succoring up to the clean, bright, and powerful Lifeforce of...a child; listlessly sitting within the confines of a window frame.
"An owl, sensing something amiss, swooped serenely into the midst of the Entity's presence. She then stumbled, surprised, in mid-flight. Never had she ever come across anything with such purpose, and yet, almost completely hidden within Nature."

Then I published it in a book, Anthology of Evil and after that as a standalone ebook novella.

Andrew (2012)

"Invisible movements of a honeysuckle fragrance; billowing, cotton-like Breaths of gentle Pressure cautiously descended into the suburban neighborhood from on high. It hesitated, looked down into the white, picket-fenced yard, and pondered on Its achievement. Appearing as a mere cool dry, fall breeze, the molecules conveyed along ever so— imperfectly; it gathered unto Itself any and all, particulate matter in proximity. In fact, whatever was accessible to It, hiding somewhat in a loneliness of vast and violent proportions.

"The gregarious animation of those particles was forced plastically and yet— gently, tenderly, perhaps even affectionately, up against a window. A whispering sigh of wistful Ardor that slowly succored up to the glass and the clean bright, powerful Lifeforce of— a little child. Listlessly, the boy sat on the window bench, one leg bent partially beneath him, looking out the window. He shifted his feet allowing them both to dangle loosely at the ends of his legs.

"Sadly, he remained crowded within the white rectangular confines of the untattered window frame, vacantly staring off into the yard beyond the panes of glass, bearing forth no remembered regrets.

"Trailing the breeze at a distance was an owl."

As I said, I am now re-editing it with the help of my editor, Ilene.

Today as I write this it is November 30, 2014. I wrote the following and including this version of the first few paragraphs, in an email to Ilene.

"Here are the first three paragraphs, of Andrew, reworked. It took me all week to get up the strength to work on this, though I had the week off from my day job. I was a bit hungover from a great time on Thanksgiving. Today, I think this sudden cold change in the weather is messing me up and I feel pretty lousy. But bucking it up, I finally tried to work on this, but after only three paragraphs, I feel artistically and emotionally drained.
"You know, I wrote this living with Monica in college and I wonder how much of that is tied up in this. In working on this, aside from the poetic nature of my attempts in writing this originally, to expand myself artistically and creatively, this is like reliving my college years, including a long term, intense and failed relationship and memory of how much has happened since with two more failed marriages, living alone, and so intensely wanting to quit my job in IT work, being where I am now and also where I'm headed to.
"What a chump, right? I do find working on this story much harder than anything else I've worked on, and not because of the difficulty of the piece, though that is some of it, but for all the emotional reasons. SO here is today's pass: "

Andrew (2014)
"Invisible movements of a honeysuckle fragrance; billowing, cotton-like Breaths of gentle Pressure cautiously descend into the suburban neighborhood from on high. It hesitated. Looking down into the white fenced yard it pondered this achievement, concealed somewhat in a solitude of vast and violent proportions.
"Appearing as no more than a cool, fall breeze, airborne particulates of all kinds were gathered unto it and carried along ever so lightly into the picket fenced perimeter. The gregarious animation of those particles was forced plastically and yet— gently, tenderly, perhaps even affectionately, up against a window. A whispering sigh of wistful Ardor slowly succored up to the glass and the clean bright, powerful life force of— a little child.
"The young boy sat on a window bench, listless on the warm side of the glass, one leg bent partially beneath him as he gazed out. Shifting somewhat he unfolded his slightly numb leg, allowing both feet to dangle freely. He remained sadly crowded within the white rectangular confines of the untattered window frame, vacantly staring off into the yard beyond ancient panes of glass, bearing forth no remembered regrets.
"At a distance an owl trailed the entity, sensing something amiss."

And well... that is where we have gotten to so far and there is much more to come. It may get another run through of these passages as I've not yet heard back from my editor. We will continue to edit and re-edit until "Andrew" finally becomes the story it could always have been.

Once we finish, I'll repost this blog and update it.

Stop by my web site for information on any of my other writings. at JZMurdock.com.

Cheers! And have a great holiday season!

Freebie of my book Death of Heaven for Halloween Weekend!

Happy Halloween!

Welcome, to your nightmare. But have fun with it!

Horror book for Free!

Now welcome to MY Nightmare! Just for the weekend, I'm offering a free ebook download copy of my book Death of Heaven. from Zilyon Publishing - coupon KL76K good through the weekend.

You've never read a book like this one.

Cover by Marvin Hayes

See the video trailer here at my YoutTube Channel TheJZMurdock

Demons for Free!

Also, my Wattpad story The Unwritten, is always free, available to read on your cell phone or mobile device as it's being written. I'm up to part XII now and part XV is going to be a massacre.

Ever wake in an old cabin which a crazy woman was sticking you in the side with a knife while you were strapped to an old table? I'd advise against it, especially with what this guy has to deal with. Alternate universes, Hell, literally...Hell. It's an ongoing story being posted as I’m writing it.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

BOO!

I mean...Cheers!

Death of Heaven - re-release on my birthday Saturday 8/30/2014

Happy birthday to me! Well, tomorrow actually.

I like giving on my birthday, so in that frame of mind....

I'm letting you know that tomorrow is the official re-release date my book, Death of Heaven (coupon code AE78W ) and I am offering it for free through this weekend. That is the downloadable ebook version; here, is the print version of, Death of Heaven on Amazon. I have also lowered the ebook price on Death of Heaven, from Monday on to $4.99.

Death of Heaven has been put through a rigorous re-editing and was getting good reviews even before that. 

Also starting today through the weekend, you can get ebooks versions of most of my ebooks for free. Check them out, I hope you find something you like.

Also, a short short sci fi story of mine on Wattpad, To End All War.

See also this week's past blog on all this. Enjoy my birthday tomorrow!
And, have a great weekend!

Cheers!

Two free JZ Murdock Horror ebooks through this weekend - Zombies

In creating this for my friends at ZombieFans.com, I thought I'd share with everyone. Here are two for the price of none, my two short Horror ebook stories on zombies in order too make up for their not being an entire novel. Free through Sunday, 11/17/2013.

Japheth, Ishvi and The Light
by JZ Murdock
The zombie apocalypse hits a father and religious commune try to deal with it, God, and the military HAZMAT team who have shown up on their doorstep.

Mr. Pakool's Spice
by JZ Murdock
Originally in the "Hunger Pangs" anthology, a father tries to escape the zombie apocalypse with his two young children through the back winter woods of Oregon.

Also, for more free ebooks this weekend, check out Indies Unlimited page for Freebie Friday!

Cheers!
JZMurdock.com

A New Year's eBook Anthology Giveaway!

How about a New Year's Day eGift, right?

UPDATE 1/1/2013 - 1PM So sorry all, I forgot to set "Anthology of Evil" up for free last night, for today. It is now though and will remain available for today and tomorrow. Cheers! Happy New Year's!

I'm giving away another ebook today and tomorrow called, "Anthology of Evil" that includes some of the short horror stories I've given away this past week and then some.

That's all I have to say on this one but you can see more about it on the Smashwords page for the ebook.

I would like to wish you all a very prosperous and happy New Year for you, your family and those you care about.

Happy New Year's!

Also, Death of Heaven will continue to be free through today!

An After Christmas eBook Giveaway!

So, it's almost New Years? Want a New Year's Eve eGift?

I'm giving away another ebook today and tomorrow called, "Gumdrop City".

It's a murder story that doesn't mess about. "Gumdrop City" was published in 2010 in Zilyon Publishing’s “The Undead Nation Anthology”. It is a horror story, pure and simple, but also a true crime story about a child serial murderer. I have also worked on this as a screenplay with a producer in Hollywood. So, hard telling if someday you may be watching a movie and think to yourself, "Gee, this seems kind of familiar."

This story is also included in my book, "Anthology of Evil", which I will be giving out free on New Year's Day.

Happy Holidays!

Tomrrorw? Another freebie!

Also, Death of Heaven will continue to be free through New Years Day!

An After Christmas eBook Giveaway!

So, missing Christmas yet? Ready for another eGift?

I'm giving away another ebook today and tomorrow called, "Japheth, Ishvi and The Light".

Be aware, it's a zombie story. The first one I ever wrote with a bit of horror, a bit of comedy. It is based on the Biblical tale of Abraham and his son Isaac and is about the religious commune they live in. Of course, their names are different, Japheth and Ishvi. Throw in some devastating confusion, a few soldiers, God, and well, there you have it..

This story is also included in my book, "Anthology of Evil", which I will be giving out free on New Year's Day.

Happy Holidays!

Tomrrorw? Another freebie!

Also, Death of Heaven will continue to be free through New Years Day!

Another Christmas eBook Giveaway!

So, ready for another holiday gift?

I'm giving away another ebook today and tomorrow called, "In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear".

It's a piece of social horror and science fiction about how one man can change the world.

What if someone could change himself into a "computer chip" of a sort? What would that be like? For him, for the world? Here is my version of that which simply becomes more horrifying the more you think about it.

This story is also included in my book, "Anthology of Evil", which I will be giving out free on New Year's Day.

Happy Holidays!

Tomrrorw? Yes, another freebie!

Also, Death of Heaven will continue to be free through New Years Day!

Yet Another After Christmas eBook Giveaway!

Ready for another holiday present?

I'm giving away another ebook today and tomorrow called, "Poor Lord Ritchie's Answer to a Question He Knever Knew".

It's a very odd story of a Medieval Lord who has lost his way. His life is a shambles but he has one last chance to fix things in delivering his family's "crucible" sword to their enemy and thereby sealing a peace and saving his family. But he has a few problems that get in the way, like time seems to be blending together and then there is that pesky wizard he should probably have treated better.

This story was chosen by actor Rutger Hauer in a short story contest back in 2004 and is also included in my book, "Anthology of Evil", which I will be giving out free on New Year's Day.

Happy Holidays!

Tomrrorw? Yes, another freebie!

Also, Death of Heaven will continue to be free through New Years Day!

Another After Christmas eBook Giveaway!

So, you still want more Christmas presents? Wow. Okay then, fine.I mean, good!

I'm giving away another ebook today and tomorrow. A horror story called, "The Mea Culpa Document of London".

It is about a Medieval Witch Hunter in England who studied under a Master Witch Hunter, who now finds himself in the very same situation that killed his Master. What is a Witch Hunter to do?

This story is also included in my book, "Anthology of Evil", which I will be giving out free on New Year's Day.

Happy Holidays!

Tomrrorw? Sure...another freebie!

An After Christmas eBook Giveaway!

So, you got all your presents yesterday? Want another?

I'm giving away another ebook today and tomorrow called, "Quantum History".

It's a weird little sci fi comedy of sorts.

How'd you like to wake up to your beloved spouse holding a gun on you and screaming for you to "get in here right now!" When you're already in there? And then when you tell them that, they continue to scream and threaten you with a loaded gun, thinking you aren't you?

This story is also included in my book, "Anthology of Evil", which I will be giving out free on New Year's Day.

Happy Holidays!

Tomrrorw? Another freebie!

Merry Christmas - ebook giveaway

Merry Christmas!

A quick holiday message....

I hope you all have a great Christmas and for you others, wishing you a very pleasant Tuesday. But for all of you, oddly enough I'm putting the ebook version of my book, Death of Heaven up for a Christmas day eGift. Always nice to have some interesting reading during the holidays.

Cheers!

Throughout the whole of Human History many philosophies and religions have attempted to answer that ultimate question: Where did we come from? James and Jimmy, brothers in spirit and tragedy since childhood are about to discover the answer to that ultimate of all questions. They will learn about it in a way that is as amazing as it is unbelievable. They alone will discover that reality is unlike anything that has ever before been considered. They will discover just what it is that nightmares are made of. Friedrich Nietzsche claimed in 1882 that "God is Dead". But that was only a piece of the whole misleading truth. It is now left for two friends alone to experience the whole story, and along with the rest of the Human Race, to experience firsthand the-- Death of Heaven.