Category Archives: Uncategorized

Enter to Win $50 from ReadFreely

  By | |
Leave a comment

Please nominate my book, Hell Holes: Demons on the Dalton, as one of Read Freely’s 50 best indie books of 2016. Click on the following link: http://www.readfree.ly/50-best-indie-books-2016/
All you have to do is fill in the following fields:
Book Title: Hell Holes: Demons on the Dalton
Author: Donald Firesmith
Genre: Paranormal
What you loved about it: Whatever you liked
Would you like to make a second nomination: no
Nickname: Whatever nickname you want
Email Address: Your email address so that people can only vote once

Review of Dragonfly by Frederic Durbin (5 Stars)

  By | | ,
Leave a comment

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Fred at a local library and traded books with him. I have just finished reading his book, Dragonfly, and it turned out to be an excellent book to read in the weeks leading up to Halloween. It tells the adventures of Dragonfly, a young girl who discovers a phantasmagorical underground realm beneath the basement of her Uncle’s funeral home. Sam Hain (as in Samhain, the Celtic Halloween), its evil leader, sends monsters up to steal children and poison the dreams of humanity. It is one of the most original tales I have read in ages, and it stands out from the other fantasy books I have read during the past decade in terms of the author’s descriptions of this subterranean world. While the author’s vision is highly creative and fascinating, it is his descriptions that stand out. He is as much an artist as he is an author; he paints with words, and I find myself somewhat grateful that I read the book in paperback rather than on my usual tablet because I would otherwise have found myself constantly highlighting beautifully crafted phrases, sentences, and paragraphs for future contemplation and enjoyment rather than simply enjoying being immersed in such a wonderful world. Although the heroine of the book is an adolescent girl, readers of all ages should find this a wonderfully fantastic, if frighteningly evil, world in which to while away one’s autumn evenings. This book is a rare Halloween treat best savored wrapped in a warm blanket when the moon is full, the naked branches of trees tap upon the windows, and the crackle of the fire competes with the creaks of aging joists and settling staircases. Grab a mug of hot chocolate, settle back in your chair, and enjoy your trip to the dark world of Harvest Moon.

Indie Author Day

  By | |
Leave a comment

This Saturday is the first annual Indie Author Day. There are a lot of great indie authors, and I have at least 50 books from indie authors on my Kindle Fire and on my To Read list. Please support indie authors by downloading and reading books by indie authors. If you haven’t read it yet, might I suggest you select the first book in my modern paranormal fantasy, apocalyptic science fiction, and action and adventure series, Hell Holes: What Lurks Below. It is free to download on Amazon and Smashwords:
https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Holes-What-Lurks-Below-ebook/dp/B012IUE14U/
I would also like to ask you to write reviews and post them to Amazon and Goodreads. We indie authors greatly depend on such reviews.

Killing Off Jill Starr

  By | |
Leave a comment

I spent several hours this weekend rewriting parts of Hell Holes: What Lurks Below. Originally, I killed off Mark’s pregnant wife Jill, but a reader convinced me that it would be better if I had her survive book one. It was a fair amount of work, but I think the end result was worth the effort. I should have the new version available in a couple of weeks. I’d be interested in hearing what you think.

Polite Spam

  By | | ,
Leave a comment

I logged in after about a week and decided to check on my comments. I had over 70 waiting for me, maybe three-fourths of them supposedly from the same person but all with different starting URLs and email addresses. They were all really nice, full of complements and praise, although also very generic, not always matching my webpage, and clearly written by someone for whom English is a second language. Sadly, my site has apparently been the target of a very polite botnet. I am clearly going to have to add Captcha to my comment fields so that I can differentiate humans from bots trying to praise their way past my defenses.

So if you are an actual human who happened to like my website, said something nice, and then never saw your comment posted, I apologize. You just happened to be overlooked in the flood.

Thank You, Readers!

  By | |
Leave a comment

I just received two more 5 star Amazon reviews today, one for Hell Holes 1: What Lurks Below and one for Hell Holes 2: Demons on the Dalton! I can’t tell you just how much your reviews mean to me. They really make my day, and every one is important to me, getting me just that much closer to the magic number of 50 positive Amazon reviews that are needed to get to where significant book advertisers will consider advertising your book. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And remember, everyone who writes an honest review of Hell Holes 1 will receive a coupon code for a free download of Hell Holes 2! And a review of Hell Holes 2 will get you a free download of Hell Holes 3: To Hell and Back, just as soon as I finish it. And your reviews definitely incentivize me to keep writing.

Marketing to Libraries

  By | |
Leave a comment

I’m trying something new, marketing my hell hole books to libraries as well as individuals. I’m starting with Alaskan libraries, which seems reasonable given that the books take place in Alaska. I will be interested to see how it turns out. If successful, I plan to branch out to libraries in other states. Ah, the joys of being an indie author and responsible for marketing as well as writing.

Library of Congress

  By | |
Leave a comment

It turns out that you cannot get a Library of Congress Catalog Number for books published by indie authors or an indie author’s publishing company (Magic Wand Press is mine) unless it publishes more than three books by authors other than the owner. Luckily, all is not lost. They have the Preassigned Control Number (PCN) Program, which allows one to get a unique PCN for new books and new editions of existing books that haven’t been published yet. Yesterday, Magic Wand Press was approved as a PCN publisher, and today I applied for PCNs for the next editions of Hell Holes 1 and 2. Once I have the PCNs, I will be able to finish the CIP data blocks and insert them into my copyright pages. Then, once I get set up with a wholesaler, I can finally start selling to libraries. And then, maybe I can finally get back to working on Hell Holes 3: To Hell and Back.