Two stories on KDP Select promotion! Please go grab them!

I am running a promotion of two of my short story packages on Amazon for Kindle.  The promo runs from today till Monday, February 2, 2015.  Over those five days, both titles (which contain SIX short stories!!) will be completely free!  Please download them!  Even if you don't want to read them, download them!  Thanks.  Links are below.

 

THE GATEWAY (and AMERICA'S PASTIME and HOT SPOT)

                                JACK'O'LANTERN (and THE MOMENT and SARAH'S PUPPY)

Thanks for looking/downloading them!  Hopefully you will enjoy them and maybe even leave a review! 

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New short fiction from Scott Dyson!

Since I have nothing to say with respect to the actual topic that this blog is supposed to be dedicated to (ie, Disney), instead I will use this space to announce that I have released a 36,400 word collection of short fiction titled DIE 6 on the Amazon Kindle Store for $2.99.  Here are the titles:

• An Artificial Yearning
• Blood Ties
• The Fun House
• The Tooth Fairy
• Time Heals All Wounds
• The Ghost Train

Two science fiction tales, three horror/ghost stories, and one that I suppose is mostly fantasy (The Tooth Fairy).

You can buy it here at the Kindle Store!  Please!  Feel free to check it out, download a sample, see if it's the kind of thing you might enjoy reading!

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Thank you very much!

QUANTUM ZOO is published!

QUANTUM ZOO is available for purchase on the Amazon Kindle store for $0.99.  In it you will find 12 SF/Fantasy short stories, all derived from the writing prompt "Zoo."  My story, "Playing Man," is right smack dab in the middle of everything, and the stories run the gamut from relatively hard SF to historical fantasy with some alien/human sex tossed in for good measure.  One of the stories deals with a "zoo" for ghosts; another with a "zoo" for serial killers. 

Pretty cool stuff. 

Here's the link to find it:  QUANTUM ZOO for Amazon Kindle

Please tale a look at it.  It won't be $0.99 forever, though, so now's the time to buy...

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If SF/Fantasy isn't your thing (this IS supposedly a Disney blog, after all), feel free to check out my title , Doing Disney: How To Spend A Week At Disney's Florida Resort   It's available on Amazon for $2.99.

Thanks!

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QUANTUM ZOO release date and website!

The anthology QUANTUM ZOO, which will contain my short story "Playing Man" among eleven other excellent offerings, will be released on June 17th, 2014!

The website can be found here:  QUANTUM ZOO

The website has information on the authors and short excerpts of each story!  Please check it out!

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In the meantime, feel free to check out my title , Doing Disney: How To Spend A Week At Disney's Florida Resort   It's available on Amazon for $2.99.

Thanks!

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Cover Art for QUANTUM ZOO!

Here is the cover of the short story anthology QUANTUM ZOO, which will be released in early June.  It will contain my story "Playing Man" along with eleven other tales.

Watch for release information!

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In the meantime, feel free to check out my title , Doing Disney: How To Spend A Week At Disney's Florida Resort   It's available on Amazon for $2.99.

Thanks!

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QUANTUM ZOO!

I just wanted to post a quick note (off-topic as usual) that my short story, "Playing Man", was accepted for publication in an anthology titled QUANTUM ZOO. 

Other authors in the collection include J.M. Ney-Grimm, D.J. Gelnar, Bridget McKenna, A.C. Smyth, R.S. McCoy and John Hindmarsh, to name just some of them. 

The stories were to start with the writing prompt, "Zoo".  I had a story that I had started probably 18-20 years ago, but had written probably just a bit over a page.  Then I lost direction on it.  I'd looked at it a time or two over the years, and when I read about this call for submissions, I immediately thought of that story. 

So I went and finished it, and ran it by first reader Steven M. Moore, an accomplished SF/thriller writer himself.  Then I submitted it, and it made the cut! 

There IS a cover, and there IS a tentative release date.  I'll post the cover soon here, and when the release date is firmed up, I will post it as well.  Tentatively it's scheduled for early June as an e-book and soon after for trade paperback.  I'm thrilled to be part of the book!

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In the meantime, feel free to check out my title , Doing Disney: How To Spend A Week At Disney's Florida Resort   It's available on Amazon for $2.99.

Thanks!

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New fiction from Leonard Kinsey - and it's got Disney in it!

 

Habst and the Disney Saboteurs

by Leonard Kinsey, author of THE DARK SIDE OF DISNEY and OUR KINGDOM OF DUST has been released by Bamboo Forest Publishing. I just barely started reading it. It seems that perhaps it owes a debt to those intrepid backstage explorers from the Mesa Verde Times site (you know, the guys who documented so much of the old Horizons ride). But I'm not far enough along to tell yet. If you like Kinsey's stuff, well, here's another one!

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Meanwhile, feel free to check out my book, Doing Disney: How To Spend A Week At Disney's Florida Resort   It's available on Amazon for $2.99.

Thanks!

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All off-topic, all the time...New short story released!

My latest short story, the sequel to DEAD OR ALIVE (the last, NIGHT FAMILY, was the prequel) is now available to purchase for Kindle on Amazon for the low low price of $0.99.  It's a 9200 word story that follows P.I. Rick Striker as he quits running and turns back to face his problems.

Cover image

Here's the link to purchase it (or download a sample):  RICK'S RULES

Thanks!

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Yet another off-topic post - New Short Story Published - NIGHT FAMILY

I published another new short story, this one called NIGHT FAMILY.  It is a prequel to my last short story, DEAD OR ALIVE.  It is available for Amazon Kindle through Amazon for $0.99.

NIGHT FAMILY is an 8400 word short story that chronicles the events surrounding spoiled rich girl Lisa Warwick, the missing person from DEAD OR ALIVE. When I expanded DEAD OR ALIVE from its original 2500 word length to its current length of 7800 words, I realized that there was even more story to tell, and so I wrote this story and another story that describes Rick Striker's actions after DEAD OR ALIVE. That story should be out in less than a month. It currently clocks in at about 9000 words.

You can buy this story here: NIGHT FAMILY. Or download a sample and try it out before buying. Thanks!

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Another of those "off topic" posts-New Short Story Published!

I have released another of my short stories for Amazon Kindle (and Kindle app, if you have a tablet) e-reader through the Kindle store.

The title of the work is DEAD OR ALIVE and I call it a "vampire/detective" story.  It started life as a 2500 word tale back in the 1990's, and I rewrote it completely and expanded it to its current 7800 words. 

It's available through Amazon for $0.99.  Please take a look at it, download the free sample, see if it is something you might enjoy reading.  Thanks! 

Here's the link:  DEAD OR ALIVE.

Also, if you have a Facebook account, I'd appreciate it if you would "like" my author page there!  Here's THAT link:  Scott Dyson on Facebook. 

Thank you! 

I also wrote the eBook DOING DISNEY, also available for Kindle through Amazon.  It costs $2.99 and is about 100 pages and describes my family's experiences at the Florida resort, along with some other information. 

Here's that link:  DOING DISNEY.

Please do the same with that one, download the free sample and see if it is something you might find worth reading. 

Thank you again!

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DOING DISNEY is live at Amazon!

I'm very happy to announce that my e-book, DOING DISNEY!  HOW TO SPEND A WEEK AT DISNEY'S FLORIDA RESORT, is live on Amazon in the Kindle Store.

It is approximately 101 pages and is priced at $2.99.

Here's my description of it:

DOING DISNEY is a guidebook written for people who visit Florida's theme parks in the same manner as the author - a week or so at a time every couple of years. It's a book of ideas and comments about what the author has found to be worth experiencing (both attractions and dining). It is NOT a comprehensive guidebook full of every fact and figure about the resort. Part travelogue, part diary, part instructional, it tries to be informative and entertaining while providing a look into what works for a family traveling to visit Walt Disney World.

BUY IT HERE!

Or download the sample first, to read the introduction and perhaps get a feel for how it's written.

Thanks in advance!!!

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Cover Art for DOING DISNEY!

Here's the cover of my ebook DOING DISNEY!  HOW TO SPEND A WEEK AT DISNEY"S FLORIDA RESORT.

I love it!  Book will be available for purchase very soon.  Going over last copyedits.

Stay tuned for release info!  Thank you for reading, and thanks for checking out the book!

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Cover Art for DOING DISNEY finalized!

I don't really have anything to say here other than that my talented friend Rich Siegle has completed the cover art for DOING DISNEY:  HOW TO SPEND A WEEK IN DISNEY'S FLORIDA RESORT.  I'll post the final art shortly here for all to see.

I am in the process of making my final pass, copyediting and adding a few bits here and there.  I expect to have it published by the end of November, 2013.  It will be available as a Kindle e-book through Amazon, and I am looking at potentially doing a paper version of both that book and my (currently available) short story collection, 14 DARK WINDOWS.  I may also publish both of them through the Nook store at Barnes and Noble.  But that is a project for later...

I noticed that The View on the Disney-owned ABC channel was filmed at Disneyland, and they did a focus on Carsland.  It does look really cool.  They had an interview with John Lasseter, they talked with Tim Allen (voice of Buzz Lightyear), and had a performance by Disney star Demi Lovato.

Any other Disney news?  Just a reminder that Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry has the special exhibit, "The Treasures of Walt Disney" with lots of cool stuff from the vault.  The exhibit is sponsored by D23.  If you want to check it out, go here.

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If you get a chance, please take a look at my latest offering, 14 Dark Windows, on Amazon for Kindle.  It's a collection of short stories, some horror, some milder with supernatural or horrific elements, some just nice stories, available in ebook form for $2.99!  Thank you!

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Book Review: HOLLOW WORLD (from Bamboo Forest Publishing)

Thriller fiction set in Walt Disney World!  Yeah!  And it's from Bamboo Forest Publishing, who brought us Leonard Kinsey's OUR KINGDOM OF DUST and THE DARK SIDE OF DISNEY along with books by Dreamfinder (Ron Schneider) and Rolly Crump!

So I picked this up and read it (along with the three short prequel stories that are published separately, and at a cost of $0.00 (!) under the title HOLLOW WORLD:  ORIGINS) and it grabbed me.  It starts off in Detroit where Detective Charlie Walker is wrapping things up in preparation for a vacation to Walt Disney World with his beautiful wife Meghan and his two precocious daughters, and everything is going smoothly.  But when visiting Epcot Center, Charlie finds his wife talking to a cast member and she seems upset.  But she brushes it off and convinces him to return to the Magic Kingdom, and then to ride the PeopleMover instead of finding a good spot to watch the fireworks.  When the ride breaks down in the darkest area of the track, Charlie finds his wife and daughters have vanished from their ride vehicle!  In their place is a manila envelope with instructions on what he is to do if he ever wants to see them again.

What follows is an exciting story where the cool rational detective is tested by an unknown (to him) adversary and ultimately meets up with a CIA team who is intent upon capturing the bad guy.  It's a story which features great characters, from Charlie and his wife and family, to the five people on
X-Ray Team to the bad guy and his minions.  Fast paced and packed with action, it was a "can't-put-down" book for me.

I think that Nick Pobursky has created an original character in Detective Charlie Walker, one who is more cerebral than most fictional sleuths but capable and believable as an action hero as well.  I can definitely see Walker as the protagonist in many future thrillers.

This is a Disney themed blog, and that's part of why I am posting a review here:  the Disney resort, theme parks and hotels especially, have become sort of an extra character in this story; even though it's a tale that could have been set elsewhere, the Disney setting added a richness to the story that I don't think would have come through in another location.  There are lots of details here about a Disney vacation as many of us experience it.  The story, like Kinsey's OUR KINGDOM OF DUST, is not for kids.  It's a gritty, violent tale that fits with its thriller book brethren, and if you're not a fan of that genre of fiction, it might not be the best choice for you.

You can get this book here at Amazon:  HOLLOW WORLD

                                                                HOLLOW WORLD: ORIGINS (three free short stories)

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If you get a chance, please take a look at my latest offering, 14 Dark Windows, on Amazon for Kindle.  It's a collection of short stories, some horror, some milder with supernatural or horrific elements, some just nice stories, available in ebook form for $2.99!  Thank you!


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14 Dark Windows published on Amazon!

I am very pleased to announce the publication of my short story collection, 14 DARK WINDOWS, on Amazon for Kindle.  It contains fourteen short stories, not all horror, but most have some horrific or supernatural elements. 

It's priced at $2.99.  Buy it here!  Thank you!

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Disney Guidebook coming out...

Yes, I've written a Disney guidebook, which will be released as soon as I finalize the cover.  It will be an e-book, available on Amazon for Kindle, and later hopefully for Nook and through the iBookstore and other outlets.  I'm also hoping to publish a paper version of it, but I think the e-book will be the best way to experience it.

What qualifies me to write a guidebook, you might ask?  Well, we've visited Walt Disney World seven times since our kids were born, each time for 7 or 8 days.  And each time we learned something.  We got our patterns down.  We found places that we return to for dining.  We stayed at resort properties that we really liked, and at least one that we weren't crazy about. 

We visit the resort like a lot of other people in our boat.  We aren't all annual pass holders.  We don't all live close enough to go every week or month, like some folks who write Disney books do.  We get down there every year or every couple of years, spend a week there, and try to make the most of our stay.  When we run into people going to Disney for the first or second time, we seem to usually have some good ideas for them, information that they are happy to have. 

Our experiences are not the be-all-end-all of Disney experiences.  They're OUR experiences.  I thought it would be interesting to put together a "guidebook" from that perspective, not trying to give every last bit of information about every little thing on Disney property.  I didn't do a ton of outside research to write this book.  I mostly relied on my family's experiences and how we've done things over the course of our seven visits.   I talk about how we structure our park visits, how we buy our tickets, how we get the most out of our money when visiting Walt Disney World.  Take all of our advice, some of it, or just a little, but I think if you have young kids and are going to visit Disney every couple of years for a week at a time, you'll find something useful in the book.

Disney's MyMagic+ has come along and perhaps will change a bunch of stuff about how we have to structure our vacations, but for the most part, our observations stand on their own. 

I'll have the cover here and on my Scott Dyson page and on my Scott Dyson Facebook page, and pricing information before it is released.  I hope some of you will download a sample and take a look!  Thanks for reading!

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Book Review: OUR KINGDOM OF DUST by Leonard Kinsey

I read The Dark Side of Disney and was impressed with Leonard Kinsey's writing skill. He made everything interesting, even when I wouldn't have necessarily been interested in reading about certain subjects. Even though I didn't think it was for everyone, I enjoyed the book - less as a guidebook to Disney and more as just an entertaining read.

So I was glad to see Our Kingdom Of Dust, a work of fiction centered around Disney World.  And when I finally got around to reading it (I've been busy with some other stuff, as you may have noted from the previous two posts), I found that I truly enjoyed it!  I expected no less.  I already knew that Kinsey could write.  What I didn't know was whether he could write fiction, and the answer to that question was "Yes!"

In this book, a rich but messed up young man decides to move to the Beach Club at Disney World, and he meets up with another messed up guy, who happens to be his limo driver.  The guy has this incredible collection of Disney memorabilia and collectible items, and he finances it by selling the "Dust", which gives users "that Disney Magic" feeling (my quotes, not quoted from the book).

It's a very entertaining story, a quick read, and it focuses on characters I might like to read more about someday.  Not necessarily for Disney "fans", but if you like a good story that is well written, you might want to give it a try.  And if you like stories centered around something Disney, this will work that much better for you.  If you don't want to read anything that doesn't put WDW or Disney Corp. on the highest pedestal, or don't like adult situations and some foul language in your books, do yourself a favor and don't read this.  But if you're not easily offended and you like humor and irreverence, Our Kingdom Of Dust might be for you!

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If you get a chance, please take a look at my latest offering, 14 Dark Windows, on Amazon for Kindle.  It's a collection of short stories, some horror, some milder with supernatural or horrific elements, some just nice stories, available in ebook form for $2.99!  Thank you!

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4 Short Story collections now up on Amazon!

Here's the links to my two most recent publications:

JACK'O'LANTERN (and THE MOMENT and SARAH'S PUPPY)  $0.99 on Amazon Kindle Store

THE GATEWAY (and AMERICA'S PASTIME and HOT SPOT)  $0.99 on Amazon Kindle Store

The first is really not horror - well, JACK'O'LANTERN is sort of mild horror, but the other two are not - and the second is all horror.

Please check them out if you're interested in some short stories.

Thank you!!!

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I've published two short stories on Amazon!

Hi, anyone! Just a quick note to let it be known that I finally got around to publishing my first two short story pairs. They are currently only available on Amazon. Each is a main story, with a second story paired with it (to add value, hopefully).   They are under the author name "Scott Dyson".  Both sets are in the horror genre. The first is SOLE OCCUPANT and it is $0.99 on Amazon. It contains the 2400 word main story SOLE OCCUPANT and the short flash fiction piece THE ONLY SOLUTION (~700 words). The second is ODD MAN OUT and it is also $0.99 on Amazon. It contains the 1600 word main story ODD MAN OUT and a second horror tale, HOUSE AT THE BEND IN THE ROAD (~1800 words). That's 3100 words (about 14 pages with author note) for the first pair and 3400 words (about 15 pages with short author note) for the second pair. Take a look at them if you're so inclined. Thank you!!!    *****

Disney Guide Books

I was reading over some of the handful of Disney guidebooks that I own.  Admittedly I don't own too many - I'm more interested in the art and mechanics behind the development of Disney theme parks (and theme parks in general) than I am in the comprehensive guides to visiting the parks. 

That said, most of the guidebooks I own or have looked at seem to be all things to everyone.  They try to be so comprehensive - they try to present every single detail that is out there about the parks, resorts, and experiences that are available at a Disney resort.  They almost seem like they'd be most useful to someone who visits often, like, say, an annual passholder who doesn't live too far from the parks.

Most of us probably don't vacation like that, however.  We don't have unlimited time to do everything.  We have 7-10 days (probably more like 7-8 days) to cram in as much as we can do.  Once a year if we're "lucky".  Every other year seems more common, in talking to others who vacation to Florida to visit Disney. 

So a template for a shorter, every-other-year visit would seem to be useful.  I would assume that most visitors want to immerse themselves in Disney as much as they can.  After all, Disney makes it far more cost-effective to spend your entire stay on Disney property.  As you probably know, a single day costs around 90 bucks to just get into a park.  A five day ticket brings the average cost down to something around 55 bucks a day.  Make it seven days for 10 dollars more a day, bringing the average cost down to about 41 bucks a day.  Seven days for a family of four is going to be something around $1150.00.  (A bit less if you have kids under 10, which a lot of Disney visitors do, obviously...but still...) 

So you're spending upwards of a grand for just your park admissions.  Want to add the park hopper option?  It adds almost 60 bucks per ticket and allows you to visit more than one park per day.  Is that something that you would use more than once or twice on your trip?  I know we generally don't.  To me, that park hopper option is nice to have, because there might well be a day we're visiting somewhere other than Epcot but we want to dine at Epcot.  Or maybe you want to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours at two parks, one in the morning and one at night. 

We no longer purchase the park hopper option because we feel it is too much money (almost 240 dollars) for the once or twice we might actually use it.  Of course, you have to decide this for yourself, but that's my perspective. 

And that's the sort of perspective that I would like to get out of a guidebook.  Something that might give me a template for a one week visit.  Well, maybe not now - we've been down there something like seven times over the past 8 years, plus a couple of visits to California, and we have our routine down. 

Heck, I think maybe I'll write it! 

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