"Blood & Ashes" - AVAILABLE on Amazon.co.uk

Loeffelholz · April 2010

Thanks, buddy, and keep your pencil sharp :v

I still haven't given up on a graphic novel adaptation...!

Don't know if you've read most of this thread, but I posted my Author's Note/Acknowledgements on a previous page, and you're in there...after all, you deserve partial credit/blame for the title!

Loeffelholz · April 2010

Just a quick note to let everybody know that I've upgraded OscarJade.com to include Daren's great cover art (on the Blood & Ashes page), a 'Buy It!' option (which will be active once the book is available for pre-order) and a Blog page underneath the Pelican Bar & Grill tab.

This has been a learning process for me...very soon I'll be upgrading my PayPal account to 'business' so that I can have a PayPal button on the site...

Please stop by and leave a response on the blog...or sign the guest book...or check out the retro music. Just click on the link in my signature! Thanks, and Cheers! -{

RogueAgent · April 2010

Loeffelholz wrote:

Thanks, buddy, and keep your pencil sharp :v I still haven't given up on a graphic novel adaptation...!

Don't know if you've read most of this thread, but I posted my Author's Note/Acknowledgements on a previous page, and you're in there...after all, you deserve partial credit/blame for the title!

Thanks. I sincerly appreciate the recognition but I told you all along that you had the aptitude to do this...so what if I gave you a little push, you did the rest.

Here's hoping that you're the new Elmore Leonard of the 21st century. Next stop: HBO series! {[]

Loeffelholz · April 2010

Moving officially into pre-production with the publisher today...spending a few hours going over the final manuscript...still agonizing over individual words

We're getting there.

Loeffelholz · April 2010

Officially in production at the publisher, as of today. Here's the promotional copy that's going out to various online bookstores at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Welcome to Miami Beach, December 1941…

“Jade’s right hand went to the butt of his holstered Smith & Wesson. ‘Easy does it, pal. If I were here to kill you, you’d be dead already. And if you pull anything funny out of that desk, I will kill you. I’ll explain it all to the cops, and tell your wife she doesn’t have to worry about you anymore…and then I’ll sleep like a baby.’” – Blood & Ashes, Chapter 4

Oscar Jade is a cynical, down-on-his-luck private detective—with a mysterious past and an uncertain future—who lives and works out of the beachfront Pelican Bar & Grill, where he’s behind in his rent on the one-room apartment upstairs. When a good-looking dame hires him to protect her from her husband, Jade must wind his way through a maze of lies, half-truths and betrayals—a sordid minefield of other peoples’ mistakes and misdeeds, where one sin builds upon another and somebody down the line, one way or another, ends up getting stuck with the bill. Soon Jade finds himself up against a mob boss with a lethal reputation, squarely in the middle of a deadly no-holds-barred conflict between two rival factions of a New York crime syndicate…

“…Flashing red police lights danced across the brickwork, and men in uniforms kept an expanding semicircle of gawkers at a distance. Sudden death has a way of drawing an audience, like a traveling sideshow. Nobody wants to be the dog-faced boy, but everybody wants a look at one. It was the same way with dead bodies.” – Blood & Ashes, Chapter 14

Blood & Ashes is an old-fashioned, hardboiled ‘private eye’ story; hearkening back to the heyday of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane—a world of cigarettes and booze, heavies and anti-heroes, victims and femme fatales…a world before DNA testing, cell phones and the internet, when a gumshoe’s toolbox was limited to shifty street contacts, his skills and his nerve—and, when the time came, the gun in his hand. The story is set on the sun-drenched streets of Miami Beach—playground for the rich, the famous and the notorious—a place where it seems everyone has come to escape something…but sometimes, the past can’t forget, and it won’t let go. Sometimes it follows you, no matter how far you run—and when you can’t run anymore…hire Oscar Jade.

“…You need to get all these stupid ideas out of your head, about how you’re gonna be tough guys and not give anything up, ’cause we’re not having a picnic, and I’m not gonna to be playing shuffleboard with you here. You’re out in the middle of nowhere. Nobody’s gonna hear you screaming, or crying, or praying to God. The cops aren’t coming to rescue you. This is old country − things have been dying out here for a long, long time, and there’s no funerals, or write-ups in the paper. It just gets covered up, and forgotten. You’ll be gone, just like the dinosaurs…” – Blood & Ashes, Chapter 19

“Welcome Oscar Jade, and his equally enigmatic creator, Mark Loeffelholz; here are two studs who share in that wonderfully American crime fiction spirit − hell, that American literary spirit: the impulse to enjoy soaking confessions in the dirty pool of high-minded morality, and then hanging those suckers out to dry for all the neighbors to see. I’m cannon-balling back into Blood & Ashes for a second read…just for the fun of it.” - John Hospodka, author of South Side Trilogy (www.bohemianpupil.com)

Classic, retro-style crime noir—infused with breathless, high-octane violent action—Blood & Ashes will leave you ‘Jaded’…and wanting more.

Loeffelholz · April 2010

I've been doing some pre-PR networking, and so far have tentatively landed appearances on three FM radio station morning shows in my area. Am I nervous?

Yeah...big time. But so far, most everyone with whom I've corresponded has been generous and very helpful. I think they're always looking for something new to talk about...

I think they all stream over the internet, so...as soon as I have specific dates and times, I'll get them out there in case anyone's interested in listening in. It's always tricky with a six-hour time zone lag...but morning here will translate to early afternoon there, so hopefully it won't be too onerous...

Another Loeffelholz · April 2010

Man, that is great. {[] The Oscar Jade PR train is rolling ! -{

Loeffelholz · April 2010

Make that five radio stations...two FM and three AM. Hopefully that will lead to other media, then I can push outward a bit...next stop, the rest of the Western Hemisphere :v

Another Loeffelholz · April 2010

Wow ! Off to a great start. -{ Lighting up the Illinois air waves. Onto bigger markets !!! {[]

Mr Martini · April 2010

Hmmmmmm, your in Illinois Loeff? Doesn't Oprah do her show from Chicago, Illinois? Does Oprah still do her book club? See where I'm going with this?

Loeffelholz · April 2010

Mr Martini wrote:

Hmmmmmm, your in Illinois Loeff? Doesn't Oprah do her show from Chicago, Illinois? Does Oprah still do her book club? See where I'm going with this?

) ;% Ahem...well...as much as I'd LOVE to get that kind of publicity...I cannot possibly imagine a book less likely to garner support from The Oprah and her book club. Those are mostly human interest stories---or romances, or self-help books, aren't they? Mine has murder, gunfights, car chases, gratuitous cigarette smoking and alcoholic beverages...in short, in movie rating parlance, this is an 'R'---for occasional graphic violence, sexual situations, nudity, drug use and profanity.

B-)

But if Oprah invites me, I'll go.

:v

Loeffelholz · April 2010

A small development today, as a side note to the impending publishing of the book itself: Today, Wooden Spoon Enterprises was born at a credit union in Springfield, Illinois

As anyone with some knowledge of German will attest, "Wooden Spoon" is a very loose approximate translation of my last name---sort of a running joke in the family: wooden spoon vs. silver spoon, etc...the smallest of small businesses, which I hope will not be a nonprofit organization {:)

WSE will be the entity that will handle the sales of signed copies of the Jade books, via OscarJade.com and PayPal...and will also be involved in merchandising, should it come to pass.

Pendragon · April 2010

congrats, Loeffs :x

Loeffelholz · April 2010

Thanks Pen!

Like I said...it's a little thing...but I hope it grows up!

Mr Martini · April 2010

Patent that name quick Loeff. I can't believe your the first to come up with such a great name. Good luck to you sir!

Loeffelholz · May 2010

Well, I've lined up my first book signing---tentatively for sometime in June. It's at the Owl's Roost Coffee Bar and Bookstore, in Lincoln, Illinois. So...if you're in the neighborhood...

Particulars to follow...

Pendragon · May 2010

Loeffelholz wrote:

Well, I've lined up my first book signing---tentatively for sometime in June. It's at the Owl's Roost Coffee Bar and Bookstore, in Lincoln, Illinois. So...if you're in the neighborhood...

Particulars to follow...

now if only there were a signing in Denver, CO... 8-)

Loeffelholz · May 2010

I swear to God, I'm going to try!

) I just need to sell as I go, so I can afford to travel

) This is book promotion on a shoestring, LOL...I've got family in California (LA) and Florida (Tampa/Palmetto), so those would probably get the first long-distance nods...but it's really going to need to go viral over the 'net...please God! ;%

Pendragon · May 2010

Loeffelholz wrote:

I swear to God, I'm going to try! ) I just need to sell as I go, so I can afford to travel ) This is book promotion on a shoestring, LOL...I've got family in California (LA) and Florida (Tampa/Palmetto), so those would probably get the first long-distance nods...but it's really going to need to go viral over the 'net...please God! ;%

haha looking forward to it whenever it is that you get out here :P

Loeffelholz · May 2010

Got my Certificate of Copyright for Blood & Ashes in the mail from the Library of Congress today...

Always a cool moment for me, no matter how often it happens. It's retroactive to 4th September 2009, which is a relief since PDFs of the book have been floating around Los Angeles since February

Loeffelholz · May 2010

I've spent the day tweaking my PayPal business account, visiting the post office and updating OscarJade.com...and I'm happy to announce that Blood & Ashes is now available for Pre-Order through my website; just follow the link in my signature...this will help me anticipate how many copies I'll need to personally order from the publisher, and will greatly speed up turnaround time on orders out of the gate once the book is in release.

I will absolutely ship the book worldwide...Though I still don't have a firm release date (a by-product of publishing independently), I can say with confidence that it will be available for shipping by 30th June 2010. If this date changes, I will let everyone know ASAP...

Thanks!

Napoleon Plural · May 2010

Will you be signing the books, Loeffs?

If so, I'll be wanting a discount...

That's a Fillet of Soul joke btw...

Loeffelholz · May 2010

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Will you be signing the books, Loeffs?

If so, I'll be wanting a discount...

That's a Fillet of Soul joke btw...

Oh yeah...a special personalized copy for you :v

In more B&A news, I've just come home from work and found that my galley proofs are here for me to look over! B-) Here's where Mister Anal Retentive Proofreader rears his ugly head---goodbye sleep!

Loeffelholz · May 2010

Right, the galley proofs have been corrected and sent back. I'm pleased with the work of Erin Sropes (my editor), coupled with my own scrutiny and Another Loeff's remarkable attention to detail---we uncovered nine things needing correction (some of which were typos, but most of which were word changes and/or artistic 'tweaks'...and 21 formatting errors made at the publisher when the file was converted from Word to print-ready PDF: all of them 'reversed' quotation marks, usually when somebody's dialogue is interrupted (at the end of an 'em-dash').

Next up, I'll get the PDF cover template, which Daren will match up with his fantastic cover art...after that, we'll be very close... :007)

thesecretagent · May 2010

Having been published the more conventional way, it's interesting to see you at the various stages of production, and especially your input at stages where the author would normally take a step back and allow the copy editors to do their thing. It must be difficult to put down the red pen and know when you've done enough, or that you haven't done too much.

Loeffelholz · May 2010

thesecretagent wrote:

Having been published the more conventional way, it's interesting to see you at the various stages of production, and especially your input at stages where the author would normally take a step back and allow the copy editors to do their thing. It must be difficult to put down the red pen and know when you've done enough, or that you haven't done too much.

More than difficult...it's nerve-wracking. I'm quite sure that I've missed something, and will always anguish over how I might have made it better---but then I've always got the next one

From a 'big picture' standpoint, I'm very glad I made the decision to go out and hire a freelance professional editor; Erin has made all the difference in what will be seen as the final product. First she helped me with a developmental edit, and then a final 'line edit,' where she cleaned up the last of the droppings ;% I would encourage any writers out there who might be considering publishing independently (an exhilarating---if terrifying---experience) to look her up at: http://kallisti.ca Her rates are more reasonable than what you might expect, and she's very diligent. I'll absolutely use her again...especially since I didn't scare her off with B&A :v

Your point about 'doing too much' is a good one---I was determined not to neuter the piece in the process of making it presentable...in fact, Erin was instrumental in helping me refine and 'tweak' Oscar Jade into the badass he truly is. Her main complaint, after her initial read-through of my first draft, was that he seemed too nice. And she was absolutely right. Now that I've refined him, I have to be careful not to let him be a bad influence on me :v But warts and all, for better or worse, this is the story I wanted to tell...and it's the best book I could write at this point in time. My goal, naturally, is to become better as we all become more familiar with Jade. The man keeps a lot of secrets---especially from me B-)

Loeffelholz · June 2010

I've gotten what ought to be my final galley back from the publisher...and there's a single error on the copyright page...made by the publisher X-( As soon as this is fixed, Daren will work his magic with the cover and the book will finally be out there.

7289 · June 2010

"...here are two studs who share in that wonderfully American crime fiction spirit... "

How can this fail with endorsements like the above!!!!!

Loeffelholz · June 2010

7289 wrote:

"...here are two studs who share in that wonderfully American crime fiction spirit... "

How can this fail with endorsements like the above!!!!!

John Hospodka is a brilliant writer, with an inimitable way with words ;% I'm very flattered that he enjoyed the book.

Loeffelholz · June 2010

I've approved the book interior for printing...and appropriately drank a beer to celebrate {[] Any time now, I'll get the cover template for Daren. As I said on my Facebook page, I feel 9 1/2 months pregnant at this point

"Blood & Ashes" - AVAILABLE on Amazon.co.uk

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