Would You Like To Be "Normal"?

I've been reading The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida and it's a fascinating look at a person with autism. Most of the book is structured as questions and answers. One of the questions is "Would you like to be 'normal'?" The last paragraph of the answer was just too good not to share:

To give the short version, I've learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal -- so we can't know for sure what your "normal" is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I'm not sure how much it matters whether we're normal or autistic.

Some New Books To Consider

Yesterday was the official launch of Blake Crouch's Wayward, which is the sequel to last year's Pines. I had the pleasure of reading the book a few months ago, and it's excellent. If you're a fan of my work, I encourage you to read Pines and Wayward so that not only can you enjoy two great books, but so that you can also enjoy something special that's coming soon ... (And that's all I'm going to say about that right now.)

RG Dillon has just released his first novel Mineko. I haven't read the book myself yet, but I did design the ebook and paperback. That's not why I'm mentioning it here, though, but rather that Ron's inspiration for writing the book was my very own No Shelter. As a writer, I often get emails and messages from readers telling me how much they've enjoyed my work, but Ron has taken it to a whole new level. I hope you check it out.

Finally, one of my favorite flash fiction writers and all around cool guy Ravi Mangla has a new book coming out this November. It's called Understudies and I'm sure it's going to rock. You can pre-order here.

Why Twitter Is The Best

Writer's First Audiobook Payment

It came in the mail today from Audible for my June sales. That was fast! For some reason I figured it would take at least 60 days, which is the case with all my ebooks and paperbacks from other platforms. Anyway, I figured I would use this as an excuse to remind y'all you can download the audiobooks for only $1.99 if you've already purchased the Kindle editions via Audible. Enjoy!

The Dark Is Coming

My friend Jack Fisher has lost his mind. Years ago he published the award-winning horror and dark fantasy magazine Flesh & Blood (of which I served as Senior Editor for a while), and now he's getting back in the game with a new magazine called The Dark. Believe me when I say that Jack is a perfectionist, and he's doing everything he can to ensure that this new publication is top-notch. But, of course, it can be tough starting out, so he's currently running a Kickstarter to help get the first issue off the ground. Think of it as pre-ordering the first issue, or even subscribing. Trust me, it'll be worth it.