Send in Your Johnny Lycan #Bookselfie and Win

If you’ve bought your copy of Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk since pub date, you’re probably in the middle of it now. Send me a selfie with the book (or your Kindle, I trust you!) and you might win one of 3 “Don’t let Shaggy run the show…” coffee mugs.

Adam Larson and Astrid are reading in Minneapolis

Of course, you can always send a pic AND leave a review as well, like Ariana in Las Vegas did…

The deadline to enter is December 11th. Don’t delay.

You can order it anywhere books are sold online, but here’s the purchase link to Amazon and to Black Rose Writing.

If you want a SIGNED copy of Johnny Lycan, drop me an email and we’ll hook you up.

Today is Publication Day for Johnny Lycan & the Anubis Disk

“If Raymond Chandler wrote werewolves–and why hasn’t he?”

“If you like The Dresden Files, you’ll love Johnny Lycan”

“Turmel’s move from Historical Fiction to Urban Fantasy is a howling success

Today is the day that the world finally gets to meet Johnny Lupul, a young wannabe detective with a monstrous secret. Huge thanks to the team at Black Rose Writing for seeing what I saw in him.

To all my loyal readers, how can you help?

Buy the book at Amazon or through Black Rose Writing

Leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads or wherever you find good books.

Tell your book buying friends, and if you know any bloggers or reviewers, let me know.

Take a selfie with your copy of Johnny Lycan, and let me know where in the world you are. You can win a genuine “Don’t let Shaggy run the show…” coffee mug. Just like Bryan from Las Vegas:

I hope you all enjoy this tale, it’s the first of a few. Don’t let the weasels get you down, and don’t let Shaggy run the show.

Chicago, The Ghost of Jamie McVay, and Ray Ziemer

Whoever said writing is a solitary activity is doing it wrong. Yeah, I said it. Typing, actually putting the words on paper or the screen is a lonely business but writing activities like getting feedback, brainstorming ideas, and hanging with other smart people is social. One of my favorite writerly people is Ray Ziemer. He’s a teacher, poet, novelist and all around good egg.

When I still lived in the suburbs of Chicago, we were both members of the Naperville Writers Group and I was lucky enough to see this book, The Ghost of Jamie McVay being workshopped. Now it’s out in the world. Any excuse to talk to a buddy.

Ray- tell folks what they should know about you.

I’m South Side of Chicago born and bred. Funny when I look back and realize I’ve spent most of my life now in the suburbs, but my youth in the city left me with an accent, an attitude, and a certain psychological shape. When I left the south side, I grew in many ways – in liberal views, intellectual range, hunger for landscape — but at my core, there is always the bungalow under the elms in the old neighborhood near Marquette Park.

Ghost of Jamie McVey is a good YA read. What’s the book about?

The Ghost of Jamie McVay is a classic ghost story of redemption and atonement, set in a contemporary suburb of Chicago, a world of young adult tribulations — bullying, first love, family dysfunction. The narrator uncovers family secrets,  weathers father-son conflict, and clue by clue unravels the mysteries of the ghost of Jamie McVay.

You really capture the Western Suburbs of Chicago in it. Where’d the story come from?

The story came out of regular bike rides and walks with my sons on the Illinois Prairie Path, a disused railroad right-of-way turned bike trail. I fantasized about old railroad disasters, which led to stories about ghost trains and hauntings along the path. When I first conceived the story, I was teaching junior high English, and I always felt there could be more and better novels for adolescent boys to read. So I tried to imagine a first-person narrator for that audience to relate to, and a strong female character everyone would like. Some might suspect there’s a dash of autobiography in there somewhere, too.

Totally unfair question. What’s your favorite scene?

Through multiple rewrites and revisions, two things that never changed were the beginning and the ending. The most dramatic scene is the climax at the end, when the main characters — and the ghost of Jamie McVay — confront each other on Halloween night, with explosive action and (I hope) satisfying resolution. 

That’ll work. You’re a poet and short story author as well as a novelist. Where can people learn more about you?

My author web page, with samples of my poetry and other fiction, is https://rgziemer.com

The book is for sale on Amazon.com  and Barnes & Noble.com. I also have a Goodreads and Facebook author pages.

SHAMELESS PLUG FOR MYSELF: So I am hanging tight for more reviews of Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk, which I’ll gladly share. But if you want to help spread the word, I’m having a contest. Send me a picture of you with your copy of Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk and where you’re at. You’ll enter a drawing for a Johnny Lycan, “Don’t let Shaggy run the show…” coffee mug. (Yeah, I know, it’s missing an apostrophe. Call it a collector’s item…)

Advance Word for Johnny Lycan & The Anubis Disk

Turmel manages to thoroughly explore the detective, mystery, supernatural, and horror genre conventions. With some thrilling gore and satisfying werewolf violence, Turmel imbues his storytelling with a sense of humor and edge.

Jose Nateras, Windy City Reviews

When you send a book out into the world, you never know how people will respond. I’ve said before it’s like telling a joke and waiting a year for the laugh. So with the November 19 Launch Date for Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk rapidly approaching, some of the advance reviews are starting to come in. It’s possible people like it.

Windy City Reviews (quoted above) was very kind, and you can read the entire review here. I love that they picked up on the “Chicago-ness” of it. In fact, you can purchase a copy pre-pub date at Centuries and Sleuths in River Forest. Augie and the team have been supporting my work for years.

Over at Books Delight, author Jeanie Roberts even awarded it a Reader’s Choice. “Turmel’s leap from historical fiction to fantasy is a howling success!”

There have also been plenty of interviews, with more to come. Teri Polen and I had a great time on her Bad Moon Rising blog, where we talked writing, haunted houses and tequila.

And my good friend Vital Germaine and I talked about creativity, getting older, and making relationships last on his video blog, Another F Word.

Praise from other authors is always appreciated, and if you read the post and review of This Ragged, Wastrel, Thing by Tomas Marcantonio you know we admire each other’s work. This is what he said on Goodreads: “The gritty Chicago setting, with its cast of well-rounded, down-to-earth likeable characters, feels entirely real, and by the time the plot is in full swing you find yourself checking the phase of the moon through the window and half-expecting it to affect the behaviour of your loved ones.”

So I am hanging tight for more reviews, which I’ll gladly share. But if you want to help spread the word, I’m having a contest. Send me a picture of you with your copy of Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk and where you’re at. You’ll enter a drawing for a Johnny Lycan, “Don’t let Shaggy run the show…” coffee mug. (Yeah, I know, it’s missing an apostrophe. Call it a collector’s item…)

Two weeks to go. I’ll be very grateful if you’ll spread the word on Goodreads (add it to your “To Read” list) and however you share what you read with others.

Don’t let the weasels get you down, and whatever you do, don’t let Shaggy run the show.