Revenge Ticket manuscript is now in the hands of some very talented, savvy, beta readers with refined sharp eyes. I am really impressed with them thus far. I have already gotten some constructive feedback and have made many of the changes they have recommended. The manuscript is really tightening up and becoming more polished; and for that I am both excited and thankful.

News: It is now December 21, 2014. 3:00 PM. I have officially just finished the first draft of my forthcoming novel Revenge Ticket. Just now typed the words: The end. I'm both excited and exhausted.

Greeting from Tabor City! I am entering the final stages of completing the first-draft of Revenge Ticket. It's not an excessively long novel, probably coming in around 70K words. I wanted this story to be a tight page-turner full of dark, twisted suspense. I have infused this story with a certain pulp-noir character. Although the dystopian backdrop is set in the year 2067, it has the gritty nostalgic air of instead having took place in the 1960's. It's a rather strange converse but I think it works. 

This will be my second novel, and each is like one of your children. We are not suppose to have favorites when it comes to our children, but I will say that Revenge Ticket will be my favorite of the two. I have immensely enjoyed writing it. I looked forward to getting back to the computer every day to write and to see what might happen next with my protagonist Bobby Ackman. I hope the reader will have the same experience as they turn the pages, losing themselves inside this odd world I have created. And it is just that, odd! You might ask what it was that I was smoking and drinking as I wrote this novel. You can see the synopsis in the prior post below this one.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season. When we talk again after the holidays I will reveal the cover design for Revenge Ticket. Then shortly after, it will be released, most certainly in January.

If you are a random visitor to this page, please enter your email address in the box at the top of the page and you will be notified of any updates, and given a notification when the new novel is at last released. It will be available as a paperback (distributed and sold by amazon) and as Kindle ebook. Using the free Kindle app, it can be downloaded and read on any tablet or mobile device--such as iPad, Galaxy, iPhone, Android phones, and, of course, any Kindle. It will not be sold by Barnes & Noble as I have an exclusive agreement with amazon. But I believe you can now load the Kindle reading app onto Nook devices.

Sincerely, Kevin Pickell, Tabor City, NC.

Hi everyone! It's been awhile. I've been busy writing the next novel. I am shooting for a January 2015 release, and it's looking good. To be honest, the plot hasn't turned out to be anything like I first envisioned when I started typing the first pages. I will give you all a peek at the cover art as soon as my designer gets me the samples. The title will be: Revenge Ticket. Here is the preliminary blurb that I am still revising.

In the year 2067, Bobby Ackman is a proud man with a chip on his shoulder, toiling in the Tabitha City slums, enduring a life of poverty and despair when he spends his last dollar on a sordid lottery ticket.

It’s one of the government’s most insidious games, rewarding one yearly winner with a windfall of prize-money, and allowing them to select one of their fellow citizens for execution. Against incomprehensible odds, Bobby has matched all seven numbers from the absurd drawing of numbered ping-pong balls. His incessant lust for retribution against the man who derailed his once-promising career inside the dystopian government is at once galvanized.

Or so he thought.

Devlin Johnson is a man with powerful friends who can help him escape Bobby’s morbid snare of damnation. A violent storm of conspiracy, conflict, and political intrigue ensues. And yet it is the man Bobby sees in the mirror, and the inexorable voice he hears inside his head, that ultimately prove to be his own worst enemy.

Ocean Isle Kindle edition now only .99 cents for a limited time on amazon! Get it while it's on sale!!

CLICK HERE FOR KINDLE EDITION

The Cover Designs That Didn't Make The Cut

I thought I would share with you two covers that were offered to me by my designer (damonza.com) just before Ocean Isle was published. He offered me three choices, and obviously I went with the girl-on-beach theme. Here are the other two covers that I ultimately passed up...but on these two you at least get a better visual of Emma's identity. This is the face I saw in my head every day when I sat down at my computer to work on the novel. This is the face of Emma.

An interview I did for my novel, Ocean Isle, for the BOOK 'EM NORTH CAROLINA WEBSITE. Thanks to p.m. terell for taking the time!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE INTERVIEW

News: Ocean Isle now available "exclusively" on amazon

I have entered into an agreement to have Ocean Isle distributed exclusively by amazon. The novel will be available for Kindle, and in trade paperback formats on the amazon site. The book will no longer be available on the Barnes and Noble site for Nook. The benefits of this agreement were just too good to pass up, and it goes without saying that amazon stands as the dominant platform for indie authors. Thanks for your support.