When rising film star Jake Neumann dies, he finds himself in an afterlife earned not by faith or good works, but by fame. While the fame of an actor is intense, it is also fleeting; when film stars are forgotten on earth, they fall from this heaven. As Jake comes to grips with his new reality, he witnesses a tragedy that shakes his new community. He and his friends are caught up in a mystery, leading down a tangled path of magic, mobsters and mayhem. No one is safe in a world where even death may die, and Jake must race to find the key to saving his new home from the threat approaching VALHOLLYWOOD.
Meet Christopher E. Appel
Christopher E. Appel has worked in the Atlanta area for many years as a game developer, illustrator, 3D artist and animator. Sometimes billed as Chris Appel (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5759147/) he has contributed to a wide range of award-winning projects, including the computer game series Wizardry and Unreal, television programs such as Archer and Marvel’s Hit-Monkey, the children’s books Le grand livre des Guerriers and Le grand livre des Cow-Boys et des Indiens, and table top game projects like Weird Wars, Deadlands, Legends of the Five Rings, and many, many more. Christopher currently works at Hi-Rez Studios as Senior Producer on Paladins. Valhollywood is his first novel. When he isn’t working or writing, he enjoys watching classic films, traveling with his wife, MarKay, spending time with his sons, or introducing his grandsons to Godzilla movies.
“Any deal is better than no deal.” When the desperate reach out and shake A Cold Hand at the crossroads, their lives are no longer their own. Frank, like so many near him, has made a deal, but when he shook that Cold Hand, he never thought the day would come when his bill would come due. Now that it has, he has a choice to make in Frank. “It’s going to be fine, my love. It’s all going to be fine. Don’t worry, my love. It’s going to be fine.” Chris knew every facet of every deal he made, but when the biggest deal he ever made was coming to its conclusion, he had to find a way to renegotiate the terms in Out of Road. Steven was positive who was responsible for his parents’ deaths and he was determined to make him pay in The Ride. A night out turned strange, so strange it still haunts all who were there in The Strange Disappearance of John Whitey Burnett. All he wanted was an escape, but how he went out about it will stay with him in Repeater. Finding love in the strangest places can lead to some strange results in Passing it Forward. Sometimes you owe even though you didn’t agree to the price in A Question of Payment. An obsession grew from a single night out in I Hate the Blues. What Allen finds as he looks into his partner’s apparent mental break challenges his own stability in Man of Flies. A bad day can seem to go on forever in One of those Mornings. A Cold Hand is the third collection of short stories from a HARD PLACE.
Meet R A Jacobson
Three years ago Rick began writing a series of adult paranormal fantasy stories resulting in three collections of short stories, a podcast, a graphic novel and a novel. The rabbit hole goes deep, and the joy he found in recording the podcast, bringing the stories to life with his voice, resulting in as of this August over 100 episodes of the podcast Stories from a Hard Place.
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time could get very deadly
In the city with eight million stories, there was a dark tale of a young Ghanaian emigrant woman looking for adventure in New York because selling fruit in the market in Ghana bored her.
Sheddi Dedzo was a very intelligent woman who learned photography, and happened upon a bodega robbery. She clicked away, and gave her camera to a police detective. Detective Tanaka caught the criminals because of her pictures, and put her in school to become a real freelance investigative photographer. She moved in with Moira McGuiness, a hedge fund manager. They became fast friends. Moira was promiscuous, and asked Sheddi to take pictures of her, and her new handsome Rastafarian beau Jabril. She didn’t know him well enough. Sheddi agreed. She thought it was a break from all the illegal activities the recorded. The couple went to the Jamaican Jerk club, and Sheddi followed. Jabril brought Moira to the adjacent alley to meet another Jamaican male. Sheddi took pictures from across the street. Moira found out she was being recruited by a sinister Jamaican drug syndicate, and refused the offer. The Jamaican syndicate head shot her in the back, Sheddi screamed, and was seen by the two men. She ran from them, and thought out of all her criminal picture taking, in helping her friend, she made a wrong step. How will she get out if being chased by a drug dealing Jamaican posse?
A dark urban tale of a Ghanaian female trying to escape a sinister syndicate with the help of her African food charity volunteers, and a former United States Army Ranger.
This thrilling story includes:
•Shows the darkness of dating arbitrarily. •A female protagonist who uses her brains until she needs her brawn. •Multicultural adventure •Shows certain aspects of PTSD •References New York State well •Tells of how dangerous a Jamaican posse can be. •Modern action with slight humor, and a touch of romance. WARNING: Slight drug usage.
