All posts by Russ Colchamiro

New Releases, News

Cover Reveal: Love, Murder & Mayhem

Leave a comment

At long last we are thrilled to present here the official cover for our new scifi-themed Love, Murder & Mayhem anthology coming out in July, debuting at Shore Leave in Cockeysville, MD.

As always, our pal and cover designer extraordinaire Roy Mauritsen did a fantastic job on the cover, with the collection featuring stories from an all-star author lineup including Aaron Rosenberg, Robert Greenberger, Michael Jan Friedman, Peter David, Paul Kupperberg, Glenn Hauman, Mary Fan, Hildy Silverman, Meriah Crawford, Kelly Meding, Paige Daniels, Karissa Laurel, Patrick Thomas, Lois Spangler, and editor Russ Colchamiro.

In this great collection you’ll get 15 stand-alone stories, including those featuring superheroes, super villains, A.I., off-world, space cruisers, private eyes, a monster mash and … one DuckBob!

Share the news!

Author's Spotlight, Finder's Keppers, New Releases

Welcome to Astropalooza

Leave a comment

There’s a tendency among us humans to exaggerate. Just a wee bit.

Things like … I’ve been doing this half my life!

Yet in my case … in this particular case … it happens to be true.

ASTROPALOOZA is not just my newest novel. It’s also the third and final entry in my SciFi backpacking comedy series, which started with FINDERS KEEPERS, continued with GENIUS DE MILO, and now concludes with ASTROPALOOZA.

I have to say … whew! What a journey it’s been.

For the uninitiated … FINDERS KEEPERS is loosely based on a series of backpacking trips I personally took through Europe and New Zealand, set against a jar that contains the Universe’s DNA.

When we first start our gonzo tale … bumbling backpackers Jason Medley (from New York) and Theo Barnes (from Auckland, New Zealand) meet in Europe and become fast friends. Their biggest worries include … can I get the hot girl? Can I make my train to Amsterdam? I’m hung over … again.

Meanwhile, as they fret over their ability to pay off student loans and eventually become full-fledged adults … the galaxy is about to be wiped out of existence as a motley crew — from Earth and a galactic realm — chase down that missing jar of the Universe’s DNA, because they all think the boys have it. Continue reading

New Releases

One Continent … and the Hearts of Murder

Leave a comment

517dBviDsyLWhen we at Crazy 8 Press decided to embark on Pangaea, the brainchild of our very own Michael Jan Friedman, I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go with my contribution. The anthology is based on one big idea — what if there was just one super continent — and big ideas typically lead to big stories.

So I went in the opposite direction.

My tale, “The Kites of Alogornae”, is small. It is, for the most part, a two-character play, consisting of two men forced together by circumstance, crossing the great continent, with a particular mission in mind.

In theory these traveling companions are on the same side, but in reality … well … it’s fair to say that at least one of them, if not both, have murder in their hearts.

Will there be deaths in this tale? I won’t say. But I can tell you that my inspiration came from the thoughts of trekking a long way on foot, during the days of continental discourse, and the roles that two otherwise unknown men might play during this divide. Continue reading

Author's Spotlight, New Releases

The Book Cover Conundrum – How to Make it Great

4 Comments
Genius De MiloThe cover for every book is critical, sometimes even more important than us writers want to admit. We want to think that the story we’ve crafted alone should be enough to ‘sell’ our books, but let’s face it: covers sell books. I’m the same way when I buy books. The cover absolutely helps draw me in.

With that in mind, I had very specific ideas about the cover I wanted for my latest novel, Genius de Milo.

I knew I wanted a yellow cover with red type. Why? Because the covers to my other novels are red/purple and blue, respectively, and I wanted contrast as they are lined up on the bookshelf!

But the color scheme is only one aspect. Now I needed a design concept. So I enlisted my pal and fellow author Roy Mauristen, who designs covers for a lot of authors, and does a great job at that.

I started off with the idea that I wanted a lot of turtles on the cover. And I wanted them flipping around like popcorn. Why? Well … it’s important to the story. We tried to make it work, but Roy just couldn’t find the right turtle image. So finally we started over.

And that’s when I switched to the bubbles filled with DNA helixes. Again, these are important to the story. Once I had that idea Roy went off to the races. He did an absolutely fabulous job bringing my idea life, and then added the hand with the pin about to pop one of the bubbles. I wasn’t so sure how I felt about it at first, but I was totally wrong, because it works great, and never would have come up with it myself. That was all Roy. Continue reading

Finder's Keppers, Uncategorized

New Book! Genius de Milo from Author Russ Colchamiro

Leave a comment

Crazy 8 Press Author Russ Colchamiro
Instigates More Cosmic Lunacy with ‘Genius de Milo’

–Second novel in ‘Finders Keepers’ comedic sci-fi trilogy pits
bumbling backpacking heroes against Milo, the Universe’s ultimate gremlin–

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 6, 2015 — Crazy 8 Press has once again set author Russ Colchamiro loose upon the Universe with his latest novel, Genius de Milo, the long-anticipated sequel to his sci-fi backpacking comedy Finders Keepers.

In the spirit of Midnight Run meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Colchamiro’s bumbling backpackers Jason Medley and Theo Barnes are back again in Genius de Milo, the second book in the trilogy.

Genius de Milo Front Cover for WebAfter barely surviving a tale of cosmic lunacy across Europe, New Zealand, and the backbone of Eternity, they now find that the Earth is fluxing in and out of existence, Theo’s twin girls are teleporting, and Jason can’t tell which version of his life is real. And all because of Milo, the Universe’s ultimate gremlin. Continue reading

Finder's Keppers, New Releases

Genius de Milo Cover Unveiled

Leave a comment

Genius De MiloHey there folks! The newest book from Russ Colchamiro is coming soon!

As the highly anticipated sequel to his hilarious scifi backpacking comedy Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo picks up the action three years later, and amps up the cosmic lunacy, taking us places only Russ could conjure up.

So as we eagerly await Genius de Milo, here’s the book’s brilliant new cover from Roy Mauritsen!