All posts by Russ Colchamiro

New Releases, News

Cover Reveal: Love, Murder & Mayhem

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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!

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

Welcome to Astropalooza

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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.

Our heroes are at the center of the action only … they don’t know it. So as the reader you’re in on the joke … and they’re not.

Throughout FINDERS KEEPERS, GENIUS DE MILO, and now ASTROPALOOZA, the boys somehow stumble their way into saving the Universe, only … every ass backwards solution they come up with sets in motion an even bigger, more complicated problem.

And so it goes, raising the stakes with each new adventure.

In ASTROPALOOZA, there are two massive energy waves barreling towards one another, and if they collide in space before the boys save the day one last time, the waves’ll smash together, initiating the next Big Bang, wiping out Existence as we know it.

Which brings me back to the beginning.

I took my first backpacking trip to Europe back in 1994. This was at a time in the world where, if you were stranded in the middle of Romania in the dead of night with a crazed, drunken madman on the loose with armed soldiers about to knock on the door — which in fact happened to me — you couldn’t Google where to go next because … there was no Google. There was no Internet.

You had to rely on guide books, whatever knowledge you could pick up, people you met along the way … and your ability to adjust on the fly.

Since then I’ve been around the world and back, including New Zealand, which motivated a lot of the action in these three books.

I’m almost 46 now. Yet I’ve been living, thinking, and writing about these guys and their adventures for the past 23 years.

Half my life.

It’s a symphony of emotions to have spent so much time and effort with Jason, Theo, and the gang, to finally see their journey come to an end. Well … this journey, anyway.

ASTROPALOOLZA is the culmination of it all.

And now that I’m here, I can say this: the boys did right by me.

I hope you have just as much fun with them as I did.

Enjoy the ride.

ASTROPALOOLZA is available for sale in paperback and e-book.

For more on ASTROPALOOZA and Russ’s other books, visit www.russcolchamiro.com

New Releases

One Continent … and the Hearts of Murder

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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.

Pangaea is its own world, and in this world, relationships are forged whether the characters want them to be or not.

Let’s see how this one plays out.

Pangaea is now available in digital and print editions.

Author's Spotlight, New Releases

The Book Cover Conundrum – How to Make it Great

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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.

At that point we made a few tweaks, but otherwise the cover just fell into place.

The response I’ve gotten so far has been fantastic. I’ve gotten nothing but enthusiastic reviews of the cover, so to my pal Roy … thank you!!

The words may tell my story, but the cover helps sell the book.

Now that you can see it for yourself … how’d we do?

Note: This post originally appeared on My Life, Loves and Passion.
Finder's Keppers, Uncategorized

New Book! Genius de Milo from Author Russ Colchamiro

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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.

Joined by the mysterious Jamie — a down-and-out hotel clerk from Eternity — Jason and Theo reunite on a frantic, cross-country chase across America, praying they can retrieve a radioactive jar that contains the Universe’s DNA, circumvent Milo, and save the Earth from irrevocable disaster.

“Genius de Milo has shifted mostly to the U.S., and because it comes from Russ, there’s also a lot going on in Eternity, the cosmic realm where the Universe is created,” explains Crazy 8 Press co-founder Robert Greenberger. “The Finders Keepers sci-fi backpacking series gives readers another thrilling world and cast of characters to visit from the minds at Crazy 8 Press.”

New and returning readers to the Finders Keepers series can jump right in, as Colchamiro wrote Genius de Milo so that it works on three levels: as a satisfying, self-contained novel; as the second novel in the Finders Keepers trilogy that both continues and enhances the overall narrative and individual story arcs; and as a launch pad for the final, forthcoming novel that will conclude the trilogy.

RussFunShot01-PPGenius de Milo is for fans of authors such as Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Christopher Moore, and movies and TV shows such as Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Hot Tub Time Machine, Time Bandits, Quantum Leap, Northern Exposure, and Third Rock from the Sun.

Genius de Milo is available for purchase in e-book and paperback formats:

ISBN: 978-0692395738

To arrange a book signing or interview, contact Russ Colchamiro at authorduderuss@gmail.com.

View the Finders Keepers animated book trailer here.

About Crazy 8 Press
Crazy 8 Press is a team of best-selling, award-winning sci-fi & fantasy authors creating new fiction. A mix of SF/F action, adventure, comedy, mystery, and mythology from Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, Aaron Rosenberg, Russ Colchamiro, and Paul Kupperberg. For more information visit www.crazy8press.com, and follow them on Twitter @crazy8press.

About Russ Colchamiro
Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space adventure Crossline, the hilarious science fiction backpacking comedy Finders Keepers, and the outrageous sequel Genius de Milo, all with Crazy 8 Press. Russ lives in West Orange, NJ, with his wife, two children, and crazy dog, Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself.

Russ is now at work on the final book in the Finders Keepers trilogy. As a matter of full disclosure, readers should not be surprised if Russ spontaneously teleports in a blast of white light followed by screaming fluorescent color and the feeling of being swallowed by a tornado. It’s just how he gets around.

For more on Genius de Milo, Finders Keepers, and Russ’ other books, you can visit www.russcolchamiro.com, follow him on Twitter @AuthorDudeRuss, and ‘like’ his Facebook author page at www.facebook.com/RussColchamiroAuthor.

Finder's Keppers, New Releases

Genius de Milo Cover Unveiled

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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!