After talking to Otherworld Publications we decided to give away FREE copies of Transubstantiate a few weeks ago, for only a couple of days. We had heard that these kinds of promotions were getting some pretty good returns, and so I agreed to give it a shot. Well, I was shocked to see that in less than two days over 1,700 copies of my debut novel were downloaded. That’s a lot more than I expected. And it even translated into some real sales, over 60 the next day, at full price, for the Kindle. We don’t have the numbers in for print, so I don’t know if it worked as well for those copies, but we’ll see. If you were one of the SEVENTEEN HUNDRED that downloaded the FREE copy, I hope you enjoy the book. And if you were one of the people that actually shelled out a few bucks, I thank you even more for taking the chance, and I hope it’s a fun read for you as well.

How does that compare to the rest of Amazon? Well, we got as high at the #18 overall FREE book in the mystery / crime category, and #24 in the general FREE category. And that kind of blew me away as well. Sometimes I guess you just have to give you love away, yeah?

Some very kind words from Jed Ayers (Noir at the Bar in St. Louis) about Transubstantiate in his Barnes and Noble column today, when talking about The Dewey Decimal System by Nathan Larson (which looks like a great book). I’m honored to be mentioned in the same article as so many fantastic voices. And TDDS looks like my kind of novel. Be sure to check it out. Just follow the link above.

Great review for the book over at Shroud Magazine (love these guys) but some harsh criticism for the typesetting and cover art.

“Transubstantiate, when all the pieces fall into place, is an intricate and layered look at action and consequence, the struggle between mislaid control and frustrated effort of self-proclaimed gods of men and the people caught up in the maelstrom, told in a way that will make your head spin.”
–Anton Cancre

When you’re a small press, and a relatively unknown author, sometimes it takes time for things to get done. It can be red tape, it can be heading out into new waters where nobody knows what to do, or it can be that your fate is in the hand of others, giant corporations that do things on their own timeline.

We finally have Transubstantiate online for the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook so if you’ve been waiting for this, here you go. Thanks for your patience and support.

“You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to? You talkin’ to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”

That’s right. JSJ is talkin’ to me about my debut novel, Transubstantiate, my story “Stillness” in Shivers VI with Stephen King, Peter Straub, Brian Keene, and so many others talented authors, my next book, Disintegration, and what the hell neo-noir fiction is anyway.

Thanks, Jay for the support. Had a blast doing this.

Bryan Alaspa discovered my book, Transubstantiate, and loved it. It’s always exciting to meet new people that enjoy my work. Sometimes you shoot that work out into the void, or promote it on Facebook and Twitter, and wonder if anybody ever hears you, if anybody enjoys it. Bryan heard me. When he asked what else he could do to help, I of course suggested the usual things: Amazon, B&N, Goodreads kind words and generous stars; Facebook, Twitter, blog, whatever you’ve got. When you’re a struggling author, you take whatever you can get and say THANK YOU. So that’s what I did. When he offered to do an interview and write an article, I was thrilled. So, thanks Bryan for getting behind my work, supporting me, and spreading the word.

Not your typical interview, Pela Via and I talk about all kinds of wild things at one of my favorite online fiction sites, Word Riot. They published one of my stories last year, “Three Mistakes”.

"How YOU doing?"

"Living the dream, baby!"

I’ll be reading from my debut neo-noir thriller Transubstantiate Saturday at my favorite bookstore, Quimby’s in the hip and happening Bucktown / Wicker Park area with several other OWP authors – Laura Griffith (Remember), Nik Korpon (Stay God), and David Rosenstein (The Silk Worm) at 7pm.

COME ON OUT!

Blocks from the Damen/North/Milwaukee el stop and right on the North Avenue bus line.

Saw Chuck Palahniuk read here years ago.

The review supplement for Morpheus Tales #10 is now out. Happy to see my pal Jeremy C. Shipp in here too, we’ll also be sharing space in an upcoming issue of Withersin. We got another fantastic review for Transubstantiate, this one from Stanley Riiks. Here’s an excerpt:

Described as a neo-noir thriller, a description I can whole-heartedly agree with, this is a very dark, cynical, and intelligent novel. The way it’s told only adds to both the tension and the mystery. A brilliant tale of a haunting dystopia.

Go to the REVIEWS PAGE or hit this link for a DIRECT DOWNLOAD.

Interview by Gregory Frye

An interview with me done by the talented Gregory Frye is now up at 3:AM Magazine. Love 3:AM, they published a story of mine “A Bird in the Hand” last year.

3:AM MAGAZINE

Here’s an excerpt:

Richard Thomas is catching a lot of attention with his debut novel Transubstantiate, a neo-noir thriller mostly set on a mysterious island where nothing is as it seems. The place is inhabited by prisoners who are supposedly part of a rehabilitation experiment, meanwhile most of the global population has been wiped out by plague. The survivors, both on the island and off, truly live up to the label of noir, black, nihilistic. Thomas’ book seems to have come to the front at a time when a lot of readers and writers are starting to ask what neo-noir is all about, how is it defined, and where can we take it.