REVIEW
OF HALLOWSEVE BY JAMES PHILLIPS - “A good
collection of stories to be read around Halloween. Hallowseve was probably the
best story in the book. A well thought out scary tale with a great ending. A
highly recommended collection of scary tales.”
I write dark speculative fiction. #weirdfiction #darkfantasy #horrorfiction #scifi #postapocalypticfiction
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Saturday, December 6, 2014
CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR - It takes an author with a great deal of daring to attempt a tale with such an epic scope as this one. In Jean M Auel's novel, entitled 'The Clan of the Cave Bear', she explores the imagined interaction of our Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal ancestors. Based on interviews I have read, she was greatly inspired by research and archaeology, such as the Chauvet cave (see my blog for related posts). If you love high concept or historical fiction, you owe it to yourself to read this book!
View all my reviews
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Sunday, November 30, 2014
DAWN OF ART

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
DAWN OF ART - Imagine spelunking in France, stumbling upon a cave filled with wondrous charcoal and ocher paintings, later realizing the environment had remained untouched for 30,000 years! The book, entitled ‘Dawn of Art: The Chauvet Cave’, includes over 100 pages of stunning photographs of this magnificent art. The writer in me finds imagining the lives of our early human ancestors--their life struggles, obvious spiritually and amazing talents--absolutely enthralling. This discovery led archeologists and historians to reformulate theories of the evolution of human art. At different times, the caves seemed to have been dwelled by humans, as well as cave bears. For a related post, check out ‘The Cave of Forgotten Dreams’, go visit my blog.
http://chadschimke.blogspot.com/2011/...
View all my reviews
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Monday, November 24, 2014
SANDIA PEAK TRAM
Sandia Peak tram - At the
base of the Sandia Mountains--located in Albuquerque, New Mexico--go for a tram
ride experience like none other. The Sandia Peak Tramway ascends the steep
western side of the mountain, close to cliffs and pinnacles, from the base to
the top. The view from the tram includes all of Albuquerque and roughly 11,000
square miles of the New Mexico countryside. The Sandia Peak Ski Area is on the
opposite side of the mountain from the tramway and the city. Skiing is
available in the wintertime, and during the summer mountain bike trails are
available.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
LITCRAWL
LITCRAWL – Recently, the Alabama Street Writers Group (ASWG)
read at Litcrawl, one of SF’s most anticipated literary events, Over 130 people
attended the ASWG event--hosted by City Art Gallery in the Mission District's
Valencia Street corridor--listening to the 8 writers who presented work. Enjoy
the show, then while you’re at it, check out the ASWG’s website. Enjoy!
Saturday, November 15, 2014
WHEN WE WERE NEARLY YOUNG SHORT STORY REVIEW
When We Were Nearly Young - The
inspiration for Mavis Gallant’s short story, entitled ‘When We Were Nearly
Young’ was a diary she kept during the 1950’s. The backstory goes that Gallant
was living in Madrid, forced to pawn her typewriter, while waiting for a check
from her agent. She did what every writer does by turning a real-life situation
into fiction. The short story deals with a woman on a quest for self-discovery,
living with three friends, all of whom are waiting for money. They eat cheap,
loaf around and try to enjoy life on a budget. Gallant is a prolific
contributor to The New Yorker, featuring publication of more than one hundred
stories in the magazine. I wonder, now that handwritten journals are obsolete,
how will writer’s notes be remembered?
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Thursday, November 6, 2014
DO YOU READ ME?
DO YOU READ ME? - Today’s
post is the second in a series of reflections I had after attending a recent
book event. Namely, Litquake’s digital publishing conference, digi.lit, which
took place in San Francisco on June 21, 2014. This session was all about
building an audience, how to promote and building an author identity. One of
the panelists blogged her book. Another hosted a series of podcasts featuring
authors reading their own stories. Others formed writer collectives, of sorts. They
discussed spinoffs, social media, starting local, an effective call to action,
comparison titles and emerging themes. The panel was pretty much split into two
camps. Namely, authors who figured out their brand (prior to writing anything)
and those who made it up (their brand) as they went along. This panel didn’t
really offer anything I hadn’t heard before. As it was not so much a how-to,
rather it was a cross section of panelists, what they did and what worked for
them.
The following conference sessions will be covered in this
series of blog posts.
1. Digital 101: Is Digital publishing the best option for
me?
2. Do you read me? Author Branding and Marketing
3. Building a Book
4. The Changing Ways we Read
Monday, November 3, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Journey Into Mystery featuring For Love of Money circa 1973
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF
Journey Into Mystery feat. For Love of Money 73 PDF
Journey Into Mystery feat. For Love of Money 73 PDF
#ChadSchimke #Vintage #Horror #SanFrancisco #ComicBook
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
SANTA FE PLAZA
SANTA FE PLAZA - The history of the plaza dates back to
the era of the Spanish conquistadores along the El Camino Real. The
architecture is traditional adobe, with the exception of the Cathedral Basilica,
built of yellow limestone chosen by Archbishop Lamy. Like much of New Mexico,
there are a combination of cultural influences, including Spanish, Native
American, New Mexican and European. Fantastic art, jewelry, galleries and food
are a feast for the senses. The literary influences of Santa Fe are rugged and
individualistic, such as ‘Death Comes for the Archbishop’ by Willa Cather, one
of my favorite books. Visit at Christmas, when the night time plaza glows with farolitos
and luminarias.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
When We Were Nearly Young by Mavis Gallant PDF
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF EBOOK
When We Were Nearly Young by Mavis Gallant PDF
Sunday, October 12, 2014
LITCRAWL
LITCRAWL - Join the Alabama Street Writers Group at
Litcrawl at City Art Gallery (828 Valencia Street in San Francisco) at 7PM on
October 18th. Crossroads: Words + Art. Members read brief selections,
eat/ drink snacks/ beverages and authors will meet-and-greet, at the end of the
presentation.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
DIGITAL 101
DIGITAL 101 - Today’s post is the first in a series of
reflections I had after attending a recent book event. Namely, Litquake’s
digital publishing conference, digi.lit, which took place in San Francisco on
June 21, 2014. The byline of this panel was as follows: Is digital publishing
the best option for me? Specific platforms were mentioned by panelists such as
Jukepop, Createspace, Smashwords, Ingram Spark and Kickstarter. There was a
discussion about the varied types of publication including self-publish, eBooks,
hybrid publication, hard covers, legacy-publish, paperbacks, and POD (print on
demand). They talked about how they needed to function as their own agent,
cover designers, publicists, editors, interns, tweeters, bloggers and reviewers.
The panelists essentially agreed on the fact (?) that nobody knows how to market a
book in today’s new digital age.
The following conference sessions will be covered in this
series of blog posts.
1. Digital 101: Is Digital publishing the best option for
me?
2. Do you read me? Author Branding and Marketing
3. Building a Book
4. The Changing Ways we Read
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
WRITER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO LIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO
WRITER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO LIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO - Look up as you’re walking along Market Street towards
Embarcadero. Behold a new multimillion dollar high rise condominium being built
on every block. We’ve seen our share of boom times--from the Barbary Coast to
Flower Power to the Dot.com bubble to the ‘new’ Tech Boom of 2014. More condos,
less affordable rentals, more tech companies, the same amount of space, more
evictions and nowhere to go but up--result in artist-writer types being forced
out of ‘The City’.
Hence, this is where the ‘Writer’s Survival Guide to
Living in San Francisco’ comes in, serving up a fresh batch of ideas, to get
your name in print and promote your work. You call yourself a writer so go
ahead and act like one! Unless you’re James Patterson--you need to be your own
editor, publicist, layout person, cover designer and publisher--something that
has to be done on the cheap, or free. At least initially, anyway. Since we’ve
already established it takes a lot of cash to live in SF.
Smashwords
You don’t actually have to pay anybody to create your own
eBook. Make sure to do your research so the book interior looks professional.
You can use digital design to create your own cover or use a free stock image.
Adding your name and book title to any JPEG file is easy. Use the outline
feature in MS Word to link chapter titles to corresponding pages. Smashwords
will automatically assign an ISBN for free.
Amazon Author Central
Use the contact form to have Amazon add your eBooks into
your Author Central profile. Once the eBooks are live they will be populated to
other sites (Barnes & Noble and Scribd for example). We’re still talking
eBooks, if your readers can’t find them, your efforts are for naught. Free is
good, making money, even better!
CreateSpace
What if I’m a diehard fan of physical books, you might
ask? In other words, books in print, such as paperbacks. Don’t (and I repeat,
don’t) go anywhere else besides CreateSpace. But, “I hate Amazon”, you might
say. I’ve researched many of them (Xlibris, Friesen, Ingram, etc.) and while evil Amazon is
dead set on putting everyone else out of business, they are the best and
cheapest. I am talking about POD (print on demand). This part isn’t cheap except
the result is a polished professional trade paperback book. You are going to
need these for readings, book signings and some of the best book reviewers
insist on physical books. For novel length works I recommend Perfect Binding
(square spine with clear coated cover) and nobody does POD better than CreateSpace.
DIY
(Do It Yourself) Paperbacks
Most writers don’t know this. But, it really isn’t that
difficult, to print your own book that complies (comes close to?) the
publishing industry standard. This won’t work for a full novels (70,000 words),
because the spine would be too thick, but it will work for long-ish novellas. Once
again you will use a built in feature of MS Word. Format your pages in
half-letter (8.5 × 5.5 in) with standard margins
(don’t worry about gutters and such). You already have your cover so be sure to
have both files ready. Go to a big box office supply store and ask them to
print the novella in a pamphlet format. The cover is printed on card stock and
the book interior is printed on regular white printer paper. It actually works
great if the cover image can be printed in black on a single color card stock
cover. The centerfold is stapled and voila! You have a cute little physical
book. I’ve played around with various formats tape bound, comb bound. For the
price and size, the pamphlet works best, trust me.
Social Media
There are so many options here that we have to focus. I
realize you’re a writer and want to sell books. However, to have any success in
social media, you must be interesting. Say “Buy my book!” enough times and your
followers will unfriend you and go elsewhere. Start a blog (Blogger or
Wordpress) because you can say lots of interesting things about yourself,
besides just harping on your book. Go onto Twitter everyday and interact with
your followers. This is the beginning of your fan base slash audience. Set up
pages on sites specific to book-ish pursuits such as Goodreads and
LibraryThing. Do this enough and readers will naturally begin to gravitate to
you. Enlist the best of the bunch and ask them to do book reviews. All of this
is free!
Community Resources
Remember, this article started on the premise that you’re
a writer trying to make it in San Francisco, right? Here’s where that begins to
pay off. You have written books you can talk about, you’re interesting even
without them AND there are so many opportunities right in your backyard (SF).
Join a writer’s group, go to events such as Litquake, Word Week in Noe Valley,
hit up bookstores (you’re a local writer, remember?) and don’t forget to
populate your books with colorful characters and locales that are uniquely San
Francisco. Get out of the house and go to events! Remember to tell people about
your book keeping in mind you’re so much more than that. Be interesting and
memorable, in real life, as well as in social media. Nobody said this was going
to be easy but it’s worth it. James Patterson didn’t start out as James
Patterson, he started out as a nobody with a big idea and lots of confidence. Look
how that one turned out.
About the Author
Chad Schimke began as a self-published writer in 2012
with novels, including ‘Picker’, and short stories, including ‘Weirder’. He has
appeared on several live radio shows discussing his various books and a wide
variety of speculative topics. He’s been reviewed, guested and hosted along the
way. Visit him on Twitter (@ChadSchimke), Amazon (amazon.com/author/chadschimke),
Blogger (chadschimke.blogspot.com) and on the web (chadschimke.com), amongst
other places.
In 2014 Artifice Comics released special anthology issues,
featuring his work, with ‘Midwinter’ appearing in Christmas and ‘Hallowseve’
appearing in the Halloween issue. Later this year, his crime thriller novel
entitled ‘Secrets’ will be released, through Seventh Window Publications.
Don’t miss Chad Schimke, organizer of
the Alabama Street Writer’s Group (alabamastreetwritersgroup.wordpress.com), in cooperation
with City Art Gallery (828
Valencia Street). Meet him at the intersection of art and literature, at Litcrawl,
on Saturday October 18th! This is part of the larger Litquake
festival happening annually in San Francisco, Manhattan and Los Angeles. Come
out for short readings, unique performances, art happenings, a feast of
refreshments and book signings galore. Oh my!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
THE MALTESE FALCON

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
THE MALTESE FALCON - In his best known book, Dashiell Hammett pens the stylish Sam Spade, protagonist of The Maltese Falcon. He’s tough enough to stand up to thugs or the police. He smells trouble when a buxom dame breezes into his office. Soon enough, his entire world will be turned upside down. Hammett wrote about detectives because he had been employed as one after responding to a vague classified ad. He had a notoriously short writing career, publishing four novels and all of his short stories within nine years. His poor health, struggle with alcoholism and community party membership led to his decline and eventual imprisonment in McCarthy era hysteria. In the final years of his life, he was hounded by the IRS for back taxes, dying penniless.
View all my reviews
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Mystery featuring Pledge to Satan circa 1973
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF
Mystery feat. Pledge to Satan 73 PDF
#ChadSchimke #Vintage #Horror #SanFrancisco #ComicBook
#ChadSchimke #Vintage #Horror #SanFrancisco #ComicBook
Monday, September 22, 2014
BURRITT ALLEY
Burritt Alley - San Francisco has been the setting
for numerous books, TV shows and movies. In many cases she is little more than
set dressing. But in Dashiell Hammett’s 1929 novel, The Maltese Falcon, Burritt
Alley plays a major role in the novel, a specific street where the novel
accelerates. He is the undisputed master of the hard-boiled private detective
genre. Protagonist Sam Spade, in his ruthless quest for justice, sees his
partner shot dead in the alley in the opening scenes of the book. Near Union Square,
close to Stockton and Bush, there’s a plaque that reads: "On approximately
this spot MILES ARCHER, PARTNER OF SAM SPADE, was done in by BRIGID
O'SHAUGHNESSY." Sure, you’ve seen the Golden Gate Bridge, walked along the
Embarcadero and looked down on the city atop Twin Peaks. If you’re a book lover
(like me) then take a literary excursion to a lesser known corner of The City. Don
your zoot suit with fedora ensemble, to visit Burritt Alley with a copy of
Hammett’s noir novel. Read a couple of pages, then stop by Burritt Room Tavern.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
ADOBE BOOKS GALLERY SURVIVAL ADAPTATIONS
Adobe Books Gallery Survival
Adaptations - An article I
wrote for San Francisco cooperative gallery, entitled ‘Writer’s Survival Guide
to Living in San Francisco’, was featured in Adobe Books Backroom Gallery
recent exhibition and chapbook. In their press release, Adobe Books says: “Survival
Adaptations dictate that in order to survive and thrive in specific
environments, animal species have developed a host of amazing characteristics.”
In a later post, I will post the entire article verbatim, as
it appeared in the chapbook. The article also features content by the San
Francisco artist Solis.
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