Tag: Nicholas Pekearo

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Book Recommendations and an Interview

I don’t post updates to my blog much anymore and I hope to correct that in the coming year. I wanted to share some cool stuff I have going on, but the first thing I want to say is, the first draft of my novel is finished. I have already begun the editing process and I hope to have it ready and published no later than early March. More details will come your way as I move closer to publishing. I will have a page here on my site dedicated to the new book once all the things are ready to go. And now for the exciting stuff.

I recently learned about a new website called Shepherd. It is another site about books and things. They’ve only been around for a couple years, and they are still very small, but have a big heart. You should check them out just because, but also, you should check them out because I recently posted a book recommendation list to their site. What kind of books would I recommend? Well ones that are similar to my own writing of course. These are my recommendations for The Best Novels Where Real-Life Horror Meets the Supernatural.

This was a lot of fun to do and all I had to do was recommend books I’ve read. Too easy. The books I recommended are the ones on display in the top image of this post. If you want to know more about them, check out the list on Shepherd. They also have lots of other lists (they call them bookshelves) on their sits such as The Best Supernatural Books. Or you can find any other type of list (bookshelf) that suits your reading preferences. Keep an eye on Shepherd because I think they will get pretty big in the next few years.

To keep things more local, since I live in Tucson, AZ, I had the opportunity to get interviewed by Shoutout Arizona back in October. Want to know a little more about me? Check out the interview “Meet James Pack, Writer and Artist.” You can find out what inspires me and what some of my favorite local places are. It was awesome to be interviewed and I look forward to having many more experiences like these. I hope you enjoy and keep a look out for my next book that’s coming soon. Stay spooky and Merry Kramp-mas!

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Coffee and Contemplation: My Favorite Books of 2020

I enjoyed many of the books I read during this last year. I read more books than I have in an entire year and I’m proud of myself for that. There were two in particular that stood out to me. It wasn’t so much the stories themselves but the writing and the way the stories captured my imagination. This isn’t a book review. Not really. I hope what I say will encourage you all to read these books, though one might be hard to find. These were both new approaches to old ideas. And there was something supernatural and magical about them.

The first book is “The Wolfman” by Nicholas Pekearo. Many have said this is the best werewolf novel ever written. I’m inclined to agree. It was tragic that Pekearo died before seeing it published. The story is about a man who is a werewolf and uses this condition to hunt and kill bad people like murderers, serial killers, etc… The main character reminded me of my father in many ways. Both his good and bad qualities. Copies of this book are online. Physical copies are more expensive. I don’t think it’s being printed for the moment. If you prefer e-readers, it’s still more expensive than others. Just fair warning but it’s worth every penny.

The second book is “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. The synopsis makes one think this will be a romance novel, but the romance is subtle. I didn’t notice the two characters were starting a courtship until half-way through. This could be because of the non-linear narrative. There’s no mushy stuff. There’s too much magic going on in the story. It has a little of everything and is well written. My enthusiasm for this novel overshadowed many of the others I read in 2020. This book is a little easier to acquire than the first one I mentioned. 

What were your favorite reads of 2020? I often stick with supernatural or magical realism type stories but please share any books that stuck out in your mind during 2020.