This weeks spotlight is a little different. Edwin Stark is someone I’ve gotten to ‘know’ through Simone Beaudelaire, whom is both Edwin’s writing partner and real-life partner, albeit a relationship which is currently developing via two different countries.
Edwin lives in Venezuela, and reading some of his blog posts over here, I can tell you, he doesn’t live in the most safe and magical place in the world. While some of the scenery appears to be magnificent, Venezuela is a country in crisis and Edwin faces many issues, on a day-to-day basis.
Despite a multitude of difficulties, including a job which involves cutting back a jungle that grows faster than he can keep up, Edwin is a prolific author and has some great stories available via Amazon. Which leads to why he’s my author spotlight this week. This guy lives in Venezuela… his writing partner and girlfriend lives in Texas… and his power supply just died on his computer. How about checking out some of his books (maybe buy one or two, or ten) and help out an indie author who deserves a break.
Edwin Stark
Hello, my name’s Edwin Stark, and I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. That’s South America for the few geographically-challenged ones out there. I suppose that somehow the stork had just stumbled out from a pub while it was delivering me, (it was confused to say the least) and mishandled my humble persona, leaving me stranded in this unlikely place.
Having German ancestry, I spoke that language as a toddler, but my Mom had the misconception that I’d fit better here if I spoke Spanish, so that tongue was lost during my growing years. I grew up dreaming crazy tales and was my teacher’s pet when it came to composition class–but not in deportment: that was for certain–and as I grew up I tried to get noticed as a writer by submitting to every magazine and writing contest available in my home country. No such luck; the publishing market in Venezuela is utterly locked out: you can only see your words in print if you’re already a notorious politician or a TV celebrity. Since I wasn’t in the inclination of becoming a serial murderer to achieve notoriousness and get published, the need to rethink the approach to my writing career became a must.
Eventually, I decided to switch languages and start writing in English. I was already proficient in that language… but was I good enough to tell stories in that fashion?
I then started to write short stories, effectively dumping my native language. I wrote nearly 200 short stories during a period of about eighteen months, slowly learning the nuances of story-telling in another language than your own. I already had the benefit of having the knack of telling a tale; I only had to adjust. 190 of them short tales certainly sucked; 10 were really neat, but the important thing was the learning process. These ten tales eventually made it into Cuentos, the short story collection which became my third book. I succeeded so well in tearing myself apart from Spanish, that almost everyone I meet online says: “I CAN’T BELIEVE ENGLISH ISN’T YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE!”
So far, I wrote four books: AI Rebellion, a rather preachy cyberpunk thriller that still shows the struggle of switching languages (and I only recommend people to read it if they’re on an archeological mood, as in if they’re interested in seeing my progress as a writer), Eco Station One, a very bizarre and funny satire, the aforementioned Cuentos, and The Clayton Chronicles, a rather cookie-cut vampire tale. All these are available for the Kindle reader on Amazon, in paperbacks and all e-book formats in Smashwords.
“The characters of ‘Cuentos’ display believable characteristics that gently lead the reader along a path to gradually but willingly leave reality at the door. Before long, readers become part of the action — whether it is in the darkening sewers of Nosfort, Massachusetts or beneath a bulbous fruit tree in a different reality — and cannot put down the book.”
–Sylvia Cochran, thedeepening.com
Contact Edwin:
Edwin’s Books:
Cuentos
A doomed vampire hunter. A kid trapped in the sewers with an undead thing. A town that could be yours… but hides a terrible, dark secret. A scary cosmic balance. A dead brother and his revenge beyond the grave. An unspeakable future and three eerie girls: all these elements lurk within Cuentos, this collection of eight short stories and two short novellas that may make you reconsider how you contemplate darkness… after you’re finished reading it. 45000+ words
A.I. Rebellion
During the year 2399, a team of two computer hackers doing a routine job for an unknown client, unwittingly trigger an Artificial Intelligence’s elaborate plan to gain a physical presence into our world.
The two hackers are forced into a frantic escape for their lives and along their way they meet many allies and foes, only they’re unsure about who’s really a friend or an enemy.
In a cataclysmic showdown with this Artificial Intelligence, a side of this hacking team discovers the other has a hidden agenda.
A few questions arise: What are this AI’s real intentions? Does it care for humans? Does it have a soul?
Find out about Mankind’s destiny in this thrilling account of a possible future, made scary by its plausibility.
Eco Station One
The Clayton Chronicles
Does this scene from a 50’s horror movie sound familiar? Teenaged kids come running into the sheriff’s office, only to get kicked out from there when they tell the law officer in charge that they had seen a monster?
Sheriff Clayton Harris, however, is the exception that confirms the rule. If any kids entered his office telling him such farfetched tales, he would listen.
Watch as Sheriff Harris, in a curious role-reversal of the 50’s movies and the vampire tale, is now the only one able to see the obvious clues. Strange happenings have been taking place in his small home town: a corpse with strange marks on its neck, completely bled to death. Two pale looking strangers that seem to have very sharp teeth. Then key people in town start to disappear and grow a fondness to sleep in dark places.
Luckily, one of the sharp-teethed strangers is on Harris’ side.
Come inside and meet sheriff Harris and Sherwin Williams, the sheriff/vampire duo that joins efforts to save the imperiled town of Nosfort from its impending doom!
Aftermath and Other Zombie Shorts
Three Short Zombie Tales:
Aftermath: Meet Danny Cargill; he’s about to discover if humans are worse than zombies…
Zombie Cab: A creepy yet humorous story about a cabbie and his unexpected ride…
When Zombies Roamed Venezuela: A humorous take on your typical, everyday zombie outbreak tale.
Karaoke Duo Vs The Karaoke Zombies
It’s a Beautiful Girl Meets Awkward Boy tale, where both discover they posses incredible musical superpowers when coupled together!
Everything starts when Sheila Freemont, young law student extraordinaire, meets geeky, mature Edward Strongbox on a Karaoke Night at their local bar, and find out they can literally rock down the house!
Together, they decide to become the Karaoke Duo and fight crime! (Well, to be honest, Edward is quite enthusiastic while Sheila is a bit reluctant about it). Before they can even say “Pow! Zas! Crash!” our newly minted superhero couple gets into hot water.
Unfortunately, a terrible zombie epidemic is troubling the fair city of Nosfort, their home town; normal law-abiding citizens suddenly become mindless creatures bent on performing heinous acts like burglarizing and ringing doorbells (and then running away). Seems that a supervillain known as the Golden Zombiemaster is behind this plague. Hole-y mackerel! (That’s a dead fish punched with holes for the unenlightened)
Fermata Girl and The Man With The Mike (a.k.a as The Karaoke Duo), musically empowered superheroes per excellence, are willing to try their hand in putting a stop to this arch-villain’s wicked plans to take over the city. Will they prevail? Find out by reading this delightfully funny superhero spoof !
Fermata Girl Vs The Medallion of Doom
The Karaoke Duo at their best!
Join The Man With The Mike and Fermata Girl in another hilarious adventure!
Looking to please Sheila (a.k.a. Fermata) with a great gift on their first anniversary, fumbling superhero Edward (a.k.a. Man With The Mike) stumbles upon antique dealer Lo Pen, who offers him a deal he can’t resist: an ancient ivory medallion depicting a young woman portrait that resembles Sheila more than words can describe.
As soon as she starts wearing it, Sheila’s already amazing superpowers seem to increase tenfold. Unfortunately, something is not right; her behavior also changes radically. She becomes more aggressive and excessively obsessed with her physical appearance.
Eventually these changes become so extreme that Man With The Mike has to confront this new… and dangerously improved Fermata Girl, who’s now more powerful than his wildest dreams!
Will Edward survive this confrontation with his crime-fighting partner? Come! Join us in “Fermata Girl Vs The Medallion of Doom” and find out!
Attack of the Hackman
Sheila Freemont and Edward Strongbox are now married; as many couples, they have fallen into a comfortable everyday routine. Sheila is expecting Edward’s triplets, and he’s slowly advancing in his career writing erotica novels under the Miss Pinklesworth pen name. However, since they’re also the civilian identities of Fermata Girl and The Man With The Mike a.k.a. The Karaoke Duo, this married bliss won’t last.
Enter the Hackman, a powerful nemesis that can alter reality by using computers. Seeking revenge upon the Karaoke Duo for sending him to the slammer, this villain manages to suck poor Fermata Girl and The Man With The Mike into a deadly computer game, a place where they will have to face many dangers and insurmountable obstacles before they can finally escape. Will our two heroes be able to survive this new threat?
Find out by reading “Attack of The Hackman!”
Xaman
In the jungles of Belize, an ancient power lurks, and American grad student Rachael Monroe is about to come face to face with it. But is it a monster from a long-dead culture, or something far more dangerous? And who is Xaman, the mysterious local man Rachael finds so inexplicably fascinating?
Seeking answers to these questions will lead Rachael deeper into the heart of a centuries-old mystery that might reveal to her a love that can surpass even death… or her own gruesome end.
Darkness Waits
Hunting for a creepy read this Halloween? Open the gate and cross the threshold into our haunted house of mixed tales of horror. Sample a variety of nightmarish visions. From ghosts to ghouls, mutants to monsters and every kind of bloodsucker in between, The Darkness Waits offers a creature for every taste.
Will you dare open the gate?
D.S. Williams 