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.

NOTE: Issue 9 is NOW OUT!

Vain does such beautiful work.  Some excerpts from my novel Transubstantiate are in here (I originally published my short story “Underground Wonderbound” a naughty little tale about a sex club in Issue #5 with Vain in 2009) as well as some beautiful artwork. I’ll also make an announcement when it actually releases, but they don’t make many of these, and do them all by hand, so be sure to get one. #9 has to do with the “fantastical” and my excerpts are the more surreal and fantastic from the book.

I’ll be reading Saturday at my favorite bookstore, Quimby’s in the hip and happening Bucktown / Wicker Park area with several other OWP authors – Laura, Nik, and David 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.

Justin Holt spent the last week interviewing me about Transubstantiate, and other things too – how I got started, what my influences were, my thoughts on various genres, and what my plans are for the future. Be sure to check it out.

OXYFICATION

Intro:

Richard Thomas is a busy man. He’s a husband and father of twins. He’s a graphic designer. He helps moderate a writing workshop at The Cult, one of the most popular author websites in the world. He’s helped edit zines and magazines alike. He’s pursuing his MFA in Fiction. He’s part of a group of up-and-coming writers who each year help each other through the hardships of writing a novel. And yeah, he’s also a writer whose debut novel, a neo-noir thriller called Transubstantiate, was published in July 2010, the flagship novel of the upstart independent press Otherworld Publications. High on life and hell-bent on sharing in the revelry of being part of a new movement of fresh voices to the literary world Richard stopped by Oxyfication to share a little bit about himself, how his debut novel Transubstantiate came to be, and what it’s like when one of your literary heroes tells you that your writing reminds them of their literary heroes.

Wow. There’s my own book. How many people did this email go out to? I actually haven’t bought my OWN book on Amazon yet (believe it or not) but I’ve thought about it. It might generate some links to “other books” of a similar nature, other books I’ve bought. Other authors that I love – King, Straub, SGJ, Baer, Clevenger, Palahniuk, Mieville, etc. So I’m not really sure how or why I got this email. But I LIKE IT!

And, I’m in pretty good company. Kristopher Young, I know this guy, have actually read Click, it’s a good book. But Brian Evenson? I mean, he’s a GIANT. I’ve seen him at several panels at AWP, have talked to him a little bit, he’s larger than life. I’ve read a lot of his stories, and strangely enough, have Fugue State in my “wishlist” at Amazon, been meaning to read it, that and Last Days. And then there’s Audition, a very dark movie, and I can only assume, a very dark and strange book. But it’s nothing like Transubstantiate, as far as I know. Except they’re both dark, and thrillers, I guess.

But, whatever happened here, I’m happy that Amazon has done something for me, sent out this email to I’m hoping MILLIONS of people. Okay, maybe dozens, but I’ll take it. I even heard from some friends of mine that they got the same email. So, it wasn’t just me.

It’s one of those little things, like chatting with people at GENCON, answering their questions, signing books. I sold THREE signed/limited editions! At $40 a pop! To total strangers. That’s kind of cool (and a bit intense). Or getting a random IM on Facebook from somebody that just says LOVING YOUR BOOK, and then POOF, the guy is gone. A fan in the UK, happy with the book, but maybe too shy to actually talk to me about it. Guess I’m BIG TIME now.

Not really. I’m as humble as ever, thrilled to see so many people enjoying the book. Busy with Disintegration, the next one. And loving every minute of it.

Thanks Amazon, spawn of Satan, giant book beast, my crack cocaine addiction. Thanks for spreading the word, giving me a little love. I’ll take it.