My First Ghost Story Publication!
The anthology Midnight Roost, which contains my short story “Shaken,” is up for pre-order now, so follow this link to pre-order your copy. This antho will be in print, e-book, and audiobook formats, so everyone can find a way to enjoy these creepy stories. Wondering if it’s your kind of reading? Well, we even have a trailer!
TRAILER – MIDNIGHT ROOST
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I will be attending COSINE 2023, Colorado Springs’ largest Science Fiction and Fantasy conference, January 20 through 22 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton. I will be on four panels, moderating two of them. I will post my schedule here tomorrow.
As promised, here it is:
| Day | Time | Room | Subject |
| Friday | 3:00 pm | Cripple Creek | Living in a Surveillance Society (mod) |
| Friday | 5:00 pm | Main Events | Care and Feeding of Minor Characters |
| Saturday | 5:00 pm | Atrium | Book Signing |
| Sunday | 11:00 am | Main Events | Animals in Fiction (mod) |
| Sunday | 2:00 pm | Cripple Creek | Tattoos |
It’s up, and ready for your reading pleasure! My short story “Quaking Aspens,” which won Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest in 2016, is published! It resides on the web site for Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things, and has some amazing artwork with it. Enjoy!
The Audiobook version of Shadow Blade is now available on Audible!
Greetings, everyone! Sorry for being out of touch for so long, and for letting this site lag. Between some personal stuff, the COVID-19 thing, and so on, it just fell through the cracks. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:
Here are the panels I’ll be on during MileHiCon this year:
Fri, 17 OCT, 6pm – Roundtable: Using Social Media (Without it Abusing You)
Sat, 18 OCT, Noon – Group Reading and Discussion: Weird Westerns. I’m moderating this one.
Sun, 19 OCT, 10am – Pen Names versus Real Names
If you’re free October 17-19, stop by MileHiCon 51 at the Hyatt Regency in Denver’s Tech Center. If not on a panel, look for me wandering the crowds or maybe on author’s row!
Wow! I’ve never felt I was inspiring…just too stubborn to give up. But many thanks to Kevin J. Anderson for nominating me, and to VoyageDenver for the interview!
Meet Christopher Barili
IT’S OUT!
As of Wednesday, Shadow Blade is officially available on all major book buying sites:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords
Apple Books
Kobo
Get your copy now!
The anthology The Desperate and the Damned, featuring my noir short story “Eighteen and Two,” is now available on Amazon! This story’s publication means I have officially published in every genre of fiction: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Romance, Western, and Crime!
Shadow Blade has reached the trifecta of book formats: e-book, trade paperback, and a stunning hard cover! So grateful to the folks at WordFire Press for making this happen.
And now that it’s been released as part of the Truly Epic Fantasy bundle, I can make public the cover for Shadow Blade! This was kind of a collaborative effort between my personal cover artist and the design artists at WordFire Press, and I think it came out stunning!
Pleasant surprise! Shadow Blade is available as a bonus book in the “Truly Epic Fantasy Bundle” at Story Bundle. Pay $15 for the five core books, and you’ll get ten bonus books, including Shadow Blade!
https://storybundle.com/fantasy
Well, Superstars Writing Seminars 2019 is a wrap, and it was the best one yet! I learned a ton of new stuff, met some great people, saw old friends, and most importantly, recharged my writing batteries.
I also spoke with people at WordFire Press during SSWS19, and it looks like my fantasy novel Shadow Blade will come out in the May 2019 timeframe. I’ll be turning in final edits tomorrow, and at that point, WordFire puts on the final touches to ready the book for publication, including an extensive review circuit.
I have a cover, but I don’t have permission to reveal the whole thing yet, though the custom art work will be from my personal cover artist, Michelle Johnson, of Blue Sky Design. Here’s one of the alternate pieces of art that we won’t be using for the actual cover, but I can use for promotion, and so on:
As soon as the cover is released to the public, I’ll post it here!
It’s here! The audiobook version of “Undercurrents: An Anthology of What Lies Beneath” is ready for listening on Audible! It contains my story “Heroes of the Russian Federation,” and many outstanding stories. Proceeds go to a scholarship fund to help writers attend Superstars Writing Seminars!
For anyone in the Front Range area, I will take part in a reading done by Western State University students and alumni this Friday at 7 PM at the Pike’s Perk Coffee on Academy Blvd. Stop by and hear some great storytelling!
Sorry for the long absence, but I moved into a new home and it took more of my time and energy than I expected. But I have good news!
Sandra Ruttan, Editor of Toe-Six Magazine, says that their inaugural print issue–which will carry my crime-noir story “Eighteen and Two”–will come out in January! I’m particularly proud of this story’s publication, as I will have published fiction in all the major genres!
I am writing Hell’s Sire, Book Three in the Hell’s Butcher Series now. It was supposed to be out this month, but the move derailed that. I am shooting for a spring release now.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
OK, so it took me a couple of days to update the main website here, but on Saturday, I signed a publishing contract with WordFire Press for my fantasy novel Shadow Blade! Shadow Blade tells the story of an assassin from an elite order of killers who falls in love with his target and cannot kill her. WordFire will do e-book and print on demand paperbacks, as well as possibly audio book versions of the story.
Here are some pictures of me signing the contract with the head of WordFire, Kevin J. Anderson.
Wow! My noir short story “Eighteen and Two” has been accepted to appear in the inaugural issue of Toe Six, a crime fiction magazine through Down and Out Books, edited by Sandra Ruttan (formerly of Spinetingler)! This will be a print edition, and they’re targeting summer of this year for release.
This checks off a bucket list item for me, as I will be published in all the major fiction genres: fantasy, SF, horror, western, romance, and now crime!
The Superstars Writing Seminars anthology Undercurrents: An Anthology of What Lies Beneath, featuring my short story “Heroes of the Russian Federation,” is now available for order! Both e-book and paperback are available.
https://books2read.com/u/bMrOoV
I will be attending the Superstars Writing Seminar this weekend here in Colorado Springs, learning from the Best Sellers how to, well, become one of them.
- “Heroes of the Russian Federation” in (benefit anthology for Superstars Writing Seminars students)–March 15th 2018.
- “Broken Homes” in Crimson Streets–March or April 2018?
- “Quaking Aspens” in Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things–Spring 2018
I am officially attending MileHiCon October 27-29 at the Denver Tech Center Hyatt Regency! I have three panels:
Saturday at noon: Yes, This Is a Kissing Book/Story
Saturday at 6pm: Iron Hack panel
Sunday at 11: To His Koi Mistress
When I’m not on a panel, I’ll probably be at the table I’m sharing with NJ Tanger on Author’s Row. Stop by and say “HI!”
Wondering if the Hell’s Butcher Series is for you? Already read Guilty, Hell’s Marshal, and Hell’s Butcher, but looking for more? You can pick up a free short story, Witch’s Kiss, and follow Stanley Dobbs (Hell’s Coachman) as he is forced to choose between saving his mother or saving Hell’s Marshal. Pick up your copy here.
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OK, so the rumor is true! “Witch’s Kiss,” a spin-off short story from the Hell’s Butcher series, should come out later this month. This story centers around Stan, the coach driver for Hell’s Marshal, and his struggle to save his mother without betraying Frank and the others. The story will be a free download, at least at first, and may be the first of many spin-off stories.
Here’s a sneak peek at the cover for “Witch’s Kiss.”
From the rumor mill: Rumor has it that there may be a spin-off short story coming soon that will focus on a secondary character from the Hell’s Butcher series. Rumors state the story is in revision right now, and will be sent off to Editor Jen Severino next month. Once again, a cover will come from Michelle Johnson at Blue Sky Design, so you know this will be a professional product. Check back often to see if the story rumors have come true yet. 😉
If you enjoy the Hell’s Butcher series, I have good news! Guilty is now available for Kindle and as a paperback on Amazon! It tells the story of how Frank Butcher got to Hell in the first place and became Hell’s Marshal. Guilty spent a couple days at #2 on Amazon’s Western Horror listing, so grab a copy and find out how Hell’s Marshal came to be.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Hell’s Butcher, Book Two in the series by the same name, is out on Amazon for Kindle and in paperback!
And to celebrate a book released, I dropped the price of Book One, Hell’s Marshal, to 99-cents for a limited time: http://tinyurl.com/z2x2tsx
If that’s not enough, the pre-quel to this series, Guilty, should come out in April, so stand by for more fun, this time entirely in the under world.
From “The Snow Globe”
Welcome to my home page! This site is a living document, so bear with me as I change it from time to time.
I write all kinds of fiction, from speculative fiction to westerns and romances. A story’s a story, and the labels we slap on them aren’t nearly as important as the characters in them, and the way they move or touch audiences. My first fiction sale was a western, followed closely by two horror stories, another western, a paranormal romance, a fantasy, a science fiction story, and a dark fantasy. I’ve also written crime fiction, urban fantasy, and mainstream pieces. So I write whatever story the characters demand to be in, worrying about labels later, when it comes time to market the piece.
You’ll see visual art on here from several sources. The black-and-white vignette above (based on a scene from my short ghost story “The Snow Globe”) was done by my very talented daughter, Sarah Barili, who is working on more art to spice up my site and give visitors a visual idea of what my stories are like. You’ll see some covers on my short work page which were done by artists contracted by publishers who bought my stories. Soon there will be some cover art and other tidbits for Hell’s Marshal from Michelle Johnson at Blue Sky Design. And so far, the rest are photos of mine. I can put you in touch with Michelle or Sarah if you’re interested in their work.
For now, feel free to look around, click on links, and so on. If you have suggestions, please hit me up at authorchrisbarili@gmail.com.
Want to read a book with these reviews?
“a fun romp from hell and back”
“unique on a number of levels.”
Chris Barili 