I was mowed over from behind. It felt like a bus plowed into me. I went down, but was that enough for my moosey friend? Of course not. I felt a pair of hooves slam into my back. The air was forced from my lungs and I was pretty sure I could feel some of my favorite body parts cracking. Then the fucker did it again. It was stomping the shit out of me.
♦ ♦ ♦
The Mourning Woods
Available in ebook, paperback, and audio
Author’s Note
Sequels are scary business. And no, I don’t just mean horror sequels. I mean any sequel, and for many different reasons. The thing is; they’re scary for both the audience and the writer. For the audience, it’s always the same. Will this live up to the expectations set in the previous chapter? Will I wind up with a Godfather part 2, or will I suffer through Batman and Robin? Even worse than that last example ... and one of the cruelest things that one human can inflict upon another ... is the sequel in name only (cue scary music!) because, let’s face facts, nobody wants to pay good money to see Halloween: Season of the Witch and find out that it has absolutely nothing to do with Michael Myers. As for others, well, let’s just say that the less said about Highlander: the Quickening, the better.
So, too, can sequels be a nightmare for the creators. Can we capture that same magic again? Can we expand upon the world we’ve created? Can we remember to follow the rules we set? Have those rules written us into a corner? Can we stay true to the characters we’ve already created? This last one in particular can be difficult because are they truly our characters anymore? From a legal perspective, this one is easy to answer. There’s no doubt that Marvel is within their legal right to undo Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane with but a single issue. However, that doesn’t mean millions of comic book fans won’t storm their offices with pitchforks and torches after they do so. Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were well within their rights to present a Godzilla that didn’t breathe fire, but as a diehard Godzilla fan I know in my heart that there is a special place in Hell reserved for both of them in doing so.
Therein lies the fear. As a writer, I’ve breathed life into these characters, loved them, nurtured them, and want to continue to do so. But there’s a fine line because, in some ways, the second they were born they’d already outgrown me. The returning characters in this book aren’t mine anymore. They’re ours. All I can hope is that I’ve done right by them again.
If not, you can find me sitting out on my backyard deck, patiently awaiting the tarring and feathering that I know will be coming for me some day.
Still, until such time as the angry mobs descend to tear me limb from limb, I hope you enjoyed these further adventures of Bill Ryder and his friends. I had a hell of a time tagging along with them on this journey. I hope you did too.
Rick G.
About the Author
Rick Gualtieri lives alone in central New Jersey with only his wife, three kids, and countless pets to both keep him company and constantly plot against him. When he’s not busy monkey-clicking words, he can typically be found jealously guarding his collection of vintage Transformers from all who would seek to defile them.
Defilers beware!
Rick Gualtieri is the author of several books, including:
Bill the Vampire (The Tome of Bill - 1)
Night Stalker: A Tome of Bill Series Companion
Scary Dead Things (The Tome of Bill - 2)
The Mourning Woods (The Tome of Bill - 3)
Holier Than Thou (The Tome of Bill - 4)
Sunset Strip: A Tome of Bill Series Companion
Goddamned Freaky Monsters (The Tome of Bill - 5)
Half A Prayer (The Tome of Bill - 6)
The Wicked Dead (The Tome of Bill - 7)
Shining Fury: A Tome of Bill Series Companion
The Last Coven (The Tome of Bill - 8)
GET BENT!
Bigfoot Hunters
Devil Hunters
Lycan Moon
Midnite’s Daughter
Scary Dead Things (The Tome of Bill Book 2) Page 30
