I’ve posted before about great podiobook novelists like Mur Lafferty and Scott Sigler, and in doing so I’ve mentioned J.C. before, but I realized this morning that I never gave J.C. his own post! He’ll fit in perfectly with Full of Fun Fridays! So for the people who read my blog and don’t know about J.C., you’re missing out. All two of you.

I first became a fan of his back when the 7th Son trilogy was just wrapping up. It’s a great story that caught my interest with the opening line “The President of the United States is dead. He was murdered in the morning sunlight by a four-year-old boy…” The plot combines science fiction, action, mystery…several different genres intertwined well to create a great character driven story; told through podcasts by J.C. himself.

7th Son chronicles the story of seven strangers who are assembled after the assassination of the U.S. president. They quickly discover they all appear to be the same man … with identical childhood memories.

Unwitting participants in a human cloning experiment, these “John Michael Smiths” have been gathered to catch the man who murdered the president. Their target? The man they were cloned from; the original John Michael Smith, code-named John Alpha.

The first book, Descent will be coming out in print later this year!

But before 7th Son comes out, there will be a very cool book released on June 9th.

Personal Effects: Dark Arts follows the extensive notes of art therapist Zach Taylor’s investigation into the life and madness of Martin Grace, an accused serial killer who claims to have foreseen, but not caused, his victims’ deaths.

Zach’s investigations start with interviews and art sessions, but then take him far from the hospital grounds — and often very far from the reality that we know. The items among Grace’s personal effects are the keys to understanding his haunted past, and finding the terrifying truth Grace hoped to keep buried…

* Call the phone numbers: You’ll get a character’s voicemail.
* Google the characters and institutions in the text: You’ll find real websites.
* Examine the art and other printed artifacts included inside the cover: If you pay attention, you’ll find more information than the characters themselves discover.

Personal Effects: Dark Art is the ultimate in voyeuristic storytelling, representing a revolutionary step forward in changing the way people interact with novels.

This will be very cool, and fits very well with J.C. He is very interactive with his fans; inviting them to submit fan art, stories, voicemail…which many people do! For PE, fans can become “patients” of the art therapist in the book by committing themselves to The Brink. He always comes up with some cool ways for fans to become involved.

What I like is that while the extra stuff you can do to enhance the story is very awesome, it’s not required to enjoy the book. Personally, I may not have time to spend looking online or calling a number to listen to a voicemail, so being able to read the book, but not miss any core story, is a plus for me. Although I probably will try to do the extras if I can!

Before the book launches, take a listen to the prequel, Personal Effects: Sword of Blood. I just finished the third podcast this morning, and I’m waiting to hear more. ORDER NOW!!!

There is much, much more to J.C. and his work, so please visit his site to find out more. Or listen to Elmocast 102 for an interview! Definitely follow him on Twitter, or any other social media like Facebook. He’s a cool guy, and a geek! You won’t be disappointed.

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