Ronan Cray's Blog

Andrea Van OrsouwHaunting.
It sounds better than stalking.
Because it is.
A stalker shows up outside your house. They look through your mail. They wait for you at your favorite places. They peek in the windows. They want to be a part of your life. A big part.
You close the shades. You leave town. You file a restraining order.
The real world sucks.
Social media is different.
If social media were the real world,
you'd install a special window in your house. You prepare yourself before walking in front...

Alcohol is a depressant. We forget that as we dance the night away. 
But soon it opens our eyes to the tired people around us. The women, desperate trollops dressed up in hopes of impregnation.  The men, in fits of testosterone fury. All reduced to the basest instincts of procreation, frivolity, and sadness.  
And you. 
Alcohol holds up a mirror and shouts, "Laugh, you fool. Laugh before you cry!"
I want no more of this. But others; they live for this... release. They beg alco...

I live in New York, and every building I walk into has a man behind a desk asking me to sign in. I think about those men. For eight hours a day they sit at a desk, bored beyond belief. They expend 1000 calories, occupy two square feet, consume 185 liters of oxygen, and ingest several cups of water all to provide a modest amount of security for the people upstairs who pretty much do the same thing. Is this what their parents hoped for when they spent eighteen years raising them? Is this an ade...

Be as humble in victory as in defeat. This week one of my novels won an award, but I did not attend the ceremony. I'd like to say I eschew popular support or that I write for arts' sake or some similar nonsense. No. The truth is, I avoided it. I am very grateful for the selection and pleased that someone not only read my work but was inspired to an opinion. That said, the only way to weather the manic storm of infamy is to watertight both bow and stern against the spittle of the masses.A...

Now more than ever, all authors must self-promote in order to survive. But how do you do that without irritating your audience? Here are five things to watch out for:

Self-promotion on Twitter. One word. Don’t. This holds for any form of social media. Too often, you see writers who only tweet like this: “This is my favorite sentence from my book! Buy it here: bitly/xy123”. If I wanted ads in my feed, I’d go to Facebook. Twitter is a way to connect and build an audience. To do that, you need t...

Contact Info


I always welcome feedback, interview requests, fan mail, and free beer.


Email me: ronancray [at] gmail

Facebook: ronancray Like me to receive updates and events news.

Twitter: @ronancray

Pinterest: ronancray See photos that inspired my novels.



Need more? Check out these interviews:

Indie Author Land

Zigzag Timeline



Read reviews of Red Sand here:

Ronan Cray Named Top 10 New Horror

Matt Molgaard, Horror Novel Reviews

Zigzag Timeline

Goodreads

Horrornews.net

...

Maybe you've heard of Kickstarter? It's the new diet and exercise program. You worry about pledges to the exclusion of eating and run around looking for donors. It's more grueling than a zombie 5K. But don't take my word for it. Read my recent post over at The Scrib!

This wasn't the first time I felt nude in public. 
I worked my way through college, and one of the most demeaning jobs I took was a mascot for a casino. I sweated in a giant duck costume like a deep sea diver, making my way through the casino to promote a new gaming machine. I couldn't see anything through the mask, so someone led me through the narrow aisles between ringing slot and poker machines. Old men pinched my tail feathers, convinced only a woman would take such a job. Anyone...

Back in college I ran for Student Senate. Voter turnout was low the previous years, so I set a goal: win more votes than the highest voted person last year. I had no campaign manager, no team, nothing. I spoke in front of auditoriums filled with students, published articles in the school paper, inked out hand made signs based on Burma Shave ads paced out to and from the stadium and library.

The result?


Success! I beat last year's highest count by one vote!

But...

I lost the election.

I...

Back in college I ran for Student Senate. Voter turnout was low the previous years, so I set a goal: win more votes than the highest voted person last year. I had no campaign manager, no team, nothing. I spoke in front of auditoriums filled with students, published articles in the school paper, inked out hand made signs based on Burma Shave ads paced out to and from the stadium and library.

The result?


Success! I beat last year's highest count by one vote!

But...

I lost the election.

I di...