Dracula Wins the Hat Trick, Scores Runner-up at Halloween Book Fest!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!

 Dragon’s Ark, Contemporary Dracula Novel by San Francisco Bay Area Author Thomas Burchfield, Scores Hat Trick at 2012 Halloween Book Festival Awards

Oakland, CA—October 18, 2012 (Ambler House Publishing): Dragon’s Ark, a horror novel by longtime Bay Area author Thomas Burchfield, has scored a hat trick this year, thanks to a citation as runner-up for Best Horror Novel in the 2012 Halloween Book Festival.

This is the third literary award Dragon’s Ark has won this year, following recognition for Best Horror Novel from the National Indie Excellence Book Award and the Bronze Award (Third Place) in Horror from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY).

Dragon’s Ark tells the hair-raising story of Dracula’s bloodthirsty struggle to stave off the modern world and live free and powerful in the California Sierra kingdom where he has secretly ruled for more than a century.

Award-winning author David Corbett (Do They Know I’m Running? and the recently re-released The Devil’s Redhead and Done for a Dime) praises Dragon's Ark as “not a book to read just before nodding off. Unless you're on very good terms with your nightmares.”

Author John-Ivan Palmer (Motels of Burning Madness) concurs enthusiastically, describing Burchfield as “a world-class master of suspense. Dracula not only lives in our world, he is our world. With a language clear and beautiful as a sunset, Burchfield leads you down the path of darkness.”

Author Burchfield, who lives in Oakland, California, says, “It’s hard to move beyond clichés of gratitude, but nevertheless I have to say it’s a very satisfying feeling to have my work appreciated and recognized by the Halloween Book festival. This time, I wish to thanks the judges and other folks at the Halloween Book festival for this recognition. And as always, thanks to my wonderful wife Elizabeth and everyone who lent a hand to Dragon’s Ark, including all the beta readers, my interior designer Joel Friedlander, and cover designer Cathi Stevenson.”

JM Northern Media LLC is a company focused on media and the people who make it. Founded in 1999, they produce annual events and report on the people who are making things happen in the world of digital media and beyond. In addition to their stand-alone productions, they have co-sponsored educational events in conjunction with CMJ, 2NMC, MusicFest NW, Harvard Law and many other well-known institutions.

Their properties include The DIY Convention: Do It Yourself in Film, Music & Books; The DIY Music Festival; The DIY Film Festival; The DIY Book Festival; The New York Book Festival; The Hollywood Book Festival; OFFtheCHARTS.com; The DIYReporter.com; BookFestivals.com; and their website, http://www.halloweenbookfestival.com/

For more information on Dragon's Ark, including interviews, contact Ambler House Publishing at amblerhouse@att.net or call 1-510-817-4432. Or visit http://amblerhouse.blogspot.com/. You can also contact the author at tbdeluxe@sbcglobal.net.

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Dracula Rises Again! DRAGON'S ARK Takes Top Prize in Horror in 2012 NEIA Awards!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!

 Dragon’s Ark, Contemporary Dracula Novel by San Francisco Bay Area Author Thomas Burchfield, Wins Best Horror Novel in 2012 NIEA Awards

Oakland, CA—August 2, 2012 (Ambler House Publishing): Dragon’s Ark, a horror novel by longtime Bay Area author Thomas Burchfield, rose for the second time this year by winning Best Horror novel in the 2012 National Indie Excellence Book Awards (NIEA).

Dragon’s Ark tells the hair-raising story of Dracula’s bloodthirsty struggle to stave off the modern world and live free and powerful in the California Sierra kingdom where he has secretly ruled for more than a century.

Award-winning author David Corbett (Do They Know I’m Running? and the recently re-released The Devil’s Redhead and Done for a Dime) praises Dragon's Ark as “not a book to read just before nodding off. Unless you're on very good terms with your nightmares.”

Author John-Ivan Palmer (Motels of Burning Madness) concurs enthusiastically, describing Burchfield as “a world-class master of suspense. Dracula not only lives in our world, he is our world. With a language clear and beautiful as a sunset, Burchfield leads you down the path of darkness.”

Author Burchfield, currently an Oakland resident, describes himself as “Very happy and amazed. This time, I have the NIEA committee and judges to thank, and of course my wonderful wife Elizabeth and everyone who lent a hand to Dragon’s Ark, including all the beta readers, my interior designer Joel Friedlander, and cover designer Cathi Stevenson.”

The NIEA, based in Los Angeles, CA, is open to all English language books including small presses, university presses, independent publishers and self-published authors. Works published in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 were eligible for consideration.

The competition is judged by independent experts from all aspects of the independent publishing industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. They select award winners and finalists based on overall excellence of presentation.

“We appreciate you, we applaud you and thank you for your great work. You are contributing to make independent publishing a great sector in the literary community,” said Ellen Reid, President of the National Indie Excellence Book Awards. For more information on the NIEA, please visit: http://www.indieexcellence.com/index.html

For more information on Dragon's Ark, including interviews, contact Ambler House Publishing at amblerhouse@att.net or call 1-510-817-4432. Or visit http://amblerhouse.blogspot.com/. You can also contact the author at tbdeluxe@sbcglobal.net.

Dragon’s Ark, Contemporary Dracula Novel by Thomas Burchfield, Stakes Bronze Medal At 2012 Independent Book Publishers Association Award

Oakland, CA—June 5, 2012 (Ambler House Publishing): Dragon’s Ark, the debut horror novel by Northern California author Thomas Burchfield was awarded the Bronze Medal in the Horror category in the 2012 Independent Book Publishers Association Awards (“IPPY”), held last night, June 4, in New York.

Dragon’s Ark tells the hair-raising story of Dracula’s bloodthirsty struggle to stave off the modern world and live free and powerful in the California Sierra kingdom that he’s secretly ruled for more than a century.

Award-winning author David Corbett (Do They Know I’m Running? and the recently re-released The Devil’s Redhead and Done for a Dime) praises Dragon's Ark as “not a book to read just before nodding off. Unless you're on very good terms with your nightmares.”

Author John-Ivan Palmer (Motels of Burning Madness) concurs enthusiastically, describing Burchfield as “a world-class master of suspense. Dracula not only lives in our world, he is our world. With a language clear and beautiful as a sunset, Burchfield leads you down the path of darkness.”

And legendary genre scholar Don Herron (The Dashiell Hammett Tour) describes Burchfield’s work as “like he’s Bram Stoker taking a stab at writing Our Town.”

Author Burchfield,  an Oakland, California, resident, and one of the new breed of independent publisher-authors, was unable to attend the ceremony. Nevertheless, describes himself as “still over the moon. I’m grateful to the IPPY committee and judges; to my wife Elizabeth—to whom I owe so much for this; and everyone who contributed to Dragon’s Ark, including all the beta readers, my interior designer Joel Friedlander and cover designer Cathi Stevenson. It's a new world in independent publishing, and I'm proud to be one of many other talented pioneers.”

The IPPY Awards have been held since 1996 to highlight the best work of small press and independent publishers. This year, the awards ceremony will be held in New York on June 4 at The Providence, to kick off the annual BookExpo  America.

For more information, including interviews, contact Ambler House Publishing at amblerhouse@att.net or call 1-510-817-4432. Or visit http://amblerhouse.blogspot.com/.

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Now Available in E-book Editions: "The Uglies!"

Cover design by M.S. Corley


THE UGLIES: A CRIME SAGA

Original Screenplay

by Thomas Burchfield

The place: America. The time: closer than we may realize.

Unemployment is in high double-digits. The stench of violent discontent smokes the air. The 1930s Great Depression all over . . .

. . . but yesterday is now today . . .

Arch and Tess Uglias are blue-collar residents of the desolate Rust Belt city of Gary, Indiana. Arch, an unemployed auto-plant worker and ex-race car driver, and Tess, an unemployed nurse, are both staring homelessness and starvation in face.

Meanwhile, Frank Regis, an aging disciple of the legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, is masterminding a string of bank robberies throughout Indiana. The Regis gang is a fractious collage of professional criminals, like Frank, and formerly law-abiding folks who have turned to crime out of desperation.

After one of their drivers is killed during a getaway, the Regis gang goes in search of a replacement, a road that leads them to Arch Uglias. Though a law-abiding citizen and square guy his whole life, Arch, like some of the other gang members, feels compelled to take the wheel. Tess meanwhile, becomes an outspoken, unwilling, uncooperative part of the package.

From there, it’s a boisterous, bawdy, and dangerous drive through a desperate world for the Regis mob, from the ruins of the Midwest to the ruins of the West Coast with ruthless law enforcement in pursuit and mistrust and murder stirring among them. In the end, the war that has been raging around the edges suddenly draws them into its bloody vortex, leading to a fierce climax of double cross and desperate escape.

The Uglies an original screenplay by Thomas Burchfield (Dragon’s Ark, Whackers), takes the same wild roads as such classics as Bonnie and Clyde and Sam Peckinpah’s The Getaway. It is a wild and wooly saga about crime and pursuit, friendship and survival. It’s also the story of people who realize the need to stick together as the world around them crumbles to pieces.

To order your copy, go the sidebar on the right side of the screen.



Copyright 2012 by Ambler House Publishing.