Mark Tullius's Blog, page 9

It has been a rougher week than usual with our new kitten waking me around 4 o'clock every morning. I've kept positive about it and have been getting in a good amount of work, time in the sauna, a quick dip in the cold pool, and a yoga workout in before the kids wake.

I also just reinjured my back thanks to not keeping up with my chiropractic treatment.

I've been having a lot of fun pouring over Duncan Ralston's Ghostland to figure out death scenes for Try Not to Die: At Ghostland.

Reminder that Try Not to Die: In the Pandemic is free on kindle through 11-21 Pick it up here

Includes the short horror stories "No One's Here" and "Glory" taken from the Twisted Reunion audiobook narrated by Tee Quillin.

It has been a rougher week than usual with our new kitten waking me around 4 o'clock every morning. I've kept positive about it and have been getting in a good amount of work, time in the sauna, a quick dip in the cold pool, and a yoga workout in before the kids wake.

I also just reinjured my back thanks to not keeping up with my chiropractic treatment.

I've been having a lot of fun pouring over Duncan Ralston's Ghostland to figure out death scenes for Try Not to Die: At Ghostland.

Reminder that Try Not to Die: In the Pandemic is free on kindle through 11-21 Pick it up here

Includes the short horror stories "No One's Here" and "Glory" taken from the Twisted Reunion audiobook narrated by Tee Quillin.

This week was different from the norm. We added a fourth cat to our household with Leo the cuddly little kitten. The other cats aren't fond of him, but they're just haters and will surely get over it.

The other big thing this week was going to visit old friends instead of staying home to write. It wasn't an easy choice to make but I'm glad my son guided me to that decision. It's easy to forget what's important in life and how the answer to that question isn't writing 100 books.

I go over all the sales going on:

Includes the short horror story "Twisted Memory" taken from Twisted Reunion and narrated by Tee Quillin.

Why I made my psychological thriller Brightside permanently free -

And Try Not to Die: At Grandma's is free Nov 3-7 on Kindle -

My goal is to bring in new readers through free and discounted books. There is a huge audience craving free books and they are a million times more likely to leave a review, rating, or tell a friend than if they never heard about the book because I felt I deserved full price for the book.

I've also significantly reduced my audiobooks for Brightside and 25 Perfect Days, setting them at 6.99 for libraries and retail.

(14:50) Includes the horror story "Woodshop After Math" taken from Twisted Reunion and narrated by Tee Quillin.

This week my guest is Biily Graves of Slasher Sports Cinema podcast.

He stops by to talk about what drew him into horror, what the SSC podcast is all about, and give us some lesser-known Halloween horror film suggestions.

To find out more about Billy and Slasher Sports Cinema:

(40:30) The short horror story "Wrong Side Tavern" taken from Twisted Reunion and narrated by Tee Quillin.

It's a short episode as I discuss my Duoling addiction and need to be the best.

How I'm going to focus the time I would spend on the app into my book marketing and growing my career, something I always put last.

I had a realization that I left out a very important group of friends when I was bragging about how many I have last week in my newsletter.

I also discuss Duncan Ralston's Try Not to Die: At Ghostland and where I'm at with Dethfest.

I share the short horror story "Each Dawn I Die" from Twisted Reunion. (10:00)

My guest, RJ, was a top defensive player in the country as a linebacker at Oregon State University in the 90's. I connected with RJ in the Facebook support group CTE & Brain Injury Global Support -

In this interview, RJ discusses his numerous concussions, unsafe training practices, and the desire to play through any pain or medical problem. It was over two decades later that his TBI/CTE symptoms reared their head, a cascade of awful symptoms that were kicked off by a very stressful moment in his life.

Fortunately, RJ was proactive and began doing anything he could that might help. He volunteered for a study at the University of Utah TBI and Concussion Center, with 49 other football players where they used photobiomodulation, a type of light therapy. This treatment turned RJ's life around and although he will never be the person he once was, he is in such a better place and making a difference helping others with their struggles.

We talk about the importance of not fighting CTE or any struggle on your own and how important it is to be part of a supportive group.

He also has put together the non-proft 4CTE by CTE which is in its early stages.

Includes the short story "Going Dark" taken from Somber Stroll and narrated by Tee Quillin.

Here is an article on the Light study -

My guest, Rico Petrini, was a top defensive player in the country as a linebacker at Oregon State University in the 90's. I connected with Rico in the Facebook support group CTE & Brain Injury Global Support -

In this interview, Rico discusses his numerous concussions, unsafe training practices, and the desire to play through any pain or medical problem. It was over two decades later that his TBI/CTE symptoms reared their head, a cascade of awful symptoms that were kicked off by a very stressful moment in his life.

Fortunately, Rico was proactive and began doing anything he could that might help. He volunteered for a study at the University of Utah TBI and Concussion Center, with 49 other football players where they used photobiomodulation, a type of light therapy. This treatment turned Rico's life around and although he will never be the person he once was, he is in such a better place and making a difference helping others with their struggles.

We talk about the importance of not fighting CTE or any struggle on your own and how important it is to be part of a supportive group.

He also has put together the non-proft 4CTE by CTE which is in its early stages.

Includes the short story "Going Dark" taken from Somber Stroll and narrated by Tee Quillin.

Here is an article on the Light study -

It was a very productive writing week and I'm about to put the finishing touches on Try Not to Die: In the Wild West. Also had a great meeting with Steve Montgomery about his TNTD: Super High.

Sage Ricci, the mastermind behind TNTD: In the Wizard's Tower is designing a new Try Not to Die shirt.

Looking forward to hitting the Knotfest concert tonight with my family.

I share a very embarrassing road rage incident I had earlier this week.

All the talk of TBI and CTE only makes it that much more difficult to stand by and watch countless kids sustain unnecessary damage playing contact sports before 14. The repeated blows to the head and the concussions can change the trajectory of your child's life, and all because they wanted to play a sport. Please look at the research that has been done and take your emotions out of the decision. Ask yourself is this sport safe for my kid? 

Includes the short story "Mutual Understanding" taken from Somber Stroll and narrated by Tee Quillin.

Recap on the Rammstein concert. Plenty of cool fire and awesome music but I need to be closer to the stage in order to appreciate it.

The lineup of authors for the anthology Dethfest Confessions has nearly been filled and I couldn't be happier.

I'm continuing with 3-4 meetings a week with coauthors for the TNTD series and I'm excited to have just received the Wild West back from Palisano. This book is nearly done and will be book 5.

I'm challenging myself to post 3-4 times on TikTok every day for the next 30 days. I'm actually enjoying it and can't wait to see what kind of difference in makes on my readership.

Part of this will be answering reader questions on here. Here are todays' questions:

Don Young asked:

1. If you are trying to escape a homicidal madman which member of your family would you sacrifice to save the rest?

2. What do you have with in 5 feet of yourself at this moment you could use to fight off a home intruder?

3. Most traumatic way to die? a) chipper shredder while alive b) drowning c) burning alive.

Emily Haynes asked: 

4. Did you write a book with your daughter?

(16:20) The short story "Safety First" narrated by Tee Quillin and taken from the Somber Stroll audiobook.