New Update

Publish America is offering hardcover copies of 2 of my earlier works, "Chasing Shadows: Tales of East River" and my novella, "The Audition". For those who are unfamiliar, "Chasing Shadows: Tales of East River" is the prequel to my Dragon's Tear Chronicle and one of my favorite novels that I have written. It's my 4th published work, released in 2005 if I recall correctly. It is the story of a small Connecticut town plagued by a mysterious entity the local kids call, "The Living Darkness". The novel follows the story of the Cavanaugh family and the Sheridan family for the most part as they confront this "Living Darkness". There are many other characters and odd happenings that are woven into the main stories, of course--so there's something for everyone basically. You can check out the book review I got in the www.myshelf.com archives for 2005.

"The Audition" is a short novella about a young girl named Paige Tucker, who happens to dream about becoming a prima ballerina. The problem is that her dream takes a turn for the worst when a dark ballet mistress invades and takes over.

Both of these books have been well recieved and have gotten good reviews. They make excellent additions to the collections of all those vampire/horror fans out there looking for something a little more deeper than the teen romance of the Twilight Saga. If you don't want your vampires to sparkle or glitter, definitely check out my "Dragon's Tear Chronicle" series, starting with "Chasing Shadows: T ales of East River" or "Dancing with the Moon".

These books can be found at www.publishamerica.com or www.trafford.com
Just browse the on-line bookstores by title or author, David Conlin McLeod.

Thanks and enjoy!

Update: "Dark Returns: Tales of East River"

Up to page 175 on my first draft and now digging into the big climatic build-up. At this point I am delving into the darkest material of the book and considering how far I want to go with it. In the back of my mind, I already know how this book is going to end--which is nice. As a writer, its always good to know where the end is. The last thing a writer needs is a story that just rambles on into eternity. I definitely like to keep my work grounded around a framework or set question I would like to have answered. For this book, the main question that comes to mind is, "Just how strong is the power of forgiveness?" A close second question that defines the tension in this novel is, "How do you kill or contain something as eternal as evil?"

Think about that-- how does someone face evil in the world is they know that it is just one side of an eternal coin? Where there is good, there has to be evil and vice verse. And if one evil is taken out, invariably there is some other evil to fill gap and take up the empty space, right?
Is the struggle between good and evil truly hopeless? Does everything happen to follow some cyclic nature?

Think about this-- For every Hitler that is killed, there is a Stalin, or Kim Jong Il, or Sadam Hussein, Ayatollah Koemeni, Kadafi, Pol Pot, Osama bin Laden, or other psychopath or sadistic maniac out there to keep evil rolling along. Evil comes in all shapes and sizes and in all types and nationalities. The U.S. has had its fair share of terrorists, serial killers, and psychopaths. Charles Manson, Jefferey Dalmer, the Unibomber, etc...

And I wonder, for every villian out there, is there an equally heroic counterpart? How come there isn't recognition for the heroes? Are we more fascinated by villians? Is that where the story is?

"Dark Returns: Tales of East River" Update

I am about halfway through my first draft I think, reaching the 154 page mark yesterday. Still average about 10 pages of work a night more or less.

I anticipate some intense interest in this book from fans who have followed along with my Dragon's Tear Chronicle and "Chasing Shadows: Tales of East River". I am also looking at offering all my books as E-Books on iBook and what-not. I also plan to re-release some of my other books through Wordclay Publishing. I

As long as there is interest in my books, I'll do my best to get them out there.