Hello readers,
A
little about me
My name is Tim Majka. By day, I spend my time
as a mild-mannered high school social studies teacher, molding the minds of
America’s youth. By night, I dive into fantastic worlds of my creation, hoping
to entertain and warp the minds of readers everywhere. The magic happens in my
hometown of Dunkirk, New York, nestled along the shore of Lake Erie. I reside
there with my loving and supportive family that includes my best friend and
bride, Bridget, two intelligent, caring, and good-looking sons most people
could only dream of, Jacob and Alex (I wonder who they take after? J), and our
rescue cats: Stanley and Corky.
The genesis of Prey
Prey goes
back many years and has many layers.
As a
young child, I read comic books (still do) and took to creating my own, which
my grandfather (pictured here in his WWII Navy days) would buy from me for a
quarter.
My
grandfather is also the inspiration for the all-knowing bartender, Sheik, it
was his actual nickname, in his younger years he could be found with a gaggle
of women around him.
He was
also a brewmaster at the now defunct KOCH’S BREWERY. The Na Zdrowie lager Eric Archer loves so much is a nod to this
cherished local beverage and my family’s Polish heritage.
Years later, my seventh grade English Language
Arts teacher, Mrs. Lynne Clarke got me hooked on storytelling. We had a unit of
study in creative writing during which I wrote an episode of STAR TREK (see picture), she gave me an ‘A’
on it along with many positive accolades about plotting, pacing, and
characterization. I didn’t write much creatively for many more years, but as a
history teacher I used those skills verbally to hook my students. A veteran
teacher once told me: “We are entertainers, performing five shows daily.”
High
school: I hit a rough patch, had some terrible thoughts for a brief amount of
time and remember writing, Death Is Final And The Only Solution on a notebook.
Put the first letters of that statement together and you either get the name of
a heavy metal band or a badass god-king that wants to put all of Earth under
his control.
In college, I put as much creativity into my writing assignments
as I could and actually jotted down a few notes and lines that would one day
become Prey.
Fast forward 15 years: Marriage , a house, a teaching career, two
kids in school, both playing hockey, one traveling all over the country, and me
coaching football (another passion of mine). After 13 years of
coaching, I hung up my whistle to be available for my parents, both of whom
were dealing with health issues. Football had been a year round activity and I didn’t
know what to do with myself. One night, I was having a conversation online with
an old high school friend, who happened to be writing some horror themed short
stories. As we talked, I got more excited at the prospect of putting pen to
paper for the first time in a long time (or fingers to keys, as it were). I
realized there was more in my head than football knowledge. Cleaning out my
desk, packing up everything football related, I found a CD-ROM with no label.
Out of curiosity, I popped it in my desktop tower. It contained one Microsoft
Word document titled PREY. There were two names on the page and three lines of
a story I started years earlier. The two names: Eric Archer and Difatos. The
three lines were an early version of the beginning of chapter one.
How
and why that very disc was in the drawer at that exact time, I have no idea. I
dug in and started writing.
Fast
forward again, six years this time, after numerous re-writes, almost 40
rejections, and nine months spent with the best editor (and friend) I could
have hoped for, Rob. M. Miller, in June of 2017, Prey was released by Devil Dog Press.
Book synopsis:
The Other Side Has Broken Through Following the
mysterious death of his parents, Detective Eric Archer goes home to the idyllic
Western New York town of Chadwick Bay.
There, he joins old colleagues and makes new
acquaintances in Jessica Benitez, Eliseo Gomez, and the enigmatic Dr. William
Dirk.
They uncover decades-old family secrets that
shakes the foundation of their reality. Alliances are formed, friends become
foes.
An ancient entity’s plan to enslave the people
of Earth is about to be unleashed.
With the fate of humanity at risk, Eric Archer
and his friends must race to unravel the mystery of how to defeat a God-king.
(Cue
the scary music)
I
hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the history of Prey. One might say it’s the book I’d been waiting my whole life to
write. Now, what are you waiting for? Go have fun reading it. There’s still
plenty of time to get to it before Blood of the Ancients Book II: Difatos
Ascending is released.
Until
next time, peace, and be good to each other (RIP Gord Downie),
Tim
P.S. Before I forget, my sons, they take after
my wife of course. J
Prey
Blood Of The Ancients
Book One
Tim Majka
Print Length: 281 pages
Publisher: DevilDog Press
Publication Date: June 27, 2017
Genre: Horror, SciFi, Paranormal
Book Description:
The Other Side Has Broken Through
Following the mysterious death of his parents, Detective Eric Archer goes home to the idyllic Western New York town of Chadwick Bay. There, he joins old colleagues and makes new acquaintances in Jessica Benitez, Eliseo Gomez, and the enigmatic Dr. William Dirk.
They uncover decades-old family secrets that shakes the foundation of their reality.
Alliances are formed, friends become foes.
An ancient entity’s plan to enslave the people of Earth is about to be unleashed. With the fate of humanity at risk, Eric Archer and his friends must race to unravel the mystery of how to defeat a
God-king.
About the Author:
I spend most of my time molding the minds of America’s youth teaching high school social studies, along the shores of Lake Erie, in my hometown. I reside there with my loving and supportive family that includes my best friend and bride, Bridget, two wonderful sons most people could only dream of, Jacob and Alex, and two rescue cats: Stanley and Corky.
My reading interests cover a wide range genres. Suspense, mystery, thriller, action, adventure, sci-fi, historical, and noir. My goal is to explore as many of these as I can in my career as an author.
I am a self-professed pop-culture geek, and wear that label proudly. My sons and I have a comic book collection that is in excess of 5000 books. And we NEVER miss an opening night for any of the super-hero movies.
Living in Western New York I am conditioned to be a fan of both the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. I have dealt with much heartbreak over the years, but hold out hope that my teams will bring home those elusive championships someday.
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