I'm Dennis Sharpe aka the WitlessLackey
Man. Mostly Coffee.
I give permission for any and all of the information on this page to be used for the purposes of promoting my books. I’m available for interviews and guest blog posts, schedule permitting – feel free to drop me a note at witlesslackey (AT) gmail (DOT) com.
Bio:
(Taken from my Amazon Author Page)Born and raised in the middle of the American Midwest, Dennis Sharpe has been a writer as long as he can remember. His mother has told many people about the fantasy and science fiction stories he'd write on scraps of paper, and staple together as his 'books', before he'd attended his first day of formal education.
He has spent many late nights at diners and dives, drinking coffee with a tattered notebook to put a voice to his feelings of himself and the world around him, and other worlds that can exist only in fiction. The voices in his head don't ever stop talking to him, and so sooner or later he has to get out onto a page all that they've filled him up with.
Inspired by Neil Gaiman, Kurt Vonnegut, Frank Miller, Chrissie Pappas, Charles Bukowski, Stephen King, Issac Asimov, and countless classic literary influences, Dennis continues with the ability to write what at a glance might seem absurd, but quickly begins to resonate with our own thoughts and emotions. He writes people we know, love we've known and lost (and found again), and places we've been in our lives and in our heads. Even his fictional characters and worlds carry enough of the grey areas we experience in day-to-day life, to let us find the truth in his words, no matter how fantastic.
These days he can be found still writing, drinking coffee with friends, or spending time with his children (the true joys of his life), in Western Kentucky.
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That aside... my work:
I released my first book The Years Distilled, a collection of twenty years of my performance poetry and spoken word, in June of 2010. The sales, interviews, and listing of this this book prompted me to release a follow up volume of similar work from the same twenty years, that had never been performed (and had only rarely been seen by eyes other than my own), in a collection entitled (un) SPOKEN, released in November of 2010.
My most recent poetic release, Fresh, came in March of 2011 in the form of the eBook exclusive chapbook for Amazon Kindle.
Since March of 2011 I've been moving in different directions, publishing short fiction in anthologies like END: An Apocalyptic Anthology (all the proceeds of which go to St.Jude's to support brain cancer research) and Dark Light (for Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly publishing), as well as releasing Blood & Spirits, a paranormal thriller novel (and the first book of a series).
The trailer for Blood &Spirits has been very well received, and I'm proud to say that I scripted, cast, and shot it with the help of independent filmmaker and friend, Daniel Yokum.
Early in 2013 I released two short fiction pieces, Destroyer of Worlds and First Boy, as stand alone stories for the budget eBook market. They were followed up on December 31st, 2013 by my Sci-Fi short The Last Day On Titan 5, and then by the novel length Action & Adventure/Crime novel Wednesday on August 26th, 2014.
Ryan Omega released a collection of essays titled Letters to my High School Self on November 29th 2014, to which I contributed an essay. It's a truly great, if under the radar, understated read.
On December 23rd 2014 Booktrope released a completely new edit (with all new cover and layout) of Blood & Spirits. This is Book One in The Coming Storm trilogy, as well as being the first in a series of books that all share the same world as their backdrop.
Booktrope started 2016 for me with the re-release of Destroyer of Worlds (also with a beautiful new cover) on January 14th, and then followed it up on May 15th with the last reissue of a previous title, this time bringing a bigger and better Wednesday to the marketplace.
In March 2016 an essay of mine appeared in the Stigma Fighters Anthology Volume 2. I'm really proud to be involved in any way with Stigma Fighters, and their goal.
Hole in the World, a small collection of Spoken word poetry, was released a week later, also in March of 2016. Directly following, in April 2016 Life With Annie, a short story co-written with Jessica Elliot in December of 1996 was released as a free download on Smashwords, with full distribution to all other outlets.
Saturday Night to Infinity a dramatic time travel take was also released by Booktrope in April of 2016 and was almost immediately followed by A Visual Sea of Infinite Emotion (from WitlessFiction). May of 2016 saw the release of the romance/sci-fi story A Short Walk To Forever, exclusively on Kindle, and then August of 2016 brought the highly anticipated release of Distant Thunder, Book Two in The Coming Storm trilogy.
My current work, and projects coming soon, include Mitch Will vs. The Queen of Evil and Her Space Zombies! as well as the Mythic series. In the Wednesday world I have Her Boy Friday, Doom Country, By The Gun nearing release. Driving Rain, Book Three in The Coming Storm trilogy is also on the slate to be released in the coming months. Truly, I have a lot to look forward to, and I hope that you will as well.
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Links to where you can find me on the web:
tsū: https://www.tsu.co/WitlessLackey
Blog: http://witlesslackey.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Witlesslackey
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4808225.Dennis_Sharpe
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/witlesslackey
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dennis-sharpe/34/242/5a5
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/witlesslackey/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/witlesslackey
Google+: https://plus.google.com/112893457318807076481/posts
tumblr: http://witlesslackey.tumblr.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95oy3Sxf370
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Links to where you can find my work:
Buy on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003TC0TYI
Buy on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/witlesslackey
Buy on Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/dennis-sharpe
Buy on Sony: https://ebookstore.sony.com/author/dennis-sharpe_222552
Buy on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/ca/author/dennis-sharpe/id440665723
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Individual Title Listings:
(Published by WitlessFiction)
You can take the dead girl out of the country…
Veronica Fischer, small-town bloodsucking madam, is an orphan or at least she finally feels that way. Jules, the one who made her, is gone and cleaning up after him isn't something she ever thought she'd have to do.
While her hometown seems to be turning against her, she’s forced to set off for the bright lights of the big city with a carload of her dysfunctional supernatural family, hoping not to have to face the Dragon of Chicago.
Now she has to rescue a sister she didn't know she had, keep Rachel—her adopted 8-year-old ghost—safe, and try to keep Pekin from unraveling under the onset of the coming storm.
Sex, violence, and cryptic undead prophecy—all for fun and profit.
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(Published by WitlessFiction)
In Dennis Sharpe’s passionately intense short story, “A Short Walk To Forever,” we meet Jen, an early thirty-something whose life hasn’t turned out the way she’d hoped.
When Gabe left her at the altar two months ago she never expected to see him again. But when he shows up out of the blue at her door unannounced, interrupting her disappointing ebb and flow, she’s floored.
He looks completely different from the man she’d known for years, and now he has dropped in out of nowhere to ask her to go for a walk. Nothing in her wildest dreams could have prepared her for all the emotions his revelations would provoke.
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(Published by WitlessFiction)
“It’s passion and honesty. It’s brutal, comforting, and raw. It’s all right here... in black and white and words...”
A Visual Sea Of Infinite Emotion is a collection of sentiments, saved seconds, and sensations etched into the crystal surface of a human soul. It contains spoken word poetry jigsawed together with images to form a record of emotions, experiences, and encounters with people and places in a manner designed to drag you along with the tone and voice of the works as they were intended to be felt firsthand. There is no order imposed, everything is simply lifted from throughout the first thirty-nine years of a life spent drifting and drafting through a world of confusion and comfort, happiness and hate. Each face is a window into a time and place weighed as important from the meandering voyages of the creator of the written scripts that accompany them. They are written, broken, as they are intended to be heard aloud.
This collection by no means comprises the full volume of work written, or lives intersected, but instead is assembled in keeping with the myriad inconsistencies of the journey – a companion piece to a life well lived. The verses included are both selections from previous published titles (The Years Distilled, (un)SPOKEN, Fresh, Hole in the World) and pieces crafted, completely new, exclusively for this volume alone.
Amazon
Goodreads
(Published by Booktrope)
"All we have is time."
Saturday night at midnight there was nuclear explosion in Middle America. Everyone for miles around was killed, even Andy Gordon, but that was both the beginning and the end of the longest week of his life. He knows what midnight on Saturday means, but how can he save countless lives when no one will listen to him?
A theoretical physics grad student named Nora Lehman is the only comfort, and only real help, Andy has in this quick flying adventure of seeming infinite peril set on ‘repeat’. Together can they find a way to stop the explosion from happening? Can they save everyone? Can they even save themselves before the clock strikes midnight on Saturday night… again?
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Life With Annie - Literature/Urban Literature - Released: April, 2016
(Published by WitlessFiction)
*Trigger Warning* this story contains mature situations that may trigger some people/survivors of assault or abuse.
This short story takes place entirely from the point of view of the title character. No other characters have a voice. Everything is seen through Annie's eyes, what Annie says, what she feels, and what she thinks. It is four days in the life of a woman at the end of a deeply abusive relationship... four days in December of 1996, spent, for a few stolen moments, inside the mind of a life in flux.
"Sometimes the decisions you make are mistakes, some mistakes you just have to outlive… A little perspective goes a long way."
Listing on Smashwords
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(Published by WitlessFiction)
– Transcribed Snapshots –
– Observations, Comments, and Interpretations –
Hole in the World is a collection of pieces of spoken word poetry, essays, and ruminations on life created in the five years since the release of Fresh. This work is a collection of previously unpublished author favorites or pieces originally intended for online sources.
Each of the pieces that comprise this work's whole is an impassioned cry or deep and personal pain. They are bared for you with the author's hope that something contained herein will touch you, connecting you with the raw humanity or shared experiences of not just existing, but actually living.
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(Published by Booktrope)
Ever wondered what it feels like to be ostracized from your own world at the hands of stigma? This is why Stigma Fighters exists. A compilation of personal perspectives, the second volume of the Stigma Fighters Anthology features essays from real people living with mental illness from around the globe. Among the contributors is author and public speaker Doyin Richards (Daddy Doin' Work) who talks about his battle with depression. The raw stories in this anthology are the production of the individuals who speak bravely and candidly. Stigma Fighters is a non-profit mental health organization in Brooklyn, New York that seeks to give people living with mental illness a voice. Stigma Fighters has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, The Huffington Post, and on Good Day New York. The organization continues to create awareness in every aspect of society through community, college education, and the arts. Sarah Fader is the CEO of the non-profit organization Stigma Fighters. She is a native New Yorker who enjoys naps, talking to strangers, and caring for her two small humans and two average-sized cats. Additionally, like about six million other American adults, Sarah lives with panic disorder. She writes for Psychology Today on her column Panic Life. She has been seen on The Today Show, The Huffington Post, Good Day NY and Quartz. Stigma Fighters gives individuals with mental illness a platform to share their personal stories. Through Stigma Fighters, Sarah hopes to show the world that there is a diverse array of real everyday people behind mental illness labels.
(Published by Booktrope)
9 cars, 19 states, 5 hair colors, and more bullets than you can count...
“When everything in life has been against you, who can blame you for not playing nice with others?
My name is Wednesday. For the last seven years, I was the property of a sadistic bastard named Klein. Now he wants me dead- only he doesn’t have the balls to kill me himself.
Alvin, the hitman Klein sent to do his dirty work, decided to save my life (repeatedly) instead of taking it. Now we’re on a wild cross-country run from Klein’s goons.
It’s a rollercoaster road trip with constant personality clashes as we dodge bullets and swap cars, share fast food and cheap motel rooms. Our journey is full of pain and laughs, torture and growth, tacos and lots of guns; there’s a lot of hair dye, blood, and tears. Sometimes finding true redemption comes at a high cost.
And, no matter how much someone cares about you, they can only do so much… can only go so far. You are your only real shot at coming out on top.
Sometimes reclaiming your life requires a body count. -Wednesday Valentine”
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Destroyer of Worlds - Science Fiction - Released: January, 2015
(Published by Booktrope)
There are sometimes larger and more powerful forces at play in the universe than those that could end all of existence. Even the seemingly most insignificant of lives can have an enormous impact on the world, and every living creature on it. Death isn’t always the end, and to some even an apocalypse can be little more than a means to an end.
(Published by Booktrope/WitlessFiction)
Small-town life can be hard for a dead girl...
For Veronica Fischer the night to night life of a bloodsucking madam in Middle America is tough enough before she adopts Rachel Gregory, an eight year old ghost.
After her house is set on fire, and Rachel disappears, all signs point to foul play. When she finds herself with a hit out on her unlife, and warrants for her arrest, it becomes clear she's going to need help.
Now she has to contend with horny zombies, violent spirits, and murderous grave robbers if she's ever going to find Rachel and discover the awful truth of the coming storm.
A raucous ride through the dangerous lives of the lecherous undead.
Trailer - Video
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"Letters to My High School Self" is a collection of letters written by several writers to their high school versions of themselves, knowing what they know now.
The letters are intended for everyone from high school graduates who want a peek into lessons that others learned ahead of them to those who are years beyond their education, seeking a reconciliation with their past.
Each writer has a different background in high school: from typical "nerd" to "troublemaker" and labels in-between. Each letter comes from a real person writing the words about subjects such as surviving an abusive situation to reassuring them they will find love one day. The letters have been edited for clarity but not for content, keeping their words authentic.
Listing on Lulu
(Published by WitlessFiction)
9 cars, 19 states, 5 hair colors, and more bullets than you can count...
"When everything in life has been against you, who can blame you for not playing nice with others?
After all, no matter how much someone cares about you...
They can only do so much... can only go so far...
...you are your only real shot at coming out on top.
Sometimes reclaiming your life requires a body count."
-Wednesday Valentine
The Last Day On Titan 5 - Science Fiction - Released: December, 2013
(Published by WitlessFiction)
Charlie Atwood is all alone, and very, very far from home...
The Titan 5 is the last of the Titan series of exploration craft, and Charlie Atwood is her last crew member.
Buried under decades of routine, and assigned duties, Captain Atwood does his best to put all the negative out of his mind, and focus only on the positive - as little as it might be - as he endures the last day... on Titan 5.
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Destroyer of Worlds - Science Fiction - Released: February, 2013
(Published by WitlessFiction)
There are sometimes larger and more powerful forces at play in the universe than those that could end all of existence. Even the seemingly most insignificant of lives can have an enormous impact on the world, and every living creature on it. Death isn’t always the end, and to some even an apocalypse can be little more than a means to an end.
Reviews on Amazon.com
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First Boy - Horror - Released: February, 2013
(Published by WitlessFiction)
Forrest County Sherriff’s Deputy Matthew Burroughs is having a bad day. First there was the cold winter weather, then a car accident on an icy bridge, and finally a routine stop to investigate a claim of neglected children. At an abandoned farm house in the middle of nowhere he finds a little girl and boy, and ends up dealing with far more than he ever expected.
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Blood & Spirits - Paranormal Thriller - Released: April, 2011
(Published by WitlessFiction)
Small-town life can be hard for a dead girl...
For Veronica Fischer the night to night life of a bloodsucking madam in Middle America is tough enough before she adopts Rachel Gregory, an eight year old ghost.
After her house is set on fire, and Rachel disappears, all signs point to foul play. When she finds herself with a hit out on her unlife, and warrants for her arrest, it becomes clear she's going to need help.
Now she has to contend with horny zombies, violent spirits, and murderous grave robbers if she's ever going to find Rachel and discover the awful truth of the coming storm.
A raucous ride through the dangerous lives of the lecherous undead.
Trailer - Video
Reviews on Amazon.com
Reviews on Goodreads
Fresh - Spoken Word Collection/Chapbook - Released: March, 2011
(Published by WitlessFiction)
FRESH is a chapbook collection of poetry created over a scant few months in late 2010. It moves in many different directions but manages to keep a consistent voice. It has an urgency, and haphazardness to it that celebrates growth, change, and looking forward while still not forgetting what has gone before. It proves that time spent in college can be good for more than binge drinking and sleeping ‘til noon; learning can actually take place as well.
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(Published by WitlessFiction)
Contained in the pages of this small printed work are unapologetic texts both broad and specific in scope, telling in three parts the evolution of their architect. They range from very intimate and personal, to universal. The words presented here are intended to allow glimpses into the past and present of one man's human experience. Take from them what you will.
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(Published by WitlessFiction)
The Years Distilled are the verses from twenty years of spoken word and performance poetry on stages and in coffee houses around the United States. While the collection only represents a small fraction of the writing done over two decades (1990-2010) it is an almost complete collection of the pieces performed. The ranting and rambling contained within this book is often juvenile, sometimes petty, and commonly complaining; however all the works are all born of passion.
The people and places that inspired the words between these covers are too numerous to mention individually, but they are all held very dear. It is because these souls, times, and locations have touched so deeply that a permanent mark was left. These memories are now yours to share, for what they're worth.
These are all very different works of varied style and subject matter, plucked at random from a collection of writing. They are in no order whatsoever. What is the common thread? Everyone one of them was written to be performed, and with only two exceptions, they all have been.
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