Hanging Tough

Ok, so the tail end of 2014 kicked my creative butt.

You know how it goes: the bills roll in, the car breaks down, the kids need jail bonds, and you find that 9-5 job turns into 6-8.

But 2015 is a year to punch all that in the face. I'm looking at entering a new decade and by golly I think I'm a big boy now. Big enough to make a schedule that fits my wild and crazy creative exploits nicely alongside my worky-work money-making exploits.

(Work has been really good. My wife, looking over our bank account, asked me recently whether I had started cooking meth in the home office. "No," I said, "I just was really darn productive and got some new clients." Looking back I should have told her I'd become a professional bear wrestler.)

So, 2015. Let's do this.

To start this thing off right, we must look to an inspiring hero to really set the tone of butt-kicking to follow.

I give you: Bat-Viking.

Lost and Found in Las Vegas Anthology

More publication news!

My short story Strip Away recently came out in the anthology "Lost and Found in Las Vegas: What the City Hides and What It Reveals" Edited by Scott Dickensheets, Huntington Press (August 28, 2014)

It's a Twilight Zoney twisty tale of creepiness.

Jacob has a problem. He's late for work slinging cards at one of the ritzy casinos on Las Vegas Strip. But that's not really his problem. Instead it's that no matter where he turns and no matter which exit he takes he can't seem to find Las Vegas. It's as if the whole city no longer exists on this plane.
Strip Away.

All the authors in this anthology will be having some panelist fun this year at the Vegas Valley Book Festival (more on that later) so make sure you're planning on attending.

The super fun thing about this anthology is that I share the table of contents with my Illiterati pal Mercedes M. Yardley! Fun times. The writing group that stays together gets published together.

We are very serious writers (photo credit Brent Holmes)

I Wonz teh Awkward Author Photo Contest

I can finally tell my mom that I'm a winner.

Wild and crazy novelist, screenwriter, blogger, and game designer, Chuck Wendig http://terribleminds.com/ had a very serious and thoughtful contest to solicit the most awkward author photos of all time (well, of at least those readers of his blog who were silly enough to enter).

Here's where he scientifically tallied the votes (complete with snazzy info-graphic)

And here's my winning entry:

Let that sink in.

...

...

...

And here's my reaction when I found out I'd won this prestigious award:

Hagrid learns he's been accepted to Hogwarts

good times.

KillerCon 2012 Debriefed

So this year I got to be the official Volunteer Wrangler at KillerCon 4 (2012) writer's convention held here in Las Vegas, NV.

First, the good stuff: I won the 2012 KillerCon Creative Fiction Contest. Yowzah. I was up against some stiff competition, and the judges were all world class authors and editors (including Mr. Jack Ketchum and Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty).

And it was very great to hang out with so many talented and incredibly delightful writers, many of whom I’ve met several times over the past few years of convention going as a professional writer. Seriously, everyone thinks that horror writers must be maladroit and grim all the time, but I find them to be the most wonderfully-odd-in-the-right-way sorts. We’re all a little weird around here. But delightfully so.

Speaking of weird, it was really awesome to meet the whole crew of Shock Totem. Those cats get A++ in raditude.

My writers' group, the Illiterati, and our baby

And certainly not the least of the awesome of KillerCon weekend was the release of my dear friend Mercedes M. Yardley’s first book, BEAUTIFUL SORROWS. You need to buy it now, because the first run already sold out. Yes it’s that good. Possibly one of my favorite stories ever is in it (“Luna e Volk”).

Now for some of the bad: That darn Stratosphere really made life difficult. The hospitality suite was as far from the convention across the hotel as humanly possible. And you’d think they’d populate the rooms surrounding the “party room” with KillerCon attendees, right? No, they booked them with normal guests who actually wanted to sleep at 2am in Las Vegas. The audacity.

And then there was the outright odd. I had no room. That would not normally be a problem because my house is about 15 minutes away. But I kept forgetting I didn’t have the car. So I couch surfed the whole time. No, I am only telling half the truth. I had to share a bed with my new friend (very close friends now, thank you very much) Matt C. He was a gentleman and didn’t inadvertently snuggle me. I don’t think.

But, what I am thinking would make next year’s KillerCon level up is 1) a better venue. 2) Having more interesting panels and running them two at a time with one Keynote panel in a large room towards end of day. Oh, and 3) having a designated "dinner break" hour. People are sheep, we like being told "go eat now, you have an hour".

Those are my suggestions. Oh, and 4) showgirls.

Yes, I'm big beardin it. Take a closer look, go on... touch it, I dare you.

 

Review of THE WEIRD

Hey kids, you want the inside scoop? Head on over to Innsmouth Free Press to read my review of THE WEIRD, an awesome anthology edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer:

( http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=18465 )













I'll be back when I'm less busy changing diapers and leveling up my Demon Hunter on Diablo III.

New Story: None of Which Was In the Report

I want you to read something. No, not this blog. Well, actually yes this blog. But after you read this blog I have something for you to read.

Allow me to inform you, my intrepid reader(s) that you can read my brand new story "None of Which Was In the Report" online, right now, with your eyes, on the digital device you are staring at this minute.

You might think that amazing technology allows me to share this story with you. But you'd be wrong. The majesty of my beard (see below) grants me this power, in league with the machinations of the ever wily Misty Dahl. (Fraternity of Flash)

See, majestic ain't it?

So what are you waiting for, go read "None of Which Was In the Report" ya lazy bum.

For my Academy speech I intend to thank Sam Raimi and Terry Pratchett, which I think you will find apropos upon reading my quirky little story.