Escape to free stories for an hour this Saturday night!
I’ll be reading THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, March 20, 2021 at 8 pm in one of a series of special Virtual Reading Events set up by writer extraordinaire Terri Bruce! Grab a glass and a snack and join me for this free event!
Each writer will read for six minutes, and most of us are doing giveaways, so this is a chance for you to get a taste of some really good stories and maybe even get some free stuff!
Once again, the event is FREE and will last an hour. If you’d like to sign up, just go to this link: https://forms.gle/YNSkjkHq159N8eyh7
Writers presenting:
Alma Alexander – Fantasy author of 30 books including the Worldweavers series
LJ Cohen – Science Fiction/Fantasy author of over 20 books including Derelict
Lindsey Duncan – Science Fiction/Fantasy author of several books including Scylla and Charybdis
Tracy Townsend – Fantasy author of the Thieves of Fate series
Sarah Smith – Historical Mystery author of several books including the ghost thriller The Other Side of the Dark and the Titanic-centric (yay!) Crimes and Survivors.
Hope to “see” you there!
Happy St Patrick’s Day! I eat my corned beef with …
2020’s corned beef and marmalade.
… orange marmalade. Yes, you read that right. It’s the only way I’ll eat it. It probably comes from the fact that my Hungarian grandmother always served us meat and fish with fruit or some type of sweet jelly or sauce (lamb with mint, flounder with peaches, pork with applesauce, steak with raspberry jam). Don’t knock it ’til you try it! It’s actually pretty good.
Charles’ corned beef spread.
Every year, my housemate makes the complete corned beef dinner, but usually, all I eat is a plate of corned beef with marmalade (usually the lower sugar variety). I can’t wait for tonight! I look forward to this day every year! How do YOU eat your corned beef?
Save the date … virtual reading this Saturday, March 20
This coming SATURDAY, March 20th, at 8 pm EDT, I’ll be reading alongside some wonderful writers in one of a few special virtual events! I plan to read from my short story “Immolation,” and will be doing a giveaway. More details coming soon! Save the date and get your snacks ready!
“The Digging Place” to appear in FORNEVER AFTER
This watch features prominently in my short story, “The Digging Place.” I had been surfing the ’net for a watch like it to no avail for at least forty minutes, and finally I said to Nathan, “I need a picture of like, a souvenir watch that a seafaring museum might sell in its gift shop? For reference? And like … I got nothing.” He walks over to the book shelf, grabs this, and brings it over. “You mean … like this one?”
I’m pleased to announce that one of the short stories I wrote last summer—called “The Digging Place”—has been accepted to and will appear in Jolly Horror Press’ ForNever After anthology, slated for release later this year.
ForNever After will feature tragic and scary tales of romantic love, so “The Digging Place”—which is about missed opportunities and love lost—will fit right in (if you read my work, then you know that tragic and scary romance is in my wheelhouse, so … ). I won’t give any spoilers, but I will tell you that Tarot Cards, Mystic Connecticut, and a warehouse full of junk in Tennessee figure prominently.
I’ll let you know when it’s been released!
It’s been a banner week!
There are weeks when, as a writer, I don’t feel so accomplished. This morning, I had one of those moments … and then I did a tally of what I got done this week:
Gave feedback on a friend’s synopsis
Gave feedback on another friend’s short story
Gave feedback on Chapter 1 of yet another friend’s novel
Designed and mailed out the 34 Orchard Issue 3 announcement postcards
Created the back cover copy for Tidings (my husband did most of that—he used to market books, so …)
Watched Aliens and recorded the 10th anniversary episode of Dark Discussions (I can’t believe it’s been a decade!)
Completed edits on several of the stories for 34 Orchard
Finished several sets of tiny newspapers for my annual holiday chapbook mailing … I have to make 320 sets; I have only 114 to go!
I guess I really did deserve that bottle of wine and a nice early bed time last night!
Back to work!
My short story “Stones” featured on BEYOND THE SCREAMS podcast!
I was honored to be asked to present a short story for the Beyond the Screams podcast, which brings scary campfire tales to listeners along with its insightful theme-based monthly commentary on all things horror with hosts Holly, Patrick, and Steph. I chose the story “Stones,” an intimate take on the Pope Lick Goat Man legend.
The month of March covered creatures of mythology and lore. Check out all of their episodes here: https://beyondthescreams.com/
To hear the recording of “Stones,” click here: https://beyondthescreams.com/2021/03/08/stones/
To read about the Pope Lick Goat Man, click here: https://www.derbycityweekend.com/urban-legends-fuel-the-tale-of-the-pope-lick-goat-man/
A clever present!
I love presents. I love giving them (there are people who will tell you I do it too much), and I love getting them, too. While any present is magical no matter what it is, sometimes you get one that just stands out.
With COVID having shut down our day-job office except for a couple of us holding down the fort (yes, I’m one of them), our holiday celebrations weren’t happening. One of my co-workers, though, brought me a really interesting gift:
“There’s weed in the food” towel accompanied by “roach clips.”
…get it? WEED and ROACH CLIPS? She’s only a little older than me. What cracked her up the most was that she had to explain to her twenty-something children what a roach clip was (I guess kids now are all into edibles. Just … I’m sorry, not as much fun). “Ah,” she said, “the good old days!” Heck—I remember when we wore them in our hair in the 1980s. I was 12. My parents weren’t happy.
Anyway, I love my roach clips, and I think this is just about one of the most creative presents I’ve ever gotten. My husband the exterminator? Not thrilled. Doesn’t enjoy opening up the cabinet and seeing them crawling on the chips … which means more for me, right?
CEMETERY DANCE lauds WICKED WOMEN; “Arbor Day” gets a shout-out!
Cemetery Dance’s stellar review of the most recent NEHW anthology, Wicked Women, included a shout-out to my short story “Arbor Day.”
You can read the full review here: https://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/review-wicked-women/
If you’ve not picked up Wicked Women, you’re missing out! There’s fantastic fiction by 21 talented women, including Hillary Monahan and Jane Yolen, and Patricia Gomes’ poem “Tree Limbs Block the Road” was nominated for a Rhysling award by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association. Now’s the time! You can get your copy here: https://bit.ly/WWArborDay
Breaking: NECRONOMICON 2021 moved to 2022!
Earlier this week, NecronomiCon Providence—a celebration of Lovecraft and Cosmic Horror which takes place every other August in the city of Providence, RI—announced that it was postponing this year’s event. It will now be held August 18-21, 2022.
NecronomiCon is just plain awesome. It’s four days of Lovecraft-related panels, performances, art, short films, walking tours, writing, and unique parties like the Eldritch Ball and the Cthulu Prayer Breakfast. While I know that there are many people who are disappointed, since the event typically draws a couple of thousand people (possibly more), I think this is just a smart thing to do at the moment—although another issue is that this intricate event takes a lot of advanced planning, and with the world still in its uncertain place, Read the rest of this entry
Congratulations are in order …
I just learned that Deborah L. Davitt’s poem “A Hand Against My Window,” which appeared in 34 Orchard’s Inaugural Issue, has been nominated for the 2021 Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association’s Rhysling Award! Congratulations, Deborah!
“A Hand Against My Window” scared the crap out of me—on the same level as the missing prologue from King’s The Shining that was published in TV Guide in 1997, It Follows, and John Wayne Comunale’s “Trenchman” (which I also published in 34O’s initial issue). I couldn’t be more proud to have given this visceral, terrifying piece a home.
Check it out for yourself in 34 Orchard Issue 1 here. https://34orchard.com/issues/issue-1/
If you’d like to learn more about the SFPA and the Rhysling Award, you can do that here: https://www.sfpoetry.com/index.html
