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It’s here! INK STAINS VOLUME 7: DECAY – get a free peek!
I’m pleased to announce that the anthology I’ve spent a year curating, Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Anthology Volume 7—Decay is now available! Containing fifteen pieces by young, fresh, and seasoned voices alike, the stories in this volume focus on the various ways decay permeates our lives and very beings.
I’ve always wanted to put together an anthology, so it was thrilling when Dark Alley Press gave me the opportunity. It’s been an incredible journey—I’ve worked with some very talented writers, and was able to put awesome new discoveries as well as stories that haunted me for years either into print or back into print. One of the most exciting things about this anthology is that it contains writer Daniel Pearlman’s final first draft, which his widow, Sandy, graciously agreed to let us publish.
Ink Stains is available wherever you purchase books. Here’s the Table of Contents and a specially prepared preview you can print or download (at the bottom of this post). Get your full copies here:
Amazon Print: http://bit.ly/inkstains7
Amazon Kindle: http://bit.ly/inkstains7K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
As We Rot – Taro Turner
Christmas in Connecticut – Robert Mayette
The Depths – Elizabeth Allen
Heroes – Jackie Logsted
The Mating Habits of the Late-Adopting Smoker – Dorianne Emmerton
Stikini – Travis D. Roberson
The Fate of the Worms – Page Sullivan
Ignorance Is – Rhonda Zimlich
Black-Hooded Caller – Pablo Patiño
The Cold Gets In – Mary Thorson
Do the Faceless Remember? – Megan Neumann
Suicide in Reverse (After Matt Rasmussen) – Bri Faythe
The Leaf People – Heather Sullivan
Letting in the Cat – Kaitlyn Downing
Overdrawn at the Time Bank – Daniel Pearlman
Photo: The Singer’s Last Stand – Christopher Petersen
Get a PDF sample here: Ink Stains Sample
Coming soon! INK STAINS JANUARY 2018: DECAY
I spent the first six months of this year as a guest editor for an upcoming issue of Dark Alley Press’ Ink Stains anthology series, and I’m pleased to announce that, except for a couple of rounds of proofing and the fact that the cover isn’t complete, it’s in the can!
This was my first stint as guest editor, and it was nothing short of a magical experience. There was something special about not just cherry-picking pieces for a collection from a slush pile, but curating a collection; tapping talent for some unpublished stories that had haunted me for—in some cases—a quarter of a century, or always anticipating that moment when that perfect story I have to have! would appear in the submissions manager.
In addition, every writer I worked with shared the vision; it was an enlightening journey in every sense of the phrase.
The theme of the issue was my choice—decay. It’s a pervasive Read the rest of this entry
INK STAINS January 2018 issue update, call for subs: April, 2017
The last couple of months have been busy on the Ink Stains January 2018 issue. It hasn’t been easy finding pieces that ring my bell for this anthology–I’m looking for that specific something that’s intangible, really; pieces that are making a specific statement about decay that isn’t the same statement that any of the already accepted pieces have made. So far, though, I’ve been lucky! Since the last update, contracts have been signed to publish:
“The Depths,” by Elizabeth Allen
“Stikini,” by Travis D. Roberson
These will be Read the rest of this entry
INK STAINS January 2018 issue shaping up!
A disintegrating stove in an abandoned Geology lab in Massachusetts in 2010.
I’m happy to announce that the Table of Contents for the anthology I’m guest editing—Ink Stains January 2018—is coming together nicely!
Before exploring the submissions box, I acquired two stories by dear friends that I’d read years ago and never forgotten (both pieces were not intended for publication; they were part of theses, so fortunately for me the rights were still available!). One more—a poem, actually, which will serve as the preface—came along by default, and I have feelers out for another piece, but I won’t know if that’s going to come through for a few weeks, probably. I’ll talk about these in another post.
For now, I’d like to announce that contracts have been signed to publish Read the rest of this entry
Out they go…
This stack of drafts was in a copy box in my basement. The novel was edited/revised seven times. One of the drafts is missing because I bound and gave it away to a reader.
One of the toughest things about being a writer is getting rid of clutter. While it’s a given we need our project materials, as well as the things that inspire us (anyone remember that picture of Ray Bradbury’s office?), there’s more: old projects and stacks of drafts.
While it’s gotten much easier since the age of electronic documents (I can keep drafts in a compact form now), there are still times when paper accumulates…and forget about years ago, when everything was done on paper. My most recent project has been to take paper drafts of stories, scan them into PDFs, and store them that way.
Bad Apple took two years to write and revise, then another two years of polish once the novel was sold to Dark Alley Press. What resulted were seven giant drafts peppered with notes and Post-It flags, wine and coffee stains. A few years back I took one of the early drafts, bound it, and gave it to a reader as a gift–but other than that, they were all there.
Scanning these all to PDF, I felt, was going to be a waste of time and energy–am I ever going to look at these again?Who is going to give a crap, anyway? So…I made a deal with myself. I photographed the pile. Just so I’d always have it to remember.
Then off to the shredder it went.
Bad Apple was published by Dark Alley Press in 2012. You can get your copy here: http://a.co/htRbr9v
New release: Read “Blood on the Snow” in INK STAINS 3!
My ghost story “Blood on the Snow” is now available in Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Literary Anthology Volume 3, published by Dark Alley Press!
You can pick up the print edition here: http://a.co/7RWaa1Q and the Kindle edition here: http://a.co/3l03pco.
Angevine Farm, 2002
“Blood on the Snow” takes place on an abandoned Christmas tree farm in rural Connecticut. I’m not going to give anything away, but here’s a link to the story’s real-world (and very much still in business!) counterpart: Angevine Farm. My family, however much it’s changed over the years, has been getting our Christmas trees there since the 1970s. I don’t have many photos from that time period, but here’s a montage of the pix I do have — notice some of the landscapes, particularly on a gray day with snow. It’s the perfect place for a ghost story.
If you love ghost stories–and stories about being haunted by the past–then Ink Stains Vol. 3 is for you! Here’s the full Table of Contents: Read the rest of this entry
INK STAINS 3 — which includes my story “Blood on the Snow” — releases next week!
How amazing is this cover?
My short story “Blood on the Snow” will be available in Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Literary Anthology Volume 3, published by Dark Alley Press, on Tuesday, January 24!
If you love ghost stories–and stories about being haunted by the past–then this collection is for you! Here’s the full Table of Contents: Read the rest of this entry
New Year’s Eve news: I’m guest editing an antho for Jan. 2018!
Thrilled to announce that I’ll be guest editing the January 2018 edition in the Ink Stains anthology series (and my awesome friend Tamela Ritter, author of From These Ashes, will be guest editing for April 2018!) In addition, my short story “Blood on the Snow” will be out in an upcoming Ink Stains edition in just a couple of months! What a way to kick off the year! Two editions of Ink Stains are already available. For info, go here: http://www.darkalleypress.com/inkstainsanthology/
“Blood on the Snow” to appear in INK STAINS September issue
Angevine Tree Farm in Warren, CT, 2002. This is where my story “Blood on the Snow” is set.
The Easter Bunny brought more than my fave Starburst jelly beans this year…I was notified on Sunday that my short story “Blood on the Snow” has been accepted for publication in Ink Stains Anthology Series’ September release.
The theme of the issue is Ghosts. “Blood on the Snow” is about Read the rest of this entry
THIS POISONED GROUND released today!
Dark Alley Press released “This Poisoned Ground” today! It’s 99 cents, so don’t pass it up!
To purchase in all e-formats, get it direct from the publisher here: http://bit.ly/PoisonedGround
To get it right on your Kindle: http://amzn.com/B00I36IYE2
Want to know more first? Visit here.
