"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards." - Robert A. Heinlein

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Dinner With All-Stars (In Which I Confess the Reason I Wanted to Write)


Last Sunday, I was extremely fortunate to be part of a large author signing in Seattle for the anthology A Darke Phantastique, which includes my lengthy short story, "In the Wardrobe."

It was awesome! I signed books for the other authors and for customers, and in return I got my copy signed by everyone else. Awesome!

Did I mention it was awesome?

Afterwards, as hard as it may seem to believe, it was even better. Liza and I went to dinner with the group. Almost everyone came out to eat Italian, though we were scattered over two very large tables.

We ended up sitting with Jason V Brock, Sunni K Brock, William F. Nolan, Greg Bear, Astrid Bear, Andrew S. Fuller, and James Beach.

(There were so many extra initials floating around I even thought about picking one our for myself.)

(Second parenthetical -- The other table was full of the rest of the group, who included folks like S. T. Joshi, Willum Pugmire, Samuel Marzioli, and others. I don't want to ignore them, but I ended up spending virtually all my time focusing on the folks I was sitting with.)

Everyone at the table was a writer. Some of them were well-known writers. All of them were talented writers. In addition, Jason and William Nolan were the editors of A Darke Phantastique. Jason and Sunni are the couple behind [nameless] Digest. They are also the filmmakers responsible for The Ackermonster Chronicles.

Nolan, you might known, is one of the authors (along with George Clayton Johnson) of the seminal science fiction novel (and later movie and TV series) Logan's Run. He has written several sequels to the novel, along with about 200 other things.

Fuller is the founder of the online magazine 3-Lobed Burning Eye and Beach is the founder of Dark Discoveries magazine.

And then there was Greg Bear. Bear is the author of Eon, Blood Music, Hull Zero Three, Darwin's Radio, Mariposa, Forge of God, Anvil of Stars, and another 40-odd novels. He has a handful of Nebula and Hugo Awards and a few thousand other nominations. He was also, you might not know, one of the five founders of San Diego Comic-Con.

Friday, October 31, 2014

"A Darke Phantastique" is in Print! (And Along with It, My Short Story, "In the Wardrobe.")

I am delighted! My short story, "In the Wardrobe," is part of this Cycatrix Press anthology, "A Darke Phantastique: Encounters With the Uncanny and Other Magical Things" (forever to be known here just by the first three words).

This is one of the best-looking books I've ever seen, with gilt page edges, tremendous interior artwork, and amazing design. I'm actually a little gobsmacked to be in this massive tome.

The collection of authors is pretty amazing, too.

Featuring a foreword by Ray Bradbury, it is separated into five sections, each of them the size of a lesser collection.

Though it is taking up some space to do so, I really feel a need to share this phenomenal Table of Contents...

"The Beginnings of Imagination" (foreword) / Ray Bradbury
"An Abiding Darkness, A Phantastique Light" (introduction) / Jason V Brock

Section One -- Magical Realities

"Michael the Monster" / Paul Kane
"A Darke Phantastique" / Jason V Brock
"Charles Out of La-La Land" / Bruce Taylor
"The Wisest Stone and the Zoo" / Nathaniel Lee
"Out of the Blue, and Into the Black" / Sunni K Brock
"Lizard Man Dispatches" / Ray Garton
"Real Live Lobsters" / D. T. Kastn
"Bittersweet Bedlam" / Samuel Marzioli
"The Last Witch" / William F. Nolan


Thursday, July 10, 2014

Short Story to Appear in "A Darke Phantastique!"

I am happy to announce that one of my short stories, a 7,000-plus word behemoth named "In the Wardrobe," will appear in a massive anthology by Vancouver, Washington-based Cycatrix Press!

The anthology, "A Darke Phantastique: Encounters With the Uncanny and Other Magical Things" is scheduled to be released this October.

The anthology is edited by authors Jason V Brock and William F. Nolan. Nolan was one of the author of the seminal science-fiction novel, "Logan's Run."