The “From the Darkside” Charity Anthology is on sale!!

*Reblog from JennyBeanses.net*

Goooood morning everyone. The day is finally upon us, after nearly two weeks of suspense-building madness and excerpts. It’s release day, and I am incredibly excited. I know the writers are as well, so the news is going to hit the ‘Net like a ten-pound hammer.

Everyone who contributed to this collection worked so very hard, and they did it out of the kindness of their hearts. Donating their work to the anthology knowing they would not get paid did not cause any bellyaching or fretting. They all seemed to love the idea of being paid in recognition and gratitude.

So, if the writers aren’t getting paid, who is? And why should you buy an anthology that’s not going to pay its writers?

As I’ve said before, all proceeds earned From the Dark Side will be donated to The Office of Letters and Light, you know the people responsible for bringing us awesome programs like NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy. And that’s why you should buy that anthology, aside from the fact that it’s filled to the rim with some really great work, the proceeds are going to an incredibly worthwhile cause.

So, after you buy a copy, please help us spread the word to your friends and family. And remember: You don’t need an eReader or Kindle to read the electronic story. You can download the Kindle software for use on your computer or Mac, there are several apps for the iTouch, iPhone, Palm Pre and more that you can use to download eBook or you can simply read it as a PDF or HTML file right on your computer.

Now, where can you buy it? On Amazon and Smashwords for just $4.99.

From the Dark Side; Anthology News

From the Dark Side: A Charity Anthology

In March 2010, a group of creative types got together in search of ways to showcase their work. There were talks of collaboration which evolved into the From the Dark Side Anthology. Because there were so many people involved in the project, an equal distribution of earnings seemed silly, and so those who gave birth to the idea decided to ask contributors to donate their work.
A worthwhile cause creative-types could stand behind was not hard to find. We turned our attention to the Letters and Light Organization, a non-profit charity that promotes youth creativity.
Since most creative people have a special memory of someone who encouraged and supported them, nurtured their gift and inspired them to pursue their dreams, it seemed like an obvious choice to donate all the proceeds earned from this charity endeavor to The Letters and Light Organization.

Details: Will go on sale electronically July 9, 2010 on Amazon and Smashwords for $4.99 per copy.
Readers do NOT need an eReader in order to download and read the anthology. Amazon offers a download of their Kindle software for PCs and Macs, as well as the iPhone and iTouch. Smashwords has a wide variety of downloadable mediums, from direct browser html and PDF to eReader and Kindle, just to name a few.
 

The Contributors
Drew Beatty has been writing fiction seriously since the birth of his first son five years ago. His works have appeared in e-Muse.com, Aphelion-Online, Alien Skin Magazine, Sinister Tales and in the Library of the Living Dead anthology Zombonauts. Additionally, his first two novels are available as audiobooks on Podiobooks.com. He also writes a monthly podcasting column for Popsyndicate.com.
You can find out more about Drew Beatty at http://www.drewbeatty.com, or read his daily ramblings on Twitter, where he goes by the clever nickname drewbeatty.
When not writing, Drew works as a teacher, reads too much, and juggles children. Not literally, but sometimes it feels that way.

Jake Bible lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and two kids. He is the author of many published short stories and the creator of a new literary form: the Drabble Novel. DEAD MECH is his first novel and represents the introduction to the world of the Drabble Novel, a novel written 100 words at a time, which will be coming soon from Library Of The Living Dead Press.

Learn more about Jake and his work at http://www.jakebible.com. Links to his Facebook fan page, Twitter and his forum can be found there, as well as his weekly drabble release, Friday Night Drabble Party, and his weekly free audio fiction podcast.

Kate Sherrod is a writer and poet who currently calls Cheyenne, WY her home. She is best known for her blog, Suppertime Sonnets, where she writes and publishes at least one pseudo-Shakespearean sonnet every day. She has yet to miss a day there since Dec. 31, 2008. When Kate is not writing sonnets, she works on an ottava rima, mock-epic, space opera farce, PEPITO MOJITO: THE INTERSTELLAR FELLER, and is co-writing a weird western novel with her friend Adam Christopher, and is working on a secret project or two with other conspirators.

Her poetry has appeared in a number of other places, including Discovery Space (http://dsc.discovery.com/space/) a space and astronomy news site; 2012Hoax (http://www.2012hoax.org/) a compendium of useful information that explains why the world is NOT going to end in 2012, and the Macbots blog (http://macbots.wordpress.com/), a site memorializing the late futurist and author Mac Tonnies. Several of her sonnets will also appear in the upcoming BURNING MAIDEN QUARTERLY, a magazine of crime and supernatural fiction due out this fall from Evil Eye Books.

Kate also contributes to a number of webzines, blogs and podcasts, including Paradise Tossed (http://www.paradisetossed.org/), a blog about poetry and technology and how the two intersect; Escape Into Life (http://www.escapeintolife.com/), an arts and culture magazine that has also featured a selection of her sonnets; and she is a “Third Nerd” at the Functional Nerds podcast (http://functionalnerds.com/). She also occasionally narrates for the up and coming horror fiction podcast, ShadowCast Audio (http://shadowpress.wordpress.com/).

When not writing, Kate is an avid cyclist, amateur entomologist, stargazer and comic book fan. She’s also been known to post a thing or two on Twitter, where she is @KateSherrod.

Joseph Bowley keeps the darkness at bay in coastal Maine with his companion Charlotte who has never managed to be as dignified as Steinbeck’s dog Charley. After earning a degree in Architecture from Syracuse University Joe decided to become a literary bum and has managed to scribble a few poems and other things between Kerouac adventures. He’s constantly surprised that an ordinary boy from New England is allowed to keep characters like Lucy Dunkin in his head.
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James Melzer is the author of Hull’s Landing, as well as The Zombie Chronicles, which began as a free podcast back in September 2008. Since then, the first novel, Escape, has received close to a million downloads, won the Dead Letter Award for Best Web series and has been picked up to be published by Permuted Press and Simon & Schuster. It will be coming to stores everywhere in March 2011. He hails from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and you can check out all his work at http://www.jamesmelzer.net.

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The enigmatic Acadia Einstein founded http://www.superficialgallery.com in 2005 and has been running from the law and his own dark past since the incident in Prague. A former adventurer and hunky acrobat, Acadia now lives quietly in [REDACTED] with his [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] around [REDACTED]. He once [REDACTED] with a [REDACTED] and took the [REDACTED] [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] in his [REDACTED] eleven times in one night. His favorite food his cheeseburgers and his favorite game is life or death (followed closely by Boggle).

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Jennifer Williams is a horror and fantasy writer living in South East London. She has been published previously in The Hub and Pantechnicon, and was recently selected as one of the winners in the Campaign for Real Fear competition. The winning story, “”The Price,” can be found in Black Static number 17, and is due to be released as part of an audio collection by Action Audio.

You can find links to her stories at her blog, http://www.sennydreadful.blogspot.com, as well as a running commentary on the highs and woes of her current full length book project, The Steel Walk, and chatter on any number of geeky subjects.

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Nicole Ireland began freelance writing in 2007 when she began working for Mahalo.com. While at Mahalo, Ms. Ireland covered a variety of subjects, including celebrity news, television and movies.Currently, Ms. Ireland is the Portland Paranormal Examiner, the Lee DeWyze Examiner and the David Cook Examiner for Examiner.com. She also writes for Demand Studios and Break Studios.

In addition to freelance writing, Ms. Ireland is also a virtual assistant and compliance coordinator for a pizza dough production company located in southern Maine. Her main duties include maintaining the company’s safety and health programs.

In her spare time, Ms. Ireland enjoys spending time outdoors with her two children. She also likes to put pen to paper, writing poems, children’s stories, short stories and novels that she hopes will one day impact other people’s lives.

If you’d like to keep up with Ms. Ireland, you can find her at her official website, http://www.nicoleireland.com. You can also find her on Twitter @writingforlife or via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nicole.normandeau.

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Josh Crummer is a 4th year student at Saginaw Valley State University. His poetry has appeared in campus magazine Cardinal Sins for three straight semesters. He has also served as an Assistant Editor for Cardinal Sins in the Fall 2008-Winter 2009 semesters, as well as winning the first prize in Sins’ Fall 2009 Poetry Slam with his poem “Easter Sunday.”

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Jacquèline Roth is by passion and profession a teacher of writing, reading and literature to middle schoolers. An admitted scifi/fantasy and history geek, she holds degrees in Education and Political Science. A writer since childhood, she has had poetry and essays appear in niche publications and spent time as a freelance writer doing book reviews and author interviews. Roth lives with her family, including human, canine and avian members, in Atlanta, GA. For more information or to see other works by Roth visit the website at http://www.jacquelineroth.com or follow her blog at http://www.jacquelineroth.blogspot.com.

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Nicole Godin lives in Toronto with her two lizards and two bunnies. She spends most of her time watching movies, and is in the beginning stages of becoming a hairstylist. She’s a casual writer due to writer’s block and an apparent inability to remember how to properly format a story. She prefers to be called Nikki.

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Mark BurningHawk Baxter’s life, to date, has been full of adventure and learning experiences. Graduating from high school at sixteen, then from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor’s in English at twenty, he knew very little of the world, and recognized the lack. Setting forth to learn all he could about the planet on which he lives, he learned more about himself than he ever thought there was to learn. His education has extended into such seemingly disparate areas as martial arts, wilderness survival and human spirituality. His hunger for self-knowledge has never, and hopefully never will be satisfied.

Traveling around the country in search of the elusive music and writing career, he became acquainted with many groups of people; small islands of subculture, almost swamped by the mainstream world.

Being intimately acquainted with many blind people has helped him see how dependent most of them are on hand-outs to survive. With an 85% unemployment rate, and all too often facing stiff prejudice from their sighted peers, many blind people depend on government-subsidized, religious and other like-minded charitable organizations for their day to day existence.

The story, “Exo,” is about what might happen to such groups as the blind, those dependent upon Welfare, those who are frail of health and require constant medical services, and others, in the face of growing environmental and social catastrophe. When those charity umbrellas are withdrawn in the face of desperate need, what will such protected communities do to survive? They might even resort to renting out their very brains and retreating into dreams …

Mark’s work has appeared in Internet-based poetry anthologies and magazines, essay collections and as background for an animated series. His musical work has been featured in various venues, and he continues to compose and record new material.

Currently, he resides in coastal Oregon. More samples of his work can be on his official website: http://www.MarkBurningHawk.net/.

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David Sobkowiak began his vocal career at the age of six in the bedroom of his parent’s home, recording what would today be called analogue podcasts in to his Radio Shack cassette recorder. His shows included a variety of current music off of his AM radio, and several characters all voiced, ad lib, by David. His career took a hiatus until the winter of 2005, when he discovered the wonders of internet podcasts and began voice acting for various groups on line. His work as a voice actor, web guru and founding member of BrokenSea Audio Productions has given him experience in acting, writing audio dramas and producing many of the great shows found there.

More recently his endeavors have focused on original creative works to include short stories, a novella length podcast novel in conjunction with collaborative a partner and several works in progress. David has one story published in a Christmas Anthology series which can be located here.

You can contact David at by writing to him at david@davidsobkowiak.com

Jim Ryan’s first memories are of his escape pod washing up on the east coast of North America in the mid 1970’s. There were no clues as to the pod’s planet of origin, so Jim decided to try living among the humans, a task with which he has had varying degrees of success over the years. He currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is a freelance writer/editor and podcaster. He has a blog/podcast hybrid at http://jimyesthatjim.com, a comedic sci-fi/fantasy podcast at http://www.everyworldnews.com and an RPG podcast at http://www.rpgdebate.com, all of which give him excuses to do ridiculous voices. He continues to act silly in public when appropriate.

Jennifer Hudock is an author, poet, editor and podcaster from Northeast Pennsylvania with a BA in English/Creative Writing from Bloomsburg University. She has been published in a variety of print and online venues, including Strange Horizons, Living Dead Press’s “Book of the Dead: A Faithful Zombie Anthology,” and has upcoming work appearing in Library of the Living Dead’s “Ladies of Horror” and “The Moron’s Guide to the Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse.”

She is also self-publishing a series of short fiction on Amazon and Smashwords titled “The Dark Journeys Collection,” and offers her dark fantasy novel Goblin Market, as a free audio podcast on her official website. To find out more about Ms. Hudock, visit http://jennybeans.net.

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Only lightly tethered to what others call reality, author Keith Dugger creates popular works of bizarro and dark fiction that range from mildly creepy to twist-your-brain intense. Though one of his fictitious multiple personalities suffers multiple personality disorder, Keith remains intently devoted to his craft and frequently enjoys writing to the anti-melodic baying of his invisible dog.

To find out more about Keith, visit his official website http://www.keithdugger.com.

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Patrick Pillars, writer, poet, and blogger, has been published numerous times in the small press and writes freelance as well. He lives in Saginaw with his wife and three sons. For more information, please visit Patrick’s blog, Paddys Wanderings, at http://paddy.typepad.com/.

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Born and raised on the flatlands of Canada, Pearce Kilgour was fed a steady diet of fiction in all forms of media from a very early age. He has been described as an alpha geek, part time genius, neo-hipster, clauseless rebel, all around good guy, progressive time traveler and procrastinated creativist.

Random thoughts of his centrifugal consciousness can be found on his twitter feet at http://www.twitter.com/pearcekilgour. You can read his reviews, food crimes and flash fiction at http://pearcekilgour.wordpress.com. If a proper bribe can be sent, he’ll tell you where to find his hero fan fiction.

He is 5’10”, hazel eyes and has many amazing hats. Everything else is subject to change.

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Jason Warden is a father, a husband, and a writer. He has been an avid reader and writer of dark fiction for many years. In 2009 he opened The ShadowCast Audio Anthology to expand his writing and publishing experience. He has most recently had his work published in the ‘Masters of Horror: The Anthology’ which was published by Triskaideka Books. He is currently at work on several other stories as well as a novel he hopes to complete in late 2010. He and his wife reside in Missouri with their three children.

You can hear his podcast of dark fiction at http://shadowpress.wordpress.com and read more of his short stories at http://JasonWarden.com
 
Excerpts
Until the release date, Jenny Hudock will be posting excerpts with cover art at http://jennybeans.net
Be sure to retweet, comment, share on Facebook and snag the covers and excerpts to share on your own site or blog. The more we spread the word on our prospective sites and blogs, the more people we will reach. We all have very diverse social networks and friends, and we can do amazing things if we combine our efforts.

My Second Publication “From the Darkside” (via Jason Warden’s Experimental Muse)

A quick turn around on this one. I received my acceptance last week and also learned it will come out on July 9th.This is a Charity anthology to benefit the Letters and Light organization, which helps promote literacy in children and adults. The anthology has twenty stories and poems,  including my story "Assimilation" and will be available in a variety of electronic formats on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com for $4.99. So… when is it coming? Frida … Read More

via Jason Warden's Experimental Muse

Interview with Jennifer Hudock

I recently had the opportunity to interview an up and coming author and force within the podcast community, Jennifer Hudock.

Q: Who is Jennifer Hudock?

Jennifer Hudock is a dark entity from the 9th dimension who was sent here to record data on human behavior so the Old Ones can formulate an effective destruction strategy. In all seriousness, I am a writer, poet, podcaster and editor just trying to get my work out to as many people as I can.

Q: Tell us about the Dark Journeys collection.

The Dark Journeys Short Story collection is a batch of short stories I have tried to have traditionally published over the course of the last five years, to no avail. The first ten stories in the collection have all been either rejected repeatedly, or published in small, nonpaying markets during that time frame.

Q: What can readers expect from these stories?

The unexpected. There are zombies, faeries, ghosts, robots, murderers… It’s a mix-bag of dark fantasy and horror fiction with more emphasis on the horror genre.

Q: Why sell the stories separately rather than as a single volume and do you plan to do so in the future?

Selling them separately is something of an experiment. I figured if I could give a wide variety of people a handful of samples, they might be more inclined to check out more of my work, especially my podcast novel, Goblin Market, which I am currently giving away for free on my website and iTunes. I am planning to combine twelve stories at the end of the journey into one volume and sell it as a short fiction anthology with a bonus short story that most people I know haven’t read yet, even though it was published in a George Romero inspired print anthology.

Q: Will there be any surprises for those who are already familiar with the collection?

I like to hope so. All of the stories are very different from one another, since they cross genres, and I have high hopes that each one is unique enough to surprise readers.

Q: How long have you been writing and in which genres?

I have been writing for about twenty-four years. I started writing little horror and romantic stories when i was eleven years old and never stopped. I prefer to write in dark fantasy and horror, but have been known to dabble in science fiction as well.

Q: Are there any real life experiences that have influenced your writing?

Absolutely. Every life experience is fodder for the muse. I went through a lot of dark and twisted things as a child that probably warped my mind a little, and every time I write something it’s like beating my inner-demons into submission.

Q: Why did you choose to go the self-publishing route?

I was a little frustrated and jaded with the traditional market for awhile. I tried to get my work published for years, with little luck and I watched a friend of mine go through some hardship with so-called traditional publishing that made me want to take a few things into my own hands. Does that mean I wouldn’t like to traditionally publish a novel at some point? No way! But I do feel like I have a little more control and creative freedom when it comes to putting my work out there.

Q: You’ve been releasing ‘The Goblin Market’; an original, dark fantasy novel, as a podcast. Can you tell us a little about that?

Goblin Market is a dark fantasy novel about a young woman who discovers who she really is after she’s drawn into the faerie realm by the Goblin King, who poisoned her younger sister. It was inspired by the Christina Rossetti poem of the same name. It is currently available as a free download on my website and iTunes, but I am also working on edits so I can put together a print and electronic edition for sale. I’ve also had some people talk to me briefly about turning it into a graphic novel, but there is nothing concrete yet.

Q: What made you decide to begin podcasting your stories? And,

I love listening to people tell stories. Even more than that, I love to tell stories, so when I discovered podcasting in 2009, I was intrigued by the idea of recording my own stories and getting them out to more people.

Q: What impact do you think it’s had on the number of readers you’ve reached?

Goblin Market was just sitting on my flash drive collecting space dust before I started podcasting. At the time I had no expectations as to how it would fare out in the audio world. I just wanted to get it out there so I felt like I was doing something proactive. Because of the generosity of the podcast community, through word of mouth and exchanging promos, it’s gotten a lot of downloads even though I have yet to upload it to podiobooks.com.

Q: Do you find there’s a great deal of competition among creative types to get their work noticed?

I think creative types are inherently competitive, but on the other hand, many of us tend to be very insecure. We sort of thrive on one another’s support and feedback in a way that tones down the competition to a comfortable level. Networking with other creators has been a huge inspiration, which actually prompted my fiance and I to start a creator’s community called The Creative Alliance. Our goal with that community was to draw creative types of every ilk together in one place, and provide support, encouragement and inspiration to one another in hopes that as a community we could move forward and make a major impact on the creative world as a group.

Surprisingly, it has worked out much the way we envisioned when we first started talking about it, which is a beautiful thing. We work together as a group to help promote each other, critique each other, brainstorm together and support one another. The power of community is incredible, and I would love to see more people get actively involved.

Q: (Is there anything else you want readers to know?)

I am currently piecing together and editing two fiction anthologies: From the Dark Side and Farrago, that will be released electronically later in 2010 on Smashwords and Amazon, and if they go over well, there are also plans to put them into print.

From the Dark Side was an idea I cooked up with Patrick Pillars to get the creative community together in one place where they could showcase their work and get word out about their other endeavors. Once published, it will sell for about $4.99 and all proceeds will be donated to the Letters and Light organization, which is a youth creative writing program affiliated with NaNoWriMo.

Farrago was an idea my fiance, James Melzer, and I came up with to help raise money to fund my friend Michael Bekemeyer’s film project. He was talking about turning his screenplay into a film one afternoon, noodling over how much money he would need to actually do it, and a little frustrated at the prospects. We asked people if they would be interested in contributing to an anthology to help raise some funds, and the response was overwhelming. It just goes to show what kind of community we are all a part of, and it’s amazing.
You can follow Jennifer at any of the following

Official website: http://jennybeans.net
Real TV Addict: http://www.realtvaddict.com/author/jhudock/
Vivastic: http://www.vivastic.com/author/jhudock/
Nice Dwells: http://www.nicedwells.com/author/jhudock/
Twirlit: http://www.twirlit.com/author/jenh/
The Creative Alliance: http://tca.spruz.com/

Dead Mech Episode 22! (via Brain Squeezins)

It’s almost over, don’t miss the latest, and if you haven’t heard it yet, get started on this great story.

Dead Mech Episode 22 is so gonna kick your ass! Like totally beat you about the head and face with the awesomeness! Hope the feed change hasn't messed y'all up. Seemed to go pretty well. Also, you will notice that the new feed name is "Jake Bible Audio Fiction". Since DEAD MECH is winding down soon, I'll be putting up some new fiction and didn't want people to get confused. So, enjoy the episode! Cheers Y'all! Dead Mech Episode 22 Show notes: Tit … Read More

via Brain Squeezins

Marty Young interviewed for The Masters of Horror Anthology

Marty Young interviewed by Karen Johnson Mead for the anthology:
Masters of Horror: The Anthology.
Published by Triskaideka Books
Where did you come up with your anthology idea?
This story was written back in 2007. It’s actually based on a true story. I was living in Canberra (ACT) during the 2003 bushfires, living in the suburb of Kambar, which was one of the heavily hit places. I woke up that day to a surreal world, headed out (through necessity) to the supermarket and found it filled with frightened people, then when I came out, noon had become pitch black. The fire front reached the house across the road from me before the wind took it back upon itself. So the story idea was really given to me. All I had to do was survive.
How long did it take for you to put together your story?
Not long at all. I think the first draft only took a couple of days to write. The revisions always take me longer.
Why did you submit your MoH story – was it one you have had for a while or one that you put together especially for the Anthology?
Fireflies of the Bushfire is a story I’ve been proud of since I wrote it, but for whatever reason, I never got around to actively submitting it anywhere. When this anthology came along, I thought brilliant!
What research / preparation did you do for your story?
I usually do a whole heck of a lot of research for my stories—this probably stems from me being a scientist during daylight hours. Research is part of the job, so that obviously carries over into my fiction writing. My stories have to be grounded in fact, they have to be realistic, or else I won’t believe in them.
General Questions
Why do you write horror? What is the fascination in it for you?
I don’t choose to write horror; I just write whatever stories turn up in my head. Most of the time, these stories are pretty dark, although I prefer the ‘quiet horror’ side of things. All that blood and guts isn’t for me. I like the shadows, the monsters hiding in the dark, the things you hear but don’t quite see. I reckon that works far better than the violent in-your-face stories and flicks that are so common.
How long have you been writing?
I started writing back in the early 1990’s, but somehow got waylaid by science and geology before I got anywhere. In 2002, I was in the early stages of my PhD and feeling the pressure, so I began escaping into fiction again. As a consequence, I founded the Australian Horror Writers Association (and have acted as the President since our official launch in 2005). But it wasn’t until I finished my studies in 2006 that I started spending more time on writing fiction. The problem here though was that I’d spent over a decade writing science, and that is a whole world away from fiction; it’s taken a long time to be able to separate the Dr Marty Young from Marty Young, the writer. And running the AHWA didn’t help matters either, because when I should have been writing I was building the organisation. It’s only this year that I finally decided my writing had to come first.
Why do you write?
I write because I love writing, I love creating stories, and because I need to write. Ideas spiral into my head and I need to write them out. I also think that writing keeps me balanced. It stops me from going postal – only kidding. I think….
What are you currently working on?
I’ve been spending the majority of my time lately on my novel, actually. I’ve been working with an editor friend in the States, who has pulled my novel apart and demanded I do better. In March this year, I finally finished the last edits of the story, got my editor’s approval, and am now working on writing a synopsis and researching agents. My editor (Paula) has been brilliant; she’s really made me pull my finger out, and the end result is something of which I’m immensely proud. The next step will be to submit it to agents, and that, I imagine, will be a horror story in itself!
Please include a little blurb about yourself (that you didn’t put in the Anthology) a bit about you as a person, your writing habits / styles etc. Something so the reader of the interview gets to know who you are.
I grew up in Hawkes Bay, and take particular delight in watching the All Blacks win. I’m also a massive cricket fan, but this isn’t always as much fun being a kiwi… I’m a geologist by day, but once the day is done, dinner finished, and my time my own, I slink away to my study, put on loud cranky music, and write for at least an hour a day. It’s a schedule I keep religiously. I’m far more comfortable writing novels than short stories though, and am 1/3 the way through my next novel. But still those pesky short stories hound me, forcing me to take time away from my novel writing to clear them from my head. And yep, I’m a massive Stephen King and Clive Barker fan, but I’m also a new fan of Charles L Grant (can’t believe I haven’t read Grant’s work before now! That’s just embarrassing). My blog is http://martyyoung.blogspot.com/ and my AHWA Member’s Page is http://australianhorror.com/member_pages.php?page=2 – oh, and I love scotch!

Masters of Horror Anthology – author interview Jennifer Brozek

Interview with Jennifer Brozek
Interview originally posted at Catherine Mede Writes

Jennifer Brozek is a freelance author for many RPG companies including Margaret Weis Productions, Rogue Games and Catalyst Game Labs. Her contributions to RPG sourcebooks include Dragonlance, Colonial Gothic, Shadowrun, Serenity and White Wolf SAS. She has also co-authored three books including Dragonvarld Adventures with Margaret Weis. Author of In a Gilded Light (Dark Quest Books, 6/2010), she is published in several anthologies, is the creator and editor of the semiprozine, The Edge of Propinquity, and is a submissions editor for the Apex Book Company. When she is not writing her heart out, she is gallivanting around the Pacific Northwest in its wonderfully mercurial weather. Jennifer is a member of Broad Universe, SFWA and HWA. She also blogs on a regular basis on LiveJournal – http://jennifer-brozek.livejournal.com

Jennifer contributed “Cost of Job Security” to the Masters of Horror Anthology. I asked her some questions about writing and inspiration.

Where did you come up with the idea for the story in the anthology?

My husband and I were at GenCon in 2008. Our hotel was connected to the convention center but only through the intervening mall. Late one night, we headed back to our hotel to discover that while the door between the convention center and the mall was open, the door between the mall and the hotel was closed and locked. By the time we got back to the convention center, that door was also closed and locked. My husband, being the intrepid sort led me through the “employees only” back halls to find an exit. The contrast between the shiny stores and the dingy back hallways suck with me. Eventually, “The Cost of Job Security” blossomed in my mind.

What is it about your main character that you like? Dislike?

In my mind, the main character in this story is Mark, the head security guard. He’s worked at the mall for years and he knows that the mall consumes someone 4-5 times a year. I like the fact that he has made peace with his situation. In his mind, he really has no other choice. All he knows is that his mall eats people and while he works there, he is safe. What I don’t like is the fact that he is not willing to go beyond that. Part of me thinks of him as someone who gives up easily. Then again, it is hard to combat something as esoteric as a mall that eats people.

What made you write a horror story?

I am the kind of author who writes my demons away. If something bothers me, I write a story about it. Once on the page, whatever was bothering me leaves me alone. I also like to write out “what if” stories. As it happens, I have a very twisted sense of the world. I can see monsters in everyday things.

What inspires you in your writing?

Literally everything. It is hard to answer this question in a meaningful way. In my forthcoming collection, In a Gilded Light: 105 Tales of the Macabre (Dark Quest Books, May 2010), I put down my inspiration for the story at the bottom. Everything from a late handyman to a song to a bowl of soup to a detour sign inspired me to write a story.

How long have you been writing?

Professionally and getting paid for it? 6 or 7 years. But I’ve been writing stories for much longer than that. I started with RPG reviews, moved into magazine fiction and RPG world building and now I do fiction, editing, RPG world building and anything else that catches my fancy.

Why do you write?

Why does anyone do anything? I write because I love to write and because I have stories to tell.

What horror books / authors do you like / respect / admire?

The top of my list of favorite authors are Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. I want to become their literary unholy love child. Following them is a plethora of authors: Steve Perry (Matadora series), Dean Koontz (Odd Thomas series), Seanan McGuire (Toby Daye series), Cherie Priest (Eden Moore series), Michael Moorcock (Elric series) and the list goes on. Between my husband and me, we own well over a thousand books. Also, Ellen Datlow is a favorite editor of dark/horror anthologies

The Masters of Horror Anthology release

Welcome to a world hidden behind the blinds of reality, a landscape waiting to be molded into a thing of pain and torture.

This anthology is not for the faint-hearted. The ideas, themes, and disturbing images portrayed within these pages will send your brain into overdrive on the road to madness. This book is guaranteed to rob you of sleep at night by bringing you the nightmare you’ve most feared…

Carole Gill’s “Truth Hurts,” where a woman writing about douchey vampires gets her comeuppance.

A man is seduced by the lamia in “Ladies of the Scale” by Bob Morgan Jr.

Lee Pletzer’s “Teeth” will make you think twice about taking your son fishing again.

A boy gets revenge on abusive adults in “Devil Inside” by William Cook.

We go on a Lovecraftian journey with Jason Warden’s amazing story, “Once Seen.”

K.K.’s “The Visitation” will have you shuddering.

Mark Edward Hall’s “The Fear” makes a case against hunting for a lost relative.

Joseph Mulak’s “Wounds” evil deeds for the right reasons.

Angel Leigh McCoy’s “The Barnes Family Reunion”

One of my favorite parts of the book is the unrestrained gore, but if psychological is your thing, you’ll also find compelling stories within. When this book comes out, any horror fan would be a fool not to get a copy ~ A. R. Braun

The one thing that stands out about this anthology is that no two stories are the same. Yes, they are horror, but each one brings in a new tasty scary delight. Triskaideka Books has done an amazing job of bringing all this talent into one anthology. There is no anthology out such as this and one that needs to be on everyone’s bookshelf at one time or another. Jumping into this world of darkness only brings forward the most compelling and interesting tales seen in a long time. It is worth the read and worth keeping for years to come ~ Shells Walter, Sonar4

More info: Avaliable here
Paperback Release date: 23-04-10. Only $9.99 (two week special). 12.99 after that.
E-version available here for only $1.99

Disgustipated Short Story Contest

I’ve been toying with the idea of a story contest for quite a while, but tire quickly when it comes to the same old things. So I’ve came up with this on my travels through the library of my Ipod. I would like to see what a story based upon a song would look like, and I have just the song.

Disgustipated by Tool.

Now I’m not ignorant to the fact that they aren’t exactly mainstream, not only that, but even if you have heard some Tool, chances are you haven’t heard this. It’s really, really messed up, which makes it perfect for what I’m looking for, something very dark and very disturbing. I’ve included below the song via YouTube with the video and also a song fact sheet here The video story is not what I’m looking for, in fact I wouldn’t watch it until later. Just listen to the song and write from that.

***What I do not want is Song titles, or lyrics in the story, that opens up a can of worms as far as copyright goes, so again just what the song inspires in you. ***

Good luck, I’m really looking forward to reading some messed up stuff.

Contest deadline is May 2nd at Midnight CDT. No restrictions on content, but it must be based on the song in some way. Max word count of 4000 words.
Use normal Submission Guidelines when submitting, just let me know in the opening that it is for the contest.

The winner will have their story featured on the podcast in an upcoming episode, and will also receive a body part of my choosing via the postal service.

The Hand

Ok so this is a sculpture I intended to be a card holder. It works for that, I used to play alot of poker, won a seat to the 06′ World series of poker in fact. That was before I found out the site I won it through went bankrupt and couldn’t provide said entry prize, nor the money that went with it. Now with all that said I’m considering selling it or something similar. I can’t say what it is worth, only that I have a lot of time invested, so if you’re interested in getting a really cool piece, and also helping out the podcast, throw me a price. Here it is. It was inspired by the cover of System of a Down’s self-titled debut album.