In all of the chaos of the election and our Indiegogo campaign to fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity, I neglected to mention that not only has the Scary Stuff anthology been released, but my author copy arrived on Halloween!
Defintely a treat! Even my ghoulfriend found it a jaw-dropping read and she ain’t easy to please.
The book also came with an autograph checklist card (below).
Scary Stuff, published by Oddity Prodigy Productions, is an homage to the classic EC Comics titles Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and Haunt of Fear as well as the magazines Creepy and Eerie. The anthology includes my story. “Burn After Writing,” dedicated to one of my litrary heroes, Harlan Ellison (below).
On what would have been Harlan Ellison’s 86th birthday (May 27), Episode #11 of Got a Story for Ya is LIVE with “Burn After Writing,” a short story dedicated to Harlan and soon to be published in SCARY STUFF, an anthology by Oddity Prodigy Productions.
Legendary writer Adrian Halka has died. Disobeying his mentor’s instructions to burn all incomplete manuscripts upon his death, struggling writer Shane Conrad pilfers one of Halka’s unreleased novels. After publishing it as his own, Conrad learns the blistering consequences of playing with fire.
“For a brief time, I was here, and for a brief time, I mattered.”
The 82nd annual Philadelpha SF Convention (Philcon) has come and gone and, for me, it was one of the best yet. I participated in four edifying and—in the case of Compassionate Representation of Mental Illness in Fiction—intense discussion panels.
I was not scheduled for any panels on Friday, which allowed me to browse the dealer room and pick up over 20 classic SF paperbacks before enjoying dinner at Houlihan’s with Sharon Van Blarcom and Sarah Yaworsky from the Farpoint Convention and fellow writer Chris Ochs.
Saturday was a busy day with three discussion panels and an autograph session. I was honored to share the autograph table with Hugo and Nebula award-winning SF author Michael Swanwick. We had a delightful conversation about classic speculative fiction authors such as Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, Phil K. Dick, Philip José Farmer, and others.
In between panels, I sat with Farpoint Chair Sharon Van Blarcom at the Farpoint Convention table. Once we closed up at 6PM, I joined Sharon, Farpoint committee member Brian Sarcinelli, and Shore Leave Co-Chair Inge Heyer in the hotel restaurant for about an hour before joining writer pals Aaron Rosenberg, Glenn Hauman, Heather Hutsell, and several others for dinner at Whole Hog BBQ.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the launch of the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign by Oddity Prodigy Productions for their upcoming horror anthology, Scary Stuff. My ghost story, “Burn After Writing” will be included in the book. Scary Stuff is an homage to the classic EC Comics titles such as Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, Creepy, etc. Click here to learn more about the project including the contributing authors and the various donation levels. Thank you for supporting small press authors!
Sunday morning saw me at two discussion panels–Your Story Doesn’t Start Until Page Eleven? and Rituals for Conjuring Novel Titles. Both of which were fun and engaging for the panelists and the audience.
As I was packing my car to leave on Sunday, I noticed this massive Christmas tree directly across from the Crowne Plaza hotel on Park Avenue. Although still a bit early in the season, it was a cheerful ending to a succesful weekend. As always, I look forward to returning next November!
In the “spirit” of Halloween, I just posted a free ghost story on my website. “Burn After Writing” is a tale of betrayal, plagiarism, and revenge from the beyond the grave.
Although the story was finished months before his death, it is dedicated to Harlan Ellison, one of my favorite writers of all time. Hope you enjoy it and Happy Halloween!