Award Winning.

Congratulations to Eric J. Guignard on winning the 'Best Anthology' Bram Stoker award for his collection, After Death.

I am thrilled to have had my story, I Was The Walrus, included in this award winning collection.

Well done, Eric. And congratulations to all the other winners.

_________________________________________________

The winners of the Bram Stoker Awards® for 2013 were announced at the Awards Banquet on May 10, 2014, at the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend and World Horror Convention in Portland, Oregon. The winners for superior achievement in each of the categories are:

Novel
Stephen King – Doctor Sleep (Scribner)

First Novel
Rena Mason – The Evolutionist (Nightscape Press)

Young Adult Novel
Joe McKinney – Dog Days (JournalStone)

Graphic Novel
Caitlin R. Kiernan – Alabaster: Wolves (Dark Horse Comics)

Long Fiction
Gary Braunbeck – “The Great Pity” (Chiral Mad 2, Written Backwards)

Short Fiction
David Gerrold – “Night Train to Paris” (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan./Feb. 2013)

Screenplay
Glen Mazzara – The Walking Dead: “Welcome to the Tombs” (AMC TV)

Anthology
Eric J. Guignard (editor) – After Death… (Dark Moon Books)

Fiction Collection
Laird Barron – The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and Other Stories (Night Shade Books)

Non-Fiction
William F. Nolan – Nolan on Bradbury: Sixty Years of Writing about the Master of Science Fiction (Hippocampus Press)

Poetry Collection
Marge Simon, Rain Graves, Charlee Jacob, and Linda Addison – Four Elements (Bad Moon Books/Evil Jester Press)

The following awards were also presented:

The Lifetime Achievement Award
Stephen Jones
R.L. Stine

The Specialty Press Award
Gray Friar Press

The Silver Hammer Award (for outstanding service to the Horror Writers Assn.)
Norman Rubenstein

The President’s Richard Laymon Service Award
JG Faherty

After Death Is Shortlisted.

More great news.

After Death, the anthology which includes I Was The Walrus, my John Lennon reincarnation story, has been voted to the 2013 HWA Bram Stoker Award® Final Ballot!

Congratulations to Eric J. Guignard, an amazing editor who is truly deserving of this recognition. Well done, mate.

If you haven't read this anthology yet, you should.

http://ericjguignard.com/after_death.html

She Loves Y'All.

When John Lennon was five years old, he was put in the position of having to choose between his parents. His father, a merchant sailor home from sea, had taken him away for the weekend with the intention of absconding with him. His mother caught on, and there was a confrontation where John was asked to choose which of his parents he wanted to stay with.

He chose his father. And it was only as his mother was walking away he changed his mind and ran back to her. If that had not happened, John may have become a New Zealander and The Beatles might not have happened.

About a year ago I considered writing a story set in an alternate history where this occurred. I just haven't got round to it yet.

Josh Rountree took a similar premise and had John move to Texas as a teenager, only to fall under the spell of Bob Wills and become a country great.  Wills is a musician I had not previously encountered, but since reading the story I've fallen under his spell also.

Rountree's story, Can't Buy Me Faded Love, is the title story in his collection. If you love music and spec-fic, then I would thoroughly recommend this book. Each story comes with liner notes and a recommended playlist. It's fabulous.

I also recently read Snodgrass, by Ian R. MacLeod, which is another Lennon alternate history This time 50 year old unemployed Lennon ponders his life and what he could have been had he not fallen out with McCartney and left The Beatles. "We could have been bigger than The Hollies," he declares.

And then there's I Was The Walrus, my John Lennon re-incarnation story, which was published in Eric J. Guignard's collection, After Death, and had been receiving great reviews. Three John Lennon spec-fic stories in as many months. Anyone know of any more?

Last night I had a dream in which these three stories were published together and did very well.  How about it, guys?

More Award Nominations And Another Sale.

I'm having a great run at the moment.

I've recently posted about this. I had two personal rejections from quality pro-level magazines, a positive review in Publishers Weekly, the release of After Death, a sale to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and a nomination for a Ditmar Award.

Then, to top things off, yesterday I received a copy of After Death, and it truly looks fantastic. Congratulations to the editor, Eric J. Guignard. During the afternoon I received word that I'd finally sold my Melbourne vampire-noir story. I'm truly excited about that one. And then late last night I was informed I'd been nominated for two Chronos Awards - Best Short Story for Fireflies (in Epilogue, published by FableCroft) and Best Fan Writer. (For my reviews in Dark Matter and this blog)

Voting for these awards is important. And, of course, I would appreciate any support from anyone who deems my work worthy.

Eligibility and voting information for the Ditmar Awards can be found here.

Eligibility and voting information for the Chronos Awards can be found here.

Congratulations to all the nominees.

Now Available.

Don't worry, I'm not going to be mentioning After Death every post, but I do need to let you know it's now available.

The editor of this anthology, Eric J. Guignard (Bram Stoker nominee for his previous collection), has done an amazing job in collecting and whipping these stories into shape. It's already garnering excellent reviews and fantastic comments. This is an anthology not to be missed.

It's available here, here and here.

A reminder of who's in After Death.

Andrew S. Williams — Someone to Remember
David Tallerman — Prisoner of Peace

Steve Rasnic Tem — The Last Moments Before Bed
Lisa Morton — The Resurrection Policy
John M. Floyd — High Places
Kelda Crich — Circling the Stones at Fulcrum's Low
David Steffen — I Will Remain
Aaron J. French — Tree of Life
Sanford Allen & Josh Rountree — The Reckless Alternative
Brad C. Hodson — The Thousandth Hell
James S. Dorr — Mall Rats
Ray Cluley — Afterword
Jonathan Shipley — Like a Bat out of Hell
Edward M. Erdelac — Sea of Trees
Jacob Edwards — The Overlander
Bentley Little — My Father Knew Douglas MacArthur
Jamie Lackey — Robot Heaven
John Palisano — Forever
Robert B. Marcus, Jr. — Beyond the Veil
Alvaro Rodriguez — Boy, 7
William Meikle — Be Quiet At The Back
Christine Morgan — A Feast of Meat and Mead
Simon Clark — Hammerhead
Peter Giglio — Cages
Kelly Dunn — Marvel at the Face of Forever
Trevor Denyer — The Unfinished Lunch
Steve Cameron — I Was The Walrus
Larry Hodges — The Devil's Backbone
Benjamin Kane Ethridge — The Death of E. Coli
Emily C. Skaftun — Final Testament of a Weapons Engineer
Joe McKinney — Acclimation Package
Josh Strnad — Hellevator
Allan Izen — In and Out the Window
John Langan — With Max Barry in the Nearer Precincts

A Week Indeed.

Ten days, actually.

After a long drought on the 'seeing results from my writing' front, I've had an excellent time recently at Chateau Cameron. The best time in writing I've had in more than six months.

A couple of personal rejections from some big target markets.

I was shortlisted for a Ditmar award - Best New Talent. My second year running.

The forthcoming 'After Death' anthology was reviewed in Publishers Weekly, and my story (I Was The Walrus) was one of those mentioned by name.

I sold a story to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Another market I've been chasing for a few years.

And to top it all off, I received my copy of Thoraiya Dyer's new 12th Planet collection, Asymmetry.

As I said, an excellent time.

First Reviews.

Eric J. Guignard, the editor of the forthcoming After Death, sent me a link to a review in Publishers Weekly.

I'm thrilled to have had my story, I Was The Walrus, as one of those mentioned by name in a positive review.

"This anthology addresses one of the most basic questions of human existence: what happens when we die? The answers come in the form of 34 stories that explore diverse notions of ghosts (Edward M. Erdelac’s “Sea of Dreams”) and demons (William Meikle’s “Be Quiet at the Back”), trapped souls (Steve Cameron’s “I Was the Walrus”), mishaps in resurrection (Lisa Morton’s “The Resurrection Policy”), and unbearable eternities (David Tallerman’s “Prisoner of Peace”). The newly deceased protagonists may be confused, angry, resigned, or unaware that they are dead, so even those vignettes with more exposition than plot convey a sense of personal discovery (if perhaps of the hopeless kind). Though the majority of the pieces come from the darker side of the genre, a solid minority are playful, clever, or full of wonder. This makes for good variety but a bit of emotional whiplash, somewhat mitigated by Guignard’s clever introductions and Audra Phillips’s portraitlike illustrations. This strong and well-themed anthology is sure to make readers contemplative even while it creates nightmares."

Soon After Death.

It's only a matter of weeks until After Death is released.  This is an exciting anthology and I'm extremely thrilled and proud of the inclusion of my story, I Was The Walrus.

Eric J. Guignard, the editor, has recently been shortlisted for a Bram Stoker award for his work on a previous anthology, which featured a story from my good friend Gitte Christensen. Dark Tales Of Lost Civilizations has deservedly garnered great reviews and I suspect After Death will only add to Eric's reputation.

Keep an eye out for its release in late March/early April.

No News Is No News.

No real news on the writing front this week, apart from the announcement of After Death's TOC.

I have quite a few other stories out in the wilderness - some of which I have high hopes for. Of course I love all my stories, and generally have hopes for them, but I have really good feelings about some of these stories with these particular markets.

At least I haven't heard anything back from them yet. Several of my stories are still with editors, while other stories (from other writers) which were submitted more recently have already been rejected, according to Duotrope.

This, of course, bodes well, doesn't it?  It means the stories are still being considered, and appear to have made it past some arbitrary first round. Or maybe they're not being read in order, and will be rejected any moment now.

There is always the danger of reading too much into Duotrope's figures. You can't read anything into silence. As an online friend of mine, Martin L. Shoemaker, is wont to say, No News Is No News.

After Death.

Eric J. Guignard has just announced the TOC for this anthology, After Death - a collection of tales exploring what happens after we die. 

Not being a horror writer (says the guy who has now sold five horror stories and had one of them included in The Year's Best Australian Horror & Fantasy Recommended Reading List: 2010) I must admit I didn't know any of the other writers on this TOC. A little google research, however, has impressed me greatly.

I'm thrilled to have my story I Was The Walrus included alongside such great writers in this collection. It's due for release in March. Keep an eye out for it.

Andrew S. Williams — Someone to Remember
David Tallerman — Prisoner of Peace

Steve Rasnic Tem — The Last Moments Before Bed
Lisa Morton — The Resurrection Policy
John M. Floyd — High Places
Kelda Crich — Circling the Stones at Fulcrum's Low
David Steffen — I Will Remain
Aaron J. French — Tree of Life
Sanford Allen & Josh Rountree — The Reckless Alternative
Brad C. Hodson — The Thousandth Hell
James S. Dorr — Mall Rats
Ray Cluley — Afterword
Jonathan Shipley — Like a Bat out of Hell
Edward M. Erdelac — Sea of Trees
Jacob Edwards — The Overlander
Bentley Little — My Father Knew Douglas MacArthur
Jamie Lackey — Robot Heaven
John Palisano — Forever
Robert B. Marcus, Jr. — Beyond the Veil
Alvaro Rodriguez — Boy, 7
William Meikle — Be Quiet At The Back
Christine Morgan — A Feast of Meat and Mead
Simon Clark — Hammerhead
Peter Giglio — Cages
Kelly Dunn — Marvel at the Face of Forever
Trevor Denyer — The Unfinished Lunch
Steve Cameron — I Was The Walrus
Larry Hodges — The Devil's Backbone
Benjamin Kane Ethridge — The Death of E. Coli
Emily C. Skaftun — Final Testament of a Weapons Engineer
Joe McKinney — Acclimation Package
Josh Strnad — Hellevator
Allan Izen — In and Out the Window
John Langan — With Max Barry in the Nearer Precincts

Halfway Through.

I had big plans for this week. Suffice to say life gets in the way, and I haven't done half as much as I'd hoped to.

Still, it has been good so far. I've had my snapshot linked by Deakin University's MyCourseMyCareer page, I've done some writing, done some organising - even done some gardening. I've seen some friends make some great story sales (admittedly with a certain amount of envy in a couple of cases) and sympathised with others who missed out on sure things.

I sold a story about a week ago, to Eric J. Guignard's anthology, After Death. Now this is a sale I really wanted, and the story sold very quickly. I'm happy.

But as for the rest of you editors out there currently sitting on my stories, buy the darned things already.

Please...