It’s been a crazy few weeks. The editing of Novel # 1 is taking much longer than expected, but I’m ok with it. The priority is the end result. The novel should be in my kind beta’s hands by July 15th. Novel # 2 continues to garner interest from agents so we’ll see how things shape up over the summer. I should probably stop referring to it as “Novel # 2” since it does have a name. It’s called ECO MORPH, and it’s about an apocalyptic event as seen from several different characters in a remote section of Montana. It’s not a horror novel. The best description is “dark suspense” with a dash of science fiction.

I’ve also finished three new short stories (just under 5,000 words each) over the last month. The new stories mark a turning point for me as I move entirely into novels.

The seed for Novel # 3 is planted, and will begin once Novel # 1 is as polished and shiny as can be.

The June issue of Ghostlight Magazine should be out any day now and with it my story “The Red Aspen”. I’ll post links as soon as it’s available.

Readers have asked for a list of my stories coming out this year, so here you go:

Shiners in Dead Bait 2 – out at Amazon and Barnes and Noble
Revenge on Apex Mountain in Fearology 2 – Probably Fall 2011 ( I hope )
The Red Aspen in Ghostlight Magazine – June/July 2011
The Believers in America the Horrific: Tales of Myth and Legend – Fall 2011
The Watcher in the Corner in Something Wicked Magazine – Fall 2011

Thanks for stopping by.

I’m pleased to announce that my short story “The Watcher in the Corner” will appear in the magazine Something Wicked. This is a fantastic magazine which features online content and Kindle editions. I was attracted to the magazine based on the stories, quality of the artwork, and the Amazon presence.

“The Watcher in the Corner” is a different style for me, crafted in first person. My other stories are all third person. The concept came to me while driving back from a trip to the Northern Rocky Mountains. I was somewhere south of Madison, Wisconsin and on my fifth cup of coffee on a fourteen hour stretch from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was 1 a.m. and I took notes via my iTouch record function. The rest is for you to find out around October or November.

I’m happy to announce that my story “The Believers” will be appearing in America the Horrific: Tales of Horror from American Myth and Legend . This looks to be a fantastic anthology and I’m happy to be a part of it.

And yeah, this is one crazy story. I’ll leave it at that.

I’m pumped about this one. I’m in some pretty heavy company with Ramsey Campbell, Steve Alten, and Guy N Smith. Kind of nerve-wracking to be honest.

You can buy it from Amazon here:

Dead Bait 2 Amazon

or at Severed Press:

Dead Bait 2 Severed Press

or at Barnes and Noble:

Dead Bait 2 Barnes and Noble

In other news I’m slaving away on my query for novel #2 and on the second draft of novel #1. I’m finding that queries are a different beast than novels and short stories.

I’ve been told that Dead Bait 2 is on the printers this week, so not too much longer before I get to read it.

Five days ago I started the second draft of a novel I trunked in May. It’s amazing going back into that world. For the novel I’m querying I waited six weeks before the second draft, and there’s no question that allowed for a better editing experience. But for this novel it was about ten months. To be honest I was a little freaked out that the novel wasn’t how I remembered it, that I’d be disappointed. Well, it’s better than I thought. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m OK in saying that. I set it aside after the first draft because of plot complications and the amount of editing and proceeded with the linear, fast-paced novel #2, and this “hopscotching” worked out. My goal is to have the fifth and final draft complete by May 1st, with a query to an agent on the 2nd. That gives me two novels out in the agentsphere.

This is a great time for me to be editing. I’ve burned a lot of creative fuel since last February–two novels and thirty short stories (all the short stories coming from May 2010 until present). In mid-May I’ll start a new novel if the ideas are there.
My query for novel #2 is in the mailbox of one agent right now, the other query got caught in a spam filter. Time to resend that one.