A lot of news...and links

The last few months have been really cool.  Let me list the ways:

1. Haunted Legends came out.
2. "The Water Tower" was accepted for reprint in the Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror.
3. I found an agent, Beth Fleisher.  She works with BG Literary, and I couldn't be more pleased with her so far.  I just sent her the revised version of my novel, and if it meets her approval, she'll be submitting it soon.
4. Finally, Chizine Publications has accepted my short story collection, Shoebox Train Wreck to be published in Fall of 11 or Spring of 12.  Still negotiating contract stuff, so hopefully I'll know more soon.  If you aren't familiar with Chizine, they put out some of the most beautiful books.  Check their covers out here.

Some other folks have had some good times recently as well:

Sam W. Anderson has a funny (and twisted) story in the recently released Blood Lite II.

Erik Williams continues his hot streak with more best sellers at the Horror Mall.  Check out Blood Spring and The Reverend's Powder, not to mention his books available for the Kindle.

The Horror Library 4 is up for preorder.  It contains stories by Erik, Kim Despins, and Kurt Dinan.

Speaking of Kurt, his story "Nub Hut" will also be appearing in The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror.

Ian Rogers has a new chapbook out from Burning Effigy Press called The Ash Angels.  It's already been very well reviewed.

Paul Tremblay's collection In the Mean Time is due out any day from Chizine.  I'm really looking forward to this one.

John Rector is still selling The Cold Kiss.  If you haven't picked one up yet, do yourself a favor and buy a copy now.  He's also got The Grove coming soon.

If I missed anyone, I apologize, but that's all the linking I can handle on a Saturday morning.

Friends in High Places, Part II

Okay, so these next folks aren't necessarily "friends" (well some of them are), but they've all helped me in some way during my writing career (are you allowed to call it a career if you don't really make any money?).

Paul Tremblay:  Besides writing me a really nice blurb for my (still unpublished!) collection, Paul has offered advice along the way.  More importantly, he's always been gracious about it even when I email him out of the blue with dumb questions.  If you haven't read any of Paul's stuff, you really, really need to do so because the man can flat out write.  Here are a few options to get you started: The Little Sleep, No Sleep Till Wonderland, and the soon to be released In the Mean Time.  Check them out.

Douglas Clegg: I met Doug at Borderlands in 2006 when he was nice enough to say some encouraging things about my short story Halloween Comes to County Road Seven.  Since then, he's always been responsive to my emails, providing timely and valuable advice.  He also read my (still unpublished!) collection and wrote a nice blurb.  He also said some other things to me in the email that made me feel really good about my writing.  Doug has tons of stuff out, but here are some highlights if you'd like to check him out: Neverland, Isis, and many more.

John Rector: Another nice guy, who hasn't let all of his success go to his head (a rare thing, I think).  I met him when he was writing short stories and being a general smartass at RJ Cavender's Horror Library at Zoetrope.com.  Now he's got book deals coming out of his ears and has already garnered some rave reviews for his upcoming novel The Cold Kiss.   He's offered me great advice on pushing through the inevitable wall when writing a novel and helped me focus my query letter.

Thanks guys!