My poem, "Poison," has been published in the current issue of Space And Time Magazine. Many thanks to S&T's poetry editor, Linda Addison, for accepting the piece. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be in a magazine with an Alan M. Clark cover. I might actually like Monday this week :)

The TOC for Issue #103 can be viewed here. Stop over and order a copy today.

Ever since the announcement was made that WHC 2008 would be held in Salt Lake City, I heard nothing but complaints on various message boards about the "bad" choice of venue. Prior to making the trip, I will admit I was a little concerned about how the con would turn out in light of all the negative commentary. I'm happy to report that my fears were unfounded.

When I stepped out of the airport, I was awed by the scenic view of the mountains that surround the city. The breathtaking scenery made up for the fact that it was as cold in SLC as it had been in Chicago. (I patted myself on the back for bringing my winter coat.)

I got settled at the hotel, noting that my roommate, Bailey Hunter of Dark Recesses Press, had not yet arrived. I figured that we would catch up sooner or later and headed off to registration to get checked in.

WHC 2008 Chair, Charlie Harmon, was at registration making sure everything was running smoothly. Charlie did a fantastic job of pulling things together and her team of volunteers were friendly and helpful, every step of the way. I had the pleasure of coordinating the readings again this year. And while I didn't get to do as much hostessing as I would've liked, I received many compliments on the line-up. The readers and audience seemed to be very happy overall and I couldn't ask for anything more.

When I wasn't in the reading room, I could often be found in the dealers' room tempting patrons with the fictional wares of Dark Arts Books. We were lucky to have several of our authors in attendance. John Everson, Bill Breedlove and Mort Castle from Candy in the Dumpster. Jeff Strand and Adam Pepper from Waiting for October. Loren Rhoads and Maria Alexander from Sins of the Sirens. And last but not least, Cullen Bunn from our latest collection, Like A Chinese Tattoo.

I was also a panelist on the Persephone: Male or Female? Gameshow. The point of this panel was to discuss gender bias in dark fiction. For some reason, there are people out there who don't think women can write horror. Each of the panelists brought a couple of selections from their favorite authors. After reading the passages, our contestants, Gary Braunbeck and Mike Myers, had to guess if they thought the author of the passage was male or female. Gary made the assertion that female writers tend to focus on the internal thoughts of the character while male writers tend to focus externally. I was able to stump Gary with a selection from Jack Ketchum's short story, "Closing Time." I will admit that the first time I read the scene in question, I actually remember thinking "I can't believe a man wrote this." So I guess gender bias works the other way, too.

I attended a lunch meeting with agent, Kristen Nelson and learned a lot about current trends in the marketplace. I was also fortunate enough to have a pitch session with Kristen where I also got some great feedback on some of the projects that I am currently working on.

The Stoker Banquet was held on Saturday night and followed by the 1st (and hopefully not last) annual Dark Arts Books Pajama Party. I had the pleasure of chatting with many fine authors while serving as one of the bartenders.

The next thing I knew, Sunday arrived and it was time to head home. Every year, I tell myself that I am not flying back early on Sunday and every year the flight schedule just works out that way. I hope I can get a late flight back from Winnipeg next year...LOL!

Hell in the Heartland, the anthology I co-edited with Roger Dale Trexler of Annihilation Press officially debuted last night at Twilight Tales. We had a great turnout. Many of the authors were able to attend and read their stories.

HITH had been a dream of Roger's for more than 20 years. After reading 300 submissions, fighting over which ones to accept, and enduring some personal tragedies along the way, I'm happy to report that we finally made it. I am proud to have been a part of bringing Roger's dream to fruition.

HITH features stories by a host of great Illinois authors. Featured authors include: Wayne Allen Sallee, Henry Perez, Lawrence Santoro, Richard Chwedyk, Michael Penkas, Nikki M. Pill, Edward DeGeorge, Craig D.B. Patton, Harold Holt, C.T. Thieme, W.S. Cwik, C.S.E. Cooney, and Bryan Buschemi. Stop by Annihilation Press and order your copy today.

When I started reviewing books for Dark Scribe Magazine, I thought the gig would be "win-win" all the time. Who wouldn't want to get paid to read books, right? That was before I encountered my first "bad" book. The benefit of reading for pleasure is that if a book isn't "good," you can just quit reading it. Reviewers don't have that option.

My goal is to write reviews that are fair regardless of the quality of the writing. My approach to reviewing is two-fold. First, I evaluate the story as a reader. Does the author make me care about the characters? Is the plot interesting? Was I entertained? Then, I evaluate the story as a writer. If I had written this story, would I have made the same choices as the author? If not, what would I have done differently?

The reviewing process helped me hone my craft. Having to analyze what works and what doesn't in other authors' stories has made it easier for me to find various plot/pacing problems in my own. I'm not always reading for pleasure anymore, but at least I am always learning what works and how to do things better.

Tonight - 2/11/08

I'll be reading a steamy story at Twilight Tales Red Light Night. Other authors scheduled to appear include: John Everson, Larry Santoro, Michael Penkas and the always delightful Sukie de la Croix. Show starts at 7:30pm at The Mix on Halsted (just north of Diversey.)

Thursday - 2/21/08

I'll be reading at The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square (4736 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago) with some of my fellow authors from Tales from the Red Lion and The Book of Dead Things. The readings start at 7pm.

WHC 2008 - 3/27-3/30/08

I'm coordinating the reading series at WHC this year and will be selling books for my friends at Dark Arts Books, too.

I spend this past weekend at Love is Murder, a local mystery/thriller convention. Attendance seemed to be down a bit this year (probably due to the snowstorm that hit late last week) but it didn't stop Lee Child, Tess Gerritson, Barry Eisler, and countless others from making the trek to Chicago.

Sean Chercover's BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD won the Lovey for Best Debut Novel. Marcus Sakey's THE BLADE ITSELF was also nominated in that category making the choice tough for voters because both novels are terrific reads. I picked up a copy of Marcus Sakey's sophmore effort, AT THE CITY'S EDGE, and will be reviewing that for Dark Scribe Magazine shortly.

In other news, I just received my copies of HELL IN THE HEARTLAND, an anthology of Illinois horror, published by Annihilation Press. It is a great collection of stories set in Illinois and penned by Illinois authors. Featured authors include: Lawrence Santoro, Wayne Allen Sallee, Michael Penkas, Richard Chwedyk, and Henry Perez to name a few. More on HITH coming soon.

If you like flash fiction, be sure to check out my article at Dark Scribe Magazine about a new sub-genre of flash - the postcard tale. I had the pleasure of chatting with the editors at Postcards From... and Tin Parachute Postcard Review about their experiences working in this medium.


Currently reading: Dark Resurrection by John A. Karr