James Dorr's Blog, page 53

Murder And Machinery Anthology ToC Announced

Let us recall for a moment a mystery solved on August 17, of the “mysterious” contract signed August 9:  The anthology title is MURDER AND MACHINERY, from European publisher Black Beacon Books, concerning (to quote from the guidelines) “machinery old or new used as a means of murder or menace.  We’re looking for suspense, technological horror, even a little sci-fi or steampunk.”  My part in this is a tale called “Vanitas,” an early favorite of mine first published in the January 1996 ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, and is about a church choirmaster in its titular New England town, a one-time ship’s carpenter, and a tragically ill-fated traveling circus.  Well, more on this has just been revealed, the final, official Table of Contents.  Or, from Editor/Publisher Cameron Trost:  Here it is in a very orange meme!  Feel free to share the news. 

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Expected publication date is still set for next year.

Country Doctor, Fake News On Way Finally To Print?

Let us take a trip way down Memory Lane, to an anthology call for a book called FAKE NEWS (cf. February 4 2020; June 20 2019) and a story “tentatively” accepted for it, “Country Doctor,” of UFOs and ETs and other such letter combinations originally published in BOOK OF DARK WISDOM, Summer 2005.  The FAKE NEWS call actually goes back as far as 2018, but the gears of publication sometimes grind intensely slowly.  But then Sunday night came another glimmering!  Cordelia has been working hard on the proof for Fake News.  Here is what we have now.  If you have ANY changes, please send them to me.  I also need your final bios and answers to[image error] the questions I sent you.  The cover is also done, so this is the LAST stage before Cordelia and I put this together and send it off to the printer.  The goal is to get it to the printer by mid-September so it can hit the market in October, during election season, when the phrase “fake news” and “#fakenews” should be trending.

So, burning the Monday post-midnight electricity I went through the story as it will be printed, finding all to be well, and sent my “okay” back along with the information requested, the latter in essence a repeat of material sent last February — this saga has multi-level chapters!  But if all goes well, it looks like the FAKE NEWS may be hitting the (electronic, anyway) bookstores in not much more than another month!

Another Contract, Moons Of Saturn On Track For Autumn Pulp Literature Edition

Contracts, contracts.  Friday the email came from PULP LITERATURE Acquisitions Editor Genevieve Wynand (cf. June 15, November 19):  I hope this finds you well and enjoying the remaining days of summer.  I have attached the contract for “Moons of Saturn” for Issue 28, Autumn 2020.  Please take a look and make sure we’ve got your correct address, by-line, etc.  We do accept electronic signatures, so you don’t have to print and scan it.  Thanks so much!

Simple.  Straightforward.  Except, of course, we have COVID-19 and the vintage laptop to have their say.  But not to worry, today, Saturday, brought a simple workaround and, the contract now signed and recorded, “Moons of Saturn” — originally published in Algis Budrys’s TOMORROW in 1993, as well as THE TEARS OF ISIS — is back on track for its re-publication, most likely at about the beginning of October.

Eudora Tapped For Indiana Horror Review, Contract Signed And Returned

This is a Thursday night story, though it won’t be posted until the wee hours of Friday morning.  It’s been a long, and a strange but productive day.  This one begins, however, just under two weeks ago on August 15 when Indianapolis Editor/Publisher James Ward Kirk emailed:  I would love to publish one of your stories for INDIANA HORROR REVIEW 2020.  He added that, though an anthology of mostly unpublished work, he would be willing to look at a reprint so the next day I emailed back:  Thank you for the invitation!  The attached, “Eudora,” is a bit on the short side at 1500 words, but I think has substance.  It has been published once before in BLOOD TYPE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF VAMPIRE SF ON THE CUTTING EDGE (Nightscape Press, 2013), with reprint rights in my possession.  I hope it will be suitable and, either way, will look forward to hearing from you.

And so today (well, yesterday really) the second act, a contract arrived.  For reasons oddly having to do with COVID-19 it took a little doing to open but, yes, “Eudora” has found a new home — a bit of a science fiction tale, but mostly of horror, of vampires and disease.  Maybe a bit of a fable for our time?*  In any event the contract is now signed and an hour or so ago went electronically winging back, with more to be here as it becomes known.

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*E.g., vampirism does not social distance well.

Scare Me Authors Announced, E-Edition Now On Amazon, Others

The word is out.  From Esskaye Books Editor Marcus Smith (cf. August 24, June 16):  The electronic edition of SCARE ME has been released.  It is available at Amazon and Kobo and other vendors of online books.  To this was added links to both Kobo and Amazon UK, for which one may [image error]press here or here, or for the US Amazon site here.

Or quoting from Esskaye Books’s own site:  Compiled by M. Leon Smith/  Containing twelve terrifying slices of cold, dark fiction, the eBook edition of SCARE ME is now available from Amazon, Kobo, or your favourite vendor./  Produced by Esskaye Books and some of the best new and established writers.

Face true fear . . .  Featuring Tylor James, Jarred Martin, Rob Francis, Laura DeHaan, Chris Kuriata, David A. Riley, Dee Caples, Stephen McQuiggan, Holley Cornetto, James Dorr, Alex Ebenstein, and Trisha McKee.

And lest we forget, my part in this is “Pets,” published in 2002’s THE DARKER SIDE:  GENERATIONS OF HORROR (also reprinted in my Stoker-nominated collection THE TEARS OF ISIS), a tale of internecine war in eastern Europe and . . . cockroaches.

Unknown Pleasures, Mon Coeur Mort Re-Edition Cancelled

A super short note.  Word came to me last night that the UNKNOWN PLEASURES Post Mortem Press mega-anthology, including its reprint of MON COUER MORT with my “A Cup Full of Tears” (see August 21), has been cancelled due to contract problems.  So that’s hardly the first time a publication has been withdrawn, or cancelled, or pulled from circulation, but for something already up on Amazon it may be a record.  Or at least for something with work by me in it.

So easy come, easy go, eh?

Scare Me, New UK Anthology On Way To Printer

This is to be the debut anthology from British publisher Esskaye Books, SCARE ME, for unthemed horror in the 3,000-5,000 word range, with my story in it one of insects and insurrection in post-Cold War Europe called “Pets,” originally published in THE DARKER SIDE:  GENERATIONS OF HORROR by Roc Books in 2002 (and which also appears in my collection THE [image error]TEARS OF ISIS).  How’s that for a sentence?  It had been quickly accepted for publication (cf. June 16), and there, for the time being, the matter lay.

And now something new from Editor/Publisher Marcus Smith:  Please accept my apologies for the lack of communication recently.  I finally have good news for you!  SCARE ME has been sent to be printed.  There will be a day or two wait while they manually check the print book for technical error but the ebook is already available to retailers.

He adds that even that has just gone out a few hours ago so it most likely hasn’t had time to appear on retailers’ sites quite yet (in fact, I just checked the US Amazon site myself), but it should be soon.  So keep an eye here as well as on your favorite bookstore — the print edition should follow soon as well, with more news hopefully in the near future.

One By Me In Post Mortem Press The Early Years Offer

Nothing is scarier than the UNKNOWN, except maybe the PLEASURE.  80+ tales of ghosts, zombies, haunted houses, ghouls, mysterious strangers and more.  (Amazon blurb)

Quoth the ad in Friday’s email:  UNKNOWN PLEASURES:  POST MORTEM PRESS THE EARLY YEARS/  Available NOW!  Only 99c or with Kindle Unlimited/  Over 80 original terror-filled tales!  UNKNOWN PLEASURE combines SEVEN volumes of spine-tingling stories from known and emerging authors.  Across nearly 1500 pages you’ll find [image error]ghosts, ghouls, zombies, haunted houses, giant rats, mysterious strangers, and much much more./  Bloodcurdling nightmare-inducing tales to keep you up at night!

And so it continues.  In late 2010 Post Mortem Press entered the small press community with a mind-blowing series of horror anthologies.  Over the course of THIRTEEN classic anthologies, Post Mortem Press introduced the world to some of the most talented authors that were unknown to the reading public, and, [f]or the FIRST time Post Mortem Press and Petulant Child Press have combined the first SEVEN anthologies into a single volume.

The anthologies themselves are, well, the list can be seen for oneself on Amazon’s site by pressing here.  But one seemed familiar, MON COEUR MORTE, number six on the list and with, yes, a story by me.  A tale of lesbian (well, okay) vampire lust titled “A Cup Full of Tears,” perhaps reprinted a couple of times since, but here for the first time.  A short one too, though, out of all these pages totaling only about 1000 words.  But by gosh there it is!

And, if that weren’t enough, there’s an alternative title:  POST MORTEM PRESS THE EARLY YEARS BOOK 1.  That is, there’ll be more.

It Calls From The Forest 2 Sale Friday, Weekend Only

A quick note received from Eerie River Publishing’s Michelle River concerning IT CALLS FROM THE FOREST, VOLUME 2 (see August 7, 1, er al.):  Just an update, the book is selling pretty decently thanks to the New Release on Bookbub.  But I really want to keep up on the top spot [image error]for at least a week, so I am setting up a .99 sale for Friday through Sunday (21-23), in hopes we can maintain top spots in all the lists and grow organically when the pricing goes back to normal.  I have multiple ads running constantly, so my fingers are crossed.

As one may recall, my story in this is called “The Calm,” about an eldritch horror ensconced in the mountains of upstate New York at the time of the French and Indian War.  But to see for one’s self, check it out during the next three days at Bookbub here or, if old go-to companion Amazon should be preferred (where, also, an audiobook version is expected soon), here.

Now It Can Be Told, “Mystery” Mystery Acceptance Revealed

Let us hark back an item or two to August 9, regarding the contract signing for, well, an anthology story, but the publisher doesn’t want details reported until it’s ready for a general announcement.  As pointed out, this isn’t all that unusual, in this case hoping to add a completed table of contents to the official reveal.  But still, it’s nice sometimes for there to be a tease or two, a partial announcement perhaps or maybe some piecemeal glimpses to help pique potential readers’ interest.

So today, from Editor Cameron Trost:  Just a quick email and update.  We’ve received signed contracts from most of you (just awaiting two more).  Thanks for getting them back promptly.  Obviously, we won’t announce the table of contents until we’ve received all the contracts, but for those of you who [image error]have already returned them and are very eager (and thankfully and rightly so!) to make the announcement about your involvement in the anthology, please go ahead.  At this stage, feel free to share the proposed cover design (attached), and share details as previously announced regarding the theme (fairly obvious as the title is self-explanatory) and expected publication next year.

And so:  The anthology title is MURDER AND MACHINERY, from European publisher Black Beacon Books, concerning (to quote from the guidelines) machinery old or new used as a means of murder or menace.  We’re looking for suspense, technological horror, even a little sci-fi or steampunk.  My part in this is a tale called “Vanitas,” an early favorite of mine first published in the January 1996 ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, and is about a church choirmaster in its titular New England town, a one-time ship’s carpenter, and a tragically ill-fated traveling circus.