Philip Fracassi's Blog: PHILIP FRACASSI BLOG, page 6

A Change of Plans — JournalStone Editions of Behold the Void, Sacculina & Fragile Dreams to go OOP — BTV Reissue Announced

It’s with a strained but buoyant heart I write this post.

The last few years have been nothing short of amazing. It’s been thrilling to produce new work, to see it published, and to watch with a sense of awe as readers gravitated to my books – supporting me and my stories in a bigger way than I would have, or could have, ever imagined possible.

But more than anything the last few years have been an education. I’ve learned about writing, I’ve learned about the publishing business, and I’ve learned quite a bit more about people. Good and bad and, at times, confounding. But mostly good.

I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished while toiling in the indie horror world, gathering steam at times, slipping into clinging quicksand at others – but all the while learning, and developing a sense of where I (and more importantly, my writing) fit into this mysterious, shadowed world of ours.

All this to say that things change. Or, more to the point, things evolve. “Two steps forward, one step back” seems a pretty spot-on maxim for the publishing business, and it’s a challenge to keep eyes forward and chin up when taking those awkward dance steps across the beaten floor of the literary sector, but dance we do, because dance we must. (Had we a choice we’d be at the bar, watching the others stagger around like shuffling zombies with broken GPS, or whatever passes for navigation in dead brains).

And so, as I reach this 3-year mark of publishing horror stories (well, 2.5 years to be exact), I’ve made a decision to change. To evolve, I guess. Hopefully for the good, or the better. But one never knows. That one step back might be into a bottomless pit, or a bear trap. Fun, right?

Part of the change is simply this: My first loves will be cast down. New relationships await. And so we come to it, that elusive point.

Over the next few weeks, my JournalStone titles will run out of print. Extinct as dinosaurs. Behold the Void, Sacculina and Fragile Dreams will no longer be available in their current editions. The two novellas will likely never again be available as standalone books.

That’s the grim news.

The good news is this: Behold the Void will be resurrected.

The collection will be re-released in a completely new edition in the upcoming months. A revamped design – including interior story illustrations and a new afterword – will soon become available from my friends at Lovecraft eZine Press.

Once we have a firm date on the new edition (which will be made available in paperback and Kindle eBook), I’ll make an announcement. As of now, we’re shooting for the fall, possibly as early as September if things go well.

In the meantime, I want to thank everyone who purchased, read, promoted, reviewed, and welcomed the early editions of my work. If you have not picked up either of the novellas, now might be the time to do so. If you haven’t picked up the collection, I’d recommend you hold that thought until our new edition is ready. We’re going to do our best to create a gorgeous package to house my nine macabre tales (and the wonderful introduction by Laird Barron), and I’m excited to show it to you.

I want to thank Christopher Payne at JournalStone for supporting my work and publishing the preexisting editions, the editors who assisted with the texts, and Chuck Killorin who did such an amazing job with the covers. I further want to thank Mike Davis at Lovecraft eZine, who is helping sort out the future of a book that means a tremendous amount to me.

More updates to come as things progress. Thanks for reading this and thank you for supporting my work. I hope to keep dancing with you all for years to come.

Thanks as always,

PF

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RIP

 

Belated Pub Day Announcement — Best Horror of the Year Vol. 10

I’m a little late on this but bear with me, it’s been a busy week!

Really proud to announce the release of Ellen Datlow’s annual classic anthology, BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME TEN.

This year’s book includes my short story, “Fail-Safe,” which was originally published as part of my debut collection, BEHOLD THE VOID.

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BEST HORROR 10 is now available in paperback, audiobook and ebook formats. I’ve already listened to the audio version and can tell you it’s wonderfully done.

To buy your copy, just click the link below or ask for it from your favorite local bookstore.

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Blood Standard Release Day

So excited to share this with my followers—the new novel from the great Laird Barron out TODAY! You do not want to miss this one.

With today’s release of Blood Standard, ex-hitter Isaiah Coleridge is loosed upon the scene. Michael Harvey, author of The Brighton Way, put it like this:

“Rendered in icy strokes of prose, Laird Barron’s Blood Standard is a remarkably self-assured crime novel—at once explosive and intimate, with a tightly wound plot and wonderfully realized characters. And then there’s Barron’s hero, Isaiah Coleridge. He’s got a dead dog named Achilles and bits of Beowulf on his breath and in his teeth. Needless to say, there’s not too many like him.”

Thank you to my agent, Janet Reid; my editor, Sara Minnich; publicists Karen Fink, Carolyn Darr, and Stephanie Hargadon; and the entire Putnam team. As always, a special thanks to Jessica M for her love and support, and to my readers–you folks make it possible.

I’ll leave you with an essay that I wrote for CrimeReads. 

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New Author Interview w/ Silent Motorist Media

Thanks to Justin Burnett at Silent Motorist Media for taking the time to conduct a fantastic and insightful new author interview with me.

Please check it out — I discuss (among other things):

– Why I decided to write a Civil War horror story

– How and when I spend time researching certain pieces

– What’s happening with the fictional world of “Sabbath”

– How it felt to break into the genre

– Writers I admire and the future of horror

– What I’m doing next and what’s coming out soon

 

Click HERE or the image below to read the full interview.

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Newsletter Launched!

After much debate and lots of learning about things like e-mailing services and WordPress configurations, I’ve finally been able to put together a Newsletter option for folks who want to be brought up-to-date on new releases, promotions of my titles, exclusive content and giveaways.

If you’d like to join, just click the chimp button or the link below:

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And to kick things off, I’m going to be giving away ONE SIGNED COPY of my brand-new novella, SHILOH, to one of my subscribers. (Likely next week – so don’t delay!)

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Thanks as always for the support!

Launch Day for SHILOH! A brand-new novella of the Civil War and the Supernatural

Pleased to announce that today is the release date for my new novella —

SHILOH!

Shiloh is now available in a brand-new trade edition — paperback and e-book — from Lovecraft eZine Press.

Shiloh is a novella about twin brothers in the American Civil War who get caught up in one of the bloodiest battles in history, only to stumble upon an alternate dimension of supernatural horror at the fringes of the bloodshed.

This edition of Shiloh also includes a bonus story: “Soda Jerk: A Sabbath Story“

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TO PURCHASE, CLICK THE COVER IMAGE

Shiloh was first released in late-2017 in a fine press limited edition of 100 copies from Mount Abraxas Press (sold out), but for the first time is now widely available in a knockout trade edition.

Please note that if you buy the print edition, you get the kindle e-book for only 99 cents!

I want to thank Mike Davis at the Lovecraft eZine Press for creating the gorgeous new edition, and also thank Heather Landry for the cover art, Steve Santiago for the cover design, and Kenneth W. Cain for the interior design and formatting.

Some early praise for Shiloh:

“In Shiloh, Fracassi’s powerful, precise writing immerses the reader in the savage brutality of a Civil War battle – an exquisitely harrowing precursor to the strange horror of the tale. A masterful, mad charge into the weird.” – Jeffrey Ford

“…an exciting, terrifying blend of history, military, and horror fiction.” — Hellnotes

“Shiloh gazes into the darkness and horrors of war and discoversan even deeper threat that dwells just beyond the veil of reality.” — Shotgun Logic

“Shiloh is chilling, atmospheric, and wonderfully written.” — Unnerving Magazine

“Balancing action and atmosphere, the horror of war and supernatural horror, is where Fracassi really shines in this work.” — Signal Horizon

About Shiloh:

For two days in the year 1862, the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War held theatre in southern Tennessee – a patch of land called Shiloh. Thousands of soldiers on both sides of the conflict lost their lives, and tens of thousands more were badly injured.

For twin brothers Henry and William, infantry soldiers in the Confederate Army, the battle held more than the horrors of war. It was a portal to something beyond mankind, where demons tread and angels fly, where the spilling of blood brings not only death, but eternal damnation.

BUY NOW

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PLEASE ADD TO YOUR GOODREADS PAGE (REVIEWS WELCOME!)

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‘Behold the Void’ Gets “Story Collection of the Year” Nod from THIS IS HORROR

What a week!

I was blessed to get married this past weekend to my girlfriend of thirteen years and spend an amazing weekend with family from all over the country, my son and great friends. I’ve just returned from a short honeymoon and can properly address some good news on the publishing side, as well.

I was thrilled to have my debut collection, Behold the Void, win “Story Collection of the Year” from the UK’s home of horror — publisher / podcaster / news aggregator / reviewer extraordinaire THIS IS HORROR. For the book to receive this recognition means so much, especially since it is voted on by readers.

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BEHOLD THE VOID — WINNER — SHORT STORY COLLECTION OF THE YEAR

Having only been in the genre-writing game a few years (my first published story was “Mother” in November, 2015), I was already feeling fortunate to have my stories collected and published by JournalStone Publishing in early-2017 with a brilliant and humbling introduction from one of my favorite writers, Laird Barron.

Positive reviews from press and readers followed, including an unexpected push from The New York Times, and the book was able to find it’s footing and scratch and claw its way into bookstores and homes and kindles and iPads around the world.

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But to think readers would vote BTV the “Story Collection of the Year” is unthinkable and surreal. I’m so thankful to everyone who has read, listened to, shared, posted, tweeted, reviewed, and enjoyed this debut collection of stories, and I hope it continues to find its way into new hands and minds as time goes on.

I’m also thrilled for the foreign editions of BTV to hit the market soon, including a Spanish edition coming in October, 2018 from Dilatando Mentes Editorial, as well as a second (not yet announced) foreign translation / edition coming in 2019.

I want to throw a quick shout-out to the other winners this year: S.P. Miskowski (novel); Stephen Graham Jones (novella); Looming Low (anthology); Black Static (magazine); Crystal Lake Publishing (publisher); Pseudopod (fiction podcast); The Horror Show with Brian Keene (nonfiction podcast).

Thanks again to the team at THIS IS HORROR, and to all the awesome readers for the support. This has been a week I will not forget.

 

Fanboy Post – James Ellroy, L.A. Confidential, and the Egyptian Theater

I don’t fanboy much, but there’s always the exceptions, and this was surely one of them.

Last night I went to the historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood for a special screening of the amazing film L.A. Confidential.

Even more amazing was that one of my favorite writers of all time was there doing a Q&A session prior to the movie.

Ellroy was in character the whole time and couldn’t have been funnier or more engaging. Among other things, he talked about his dislike of Chandler and great admiration for Dashiel Hammett (to paraphrase: “Chandler writes the man he wishes he was, Hammett writes the man he’s afraid he’ll become.”), his strong dislike for Stanley Kubrick movies (there’s got to be a story there…), and how he hand-writes all his novels and owns neither a computer or cell phone (he faxes).

He’s also not a fan of the film itself, which caused some heckling from the audience which the Demon Dog was more than happy to quash.

After the movie (still amazing!) I got to spend a few minutes with Mr. Ellroy and he could not have been more gracious or kind. A true pleasure and I hope to have the opportunity at some point again in the future.

For now I’ll dig into Perfidia and relish L.A.’s greatest writer of “hard-boiled historical romances” (his words).

My only regret is I didn’t bring a book for him to sign! Next time.

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Me and the great Mr. Ellroy

Outer Dark Symposium 2018 – Wrap-Up

As always happens, I return from a gathering of writers inspired and driven to work harder in order to feel myself worthy of their gracious company and brilliant ideas.


 


The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird 2018 (or ODS ’18 to me) was one such event. I did enjoy reading from my upcoming novella, SHILOH, and watching other writers read from past, present and forthcoming work. Thanks to Alvaro Zinos-Amaro for moderating my fascinating panel on the Weird.


 


Of course the best part of these cons is meeting new folks and making new friends in the community, and I want to thank all my new writer pals for putting up with me and allowing me to participate. The setting, also, was perfect, as the Winchester Mystery House was indeed unsettling and quite mad.



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Special thanks to Scott Nicolay and Anya Martin for putting it all together. And although I missed out on meeting some people (it was a one-day event, after all!), I want to give a shout-out to those I did get to shake hands with (and perhaps tip a pint): Mike Griffin, Michael Adams, John Foster, Eric Schaller, Cody Goodfellow, Greg Bossert, Marc Laidlaw, Brandon Petry, Gordon B. White, John Claude Smith, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Craig L. Gidney, Ross E. Lockhart, Andrew Reichart, Matthew Jaffe, Rebecca J. Allred, Liv Rainey-Smith, Sam Cowan and many others whose full names I didn’t get or have slipped through the cracks of my fragmented mind. If we’d had another day I’m sure I would have met everyone — next time I hope.

BEHOLD THE VOID 1-Year Anniversary (belated)

I got one of those Facebook reminder things this morning, and it sort of stunned me.

It reminded me that my debut collection, BEHOLD THE VOID, was released just over one year ago today (March 10, to be exact).

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And as writers tend to do, I got sentimental. I thought of all the cool things that have happened to me as a writer, and also to that book and the stories within, since then.

Since BEHOLD THE VOID was released, I’ve published a novella (Sacculina) and eight short stories in multiple anthologies and magazines. I’ve sold three more novellas set for publication in April, July and early 2019, and multiple stories. In addition, BEHOLD THE VOID will be reprinted as a Spanish edition, to be released late in 2018, which is kinda neat.

BEHOLD THE VOID was reviewed (somewhat favorably) in The New York Times, LOCUS, Rue Morgue and by a slew of other reviewers and bloggers who helped make the early launch a success. It was also on the pre-ballot list for the Stoker and was nominated by This Is Horror as Story Collection of the Year.

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Most recently, one of the stories from the collection (“Fail-Safe”) was selected to be included in Ellen Datlow’s BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME TEN, which completely blindsided me.

As a writer in the last year, I acquired – and left – an agent, wrote a screenplay that’s in development, attached myself to another incredible television project, and wrote enough stories to start shopping a second collection, as well as a novel (I’ll let you know how that goes). I also got to meet a bunch of heroes, like Dennis Etchison and Peter Straub. Crazy.

 

Lastly, and most importantly, I made a ton of new friends. Writers and readers (insert *Cheer* audio here), who have kept me aloft with support, camaraderie, and kind words. You have no idea how far a little affirmation, a little support, can go. Thanks to those who let me vent, whine and discuss deep-seeded fears via podcast, PM, text, email and the old-fashioned phone.

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I’m proud of BEHOLD THE VOID, but if the last year has taught me anything, it’s that despite any accolades or reviews or support, it all comes back to the Work. In the end, it’s the only thing a writer can control. It’s the ultimate backstop. The big fallback. The original state of being.

And so I continue to work, as best and as hard as I can, to create another year of opportunities and stories that I hope folks enjoy.

Thanks for everything – you’ve been amazing.

Stay tuned.

 

 

PS — And if you haven’t read BEHOLD THE VOID, click the image below to purchase as an ebook, paperback, hardcover or audiobook!

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