An Event-full Summer

Summertime and the writing's been busy! Now that we're almost to the unofficial end of summer, with Labor Day weekend about to begin, I finally got a few minutes to write a blog post. Best to get your drink of choice, because I got a lot going on to write about:

- came out at the beginning of August to a standing-room only crowd at the Witch House in Salem, MA, when a bunch of us poets read some of our poems there. Couldn't have been a more wondrously spooky evening, and after reading ye book, I can't more highly endorse it! The selection of poems is eclectic and fascinating, with poems that range from the Witch Hysteria of the 1690s to Haunted Happenings in the modern time and everything Salem in between.

- My historical ghost story "The Stranding off Schoodic Point" was accepting into the New England Horror Writers' up-coming anthology "Wicked Haunting", slated for release at our book sale at Salem's Haunted Happening's street bazaar, the last weekend in October, 2017. I'm over the moon with delight, and I now feel like a full-fledged member of this wicked awesome band of spookily-creative folks. Also! For you folks who like to review books, we could use some of you to review ye book and boo-st the news. Click here if you'd like an advance digital review copy!

- Necronomicon 2017! Wow!!! If I had a blast at this eldritch gathering of weird and wondrous folks in 2015, I had an even bigger blast. This time, I was working the other side of the NEHW folks' table in the dealer room, signing books and chatting with people, though I also found time to take in some author readings, including stories from James A Moore (he of Deeper, my beach read of last summer). Peter Dudar, Barry Lee DeJasu, Kij Johnson, and so many others, also two shows by the merry band of madpeople of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre, the brainchild of the H,P, Lovecraft Historical Society, had dinner with the folks of the Lovecraft eZine, and most importantly, took the bus tour of Aitch Pi El's Providence and visited his grave:



I left the gold amusement park token visible on the lower right hand side of the base: I found ye token somewhat randomly on the sidewalk outside my house about a week before the con, and had it tucked away in a pocket of my bag. Realizing I still had it and seeing the other tiny trinkets and tokens folks and fans had left, I decided to place it there. Maybe a reference to the gold trinkets from Innsmouth?

- Just before I left for NecroCon, I got an acceptance letter from The H,P. Lovecraft Lunatic Asylum picked up my "The Horror on the Buffet Table", a tale inspired by "At the Mountains of Madness", in which the protagonist's brush with some gelatinous beasts from beyond has left him panicked at the sight of gelatin mold salads...

- And last but not least, the Kindle pre-order of "One Night in Salem", an anthology of historical and vintage Halloween tales from FunDead Publications has just gone line. Among the dozens of tales from the 1630s to the present day, is my "The Witch Who Blew in on the Storm", set in 1991, the year of the No-Name Hurricane, also known as "the Perfect Storm"

-Also, wish me luck as I submit a zombie story in which I did *not* use the z-word to a zombie fiction anthology. This was a tale I wrote for the heck of it, and since zombie fiction is as thick on the ground as Walkers in The Walking Dead, I had shelved it, thinking I might not find a home for it. But keep me in your thoughts, prayers, rage to the heavens or fist-shaking at the void, as I put this one out there for consideration.

I believe that's all the writing news that's ready to post, but no doubt, if I missed anything, you will hear about it soon.