World Fantasy Award Nomination
Hey, here’s something! A Lush and Seething Hell has been nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Collection.
It has, as they say, a snowball’s chance in a lush and seething hell of winning. People have told me I’m being defeatist when I say this. However, unlike them, I have read Brian Evenson’s Song for the Unraveling of the World and I’m telling you, it’s an honor simply have my book in the same category as his.
And all the other folks too, though I’m ashamed to admit I have not read their works.
Anyway, very cool to be nominated. You can check out all the nominations right chere.
That is all.
Murder Ballads Final Cover and Other Horrific Details of Modern Life
The world has gone mad.
No.
The world hasn’t gone mad. The world’s madness has progressed enough that even myopic, privileged people like me can see it plainly. America is coming apart at the seams, we’re ruled by a kleptocratic death-cult of the Republican Party, and our petty, narcissistic president is the head of a crime-syndicate. A pandemic sweeps through the population without check from the corrupt government. Meanwhile, a well-equipped army occupies every city and town across the nation to quell revolt with extreme prejudice - the American police force. Black men and women are killed with impunity and without repercussion. Native Americans are subjugated by American armed forces, even to this day. And shrimp-dick, walking pieces of excrement white men are conniving and secretly planning a second civil war - the Boogaloo. Karens run rampant through Payless Shoe Stores, calling the cops if a black man steps out of line.
It all makes me sick.
Still.
The gears of life and death keep turning. Bills must get paid. I still must put in the hours at the day job (even if it’s from the spare bedroom). My oldest still has to go back to college.
And I still have a book coming out in July.
It seems such a small thing, in light of the rest of the movement of the world. I don’t know how much attention will be paid to it. But, it’s mine, a part of me and my oeuvre, and I love it and hope the best for it.
Anyway, there’s a full cover, now.
Once again, I am extremely grateful and honored to have Jeffrey Alan Love’s art gracing the cover.
You can order the paperback and you’ll also get a ebook version of it! Which is good news!
That is all.
Trying Something New
In addition to writing books to… ahem… some acclaim, I have also made a living as a senior art director and animator for nigh on 25 years now (though I wasn’t always “senior”). I have studied fine art and while I’m no Karlo Pinsky or Frank Cho, I have some rudimentary hand skills and an ability to create composition that are somewhat pleasing to the eye. I’ve won awards, had designs featured in Lürzers Archive, etc.
The most consistent personal art I’ve done over the years is wood- and linocuts. For some reason printmaking appeals to me. I’ve started a new book - historical in some ways - and I’ve made a decision that my agent has agreed to back me on.
I’m going to illustrate my next novel with linocuts. Or try to.
I was worried that my art might not be up to par, quality-wise, but a few artists I admire have reassured me that is not the case. So we’re going to take a swing and hopefully, if not pass the fences, then at least get a double. I don’t know. I’m not good a baseball metaphors.
That is all.
