New reviews and next guest blog

I hope everyone is doing well. Just dropping three links to new stuff. I hope you dig 'em.

My next guest blog is live on Blu Gilliand's cool site *October Country: Using Destruction to Build Something Beautiful.*

Jennifer at Book Den reviewed my short story CROOKED STICK FIGURES. *Here*

And Sheri White landed the first review for my forthcoming novel NURSERY RHYMES 4 DEAD CHILDREN. *Here*

Thanks Blu, Jennifer, Sheri, and anyone who takes time to check out what they sacrificed time to do.

Put a pistol to her belly

because she likes being scared.

Been a busy bee.

Working on my next guest blog post for *Blu Gilliand's October Country*: Using Destruction to build something beautiful (the art of conflict, subplot, and backstory. Should have it finished in the next couple days and will announce when it's live. Thanks to the great people who've let me post on their blogs and to you for reading and commenting! You can read all of them via the "2011 Blog Tour" at the top there.

I'm boycotting Dorchester/Leisure because they've become assholes--stealing authors works they no longer have the rights to and selling them, not paying those authors monies long-past due, and for being trolls. You can read about it *Here*

And Brian Keene mentioned my name! How cool is that? Thanks Brian!

Also going to run a contest soon. I'm getting two of these Crowmother shirts from The Bag and The Crow and will give them away to one lucky man and one lucky woman. It's for a great cause and for a great friend. You can pick one up for yourself or someone you care about, too, and get entered in a contest with some great prizes. Please check it out! *Details*

There's a new review up on The Crow's Caw by my buddy Sheldon Higdon. *Here*

I've seen the artwork for my deluxe hardcover of *AS I EMBRACE MY JAGGED EDGES* which will go up for pre-order on Sideshow Press the 1st of April. It's going to be a fantastic production and have a never before published short that I'm pretty proud of as well. Nifty. The digital version is cheap and has gotten some great reviews you can read in the "Reviews" tab at the top of my blog.

Working on the second Division book and had some revelations that will make them much more than I ever thought they could be. The first book *NURSERY RHYMES 4 DEAD CHILDREN (Delirium Books, May 2011)* is already in the hands of some talented reviewers and I'm looking forward to what people think of it. It's the starting place for the world I'm creating, and it only gets darker from there. I'm pretty damn proud of this series and everything my characters go through.

My short *CROOKED STICK FIGURES* is only free for a short while longer. People have been digging it, which makes me smile. I never thought I'd care so much about feedback, but it turns out I do. What a dork, eh?

Life is pretty good. I'm tired more than I want to be, but thrilled to have so many wonderful people in my life and so many good things happening. It's a big shift from the way my life used to be.

How is everyone else doing? Whatcha reading that has tugged on your heartstrings or scared you silly?

Guest blog #4, Honorable Mentions, etc.

My fourth guest blog "On Pushing Boundaries" is live on Literary Mayhem. A big thank you to Peter Scwhotzer! And a big thank you to anyone who reads and/or comments!

*On Pushing Boundaries*



I also came home from work the other day and found three of my stories (all three my first sales where I made some money last year!) are on Ellen Datlow's Honorable Mentions list for Best Horror of the Year, volume 3. Thanks, Ellen! And thanks to Shaun and Kevin (who also has an Honorable Mention! Yay for Kevin!) for their editing skills, and the publishers (Shane Staley, Steve Clark, and Boyd Harris) who picked them up!

*Year's Best Horror, volume 3: Honorable Mentions*

Some other things that are cool:

A neat little story by Cate Gardner. I have her fantastic collection Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits and other curious things. *And, the bride wore ashes*

Also just saw that Cate's great collection is available on Kindle now: *Buy it!*

My Sunshine Lady, Kara, got a new job! Very proud of her!

You can find some great book reviews at *The Crow's Caw.*

And a great review of one of my favorite writer's new books: *Greg Gifune's Dreams the Ragman.*


I don't know if it's the time of year where writers compare themselves to their peers but it seems to be going around. So... um... stop it. That doesn't help you do YOUR thing. Or maybe it does. Maybe you need to get angry, disappointed, or jealous to write your best work, to move to the next level. Just keep an open mind. None of our paths are exactly the same even though the bedrock is usually fashioned of certain elements.

I'm feeling good. Could be the pride I feel for my wonderful gal, the honorable mentions, the progress on the novel, or a combination of them all, who knows, who cares. Life can always be a lot worse. Always. A lot. So smile. You've got good things going for ya!

The One Great Magician

is not making an appearance. Because he's dead.

In other news...

My 3rd guest blog "On Knowing What You Want" is live on Neal Hock's The Bookhound's Den! Thanks Neal! This is a subject I've known and adored my whole life so suck it. Also, leave a comment if you want! Tell Neal he has nice teeth and pretty eyes.

*Press me!*

I'm pretty thrilled that the signature sheets for NURSERY RHYMES 4 DEAD CHILDREN are in the mail! And my August release from Delirium Books--IRON BUTTERFLIES RUST--is all pretty now that I went over the galley. Only found 3 things to fix which attests that my buddies Shaun and Kevin are some damn fine editors. Big Thanks! This is my second galley so far this year. I'm hoping for two more after summer. Oh, one can dream... :)

My fun short novel BEFORE LEONORA WAKES is on sale for 99 cents for the next week! Well worth a buck. It's the first Red Piccirilli story and he ties into my forthcoming Delirium books. Pretty cool! I like this kid. A wicked novella starring him when he's a little older is under consideration with a great publisher right now.

*Magic click*

I also reviewed Brett McBean's "Concrete Jungle" for The Crow's Caw. Check it out if you want to punch a bad guy in the sack. Oh, you'll want to. The antagonist is quite loathsome.

*Nut punch*

Working hard on the next novel. Have a couple of short stories planned. Reading some stuff. Ah. Life is so damn fun. But I am ready for summer.

I put some fancy tabs at the top of the blog too. Make it easy to keep certain things in one spot. Smart fella, I is. Sometimes. :D

Don't make me hurt you...

because that's not good for either one of us! You know what is good though?
Been busy with work lately, not my normal job, but it's paying the bills while I scribble. I'm a man of many means. Like Austin Powers without all the fancy outfits.

I haven't been able to write as much as I want to lately but I'm not sweating it. When I do have time I can get some quality work done.

Also got great news from my publisher that involves later this year. Looking forward to sharing that when the time comes!

Then there's this:

*#3 on Horrormall's February bestseller list--Thanks sexy people who have given me your time and money and trust!*

and...

*Horrorworld's review of As I Embrace My Jagged Edges--Thanks T.T. Zuma!*

and...

*Review of Crooked Stick Figures--Thanks, Greg!*

*Another review of Crooked Stick Figures--Thanks, Neal!*

*Another, nother review of Crooked Stick Figures--Thanks person I don't know but like anyway!*

*Possibly another review of CSF or it could be something else. I think it's something else.--Thanks Ken!*



My first two guest blogs are live:

*Number 1: On Becoming a Writer--Thanks, John!*

*Number 2: On Persevering--Thanks, Bec!*



and I'm working on the third one for this weekend--On Knowing What You Want--which will be on the fantastic Mr. Neal Hock's blog: The Bookhound's Den.

I'm also pretty excited about some short stories coming out this spring/summer/fall in Shock Totem issue 4, Apex's Zombie Feed anthology, Dark Discoveries, an antho that I haven't been able to announce yet, and another antho I was invited to recently but need to write the story for in the next couple months. Fun times!

How is everyone else? I hope you're all having a wonderful time!