Now Playing in Theater B and Enpower Comic Con

51VuNhXDRRLMy latest short story publication “Blood and Dust” is available in Now Playing in Theater B from A Murder of Storytellers. The anthology is full of gritty horror from a bunch of great authors. It’s my second anthology with A Murder of Storytellers (Faed was the other). I am happy to be a part of the project.

The story itself is about a rural town during a drought-stricken summer. The children face the horror of a dwindling summer vacation and a beaten-up black limo that rolls in to town with a strange driver. It’s a complete short story, but I have an idea for expansion of that summer in to a full-length novel. We’ll see where the dust-covered muse takes me.

I also want to let everyone know that I will be at Empower Comic Con in Topeka, KS this Saturday. I’ll be speaking on two panels. We’ll be starting at 10 am with Writing 101, a panel focused on the craft of writing, followed by the Writing Business at 11 am.

I’ll be joined on the panels by a variety of local writers, including science fiction writer Jason Arnett, science fiction/fantasy writer Kevin Wohler, urban fantasy writer R. L. Naquin, alternate history/science fiction writer James Young, fantasy/horror writer Dane Kroll, and science fiction writer Suzanne Dome. It should be a lot of fun, and I hope to see everyone there. It’s a first year con, but they’ve got some cool guests, lots of cosplay, and me. What more could you want?

“Patchwork” in Typhon: A Monster Anthology

 

A wtyphonhile back, I took part in a story contest at LitReactor, a literary website that I frequent. The contest required us to produce an original monster and use our hometown as a setting. While my hometown area has always been a source of inspiration for me, “Patchwork” is the first story that I wrote with the geography of Clearfield in my head. That changed a bit in the re-writes leading up to the story’s inclusion in All Manner of Dark Things and the setting changed to that magical Fairfax place that lives in my head. I’ve always been proud of my patchwork monster that steals its bodyparts from its victims. The story that I wrote one afternoon in the corner booth of a busy bar has continued to be one of my favorites.

Now, you can read “Patchwork” in an anthology full of great monsters, inspired by the father of all monsters Typhon, and brought to you by Pantheon Magazine. If you are unfamiliar with Pantheon, they put out a spectacular product, and Typhon is no exception. You can pick up a copy at Amazon or Createspace.

If you use Createspace, be sure to enter coupon code CFAK5JBZ for 15% off.