My 2011… A Travelogue

THE WEEK AFTER CHRISTMAS is always a week of cleanup for me. Putting away the remnants of one year to prepare for another. I spend hours organizing and backing up computer files, updating my iPod, cleaning off my desk from weeks of detritus… and I also think back a lot on the last 12 months. Of the things unanticipated. Of the dreams met, and dreams lost. We only get so many seasons, and I think…

Continue reading

CHRISTMAS TALES are here!

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN a sucker for Christmas. A lot of people don’t expect a “horror” writer to get all warm and mushy for the holidays, but I am a big fan of colored lights, Christmas trees, homemade frosted cookies, warm holiday fireplaces, eggnogg (the real homemade stuff, not that bubblegum syrup they sell in the stores) and everything else that goes with the season. Every year, my son and I even build a Gingerbread house!…

Continue reading

NightWhere before Christmas!

I HAVE TO SAY, this has been a pretty good week! On Monday night (actually, 1 a.m. Tuesday morning) I finished my final edits on my 6th novel, NightWhere! So finally, after a couple weeks of editing and rewriting (and a series of very late nights there at the end!), I turned in  the book to my editor Don D’Auria at Samhain. It’s scheduled for release in June 2012. The next day, I was on…

Continue reading

R.I.P. Anne McCaffrey

I WAS SADDENED last week to learn that science fiction/fantasy icon Anne McCaffrey died of a massive stroke at 85. Anne McCaffrey — or more specifically, her fiction — was a key part of my childhood. I’ll admit, I haven’t read her work for many years now… in my 20s my reading tastes slowly shifted from SF/F to horror. But there was a time in my life, in my early teens, that I was absolutely…

Continue reading

Halloween 2011

TODAY WAS HALLOWEEN, one of my favorite days of the year, since everyone celebrates the “strange” in their own ways. I took a day off work today, mainly so that I could go Trick or Treating with my son Shaun, the ultimate “Angry Bird.” When 4 p.m. came, we headed across the neighborhood to hook up with a couple of his friends and began to canvass the area houses for treats.   I wore a monster…

Continue reading

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! Every year, I try to offer some kind of free story for the holiday, and this year, I’ve gotten permission from the publisher to post, at least for a short time, the short story that inspired my fifth novel, The Pumpkin Man. Originally written back in 2006 as a story for me to read at library appearances and other public events during Halloween, the short story called “The Pumpkin Man” was eventually printed in Doorways…

Continue reading

PUMPKIN MAN on Sony Spooky Reads

YESTERDAY THE SONY e-Bookstore sent out an e-newsletter promoting Spooky Reads for the season, and I was psyched that they featured The Pumpkin Man. It was especially cool since they placed it right there next to a Jonathan Maberry novel (and Jonathan gave me a great blurb for the novel). Sony also has The Pumpkin Man and a bundle of my first four novels listed on its Spooky Reads website page… and The Pumpkin Man…

Continue reading

Chicago PUMPKIN MAN Launch

TONIGHT IS THE Chicago launch party for my fifth novel The Pumpkin Man at the appropriately titled Bucket O’ Blood Books and Records in Chicago. I’m really looking forward to reading tonight (in just about 4 hours as I write this!), as well as hearing my fellow authors Cynthia Pelayo and Marc Ruvolo read. The event is scheduled to start at 7:30 and should run til at least 9 p.m., I’d guess. We’ll have copies…

Continue reading

Of Werewolves & Pumpkin Men

SO I HAVE TO SAY I was pretty disappointed this week to learn that the new Newcastle seasonal brew — Werewolf “Blood Red Ale” — wasn’t manufactured in enough quantity to last through Halloween. I mean… shouldn’t you drink a Werewolf next weekend? Not unless you hoarded some away in the fridge. Chicago stores are all out of it. On a plus note, Newcastle’s (also new) Winter IPA hit this week… and it’s pretty drinkable!…

Continue reading

The Pumpkin Man is here!

IT’S OCTOBER, and that means… The Pumpkin Man is coming! Actually, The Pumpkin Man is here. You can see it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Dorchester, etc. I received my copies of the trade paperback on Friday, and they look great! My fifth novel started shipping to bookstores early last week, and went live on Amazon and other online stores on October 4th; it should be on-shelf in the major chain stores this week. The…

Continue reading