WELL IT WAS STARTING to get a bit ulcer-inducing there, but today at 3 p.m., I finally picked up the first project of my new publishing imprint, Dark Arts Books. You can read more about the formation of the imprint at www.darkartsbooks.com. But the key point is, Candy in the Dumpster, a four-author anthology of Chicago horror authors featuring work from me, Bill Breedlove, Jay Bonansinga, Martin Mundt and an introduction by Mort Castle at…
I WROTE THE original story “There Were No Bullets in the Gun,” eventually retitled Failure, three summers ago now. In the fall of 2004, after Delirium Books agreed to publish it as the debut volume in a new “hardcover chapbook” series, I also created cover art for the book, using a wild mix of photos I took when I was in Philadelphia a year ago, some bullets and a gun from my dad’s, a bit…
IT’S ACTUALLY New Year’s Eve as I write this on my laptop on the couch, watching the “return of Dick Clark” New Year’s Eve countdown show (there’s a zombie movie inherent in Clark’s return, isn’t there?) As I watched all the “top moments of the past year and the past decade” shows tonight, I had to reflect back on my own experiences over the past 12 months. And 2005 was a year of amazing personal…
IT’S BEEN NINE YEARS since my last World Fantasy Con — which was held in Schaumburg, right down the street from where I work, and was also my first World Con. At that convention, I was still very much a newbie writer, knew no one and had no idea what to expect, but I made some great contacts — from Ken Wisman and Joe and Bobbi Morey who ran Dark Regions magazine to writers like…
TONIGHT I PULLED UP outside the Acorn Public Library in Oak Forest, IL and the white-lit sign outside proclaimed: Horror Author, October 27, 7 p.m. Wow…there it was, my name up in lights…oh wait a minute – my name wasn’t there. Oh well, I knew it meant me! I walked in and found my hostess, who gave me a wonderful introduction to the small, but appreciative audience, and she also found a way to turn…
WITH THE BIRTH of my son, Shaun Austin on July 15, I’ve been a little too…busy…to update this journal…but there’s been lots going on. I’ve had a bunch of press hit on my winning the HWA Bram Stoker award (see Chicago Tribune article at right!), and have a lined up a long list of appearances for October and November. This week kicked off the official “John Everson Halloween 2005 Tour!” Seriously, I have more events…
THIS WEEKEND, Aurora, IL hosted the Midwest Literacy Festival, and Twilight Tales hosted a table there, as well as scheduled live readings. I had a blast hanging out with everyone, signing at the table, and doing my reading. Here are a few pictures from the event!
NANCY ETCHEMENDY CAN correct me, but I’m pretty sure my first words to her upon returning from the podium were…”holy crap.” I didn’t expect to win the Stoker Award for First Novel from the Horror Writers Association (HWA) last weekend. Honest. It was an honor to be nominated, but while my novel, Covenant, received good initial reviews, it was also on the smallest press out of the four nominees, so I really didn’t have high…
WHEN MY PLANE landed at LaGuardia Airport on April 7, 2005, my heart leapt — it felt like I was coming home. It was the first time I’d been back to Manhattan since I spent a summer there as a magazine intern in NYC 18 years ago, working on 52nd Street and living down near the East Village in an NYU dorm. It remains one of my favorite times in my life. And when I…
WOW…JUST…WOW! What a month. Yesterday, the Horror Writers Association announced the Final Ballot for the 2004 Bram Stoker Awards — and my novel Covenant (Delirium Books) was nominated in the “First Novel” category, along with Black Fire by James Kidman (Leisure) Move Under Ground by Nick Mamatas (Night Shade Books) and Stained by Lee Thomas (Wildside Press). It was also announced that my publisher, Delirium Books, will receive the 2004 Specialty Press Award for its…
