Fireside Magazine

I am very excited and honored to be a part of the Fireside Magazine project. Click on the link to see the details, but it's a Kickstarter campaign for a terrific magazine of short stories, a comic, and amazing artwork.

From the editor, Brian White:

"Fireside is a quarterly magazine of short fiction and comics. We have two goals. One is to publish great storytelling without regard to genre. As I like to quote Neil Gaiman, we want stories make the reader say, "And then what happened?"

Our other goal is to pay writers and artists at a rate that helps them make a living from their creative work. The current rate considered professional for short fiction is 5 cents per word. In Fireside, which publishes stories of 2,000-4,000 words, that would translate to $100 to $200, which isn't much considering the time that goes into writing, revising, and polishing a story. Fireside pays 12.5 cents per word, which means $250-$500, and we have what we hope are equivalent rates for our artists."

I will be sharing a table of contents with Stephen Blackmoore, Kat Howard, Jake Kerr, and Steve Walker, and the artwork will be done by the immensely talented Galen Dara.

And there are rewards for donations. Everything from electronic copies to autographed print copies to having a character in one of the stories named after you! So please, if you have a few dollars to spare, consider donating to Fireside.

Interview with Samhain Author, Hunter Shea

I recently interviewed fellow Samhain Horror author, Hunter Shea. Hunter is the author of the excellent haunted house novel, Forest of Shadows, and his new novel, Evil Eternal, was released on May 1st.

Thank you so much for agreeing to an interview, Hunter. Can you tell my readers a bit about yourself?

Well, the fact that I’m here talking to you about my second book with Samhain means I’m one of the luckiest guys in New York! Aside from lucky, I’m a politically incorrect goofball who loves to write, read and watch horror. I’m a total horror junkie. But more important than that, I’m also a dad to two amazing daughters and husband to my soul mate. Oh yeah, and I’m a diehard Mets fan.

Can you tell us a little bit about Evil Eternal?

Evil Eternal is my wildest creation to date. It’s an over –the-top, good vs. evil story about Father Michael, an undead ‘priest’ who lives under the Vatican and is called out every dew decades to battle the devil’s minions. This time around, he’s asked to stop Armageddon at the hands of Cain (the bad half of Cain and Abel) who has come to New York to smash the gates of hell wide open. I grew up a comic book lover and I tried to give Evil Eternal that kind of grand, in your face feel, with non-stop action and more gore than you’d get in all of the Friday the 13th movies combined.

Why horror?

Ever since I was a little kid sneaking peeks at the second feature horror flicks at the local drive-in, I’ve been a fan. I love all monsters (which is why I do a podcast called The Monster Men) and get a kick out of the thrill of being scared. Being indoctrinated into the horror fold by shows like In Search Of, The Night Stalker and Chiller Theatre when I was young sealed my fate.

Have you always loved horror?

Always have, always will.

Who are your literary influences?

The first ‘grown up’ book I ever read was Stephen King’s Night Shift. I don’t think there’s a horror writer in my generation that hasn’t been influenced by him. His creativity, style and ability to populate a book with so many rich characters are stunning. I’m an enormous Hemingway fan. I try to keep him in the back of my head when I write, demanding that I keep things short and to the point. Other writers whose books I absorb are Robert McCammon, Shirley Jackson, H.P. Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, Bentley Little and Brian Keene.

What are some of your favorite books?

I could go on for days, but I’ll keep it short and sweet:

I am Legend by Richard Matheson
Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Necroscope by Brian Lumley
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Snow in August by Pete Hamill

What does your writing process look like?

It kind of looks like Nick Nolte after a month long bender. I’m kidding. It changes, depending on what I’m working on. I know people say you have to write every day, but that’s just not possible, especially if you have a day job and a family. I set goals for myself when I’m in the middle of a book. It might be 15,000 words one week, then 5,000 the next because I have to tend to other things. I’ve learned to write just about anywhere. A lot of Evil Eternal was written in my kitchen. Whenever and wherever I can find the time, I write.

What are you working on now?

I’m actually putting the finishing touches on a new horror novel called, for the moment, Double Walker. It’s a follow up to my first novel, Forest of Shadows. After that, I plan to write a few stories and novellas to continue the Evil Eternal storyline, then onto a totally different book that deals with a very new kind of monster.

Is there anything else you'd like to let the readers know about?

For those of you who love to read horror, you really need to check out Samhain Publishing. There are so many amazing things going on over there. I can guarantee that they will be the biggest name in horror sometime over the next year or so. And for the aspiring writers, my motto, which I have tattooed on my arm, is to never give up. I worked on the craft of writing for 15 years before I made my first big sale. A lot of people started with me, but threw in the towel. Just keep writing, keep improving and learn the business. Good things will come to you.

Thank you again, Hunter! I loved Forest of Shadows and I'm looking very forward to reading Evil Eternal, which is patiently waiting on my Nook.

Only one priest can battle the ultimate evil!

An evil as ancient as time itself has arisen and taken root in New York City. Father Michael, the mysterious undead defender of the Church, answers the call to action from the Vatican, while Cain, a malevolent wraith that feeds on fear and blood, has taken the life and form of the city's mayor and readies a demonic army to ignite the apocalypse.

With an unlikely ally, Father Michael will prepare for the grim confrontation as he grapples with his sworn duty to God and the shreds of humanity left beating in his immortal heart. The time is ripe for Cain and the fulfillment of dark prophecies. Father Michael must battle Cain and his horde of demons in a final showdown that could very well herald the end of mankind.

Evil Eternal is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or from Samhain directly.

For more information about Hunter and to keep up to date with his work, please visit his website huntershea.com.

An Interview With Yours Truly

I was recently interviewed by Tee Tate of LitStack. I babble about writing, rejection, the books I read as a child, and what really happened the first time I saw Alien. You can read the interview here.

What I'm Reading

My to-read pile has reached epic proportions. I think I could read for six months straight and still not read everything I want to. Alas, it is what it is. Here are some of the works I've read recently. I highly recommend all of them.

Novels:
Machine by Jennifer Pelland
White Horse by Alex Adams
Westlake Soul by Rio Youers
Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
Short Fiction:
Forget You by Marc Laidlaw - Lightspeed Magazine
Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes by Tom Crosshill - Clarkesworld
Decomposition by Rachel Swirsky - Apex Magazine
Mad Cats and Englishmen by Laura Anne Gilman - Daily Science Fiction
Sinking Among Lilies by Cory Skerry - Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Poetry:
What the Dragon Said: A Love Story by Catherynne M. Valente - Tor.com

Release Day for Penumbra eMag

Penumbra eMag's Fractured Fairy Tales issue is available today from Musa Publishing, which features my story, And When the Innocence Falls to the Floor.

When a young woman searches for the ghosts of her past, there’s nothing to protect her from the truth—
except for the house.

I have a copy of the zine and it is stunning! I know I posted the cover before, but the artwork is gorgeous and deserving of another post.

The issue also includes work from Pauline Alama, Chuck Rothman, Lea C. Duschenes, Robert Lowell Russell, and Lyn McConchie, and an interview with the lovely Gail Carriger.

In the words of Celina Summers, Editor in Chief of Musa Publishing, "These aren't your grandma's fairy tales. You have been warned."