David Baldacci among writers headlining the Lewisburg Literary Festival for 2024
Lewisburg, one of my favorite WV small towns, is home to cute little shops, art galleries, caves, restaurants, an indie bookstore, and, every August, the Lewisburg Literary Festival, one of my favorite events. This year, come out on August 2nd–3rd for this totally free festival that brings nationally known authors in to speak—past authors include Garth Stein, David Sedaris, and Jeannete Walls. This year, the featured Mainstage Authors are Ronni Lundy, Patrick Bringley, Victoria Christopher Murray, and David Baldacci.
At 6 this Saturday evening, June 22nd, I’ll be discussing my books with Dr. Ashley Lawson at Alexandria on Main (Elkins, WV). Please join us! Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at Alexandria on Main’s website. $8 for adults, $5 for students. Get them now, and see you on Saturday!
On June 22nd, from 6pm–8pm, I’ll have the honor of discussing my writing at Alexandria on Main, Elkins’s new independent bookstore. Dr. Ashley Lawson, a professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College, will be facilitating the conversation with me, after which I’ll be signing copies of my books. I heard a rumor that there might be snacks. SNACKS!
“The heart-racing mystery will keep readers wondering who to trust and how the story will end.” — Publishers Weekly
Kindle owners, rejoice: this week, my ghost thriller, Little One, is discounted on Amazon down to only 99 cents in the US and UK for a few days. That’s right, just one dollar for hours of snowy hauntings, delivered hot and ready to your Kindle. That’s cheaper even than the Dollar Tree these days!
Reviews are coming in for Stephen Mark Rainey’s anthology, Deathrealm: Spirits, in which I’m honored to have my short story “To Fear and To Rage” appear among other stories by all-star writers much more worthy than myself.
And reviews are good! Kirkus Reviews had favorable words for it upon its release a few months ago, calling it “Spine-tingling and sometimes stomach-churning… unflinchingly tense… a solid compilation that will satisfy avid fans of a range of horror subgenres.”
Carson Buckingham, writing for The Horror Review and its associated websites, says, “There is something for everyone here; so whether you enjoy splatter, suspense, or paranormal, you can’t go wrong with Stephen Mark Rainey’s Deathrealm: Spirits. This would be a wonderful Christmas gift for any horror aficionados on your list.”
Both reviewers call out “To Fear and To Rage” specifically. Kirkus says, “[Deathrealm: Spirits] hits its stride in its third offering, Timothy G. Huguenin’s ‘To Fear and To Rage,’ about a father and son whose remote mountain town is slowly overrun by unsettling faceless, eyeless creatures.” Carson is even more positive, listing my story as one of her favorites and claiming, “I had to remind myself to breathe reading this one.”
Christmas is almost here, everybody. So if you’re still trying to find that last-minute gift, follow the advice of these reviewers and grab yourself a copy today. Anybody out there who are already fans, don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Thanks for reading!
Back in 2020 (wasn’t that like, three months ago? or fifteen years ago?), Daniel Marcus and Laura Blackwell beganStory Hour, a weekly live video of speculative fiction authors reading their own stories. Turns out stories are important and fun even after we’re no longer shut indoors all day, and the hosts been continuing their show ever since.
This Wednesday (uh—is that tomorrow already?) I’ll be teaming up with Todd Keisling, author of Devil’s Creek, Cold, Black, & Infinite, and my personal favorite The Final Reconciliation, to unleash unspeakable doom and madness upon Story Hour’s ill-fated listeners—er, bring comfort and entertainment to our friends…
The Story Hour hosts are riding that rad west coast vibe, so hit up the Story Hour website (https://www.storyhour2020.com) at 7:00 PST tomorrow night—that’s 10:00 p.m. eastern, way past my bedtime—that’s how much I love y’all! There will be a link on their home page to the Facebook Live and Zoom video feeds. If you miss it, or even if you don’t, they record all of these readings. Check out their growing archive of author readings on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100039975042631&sk=videos.
Stay up late with us tomorrow night! We’ll keep you awake
Get ready Charleston, it’s one of the best weekends of the year—the West Virginia Book Festival! This Saturday (Oct 21), from 8:00 am to 6:oo pm, come meet WV authors (including me) for a day of book-buying, presentations, and hearing from the headline featured authors. It’s free to attend. As usual, I’ll be there, selling my books and some new mugs. So make some space on your calendar this Saturday for the West Virginia Book Festival, held at the Charleston Coliseum. For more information, go to wvbookfestival.org.
It was a warm September evening in High Point, West Virginia, when Silas first saw the Yellow Carousel.
Early September is upon us—summer’s last gasp, anticipation of autumn, maturing sunflowers… And, for a certain retired surface miner and his wife, the Yellow Carousel’s arrival.
Though squash vine borers have decimated my wife’s acorn squashes, zucchinis, and delicatas this year (still holding out hope for a couple of pumpkins that look okay), it’s been a good year for the rest of the garden, including our sunflowers.
Sunflowers are my favorite flowers. I’m big on Russian Mammoths, but we tried some new ones this year to add more color and variety in size. Can’t help smiling whenever I see them. How can those big, bright petals bring a person anything but joy?
Say a giant sunflower-shaped carousel sprouts suddenly in your back yard. Weird, sure. But would you really think it such a bad thing? You can forgive a lonely old guy like Silas if he’s not overly wary when it happens to him. But beauty is often as dangerous as it is alluring.
If you haven’t yet read my story “The Yellow Carousel” (Cosmic Horror Monthly #35, May 2023 – read online for free), September is the perfect time. Take it out on the back porch after work, while the evenings still have a touch of late summer heat. If you have a sunflower garden like me, plop your chair right there among their heavy heads nodding in the breeze. Maybe make yourself a cup of tea to sip as you read, to fight off that chill when the sun goes down behind the pines.
And if something strange appears in your lawn, or in the playground across the street, or your neighbor’s backyard…
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Silas and Emma have settled into a quiet retirement in High Point, West Virginia. There’s nothing so peaceful as a September sunset painting the pines that edge their field. From this magic twilight emerges the Yellow Carousel, as if planted and grown just for Silas. Why shouldn’t he climb its sunflower petals and mount its undulating deer?
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