Two of my loves have intersected (NPR’s 100 Best Horror)

I don’t listen to the radio as much as I listen to podcasts, but most of my favorite podcasts are derived from public radio, so NPR is dear to me. And they are piling on some major bonus points. Having polled readers for their favorite horror novels and stories, judges who are well-known within the horror fiction community sifted through the results and whittled them down to an expertly curated list of one hundred! Find them here and figure out what you need to add to your reading list. I’m happy to say that one of the works I nominated made it to the list: “The Repairer of Reputations”, which is one of my favorite short stories and the first in Robert W. Chambers’ unforgettable classic collection, The King in Yellow.

New interview, new fiction! – Hinnom Magazine 007 now available

In association with Hinnom Magazine‘s new issue release, Gehenna & Hinnom Books has posted an interview with me up at their website. Go on and check it out!
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Hinnom Magazine Issue 007 is now available in both Kindle and paper formats. Get it now to read my new short story, “The Station Agent’s Wife, 1927” as well as other fiction by Sarah Gribble, Pete Rawlik, David Turton, and poetry by Adam Bolivar and Deborah L. Davitt.
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"The Station Agent’s Wife, 1927" to appear in Hinnom Magazine Issue 007

In December we met poor Fischer, a boy with some disturbing body troubles living in Augustus Valley, WV (“Fischer’s Mouth”, Hinnom Magazine Issue 004). In April, we were sucked under the mighty Augustus River with Charlie the river guide and despaired at what he found beneath (“The Unknown Thing”, Beneath the Waves: Tales from the Deep). This summer, travel back in time to 1927, when Augustus Valley was at its height as southern West Virginia’s coal mining capital. Meet Anna Sullivan, new mother and wife of Jim Sullivan, the young new station agent at the C&O Depot. Mrs. Sullivan loves her new house provided by the C&O and is proud of her husband’s position. But as we have already learned, and as Anna discovers, sooner or later things get weird in Augustus Valley. Sure, you can try to ignore it…
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Read “The Station Agent’s Wife, 1927” in Hinnom Magazine Issue 007. The Kindle version is now available on Amazon for pre-order, and the paper issue should be available soon after the Kindle version goes live.
UPDATE: as of 6-30-2018, both versions are available to purchase and read! go get it! Also, read their interview with me here!

The new issue also features poetry by Adam Bolivar and Deborah L. Davitt, as well as short fiction by Sarah Gribble, Pete Rawlik, and David Turton. As always, up to date reviews and interviews regarding current trends and authors in horror are inside. See the cover and complete TOC at the Gehenna & Hinnom Books website. I’m honored to be in company with these cool cats!
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Back to School!

A little life update! I’ve finally decided to take the big step and apply for a graduate program through an online school called Western Governors University. I’m hoping to start classes toward their Master of Arts in Teaching, English Education (Secondary) that leads to state licensure so that I can become a high school English teacher. Before I do that, though, I have a number of prerequisite credits I need to get, since my undergrad degree was not focused on English. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, student loans only cover the master’s, not for the prerequisite classes. Gotta pay for those out of pocket.
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Finding affordable classes is so hard. But I don’t know any other way to do this so I guess even if it takes me longer than I thought, I do what I gotta do. I’m going to try to pass the CLEP exams for American Literature and English Literature, leaving me with only 3 lit credits remaining to get from somewhere. If you all know any super cheap online college literature classes, as well as Linguistics (3 credits) and Cultural Studies (3 credits), please help me out and show me where!!!
What this means for my writing: I’m still working on my Bigfoot novel, though progress may become even slower than it is now. I’m also still working toward trying to find an agent and/or publisher for Schafer. I’m also hoping to write one or two more short stories this year. But the priority is figuring out how to get these prerequisite credits and then start working toward becoming a teacher.
So feel free to send me some prayers, or good vibes if that’s your thing, advice …or money…
 

Reading List: "The Pine Arch Collection" by Michael Wehunt (The Dark Magazine, May 2018)

Hot off the digital presses at The Dark Magazine, today I read Michael Wehunt’s new story, “The Pine Arch Collection”.

A tribute to found-footage style horror films like The Blair Witch Project, the story is presented as a thread of emails among filmmakers and a mysterious horror film group calling itself Pine Arch Research, which is “based—locally.” A representative of the aforementioned group emails filmmaker Aly Duarte an invitation to submit work to the Pine Arch Collection, a horror film series to be later uploaded to YouTube, “Cult status guaranteed.” Initial footage shows Aly’s house in a fog with strange black arms reaching up to her bedroom window. Aly is spooked by the invasion of  privacy, but like any not-famous artist, she is flattered by the solicitation for her work. She passes the email on to her friend and colleague at Georgia State University, Bobby Power. Bobby is also wary of their tactics but is intrigued until seeing the video, which gives him an understandably dreadful feeling.

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