Recently printed in issue #35 (May 2023) of CHM Magazine, “The Yellow Carousel” is now available on their website to read for free, to give folks a taste of the scrumptious fiction offered in their magazine: https://cosmichorrormonthly.com/fiction/the-yellow-carousel/
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?
Join Silas’s and Emma’s encounter in my new short story “The Yellow Carousel,” out now in CHM Magazine #35.
I’m a horror author, so by default I have to love Halloween. But even if I didn’t write spooky stuff, I’m pretty sure I’d still like the holiday. In fact, this Halloween is super special to me, since it is Emily’s and my first one in Elkins. Below are some updates on what we’ve been doing this spooky season!
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One of my favorite events of the year, the Lewisburg Literary Festival, is finally happening, after, as with many things, a long COVID-related hiatus. I’m so happy to be seeing my friends again and meeting new ones. Headline speakers this year are CBS Sunday Morning correspondent (and native West Virginian) Conor Knighton, record-breaking Appalachian Trail thru-hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis, and Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau. If you’re a writer, you’ll want to check out the free workshops from thriller novelist S. G. Redling and poet/professor Elizabeth Savage. Anybody familiar with the LLF will know that there’s also much more that will be happening all around town… A full schedule should be posted to LewisburgLiteraryFestival.com this week, but just trust me, if you’re anywhere close, you should make plans to come see it (it’s free).
Of course, I’ll be camped out in the vendor’s area in the GBV visitor’s center, along with other great authors you can meet and buy signed books from. Along with my novels, I’ll have some of the last available copies of the out-of-print first edition of my weird horror novella, Unknowing, I Sink. So don’t miss out; let’s hang. Can’t wait.
#lewisburgliteraryfestival2022 #lewisburgwv #greenbriarcounty #hashtaglewisburg #downtownlewisburg #wvwriters #garrytrudeau #conorknighton #jenniferpharrdavis #lewisburgliteraryfestival #books #HashtagWV
Come out to Heritage Station in Huntington, WV on Monday and hear Jeffrey Mangus and me reading excerpts from our books. But it’s not all about us—bring a little something of your own to read!
I always love visiting Huntington and can’t wait to see everyone there. Big thanks to Carter Taylor Seaton for organizing this amazing event every month. It’s an honor to be friends with such a talented and generous writer who works so tirelessly to promote others in her community.
Writers Can Read Open Mic Night in Huntington #huntingtonwv #writerscanread #heritagestation #openmicnight #wvwriters #downtownhuntington #myhuntington #supportlocal #westvirginia #HtownWV #VisitHuntingtonWV
Join me in a couple weeks at the Marion County Public Library! On Saturday, April 9th, I will be reading excerpts from my books, speaking, and selling signed copies in the Exhibit Room. The event will begin at 2:00 and will go until 3:30. I’m so ready to be out and about. Please set your calendar to meet me there.
Registration is required! Please click here to visit MCPL’s event page and sign up!
#mcpl #marioncountypubliclibrary #authorsigning #authorreading #horrorfiction #books #libraries #supportyourlibrary #booksigning
My weird horror inspector story, "AV_NEST.CASEFILE," was published February 2021 in the limited edition anthology, Dim Shores Presents Volume 2. Those copies are now sold out.
If you missed out, have no fear. You can now get the second edition paperback, as well as the e-book! Buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or order directly from the publisher’s website.
If you’re scared of birds, or if you want to be, you’ll dig my story. If you don’t, I’m sure you’ll find a favorite from any of the other fantastic writers in these pages!
#weird #horror #scifi #darkfantasy #smallpress #indiepub #dimshores #weirdart #weirdfiction #weirdhorror #shortfiction dim shores presents vol 2 ebook #ebook #kindle #nook #epub #dimshoresvolume2
Emily and I recently took a quick weekend getaway to historic Berkeley Springs, WV. Located in the eastern panhandle, its warm mineral springs became a huge attraction as our country was started, leading to its founding in 1776 by George Washington as America’s first spa. Its original name was "Bath," meant to be a competitor of sorts to the English city of Bath in Somerset. While I’ve never been to its English counterpart (based on a quick Google, Somerset’s Bath looks much more impressive—sorry, Berkeley Springs), we did enjoy our short stay at the historic Country Inn as well as our appointment at Berkeley Springs State Park’s heated Roman Bath House. There, for a period of time you can reserve a private heated pool of natural mineral water all to yourself, or to yourselves, if a couple, like Emily and me. Emily chose to wear a swimsuit, but wanting to get the most out of the experience, I of course went in "full Roman," a phrase I came up with when we got there, which I’ll leave you to interpret for yourself.
So, for obvious reasons, there are no pictures of Emily and me in the bath. However, I do have pictures of this cool little Edgar Allan Poe figurine we found at Jules Enchanting Gifts just across the street. Check out this neat little guy!
I haven’t run a special on my books in a long time. I guess later is better than never…
So, here you go! I’ve slashed the Kindle version of Little One down to 99 cents in the US and UK for a few days!
Click here and buy now (US), or for my mates across the pond, click here for your 99p special.
If you like ghosts, creepy kids, houses in disrepair, and people stranded in a blizzards (you cold-hearted soul), you’ll love this haunted house novel, which in 2018 hit #1 in three different Amazon categories for Ghosts and Paranormal fiction, as well as climbing to #84 overall in the Kindle store. Since then, it’s accumulated over 130 ratings and reviews on Amazon, averaging 4.4 stars. Publishers Weekly gave it a great review, and if you can’t trust PW, really, who can you trust? Your Uncle Carl from Jersey? Yeah? Well, he likes it too, so I guess you’re out of excuses.
Hurry, though. This sale will only be around until, like next Tuesday or Wednesday or something. These discounts are always based on weird time zones that confuse me. If you’re gonna get this book, don’t put it off and trust me to know the exact day it returns to full price. Just get it now while it’s a dollar. You can’t even get a crummy gas station coffee for a buck anymore. This will last you much longer than that, and it won’t make you crap your pants while you’re on the highway. (Unless it makes you crap your pants in TERROR!!! OOooooOOoooOOooo!)
#kindledeals #ghoststories #ghostfiction #amazon #bestseller #amazonbestseller #wvreads #horrorbooks #indieauthor #littleone #creepykids #westvirginia
Fresh feasting for your famished earholes, hot off the audio griddle. Curtis M. Lawson, host of the podcast Wyrd Transmissions, has interviewed me. Listen to us chat a little about my writing and a lot more about other stuff.
Stream here it using the embedded player above, or go directly to the episode page, or listen on Apple Podcasts (don’t forget to rate and review the show).