Boy, has July snuck past on me, or what? That’s what I get for studying so hard (had to get ahead in my classwork so I could go visit family). I’m actually in college again, can you believe that?
The Lewisburg Literary Festival is coming up the first weekend of August (3-4), which is only ten days away.
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West Virginia
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!
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.
"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…
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!
2018 Youth Writing Workshop
A bit of news that I managed to forget sharing with you (I think I’ve forgotten—now I forget if I forgot!) is that I am the new Region 2 Representative for West Virginia Writers, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to promoting literary interests and writing activities as well as giving voice to the West Virginia people. I’m honored and proud to serve our region (Pocahontas, Webster, Pendleton, and Randolph counties) and support writing and literary efforts here.
One of my duties each year as a regional rep is to organize a local event. After a bunch of emails back and forth about schedules and venue availability, I’m finally pleased to publicly announce the upcoming Youth Writing Workshop for middle and high school students!
The 2018 Youth Writing Workshop will be held at Camp Hidden Meadows in Bartow, WV and will consist of two FREE classes for each age group: one class hour focused on writing fiction, the other class hour focused on writing poetry. Students may attend only one of the hours, but attending both is strongly recommended! Fiction classes will be taught by Eric Fritzius (of Lewisburg, WV), and Poetry by Doug Van Gundy (of Elkins, WV). For more details and to sign up, please visit https://youthwritingworkshop.wordpress.com/. Register soon! It is free! Can’t wait to see you!
We do need to know how many to expect, so please don’t put off registration if you plan to attend 🙂
Signing @ Counter Culture Concepts in Elkins, WV on January 27th
I’m stoked to announce that I’ll be at Counter Culture Concepts in Elkins, WV (114 3rd St) for a book signing! Come out on Saturday, January 27th around 4:00 pm to meet me and purchase a signed copy of Little One. For info on the address/location, click here.
A huge thanks to owner Ben Simmons for helping me set this up. If any of you guys are near Elkins and don’t know about his shop, check it out. This is the place to go around here for enthusiasts of Magic: The Gathering, comic books, and other kinds of trading cards, and Ben is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
Little One in Top 100s in GHOSTS Amazon Category
Good things: 1) My water is running again! and 2) Little One reached my ranking goal for tonight, as you can see from the picture:
Thanks to everyone who helped me get the word out, and thanks ESPECIALLY if you bought my books! I hope you love the stories.
But the #snowpocalypse2018 sale isn’t over yet, even if this #bombcyclone is done past, so if you know of any other Kindle lovers needing some horror, pass the word along! It would be pretty cool to get into the Top 10 of any subgenre category in a couple days. I know Amazon’s lists can change rapidly, in either direction. Hey, it’s a fun ride while it lasts, maybe we can hold on a little longer.
Help Little One crack Top 100s in GHOSTS Amazon Category
It’s looking sunnier, but my pipes are still frozen, and my #bombcyclone #snowpocalypse2018 sale is still going! As I write this, Little One is sitting in the low 100s for two of its Amazon categories: Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Supernatural > Ghosts and Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Ghosts.
Spread the word and help me break into the Top 100, and maybe we’ll get momentum enough to move up to the Top 10 before this sale is over!
Also, When the Watcher Shakes is still on sale, as well. Click the links below to find them on Amazon!
SNOWPOCALYPSE SALE! Kindle books on sale now for a buck a piece!
Hey, if you haven’t noticed, I’m running a limited time deal on the Kindle versions of both When the Watcher Shakes and Little One. Get the both for 99 cents each, but not for long. Get them now and have something to do while you wait out those frigid temps.
Click on either cover for the respective Amazon page (US):
New Yearz Goalz 2018
1. Replace all Ss with Zs, and abstain from all apostrophe usage.
Just kidding.
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Congrats to Scott McClanahan for WV Living's BOWV Best Author!
The results are finally in for Best Author in WV Living‘s Best of West Virginia 2017. First I want to say thank you to all my fans who voted for me. In the end, I didn’t win, but I think everyone will agree that the winner was totally deserving.
Congrats to Scott McClanahan! His book Crapalachia has been on my TBR list for a long time. (I haven’t gotten around to it yet as I have recently been focusing primarily on the works of WV writers Davis Grubb and Denise Giardina—I haven’t even read any Lee Maynard yet :/ … )
Scott’s new title, The Sarah Book, released this past July by Tryant Books, was picked as one of the Best Books of 2017 by LitReactor, as well as one of the Best Books of 2017 by NPR. To be honest, when I saw his name on the ballot, I didn’t honestly expect any other result. I mean, the guy was interviewed by Rolling Stone, for crying out loud! What an honor for West Virginia to have such a highly acclaimed author representing our state.
To learn more Scott and his books, head on over to his website (http://hollerpresents.com/scott.html) and follow him on Twitter (@HollerPresents).
For the rest of this year’s Best of West Virginia, go to https://www.wvliving.com/bowv17/ (shout out to the Davis/Thomas/Canaan area where I grew up, pulling in multiple awards!), and don’t forget to follow WV Living on Twitter and Instagram.