Murky Depths does three-for-two deal

December 15, 2008 in General Topics

Just a heads-up for those of you looking for a true fiction bargain: The folks over at Murky Depths are having a three for two bargain going on right now — you can pick up issues 1,2 and 3 for the price of two. This is a killer deal, and gets you three high-quality issues of a publication barely a year old that is already gathering much notice in speculative fiction circles.

And did I mention my tale “Paston, Kentucky” ran in Issue 1?

A well-deserved Plug

May 6, 2008 in General Topics

I’d like to highly recommend you checking out Michael Anthony’s piece, “The Guardian”, currently live over on Pseudopod. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Michael’s writing efforts take off roughly in-step with my own, so it’s always inspiring to see him get his due, but beyond that, this is a damn good story.

Mike ramps the tension nicely in this one and fleshes out a stark and terrifying setting, all told from the viewpoint of one courageous young girl.

Good stuff!

“The Next Fix”, by Matt Wallace, now available for Pre-Order

March 4, 2008 in General Topics

I highly encourage you to consider purchasing a copy of Matt Wallace’s first short-story collection, hopefully the first of many, titled “The Next Fix”.

If you’re not familiar with Matt, let me give you a brief summary: he’s one of the nicest, most welcoming people you’ll meet in this industry, no matter what side of the page you’re part of. Matt was one of the first to serialize fiction in the podcast format, but his accomplishments range across a host of print, e-zine, and other formats.

All that wouldn’t really matter if Matt’s fiction were escalated into notoriety by some kind of inner circle, a phenomenon I’ve seen before. Let me dispel any illusions you might have: Matt is the real thing. He is one hell of a writer, gifted with a sharp, fluid style that lends itself to rich worlds, characters, and plots. While Matt’s favorite realm seems to be the urban distopia, many of his stories stray far from that mold.

I highly encourage you to pre-order this publication from Apex Book Company. By doing so, you’ll be in for a tome full of twelve razor-sharp stories spanning a host of unconventional, often terrifying plot lines. It’s a good dose of fiction for a horror or dark science fiction fan.

Halloween Raffle @ Apex Digest

October 17, 2007 in General Topics

If you’re looking to win a number of delectable goodies AND help literacy in America, check out Apex Digest’s Halloween Raffle. A portion of proceeds will benefit the National Center for Family Literacy.

Up for grabs are books signed by luminaries such as Orson Scott Card, rare items like a mint “Evil Dead” original theatre poster, and a host of other items ranging from DVD’s to original artwork.

Woot I say

August 18, 2007 in General Topics

I received my contributor’s copies of Murky Depths and have read a few of the pieces within.

Simply put, I echo sentiments that this magazine is a work of art. Everything has come beautifully together — the fusion of prose, poetry and graphic novel have blended to create an interesting hybrid that manages to easily hold one’s interest. The two runaway hits I’ve seen so far in my initial readings are Gareth D. Jones’ moving piece “Looking In, Looking Out”, and “The Other Woman”, by Chris Lynch, which manages to be emotionally involving and downright disturbing at the same time.

One of my favorite things about the mag is it does not demand an hour or more to finish each tale — many can be read in fifteen or twenty minutes, which lends the anthology a wonderful rapid-fire feel, and also makes it schedule-friendly to those of us with limited reading time in our lives.

In my humble opinion, this is the magazine to watch over the coming year.