July 22, 2009

Descended From Darkness: Apex Magazine Vol. 1



Jason Sizemore sent me a message the other day with a handy link for the purchase of Descended From Darkness, which features my 2005 World Horror Dark Fiction Award-winning story, "A Night at the Empire."

According to Jason, I receive 40% of the retail price of the anthology, if you click through and order via the above link. Once again: the link is: Descended From Darkness

Times are tough, my wallet is thin, and unemployment insurance is covering the bills (so far), but convention funds are low. If you are interested in supporting my work, please consider ordering a copy of Descended From Darkness and I promise that the proceeds will be put toward my 2009 convention schedule, where hopefully I can shake your hand and thank you in person.

Aside from helping me get to 4 Pi-Con in August, Descended From Darkness features the following works from previous issues of Apex Magazine:

"Post Apocalypse” – James Walton Langolf
“These Days” – Katherine Sparrow
“In the Seams” – Andrew C. Porter
“The Nature of Blood” – George Mann
“Scenting the Dark” – Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Limb Knitter” – Steven Francis Murphy
“I Know an Old Lady” – Nathan Rosen
“Blakenjel” – Lavie Tidhar
“Behold: Skowt!” – Jason Heller
“A Splash of Color” – William T. Vandemark
“A Night at the Empire” – Joy Marchand
“Organ Nell” – Jennifer Pelland
“Starter House” – Jason Palmer
“On the Shadow Side of the Beast” – Ruth Nestvold
“Cai and Her Ten Thousand Husbands” – Gord Sellar
“Dark Planet” – Lavie Tidhar
“The Puma” – Theodora Goss
“Mind of a Pig” – Ekaterina Sedia
“Waiting for Jakie” – Barbara Krasnoff
“Hindsight, In Neon” – Jamie Todd Rubin
“Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens” – Peter M. Ball
“Hideki and the Gnomes” – Mark Lee Pearson
“Plebiscite AV3X” – Jason Fischer
“Shaded Streams Run Clearest” – Geoffrey W. Cole

Cover art by Vitaly S. Alexius
Cover design by Justin Stewart


4 Pi-Con, Springfield MA


I have made my hotel reservations for 4 Pi-Con in Springfield, MA. The author guest of honor is Mary Doria Russell, whose book The Sparrow is a particular favorite of mine. It's a beautifully written near-future science fiction story that explores gender, sexuality, faith, and fear, in a story about a Jesuit discovery and exploration of an alien culture... on another planet. Masterful storytelling had me up late at night, sleepless and worrying what would be revealed as the story unfolded back and forth in time.

Pi-Con is one of my favorite conventions because it's small but well programmed, and it's local, so I can reconnect with old friends in the area, as well as make new ones. It's always a delight to become acquainted with a local writer whom you have a chance of actually seeing more than once a year!

If you will be at 4 Pi-Con, please leave a comment, so I can keep an eye out for you and say hello.

Here is my panel schedule:

August 21, 6 pm: Question Gender
August 21, 9 pm: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (a reading of the work)
August 22, 4 pm: Gender in SF/F/H
August 22, 8 pm: Tech Tools for Writers
August 23, 10 am: Reading (with Yvonne Carts-Powell)
August 23, 12 pm: Genre Bending in Fiction
August 23, 2 pm: 10 Ways to Polish Your Writing

I'm also angling for a spot in which to read my own work, hopefully not against the Mary Doria Russell interview.

Hope to see you there.