Let Sleeping Gods Lie

I've had plans for this one for years, but finally got down to business finishing up the ideas that had been percolating for a long time, ever since I read that Orrin Porter Rockwell, my real life-yet fictitious weird western character did actually spend time during the gold rush in a boom town named Murderer's Bar.

He even opened up a saloon and did all kinds of things to make money, like shooting contests! I have already written another story set in these days based on a real incident, though I'm not sure when BAD MEDICINE will see print as the publisher failed in their western kickstarter recently, so who knows, it might be awhile. In any case, LET SLEEPING GODS LIE is out there on amazon with a print copy coming soonish.

I had so much fun writing this, one of the best times ever, just living in the moment with all the action, laughs and creepy Lovecraftian vibes shaking out. I was chuckling to myself quite often with some of the supporting characters among whom is Black Bart - yes that Black Bart who also makes a casual appearance in IN MY TIME OF DYING.

It was fun to reread some old Louis L'amour books and even a couple Lovecraft stories I had missed like The Strange High House in the Mist - because I have a hardly touched Lovecraftian god = Nodens making an appearance.

Oh yeah, also gotta love this cover by the fantastic Carter Reid.

Farewell Bani

I'm dumbfounded and dismayed that my longtime online friend Bani Kinnison passed away unexpectedly this last Wednesday morning. I had been friends with Bani for about the last eight + years. I met her on tumblr first where she was really active, sharing her artwork, selfies, memes and vintage pics. She had a great sense of humor.

She created so many pulp inspired pieces and she loved doing vintage and comic inspired art. I have bought a few of her pieces down through the years, and with the exception of a Frazetta Atlantis phone cover, as long as I have had smart-phones, it was her artwork that I used through one of the sites she sold materials on like Redbubble or Society 6. If you see something you like this would be a good time to snag it to help out her loved ones.

I had intended on commissioning her to do a pulpy type book cover for me one day, but we never got beyond just talking about ideas.

Something that strikes me like thunder now, is that I had liked some of her Memento Mori work - she had taken some old cemetery stones and done designs with them that I liked. That theme was one that has been striking a chord with me lately, as I have a book coming soon with that title, but even more so it has had a synchronicity for me lately( with old friends younger than me passing away) and I've just gotta say to everyone, cherish and

value the time you do have.

The theme of the phone she designed - I'm guessing it had to be among her last commissions, made me feel uncomfortable sharing it with more of her fanbase at large, but I figure my blog is quiet enough and just has my usual friends that I was ok posting it here.


So it was only a week ago I was chatting with Bani and told her I would like a Memento Mori phone case, she offered to get to work on some new designs and let me pick my favorite. She got to it and soon was showing off her work. I picked my favorite and she said it was her favorite of the designs too.

That I had only spoken to her a week before just stunned me, there was no warning that she was sick. I read that she thought she had a fever, but then passed out and was unable to be revived by the time she was taken to the emergency room. She was just about a month shy of her 45th birthday.

I miss her sense of humor and vitality and it is a stark reminder to appreciate life and loved one.

Farewell Bani, you were something else entire and the world was a brighter place with you in it.

IN MY TIME OF DYING

Its been a long time coming, I started work on this one about three years ago, got a good ways in and set it aside because life gets in the way sometimes, but it was always back there asking to be let loose.

So I pushed myself this early summer and finished up and LO, it was a bigger tale than I thought at first, so in addition to writing a novella that was set after the events of the book, I went back and rethought the storyline to #SAVANT and tweaked it a little. I like thinking of it as TRUE GRIT meets THE PRESTIGE.

So IN MY TIME OF DYING was released just a day ago and is already a bestselling New Release, so I'm grateful to everyone who has grabbed a copy and helps spread the word, I had a lot of folks just jump in and share it, so thank you all!

From the back cover, -

A young woman seeking arcane knowledge. A saint of killers riding shotgun. And an immortal who wants to die… all aboard a runaway train.…

Elizabeth Dee never expected a knock at the door would have her taking sides in a power struggle between two feuding wizards, but she discovers that she is the magical key to a cursed mystery centuries old. As she evades the murderous knights and demonic minions of the sinister Count of St. Germain, she learns more of her own true power and legacy…Her father never prepared her for anything like this…

But it’s dangerous to go it alone and she is going to need some protection, enter the infamous and touched, Porter Rockwell. If the legendary long-haired gunfighter can’t keep her safe, no one can…

Oh, and my son Mathias is becoming quite the artist and I am having him do a few illustrations for the print edition (I may add them to the kindle soon too)

I'd appreciate any of you all grabbing a copy and leaving an honest review, more than ever that is a boon to the writer, Thanks all.

MEMENTO MORI and A MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN CARCOSA should be coming along very soon.

Fantasy Noir or The Maltese Falcon with Monster Girls

I've always been a fan of noir, and the older I get the more I think I appreciate the grim attitude and sense of corruption bleeding around the edges of smoke filled back alleys and luxurious parties. It just makes good fiction. Among my favorite works are classics by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, and of course my introduction to them was through film and the amazing Humphrey Bogart first, I didn't read the books until quite a bit later.

So when my friend Jason King asked a few of his author pals if we would be interested in writing stories set in his world of Valcoria, I thought sure - IF - I can still do it my way.

As luck would have it, Jason was actually kind of hoping that we would take his premise and run with it and help him flesh it out a bit, as it turned out he was very happy with how we did things and especially with my novella - because my story kept growing - he changed up a bit for the next book he has coming. So this isn't just a bunch of screenshots of stories set in his world, these are integral points in the ongoing series, so I'm excited for that. Especially since I went all fantasy detective noir with my story - Jia  For Luck.

In the world of Valcoria, Jia is another name for magical power, people have a Jia of Strength, Intelligence, Power, Magic's etc etc
My world weary protagonist, Tam Zphinx, isn't so blessed with anything except perhaps an amazing amount of luck considering all the trouble he gets into, throw in some gorgeous dames and monstrous killers and you've got a winning combination.

Here is the Table of contents
Prologue
Ice Witch, James Wymore
Vaekra Take Me, D.J. Butler
A Dream of Clouds, Mathew Cox
Interlude 1
Tremors Within The Storm, Daniel Swenson
Thought Power, Sarah E. Seeley
By Blade & Blood, C.J. Workman
Interlude 11
Just Breathe, Holli Anderson
Jia For Luck, David J. West
Epilogue

Oh and just like I used Jia from Jason's stories my good friend Dave Butler used Vaekra Take Me as his title, that being one of the swears, Jason incorporated into the books, funny thing is, I actually thought about using that as my title, until realizing Butler already did!

Anyhow, check it out if you're so inclined, this 22K novella is my last release for 2017!
Available here

and if I had to do a one sentence description of my story, I think I'd go with
The Maltese Falcon with Monster Girls. 

Pulp Stories Galore!

October has been pretty good to me so far, not too hot, not too cold and books and books and more books are coming!

So, quite a few short stories of mine came out this month and it was a surprise.

All right, I knew this one was coming, I just wasn't sure when it would drop but Story Hack #1 is here! It's full of great pulpy stories and the man behind it Bryce Beatty, is going all out on the art!

I could n't be more pleased with both the cover and the interior art. I love this rendition of Porter Rockwell he has for it! My tale is UNDER THE GUN a creepy weird western about a possessed gun. Check it out!

The next one was a big surprise as I thought the anthology had just vanished into thin air, but Rogues Blade Entertainment which put together some top notch Sword and Sorcery collections a few odd years ago kinda went into hibernation.

I'm very pleased to see that Jason Waltz has awoken and is putting out material again. This one is the Challenge: Discovery collection. This one was begun in 2010? and features quite a list of S&S and has my tale THE SERPENTS ROOT about a thief who will do anything to save her sister, even facing down the dreaded cockatrice!
This pic of the cover is sans text, and I really wanted to share it because all of our stories were supposed to be inspired by V. Shanes art work. So I added in panthers to a story that hadn't had them before.


And another surprise is the Pulp Rev Sampler this was a collection asking for short pieces in the pulp revolution vein.
All of them are supposed t be under 2,500 words so it is literally a sampler. I turned in one titled Wings in the Night, it does say from the forthcoming Walking Through Walls and that's my bad it should read Gods & Robbers, I screwed up but such is life. It is a never before released story, so that' cool.

Its a glimpse into the escape of a prisoner and ties into some things I had previously written in The Mad Song collection and its all part of a bigger work I have planned, set in the same world as BRUTAL albeit quite far away from that setting.

In any case, hope you'll check them out while you're waiting for more novels.

All the best
David

Mirages and Speculations

A short weird western of mine has just been reprinted in Mirages and Speculations: Science Fiction and Fantasy from the Desert - available here

Many of you are likely as not, already familiar with it - Garden of Legion - a weird western about Porter Rockwell dealing with the evil spirits of Legion inhabiting an ocean of tumbleweeds.

It is a favorite of mine and I'm pleased to see it out in another collection of local authors. Thanks to Jay Barnson for recommending me to the editor and thanks to the editor Lyn Worthen for enjoying it enough to include it.

Thus far, I think the only other tale I have read yet is Dave Butler's, SEVEN STARS because I got  to read it at least two years ago, when we were talking about stories for a Western Eldritch collection that still has not happened - poke, poke, poke at Nathan Shumate.

Its delightfully weird and creepy, and I highly recomend it to any and all who like a little Lovecraft in the american west.

I personally know at least half of the other authors but haven't read any of the others as yet. I'll remedy that soon.

Til next time.

"Scavengers" Chapter One on Audio!

Hey guys and gals!
Not only has Scavengers hit #1 bestseller, my good friends Jason King and  Zach Bjorge even went and surprised me with an audio reading of chapter one! Check it put!

and if your so inclined Scavengers is still on sale for .99 cents for the next 48 hours.

Books Read Lately: Friends Edition

This batch (which I'm forever behind on) is all by people I like to call friends and I've got a round two of books by friends I'll be trying to post by the end of the month too.

Cthulhu Armageddon, by C.T. Phipps
Phipps does an amazing job of weaving the Lovecraft mythos with some hard-knuckled action. While I love the mythos as we all first read it by Ech-Pi himself, I always felt more kinship to those larger than heroes born out of Robert E. Howard's imaginings that don't just go mad by the sight of the unspeakable horror.
And here is where Phipps shines with his narrator, Booth. As the head of his unit in this post-apocalyptic wasteland Booth gives us all we need to do to know about our familiar yet horribly different and shattered world after the rising of the Old Ones. Familiar names are doled out in a reasonable non-info dump manner, so that anyone familiar with the mythos can say Oh I know what that is before Phipps can surprise us with an imaginative twist. We get to meet the grooviest ghoul of them all for example.
I enjoyed the pacing and at one point, I actually wondered - How can they top this! And we're only halfway into the book - I was afraid it was going to wrap up too soon!

IF you like action, horror and some grimdark humor, you have got to check this one out! I look forward to reading more of Phipps work!


Dream Breaker, by Jason King

This is a short by my friend Jason. He does amazing world-building (as he should being an epic fantasy author) and he get's you right in the gut with this tale of Dareth and crosing over into the dream realms where all is not what he expected. Its free at least right now on kindle so you gotta check it out. Dareth battles another Arkyn (arcane-kind) across two planes of existence as he fights to protect his client - The High Priest of Faelon - from assassination.

Murrmann, by Michael Arnzen

I got to meet and chat with Michael Arnzen at this last World Horror Con, great guy, I've read a lot of his stuff on the craft of writing (brilliant work)  and finally snagged this short to read his actual fiction stories. Murrmann is a great little sequel to Dracula capturing the quirks of Van Helsing in his own hand along with a flair for wonderful locales and real local legends. Arnzen knows both the physical territory having been there and of course the horror landscape to grip us cold. The imagery herein is amazing. Do yourself a favor and don't miss this bloody disturbing tale reminiscent of Stokers "The Squaw" along with "Dracula" too of course.

Sands, by Kevin L. Nielsen

Kevin is setting us up in a brilliantly imagined new world populated with dessert clans and their own traditions and such and of course the dramatic struggle against the genesauri—giant, flying, serpentine monsters who hunt across the desert in enormous packs. This has a new take on the epic fantasy story in that this is more son the level of man vs. nature than a dark lord. Its a refreshing new spin.

There were of course some surprises on the human end too as the desert culture of the seventeen-year-old Lhaurel's clan forbids her from even wielding a weapon in her peoples defense. Exiled she begins a new adventure to save her people and herself. This is the beginning of a trilogy that is worth checking out.

Killing Trail, by Charles Gramlich

I love Charles work, from pulpy sword and sorcery to the chilling terror to sword and planet adventure and now the old west. Gramlich has a flair for poetic language with his salty action and then just wins me over everytime. Now of course these shorts are quick and to the point with white hats and black hats but there are clever surprises you don't see coming. Highly recommended.

Weird Books I Own

You follow my blog. You subscribe to my newsletter (or at least you should - it will be worth your while soon) so as a matter of course you know I have a library of some seven thousand books. And being a writer of weird speculative fiction I own a lot of strange books - for research purposes. I thought I would share a few here today

I just finished this one the other day and it was fascinating. The author purports that there was a conspiracy between Coronado and De Alverez and that there really was the seven cities of Cibola located approximately in the Phoenix area. The proofs are circumstantial but compelling but going the next scientific step farther we are presented with the catastrophic reason - we don't find ruins in better shape there. The author present his reasoning on why a comet or at least a cometary fragment struck the area in approximately 1680 just a short time before the Spanish returned to the area and mapped the region. I realize this is a big step from what we have been taught but I found the book incredibly logical and well founded. Its well worth looking into, especially for historical fiction writers.

I bought this one years go for the title alone. That cover is atrocious, but inside Andrews details numerous bizarre accounts, even back to the middle ages. He is readable and entertaining and would recommend this book for science fiction aficionado's looking for some more meat.

I had to get this one from Amazon recently just for the bizarre inflammatory title - I'm sure my wife would not be amused. But I do love to collect all the weird American and Mormon historical books I can, and this fit the bill. I have yet to crack it open, but its short and will be a quick read.

You might not think this one is too bizarre or surprising until you realize it was written in 1938! It seems to be a conspiratorial piece aimed at Roosevelt for turning a blind eye to the Japanese and their invasion of China etc. The cover denotes a US made bomb being dropped on China by the Japanese. There is a whole lot more to the story and I am no fan of Roosevelt's manipulating etc.

This is great and is one of several books I own which purport Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid never died in Bolivia but came back to the states. It is circumstantial but as with the others mentioned above, compelling reasoning for its unorthodox posturing. I'm inclined to agree with its premise.

This was just a surprise. I have several of Winston Churchill's books on World War Two and so finding this little hardcover edition printed in 1958 was a pleasant surprise. Man's gotta unwind somehow.

This one is more strange and lost recordings of forgotten peoples who may or may not be accepted by traditional history. This is exactly the kind of book that works when you are trying to come up with your own lost Hyborian age.

This is a local rare book detailing Gale Rhodes foray into looking for lost Utah treasure maps. Its interesting reading for the sake of understanding markers and local legends. I found it at a used book shop and think I paid maybe a buck. Its at least 150.00 on Amazon now. But again I knew what I was seeing in the used shops, most people don't. 

Corona Obscura: Book Review

Corona Obscura: Sonets Dark and Elemental, by Michael R. Collings

Talking about Michael's poetry and verse were some of the very first blog posts I did here when I started back in - wow- 2009! And I only have a greater appreciation for his art with age.

Linda D. Addison writes the forward and says it so well that I have to share a line here "Michael has created some strange word alchemy that touched me on a cellular level, making me smile, building excitement in my gut as I traveled from one poem to the next."

I feel the same way but even her description is poetry.

Charles Gramlich's review reminded me that I had to read this too! Thanks for sharing such a love of language Charles.

There are a lot of great poets out there but Michael is amazing and he is still alive and churning out more even as I type this. So much of what I love about language is typically from the dusty past, from those who are passed and buried.

But Michael's work is alive in the heated now, its pure visceral byzantine grandeur. I read it and wish I had come up with such a turn of phrase. The sheer beauty and horrific dichotmoy moves me. As a lover of language,  I am in awe at his words and equally moved by them.

I love to reread these sonnets and get in that void, that passion before I jump back into my own wordsmithing because I believe it helps me attain a higher level for my own work.

The man is one of the best and so deserving of the Grand Master award he received at Horror Con earlier this year.

I'll be delving back into this and others soon enough to walk these midnight trails into amaranth bleeding crimson as starlight fails.

That was a line that in particular jumped out at me.
Highly recomended for lovers of prose and verse.

Get a copy here

Preparing to Pimp Thyself

Happenings!

My weird west collection COLD SLITHER print copy is up over on Amazon - though I'm not doing the real launch push just yet - I've got the kindle set for pre-order and I'm hoping to push that on August 30th for the sake of rankings etc. In fact I don't think as of this post the kindle slot is even up yet.


I'm excited that the book is finally done- considering I had wanted to release it on my birthday two months ago. But I think its an amazing book that a lot of people will get a kick out of. I was tickled pink that one of my friends said he thought the first Porter tale = Cold Slither itself reminded him of a Conan type yarn.

I made a banner for use at the upcoming Salt Lake Comic Con - it was fun trying to come up with something that I hope will grab attention at our booth and hopefully entice some book buyers. I used the Horror Flick font - same thing I used on my new business cards - gotta love that retro pulpy look.

I do know I'm on at least one panel each day at SLCC
The Rocketeer on Thursday
Mental Health in Popular Culture/Entertainment on Friday
and a Choose Your Own Apocalypse game with the Space Balrogs on Saturday.

I've got a lot more book reviews lined up shortly that I'll be trying to post up on before summer is over.

Oh and I finally put together a mailing list newsletter because I've been hearing how necessary that is for self-promotion etc - so there's that BURNT OFFERINGS - https://tinyletter.com/DavidJWest

Now back to work on just novels for the foreseeable future this year.

The Coming of LONE CROW

The Coming of Lone Crow, by Joel Jenkins

I am so glad that my friend Paul McNamee, gave me a heads up on this one. I was intrigued by the cover sporting a few well-known (and not so well known) western historical persons - among them my own weird western incarnation of Porter Rockwell.
I gave the kindle sample and look-see and was hooked. I bought it and have thoroughly enjoyed the 14 odd stories enough that I will have to buy a print copy for my collection - I'm going to reread it and I know I'll want it in paper.

So about the stories - Lone Crow himself is the last surviving member of his tribe who had been taken in and raised by Mormon foster parents giving him a Christianized white mans world view which is also mixed with his mystic Native American side. He is a taciturn type who is well aware of the racist backlash of the times he lives in and yet he has become infamous enough for his supernatural exploits that he gets hired on by the prestigious Miskatonic University for a number of projects.

One of the items that helps him survive these mind bending encounters is his blessed-by-a-prophet eagle butted peacemaker. Being imbued with a sacred blessing allows the gun to actually harm strange creatures that otherwise might be immune to earthly weapons - creatures like the Hounds of Tindalos or the recurring Ulutoth a Lovecraftian old one akin to Cthulhu.

I loved the action and esoteric historic cameo's and all I could think while reading this is WOW! Joel Jenkins is my kind of writer! Several of the stories loosely relate to each other and we are teased with quite a number of references to interesting sounding tales that we never do get a glimpse of - it make for a world we know is much bigger while still retaining a pulp infused rip roaring good time!

I've since chatted with Joel and was told another collection of Lone Crow's stories are coming and I anxiously await that!

I recommend getting a copy here!

Coming Soon: Porter's Weird West Collection

Things always take longer than you'd like.

I sincerely wish and strive and hope to get things to a point wherein I can accomplish all I'd like to in a day but that is still a ways out.
In the mean time I'm still plugging away and trying to keep up the good fight and get my creative demands met.

Cold Slither which I had hoped to release late last month couldn't make it for July either - but I'm in the home stretch and it will be out sooner than later in a couple weeks - I think I will experiment and have it available for pre-order too and see how that fares.

Part of what happened was the collection of Porter Rockwell tales were mostly already written - I was only going to do one new novella Cold Slither itself - but then a few more inspiration points took hold and I came up with one more new piece - so the book closes with a new ghostly, vampiric, M.R. James inspired tale - Striding Thru Darkness. The cover much more resembles that story than Cold Slither too.

I'm doing edits now and have already formatted what I think will be a very handsome stylish book. With great native monsters like the one beside us here: I always think the print copies trump the ebooks even if that is what people usually buy - I hope I can keep some of those formatting treasures intact for the ebook but am not sure just yet.

In any case here is the cover and backside - much thanks to Nathan Shumate for his support and help in the endeavour. And to Jason King among others for some editing and suggestions. And of course to anyone else who looked the previously published tales over too - Theric Jepson, William Morris, Jaleta Clegg, John Palisano, etc.

Here is the TOC:

Contents

Foreword 1

Cold Slither 2

Black Wings in the Moonlight 45

Soma for the Destroying Angels Soul 58

Rolling in the Deep 74

Tangle Crowned Devil 85

Fangs Of The Dragon 98

Garden of Legion 147

Red Wolf Moon 163

Killer Instinct 178

Right Hand Man 194

Striding Through Darkness 220

Oh and Keith - I hope you know your Amazing Stories quote means the world to me - hence it being on the actual back cover - I purposefully left your name off though just because of the Amazon thinking we're related nonsense - I sincerely hope there is no offense at that. Let me know.

Some Reads of Late

I'm awful behind in posting reviews (so I'll limit this to 5 or so) and such, but I have been reading quite a lot this summer - mostly on my kindle and at the day job. . . shhhhhh

Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holiday

I was bookshopping for my birthday at B&N and saw Ego is the Enemy and glancing it over, noticed the Steven Pressfield blurb and then once inside - the author (Holiday) is namedropping Marcus Arelius left and right - always a good sign so I was intrigued enough to read further on and see just what he was trying to say.

I ended up with the audible version and then noticed that my wife, Melissa already had Holiday's previous book The Obstacle is the Way. Each represents positive attitudes in overcoming our daily problems with self mastery and humble yet determined drive.

I don't normally go in for books like these but have to say I really enjoyed them because of how much Holiday uses historical examples as the benchmark of being an outstanding person - so while Holiday is an impressive person in his own right, these really aren't about him so much as other great examples we could all strive to be similar to. And I love reading a mix of historical examples that I know and don't know further reaching into the noble of human character. We need more that this wretched political season.

That Way Lies Madness, by James R. Tuck

I really enjoyed the title story of this two tale collection. The mixture of space and Lovecraft is one I am especially fond of. While it started just a little slow for me, I was soon captured, racing through the pages to see what happened next. That Way Lies Madness is an edge of your seat, nail biting thrill ride for anyone who loves Alien, Outland, The Thing, Space Eldritch or other Lovecraftian type monstrosities in the isolation of space. Bravo Mr. Tuck!


The Life Eaters, by David Brin and Scott Hampton

I've got mixed feelings about this one. It is the first Brin I have ever read and I have heard great things from a few of my online friends. I LOVE the concept of alternate history with Norse Gods being involved with the Nazi's and finding out the real reasoning behind the mass genocide to satiate the gods need for blood and sacrifice and with Loki in the mix thwarting plans of course. All of that is genius and it is a concept that I have thought about many times myself- so I am absolutely on board, being a number one target audience member. But as the story wound on, I found myself disinterested in its execution.  The framing device protagonist didn't grab my interest and a nuke as an answer for dealing with bad guys is kinda blase. Most of the side characters and gods didn't really have any punch to me either.  I found myself very underwhelmed overall. Hampton's art however is great and atmospheric. I think the most damning thing is now that its been a little while since I read it, I'm having a hard time remembering it.

The Curse of Lono, by Hunter S. Thomson

I'm a big fan of Thompson, having read his Hells Angel's before I had any idea he was cult favorite. That reading predated the Depp/Gilliam film too! I've since enjoyed quite a lot of his work and this was the latest I have indulged in.
I imagine that like so much of his other work this is a slightly fictionalized memoir of himself and it bounces all over the place dealing with his trip to Hawaii, fishing and making an ass of himself.
But IF you enjoy Thompson you'll enjoy the dark absurd humor herein - if you don't like Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) I don't imagine you'll like this one either. It is rather open ended as life goes on etc, but still it a fun trip.


The Wendigo, by Algernon Blackwood

I've been meaning to get to this one for some time and while it is slow and brooding, it is enjoyable in that old school atmospheric (there I 'm using that word again) mood. In a lot of ways it seemed to me this could have been shorter - even though its really not that long - maybe its our modern day attention span - but even with setting the mood etc it seemed rather drawn out - but when it gets downn to it - the mystery, the horror, the terror was wnderful. As someone who has camped far out n the wilderness many times, it was easy to feel myself lost n that situation, to feel the claustrobic lonliness and confusion of someone going missing and the lack of answers. Recomended.

World Horror Con 2016

World Horror Con 2016 in Provo Utah. It would be fair to call it an intimate con as writers present almost equaled the attendee's. Some of our panels - well pretty much all of them were sparsely attended but that's not always a bad thing. We definitely had more opportunity to have more personal conversations with fans - everyone's questions on panels could be addressed and we all got to spend a lot of time getting to know each other.


It was great to see so many writers and have a chance to chat with them. Very pleased that my friend Michael Collings was given his award. He has such an amazing body of work and deserved some recognition. When he gave me a positive review of Whispers Out of the Dust I was tickled pink.


I got to make some great new friends (like Linda Addison here) and I still sold a few books. I autographed even more because of some of the shared anthologies, like Redneck Eldritch, I think about half of the contributors were present at the Con.

There was a massive book signing Friday night and it was great to interact with everyone and chat while sgning books, here you can see Michael Arnzen juggling Sarah Seeley's brains. I also got some books signed by the likes of Darren Shan, Sanford Allen, Joe McKinney and artist Keith Thompson.


Friday night while Craig Nybo and the Freestyle Gargoyle band was setting up, I noticed a few people who got locked out of the hotel and came to their aid - Jack Ketchum, Michael Arnzen and Linda Addison - so that was cool.


The Freestyle Gargoyles jam was awesome, 7 authors gave creepy new spoken word pieces - Steve Diamond, Scott Tarbet, Nathan Shumate, Jason King, Holli Anderson, Dave Butler and me.


I gotta say thank you to Craig Nybo and the bad they were magnificent.


I was the finale and everyone said I rocked the house - I'm sure it will be available soon (Youtube, iTunes)  and I'll gladly share that.


I did pitch a project to an agent (it went very well)  and I'll definitely keep you all informed on that progress as it escalates. Hell, Dan Well's NYTimes bestselling author, told me he wants to read it and I said, I'd hold him to that for the sake of a blurb.



Saturday, my fire was dimmed when it was a No Show event for my reading, but I resolved to remind myself that writers gotta have thick skins and just keepin' on.



Later we did a Space Balrogs game, the attendance was sparse but the laughs were huge - much thanks to Callie Stoker for filling in she was hilarious - and then out of 9 audience members we had a three way tie! 3 people for all three panelists = unprecedented.  I don't think I could have pulled that off if Darren Shan hadn't been rooting for me.




Sunday I did a Western Horror panel that was awesome and afterward I moderated Why We Love Lovecraft panel - there were six panelists and seven audience members at first - it grew a little as it went on but among all the esteemed panelists, I had to incorporate audience member Keith Thompson who has done pre-production design work for Guillermo Del Toro and the ill fated "At the Mountains of Madness" movie - we all had to soak in his expertise and experience and the heartbreak for that not happening - so glad he came to listen and we could take advantage of that - he's a helluva nice guy and it was wonderful to talk with him.


Keith also did the monster in an hour panel with my buddy Carter Reid, I shoulda got a pic of Keith's creepy surreal art but I did get one of Carter's magnificent specimens.

Oh, and since Redneck Eldritch released during the con I was doing some online promotion and signing books there and I did keep tabs on the amazon rankings, the highest I saw was #11 in Horror anthologies so that makes me feel good! Thanks to everyone who bought a copy.

So all in all it was a great weekend made new friends, new contacts and hopefully reached a good handful of new fans.

Sanford Allen and me and the great Darren Shan.

the Lovecraft panel.