I heard back from the editor who accepted my short story back in September but then published a table of contents last week that didn’t contain it. He located my manuscript, read the story over, and decided to keep this TOC as posted. I can say without fear of contradiction that this is the first time I’ve had a story rejected after it was accepted.
This was posted on the Dark Arts web site yesterday: Dark Arts Books is proud to announce we will release our sixth title, When the Night Comes Down, which will debut at the World Horror Convention being held in Brighton, UK, March 25-28 2010. The book features tales of terror and suspense from four unique and gifted writers: Joseph D’Lacey, Nate Kenyon, Bev Vincent and Robert E. Weinberg. More details about cover, contents and the authors to come shortly, as well as pre-ordering information. Check this space for the latest updates!
I’ve been alluding to a project that I’ve been working on with an editor for the past few months. Well, this is it, the next in the Dark Arts line of books, which features stories from four different authors. When the Night… and Evolve are the two books that contain my work that will be launching at World Horror in just over two months.
Criminal Minds was definitely creepy last night — the story of a disturbed young woman who lost her dolls so she kidnapped women and kept them consciously sedated and posed at a mock tea party. Spence was firing on all cylinders last night. It’s rare to see him in such high dudgeon as he was with the perp’s father. The victims looked ghastly, frozen as they were except for their wide, blinking eyes.
Well, barring catastrophe it looks like The Stephen King Illustrated Companion might make the preliminary Stoker ballot after all. It was looking pretty grim for a while. Tomorrow is the final day for recommendations. I bombarded them with a batch last week, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Did another round of editing on the short story in progress. It has crept up to nearly 3500 words after the last round. Now it is a matter of obsessing over every word for the next few days. I’ll probably send it in on Sunday. I still have that Storytellers Unplugged essay to write and not feeling particular inspired quite yet. Still open to suggestions for a topic!
I’m about 120 pages into Horns. I finished the second section, wherein we learn about the way Ig and Merrin met, and also how the other important characters fit into the story. Given the revelation at the end of the first section, I understand now why all of this was necessary. It’s a daring approach, though. A secret that could well have been kept for most of the book is revealed early on and, armed with that knowledge, we regard certain characters differently than we would have if we’d been kept in the dark. Then we get to see Ig and Merrin’s last time together, and what a disaster that was.
