Updated Book Cover

Click cover to biggie-fy

Coming soon to an online bookseller.

Writing Talk

I'll be doing a panel at the Dogwood Writing Conference, Saturday April 30, titled "Writing Outside the Genre Box". It starts at 9:00 A.M. and the conference is at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park.

It's a gorgeous location, and here's one thing I know for sure at my panel: it's at 9:00 A.M.

I'll provide more details as they are given to me.

UPDATE:

The talk has a new title: "Thrills, Chills, Collaborations and Podcasts" and it's set to run for 45 minutes. I hope there's coffee.

Oh, and I will have books to sell.

Writing Update

It’s been a while since I’ve done this. Here are where the current writing projects stand.

Looking at the World With Broken Glass in My Eye is done, as mentioned in the last post, and should be available in a few weeks.

Book One of The Dead Sheriff, my supernatural western series, has gone through several rounds of editing and appears to be finished. A release date has not been set but I expect it to be out by summer. Watch this space for future updates.

The third Dead Earth book continues along nicely. I would think it should be finished by the end of May, If accepted by the publisher, it could be in print early next year. Of course, that’s merely speculation on my part.

My novella The Ghosts of Logan County is nearing completion. It’s been put on hold a few times, due to the projects we’ve just discussed, and for some additional research.

Also, I continue to update Donovan Pike and the City of the Gods over at Pulp Nocturne. Work on that pulp adventure novel continues when my schedule permits. I’m having a great time writing it, and the novel is only going to get wilder as it progresses.

Other projects are bubbling just under the surface, though I am hesitant to mention them yet. I have enough on my plate, along with my job, to fill most of my writing time.

I do have a humorous horror story I want to write for an upcoming anthology. I also recently received two interesting invitations to licensed-character anthologies. I’m waiting to hear more details, including deadlines, before I commit. Anything else I sign on for has to fit into my crowded schedule or I can’t do it. This is me trying to learn a lesson from my past.

Also, Pod of Horror #65 is coming along. I’m aiming for a mid-to-late May premiere date.

Okay. You’re updated. Now it’s time for more coffee and much more typing.

Looking at the World With Broken Glass in My Eye

This is the cover of my collection due out in the next few weeks from Graveside Tales.

It contains about 100,000 words of fiction, much of it unpublished. The collection also includes the long sold-out Deadneck Hootenanny and two original novellas.

Here's the lineup:

Introduction by Ronald Kelly

Author’s Foreword

Deadnecks

Black Wings

Closure-Unpublished

Life’s Work

Father’s Day

Nursing Home of the Gods-Unpublished

Auschlander’s Gem-Unpublished

Looking at the World with Broken Glass in my Eye-Unpublished

Hell is a Lonely Street-Unpublished

The Losers Vs Beelphegor

Song of the Bones

Deadtown-Unpublished

Agent of Death-Unpublished

Hole in the Sky

The Truths We Cannot Bear-Unpublished

Das Hollenfeuer

The Autumn Man-Unpublished

Deadneck Reckoning

As soon as the book is available, I'll give you a link.

Sex-Charged

I got a mention in Nick Cato's review of the long-awaited, long-delayed anthology In Laymon's Terms. Here's what Nick said:

Mark Justice’s ‘The Red Kingdom’ is a sex-charged thriller dealing with blood-soaked “amazons” attempting to bring their Dark Lord back to earth (did I mention this one was sex-charged?).

You can read the full review here.

The book is a tribute to the influential and much-admired horror writer Richard Laymon, who died too young in 2001. As his readers know, Laymon often used sex to advance the plot in his novels and stories, and I was happy to do the same in my tale.

How long has the book been delayed? I sold the story in February 2003. It was my first professional sale.

By the way, Laymon was one of the nicest guys I've had the privilege to interview. He also seemed to greatly enjoy the genre he worked in and expressed delight when I told him his books gave me the same thrill I got from seeing a cool B horror movie at the drive in.

As a writer, Richard Laymon has long been an idol of mine. His A Writer's Tale is one of the best books on writing ever published, and long overdue for a reprinting in an affordable edition. If you've never tried him, I'd like to suggest that you start with two of his finest novels, here and here.

Pod of Horror #64

On Pod of Horror #64, legendary horror writer Ronald Kelly discusses his many upcoming projects and reveals the publisher of the Essential Ronald Kelly Collection, reprinting all of his novels from the 80s and 90s. Also, Jason L. Keene’s Moonshine Matinee explains that hoodoo and afros can be a powerful combination. In the Call of Kalanta, Nanci covers the news of note in the horror field, and the pile o’ prizes grows large and threatening in The Tomb of Trivia. Get it at iTunes or download it here. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.

PoH has a new message board.

And a Facebook page.

New Five Star Review of Dead Earth: The Green Dawn

From Amazon:

"Fun read with an alien twist on the Dawn of the Dead-type Zombie genre. The
book's charms are that its fast-paced & does not take itself too seriously -
the tone reminds me of the Evil Dead movies. The book's only negative is
that it ends with the reader wanting more (which the sequel promises to
deliver)"

A Dead Earth Interview

Dave Wilbanks and I talk about our zombies and aliens and Marvel Comics.