Return of the Deadnecks

My rowdy undead rednecks from Deadneck Hootenanny are back in a new story in the upcoming humorous horror collection Dark Jesters, from Novello Publishers, and edited by Nick Cato and L. L. Soares. "Deadneck Woman" is a fun romp through the beer-swillin' world of flesh-eating hillbillies. I had a great time writing it, and, yes, I have more Deadneck stories to tell, if the opportunity presents itself.

Dark Jesters, due out in late September, also includes a tale from my frequent collaborator Dave Wilbanks. Here's the complete lineup:

- FOSSILIZED BRAAAINS by William A. Veselik
- THE PLAGUE OF GENTLEMEN by Matthew Fryer
- TONGS AND THE ROACH by David T. Wilbanks
- BLESS THE BEASTLY CHILDREN by Laura Cooney
- WOLF PLUGS by Jerrod Balzer
- HACKS by Sam Battrick
- PAPA'S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG by Robert Guffey
- CURSE OF THE BLIND EEL by James Roy Daley
- RETIREMENT by Rob Brooks
- DEADNECK WOMAN by Mark Justice

You can pre-order the book right here.

Pod of Horror #55

On Pod of Horror #55. We talk frights with three novelists: David Jack Bell, Nick Cato and Steven Shrewsbury. Norm Rubenstein reviews a bunch of new and forthcoming titles, The Call of Kalanta offer the genre’s most in-depth news coverage, and we have another winner in The Tomb of Trivia. Get it at iTunes or download it at here. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.

Ho-Ho-Horror Time is Almost Here

The anthology I'm editing with Michael Knost is open for submission for a couple of more weeks. If you were thinking about writing a story for AHH, you can find the guidelines here.

Legends of the Mountain State 3

Here's the cover to Legends of the Mountain State 3, edited by Michael Knost. It includes my story "The Angry Dark", and will be out this fall from Woodland Press.

A Fine Introduction

Yesterday, author Ronald Kelly sent along his introduction to my collection Looking at the World With Broken Glass in My Eye. You'll have to wait until 2010 to read the whole thing, but I couldn't stop myself from sharing a paragraph I particularly enjoyed:

"The collection you hold in your hands is an excellent example of what Mark Justice can do with words, imagination, and a generous helping of twisted humor. As I read these tales, I was completely drawn into their storylines. The characters were akin to folks I know or knew growing up, the places familiar ground that I had walked all my life. Mark is damn good at that. He’s the kind of natural storyteller that was once so plentiful in the South, but now has dwindled down to a surviving few. And the man can make you laugh! Laugh so danged hard that you nearly want to pee. (I don’t think I actually pissed myself during the reading of these tales, but I do think I lost a drop or two)."


Meantime, Ron's new novel Hell Hollow is out in a couple of months. Look for a review here very soon.

ToC for Looking at the World With Broken Glass in My Eye

Here's the Toc, as it stands now:

Intorduction by Ronald Kelly
Author’s Foreword
Deadnecks
Black Wings
Life’s Work
Father’s Day
Nursing Home of the Gods
Auschlander’s Gem
Looking at the World with Broken Glass in My Eye
Hell is a Lonely Street
The Losers vs Beelphegor
Song of the Bones
Deadtown
Agent of Death
Hole in the Sky
The Truths We Cannot Bear
Das Höllenfeuer
Deadneck Reckoning
Story Notes/Afterword

Book Update

The introduction to Looking at the World With Broken Glass in My Eye will be written by Ronald Kelly.

For those who don't know, Ron is the Southern Fried author of Hell Hollow, The Sick Stuff, Midnight Grinding and a bunch of classic novels from the 90s. You can find out more at his web site.

I couldn't be more humbled that his introduction will be gracing my little book. I can't wait to see it in print.

My New Book

Graveside Tales will be publishing my collection Looking at the World With Broken Glass in My Eye early in 2010. This is a revised and greatly expanded version of the previously announced Bone Songs.

The title – which may be too long for the book’s spine – contains previously published stories, including the long out-of-print Deadneck Hootenanny.

LATWWBGIME (I hope you don’t mind the acronym) also has several unpublished stories, plus a new 25, 000 word novella.

I'll let you know more when it’s available for pre-order.

Goodbye, Sarah

Blogging When I Should Be Doing Something Constructive

Hail from Vacation World. Or Stay-cation World, since I’ve left the house as little as possible (save for going to Lexington last week to see the unbelievable and inexplicable Unknown Hinson perform at The Dame. Here’s a photo taken by my sister-in-law of her dad, me and my brother sitting in the café of The Dame, enjoying a beverage and embarrassing the younger patrons with our inability to keep our voices down or refrain from discussing farm animals).


Our annual Fourth of July cookout was a nice affair, very mellow and marked by good food, great conversation and a light rain, which was kept at bay by the otherwise unsightly gigantic tree that sprouts from the middle of our deck. Norma did her usual terrific job of preparing food and, as usual, we had way too much. So even after sending plates of grub home with family and friends, we’re still eating leftovers on the Seventh of July.

Not much writing to report on these past couple of weeks. I always intend to be a productive little worker on vacation. Instead, I read, watch movies and sleep late.

Speaking of which, over the last couple of days I've enjoyed Gran Torino, Valkyrie, the animated Wonder Woman movie and Doctor Who: Planet of Death.

I've been reading a bunch of graphic novels this week. I've caught up on the Red Hulk, Justice Society of America and J. Michael Straczynski's run on Thor.

It does look like there is some progress on the publication of my story collection. I hope to be able to announce the details very soon.

Story Station has been updated. The Young Adult fiction online magazine I edit has new stories by Bev Vincent, Debra Purdy Kong and Vicki Miller Livesay. Check them out here. It’s free.

My brother and sister-in-law are in a music video from Davenport Cabinet, the solo project of Travis Stever from Coheed and Cambria. You can watch it here. Charlene is the one singing on the baby monitor. Dave is seen sleeping with a bunch of guitars and, in the last shot of the video, dining on a music sandwich.

Pod of Horror #54

Pod of Horror #54 is a special Thriller edition, as best-selling authors David Morrell and James Rollins talk about their new books. Norm Rubenstein is back with Stoker reviews. We finally have a Tomb of Trivia winner. And we’ve got all the news that fits on Horror’s premier source for news, The Call of Kalanta. Get it at i-Tunes or download it here. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.

Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road

David Wilbanks and I have sold Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road to Permuted Press. The novel is a sequel to Dead Earth: The Green Dawn, and should be out in 2010.

They crossed over from another world, bringing death and domination to Earth.

With demonic technology they can raise the dead into an unholy conquering army.

The "necros" destroyed Jubal Slate’s home and everyone he loved. Now the only thing that matters to Slate is payback. No matter how far he has to go or how many undead warriors he must slaughter, Slate and his motley band of followers will stop at nothing to end the reign of the aliens.

Even if it costs them their lives.

When you’ve lost everything, the only thing left is vengeance.

Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road
by Mark Justice and David T. Wibanks
Coming in 2010 from Permuted Press

Pod of Horror #53

On Pod of Horror #53, Jonathan Maberry diagnoses PATIENT ZERO and talks about writing BLACK PANTHER for Marvel Comics. Hard Case Crime editor Charles Ardai introduces Gabriel Hunt, the next generation of pulp heroes. HARLAN COUNTY HORRORS terrorizes the Bluegrass State, thanks to editor Mari Adkins. Norm Rubenstein has the latest reviews and Nanci covers the horror news on The Call of Kalanta. Download the show at i-Tunes or here. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.

Bridge to Mark

I have a column in the new issue of Bridges magazine. While it probably won't hold much interest for anyone outside of this area, if you want to read it you can go to the site or click on the page below.

Chasing the Bear, a Young Spenser Novel

Robert B. Parker’s latest is a slim novel –a novella, actually– focusing on the childhood of his best known creation, tough-yet-sensitive PI Spenser. Spenser’s past in Wyoming growing up with his father and two uncles has been referenced by Parker in earlier novels, but this is the first time the reader has been given the story behind Spenser’s development.

The story is filled with boxing lessons, an encounter with the titular grizzly, Spenser’s first rescue of a fair maiden, the first time Spenser causes a bad guy’s death, a fight with the town bully and instructions on how to have a manly code of honor.

In other words, typical Parker.

The thing is, I love Parker’s writing, and Chasing the Bear, short as it is, stands as a fine addition to the PI’s canon.

One caveat: the incidents in Spenser’s boyhood alternate with contemporary chapters featuring Spenser and his shrink girlfriend Susan discussing said events. The subject of Susan is a touchy one among many Spenser fans.However, I find the relationship between the two to be a warm and comfortable part of the series. And Parker’s dialogue crackles here, as always.

Chasing the Bear will tide fans over until the Fall release of The Professional, the next Spenser novel.

The State of the Mark

Spring is zooming by like Mine That Bird in the Derby.

On the writing front, work is progressing on that horror novel.

I’m also going to be serializing an adventure novel on the web, beginning in July. I hope to post a chapter a week. I grew up with two-fisted pulp fiction and I’ve enjoyed dipping my writer-ly toe into the waters in the past. So far it’s a lot of fun. It will be challenging to keep up the schedule.

Now the big news: Dave Wilbanks and I have sold a novel. We’re signing the contracts now, and will hopefully be able to announce details soon. We’re also in the early stages of writing a new novel. I love this part of the process, bouncing ideas around and hammering out the details. Dave’s a great collaborator, and not just because he never makes too much fun of my dopier ideas.

And the other good news: It looks like I’ve sold a short story collection. I just got the word, and no other details have been delivered. Again, I’ll let you know more when I can.

Recent reads: The Judas Strain by James Rollins, Chasing the Bear by Robert B. Parker, The Boxer and the Spy by Robert B. Parker. Currently reading Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler.

We saw the new Star Trek movie last weekend. Believe every positive review you’ve heard. It’s that good. I hope to see it again on the big screen. I’m also looking forward to Angels and Demons and Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell. A trusted source has seen Terminator: Salvation and says it’s spectacular.

I’m getting thrown out of the house tonight so Norma can have a Mama Mia party. Tomorrow we’re watching Taken.

Hunt at the Well of Eternity

As someone who grew up reading the paperback reprints of Doc Savage, Operator 5 and The Spider, I’ve lamented the fact that it’s hard to find new fiction that satisfies the pulp itch (a condition that no amount of Gold Bond Medicated Powder can relieve). Fortunately, adventure fiction lives, thanks to Leisure Books.

Hunt at the Well of Eternity launches a new line of novels starring contemporary two-fisted explorer-adventurer Gabriel Hunt, heir to the legacy of Doc Savage and Indiana Jones (many readers will not be able to stop smiling when one of those characters is obliquely referenced in the book).

When Eternity begins, Hunt already has several adventures behind him, a device that allows the reader to be pulled immediately into a high-octane escapade involving a stained Confederate flag, Mayans and a secret that could change the world. The action explodes every few pages, propelling the reader through the book at the speed of light.

Hunt at the Well of Eternity is a slim novel--just 226 pages. It proves to be the perfect length for this type of yarn, and it highlights the fact that publishing concerns require most modern thrillers to be bloated to an often unnecessary length.

The Hunt concept was created by Charles Ardai, the man behind Hard Case Crime. For this inaugural Hunt installment, Ardai wisely handed the writing chores to James Reasoner, one of my favorite western authors. Reasoner’s Death Head Crossing is one of the finest westerns in recent memory.

Hunt at the Well of Eternity could be used as a tool to teach prospective writers how to construct an adventure novel. Reasoner’s pacing, humor and descriptions of action are a blueprint for writing a satisfying page turner. In fact, the only negative is that readers have to wait two months for the next Gabriel Hunt novel.

I look forward to future installments. I just hope the next Hunt novels can come close to the high standard Reasoner has set with Hunt at the Well of Eternity.

The Pooh Flu

Click picture to enbiggen.

The Critic has Spoken...er, Blogged

There's a nice review of Dead Earth: The Green Dawn here.

Dave and I are working hard to get the sequel novel in print, and we hope to have news very soon.

The Truth Behind Swine Flu

(Thanks to Nanci Kalanta)