Dead Earth News and More

It’s official. The next Dead Earth novel will be called Dead Earth: Sanctuary. Permuted Press will again be the publisher. I’ll announce the publication date when it’s locked down. I would expect it to be Spring 2012.

Meanwhile, Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road is still available in paperback and ebook formats. Thanks for all the nice reviews.

Speaking of reviews, I could use them at Amazon for Looking at the World With Broken Glass in My Eye. If you read the collection, please consider leaving a review.

You can still sign up for a free, signed copy of the book at Horror World.

The other big news (well, big for me) is the arrival on my doorstep of In Laymon’s Terms. The anthology, a tribute to the great horror writer Richard Laymon, includes my story “The Red Kingdom”. It was my first professional sale, made all the way back in February 2003. It’s nice to see it finally in print.


And for those who care about such things, I'm now on Google+.

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.

Mailbag

In response to this post from last fall, Tommy inquires about In Laymon's Terms:

Mark,
I preordered this book 3 years ago, and am dying to get my hands on it.Just wondering when you signed the signature sheet. Who are some of the other contributers?

Thanks, Tommy

Tommy,

I scribbled my five-year-old-jacked-up-on-Mountain-Dew signature back in September. Hopefully, we'll see the book sometime this year, but I really don't know. I've heard that part of the delay is that there are a massive number of contributors, both fiction and non-fiction. I haven't seen an official line-up, though I believe Brian Keene and Tom Piccirilli are in it.

In Laymon's Terms

This book has been years in the making, but it looks like In Laymon's Terms will finally happen.

The great horror writer Richard Laymon died in 2001, far too young. While I never met him, I had the honor of interviewing him twice over the telephone. I found him to be like many horror writers I've known -- warm, witty and soft spoken. In other words, the exact opposite of his books.

A short time after his passing, Cemetery Dance announced a memorial anthology of stories in the style of Laymon, along with non-fiction tributes. In February 2003, co-editor Steve Gerlach notified me that my story "The Red Kingdom" had been accepted. It was my first professional sale and it remains the one I'm most proud of.

And how do I know this long-delayed project is getting closer?

Because I just finished signing the signature sheets and shipping them off to the next author in line.

Look for my scrawl, the second sloppiest on the sig sheet. I would tell you who was the sloppiest, but I can't read the name. :^)

Man, I can't wait to have this book in my hands. You can place your order here.