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 #45: Laymon, Swierczynski, D'Auria

Is the horror bubble about to collapse? Find out on PoH #45 from the man in the know, Lesiure’s Don D’Auria (hint: we won’t be changing our name to Pod of Horticulture). Also, Richard Laymon’s early novel, THE WOODS ARE DARK, has been restored by his daughter Kelly, and she tells us about it. We talk to crime writer Duane Swierczynski about SEVERANCE PACKAGE and Marvel Comics. Nanci has the news in The Call of Kalanta. The Tomb of Trivia is loaded with free books. And we introduce the new PoH book reviewer. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.

Download it at I-Tunes or direct to your desktop.

Get Pod of Horror merchandise.

Visit our MySpace page.

Be sure to drop by the Justice & Wilbanks message board.

Mark’s MySpace page.

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.