Next Chapter Con, October 1

For any and all readers between Chattanooga and Atlanta, get ready for Next Chapter Con in Dalton, Georgia on October 1!

This is specifically a convention for authors and readers. Every genre under the sun will be present, with books galore for everyone. There will also be panels (I may be on one) and no excuse whatsoever not to blow your annual book budget supporting your local authors. Tickets are a steal at only $7.

In other news, I've got two (count 'em) two new stories coming out just around the corner. "The God in the Bottle" is slated to appear in the Autumn 2022 issue of The Colored Lens, while my story "Bigger Fish" will be unleashed upon the world in an upcoming issue of Aurealis. Stay Tuned!

Magic City Con, June 24 - 26

Greetings, fellow Earthlings, and especially those who live within an easy drive of Birmingham, Alabama. This very weekend, I'll be joining you all at this year's Magic City Con.

Magic City Con is Birmingham's premier convention for science fiction, fantasy, gaming, cosplay, and all things that make us fans feel right at home. It's being held at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham - Wynfrey Hotel, adjacent to the Riverchase Galleria. Doors open and 3:00 pm, Friday June 24, and the show continues through Sunday afternoon. There are special guests, artists, game rooms, discussion panels, and (of course) awesome vendors galore.

I'll be sharing a booth with my good friend, Birmingham's very own space opera queen, author Teresa Howard, whom I've known since my years with the Hoover Library Write Club (and whose story, "Dead In Me," was featured in my Summer Gothic anthology). Come stop by our table and see what's on offer!

(I'll give you a hint: Books. Lots of books. And possibly discounts.)

On a personal note, this will be my first SF convention since I started writing full-time as my career. Stay masked, stay safe, and I hope to see you there!

"Three Knives" in On Spec Magazine

If it please the court, I'd like to offer the following into evidence. "Three Knives" is my first foray in to pure, straight-up, skin-crawling horror, and it's available now in On Spec Magazine. Here's a taste for free:

A padded envelope addressed to my five-year-old daughter Stacy sat outside our door when I brought her home from afterschool. There was no return address and worse, no postage. I waited to open it until after she’d gone to watch cartoons in her room.

The only thing in the package was an old straight razor. I dropped it on the kitchen table and my heart skipped a beat. The grip was soft and pitted from use. The blade was tarnished, and there were specks along its edge that may or may not have been rust. 

I knew that razor as well as I knew each scar it had traced on my body. But it couldn’t be the one I remembered. When I was ten years old, I’d thrown that razor in the fire of my burning house. The blade might have survived, but not the wooden handle. I fell into a chair and watched it, as if it might somehow come to life. It took me longer than it should to call the cops.

On Spec is Canada's premier science fiction and fantasy magazine, and I'm thrilled to be included in the latest issue. And while I'm not Canadian myself, I've got enough Cajun in me that I would have been Canadian if my ancestors hadn't been kicked out three hundred years ago. But then again, if they hadn't, we'd never have learned to boil crawfish.

But I digress. Unlike my other recent stories that I've posted, this one isn't available for free. However, you're welcome to buy an ebook copy of the magazine from Weightless Books, or subscribe and get it in print. It's well worth it!

UPDATE: Here's a review from Amazing Stories ~

"[Three Knives is] a story in the finest tradition of who-done-it mysteries, or rather, who’s-about-to-do-what mysteries. I enjoyed it. Kept me guessing." - R. Graeme Cameron

Apex Magazine Kickstarter

All right, readers. Today I'm here to shill for Apex Magazine, the wonderful people who published my story “Discontinuity” online back in September. Their new goal is to publish a shiny new anthology, in print no less, including all forty-eight original stories that appeared in Apex in 2021. For anyone counting, that was six regular bi-monthly issues and two special issues: one highlighting indigenous authors and another focusing on international SF.

What do you get for supporting their Kickstarter? Lots of options are available, including ebook and print copies of the anthology, a subscription to the magazine, a chance to have your own name immortalized in an upcoming story, an editorial critique of a story of your own, and... if you shell out the really big bucks... you can get every copy of Apex ever printed. (Not to mention the gratitude of the editors and all of the authors.)

So get thee to Kickstarter and support the Apex 2021 Anthology.

Meanwhile, in the not-too-distant future, another new story of mine is shuffling toward publication. More details soon!