Snappy Blog Title TK

I've just been sucked under by a work-nami.

That and the current piece I'm working on is not going well. I'm encountering some kind of personal resistance to the topic, I guess. Call it Horror-block.

--Brian.

let's be realistic. all exercise equipment for in home use should also do something else so it actually gets used. ours would, with some modification, make an excellent drying rack for clothes. I could see treadmill toasters, elliptical chairs, bicycles with a fan mounted in them, a dehumidifier would be nice.

FYI - if you ordered a signed Dresden Cold Days hardcover from Barnes and Noble, you might have a defective book. Mine has a double-feed leave from 345-376, and then it jumps to page 409. Obviously I found this out when I got to page 376 for the first time, but it took me a minute. Like, wait. Harry's taking a shower again? Lacuna is saying she has no clothes again? I'm so confused...

Then I realized. So.

And if you buy the book from a store, check you have pages 377-408 ...

I couldn't spoil the book for you folks if I wanted to. I haven't read chapter one of the preview even, and apparently my book is arriving by quadriplegic hobbit. They took a full day to package the book after I bought it. Wake up Barnes and Noble! Amazon would get it in a box on the same dang day.

Why me?

Let alone the new format and spending ten minutes trying to find... create new post.

--Brian.

I'd rather be reading Cold Days. Dangit. ...

Has it been a year since I've done this? Work has been eating me alive, and the old home life, too. That and a nearly pathological need for sleep.

Just a sampling cut from duotrope (new format for the web site, give it a look).

Red Skies Press: True Dark Darkest horror 12 Sep 12
(9/30/2012) Tomorrow Anthology: Post-apocalyptic
(9/30/2012) In The Spaces Between Anthology: Science Fiction Mysteries

(9/30/2012) Story Star Publishing Short Story ...

Well, to quote Douglas Adams, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

While I always meet deadlines at work, I am not so successful at writing. This time the issue was I spend too much time doing nothing in the story. I realized this was a problem and came up with a different approach angle, but just ran out of time.

--Brian.

I took another look at the duotrope deadline calendar and it's like the whole year has three to five times more deadlines than the last time I looked. Tons of horror/scifi/fantasy deadlines.

Aie.

And it looks like I can give "Heartbreaker" another polish, provided I ever finish "Bitter End" for that revenge anthology on the 15th of June.

Right now, "Bitter End" has all the appeal of a week-old bowl of oatmeal. I'm at 1,200 ...

I submitted a story to this market that wasn't accepted - no worries, it's kind of a tough story to sell but it did rather fit the concept.

Anyway, the anthology is out and getting some nice notices in the UK press. (Well, I presume the Guardian is UK. I'm 99% sure....)

learn more about the anthology here:
http://www.mutationpress.com/

From the sound of it, it's a little more social than Ian pictured at the beginning of the submissions call, a ...

Digging in at duotrope's theme calendar. Interesting things in May, but I'm afraid that's unrealistically soon for me to clear some time to write.

But I do have some completed stories I might be able to dust off, polish a bit, and send off later in the year.

"Bitter End" if I finish it, should be good for seven deadly sins as well as Revenge theme, and I have another unsold, "Heartbreaker" that might be sci-fi horror if you squint enough.
...

This is preliminary notice that I know a publisher that will be running a kind of "submit a cover" art contest. More details coming soon, but those of you interested, please take note. Exposure only, no actual pay (these are for token pay anthologies, after all...), but your work will be "out there" on the various sites as the cover.

--Brian.

Well, given I haven't posted Books in October, November, or December, or for that matter, January, it's pretty obvious I've fallen behind on what I plan to do with this blog.

End of January is turning into a surprise sprint at the end of a marathon, so I'm going to try to do a little catch up in February.

What can I say? I closed on a house in December and moved in. Then there were all the window treatments, and every day off to work on those turned into a half day ...

There is a plan for a podcast / audio version of Live and Let Undead.

For those interested. I'll post more details when I have more details.

--Brian.

My story "Industrial Disease" is in the Live and Let Undead anthology edited by Hollie Snider.

Live and Let Undead Anthology.

If you're interested, give it a try.

(While the cover may imply some kind of.... well... adult relationship between zombie and the living, my story is not like that.....)

--Brian.

Really? I haven't posted from September yet?

I owe you one September book report.

(Nanowrimo ate my soul, no idea what happened in October.)

--Brian.

Here's a concept question: Do readers care that much about typos?

I got into this discussion once (poorly) over on some random "I hate self-published books" type of blog. All the reviewer did was accept free copies and quit reading after reaching a set number of typos (which was always before the end of the book, mind).

But is it the story that a normal reader is looking for, or excellent proofreading?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting ...