Don't Start Believing

Anyone who knows me (and many people who don't) know that I love the fall. Not just the beautiful reds and golds of changing leaves, the crispness in the air, Halloween and horror movies--but also what comes after. I might be the only person I know who gets up a little early, just so I can step outside and gaze up at the grim Midwestern sky. I'm not sure whether it is the muddy palette of browns and grays, or the rain turning to slush turning back to rain, but there's just something about the bleakness of late autumn that really resonates with me.

I should add that I'm not a maudlin person by nature. I'm not mulling over existential conundrums while I'm out stomping around in the half-frozen mud and kicking through piles of rotting leaves. I'm genuinely enjoying the hell out of myself.

So, when I learned that not one, not two, but three of my pieces were going to be published in early November, it was a rare and singular delight.

I've spoken often of the feast or famine nature of publishing, and how lucky I feel to have stories pop up on a semi-regular basis. And I still get that little frisson of disbelief when I see one of my pieces in print or hear it performed.

That's my story? I wrote it? Weird.

In any case, I'm burying the lead as always. No matter what you feel about late autumn, it's a good time (at least here in the Midwest) for curling up with a book (or podcast). If you're looking for some, I've got a few.

The Red Hours - My first novella. Well, my first published novella. It takes place in the Warhammer Fantasy universe (Age of Sigmar, to be specific). Sort of like a dark fantasy version of The Thing, it follows a group of outcasts in a distant outpost as they struggle with a strange and horrifying interloper as well as their own dark histories. I tried to write so the story would be accessible to people only marginally familiar with the Warhammer milieu. Give it a read and tell me whether you think I succeeded.

 "Destroyer of Worlds" - My attempt at historical horror, the story follows J. Robert Oppenheimer in the closing years of World War II, as he tries to end the conflict through supernatural means. Drew Sebesteny of the Tales to Terrify crew gives an amazing performance, especially as the voice of the genie. Oh, did I mention there's a genie? Because there's a genie.

"Every House, A Home" - In the world of fiction podcasts PodCastle could be considered something of an elder statesmen. So it was a singular delight when they agreed to publish my not-quite-haunted-house story. Performed by the exceptionally talented Tatiana Grey, the story deals with homes, real estate, history, and what it takes for a space to become a place.