Thank you, Ranylt for mentioning Clive Barker "In the Hills, the Cities"

This is a shout-out to Ranylt Richildis of my Little Workshop of Horrors group. I informed her how I recently had a editor reject a short story - they complained the character is ruminating too much in the beginning of the piece. Well, of course they are ruminating - they are driving to Cornwall for a friend's funeral, for cryin' out loud. In high praise, Ranylt told me the piece, with its travel and then fantastical tone (I added these last two bits, assuming she meant this), reminded her of Clive Barker's "In the Hills, the Cities", which appeared in volume one of Books of Blood. "In the Hills, the Cities" is an absolutely gorgeous story that I stumbled across in high school, while working part-time at Harvey's (for the non-Canadians, this is a fast-food chain). The story knocked me and my teenage sensibilities back- it featured a male gay couple, a weird fantastic premise, and travel. I thought 'You can do this? You can do this with a short story? Yes. You can do this. Thank you, Clive.'

And now - thank you, Ranylt.

Finding Michael Rowe in Northern Frights 3

In my Ontario travels to used bookstores in Prescott and Gananoque, I have spied familiar names. Hello, Jeffrey Round, scribe of The P-Town Murders and Michael V. Smith, author of Cumberland. And I found the jewel I did not own (and now do), the gently used 1995 edition of Mosaic Press' Northern Frights 3 edited by Don Hutchison. Volume three of Northern Frights, a potpourri of Canadian horror and dark fantasy, features  'Wild Things Live There', the first published short horror fiction by Toronto author Michael Rowe. What a find.

Reading and reviewing Ray Bradbury Unbound

It's only fitting that I am holing myself up in the public library on these rainy summer afternoons to review Jonathan R. Eller's Ray Bradbury Unbound for an upcoming issue of Rue Morgue Magazine. Unbound, due out this Sept., is the sequel to Professor Eller's first—and astonishingly well-executed—Ray Bradbury biography, Becoming Ray Bradbury. Ray often did the same thing I am doing. As a kid, he spent the summers of his formative years reading, reading, reading.

E-interview with Michael Rowe online at Postscripts

My online interview with the eloquent Toronto editor and horror writer Michael Rowe is now up at the Postscripts to Darkness website. I talk to Mr. Rowe about his latest horror novel, the soul-kicking Wild Fell, as well his various inspirations and themes. Check this out to see how the pros do it - both the interview and the question-answering.

My Book Arrived in the Mail

Guess what arrived in the mail from my publisher on Monday? The advance uncorrected proofs of "Town & Train". For those not in the business, these are the advance copies that get sent to book reviewers and the media in general. I also have to give the book one last look before it goes to press for the Nov. 8 publication date. I got a little light-headed about seeing the books after I opened the box. I owe a huge thank you to my publisher and editor, Steve Berman, and to Matt Cresswell for his amazing design work.