Me, Talking

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Not one but two podcasts were foolish enough to have me on as a guest recently!

There was the Retro Ridoctopus Podcast, hosted by Steve Von Sansom, and they covered all sorts of stuff with me  here.

And then there was my third(?!) appearance on The Corner of Story and Game, hosted by Gerald Ford, where we talked about the tension between wanting things to be perfect and needing things to get done. Check it out here.

And, looking ahead, on December 7th I’ll be doing another Noir at the Bar at Larema Coffeehouse in beautiful Wilson, NC, home of the epic Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. (Wilson, not the coffee shop). I’ll be reading with some mighty fine folks like Rachel Brune and Samuel Montgomery-Blinn, along with warhorse Robert Creekmore and more. Hope to see you there!

As October Crashes To A Close….

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…things remain busy as all heck.

Sunday you can find me at the Triangle Terror Con in downtown Durham in the Armory building. I’ll be there slinging books and telling stories about real-life zombie frogs and the like. Come on out and explore the ghoulish festivities!

Tuesday night the 29th, the North Carolina Chapter of the HWA presents, in conjunction with the Durham Public Library and Moon Dog Meadery, MORBID TALES II: A NIGHT OF HORROR AND HEAVY METAL. I won’t be reading, but a lot of great North Carolina authors will be, and I will be there cheering them on. Check it out – come on in, the mead is fine and the metal is finer!

And November 9th, the HWA Chapter will be at the Orange County Library doing a combination lecture and workshop series on writing horror. I’ll be a part of that line up. Hope to see you there!

I’m A Real Writer

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I’ve been talking about a project like this for a while, but it has finally come to fruition. I am beyond pleased to announce that I have signed a contract with Charles River to produce my long-gestating book on being a game writer – not on game writing, because they are NOT the same thing – The Game Writer’s Guide To Surviving An Industry That Hates You.

Yes, you read that right.

It’s going to be a distilled version of my thoughts on what it takes to actually do and thrive in the role of game writer in the video game industry, one which has historically been hostile to writers of all stripes. I have 25 years’ experience on games big and small, successful and otherwise, and to say that I have seen things beyond the ridiculous along the way would be an understatement.  It is time for me to share all that I have learned.

The book should be out next year. I’ll keep folks posted, and I look forward to you checking it out and taking that journey with me.

Nightmare Logic 2025!

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I am happy bey0nd words to announce that Falstaff Dread has picked up my new novel NIGHTMARE LOGIC for publication next year! This is the scariest, most horrific novel I have written, and I am thrilled that the fine folks at Falstaff believe in it and want to bring it to you. Keep watching this space for updates!

A Big Thank-You To Pop! Con

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I had a great time yesterday at Pop! Con in Sanford, NC. The show is put on annually by the Lee County Public Libraries and it’s a great time, with everything from cosplay to raptor shows to food trucks to little old me with my books sitting there telling the true story of the zombie frogs, Satchel and Nancy.

Bonus points if you can ID the reference.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that as much fun as the big cons are, I highly encourage folks to go out and support their local shows, too. You might not get the rock star guests, but you’ll probably get exposed to folks in your community who are doing cool stuff, and that’s worth a whole lot in and of itself.

 

Monsters In The Mead Hall

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I am back from GenCon, wiped out but energized after an immersive dunking in game and writing space with cool people whose orbits and mine don’t always intersect.

Big thanks to the folks who put the Writers Symposium together and for inviting me, to all the folks I paneled with on everything from portfolio reviews to writing with kindness, to the old friends at Green Ronin who helped me with housing and who continue to put out fabulous RPG products, to Toiya K. Finley for spearheading the Interdimensions anthology I’m a part of, and to all the Maurice Broadduses, Matt Forbecks, Jennifer Allaways, Jessica Goldstein Blairs, Jeremy Bernsteins, Justin Achillis and all the rest who make the experience so wonderful.

But I’m home now, and that means time to go onward. And onward indeed happens this Tuesday the 13th with the Monsters in the Mead Hall reading, put together as a cooperative effort between the Durham Public Library and the NC Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. Join me and four other esteemed writers at Moon Dog Meadery at 7 for some good old fashioned rollicking horror straight from the source.

Talking GenCon

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I’ve got a ton of writing news to share, but in the meantime, here’s an interview I did with Gerald Ford of The Corner of Story and Game. (and I make him laugh so hard he cries at the end.)

Check it out!

Necon – This Year and Next

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I just got back from an utterly fantastic time at Necon, held this year in Goffstown, NH. I saw old friends and made new ones, did a panel with luminaries like S.A. Cosby and Clay McLeod Chapman, hung out with the remarkable Gabino Iglesias, ran the improvisational writing game show Write Club to thunderous approval, shared good scotch with good folks, sold a bunch of books and bought a few as well, got some fabulous advice on my writing, and generally had a wonderful time.

Also, I got named Toastmaster for Necon 43 next year!

See you there!

Upcoming Appearances

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The calendar has gotten quite full for the next few weeks. This past weekend was spent at the SAGA Writers Conference/ConGregate in Winston-Salem, which was a wonderful experience, but that’s just kicking things off.

This Thursday I head to New Hampshire to make my annual pilgrimage to Necon. This year, I’ll be on a panel with S.A. Cosby, Clay McLeod Chapman, Trish Wilson and Shannon Grant, moderated by the effervescent Michael Arruda, on how horror has changed since COVID. I’ll also be running a horror-themed variant on the ever-awesome Write Club – we will see if horror authors have what it takes to come up with the write stuff on the fly!

Two weeks later, I fly to Indianapolis for the magnificent chaos that is GenCon, where I will be participating in the Writers’ Symposium. As an added treat this year, I have a story in the Symposium’s anthology, Interdimensions, published by Atthis Arts!

Then the 13th of August, I join a lineup of local horror authors for Monsters In the Mead Hall, 7 PM at Moon Dog Meadery in Durham. It’s a showcase event for members of the North Carolina chapter of the HWA, and we will be bringing unseasonable chills and thrills to the heat of summer.

That Saturday is Pop!-Con down in Sanford. August 17th. I’ve never been to Sanford, but I’m looking forward to sharing my spooky stories with a new audience!

So it’s going to be a busy few weeks, but I’m looking forward to it. See you here, there and everywhere!