Liars, Fakers, and the Dead Who Eat Them, containing two zombie novelettes—”Only Humans Can Lie” and “Faking It Until Forever Comes”—will officially launch from Written Backwards at StokerCon the last week of April.

The book, which I’m told will be available for preorder within a few weeks, is an 8″x 5″ trade paperback priced at only $8.95, with a cover and many interior illustrations by Daniele Serra, plus an introduction by Brian Keene.

Here’s the beautiful, near-final cover, missing only the UPC code and price.

To find out what the two novelettes are about, read the back cover blurb.

You’ll want a copy, I’m sure.

Maybe even two.

In late 2015, a friend I’d made at the Strathmore Ukefest formed The Woods Ukulele Club here in West Virginia, and recently she decided we were up to entertaining at senior centers, independent living facilities, and nursing homes.

Which meant that earlier today In Martinsburg, as part of our hour-long set, I led the group in the Johnny Cash classic “One Piece at a Time,” which the assembled seniors seemed to enjoy. And even though I don’t think I was always singing in quite the right key, I figured I’d share it with you.

Because enthusiasm trumps talent, right?

Unfortunately, due to the angle of the camcorder, less than half the group is visible. Next time, I’ll aim to go wide, so I can inflict all of us on you!

My trip to Manhattan to record episodes of Eating the Fantastic started off with Ellen Datlow and a Ukrainian lunch, followed by Craig Engler and a BBQ dinner. And now, at the request of this episode’s guest, it’s time for deli at Ben’s New York Kosher Delicatessen.

My guest loves Ben’s more than any other NYC deli, and who am I to turn down Barry N. Malzberg, who among other things, was winner of the first John W. Campbell Award for his novel Beyond Apollo, and both a Hugo and Nebula Award finalist for stories I published when I was the editor of Science Fiction Age magazine?

One unusual aspect to this episode is that it features as mere onlooker a writer deserving of his own episode someday—Paul Di Filippo, who felt compelled to come along and witness this recording. After all, the first of his more than 100 published stories was a Malzberg homage!

Barry and I discussed why being able to sell his first drafts was so important at the beginning of his writing career, how his debut short story collection came to be published under the pseudonym K. M. O’Donnell, what it was like to edit both Amazing and Fantastic magazines during the late ’60s, the identity of his greatest discovery during his years at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, what’s up with the long-promised movie version of Beyond Apollo, how Harry Harrison could have (but didn’t) shut down the filming of Soylent Green, and more.

Here’s how you can nosh with us— (more…)

January was another extremely light dream month for me, which is probably why it took me this long to gather them up from where they were originally shared over on Twitter. I wish I could figure out why I only remembered 15 dreams in January, because in the past, recalling five or six times as many per month was standard.

If I ever solve the mystery of my missing dreams, believe me, you’ll get to hear all about it.

But meanwhile …

January 2017

I dreamt I was on a plane making an emergency landing, listening to the captain instruct us we had to evacuate without taking our luggage. Jan 31

I dreamt a workman using a blowtorch in front of my house accidentally lit pine trees on fire, and when I pointed it out, was unconcerned. Jan 31

I dreamt I attempted to escape an island, and raced to the end of many piers, only to find that every available boat had been destroyed. Jan 31

I dreamt a giant millstone, many times taller than me, rolled down a hill at me. I ran and hid behind a tree, which — whew! — stopped it. Jan 30

I dreamt I was trapped in a room with Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, only — he was real flesh, not a cartoon, which made him even creepier. Jan 30

I dreamt I was walking down the street and saw a guy with amazing full sleeve tattoos of the original X-Men in their blue and gold costumes. Jan 23

I dreamt I was in a con suite, spotted Mike Walsh in the distance, and wandered over to commiserate about the death of Larry Smith. Jan 23

I dreamt I planted a bomb by a terrorist bunker, and was unrolling a fuse and running with it as fast and far as I could before lighting it. Jan 23

I dreamt I was playing Scrabble with Mags Bennett from Justified … which as you might expect, made for an extremely nerve-wracking game! Jan 21

I dreamt this morning I led a workshop on how to come up with story ideas … and surprise — when I woke, I’d brought a story idea with me! Jan 16

I dreamt I was Detective Logan from Law & Order, and a perp stabbed my partner and got away, because I had to keep my friend from dying. Jan 10

I dreamt I returned to NYC to pick up 38 years of diaries I’d left at a Starbucks for safekeeping, suddenly realizing it was a BAD IDEA. Jan 8

I dreamt I spotted a bat and a rabbit in my backyard sharing a spent dandelion, so rushed off to get my camera, but alas, could not find it. Jan 6

I dreamt I spotted a couple of Navy guys in a brawl, and called my Dad to tell him what I’d seen. It was comforting to hear his voice again. Jan 4

I dreamt I spotted seven baby foxes, and spent most of the time in their presence slapping my pockets in search of a camera as they ran off. Jan 4

When I moved out of New York more than 30 years ago, there was no such thing as authentic BBQ there. (Well, as far as I knew. Feel free to prove me wrong.) But all that’s changed, as my visits to such places as Hometown Bar-B-Que and BrisketTown show. So when this episode’s guest recommended we record at John Brown Smokehouse, which Eater has called “the most faithful rendition of Kansas City-style barbecue in NYC,” I was so in.

My guest for this 28th episode of Eating the Fantastic is my former Syfy boss of more than 13 years, Craig Engler, who’s now the Co-Creator/Writer/Co-Executive Producer of the hit zombie TV show Z Nation, which was recently renewed for a fourth season on Syfy. (And would you like to see me taking a bullet in the head for Craig? Of course you would!)

Join us as we discuss what life’s like when you’re a professional game player for Nintendo, how running the Syfy Channel’s digital side led to him getting a shot at writing TV movies such as Zombie Apocalypse, why he wrote Weight Hacking, his geek guide to losing weight and getting fit, plus much more, including behind-the-scenes secrets on the past, present, and future of his hit zombie TV show Z Nation.

Here’s how you can share the BBQ— (more…)

Back in the early ’50s, Sheldon Moldoff and Mort Meskin collaborated on a strip titled “The Little Woman” for True Story magazine. And while, all these years later, I wince at the dated phrase “the little woman,” the installments were to my surprise quite forward-thinking for the time.

The star of the strip was continually presented as the brains and backbone of the family, as readers got to see her show her husband how to register to vote, investigate landlords who were gouging renters, or—in an installment made suddenly more relevant by events of the past few days—even teach her kid that “we don’t want to judge people by what they look like or where they come from.”

As with the PSAs starring Superman and Batman which DC Comics ran in the ’50s and ’60s, I sure wish Donald Trump had read them—and taken them to heart—when he was a kid. If he had, perhaps we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.

My wife has been attending the New Jersey Romance Writers Convention for decades, and for many years, I’ve been tagging along, using that trip as an excuse to head into Manhattan and hang with friends. The most recent trip was different from all the rest, though, in that now, I have a podcast (one which you can help grow bigger and better via your Patreon support), which means you can eavesdrop on all those lunches and dinners.

This first to be recorded this visit took place at the Ukranian restaurant Veselka, which turns out more than 3,000 pierogi each day, and has been around since 1954. My guest that afternoon was editor Ellen Datlow, who for more than 35 years has brought readers amazing stories in magazines such as Omni, on sites such as SCI FI Fiction, and in anthologies such as Fearful Symmetries, The Doll Collection, and more than 90 others.

We discussed why reading slush is relaxing, which editors she wanted to emulate when she began editing, how she winnows down her favorite stories for her Year’s Best anthologies, the complexities of navigating friendships when making editorial decisions, how Ed Bryant challenged her to become a better editor, and much more.

Here’s how you can listen in on our conversation— (more…)

I woke this morning to a press release from the Horror Writers Association announcing the 2016 Bram Stoker Awards Preliminary Ballot—and look who appears in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction—

Me!

Anderson, Paul Michael – Bones Are Made to be Broken (Bones Are Made to be Broken) (Written Backwards)

Boden, John – Jedi Summer with the Magnetic Kid (Post Mortem Press)

Cushing, Aric – Vampire Boy (Grand & Archer)

Cushing, Nicole – The Sadist’s Bible (01Publishing)

Drinkwater, Karl – Harvest Festival (Organic Apocalypse)

Edelman, Scott – That Perilous Stuff (Chiral Mad 3) (Written Backwards)

LaValle, Victor – The Ballad of Black Tom (Tor.com)

Malerman, Josh – The Jupiter Drop (You, Human) (Written Backwards)

Matthews, Mark – All Smoke Rises: Milk-Blood Redux (Wicked Run Press)

Shane, Simmons – Raw (Silent Screams: An Anthology of Socially Conscious Dark Fiction) (Serpent & Dove Speculative Fiction)

Waggoner, Tim – The Winter Box (Darkfuse)

You can find the full preliminary ballot here.

Please note that this does not make me a Bram Stoker Award nominee or finalist—those will be determined by members of the HWA voting from February 1 through 15, and the lucky few who make the final ballot will be announced on February 23. But hey, I’m thrilled to have gotten this far!

If you’re a voting member of the HWA, and would like to receive a copy of my story to consider as you make your final decisions, please let me know and I’ll send one off right away.

And whatever happens next, I hope to see you at Stokercon!

One day shy of 16 years ago, I was on the streets of Washington, D.C., protesting at the inauguration of George W. Bush. I was never able to find photographic evidence of that, because in those pre-iPhone days, most of the pictures taken were crowd shots by journalists. And though I frequently searched online in the month following the inauguration, peering at hundreds of pictures for my face or even my sign, I found nothing.

This afternoon however …

On a lark spurred by current events, I typed the search string “george bush inauguration protests” into Google. I assumed I’d look through a couple of pages of results, realize how ridiculous it was to expect I’d find me among the thousands of other protesters, and go back to what I’d been doing minutes before.

What I’d never have predicted is that on the first page of results, without even having to scroll, I’d spot a familiar sign, recognizable even in a tiny preview image.

And to my further surprise, when I clicked—there I was!

Do you see me?

A warning, though—if you’ve only come to know me within the past 10 years, and have no memory of the me of 100+ pounds ago, locating me probably won’t be an easy task. (If you’d like to discover whether your “Where’s Waldo” skills are still sharp, study the next image careful before scrolling down to the final image on this page, as I’ve overlaid a red arrow there pointing directly at me.)

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