Submission Log 11/21/2008

I’ve been so busy producing content for my Tampa Bay Area site at About.com I haven’t had much time to keep up with my not-so-secret identity as a horror writer. I’ll be trying to get caught up by the end of the year, submitting dormant stories and, with any luck, completing some new tales along the way.

The following stories were submitted to various markets this week:

• “Closing the Deal,” 4,950 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to Shroud Magazine
• “An Unsolicited Lucidity,” 4,550 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to Shock Totem
• “Late for Dinner, 1,150 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to New Dawn Fades
• “Tattered Notes Found in a Cheap Motel Room,” 1,580 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to Not One of Us
• "Wild with Hunger," 4,220 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to Murky Depths
• “Their Minds How Darkened,” 4,360 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to Weird Tales
• “The Bane of Azrael,” 1,650 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to Sybil’s Garage
• “The Far Unlit Unknown,” 2,100 words, submitted 11/19/2008 to Space & Time

Shameless Self Promotion No. 4

My short story “Starless and Bible Black” appears in Withersin’s Unkindness anthology, released on Oct. 31, 2008.

The first anthology from Withersin Magazine, the book collects “13 dark, different and pleasantly sinister tales with a twist.” The complete list of tales includes:

• “Inspiration” - Ken Goldman


• “An Unnatural Death” - Ben Duiverman


• “Complete Breakfast” - MP Johnson


• “Doddering Fools” - Gregory Story


• “Vanguard of Blood” - Patrick McCully


• “Medicated” - James Marcotullio


• “Starless and Bible Black” - Lee Clark Zumpe


• “Chemical Man” - Mike Norris


• “The Forgotten House” - Patrick Rutigliano


• “Goatman” - Robert Sullivan


• “Updating” - John Rosenman


• “Interruptions” - JG Faherty


• “Paint it Black” - Brian Schiavo

Also included is an interview with Graham Hancock.

Unkindness is available from Withersin Magazine.

Recent Acquisitions No. 1

Earlier this year I met a local book dealer with a dramatic back story. Seems he relocated to Florida after a particularly unpleasant divorce, leaving behind a book store and its inventory. Today, he buys estates, picks through the spoils and auctions off the best booty online.

Fortunately, he maintains a small client base and knows each of his patron’s particular obsessions quite well. Those fortunate enough to have made his acquaintance get first dibs on the occasional treasures which wash up on his literary shore.

Sadly, finances restrict me from expanding my library much these days … but I have made a few small, significant purchases I’m pleased to report. From time to time, I’ll post information about these and future acquisitions.

Among my recent purchases is A Song of the Naked Lands, by Robert E. Howard, printed by Roy A. Squires in 1973. This letterpress edition was limited to 230 copies, mine being copy 182. The original envelope was included in the sale.

In his essay “Collecting Robert E. Howard,” Don Herron says:
“The titles the late Roy Squires printed on letterpress from handset types are high points of the book-making art for the Howard collector.”

The Lure Of Trade Cards

One of the curious habits I have developed over the years is a fondness for collecting vintage paper ephemera.

The obsession no doubt began in the 1970s when I first started buying nonsports trading cards; specifically, Star Wars cards. These days, I continue to dabble when finances allow (which is increasingly rare). Today, I discovered a lot of Victorian-era advertising trade cards that I simply couldn't pass up. As far as I can tell, these date back to the 1870s or 1880s. They promote a product called "Tarrant's Seltzer Aperient," which, according to an article by Ben Crane, "was sold as a bottle of white powder which when poured into cold water gave 30 to 40 glasses of 'foaming, sparkling seltzer' to which 'headaches, constipation, indigestion and dyspepsia yield at once.'"

I've scanned a few of the cards for your enjoyment.

Shameless Self Promotion No. 3

My short story “Worm-sacks and Dirt-backs” appears in Shroud Publishing’s new anthology Abominations.

As their website so accurately claims, Abominations was “compiled from some of the most horrifying stories of creatures, mythical beasts, and murderous monsters …” and features “ … expertly-crafted tales, never before published, from the best voices in modern horror.”

Edited by Tim Deal, Abominations showcases work from writers such as Anna Lowther, William Vogel, Lon Prater and Gerard Houarner.

Abominations is available from Shroud Publishing.

Shameless Self Promotion No. 2

My poem "Margaritifer Chaos" appears in the current issue of Space and Time.

Space and Time, Issue 104, is now available and includes fiction by Harry Turtledove, Ruthanna Emrys and Chet Gottfried as well as poetry by Mike Allen, Marge Simon and Sonya Taaffe, among others.

A 41-year-old publication, Space and Time is one of those magazines that writers of speculative fiction and poetry put on their priority list from day one. As a fan of the genre, it's a great place to check out the best in "Strange and Unusual Fiction." As a writer, it's a market I've tried to conquer for years. I'm honored to see "Margaritifer Chaos" alongside the works of so many other gifted authors.

Arrrrrrgggh - Pirates!

Brooklyn-born Robert W. Chambers, best known today for a series of short stories first published in 1895 under the name The King in Yellow, in his later years focused on romantic and historical fiction. A recent excursion to a sale hosted by an area book dealer (only collectors were invited, and a password was required!) turned up this little treasure. Chambers' The Rogue's Moon, first published in 1928, is described as "a truly gorgeous romance" and a "dashing tale of old buccaneering days."

The dust jacket continues: "Here are famous pirates of other times, vividly recalled in zestful narrative and spirited drawings. Captain Death, Mary Read, Israel Hornygold, and that sinister figure Edward Teach - a motley and picturesque crew, they are seen foregathering to many a hazardous undertaking." This 1929 edition includes Norman Price's art in tinted inserted plates plus in-text illustrations and endpapers and only set me back $5.

Shameless Self Promotion No. 1

Blood Sampler: Subtle Sips & Spicy Shots, featuring a collection of vampire flash fiction by David Lee Summers and Lee Clark Zumpe, is now available from Sams Dot Publishing.

Some of the tales presented in this beautifully designed book originally appeared in the now defunct Blood Samples. With detailed illustrations by Caroline O'Neal, the collection features more than 30 unique stories. Works such as David's "Skinwalker," "The Tale of Blood Red," "Dragon Reborn" and "City Project," and my "Dubrovnik," "Damnation," "Canonization" and "Sirmione" appear here for the first time!

David is the editor of Tales of the Talisman (and Hadrosaur Tales prior to that) and author of Heirs of the New Earth and Vampires of the Scarlet Order.

To order your copy, visit the Sams Dot Purchase Center.

The Blog-Quest of the Unknown Kadath

Maintaining a whole website takes up way too much time these days, particularly since I took a gig as a Tampa Bay guide at About.com. Between writing entertainment articles for Tampa Bay Newspapers, updating the About.com site and trying to find a few extra minutes each day to work on fiction, I decided that it would be easier to just start a blog so I had some place to go when I felt the need to ramble endlessly about subjects of little or no significance to anyone else but me.

That's what blogging is all about, right?

Stay tuned: Mindless prattle sure to follow!