The latest issue of Dark Wisdom, featuring my story, "The Tattletail," is now available from Elder Signs Press. It’s listed as a pre-order item for May, but it should be shipping within the next week or so since the gang at ESP will be selling it at World Horror Con, which takes place May 11-14. (Speaking of which, they posted on their website that because of the upcoming convention schedule, they expect this issue to sell out quickly. So if you plan to pick up a copy, don’t wait too long!)

Table of Contents | Buy a Copy

I’m not much of a salesman, which is probably why I never really fit in with the small-press writers, but I think this story is a goodie. And since it marks my first professional sale, the darn thing might end up being worth something years from now if I actually make a name for myself as a novelist. Stranger things have happened.

Speaking of strange things, you might have noticed a few changes around the website. I’d been planning to do a bit of an overhaul over the past few months and thought this was a good time to do it. With three stories under my belt, sixteen stories waiting for replies, and a novella that’s rapidly nearing completion, I figured it was time for a few changes.

First, the splash page has been changed to a smaller, more somber picture (it was taken two weeks ago at Millers Creek in Peterborough) that I feel is still fitting but also reflects the recent changes in my life (i.e., the big move out of the city, the publication of my first story). Secondly, the rejection letters are gone. Most of them were boring old form letters, anyway. In the future, if I get one with some interesting feedback, I’ll simply post quotes from it in the journal, but the letters themselves are no more. Same goes for the Acceptances section, which was meant to be a place where I could post some thoughts on the stories I’ve managed to sell. Those notes have been incorporate into the bibliography section. Each story now has its own page, with order information for the magazine in which it will appear.

It looks like a lot of work, but I actually completed it over the past few weeks. I was just waiting for Elder Signs Press to post the info on the new Dark Wisdom, and then it was just a matter of overwriting a bunch of files, deleting others, and voila, new website. I hope you like it.

• Currently reading: Lunar Park, by Bret Easton Ellis

From the editor of Horrors Beyond II:

Thank you for submitting "The Dark and the Young" to Horrors Beyond II. Your story has been added to the final reading pool. While this does not mean it has been accepted yet, it is on the short list of submissions — it has been selected from several hundred other stories.

The final choices are determined by the surrounding stories and the overall context of stories. But getting to this point is quite a task.

Good story, Ian. Thanks for submitting it again.

The suspense is killing me!

• Currently reading: Lunar Park, by Bret Easton Ellis

According to a message on the Elder Signs Press message board, the information on issue #9 of Dark Wisdom, featuring my story, "The Tattletail," should be up on their site tonight.

Once they posted it, I’ll include it here, maybe even with a shot of the cover.

Dark Wisdom is also closed to submissions from May 30th to August 1st, so they can catch up on their slush pile. Presumably that means I should be hearing back about "Charlotte’s Frequency" sometime soon.

And finally, William Jones, editor of Horrors Beyond II, posted an update stating that he has already accepted a handful of stories for the new anthology. Also, some authors have been sent notices stating that their stories have made it to the "final reading pool." I haven’t received any notice, one way or the other, but in his posting Jones said there were more stories to be posted to this list, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing that I’m not on it yet.

I’m really hoping that "The Dark and the Young" will be accepted as I really like this story and I was so close to getting it into the first Horrors Beyond.

It’s hard not to be excited and a bit optimistic (just take a look at the feedback it got the first time around), but I’m still, at heart, a realist. The story will be judged on its own merits. This is simply what happens to me during information overload. Publishing is probably the slowest moving of all the fine arts, and when things happens, they tend to happen fast.

• Currently reading: Lunar Park, by Bret Easton Ellis

Just got an e-mail from Kevin Donihe, editor of Bare Bone, regarding my story, "A Night in the Library with the Gods." Donihe said he liked the story but that he wanted to see a couple more stories before he made a decision. I’ve never had an editor make such a request before, and I wasn’t sure if he wanted to see stories I’ve already published or if he wanted to see a couple of the other ones I’m currently trucking around. I e-mailed him back asking for clarification, but either way it’s encouraging!

I’ll be posting a writing update tomorrow, with info on the stories I’ve been working on these past few weeks. Stay tuned!

Update: Heard back from Donihe. He is looking for a story that will best balance the next issue of Bare Bone, and he thought I might have one that would do that, at least more than "A Night in the Library with the Gods." I sent him "Relaxed Best," and he told me he would let me know within the next week if he’s going to take one or the other, or neither.

• Currently reading: Lunar Park, by Bret Easton Ellis

Busy weekend. Finished packing all my books, dropped off six garbage bags of old clothes at Goodwill, and watched the first twelve episodes of House on DVD. Took some notes on a new novella called "The Converted," but that was it on the writing front. I can’t seem to get much done while I’m in the process of moving.

On the plus side, it looks like Kat has found us a place to live. Apparently it’s very big, well decorated, and within our budget. I’ll be checking it out this weekend.

• Currently reading: Lunar Park, by Bret Easton Ellis

Feeling much better today, thanks for asking. God bless vitamin C and my uncanny metabolism. Works wonders, it does.

Received a new rejection a couple of days ago – I was hoping it was a cold-induced hallucination, but alas – but got the story back out again today. It’s one of my newer ones, about an organization that cleans up after supernatural incidents. Think Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crossed with The X-Files.

I haven’t had much time to post here lately as I’ve been spending most of my time packing and getting ready for the big exodus out of Toronto. It’s very exciting but also very nerve-wracking. I’m left with all the preparations on this end, while Kathryn is left with those in the ‘borough, including finding a place for us to live until we can find a house with a few acres that we like. It’s a good time of year to be looking, with the students leaving and all, but it has not been easy. Who would have thought that finding a new job would end up being the easy part? Strange, strange world.

• Currently reading: Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

So I got the job. You’re looking at the new webmaster for the City of Kawartha Lakes. I’ll be helping them revamp their existing site, build a new tourism site, and assist in the implementation of a content management system. Lots of fun, in other words. I’ll be a busy boy. I also hope to do some contract work for another design company in my spare time, and Kathryn and I are about to incorporate ourselves so that we can do freelance writing/editing, web work, and photography. It’s going to be one big shingle when we’re ready to hanging it out.

Of course, I’ll still have plenty of time for my writing, time which will be better spent away from the hustle and bustle of Toronto which has proven to be a wee bit too distracting lo these past few years. I’m looking forward to the peace and relative quiet of living in Peterborough. Now we just need to find an apartment…

I just heard that Dark Wisdom #9 is now at the printer, and I should be posting the pre-order information any day now.

That was my Easter weekend. Hope everyone had a good one, as well.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I seem to have contracted a bug over the weekend, and the couch doth beckon…

• Currently reading: Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

I had the day off yesterday so that I could attend a job interview out of town. I won’t mention where it was or for what position until I hear back from them (I expect to find out one way or the other within the next few days), but I can say that the interview itself went very well and I think I have a very good shot at getting the position.

Cross your fingers for me, folks. Looks like I may be moving out of the city sooner than I had originally thought.

• Currently reading: Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro