Heard some unfortunate news the other day on the 1018 Press message board. Looks like the editor of the Guzzolene anthology has been having trouble finding worthwhile stories to include in the book, and will have to delay the release until March 2007.

Though we really, really, really wanted to have Guzzolene out for 24 December, it looks like the anthology’s release will see a significant delay of at least two months. This will give us time to seek and secure new material that will (hopefully) be better than much of the slush-pile work we received, and turn this project back into a proper anthology again.

My apologies to those who’ve been accepted and will have to wait, but I think you’ll find that it’s worth it.

It’s unfortunate, but I suppose it could be worse; the book could have been cancelled outright, which has happened in the past. For a little while the plan was to publish the stories they had in a smaller, “deluxe ‘zine” format. It looks like the plan now is to hold out for some better submissions and still do it as a book. It’s the better way to go, in my opinion, because an anthology can be ordered through bookstores, whereas a ‘zine cannot.

So I apologize to you folks who were looking forward to reading my story this holiday season. I mean, with a title like “Everything Gets Bigger After Nuclear War,” you just know it’s chock-full of yuletide cheer.

And eels.

Mustn’t forget the eels.

• Currently reading: Warday, by Whitley Strieber & James Kunetka

It’s not even noon yet and I’ve already had an adventure today. This is how it started:

I got up this morning, checked my e-mail, backed up my files, had a shower, and got dressed (my usual ritual). I kissed the wife and went off to work while she returned to bed for an hour. She had a doctor’s appointment today and got to sleep in a bit. I drove to work, talked to my boss about the new tourism website, went back to my desk, and found a voice mail waiting for me. It was Kathryn. I called her back and she told me the ceiling was leaking. Where? I asked. Your office, she said. *insert expletive*, I said. How bad is it? Well… she said, your keyboard got wet, along with the keyboard, the computer itself, oh, and your new external hard drive. *insert another expletive*, I said. Okay, I’m coming home.

So, with my boss’s blessing and good wishes, I drove back home after a whopping one hour of work. Kathryn had cleaned up the damage by the time I arrived and placed a big plastic tarp over my desk. The leak had stopped, but some writing papers had gotten soaked, and there was some plaster stains on my desk. Fortunately, the water didn’t get near any of the outlets, and after testing my computer, monitor, scanner, etc., I determined that everything was working fine (the mouse was a bit funky for a few minutes, but it seems to be okay now).

Part of my testing included checking to see if the cable modem was damaged. So I opened Firefox and my Outlook, checked my e-mail, and everything seemed okay. I noticed there was e-mail from Timothy Manning, editor of Black Ink Horror. I had been corresponding with him over the weekend. I was planning to post about this once the full story was out, and the message he sent me this morning was a perfect denouement for such a lousy morning.

To bring you up to speed, here’s a bit from his first e-mail:

Many thanks for submitting "Wood" to BLACK INK HORROR, and sorry for the long wait. We have almost filled our first three issues, and I’ve really been deliberating on which stories should fill those final spots.

The story was very well written throughout, and I found the concept to be unique and interesting. I enjoyed how you broke the main narrative up with the fable, and how you allowed the horror to simmer under the tale’s surface. The tale drips with atmosphere and mood, and your characters came across as intriguing and interesting. I flew through the tale in anticipation of how both stories would come together. Unfortunately, I felt that the ending was a little too vague for my tastes. I’ve read the story twice now, and I’m still left with with more questions than I’m comfortable with. Don’t get me wrong; I love stories that challenge me to think. I just really expected some killer twist at the end, and instead I was left scratching my head a bit. "Wood" came very close, but unfortunately, I’ve decided to pass on it.

The above comments represent only my opinion, and reflect more personal tastes than fact-based criticism. As I really enjoyed the tale, I do hope that you submit another.

Probably one of the nicest rejection letters I ever received (he also congratulated me on my sale to Cemetery Dance, a feat which has impressed more people than I ever would have expected). Funnily enough, this was one of the very few stories to which I had written an alternate ending. I had opted for the vaguer, more ambiguous ending because I felt it was more unsettling. I mentioned this to the editor in my reply, saying that if that was the only thing keeping him from accepting the story, maybe he would like to read what I called the "Writer’s Cut."

He wrote me back the right away:

To tell you the truth, I’ve been agonizing over your story for about a week. I love stories with elusive, though-invoking endings that leave something to the reader’s imagination, and my first thought when finishing "Wood" was "wow, that was creepy. Now I have to read it again and figure it out." After reading it for the second time, I couldn’t determine if the ending was to vague, or if I was too thick to get it.

I would love the opportunity to read the other version; please send it along. I’ll certainly consider the story again. There’s a good chance that I’ll read the "Big Reveal" and think, "oh, man–how did I miss that?". If that’s the case, I’d likely choose to run the original. Either way, I’ll finally know what happened!

The plot thickens.

So, I sent off the other version of the story, telling the editor that I understood there was no guarantee he would like this version (much less accept it), and that I was just glad he wanted to read it and, as he said, find out what happened.

That was on Saturday. I never heard back from him that day, or on Sunday. I figured he was either a) waiting until later to read it, or b) had already read it, still didn’t like it, but was trying to find a nice way to break it to me. He needn’t have worried, of course. I knew that was a possibility, and I had pretty much written it off. I was already thinking about what story I was going to send him next.

Then, after my Waterworld adventure this morning, I received the following e-mail:

Thanks so much for taking the time to send this along, and no apologies needed for the prattling! I’m glad that you were willing to patronize me by sending the other version over. This reading marks the third time I’ve read "Wood", and it was just as creepy this time around. I can certainly understand why it unsettles your wife.

To put your mind at ease, I would love to run the story. It’s the type of tale that gets under your skin and sticks with you long after you’ve finished reading it. I think that was why it took me so long to decide on it, and why I was second guessing myself mere seconds after pushing the "send" button on that first rejection. The "Writer’s Version" did clear up the confusion, and I was excited to see that I was apparently correct in my interpretation of the ending. Of course, now I’m debating on which version I should run. I think that I’m still partial to the original ending, although I might recommend importing a sentence or two from the "Writer’s Version".

Again, thanks so much for working with me on this. I’m actually quite relieved now that I got the call right the second time around!

No, thank you, Mr. Manning. You brought some much-needed good news to what was shaping up to be a lousy, waterlogged day.

Anyway, that’s my story about the acceptance of "Wood" and the water damage in my office. It could have happened in any other room, but of course it had to pick the one with all the books and computer equipment. Fortunately everything appears to be in good shape, and, even better, I’ve got another story coming out.

"Wood" will appeared in issue #2 of Black Ink Horror, due out in April 2007.

Now I should probably go finish blowdrying my story notes.

Update (4:27 p.m.): Tim just sent me the payment for my story, roughly six hours after he accepted it, which makes it the fastest turnaround I’ve ever experienced. Payment on acceptance rules! Booya!

• Currently reading: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

Back in August I received word that "Charlotte’s Frequency" had made it into the final reading pool for the anthology Horror Library – Volume 2.

Tonight I got the following e-mail:

Please forgive our form letter. My team and I are working tirelessly at compiling the best anthology we possibly can, and sometimes…well, that means sending out form letters. However, we do have news about your story.

The news is very good. If you’re receiving THIS form letter, it means that your story has made it to the final round of editing eliminations. You don’t want to be receiving the OTHER form letter. That one isn’t good news at all.

Final selections will be made soon. So, please, hang in there. We will let you know the final decision as soon as we possibly can.

Thanks for your continued patience!

I’m glad I didn’t get the other form letter, but guys, come on! I’m dying over here!

• Currently reading: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but I officially started my novel today.

Wrote a whopping 3,100 words, which isn’t that much, but the prologue is finished, and I’m puttering through the first of what I expect will be four parts. Again, it’s not much, but there’s still something to be said for getting started.

It’s all a bit scary, I don’t mind telling you. I don’t want to belabor the point that writing a novel is a Big Deal, but it is a bit intimidating. I think the key is to avoid putting that intimidation on a pedestal. It’s true a novel is bigger than a short story (duuuh, you think so?), but the end result isn’t all that different. The goal of any story, short or long, is to entertain. Hopefully I’ll be able to see past the grandness of the novel form and do just that.

Developments in this matter should prove interesting.

• Currently reading: The Last Day, by Helen Clarkson

I was on Duotrope this morning and discovered Insidious Reflections is going on hiatus – which, sadly, is usually small-press-ese for going out of business. Maybe they’ll be back, but the prospects don’t look good. Either way, it doesn’t help my story, "The Last of the B’s," which had been in consideration with them.

I suppose it could be worse. This was the magazine that wanted to buy "Inheritor" after I received the acceptance from Cemetery Dance. If I had let them have it, it almost certainly wouldn’t have been published. I guess I made the right choice on that one. (Not that it was a very hard choice. CD is the big fish in the horror mag sea.)

Anywho, I’ve sent the story off to Shimmer, which has rejected many of my stories, but has a fast turnaround time, and they usually provide feedback.

I’ll take attention any way I can get it. Bwah!!

• Currently reading: "Bainbridge," by Caitlin R. Kiernan

I’ve just begun training for writing my first novel. It’s not the triathlon, but there is a certain amount of preparation involved. Mostly it boils down to rest and research. I need to gather my energy for the work itself, as well as educate myself on certain areas that are necessary to the verisimilitude of the story. A wise man once said write what you know; a wiser man added research what you don’t.

Part of my research involves reading other novels on the subject of which I’ll be writing, mostly to make sure I don’t write something that’s been done too many times before. I don’t think this particularly story has been done to death, but it never hurts to play it safe. One of the books I picked up the other day was The Road, by Cornac McCarthy, and it is probably the most recent in this particular genre, which could be called vague apocalypse. I say vague because you don’t really know for certain if it’s nuclear war, the Rapture, or maybe just a really serious cable outage.

Oh, the horror!

• Currently reading: "Alabaster," by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Received a nice rejection for my short-short story "Dr. Fall":

I loved the idea of a place where it’s always fall — but there just wasn’t enough of a story there for my taste.

Usually I’m told my stories are too long. This is the first time I’ve been told it was too short. Oh, the humanity!

I don’t write a lot of short-short fiction, or so-called "flash" fiction, but this one was originally for a contest with a word limit of no more than 1,500 words. It doesn’t have much meat on its bones, but I like this little story, and I think it deserves a home somewhere.

The one good thing about the really short-short stories is there are literally hundreds of places to send them.

Next up for this one is a fantasy anthology called Touched by Wonder.

• Currently reading: Threshold, by Caitlin R. Kiernan

I forget to mention yesterday that Guzzolene will be published by 1018 Press. The only reason I remembered is because I got a package from them today containing a bunch of the zines they pubilsh. I have to say they’re some of the nicest looking mags I’ve seen in a long time. If you enjoy stories about zombies, rural horror (a la Texas Chainsaw Massacre), or the Old West, you should definitely check them out.

I also picked up the new Playboy today, which features a short story by Stephen King. I tried to convince the woman behind the counter (because when a guy buys porn in a convenience story, it’s always a woman behind the counter) that I was buying it for the story, honest. But I guess she’s heard that one before.

I wonder what Kat will think if she sees it lying around, a whole three weeks after we got married.

Hmm…

• Currently reading: "Willa," by Stephen King