All in News & Updates
What Lies In Wait, a New Review, and Other Updates!
I have so many new writing updates that I'll present them to you in lightning-round format. Ready? Let's go!
1. What Lies In Wait will be the title of my upcoming collection of short stories, and I'm aiming for a mid-2015 release. I'm extremely happy that all fifteen stories are now finished, or finished enough for beta readers to finally give them a look. There's still tweaking and proofing to do, but the final lineup is set and it feels like a relief. All fifteen tales share elements of apprehension, fear, and a challenge to face, whether it's something out there in the dark or something within that must be put down. Half are straight-up horror, while others blend mystery, noir, and survival tropes into tales that fall between literary and genre-driven stories. I'm looking forward to feedback, and I'm always open to new test readers!
My Alma Mater is Making Me Jealous: Southern Vermont College & The Shire Press Series
I recently discovered that my alma mater, Southern Vermont College in Bennington, VT, has cooked up a new angle to their creative writing program, one that I’m really excited about even though I haven’t stepped foot in a classroom at SVC in over ten years. (Wait, am I really that old?!) SVC has teamed up with Northshire Bookstore to create The Shire Press Series (see the press release below with my quote included). This is an opportunity for SVC students to learn how a real indie book press works, and not only get their hands dirty with submissions, editing, production, and marketing, but each student comes out of the process with their own published book to sell in the bookstore or elsewhere. Cool, right?
The end of April and beginning of May have been frustratingly slow in terms of writing progress. I wouldn’t call it writer’s block so much as being lost in the woods—figuratively for me, literally for my characters. It's not the type of situation where I don't know what to write, but I keep writing and getting deeper and deeper—and what's worse—more lost.