The Literary Alchemist

What GASLIGHT ARCANUM readers and reviewers are saying about "The Deadly Sin of Sherlock Holmes"

2011-11-21T10:48:00.001-05:00

“The Deadly Sin ofSherlock Holmes” by Tom English

“Eerily good fun,reminded me a bit of ACD's 'The Silver Hatchet'. This is one to get caught upin, and will send the shivers down your spine. Made all the better for itcapturing the essence of Sherlock Holmes.... Investigation played out the wayHolmes of Canon would have done, down to the last letter. Supernatural or no,this was a genuinely well-done pastiche.”

“The tale overall isvery dark and contains quite a bit of conflict around the nature of faith andsin -- not a traditional Holmes story, but very good despite that.”

“...This tale builds tension with an engaging and originalplot.”

“...A chilling& succinctly told tale....”

“...A clever twistthat was both imaginative and chilling. I found it an excellent read.”

(Just one of a dozen stories in GASLIGHT ARCANUM: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes)

(Quotes pulled from spoiler-laden reviews at TANGENTonline.com, FlamesRising.com, Examiner.com and Amazon.com)

What readers and reviewers are saying about GASLIGHT ARCANUM

2011-11-18T17:58:00.001-05:00

Here's what readers and reviewers are saying about GASLIGHT ARCANUM: UNCANNY TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

From TANGENTonline.com

“...A strong collection, well worth the price.”

From FLAMESRISING.com

“I have been aSherlock Holmes fan for as long as I have been able to read. ... So it’s nosurprise that Flames Rising asked me if I wanted to review a (nearly) all-newanthology of “uncanny tales” featuring Sherlock Holmes. It’s even less of asurprise that I accepted. ...In such anthologies, I personally look for twoelements: fidelity to the core of the characters and elements of the Holmescanon, and novelty to present a new take or slant on familiar faces. How does this new anthology hold up? ...Most of thestories are good for a variety of reasons, and the last two stories areabsolutely worth the price of admission. If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmesand novel approaches to well-loved characters, this anthology is well worth alook.” (4 out of 5 stars)

AT AMAZON.com (Here are quotes from 4 of the 6 reviews posted thus far. All 6 reviews are 4 or 5 star.)

“Campbell and Prepolec's 3rd eerie anthology:

This collection is the fifth by this pair ofeditors and it is, perhaps, their best yet. ...A few of the tales in this bookcan be explained by modern science and rational circumstances, but even that isnot always comforting. All are interesting, some are exceptional and a few areunpleasant. ...certainly worth the price. ...The variety of tales is wide, withsomething (or things) for everyone's tastes.” (4 out of 5 stars)

“Chilling Compilation:

...Gaslight Arcanum was a very enjoyable,readable, and at times thrilling set of stories ranging from the uncanny, tosupernatural to pulpy sci-fi.” “...FANTASTICALLY chilling ... more thanworthwhile.” (4 out of 5 stars)

“Sherlock Holmes in the Twilight Zone:

...Puts the great detective in several bizarresituations that test the limits of his logic and skills. Several memorable andimaginative stories here with lots of plot twists and surprises! ...A good, funread that's generally faithful to the spirit of Conan Doyles's original tales.Highly recommended!” (5 out of stars)

“Enjoyed Despite Myself:

I am not a huge fan of myth science fiction --and some of these stories are truly grotesque and horrible. But I liked it. ...Disturbingstories -- yucky but really, truly, interesting. Holmes and Watson remainingtrue to character helped make the stories.

Worth the purchase and then some.” (4 out of5 stars)

A Baker Street Dozen: GASLIGHT ARCANUM TOC

2011-02-26T14:44:00.007-05:00

GASLIGHT ARCANUM: UNCANNY TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES is now available for pre-ordering at Amazon.com

I'm pleased to be a part of Gaslight Arcanum, the third in a series of anthologies that began with GASLIGHT GRIMOIRE: FANTASTIC TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (2008) and GASLIGHT GROTESQUE: NIGHTMARE TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)--- both still available, by the way.

Gaslight Arcanum (edited by J.R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec)

Table of Contents:
Introduction by Charles Prepolec

"The Comfort of the Seine" by Stephen Volk
"The Adventure of Lucifer’s Footprints" by Christopher Fowler
"The Deadly Sin of Sherlock Holmes" by Tom English
"The Colour that Came to Chiswick" by William Meikle
"A Country Death" by Simon K. Unsworth
"From the Tree of Time" by Fred Saberhagen
"Sherlock Holmes and the Diving Bell" by Simon Clark
"The Executioner" by Lawrence C. Connolly
"Sherlock Holmes and the Great Game" by Kevin Cockle
"The Greatest Mystery" by Paul Kane
"The House of Blood" by Tony Richards
"The Adventure of the Six Maledictions" by Kim Newman

Cover art by Dave ElseyFrontispiece by Mike Mignola
Published by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy, September 2011

Writer's Quote:
"A trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still more so."

---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Interview at Bibliobuffet.com

2010-10-25T20:44:00.012-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by David Mitchell at Bibliobuffet.com We talked about books, ghost stories, the supernatural, and other things -- including the future of Dead Letter Press. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed doing it. We had a blast!

Happy Halloween, ghosts and goblins!

.
Writer's Quote:
"The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike." ---Ralph Ellison

Hardly elementary, my dear Watson!

2010-08-09T18:25:00.009-04:00

I'm extremely proud to announce that my new story "The Deadly Sin of Sherlock Holmes" will be appearing in the anthology Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes, edited by Charles Prepolec and J. R. Campbell (to be published early 2011 by Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing of Calgary, Canada). Gaslight Arcanum is the third in a series of anthologies featuring stories pitting the Great Detective against the fantastic. (Gaslight Grimoire and Gaslight Grotesque are the first and second volumes in the series.) I'm absolutely thrilled about this! (Speechless, in fact, which is why I'm typing as fast as I can!) Holmes and Watson are among my favorite literary characters, and the Edge anthologies are class acts. Can't wait! I'll post the entire TOC once the editors announce it.

Writer's Quote:

"A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author." ---G.K. Chesterton

Vampire Awareness Month

2010-07-11T18:14:00.001-04:00

I'll be joining several writers including Gary McMahon, Lisa Kessler, Amanda Pillar, Simon Marshall-Smith, Reece Notley, Peter Bell and Mark Deniz for Vampire Awareness Month, July 9 through August 8, 2010. We'll be discussing the undying popularity of the vampire in movies, books, folklore and pop-culture---among other things. I invite you to fold your bat-wings and drop in each day to read and respond to the latest article.

Writer's Quote:
"The coroner will find ink in my veins and blood on my typewriter keys."

---C. Astrid Weber

DEAD SOULS at Amazon.com (and 1st Review)

2009-11-08T13:13:00.006-05:00

You can now find Dead Souls at Amazon.com (and maybe even a few live ones, too!).

Also, the first review of this new anthology is now in:

"Dead Souls makes a journey within the human soul through time and space, taking the reader from the times of legend to a distant future, from the Northern European shores to the Far East. Mark S. Deniz gathers 25 stories that will not try to shock the reader through violent acts, but through a series of events that can change the human soul forever."

The reviewer describes my contribution to the anthology, the story "Dry Places", as "a quite violent and action packed story." Violent? Maybe, but certainly not graphic. Action packed? Well, I certainly don't want to bore my gentle readers. ;-) You can read the entire story-by-story review here.

Writer's Quote:

"There is no way of writing well and also of writing easily." --Anthony Trollope

INHUMAN is back with a vengeance!

2009-09-14T18:53:00.007-04:00

Good things come to those who wait:

Following a three-year hiatus, Allen K's INHUMAN magazine has made an impressive comeback with issue #4 (now available for order at AllenK.com). Editor and illustrator Allen Koszowski has loaded this issue with tons of great fiction and cool art. Take a look at the lineup:

New tales by Chad Hensley and W.H. Pugmire, Justin Gustainis, Joseph Nassise, Lois H. Gresh, Bruce Boston, Steven Vernon, Mark McLaughlin, Mary SanGiovanni, Darren Speegle, Kiel Stuart, Darrell Schweitzer, Matt Cardin, C.J. Henderson and R.Allen Leider, Robert Swartwood, and Stephen Mark Rainey.

Vintage Horror stories by Joe R. Lansdale, Chet Williamson, and Robert Silverberg; plus an editorial by Allen K, an interview by John Pelan, and an article on the monsters of Stephen King by Bev Vincent.

Ugh, stop drooling on my blog and make the jump through cyberspace to Allen's website and get a copy!

Writer's Quote:
"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." --Mark Twain

My, how those evil books get around!

2009-09-06T15:34:00.005-04:00

Here's another Twilight Zone tale about an evil book, adapted from the Manly Wade Wellman short story "The Valley was Still".

Writer's Quote:

"Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull." --Rod Serling

Cat on a Cold Stone Tomb (with apologies to Tennessee Williams)

2009-09-01T21:49:00.004-04:00

The feline in this photo probably found this perch particularly fine.

I'm not sure exactly what it was that so captivated this creature, but I do know that my imagination ran wild over what appeared to be a black cat guarding a tomb. Poe would be pleased. I snapped this picture outside Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg, VA. I also got a look at the name on the stone. (!) More to come of this.

Writer's Quote:

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." --Ernest Hemingway

You'll find DEAD SOULS at FANTASY CON 2009

2009-08-13T20:15:00.003-04:00

The horror anthology Dead Souls (published by Morrigan Books) will be launched on September 19, 2009, at Fantasy Con in the Britannia Hotel in Nottingham, England.
I would love to be there for the book launch and signing, not to mention the opportunity to meet all the fabulous guests lined up by the British Fantasy Society, but given my present financial situation, a flight to the UK is completely out of the question. Not that I'll be too terribly missed, since the editor, Mark Deniz, will be on hand with several of the contributors, Paul Finch, Gary McMahon, Carole Johnstone, Rebecca Lloyd, and Ramsey Campbell(!!). So if you're in or near Nottingham on September 19, don't miss the opportunity to pick up a copy of a damned* good anthology signed by five fine fantasists!

*I say "damned good" because the anthology is full of stories about dead souls. Get it? Oh never mind. Get a copy and read my damn story, "Dry Places".

Writer's Quote:
"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." --Sylvia Plath

Weight of Glory

2009-07-20T20:16:00.011-04:00

My luggage was a little heavier when I returned from Readercon a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately the extra poundage consisted mainly of a few books picked up at the con, and not one of those nifty hunks of highly polished glass bestowed by the Shirley Jackson Awards jury. I console myself by scanning the list of nominees (and winners) and recognizing just how stiff the competition truly was.

But I didn't come away from the awards ceremony empty handed. The jurors F. Brett Cox and Paul Tremblay, along with Awards Administrator JoAnn Cox (no relation to F. Brett Cox, by the way), paid homage to one of Shirley Jackson's best known stories, "The Lottery", by "stoning" the nominees who were present. Behold my rock (please see above photo, my dear Ozymandias) and despair! All kidding aside, I'm very proud of and very thankful for this keepsake. This engraved river stone now occupies a prominent spot on my desk, close to the wireless mouse, as a reminder that my anthology, Bound for Evil, was numbered with the best works of 2008. It's also a souvenir of the wonderful time I had at Readercon, hanging out with the finest people I know, readers and writers---book people. Um, it makes a nice paperweight, too!

Writer's Quote:
"The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes." ---Agatha Christie

Dead Souls Rising

2009-07-14T22:35:00.004-04:00

The horror anthology Dead Souls is now available for pre-order at MorriganBooks.com.

The book is edited by Mark S. Deniz and is scheduled for an early September release. It contains 25 tales, including my story "Dry Places". And the cover creeps me out.

Table of Contents:
Bernie Mojzes - "The Collector"
T. A. Moore - "Licwiglunga"
Carole Johnstone - "The Blind Man"
Tom English - "Dry Places"
Sharon Irwin - "Begin with Water"
Robert Holt - "In the Name"
William Ward - "When they Come to Murder Me"
Chris Johnstone - "The Unbedreamed"
Elizabeth Barrette - "Goldenthread"
Catherine J. Gardner - "When the Cloak Falls"
Anna M. Lowther - "The Price of Peace"
James R. Stratton - "Your Duty to your Lord"
Kenneth C. Goldman - "Mercy Hathaway is a Witch"
Lisa Kessler - "Immortal Beloved"
Lisa Kessler - "Subito Piano"
Michael Stone - "The Migrant"
Robert Hood - "Sandcrawlers"
Reece Notley - "Tatsu"
L. J. Hayward - "Wayang Kulit"
Rebecca Lloyd - "Contaminator"
Ramsey Campbell - "The Dead Must Die"
Stephanie Campisi - "The Ringing Sound of Death on the Water Tank"
Paul Finch - "June"
Gary McMahon - "A Shade of Yellow"
Kaaron Warren - "The Blue Stream"

Writer's Quote:

"I try to leave out the parts that people skip." --Elmore Leonard

Interview at Shirley Jackson Awards blog

2009-07-06T20:31:00.007-04:00

Charles Tan recently interviewed me about my Shirley Jackson Award-nominated anthology Bound for Evil. The interview is now posted on the Shirley Jackson Awards blog.

Writer's Quote:

"Be obscure clearly." --E.B. White

My Bags Are Packed and I'm Ready to GO!

2009-07-03T21:11:00.012-04:00

I'll be heading for Readercon 20 (The Conference on Imaginative Literature) in Burlington, MA, on Thursday the 9th! Excited? Oh yeah! I'll be driving up with my pal and fellow Virginian Todd Treichel. Todd hopes to keep me from toppling over, should my legs go all wobbly at The Shirley Jackson Awards ceremony! And I hope to keep Todd from over-indulging in the convention bookshop! (If you see me with a blackened eye, you'll know the books got the best of my friend and -- well, it's never wise to come between a bibliophile and his books!)

If you're attending, please stop by and chat. Chances are good you can catch me at the Dark Hollow Books section of the Dealers Room. Bill Morrison of DHB will be selling copies of my Shirley Jackson Award-nominated anthology Bound for Evil, and I'll be stopping by Bill's tables frequently to talk to readers and sign copies of BfE. Joining me there will be three more BfE contributors, Simon Strantzas, Ian Rogers, and Orrin Grey, all of who will be signing. Bill will also have copies of a special Dead Letter Press story card featuring a 100-word story, "Lepidoptera Vampiridae", written by me and illustrated by Allen Koszowski. The card is limited to 250 pieces.

The Shirley Jackson Awards ceremony is on Sunday, July 12th, at 11 am. Hope to see you there!

Writer's Quote: "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ---Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith

The Dark Legacy of Evil Books

2009-05-20T13:03:00.011-04:00

The subject of ancient grimoires continues to fascinate both readers and writers of the classic weird tale. A few of the anthology shows that proliferated the airwaves during the fifties and sixties adapted stories featuring evil books. The Twilight Zone gave us Manly Wade Wellman's "Still Valley" (based on "The Valley Was Still") in 1961. Boris Karloff's Thriller presented August Derleth's "The Return of Andrew Bentley" and John Tomerlin's Lovecraftian episode "Dark Legacy", both in 1961. Here's the complete video of "Dark Legacy" starring Harry Townes and Henry Silva.

My Shirley Jackson Award-nominated anthology Bound for Evil contains 67 fantastic stories featuring diabolical books and ancient libraries, crazed collectors and loony librarians, reckless readers and doomed writers!

Writer's Quote:

"The business of the poet and novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things, and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things." --Ray Bradbury

"Time Enough At Last" -- A TWILIGHT ZONE Tale of Some Books Gone Bad

2009-04-25T14:38:00.008-04:00

Here's a classic episode of Rod Serling's THE TWILIGHT ZONE about ... what else? ... books. My anthology, Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad contains 67 such tales; horror, SF, fantasy, and mystery stories that probe the darker side of books. Enjoy this video while there's still time -- before the books have the last laugh!

Remember:

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." ---Mark Twain

BOUND FOR EVIL nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award!

2009-04-17T20:12:00.010-04:00

My anthology, Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad, has been nominated for the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award. The winners will be announced on July 12, 2009, at ReaderCon 20 in Burlington, MA.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go!

This is only the 2nd year of the Awards. And I think ReaderCon is the perfect place to introduce Bound for Evil to a wider audience. When I conceived of the anthology my great desire was to remind would-be readers of the power and the mystique of books. Wonderful books, magical and mysterious. Sometimes even dangerous.
And now my fat little antho is headed for ReaderCon, a celebration of books and writers, editors and publishers, and the glory of the written word.

Sigh! Valhalla awaits!

Writer's Quote:
"Easy reading is damn hard writing." ---Nathaniel Hawthorne

...a book I could get my teeth into

2009-03-07T18:12:00.011-05:00

Just wrapped up my introduction for the chapbook The Kiss of Judas. The book should be available at several on-line bookseller sites soon. This is the 22nd volume (or is it the 23rd, I've lost count) in the Literary Vampire Series, each title of which has had a print run of only 26 copies (collectors rejoice). So, I am prolific, but my scribbling has not proliferated.

My intro discusses a somewhat overlooked facet of vampire folklore, which is now seeping (yes, like blood) into pop culture.

Writer's Quote:

My stories run up and bite me on the leg. I respond by writing them down -- everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off. ---A.A. Milne

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T14:26:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas,

Happy Hanukkah,

Kool Kwanzaa,

Fabulous Festivus,

and a Happy New Year!

pant pant pant!!

--Misty (Tom and Wilma, too -- but mostly Misty)

Writer's Quote:

"Writing is a dog's life, but the only life worth living."

---Gustave Flaubert

The Dog from L.I.G.H.T.N.I.N.G.

2008-10-28T12:11:00.016-04:00

Ellen Datlow recently gave my story "Lightning Rod" an honorable mention in her The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 21st Annual Collection, 2008. I've collected Ellen's TYBF&H series for several years now, always looking forward to reading the stories in these hefty volumes, and scanning her short list of honorable mentions to see what I missed during the previous year. I can't describe how thrilled I am to find my name on this year's list. Ellen Datlow is one of the most respected editors working in the field, and it means a lot to me that "Lightning Rod" got a "thumbs-up."

But what a long road the story has traveled: it was written in the dead of Winter, January 2004, as a remembrance of my dog Windy, who was hit by a car a few months before; accepted for All Hallows September 2005; and finally appeared in issue #43 in the Fall of 2007.

Finally, "Lightning Rod" is being reprinted in another "best of" collection, this one being

Horror: The Best of the Year, 2008, edited by the incomparable Stefan Dziemianowicz and published by Prime Books. Although the book has been delayed, I'm still looking forward to seeing Windy live again in its pages. As you can see by the photos, she occupied a special place in my home.

And still she occupies a special place in my heart.

Writer's Quote:

"There's a difference between writing for a living and writing for life. If you write for a living, you make enormous compromises, and you might not even be able to uncompromise yourself. If you write for life, you'll work hard; you'll do what is honest, not what pays."

--Toni Morrison

We really poured our Dead Souls into these stories!

2008-10-09T22:31:00.005-04:00

Heh! Feast your spider-bitten eyes on the distinguished list of authors (and stories) appearing in Dead Souls, the new horror anthology edited by Mark Deniz and due out March 2009 from Morrigan Books:

Elizabeth Barrette - Goldenthread
Ramsey Campbell - The Dead Must Die
Stephanie Campisi - The Ringing Sound of Death on the Water Tank
Michael Colangelo - Poseidon’s Claw
Brendan Connell - Black Tiger
Tom English - Dry Places
Paul Finch - June
Catherine J. Gardner - When the Cloak Falls
Ken Goldman - Mercy Hathaway is a Witch
Robert Holt - In the Name
Robert Hood - Sandcrawlers
Sharon Irwin - Begin with Water
Carole Johnstone - The Blind Man
Christopher Johnstone - The Unbedreamed
Lisa Kessler - Immortal Beloved
Lisa Kessler - Subito, Piano
Rebecca Lloyd - Contaminator
Anna M. Lowther - The Price of Peace
Gary McMahon - A Shade of Yellow
Bernie Mojzes - The Collector
T. A. Moore - Genus Loci
Reece Notley - Tatsu
James R. Stratton - Your Duty to your Lord
Michael Stone - The Migrant
Simon Strantzas - More to Learn
Ben Thomas - The Pagans
Bill Ward - When they Come to Murder Me
Kaaron Warren - The Blue Stream
Ron Yungul - The Lords of Chickamauga

And yes, that second name on the list is THE Ramsey Campbell. It doesn't get much better than this!

Writer's Quote:
"The chief glory of every people arises from its authors."

--Dr. Samuel Johnson

Be on the lookout for Dead Souls

2008-10-03T17:20:00.011-04:00

My story "Dry Places" will be appearing in the new horror anthology Dead Souls, due March 2009 from Morrigan Books.

Get a load of the creepy cover! (Spiders have always creeped me out!)

As I announced back in June, "Dry Places" was chosen for a project tentatively called Blood & Snow. Since then, the book has morphed into the terrifying anthology Dead Souls :

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."

--Genesis 1:2

Darkness was first, before God brought the light, yet the light could not cover all, for shadows remain. They grow and fester and infect.

Dead Souls contains tales that explore the darker side of the soul, those that could not escape the shadows that followed them and even those that embraced them....

(from an early blurb from Morrigan Books)

What really excites me about this new anthology is its roster of talented writers, including my pals Simon Strantzas and Gary McMahon, both of whom I worked with in Bound for Evil. Definitely two guys to watch. (See my previous post, below.)

Writer's Quote:

"More people have talent than discipline. That’s why discipline pays better.” --Mike Price

Three Books, Free Books

2008-09-13T09:58:00.003-04:00

Three books to read in September:

Beneath the Surface by Simon Strantzas

Strantzas is breaking out from the pack and headed for big things. He recently appeared in Steven Jones' Best New Horror 19 (2008).

How to Make Monsters by Gary McMahon

Lately, this guy has been eating everybody's lunch. He appears in Steven Jones' Best New Horror 19, as well as in Ellen Datlow's The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 2008.

Want a chance to win a FREE copy of the $80 limited edition Bound for Evil? Simply buy a copy of Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty. To be eligible you need to buy the book directly from the publisher (SkullVines Press) and then you're automatically entered in a contest to win some nice horror-related books (including BfE, close to 800 pages of horror, fantasy and SF by some of the best writers in the field).

Writer's Quote:

"It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous."

--Peter Benchley (author of Jaws)

Birth of an Evil Book, Part 2

2008-07-15T11:50:00.010-04:00

Here's the second part of my radio interview on Metal Crypt, in which I discuss writing part-time, the origins of the Literary Vampire series, and the chapbook Phantasmapedia by my friend Mark McLaughlin.

Writer's Quote:
"A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men." ---Proverbs 18:16

Birth of an Evil Book

2008-07-10T13:30:00.027-04:00

Here's part one of my interview, conducted by the ghouls of Metal Crypt, a show heard weekly on HardRockRadioLive.com. Among other things, I discuss the conception of Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad.

Writer's Quote:

"What nature delivers to us is never stale. Because what nature creates has eternity in it."

---Isaac Bashevis Singer

“Isaac Bashevis Singer Talks…About Everything,”

Time Magazine, 11/26/78

At the End of the Day

2008-06-28T22:51:00.014-04:00

The end of another day: my wife, Wilma, snapped this photo back in January. Here you see one spent writer -- oh, and one spent pooch, too. (That's right, we don't use the "D" word around my house!)

After writing the introduction for Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad, I collapsed from exhaustion. The intro was the capper of a year-long editing process that kept me up way past my bedtime far too many nights. As you can plainly see, Misty, having sat at my feet for so long during the editing of the book, has literally grown into my leg. But that's okay: a boy and his dog should be inseparable.

Thought for the Day:
“Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.”

---Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)

The Prison and the Angel

Blood & Snow: By Its Cover

2008-06-22T15:55:00.007-04:00

What can I say about the cover design for The Age of Blood & Snow? Other than FABULOUS!!!

The image conveys perfectly the Heroic Ages which are the focus of the anthology. The stories, including my own, "Dry Places," contain elements of the fantasy and horror genres (including the supernatural).

This image looks as though it were lifted from one of those multi-million dollar Hollywood spectacles, but it's not. The photo comes from Nikki Phillips, and the concept design is by Reece Notley and Mark S. Deniz (the publisher of Morrigan Books, and also a successful writer and editor). I think they did an exceptional job.

Oh, and here's another Writers' Quote:

“The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique.”

---Isaac Bashevis Singer
“Isaac Bashevis Singer Talks…About Everything,”

Time Magazine, 11/26/78

A Few Bad Books

2008-06-13T18:54:00.007-04:00

Here's a few quotes (as reported in Andre Bernard's Rotten Rejections, Pushcart Press, 1990) from rejection letters received by writers with whom you may be familiar (heh!) :

“It is interesting and has several good points, but it is not quite suitable for our list.”

---from a letter to Agatha Christie, 1920,

for The Mysterious Affair at Styles

(The first of many cases featuring the fastidious

Belgian private investigator, Hercule Poirot)

“...Neither long enough for a serial nor short enough for a single short story”

---from a letter to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887,

for A Study in Scarlet

“It is not at all probable, we think, that we can make use of the story of a Virginia soldier of fortune miraculously transported to Mars…”

---from a letter to Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1912,

for Under the Moons of Mars

(serialized in All Story; later published in book form as

A Princess of Mars, the first title in an eleven-book series)

“A very bad book” ---from a letter to Pierre Boulle, 1954, for The Bridge on the River Kwai

Wise Words:

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

---Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)
Life (1932)

THE AGE OF BLOOD AND SNOW: TOC

2008-06-12T19:46:00.008-04:00

Here's the complete lineup for The Age of Blood and Snow, edited by Skadi meic Beorh (and due December 2008 from Morrigan Books):

"Mercy Hathaway Is A Witch" - Ken Goldman
"Your Duty To Your Lord" - James R. Stratton
"The Price Of Peace" - Anna M. Lowther
"Be Ye Silent, Sons Of Man" - Brad C. Hodson
"Eckbert & Mortimer" - David Ripley
"The Collector" - Bernie Mojzes
"Licwiglunga" - Tammy Moore
"Poseidon’s Claw" - Michael Colangelo
"The Unbedreamed" - Chris Johnstone
"The Waiting" - Aliya Whiteley
"When The Cloak Falls" - Catherine J Gardner
"Tricksters" - Jeff Parish
"Immortal Beloved" - Lisa Kessler
"Into The Demon Cosmos" - William Blake Vogel III
"Cold Fire" - Brian Dolton
"Goldenthread" - Elizabeth Barrette
"Thorvold’s Tale" - Jason Thummel
"Black Tiger" - Brendan Connell
"Dry Places" - Tom English
"When They Come To Murder Me" - Bill Ward
"Enclosure" - Ayne Terceira
"Begin With Water" - Sharon Irwin
"In The Name" - Robert Holt
"She Burned With God-Breath; Burned Within" - Skadi meic Beorh
"The Pagans" -Ben Thomas
"The Lords of Chickamauga" - Ron Yungul

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Writer's Thought:

“When the writer becomes the center of his attention, he becomes a nudnik. And a nudnik who believes he’s profound is even worse than just a plain nudnik.”

---Isaac Bashevis Singer
“Isaac Bashevis Singer Talks… About Everything,”

Time Magazine, 11/26/78

Sometimes "No" is NOT the Final Word

2008-06-07T15:16:00.005-04:00

Thought for the Day:

"Beware of allowing a tactless word, a rebuttal, a rejection to obliterate the whole sky."

---Anais Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin, January 1944

An encouraging anecdote for writers:

Irving Stone's first book was about Van Gogh. Stone took it to Alfred Knopf, and "they never opened it---the package with the manuscript got home before I did." After fifteen more rejections the book, Lust for Life, was finally accepted and published in 1934. It has now sold about twenty-five million copies.

(from Rotten Rejections, edited by Andre Bernard for Pushcart Press, 1990)

Not to mention the book was the basis for a major motion picture starring Kirk Douglas.

In one of the 16 rejections Stone received, an editor described the work as "a long, dull novel about an artist." Moral of this story: everybody gets rejections; in fact, many of the best-known and best-loved books of the past 200 years were initially rejected. Obviously, the authors of these works did not take the rejections (however numerous) as the final word. They persevered until they found good homes for their literary children.

Manuscripts get rejected for a number of reasons: sometimes the reason is poor writing, murky plot, or lack of originality. Certainly we need to be honest with ourselves when it comes to our own work: it may need polishing, we may need polishing. But many times a rejection simply means "not here, try another market." Oh, and it's the writing that's being rejected---not the writer!!

My story "Lightning Rod" was rejected a few times before All Hallows accepted it. One of the rejections turned out to be extremely ironic, and I'll explain this in a later entry. The heartening news is that this summer the story will be reprinted in Horror: The Best of the Year, 2008. Glad I kept sending the story out.

I'll share about other famous books that were initially rejected, over the next few days. I feel these anecdotes help take out some of the sting of our own rejections. Chat with you later.

Meet the Creature from My Bloody Blog!!

2008-06-06T18:33:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my writer's blog. I'm not new to the internet: as a publisher of quality fantasy fiction, such as the limited-edition hardcover anthology Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad, or the brilliant portmanteau novel, Engelbrecht Again! by absurdist Welsh writer Rhys Hughes, I maintain an active web presence at my Dead Letter Press site. Lately, however, my own fiction has been receiving some nice recognition. My ghost story "Lightning Rod" (which originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of All Hallows ) has been selected to appear in Horror: The Best of The Year, 2008 (edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz for Prime Books, and due July 2008). "A Handful of Dust" will appear in an upcoming issue of All Hallows and "Dry Places" will appear in The Age of Blood and Snow, an anthology of fantastic stories set in the Heroic Ages (edited by Skadi meic Beorh for Morrigan Books, and due December 2008). So, a blog empasizing my role as a writer seemed like a good idea. (Yes, another bloody blog to clog the Information Superhighway we fondly call the 'net!) And what better title for it than "The Literary Alchemist"! After all, by day I am a chemist---trying hard, by night, to transmute words and ideas into literary gold. cough... well, entertaining fiction, at any rate.

I hope you'll drop by again to see what's new. I promise I'll try and make it worthwhile. I realize many of us have literary aspirations, so to help feed our dreams I'll be posting a "Writer's Quote for the Day." I'll also post encouraging anecdotes about writing. I'll sprinkle in background pieces on how the ideas for some of my stories developed, and keep you posted on upcoming projects, both by me and some of my writer-friends. For the more general reader I'll post "Wise Words," about twice a week. And what blog would be complete without photos of friends, family, special events, my dog, my neighbor's cat, my...you get the picture (pun intended)!

Best Regards,
Tom