Honorable Mentionings

Yesterday was professional development at school. For those of you outside the education system, "professional development" means someone who doesn't know any more than you do comes and tells you how to do something you probably already knew how to do.

That sentence needs editing.

Anyway, I stopped into my classroom during a bathroom break, and (like any good junkie) checked Twitter. It seems one of my little tales made Ellen Datlow's honorable mention list for Best Horror of the Year. Practical jokes aren't fun, but this was for real. I checked. Double-checked.

Yes, "Cargo" from Dark Pages volume 1 was on the list, next to my name. Yes, I've checked it each year since I started writing. Yes the list is very long. This is one of those things folks outside the writing loop don't quite understand. What a lovely early birthday present.

Thanks to Brenton Tomlinson, Alan Baxter, and Blade Red for taking my little story about a strange little girl at the end of the world. And thanks, Ellen, for the mention.

I'm off to Topeka for my first signing today. I will have candy, so at least somebody will talk to me.

Have a glorious day.

Monday Pimpage: Dark Pages volume 1

My contributor copy of Blade Red's Dark Pages (volume 1) arrived on Friday, and it's pretty. The stories are pretty (in a dark sort of way, of course), the cover is pretty, and I'm pretty stoked to be part of the project. Thanks to editor Brenton Tomlinson for finding my short-short "Cargo" worthy of this line up:

"The Stain of the Psychopomp King" by Lucien E G Spelman
"Heart Of Ice" by Martin Livings
"Neptune’s Garden" by Lisa A Koosis
"Dust" by Naomi Bell
"To Die For" by S D Matley
"The Franchise" by Joe L Murr
"Clip Notes" by Marty Young
"Blood on Green" by Victoria Anisman-Reiner
"Cargo" by Aaron Polson
"Nepenthe" by Felicity Dowker
"Yellow Water Pike" by Derek Rutherford
"Surveying The Land" by B D Wilson
"Nightwork" by Robert Neilson
"Hand And Cradle" by Trent Roman

You can grab a copy for just under ten bucks at Amazon.com or seven GBP at Amazon.co.uk.

I have other news bits I'm bursting to share...later this week. Promise.

Dark Pages Volume 1, Other Updates

The right honorable Brenton Tomlinson has posted cover art for Dark Pages volume 1 from Blade Red Press. It's pretty and has my name on the back. Check it out at Mr. Tomlinson's blog.

The TOC:

"The Stain of the Psychopomp King" by Lucien E G Spelman
"Heart Of Ice" by Martin Livings
"Neptune’s Garden" by Lisa A Koosis
"Dust" by Naomi Bell
"To Die For" by S D Matley
"The Franchise" by Joe L Murr
"Clip Notes" by Marty Young
"Blood on Green" by Victoria Anisman-Reiner
"Cargo" by Aaron Polson
"Nepenthe" by Felicity Dowker
"Yellow Water Pike" by Derek Rutherford
"Surveying The Land" by B D Wilson
"Nightwork" by Robert Neilson
"Hand And Cradle" by Trent Roman

And I'm quite honored to be listed among such fine folks.

As I type, I'm listening to:

Which is, sad to say, out of print. The line up features some rare film scores. I'm sure you can find a used copy out there. It is the interweb, you know.

In the way of attention deficit blogging, I'm happy to report "supernatural" won the monster poll. 18/31 voters agree, with both humans and psychological "monsters" taking in 11 votes for second place. Go supernatural critters!,

If you didn't follow Spider and I, I've posted the whole story in one place over at Dark Flotsam. And the contest. Don't forget the contest to win a copy of The Devil's Food.

Finally, for a Monday reading treat, head over to Dark Recesses to read Cate Gardner's "Events at the Wigwam Rock Diner, Nevada"