Saturday Podcast: "The House Eaters" (short story)

This week for your listening pleasure, "The House Eaters" from my short story collection, The Saints are Dead. Now available in dead tree format (paperback) or e-book (Kindle) from Aqueous Press. This story has absolutely nothing to do with my YA novel of the same name. Lousy marketing on my part? I don't know.

But it is one of my favorite shorts and an homage to both Julio Cortazar and Shirley Jackson.

Saturday Podcast: "In the Primal Library"

This week for your listening pleasure, "In the Primal Library" from my short story collection, The Saints are Dead. Now available in dead tree format (paperback) or e-book (Kindle) from Aqueous Press. If the Rapture does indeed happen today, at least I will have gone down swinging.

If I Only Wrote One Story...

If I could only keep one story, which would it be? Which one best exemplifies my "style"? What about you, if you are a writer? Which story, novel, play, poem, etc. best represents you?

I think I'd go with "The World in Rubber, Soft and Malleable"--mostly because I hope, hope, I'd make the same choice as the protagonist.* But there are other stories I love, too many to hold in one hand.

"Wanting It" from Shock Totem 3 is a love letter (okay, a sorrowful love letter) to my childhood.

"The Weight of Children's Stories" from Midnight Echo 5 chilled me as I wrote.

Plenty more...

But if I only had one, it would be "The World in Rubber, Soft and Malleable". Aqueous has released The Saints are Dead, including a shiny, spiffed-up version of the story.

You can still read the "old" version online at A Fly in Amber. Or, if you want the shined-up story with sixteen others, this is for you:


*I'm just not that good with spray paint.

My Boys

Owen is receiving 1st communion today. He's nearly five feet tall (at age seven) and scored four goals in his soccer game this morning (a come from behind win). He now owns a suit, his first. He has three neckties, all clip-on. Thank Zeus.

Max turns five today. He still has one missing tooth, chipped and pulled when he was two. He can stand on his head and do a cherry drop in gymnastics. I've baked three birthday cakes in the past two weeks.

I looked at some old pictures the other day and realized how fast they grow up.

I love these guys, even when they're knuckleheads.

They're inspirations. In fact, I've dedicated The Saints are Dead to them.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The Saints are Dead

I'll tackle the debacle regarding The House Eaters on Monday, today belongs to The Saints are Dead.

Pre-orders are up through Aqueous Press and if you order during the month of April, you can enter a sweet contest (in which everyone who pre-orders wins a prize).

I love this book. I've worked ridiculously hard on this book (and the editor has, too). Some of my favorite stories are included ("Gary Sump's Hidden City," "Dancing Lessons," "The World in Rubber, Soft and Malleable," "Reciprocity" the entire list is here). I love those freakin' stories and I want you to love them, too.

So I'm offering an incentive to pony up for a copy.

Here are the rules:

If you pre-order The Saints are Dead (or order if it goes live before April 30th) , please forward me a copy of the receipt (or a snippet at least--I don't need all the financial details) and I'll put your name in a drawing (actually I'll add it five times). Each pre-order will also receive a free story in his/her mailbox, a previously unpublished story. Now that's exciting, right? But you must send me an email to enter: aaron.polson[at]gmail.com I promise not to spam you. Scout's honor.

You may also enter the drawing with a tweet (just be sure to direct folks to the pre-order url: http://aqueousbooks.com/publications.htm) or a mention on a blog/facebook. Make sure to tag me or use the @aaronpolson handle on Twitter and I'll find your entry.

1st prize: American Fantastic Tales edited by Peter Straub (slightly used but in pristine condition--I received a second set when I subscribed to the Library of America)

2nd prize: Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters by John Langan

3rd prize: Northern Haunts edited by Tim Deal (paperback--and signed by yours truly if you like)

Entries are welcome from around the world.

You have until April 30th.

I thank you and my stories thank you.

Today, I'm Dr. Jekyll

So here's the Jekyll and Hyde of it all...

I've been of two minds lately: one side of me says "go, go, go" with the self-publishing. The cold hard fact is that people are really making money...some of them good money...publishing directly to the Kindle. How long will this last? No one knows, but "infinite growth" is impossible; history is filled with examples. So Mr. Hyde (he's the ugly one) wants to jump in (er, cash in) while he can.

But is he really the ugly one?

Dr. Jekyll is the half who wants to keep "improving my craft" and strives for professional membership in the HWA and/or the SFWA. He's the one who made me hammer away at my little stories until landing that (cue hautboys) Shimmer acceptance. But wait...wasn't it Jekyll who gave birth to Hyde in the first place? Isn't Hyde just another side of his personality?

What does Jekyll really want? Awards? Accolades? Acceptance from the cool kids who get to play "professional writer"? Are those things really any different than cashing in on the Kindle craze? Damn it, Jekyll! You made this monster, now man up and do something about him!

*deep breath* Okay. Call it "growing pains". What do I do next? Can I find a way to sate both sides of my writerly self?

Today, I'm Dr. Jekyll. I need to put final edits on a short story. I like the story; I've worked hard on the story. Should the target market accept it, I think I'll make something like $30, minus Paypal fees. Hopefully a hundred people will read it. Mr. Hyde is laughing at me, just like he did all last week while I toiled away at my 2677 edits for The Saints are Dead.

*sigh*

Virtual Buildling Blocks

I've started hammering together a site for Loathsome, Dark, and Deep--http://www.loathsomenovel.com/ Yes, I'm hosting at Blogger. Yes, I'm doing it because it's easy. I hope to have sites for my other forthcoming books soon, but these things always take more time than they should, especially for a slacker like me.

Speaking of slack, I knocked out the end of my novella/novelette project yesterday, and feel the need for a writing vacation.

...

Okay, the vacation's over. I have a few short stories I want to chisel out before heading into the revision forest.

Have a lovely weekend.

*Edited to add: I've just updated the site for The Saints are Dead--http://www.saintsaredead.com.

Give 'em Both Barrels

Remember when I started Loathsome, Dark, and Deep and said I was writing with the small press in mind? I do.

Well, the wonderful Jodi Lee at Belfire Press has given the thumbs up to the book for publication late this year (tentatively November 2010).

Me: stoked. I love Loathsome, Dark, and Deep. It was a helluva good time to write, and I'm thrilled the world (at least those who so choose) will be able to read it.

But wait, I said give 'em both barrels, right?

Okay...the magnificent Cynthia Reeser with Aqueous Books also made an offer to publish a collection of my less-horrific work. The Saints are Dead, a collection of eighteen previously published and new stories will be out in 2011. (Lookie, my name is already under the In Support of Our Authors section on the left-hand side of their site.)

Me: double stoked, which is awfully close to having a heart attack, for the record. So yeah. I have some promotion to do.

And some panicking.