A New Story, a Review, a Party and a Guest Blog

SO, a lot has been going on.  The last two weeks I've been grading finals at school, our house has been remodeled (kitchen and bathroom), I've been busy disposing of the remains of the remodeling to save money, my daughter has graduated from 3rd grade,  I served as a Marshall for last night's graduation and oh, yeah: my new book, Devourer of Souls, will be officially released Monday in ebook and paperback. I've also guest blogged about five key horror authors all young horror writer should read, (and will be guest blogging about more things in the coming week), and there will be a release party, too.

Oh, and I sold a new short story. I'm VERY pleased to announce my Lovecraftian story "The Black Pyramid" will appear in Hazardous Press' Small Town Lovecraftian Horror collection Shadows Over Main Street. Check out the AWESOME TOC, cover and synopsis:

Chesya Burke, Mountaintown

T. Fox Dunham, Father or the Flesh

Brian Hodge, This Stagnant Breath of Change

Kevin Lucia, The Black Pyramid

Adrian Ludens, Estranged

Nick Mamatas, Χταπόδι σαλάτα

Rena Mason, Red Hill

Lisa Morton, The Ogre

Aaron Polson, Undergrounders

Mary SanGiovanni, The Floodgates of Willow Hill

Lucy A. Snyder, The Abomination of Fensmere

John Sunseri, Homecoming

Richard Thomas, White Picket Fences

Jay Wilburn, Boss Cthulhu

What happens when idyllic small-towns, and the simple folk who inhabit them, collide with inexplicable evil borne of a vast and uncaring cosmos? Imagine a series of stories set in a golden era of American life, where worldly troubles are regarded from a distance, if at all.

Hear the buzz of playing cards clipped in children’s spokes echo down quiet lanes. Smell the faint aroma of rich tobacco smoke from an old man’s pipe on a shady boulevard. Listen to the gossip of small towns where everyone knows everyone’s business.

Or do they?

Sometimes, deadly secrets lurk out in the barn. Sometimes, unimaginable evil awaits us in the root cellar. Sometimes, we fall under the sway of the Shadows Over Main Street.

Come inside and sit for a spell…

Additionally, a lot of great reviews have been popping up for Devourer of Souls. If you're on Facebook or Twitter you've probably already seen them, but on the off-chance you follow this blog and NOT my other Social Media Outlets:

Author Joe Falank weighs in: "...Perfect for summer reading."

Author Armand Rosamilia offers: "each story is unique and will keep you guessing until the 
next twist. Highly recommended!"

Writer/Reviewer Frank Errington sez: "If Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft had a bastard 
child, his name would be Kevin Lucia."

Reader/reviewer Dawn states: "It made me think of Dan Simmons 'Summer of Night' and 'A
Winter Haunting'."

Author Glen Rolfe writes: "Lucia is a great talent and a studious devouer of all things horror
(including souls!)."

And my favorite comes from Rising Shadows:

My copies of the book arrived yesterday...and wow. All I can say is how blessed and fortunate I am to have worked with two great publishers in one year to produce such fine products. Again, if you're onthe social media, you've seen these before, but if not...

Of course, as wonderful as all of this is, I'm still busy, busy. I'll soon be shipping my serial novella for The Midnight Diner, Suffer the Little Children off to beta-readers, and this summer I'm finally (hopefully) going to embark on my "Write 1 Short Story A Week" challenge. I'll definitely up-date folks here and on the social media.

Whew.

Good thing it's summer vacation, finally...