Things Are Slipping Through....

Just got back the final version of the cover - sans title and other credits -  for my forthcoming short story collection from Crystal Lake Publishing, Things Slip Through. Cover artist Ben Baldwin did a BEAUTIFUL job, and I couldn't be happier with the final product. In fact, I've just been sitting here, staring at it, off and on, all day.

Of course, I'm eager/scared/nervous/interested/obsessed with how folks will receive it, especially because I did something... different with my first collection. Ten stories, but not just stories in a table of contents, to be read one after another. They link together with a framing device to paint a bigger picture. I hope. 

And, given my love for works like Dandelion Wine, The Martian Chronicles, Winesburg Ohio, Dubliners, the Oxrun Station and Cedar Hill story cycles, you can probably guess a little bit about the collection. But even so, I still hope it will offer something uniquely my own.


Also, I'm also thrilled to have the collection's introduction written by none other than Tom Monteleone,  a legend in his own right in genre fiction, both science fiction and horror. I studied for two years under Tom at Borderlands Press Writers Bootcamp, (which, if you've never attended, you should, RIGHT NOW), he's visited and worked with my students for the past three years, and I've spent so many hours talking to Tom about the genre, about writing and the market, including one awesome night with F. Paul Wilson and Stuart David Schiff that I'll never forget. It made perfect sense to ask him to write the introduction, and I'm thrilled he accepted.

I'm additionally happy that this collection will appear in print and multiple electronic formats. It'll essentially be my first foray into the the digital marketplace, and I'm interested in seeing how that'll all turn out. 

Anyway - still working on edits and tweaks. I hope that it's something folks will pick up and enjoy.