Changing of the Guard

Last month, I announced that I was stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of World Weaver Press, the speculative fiction small press I founded in 2012, to be succeeded by Sarena Ulibarri.

I am thrilled with what I've accomplished as Editor-in-Chief and by how far we've come in just under four years. My time as co-founder of the press has been fantastic, primarily because I've had the chance to work with such great authors crafting intensely interesting novels. I think that every reader of speculative fiction should pick up a World Weaver Press title, not because I published them, but because they are such damn engaging stories crafted by truly artful storytellers, each working in her own idiom.

I'm happy to be handing off the creative direction -- both for continuing the series we've started and to seek out new ones -- to someone who shares our vision and passion for speculative fiction and who can continue to drive World Weaver Press forward.

In her welcome post last week, Sarena Ulibarri writes:

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Ever since I became aware of World Weaver Press in 2013, I’ve known it was a special corner of the publishing world, brimming with talent. The gorgeous covers and professional presentation of these books made it clear the publisher truly cared about them, and the colorful, creative, and passionate stories between those gorgeous covers always exceeded my expectations. Each World Weaver Press book is a gem, and I am grateful Eileen Wiedbrauk was able to shine each of them up and put them on display.

I joined the World Weaver Press team as an Assistant Editor in late 2014, shortly after I had finished my MFA program and attended the 6-week Clarion Writers’ Workshop. For a few months after Clarion, I felt like I was in a constant freefall. World Weaver Press gave me a place to land — a place where all my skills and passions mattered. I’m a writer too, of course, but editing, whether at the developmental level or the copy editing stage, is deeply satisfying work for me. I have learned so much about great storytelling from Eileen and from the other World Weaver Press editors and anthologists.

Over the last couple of months, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with the World Weaver Press/Red Moon Romance authors and editors at a deeper level while we prepared for this transition, and let me tell you: these are amazing people. The stories we've published and will soon publish are stories that take you far from the mundane and weave bright and interesting new worlds. Our editors are fiercely in love with the projects they’ve chosen to work on, and that love comes through in every step of the publication process. ​

In a twist that may only appeal to me, I have to mention the absolutely adorable new graphic she's chosen for her "From the Editor's Desk" posts. It still features a cup of coffee, but it now has a tiny potted cactus -- appropriate as the press's management is now moving from the Midwest to Southwest. The original "From the Editor's Desk" graphic (above) was a shot of my actual desk at the creation of WWP. A lovely IKEA feature that has since been retired after extensive, shape-changing use. The pictured moleskine notebooks, Lamy pen, and coffee mug are still very much a part of my life, however.

But isn't that the crux of life? That we are more like shape-changing IKEA desks than quality fountain pens? That the course of use changes our shape, and shape changes our intent, and eventually, our use.

It was a fascinating journey, my time as Editor-in-Chief. Some of that time was indeed spent editing, but as any editor or small business owner knows, your primary job is project management regardless of the title you hold. I'm grateful for the experience. I'm met some great people. Grown through tackling the challenges. And I'm ready to face the next chapter of my life with great vigor and determination.

One thing I'm doing in the immediate present (as opposed to the near-future present, which is totally a thing -- I swear), is freelance book design. I am available on a for-hire basis to individuals and small presses to design cover art, format ebooks, and design interior paperback layouts. Information here.

Remember how I said an editor's job is a "project manager"? Well, at a small press that's only a few year's old, it's also book formatter and cover designer. I am responsible for crafting all of the books for WWP from early 2012 to the end of 2015. The move to doing this on a for-hire basis is a natural one for me. I'll even be continuing to do the occasional cover project or other project for WWP.

Later this spring (is it spring yet? I'm ready to be done with snow) I will be rolling out pre-designed book covers for purchase. I'll post another announcement when that happens. I'm really looking forward to the gallery of all the pretty covers!

Giftmas Blog Tour -- Now with More Krampus

All month long Rhonda Parrish and her helper elves are hosting the posts of other people as part of my 2015 Giftmas Blog Tour. All the guest bloggers are welcome to write about anything they’d like so long as their post touched on a December holiday in some way, no matter how tangentially. This website will also host several Giftmas blog posts throughout December. Share them on social media using the hashtag #GiftmasTour. But wait! There’s more! ​We’re also giving away a whole whack of prizes (check out the list here) which you can enter to win using the Rafflecoper code below. Whatever December holiday you celebrate (or don’t) winning a stack of books will make it better! Krampus - in search of delinquent children, approaches a little boy during Krampusnacht in Neustift im Stubaital, Austria, on November 30, 2013. And a Very Merry Krampus to You For the past two years, whenever my friends, family, or the authors/editors I work with at World Weaver Press see a Krampus related article online or hear a Krampus bit of news, they immediately send it to me. My social media accounts floweth over with Eileen, have you seen this? Krampus links. But in early 2014, when editor Kate Wolford (Enchanted Conversation, Beyond the Glass Slipper,Frozen Fairy Tales) pitched to me the idea of World Weaver Press publishing an anthology of Krampus stories, I admit, I had no idea what she was talking about. But a bit of Googling and a few conversations later, I was in love. Okay, I wasn’t quite in love—yet—but I was fascinated. Krampus (also called Perchten or Tuifl) is a monster out of the Germanic Alpine tradition, and he’s been around for at least a thousand years—some sources say well over two thousand years—and specifically as a companion of St. Nick since the 16th century (or so the internet tells me). “His name comes from the German word krampen, which means claw. Some say he is the son of Hel from Norse mythology. Others say his physical features or even the chain and rusty old bells he wears come from other demonic-like creatures of Greek mythology” (source). Called by some “the Christmas Devil,” he’s not actually demonic in the religious sense of the word, at least no more than any other monster, troll, yeti, or other pagan-roots creature from folklore. Although Krampus certainly has the horns and chains and sometimes hooves associated with depictions of the devil. He’s also coated in shaggy fur and his most defining feature after the horns is a very, very long tongue. Take a quick look at any Krampus and you have to wonder what sort of influence this critter had in the design of Orcs in Lord of the Rings. In fact, the differences between Orc cosplay and Krampus cosplay are subtle. Yes, I just said Krampus cosplay. There’s a tradition in Europe—particularly in Austria but it’s done elsewhere and is catching on in North America—of holding Krampuslauf or “Krampus runs” on December 5, also known as Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night. Here’s my favorite YouTube video of a Krampuslauf, this one is from Graz, Austria, in 2010 . . .  . . . and if you want to watch the video and see the rest of the article, you'll have to head over to Rhonda Parrish's blog, host of the Giftmas Tour. You can also find and enter the rafflecopter giveaway there. There's three prizes all huge stacks of books.

Cover designer, too . . . ?

I tend to think of myself was an editor, writer, and fangirl -- and coffee addict, let's not forget the all important coffee! -- before I think of myself as an artist or graphic artist or cover art designer or anything remotely thus. But the truth of the matter is that I've designed roughly 93% of the approximately 30 covers published as paperbacks and ebooks by World Weaver Press and Red Moon Romance. Of course, I've had generous help from illustrators and photographers -- amateurs,  pros, and those who offer their work as stock art.

Recently I had the pleasure of working with a local photographer, using his infrared cornfield photography as the starting place for the cover of Scarecrow. But as you can see from the original photo and the cover of Scarecrow, one of the more obvious things I did as designer was to redraft the sky. In this case, I imposed the sky of a completely different image over the top of the infrared corn field and then married the two. Since all color in IR is false color, I gave it a hand to become as vibrant and dramatic as needed for a bookcover.

Final cover art for SCARECROW anthology.

"Red Corn" Copyright Dan Wiedbrauk of one-candle.com. Used with permission

More of Dan Wiedbrauk's photography can be found on Flickr, and if you're interested in infrared or macro photography, he regularly talks technical process on his blog, One-Candle.com.

Most recently, I've been responsible for the designs of Scarecrow, Corvidae, Demons Imps and Incubi, Fractured Days, Far Orbit Apogee, and Skye Falling.  See more pretty covers: Read More . . .

Pre-made cover art available for purchase in Spring 2016. eBook Formatting and Interior Paperback Layout services available now.

Small Press Publishers, the Tiny and the Mighty

Recently I've had the pleasure of appearing on the Odyssey Writing Workshop's blog in a "Graduate's Corner" post, discussing the merits and might of small press publishing. The small press doesn't necessarily have the reach or the flashy . . . well, the flashy anything, but it can take risks on niche titles that might not be as well-represented by large publishers.

You can read the whole blog post on the Odyssey Writing Workshop blog, where I praise Chizine and Small Beer Press (of course I mentioned SBP, because I'm a total Small Beer Press fangirl), as well as discuss some of what was important to me as I built World Weaver Press from passion into press.

A Love Letter to Sci-Fi & Paranormal Romance

[Originally posted at redmoonromance.com]

I love speculative romance. Loving something is always personal, so I suspect the reasons you love it may be different than my own. And I want to hear those reasons in the comments! Until then, here's my love letter to the sub-genre:

Speculative fiction, whether sci-fi or fantasy or paranormal, is all about the what if? questions. Those wonder and awe inducing daydreams that have been a part of the stories we've heard and read since we were kids. What if we could fly? What if there are unicorns in another realm? What if there's a big red dog that wants to be my friend? What if there's something hiding in my closet, and does it want to eat me or play with me? What if I could command magic? What if aliens landed on Earth . . . and they looked like smoking hot men?

Read the rest of my love letter to speculative romance at RedMoonRomance.com . . .

Hibernation 2015 - wherein I discuss stashing food supplies and what I achieved of my pre-hibernation goals, and perhaps, the dreams I will dream during said winter incubation period

I recently got asked to do a Thing in another city, and I very seriously replied that I was, in fact, in hibernation until the end of February. A conservative estimate. In truth, the end of hibernation depends on the end of Snow Season, which is different from the end of Winter. Although the two are not wholly unrelated.

Northern Michigan winters are not something I take lightly. Yes, there are places where winter is worse and/or more persistent. But this is nothing to be sneezed at. Unless you have the flu on top of being trapped in your own house and really we all should have just gotten flu shots. No, I'm not completely cut off from civilization -- see, I have the internet, I have all the civilization I need -- but when your means of getting to the grocery store or anywhere else in town is a tiny compact car, you reevaluate your ability to fight the terror in white.

And damn if road slush didn't nearly do me in the other day. It wasn't even snow! Or ice! Just the goofy slush! Argh.

So I don't travel between Christmas and the start of March. Not if I can help it and certainly not for any distance.

The cupboard shall not run bare.

I have a December through March worry, which becomes a full on January and February neurotic maxim, to always have several days worth of food on hand -- food that can be turned into meals, not just a box of Cheerios and a pound of butter. Shudder. Because we never know when the next big snow is going to hit.

Last year the weather forecasts were dead on. Then again it seemed like we got 2-5" every day last winter, so I guess it's not that hard to predict. But this year they predict 3" we get none. They predict 6" we get none. They predict 5" we get 12." Sigh. And even when a mild 5" fell earlier this week, and I had diligently shoveled out all the requisite paths -- clear sidewalk for school kids, clear steps for mail man, clear driveway for me to get the car out -- I slipped and slid all over the place courtesy of aforementioned slush. So I try to stay off the roads the day of snowfall if I can. (A home office is a brilliant thing.) But if it snows for three days . . . I'm screwed. Or at least stranded.

Which is fine. Because I prepare.

I like to have enough on hand that I could, if needed, wait it out for a week until a clear day afforded me passage to the market that did not land me in the ditch or making new friends and acquaintances of the let's trade insurance information variety. At the very least I can stretch things out by eating rice and kimchi until I realize that I'm not Korean enough -- even in my own mind -- to eat kimchi with every meal. (It should be noted that technically I'm not Korean at all, I just watch too much K-drama and it's been rubbing off on me.)

Read the rest of this post...

Moving to a new site!

I'm continuing to blog sporadically at eileenwiedbrauk.com -- same address, new look. Hope you'll update your feeds and join me there!

Also you can catch me once a month at World Weaver Press, writing my "From the Editor's Desk" column.

Grab the Ghost

World Weaver Press is celebrating, and they're giving away a copy (maybe more!) of Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales, edited by yours truly.

Facebook followers (new and old) can use the easy Rafflecopter below and get bonus entries by following me on Twitter as well as some of the contributing authors. Enter until October 18!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Krampus Anthology to Take Submissions

Gorgeous Krampus art from a book
I have absolutely no association with
other than drooling over the art:
Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom.

Specter Spectacular II: 13 Deathly Tales closes to submissions on Saturday, but don't despair you writers of the macabre! Also on Saturday, June 15, Kate Wolford will start reading submissions for a Krampus based anthology as part of a joint venture between World Weaver Press and Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine.

Description: 
You know the Jolly Old Elf of Christmas, right? Of course you do. You can’t avoid him. Yet, Santa Claus isn’t just a kindly old expert at breaking and entering and leaving gifts he didn’t actually buy for the children of a house. At least he isn’t in Austria and many other parts of Europe.

In these ancient places, where, perhaps, the old, old gods still add a touch of mischief, Krampus is the angry, punishing sidekick of St. Nicholas (Santa’s counterpart in much of Europe). Known for his willingness to punish rotten children, Krampus might even be considered Santa’s dark side or evil twin.

Krampus is the sort of guy more and more North Americans want to explore. He’s definitely having a moment this side of the Atlantic. To that end, World Weaver Press and Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine are pleased to announce a joint venture: An anthology of Krampus short stories.

Although the book is yet to be named, we hope you’ll explore every possible Krampus angle via short stories. He’s a nasty old dude, and we hope your imaginations will get the better of you.

Anthology editor Kate Wolford ran a mini Krampus story contest for Enchanted Conversation last Christmas where there was lots of interest -- it was certainly the first time I'd heard of the Krampus! -- and gives her insights on what she's looking for in the upcoming anthology: “Krampus taps into a kind of ancient darkness that captures the spirit of winter. He also seems to lend himself to humor and horror and maybe, a bit of magic. I think the story possibilities are endless and intriguing.”

Guidelines and instructions for submission.

Kate Wolford is editor and publisher of Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine at fairytalemagazine.com. She teaches first-year college writing, incorporating fairy tales in her assignments whenever possible. World Weaver Press released her annotated anthology, Beyond the Glass Slipper: Ten Neglected Fairy Tales to Fall In Love With, in April 2013.

World Weaver Press is a publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction, dedicated to producing quality works. As a small press, World Weaver seeks to publish books that engage the mind and ensnare the story-loving soul.

Getting the Ghost

I'm editing a second Specter Spectacular anthology for World Weaver Press. Submissions are open now through June 15, 2013 (details). The first anthology was subtitled 13 Ghostly Tales and this time it's 13 Deathly Tales, allowing us to still include some awesome ghost stories but also expand beyond the spirit trope.

The inbox is seeing a lot of moment-of-death stories, and I encourage writers to look beyond that to the ... beyond. I've been pretty vocal about looking for some great stories of psychopomps (literally meaning "guide of the souls" but I also love the "death midwife" description), and I still want to see more such submissions. I'm also encouraging relevant connections to current society whether that's funny grim reapers glued to their cell phones, displaced Valkyries, parallels between a callus Charon ferrying souls across the river Styx with unscrupulous coyotes shepherding people across the border, or modern folklore retwistings.

Grimm, Once Upon a Time & Story Structure

I'm blogging as part of World Weaver Press's Fairy Tale Festival today about the throughlines / story structure of the first seasons of GRIMM and ONCE UPON A TIME. Catch the whole article here.

Fairy Tale Retold

If you're a fan of fairy tales retold --of the darker side where it's not just the wolves that have teeth -- then may I suggest the latest release from World Weaver Press, Wolves and Witches by sisters Amanda C. Davis and Megan Engelhardt.

In paperback and ebook (Kindle, Nook, Kobo), Wolves and Witches is 16 fabulous stories and poems that you'll want -- like Red Riding Hood's wolf -- to gobble up in one big bite.  

Witches have stories too. So do mermaids, millers' daughters, princes (charming or otherwise), even big bad wolves. They may be a bit darker--fewer enchanted ball gowns, more iron shoes. Happily-ever-after? Depends on who you ask. In Wolves and Witches, sisters Amanda C. Davis and Megan Engelhardt weave sixteen stories and poems out of familiar fairy tales, letting them show their teeth.

How Many Days Till Christmas?

According to the sudden overcrowding of my email inbox, today is the last day to buy online with assured delivery before Christmas. Or so at least twelve different emails told me this morning. Then there were a few more that sported digital gifts and the "It's never too late for a digital gift" slogan. 'Tis the season.

But what I want to mention today is another beautiful Christmas surprise. This week, World Weaver Press released their first novella, Opal, a gorgeous, lyrical retwisting of the Snow White tale by Kristina Wojtaszek, which both fairy tale lovers and YA fantasy readers will find reason to enjoy.

Writer's Digest editor Zachary Petit called it:

“A fairy tale within a fairy tale within a fairy tale — the narratives fit together like interlocking pieces of a puzzle, beautifully told.”

This is a tale that reaches from the frozen tundra, to the snow filled woods, thick and deep with the secrets of the shape-shifting Fae, back to the world of men. It's the journey of the daughter of an owl, a girl who is the key to unlocking the prison that holds a king. It's the perfect, quick, winter read.

The moment I started reading the first few pages, I was put in mind of the fairy tale novels of Patricia McKillip and Robin McKinley.

White as snow, stained with blood, her talons black as ebony… In this retwisting of the classic Snow White tale, the daughter of an owl is forced into human shape by a wizard who’s come to guide her from her wintry tundra home down to the colorful world of men and Fae, and the father she’s never known. She struggles with her human shape and grieves for her dead mother — a mother whose past she must unravel if men and Fae are to live peacefully together.

It's out now as an ebook for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. And a paperback from Amazon ... which they're quick to assure everyone you can still have delivered by Christmas.

Haunted Housewives Goodreads Giveaway

Susan Abel Sullivan and World Weaver Press are giving away a SIGNED paperback copy of The Haunted Housewives of Allister, Alabama -- enter this week for your chance to win!

“Grab a peanut butter and banana sandwich and settle in for a cozy mystery full of zany characters, haunted paintings, and a big dose of Southern humor.” — Heidi Ruby Miller

Who knew one gaudy Velvet Elvis could lead to such a heap of haunted trouble?

When Cleo Tidwell said, “I do,” for the third time, she had no idea her marriage vows would be tested by a tacky piece of art. But Cleo’s not the kind of woman to let a velvet-offense-against-good-taste just hang — oh no, she’s on a mission to oust the King. Trouble is, Elvis won’t leave the building. And he’s attractin’ all manner of kooks, fanatics, and lookie loos to Cleo’s doorstep, including the entire congregation of the Church of the Blue Suede Shoes.

Everyone wants a piece of the painting, but Cleo’s starting to suspect that whatever’s haunting the Velvet Elvis wants a piece of her husband. Why else would her hubby trade in his car for a ’56 pink Caddy, moonlight as an Elvis impersonator, and develop a sudden hankering for fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches? Certainly it can’t be anything as simple as a mid-life crisis, because Cleo is not getting divorced again — her mother would never let her hear the end of it.

Cleo’s life is all shook up by crazies with death threats, psychic warnings “from beyond,” kidnapping attempts, invitations to join the Blue Shoe Loonies, and even murder! Cleo’s in a fight for her life, her marriage, and the perseverance of good taste everywhere.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Haunted Housewives of Allister, Alabama

by Susan Abel Sullivan

Giveaway ends November 29, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

“Prepare for the read of your life! ... Sullivan is the new mistress of humor in horror.” — Perpetual Motion Machine

Specter Spectacular takes on a special sale price

I recently edited a slim and spooky anthology of ghost stories, Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales. And for the month of November only, you (or anyone) can grab the ebook version for the never-will-it-be-this-low-again price of $2.99. (You can also order a print version from Amazon -- sadly, not available in stores.)

All Shook Up

I've never been an Elvis fan -- I should preface this post with that -- but I've also never been an Elvis hater. In fact I never really thought about the King of Rock and Roll except for the passing mention in The Outsiders where the uptown kids love the Beatles and the greaser boys think that Elvis is way better.

So when the manuscript came across my desk for The Haunted Housewives of Allister, Alabama, a tale of an upper-middle class housewife who has a haunted Velvet Elvis forced into her possession, I didn't entirely know what I was getting into Elvis-wise. But the writing was fabulously witty and the main character, Cleo Tidwell, was enchanting. In fact, Cleo Tidwell quickly put me in mind of Stephanie Plum, a character I'd consumed with ravenous speed one winter. So I dove on in to the world of ghost Elvis and possessed Velvet Elvis. And it was a riot.

I've learned so many wacky Elvis factoids in the process of editing and publishing this book. When you finish the novel and realize how much true Elvis stuff falls in the realm of the strange, it's hard not to imagine it as the perfect basis for this kind of fun, witty, cozy mystery with a paranormal twist. Susan Abel Sullivan did her research -- fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, anyone? Apparently there's a knack to making these sandwiches. If I'd have tried, I'd have not thought to make the paste, so the result would have been ... different, I'm sure.

If you enjoy Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, or more generally cozy mysteries, Southern humor, and witty writing, you can grab the ebook of The Haunted Housewives of Allister, Alabama today (early release) or the trade paperback on October 30. Or perhaps just warm up to the novel with the sneak peek of chapter one on the publisher's website.

Grab Bag

My energy has currently been sunk into getting the Haunted October blog tour up and running and all the graphics settled and books out and ... whew. Well, I suppose it's too soon for a "whew," but I'll take any accomplishment as a small victory. So this Tuesday's blog post is a grab bag o' interesting stuffs, making it in just under the wire, minutes before midnight local time.

Got a ghost story you're sharing on  your blog? Haunted October wants to hear about it!

A.E. Decker's fabulous "Viva le Macabre" is a glorious reveling in fall, "the season of dying." And Kristina Wojtaszek's series on Haunted Folklore at Enchanted Conversation magazine is an interesting start to a five part series running each Monday in October.

QR codes for bikes -- how smart is this? Stolen bike has easy to trace barcode dohicky that you can register with the police for free ... if you live in London.

Fifty Shades of Chicken is an honest to goodness cookbook/great Fifty Shades of Grey parody. Someone tried to shift my attention to Fifty Shades of Bacon after I mentioned the cookbook on Twitter. But Bacon is a novelized parody. And Fifty Shades of Chicken is a succulent feast of innuendo, from the "bound" and trussed chicken on the cover to the foodporn table of contents: "Dripping Thighs, Sticky Chicken Fingers, Vanilla Chicken, Chicken with a Lardon, Bacon-Bound Wings, Spatchcock Chicken, Learning-to-Truss-You Chicken, Holy Hell Wings, Mustard-Spanked Chicken, and more, more, more!" 

Mustard-Spanked, eh? I think "spanked" is a verb that ought to be used more in food description. Watch, in a year, it'll be on every high-end menu.

Beware the Highland werewolf. Rawr.

Mars Rover Curiosity finds evidence of water -- water! a Martian stream bed! -- and Honey Boo Boo gets more coverage on TV. Sadness. Good thing the wondrous nerds and geeks of the world (yours truly included) get their news online and from NPR. What will the Mars Rover find next? A three-fingered button that, when depressed, produces breathable air?

Friday night frights

The title of this post might be misleading. Specter Spectacular is an anthology released this week that I edited, and while it opens with a pleasantly eerie story ("My Rest a Stone" by Amanda C. Davis) and a straight up frightening story ("Alabaster" by Jaime Rand), the anthology as a whole isn't one fright after another. It's a fabulous mix of the frightful and fanciful. The eerie and the romantic. The horrific and the humorous.

Putting this together, I must admit that my favorite tale to come across my desk was "Wendigo" by Shannon Robinson. The tale appeals to my young-working-woman mindset with a quirky family, yet it enthralls, horrifies, and triumphs.  It's about addiction, but not merely in the substance sense of the term.

Yet I also had so much fun with funny stories like "The Haunts of Albert Einstein" -- hey, if Einstein is stuck on the ghostly plane, you think he'll sit back and do nothing? -- and "Cooter, Ass-much, and Me" -- as the title implies, it's damn funny ... and a little bit chilling.

Ghosts are fascinating creatures. But I admit to approaching horror tentatively. There's so much gore-fest out there in cinema that horror has earned a "I don't like that" rep from many people. I'd like to think that Specter Spectacular transcends that and invites in those who love the slightly mystic as well as the horrific and the otherworldly. People who enjoy folk lore and romantic tales. People who may or may not believe in "ghosts" but who are willing, in the course of a fabulous short story or two, to explore their potential.

Available as an ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo, as well as in print, Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales is out now from World Weaver Press, just in time for your Halloween reading pleasure. Find a dark, chilling evening one night soon, and curl up with this anthology ... but maybe keep a flashlight close at hand. Just in case.

Updated blogging schedule

The summer doldrums have struck this blog hard. Although I've been working all summer on World Weaver Press (working and summer being concepts that rarely produce fruit for a grad student / college instructor), Speak Coffee to Me has sadly languished. Therefore I'm announcing a new blogging schedule!

On Tuesdays I will have some sort of post! Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 4, 2012, will feature "Jumping the Shark." Oh yes, it will.

On weekends I will continue with Ad of the Week, as per request of the Jud -- my longest running and most faithful comment-maker. (Dear Jud, please note, you now have a title. This does not come with a knighting ceremony, but could with some fanagling.)

And intermittently, I will have RUN POSTs. Because after an almost six year hiatus, I'm a runner again. Who knew? But I'm also a reluctant runner. In short: this is bound to be humorous.

So that's the new blog schedule. Be seeing ya, folks!

New title from World Weaver Press announced!

We're at it again! This time with an anthology of new twists on the classic ghost story titled Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales, to be released on Tuesday, September 25, 2012.  Should be available as both ebook and trade paperback.

Anthology description:

Spirits, poltergeists, hauntings, creatures of the dark — Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales delivers all these and more in thirteen spooky twists on the classic ghost story. From the heartwarming and humorous to the eerie and chilling, this anthology holds a story for everyone who has ever been thrilled by the unknown or wondered what might lie beyond the grave. Step inside and witness ghosts of the past, tales of revenge, the inhuman, the innocent, the damned, and more. But be warned — once you cross the grave into this world of fantasy and fright, you may find there’s no way back out.

Featuring the work of Amanda C. Davis (“My Rest A Stone”), A. E. Decker (“Death and Taxes”), Larry Hodges (“The Haunts of Albert Einstein”), Sue Houghton (“The Secret of Echo Cottage”), Andrea Janes (“A Fitting Tribute”), Terence Kuch (“What If It Could Speak!”), Robbie MacNiven (“The Little House at Bull Run Creek”), Kou K. Nelson (“Safe Upon the Shore”), Jamie Rand (“Alabaster”), Shannon Robinson (“Wendigo”), Calie Voorhis (“Cooter, Ass-munch, and Me”), Jay Wilburn (“Pushed Out”), and Kristina Wojtaszek (“Cinder”).

More details.