So, it’s a tad after the turn of the year, and I suppose I should have looked back and recapped some time on Saturday. And I did look back on Saturday, I just didn’t stop by to tell you about it. But since you can’t be late to your own party–Imma do it now.

2011 was a really busy and fruitful time, y’all. I’m a little shocked at how much happened since this time last year. The biggest event, surely, was the publication of Barking Mad, my first novel, which came out from the beautiful folks at Typecast Publishing in June. I toured throughout the month of July in support of Barking Mad, and during August and September recorded the audiobook. So I spent most 2011 with Reggie Spiffington and crew, and they are a lovely bunch of folks to spend time with.

The other big project was the creation of a second film with my ocassional partners Ali LaRock and Kevin Smith. We’re now calling ourselves Cornerboys Studios, mainly because our Facebook page for the first film has too many fans to change the name. The new film, House of the Yaga, came out in October and won Best Animated Film at the Fargo Fantastic Film Festival.

Smaller things, but just as exciting: fiction accepted to Weird Tales (!), Pseudopod, and Underneath the Juniper Tree  and poetry accepted to Dissections, Inkspill, and Strange Horizons. I wrote several short stories this year that haven’t sold yet as well, so fingers crossed for them this year.

And lots of readings, a radio interview, and a guest spot at ValleyCon. All good, fun stuff. I’m having a ball.

Here’s what’s coming up this year:

1. New novel–Charley Cross and the London Dead. I’m a little over 45,000 words on this, which will probably end up in the neighborhood of 80-90,000. It’s very different from Barking Mad, but still combines lots of things that I love, notably Victorian London, girls who kick ass, and the walking dead.
2. New film, probably. The third from the Cornerboys team. I have a fairly clear idea of which fairy tale we’ll darken and twist, I just need to find the time to write it and then send it to Ali and Kevin.
3. Recording some music–Blind Mice material that needs to be put on tape, as well as a new song I wrote for a band in one of my short stories. Yeah,  I know. But I like it.
4. Two academic papers that I’ll work on during January and February. One is a comparison of Carmilla and the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In, and the other is an examination of steampunk rapper Professor Elemental’s album The Indifference Engine.  So FUN academic papers. Both of these have already been accepted to anthologies and so have deadlines. Deadlines are a good thing.

And I’m sure many other projects and events. Keep checking in here for info.

I suppose I should talk a little but about what great books and music I encountered during 2011 as well. Perhaps tomorrow?

Working the booth at ValleyCon

ValleyCon was a lot of fun–I did a reading of my story “Dark Gonna Catch Me Here” (in Weird Tales Feb. 2011), and was on two panels with sci-fi author David Weber. We also debuted “House of the Yaga,” which won Best Animated Film at the festival there. And I met lots of great folks who stopped by the booth throughout the weekend. My biggest geek moment of the convention was sharing a table with Buffy alum Clare Kramer. She’s not at all like an insane hell-god in person.

Hanging with stars. You know how I do.

Our tally for October so far: One (1) poem, one (1) short story, and one (1) short film. Also a book sale and an interview (I’m on page 25).

My poem “In Which a Lady Scientist in Touched by the (Primal) Webbed Hand: A Sonnet,” a Darwinian feminist homage to The Creature from the Black Lagoon, was published in the issue 5 of Inkspill.  The whole mag is available as a free PDF download right here. It’s a gorgeous little magazine, and my poem looks right at home there.

A tad more Octobery is the new issue of macabre children’s magazine Underneath the Juniper Tree, also available online (click on “Expand”). This is a truly awesome mag, featuring art, poetry, and fiction of the gruesome variety aimed at kids, who love gruesome when it’s well done. My story is a short little chiller called “Bedtime,” and it’s illustrated by the wonderful Elizabeth Rose Stanton , who also did the cover. Check out my story, but also read the rest of it–amazing work by Rebekah Joy Plett, an excerpt from zombie king Jonathan Maberry, and art by Dave McKean. Say that again: me and Dave McKean, right there together. Almost as if we’d met and he knows who I am. (we haven’t. he doesn’t). Very cool magazine I’m happy to be part of.

And finally….eerie drum roll please…HOUSE OF THE YAGA is here! The second film from me, Kevin Smith, and Ali LaRock is up and viewable on YouTube or on this very website. I’ll let it speak for itself–we’re very proud, and Kevin and Ali brought their A-game and then some. We’ve upped the creepy a notch on this one, just in time for Halloween or your Sunday brunch.

Cool things are already happening around Yaga: the film was featured on The Daily Dead’s weekend round-up a couple of weeks ago, and there has been much retweeting and FB sharing (you’re still encouraged to engage in those activities). At the top of the awesome heap, however, is this from Jenni Field the Online Pastry Chef. Go look, then go cook. Then eat. This is, I should say, an Official House of the Yaga tie-in, and we’ll be using Jenni’s recipe as part of our promotional materials for the film.

The film, incidentally, will make it’s film festival debut later this month at ValleyCon, where I’ll be a guest. Come out to Fargo and check it out–I’ll be doing several panels and a reading, and you can meet Clare Kramer (of Buffy fame) and legendary sci-fi author David Weber as well. Ali LaRock will be there with me, and we’d be happy to sign your freshly purchases copy of Cornerboys, which will be available on DVD for the first time there.

Whew! That’s mid-October. More to come, including a reading at Barnes in Noble in Bismarck, but first, I’m going to Disney World.

Autumn is my favorite time of year–crisp air and sharp bright skies, apple cider and pumpkin bread, leaves turning the color of blood. Lucky me that Halloween falls in this season, and that the sort of writing I do means that October is often my busiest month. This October ups the ante, I think, and I can’t wait.

The biggest event for me will be the official release of the new film from Cornerboys Studios, The House of the Yaga, this Saturday, October 1st. Like Cornerboys, Yaga features words by me, music by Kevin Smith, and art by Ali LaRock. Full details will be here after the release, but you can follow the lead-in by going over to the Facebook page for the studio and “liking” it. Cannibals, lost children, and a special tie-in with my friend Chef Jenni over at her blog.

The House of the Yaga will be in the Fargo Fantastic Film Festival this year, running concurrently with ValleyCon Oct. 21-23. And I’ll be a guest at ValleyCon, so if you’re in the Fargo area (or can get there) come out and say hi. Ali LaRock will be around, and I’ll be reading and talking about Barking Mad and Yaga and Carmilla and anything else I can think of. Plus, there’s a Buffy alum on the roster, along with legendary sci-fi author David Weber.

The next weekend (Oct. 28th) I’ll be doing a Halloween reading at Barnes and Noble in Bismarck, reading my story “Dark Gonna Catch Me Here”–guitars and desire and the blues and the devil and love and the elder gods which wait to drag our world into chaos. So, fun all around. We’ll also be raffling off a DVD copy of Cornerboys to one lucky purchaser of Barking Mad.

So that’s what I’m doing in October. There’s also some new work coming out. I have a short short ghost story appearing in the October issue of the macabre children’s magazine Underneath the Juniper Tree, and the PDF lit mag Inkspill is printing my Creature from the Black Lagoon poem “In Which A Lady Scientist Is Touched By the Primal (Webbed) Hand” in their October issue.

Finally, Typecast will be doing a big promotional push for Barking Mad for Halloween, with fun stuff happening all month, including some pricing deals, I think. I’ll post a link when it’s up and running. This might include the release of the Barking Mad audiobook.

I shall then lay down and sleep during November. But until then, there are some bloody good things in store…

I’m spending Labor Day weekend assembling the bulk of the next film from the Cornerboys team. Ali and Kevin have taken another long poem of mine and turned it into a creeptastic explosion. I’m taking all the pieces and making video magic right now (or at least I will be doing so once I finish this blog entry). I’m pausing in my work to share a teaser with you. Here’s the trailer:

I can’t wait–if you like Cornerboys, I’m guessing you’ll dig this as well. Although it’s not quite as cheery…

Tom also announced today that his next album, Bad as Me, will be released on October 11th. I am happy.

A good morning. And a good month. I realize I said “over the next few days, I’ll update you on new projects,” and I realize I said that three weeks ago. Let’s just use a loose defintion of the term “next few days” and move onward, shall we?

There are primarily three projects that have my attention right now. Here’re the deets:

Barking Mad : The tour’s done, and the last big reading in Bismarck happened a week and a half ago. In Bismarck, you can pick up copies at Barnes and Noble (including some signed)–check in the “Mystery” section. The bookstores I read in on tour have a few copies as well (Grateful Steps, Black Bear Books, and Bound to Be Read), as does the campus bookstore at UMary. You can order through Amazon, B&N, and (best option) Typecast. My publicist as Typecast tells me that there will be a further push near Halloween, possibly with a sale or giveaway. An audiobook will happen, as will an ebook, and it looks likely that a second Reggie Spiffington adventure will be coming your way, maybe in 2013.

House of the Yaga: This is the second film from Cornerboys Films, which is me, artist Ali LaRock, and composer Kevin Smith. This is another narrated poem, illustrated by Ali and set to horrifying music by Kevin. Our inspiration this time is the image of Baba Yaga, the cannibal witch of Russian folklore. If you liked Cornerboys (and I know you did), this one ups the ante a bit. We’re aiming to get it entered into the Fargo Fantastic Film Festival, and hope for a full-on release in October.

New Novel: The current writing project is a YA fantasy set in Victorian London. Mad inventors, stolen corpses, a vampire brothel, street kids, a spunky protagonist, and lots of fog and cobbles and danger. And I’ve put in a fair number of zombies, like you do. My working title is Charley Cross and the London Dead. I’m about 10,000 words in, and expect it to carry me well into the spring.

Smaller things, but just as fun: My poem “Foxes” appeared this month in Strange Horizons. And my short story “Dark Gonna Catch Me Here” will appear in Weird Tales, probably in February.

Hope things are happy where you are. Hope to see you soon.

I’m more of a lurker on the #amwriting site, though I do use the hashtag on Twitter. But lurking is fun. It’s nice to have a daily reminder that there is a group of writers out there slogging away, just like me, aspiring and hoping and groaning and sighing and laughing and writing. It’s a grand thing Johanna has done, and I’m really happy to add my voice to the shoutin’ and hollerin’ today.

I wasn’t sure what to actually say here, beyond what I just said, but then I saw that Johanna had suggested a “photo of your writing space” as a possible entry. I thought: “I have a writing space,” and I thought: “I have a camera.” And, as an added bonus, I really love my writing space and the early morning hours I spend there. So here it is, cats and kittens:

The stereo with attached iPod on the right is a necessity. Right now it’s Beggar’s Banquet but many mornings it’s Dexter Gordon or Nat Adderley. Various totemistic knick-knacks inhabit the shelf and desk. I got the phrenology head in a shop on Cecil’s Court in London six years ago; one of the pipes in the rack on the shelf belonged to my grandfather. The white board contains goals and a list of the projects I’m working on, as well as brainstorms for future work. The books and papers on the desk mostly relate to Victorian London, reference materials for the novel I’m about to begin.

Looking back into the room from the desk, I see this:

That’s the sofa. It sleeps well. And it is a comfy place to sit and write notes or read poetry (or flip idly through the big pink pictorial of The Clash which you see on the trunk). The skull in the window is also from London, bought for me as a Valentine’s gift by my lovely wife  Gwyn, who knows the way to my heart. And there’s my window. My writing room is in the basment at the back of the house, as far from the living areas as can be, which makes it quiet and lovely–particularly when I can glimpse the sun rising through the window, which is positioned so that I look up into sky when I turn my head to the left.

And that’s where I write. And where I post to Twitter using the #amwriting hashtag. Happy Birthday #amwriting! See you in the morning! (Don’t forget to move on over to Ev’s blog next…)

It was a great time. I’ve never been on a book tour before, and so had no expectations beyond knowing I’d spend a LOT of time in the car. Overall, we clocked just under 5000 miles in two and half weeks, much of it in the first and last days of the trip. And in between, I read and signed at bookstores, coffeeshops, a letter-press shop, and an art museum. And caught up with a slew of folks I hadn’t seen in quite a while, as well as meeting a host of new friends.

There were a lot of highlights, but chief among them were reading at Firecracker Press in St. Louis and at Quills Coffeehouse in Louisville. Firecracker are the folks who designed and hand-printed the cover for Barking Mad. While I read there, letter-press mastermind Eric Woods printed a specially designed broadside featuring a quote from the novel:

Reading while the presses run.

A broadside of my own.

The grand and gracious Jen Woods.

Reading at Quills

The Foxery, unplugged

The rest of the tour was lovely as well. Good readings and great friends in Asheville, Columbia, Florence, and Atlanta, and a signing in Boone. My daughter Eva sold some of her books along the way, nearly matching me in sales, and signed as well. We’ll do a big, joint reading and signing in Bismarck on August 13th. Hope you can make it.

All in all, the tour was about as successful as I could have hoped, and it was a really wonderful way to get the book out in front of people. Over the next couple of days I’ll update you on new projects, including the second film from me, Ali LaRock, and Kevin Smith. Until then, here are some more highlights from the tour:

An intimate reading with friends in Asheville

Signing after the reading at the Columbia Museum of Art

Eva and I hawking our wares.

Reading in Florence, SC.

My name on the chalk board at Bound to Be Read in Atlanta