BEA 2013: “James Preller: Pursuing a New Direction” (and a Photo Op with R.L. Stine)
Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations, Scary Tales | No Comments »Just passing along an article by the very kind Sally Lodge, who phoned me a couple of weeks back. We chatted for a while and the result of that conversation was this article that appeared in a special edition of ...
Publishers Weekly Reviews First Book in SCARY TALES Series: “Home Sweet Horror”
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 Posted in Scary Tales | 2 Comments »"Gasp-worthy scenes and chilling twists." It's a long slog, this business of getting published, with many milestones along the way. The concept, the contract, the first draft, the editor's notes, the first glimpse at the artwork, revision, and more revision, the ...
The Next Big Thing Blog Tour
Monday, April 29th, 2013 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | 2 Comments »My apologies, I usually don't stoop to these lows, but I was tagged by my pal, Kurtis Scaletta, for the "Next Big Thing" Blog Tour. Essentially, a bunch of authors make up a game of "tag" as an excuse to promote ...
SCARY TALES #2: The Rough Cover Becomes the Final
Thursday, February 21st, 2013 Posted in Scary Tales | No Comments »A few months back I posted the rough cover for SCARY TALES #2: I Scream, You Scream. Today I received a lo-res file of the final cover. In cases like this, I'm not just an author, I'm a fan of the process. ...
SCARY TALES SNEAK PREVIEW: Art & Excerpt from Book #2, “I Scream, You Scream”
Friday, February 8th, 2013 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | No Comments »I just got to see the illustrations for Book #2 in my upcoming SCARY TALES Series: I Scream, You Scream. Actually, what I saw was most of the art placed on the typeset pages, with some pages blank, art still-to-come. It's exciting ...
A Murder of Crows, Etc.
Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 Posted in Family, Interviews & Appreciations, Scary Tales | 2 Comments »In Book #3 of my SCARY STORIES Series -- launching this summer, so don't make any plans -- and I mean that, no plans whatsoever -- I featured a whole mess of crows in the story. You know, when it ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #161: In Which Juan Hopes I Am Happy
Wednesday, December 5th, 2012 Posted in Fan Mail, Scary Tales | 1 Comment »This is just lovely . . . Seriously, how lucky can a guy get? To open an envelope and find something as pure and kind and good as this? Plus -- it came with a drawing. Be careful, it's a little spooky. ...
First Review for “Home Sweet Horror,” Book #1 of SCARY TALES Series
Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 Posted in Scary Tales, School Visits | 2 Comments »Question #1: If your friend writes a review of your book, does that negate it as an objective critical assessment? Question #2: What is friendship, anyway? I first "met" Franki Sibberson through her blog, A Year of Reading, co-written with Mary Lee ...
SCARY TALES #2: I Scream, You Scream
Friday, November 16th, 2012 Posted in Scary Tales | No Comments »It's exciting to see a series come together. It's this long process that involves a lot of different folks all pulling on the same oar. But, like, we're on different boats. Or something like that. I just got my first peek ...
Sloppy Copy, Ugly Beginnings & the Sense of Smell
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | No Comments »I could never write a book about writing well -- not smart enough, for starters -- but I can give you a glimpse into how it sometimes works for me. I don't speak from a pedestal; this missive comes from ...