Live and Let Undead Arrives!

I received my copy of the Live and Let Undead anthology from Library of the Living Dead Press. The collection features my short story "Sparky Save the World."

I'm very proud of that story because it's not typically something I'd write. In fact, it was my first (and possibly only) zombie story.

The summary:

Harris and his bomb-sniffing partner Sparky work to stop biological weapons and other dangers from going through the nation's ports. Trained to detect hazardous materials, Sparky--an UNDEAD (UNnaturally DE-evolved Anthropological Degenerate) who used to be human--proves his ultimate worth when confronted with a massive, potentially catastrophic weapons shipment.

You can get your copy here.

Special thanks to Hollie Snider for selecting the stories for the anthology, and congratulations to my fellow writers. I can't wait to read your stories!

New Antho Now Available!

Live and Let Undead is now available on Amazon.com! This anthology was spared by Library of the Living Dead Press. Two others, Attack of the 50FT Book and Beta City, were cancelled. I'd signed the contract for a story in 50FT and had a hold request for a story for Beta City.

Zombies aren't exactly my thing, but this antho gave me a chance to stretch my writing muscles a bit. I didn't go for the typical brain-eating zombie in my story, instead writing about a zombie trained to detect bombs and other hazardous materials coming through our ports.

Here's a quick summary of my story, Sparky Save the World:

Harris and his bomb-sniffing partner Sparky work to stop biological weapons and other dangers from going through the nation's ports. Trained to detect hazardous materials, Sparky--an UNDEAD (UNnaturally DE-evolved Anthropological Degenerate) who used to be human--proves his ultimate worth when confronted with a massive, potentially catastrophic weapons shipment.

You can get the anthology through Amazon.

Library of the Living Dead

Well, not all news is good news.

It seems the folks at Library of the Living Dead Press are having some financial difficulties, and several anthologies are being cancelled. I thought two of my short stories ("Sparky Save the World" and "Gus and Mariel") would be published and in anthologies by now. Another short ("Grisham's Council") has been in perpetual flux for almost a year.

In an announcement on the LOTLD boards, the publisher says nearly all anthologies have been cancelled. It's too bad, but the publisher pays most of the costs on his own and we all know the economic climate is terrible.

The implication I get is that the rights to "Gus and Mariel" (a story about a building-size puffin) and "Grisham's Council" (about an anti-hero who unwittingly leads a revolution against an invading alien force) will be released back to me, as their anthologies (Attack of the 50FT Book and Beta City, respectively) are probably kaput. I received an email today saying that the Live and Let Undead anthology is going forward, which means we will see "Sparky Save the World" in print. We're hoping that will be some time before Christmas.

Most of this is speculation on my part...the publisher identified only three anthologies that would move forward (Live and Let Undead being one of the three, while Attack of the 50FT Book and Beta City were not listed). If I hear anything different, I'll let you know.

It's a shame this has to happen, especially since "Gus and Mariel" is one of my favorite stories. Once I get official word that the anthology is cancelled, I'll see what I can do to shop it around.

On the other hand, if this move saves LOTLD from going under, it's definitely the right move.