Black Quill Deadline and Stokermania!

Cast Your Vote (Pretty Please)
If you haven't had a chance, please stop on over at Dark Scribe Magazine and cast your vote(s) for the Black Quill Awards.

The deadline is tomorrow, January 25th!

I'm honored to have been nominated in the Best Dark Genre Fiction Collection category. If you want to cast your vote, it's easy. It requires a quick registration (if you're not already signed-up as a subscriber - it's FREE) at the Dark Scribe site, which is well worth the effort--it's a fantastic magazine.

For the list of nominees and the voting info (bottom of the page): Click Here

OR

Register Here - Click Here
For the Ballot Page and Login - Click Here

Category: Best Dark Genre Fiction Collection
My Book: Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales

Thank you SO much for your support!












Stokermania!
It's that time of year again when writers of horror loiter around the cauldron and decide the literary fate of their comrades. I'm very pleased that my collection, Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales, has made it to the second level of the voting process to the Preliminary Bram Stoker Award Ballot. Woohoo!

If you're an active HWA member, Apex is providing FREE hard copies of the collection for your consideration. Send me or Apex publisher, Jason Sizemore, an email, including your snail mail address and we'll whisk a copy right off to you! Fran at franfriel@gmail.com or Jason at jason@apexdigest.com. PDFs are also available, if you'd like a cyber-copy, as well.

For those of you who haven't seen the complete list:

2008 Preliminary Bram Stoker Award Ballot

Superior Achievement in a Novel
Coffin County by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure)
The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford (William Morrow)
Ghost Walk by Brian Keene (Leisure)
The Reach by Nate Kenyon (Leisure)
Duma Key by Stephen King (Scribner)
Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamberson (Bad Moon/Medallion)
Water Witch by Deborah Leblanc (Dorchester/Leisure)
Bad Moon Rising by Jonathan Maberry (Pinnacle)
Dead and Gone by Harry Shannon (Delirium Books)
The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff (St. Martins)
The Man on the Ceiling by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem (Wizards of the Coast)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel
Bestial: Werewolf Apocalypse by William D. Carl (Permuted Press)
Apricot Brandy by Lynn César (Juno Books)
Midnight On Mourn Street by Christopher Conlon (Earthling Publications)
Veins by Lawrence C. Connolly (Fantasist Enterprises)
Eternal Vigilance by Gabrielle S. Faust (Immanion Press)
The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti (Dark Hart Press)
Monster Behind the Wheel by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin (Delirium Books)
Frozen Blood by Joel A. Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing)
Crimson Orgy by Austin Williams (Borderlands Press)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
“The Lagerstatte” by Laird Barron (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
The Shallow End of the Pool by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock)
Miranda by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
Redemption Roadshow by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy)
The Confessions of St. Zach by Gene O'Neill (Bad Moon Books)
Orpheus and the Pearl by Kim Paffenroth (Magus Press)
"Behold the Child" by Harry Shannon (Brimstone Turnpike)
Just Like Hell by Nate Southard (Thunderstorm Books)
Population Zero by Wrath James White (Cargo Cult Press)
Orgy of Souls by Wrath James White, and Maurice Broaddus (Apex Book Company)


Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
"The Last Word" by Maria Alexander (Sins of the Sirens)
"Mama Strangelove's Remedies for Afterlife Disorders, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mother Death" by C. Dean Andersson (Brutarian)
"Consumed" by Michael Louis Calvillo (Horror Library Volume 3)
"Petrified" by Scott Edelman (Desolate Souls)
"Mechanix" by Christopher Fulbright (Bound for Evil)
The Lost by Sarah Langan (Cemetery Dance Publications)
"The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft" by Nick Mamatas, and Tim Pratt (Chizine)
"The Haven" by John Palisano (Horror Library Vol. 3)
"Turtle" by Lee Thomas (Doorways)
"The Blog at the End of the World" by Paul Tremblay (Chizine)
"Those Eyes" by Mark W. Worthen (Thinner Than Mist)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology
The Undead: Headshot Quartet edited by Christina Bivins and Lane Adamson (Permuted Press)
Like a Chinese Tattoo edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
Horror Library, Vol. 3 edited by R. J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press)
Abominations edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)
Beneath the Surface edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)
Unspeakable Horrors edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press)

Superior Achievement in a Collection
The Number 121 to Pennsylvania by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance Publications)
Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
Just After Sunset by Stephen King (Scribner)
Little Creatures by Michael McCarty (Sam's Dot Publishing)
Other Gods by Stephen Mark Rainey (Dark Regions Press)
The Autopsy and Other Tales by Michael Shea (Centipede)
Sheep and Wolves by Jeremy C. Shipp (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
Fourtold by Michael Stone (Baysgarth Publications)
Gleefully Macabre Tales by Jeff Strand (Delirium)
Ennui and Other States of Madness by David Niall Wilson (Dark Regions Press)

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction
Shadows Over New England by David Goudsward, and Scott T. Goudsward (BearManor Media)
Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller (McFarland)
Spirits and Death in Niagara by Marcy Italiano (Schiffer Publishing)
The New Annotated Dracula by Leslie S. Klinger (W. W. Norton)
Beauty and Dynamite by Alethea Kontis (Apex Publications)
Cheap Scares by Gregory Lamberson (McFarland)
Zombie CSU by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel)
Modern Mythmakers by Michael McCarty (McFarland)
A Hallowe'en Anthology by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
The Book of Lists: Horror by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (Harper)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
The Nightmare Collection by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)
The Phantom World by Gary William Crawford (Sam's Dot)
Virgin of the Apocalypse by Corrine De Winter (Sam's Dot Publishing)
The Flayed Man and Other Poems by Phillip A. Ellis (Gothic Press)
Attack Of The Two-Headed Poetry Monster by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty (Skullvines Press)
Ghosts of Past and Future by Darrell Schweitzer (Borgo)


Please join with me in congratulating these very hard working writers for this wonderful achievement and wish them all success in moving onto the Final Ballot. So many of my dear friends are on this list, including many in my own category. I wish them all the very best!

Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel

Why a Sea Shanty? A Contest, Of Course!

Shanty Me a Story
Okay, if you've stopped by my profile over at MySpace, you may have noticed the sea shanty playing as my profile tune. Why a shanty, you might ask...or maybe not, since I'm just goofy enough to post a sea shanty for the halibut (sorry, I couldn't help myself). Well, I'll tell you why. Besides the obvious moment of distraction from my story writing to compose a blog, I just needed a little inspiration. Believe it or not, mateys, I'm writing a pirate story. As a matter of fact, I've been writing it for hours and hours, hence my state of near madness and my need for distraction.

And yes, it's a horror story, but with a pirate ship background, and no there's no sea monsters (that I know of). I suspect this story is not your normal pirate fare, but what do I know? Well, I know I'm writing it, and I'm not normal, so it's just going to be different. It's called "Sea Urchin" and it will be one of my dark little lovelies (well, actually it's pretty long...and ugly) for the short story collection, Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales, due to be released this June from Apex.

Now, if you'll recall, I'm a Gemini, which means there will be a WIDE variety of story subjects in this book, and if you don't like pirates stories (I still think you'll like this one) there will be lots of other madness to indulge in. To name just a few, we've got gravy lovers, Pacific islands and nightmares, and science experiments gone wrong. There's parrots, critters with cleavers, shrubs with an attitude, and of course, there's that nasty little Stoker finalist, Mama's Boy.

Oooo, just this moment, this very minute (serious, just now), I had an inspiration. Let's do a contest! A pirate contest. Yeah!

Okay, here goes...

In the comments section of this blog, post one of the following:

1. Your Favorite Pirate Saying

2. Your Favorite Pirate Book or Movie

I'll do a random drawing from all the comments with a deadline of April 15th (if it's good enough for the IRS, it's good enough for me...tee hee). Watch here the following week and I'll announce the winner. The prize - A copy of Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales (when it's released, of course).

BONUS- for an EXTRA chance to win a copy of the collection AND a signed original copy of the manuscript for the story "Sea Urchin" all you have to do is:

Post a pic of youself looking like a pirate in the comments section of this blog . Even an eyepatch will make it so, but feel free to be creative.


So there you have it, my first contest inspiration for the MB collection. I hope you like it. Just remember you shanty-phobes, this isn't a book about pirates, it's just one story, but the bugger of a story is haunting my every moment right now, so ARGGGGGH, we're doing a pirate contest!

Dang, pirates are cranky, aren't they? *wink*

Have fun, gang, and let me see your pirate within!

Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel

The Saga, BEA Links, and a Mama's Boy Dealio

The Saga
If you've been reading this blog, you know the Friel household is in the midst of a moving drama...moving, in this case, being a verb. And since our sweet little condo has been around for about thirty years without a lot of new fangled stuff, we're renovating. Now how does this relate to horror? Well, if you've ever moved house and/or renovated, you know the horror personally. No doubt a story will emerge from my psyche because of the experience.

Hey, we've been VERY lucky, though. We've got a great guy doing work for us, which makes it all a whole lot easier. But the time crunch is like a wild race. We need hardwood floors and carpet installed, tile in the bathrooms, the whole place painted, new countertops, etc, not to mention phone and internet (which I think should be called, Author's Life Line). Well, that's all par for the renovation course, right? Except that most of it has to be done in 10 days! Ack! Now the kicker...my sweet husband will be out of the country on business for a week, and he leaves in the middle of this renovation/moving party. The moving estimator chuckled when I told him about the hubby's schedule. His words, "Sounds strategic to me." Hmm...

Light a candle for me, will ya'?





Book Expo America
Dang, I wish I had had time to go to the huge Book Expo of America event, especially since it was so close to home. It took place in NYC on the weekend of May 31st, but being a tad busy, I had to pass. Did any of you go? Was if fabulous?

Well, for those of us who missed it, thanks to Book Trailers from COS Productions at MySpace (Thanks, COS!), I discovered that BEA has produced a number of podcasts from the Expo. The topics are excellent and here is a small sampling:

Customer Focused Publishing: Michael Hyatt of Thomas Nelson

The Role of Publishers in the Real Digital Age: An Insider's Perspective

http://bookexpocast.com/2007/05/

BEA Bonus: Publishing in the MySpace Era

BEA Bonus: Searching for Principles: Online Services and Intellectual Property

Bob Prosen Teaches Business Leaders to Kiss Theory Good Bye

BEA Bonus: Emerging Technology Trends: Deciphering the Next Chapter

Will Schwalbe on the Pros and Con of Email

You can see more of the podcast offerings Here at BEA Podcasts. Enjoy!

Work to Be Done

Well, my Sunday blogging is done, but I almost forgot to tell you my news. I promised last week that I'd share it with you, so forgive me for the delay.

The wonderful Jason Sizemore, publisher at Apex Publications (and of course, editor in chief at Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest) has struck a deal to publish my short story collection, which will feature that little Bram Stoker nominated novella, Mama's Boy. I can't tell you how happy I am to be working with Jason (one of my writing goals, btw!), and I'm thrilled that Mama's Boy will reach a wider audience. I'm literally chomping at the bit to get the house move complete, so I can get to work on the collection. It will hit the shelves in Spring 2008!

Also, a thrill for me in its own right, one of my short stories will be published in Apex Digest #11! It's my understanding that one of my absolute favorite people and writers, Gary Braunbeck, will also be published in #11. Needless to say, I'm a VERY happy girl.

Now back to work for me. We're off to the condo to lug debris to the dumpster ($310 for a dumpster rental?? grrr...) and...wait for it...remove wall paper! Woohoo...my favorite thing! NOT! Gawd, I'm such a whiner today. Thanks for indulging me. You guys are THE best!

See ya' soon...minus the whine. *wink*

Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel