Summer Coming Down

The weather has taken on a nice Autumn chill, marking Summer’s impending finish. In memorium, a photo flashback of Summer 2017.

 

With a Little Help from My Friends

Spring is here. Bursts of activity and creation, from outdoor events to the bright shiny new work of authors, publishers, and all those types that bloom in the sunshine, full of new work and bright words.

Writers and their affiliates (from presses to magazines to podcasts) get hell on the Internet for self-promotion – and a lot of the time, GAWD, rightly so – but sometimes friends are friends, and the PSA/The More You Know message of this post is that when no one is looking, and for no other reason than being good people, this group of miscreants and snake oil salesmen will unblinkingly throw sponsorship money to a 9 yr old in Southern Ohio for an event at his elementary school. And one will blink, and think how lucky, to have “networks” that are more than that word, associates and peers that are friends.

Selflessness is supposed to be its own reward, but here’s my kid kicking some ass at the Ninja Dash obstacle course/fun run. He was sponsored by Booked. Podcast (Livius Nedin and Robb Olson, Thunderdome Press (Mike Gonzalez), GAMUT Magazine (Richard Thomas), his friend Elijah Kasper (from PLT days), Kay & Allen Hayes, and Heather & Jeremy Barker. They expected nothing from him, but he wore a sponsor shirt with all their names.

Thanks to your generosity, my son gets to smash a pie in the face of his favorite teacher on the next-to-last day of school

And yes, since you asked, that green glitter shirt-lettering was all destroyed when I washed it, and the inside of my washing machine looks like a disco.

Happy summer!! And thank you for being a part of my life!!

Menacing Hedge Spring Issue

Simultaneous arrival of warm weather and Menacing Hedge’s Spring Edition!

This issue marks the first batch of short fiction selected just by my hand, so I do hope everyone enjoys these six stories. I wade through hundreds of submissions to come up with a handful of perfect diamonds, and it will never cease to amaze me that I get to do this: assemble a banquet of stories written by authors far more adept at both wordsmithing and navigating the imagination.

Spring also marks the first issue with Susan Yount as official Menacing Hedge Artist! Her work is so darkly beautiful.

So have it! Poetry and fiction, sunshine and blood.

Happy Spring!

“Don’t Tell Mom” by Susan Yount

Click:

Menacing Hedge Spring 2017

International Women’s Day

The women, real and fictional, past and present, that have and continue to influence me in the very best ways…

Five Days Left to Enter “Fairytale Day” Goodreads Bundle Giveaway

February 26 is International Fairytale Day, so what better day for Craig and I to give you a pile of books and stories by a plethora of authors that cover the spectrum from horror to crime to magic realism to noir to mystery to comedy to love story, and everything else you can think of?

Click the link below to enter: the pile of books includes not only the only 3 hard copies of Serious Moonlight thus far in existence, but also The Sound of Loneliness signed by the author Craig Wallwork, Quintessence of Dust signed by the author Craig Wallwork, Radium Girls signed by the author Amanda Gowin, Gutted: Beautiful Horror signed by (one of) the author(s) Amanda Gowin, as well as the Booked. Anthology!

And, Serious Moonlight, our short story duet, will include brand new bonus flash stories from both of us in these print copies.

Escape. Make a bed of these books and roll around in other worlds, while on break from making this world a better one.

Fairytale Day “Serious Moonlight” Goodreads Giveaway Bundle (click)

Edmund Dulac

 

(All proceeds from Serious Moonlight go to International Medical Corps)

…and a Happy New Year

Here we go!

Good luck and piles of hope and willpower and strength to fight in this brave new world.

For now I give you David Bowie, and new stories from my Partner in Crime and I, under a title dedicated to the man himself. Any and all meager proceeds go to International Medical Corps.

Promises in the New Year, to myself and all of you:

1. Write more, and harder.

2. Stay loud, without succumbing to bitterness or pessimism.

3. Keep my son aware of the kindness in him, no matter how the fashion of kindness may change.

4. Point out Nice Times to myself as they happen, as advised by KV’s uncle.

5. Absorb lots of Vitamin D.

6. Read, read, read.

7. Listen, listen, listen.

May your heart be full and kind and strong. See you at the Women’s March!

-Amanda

 

 

Click here to order Serious Moonlight

A Few Things to Look Forward to in 2017

1. Serious Moonlight

2. Sherlock

3. Twin Peaks

4. The Women’s March on Washington

5. AWP

6. My son turning 9

7. A Cure for Wellness

8. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

9. The beach

10. All the stories yet to be written

 

 

Menacing Hedge Five Year Anniversary

 

Menacing Hedge Summer 2016

Summer 2016 marks 5 years of Menacing Hedge, and I’m happier than happy to be a part of this family. The Summer Edition is full of good stuff – check it out, while we keep reading for Fall. ❤

 

Strawberry Moon

Happy first day of summer! Happy full moon!

All of the things. ‘Gutted: Beautiful Horror‘ hit #1 in Hot New Releases and #2 in Horror Anthologies on its first day of pre-sale.  Tomorrow night I guest on a Noir on the Air episode of ‘Dames in the Dark‘ at 9pm. We’ve got the stories selected for the Summer edition of  Menacing Hedge, and go boldly into reading for Fall.  Pantheon Magazine’s ‘Hestia’ issue My son has one more week of baseball. My nephew is nearly here. There’s only one more episode of ‘Game of Thrones.’

‘Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will?’ at the Portsmouth Little Theatre wrapped up in a sea of love, tears and Fireball. My husband got a motorcycle. We just got back from vacation, where I met Chewbacca – who is just as sweet in person as he is in the movies! Also, not to jinx her because the day is not done (and on this, the longest day of the year, I may be tempting fate), my favorite little red hen Lauren (Bacall) has successfully navigated back and forth to the neighbors’ hen house without an automobile collision.

Howl at the moon, my lovelies. Throw away your shoes. Jump in deep, dark water. Summer is upon us!

 

I Assure You I’m Still Here

Things got busy.

Things ARE busy.

Life is good.

More articulate post later, it’s early in the day and plates are spinning (as Jaime -er, Craig Wallwork- would say). Here is a pictorial illustration of some of What I’ve Been Up To.

 

LIFE!!

Menacing Hedge (Fiction Editor Furiosa)

Noir at the Bar, St. Louis in April with Jon Ashley , Scott Phillips, Jed Ayres, Greg Barth, Tim L. Williams & Joe Schwartz (look at me, bein’ the Only Girl – REPRESENT!)

“Gutted: Beautiful Horror” from Crytal Lake Publishing drops June 24th!!

‘Daddy’s Dyin, Who’s Got the Will?’ opens at The Portsmouth Little Theatre on Friday May 20th. Go to www.pltlive.com for tickets!

The Man Who Fell to Earth

 

you and I are not snobs. We can never be born enough. We are human beings;for whom birth is a supremely welcome mystery,the mystery of growing:the mystery which happens only and whenever we are faithful to ourselves. You and I wear the the dangerous looseness of doom and find it becoming. Life,for eternal us,is now;and life is much too busy being a little more than everything to seem anything,catastrophic included.   -e.e. cummings

 

2016 Scares the Shit Out of Me

 

Seriously.

It’s only the 2nd day of the year, nice easy Saturday night full of peppermint candy, Lana Del Rey and sleeping dogs.

Last night was Sherlock’s ‘The Abominable Bride’ (which was better than all of S3 put together, and I loved S3), and this afternoon was ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ with my almost-8-yr-old son in his Darth Vader sweatshirt and my cool-as-hell hubby (and it was GREAT! I was afraid to hope, after the prequels). So. I’m high on Moriarty and Chewbacca.

The year ahead lies sprawled in an almost impossible glowing light. These Lite Brite blips of things to come, and they seem too good to be true:

• the first edition of Menacing Hedge I’ve worked on as full-fledged co-fiction editor with my incestuous sibling Craig Wallwork, out pretty much anytime – and conspiring with the beautiful crew there
• more and more unbelievable announcements about the Gutted:Beautiful Horror anthology – just a lil ole book coming out this year with me in it….AND Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Paul Tremblay, Damien Angelica Walters, Richard Thomas…that’s not even all!! It’s just too hard to type out all the names, and they’re not even DONE with the ToC!
• AWP LA, which I guess is some sort of “conference” or something, but whatever – I’ll be spending April Fool’s Day in California with the crew that welcomed me into the bosom of ‘Warmed and Bound’ nearly five years ago, only that crew times ten…ocean and bowling and books with some of the best people I’ve ever met or am about to
• Tentative plans for a vast and ambitious family vacation that, worst case scenario, would take place next summer instead of this one
• Tentative plans to finish a semi-vast and very-ambitious linked short story collection surrounding the concept of Frankenstein’s Monster and the freedom from the burden of chronological memory…that, worst case scenario, will be completed next summer instead of this one (it would take some massive laziness to drag out an entire extra year)
• Jewelry – Jewelry!! Work!! They call it work, I call it a kitchen and laboratory full of adoptive family, gems, and magic lasers and elf-sized tools. They let me hang out there, and talk about movies and gold and life, and pay me for it…
• my son and I have started the Harry Potter series, a mere two hours ago, and he’s into it
• Richard Thomas has extracted a promise for a story from me for Gamut, which seems like something I should have to fight to get into
• Craig Clevenger wants to podcast with me for a couple guest episodes of Booked.
• My sister is going to give me another niece or nephew – another minion for my son!

Can I just stop there, and take a breath?

My fear is justified, yes?

Because this is my life, and I want to deserve it. I want to deserve the people and the love and the pictures in my brain and the roof over my head and the happiness,

and I don’t want to take a breath, or cough, for fear I’ll wake….

So, before I do, in this world now I want to say: I love you all. I appreciate you all. You’re heavy and light and wispy and warm in your love and support and confidence and laughter and conspiratorial smiles. My family, my friends, my work family, my writing , my reading compadres, my Sherlock-fiends, my fellow mothers of beautiful strong babes, my ladies in the shadows that whisper to me that I’m good enough.

Thank you. By the Stars and the Moonlight and the magic of breathing, I wish you all as beautiful a 2016 as you’ve made possible for me, just by being a part of my life.

-Amanda

 

(Magical Shiny Shoes to dance through the year)

Goodbye, 2015!!

Practicing the Dark Arts (or dominoes, whatever):

Wishes for us all, of Hope and Mermaids:

…and Inspiration:

Don’t forget to share your hats. With Death Stars.

Happy New Year to you all!! I love you.

 

Saturday Nights in December

When the Saints Go Marching In…

(Alex is an AWESOME teacher!)