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

 

 

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!