08/03/2024 Convention News, Updates, New Releases, and More!

Recovering from yet another great convention this week! I love the events but hate the crash that happens after. I’m drained on all counts but excited and inspired once again to keep doing what I’m doing.

The Texas convention was wonderful, and I had the biggest opportunity of my writing career so far in presenting the Lifetime Achievement award to Mr. Joe R. Lansdale during the event. I was joined on stage by co-presenters Patrick C. Harrison, III and Wile E. Young who both gave incredible tribute speeches on how they have been influenced by the work of Mr. Lansdale. Also joining us on stage was event organizer Merrill David and Mr. Lansdale’s daughter-in-law Dani Trest who attended the event with Mr. Lansdale son, author and screenwriter Keith Lansdale.

This was such a fantastic opportunity and being able to hang out with Joe, his son Keith, and Dani during the event was just awesome. They are truly great people, and I am so happy to have had this time with them. If you have not read work by either Joe or Keith, be sure to check them out soon.

I was joined at my table by one of my signed authors, Mike Ennenbach, who was there selling signed copies of his newest novel Cuckoo, along with his collections, Cremated Remains and Dreamwhispers, and chapbook size copies of his insanely funny short stories Blobert and Blobert Returns.

Eric Butler and his wife Dawn, whom the Nola’s consider family, hosted my visit once again at their house. Which is always awesome because not only do I get to see my brother and his family but their three beautiful Huskies, Kittle, Kaleesi, and Totoro. Eric was at the table beside me selling his own amazing books, merch, and t-shirts. Did you guys know his wife Dawn makes some amazing bookmarks by hand. Grab one next time you see Eric at an event.

Wile E. Young, Patrick C. Harrison, III, Ronald Malfi, Rebecca Rowland, Rowland Bercy, Jr., Megan Stockton, Z. Martin, Angelique Jordonna, Donna Latham, Jay Bower, Ashon Ruffins, Merrill David, Kurt Phillips, Paul Avery Tindol, L.P. Hernandez, Rhonda Jackson Garcia, Erik Williams, E. Nigma, Eric Hamilton, Chad Nicholas, R.J. Powell, S.E. Shore, R.C. Bramhall, David Patton, C.D. Kester, Stephen Weller, Matt Clarke, Shae Coon, and so many others were all there being awesome and amazing.

I cannot wait for next year’s event but in the meantime, I will be at the upcoming TBRcon in Knoxville, organized by Megan Stockton from Sept. 4-6, at Brownsville Screams, in Brownsville, PA on Sept. 13, joined by Uncomfortably Dark author Brian Bowyer. I will also be at Scares That Care AuthorCon 4 in St. Louis, from Oct. 4-6 joined by two of the Uncomfortably Dark authors, Mike Ennenbach and Patrick Tumblety.

Blood Moon Imprint News

Blood Moon, headed up by Christina Pfeiffer, launched on July 21, with a double release on Godless, followed by a double release on Amazon for poetry collections by Brian Bowyer and Ronald J. Murray.

Brian’s collection, Blackout: Micropoetry debuted at #1 on Amazon for American Poetry which was incredible to see.

Currently, both collections are in the Top Ten on the Godless chart too! So excited for both of these authors and their amazing collections. I will have signed copies listed on the site by early September and those books will also be available widely by the end of September.

Dark Disasters Anthology News

YES!!! The books are here! Of course, they arrived while I was in Texas, but they are here safe and sound. They are being packed with fun swag and extra gifts and shipped out starting Monday.

Please look for those emails with your tracking numbers beginning Monday, August 5. Despite the glitches, the books are beautifully done and were worth the wait.

Killercon August 9-11 and the Splatterpunk Awards

While I will not be attending the Splatterpunk awards next weekend due to some unexpected financial costs, I will be sending my speeches along to Rebecca Rowland who will be accepting any awards, if won, on my behalf. I am nominated for Anthology of the Year for Dark Disasters as well as nominated for Novella of the Year for Sirens and Seaweed.

I am very grateful and overjoyed to be nominated for the third year in a row alongside so many absolutely incredible authors. I cannot wait to see the outcome of the awards and will be cheering for all my peers as they are announced.

Win or lose, being nominated is such a huge honor and I congratulate every single person that has even been nominated for or that has won this award. It’s an awesome event that Wrath James White and Brian Keene put on every year, and I encourage you to attend if you ever get the chance.

Upcoming Uncomfortably Dark Horror News and Releases

A new novella, Have A Blast, from Nikolas P. Robinson just released on Amazon in eBook. The paperback drops on Monday, August 5.

Patrick Tumblety debuts in September with his new novel, Come Out and Play. Pitched as Home Alone meets Resident Evil, and folks, it really does live up to this concept! I’m excited for you all to see it. Look for the cover reveal in mid-August and other news leading up to the September 21 release.

I will have another Con-exclusive collection available in St. Louis, Gold & Gore. If you got the first one, Blush & Bone, this new collection has a matching cover. Stay tuned for details. Remember, you can only get these at the conventions until later this winter. These collections contain previously published godless shorts, flash fictions, and some older anthology stories.

Also, Bishop 3 is in the works, along with Hank Flynn: The Return. These were delayed for personal reasons while I got the publishing house off the ground, but I am back to work on both of these. Look for these to be winter releases.

Also, the 2024 Dark Dozen anthology will be announced tomorrow. Stay tuned for those details!

Uncomfortably Dark Review Team Stats for July.

I believe Christina posted these numbers while I was away this week but in case you missed it, the stats are below for the review team for last month. I am also adding in our top sellers for July, as listed by orders and page reads, per Amazon numbers only. This does not include web site or con sales, or godless.

Month of July

Reviews: 42

Pages Read: 8,881

ARCs Read: 3

Year To Date

Reviews:307

Pages Read:56,795

ARCs Read: 23

Top Selling Uncomfortably Dark Titles by Amazon Orders

Cuckoo by M Ennenbach

Blackout: Micropoetry by Brian Bowyer

The Vet by Candace Nola