Meet “The Woman Who Hated Halloween”

Sad because August is over?  A little depressed that summer will soon be drawing to a close?  Well, I have something to cheer you up:

(Groovy cover art by Matt Truiano)


Yes, folks, the days are getting shorter, the air’s getting cooler, and soon the leaves will start to change.  When that happens, you know Halloween can’t be far behind.  Get a jump on the scary season with my story "The Woman Who Hated Halloween," now available as an eBook from the good folks at Damnation Books.

Those of you who attended my readings at OSFest or NASFiC have heard my deathless take on it.  Now you can get a copy of your very own.

The story is available in a variety of formats, including PDF, .lit, .epub, and .mobi.  A Kindle version is available here.

The regular price is a measly $2.99–cheap!  But if you act now, you can get it even cheaper.  For new releases, Damnation Books has what they call variable pricing.  The first copy downloaded is free (someone’s already gotten the free one, sorry), and each subsequent download increases the price by $.25.  So hurry if you want to get it for under a buck!

Now that’s cheap, folks.

Here’s the jacket copy:

Tough-as-nails attorney Janine D’Angelo has never enjoyed Halloween, but this year, it’s become a waking nightmare. Someone is playing nasty tricks on her—supernatural tricks that hound her wherever she goes…with the promise of much worse to come.

Janine has never backed down from a fight in her life. Though she’s always regarded séances, jack-o’-lanterns, and the occult as childish wastes of time, she might just need them to survive Halloween night. 

 

 
And here’s a taste:
 
October 19th: The first night

Janine D’Angelo had just finished showering when the screaming started.

She opened the frosted shower door and stepped out, releasing a swirl of steam into her master bathroom. The exhaust fan, softly purring, cleared it away in short order. White tile and golden faucet fixtures glistened. Behind her, the showerhead dripped its last. She pulled a thick green towel from the rack and dried herself, thinking of the sentencing she had to attend in the morning. The D.A. pushed for the death penalty, and would probably get it. She had done what she could, but held out little hope of prevailing. She’d told her client to expect as much at their appointment earlier that day. He responded with his preferred mode of expression—an emotionless stare.

Sighing, she glanced at the digital clock near the sink: 11:50 p.m. Maybe she’d be able to allow herself six hours of sleep.

A chorus of shrieks filled the bathroom, ear-splittingly loud, undeniably present—not in the next room, not coming from a television or stereo inadvertently left on, but unmistakably here, in the bathroom with her, echoing off the tiles. Screams. As of people in agony, in the deepest throes of terror, screaming their throats bloody. Men, women, children. Inarticulate, ghastly. Screams.

Boo!

That’s "The Woman Who Hated Halloween," now available from Damnation Books.  Ask for it by name.

(ETA:  If you’re a reviewer and would like a review copy, leave me a note in comments.)

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State of the ‘Skers, 2010 Edition

Hard to believe that college football season is upon us. The first game is in two days, and my beloved ‘Skers take the field on Saturday night.

Much football blathering behind the cut . . .

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Progress Report, in which I am liberated

The first couple of Wet Work queries are in the wild.  Agents, be afraid.  None of you are safe from my Query Letter of Despair, nor my Synopsis of Doom.  We will not even speak of my Excerpt of Evil.

More queries need to be sent, of course, and a few more manuscripts need homes, but I’ve pretty much worked through my to-do list.  While some items remain outstanding, I feel more on top of things than I have in months.  This is Good Thing.

Regular readers of these entries will know that I’ve been beating myself up for not having a new novel project ready to go yet.  But in one of those rare moments of clarity, it occurred to me that this stuff will happen in its own time–as it always does.  And maybe part of that process was the clearing away of all this mental clutter (and a bit of the physical clutter, too).

That realization, late in coming and perhaps a bit obvious, nonetheless felt . . . liberating.

Next up, then:  I have an appointment with a blank page.  Some might find that intimidating, but I’m excited.  I wonder what I’ll write there.

I’m also jazzed about Dragon*Con, the next stop on the 2010 Rotundo World Tour.  I’m going in as a civilian this time, which has its upside–no panels to prepare for, and all.  So heads up, Atlanta.  Incoming!  Hope to see some of y’all there.

Write Club update:  tier one reject from Daily Science Fiction.  Response time, seven days.

Gotta get to dreaming . . .

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