The Quiltmaker + 2014 eligibility post

[time_shark]

I suppose I should start with the obvious: my first ever short story collection Unseaming is new this year and eligible in “best story collection” categories. Someone saw fit to suggest it be included in this completely unofficial list, which still tickles me to no end.

Of the new works of fiction I’ve had come out this year, the one I’m proudest of is “The Quiltmaker,” my horror novella that also happens to be a sequel to my best known story, “The Button Bin.” Its length, its stylistic weirdness and its grim nastiness kept it from finding a home prior to appearing in my collection Unseaming, but now that Unseaming is out (and doing shockingly well by the standards set by my books, heh - my thanks to all of you who have promoted and purchased it!) “The Quiltmaker” has gotten some encouraging attention.

Not only that, but a long planned limited edition hardcover of “The Quiltmaker” is underway, forthcoming from the wonderful Erzebet YellowBoy’s Papaveria Press. The proofs are sitting on my bookshelf regarding me forlornly because they happened to arrive at the same time as three other ongoing projects - but please believe me when I say I am SO excited about this.

I should mention too that though I consider it the longest of long shots, “The Quiltmaker” is available free for SFWA members to read in the forum section for Nebula eligible novellas. (By the way, I’ve also uploaded copies to the forum of all the short stories published in Mythic Delirium in 2014; more about that in this post.)

I’ve also had six short stories published this year, which for me is some sort of record. All are horror/dark fantasy/weird/whatever:

“The Lead Between the Panes,” first appeared in Lakeside Circus, reprinted in Unseaming

“Monster,” first appeared in Nameless, reprinted in Unseaming

“Gutter,” first appeared in Unseaming

“Condolences,” first appeared in Unseaming

“The Vintage Dress,” written especially for my employer, The Roanoke Times

“Tardigrade,” written especially for Jason V. Brock’s anthology A Darke Phantastique

Poems: Only had three new ones appear this year; two have ties to short stories of mine.

“The Paper Boy” in Strange Horizons (“Gutter”)

“Dearly Beloved” in Postscripts to Darkness (“Twa Sisters,” “Still Life With Skull”)

“To Sail the Leaden Sky,” original to my new collection Hungry Constellations

#SFWApro

Originally published at DESCENT INTO LIGHT: Mike Allen’s Home Page. You can comment here or there.