Thinking about writers...

Have been gorging myself on Shadow Show, the now sadly posthumous tribute to Ray Bradbury.  Featuring some absolutely lovely stories from some of the heaviest of heavy-weights.  Here's a pretty astute blog review that Mort Castle forwarded along.  More articulate than I -- I posted my first Amazon review and just simply gushed.

I won't take issue with Jef with one F's statement that Joe Hill is becoming one of our most important writers ever.  A little hyperbolic, but then again, I could easily TALK OR WRITE IN ALL CAPS when enthusing about his comic series "Locke and Key".

And however much his own man he becomes, one will never forget that Joe Hill has a award-laden father named Stephen King.  Here are a couple of (again, more articulate than I) competing posts showing how polarizing the fellow still is.  Me, I'm trying to overcome my ambivalence -- Mrs. Morlock and I are currently reading "IT" to the little one (I know, questionable parenting).  His shit is soooo long and meandering, his voice isn't at all splashy or clever, but why the hell does it stick in my head so?

And speaking of writers:  just received word that the submission window for DEATHSCRIBE 2012 has officially been extended to August 15th.  So breathe a sigh of relief, y'all.  You have time for an extra summer shandy.  But get to work!  Those ten-minute terrors won't write themselves.

And I should say, yours truly is on the first-round read-thru team this year and I'm already extremely jazzed by a couple of the submissions.  Last year's Alabama Mermaid will be a tough act to follow, but I guarantee this year's show will be amazing.

Golden and Mike Mignola present: Baltimore: The Play!

In Baltimore: The Play, a mad playwright puts on a Grand Guignol featuring actors that are real vampires. The evil financier of the play makes a bizarre discovery when he finds out that the playwright is a fraud and the true author is the disembodied head of a famous American author kept in a glass case. Baltimore: The Play is on sale November 21, 2012! 

July 5, MILWAUKIE, OR—From celebrated comic artist Mike Mignola and award-winning novelist Christopher Golden come the next installments of the critically acclaimed Baltimore series!

Following The Play, Lord Baltimore finds himself in a double feature with Baltimore: The Widow and the Tank, on sale February 20, 2013. “The Widow” concerns a woman whose husband and war buddies have returned from the war as vampires and begun preying on their hometown. In “The Tank,” Baltimore learns of a wrecked tank in a field as he is passing through the war-ravaged countryside. People believe there is a vampire living inside that has been eating cattle and attacking locals. When Baltimore checks it out, it turns out to be true…to a point.   

Lord Baltimore’s next adventure, Baltimore: The Inquisitor, features the origin story of one of his main antagonists—Judge Duvic. Look for The Inquisitor on sale June 19, 2013! 

Praise for Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola:

“It still takes something special to impose a unifying vision, and Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden have got it.”

—The Wall Street Journal

 For more information, check out the exclusive interview with Christopher Golden on Newsarama!

About Dark Horse

Founded in1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Felicia Day, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, including The Mask, Ghost, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Its successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton’s Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys, Serenity, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics material.