Category Archives: Latest News

Warmed and Bound: A Velvet Anthology releases TODAY—go get it!

Warmed and Bound is out. And for a LIMITED TIME, until 7/30 it is 38% off at Barnes and Noble ONLY. Amazon and eBooks will be out later. So it’s only $9.74 right now! Buy two or three!

Table of Contents

Intro: Steve Erickson
Death Juggler by Axel Taiari
Click-Clack by Caleb J Ross
The World Was Clocks by Amanda Gowin
Mantodea by Matt Bell
All the Acid in the World by Gavin Pate
Crazy Love by Cameron Pierce
Chance the Dick by Paul G Tremblay
Soccer Moms and Pro Wrestler Dads by Bradley Sands
Take Arms Against a Sea by Mark Jaskowski
This Will All End Well by Nik Korpon
Midnight Souls by Christopher J Dwyer
The Tree of Life by Edward J Rathke
The Killer by Brian Evenson
Headshot by Gordon Highland
Inside Out by Sean Ferguson
Laws of Virulence by Jeremy Robert Johnson
Bruised Flesh by Craig Wallwork
Bad, Bad, Bad Bad Men by Craig Davidson
Three Theories on the Murder of John Wily by by J David Osborne
The Road Lester Took by Stephen Graham Jones
My German Daughter by Nic Young
What Was There Inside the Child by Blake Butler
Seed by Gayle Towell
They Take You by Kyle Minor
The Redemption of Garvey Flint by Vincent Louis Carrella
Blood Atonement by DeLeon DeMicoli
The Liberation of Edward Kellor by Anthony David Jacques
Act of Contrition by Craig Clevenger
Say Yes to Pleasure by Richard Thomas
The Weight of Consciousness by Tim Beverstock
If You Love Me by Doc O’Donnell
Touch by Pela Via
Love by JR Harlan
Practice by Bob Pastorella
Fading Glory by Brandon Tietz
Little Deaths by Gary Paul Libero
We Sing the Bawdy Electric by Rob Parker
In Exile by Chris Deal

They’re saying good things about Speedloader (Snubnose Press)

So I’m always curious to see what total strangers have to say about my writing. Speedloader (Snubnose Press) is getting some love over at Amazon and Goodreads, so I thought I’d share the kind words that these readers had to say about my story “Herniated Roots.” So far mostly five stars, nothing worse than four, from what I’ve seen.

“…trust me–this is noir burned to a crisp. I’ve seen a lot of Richard Thomas lately (Shotgun Honey, Dirty Noir). He delivers here with the seriously depressing Herniated Roots. A recovering alcoholic finds a girl who proves to be his true love. Or the cause of his slow death. Something like that. The message that “You’re screwed!” comes through loud and clear and brilliant. The character’s meandering yet inevitable demise proves to be (somehow) very satisfying.”

“What a nicely balanced group of stories to debut from Snubnose Press. They are companionable yet each one has a different tone, setting, style. Of course, as if often the case, a writer will choose the story most like he/she would write, or hope to write, and in my case I would single out the story that leaked the least amount of testosterone: Herniated Roots by Richard Thomas. (Not meant to offend, Mr. Thomas) It was a story that was most about prose. The language was lovely, the story well told. Thanks for a great debut from a wonderful group of writers. Nary a miss in the collection.”

“Richard Thomas’ Transubstantiate (currently on promo at 71p ) has just landed on my Kindle based on how good his effort here was.”

NOT BAD, yeah?

Noir at the Bar (St. Louis) anthology out soon, to benefit Subterranean Books

I am really excited about this anthology that Jed and Scott have put together. It’s to benefit Subterranean Books in St. Louis, as they are struggling these days. Would you look at all of the talent in this collection? I’m honored to be a part of it. Peep the TOC:
*
Foreword, Jed & Scott
Gunpowder & Aluminum Foil, Matthew McBride
One Fine Bird, Cameron Ashley
The Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones, Scott Phillips
Thin Mints, Daniel O’Shea
Doe Run Road, Dennis Tafoya
They Take You, Kyle Minor
Deviances, Frank Bill
Pig Helmet & The Wall of Life, Pinckney Benedict
An Orphan’s Tale, Jonathan Woods
Ballad of Larry Plank, Derek Nikita
Five Revelations Concerning Jenny L. as Told to  Maura C. by a Compassionate Angel, Laura Benedict
Care of the Circumcised Penis, Sean Doolittle
The Morning After, Jedidiah Ayres
Underground Wonder Bound, Richard Thomas
Outside Lou’s, David Cirillo, Illustrations by Matt Kindt
Everyone Grieves in a Unique Way, Anthony Neil Smith
Big Artie, Malachi Stone
Vampires are Pussies, Chris La Tray
Afterword, Rod Wiethop
*
Here’s what Jed had to say over at his blog about the book:

“We are now down to the waiting for hard copies to land and I’m terribly pleased with the book. Just goes to show what you can accomplish when you’re surrounded by generous, talented people and you don’t give two shits about punctuation or spelling.

Y’know who gets a big fat round of applause for this book tho? Fuckin Jon Bassoff and Matt Kindt, thems who. Bassoff formatted it and pulled some strings for my cherry ass and Kindt designed the shit outta it. Y’know who else gets a big thanks? Our blurbers – Lawrence Block, Duane Swierczynski, Megan Abbott, Todd Robinson, Roger Smith, Tom Piccirilli, Stephen Graham Jones and Sara Gran. Without their cavalier attitudes toward public decency in the information age I would’ve been without the leverage to wrangle some juicy recommendations outta that prestigious lot.

So, who wants a copy?

Here’s what you need to know: this has been put together as N@B’s effort to help out our local bookselling heroes at Subterranean Books, which is why they’re the only place you can get it. As soon as it’s available, I’ll make that announcement and you can order one off their website or send me a suitcase full of cash to trade for it. What? You don’t order books online? Fine, come on out to a N@B event ’cause you know we’ll pimp ‘em there. Are you attending Bouchercon in September? Subterranean Books will have a table in the book room and you can make for to purchase it there too. There will be no eBook.

Not good enough? Kiss my ass. Publish your own damn book.”

“Descent” is now live at We Are Vespertine

My story “Descent” is now up live at We Are Vespertine. This is a new edgy lit website run by Brandon Tietz and Michael Sonbert. They’re both on the same label as me (Otherworld Publications) and are two exceptional writers as well. Vespertine is really starting to heat up, getting a lot of attention, and putting up some great stories. Stop by and give them a whirl.

“Daybreak” is up live at Stepaway Magazine, Issue Two

My story “Daybreak” is up live at Stepaway Magazine.

Some very kind words from editor Darren Richard Carlaw: “Thomas skilfully disturbs our perceptions of the walk, transforming it into a devastating act of catharsis, a manner of slipping from the emotional trappings of the urban carapace.”

I’ve been awarded a residency at Writers in the Heartland for this October!


Exciting news. I just confirmed today that I’ll be one of a handful of authors that will be attending a residency at Writers in the Heartland this October. They only take ten authors a year. I’ll have a week in a house out in the middle of Illinois, three square meals a day and nothing but time to write.

Now the hard part, what to write? Do I get a bunch of stories started, play around with some steampunk, neo-noir, edgy lit, horror, magical realism, and aim high with journals and magazines? Or do I start my third novel? I have an idea for the third one (I’m shopping my second, Disintegration right now) that might be steampunkish, in the Stephen King, Dark Tower kind of way, with a tentative title of Incarnate. I was abe to write 40,000 words in one week for Disintegration, over four days, can I keep up that 10k word pace over seven days? Time to do some research and re-read some books that have inspired me in the past.

Whatever I write, don’t worry, it’ll be dark, sexy and strange. In other words, the usual.

My time at FOCUS On the Arts at Highland Park High School.

Richard Thomas, Emma Van Akkeren

So a couple of weeks ago I went to Highland Park High School to be a part of their FOCUS On the Arts program. I was thrilled to speak to a full room of high school students about writing, publishing, and what the future holds for all of us. In other words, I faked it.

How did this happen? What is FOCUS?

Well, last year I was approached by one of the members of the parent liasons, Jane Roberti. She had read some of my work, and saw my influence over at The Cult as a writer and workshop moderator, and wanted me to come speak to the students. She said that they had a lot of fans of Chuck’s work, and my writing, publishing alongside Stephen King and Peter Straub, my novel Transubstantiate have just come out, all of these things appealed to her and the students. I was thrilled and honored, so of course I said yes.

When I made it to the event, I was greeted by Emma, a very nice, patient and sweet girl who showed me around, and took me to the artist’s lounge. But of course, I was too nervous to eat anything. But what a spread! WOW. We talked about her plans for college, HPHS, the FOCUS program, all kinds of things. Then we went up to the room. The halls were buzzing with teachers, students, parents and artists.

The class was very attentive, they asked a lot of really intelligent questions, seemed very interested in what I had to say, nobody fell asleep, and I even got a handful of laughs. Overall, a great crowd. I held up Shivers VI and Transubstantiate, talked about how I got my work out there, my influences, how the percentage/royalty system works, writing conferences, you name it. I think I lost about five pounds in sweat. The bell went off, they darted out of the room, but a couple kids came up and shook my hand, took some promotional materials and said thanks.

It was a rewarding day. I hope to go back. And who knows, maybe I’ll work with HPHS in the future to help expand their art programs. They need somebody to teach creative writing there, and this group of intelligent, inspired young adults was a great audience.

More about FOCUS: Presented every other year, FOCUS explores the many facets of art; not as distant, esoteric disciplines, but as the day-to-day creativity of truly gifted, diverse people. The goal of FOCUS is to educate and communicate the universal arts language to HPHS students, as well as surrounding communities including Highland Park, Highwood, Fort Sheridan and the entire (underserved) Chicago Metropolitan area. Participating students will experience many forms of art themselves, thus expanding and enriching their lives forever.

Stranger Will by Caleb J. Ross – Darkness on the wings of fate.

Caleb Ross writes lyrical prose that pulls you into the politics and morality of this story, Stranger Will (Otherworld Publications). For most of us, children are the future, they represent hope and dreams. But in this novel they represent the fated, the already lost. Conspiracies only seem paranoid and insane if they have no base in reality. One of the most compelling images that has stuck with me in this novel, for years now, is the carrier pigeon, message tied to its tiny clawed foot, shot from the sky. The note stuck up on a wall, strings stretching from one place to another, one person to another, tying together layers of deceit, love, and failure. This is a novel you won’t want to put down, and will compel you to check out more work by Caleb Ross. Keep a candle lit to keep away the stench, a light on to force away the dark forces, and a prayer in your heart that none of this comes anywhere near you. Or your children.

In addition to this novel, look for his collection, Charactered Pieces for the Kindle, well worth it. He’s doing an extensive book blog tour for Stranger Will, for all of this information, visit his site, and the tour schedule. He’ll be stopping by my site here in October. Beyond his talent, Caleb is one of the smartest, most giving, and supportive authors I know.

Here is the extensive schedule. Man this guy is GOOD:

Outsider Writers Collective     3/18
Big Other (stop #1)     3/21
Gregory Frye’s Blog     3/22
Thunderdome (stop #1)     3/23
The Velvet Podcast     3/24
HTML Giant     3/26
Thunderdome (stop #2)     3/29
Nik Korpon’s blog     3/30
ArtJerk blog     4/4
Jay Slayton-Joslin’s blog     4/5
st00ge.wordpress.com     4/6
>Kill Author blog     4/7
BULL Men’s Fiction blog     4/8
Matt Bell’s blog     4/13
BL Pawelek’s blog     4/15
Lit Drift     4/18
decomPMagazine blog     4/22
Cannoli Pie     4/23
Stephen Graham Jones’ blog     4/27
Slush Pile Hero (S.S Michaels’ blog)     4/30
Chuck Palahniuk.net     5/1
Publishing Genius blog     5/2
Anthony David Jacques’ blog     5/6
Used Furniture Review (stop #1)     5/8
The Nervous Breakdown     5/10
Gloom Cupboard     5/11
This Blog Will Change Your Life (Ben Tanzer’s blog)     5/16
Used Furniture Review (stop #2)     5/18
C# Redundant (Phil Jourdan’s blog)     5/20
Nathan Tyree’s blog     5/25
Alluringly Short (Erica Mena’s blog)     5/27
No More Hot Lunches for Eddie Socko     5/30
A Bitter Look, Georgina Kamsika’s Writing Journal     6/1
Words for Guns (Matt DeBenedictis’ blog)     6/3
Undie Press     6/8
Sean P. Ferguson’s blog     6/10
Who Hub     6/13
Craig Wallwork’s blog     6/17
Electric Literature, OUTLET blog     6/22
Medialysis (Gordon Highland’s blog)     6/27
Noo Journal     7/1
Pela Via’s blog     7/6
Monkeybicycle     7/8
See Billie Write     7/11
The Write Place (Simon West-Bluford’s blog)     7/15
Tarpaulin Sky     7/20
What to Wear During an Orange Alert     7/25
Ryan W. Bradley’s blog     7/29
Justin Holt’s blog     8/3
Obscuradome (Bob Pastorella’s blog)     8/5
Red Puffin Tobacco (Mlaz Corbier’s blog)     8/8
The Little Sleep (Paul Tremblay’s blog)     8/12
Shome Dasgupta’s Blog     8/17
Power is a State of Mind (Matthew Tuckey’s blog)     8/22
PANK     8/26
Troubadour 21     9/5
mudlucious     9/9
Metazen     9/12
Impose Magazine     9/14
Dark Sky Magazine     9/19
Folded Word     9/23
unRonic (Stephen Krauska’s blog)     9/28
American Typo     10/3
Trick with a Knife     10/7
What Does Not Kill Me (Richard Thomas’ blog)     10/12
Lawn Gnomes in Space (Bradley Sands’ blog)     10/17
Eject! (Jason Kane’s blog)     10/21
Kristin Fouquet’s blog     10/26
Nothing to Say (xTx’s blog)     10/31
Chris Deal’s blog     11/4
Bukowski’s Basement     11/9
Big Other (stop #2)     11/14

Stephen Graham Jones and Dzanc Books announce three book rEprint deal.

Dzanc Books has great taste, it seems. Not only did they sign Stephen Graham Jones to a two book deal for the distant future, with Flushboy in 2013 and Not For Nothing in 2014, but NOW they’ve announced a three book deal for their rEprint program, putting All the Beautiful Sinners (one of my all-time favorite SGJ novels) and The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti into the eworld, BUT ALSO the never before seen Seven Spanish Angels.

If you aren’t a fan of SGJ and don’t know what he’s about, well, then wake up son, where you been? I reviewed two of his books over at The Nervous Breakdown (find The Ones That Got Away HERE and It Came From Del Rio HERE) and have been a long time fan of his work.

Hop on board folks. I may have just bought a Kindle.