Richard Gowin did an excellent job of interviewing me over at his blog, The Slaughterhouse. We talked about publishing, ebooks, influences, my second book Disintegration, identity, sadism, reality, schizophrenia, and much more. I had a great time. Richard is also a fantastic author himself, be sure to check out his work.

And, now my seventh column is live up at Lit Reactor. It’s about the process of writing, what I go through when writing, editing and finishing a story. I dissect my Pushcart nominated story “Twenty Reasons to Stay and One to Leave” which was originally published at Metazen. Hope you enjoy it.

I’m thrilled to announce that I have finally secured a literary agent—Paula Munier at Talcott Notch Literary Agency. Paula has over twenty years of experience in the business and has been a real pleasure to talk to as we discussed my second novel, the neo-noir, transgressive thriller Disintegration.

I can’t explain how exciting it is to talk to an agent who understands my  work—my voice, the settings, the plot—and can see a place for this novel (and other projects down the road) at major publishing houses. So not only do we want to land a big press, but we have also been talking about film rights and foreign book sales as well.

Keep your eyes and ears open, and I hope to have more great news for you all real soon. Thank you all for your support, everyone who has read and critiqued and supported this book, Disintegration, as well as all of my writer friends who have been so instrumental in helping me to get my work published. My success is contingent of a tight-knit community of writers, friends and family, and I’m happy to welcome Paula into my  literary family.

Look, I made the cover! Looks like Chicago’s own Curbside Splendor #3 is now up for ordering. My story “Divining” is in here. It involves tarot cards and bad women. I’ve been trying to get more involved with local artists, and this is one place I wanted to publish. Thanks, Victor David Giron for the support. Out soon.

My story “Transmogrify” is in Terror Scribes, a collection of stories from Dog Horn Publishing. Love that cover art. And if you’ve read any of their previous collections, novels, or magazines, you know that DHP does great work.

These guys at Cemetery Dance are promoting, publishing and discovering some of the best names in horror. Do whatever you can to support them. They gave me a big break, accepting my story “Stillness” in Shivers VI (with Stephen King and Peter Straub) and I’ll be eternally grateful for that support. I’ve bought their books for years.

They have a contest going, check it out:

http://bit.ly/CDFreeBooks

$200 in FREE BOOKS!

My review of the debut novel THREATS by Amelia Gray is now live up at The Nervous Breakdown. This is a sly, subtle, unsettling and touching novel.

I remember the first time I heard Amelia read, at Blake Butler’s Scorch Atlas release party here in Chicago. It was the first time I’d met her, or Blake, or Zach Dodson, Sam Pink, lots of people. She read one of my favorite stories of hers, ever, “Go For It and Raise Hell.” And that was when I became a fan. I ended up reading with her and Blake, Lindsay Hunter and Aaron Burch the following night, if memory serves me correctly. Lots of talent, really set the bar pretty high. I think Amelia read her snippets of threats that next night, that or another Quickies! a year or so later, but either way, those threats really stayed with me—upsetting, but funny, dark and yet with a hint of love at the center. Much of that applies to THREATS. Head on over for the full review. It’s a great book.

And, now my sixth column is live up at Lit Reactor. It’s about how to get an agent. Now, I don’t HAVE an agent, so keep that in mind, but I’ve gotten very close, and I’m very familiar with the process. Heck, if you have any new ideas, let me know. It’s a slow, painful process and the odds are against you, but it’s certainly possible. Let me know what you think.