Gamut Magazine: What’s This Website All About?
Posted on December 22, 2015 44 Comments
(Art by Luke Spooner)
“Now that short fiction has become as standardized as the SATs and Common Core—all in order to ‘judge’ and ‘rank’ writers—I’m excited to see what Richard Thomas brings to the game. Gamut will be the new magazine not written for the little old lady in Dubuque.”
—Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club
“Gamut will be cool, and it will be out there, right on the edges of fiction. I can’t wait.”
—Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting
“As publishing venues grow ever more polarized—niche market over here,
stadium rock over there—the need for passionate, thoughtful, unafraid publishing
space is crucial. Enter Gamut.”
—Marcus Sakey, author of Brilliance
“I beg to differ with Mr. Palahniuk: There’s a fabulous indie bookstore in Dubuque, and little old ladies have been known to write some astonishing speculative fiction. Some of it might even end up in this magazine, which promises to bring together the fresh and the dark and the extraordinary. Look for great, weird things from [Gamut].”
—Rebecca Makkai, author of The Hundred-Year House
“A killer lineup of creators.”
—Rose O’Keefe, Publisher, Eraserhead Press
“The heavyweight talent behind Gamut is a promise of great things to come.”
—K. Allen Wood, Publisher, Shock Totem Publications
“It doesn’t matter if a writer has a big name, a pen name, or no name, if they’re writing excellent and edgy fiction, Richard Thomas has probably read their work. But Richard’s a busy guy—seriously, read his bio—and doesn’t have time to meet for coffee or martinis or bowling anytime someone wants to talk about what they should be reading next. Thankfully, now there is Gamut, which is sure to become an index of some of the best fiction writers working today.”
—Diane Goettel, Executive Editor, Black Lawrence Press
GAMUT (Updated 1/29/2016)
So what’s all of this talk about Gamut? For a long time I’ve wanted to start a magazine. I crunched the numbers for years, but in the end couldn’t make it work. Why? PRINT COSTS. So, over the past year I’ve been looking at it again, and decided the way to go would be to Kickstart it, and have it exist online. I hope to do the Kickstarter in February of 2016, and launch the website on 1/1/2017, if we are successful. For the past several months I’ve been getting things lined up—authors, website, costs, content, the Kickstarter page, etc. We will offer subscriptions via the special Kickstarter for $25-30, with the regular annual price being $50-60. That’s only $5 a month, at the most expensive price point. (Gamut just means a wide range, and it’s usually applied to emotions, but here, it refers to fiction, and more specifically, dark fiction.)
CONTENT
It will include mostly fiction (some original, some reprints) but also columns, non-fiction, art, and maybe even a serial memoir or novella. I have a word count per month in mind, based on my budget, and I’m looking to release new content several times a week. I will start off by publishing work via solicitations and will then open it up to submissions. We will pay 10 cents per word for original fiction, and 3 cents per word for reprints.
GENRES
Well, if you’ve read any of the anthologies I’ve edited (The New Black, Burnt Tongues, The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers, or Exigencies) then you know what my aesthetic is, for sure. Also, you can see the work (and authors) I’ve published at Dark House Press. And of course, my own writing (and YES, I will be publishing some of my own work at Gamut as well, new and reprint). So I’m open to fantasy, science fiction, horror, neo-noir, crime, magical realism, transgressive, Southern gothic, and literary—anything done with innovation, heart and emotion. Everything I enjoy reading and writing typically leans toward the dark side, but I have been known to embrace lighter work, and humor, now and then. It just has to MOVE me. And I like to be surprised.
AUTHORS
To date, here are the people that have given me a verbal commitment to publish original and/or reprint fiction at Gamut: Stephen Graham Jones, Laird Barron, Brian Evenson, Usman T. Malik, Matt Bell, Damien Angelica Walters, Letitia Trent, Mercedes M. Yardley, Alyssa Wong, Benjamin Percy, Lindsay Hunter, Axel Taiari, Amanda Gowin, Laura Benedict, Nathan Ballingrud, Dino Parenti, Ted E. Grau, Rebecca Jones-Howe, Sarah Read, Paula Bomer, Kelly Luce, Livia Llewellyn, Josh Malerman, Carmen Machado, Peter Tieryas, Kevin Catalano, Paul Tremblay, John Langan, Nina McConigley, Nik Korpon, Craig Wallwork, Steve Himmer, Antonia Crane, Steve Rasnic Tem, Kristi DeMeester, Tara Ison, David James Keaton, Cassandra Khaw, Nikki Guerlain, Lucy A. Snyder, JS Breukelaar, Helen Marshall, Amelia Gray, H. L. Nelson, Craig Davidson, Jacklyn Dre Marceau, and Lincoln Michel. Poets will include Jeffrey Skinner, Nickole Brown, Cate Marvin, Paul Guest, Blas Falconer, Carrie Jerrell, Gary Jackson, Erica Dawson, Laura Van Prooyen, Simone Muench, Charles Jensen, Ace Boggess, and Jeannine Hall Gailey.
ART
I’ve asked the following artists to be a part of Gamut: Luke Spooner, George C. Cotronis, Daniele Serra, and Bob Crum, as well as photographer Jennifer Moore.
COLUMNISTS
As of right now, I’m excited to have non-fiction, reviews and commentary from Keith Rawson, Max Booth, and RK Arceneaux.
POETRY
Even though poetry is not my strength, I want there to be a place for it at Gamut, so I’m putting Heather Foster (one of my favorite poets) in charge. She’ll be assisted by Whittney Jones.
STAFF
Speaking of which, Dino Parenti, Mercedes M. Yardley, and Casey Frechette are going to be my fiction editors, and first readers. They all understand my aesthetic and are excellent writers as well. They’re really going to help shape the voice and look of Gamut.
IN CONCLUSION
I’m sure this doesn’t answer all of your questions, some things are still being ironed out, but I’m very excited to see if we can make this work. I love Tor, as well as Nightmare, Shimmer, Apex, Clarkesworld, Black Static, Shock Totem, Cemetery Dance and so many other publications. I hope that Gamut can become a part of the landscape and continue to provide opportunities for authors to share their work, get paid a decent rate, and maybe even get discovered. There is no shortage of talent out there, I can tell you that much. Thanks for reading, and wish us luck! I hope you’ll be a part of this.
Disintegration Makes TWO Best Fiction of 2015 Lists
Posted on December 15, 2015 3 Comments
Well, I’m stoked to announce that Disintegration (Random House Alibi) has made two Best of the Year lists. The first is at Entropy Magazine, where it was selected as one of the Best Fiction Books of 2015. The second, is at Cultured Vultures, where it made their Top Ten Books of 2015 list. They added this, as well:
“Disintegration is a novel I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It holds back no punches and dives into a gritty world that we have come to expect from Thomas. Not only is this a stand out effort, but a promising sign that despite being one of the most hands on people in the lit community, he’s not just all talk. Disintegration is probably one of the darkest things on this list, but by no means should that make you run away—just dive right in.”
I’m honored to make both lists, and am in some excellent company. Thank you to Peter Tieryas at Entropy and Jay Slayton-Joslin at Cultured Vultures for the kind words and support.
Back from UC-Riverside. What a blast.
Posted on December 11, 2015 Leave a Comment
So I just got back from being a visiting author at UC-Riverside, which is held at a fantastic resort in Palm Springs.
Tod Goldberg runs this program, and he does a great job with this low-res MFA—supporting his teachers, understanding his students, and being contemporary and current with his approach to fiction. He also made me laugh a lot, the guy is hilarious—I can’t remember having so much fun at an MFA program before. His program is very open to genre fiction, as well as literary fiction, and it was refreshing in so many ways. My lecture was about dark fiction, and how I feel we’re in a bit of a golden age for tragic storytelling. I was very happy to see a lot of nodding heads at my talk, the students well-read, getting all of my references, eager to read more, and apply their own voice to various genres.
I also had a great time hanging with my old friend Stephen Graham Jones. If you aren’t reading him, you are really missing out of one of the most interesting, innovative and powerful voices in fiction today. I’ve known Stephen for about nine years. I’ve taken classes he has taught, he blurbed my first book, I published a story of his in The New Black, as well as his latest collection, After the People Lights Have Gone Off (Dark House Press) which was nominated for both a Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Award, and he has written the introduction to my next short story collection, Tribulations, out in 2016. It’s funny to see how much we have in common, from our youth, to our influences, to our processes. Also, I figure if I just sit next to him often enough, I should evolve through osmosis alone.
I also got to see a lot of old friends such as Jason Metz (published a story of his in Exigencies), Xach Fromson, Gina Frangello, and Rob Roberge, which was great, and meet other authors I really enjoy, such as David Ulin and Tara Ison.
If you are looking for a contemporary low-res MFA program that is open-minded, innovative, and a lot of fun, apply—this is a unique place, that is doing amazing work. I hope to return soon.
Bound Copy of Breaker (Random House Alibi)
Posted on November 24, 2015 Leave a Comment
I’m giving away ONE signed, bound copy of Breaker, my third novel, and the second book in the Windy City Mystery Series from Random House Alibi. These printed copies are usually sent out to get blurbs, so most people, myself included, never even see them. My editor, Dana Isaacson, had a few extra, and was kind enough to send me a few copies. So if you hate reading eBooks, but enjoy my writing, here is an opportunity to get this in print.
Here is all you need to do:
Go to Breaker at Goodreads.com, and add it to your “to-read” shelf. I will pick one person at random from that list on Sunday, November 29th at midnight. So, head on over, and good luck! (USA only, sorry.)
DESCRIPTION:
Living alone in the dusty apartment where he grew up, Ray Nelson is a mystery to his neighbors and an unbeatable foe to the brutal men he fights in the ring for money. But a life defined by sinister secrets doesn’t stop Ray from trying to do the right thing for his dangerously high-flying sister. Or for Natalie, the young girl living next door. As a sadistic murderer’s ominous white van trolls for young victims throughout the Windy City, Ray is determined to protect Natalie from both predators and a bleak future.
When she sees a bruised and beaten Ray return from late-night fights, Natalie spots a kindred spirit. Still, she cannot imagine the darkness just beneath, or what’s hidden in the rooms he calls home. Now, as the horrors of his own past creep back to life with a twisted vengeance, Ray may not even be able to save himself.
PRAISE FOR DISINTEGRATION (the first book in the series):
“A dark existential thriller of unexpected twists, featuring a drowning man determined to pull the rest of the world under with him. A stunning and vital piece of work.”
—Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting and Filth
“Sweet hot hell, Richard Thomas writes like a man possessed, a man on fire, a guy with a gun to his head. And you’ll read Disintegration like there’s a gun to yours, too. A twisted masterpiece.”
—Chuck Wendig, author of Blackbirds and Double Dead
“This novel is so hard-hitting it should come with its own ice-pack. Richard Thomas is the wild child of Raymond Chandler and Chuck Palahniuk, a neo-noirist who brings to life a gritty, shadow-soaked, bullet-pocked Chicago as the stage for this compulsively readable crime drama.”
—Benjamin Percy, author of The Dead Lands and Red Moon
“Thomas builds his universe and its population with terse prose and dynamic, often horrifyingly visceral imagery that unspools with grand weirdness and intensity. Then he rips that universe apart, brick by bloody brick. Disintegration is provocative. It’s also damned fine noir.”
—Laird Barron, author of The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and The Croning
“A sodden, stumbling anti-hero in a noir so dark it makes much of the rest of the genre seem like Disney movies by comparison. Gritty, obsessive, and compulsively readable.”
—Brian Evenson, author of Immobility and Windeye
“Disintegration is gritty neo-noir; a psycho-sexual descent into an unhinged psyche and an underworld Chicago that could very well stand in for one of the rings of Dante’s Hell. Richard Thomas’ depraved-doomed-philosopher hitman is your guide. I suggest you do as he says and follow him, if you know what’s good for you.”
—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Little Sleep
“In sharp, icy prose that cuts like a glacial wind, Richard Thomas’ dark Chicago tale keeps us absolutely riveted to the very end.”
—Donald Ray Pollock, author of The Devil All the Time and Knockemstiff
For a Limited Time, Disintegration is On Sale for 99 cents.
Posted on November 17, 2015 Leave a Comment
For a limited time, Random House Alibi has put Disintegration on sale for 99 cents. 92% of the reviews at Amazon and 84% of the reviews at Goodreads are 4 or 5 stars. Pick up a copy today, and I hope you enjoy it.
“A dark existential thriller of unexpected twists, featuring a drowning man determined to pull the rest of the world under with him. A stunning and vital piece of work.”
—Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting and Filth
“Sweet hot hell, Richard Thomas writes like a man possessed, a man on fire, a guy with a gun to his head. And you’ll read Disintegration like there’s a gun to yours, too. A twisted masterpiece.”
—Chuck Wendig, author of Blackbirds and Double Dead
“This novel is so hard-hitting it should come with its own ice-pack. Richard Thomas is the wild child of Raymond Chandler and Chuck Palahniuk, a neo-noirist who brings to life a gritty, shadow-soaked, bullet-pocked Chicago as the stage for this compulsively readable crime drama.”
—Benjamin Percy, author of The Dead Lands, Red Moon, and The Wilding
“Thomas builds his universe and its population with terse prose and dynamic, often horrifyingly visceral imagery that unspools with grand weirdness and intensity. Then he rips that universe apart, brick by bloody brick. Disintegration is provocative. It’s also damned fine noir.”
—Laird Barron, author of The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and The Croning
“A sodden, stumbling anti-hero in a noir so dark it makes much of the rest of the genre seem like Disney movies by comparison. Gritty, obsessive, and compulsively readable.”
—Brian Evenson, author of Immobility and Windeye
“Disintegration is gritty neo-noir; a psycho-sexual descent into an unhinged psyche and an underworld Chicago that could very well stand in for one of the rings of Dante’s Hell. Richard Thomas’ depraved-doomed-philosopher hitman is your guide. I suggest you do as he says and follow him, if you know what’s good for you.”
—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Little Sleep
“In sharp, icy prose that cuts like a glacial wind, Richard Thomas’ dark Chicago tale keeps us absolutely riveted to the very end.”
—Donald Ray Pollock, author of The Devil All the Time and Knockemstiff
An anthology I edited, The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) is out today!
Posted on November 2, 2015 Leave a Comment
I’m thrilled to announce that The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers is finally out, TODAY! Three years in the making, I’m honored to have been a part of this. Not only did Diane Goettel do an excellent job overseeing this project that I pitched to her what seems like a million years ago, but we got a wonderful photo from Jennifer Moore for the cover, and a fantastic foreword from Alissa Nutting. The stories, do I have to even talk about the stories? When I think of literary fiction, these are the women that I think about, and not only are these stories thoughtful, lyrical, and packed with power, but they step into the darkness, where they take on provocative material in a variety of ways. Who is in this collection? Let me tell you:
Laura Benedict, Paula Bomer, Karen Brown, Shannon Cain, Kim Chinquee, Monica Drake, Kathy Fish, Amina Gautier, Tina May Hall, Nancy Hightower, Jessica Hollander, Holly Goddard Jones, Stacey Levine, Kelly Luce, Nina McConigley, Janet Mitchell, Ethel Rohan, Karin Tidbeck, Damien Angelica Walters, and Claire Vaye Watkins.
And how about these blurbs:
“These are stories that live on the edge of the cliff. They’re wild and unpredictable and important and wonderfully unsettling. Somewhere in this volume, you’ll find your new favorite voice.”—Rebecca Makkai
“The Lineup is full of ferocious, dark, and brilliant voices. The book as chorus both troubles and dazzles, as all great fiction does.”—Lauren Groff
“The writers that make up The Lineup are more than just provocative. With its anorexic ragamuffins and organ-thieving medical students, its doomed shot-girls and exterminator-besotted housewives, this anthology will pry your eyes open wide and weeping with gratitude to the spectacle of lives being lived under transcendent duress. By turns searing, heartrending, hilarious, grim, profoundly tender and indelibly macabre.”—Adrian Van Young
George C. Cotronis is running a contest! Win his art!
Posted on October 31, 2015 Leave a Comment
George C. Cotronis is one of my favorite artists. We’ve used lots of his art at Dark House Press. And I’ve used his work for my own short story collection, and singles, as well. He’s running a contest through November 3rd, 2015. Enter now!
“Repent” accepted for Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories anthology
Posted on October 14, 2015 3 Comments
(Cover art by Caitlin Hackett )
Thrilled to announce my 6,000-word story, “Repent” has just been accepted for Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, alongside Neil Gaiman! Did you read that there—Neil Gaiman! Wow. I mean, I’ve published alongside Stephen King four times now (Shivers VI, Cemetery Dance #72, and Chiral Mad 2 & 3) but this is the first time with Neil. I’m a big fan of his work, loved American Gods and Anansi Boys, as well as Neverwhere, Coraline, and of course The Sandman series.
Edited by Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward (who also edited Shadows Over Main Street, which included my story, “White Picket Fences”) this anthology also includes fiction from Amanda Gowin, Brian Kirk, and John F.D. Taff. More names and stories TBD/TBA, but I’m really excited to see who else joins us.
Out with Crystal Lake Publishing in 2016. I’m a big fan of CLP, and I’ll have an announcement about another project I’m doing with them in 2016, but I did publish a story with them in the Fear the Reaper anthology and some non-fiction in the Horror 101: The Way Forward anthology as well. Joe Myndhardt is doing great things over there.
More news to come!
“Asking for Forgiveness” long-listed for Best Horror of the Year, Seven
Posted on September 22, 2015 2 Comments
Essay about Transylvania up at Suvudu
Posted on September 10, 2015 2 Comments
So when I went to Transylvania this summer to teach horror writing in the shadow of Bram Stoker’s castle, I knew I’d write a few essays about my experiences. This article touches on setting, and how it seeps into my work—how it played a big role in my second novel Disintegration (Alibi) and how it might work its way into future stories and novels after some times spend in Romania. ENJOY!
- Richard Thomas - 