Pela Via interviews Richard Thomas at Word Riot
Posted on October 15, 2010 Leave a Comment
Not your typical interview, Pela Via and I talk about all kinds of wild things at one of my favorite online fiction sites, Word Riot. They published one of my stories last year, “Three Mistakes”.
"How YOU doing?"
"Living the dream, baby!"
OWP Reading Saturday October 16th at 7 pm at Quimby’s, Chicago
Posted on October 13, 2010 Leave a Comment
I’ll be reading Saturday at my favorite bookstore, Quimby’s in the hip and happening Bucktown / Wicker Park area with several other OWP authors – Laura, Nik, and David at 7pm. COME ON OUT! Blocks from the Damen/North/Milwaukee el stop and right on the North Avenue bus line.
Saw Chuck Palahniuk read here years ago.
The Nervous Breakdown – Book Reviews by Richard Thomas
Posted on October 8, 2010 Leave a Comment
Hey guys!
I’m going to be doing some book reviews for The Nervous Breakdown, and I’m really stoked about that. I’m going to be focusing on small presses and the genre/lit benders. I’m also thrilled to be working with Shya Scanlon, a really talented author I first heard of with his online serial Forecast 42, which will be out by Flatmancrooked as Forecast later this year. We have similar tastes and I know we’ll get some much needed attention to some gifted authors, presses and journals.
My first review is now live for the fantastic dark collection of shorts The Physics of Imaginary Objects by Tina May Hall, winner of the 2010 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Her novella included in this book “All the Day’s Sad Stories” was the winner of the 2008 Caketrain Chapbook Competition, selected by Brian Evenson.
What’s next after this you ask?
Next will be an interview with Amelia Gray, up soon, 101 Prompts covering her career, books, and various eccentricities. After that: Avian Gospels by Adam Novy (Hobart: Short Flight/Long Drive), then Daddy’s (Featherproof) by Lindsay Hunter, followed by The Wilding (Graywolf) by Benjamin Percy then probably this great new press, Dark Sky Books and Cut Through the Bone by Ethel Rohan. So keep your eyes and ears open.
There’s so much great fiction out there.
Another great review of Transubstantiate, this one at Morpheus Tales
Posted on October 1, 2010 Leave a Comment
The review supplement for Morpheus Tales #10 is now out. Happy to see my pal Jeremy C. Shipp in here too, we’ll also be sharing space in an upcoming issue of Withersin. We got another fantastic review for Transubstantiate, this one from Stanley Riiks. Here’s an excerpt:
Described as a neo-noir thriller, a description I can whole-heartedly agree with, this is a very dark, cynical, and intelligent novel. The way it’s told only adds to both the tension and the mystery. A brilliant tale of a haunting dystopia.
Go to the REVIEWS PAGE or hit this link for a DIRECT DOWNLOAD.
New Velvet Podcast – Sex and Violence in Fiction
Posted on September 22, 2010 Leave a Comment
Velvet Podcast 008
Episode 008: Don’t Pull My Hair Unless You Mean It
I join writers Nik Korpon (Stay God), Pela Via and Nic Young to grind out the topic of sex and violence in fiction and their complex relationship to sadistic bedfellows, love and shock.
This was a lot of fun, some great thoughts, well worth the time to check this out. Let me know what you think.
Interview up at 3:AM Magazine
Posted on September 19, 2010 2 Comments
Interview by Gregory Frye
An interview with me done by the talented Gregory Frye is now up at 3:AM Magazine. Love 3:AM, they published a story of mine “A Bird in the Hand” last year.
Here’s an excerpt:
Richard Thomas is catching a lot of attention with his debut novel Transubstantiate, a neo-noir thriller mostly set on a mysterious island where nothing is as it seems. The place is inhabited by prisoners who are supposedly part of a rehabilitation experiment, meanwhile most of the global population has been wiped out by plague. The survivors, both on the island and off, truly live up to the label of noir, black, nihilistic. Thomas’ book seems to have come to the front at a time when a lot of readers and writers are starting to ask what neo-noir is all about, how is it defined, and where can we take it.
“Maker of Flight” wins another contest – Jotspeak
Posted on September 16, 2010 Leave a Comment
"Maker of Flight" Wins at Jotspeak
Check this out!
I WON! For my story “Maker of Flight” that also won at ChiZine.com last year. It is based on the novel Filaria by Brent Hayward. I beat out 200 other stories, WOW! I figured, since you could enter previously published work, that MOF was a good story to send in. Good call, I guess!
I found Jotspeak via Facebook, they approached me about joining a couple of months ago. Seems like a real good community, and I hope to get more involved. Looks like I’ll be a featured artist/author for a month too! Always good to get new eyes on my work.
Shivers VI Announced – Stephen King, Peter Straub and ME!
Posted on August 26, 2010 2 Comments
Shivers VI - Cemetery Dance
Wow, got the announcement tonight, and Shivers VI, which I knew was coming (produced by Cemetery Dance) will have a novella by Stephen King and Peter Straub in it. WOW. My story “Stillness” will be in such great company, I mean, these are the guys I grew up reading, my idols. I’m floored. It’s a huge book, 400 pages, and they’re issuing it as a limited lettered, limited edition, and paperback. While they last.
This could really win a Bram Stoker award.
Table of Contents:
“Serial” by Blake Crouch & Jack Kilborn
“The Crate” a novella by Stephen King
“The Last Beautiful Day” by Brian James Freeman
“Cobwebs” by Kealan Patrick Burke
“The Old Ways” by Norman Prentiss
“Waiting for Darkness” by Brian Keene
“Like Lick ‘Em Sticks, Like Tina Fey” by Glen Hirshberg
“Ghost Writer in My Eye” by Wayne Allen Sallee
“Palisado” by Alan Peter Ryan
“Stillness” by Richard Thomas
“In the Raw” by Brian Hodge
“I Found A Little Hole” by Nate Southard
“Fallow” by Scott Nicholson
“Last” by Al Sarrantonio
“Mole” by Jay Bonansinga
“The Shoes” by Melanie Tem
“Bits and Pieces” by Lisa Tuttle
“Trouble Follows” by David B. Silva
“Keeping It in the Family” by Robert Morrish
“It Is the Tale” by Bev Vincent
“A Special Place: The Heart of A Dark Matter” a novella by Peter Straub
Interview at Oxyfication (with Justin Holt)
Posted on August 16, 2010 Leave a Comment
Justin Holt spent the last week interviewing me about Transubstantiate, and other things too – how I got started, what my influences were, my thoughts on various genres, and what my plans are for the future. Be sure to check it out.
Intro:
Richard Thomas is a busy man. He’s a husband and father of twins. He’s a graphic designer. He helps moderate a writing workshop at The Cult, one of the most popular author websites in the world. He’s helped edit zines and magazines alike. He’s pursuing his MFA in Fiction. He’s part of a group of up-and-coming writers who each year help each other through the hardships of writing a novel. And yeah, he’s also a writer whose debut novel, a neo-noir thriller called Transubstantiate, was published in July 2010, the flagship novel of the upstart independent press Otherworld Publications. High on life and hell-bent on sharing in the revelry of being part of a new movement of fresh voices to the literary world Richard stopped by Oxyfication to share a little bit about himself, how his debut novel Transubstantiate came to be, and what it’s like when one of your literary heroes tells you that your writing reminds them of their literary heroes.
Amazon Bots Giving Me Some Love
Posted on August 13, 2010 Leave a Comment
So, I got an email from Amazon yesterday, and it kind of caught me off guard. It wanted to know if I was interested in some other thrillers, some books. Of course I’m interested, let me open that email and see what you’ve got for me today. And what was it?
Wow. There’s my own book. How many people did this email go out to? I actually haven’t bought my OWN book on Amazon yet (believe it or not) but I’ve thought about it. It might generate some links to “other books” of a similar nature, other books I’ve bought. Other authors that I love – King, Straub, SGJ, Baer, Clevenger, Palahniuk, Mieville, etc. So I’m not really sure how or why I got this email. But I LIKE IT!
And, I’m in pretty good company. Kristopher Young, I know this guy, have actually read Click, it’s a good book. But Brian Evenson? I mean, he’s a GIANT. I’ve seen him at several panels at AWP, have talked to him a little bit, he’s larger than life. I’ve read a lot of his stories, and strangely enough, have Fugue State in my “wishlist” at Amazon, been meaning to read it, that and Last Days. And then there’s Audition, a very dark movie, and I can only assume, a very dark and strange book. But it’s nothing like Transubstantiate, as far as I know. Except they’re both dark, and thrillers, I guess.
But, whatever happened here, I’m happy that Amazon has done something for me, sent out this email to I’m hoping MILLIONS of people. Okay, maybe dozens, but I’ll take it. I even heard from some friends of mine that they got the same email. So, it wasn’t just me.
It’s one of those little things, like chatting with people at GENCON, answering their questions, signing books. I sold THREE signed/limited editions! At $40 a pop! To total strangers. That’s kind of cool (and a bit intense). Or getting a random IM on Facebook from somebody that just says LOVING YOUR BOOK, and then POOF, the guy is gone. A fan in the UK, happy with the book, but maybe too shy to actually talk to me about it. Guess I’m BIG TIME now.
Not really. I’m as humble as ever, thrilled to see so many people enjoying the book. Busy with Disintegration, the next one. And loving every minute of it.
Thanks Amazon, spawn of Satan, giant book beast, my crack cocaine addiction. Thanks for spreading the word, giving me a little love. I’ll take it.
- Richard Thomas - 