Random News and Musings

HERE is the best place to go to order a copy of my collection, "Bedtime Stories for Carrion Beetles." I also have copies available at home and work for those of you who live in Rapid City or the Black Hills. My advertising budget is nonexistent, so any word-of-mouth, posting of reviews or sharing the link is greatly appreciated!
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Random news and musings:
The dark fiction community lost three wonderful authors very recently. Author/editor David B. Silva, James Herbert, and Rick Hautala. A very sobering reminder that you never know when your time will be up.

I didn't know any of them personally, and won't pretend that I did. I own an anthology that Mr. Silva edited (Dead End: City Limits) but haven't read it yet. (This isn't unusual. I probably have over fifty books that I haven't read yet.) Rick Hautala was a friend on Facebook. I often agreed with his liberal posts and often laughed at his humorous posts. I love short fiction and have read quite a few of his stories in a variety of different anthologies. I could tell he loved writing horror.
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I just realized I had the honor of sharing a table of contents with Rick Hautala. We both contributed flash fiction stories to Slices of Flesh from Dark Moon Books. The collection boasts a stellar line-up of horror and dark fiction authors, and made the final ballot for Superior Achievement in an Anthology at this year's Bram Stoker Awards.
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Blood Lite 3: Aftertaste is still widely available. Included is my story, "A Misadventure to Call Your Own". This was my first professional sale. I'm very thankful that Kevin Anderson enjoyed my story and took a chance on a no-name author like me.

As I read the reviews people posted for this collection I feel frustrated, however. It seems the majority of readers purchased this anthology just for one short story from one author. Typical comments are: "I bought it for the story by _______. I didn't read any of the other stories." or a variation: "I bought it for the story by ______. I read the others but they all sucked because they weren't like the story by ________."

I suppose it is naive of me to think that droves of new readers will 'discover' my writing. It makes me appreciate and respect those readers who do take the time to read an anthology straight through. I love anthologies because of the VARIETY they provide.
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I've been short-listed for a couple of very promising anthologies. I've been writing and revising stories as time allows. I have about a dozen short stories currently under consideration. As good as 2012 was, it paled in comparison to 2011. Here's hoping 2013 continues its exciting start and brings good news and new opportunities.

Thank you for reading.