Stories for the Season

Some exciting news and updates today!

First off, congratulations to my friend Rebecca Cuthbert on her book release today for the eerie and distraught collection THE HAUNTINGS BACK HOME, for which I was honored to write the foreword and a lucky 13th story (and which Rebecca told me she wanted for this collection as soon as she read an early draft a year or so ago). available wherever you buy books (I checked the ‘zon, Barnes & Noble, and my local indie, the Boulder Bookstore) and the publisher, Undertaker Books.

Last week, the Cosmic Goblins Podcast released a terrific audio adaptation of my recent short story “Tommy the Leg Ain’t No Witch,” published in September by Cosmic Horror Monthly. The narrator Alex Wolfgang did a bang up job, and I am proud to share it with you here, featuring a nice interview afterward, where we discuss the origins of the story and my writing career thus far. The rest of the podcast is full of bangers as well, kicking off 6 episodes ago with the fantastic Premee Mohamed’s “Replacement Wanted” and not letting off the gas since.

What I’ve Been Working On

Two things:

I am nearly done with a completed workable draft of my first libretto, or musical script, with my old friend David Peterson (we’ve been friends for over 30 years, and he even sang at my wedding, twice!). Tentatively titles THE GHOSTS OF THE ESSEX, I revisit the tragedy of the whaleship Essex (as featured in my Horror Showdown winning and Pushcart Prize nominated story), focused on the survivors 25 years after that fateful night, as they wrestle with guilt, rage, and the trauma of surviving via the death/murder and cannibalism of their crewmates. All set to this fantastic musical foundation:

And finally, I am nearly complete with my final revisions for my forthcoming, and FIRST, novella, with the working title BRICK BUILT DAD, and jokey title BIG BAD LEGO DADDY. I really can’t wait to share that one with the world when it comes out, hopefully around the middle of next year.

What I’ve been Playing/Reading/etc.

If you aren’t yet a fan of horror, or if you are, and want to continue to grow your appreciation for, even love of, the genre, then you need to check out WHY I LOVE HORROR, a collection of essays from 18 of horrors biggest and most exciting names working and writing today. Edited by the fantastic Becky Spratford.

And on the gaming front, I won’t go into much more detail, but I will say that Hades 2 and Ghost of Yotei outstrip their truly excellent predecessors in every way (from gameplay to story), and both of them feel impossible to put down. Enjoy.

Thanks for staying with me, and let me know if there is something you’d like to see from me here!

—JG