I was recently a guest on. the Fangoria podcast network’s KINGCAST with hosts Eric Vespe and Anthony Breznican. This is the granddaddy of all Stephen King podcasts, produced for King obsessives. They invited me on to discuss, as they often do, my favorite work by Stephen King, my work as Ray Bradbury’s biographer, and my relationship with Academy Award nominee, Frank Darabont, writer and director…
My collection of essays on the life, legacy, and work of Ray Bradbury will be published in 2028. This book goes deep into subjects I may have just touched upon in my previous Bradbury works. Bradburyland: Essays on the Life, Legacy, and Writings of Ray Bradbury features 18 essays, some of which have been in published in The Paris Review , The LA Review of Books , LitHub , and elsewhere. There are…
Happy Halloween, everyone! I thought I would do something special to mark the occasion, so here’s an absolutely free downloadable short story. I wrote the first page of this in Ray Bradbury’s house, hoping to capture some of that elusive Bradburian magic. “ The Shadows Behind the Trees ” is a title I heard Ray Bradbury say in passing one day and I said, “That’s a great title for a short story.” He…
Like so many writers, I’ve made the jump over to Bluesky social where I have refocused my energy on posting daily artifacts and anecdotes on Ray Bradbury, as well as general musings on popular culture: music, books, art, and more. There’s enough bad news in this world, so much hate, animosity and people using the internet to hurt others. Art lifts us all. It’s glorious. Let’s celebrate it…
I have a brand new essay published by the Los Angeles Review of Books about the tumultuous relationship between Ray Bradbury and film director John Huston, Bradbury wrote the screenplay for the 1956 cinematic adaptation of the Herman Merman classic, Moby-Dick . The essay includes a never-before-seen photo taken by Ray Bradbury of John Huston as they were working together at Huston’s Irish manor,…
Thrilled and honored to have my short story, “Creepy Crawly” included in the forthcoming Whisper House Press anthology, Costs of Living . The book won’t be out for awhile—pub date is around Halloween 2025. And that’s the thing with old school books—they take time! Production from inception to publication is a laborious and painstaking process. But in this day and age of instant digital…
I worked hard for the two Bram Stoker Awards you see here and display them proudly in my home. They are beautiful little statues and surprisingly heavy when you pick them up. The small brass doors even open up to reveal the award category and titles of my books. But these trophies represent the past. I am now very much focused on the future. So what’s next? Here’s an exclusive: I’m hard at work on…
So excited to announce that I will be co-hosting the IT CAME FROM GENERATION X! podcast with the brilliant and hilarious Tom Dieboldt. Each week, we will cover rock n roll, movies, television, comic books, literature, and all-around sugary sweet pop culture. We will be joined by awesome guests and provide a respite from the absolute lunacy of our mad, mad, modern-day world. The first episode will…
So thrilled to see that legendary editor Ellen Datlow gave my book Dark Black “Honorable Mention” in the esteemed Best Horror Volume 13 anthology! What an honor! Also great to see illustrator Dan Grzeca given a well-deserved shout-out as well. Some of Dan’s incredible art from the book is available as signed, limited edition prints. We both poured our hearts into this book.
I had the distinct honor of serving as guest host for the smart and savvy Big Table podcast. I sat down with former California Poet Laureate and former National Endowment for the Arts Chair Dana Gioia to discuss Ray Bradbury’s remarkable legacy, his impact on literature and culture, and his assured place in the pantheon of great writers. Dana and I first met when I joined Ray at the White House in…
I recently wrote an essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books about the flu pandemic of 1918 and its tragic impact on Ray Bradbury’s family and, ultimately, the development of his imagination and the themes so central to his voluminous body of work. A few folks have since asked if I plan on doing more of these “deep dive” scholarly essays related to Ray’s life and work. The answer is most…
What a wild, unexpected, and absolutely tragic last year. Who knew a pandemic was going to sweep the planet? In the middle of the damned thing, my collection Dark Black was published. What made things challenging and, frankly, disappointing, was that I had the most extensive book tour I have ever scheduled totally upended and unplugged. Paris. London. New York. Los Angeles. And many points in…
Recently, I sat down with my friend Dana Gioia for a wide-ranging conversation about Ray Bradbury’s many contributions to culture and literature on the occasion of Bradbury’s Centennial. Dana is the former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the former Poet Laurette of California. Our discussion ran in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Check it out here .
My new book of short stories is now available for pre-order directly from the publisher. To be totally candid, publishers and artists, sadly, don’t see much return, if anything, from books sold on Amazon. Buying direct from the publisher is the best way to support the future of quality book publishing. The team at Los Angeles-based Hat and Beard Press, along with illustrator Dan Grzeca, and…
My debut short story collection, Dark Black , will be released April 21, 2020 by Los Angeles-based Hat & Beard Press. I’m honored that it will be the first book in H & B’s new literary fiction imprint. As of now, the book has 20 stories in it, including a few you may be familiar with like, “The Girl in the Funeral Parlor,” “Conjuring Danny Squires,” “Live Forever!” and several others that have…
2020 marks the centennial of the great Ray Bradbury! Ray always told me he wanted to live to 100. And we can help him do this by keeping the man and his work very much alive in the hearts and minds of future generations! The Man Behind the Masterpieces Here I discuss the life of Ray Bradbury and my very close and dear relationship with him. You will learn about Ray Bradbury’s ascension from…
In early October, I delivered the keynote address at the Kansas Association of the Teachers of English Conference. I have been outspoken about the relatively recent willful political attempt to strip-mine public schools and public libraries of funding in order to cultivate an uniformed constituency (see this Chicago Tribune article). Here’s the damn deal: censorship is going on right this very…
Super excited to deliver the keynote address tomorrow at the Roanoke Writers Conference in Roanoke, Texas. I am also conducting two seminars, one on the lessons of creativity I learned from the great Ray Bradbury, the other on overcoming self-doubt as a writer. Cannot wait! If you are in the area, I hope you will come out and say hello!
I had a new short story published in Arcturus magazine a few months back and forgot to mention it here. This story will likely be in my forthcoming collection. At present there are 16 stories in this book, five of them are all-new, never before published. A couple are super-rare and ran in low-circulation print literary journals. Hopefully I'll have this all wrapped up by the end of this summer.