Dreaming of Stars and Scales

Those kind but misguided chaps and chapesses at Shadowridge Press, perhaps feeling that they didn't lose quite enough money on their editions of BIG THUNDER and RUMORS OF THE MARVELOUS last year, have now also brought MORNINGSTAR back into print as one of their typically spiffy trade paperbacks. They have my gratitude and sympathy. (For those of you too fragile or too hip to hold a physical book, the e-book remains available from Cemetery Dance.)

Also available right now (provided it didn't sell out at last weekend's San Diego Comic Con, at which it was launched) is the latest SCALES AND TALES chapbook from Bill and Peggy Wu at William Wu Books. All proceeds from these annual mini-anthologies benefit animal charities and, while this year's edition is marred by the inclusion of a new short story by yer 'umble servant, it does its best to compensate for this by also offering contributions from Craig Johnson, Steve Woodworth, Kelly Dunn, Peggy Wu, Corinna Bechko, and -- courtesy of his literary executors Tim Powers and James Blaylock -- the elusive and mysterious poet William Ashbless. It also sports a fab cover from comic book legend Bill Sienkiewicz:

And coming in October is DREAMING, the next volume in the series THE LOVECRAFT SQUAD, the brainchild of the great editor and anthologist Stephen Jones.

Those of you paying attention may remember that I had a novelette in last year's edition, THE LOVECRAFT SQUAD: WAITING, and those of you who went so far as to actually buy a copy might also recall that one of the pleasures of the book was the epilogue by Kim Newman, which was actually a cliff-hanger/trailer for Kim's full-length story in this new one. This year, it's your old mate Pete who gets to be the tease; the epilogue in this one (under the title 'The Cats of Arthur') is actually the first third of 'The Thing About Cats', which -- elder gods willing -- will show up in next year's concluding volume, RISING. Far be it from me to suggest you spring for a hardcover book on the strength of a couple thousand words and a to be continued from yours truly, so instead I suggest you spring for it based on the fantastic contributions from the aforementioned Mr. Newman, Michael Marshall Smith, Angela Slatter, Brian Hodge, Lisa Morton, Stephen Baxter, Reggie Oliver, Sean Hogan, Lynda Rucker, and John Llewellyn Probert.

Finally, in non-publishing news, this year marks the 30th anniversary of my first produced screenplay HELLBOUND; HELLRAISER II. The good folks at ScreamFestLA held a screening and Q&A at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood which allowed Tony Randel, Doug Bradley and me to pretend we remembered details of such an ancient adventure.