CHRIS HOLM

As the title says, All Due Respect, Issue #1 is officially live for Kindle, with a print version soon to follow. I'm honored to be their featured author; I contributed a brand new short titled "A Dying Art," sat down with Steve Weddle to talk all things writing, and also have the great pleasure of having my Collector series written up by the ever-incisive Elizabeth A. White. Throw in some great fiction from the likes of Todd Robinson, Renee Asher Pickup, Paul D. Brazill, Travis Richardson, Mike Miner, and Walter Conley, and reviews from editors Mike Monson and Chris Rhatigan, and you've got one hell of a debut. Get yours now!

As I type this, THE BIG REAP has been out in the world for going on twenty hours. I can't tell you how thrilled I am folks will finally get a chance to read it, or how bowled over I am by the support of my friends and fans on social media, who've made this book release one to remember. Thanks, all. It means a ton.

In honor of today's book launch, I embarked upon a BIG REAP Release Day Blogstravaganza (trademark pending). For those who missed the links flying fast and furious on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, flip the table and duck behind it, 'cause here come the bullets:
COUNTRY HARDBALL author/debonair man-about-town Steve Weddle was kind enough to interview me about all things Collector-y at Do Some DamageHugo Award-winning author and all-around lovely person Mary Robinette Kowal graciously had me by her blog to discuss my favorite bit about THE BIG REAPStephen Blackmoore, the evil genius behind CITY OF THE LOST and DEAD THINGS, let me crash his blog-space to talk a…

THE BIG REAP was featured today at Criminal Element, as part of their Fresh Meat series. Click through to see what author/blogger/kickass-hat-wearer Neliza Drew had to say. (Spoiler alert: she seemed to really like it.)

The first short story I ever wrote was a creepy little horror tale called "The Toll Collectors," way back in '05. It took a long and circuitous route to publication, thanks to a sleazy editor who accepted it and then vanished from the internet without a trace, leaving me unsure as to my rights. But eventually, in '09, it saw the light of day, appearing in a then-new webzine called Beat to a Pulp.

I didn't realize it at the time, but that credit would lead to a great friendship and rewarding creative collaboration with Beat to a Pulp's crack editor, David Cranmer. David's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, and his keen eye for talent has developed Beat to a Pulp into a force to be reckoned with.
Today marks my sixth story to be published by Beat to a Pulp. "The Follow-Through" is a nasty little slug of Maine noir. It wrote fast, and surprised me just a little come the end. With luck, it'll read the same.
And David, as ever, it's…

As I type this, my new short story collection, DEAD LETTERS, is now officially available Kindle (and Kindle app) users worldwide. I hope y'all dig it.

DEAD LETTERS features my Anthony-nominated novella "The Hitter," which first appeared in Needle and was selected for THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2011; my homage to the comedic capers of Donald Westlake, "Action," which ran in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine; a creepy little horror-meets-adventure-pulp tale about infectious cannibalism along the Amazon called "A Native Problem," originally from BEAT TO A PULP: ROUND ONE; and (cue echo effect)A BRAND NEW, NEVER-BEFORE-SEENstory called "One Man's Muse," which answers the question of what happened to the modest little double-wide in Hermon, Maine that Stephen King lived in when he wrote CARRIE and 'SALEM'S LOT. Oh, and there's five more tales in there to boot. (I was gonna throw in a set of steak knives and a Garden …

Today wasn't supposed to be a good day.

See, as I write this, I'm home sick from the day job. That flu that's been going around? HOLY HELL I HAZ IT. Been laid up for going on a week. But once the morning's NyQuil-haze abated, and I fired up the ol' computer over my morning cup of cough-medicine, my whole day changed.

DEAD HARVEST made the preliminary ballot for a Best First Novel Stoker.

When I was a kid, I read a ton of Stephen King. But once I burned through his whole back catalog, I needed fresh blood to quench my thirst. King, you may recall, won the first ever Stoker for Best Novel back in '87 (in a tie, says Wikipedia, with Robert R. McCammon), which is what sparked me to mine their nominations to stock my to-be-read pile. And with past nominees like Koontz, Powers, Straub, Gaiman, Rice, Harris, Bradbury, Carr, Ketchum, and Oates (just to name a few), they've never steered me wrong.

The fact that I might one day be in the running for a Stoker never cr…

Yesterday, Longfellow Books released their list of Top 100 Bestsellers of 2012, and I'm delighted to report that DEAD HARVEST was on it, slotting in at #69. The stalkeriest amongst you might recall I had my DEAD HARVEST release party at Longfellow. It's a fantastic indie bookstore, well worth checking out, and I look forward to holding a future release there... THE BIG REAP, perhaps?