Congratulations to Fran Friel (collection) and Alethea Kontis (non-fiction)! Both have been nominated for the Black Quill Award. Also, Apex Magazine received a nomination in the short fiction category.

We encourage you to go vote for your favorites and help bring recognition to the great authors who deserve it. Note: You do have to create an account, but it is mostly harmless.

Below is a full listing of categories and nominees.

DARK GENRE NOVEL OF THE YEAR:

(Novel-length work of horror, suspense, or thriller from mainstream publisher; awarded to the author)

• Duma Key by Stephen King (Scribner)
• Generation Dead by Daniel Waters (Hyperion)
• Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout (William Morrow)
• Leather Maiden by Joe R. Landsdale (Knopf)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
• The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff (St. Martin’s Press)
• We Disappear by Scott Heim (Harper Perennial)

BEST SMALL PRESS CHILL:

(Novel or novella published by small press publisher; awarded to the author)

• Into the Cruel Sea by Rich Ristow (Skullvines Press)
• Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamberson (Medallion Press)
• Miranda by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
• The Confessions of St. Zach by Gene O'Neill (Bad Moon Books)
• The Shallow End of the Pool by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)
• Veins by Lawrence C. Connolly (Fantasist Enterprises)

BEST DARK GENRE FICTION COLLECTION:

 (Anthology or single author collection, any publisher; awarded to the author or editor[s])

• History Is Dead: A Zombie Anthology, edited by Kim Paffenroth (Permuted Press)
• Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor Books)
• Killers, edited by Colin Harvey (Swimming Kangaroo Press)
• Mama’s Boys and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
• Poe’s Children: The New Horror, edited by Peter Straub (Doubleday)
• The Number 121 to Pennsylvania by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance)

BEST DARK GENRE BOOK OF NON-FICTION:

 (Any dark genre non-fiction subject, any publisher; awarded to the author[s] or editor[s])

• A Hallowe’en Anthology: Literary and Historical Writers over the Centuries by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
• Beauty and Dynamite by Alethea Kontis (Apex Publications)
• Book of Lists: Horror Edited by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (Harper)
• Horror Isn’t a Four-Letter Word by Matthew Warner (Guide Dog Books)
• The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi (Grand Central Publishing)
• Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)

BEST DARK SCRIBBLE:

 (Single work, non-anthology short fiction appearing in a print or virtual magazine; awarded to the author)

• “Afterlife” by Sarah Langan (Horror World / Virtual)
• “Captain’s Lament” by Stephen Graham Jones (Clarkesworld #17 / Virtual)
• “Dust and Bibles” by Michael Colangelo (Chizine #35 / Virtual)
• “Teeth” by Stephen Dedman (Clarkesworld #18 / Virtual)
• “The Blog at the End of the World” by Paul Tremblay (Chizine #38 / Virtual)
• “Turtle” by Lee Thomas (Doorways Magazine #4 / Print)

BEST DARK GENRE SHORT FICTION MAGAZINE:

 (Any print or online magazine that published primarily short fiction during the eligibility period; awarded to the editor[s])

• Apex Magazine – Editor Jason Sizemore
• Cemetery Dance – Editor Richard Chizmar
• ChiZine – Editor Brett Alexander Savory
• Clarkesworld – Editors Sean Wallace and Neil Clarke (current), Nick Mamatas (former)
• Doorways Magazine – Editors Brian Yount and Mort Castle
• Shroud Magazine – Editor Timothy Deal

BEST DARK GENRE BOOK TRAILER:

 (Book video promoting any work of fiction or non-fiction; awarded to the video producer or publisher)

• Daemon / Production by Yossi Sasson (Author: Harry Shannon)
• Day by Day Armageddon / Production by Ivan Simoncini (Author: JL Bourne)
• Duma Key / Production by Scribner (Author: Stephen King)
• Ghost Radio (Trailer 1) / Production by William Morrow (Author: Leopoldo Gout)
• Sweetheart / Production by Circle of Seven (Author: Chelsea Cain)
• The Price / Production by Circle of Seven Productions (Author: Alexandra Sokoloff)

Come see Miss Beauty & Dynamite HERSELF, Alethea Kontis, this weekend at Sherlock's Books.

Saturday, November 8th--1:00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m.

Sherlock's Book Emporium
200 Maddox-Simpson Parkway, Lebanon TN 37090
(across from Middle Tennessee Electric)
615-449-9807

There's a whole slew of female literary superstars who will also be signing:

• Sherrilyn Kenyon ~One Silent Night
•  
• Marie-Nicole Ryan ~Love On the Run
•  
• Ellie Marvel Secret ~22 Dark Whispers
•  
• Trish Melburn ~A Firefighter in the Family
•  
• Shannon Dauphin ~Carolina Hurricane
•  
• Annie Solomon ~Dead Shot
•  
• Ramona Richards ~The Face of Deceit
•  
• Haley Elizabeth Garwood ~The Warrior Queen Series
•  
• Missy Lyons ~39 and Holding Him
•  
• Jody Wallace ~A Spell for Susannah
•  
• Alethea Kontis ~The Dark Hunter Companion (and Beauty & Dynamite)
•  
• Dianna Love (Snell) ~Phantom in the Night

The latest edition of Apex Magazine is now available to light up your computer screen with delightful, frightful fiction, interviews, essays, and more!

New Fiction:
"Behold: Skowt!" by Jason Heller
"A Splash of Color" by William T. Vandermark

The amazing thing about both these amazing stories is that each story represented the first sale for both the authors. Who says new writers can't break into professional publications?

Reprinted Gems:
"The New Breed" by Michael A. Burstein
"Take Your Daughter to Work" by Livia Llewelyn

Permuted Press Presents:
"The Moribund Room" by Carole Lanham -- Our friends at Permuted Press offers us this chilling tale.

Interviews:
MM (Mary) Buckner -- Author of the Philip K. Dick Award-winning WAR SURF. Her new novel, WATERMIND, comes out this month as a Tor hardcover.
Louise Bohmer -- Prolific short fiction author and first-time novelist from The Deep Canadian North talks about THE BLACK ACT that comes out in December.

Essays:
Adrienne Jones
Lavie Tidhar
Alethea Kontis

Popped Culture Comic:
Justin Stewart

Credit goes to Fontaine, for writing such a beautiful song, and to Stephanie Rinehart for editing it together.

More about Beauty & Dynamite.

This one is stacked.

We have a story from Nick Mamatas titled "Summon, Bind, Banish." Alethea Kontis contributes the latest in her popular Beauty & Dynamite essay series. Lavie Tidhar continues his pursuit of the Titanic Omar. Adrienne Jones describes why she fears puppets. There's a great interview with F. Paul Wilson. Justin Stewart provides more comic funnies. Jason Sizemore interviews Magda Apanowicz (star of Kyle XY, Caprica, and more).

Apex Digest Online.

Do I consider it a happy coincidence that it is now Alethea's turn to be profiled the same time her book (Beauty & Dynamite) comes out?

Yes. Yes I do.

If there's anything I'm about, I'm about the synergy. Crap stories fuels the Rejection Urge. Forcing Apex editors to perform slave labor means a Financially Effective business plan. Alethea Kontis+her smile equates to hearts and wallets melting like butter.

Soon after the integration of Mari Adkins into the Apex fold, I attended Hypericon and met Alethea. I won't go into detail here, but I did write a story about this holy event and entered it into a contest (consequentially I won 50 bucks!). You can read this story of orgies, booze, and Brian Keene right here.

This story also happens to appear in Alethea's book Beauty & Dynamite that can be bought right here. (Feel the synergy, people!)

At the time, I thought I was tapping into the skills of an excellent writer. Little did I know that I had stumbled upon a treasure trove of talents.

Alethea is many things. Writer is just one of them. She's a book buyer for Ingram Books. She's a skilled copy and line editor. She's well-connected with industry insiders. She's a fountain of knowledge. With a flick of her wrist, she can have you tarred, feathered, and glued to the underpinning of an I-75 highway overpass.

When all else fails, when I desperate absolutely need something, Alethea is the one I contact. She is my ace-in-the-hole. Do you have any idea how comforting it is to know that if I am falling, Alethea will be there to catch me, kick me in the groin, and tell me to get my butt back out there soldier I have a public to entertain.

Alethea generally doesn't work on our slush or acquisitions, so there is only one tip I can give to writers to help them improve their career.

1) Get to know Alethea.

I'm glad I did.

This eclectic essay collection from NYT bestselling author and Apex contributing editor Alethea Kontis features a special introduction from Brian Keene, contributions from David, Tom Piccirilli, and Alethea's grandmother.

Be sure not to miss this memorable book!


To celebrate the release of Alethea's book AND our successful move to a new webhost, we are offering a 20% discount on all orders until June 30th. Just enter the coupon code NEWHOST on checkout.

Due to being his publisher, Maurice Broaddus was obligated to invite me to his convention. In fact, upon my arrival Friday night I was expecting to be placed on a sedan chair and toted around The Dwelling Place meeting Maurice's grateful fans.

Turns out, the only lifting I experienced was from Nick Mamatas. It seems that Nick was celebrating Festivus on Sunday and went about performing "feats of strength."

The weekend got off to an inauspicious start Friday morning. Both of my kids were ill. The little one literally had a case of the croup. The big one had an ear infection. Half the day was spent at the doctor's office. The other half was spent helping my wife with the kids. Fortunately, both are back to being healthy little maniacs, so all is well in the Sizemore house. Still, it wore me out, and by the time I got to Indy Friday night, I was tired.

All the same, good times were to be had.

The place was thick with Apex authors. Maurice was there, of course. Debbie Kuhn, Michael West, Alethea Kontis, Douglas F. Warrick, and Gary A. Braunbeck. Scary Nick Mamatas was there, who turned out not to be so scary (except when he flipped up his hoodie). Chesya Burke. Bob Freeman. Lucy A. Snyder. Mark Rainey.

The guest list was impressive. Kudos to Maurice.


The highlight of Friday night was the Celtic rock band Mother Grove. The set list could have been streamlined, but they're a fun, talented rock band that had the crowd rocking.

Saturday was the big day of activities. I participated on an editor's panel with Nick Mamatas, Mark Rainey, Frank Creed, Chesya Burke, and Matt Cardin. The panel turned into an impromptu roast of Maurice. Good times.

Saturday night was the party of Maurice's domicile. Maurice held court on his deck in the backyard where I mostly listened to him pontificate on various genre topics of interest.

Sunday was church service at The Dwelling Place. It opened with a touching audio/video tribute to the victims of the recent Midwest floods. The minister did a nice job tying in the theme of writing with the parables of Jesus and produced an effective, if a bit long, service. Afterwards were yummy french toast and bacon from Maurice's wonderful sister 'Ro.

After Nick's feats of strength, I decided I'd had enough and went home.

I debuted Orgy of Souls at Mo*Con. Sold a disappointing six copies. Who'd thought that sex, violence, and sacrilege wouldn't sell in a church?

So...that's the high-level rundown of the weekend. Here are a few things that might have...or might not have happened at Mo*Con III.

1) I took a double shot of wine during Communion.
2) I tried to kick Nick Mamatas out of my truck in the middle of Scary, Indiana and leave him for the evil monsters hiding in the woods.
3) Alethea Kontis almost got thrown in jail walking the street.
4) I shed tears when the bagpipe player of Mother Grove played "Amazing Grace."
5) Brian J. Hatcher tried to get me naked. At least by proxy.
6) Lucy Snyder tried to install Linux on me.
7) All the writers tried to burn me and Nick at the stake out in front of the church. Fortunately, our skin is like leather and is impervious to harm from any writer-inflicted injuries.

Thanks for the great convention, Maurice! Hope you do it next year.

The Incredible Whirlwind of Beauty and Dynamite will be released 4/4/08

 
Alethea Kontis and Apex Publishing take the world of words by storm

 April 4, 2008

 Meet Alethea Kontis: writer, editor, book buyer, shy girl with a love of the world, Fairy Godsister to the Princess, and quintessential Genre Chick.

 Beauty and Dynamite collects several of Kontis's essays and other writings in Apex Publications' first book-length nonfiction release.  A chronicle of two years in the life of one of speculative fiction's most fiercely loved personalities; Beauty and Dynamite bares a soul through love and loss and that greatest mixed blessing of all: adventure.

 The collection comprises thirty-eight essays, along with poetry and new introductions.  Commentaries from such notable writers as Brian Keene, Tom Piccirilli, and David Drake offer anecdotes and additional tales.  From office holiday decorations to horror movie production, Kontis offers a perspective that brings both a magical and a human touch to the everyday and the obscure.

 Don't try to resist the charms of the woman who dared deliver a signed copy of her alphabet book to Garrison Keillor at his book signing, only to find herself haunted by the sound of his voice saying her name over and over as he committed her to memory.

Alethea.

Alethea Kontis.

The Incredible Whirlwind of Beauty and Dynamite.

The woman who loves everyone she knows.

 

Now you can know and love her too.  Beauty and Dynamite preorders begin 4/4/08. Scheduled release date is 06/14/08.

ISBN13: 978-0-9776681-7-5                  Pages: 400

Format: Trade paperback                         Price: $15.95

About the Author

Alethea Kontis is the author of "AlphaOops: The Day Z Went First" and co-editor of the all-star anthology, "Elemental," the proceeds from which benefit the Tsunami Relief Effort.  By day, she works her magic as a book buyer for Ingram.

About Apex Publications

Apex Publications (www.apexbookcompany.com) is a small press dedicated to publishing exemplary works of dark science fiction and horror. Owned and operated by Jason B. Sizemore, Apex publishes the critically acclaimed Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest. In 2006, Apex Publishing branched into producing novellas, collections, and anthologies, earning a Bram Stoker Award nomination for the Aegri Somnia anthology in 2007.

From Alethea’s blog post over at the Shocklines forum…

Here's a sneak peek at the cover of Beauty & Dynamite from Alethea Kontis.

This will likely be the most unique and unusual book I will ever publish.

We have a NYT Bestseller on our hands. Okay, it isn't one of our books, but it is a book from one of our editors.

#31 on this week's list is Alethea Kontis and her The Dark-Hunter Companion! Congrats Lee!

And congrats to Apex, because now we can brag that we have a NYT Bestseller on our staff. The Stoker nomination thing was starting to lose its effect...

#

Congrats also needs to go out to our lovely poet Brandy Schwan.  

Gakked from Brandy's blog:

Jean-Pierre Devresse, an artist from Liège, Belgium, has taken Brandy's poem 'The Photographer' and reproduced it, using photographs of Brandy as the letters. This work will be displayed at the Au bord d'Elle ("at the edge of it") exhibit from November 23rd to December 8th. The exhibit explores and celebrates eroticism through different forms of artistic expression. You can learn more about Jean-Pierre at his MySpace page.

To know your words have inspired an artist has to feel great. She's come a long way from the shy, unpublished poet I met two years ago.

#

We've picked up 93 new subscriptions for our drive. Only need 7 more to make our goal of 100. 107 to get the pay rate up to 3 cents a word.

Need another reason to love Alethea Kontis? Truthfully, no. She's perfect as is.

But did you know she's a book buyer for Ingram Book Company? This means that if you are a novelist, you really, really should get acquianted with Alethea. She determines whether store X will stock your book.

She's also a contributing editor for Apex Digest and holds much influence over me in terms of "editorial consultation" due to her skills and knowledge as an editor (for proof, see Elemental). If she says so and so has a story I need to read, I read it with added attention.

So really, if you write long fiction or short fiction, you need to know Alethea.

Maurice Broaddus (our current featured writer) interviews Alethea on his most excellent blog, Blogging In Black. Alethea gives some great "behind the scenes" insight into how the book buying business works.

(P.S. Alethea is the Apex Featured Writer for the month of November)

Congratulations to our own diva of sweetness and light, Alethea Kontis. Her awesome children's book, AlphaOops: The Day Z Went First, received a special salute from The Washington Post!

My two-year-old daughter had this to say about Alethea's most excellent book: Z MEAN!