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)

I've got a damaged TPB copy of Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales I'd love to give away to somebody. All I ask is that you review it on your blog or website.

I'll pay for shipping and all that.

First to email: jason@apexdigest.com

Thx!

Want to read a new short story from Fran Friel? We do.

This month Fran is the featured writer at HorrorWorld.org and they've published a new story of Fran's titled "Bessie's Green Thumb." Have fun reading!

After reading the story, click on the finger-in-a-bag banner at the bottom of the page to grab a copy of Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales.

1) Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel

2) Orgy of Souls by Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus

3) Unwelcome Bodies by Jennifer Pelland

Fran is currently ranked 3rd in the horror category over at Fictionwise.

Best Selling in Horror
<input ... >1. The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition by Stephen King [Horror]
<input ... >2. Blood Brothers [Sign of the Seven Trilogy Book 1] by Nora Roberts [Horror]
<input ... >3. Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel [Horror/Dark Fantasy]

Not bad company, eh?

Also, I'd like to point out that Fran will be at Necon this weekend. She'll have copies of Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales with her to sell and sign.

Here is the two part video of Fran Friel reading "Gravy Pursuits," a story from her Apex collection Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales. These videos were shot by John Hornor Jacobs.

Fran Friel's well-received collection Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales is now available as an eBook at Fictionwise. The book is discounted 15% until July 7th, so this is an excellent opportunity to grab a bit of creepiness on the cheap.

Click here to place your order.

A Mother's Love can be Devastating

Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel opens to pre-orders this Mother's Day

[May 11, 2008]

Nothing good comes of the closest ties in Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales, the new collection from Fran Friel and Apex Publications (www.apexbookcompany.com). Things can go especially awry when the tie in question is the one binding mother and son.

The Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella "Mama's Boy" is the cornerstone of this 14-story collection from author Fran Friel and Apex Publications. A man whose mother's demented love for him has turned him from an innocent boy to a serial killer to a near-comatose mental patient opens his world to a psychologist determined to reach him as a way of dealing with her own mother's battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  But is she helping, or is there more damage to be done?

In "Mashed," a son's simple request for potatoes with his birthday dinner opens up a world of past fears and childhood torments for his mother, while the flash fiction story "Close Shave" presents a horrifically funny solution to an everyday women's issue.

From mother and son to broader family ties, Friel explores the bonds of human connection into every dark turn.  The humorous yet wickedly creepy "Under the Dryer" begins as a tale told by the family dog and ends in a bloodbath;  "Special Prayers," perhaps the most disturbing offering in the collection, exposes a family secret of abuse and power; and the tragically soft and beautiful "Orange and Golden" explores the purest form of the human-animal bond as the sun sets on a natural disaster.

Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales is now available for pre-order.  Releases on June 1428, 2008.

FRAN FRIEL is a Bram Stoker-nominated author residing in rural New England with her husband and their band of animal masters. She writes weekly columns for "The Horror Library Blog-O-Rama" and "Yada, Too," and she is a fiction editor for Dark Recesses Press. As a full member of The Horror Library, her short fiction appears regularly in the Fresh Meat department.

Friel’s work has been featured in the 2006 anthology release Horror Library, Volume 1, as well as publications online and in print at The Horror Library, Insidious Reflections, Wicked Karnival, The Lightning Journal, Lamoille Lamentations, The Eldritch Gazette, and Dark Recesses Press.

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.

###

We're only doing 100 copies of the hardcover. All copies will be signed by Fran Friel and Billy Tackett (cover and interior artist).

A standard trade paperback will also be released.

PRE-ORDER THROUGH THIS LINK
Show your mama how much you love her!

*edited to correct release date

Fran created this nifty teaser commercial for her upcoming book.

Press announcement, for immediate release!

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, June 12th, 2007 -- Apex Publications (Aegri Somnia, Apex Digest) announced today that it has agreed to publish a collection of short fiction from Connecticut horror writer Fran Friel, the 2006 Bram Stoker award nominated author of Mama's Boy (Insidious Publications). The collection will contain numerous new short stories from Ms. Friel, and in a move sure to make many horror fans happy, Mama's Boy will be reprinted and made available to a wide audience for the first time.

"I feel great about the collaboration," stated Apex Publications executive editor Jason Sizemore. "Fran has proven herself as one of the leading new voices of horror and I'm excited, and terrified, thinking about the sort of short fiction she's going to bring to the project."

The collection is scheduled to hit the shelves April 30th, 2008, as the major Apex Publications release for that spring.

Apex Publications has acquired the services of renown horror artist Billy Tackett to create the book's interior and cover art.

When asked for comment, Ms. Friel would only smile and say "I'm going to scare the hell out of you."