Darkness Blooms

Darkness Blooms is now available for preorder! The anthology includes my story “Stages of Pre-Bereavement,” which I’m particularly excited about and will say more about later. But for now, check out the book trailer:

The book’s available as an ebook, paperback or hardcover. If you order direct from The Dread Machine, they’ll also throw in a full-color PDF. Preorder links will also be showing up on other retailers’ sites.

The anthology has suffered some delays. The submission call went out in 2021, with publication originally planned for last fall. Some of the normal sort of publishing delays were exacerbated by the logistics of the original cover artist living in Ukraine. (I gather she is making it through the war safely, if not free of disruption. Though her work is quite impressive I certainly can’t complain about the stunning art by Yorgos Cotronis.) But frankly, I was dealing with a lot last fall and just as happy when publication was bumped to this year. (I’m just an author, the only thing that would’ve been on my plate was asking which Year’s Best editors I’d have to email…and even that seemed like a Herculean task.) But I think the wait will be worth it.

I have enjoyed the editing process. (It helps when the editors connect with your story; and the changes suggested were all good ones.) I even did a bit of proofing on other stories. It’s always nice to be able to read the rest of the book before it drops.

And in a couple weeks, you can read it, too.