NightWriter

For those who have asked for some of my poetry, here's the title poem from my first little collection, published in 1970 by Michael Smith, New Writers' Press, Dublin, Ireland, 1970. I guess I liked the first person finale even then.

HOW WE DIED

I thought our heads

Would be kicked in

Or spilled like slop

In a noisy street.

But no -- instead:

Huddled close as

Pumpkins cracked

By the frost,

Nowhere to move.

In the valley:

The town glowing,

A haunted

Christmas tree.

I saw a nerve

Jump at the wall

Of your neck.

My eyes burned out.

I'm writing a new story for an anthology to be published by Tricorner Publishing for Scares That Care, a charity devoted to raising money for the Johns Hopkins Pediatric Cancer Center. Publication is scheduled for June, 2008. Other authors committed to the anthology include, Jack Ketchum, Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, Tom Monteleone, F Paul Wilson, P D Cacek, Chet Williamson and Gahan Wilson. The theme of the anthology is childhood phobias. All suggestions welcome, though the final decision will be arbitrary, and mine alone.

I'm also writing a new short story for Horror World, where I'll be one of their featured authors in 2008. As soon as I know which month the story will be posted, I'll pass it along here. www.horrorworld.org