The Fear County Chronicle #19
Spring has sprung, the buttercups are all abloom, but it's still colder than a well-digger's butt down here in Tennessee. What in tarnation is going on?
Welcome to another edition of The Fear County Chronicle, y’all! Well, we reached summer-like temperatures a week or so ago here in the Volunteer State, but the past few days have been downright frigid. We must be in the midst of one of our little Southern winters down here (Redbud, probably). In case you aren’t privy to them, we normally have six of them, from now until the beginning of summer. Here’s how they transpire:
1) “Redbud Winter”: Roughly end of March, early April.
2) “Dogwood Winter”: Roughly mid to late April.
3) “Locust Winter”: Roughly early May.
4) “Blackberry Winter”: Roughly mid to late May.
5) “Cotton Britches Winter”: Late May.
6) “Whippoorwill Winter”: Last week of May / First week of June.
Incidentally, “Cotton Britches Winter” was known as “Linsey-Woolsey Britches Winter” during the Civil War up until the 1930s and 40s, when winters were harsher and cold weather clothing was mostly spun from linen wool.
Okay, enough of the Southern folklore/rural facts portion of the Chronicle. Let’s see what’s going on as far as Southern-Fried Horror shenanigans go…
AuthorCon 2 Bound!!
A little over a week from now, I and dozens of other writers of horror, suspense, and fantasy will be heading to Williamsburg, Virgina for the Scares That Care Second Annual AuthorCon. I’ve been busy ordering additional stock and packing up what I already have, and believe me, it’s beginning to spread at an alarming rate throughout my study like the Blob at suppertime at the Golden Corral. I’m also hauling a cargo of Brazen Folk horror books for Ruthann Jagge, one of my favorite indie authors and dearest friends from Deep in the Heart of Texas (clap four times, y’all!).
Below is a list of the books I’ll be bringing to AuthorCon with me:
I’ll also have a variety of sizes of Zebra Books Alumni and Southern Fried Horror t-shirts, and signed Justin T. Coons’ art prints of Southern Fried & Horrified. Special note: I will be bringing my last paperback copies of The Essential Sick Stuff and Hell Hollow with me to AuthorCon. These are the Silver Shamrock and Sinister Grin editions that are no longer available to the public, except through me. After they’re gone, it’ll probably be a year or two before they are once again available in physical book form from Crossroad Press.
Tales From The Southern-Fried Crypt Update!
Since the last edition of the Chronicle, I’ve turned in the manuscript and all of the interior artwork for Tales from the Southern-Fried Crypt, which is Book Two in my EC Horror-inspired story collection series. David Dodd has already finished formatting the ebook of Tales, and David N. Wilson will be preparing the paperback and hardcover print versions sometime in April. Hopefully, we should have the finished book out in mid to late April.
To give a little taste of the type of voodoo/bayou horror you will find in Tales from the Southern-Fried Crypt, here are a few of the interior comic art pages I did for the book, as well as one of the retro comic book advertisement pages that will be featured:
WORK-IN-PROGRESS Update!
I’ve been busy with several projects during the past few months. When I retired back in November of 2022, I initially had plans to schedule my writing into set hours, Monday through Friday, almost like a regular job. But, responsibilities, chores, and errands don’t end with retirement, especially if you still have high schoolers living at home. So, fortunately, I write whenever the mood hits me, mostly at night (my most creative hours, which has been the case since my early twenties).
I just finished a non-fiction piece for the 2023 StokerCon souvenir book and am currently working on a project involving two incredible authors who are well known and respected in the horror genre. I’ve also been working a little bit on…
I haven’t gotten very far on the sequel to my magnum opus, Fear, but I’ve been satisfied with my progress so far. I’ve penned the prologue and the first three chapters of Part One. I’ve also completely written the epilogue or the ending of the book, which was a rare thing for me, since I’ve always written novels from one end to the other with no skipping around. I can’t elaborate on exactly who will be the cast of characters in Fear Eternal, but there will be several major characters from the original novel, despite the fact that Eternal takes place in present-day time and not during the 1940s like the previous novel. A word of warning: this one is gonna be a tear-jerker in places. So far, this has been one of the more emotional books I’ve worked on during my horror-writing career.
Dead-Eye Book 2 is now available from Thunderstorm Books!
The limited hardcover edition of Book 2 of The Saga of Dead-Eye: Werewolves, Swamp Critters, & Hellacious Haints is now available from Thunderstorm Books. This beautiful edition includes cover art by Alex McVey, quality binding and endpapers, and a signature sheet featuring artwork of Dead-Eye and Job, drawn by Ol’ Ron. This lavish hardcover is limited to 65 copies. If you’re into nice, limited-edition books, you can order your copy of Dead-Eye Book 2 here.
New Release Spotlight: Illusions of Isolation by Brennan LaFaro
Since his debut release of Slattery Falls in 2021, Brennan LaFaro has steadily become one of my favorite new authors in the horror genre. A talented storyteller who consistently hits the bullseye time and time again, Brennan has enthralled and entertained his growing legion of readers with his Slattery Falls trilogy (which also includes Decimated Dreams and the upcoming The World You Loved) and his rip-roaring horror western, Noose, as well as contributions to anthologies such as Campfire Macabre 2, Shiver, Blackberry Blood, and Blood in the Soil, Terror on the Wind.
Now Brennan has released his first short story collection, Illusions of Isolation, published by French Press. I recently acquired a hardcover copy of this collection from the author, and it is truly a beautiful thing to behold; chocked full of thirteen of his best short stories and sporting eerie and surreal front and back cover art by Matt Wildasin. I urge you to head on over and grab a copy of Illusions of Isolation now! You won’t be disappointed.
A special thanks to Brennan for dedicating his first story collection to Ol’ Ron. It is truly an honor. He and I have become good friends and mutual supporters of each other’s work since my first appearance on Dead Headspace podcast (with his co-host Patrick R. McDonough) back in September of 2020. It’s been wonderful seeing his writing career progress and grow stronger during the past three years, and, in turn, stocking my bookshelf with some of the best horror fiction I’ve read and enjoyed in years.
I hope to see you all at AuthorCon 2 next weekend, but if you can’t make it and would like to order signed books, you can always go to my new online bookstore, RKHORROR. All books come with free personal inscription and hand drawn RK artwork on the title page. Plus, there are RK art prints and apparel available there as well.
For all my fellow authors, readers, and horror fans who will be attending AuthorCon, I wish you safe travels to Williamsburg. I’m looking forward to seeing each and every one of you. And for those Chronicle subscribers who won’t be going, I wish you a happy and healthy March and, of course, Many Happy Nightmares!
Those illustrations are fantastic!! Looking forward to this.
Love the illustrations! I need a life size Cat Daddy poster in my man cave lol