I did a lot of yard work this weekend. The weather was so nice that is was hard to find excuses not to mow the lawn, trim the bushes, bundle up the debris. I think I even caught a few rays in the process, though for me that’s not hard to do. I get a sunburn under bright incandescent light bulbs.
I found out that one of my mid-length stories, Motel Hell, will be published in the debut issue of Red Scream magazine, along with a lineup that reportedly includes Tom Piccirilli, Monica J. O’Rourke, Wrath James White. The acceptance letter arrived on Saturday, but a preliminary table of contents has been floating around for a while. Motel Hell is a touch over 5000 words and falls under the blanket categorization of “erotic horror.” In this case, it’s a ghost story with a lot of sex. Red Scream looks like a good market for horror writers. Hope it succeeds.
If you haven’t gotten your order in for Lighthouse 4, the Stephen King issue, there’s still time. This will be a 300-copy paperback edition (numbered copies, unsigned) that contains my essay “Roland Deschain’s Enemies.” It’s about to go to press as we speak.
I’m going to be doing a fair amount of traveling over the coming week or two, so I probably won’t be updating this much until the end of the month. I hope to finish revisions on my novel by then, too, to get it into my agents hands for a while so I can turn my attention to other things that have been on the back burner for a while. My column for CD 53 is due mid-month, but I have a handle on that one. Mostly a matter of writing it, now. That sounds odd, I know, but I have to decide what to write about and gather the related material, which is more than half the battle for me. Yesterday, for example, I went through the deleted scenes section of the Centipede Press edition of ‘Salem’s Lot and made notes for the column. There’s some interesting stuff in there…but you’ll have to read my column to find out more!
…being able to do yard work. Here, we are still waiting for winter to subside and the snow to fully melt.
BTW does the deleted stuff for Salem’s Lot change the novel at all or is it more in line with the material added to the extended version of The Stand?
The deleted material, first off, is included at the back of the book, so the novel itself is unaltered. Each snippet is prefaced with an explanation of where it belongs in the book.
Some of the deleted material was just “more of the same” — more scenes of vampire hunting, longer conversations, etc.
However, the fate of Father Callahan, for example, is very different, as is the final disposition of Jimmy Cody in the basement of Eva’s boarding house.
Also, the town isn’t called ‘Salem’s Lot in the original manuscript! And several of the characters, including Barlow, have different names.
And don’t get me started on the rats…
…that kind of kills my enthusiasm for the book. I assumed that the new material would be incorporated into the book. I think I will borrow this one from the library when it becomes available.