Miscellany

Some interesting tidbits from the interwebs:

Over at Graeme's Fantasy Book Review there is an interview with Andy Remic, the man behind Anarchy Books and author of The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles...

Adam Whitehead at The Wertzone showed new cover art for from Daniel Abraham and KJ Parker here and new cover art for the Shadow Of The Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky here.

Meanwhile, the Robot Overlords announced the addition of Darren Turpin to their ranks; starting November 7th he will report directly to publishing director Marc Gasciogne , promoting all Angry Robot titles as well as developing new digital initiatives.  Welcome aboard, Darren!

At Gav Reads, I came across a post titled Diverse Reading Recognition where Gavin Pugh talks about two projects that address the gap in acknowledging two groups of writers that aren't white straight males; SF Mistressworks, a site that is sure to become a resource dedicated to books by women SF writers and The Green Carnation Prize, a prize created to promote and celebrate the best in LGBT writing.  As Gavin says: "...hopefully these projects are just the beginning of wider awareness of the diversity of writing available as well as where publishers are missing a trick by not bringing these types of books to the masses."  Please check them out!

That's it for today, folks!  Happy reading!

Review: Tales From The Midnight Shift, Volume 1 by Mark Allan Gunnells (Sideshow Press)

Tales From The Midnight Shift is the first short story collection from Mark Allen Gunnells and it's a great introduction to the author.  I myself have been a fan since reading his novella Asylum, and because I enjoyed that piece so much, I was eager to see what else he could do.  The answer is a gathering of stories that range from the humorous to the horrific, making up a solid collection that is well worth the reader's time.

Gunnells opens Tales...with a bang, starting off with a short, dark tale that reminded me of early Stephen King in the way that real evil lies at the heart of a small town; in it, a young girl looking for solace instead finds terror in God Doesn't Follow You Into The Bathroom...

...in Jam, what starts off as a seemingly normal but inconvenient traffic jam turns into a quick descent into insanity as isolation and fear bring out the worst in the trapped motorists... 

Acts 19:19 Party is another great example of why Gunnells is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors of short fiction; he is wildly original!  This tale of a book burning gone deliciously awry had me laughing throughout and I joined in on the applauding at the end!

Playing Possum is a story of two men, their relationship, where it went wrong and how one of the partners decides to stop pretending everything is ok; I found the dialogue between the two lovers so authentic that I really felt for Kevin and what he was going through...

The Barter System tells of a woman contemplating a life change while on vacation; it's a surprising little nugget that shows exactly what someone is capable of when pushed to their limits...and also how one can never tell when opportunity will knock...

The Room Where No One Died  turns a tale of paranormal activity into a poignant account of abuse and its ramifications on the victim...

The Gift Certificate is a cautionary tale about stealing what's not yours...or you WILL suffer the consequences!  One of my favorites in this collection...

Christmas Getaway, one of the more outright horrific stories in the book, chronicles a father's growing paranoia as he takes leave of reality and terrorizes his family; another highlight!

Big Dog is a take on the writer-who-has-lost-his-muse tale and the desperate lengths he goes to get his mojo back; I thought the story meandered a bit and the ending came too abruptly for me...

Collector's Market  is a tasty little vignette about the extremes some publishers will go to for that one of a kind book...

Accidents Happen is another sad piece, posing the question of whether an innocent victim is haunting the protagonist...or is it his own guilt?  I can be a sucker for sad stories and this one definitely fit the bill...

 Snuff  is another nasty little nugget; I thought I had it all figured out from the start but Mark totally threw in a surprise twist and I loved it!

And my absolute favorite story in the collection, The More Things Change, is just an awesome piece of work!  It is a topical, fast paced tale of high school bullying that actually managed to give me goose bumps as the tension kept mounting but still had the emotional weight to have me sympathizing with the traumatized student and his family; brilliant!

Out Of Print  is the opposite side of the coin from Collector's Market, detailing (quite graphically; some passages made me cringe) how much fans are willing to pay for that rare find from their favorite author.  It's a quick read, written as posts on a message board for said writer, pretty gross but with a great ending.

The World's Smallest Man brings Tales...to a close with a dark fantasy that takes place at the heart of a traveling carnival; when a magician joins the troupe and strange things start happening, it is up to the carnival's smallest member to try to unmask the man and bring to light all the magician's terrible secrets.  This is the only story from Gunnells that I've read that is outright fantasy; I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope that he dips into the genre more often.

All in all, I found Tales From The Midnight Shift a pleasure to read.  There's something for everyone here and each story, no matter the genre, kept me glued to the page.  Mark Allen Gunnells is definitely an author to watch for; if this collection is any indication (and I believe it is), then he will be entertaining readers for a long time to come.