September 9, 2008

Hi, everyone. Sorry, been, what, eight months since my last newsletter? Been posting on the blog (http://dankeohane.blogspot.com) but have been
remiss in this...

What's inside:

* Wheels and Heels Against MS walk this weekend
* Solomon's Grave coming out next year in English
* Plague of Darkness coming out in Germany in January
* "True Fashion" now appearing in Jack Haringa Must Die!
* "Box" coming to Coach's Midnight Diner 2 this Fall and currently in Relief Journal 2.2
* "Family at Dinner" recently sold to Shroud Magazine
* Miscellany

First off, the event which finally got me to send this out
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Wheels and Heels Against MS - annual 30 mile MS walk.
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Each year, my brother Paul and sister Anne are joined by other family members and friends in a 3-Day, 50-mile walk on Cape Cod to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Over the years their team, called Wheels and Heels Against MS, has raised over $50,000!! They're doing it again this weekend, SEPTEMBER 5 - 7. A number of people ask me about this each year, so I wanted to get the word out, a bit belated this time around (my apologies). Obviously, we're in the midst of difficult economic times and resources are being stretched extremely thin, but if you'd like to make a donation (never too late, of course) you can either log onto their team fundraising site:
http://www.wheelsandheelsagainstms.com/ and make an online pledge.
or mail a check the old fashioned way, payable to The National MS Society, to either Anne or Paul at:
Paul Keohane / 2 Jillian Rose Dr / Oxford, MA 01540
Anne Murphy / 16 Kenneth Lane / Tewksbury MA 01876

Good luck this weekend, everyone!
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Now, to the writing....

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Solomon's Grave to be published by Edge/Dragon Moon press next year in English
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After seeing print in Italian and German (and almost Russian), my novel Solomon's Grave will be published next year in English by Edge/Dragon Moon Press. They're a small/mid-sized press out of Canada who also distributes to the US. Yea, I seem to be taking the ICBM missile course to US publishing, starting in Europe, moving over the pole into Canada.... They haven't pegged a final release date yet, but early plans are for the Spring of 2009. More as I know it....

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Plague of Darkness to be released in Germany January 2009
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Otherworld Verlag, the German/Austrian publisher who published Solomon's Grave in its gorgeous German edition (as Das Grab des Salomon), has acquired another of my novels, Plague of Darkness, for publication in German, as Plage der Finsternis. The cover's done (once I get an official image I'll share it with you, but early looks were pretty cool), translation's almost done, and the book is scheduled for release in January 2009. This will be Plague's worldwide debut and I'm pretty excited about it.

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"True Fashion" now appearing in Jack Haringa Must Die!
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Not sure if many of you know or remember back in March (depends if you follow my blog) when I killed off one of my fellow Central Massachusetts writers in the world's first official "Kill Jack Haringa on Your Blog Day"? Well, a number of these entries, mine included, have been collected in a small paperback (104 pp) edited by writer Nick Kaufmann, called "Jack Haringa Must Die! 28 Original Tales of Madness, Terror and Strictly Grammatical Murder." They did this, aside from the It-Would-Be-A-Hoot reason, to raise funds for the newly established Shirley Jackson Award for work in the horror genre. Though the book is currently available from Amazon, if you order directly from the Awards website (http://www.darkfantasy.org/shirleyjacksonawards/sja_jhmd.htm)
they keep a much higher percentage of the $10 sticker price for the fund-raiser. You can also see the full table of contents, which includes some pretty major names (hey, I'm in there after all, ).

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Short story, "Box" coming to Coach's Midnight Diner 2 this Fall and currently in Relief Journal 2.2
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Fellow writer Michelle Pendergrass, co-editing a sequel anthology to last year's successful Coach's Midnight Diner, invited me to write a story for #2. CMD is an interesting mix of Christian themes with dark horror, nothing sanitized, which deals in some way with faith. The story I ended up writing is rather grim, but I have to admit it's one of the best stories (I think) I've written in a long time. Special thanks to Holly Wang, who works with my wife Janet, who got me phonetic translations of dialogue from English to Mandarin Chinese. The anthology is due out sometime this fall, but in the meantime, they also publish a literary magazine called Relief Journal, and in the most recent issue, Relief 2.2, they've published the story as a promotional tool for the upcoming anthology. Relief is an incredible magazine, with essays, poetry and fiction. Since there's no website yet for the Diner anthology, here's a link to the lit magazine that has the story (and it's on sale for $10 currently, just found out):
http://www.reliefjournal.com/component/page,shop.product_details/category_id,1/flypage,flypage.tpl/product_id,7/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,135
/vmcchk,1/ (or you can just go to http://www.reliefjournal.com and look for issue 2.2 along the bottom right)

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"Family at Dinner" coming soon to Shroud Magazine
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After spending years, literally, on the maybe list of two major magazines (one ended up folding, I finally pulled it from the other), my surreal story "Family at Dinner" has been accepted for publication in the new horror magazine Shroud (http://www.shroudmagazine.com). This is a slick horror mag (print, not web) which has been gaining quite a reputation. The story is slated for issue 6 at this point, sometime later this year, early next.

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Miscellany
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No word yet which specific issue of Cemetery Dance Magazine "Living by the Highway" will appear in. Likely the next one (after the one due out any day now...). More as I know it.

For those who do not know, way back in January this year my novel Margaret's Ark was a semi-finalist in a contest run by Penguin/Amazon. Didn't get any further than that, but we walked away with a nice Publisher's Weekly review and those very cool Amazon reviews, so a gain all around. Thanks to everyone who participated.

OK, that's it. Again, sorry for the delay. I'll try to do better next time...
Dan

January 16, 2008

We writer/novelists are always hoping for those Big Chances. Maybe this one's it. If so, I'm going to need your help. To the point:

A couple of months back, I learned about a novel contest co-sponsored by Amazon.com and Penguin Books. It's called the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. There were 5,000 entries of completed, unpublished novels (plus an excerpt with the opening chapters). Of these, up to 1,000 Semi-Finalists would be chosen. The excerpts for these 1,000 would be posted on Amazon.com - AND each receive a full Publisher's Weekly review of the entire manuscript. Base on these PW reviews, and customer reviews of the posted excerpts, the top 100 Semi-Finalists will be chosen by Penguin editors. Of these, 10 Finalists will be chosen. The final prize: a $25,000 book deal with Penguin for the winning entry. Still with me, or have I bored you to tears yet? Hang on...

After discussing this with my agent, we decided it was worth a shot. The timeline for judging is relatively short, and the prize: a contract with Penguin, one of the largest publishers in the world, was worth it.

So last Fall I submitted my novel Margaret's Ark.

I got word this morning that it has made the first cut, and is now a Semi-Finalist along with 836 other entries. The excerpt is currently posted... and here's where you can help: The excerpts are posted in order to garner as many customer reviews as possible. These will have some bearing on which is selected for the top 100 entries (how much, who knows? Maybe just to see how well the author can pimp... I mean promote him/herself, but they definitely can't hurt). The excerpts can be read online, downloaded, all FREE.

My entry, Margaret's Ark can be found at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00121WE32

Read the excerpt if you have a moment, and let me know what you think. Seriously, don't leave a glowing review if you didn't like it (or, I suppose, if your last name is "Keohane", lol). But if you do like what you've read and are so inclined, you can post a short review blurb for it.

If nothing else, this contest is giving me and my fellow Semi-Finalists something writers don't usually get - a chance at some public feedback for a work - before it's published. That, and (of course) a review from Publisher's Weekly - which is going to be posted soon with the excerpt (PW reviews the entire book, FYI). I'm waiting for this with "terrified excitement." I hope they liked it.... so many factors, individual tastes, bad gas, can dampen a review. Penguin Books is also using the PW reviews as the primary selection criteria for the Finalists.

The General ABNA (the abbreviation for the contest) site is http://www.amazon.com/abna - from here you can click on the various genre categories, read and rate all of the other Semi-Finalists. Amazon is also running a side-contest for reviewers - customers who give the most reviews are eligible for some cool prizes (listed on the main page).
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In other news: Speaking of Margaret's Ark: the original short story on which the novel was based, "Lavish", is soon going to be appearing in a Hungarian anthology of stories (translated into Hungarian and published overseas). I'll let you know when I learn more on this one.

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I hear that Apex #11 is being reviewed in the most recent Locus Magazine. I can't find Locus in any of my local stores: if anyone subscribes and finds the review, I'd love to hear how it went.

Thanks!
Dan

November 8, 2007

Hi, everyone. Just a quick note to say my new short story, "Ray Gun" has just been released in issue #11 of the extremely cool magazine Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest. Ordering information can be found at http://www.apexbookcompany.com/products/apex-digest-issue-11. Can't beat the price, especially for what you get.

Here's the news release from editor Jason Sizemore:

Thanks to everyone for another knockout issue! It's amazing the amount of work that goes into making a 128 page magazine, from the writers & artists to the editors and publisher.

Fiction:

"Blackboard Sky" – Gary A. Braunbeck
"Spinnetje" – Stefani Nellen
"Ray Gun" – Dan Keohane
"Uncanny" – Samuel Tinianow
"The Moldy Dead" – Sara King
"Cain Xp11 (Part 3): Sorry About All the Blood" – Geoffrey Girard
"What to Expect When Expectorating" – Jennifer Pelland

Non-Fiction:

Interview with Gary A. Braunbeck
Interview with Bryan Smith
"Curses of Nature" – Essay by Alethea Kontis

Cover art by Nigel Sade
128 pages

OK, Dan again. The editor is also have a subscription drive this month, so if you like what you see, why not subscribe for a year?

That's it. Check out the magazine, I promise you'll enjoy it (and, I hope, my story).

As usual, check out my news/blog http://dankeohane.blogspot.com/ for regular updates and to get the first word on what's going on.

Thanks
Dan

July 7, 2007

What's Inside:
* New story sold to Cemetery Dance
* First story sale to Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest
* Das Grab Des Salomon cover art and release date
* Fear and Trembling interview
* New Horror Novel

Hi, everyone. Sorry, it's been a long time since I sent any updates. Whenever I have any quick news blurbs, I've been jotting them down on my blog and have neglected sending this out. I also try and post to the blog weekly to give updates on my works in progress (to keep me on my writing toes). Not that there has been a heck of a lot to report until recently. So, as I get ready to head down to Rhode Island in a couple of weeks for the Necon conference, here's what's been happening:

* My short story, "Living by the Highway", has been sold to Cemetery Dance Magazine. This will be my third story with them, and needless to say I'm thrilled. It's not due to come out until the end of the year, at the earliest, perhaps early 2008. More as I know it. This story got an Honorable Mention last year in the Chizine short story contest (but never published), so I'm glad it's found such a good home. Funny thing about this story is the title: years (and years) ago I'd written another story with the same name, but it was an early piece of work and wasn't all that great, but I loved the title and had long planned on penning a new story to go underneath it. When the story comes out, if you've spent any time in Worcester MA I'm guessing you'll recognize the location where it takes place (though I did take a few liberties).

* I also happy to report another story, "Ray Gun" has been accepted for a future issue of the esteemed magazine Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest also due out later this year, early-next. As I know better I'll let you know. Apex is an amazing magazine, part science fiction, part horror (which also describes my story, couldn't ask for a better fit ).

* We have a release date for the German edition of Solomon's Grave: November 2007, from Otherworld Verlag, under the title Das Grab Des Salomon. The cover art is done and looks gorgeous! Check it out at my website (and click on the cover for a larger image). Looking forward to this one. Editor Michael Krug seems to really be getting behind the book and is excited about the release, so I am, too.

* I was recently tracked down by the folks at a new website Fear and Trembling, who did a nice interview with me. It's online now, at http://www.fearandtremblingmag.com/, even though I explained I wasn't writing Christian novels these days. They didn't seem to care, so neither did I. :-)

* Speaking of novels, I've been working on a new one, straight forward horror this time. I started it in April, typed THE END on my birthday (June 8th), and am about a third of the way through the second draft. A new record, the fastest I've ever written one of these buggers. This time through, I outlined the plot all the way through before I typed a single sentence, then proceeded to break every plot point I'd planned - sort of. About halfway through the book everything twists around, then again. If it ever sees the light of the bookstore day, you'll see what I mean. And I brought back the two main characters from the above-mentioned story "Ray Gun" ("back" as in I used the same characters, the book and story are not at all related), Hank Cowles and a cute little dog named Nurse Charles. In the new book (no title yet), however, unlike in the story, these two are very, very bad "people". Anyway, cranking through this one quickly, with Janet waiting on the other end with her handy-dandy proof-reader's pen. Can't disappoint. :-)

OK, anything else? Don't think so. Keep an eye on the blog above if you want to keep up with what's going on week by week, and I promise not to take so long between sending these updates out. I haven't given away any prizes lately. OK, tell you what - after I send this out, I'll do one of my random drawings, and whoever I choose will have the usual choice of whatever old VHS sci-fi moves I have left, OR a free signed copy of my old short story collection Christmas Trees & Monkeys. (I'd give away a copy of the Italian edition of Solomon's Grave, il Segreto Di Salomone, but I don't have any extras left).

Thanks for reading
Dan 

December 19, 2006

OK, I know, I know, it's been a long time since the last update, but to be honest, that's because it's been a long time since anything worth mentioning has happened. That's the thing with writing, you spend a good (or bad) deal of your time waiting. You put together the best story you can, send it out, and it sits collecting dust on the desk, or in a box, of an editor who has a hundred other things to do. Who now and then looks down at it and laughs, "You want me to read you, little story? Hah! Keep dreaming..." at which time he or she throws the remnants of a peanut butter and goat cheese sandwich on top of it (muttering, "Here, hold this for a couple of days and I'll consider it") and heads outside to find a puppy to kick. ...Sigh.... Anyhow, stuff's slowly starting to happen now, so on with what's up:

* The Italian edition of Solomon's Grave, titled il Segreto di Salomone, has just been released by the publisher Edizioni il Punto d'Incontro out of Milan. I got my author copies and it looks great. Hardcover with front-to-back illustration. Nice job. I can't read a word of it, but it's nice to look at. :-) A couple of people have asked if they can get a copy, but the publisher has yet to tell me how I can get more. When I learn, I'll let you know. I have noticed lately that the book's starting to appear in the online bookstores in Italy (Google is the writer's friend) - there's no Amazon, though. Again, I've got the cover on my website if you haven't seen it.

* One country down.... one more coming up. German language rights for Solomon's Grave have just been purchased by Germany's Otherworld Verlag! No word yet on when the book will come out, but it'll take time to translate, etc. Late next year at the earliest, probably. More as I know it.

* Now, as I say up top, better late than never. A movie was recently released on video I wanted to let you all know about (at least those who don't already know) - The Legend of Lucy Keyes. Written and directed by my neighbor John Stimpson, filmed almost entirely in my hometown, it's a horror flick based on an old Scare The Kids Because We Were Scared As Kids local legend about a girl who disappeared 300 years ago. Some faces you might recognize from other bigger budget movies, and some others you'd only recognize if you lived in town. :-) No, we're not in it, sorry. But if you want a tour of my town, and get creeped out at the same time, or just want a fun, scary movie to watch on Christmas, give the movie a buy or rent. It's rated R but that's ONLY because John got screwed over by the ratings board. It's BARELY PG-13, probably closer to PG. We don't have it in our house, unfortunately, because when we watched it in the theaters (at a film festival), it took our 9 year old daughter 8 months to finally sleep through the night in her own bed again (doesn't help that the events take place just a stone's throw through our back woods).

* Various updates?.... I must have had something in mind... Well, I have a few short stories written and sent out (and waiting.. waiting...). Finishing up a short story right now called "Ray Gun" - it's coming along nicely. My rewrite of Plague of Darkness was finished a few weeks ago. Done, done, done. Finally. I haven't started a new novel yet - three out in the market looking for a home at one time is enough for now - besides, there are about 10 short stories I've been itching to write for years and I need to get at least a few of them freed from the prison of my soul before I go mad (or madder). But I'll be starting a new novel soon enough.

* OK, so the VHS movies are stacking up too high in my armoire, and I need to unload them. So, I'm about to randomly (thanks to Excel's random # thingie) pick 10 names, and give away 10 Sparkling Used, Slightly Dusty VHS Sci-Fi / Horror Movies. I have a list of the movies and will give said list after the list of winning names. If your name is picked, let me know your top 3 choices (in case someone who replies before you picks your first choices). Check for your name and reply soon! 

The winners are (and note: if you've won in the past, so what, you win again!): Nick Kaufmann, Linda Gunn, Ron Breznay, DrMindful@ (OK, I'm completely blanking who this is... but you WON!), Willy Earle, Kevin McCarthy (hah! now you HAVE to call/email me to claim your movie!), Deb "Valerie F de Daulles" Reilly, Janet keohane.. wait, since my wife already lives here and can watch the DVDs, let's pick another... Paul Shaw, Alton Gansky and... drum roll as I click the cell...: John Kokotiuk!

And your choices of movies are: The Birds, Terminator 2, Gamera The Invincible! (exclamation point part of title - and this one's a DVD), King Kong (the original and STILL the best!), The Invisible Man, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Creepshow 2, The Corpse Vanishes (starring Bela Lugosi), Spooks Run Wild (starring the ever popular - in the early 30's Sunday Matinees - Bowery Boys!), Them! Christine, and The Wolf Man! (that last exclamation point mine....)

* OK, enough rambling and giving away. Well, not quite - since Christmas is coming. I hope it's a fun, warm happy time for you and your family. It's what's the most important, in the end, anyway. Keep sight of that, and everything else is gravy.
...mm, gravy.....

Dan

August 18, 2006

Hi. Just a quick update with a couple of items during lunch break.

* It's that time of year again. My brother Paul is heading up a team for the 50 mile MS Challenge Walk from Hyannis to Brewster on Cape Cod from September 8th - 10th. Their team, which includes my sister Anne Murphy (who uses a suped up wheelchair gotten especially for these annual events) and brother-in-law Gene Murphy, and many more walkers, is called Wheels and Heels Against MS. If anyone's interested in making a donation / sponsoring, they now have their own website (hooked in with the Multiple Sclerosis site):
you can go to http://www.wheelsandheelsagainstms.com/ Best of luck, everyone!

Ok, as for writing:

* My story "Living by the Highway" was a finalist for the annual Chiaroscuro story contest (www.chizine.com) recently. I know, that and a cup of coffee, etc.. but considering it was out of 350 entries and judged by the likes of Ellen Datlow and Neil Gaiman, not too bad a thing. A long, long time ago I'd written another story (long filed away from the light of day) with the same title. I always liked the title, so I set out to write a brand new story around it. Came out pretty good I think. Anyway, time to find a new place to sell it to. After vacation, though...

* The prospects are starting to dim regarding the Russian edition of Solomon's Grave. The publisher Alfaret (www.alfaret.com) seems to have changed direction to historical Russian-specific nonfiction. No word yet on what they plan to do with the book, since they've already translated it and even paid me an advance (non-refundable, sorry). I'll let you know if hear anything new.

* On the good news side, the Italian edition of Solomon's Grave (which they renamed to "il Segreto de Solomone" (The Secret of Solomon" - I guess it sounds better in Italian) is moving full steam ahead - slated for publication in October by Edizioni il Punto d'Incontro (http://www.edizionilpuntodincontro.it/ - click on "Novita 2006" ("New for 2006") and scroll down to Ottobre 2006 (October 2006) and you'll see it. I have a bigger image of the cover on my website.

* Finally, not writing related, though: my 14-year old son Andrew has inherited my slightly skewed sense of humor (and surpassed it, I'm afraid). He now has an online store through Café Press where he's selling mugs , shirts, etc, with his own original artwork. They're very cool. Check it out at http://www.cafepress.com/ligertrap

Ok, that's it for now. Have to get ready for vacation...
Dan

July 7, 2006

Hi, everyone. Just a couple of quick notes as I head into work (aka "the day job").

I'm going to be a guest again on our old friend Gardner Goldsmith's talk radio show "Against the Grain" TODAY at 12:30 pm, on WNTK Talk Radio which can be found on two dials if you live in New Hampshire: 1010 AM, and 99.7 FM. They also - I believe - have streaming on the web at http://www.wntk.com/

I have the covers of the Russian and Italian version of SOLOMON'S GRAVE on my website (www.dankeohane.com). I haven't got a bigger picture of the Russian one but click on the Italian (for which the title's been changed slightly) for a larger image.

OK, have to run. I promise a more robust dispatch next time, but wanted to get the WNTK note out there....

Dan Keohane