Steve Berman, the publisher of Lethe Press (publisher of my first collection Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories), amassed a panel of gay male authors who write dark fantasy, including Matt Bright, James Bennett, Michael Ford Thomas and myself.
Sycamore Hill; New edition of Sea, Swallow Me
I participated in the Sycamore Hill workshop this summer with some brilliant authors.
2008 Edition: Cover by Thomas Drymon
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Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories – v2.o; Publisher’s Weekly on A Spectral Hue
Lethe Press has kindly re-leased my first book, Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories with a lovely new cover, by the talented Matthew Bright (of Inkspiral Design).
In other news, the eBook of my forthcoming novel A Spectral Hue, can now be preordered through Amazon (Barnes and Noble and Kobo links are coming shortly).
Publisher’s Weekly gave the book a great review! You can read it here.
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Reading Log: Books by Gabriel Squailia and Sonya Taaffe
Viscera by Gabriel Squailia
I’m really enjoying this novel, which would best be described as New Weird fiction. The world is dank and decayed and full of factions with really odd nomenclatures. The mood is one of the blackest gallows humor. The magic (here called ‘enchantments’) is bloody and messy. But don’t be fooled by the baroque grotesqueries. This is a character driven novel, full of memorable weirdos, such as a knife-crazy poppet, a drugged addled transman, and a mysterious trans enchantress who has a dead bear as a sidekick. It’s funny, gross and full of dark wonder.
Forget the Sleepless Shores by Sonya Taaffe
Taaffe and I run in the same circles but it was only last year that I found out that she is a massive Tanith Lee fan. Her new collection was graciously sent to me by Lethe Press (the publishers of my debut). I’m not far into this large collection of short fiction, but Taaffe has a dense opiated prose style (reminiscent of Lee), and her plots mines darker mythopoetic tropes. It’s rich writing, something to be savored.
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Sea, Swallow Me featured on Tor.com!
Book Radar: “Transcendent 2: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction,” ed. Bogi Takács
Editor Bogi Takács and Lethe Press have assembled another critically lauded anthology of speculative fiction that centers transgender characters. It features stories from some of my favorite authors (and colleagues), as well as newer voices.
BACK COVER COPY:
As with the first volume of Transcendent, Lethe Press has worked with a wonderful editor to select the best work of genderqueer stories of the fantastical, stranger, horrific, and weird published the prior year. Featuring stories by Merc Rustad, Jeanne Thornton, Brit Mandelo, and others, this anthology offers time-honored tropes of the genre–from genetic manipulation to zombies, portal fantasy to haunts–but told from a perspective that breaks the rigidity of gender and sexuality.
Table of Contents:
“Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy” by Charlie Jane Anders
“Skerry-Bride” by Sonya Taaffe
“Transitions” by Gwen Benaway
“This is Not a Wardrobe Door” by A. Merc Rustad
“Three Points Masculine” by An Owomoyela
“The L7 Gene” by Jeanne Thornton
“Rhizomatic Diplomacy” by Vajra Chandrasekera
“The Pigeon Summer” by Brit Mandelo
“The Road, and the Valley, and the Beasts” by Keffy R. M. Kehrli
“About a Woman and a Kid” by M Eighteen Téllez
“Sky and Dew” by Holly Heisey
“The Nothing Spots Where Nobody Wants to Stay” by Julian K. Jarboe
“Lisa’s Story: Zombie Apocalypse” by Gillian Ybabez
“Happy REGARDS” by RoAnna Sylver
“The Way You Say Good-Night” by Toby MacNutt
“Her Sacred Spirit Soars” by S. Qiouyi Lu
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“So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction” is being reissued with a gorgeous new cover!
So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction, featured my first major sale (“A Bird of Ice”). It was an honor to be place alongside work by Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Rick Bowes and Tom Caradamone. Publisher and editor Steve Berman is reissuing the book with a hot new cover.
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Wilde Stories 2015
My story “Conjuring Shadows” has been reprinted in the 2015 edition of Wilde Stories: The Year’s Best Gay Speculative Fiction (Lethe Press). The story sits along side work by other masters of SF, Horror and Fantasy literature. Here’s the line, assembled by editor Steve Berman:
“The Love of the Emperor Is Divine” by Tom Cardamone
“The Vampire of Xanthos” by Andrew Warburton
“The True Alchemist” by Sonya Taaffe
“The Mortuaries” by Katharine Duckett
“What Glistens Back” by Sunny Moraine
“Passion, Like a Voice—That Buds” by Steve Berman
“True North” by Chaz Brenchley
“The Oily Man” by Alex Jeffers
“Werewolves of Northland” by Patrick Pink
“Notes for ‘The Barn in the Wild’” by Paul Tremblay
“Conjuring Shadows” by Craig L. Gidney
“The God Within” by Damien Kelly
“A Gift in Time” by Maggie Clark
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“Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories” is now an audiobook
Lethe Press just released my first collection, Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories, as an audiobook. It’s narrated by performer (actor/singer) Steve Ryan and has a snazzy new cover.
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Book Birthday: “Daydreamers” by Jonathan Harper
Happy Birthday to my friend, colleague Jonathan Harper’s debut collection, “Daydreamers.” It’s been getting some great buzz. Harper and I not only share publishers (Lethe Press), we also live relatively near each other (DC Authors represent!). I’ve heard him read from the collection and can assure you that his fiction is full of humor, and excellent characterization.
Craig Laurance Gidney 
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