Book 1:  Hiram Grange and the Village of the Damned, by Jake Burrows

Something wicked walks the streets of the picturesque New Hampshire village of Great Bay--something that has inexplicably risen from the grave to wreak a horrifying vengeance. Only one man can stop it—Hiram Grange--provided he can sober up long enough to answer the call!

JAKE BURROWS the author of more than 100 articles, stories, and essays published in a variety of mediums and publications spanning the globe, under various pen names. He is a former Police Constable from West Clare, Ireland and a former Intelligence Specialist with the Irish Defence Forces Directorate of Intelligence.

Book 2:  Hiram Grange and the Twelve Little Hitlers, by Scott Christian Carr

Hitler has escaped. Twelve of them, to be precise, each cloned from the original, and hiding in the bizarre American underground. Hiram Grange has been tasked with hunting them down. The only problem: he's hit rock bottom. His worst binge ever---a mad dance with absinthe, opium and depression...

SCOTT CHRISTIAN CARR lives on a secluded mountaintop deep in New York's Hudson Valley, where he makes a living writing and producing for film and television and spending time with his family. His fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine, Withersin, GUD, Horror Quarterly, Pulp Eternity, and assorted anthologies. His recent awards include The Hunter S. Thompson Award for Outstanding Journalism, Scriptapalooza TV: 1st Place Best Original Pilot, and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award nomination.

Book 3:  Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist, by Rob Davies

From its global headquarters in Boston, the mysterious Occlusionist Movement is preparing to control the world with its Digital Eucharist, while in the serpentine bowels of the city an ancient demon is unleashed, eager for revenge against the man who imprisoned it years ago—Hiram Grange!

ROB DAVIES lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. His stories have appeared in Interzone, Shroud Magazine, and Weird Tales.

Book 4:  Hiram Grange and the Chosen One, by Kevin Lucia

Hiram Grange doesn't believe in fate; he makes his own destiny.  It's a good thing, because Queen Mab of Faerie has foreseen the world's destruction, and it's all his fault.  He must choose: kill an innocent or save the universe.  It's just another day on the job for Hiram Grange.

KEVIN LUCIA is a Contributing Editor for Shroud Magazine.  His poetry and short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, and he's  currently finishing his MA in Creative Writing at Binghamton University. He teaches high school English and lives in Castle Creek, New York with his wife and children.  Visit www.kevinlucia.net.

Book 5:  Hiram Grange and the Nymphs of Krakow, by Richard Wright

Hiram Grange was already broken when his world was turned upside down by the horrifying revelations of a beautiful and dangerous woman. Faced with the possibility that he’s been a pawn in a diabolical game,  he seeks the truth in the snows of Krakow. But the truth is guarded by ancient, winged things—and the truth has teeth...

RICHARD WRIGHT is an author of strange, dark fictions, currently living in India.  His stories have been diversely published over the last decade, everywhere from the Doctor Who 'Best Of' anthology Short Trips: Recollections to the Bram Stoker award nominated Beneath the Surface.

Book 1:  Hiram Grange and the Village of the Damned, by Jake Burrows

Something wicked walks the streets of the picturesque New Hampshire village of Great Bay--something that has inexplicably risen from the grave to wreak a horrifying vengeance. Only one man can stop it—Hiram Grange--provided he can sober up long enough to answer the call!

JAKE BURROWS the author of more than 100 articles, stories, and essays published in a variety of mediums and publications spanning the globe, under various pen names. He is a former Police Constable from West Clare, Ireland and a former Intelligence Specialist with the Irish Defence Forces Directorate of Intelligence.

Book 2:  Hiram Grange and the Twelve Little Hitlers, by Scott Christian Carr

Hitler has escaped. Twelve of them, to be precise, each cloned from the original, and hiding in the bizarre American underground. Hiram Grange has been tasked with hunting them down. The only problem: he's hit rock bottom. His worst binge ever---a mad dance with absinthe, opium and depression...

SCOTT CHRISTIAN CARR lives on a secluded mountaintop deep in New York's Hudson Valley, where he makes a living writing and producing for film and television and spending time with his family. His fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine, Withersin, GUD, Horror Quarterly, Pulp Eternity, and assorted anthologies. His recent awards include The Hunter S. Thompson Award for Outstanding Journalism, Scriptapalooza TV: 1st Place Best Original Pilot, and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award nomination.

Book 3:  Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist, by Rob Davies

From its global headquarters in Boston, the mysterious Occlusionist Movement is preparing to control the world with its Digital Eucharist, while in the serpentine bowels of the city an ancient demon is unleashed, eager for revenge against the man who imprisoned it years ago—Hiram Grange!

ROB DAVIES lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. His stories have appeared in Interzone, Shroud Magazine, and Weird Tales.

Book 4:  Hiram Grange and the Chosen One, by Kevin Lucia

Hiram Grange doesn't believe in fate; he makes his own destiny.  It's a good thing, because Queen Mab of Faerie has foreseen the world's destruction, and it's all his fault.  He must choose: kill an innocent or save the universe.  It's just another day on the job for Hiram Grange.

KEVIN LUCIA is a Contributing Editor for Shroud Magazine.  His poetry and short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, and he's  currently finishing his MA in Creative Writing at Binghamton University. He teaches high school English and lives in Castle Creek, New York with his wife and children.  Visit www.kevinlucia.net.

Book 5:  Hiram Grange and the Nymphs of Krakow, by Richard Wright

Hiram Grange was already broken when his world was turned upside down by the horrifying revelations of a beautiful and dangerous woman. Faced with the possibility that he’s been a pawn in a diabolical game,  he seeks the truth in the snows of Krakow. But the truth is guarded by ancient, winged things—and the truth has teeth...

RICHARD WRIGHT is an author of strange, dark fictions, currently living in India.  His stories have been diversely published over the last decade, everywhere from the Doctor Who 'Best Of' anthology Short Trips: Recollections to the Bram Stoker award nominated Beneath the Surface.

The Hiram Grange Chronicles published by Shroud Publishing.

Important change!

In order to create the best poetry anthology we possibly can, after several discussions with Shroud Editor Tim Deal, we've decided to raise the pay rate of the anthology from 1 cent per word to $5 per poem.  This meets a professional rate of pay, as defined by the Horror Writers Association: http://www.horror.org/memrule...htm - #13 "Professional rates" are defined in this case as no less than 25 cents (25¢) per line or $5 for each poem". We at Shroud understand that quality product demands quality returns, and we also know how many writers are dedicated towards working on eligibility for full HWA membership.  Payment within 30 days after publication.

When the snows fell hard this past year, the entire Northeast buckled down for a long, cold winter. Among the states affected most was Massachusetts, and one of the places hit worst was a town located in its northeast region - a small hamlet named Miskatonic Falls. Situated inside the Miskatonic Valley Region, there's only one way in and out. Both were blocked off by heavy snows.

With few connections to neighboring towns - all of which are ten miles away in either direction - with power and telephone lines down, Miskatonic Falls had been cut off from the outside world for more than a month when the Miskatonic County Police Department received a garbled call from a pay phone at the town's only diner. The call consisted of bursts of static, whistles, unearthly cries, and one whispered phrase “…itum insania…ventum.” Scholars at nearby Miskatonic University identified it as Latin, roughly translated as: “…the walking madness…has come.”

Investigators arrive to find an empty town. There are signs of violence, mayhem, bloodshed…even perversion and sadism....but everyone has vanished, without a trace. The mystery deepens when repeated references to the "long man" appear, in abandoned diaries, recovered emails and cell-phone texts, and in graffiti on walls that read: “BEHOLD! THE LONG MAN COMETH!"

What has happened to the people of Miskatonic Falls? What menace has wiped them off the Earth? Who is the “long man”, and what does “…the walking madness” mean? The world may never know. There are no answers, only questions…and this anthology.

What are we looking for? Poetry, between 8 - 34 lines. Any style is acceptable, HOWEVER: consider the poem’s rhythm and clarity. Avoid “word play.” The poem must make sense and have narrative qualities. Also, with rhyming poems: structure always makes it better. Think sonnets.

Subject: the town’s dissolution into madness and disappearance, but as it relates to its townspeople. Husbands, wives. Lovers, co-workers. Fellow students, shopkeepers, priests and constables. As the end approached, what did they think? Feel? Experience? Fear? Hate?  Think “Spoon River Anthology”, by Edward Lee Masters. However, don’t mimic its style - written in the ‘30s as a collection of tombstone epitaphs. Absorb its essence – people speaking beyond the grave - and apply it the anthology’s situation.

We don’t want answers or conclusions. Vague references are fine, but we only want to know what their lives were like as the end drew near. That having been said, for further clarification, the anthology will be split into three “cantos” (sections, chapters), submissions depending:

Canto I: Ventum Veni, The Madness Comes
Canto II: Ventum Dilato, The Madness Spreads
Canto III: Ventum Voro Nos, The Madness Consumes

Important things: We want first print rights to your poem. After publication, the rights revert to you. No reprints. New poems only, please. Multiple submissions are allowed, but only up to three at any one time. The Terror of Miskatonic Falls will be published as a trade paperback.

What you get: $5 a word and a contributor’s copy. The paperback copy of the book will be sent to you upon or shortly after the book’s official release date. Payment is based on final word count from the final edited copy of the poem, so once your poem is ready for print, payment will be sent to you via either check or Paypal.

What to send to us: Please send your poem(s) in standard manuscript format:
Courier 12pt, double-spaced, with any italicized words underlined. Also include your name and contact information on the first page as well as your name in the upper right corner of any subsequent pages. Don’t forget to also number your pages. Please follow these guidelines to the letter. Submissions that don’t will be automatically rejected.

Where to send it: send all submissions as .doc or .rtf files via email to kevin@shroudmagazine.com with the words “Terror of Miskatonic Falls Submission” in the subject line. 

When to send it by: Reading period starts right away and ends when full. You will be notified within two months of your submission regarding acceptance, possibly sooner.

So, here I am...on the eve of my first trip to a Con of any kind. I'm equal parts excited and little worried. Excited because, no matter what, this is me - out there - DOING something, and worried that five people will show up to this thing and it'll be a bust.

Which is not to say I expect to make any cash. Hardly. I expect this will go solidly in the "negative" column. But it's not about that, (although we someday hope it will be, at least a little, right?) This is about me, getting OUT there - hoping to be seen and heard. There's no sitting fee, I have an author's table, (which hopefully will be near Mike Laimo, who is supposed to be there also), I'll be taking part in a reading, and will be on a writer's panel. There's next to NOTHING like this in
our area, so I'm willing to drive. That, and I've never been on a road trip before with the "boys", so I expect some quality "guy" time with my buddy Nate.

This is crazy; it really is. I'm a nobody - relatively speaking. However, this is the year, I suppose to do crazy things like this. I figure from now on, maybe I'll be able to afford one Con a year, plus this free one, and then I'll just be about the
task of writing. This year, however, seems to be the year for me to "let it hang out there"....

January - Borderlands Press Writers' Bootcamp. You have no idea how awesome this was. Brian Keene told me it would a life changer. It literally was.

Tomorrow - Institute of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

May - MoCon IV. I plan on going there and soaking up as much as I can, just be a quiet mouse in the corner, and revel in the awesomeness that will surround me.

July - NeCon. If Shroud goes to this, I'll be there, signing...can you say holy cow?
If not, just like MoCon, it's going to be me, the quiet mouse again - soaking up the awesomeness.

August - Horrorfind Weekend. Now that we've established there WILL be a Horrorfind, I'll be there. I've purchased a table, will be representing myself and possibly Shroud, and will - once again - revel in the awesomeness.

I hope scattered in there somewhere will be Hiram Grange signings in my hometown and surrounding areas. Anyway, suffice to say: I have no idea what I'm doing. Maybe I'll look back and say, "Yeah, 2008-2009...that year started it all." Or maybe not. Either way, I quote Ray Bradbury as my inspiration for all this:

"You've got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down. " - Ray Bradbury

So, back in January, I jumped off a cliff. I've been building my wings ever since. Hear the flapping yet?

First, just got news that my poem, Necromancin', was accepted into Coscom Entertainment's upcoming zombie poetry anthology, Poems of the Dead. Everybody needs a little undead free verse to lighten...darken...their day!

Second, I came across a few review blurbs for two anthologies I've placed stories in and I was mentioned, so I thought I'd share....

About my story "Therapy", which is featured in Necrotic Tissue's Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror:

"Kevin Lucia's “Therapy” is a surprisingly honest cautionary tale that I would love to use in a high school class room, but might stand a good chance of getting fired if I did." Read full review.

About my story "Water God of Clarke Street", which is featured in Shroud's Abomninations:

"Buy this and you'll get the added pleasure of seeing the great and mighty Dagon get humiliated by a little girl in Kevin Lucia's 'The Water God of Clarke Street'." Read full review.

Always nice to hear. Provides motivation at 3 AM in the morning!

From Shroud Magazine: 

Many of you know that we had previously signed a deal with Ingram periodicals to get Shroud distributed to major retailers across North America...

WELLLLL... Ingram has submitted their first order amounting to 1,400 copies of Issue #6!

YES!

So in addition to a number of online retailers and national independent book stores, Shroud will be available across major retailers in the US and Canada beginning in MAY!

This is a fantastic opportunity for independent authors, publishers, artists, designers, photographers, and musicians to gain the exposure they need to sell their work.

In an effort to provide cost-friendly exposure to my creative brethren, AND to fund this print run, i am slashing my quarter-page ad rates for Issue #6 by 40%.

This means a $50 ad will now be available for $30.

http://www.shroudmagazine.com/quarter-page-advertising-special.html

These special ads will be sold on a first come basis as only 100 slots are available at this price.

Additional discounts available for multi-issue ads.

Once again: QUARTER PAGE ADS 30 BUCKS: GET NATIONAL EXPOSURE.

We can also help you design your ad as well at no additional charge.

RESERVE YOUR SPACE HERE:

http://www.shroudmagazine.com/quarter-page-advertising-special.html

Hosted By:
Kevin Lucia - Shroud Book Reviews

When:
Monday, February 23, 2009

Where:
Anywhere
Anywhere
Anywhere
13744

Description:
Specials on Advertising Rates for Author and Small Press in Shroud Magazine

Click Here To View Event

First, one of my older stories - "My Brother's Keeper" - in an anthology called Darkened Horizons" is now on Amazon. It's not an overly fabulous story, but if the thought of an evil house using porn to entice white trash boys with nothing better to do appeals to you, maybe you might be interested in it. It's a decent enough collection, featuring work from: Brandon Layng, Brittany A. Muscarella, (whom I met at Borderlands and is a solid, SOLID writer), Alan Draven and Eric Enck, among others.

Second, I just finished streamlining my website. Four years ago, I took the plunge and bought a basic website plan from Yahoo. I had nothing published, and had not idea what I was doing. Plus, the thing looked AWFUL. I should've taken screen captures for posterity.

Then again...maybe it's better that I didn't.

In any case, a lot's happened since then. My HTML mojo has gotten way better, I've tinkered with Flash, and I know A LOT more about writing and publishing. I've learned what a writer should and SHOULDN'T put on their websites. Anyway, here 'tis:

Welcome Page - for some, the "Enter" will be off-center. Can't account for all these different sized and resolution monitors these days!

Biography Page - basically just updated it with current info.

Where's Clifton Heights?" - read it to find out. Last summer was dedicated to Hiram Grange & The Chosen One. This summer will be dedicated to the town of Clifton Heights, as I try to weave together all my published and unpublished shorts into a big meta-narrative novel-in-stories. (Yes, according to some I am clinically insane). I'm calling it "Sinners, Saints, and those Lost Between" - although that'll probably change.

Store - most of you have already seen this, but I added the link to Darkened Horizons 4.

So there it is. I'm not "there" yet, but I'm knocking on the door, it seems. Either way, at least I now have a "somewhat" respectable web presence.

Have a good one.