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The Zombies Have Arrived

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I figured this being Good Friday and all, an announcement of a zombie novel would be more than appropriate, right? Anyway, The Dishonored Dead is now available. Here are the details.

Description:

In a not-so-distant future, the world has devolved and most of the population has become the animated dead. Those few that are living are called zombies. They are feared and must be hunted down and destroyed.

Conrad is one of the animated dead. A devoted husband, a loving father, he is the best zombie Hunter in the world. But when he hesitates one night in killing a living adult, his job is put in jeopardy. Instead of being outright dismissed, he is transferred to a program so secretive even the Government would deny its existence — and where Conrad soon learns a startling truth about how his own son might be in danger of becoming a zombie.

As living extremists become more emboldened and blow up a Hunter Headquarters, as a power-hungry Hunter becomes more enraged and will stop at nothing to gain absolute power, Conrad begins to question not just his profession, but his own existence. And before he knows it he is on a journey of self-discovery, remembering a past he was forced to forget, and soon finding himself not only a hunted man, but a man who must now save both his son and the entire world.

The Dishonored Dead is a 100,000-word zombie thriller that includes the 3,000-word short story “In the Land of the Blind,” which won 10th Annual Chiaroscuro Short Story Contest and was the inspiration for the novel.

Advance Praise for The Dishonored Dead:

“The Dishonored Dead is one of the most original and gripping zombie novels I have ever read, offering a glimpse into the life of a zombie in a world turned backwards, where zombies live and humans are feared. Highly recommended!”

— Jeremy Robinson, author of Instinct and Threshold

Purchase the e-book at:

Linkage:

More e-book formats coming soon. For now, enjoy.

A Snap Plagiarism

Hint Fiction is, I guess, my baby, and like all babies, you're supposed to look out for and take care of them, right? So whenever Hint Fiction is mentioned around the Webosphere, I'm usually aware of it. Oftentimes people mention the anthology or might even quote a story from the anthology, but when they do they almost always give proper citation for the author in question. Other times writers post their own Hint Fiction in various places. But never before have I run into a situation like this one, where I came across this tweet last night:

The story looked very familiar, and at first I thought, No way, and then I thought, Maybe? and then I double checked and I thought, Son of a bitch. You see, one of the honorable mentions from the very first Hint Fiction contest (and a story reprinted in the anthology) was a story called "A Snap Decision" by Jamie Felton and it went a little something like this:

Her finger tapped against her teeth. “I don’t think it’s going to work.” He sank slowly underneath the surface. She could still see his eyelashes.

A little different, yes, but not by much. In fact, it's the line of dialogue that really pushed it over the edge for me. So I sent this tweet:

I knew a blog post about this was coming but wanted to hold off until I got a response. Well, that response came earlier today:

Not really sure why this guy is thanking me, but I responded with this:

No reply yet, and who knows, maybe it was just coincidental or an innocent mistake, but then there came this tweet:

Classy, @tjpitre. Real classy.

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Submissions keep pouring in for the new Hint Fiction contest. A rough estimate shows about 90 stories submitted so far, the majority of which are being sent via the alternative submission form. That's a lot of submissions considering the contest has only been open for three days! Remember, people, you have until the end of the month to submit, so don't rush yourselves.

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Noogle Knock At ChiZine

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ChiZine has recently gone through a major revamp, and to celebrate, this month they're offering a mega-issue, an issue so large that they're releasing sets of fiction and poetry every week. The stories and poems in this particular mega-issue have been donated by previous contributors. Some are rare reprints, others are originals. So far they've published work by Neil Gaiman, Tom Piccirilli, Stewart O'Nan, and many more. This week includes fiction by Mike Carey, Brian Hodge, Nancy Kilpatrick, Lee Thomas, Richard Thomas, and me with a strange little story called "Noogle Knock." Seriously, people, this one is strange. Enjoy, and if you can, consider donating to help keep ChiZine going.

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Hint Fiction Contest The Third

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In one more day, Hint Fiction will turn two years old. Hard to believe that what originally started as a not-so-serious essay which was intended to be read by only a handful of people turned into something this big. After all, Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer came out in November to very positive reviews. It was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon. It was chosen as one of The Nervous Breakdown’s favorite books of the year. And the Gotham Writer's Workshop featured Hint Fiction as their writing contest this past fall. So yes, a lot has happened in the past two years, and to celebrate Hint Fiction's continuing success, we're having another contest!

First, what is Hint Fiction? Inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s infamous six-word story — “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn” — Hint Fiction is a story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story. These are complete stories that hint at a larger story, not a first sentence or random sentence plucked from a larger work thinly disguised as a story. To see examples, look at the past two years' winners and finalists (2009 and 2010), or check out examples of my own Hint Fiction. Or, better yet, read the anthology.

This Year's Judge:

Two years ago the very first Hint Fiction contest was judged by Stewart O'Nan. Last year it was judged by James Frey. This year? Why, this year's judge is the legendary Joyce Carol Oates, who really needs no introduction (though I will mention that her story in the Hint Fiction anthology was the much-loved "The Widow's First Year").

Prizes:

  • The first place winner will receive $100; the second place winner will receive $50; the third place winner will receive $25. The first place winner will also receive a slew of  journals and anthologies donated by a handful of publishers:
  • All runners-up will also receive a copy of the Hint Fiction anthology, signed by over a dozen contributors, including Benjamin Percy, Michael Martone, Edith Pearlman, Randall Brown, Roxane Gay, and more.

Rules:

The contest starts now and will take entries until midnight April 30th eastern time. There is no entry fee. You are allowed to submit up to two stories of no more than twenty-five words each in the comments section of this post or, if you would prefer, in the alternative submission form below. (The submission form is for those writers who do not wish for their stories to be publicly read or who have concerns that, because the stories will appear in the comments section of this blog, they will be considered published. I personally don't think it's a problem, but I don't want to leave anyone out, so the submission form is an alterative.) Any writer who submits more than two stories will be disqualified. If submitting two stories, submit them at the same time. At the end of this contest, all submitted stories will be deleted from the comments section. No reprints. Titles are not required but encouraged, as they can create an extra layer to the story. Winners will be contacted by email and announced here. In the meantime, "like" Hint Fiction on Facebook or follow Hint Fiction on Twitter for any and all Hint-related news. Have fun!