Just announced! On June 9th, I will be at Protean Books and Records in downtown Baltimore, MD, signing books with Brian Keene, Mary SanGiovanni, and Stephen Kozeniewski. We’ll be there from Noon to 3pm. Suffice to say, I’m unbelievably excited to take part in this signing. Hope to see you there!
The Deadite Press trade paperback and e-book editions of Clickers Forever: A Tribute to J.F. Gonzalez is now up for pre-order and will be available on April 15th. Order yours here.
A week late from being caught in bad weather, my contributer copy finally came. I am so proud to a part of this amazing project over the last year, and to finally see the finished result is absolutely incredible. Thank you to Brian Keene, Cathy Gonzalez and family, and Paul from Thunderstorm Books for allowing me to pay tribute to a man who inspired me to want to write. It’s been an honor.
If you missed this hardcover edition, the trade paperback edition from Deadite Press is scheduled to be released on April 15th.
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog but first thing’s first: My debut novel THE BETRAYED (released back in March 2017) has officially made Brian Keene’s Top 15 Books of 2017 list! Since I started writing over ten years ago I wanted to make this list. Keene is more or less the reason I wanted to write, and to be added to a year’s top list that includes works from Victor LaValle, Christopher Golden, Ronald Malfi, Maurice Broaddus, and the other, better Southard, Nate, along with my current peers like Somer Canon, Matt Hayward, and the Sisters of Slaughter, it’s an absolute honor. Here’s what he had to say:
“First-time novelists often wear their influences on their sleeve. In some cases, this can lead to unfortunate pastiche. In more talented hands, it can lead to energetic and engaging stories that take that nostalgia and make something new.
“THE BETRAYED is definitely a case of the latter. A novel out of time, perhaps, and one that could have easily found a proud home in the Eighties horror section alongside Graham Masterton and Richard Laymon. Indeed, there’s no denying either of those authors (as well as perhaps Bentley little’s) influence on Wesley Southard, but THE BETRAYED never strays into pastiche territory. Instead, it builds on what has come before it, and what follows is a fine example of New Pulp that will appeal to fans of Bryan Smith, J.F. Gonzalez, and Gord Rollo.
“THE BETRAYED is a wonderful blue-collar horror novel — a brutal, riveting funhouse ride that is over all-too-quickly and will leave the reader wanting more.”
Again, I am truely blown away. The e-book is still only $0.99, but not for much longer. The price will go up by the end of the month, so get it now while it’s still dirt cheap.
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Secondly, I am in the process of writing my first novella which I’m calling ONE FOR THE ROAD. My goal is to hit twenty thousand words and at this moment I am a little over halfway done. It’s a project I started many years ago, something that was sparked by my past as a musician, and unlike writing THE BETRAYED I’m having a blast writing it. Not to belittle my novel, but it was a absolute grind to produce. This novella on the other hand has been a joy to write. I hope to have the first draft done by the end of the month, and the following few drafts just after. As of this moment, I’m making this my Scares That Care Weekend 2018 release (along with possibly something else, we’ll see…). I cant wait to see what you all think!
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Speaking of Scares That Care Weekend 2018, I will be back again in Virginia t sell books and read and who knows what else. It takes place between August 3rd-5th in Williamsburg. I had a blast last year and I can’t wait for year’s.
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Speaking of signings, there may be another in the works. Now that I’m officially a Pennsylvanian (God, that still sounds so weird to me), I’m surrounded my many of my author friends, several of which are up-and-comers like myself. We’re looking to do something locally. Nothing solid yet, but I’ll let you know when and where it happens.
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Early next month will see the Thunderstorm Books hardcover release of CLICKERS FOREVER: A TRIBUTE TO J.F. GONZALEZ, which includes my PRIMITIVE based story “For You, Anything”. I absolutely cannot wait to see this book in person, and if the signature sheets were any indication of what to expect, we’re all in for a big treat. And though the limited edition is long sold out, sometime this summer Deadite Press will be producing an affordable trade paperback for all to enjoy.
(Man, I can’t get over how killer that cover artwork is.)
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And that’s about it for now. There might be a few short story releases on the horizon. We’ll see. But at this point I’m open for whatever 2018 has to offer. I hope to have another novella/novelette done by Scares That Care Weekend (not sure yet what the word count will be on this one, or the title for that matter). I would also like to finish enough short stories to put together a collection, as well as starting novel number two.
I’m at a new chapter in my life. I’m surrounded by the support of my peers, and for the first time in a long time I feel inspired to create and ready to climb the next rung of the ladder.
2018, you’re mine.
After a long year of being In Production, CLICKERS FOREVER: A TRIBUTE TO J.F. GONZALEZ is officially up for pre-order!
I’ve always said that Brian Keene, Tim Lebbon, and J.F. Gonzalez are the reason I write, and to be a part of a tribute anthology to one of my idols is truely an honor. Everyone involved in the project–from Keene choosing and editing the stories, to the authors who poured their hearts into their fiction or essays, to the truely outstanding artwork on the cover and the book’s insides, to Paul at Thunderstorm for putting out yet another beautiful book–are extremely proud that we can honor such an influencial man. There is not a single person involved in this book that Gonzalez didn’t affect in some fashion.
I hope this book creates more fans for Gonzalez’s work. Though I’m really proud of my story “For You, Anything” (which as far as I know is the only story in the antho based in the world of the novel PRIMITIVE), it’s hard for me to promote my singular work. My hope–OUR hope as contributers–is that you come away with this with a greater appreciation for his work as whole, and if you haven’t read his work before this it makes you want to discover his incredible backlist of fiction, many of which Mr. Keene is helping his family republish as we speak. And if it makes you want to look into that particular contributer’s work, then that’s just icing on the cake.
That being said, I can’t wait to see this thing in person!
Side note: Yes, there will be a paperback and e-book from Deadite Press at some point next year, but it will not include everything in the limited hardcover.
Hey, everyone! Just wanted to let you guys know that a new paperback version of my novel THE BETRAYED will be available within the next twenty-four hours. I fixed some grammar issues that were found in the previous version. I will be working on fixing the e-book version in the next few days. As always, thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed it, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.
Thanks!
Meet Virginia! (Ok, that’s as far as I’ll go with Train lyrics)
Scares That Care Weekend is officially on! We’re here in Williamsburg, VA as a part of the charity weekend, and we want to meet you. Yes, you. Even if you’re a Train fan. I won’t hold it against you. You like who you like, you know? Hell, I like Boz Scaggs.
All the details are at the official website. I’ll be in the vendors room, sharing a table with authors Kelli Owen and Robert Ford, and my fiction reading is tonight (Friday) from 5:45-6:15 with author Kyle Lybeck. I’ll have plenty of copies of my novel THE BETRAYED and my small story collection UNFIT FOR BURIAL, as well as a FREE (yes FREE!) short story chapbook at the table for anyone who wants one (limited quantities available). And free bookmarks!
I hope to see you all there!
So… For the past four days I’ve been alone. My wife moved away to Pennsylvania this past Sunday, leaving me behind here in Indiana. She starts her new job Monday, and my job, other than what I do for a paycheck, is to stay behind and whip the house into selling shape. Unfortunately, being the shithead I am, I’ve neglected a lot of household duties over the last nine years of home-ownership. Nothing major, I don’t think. Just things like: “Oh, that broke? I’ll fix it eventually…” “That knob is coming off? I’ll get it tomorrow…” “There’s mold under that cabinet? Someone should get to that…” Everything’s coming back to bite me all at once.
It’s just difficult to stay motivated. Even though it’s only been four measly days, I miss my wife dearly. Miss waking up next to her and kissing her goodbye in the morning. I miss knowing she’ll be home at the same time every night. I miss arguing where to eat. I miss laughing with her, and her rolling her eyes when I go on tangents about hockey stats and “This player got traded to that city?! How crazy is that?!” Hell, I even miss our dogs she took with her in the move, leaving behind three cats that love to test my patience daily (side note: I love cats and have always been a cat person, so don’t think I mean ill will toward them). It’s hard having no idea when I’m going to see her again. She may meet me and stay the weekend at Scares That Care, but her new job may prevent her, understandably so, from coming down. I some vacation days and flyer miles which I plan on using soon, but will have to wait until I better know her work schedule. It’s just hard.
I haven’t spent any significant amount of time away from her since we’ve been together (6 years together, 3 years married) and I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it. I’m OK right now, and I’m sure I’ll be fine in the coming weeks. I going to do my damnedest to get to her quickly as possible, and start our new life together in the Northeast. It’s just going to take a little time.
Alright, back to cleaning…
The Horror Show with Brian Keene (and Dave Thomas) Episode 122, which features an interview with me that was recorded a few weeks ago, is now available for download! We discussed many things, including personal influences, my debut novel THE BETRAYED, my story entry for CLICKERS FOREVER, and my hockey obsession. Although I was nervous as hell initially, I quickly settled in and had a blast being questioned by two of my absolute favorite authors: Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni. A big thank you to all three of them for having me. I hope you enjoy!
Wesley Southard 