My "A Darke Phantastique" Contributor's Copy!

Cycatrix Press, headed by Jason V Brock and his wife Sunni, is a publisher to watch. I purchased a book from them before (The Devil's Coattails) and was floored by the quality of the publication and the stories. Needless to say, to actually be IN one of their releases would be an event to crow about. Enter A Darke Phantastique, which includes my story, "Bittersweet Bedlam."

For this one, I traveled up to Washington State to take part in the official signing party at the University Temple United Methodist Church, a venue of the University of Seattle. Throughout the night I had a chance to meet and greet all of the other contributors, including Sunni and Jason Brock, Wade German, Andrew S. Fuller, Nickolas Furr, William F. Nolan, Greg Bear, S. T. Joshi and W. H. Pugmire.

The two monoliths of genre fiction sat together.

Greg Bear made a point to come down the signing line and shake everyone's hand when he first arrived, and to say goodbye before he left. That's just a singular example of how great everyone was. I'll admit it: as dyed-in-the-wool introvert, I was a worried about being in the company of strangers. But with all of us united by the love of writing, I didn't feel at all out of place.

Special thanks to Olivia, who came to support me and take pictures, and to Chloe who--armed only with an Amber Brown book--did a darn fine job of letting me live the author's dream without a single word of complaint.