The Fever Trilogy

As you might have heard, DarkFuse, the publisher of a good number of my books, has folded, declared bankruptcy, and is now gone from the horror scene. Many of my writer friends are either saddened by this news or downright angry. Some of them feel they are being screwed out of sales and royalties and they may be right. Me? I fall mostly into the sad category, as DarkFuse gave me an audience for my particular brand of horror, which is literary, surreal, and not easily digestible. In terms of food, my work is not a cheeseburger. Cheeseburgers are great. They taste good, they're easy to make, and they're everywhere. My work has more complex flavors, more elements to it. It's like those fancy meals in American Psycho. Okay, no, that's going too far, but it completes the metaphor.

The point is, I now have a lot of work previously published by DarkFuse without a home. I've sold my first three novels to Crossroad Press. They offer solid terms and they'll be able to get my work back out into the world fairly efficiently. A lot of DarkFuse authors are moving their work over to them, so they're good people. But as far as some of my more specialized work, like my novellas, I'm now free to play with them. Novellas are a tough sell to any publisher and I was fortunate to have so many published by DarkFuse, 

The good news is that I've learned a lot about publishing these past few years and have been honing my skills. I can now format my own work, hire editors, and even my graphic design skills are fairly solid. I have all the tools in place to go full indie. I would, of course, love to find full-time financial success as an indie author, but I've discovered my particular style and content may not be well suited to that world. Which is fine. I will continue to toil in my own personal misunderstood limbo. I will continue to publish with those publishers more willing to take risks on my work that continues to be dark, often highly-disturbing and unusual. And I will continue to self-publish. 

It will begin with "Fevered Hills", which has been called a "McCarthyesque fever-dream." This was my first published novella. Before "Fevered Hills" I had published only a few poems and a couple of short stories. It will have a few minor edits and include the original forward (published on the DarkFuse website at the time). 

Next will come "Buried Soldiers," another novella set in the same "devastated by insanity" world as "Fevered Hills," although with a different protagonist. This work was originally published as a serial in DarkFuse magazine a couple of years ago and then in the DarkFuse anthology series. 

Finally, "Apocalypse Artist" will enter the world like a wailing and deformed afterbirth. This never before published novella sees the return of Martin from "Fevered Hills" and picks up just about where that novella left off. It follows Martin as he meets and confronts the Bearded Man. I was working with DarkFuse on this third novella, but now that they've folded, I'm going to publish it myself. 

And so, over the course of five years, the Fever Trilogy has finally come together. 

Watch this space for descriptions of all three novellas - and the good news is, since I'm the publisher this time, you won't have to wait for long! 

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