Yaddith Times

Back in 2020 (I think) when this amazing epic fantasy novel-in-poems first came out in ebook format, I devoured it & gave it a five-star review on Goodreads & elsewhere. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it was not available in hardcopy format.

Well . . . we are out of quarantine now, & The Sign of the Dragon has finally been released from electronic-only exile. It is now available in a thick (580+ pages!), well-produced trade paperback, with 40 full-page black & white illustrations by Gary McCluskey.

I can't recommend this Asian-based but multicultural epic too highly, both for folks who love speculative verse & those who simply crave a good story regardless of format. Find it here:

https://tinyurl.com/yckhh26z

Or here :
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sign-of-the-dragon-mary-soon-lee/1136903418

or wherever you buy your books . . . but if you love immersive, poetic fantasy, do yourself a favor & find it.

Penumbra #5

My dark sonnet "Wind Tarot" appears in the 2024 issue of this yearly journal of weird fiction, poetry, & criticism. Edited by S.T. Joshi and published by Hippocampus Press, this perfect-bound trade paperback includes over 300 pages: twelve stories, one classic reprint, 8 pieces of nonfiction / critical essays, & ten poems.

For a complete TOC, or to order:

https://tinyurl.com/3sby4pb7


Where the Silent Ones Watch

I have a new 4-sonnet sequence, "Night Landing," in Where the Silent Ones Watch, edited by James Chambers & published by Hippocampus Press. This 278 page trade paperback offers twenty-seven tales & poems written in celebration of William Hope Hodgson's weird fiction.


For a complete TOC, or to order:

https://tinyurl.com/brnx5esk

It's National Poetry Month in the United States! Are you revved up? Curious? Or completely confused?

Whichever the case, you can learn all about it here:

https://poets.org/national-poetry-month

Need more poetry in your life this month? You can sign up for free poems (usually daily) in your Inbox here:

https://poets.org/poem-a-day

or here:

https://poems.com/

or here:

https://www.rattle.com/

I'll be posting more sources & info as the month goes on, but for now -- why not treat yourself? Nobody needs an all-prose diet.

My feminist Mythos story "Open Adoption" is out now in Black Wings VII, the latest in this long-running Lovecraftian horror anthology series from PS Publishing.

Edited by S.T. Joshi, this trade paperback volume features 17 stories & poems from Mythos authors old and new -- including Ramsey Campbell. Can't remember if I've ever shared a TOC before with this legendary British horror writer, but I'm still doing my tentacular Happy Dance.

For more information, or to order:

https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/black-wings-vii-trade-paperback-edited-by-st-joshi-5981-p.asp

https://tinyurl.com/bddpbn5v (Amazon link)

As I'm sure most bookish folks have read online a few hundred times already, it's (finally) National Poetry Month!

https://poets.org/national-poetry-month

I usually post a few links for where to get more poetry into your Inbox, or just read more poetry online. I may be doing that later in the month, but for now I'd just like to report on my own National Poetry Month reading this year.

Ada Limón's The Carrying followed me home from a used bookstore a few weeks ago. I'm not sure I even remembered that she is the current Poet Laureate of the United States, but I did remember reading her poems elsewhere & really enjoying them. So . . . I've started reading this collection, which has 62 poems. If I nibble a few a day, I'm sure I'll be finished well before the end of the month -- and possibly better off for not having inhaled the whole thing at once. Good poetry is sometimes a bit like very rich (burp) chocolate, or at least it is for me.

For more information & a few poems by Ada Limón:

https://tinyurl.com/4vvfundt

I'll be posting my Goodreads review for The Carrying when I've finished.

I have two new sonnets -- one Italian, one blank verse/syllabic -- in the Winter 2022 issue. Eight years on, Hippocampus Press's semiannual journal of weird poetry & reviews continues to offer a diverse & comprehensive look at this popular subgenre. 135 pp., edited by S.T. Joshi, perfect bound with full color cover.

For full TOC, or to order:

https://tinyurl.com/2ky3r3mf

Issue #50 of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is up now with five stories and three poems, plus suitably atmospheric artwork.

One those poems, "Shaft Tomb," is by Yours Truly -- & mixes just a smidgen of cosmic horror with the dark Egyptology.

Find issue #50 here: https://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/

Find "Shaft Tomb" here: https://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?p=3536

It's all free to read, so go enjoy the pulpy goodness.

If you're looking for a little literary spookiness to get your Halloween season going, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association is ready to help.

Their 2021 Halloween Poetry Reading site is live now, with poem recordings & art from SFPA members. Find it at

https://www.sfpoetry.com/halloween.html

I'm very happy to have my poem "Toward Samhain" appearing on the site. It is beautifully read by the site curator herself, Angela Yuriko Smith.

The site continues to expand throughout the season, so be sure to check back regularly.

And if you enjoy "Toward Samhain," there's a whole new book where that came from! More details & ordering info for my ninth collection of dark verse, Unquiet Stars, can be found at

https://www.weirdhousepress.com/product/unquiet-stars/

My latest collection of dark verse, Unquiet Stars, is in stock now & shipping from Weird House Press.

This one features a new sonnet sequence -- "Faces From the House of Pain" -- along with plenty of cosmic horror, dark archaeology, and grim SF themes.

Signed copies are available -- & better yet, it's on sale!

81 pp., perfect-bound, with color cover art by Skinny Gaviar.

For more information, or to order:

https://www.weirdhousepress.com/product/unquiet-stars/

Just in time for the last bit of National Poetry Month, the 78th issue of Hugo-nominated Abyss & Apex is up! There are nine poems in this quarterly issue, & I'm very happy to report that one of them -- "Red Waking" -- is mine.

Find the current issue here: https://www.abyssapexzine.com/

"Red Waking" (a sonnet of Mars, volcanoes, & Pompeii paranoia) is here: https://www.abyssapexzine.com/2021/04/red-waking/