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Monday, December 12, 2011

Spotlight on Joe L. Blevins' THE FAMILIAR

The folks here at Shroud wanted to steer you in the direction of one of our sponsor's new award winning titles:

The Familiar

by Joe L. Blevins

New to Black Bed Sheet Books December 2nd in a Kindle format! 

Joe L. Blevins is a member of the British Fantasy Society.  

The Familiar is a winner in Hollywood's 2011 Halloween Book Festival.

Black Bed Sheet Books Synopsis:

A larger coven of witches comes to Salem for the first full lunar eclipse of the winter solstice in over three hundred seventy four years, and choose a vulnerable man as their slave. When he is found drunk and in possession of stolen jewelry from a grave, he is sentenced to hang. The witches give him a strange potion that mimics death. The authorities bury him thinking he is already dead. The rare lunar eclipse during the winter solstice passes. He emerges from the grave a large cat capable of changing into the form of a man during the full moon. His powers allow him to be charming and give him a "second-sight" ability. He can change to many forms of beast when his life is threatened. He can see what scares someone the most to use that against them. He takes the name Winston Rupert Wallace. Winston uses his new powers to build great wealth to become an entrepreneur who controls a big part of New Amsterdam. 

Willia and her brother Stephen join Winston to buy some ships to move goods up and down the Eastern Seaboard. They use their powers and influence to build New Amsterdam into a thriving city to live. Willia conjures up a member of the Roanoke expedition named Sir Christopher Warren. He is a warlock who comes to take control of all their lives. He seeks the ancient Book of Spells that Willia has hidden during the Salem witch trials when many innocents were persecuted and where real witches avoided communities and paranoid officials. Follow the adventures of Winston, Willia and Stephen as they use their magical powers to make themselves filthy rich and powerful, and fight the evil influence of Warren to make a decent life in New Amsterdam, the future New York City.


Available now at downwarden.com for $3.95 for the e-Book.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Shroud Magazine Digital Edition V. 1.02 (August 2011) Now Available

Shroud is thrilled to release the second issue of our monthly digital edition in smartphone and tablet compatible .pdf format. With all exclusive content, Shroud DE provides an excellent way for readers to sample the same quality fiction, nonfiction and art as in our successful quarterly print magazine. V. 1.02 (August 2011) features KRIS ST. JAMES' “Die Wassergeist,” ADAM BLOMQUIST's “Trap,” ALAN MEYROWITZ's “Vampiric Nights,” Richard Wright’s “CRAVEN PLACE” Chapter Two, Robert Davies' "Hiram Grange & The Ghosts of Marrakech" Scott C. Carr's SOMEONE OUGHTA SELL TICKETS...! Beautiful cover Art by Danny Evarts, and DEMENTIS MORTUUS -- Word Games for the Worst of Us.



CLICK BELOW TO READ AND DOWNLOAD!


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

2011 Collegiate Fiction Award Deadline Extended To October 15

Please spread the word, Shroud's 2011 Collegiate Fiction Award deadline has been extended to October 15, 2011.  The nominees and award will be handed out during the Saturday night celebration at AnthoCon 2011.  Read the submission guidelines here.  Free to enter!

Shroud Update August 2011 -- Going Strong!

Wow, the last several months have been crazy. In that time I have been laid off, reemployed, finished grad school, travelled and trained for the new job, and am in the midst of plans for Anthology 2011 (AnthoCon).  However, thanks to the efforts of my dear friend and Co-Shroudite, Danny Evarts, and an exceptional community of writers, editors, and artists, Shroud Magazine and Shroud Publishing continues to forge ahead with new issues, new books and new projects.  What hasn't been exceptional is my ability to get Shroud out to subcribers in one mailing, nor my ability to get all of my authors paid quickly.  While the afforementioned events may serve to explain, I make no excuses. My writers are what make Shroud a superlative publication, and my readers are our audience.  Please, writers, if you have not already done so, send me an email with your preferred payment delivery method.  Also send me your current address so I can make sure you get your contributor copy as well (for those few that have not received theirs' yet.)  Remember that all Shroud authors are entitled to a 40% discount for additional copies of the issue they appeared in.  Simply ask me for the coupon code in your email.  I am usually only to fill orders on weekends, but I'll try to come up with a plan to fix that.  If you are awaiting an order, trust that I am working on getting everything caught up.

So what can you expect from Shroud in the coming months?  A new digital edition is just about to be released, Issue 12 is in production.  Our Guest Editor, Jackie Gamber, is wrapping up Issue 13, a new novel from Nate Lambert is in production, as are The Terror In Miskatonic, and Epitaphs, an anthology from the New England Horror Writers.

Thank you for your continued support.  I am a writer as well.  I struggle with rejection letters, a competitive market, folding publications, and trying to develop my passion into an income.  I understand the importance of honesty and dependability in this market. My goal is, and has always been, for Shroud to be an honest and dependable enitity in the dark fiction ecosystem.  Subcribership continues to grow, but slowly.  As a result, we operate on a tight budget and are required to be flexibile about the publishing schedule.  You have all demonstrated understanding and patience in this regard, and I appreciate it.  In the end, we intend to sustain Shroud through a dynamically changing market landscape, and continue to maintain quality and relevance in a competitive environment that is filled with alternatives. Shroud will enter its 5th year of existence by the time we all convene in Portsmouth for AnthoCon.  I hope many of you will be on hand to celebrate with us.

--Tim

Friday, May 13, 2011

New "Scary Psyches" Issue Edited by Jackie Gamber!

Shroud is pleased to announce our second themed issue.  Issue #13 will be guest edited by a talented writer and editor in the speculative fiction field, Jackie Gamber.

Jackie is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Meadowhawk Press, a speculative fiction publisher based in Memphis. She edited and published David Walton’s Terminal Mind, which garnered the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award in 2009 (more on Jackie below.)

Shroud Magazine, Issue #13, "Scary Psyches."

Scary Psyches – Stories that explore the dark side of our nature; hidden, forbidden facets of the human drama. Maybe we indulge them. Maybe we don’t.


No slasher stories for the sake of gore. No serial killers (unless there’s a fascinating element for his/her “why”). Go for creepy, Hitchcockian thriller, and you’re on the right track.

Submission should follow Shrouds submission requirements as outlined here.  Also visit the submissions page to learn about payment terms.

Submission are open June 1st, 2011 and subsequently close July 31st 2011, and must be submitted as .rtf attachments to jackie@shroudmagazine.com.  Submissions that are not formatted correctly, are sent to the wrong email address, or do bot comply with the theme of the issue will be unfortunately deleted.

More on Jackie Gamber

Jackie also edited the award-winning benefit anthology Touched by Wonder. She has been a guest lecturer at Memphis Options High Schools, and is a speaker at writers’ conferences from Michigan to Florida. Jackie is also the visionary behind the MidSouthCon Writers’ Conference, now in its third year.


An award-winning author in her own right, Jackie writes stories ranging from ultra-short to novel-length, varieties of which have appeared in anthologies such as Tales of Fantasy and Old School, as well as numerous periodical publications. Jackie is a member of the professional organizations Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers Association. She was named honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Award, received a 2008 Darrell Award for best short story by a Mid-South author, and is winner of the 2009 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction.

Future Issues

Shroud is thrilled to be working with a number of writers and editors in the genre for upcoming themed issues.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Shroud Publishing 2011 Collegiate Fiction Award

Submission Dates:  March 1st, 2011 through July 31st, 2011

Response Time:  1 to 3 months after the end of the submission period

Submission email:  cfa@shroudmagazine.com

Format and word count:  Electronic submissions only; .rtf or .doc file attachment; no more than 500 words.

Awards:

1st place -- $100, publication in Shroud Magazine, two free contributor copies, and a hand-lettered “Hiram Award” presented at the Anthology 2011 Conference (anthocon.com) at the Wynwood Best Western in Portsmouth NH, November 11-13, 2011.

Honorable Mentions (4) -- Publication in Shroud Magazine, one contributor copy, and a hand-lettered “Hiram Award” presented at the Anthology 2011 Conference at the Wynwood Best Western in Portsmouth NH, November 11-13, 2011.

All awardees will receive a free weekend pass to the Anthology 2011 Conference, where they may participate in workshops and seminars focussed on the craft of genre writing.

Details:  Shroud Publishing, a Milton, NH-based publisher of Shroud Magazine, The Journal of Dark Fiction and Art, is accepting submissions of exceptional flash fiction from college students. Shroud endeavors to discover the bold new voices emerging from within the realm of dark speculative fiction. Stories may be on any topic, provided that they are speculative in nature, and would fit the thematic orientation of Shroud Magazine as stated in its submission guidelines at www.shroudmagazine.com. There is no fee to enter.

Stories will be judged by Shroud’s editorial team using the following general criteria:

Originality, uniqueness;
Exceptional use of craft techniques (dialogue, narrative tension, subtext, POV, etc.)
Basic compositional ability;
Adherence to Shroud’s submission guidelines at www.shroudmagazine.com

Shroud will acknowledge receipt of submissions, but will be unable to personally respond to, or critique every submission.

Learn more about Shroud at www.shroudmagazine.com; Twitter: Shroudmag

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Kevin Lucia, Shroud Review Editor, Passes baton to Tim Remp

Kevin Lucia has a been a member for the Shroud family for some time (and will continue to be).  He has been a prolific and talented reviewer and has done an exceptional job of managing the book review process for Shroud.

As a direct result of his efforts, the Shroud name has made it onto the book-jacket blurbs of some distinguished novels, not to mention in press materials, Websites, and blogs.  He is an extremely hard worker and had given 100% to the Shroud team.

Kevin announced recently that he would like to focus more on his own writing.  We support him.  It is our hope and intention to see more of Kevin's striking prose within the Shroud Publishing fold.  Over the past few weeks, Kevin has been working diligently to transition the review process to another talented writer and good friend, Timothy Remp.  Tim is also a voracious reader, a published author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, and a New Hampshire native.  The latter is important because it will assist in me getting books to Tim as publishers send them to me.

I am thrilled to see Tim come on board and am certain he will offer a comparable level of talent and diligence to the review process.

Here's a copy of the note, Kevin recently sent out to his review staff:


Hello folks -


Hope the New Year has been good to you all so far.  Just wanted to thank you for all the work you've done, and also update you on changes in Shroud's Book Review Department.  First of all, if you haven't visited the blog recently, we posted a ton of reviews over the break:


http://shroudmagazinebookreviews.blogspot.com/


Second, I'm stepping down as Book Review Editor for Shroud, and handing the reigns over to Tim Remp.  Tim posted all the reviews over the break and did a nice job, so after talking with Tim Deal and him, we've decided on Tim as our Review Editor for now. 


I saw this coming about a year ago.  After 5+ years of reviewing books & interviewing authors, I really felt it was time not only to just read what I felt informed me as a writer, but also to devote all my free time to my own prose.  However, I thought we'd started something neat, so I didn't want to abandon Tim and Shroud.  So, I recruited all you, and tried to get a system in place, so I wasn't leaving things in complete disarray.


Once that seemed to be working okay, I approached Tim Deal about backing out fully, we discussed possible replacements, tried Tim Remp out, and it worked nicely. His geographical proximity to Tim Deal is also a plus when it comes to managing Shroud operations.


So here's what will happen now:


I'll mail all the books I have left to Tim.  Once that's done and I forward all my contacts to Tim, he'll start up the process once more of sending a request list out to all of you, and you'll just continue on as you have.  His email is: timothy.p.remp@comcast.net.  As always, if you come up with other sources for reviews he'll still accept them, to keep the blog as active as possible. 


You'll remember we offered a payment of $7.00 for those reviews that found their way into print.  The plan is still to pay that in a stipend, and I'll need to confer with Danny Evarts to see which reviews made it into the print versions.


Once again, thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

Kevin Lucia 
Review Editor 
Shroud Magazine 
The Journal of Dark Fiction and Art 
http://www.shroudmagazine.com