Worth the Excitement

My life is brimming with excitement lately. For one thing, I’ve finally finished the WIPbeast—for now, at least; no such thing as The End for writers—and I couldn’t be happier. It was a thrilling, trying, fun, exhausting project, and I am so proud of it. I hope to be able to tell you all about it soon, but for now I’m just looking forward to a big check mark, a fresh slate, and…

SUMMER!

I adore summer. Bring on the heat, the sun, the lazy days, the late nights. I can’t get enough. Summer has always been a time of relaxation and freedom for me, so the fact that getting a huge project off my plate coincides perfectly with the start of summer is extra exciting. Already my head is churning and tumbling with new ideas, and this phase when I don’t have to pick one yet is just the best. I fill up my tank and see what floats to the top, then let it soak there until it’s niiiiice and full. (I think the end of that analogy is me squeezing out all the good stuff when it’s ready, but who knows.)

How do I fill up my tank? Well, vacation, for one thing! I’m well overdue for a trip. Traveling always sets my creativity on fire, and I hope this year will be no different. But really, for me, filling up the tank is actually about living fully. I work insanely hard, so I have to play insanely hard to stay balanced. This year I hope that will look like day trips, pool time, barbeques, baking treats, early morning walks, yoga and dance, goofing off with my friends, and consuming lots of great stories.

This week I’m going with a couple of friends to see Hereditary, which everyone is saying is one of the scariest movies in years. We’ve had a huge selection of excellent, high-quality horror films in recent years—The Babadook, Get Out, It Follows, The VVitch, Hush, It, A Quiet Place, Annihilation, Goodnight Mommy—so that’s really saying something! I especially love the trend toward stories that mean something deeper than surface thrills. Here’s the trailer for Hereditary. I am already scared. 😀

TV, too, has become an incredible playing field for dark, complex, meaningful storytelling. Some of the shows being made these days are as good as any movie—Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Justified, Hannibal, and Mindhunter come to mind—and there’s one on the horizon that I’m so excited for I could explode:

Gillian Flynn’s extraordinary novel Sharp Objects is being made into an HBO miniseries! Unforgettable protagonist Camille Preaker is being played by Amy Adams. The trailer gave me chills. I’ve raved about Flynn before, so I’ll contain myself somewhat. (Check out my thoughts on Gone Girl and my quick run-down of all of Flynn’s publications.) But Sharp Objects, far and away, is my favorite of hers, and I’m stoked that it’s being adapted for TV. July 8: mark your calendars!

But, of course, most of my stories come in the lovely shape of a book. Once a bookworm always a bookworm. Summer is usually my best time for reading, too, so my list… might be getting a little out of hand. I recently re-read Marisha Pessl’s drool-worthy novel Night Film, and it was so enjoyable that I’m eyeing a re-read of my beloved House of Leaves. It’s only a matter of time. But I do try to read more new (to me) books than old, because there’s so many I haven’t gotten to yet!

First up on my list is Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year Volume 10, which comes out June 12. I’ve made no secret of my love for this series. They’re an auto-buy for me now. It’s a wonderful way to catch up on some of the best short fiction coming out each year. They’re a great mix of styles and topics, too, so there’s always a few I fall in love with. I might’ve recently bought myself volumes 2 and 3. Whoops.

(Like my photo, above, of Snaps trying to talk me into buying my only missing volume? I’ve started an Instagram account for all things writerly and bookish! Plus cats, of course. Follow me @AnnieNeugebauer to see my life in pictures, and say hi so I can follow back.)

Also soon is Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World, June 26. Tremblay wrote A Head Full of Ghosts, one of my favorites in recent horror. I can’t wait to get my hands on this new one! The description sounds amazing, and his books are always so damn smart.

Oh, and the next Tana French novel, The Witch Elm, comes out October 9. Yes, that’s quite a ways away; that just goes to show how excited I am. I pre-ordered it before Amazon even posted the description. It doesn’t matter. I’d buy French’s grocery list. She’s that good. She writes literary mysteries with beautiful complexity and exquisite prose. (Start with Broken Harbor.) I only wish I didn’t have to wait until fall.

But the next Laurell K. Hamilton ‘Anita Blake’ novel, Serpentine, comes out August 8, which isn’t so far away. Y’all know I love me some Anita Blake! I’m a sucker for an ass-kicking heroine. Sexy vampires never hurt either. (Whatevs, there’s room for scary and sexy; give me a break.)

That’s not even taking into account all the books I’ve bought, been gifted, or still haven’t read yet. Looks like I have my “work” cut out for me. Good thing I have so much travel and pool time coming up. 😉

How about something I’m excited about that’s happening now? My short story “So Sings the Siren” is still going strong! I continue to hear from readers and reviewers, and it’s unbelievably validating. This story has legs! You can now find it in a multitude of places and formats, depending on your preferences:

It’s still available at its original home, Apex Magazine. You can read it free right on their website, or you can order Issue 101 for your favorite e-reader. (Apex is always amazing and well worth a subscription, too, if you like speculative fiction.)

It was also reprinted in Year’s Best Hardcore Horror Volume 3 by Red Room Press, which you can get in print, ebook, or (soon) audiobook! If you’d like a sneak peek, they’ve posted my story as a teaser for the audiobook, so you can listen to the full story for free on Sound Cloud. Angel Leigh McCoy does a phenomenal job reading!

And last but not least, Tales to Terrify podcast the story in Episode 330 as part of their Stoker nomination series. They, along with everyone else involved, did a stellar job. Heather Thomas also gives an amazing reading; her little girl voice is spot on. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of these choices—and my story is so short that you can always check out more than one. 🙂

Before I run into the sunlight never to be seen again head out, here’s a quick roundup of my recent columns and announcements that have appeared elsewhere, in case you missed them:

“Which Types of Readers to Use for Feedback” at Writer Unboxed
“9 Things I’ve Learned about Authoring from Selling My Used Clothes Online” at LitReactor
“Mommie Dearest: 9 of the Most Memorable Mothers in Literature” at LitReactor
“Writers + Cats = Purrfection” at LitReactor
Acceptance news: my flash story “Redless” will appear in The Binge-Watching Cure II by Claren Books.
Acceptance news: my poem “Texas Rain” will appear in the 2019 Texas Poetry Calendar, this year published by Kallisto Gaia Press!
I got three more acceptances this weekend, all stacked up, for three poems and one story, which I’ll share the specifics of once I get permission/sign the contracts. Yay!