Blog

  • Events and orders

    Things seem to be picking up again. We’ve got two cool upcoming events. One is a chat next Wednesday, the 22nd 5pm Central time at Horror-Web. It’s the GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST chat where they’ve invited a bunch of past participants to return for one big hootenanny. John will be participating as well as Mike…

  • War on sales

    I mentioned a few weeks back that Everybody Scream! was reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly and we were anxious to see what sales would be generated from that. We’ve had some time to see the results and the first thing we learned is it doesn’t happen all at once as soon as the issue comes out….

  • It’s been awhile

    I didn’t realize how long it had been since I’d done an entry until Simon Wood wrote to ask if the journal had been moved. Nope, I’ve just had a lot of things on my mind that don’t have to do with RDSP. I’ve tried to make this journal mostly about the press and want…

  • Bloody Mary gives it 5 stars

    Bloody Mary’s five star review of The Fall of Never is up now at Horror-web.com. Here’s a quote: The atmosphere is charged with voltaic emotions and external anguish, electrifying the air you breathe. Coming off in deathless waves, the fear is naked and palpable. Each setting can be felt and embraced, every location visually assaulting….

  • lacksluster

    The funeral for John’s father was Friday and we got through that OK. I think he is doing as well as can be expected and I know he appreciates everybody’s support. It’s hard to keep going though. I’ve been able to keep up with routine things like record keeping and emails. Bare Bone #6 has…

  • On Saturday evening John’s father was taken to the hospital. They said he had pancreatitis and gall stones but they could operate. However, his situation continued to worsen and he passed away on Monday night. Although Jim was 72, and hadn’t been in good health for years, it all seemed very sudden. If anyone has…

  • Savannah was ghostly, magical and my first experience with Southern hospitality. The populace was truly more friendly there. I took lots of great photos that I can add to my vault of images and textures for future graphics. Many of these could make great covers for the right book! A few more pictures

  • Live from Savannah…

    It’s The Raw Dog Screaming Duo!! So far it seems like the contributors to Tempting Disaster are into the release. John had the antho completed for a long time so the news of its release came out of the blue for the authors. Unfortunately John often gets way ahead of his time and he’s put…

  • Tempting Disaster

    Now introducing the fabulous web presence for Two Back Books: http://www.twobackedbooks.com!!!! Much thanks to wretlind and his plentiful midnight oil which created this masterpiece. And we now have a message board for discussing all things RDSP & Two Back Books. Check out the forum. Ha ha! I really wanted to get a chance to start…

  • As promised here’s the full review from Publisher’s Weekly for Everybody Scream!: Set in Thomas’s non-Earth city of Paxton (aka Punktown), a futuristic dystopia introduced in the story collection Punktown (2000) that’s equal parts H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham and Blade Runner’s dark metropolis, the author’s second noir horror novel (after 2003’s Monstrocity) starts slowly, but the…

  • Today we’ll go out and try to find a copy of Publisher’s Weekly. We’re still beside ourselves with excitement but also a bit nervous about the results. The review is good but will it help sales and if so, when will we see the results? John has high hopes, I’m just trying to avoid disappointment….

  • got ghosts?

    Tomorrow PW hits the stands! Bare Bone #6 has been sent to the printers, now awaiting the proof. I bet it’s going to take them a long time because of everyone else printing books for Christmas. Sent out a bazillion packages yesterday. One went to cakeearthhead, also a copy of The Fall of Never went…

  • hallucinatory stories

    Jeff just sent us a copy of the PW review and it’s quite positive, I’m relieved and elated. Here’s the section he chose to quote; “the results are alternately hilarious and terrifying…Thomas uses techniques and ideas pioneered by Lovecraft to make caustic social observations about humanity, in particular our exploitation of other species.” Most of…

  • Cauterize the wound

    It’s cool to have so many people give us a high-five about the PW review. There’s nothing like general good-will to make a publisher feel all rosy inside. I spent most of today trying to do a paypal shopping cart thingy so people can order RDSP titles directly from us. In the beginning I didn’t…

  • Publishers Weekly!!

    Apparently PW will be reviewing Everybody Scream! in their 11/08 issue. I have no idea whether it will be a positive or negative review but we’re so excited because this is our first title to be reviewed in PW. Supposedly any exposure there can boost sales. PW THE BIGGIE for bookstores and libraries. Finally we…

  • The thing about emails is the more you write the more replies you get the more emails you have to write. It’s a vicious cycle I tell you! I’ve got the front and back covers done for Bare Bone #6 and I should be able to do a test print today. The ads are almost…

  • Election? What election?

    horrordiva just sent the link to a couple places where her review of Everybody Scream! is published. Check it out: http://www.gothicrevue.com/EverybodyScream.html Today it’s just been email after email to write. First I had to catch up on the correspondence from when we were gone, then do follow-up emails to people we met at the con….

  • WFC

    Everyone said WFC was the con to go to if you wanted to meet professionals in the industry as opposed to fans and they were right. John and I got to finally meet Jason from Night Shade Books and talk to Jeremy who we’d met before. I had a long talk with Roger from Endeavor…

  • Hey! What do you know? The hotel we’re staying in has a computer in the lobby with internet access. I doubt I’ll spend much time checking in but with the time difference we’re up way too early this morning so I’ve got a little time. The trip went well and we’ve already had the chance…

  • One more before we go

    So we’ll be out of touch for a few days (you’re saying ‘when was the last time those two were *in* touch). I think I will miss posting every day and keeping up with the lj community but hopefully we will meet a lot of those poor bastards who don’t have lj blogs. We’ve had…

  • Packing, checking

    catalogs—check mailing list—check boatload o’ books—check giveaways: sick bags, t-shirts, postcards—check Ok, almost everything is packed for World Fantasy…except our clothes. I think we’re reaching the end of the line with the Sick Bags. We bought 2 or 3 hundred pill bottles and there will probably only be 30 or 40 left after this trip….

  • Gratuitous dashes

    The prep for WFC is moving along, got most of the books packed but it looks like we’re going to need another suitcase this time around. We’ve got quite a few new books on the horizon and I’m beginning to feel an avalanche of editing slowly building that may burst down upon me in a…