Just wanted to let folks know that I finished the first draft of my latest novel SHADOW SEASON this past weekend, almost four months to the day that I began writing it. And let me tell you, this one very nearly whipped my ass. It was by far the most difficult project I've ever worked on, and there were times when I wasn't sure I could even complete the book. Having a blind protagonist forced me to change my voice and process in some ways that I expected and a whole mess of ways that I didn't. Because blindness is one of my deepest fears, during the course of the writing I suffered anxiety attacks, screaming nightmares, and some seriously bad mood swings. It weren't no fun, brother.
Also, some nice reviews have come in lately. This from Eddie Muller in the San Francisco Chronicle:
"You can tell that Tom Piccirilli cut his teeth writing horror fiction. He loves sensation and never shies away from it. His prose has the visceral punch of the best pulp writers of the past century. His move into crime fiction is welcome: The Cold Spot (Bantam; 320 pages; $6.99 paperback) is both funny and ferocious as it describes a young car jockey's desperate attempts to escape the brutal legacy of his criminal grandfather. Piccirilli bangs it out like an old-school penny-a-worder, but his stories are worth their weight in gold. Also out now is the more somber but equally good The Fever Kill (Creeping Hemlock Press; 224 pages; $16.95 paperback)."
Eddie Muller is something of a hero of mine, the so-called Czar of Noir, the head of the Noir Foundation which seeks to preserve film noir and get the classics back into circulation. He's done dozens of commentaries on some of the very best film noir DVD releases.
And here's the starred Publishers Weekly review on my forthcoming collection FUTILE EFFORTS, due out from Cemetery Dance, but not available for pre-order yet.
"In this disturbing, often grotesque and ultimately mesmerizing collection, Piccirilli (The Cold Spot) reprints 17 stories and 45 poems. Although the
star-studded introductions are a nice bonus, Piccirilli's stories are the selling point, and all are standouts. "An Average Insanity, a Common
Agony" is an emotionally devastating tale of a man trying to do the right thing for the sake of an innocent creature. "Alchemy" tells the story
of five emotionally stunted people whose discovery of a dead body lets them visit their own dark places ("They weren't frightened [by the sight of the
corpse]. None of us were. It broke up the monotony"). "With an Ear for My Father's Weeping" manages to be both touching and hysterical.
Piccirilli's unique mix of gore, violence and a literate style bordering on the lyrical help make this collection one that horror fans will relish."So
there's the latest, kids. I'll be decompressing from SHADOW SEASON for the next couple of weeks before throwing myself into the next one.
Also, there's a new, brief interview with me here at SF SCOPE, which is the website that Science Fiction Chronicle has more or less ransmogrified into:
http://sfscope.com/2008/07/interview-with-tom-piccirilli-1.html
