Goodbye 2011!

It is easy to say that 2011 sucked and boy did it ever. I hit rock bottom financially in 2011, got arrested for assault in a road rage incident (Don't ask. Still pending.) I was unemployed twice, tore the hell out of my meniscus and had to have knee surgery, and found and then failed to qualify for a house my wife had fallen in love with. Yeah, shit sucked. But there were quite a few bright spots as well.

I made the ballot for the HWA Bram Stoker Awards for the first time in 2012 for my poetry collection VICIOUS ROMANTIC. I can't tell you how proud I am of that little book. Poetry has always been my first love.

The company that bought the film option for The Resurrectionist, renewed the option with the promise to get started on the movie in early 2012. This is a big deal for me. I think every author's dream is to see his novel hit the silver screen and this book is perfect for it. The sale of the film rights will also help me finally purchase a new house after losing my house in 2009. Fingers crossed.

I helped my good friend Shane McKenzie start his small press publishing company and became one of their first authors when they published SACRIFICE. The genre desperately needs strong publishers and Sinister Grin Press now has a pretty solid business plan that should see them thrive in the next two years. They will be publishing my collaboration with J.F. Gonzalez, THE KILLINGS next year and another novella by me sometime near the end of 2012. Their emergence also helped stabilize my finances when they were at their worst.

I made a great new friend in Brian Wubbena who gave my wife and I the best anniversary we ever had. He also has many of the same interests as me and, like Shane Mckenzie and Nate Southard, bridges the gap between my horror friends and my fighter friends. Kicking it with him and his wife, Tabitha, actually makes me feel normal. In addition to being a horror fanatic and a fight fan, he also likes to cook (he's actually a chef) so that pretty much seals the deal. Odd to find someone with all the same interests as you. My wife doesn't even have all the same interests as me. If he had breasts and a vagina she'd be in trouble. Well, if he had a pretty face as well and was genetically female not transgender and if he was more curvaceous. Okay, I wouldn't get romantic with him, but you know what I mean.

After being unemployed twice in 2011, I ended the year by being rehired at the company I had worked for since 1999. How huge that is for my family and I cannot be measured. It makes the prospects for 2012 all that much brighter.

Deadite Press put out three of my novellas last year and the fans were nearly unanimous in their approval. It's great to have a strong new publisher in the horror genre. Even the rereleases were better received this time around then they were on their initial release. Might have something to do with the covers? If you pick up a book with a title as provocative as LIKE PORNO FOR PSYCHOS with a cover image featuring a woman posed on a bed minus much of her skin and you're surprised by the amount of sex and gore then you're an idiot. I think Deadite got that and the fans got it as well. More good stuff coming from them in 2012.

KillerCon was a huge success in 2011. We had many surprise celebrity attendees, last minute guests of honor, the panels were amazing, and the contests were just plain incredible. Everyone had a great time and we're doing it again in 2012!

Shane McKenzie came through for me like a champ this year, once again proving what a great friend he is and confirming that my choice to move to Austin was a great one. Don't know what I would have done without friends like him, Nate, and Brian.

So, despite the many ill fortunes I suffered this year, I had my share of good fortune as well. Still, as I said in a recent Facebook post: "‎2011 should have been murdered in the womb, but I survived it and came out stronger in the end than I was when it started. Now, I just need some peace."