Live on the Interwebs: Leona Wisoker on ‘net radio tonight

Mercury Retrograde author Leona Wisoker, whose debut novel Secrets of the Sands comes out in March, will be on Artist First Radio tonight, talking about her work and the road to publication. The show is at 7 pm EST (8 pm CST). Stop by and listen! We’ll be gathered around the computers here…

http://www.perceptivemarketing.com/

Installment 1 Now Live: Death, Inc., an exclusive web serial by Edward Morris

We are very excited to be able to host on the website an exclusive web serial by Edward Morris, which is set in the Crooked Man alternate reality: Death, Inc., Book Zero of There Was a Crooked Man. The first installment is live, and–as is the way with Ed Morris–does not disappoint.

We’ll be posting new installments every Friday, until the tale is done.

Here’s a taste:

Clean Digital Audio Tape tone, and:

27 August 2002. Recording. Personal journal, off-duty, of-record, anybody finds this you’d better toss it in the trash or you gonna have a lot of ’splainin’ to do in court one way or the other.

I will pistol-whip your ass, you listen beyond this, I will… Oh, hell, why am I even recording it, then?

Why, unless I expect the flunky of which I am about to speak to come knocking at my door with his terrible hands, his terrible eyes…

We all get The Knock, one day. But I am learning his ways, through the stories he leaves me on their skin. Almost as if…

But I can’t even think it…

‘K, that being said, tonight I have officially burned out on my chosen profession, and find myself wondering how I got here to begin with.

People often ask me, every time I speak before the Fraternal Order of Police, the Chinese Benevolent Society, or any big gathering of two or three or more of you civilians…What’s the weirdest case you’ve ever had?

It’s Friday. Before this Monday past, the weirdest case I’d ever had was this little dude we found frozen to death on the top of Locke Mountain with no identifying marks, no blunt trauma, nothing. No wallet, either. And nothing in his pockets but a bag of weed and a box of shotgun shells.

read the rest

Held over: Free download of There Was a Crooked Man

When we began offering the free download of There Was a Crooked Man by Edward Morris, we had planned to make it available for only a week–because after that, the plan went, the free-reading venue would shift to our planned reading group area on BookGlutton.com. But the best-laid plans of mice and publishers…

The Mercury Retrograde Press Reading Group on BookGlutton.com is still in the works. It’s just taking longer than anticipated to get off the ground. We’re not as technical as we like to pretend we are, alas.

Meanwhile, lest anyone suffer the disappointment of not being able to read There Was a Crooked Man right away, we have left the free downloads in place. So if you haven’t gotten your own personal copy of the eBook yet, stop by.

Another free tidbit from Edward Morris

Facebook is the site of Ed’s own personal FREE pile. (Or is his blog?)

Here’s the latest addition.

Enjoy.

There Was a Crooked Man: the alternative reality show

Whether you are already devouring your copy of There Was a Crooked Man by Edward Morris or just starting to catch the rumors, you’ll want to check out the Crooked Man Alternate Reality page on the Mercury Retrograde site, where you’ll find a veritable buffet of Crooked Man web-manna.

Starting tomorrow, and for one week only, visit this page to download for FREE your own personal copy of There Was a Crooked Man in PDF, Mobi, or (coming quite soon) ePub ebook formats.

Starting next week, the Crooked Man Alternate Reality page will host an exclusive web serial set in the Crooked Man reality: DEATH, INC. There’s already a teaser up on the page that is sure to send all Ed Morris fans into a zombie-on-the-scent frenzy.

And if you miss the free-download dates, don’t despair: there will be more (and dare we say cooler? we dare…) opportunities to read There Was a Crooked Man for free. Soon we will be hosting a There Was a Crooked Man reading and discussion group on Bookglutton.com. Stop by the Crooked Man Alternate Reality page in a week or so to sign up for your free invitation to the group.

Come to think of it, you should probably just bookmark the page, because we suspect you’ll be stopping by regularly for the ongoing feast.

Adcox book will not be published

Mercury Retrograde Press regrets to announce that the planned release of John Adcox’s book Raven Wakes the World: Tales for the Winter Holiday, will not take place on October 27 of this year as originally planned. Legal issues prevent Mr. Adcox and Mercury Retrograde Press from continuing in this venture together. We wish Mr. Adcox all the best in his future endeavors, and regret any disappointment readers may experience.

New photos up on Flickr

Ed Morris did a sneak-preview reading and signing of his forthcoming There Was a Crooked Man at the Human Bean Coffeehouse in Portland, OR–and we’ve got a couple great pictures. Thanks to the Human Bean for being such fantastic hosts!

Edward Morris at the Human Bean, Portland OR

Edward Morris signs There Was a Crooked Man

Slush, the Seussical truth.

This is perfection. Jim Hines tells it like it is, Seussically:

Slush I Read
by Jim C. Hines

(Apologies to Seuss)

I read slush.
Slush I read.

That slush I read.
That slush I read!
I do not like that slush I read.

Read more.

Photo: Ed Morris reading at Lovecraft Film Festival

via wajiii on Flickr

Ed reports from Lovecraft Film Festival/CthulhuCon

Ed sent out this blast this morning:

I’m going to go read my story “Jihad Over Innsmouth” at 1:30 back to
back with Laird Barron, then mod the panel on Lovecraft’s
Contributions to SF at 5.

The Colour Out Of Spaghetti, or rather Dario Argento Out Of Space, or
whatever the hell I sat through last night, looked like a reinvented
wheel covered in bad special effects and every single bad horror
trope ever invented.

But that was the low point. Greg Lowney the Festival hatchet-man stood
Serena and I a wonderful dinner last night at Tony Starlight’s. Though
S.T. Joshi, Michael Shea and many of the other seasoned pros were
unable to stay for the full event, the energy and talent this year are
bleeding out of the walls, despite a much lower key schedule.

So far I saw William F. Nolan speak, and had one hell of a lot of fun
on the Humor In Horror panel with Marianne Snyder and Dark Horse
author Jemiah Jefferson. Was also thrilled to death to hear Dan
O’Bannon’s video commentary on Lovecraft when he was accepting the
Howie Award.

Will publish any further notes if this wireless doesn’t keep going
out. In the streets, the foul things squeak and gibber, but they come
no nearer than the edge of the front yard. Yet. The cat is rustling
the curtain, must go and

[SERVICE INTERRUPTED]