Sunday night the Pixie Dust Press cover contest came to a close and we found an awesome cover courtesy of Konnik as you can see here. Congrats on the great work; you rock!

I'd also like to thank every artist that has entered the contest; there is A LOT of talent out there and the competition was fierce. There were many great covers sent to us but this one fit our book perfectly and looks very professional. I will have the full wraparound cover for display in the coming weeks for you.

Creeping Shadows will be released mid-September/early October and will be priced at $14.95

In other news, Pixie Dust Press now has a new, revamped website. Check it out here and adjust your bookmarks!

It's been a while since my last update! Sinister Landscapes finished in the 8th spot in the anthology category over at the Preditors & Editors Poll. Congrats to all the top ten finishers! As you've probably noticed on the main page, Sinister Landscapes continues to reap rave reviews everywhere and we're proud of it. Which brings me to our next book: Creeping Shadows.

Pixie Dust Press is looking for submissions for the cover of Creeping Shadows, a novella collection about monsters. We leave it to the artist to do whatever inspires them for the cover art. What we want is a wraparound cover either drawn or painted. No photographs or montages. The front cover should be professional and incite the reader to buy the book; as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. We want that quality look that the big NY publishers have. Download JPEG below for the basics of the cover design. The wraparound cover size is approximate as we are still in the editing process so the width of the spine may change but the final book will be 8.5" X 5.5" and should be between 260-275 pages. The title and author fonts will remain as they are in the JPEG. However, the font colors might change to better suit the artist's artwork. The placement of the synopsis, publisher logo, price, and barcode on the back of the book will also be as shown in the JPEG. The back cover should be less prominent to allow for the text to be read easily. You can download the JPEG here: www.alandraven.com/CreepingContest.jpg

To inspire you, here is what the three novellas are about:

Alan Draven's Vengeance Is Mine
It is the year 1888 and the district of Whitechapel, London is terrorized by Jack the Ripper. Prostitutes dread the coming of night as the Ripper prowls the streets for fresh prey. But one of his victims comes back from beyond death to haunt him and show him what it is to live in fear.

Brandon Ford's Merciless
Kidnapped by a madman, two teenage girls form an instant bond in the back of a speeding SUV. Bound and gagged, they face a night of unspeakable horrors. Inspired by a true story, Merciless is a tale of murder, madness, and survival.

Jessica Lynne Gardner's Sugar Skull
Shortly after her father's funeral, strange things begin to happen to Annabel Perez. A detective investigates as poisoned corpses pile up all with the same symptoms of Annabel's father. Together, Anna, her mother and the detective must solve the puzzle to the strange dreams of skeletons, Aztec rituals, and family secrets before they are next. A sinister-looking Mexican sugar skull found in her father's old cigar box might just be the answer ... or the means to her death.

Submissions should be in JPEG format, in color in CMYK format (not RGB) and have a resolution of 300DPI. The deadline to submit is Sunday June 7th, 2009 at midnight. Send all submissions to info@alandraven.com . Don't forget to add this address to your contacts if you want to receive mail from us. Here's what's in it for the artist:

1) $50 in cash (Paypal account required)
2) A complimentary copy of Creeping Shadows upon publication
3) A first shot at doing the cover for the next Pixie Dust Press book next year (and maybe become the resident PDP cover artist, who knows!)

Good luck to everyone and Happy Easter!

Cheers,
Alan

New year, new poll. Until January 14th, you can vote for Sinister Landscapes as the best anthology of 2008 over at the Preditors & Editors poll page. We are thankful to our loyal readers who have helped make Sinister Landscapes a number one Amazon bestseller internationally in 2008. Wouldn't it be great to win one of the top three spots for best horror anthology? We need your help once again and here's where you come in. Visit the poll page located here and select Sinister Landscapes. Type in your name and a valid e-mail address (addresses are kept confidential so don't worry about spam). When you're done, go check your e-mail as there is one more step to go in order to finalize your vote. Click on the link inside the e-mail and voilà! Tell all your friends and spread the word; it will be much appreciated! I'll post the results of the poll on January 14th.

Cheers,
Alan

First off, I'd like to wish all my readers Happy Holidays and a kick ass new year! Your support has been much appreciated in the past year. I will be returning next year with a new book in October. Stay tuned for more...

Until then, why wait until Boxing Day to get good deals? As of now until January 5th, 2009 you can purchase a signed and personally inscribed copy of the gothic horror anthology Sinister Landscapes directly from me at 50% off! Yes, you've read right, for only $7.50 plus $7.00 shipping in the US (or $3.00 shipping in Canada) you can own this number one Amazon bestseller.

Called "One of the best quality showcases for fresh and exciting voices in the horror genre" by Choate Road magazine.

Featuring:

Thad Linson
Sarah Wilson Basore
Eric Enck
Jessica Lynne Gardner
Ryan B. Clark
Brandon Ford
Jeani Rector
David Boyle
Gordon Anthony Bean
Bret Jordan
Alan Draven
Stéphanie J
T. G. Reaper
R. Vance
Jeff Ezell
Charlotte Emma Gledson
Charlie Glover
Frank E. Bittinger

As well as a foreword by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc and an intro by yours truly. E-mail me at info@alandraven.com if you want to purchase a copy.

Cheers,
Alan

Hey there my dear creatures of the night,

I've got a new short story available free of charge on the excellent e-zine 9 of Swords. It's titled "The Chilling Hour" and it's the first in a series featuring Nick Kubrick, a horror radio DJ who's out to debunk the dark myths of the city of Bitternest. It's my homage to Kolchak, the supernatural reporter of the popular '70s TV show. You can read this dark tale here.

The SNM Horror magazine anthology, Bonded By Blood which was released a month ago is now available on Amazon. It features my story "Hershell's Motel" about a couple who make a stop at a strange motel in Bitternest for a night. So pick up a copy today at this link.

Halloween season is upon us and to celebrate the best holiday of the year, I decided to do something different. I have put a copy of Sinister Landscapes up for grabs on e-bay. Bidding starts at $1.00 and will end at 1 PM on Halloween. Go bid here. I will sign and personally inscribe the copy to the winner's name upon request. To read more about Sinister Landscapes and to see what readers are saying about it, visit the book's Amazon page.

Looking for a longer read? Why not pick up my first novel, Bitternest? It's at a discounted price right now on Amazon so check it out at this page.

That's it for me.

Stay scared and have a safe and happy Halloween!!

Cheers,
Alan

I'm back! After a very busy month of August, I'm finally back on track with my writing. Sinister Landscapes has been out for five weeks now and has since become a number one bestseller on Amazon. We are all proud of our little book. It's also been receiving rave reviews from readers. Here's a taste of what's coming from me in the near future:

My short story The Chilling Hour will be available free of charge in the excellent e-zine 9 of Swords in mid-September. It's the tale of Nick Kubrick, a radio DJ who hosts a horror show and sets out to debunk the dark myths of Bitternest. This is Nick's first appearance and his adventures will be ongoing in future short stories and eventually a series of novels so keep an eye out for that. Bookmark 9 of Swords to read it here.

Next up, my story Hershell's Motel, about a couple that make a stop at a strange motel in Bitternest, will be featured in SNM Horror Magazine's first anthology titled Bonded By Blood. It is set for release early October and will be priced at $19.95 and available everywhere online. Featuring seventeen stories including tales by James Cheetham, Jason Keene, editor/author Steven Marshall and fellow Sinister Landscapes scribe Charlotte Gledson among many others. You won't want to miss this one folks, so stay tuned for all the details in the days to come.

As part of the ongoing media blitz regarding Sinister Landscapes, I invite you all to tune in to the Mortal Vampire radio show Sunday Sept. 14th at 7 PM Central/8 PM Eastern for an interview with a bunch of the contributors from the anthology. Here's the link for that. The next day, Monday Sept. 15th, we will have a party with Lesa Trapp on The Odd Mind where we will read samples of our respective tales from Sinister Landscapes. The show will take place here at 8 PM Central/9 PM Eastern.

And if you still haven't picked up a copy of Sinister Landscapes, head over to Amazon.com where you can get it for $12.00 and read some reader reviews as well.

Stay scared!

Hear, hear folks! Sinister Landscapes is now available. This is the Gothic horror anthology I edited and it also features my short story "Beyond the Doomed Cave". Click here to view a list of the contributors and to pick up a copy. It should become available on the rest of the Amazon network, Barnes and Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Buy.com and other online stores in the coming weeks. It will also be in select brick and mortar stores shortly.

On a different note, I've recently been interviewed by the wonderful J.B. Kohl, author of The Deputy's Widow. I really enjoyed doing this interview since the questions were different than the usual ones. We discussed my current projects, Sinister Landscapes, my adventures in publishing and other fine things. To read it, visit Jennifer's site: http://www.jbkohl.com/adraven.htm

Take care and stay scared!