Hey, friends. The blog has been dormant for several days.

Notice how I attribute the inactivity to the blog itself? As though it’s a force of nature, a virtual Vesuvius lying in wait and preparing to explode at any moment? As though there isn’t a person behind it responsible for updating it? Not only does this capture the raw power of my blog, it absolves me of all responsibility. In other words, win-win (both wins for me).

So on a less self-indulgent note, I got to participate in an incredible project featuring writers like Joe R. Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, and Brian Keene. The extremely cool and talented Craig Cook was the mastermind behind Piercing the Darkness, which is a charity project to promote children’s literacy. In other words, it’s a fabulous cause. There are several more savage horror beast-monsters from the writing community (Jonathan Maberry, F. Paul Wilson, and Christopher Golden, to name three more), and I could keep on dropping shockingly impressive names, but I’d rather let the official listing tell you the story:

“An All-Star Anthology Benefitting the Children’s Literacy Initiative. Featuring N.Y. Times bestsellers Jonathan Maberry, Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, and Christopher Golden. Plus new, never-before-published stories from James A. Moore, Jeff Strand, Ronald Malfi, and others. Twenty-eight of the biggest and brightest names in horror have gathered to shine their light upon an ever-increasing darkness—children’s illiteracy. Join them as they take you down into the depths, and hope you make it to the light on the other side.”

And the TOC:

KING OF SHADOWS by Joe R. Lansdale
QUIET BULLETS by Christopher Golden
HAVEN by Kealan Patrick Burke
BRAVE GIRL by Jack Ketchum
DEALING WITH MAMA LILA by Sandy DeLuca
HUSBAND OF KELLIE by T.T. Zuma
OBEDIENT FLIES by Greg F. Gifune
EXIT STRATEGY by Tim Waggoner
ABATTOIR BLUES by James A. Moore
CANNONBALL LYCANTHROPE by Janet Joyce Holden
THROWING MONSTERS by Jonathan Janz
THE FIERCE STABBING AND SUBSEQUENT POST-DEATH VENGEANCE OF SCOOTER BROWN by Jeff Strand
THE HOUSE IN CYRUS HOLLER by David Bain
COOKED by Jonathan Maberry
MIZ RUTHIE PAYS HER RESPECTS by Lucy Snyder
LETTING GO by Mary SanGiovanni
THE VIKING PLAYS PATTY CAKE by Brian Keene
SHADOW CHASER by Simon Wood
THE FOLLY by Robert Dunbar
SPIDER GOES TO MARKET by Gerard Houarner
PEST CONTROL by C. Dennis Moore
I’M SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS by Ronald Malfi
TIMOTHY MEEK by Gord Rollo
TRAPS by F. Paul Wilson
SEARCHING by Monica O’Rourke
FIRE by Elizabeth Massie
DANCE OF THE BLUE LADY by Gene O’Neill
DINOSAUR DAY by Gary A. Braunbeck

So I could talk about what an amazing honor it is to have been asked to contribute a tale to this wonderful project (my story, by the way, is a never-before-in-print yarn called “Throwing Monsters”), but that part would be incredibly obvious, wouldn’t it? I mean, you’ve heard me geek out about Lansdale, Ketchum, and Keene right here on this blog, so to be published in the same anthology with them? Fuggedaboudit. Permanent geek-outage.

So buy the book. The stories are top-notch, and the cause is amazing.

That’s all for the night. Stay warm, friends.