Congrats to Laird Barron

Just a quick note, Laird Barron (who happens to be one of the authors that I'm Keeping an Eye On has sold a collection and DEBUT NOVEL to Night Shade Books.

Throughout the interview process, I've noticed that many of these "future genre stars" are at that critical first novel point in their careers. Some have a few books out, some are still shopping them to publishers, and some are still making the transition from short story. This is a huge deal for any developing author so I'm sure Laird is ecstatic. Here's Laird's announcement:

I am proud to announce that my agent Brendan Deneen has sold my second collection and debut novel to Jeremy Lassen at Night Shade Books. These will appear in October 2010 and summer 2011 respectively.

The collection is titled OCCULTATION and is introduced by Michael Shea.

TOC

Introduction: Michael Shea
The Forest
Six, Six, Six
The Lagerstatte
Strappado
Occultation
Catch Hell
The Broadsword
--30--

"Six, Six, Six" and --30-- are orginals. Two of the stories are in the vein of Lovecraftian dark fantasy. The rest are occult and psychological horror pieces. In many ways the collection is a departure from THE IMAGO SEQUENCE. The book clocks in at about 90k, so it's leaner than the first one.

The novel is called THE CRONING. It's kind of like ON GOLDEN POND, if Henry and Jane Fonda were preoccupied with black magic, machetes, and cosmic horrors. This one is still underway with an estimated delivery date of July 2010.

Definitely sounds interesting. Lovecraftian is always fun and who doesn't enjoy a good occult story as long as it's not happening to you. The only downside is 2011! That's not tomorrow.

Head over to Laird's livejournal and congratulate him.