DESCENT INTO LIGHT: Mike Allen’s Home Page

Last year this time I was ill and bedridden. This year, I’m simply inconvenienced thanks to a kaput computer. I consider this a step up.   In fact I was so sick at this time in 2012 that my year-end summary didn’t turn up until

The Roanoke launch party for The Black Fire Concerto took place this past Tuesday (Oct. 22) in a cozy space at the Raleigh Court Library. (Technically this is the second launch party for the book; the first one happened in July at ReaderCon.) Since I

There’s a new issue of Goblin Fruit out, which is always reason to celebrate.     I have a special reason beyond the norm to celebrate this particular issue. The Goblin Queens have honored me by publishing “Hungry Constellations,” a light-hearted (for me) meditation on

The Raleigh Court Branch Library is holding the Roanoke launch party for my first novel, The Black Fire Concerto, the story of a pair of sorceress-musicians who fight necromancers and ghouls in a post-apocalyptic future. My friend Anne Sampson will provide some beautifully eerie music

My “Tour of the Abattoir” column in the most recent Tales to Terrify podcast discusses the career so far of horror writer Joe Hill, including a lengthy review of his latest novel, NOS4A2. Fiction is by John Dodds. Click here to have a shivery listen.

I’m honored to have been invited to take part in the latest Mindmeld post on SF Signal, a roundup of fellow writers and editors discussing favorite women horror writers and current writers to watch. Other participants are Ann VanderMeer, Joe McKinney, Lisa Morton, Rhonda Parrish,

The folks at SF Signal are generously hosting a giveaway of my novel The Black Fire Concerto. There’s two trade paperback copies up for grabs. Anyone anywhere in the world is eligible. Click here to take part if y’wanna.   Also, Haunted Stars publisher John

I have a great schedule at ReaderCon. And a full schedule. And a ton of things to promote: my anthology Clockwork Phoenix 4 (now out!), my novel The Black Fire Concerto (almost out!), the new Mythic Delirium and its attendant Kickstarter (over halfway but still

The latest edition of Tales to Terrify contains a new “Tour of the Abattoir” column from me, in which I discuss why I’m not a Scott Sigler junkie. And I’ve been so swamped these past couple months that I completely neglected in this space to

I’m still too busy for my own good — in other words, nothing new under the sun. The writing life isn’t the only reason why I’m busy … but it’s reason enough! So all but a handful of the Clockwork Phoenix 4 Kickstarter rewards have