DESCENT INTO LIGHT: Mike Allen’s Home Page

I am proud to be a part of Nightmares Unearthed: A Contemporary Horror Reading, a literally monstrous virtual reading that’s going to happen at 8 p.m. this coming Saturday, March 27 (two days from now!) — to join, you need to register using this EventBrite link (click here).

Lots more details to be found at this blog post written by our gracious host, C.S.E. Cooney — but I will do my best to convey the goodness.

“Nightmares Unearthed” began with a notion to hold a reading that would give some horror writers whoae books came out during the 2020 maelstrom another chance to have their work seen. Once Claire Cooney became involved, the event began to grow into something even more dynamic and exciting, with the addition of authors who have books forthcoming in the maelstrom of 2021!

Aside from yours truly, the reading features Zin E. Rocklyn, Cassandra Khaw, Daniel Braum, Emma J. Gibbon, and Gordon B. White.

We are each reading, when possible, excerpts from our recently released or forthcoming books. Aside from my own Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, these books include Daniel’s Underworld Dreams, Emma’s Dark Blood Comes from the Feet, Cassandra’s Nothing but Blackened Teeth, Zin’s Flowers for the Sea and Gordon’s When Summer’s Mask Slips.

I would be remiss not to mention C.S.E. Cooney’s own books, even though she is hosting rather than reading: Bone Swans | Desdemona and the Deep | A Sinister Quartet.

There will be a Q&A for everybody afterward.

Security will be closely monitored, so to get the link to take part, you definitely need to use the EventBrite signup. Our Facebook event page explains even further.

Hope to see you and scare you there!

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Appearances, Signal boosts

I’m pleased to share that Mythic Delirium has found a way to further celebrate the recognition our 2020 titles received in from the latest Locus Recommended Reading List, and furthermore, that we’re able to include our other titles that have direct links to our most recent books.

Starting yesterday and continuing for however long we feel like it, both the 2020 dark fantasy anthology A Sinister Quartet and the 2020 horror collection Aftermath of an Industrial Accident are on sale for 99 cents (e-book editions, of course).

On top of that, most all e-book editions our 2016 fantasy novella collection Bone Swans by C.S.E. Cooney and our 2014 horror collection Unseaming are also on sale for 99 cents.

 

Amazon Amazon AU Amazon CA Amazon DE Amazon FR Amazon UK Nook iBooks Kobo Google Play ScribD

Amazon Amazon AU Amazon CA Amazon DE Amazon FR Amazon UK Nook iBooks Kobo Google Play ScribD

Amazon Amazon AU Amazon CA Amazon DE Amazon FR Amazon UK Nook iBooks Kobo Google Play ScribD

Amazon Amazon AU Amazon CA Amazon DE Amazon FR Amazon UK Nook iBooks Kobo Google Play ScribD

 

How are these connected? Let me break down the ways.

A Sinister Quartet, which made the 2020 Locus list for Best Anthology, opens with short novel “The Twice-Drowned Saint” by C.S.E. Cooney, which made the Locus list for Best First Novel.

“The Twice-Drowned Saint” is set in the same world as, and makes reference to the events of, “Life on the Sun,” the first story in C.S.E. Cooney’s World Fantasy Award-winning Bone Swans. (The second novella, “The Bone Swans of Amandale,” was a Nebula Award finalist.)

A Sinister Quartet concludes with my novella “The Comforter,” which, though it works as a standalone, is in fact the third story in a trilogy. The first two tales, the Nebula Award-nominated “The Button Bin” and its sequel “The Quiltmaker,” appear in Unseaming, which was itself a nominee for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Collection.

“The Comforter” also contains an appearance by a favorite character of mine, John Hairston, whose further harrowing adventures can be tracked in “The Sun Saw” and “Nolens Volens,” included in Aftermath of an Industrial Accident.

Furthermore, Aftermath contains the stories “The Cruelest Team Will Win” and “Follow the Wounded One,” which tie to “The Hiker’s Tale” in Unseaming — and the “The Hiker’s Tale” shares setting elements with “The Comforter.”

Naturally it’s our opinion that readers will reap the greatest reward from owning all four books!
 

 
We also want to remind folks about a second celebratory promotion that is still ongoing: a set of trade paperbacks of A Sinister Quartet and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident signed by all the authors is still available from the publisher for $25, shipping included.

 

Buy now for $25
— U.S. Only!

 

Read more about this deal here!

 

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in A Sinister Quartet, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Appearances, Awards, Mythic Delirium, Signal boosts, Unseaming

We at Mythic Delirium Books — that is, Anita and I — want to offer our heartfelt congratulations to Theodora Goss, whose collection of fiction and poetry that we brought out way back in February 2019, Snow White Learns Witchcraft, just won the 2020 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature!

(See the full list of winners here.)

This is the third time Dora has been nominated for the award, and clearly the third time is the charm in this case! (I note, of course for reasons both prideful and crassly mercenary, that her previously nominated works, In the Forest of Forgetting and Songs for Ophelia, are also available from Mythic Delirium Books.)

Here’s just a bit more about what the award is, taken from the Mythopoeic Society website:

The Mythopoeic Society is a national/international organization promoting the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythopoeic literature through books and periodicals, annual conferences, discussion groups, awards, and more. We are especially interested in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams, prominent members of the informal Oxford literary circle known as the “Inklings” (1930s-1950s).

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature is given to the fantasy novel, multi-volume novel, or single-author story collection for adults published during the previous year that best exemplifies “the spirit of the Inklings”.

We define this [Mythopoeic Literature] as literature that creates a new and transformative mythology, or incorporates and transforms existing mythological material. Transformation is the key — mere static reference to mythological elements, invented or pre-existing, is not enough. The mythological elements must be of sufficient importance in the work to influence the spiritual, moral, and/or creative lives of the characters, and must reflect and support the author’s underlying themes.

You can watch a video of the virtual ceremony here, with a statement from Dora Goss about magic, myths and fantasy literature:

An additional shout out to Mythic Delirium contributor Yoon Ha Lee, who won the 2020 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature with his novel Dragon Pearl!

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in Awards, Editing, Mythic Delirium

Congratulations to our authors selected for the 2020 Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List!

Aftermath of an Industrial Accident: Stories by Mike Allen   Order from: Ebook: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon FR | Amazon DE | Amazon AU | Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play   Paperback: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon FR | Amazon DE | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop

A Sinister Quartet by Mike Allen, C. S. E. Cooney, Amanda J. McGee and Jessica P. Wick   Order from: Ebook: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon FR | Amazon DE | Amazon AU | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Google Play   Paperback: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop

Mythic Delirium launched two books in 2020, and from our perspective their appearance was mostly buried by the tumult of the pandemic and the political landscape. Our books were hardly alone in facing that predicament, and a lot of cool things still came to pass regarding our experimental anthology, A Sinister Quartet, and my own story collection Aftermath of an Industrial Accident.

Nonetheless, to me as publisher (and also as author) gaining attention for these book felt like an uphill struggle at all times.

And so it came as as not just an honor but a surprise and relief to learn that Mythic Delirum Books managed to achieve a sweep of sorts, when we got word that both A Sinister Quartet and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident had been selected for the 2020 Locus Recommended Reading List.

Congratulations to my fellow Sinisters, C. S. E. Cooney, Jessica P. Wick and Amanda J. McGee! And, you know, congratulations to . . . me!

I’ve appeared on the Locus list twice before, but as an editor, for Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness and Clockwork Phoenix 5. (Several stories from the Clockwork Phoenix anthologies have made appearances, though, which has been wonderful in its own way.)

The appearance of Aftermath on the list marks the first time the panel of advisors has picked me for something I have written, and that feels like a major accomplishment. And I suppose I am double-dipping with A Sinister Quartet, as I am an editor of that book and I also wrote one of the four stories.

Especially wonderful, Claire Cooney’s contribution to Sinister, “The Twice-Drowned Saint: Being a Tale of Fabulous Gelethel, the Invisible Wonders Who Rule There, and the Apostates Who Try to Escape its Walls,” made the list on its own in the “First Novel” category.

This probably going to confuse some folks, because people who see A Sinister Quartet is comprised of four long stories naturally assume all four are novellas. (In the case of Jess’s “An Unkindness,” Amanda’s “Viridian” and my own “The Comforter,” that is correct.) And it’s a testimony to how well “The Twice-Drowned Saint” is written that even people who have read it think it’s a novella.

But no, as I have had to explain more than once, “Twice-Drowned Saint” is longer than 60,000 words, a novel by pretty much every definition! I’m definitely grateful that the folks at Locus found a way to keep calling attention to this amazing piece after learning it didn’t fit where they originally planned to put it.

Back to that notion of a sweep. Well, 2020 will be the first year that Mythic Delirium put out two books and both books made the Locus list. I call that evidence of at least one small thing going right in 2020.

The inclusion of all these items on the list, by the way, means folks will be able to vote on them in the Locus Awards poll, yay!

I intend to do something special to celebrate this milestone and yes, it will involve a sale. But that’s not quite ready yet, and I wanted to make sure I got the word out! Not to mention I wanted to give anyone clicking through the links posted by Locus some guidance on what these books are and how to get them!

And did I mention it’s also my birthday today? What a terrific present.

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in A Sinister Quartet, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Awards

I’m a couple months late posting this, which has definitely been a 2020-connected theme. Nonetheless, at the last minute is still better than never!

My personal and publisher lists mostly overlap this year, so I am going to combine them.

This was a risky year to release a book, especially one with horror-centric themes, and so of course the Mythic Delirium Books imprint produced two, hee hee.

The first book we published in 2020 was an anthology of original longform stories and a team effort called A Sinister Quartet. Producing and taking part in it has been a delight.

Published in June, A Sinister Quartet contains the following, all first published in 2020:

• “The Twice-Drowned Saint: Being a Tale of Fabulous Gelethel, the Invisible Wonders Who Rule the City, and the Apostates Who Try to Escape its Walls,” a short novel from C. S. E. Cooney (which has ties to her novella “Life on the Sun” in her World Fantasy Award-winning collection Bone Swans). There’s an excerpt available at the New Decameron Project.
• “An Unkindness,” the debut novella from Jessica P. Wick
• “Viridian,” the debut novella from Amanda J. McGee
• “The Comforter,” an novella by Mike Allen (a.k.a. me!), that ties into the creatures and events encountered in other stories of mine. (Specifically, “The Button Bin,” “The Quiltmaker” and “The Feather Stitch,” more on that last one in a bit.)

The second book we published in 2020 was my own collection of short stories, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident. It’s my second collection of horror stories and my third fiction collection overall, and it’s been in the works pretty much since my debut Unseaming appeared in 2014.

Published in July, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident contains one novelette, sixteen short stories, and six poems. Four of the short stories are original to the collection:

• “The Sun Saw”
• “A Deaf Policeman Heard the Noise”
• “Puppet Show”
• “Blue Evolution” (also published in the New Decameron Project)

As for my other writings outside those projects, I had two original pieces appear:

• A new poem, “Urban Renewal,” that would be “short” by Rhysling Award category standards, appeared in January in Spectral Realms #12.
• A new short story, “The Feather Stitch,” a prequel to my horror tale “The Button Bin” that also has ties to my story “The Cruelest Team Will Win,” appeared in November in Lackington’s #22.

If you’d like all that broken down into a convenient category list, that looks like this:
 

Anthology:
A Sinister Quartet by Mike Allen, C. S. E. Cooney,
Amanda J. McGee and Jessica P. Wick

Collection:
Aftermath of an Industrial Accident: Stories by Mike Allen

Novel:
“The Twice-Drowned Saint” by C. S. E. Cooney

Novella:
“The Comforter” by Mike Allen
“Viridian” by Amanda J. McGee
“An Unkindness” by Jessica P. Wick

Short story:
“Blue Evolution” by Mike Allen
“A Deaf Policeman Heard the Noise” by Mike Allen
“The Feather Stitch” by Mike Allen
“Puppet Show” by Mike Allen
“The Sun Saw” by Mike Allen

Poem:
“Urban Renewal” by Mike Allen

 

If you are a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America or the Horror Writer’s Association, most of these books and stories have been made available through the authorized private forums in channels, so feel free to look for them there. If you’re interested in considering any of this material for review or awards consideration purposes and don’t have ready access to it otherwise, feel free to contact me at mythicdelirium[at]gmail[dot]com.

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in A Sinister Quartet, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Awards, Fiction, Poetry, Short stories, Signal boosts

Halloween may have ended, but the occasion for horror certainly has not — and I’m not just talking about the state of the world. There’s plenty of room for the fun kind of horror in other seasons, as the contest that I have the honor of judging amply demonstrates.

In the run-up to returning to a full-time publishing schedule after a hiatus of more than a year and a half, the three-time Hugo Award-nominated Apex Magazine is holding a Holiday Horrors Flash Fiction Contest! Editor-im-chief Jason Sizemore and managing editor Lesley Conner will be sorting through the entries on first read . . . And I will get to pick the winners! I remain super-flattered Jason thought of me for this.

The deadline to enter is midnight EST Nov. 15, so there is still time to try your hand at holiday scares. Christmas, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Winter Solstice, and Chinese New Year themes are all fair game.

The submission portal for the Apex Magazine contest is here, and the rules for the contest are here, complete with a shot of me smirking at the camera.

If it just so happens that clicking on an ad at Apex Magazine brought you here, then know that the publishers of Mythic Delirium Books (a.k.a. Anita and I) are the sponsors of Apex this month (and next month!) and we are proud to do it! And also know this:

For November, we are promoting the two new dark fantasy and horror titles we release in 2020! Links for more information about Aftermath of an Industrial Accident and A Sinister Quartet and where to buy them all are below.

Aftermath of an Industrial Accident Bookshop Barnes & Noble Google Play Kobo Apple Amazon † † † Direct from Mythic Delirium Books

A Sinister Quartet Bookshop Barnes & Noble Google Play Kobo Apple Amazon † † † Direct from Mythic Delirium Books

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in A Sinister Quartet, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Editing, Short stories, Signal boosts

99¢ HORROR SPECIAL

Throughout all of October 2020, Mythic Delirium Books is running a Halloween Horror Special, in which all e-book editions of our principle horror titles — our Shirley Jackson Award- and This Is Horror Award-nominated bestseller Unseaming, our newest anthology A Sinister Quartet, and our newest collection Aftermath of an Industrial Accident — have been discounted to 99¢. You can find direct links to these editions under the book covers below.

Unseaming     Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU Nook Kobo Apple Google Play

A Sinister Quartet   Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU Nook Kobo Apple Google Play

Aftermath of an Industrial Accident   Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU Nook Kobo Apple Google Play

I’m going to drop publisher-voice for a moment and just add that these three books contain some of the best writing I’ve ever committed to paper (or pixels) and the anthology has the added bonus of terrific long form fiction from C. S. E. Cooney (“Sublime,” Locus), Jessica P. Wick (“Really fine work,” Locus) and Amanda J. McGee (“Fascinating and bold,” Locus), so for about $3 you’re getting way more than your money’s worth. And finally . . .

How to get a free e-book!

 
HOW TO QUALIFY FOR ANOTHER FREE E-BOOK: Contact us (well, me) at mythicdelirium[at]gmail[dot]com and let me know that you have purchased and now own all three books in the sale (and this also applies if you bought any or all of the trio prior to the sale, in print or as an e-book) and I will let you pick another Mythic Delirium e-book of your choice in the format of your choice (PDF, EPUB or MOBI). Proof of purchase or ownership (such as screencaps or photos) much appreciated but not strictly required. I look forward to hearing from y’all!

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in A Sinister Quartet, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Signal boosts, Unseaming

I am celebrating an important day for one of Mythic Delirium Books’ authors by sharing that both of the original stories that Theodora Goss wrote for her collection of fiction and poetry Snow White Learns Witchcraft are getting reprinted in year’s best collections.

Both stories are riffs on beloved Hans Christian Andersen yarns.

Paula Guran’s latest The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, scheduled for an Oct. 20 release, (and numbered “One” instead of 2020, I presume because the publisher has changed from Prime to Pyr), contains Dora’s “Conversations with the Sea Witch,” which imagines a friendship between two key characters from the fable of the Little Mermaid, both older and considerably wiser. You can also read the story free at Tor.com.

And also, Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Fantasy and Science Fiction 2020, scheduled for a December release, will feature Dora’s novelette “A Country Called Winter,” which adds some modern twists and turns to the tale of the Snow Queen. “A Country Called Winter” was also a finalist for the 2020 Locus Awards. You can read it free at Lightspeed.

Congratulations and happy birthday to Dora Goss!

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in Awards, Fiction, Mythic Delirium, Poetry, Signal boosts

Last month (man, has time gotten away from me) I had the privilege to take part in two group readings promoting my most recent offerings as a writer and as a publisher, and those readings have since been archived online where I can share them. Not to mention, I’ll be giving yet another one this Friday at 10 p.m. EST as part of the 2020 Virtual Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird, and in the hour leading up to that I’ll be taking part in a panel hosted by Lesley Wheeler on the topic of “Weird Metamorphosis or Life Change,” a concept I definitely play with a lot in my writing.

Clicking the graphic will take you to a page where you can get more info on the whole Virtual Outer Dark Event.

Now for the videos! The first I get to share with you is the livestreamed Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading from July 15, hosted by Ellen Datlow and Matt Kressel, in which I read excerpts from my new collection Aftermath on an Industrial Accident and from my novella “The Comforter” in the new Mythic Delirium Books anthology A Sinister Quartet. Benjamin Rosenbaum read the delightful opening from his forthcoming debut novel The Unraveling.

The reading is also available as an audio podcast.

The second video comes from July 18, when C. S. E. Cooney, Jessica P. Wick, Amanda J. McGee and I (a.k.a. the contributors to A Sinister Quartet) were reunited via a Zoom for a group reading hosted by Doloris Vest of Book No Further, the downtown indie bookstore in Roanoke, Virginia, where Amanda and I both live. It was just as much fun the second time through. I chose to self-censor one of the chapters of “The Comforter” that I read from, for reasons that should be plainly evident should you pick up the book yourself. (And obviously, you should!)

I get a kick out of Claire Cooney showing off Brett Massé’s artwork in the still image.

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in A Sinister Quartet, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Appearances, Audio, Signal boosts

The original plan for this coming Wednesday was for Anita and I to travel to New York, stay alternately with Dan Stace and Nicole Kornher-Stace and then with C. S. E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez, and then I would arrive in Manhattan with copies of books to sell and read from my second horror collection, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, at the KGB Bar, alongside Benjamin Rosenbaum, who would read from his first novel, The Unraveling.

The reading, at least, is still happening! Hosts Ellen Datlow and Matt Kressel have continued the prestigious series during the pandemic-related shutdown by moving it to virtual space. The reading will take place Wednesday, July 15, 7 p.m. and livestream on YouTube. I’m likely also going to read from “The Comforter,” my novella in A Sinister Quartet.

Don’t miss out! Click here on or the graphic below and bookmark the link!

 
As for buying my new books, you can do that using the links below:
 

Order Aftermath of an Industrial Accident here

 

Paperback: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE
Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop

Ebook: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA
Amazon DE | Amazon AU | Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

 

Order A Sinister Quartet here

 

Paperback: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE
Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop

Ebook: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA
Amazon DE | Amazon AU | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Google Play
 

 

Cross-posted from Mythic Delirium Books

Posted in A Sinister Quartet, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, Appearances, Audio, Signal boosts