Catching Up

That's a bold title up there and not just in font style. And I'm sad to say, once this post is done, I will not be caught up. Not even close. Consider the title more of a goal. Yeah. A working title.

Last time, I mentioned returning from vacation to the excellent news that The Zombist was out from Library of the Living Dead. What I failed to mention was the also-excellent news from the very first day of said vacation.

A little backstory. Eric S. Brown and David Dunwoody, zombie fiction masters that they are, held a Zombie Flash Fiction Contest, hosted by Corey Graham of the Midnight Corey Podcast. Hearing the call, I'd entered a couple of pieces of my own.

Vacation Day Zero arrived. The contest was over, the results posted (no names), but I'd received no word. I was bummed, of course, but you learn to cry in private and move on. It's the manly thing to do. So, my lovely wife and beautiful children departed in Vehicle One as I packed the last few things in my car (Vehicle Two) and burned the podcast for private listening during the first leg of the trip, a 3-hour drive before ditching Vehicle Two (a NASA-esque move that requires a lot of technical explanation and a few charts and graphs) and therefore the only chance for me to properly crank the podcast.

And what to my wondering ears should appear, but second place in the contest for a little piece I called "Z Eye Joe!" My thanks to Eric, David and Corey and to James Melzer for his excellent reading that, I must say, makes my story orders of magnitude better on the ears than I was ever able to make it on the eyes.

The winner of the contest was editor and author, Stephanie Kincaid, whose mastery of flash and, well, zombie stories is evident. Rounding out our winner's circle, was Keith Gouveia. To check out the podcast with the readings from our stories click here. To check out Corey's podcasts in general, here.

More catching up to come.