Only 11 more days until the release of my first novel, DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE!

Only 11 more days until the release of my first novel, DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE!!!

Thanks so much for advance praise coming in:

“Eric J. Guignard’s Doorways to the Deadeye isn’t just a magnificent, magical, mystical epic; it’s really a long, hard look into the heart of the myth of America. With this, his first novel, Eric has crafted an extraordinary tale that will haunt readers long after they finish it.”

—Six-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lisa Morton

Coming from JournalStone, July 26. Pre-order now! https://www.amazon.com/Doorways-Deadeye-Eric-J-Guignard/dp/1947654977/

Title: Doorways to the Deadeye
Author: Eric J. Guignard
Date of Publication: July 26, 2019
Number of pages: 328
Published by: JournalStone
13-digit ISBN (paperback): 978-1-947654-97-6
13-digit ISBN (e-book): 978-1-947654-98-3
Synopsis: A Depression-era hobo rides the rails and learns the underlying Hobo Code is a mystical language that leads into the world of memories, where whoever is remembered strongest—whether by trickery, violence, or daring—can change history and alter the lives of the living.

Direct Book Links:

JournalStone Page: http://journalstone.com/bookstore/doorways-to-the-deadeye/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Doorways-Deadeye-Eric-J-Guignard/dp/1947654977

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46218234-doorways-to-the-deadeye

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/doorways-to-the-deadeye-eric-j-guignard/1131955734

Great Write-Up This Week by Library Journal

Fantastic write-up on the state of horror in writing and film this week in LIBRARYJOURNAL by librarian superstar, Becky Spratford, including news, podcasts, and summer releases with mention of my upcoming novel, DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE! “…Guignard captures the depth of emotion underlying fictional terrors.”

https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=ljx190701horrorpreview 

With mention of numerous friends and authors I admire, Paul Tremblay, Tim Waggoner, Chuck Wendig, Ellen Datlow, Michele Brittany & Nicholas Diak, Jim Chambers, J.G. Faherty, Joe Hill, Leslie S. Klinger, Josh Malerman, Cherie Priest, Brian Keene, Priya Sharma, Stephen Graham Jones, et al.

Great article overall—thanks Library Journal and Becky!

Release Day for DEATHFLASH!

It's release day from DARK MOON BOOKS!

DEATHFLASH by Gene O’Neill

with panel illustrations by Greg Chapman

Continue the investigations of THE CRIME FILES OF KATY GREEN with Book #3, DEATHFLASH!

Young Billy Williams has been elevated to status of Shepherd of the Flock—leader of a zealous religious cult—and granted gift of the Deathflash, the ability to see the soul as it departs its mortal form at demise.

Billy is also given an ancient knife-like talon and “commanded to do the Lord’s work,” which he does fanatically, slaying drug addicts in San Francisco who are poisoning their bodies with heroin...

Retired police detectives Katy Green and Johnny Cato find themselves drawn into the grim case of the murdered underclass, whom no one seems to care about until the brother of one victim comes forward with his incredible suspicions…

So begins a journey of addiction, tracking a killer through the dope dens and seedy rehab houses of the Tenderloin district. But as more time passes, junkies begin to die faster and faster, for Billy Williams has given himself entirely to his own addiction: the rush of viewing the DEATHFLASH.

Discover why readers have been applauding this stark, fast-paced noir series by multiple-award-winning author, Gene O’Neill! Read Deathflash and then continue the shocking case files of Sacramento’s “Green Hornet and Cato” with books #1, “Double Jack” (a novella) and #2 Shadow of the Dark Angel!

Available for sale here: https://www.amazon.com/Deathflash-Book-Crime-Files-Green/dp/0998827592

Get your copy today!!

DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE - Fulfillment of a Lifetime Goal

In late 1999/ early 2000, when I was about 24 years old, and trying to “find myself in the world” I made a list of lifetime goals, and I printed that list, laminated it, and stuck it in my wallet, where I still carry it today.

However, it’s one of those things that’s gotten buried behind some other old cards (advanced SCUBA certification, credentials of ministry from the Universal Life Church, etc.), basically things I haven’t looked at or even thought about for the past 6 or 7 years, at least.

But this week, I received a box of contributor copies of my first novel, and I realized that I just achieved the fulfillment of one of my lifetime goals.

Being as these goals were written about two decades ago, there are some that I've since lost interest in accomplishing. Some of them I already have accomplished. Some I know I’ll never do, while a few are still ones I’m working on and hopeful for.

This week, I just crossed off “Write and publish a book.”

I’ve written and published other books, anthologies and non-fiction, and my primer series, my collection, books on genealogy, etc. But I knew what the intent of this goal was, and nothing less would have fulfilled it. The intent was to see in print a fiction novel that I alone had authored. That book is: DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE, coming out next month (July 26) through JournalStone.

Here’s my original list of goals. They’re not in any order. If memory serves me correctly I had a couple different goals in the first draft list I made, but otherwise, not much changed over the years. This incarnation is dated from 2005.

15 GOALS TO FULFILL MY LIFE

• Earn a doctoral degree
• Hold a public position in political office
• Fluently speak a foreign language
• Invent/ Patent Something
• Run the Los Angeles Marathon
• Visit every continent
• Ride my bicycle across America
• Write and publish a book
• Efficiently play a musical instrument
• Hold my child
• Restore a classic car
• Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
• Build my own house
• Operate my own business
• Master a martial art

####

Anyway, it’s a great feeling of gratification today, of accomplishment, wonder even, that I did it.

Below is a picture of DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE, as opened in its shipping box, and of course I’m so proud of it, and hope the world should find some bit of enjoyment in my writing as well…. This novel was truly a passion project, something I wrote from the heart without a care for genre constraints. Of course, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I’ll be all about writing for the market and the big bucks now (yes, I know, I laugh too!).

It's available for preorder on Amazon, and more on it can be found here: http://ericjguignard.com/doorways_to_the_deadeye.html

Met the legendary James Ellroy last night!

Found out the legendary James Ellroy was signing books last night at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena. I dropped what I was doing and rushed out there to meet him, get his new novel THIS STORM, and have him sign a half dozen other books I have on my bookshelf. THE BLACK DAHLIA was one of the most influential and eye-opening books of my early twenties—I’d never read crime noir before (never read crime before at all, except for a couple bland Mario Puzo books), and I still remember picking Ellroy’s book off a shelf for fifty cents from a thrift store in Covina, because I didn’t have any money, wanted to read, and the other books for sale there were all romance or Western. After that I was hooked, and so came THE COLD SIX THOUSAND, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, THE BIG NOWHERE, etc. 

I told Ellroy this, and showed him my author website on my phone that lists him as an inspiration. His response was a shoulder shrug and “eh.” Haha, I’m quite certain he hears devotionals like that all the time! 

Anyway, great to have met him, and I placed a couple of my own titles on consignment at Vroman's while I was there, so it was a double win. Local and looking to pick up paperback copies of A WORLD OF HORROR or my collection, THAT WHICH GROWS WILD? Vroman's is your place!

June, 2019 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

June, 2019: HWA L.A.

New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Bronzeville Bee

http://www.bronzevillebee.com/contribute/

Payment: 5 cents a word

Story Length: up to 3,000 words

Deadline: Intermittently (usually) open

Reprints?: No

Response: unknown

Description: Any genre fiction: crime, sci fi, fantasy, horror and YA for online publication; (publisher has a focus on diversity in author pool). Publisher also accepts NON-FICTION at pay for articles 1500–1800 words in length of $150. 10 cents per word for articles 1499 words or less.

Longevity anthology (Third Flatiron)

http://www.thirdflatiron.com/liveSite/pages/submissions

Payment: 6 cents a word

Story Length: 1,500–3,000 words

Deadline: July 10, 2019–August 3, 2019

Reprints?: No

Response: by October 1, 2019

Description: (SF/Fantasy/Horror) Legends tell of people who lived a long time, like Methuselah. Some are just lucky (Lazarus Long), some have it thrust upon them (Lestat), some just naturally come by it (cats, bristlecone pines, megaliths), and some rightfully earn their immortality (Shakespeare, Sophocles). Is life extension possible via diets or genetic manipulation, and will there be side effects? Is ageism a real thing? Give us your speculative take on longevity and how it is achieved.

Asimov’s Science Fiction (magazine)

http://www.asimovs.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines

Payment: 8 cents a word

Story Length: 1,000–20,000 words

Deadline: Intermittently open

Reprints?: No

Response: Five weeks

Description: Character-oriented Science Fiction stories that is serious, thoughtful, yet accessible (occasional humor), including borderline fantasy, slipstream, and surreal fiction (and some poetry).

Flame Tree Publishing (Flash Fiction Monthly Contest)

https://www.flametreepress.com/submissions

Payment: 6 cents a word

Story Length: 700–1,000 words

Deadline: June 16, 2019

Reprints?: No

Response: Presumably by the end of the following month.

Description: Original Flash Fiction written to the month’s theme; must be subscriber to the newsletter to receive the monthly prompt. This month: The Horror theme is Blood and Gore. The Sci-Fi stories theme is Aliens on Earth.

ESCAPE ARTISTS PodCasts (4 separate markets; Different Editors, similar guidelines)

All:

Payment: 6 cents a word/ original; $100 flat rate for reprints

Story Length: up to 6,000 words (preferred 4,500 words or less)

Deadline: Intermittent (each market opens as needs)

Reprints?: Yes

Response: Up to three months

1. PodCastle (Fantasy Fiction Podcast)

http://podcastle.org/guidelines/

Description: Publishes in both text and audio. Looking for fantasy stories. We’re open to all the sub-genres of fantasy, from magical realism to urban fantasy to slipstream to high fantasy, and everything in between.

2. Cast of Wonders (Y.A. Fantasy Fiction Podcast)

http://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/schedule

Description: Stories that evoke a sense of wonder and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without explicit sex, violence or pervasive obscene language. Think Harry Potter or The Hunger Games.

3. Escape Pod (Science Fiction Podcast)

http://escapepod.org/guidelines/short-fiction

Description: Our mandate is fun. We are fairly flexible on what counts as “science” (as we’ll delve into superheroes or steampunk on occasion) and are interested in exploring the range of the genre, but we are not looking for fantasy, magical realism, or more than a tinge of horror. If your story isn’t centered on science, technology, future projections, alternate history, and how any or all of these things intersect with people, we’re probably not the right market for it.

4. Pseudopod (Horror Fiction Podcast)

http://pseudopod.org/submissions

Description: Horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. We publish highly literary stories reminiscent of Poe or Lovecraft as well as vulgar shock-value pulp fiction; strong pacing, well-defined characters, engaging dialogue, and clear action.

***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”

Gallery of Curiosities (fiction anthology print and podcast)—SPECIAL SESSION: WW2 THEMED

https://gallerycurious.com/fiction/

Payment: 4 cents a word

Story Length: up to 7,500 words

Deadline: June 1–30, 2019

Reprints?: Yes (paid at 1 cent a word)

Response: One week for initial short list acceptance, then varying timeframe thereafter

Description: Dark “retropunk” fiction: Speculative fiction stories set around the era of World War II.

Monsters in Spaaaace!: (Dragon’s Roost Press)

http://thedragonsroost.net/styled-3/index.html

Payment: 3 cents a word

Story Length: up to 6,000 words

Deadline: July 31, 2017

Reprints?: Query first

Response: unknown

Description: Finely crafted works of Dark Speculative fiction which feature one (or more) classic monsters. Vampires, mummies, creatures built from dead body parts, lycanthropes, mad scientists, and zombies—but we want to see them in space!

The Forge Literary Magazine

https://www.forgelitmag.com/flm/submit

Payment: flat $50

Story Length: Generally 3,000 words or less, but may be open to a bit longer. Flash is also highly appreciated (1,000 words or less).

Deadline: Continually open

Reprints?: No

Response: 3 months or less

Description: Prose Fiction—Open to all genres and voices, and stories with any background. Literary excellence is our only criteria. Pieces read anonymously, so please do not put your name anywhere in the file.