Welcome to the Zero Hour!
It’s been awhile since we posted here. Anthony and Jay are still hard at work getting Volume 4 ready to sail, and have been busy taking care of their respective fledgeling families (Zero Hour! editorial interns Jack and Ava Butkowski entered the world on June 14, and design intern Lily Schiavino followed shortly thereafter on August 5).
However, we just couldn’t let Halloween come and go without our annual Trick or Treat.
It’s with great pleasure that we can debut the cover, lavishly painted by Dirk Shearer, for Episodes from the Zero Hour! Volume 4. It features seven weird stories from the eerie minds of Jason Butkowski, S.E. Dogaru, Bobby Nash, Anthony Schiavino, and Frank Schildiner.
Coming Soon. Cover art by Dirk Shearer. Design by Anthony Schiavino.
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The back cover.
While we’re busy at work putting the finishing touches on our next book, Episodes from the Zero Hour!, Volume 4, our weird fiction anthology, author and design guru Anthony Schiavino has been busy whipping up some great hard-boiled flash fiction for Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds blog (http://www.terribleminds.com).
The theme this week is cocktails, and Anthony chose one of the classics from the 20s and 30s, the Jack Rose, to base his 500-word flash fiction story on.
I know this site has been a little quiet in 2011 (…too quiet…), but with good reason. You’re faithful Web administrators have been hunkered down at the Zero Hour! ranch, cooking up a new batch of pulpy goodness for the new year. And this time, we’ve brought some friends along with us for the ride.
Episodes from the Zero Hour! Volume 4 is the first time we’ll be stepping away (not entirely, but mostly) from the serialized fiction model we’ve used in the previous three volumes. It’s going to be a collection of stand-alone stories, and with this one, we’ve chosen a theme that’s in running with our eclectic tastes and the rich pulp history available to us.
We’re happy to announce that the three Episodes from the Zero Hour! books are featured in this year’s first-ever Forces of Geek Holiday Gift Guide! Seeing Knuckles and Rex standing toe to toe with All Star Superman and the 30th Anniversary of Springsteen’s Born to Run on somebody’s holiday wish-list is pretty surreal. Special thanks to geek gurus Stefan Blitz and Elizabeth Weitz for including us in their inaugural gift guide.
Just in time for the holiday shopping season (unless you celebrate Hanukkah), we’ve booked a return appearance at Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope, Pennsylvania on December 12 to meet with fans and sign copies of Volumes One and Three. Nothing says a solemn celebration of interfaith holy days like a Tough Guy for Hire and a Weird Game Hunter on your bookshelves this holiday season.
This weekend, we have two great opportunities to pick up copies of Episodes from the Zero Hour! books.
From today, November 4 through Sunday, November 7, our friends at Farley’s Bookstore in New Hope will be at the 2010 Philadelphia NoirCon, and will have copies of Episodes from the Zero Hour! Volumes 1 and 3, on hand. Even if you already have your copy, swing by their table and say hi… the guys and girls from Farley’s are truly nice people, and gave me a sneak peek at all the loot they’re bringing with them. As the official bookseller of NoirCon, they pretty much have anything to sate your pulp tastes. If you do make it over there, tell them Zero Hour! says hi!
Since it’s our favorite time of year (Halloween!), and I don’t feel like sharing the Milky Ways, please check out this Web exclusive for our loyal Episodes from the Zero Hour! fans.
Last month, Jay’s ultra-short story, The Robbers, was selected as one of the featured scary stories read at the Asbury Park CityArts festival (hosted by the Arts Coalition of Asbury Park — www.artscap.org). We asked Zero Hour! Volume 4 artist Dirk Shearer to take a break from his busy schedule and whip up a spot illustration and the result was just plain awesome.
Had a great time yesterday at Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope, PA! Met some (hopefully) new fans, chatted it up with random passers-by on the street, and enjoyed the perfect fall weather in one of my favorite little towns. Huge thanks to our hosts at Farley’s for rolling out the red carpet (they even gave me apple cider, folks!) and making me feel welcome.
Thanks to everyone who came out this weekend to Paranormal Books and Curiosities in Asbury Park, NJ. We had a great time, meeting up with the fans and autographing copies of the new book. You guys make all our efforts worth it!
And far be it from us to rest on our laurels.
