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Greetings from the Chamber of Horrors! I've decided to do my “year in review” roundup a little earlier than originally planned, since December will be an especially busy month for me. I have a suspense novel coming out in January, so I’m knee deep in a final proofing of that, as well as working out the details of the cover design (cover reveal coming soon!). I’m also working with German artist Dirk Berger on a cover idea for the next story collection. In other words, I feel like I’ve been pushed down a slide, so there’s no braking until I hit the bottom—or my shorts ride up and the backs of my thighs screech along the metal, forcing me into a jarring, painful stop.
As you can see, we’re already up and running here, since the above items are kinda/sorta part and parcel of this year, but allow me to backtrack a bit by turning my attention to those things that actually came to pass in 2020.
First up: poetry. The year started off with the appearance of three of my poems—”Hollow the Eye,” “Sleep Comes Not Easy,” and “The Possibilities”—in issue 25 of The Literary Hatchet, bringing the total number of my published poems to date to a nice, even eight.
On the heels of that publication, I had the pleasure of seeing my flash-fiction werewolf story “The Night of the Wolf” get a second life as a reprint between the covers of the Wolfwinter anthology from Deadman’s Tome.
Then came the biggie. In June I self-published my second short-story collection (the first having been put out by the now-defunct Books of the Dead Press). Jagged Edges & Moving Parts has been well received, and I’m extremely pleased with how it turned out. Still, it could always use a little more love in terms of Amazon and Goodreads reviews, in case you care to spread the word about that.
And that’s about it for publication news, but I did have some acceptances in 2020 that will come to fruition in the coming year (or beyond) ...
One is an interview I did with the late Stuart Gordon, which will appear in a book of interviews with the legendary horror director. Michael Doyle is helming that publication. Stay tuned for detailed release information.
I’ve also placed a crime story called “Crisscross Purposes” with Suspense Magazine. We’ll see if that issue sees the light of day before the story appears in my crime collection in mid-2021. Either way, it introduces one Lieutenant Caldera, a character you’ll be seeing a good deal more of, as he’ll be making an appearance in five other stories in the aforementioned collection, as well as a future novel.
Last but not least on the acceptance front is my story “Imposter Syndrome,” which will be included in Dark Regions Press’s forthcoming Survive the Night: Three at Dusk, One at Dawn anthology. Pre-orders are already being taken for the eBook; paperback; and signed, limited hardcover editions.
The year also saw some reviews of note, guest blog posts of interest, and an informative interview, so let’s take a quick look at those …
Guest blog post on Jim Coniglio's One-Legged Reviews blog: “Why is Horror Fiction Relevant Now?”
Interview with Barbra Dillon of Fanbase Press: https://www.fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/interviews/books/item/11130-fanbase-press-interviews-pete-mesling-on-the-horror-collection-jagged-edges-moving-parts
Jagged Edges & Moving Parts Reviewed by author Steve Stred on his blog: https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/book-review-jagged-edges-moving-parts-by-pete-mesling/
Guest post for the Graveyard Shift column that Kendall Reviews publishes to its website and newsletter:
Zakk Madness, The Eyes of Madness (for Night Worms): "How COVID-19 Reignited my Love of Comics"
Jagged Edges & Moving Parts Reviewed on YouTube by Well Read Beard (a text version is also on Goodreads): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLwmvu_O0Q0&t=11s
For a year fraught with such a mind-numbing boatload of ill-begotten particulars, 2020 was pretty good to me overall. I don’t know if every cloud has a silver lining, but for me 2020 does … so far.
And thanks, as always, for your ongoing interest in my words. If you’ve enjoyed my work to date, I think you’ll find plenty to like about what’s coming. Don’t change that dial, in other words.
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