Monday, January 31, 2011

Eight hard driving inches……

Abandon yourself to eight hard driving inches of masterful horror. That's right, the 2010 edition of 52 Stitches is hot off the press and ready for you to spend a stormy, pretend the power is out and read it under the covers with a flashlight, kind of night reading these jewels of flash fiction.

The book measures a purse sized 8 inches by 5 ½ inches by ¾ inches deep, but the 52 stories packed inside will wallop you in the head like it was one of those giant unabridged dictionaries that they used to keep chained up in the library when you were in elementary school. [Either so you couldn't go off into a corner to look up dirty words; or just because that many words squished all together start getting ideas about overthrowing humankind]

If you're wondering why I'm so excited about this collection; it's because my story Aftertaste is on page 73. To top that, one of the best things I've ever read of Laura Eno's [and that's saying a lot] a story called Dangerous Premonitions, is on page 44. I was familiar with quite a few of the other authors listed in the table of contents before reading the book, some are friends, some are writers I've seen in passing, but after reading the collection I've gotta say I've got some new writerly crushes.

Aaron Polson is an amazing writer and as an editor he has an unerring eye for picking stories that provoke a reaction in the reader. He also has a really big pencil.

The book is dedicated to Aaron's friend Jamie Eyberg. All of the proceeds from the sale of the book are going to go to the trust fund that was set up for Jamie's children after Jamie and his wife died suddenly last year. Jamie has a wonderful story called The Trouble with Gnomes on page 42.


Click right here on this link
to go on over and order your very own copy of 52 Stitches
. For those of you who are faint of heart, shut your eyes, because I'm going to show you the cover that Aaron put together now…….



24 comments:

Alan W. Davidson said...

I'd have to agree that it's eight ha......a really fine collection of horror stories. Nice to see so many familiar names within the pages.

Karen from Mentor said...

Smooth save there my friend.

Alan has a fabulous story called "Thor's Hammer" on page 46. I know it provokes a reaction because it made me furious when I read it....laughing....Pretty bad when you get mad at a fictional character.

Laura Eno said...

What a post title, Karen! Yes, so many wonderful stories in this. A fabulous collection. I'm honored to be a part of it (and rubbing elbows with the outrageous Karen S.)

Laurita said...

Just read your wicked story Aftertaste in this little gem of a book a few nights ago. You're right, this little book packs a big wallop.

Karen from Mentor said...

I always thought the word was "whallop" Laurita, and I almost left it that way, but spellcheck was adamant about it, so I caved.

My head is still ringing from reading some of these stories.

I hope lots of people buy the book so the trust fund can be fed. And speaking of being fed? After a few of these tales I thought I'd never eat again...laughing...

Karen from Mentor said...

Well Laura, you know what they say..."sex sells"...giggling...I just thought I'd grab people's attention and then tell them about the book. [did it work?]

I love the look of this book. I love the fact that the pages have an aged patina to them.

It looks like a book that you've had forever and read over and over again.

Little details like that can make a huge difference in magnifying the sensory pleasure of those of us who still love reading the printed page.

j said...

What a great thing you're all doing! I mean, you know, besides the great writing you do all the time. Your generosity is really heartwarming. (Can I say that on a post about a horror collection?)

Karen from Mentor said...

You can absolutely say that Judy. Most of us have a soft mushy center, we just hide it under the crunchy bits.

*smooches you*

PJ said...

Karen - looks like an excellent collection - is there an ebook as well?

Lynn Alexander said...

Congratulations!

Timothy Hallinan said...

Sensational cover. I'm sure the stories live up to it. Will tweet about it in a minute.

Aaron Polson said...

Hey, PJ -- Editor Aaron here. There's no ebook because (short-sighted me) didn't purchase e-rights from the author's for anthology purposes. It's something I'll make sure to do should there be a 52 Stitches Year 3. Thanks for your interest!

Jodi MacArthur said...

What a wonderful thing for Mr. Polson to do for his friend's children (heart-wrenching).

It sounds like an exciting collection (of my fav genre-horror-yes!) from some of my favs out there today. I'll check it out. Thanks for the heads up, my lovely tentacled diva.

Karen from Mentor said...

I think you'll love the book jodi.

And yes, Aaron's a lovely man.

Karen from Mentor said...

Thanks Tim!

Really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help us spread the word.

*Big Smile*

Karen from Mentor said...

Love, love, love being in this collection Lynn.
Couldn't be in better company.

*hugs*

Karen from Mentor said...

PJ,
Too bad you can't feed this to your e reader. It's an awesome book.

I'm partial to print myself anyway, but I know a lot of people are looking to pack lots of reading material into one component to make it easy to carry around. You could always nestle 52 Stitches inside your purse right next to your kindle. Pretty sure they'd get along fine. :0)

Thanks so much for stopping in and for spreading the word via twitter.

*smooch*

Anonymous said...

I'm sure that title brings with it lots of readers :P
Sounds like a great collection of flash fiction, and that cover is bound to make me lose more sleep... Congrats on getting published in it, I'm so happy for you, honey!

Huge hugs!

Karen from Mentor said...

In point of fact the most off topic hits I get are still on Another Night in tight jeans. I just got an email from a guy saying he was looking for something completely different, but loved the story and is now a fan of my flash fiction....laughing....

Not sure how this title will play out in the long run....

Thanks for stopping in. I'm so pleased to be in this collection. Aaron autographed mine for me, so it's extra extra special.

*hugs you back*

John Wiswell said...

Tweeted it out, hon. A good cause indeed.

Karen from Mentor said...

It absolutely is John. Thanks for using your platform to help get the word out. It's really appreciated.
*hugs you*

Karen from Mentor said...

I just want to mention that Alan Davidson has given the book a shout out in a post and Daniel Powell has as well.

In addition to that so many many people are tweeting and retweeting the link to this post and to the link at Amazon where you can order the book. It's been extremely gratifying to see that many hearts open up to help feed the trust fund for Jamie's kids.

*happy sigh*

Magaly Guerrero said...

I love the shape of the eyes, and the absence of eyelashes makes look even scarier. I won't say a thing about the young, young, um... creepy model. Okay, I lied: it's terrifying.

Karen from Mentor said...

Oy! Magaly, I didn't even think about the face belonging to a youngster until you mentioned it.
Now that's all I can seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

[somebody talk me down]