Friday, June 28, 2024

Autographed Copies of The Gods of Moab Available



If you'd like to order an autographed copy of The Gods of Moab using Paypal, Venmo, or Credit Card, you may do so from this page using the buttons below. The cost for the book is $9.99 plus $3.01 shipping, so place your order for a total of $13.00 (a maximum of two copies at a time is permitted on the site).

If you have any problem with the site or wish to pay by any other means, add a blog comment below and leave a brief message. Be sure to include your email address. Comments will NOT be published; they come to me for moderation, and I will delete all comments immediately upon completion of the transaction.

Order your autographed copy using Paypal, Venmo, or Credit Card using the button below.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

A Graveside Chat with M. Wayne Miller


M. Wayne Miller
is one of the most prolific and recognized talents in the field of the dark arts. Well, not necessarily black magic, but for three decades, his artwork has graced the pages and covers of countless magazines, anthologies, collections, and novels — including many of mine. Wayne's earliest work appeared in Deathrealm magazine, but it wasn't long before his list of clients began to include such noteworthy names as April Moon Books, Dark Regions Press, Journalstone Publishing, Necro Publications, Celaeno Press, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Chaosium, Crossroad Press, TOR, and many others.

AGC: It was purely serendipitous that when you first began submitting your art to various publications in the 1990s, you lived literally around a couple of corners from me in Greensboro, NC. Thus, I had the privilege of seeing some of your early artistic development first-hand. To say I was impressed is a gross understatement. Do you have any stand-out recollections of those pioneering days, so to speak, as far as the challenges and rewards of that formative period?

MWM:
Yes indeed, Deathrealm magazine was my first paid commission, for a story by the late Tom Piccirilli, no less. At that time I was submitting to any publisher of line art. Hundreds I expect. Deathrealm was the first to respond, and we met in person as you mentioned at my home to discuss the work. I am pleased that our working relationship has become true friendship over the years.

That initial commission became a wave of work done for horror magazines and anthologies over the next several years. There were multiple issues of Deathrealm, as well as work in Lore, Terminal Fright (both magazine and anthology), Epitaph, Aberrations, and Flesh & Blood magazine. This led to many interior art commissions for RPG games from Chaosium and WEB Games, as well as many anthologies and poetry collections. There was a period where I was hugely prolific with line art, and while the financial reward was less than desirable, the work was huge fun and laid the groundwork for my subsequent freelance career.

AGC: Your earliest published work was mostly black & white interior illustration, but you very quickly became adept at producing full-color illos and cover art. Your portfolio includes an impressive number of works in various media. Do you have a preference — or particular fondness — for one medium or style over another?

MWM:
I knew early on that black & white illustration would not pay the bills no matter how prolific I was. I had to gain color work in the industry to progress. While I see tone extremely well, color use was not something I had any natural ability with. My first forays into creating color work was using markers and color pencil to colorize line art. While the results were good in themselves, it was only a stepping stone towards my use of color in illustration. I made a concerted effort to learn to paint in acrylic and oils from 1999 to 2005. My line art had phased out, and I basically took that time to redevelop my skillset. I was successful in learning to paint, and for several years painted for myself. Those were quite good years, but of course, I had to break into the industry again to get my color illustration career off the ground.

Dark Regions Press offered my first color cover commission, for one of your books, Mark, titled Other Gods. After that, my cover illustration career was off to the races. I soon learned that traditional media was not viable for production on quick deadlines. I was just not fast enough with it, and the drying times required meant I was fighting both the medium and deadline to get work done as quickly as possible. In 2009 I made the transition to all digital workflow, and have maintained steady work ever since. While not as visceral as traditional media, digital painting has offered a rich arena for learning and growth, and I still strive to improve and grow using software and learning new techniques. Regarding fondness, while digital offers fast production and ease of preparing print files, lately I have been feeling the urge to return to oils and acrylics. I attend a weekly drink-n-draw group where I only work traditionally with graphite, charcoal, watercolor, and color pencils. It is my “sanity break” from steady digital art production the rest of the week!

AGC: As far as artists go, who might you consider a major creative influence, if any? How about writers? Are there any particular authors whose work you haven't illustrated but that you're dying to?

MWM: I consider the late Bernie Wrightson to be my greatest artistic influence for both my line art and color illustration. His work is sublime, and always inspiring to me. For color work, I was heavily influenced by Michael Whelan, and still am in awe of his artistic output today. Along with these major influences, I love the work of Brom, Larry Elmore, Virgil Finlay, Wayne Douglas Barlowe, and Phil Hale. Honestly, I could rattle off dozens of artists, but nobody wants to read such a list here. Suffice it to say I love visual art and artists, and can gain inspiration from them all. My biggest author influence (after yourself of course, Mark!) is Stephen King. He is a very visual writer, and I can literally “see” his prose. Judging by all the adaptations for film and television, others are similarly affected by his writing style. For the most part, I have no use for such adaptations, because they never live up to what I saw in my imagination.

Coincidentally, King is also the “holy grail” author whose work I would love to illustrate. To get a cover or interior project for one of his books would be a dream come true! As with artists, there are multitudes of writers I am influenced by with my art, and a few will suffice to represent the rest. I love the work of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergast rocks!), Daniel Suarez, Jim Butcher, Neal Stephenson, Piers Anthony, Robert E. Howard, Scott Sigler, and of course H.P. Lovecraft.
AGC: In addition to the dark lit business, you've done plenty of work for the gaming industry. Is there any creative difference in your approach — or style — for these, or are they flip sides of the same coin?

MWM: I feel they are synonymous with regard to my artistic output. Granted, subject matter and style can vary, but I strive to put my artistic stamp on them all. The fact that a fair portion of both the fiction and RPGs share similar Cthulhu Mythos themes reinforces my love of creating such art, and I revel in depicting the indescribable and maddening. Fantasy and Young Adult genres stretch my artistic comfort zone, which is never a bad thing. Science Fiction is a mainstay genre for me, and I strive for the day when I can walk through a bookstore and see a dozen of my covers on mass market shelves. The illustrator’s journey is never-ending for certain!

AGC: You and I used to work for rival educational publishing companies in Greensboro. Did you ever feel inclined to resort to covert ops to get a leg up in the business? I know I did.

MWM: Ha! It’s funny, but at the time I never considered that rivalry to be “a thing,” though it evidently was in hindsight. I loved that job and the company, and I was aware of your company as another similar business, but I never felt that competition. I was just happy to have steady fruitful employment. Of course, that ended in layoff, and when I got hit with the reality of the existing rivalry between the companies was when I figured I would seek employment there since it was a similar business. For whatever reason, the boss at your company would not take any former employee of my company, period and end of story. Frankly, that pissed me off at the time, as I would have been a great asset for that company, and would have willingly shared anything I knew with them in the course of work. Even now, I look back on that owner’s stance with perplexity. Thankfully, that perceived rivalry is moot, since both companies are no longer operating in the area, and it never affected our friendship.

AGC: Were you a "monster kid" in your youth? Watch every horror/SF/critter feature that came on TV or to the theater? Do you have any favorite memories or inspiring moments that set you on the creative course you chose?

MWM: Of course! I loved anything monstrous on TV — Godzilla, aliens, saucers, cities being trampled by who knows what. Friday nights were my favorite time for watching such movies, and naturally I had to build models of such things, and play Ultraman or Destroy All Monsters with my friends of the time. All that changed in 1977 when Star Wars came out. It was the formative moment of my 10-year-old life, and after that, nothing would be the same about my artistic output. Even to this day, I still draw Star Wars stuff, despite never having been hired to do so professionally. One of these days, though, I will attain that dream as well! Hear that, Disney? Lets talk!

AGC: Anything you can mention about upcoming projects? What can we look forward to from you in the coming days/months/years?

MWM I am pleased to be working on a cover and interiors project for Joe Morey at Weird House Press. Years ago Joe ran Dark Regions Press, and I have been working with him ever since. Yet another long-running professional association that has developed into a true friendship. I am thankful to have such friends in the industry, and that they evidently enjoy working with me! Additionally, I am happily working on a Chaosium project for a new property of theirs, and like most things, I can say nothing about it due to NDA. Unfortunately, with times being as they are, business is not as it once was. As an illustrator, I am running head first into the AI thing, and I can feel its effects on my field. But as with any transitive period, flexibility and resiliency are foremost in my efforts to maintain a fruitful and growing career. I am nothing if not hard-headed, and I'm in this for the long haul. You may look forward to having me and my work popping up for many years to come.

AGC: Thank you, M. Wayne Miller!

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

The Gods of Moab Now Available in Paperback!

The Gods of Moab is a novella I wrote in 2012, and since then it's been available only as an ebook. I've had enough queries over the years about whether I might consider releasing it as a paperback that I finally decided to just jump in and do it. So... 'tis here!
  
"A pleasant New Year's Eve outing becomes an experience in otherworldly horror when two close-knit couples discover a shocking secret in the darkest corners of the Appalachian mountains. At an opulent mountain inn, Warren Burr, his fiancee, Anne, and their friends, Roger and Kristin Leverman, encounter a religious zealot named John Hanger, who makes it his business to bear witness to them of his peculiar... and disturbing... faith. His efforts rebuffed, Hanger insidiously assumes control of the couples' technological devices, leading them to stumble into unexpected, surreal landscapes... landscapes inhabited by nightmarish beings that defy explanation and rationality. To return to the world they thought they knew, Warren and his friends must not only escape the deadly entities that pursue them but somehow stop John Hanger's nightmare-plague from spreading to the outside world."

The Gods of Moab is a frightening novella by Stephen Mark Rainey, acclaimed author of Balak, Blue Devil Island, Other Gods, The Nightmare Frontier, and editor of the award-winning Deathrealm magazine and best-selling Deathrealm: Spirits anthology.

"After devouring The Gods of Moab in one short sitting, this novella has not only become my favorite work by the author, it has become one of my favorite reads of the year. Rainey balances his supernatural frights with the natural, and it works beautifully. From the first page to its mind-bending final sentences, The Gods of Moab will have readers wide-eyed and enthralled." TTZuma, HorrorWorld
 
I plan to have copies available at my Magnolia & Main Booksigning on July 20; at NecronomiCon in Providence, RI, August 15–18; and the Spencer-Penn Centre Local Authors Booksigning Event on September 21. You know I'll post updates as necessary!


Friday, June 21, 2024

Distant Early Warning! Book Signing at Magnolia & Main Books, Saturday, July 20


Heads up, local Southern Virginia Folks!
Magnolia & Main Bookstore is a brand-new, indie bookstore in Ridgeway, VA, a few short miles south of Martinsville. I am on the calendar for a book signing on Saturday, July 20, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

I will have copies of Deathrealm: Spirits, Fugue Devil: Resurgence, Blue Devil Island, The Gods of Moab, and all five of my Ameri-Scares novels for young readers — West Virginia: Lair of the Mothman, Michigan: The Dragon of Lake Superior, Ohio: Fear the Grassman!, New Hampshire: Ghosts From the Skies, and Georgia: The Haunting of Tate's Mill.

Many of my books and stories are set in a fictional version of Martinsville/Henry County and surrounding area — most notably, Fugue Devil: Resurgence and The Gods of Moab.

Come visit Magnolia & Main Books, 810 Main Street, Ridgeway, VA 24148! My books may scare the pants off you, but I'm pretty much okay. At least on Saturdays.



Monday, June 17, 2024

Social Animals?

Dragon Glass Winery's mascot
Ms. Brugger and I may not be committed homebodies, but socialites we are definitely not. We occasionally go out and about to interact with other members of the human species, but rarely for lengthy periods and almost never without a few days' recovery time. Okay, I exaggerate, but we both lean far closer to the introverted than the extroverted end of the scale. So I dunno what the hell happened this past week. We ventured into the land of the living with frightful enthusiasm, looking damn-near respectable, and behaving like mere minor-league sociopaths. Wot?

There's a new brewery open in town — Renewal Brewing — which Ms. B. and I visited on opening night a couple of weeks ago, and we decided to give it another go this past Thursday with my longest existing childhood friend, Ms. Gretchen. Renewal's brewpub currently occupies the building's basement (known as the "speakeasy"), and the owner soon plans to open a restaurant on the main floor as well as a rooftop bar. It's a great spot, with appealing ambiance, excellent service, and some tasty brews. After sampling a variety of Renewal's offerings, Ms. B., Ms. G., and I headed to dinner at Wild Magnolia restaurant, which has been around for several years, with decent food and atmosphere. And an enjoyable evening this turned out to be.
Old dude, Ms. B., and friend Gretchen at Renewal Brewing in Uptown Martinsville
Saturday, we loaded up with picnic goodies and sallied forth to Gioia dell'Amore Winery (formerly Autumn Creek), where we met friends Joe and Suzy, enjoyed a serious picnic lunch, and drank some decent NC wine (no, "decent NC wine" is not always an oxymoron). Afterward, on a whim, we looked at the map to see if there might be any wineries other than the ones we knew about relatively nearby and discovered one called Dragon Glass Winery, which makes only sweet wines. Ms. B. and I rarely — okay, call it never — go for sweet wine, but since this was a second destination and an attractive location, we figured we could call it dessert. Here, neither of us could finish more than a glass because when I say this wine is "sweet," we're talking "cloying." Still, we enjoyed our experiences at both locations. A damned good day.

Sunday, The No-Dead-Weight Irregulars — this time consisting of friend Scott (a.k.a. Diefenbaker), friend Natalie (a.k.a. Fishdownthestair), and an old dude — gathered again for a Sunday outing and landed ourselves near Chapel Hill, NC, at a place I don't really know what to call. There's Fearrington, Farrington, and Ferrington, all clustered right there, and where one ends and another begins, I've got no fucking idea. Anyway, there are gamelands full of geocaches there, and we hiked after a bunch. The heat was hot, the hiking tough, and the bugs plentiful (including a bunch of ticks, the lousy little bloodfuckers), but we found some mighty cool caches. Sadly, several of the "Halloween" series we sought appeared to be missing, but assuming the cache owners put out replacements, the location will probably be good for another outing.

For lunch, we settled on the nearby Town Hall Burger & Beer, where we've eaten on numerous other caching outings. Damned good dead critter here — lamb for me, and cow for my compadres.

This week is shaping up to be kinda busy as well. Perhaps we'll survive it yet again with flying colors. Woot.
"Hobbit Hole" cache — open wide!
L: big bony spider; R: little bony dude
Bony bat!
Not a geocache, but a very large millicritter

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Wildlife at the Eno River

A nice little turtle we found on the trail

That wildlife was a trio of geocachers — Cupdaisy (a.k.a. Debbie), Diefenbaker (a.k.a. Scott), and an old dude, commonly known as the No-Dead-Weight Irregulars. It was almost like old times: the nowadays all-too-rare gathering of several of us old-timers for a Sunday on the caching trail. Ah, for the days when every Sunday meant a gathering of old-timers on the geocaching trail.

Today, our target was Hillsborough, NC. I headed out bright and early this morning, bound for Burlington, NC, to replace one of my own caches that had gone missing and meet the other two reprobates in our party. From there, we hit the highway and in less than an hour began roaming little graveyards in the woods, big graveyards not in the woods, trails along the Eno River (which Scott and I forded at one point because the cache turned out to be on the other side and there was no footbridge), and up and down the Historic Oconeechee Speedway, where we've hiked on several previous occasions. We snagged all the caches we sought and hiked well over five miles, some of which were pretty rugged.

And to cap it off, we had a somewhat late lunch at Hillsborough BBQ Company, which is always a highly anticipated treat. It did not disappoint. For afters, we went next door for some frozen custard at Whit's Frozen Custard. That stuff is now officially a highly anticipated treat. That shit are good.

Hopefully, more geocaching later this week.
Into the Eno we go.
Little graveyard in the woods

Friday, June 7, 2024

Scary Things at Magnolia & Main Books

Hey, local Southern Virginia Folks!
Magnolia & Main Bookstore
is a brand-new, indie bookstore in Ridgeway, VA, a few short miles south of Martinsville. It's been a long while since there's been a physical bookstore in the area, so it's great to see this little boutique open its doors for business. It's a small shop, to be sure, but it's warm, welcoming, and easily accessible. Proprietor Traci Morton carries books by several local authors, including a bunch of mine, and I anticipate a booksigning happening here in the foreseeable future.

If you're in the local area and you'd like autographed copies of my books, Magnolia & Main is for you. They have copies of Deathrealm: Spirits, Fugue Devil: Resurgence, Blue Devil Island, and all five of my Ameri-Scares novels for young readers — West Virginia: Lair of the Mothman, Michigan: The Dragon of Lake Superior, Ohio: Fear the Grassman!, New Hampshire: Ghosts From the Skies, and Georgia: The Haunting of Tate's Mill.

Come visit Magnolia & Main Books, 810 Main Street, Ridgeway, VA 24148.

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Geocaching Smith Mountain Lake to Alta Vista

Smith Mountain Lake Dam
Last week, I needed a geocaching fix in the worst way, and the nearest concentration left for me to claim was at Smith Mountain Lake, about an hour northeast of here. The caches resided along numerous different channels and inlets with no direct access between them, which meant a not-so-short trip. But on Friday morning, I headed out bright and early and commenced to driving and hunting and hunting and driving. I ended up at various points around the southern legs of the lake, including Smith River Dam, which I'd never seen, and it turned out to be pretty impressive. Plus there was a nice cache there. And a big honking turbine. I also found a cool little graveyard out in the middle of nowhere.
A big honking turbine
A cool little graveyard out in the middle of nowhere
Water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

For lunch, I discovered an awesome bar & grill at Magnum Point Marina, where I had a killer BBQ sandwich, fries, and a very good beer (a local bourbon barrel brew). The almost day-long trip didn't put that many new cache finds under my belt, but I got my caching fix. Mainly, it flung a craving on me, and I still had a few caches not far away lurking on the map.

So today, I headed back up to the eastern end of Smith Mountain Lake, grabbed the lone cache in that area I needed, and then hit the road for the little town of Alta Vista, not far to the north. Here, I managed to find another handful, a couple of which turned out to be pretty challenging (one because I decided to see if I could park closer to it than the recommended location; it worked out fine, but it bumped the terrain difficulty rating up a few points). I survived it well enough, but it kinda wore this old man out.

Those two trips cleaned out another relatively nearby area, so... as is the nature of this activity... I'll be needing to travel farther and farther to get my geocaching fixes. Happily, it's worth every bit of it for the experiences and the exercise.
Lunchtime views from the Magnum Point Marina Bar & Grill
The library in downtown Alta Vista

Monday, June 3, 2024

New Short Story Complete: "The Foragers"

New story completed, submitted, and...accepted! The story, "The Foragers," will be appearing in an upcoming anthology — details will follow when the all-clear sounds — most likely early in 2025. It's set in the Revolutionary War, just before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, which occurred on March 15, 1781, more or less in our backyard when we lived in Greensboro. Here's a wee excerpt.
#
The fast-flowing stream was called Alamance Creek, and now that darkness had fallen, it was easier to hear than to see. After so many hours, Lieutenant William Voss found it impossible to believe that he and Sergeant Thomas Landrake had yet to emerge from these deep woods. And that, somehow, they now found themselves alone.

Since breaking camp in Hillsborough—God knew how many days ago—General Cornwallis had pushed his army at a hard march, with no provisions other than what each man could carry, so hunger and thirst had begun to take a deadly toll. This morning, Voss and Landrake, along with eight hand-picked men of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, had departed their new encampment along the southern banks of Alamance Creek and followed the stream through the woods, expecting to come upon farms or villages where they might plunder food, water, tobacco, and whiskey. To their dismay and disbelief, the damned woods appeared to go on forever.
 
And then…

“Where in bloody hell did we get separated?” A burly, powerful man from Glastonbury, Landrake’s voice sounded like a bear’s growl. “And how? We were all together, and then we weren’t.”

With great effort, Voss kept his voice measured. “I wish I knew. But they can’t be far away.”

“Winters! Carlisle! Pryce! Where the hell are you?”

The stream’s gurgling voice could hardly have overpowered Landrake’s. But the otherwise silent darkness offered up no reply.
#
Hope that piques your interest. Stay tuned for more details and news about the book's release!