PRISMS, an anthology of dark science fiction and fantasy co-edited by Darren Speegle and Michael Bailey, is now available! This anthology was previously published in limited hardcover by PS Publishing in March 2021 and re-released in trade paperback and eBook by Written Backwards.
Prisms are instruments, mirrors, metaphors, gateways humankind must pass through in order to achieve, to overcome, to realize, to become. Contained herein are nineteen transformative tales from some of speculative fiction’s most brilliant minds. So open your eyes and let the light pass through . . .
Purchase directly from the publisher (US only, shipping included) . . .
We Come in Threes – B.E Scully Encore for an Empty Sky – Lynda E. Rucker The Girl with Black Fingers – Roberta Lannes The Shimmering Wall – Brian Evenson In This, There Is No Sting – Kristi DeMeester The Birth of Venus – Ian Watson Super-Sad Mad Dog Sui-Homicidal Self-Sibs, All in a Leaky Tin Can Head – Paul Di Filippo Rivergrace – E. Catherine Tobler Saudade – Richard Thomas There Is Nothing Lost – Erinn L. Kemper This Height and Fiery Speed – A.C. Wise The Motel Business – Michael Marshall Smith Everything Beautiful Is Also a Lie – Damien Angelica Walters The Gearbox – Paul Meloy District to Cervix: The Time Before We Were Born – Tlotlo Tsamaase Here Today and Gone Tomorrow – Chaz Brenchley The Secrets of My Prison House – J. Lincoln Fenn A Luta Continua – Nadia Bulkin I Shall but Love Thee Better – Scott Edelman
Michael Bailey 4.4 was released upon the world yesterday. Today (and most of next week), you can grab the entire Michael Bailey collection for free on Kindle.
In the near future, expect: AGATHA’S BARN (novella, in print), SEEN IN DISTANT STARS (novel), HANGTOWN (novel), SEVEN MINUTES (memoir), THE SPEED OF HEALING (collection), and MADNESS AND WRITERS: THE UNTOLD TRUTH. MAYBE? (creative documentary series).
But for now, you can download the entire Written Backwards backlog of Michael Bailey books for free:
PSYCHOTROPIC DRAGON is the third composite novel (technically a fiction collection) by Michael Bailey. Part short novel, part novella, part novelette, with a few short stories and fables in between, Psychotropic Dragon is a mind-bending composite narrative about Julie Stipes and her experience with the street drug Drakein-5. The psychotropic eye drops blur reality, sending her through a horrific journey of self-discovery and recovery. Each act in this ensemble is further brought to life with illustrations by Daniele Serra, Glenn Chadbourne, L.A. Spooner, and Ty Scheuerman.
THE IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT OF LIFE, an autobiographical collection of speculative fiction and poetry by Michael Bailey. contains Bram Stoker Award-nominated short stories such as “I Will Be the Reflection Until the End” and “Time Is a Face on the Water,” but also never-before-published mind-benders created during his “highly-medicated” state of recovery, including a story about memory loss called “Fragments of Br_an,” (composed on a typewriter that no longer exists, now ash), “Emergence of the Colorless,” a statement about the beginning of the end of prejudice, and the far future “Oll Korrect,” in which artificial intelligence is used to explore humankind. As for poetry, there are favorites such as “Loosed Earth” and “Shades of Red,” but many new poems to help with balance, including “Hurt People Hurt People,” “Night Rainbows,” and “Paper Earth.”
OVERSIGHT, a themed collection of two novelettes and a short story by Michael Bailey. Includes “Darkroom” and “SAD Face” (novelettes), and “Fade to Black” (short story).
OUR CHILDREN, OUR TEACHERS, a standalone novelette by Michael Bailey, nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction. Children are often our greatest teachers, but what happens if the lesson is too heavy to hold? A high school in rural Brenden, Washington is taken hostage by a gathering of unlikely students trying to teach the world a new lesson … a foreshadowing, perhaps, to darker times ahead for the American education system, if gun control is not addressed properly.
INKBLOTS AND BLOOD SPOTS, a painfully beautiful collection of short stories and poetry by Michael Bailey that reaches deep into the imagination, breaking hearts and boundaries along the way. Features an introduction by Douglas E. Winter, and illustrations and cover artwork by Daniele Serra. Stories include the Bram Stoker nominated “Fireman / Primal Tongue,” which also received an Honorable Mention for Year’s Best Horror; “Dandelion Clocks,” a haunting, melodic tribute to the tragedy of 9/11; “I Wanted Black,” where a young boy’s birthday is anything but cause to celebrate; “Mum,” a tale of two sisters unfolding like the bandages on their mother’s badly burned body.
PHOENIX ROSE, a composite novel. Michael Bailey returns to the strange town of Brenden, Washington to expand the events of Palindrome Hannah. A family is torn apart after a horse foaling goes terribly wrong; a sickly man recounts getting mauled by his neighbor’s dog; an undead priest is reborn into the world a hundred-fifty years after his untimely death; two brothers run for their lives through a dead field of wheat. Holding all of this together is a young boy named Todd, whose survival pivots on the balance of life and death, and a deranged mental patient with a burnt rose tattoo, whose reality is paradoxical. Cover artwork by Michael Ian Bateson.
SCALES AND PETALS, the debut fiction and poetry collection by Michael Bailey. Between writing the novels Palindrome Hannah and Phoenix Rose, Michael penned and published a number of these dark short fiction and poetry pieces, some of which can be found in literary magazines and anthologies around the world (Australia, Sweden, and South Africa). A few of these fallen dragon scales and flower petals are reprinted here, while others are original to the collection, hand selected and arranged by the author. Once you crack the spine, there’s no going back. Cover artwork by John Hornor Jacobs. Also includes a bonus graphic adaptation of the story “Plasty,” in collaboration with artist L.A. Spooner, as well as three previously unpublished flash fiction pieces.
PALINDROME HANNAH, a composite novel by Michael Bailey. Enter a cruel palindrome world: a symmetric place where disturbing situations displace the common; where good acts transmute to evil ones; where windows and mirrors are interchangeable. Within, characters influence each other through macabre arrangements of involuntary happenstance, and learn the inevitabilities of coincidence. A segmented story of a mother and daughter intertwines the others. This hidden sixth story, assembled from the five separate narratives, uncovers the sad life of a child who carries a palindrome name, and her struggling teenage mother. With five stories heading one direction, and Hannah traveling the opposite, the story unfolds like a palindrome. A puzzle within a puzzle.
PRISMS, an anthology of dark science fiction and fantasy co-edited by Darren Speegle and Michael Bailey, is now available to pre-order. This anthology was previously published in limited hardcover by PS Publishing in March 2021, but will be made available in a wider release by Written Backwards on March 21st, 2023. Features cover artwork by Ben Baldwin.
Prisms are instruments, mirrors, metaphors, gateways humankind must pass through in order to achieve, to overcome, to realize, to become. Contained herein are nineteen transformative tales from some of speculative fiction’s most brilliant minds. So open your eyes and let the light pass through . . .
Table of Contents:
“We Come in Threes” – B.E. Scully “Encore for an Empty Sky” – Lynda E. Rucker “The Girl with Black Fingers” – Roberta Lannes “The Shimmering Wall” – Brian Evenson “In This, There Is No Sting” – Kristi DeMeester “The Birth of Venus” – Ian Watson “Fifty Super-Sad Mad Dog Sui-Homicidal Self-Sibs, All in a Leaky Tin Can Head” – Paul Di Filippo “Rivergrace” – E. Catherine Tobler “Saudade” – Richard Thomas “There Is Nothing Lost” – Erinn L. Kemper “This Height and Fiery Speed” – A.C. Wise “The Motel Business” – Michael Marshall Smith “Everything Beautiful Is Also a Lie” – Damien Angelica Walters “The Gearbox” – Paul Meloy “District to Cervix: The Time Before We Were Born” – Tlotlo Tsamaase “Here Today and Gone Tomorrow” – Chaz Brenchley “The Secrets of My Prison House” – J. Lincoln Fenn “A Luta Continua” – Nadia Bulkin “I Shall but Love Thee Better” – Scott Edelman
Everyone hates creating (and probably reading) “Award Eligibility” lists, as well as writing (and probably receiving) opt-in emails to consider one’s work for award recognition, but it has become essential for independent and non-bestselling writers to highlight what they have published, a way to determine from their peers if what they have published is any good. And let’s face it: all creators want award recognition. Who doesn’t want a statue, a trophy, a rock?
Toward the end of the year, social media, websites, and email inboxes are flooded with last-minute “for your consideration” type posts, even though this could have done throughout the year. Why? Because most who recommend works for award consideration do so in bulk toward the end of the year, and because not all award systems are jury-driven. This is sadly the case, which is why no one tends to see “Award Eligibility” lists or opt-in emails during the first ten months of the year.
But . . . then, is there enough time to read the work in those final months? Not usually, but the list or opt-in email or whatever it may be works as a reminder to “rec it” if having already read and enjoyed the work, and without using the R-word. It is similar to begging for book reviews, which has become another essential for independent and non-bestselling writers.
It goes against award conduct to request recommendations from peers, but isn’t that exactly what “Award Eligibility” lists do without implicitly stating, “Consider recommending my [ title and type of published work ] for the [ fill-in-the blank ] Award”?
“Award Eligibility” lists thus are created as a way of stating without stating, “Here’s my work to consider for awards this year, not that, you know, I deserve such things,” while implying, so if you feel inclined, maybe, you know, throw in a good word?
All that said, below is my list of works published in 2022 that I am most proud of (one for each category, some of which were collaborations with other writers), and with all the important information about each, if, you know . . .
Title: Chiral Mad 5 Category: Anthology Editor: Michael Bailey Publisher: Written Backwards Month of Publication: September
Title: Sifting the Ashes Category: Poetry Collection Author(s): Michael Bailey & Marge Simon Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing Month of Publication: April
Title: The Call of the Void Category: Novella Author(s): Michael Bailey & Erinn L. Kemper Publisher: Bleeding Edge Books Month of Publication: March
Title: “Slo-Mo” Category: Short Story Author: Michael Bailey Publisher: Hybrid Sequence Media Venue: Hybrid: Misfits, Monsters, and Other Phenomena (anthology) Month of Publication: June
Title: “A Need for Storytelling” Category: Short Nonfiction Author: Michael Bailey Publisher: Manuscripts Venue: Online (manuscripts.com/a-need-for-storytelling) Month of Publication: December
The Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated anthology, coedited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey, is under a buck on Kindle in the US / UK now through the weekend. Snag a copy of the eBook if you haven’t already. Features the Stoker-winning short story by Josh Malerman.
Foreword by Alma Katsu
“A Heart Arrhythmia Creeping into a Dark Room” – Michael Wehunt “Matryoshka” – Jo Kaplan “Butcher’s Blend” – Brian Hodge “Operations Other than War” – Nadia Bulkin “One Day of Inside/Out” – Linda D. Addison “One Last Transformation” – Josh Malerman “Brains” – Ramsey Campbell “You Are My Neighbor” – Max Booth III “The Vodyanoy” – Christina Sng “Imperfect Clay” – Lisa Morton “Spectral Evidence” – Victor LaValle “Ode to Joad the Toad” – Laird Barron “Only Bruises Are Permanent” – Scott Edelman “My Knowing Glance” – Lucy A. Snyder “Paper Doll Hypderplane” – R.B. Payne “Not Eradicated In You” – Bracken MacLeod “Resurrection Points” – Usman T. Malik “The Old Gods of Light” – Christina Sng “Sounds Caught in Cobwebs” – M.E. Bronstein “Umbra Sum” – Kristi DeMeester “A Benediction of Corpses” – Stephanie M. Wytovich “The Making of Asylum Ophelia” – Mercedes Yardley “Frakenstein’s Daughter” – Theodora Goss
CHIRAL MAD 5 is the fifth and final volume in the Chiral Mad series, edited by Bram Stoker Award-winning editor Michael Bailey, and illustrated by Seth Brown. Contains speculative fiction and poetry (25 of each) from the likes of Stephen King, Josh Malerman, Victor LaValle, Linda D. Addison, Zoje Stage, Christina Sng, Haley Piper, John Langan, Tlotlo Tsamaase, and so many more. See the book cover below for a full list.
If you need to catch up on past volumes of Chiral Mad, they are available for a limited time at that same low price, so time to fill up those eBook readers. See below for individual links.
CHIRAL MAD 4, an anthology of collaborations. 4 short stories, 4 novelettes, 4 novellas, and 4 graphic adaptations make up this mammoth book of wonders. Every story in this anthology is a collaboration. Bram Stoker Award-winners Michael Bailey and Lucy A. Snyder even collaborated on the co-editing to bring you an incredibly diverse and entirely collaborative experience! Also includes a co-introduction by Gary A. Braunbeck and Janet Harriett. Nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award.
CHIRAL MAD 3, an anthology of psychological horror. The third act in the critically-acclaimed series contains 45 illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne, over 20 stories by the likes of Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Ramsey Campbell, Gary A. Braunbeck, Mort Castle, Josh Malerman, Scott Edelman (his story nominated for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction), Hal Bodner (his story nominated for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction) and Richard Chizmar, as well as 20 intertwined poems by the likes of Elizabeth Massie, Marge Simon, Bruce Boston, Erik T. Johnson, and Stephanie M. Wytovich. Also includes an introduction on the state of horror by Chuck Palahniuk. Nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology.
CHIRAL MAD 2, an anthology of psychological horror, contains twenty-eight short stories by established authors and newcomers from around the world. Features the imaginations of David Morrell, Mort Castle, P. Gardner Goldsmith, Ramsey Campbell, Jack Ketchum, Ann K. Boyer, John Skipp, Gary McMahon, Lucy A. Snyder, and Thomas F. Monteleone. Also includes an intro / outro written by the book itself. Also features the Bram Stoker Award winning novelette (“The Great Pity) by Gary A. Braunbeck.
CHIRAL MAD, an anthology of psychological horror and the first in the series, containg twenty-eight short stories by established authors and newcomers from around the world. Features the imaginations of Gord Rollo, Monica J. O’Rourke, Jon Michael Kelly, Meghan Arcuri, Christian A. Larsen, Jeff Strand, Gary McMahon, and John Palisano (his story was nominated for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction), Jack Ketchum, and many others, with an introduction by the master of anthologies: Thomas F. Monteleone.
To celebrate the Shirley Jackson Award nomination for A Rose / Arose from Psychotropic Dragon, Written Backwards is offering a sampling of writing by Michael Bailey for free from October 19th thru the 23rd. All we ask is to leave a review on Amazon.com and/or Goodreads. Click the covers below. Have you read these collections already? We’d love a review!
PSYCHOTROPIC DRAGON is the third composite novel (technically a fiction collection) by Michael Bailey. Part short novel, part novella, part novelette, with a few short stories and fables in between, Psychotropic Dragon is a mind-bending composite narrative about Julie Stipes and her experience with the street drug Drakein-5. The psychotropic eye drops blur reality, sending her through a horrific journey of self-discovery and recovery. Each act in this ensemble is further brought to life with illustrations by Daniele Serra, Glenn Chadbourne, L.A. Spooner, and Ty Scheuerman.
THE IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT OF LIFE, an autobiographical collection of speculative fiction and poetry by Michael Bailey. contains Bram Stoker Award-nominated short stories such as “I Will Be the Reflection Until the End” and “Time Is a Face on the Water,” but also never-before-published mind-benders created during his “highly-medicated” state of recovery, including a story about memory loss called “Fragments of Br_an,” (composed on a typewriter that no longer exists, now ash), “Emergence of the Colorless,” a statement about the beginning of the end of prejudice, and the far future “Oll Korrect,” in which artificial intelligence is used to explore humankind. As for poetry, there are favorites such as “Loosed Earth” and “Shades of Red,” but many new poems to help with balance, including “Hurt People Hurt People,” “Night Rainbows,” and “Paper Earth.”
OVERSIGHT, a themed collection of two novelettes and a short story by Michael Bailey. Includes “Darkroom” and “SAD Face” (novelettes), and “Fade to Black” (short story).
CHIRAL MAD 5, the fifth and final volume in the Chiral Mad series, edited by Bram Stoker Award-winning editor Michael Bailey, and illustrated by Seth Brown. Contains speculative fiction and poetry (25 of each) from the likes of Stephen King, Josh Malerman, Victor LaValle, Linda D. Addison, Zoje Stage, Christina Sng, Haley Piper, John Langan, Tlotlo Tsamaase, and so many more. See the book cover above for a full list.
Purchase directly from the publisher (US only, shipping included) . . .
CHIRAL MAD 5, the end of the Chiral Mad series of anthologies, is now available for pre-order, to be released in hardcover, paperback, and eBook on September 27th, 2022.
Order directly from the publisher on the Written Backwards Anthologypage, or from anywhere books are sold, such as the following . . .
It’s time to announce the final Table of Contents for CHIRAL MAD 5, to be released in late spring / early summer by Written Backwards. The anthology will feature writers and poets from around the world. More information can be found here.
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