Faith.  So much of our reality is determined by what we believe, and it can so easily be…undone.  Editors Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon have created an anthology that explores, questions, and shatters the boundaries of faith.  

Pick up a gun and write a new psalm with Brian Keene.  Face the inhumanity of modern society with Gary Braunbeck.  Find magic behind the suburbs of Portland with Jay Lake.  Walk the line between art and desire with Tom Piccirilli.  Through twenty-six stories you will be transported from the rooftops of the twin towers to steps of the Vatican.

Pre-order Dark Faith now and receive the limited edition promotional chapbook, Dark Faith: Last Rites.  Only 500 chapbooks will be produced.

Pre-order Dark Faith and Last Rites from Apex Books Now!

Table of Contents:  Dark Faith and Last Rites...

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Now I've gone and done it.

I've started a Twitter account. Something I didn't think I'd ever do.

Crazy thing is, I kinda like it. The brevity of characters allowed in each post suits my busy schedule, and keeps me from feeling guilty about not writing more.

So hey, if you've got an account too (as far as I know, I'm the last person of everyone I know to have signed up), check me out at http://twitter.com/joelasutherland

How did you celebrate New Years Eve? As I said before, Colleen and I went out to dinner and the movies with a couple of good friends. Sherlock Holmes was good if not great but quite a bit of senseless fun. After the movie we got our dogs together and rang in the new year with champagne and mocktails. Today I'm celebrating by sitting on the couch procrastinating, ignoring all the cleaning and schoolwork and general life stuff that has to be done. In other words, starting 2010 off on the right foot!

Happy new year, everyone! I started a little summary of my writing year here, but several sentences in I deleted it. 2009 was such an odd year I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet. Maybe tomorrow...or the day after.

Meanwhile, my reading year was as follows.
1. Adrian McKinty ------ The Dead Yard
2. Ken Bruen and Jason Starr ------ The Max
3. Terry Pratchett ------ Nation
4. Ian Sansom ------ The Case of the Missing Books
5. Colin Bateman ------ Murphy’s Revenge
6. Garry Kilworth ------ Kiwi Wars
7. Joel A Sutherland ------ Frozen Blood
8. Colin Bateman ------ Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men
9. Dave Hutchinson ------ As the Crow Flies
10. Richard Hammond ------ On the Edge
11. Adrian McKinty ------ Fifty Grand
12. Jeremy Clarkson ------ On Cars
13. Iain M Banks ------ Matter
14. Colin Bateman ------ Turbulent Priests
15. Richard Madeley ------ Fathers and Sons
16. Anthology ------ Northern Haunts
17. Chris Stewart ------ Three Ways to Capsize a Boat
18. Ken Kesey ------ One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
19. Neal Asher ------ The Gabble
20. Ian Sansom ------ Mr Dixon Disappears
21. Graham Joyce ------ Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular
22. Catherine J Gardner ------ The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon
23. Tom Holt ------ Someone Like Me
24. Mick Dennis ------ The Team
25. Neal Asher ------ The Skinner
26. Colin Bateman ------ Shooting Sean
27. Malcolm Pryce ------ Don’t Cry for me Aberystwyth
28. Ian Rankin ------ Dark Entries
29. Carl Hiaasen ------ Scat
30. James May ------ Car Fever
31. Anthology ------ Voices
32. Dave Hutchinson ------ The Push
33. Anthology ------ Fifty-Two Stitches
34. Terry Pratchett ------ Unseen Academicals

Fave book? Probably Graham Joyce's 'Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular'. If you haven't read it yet you should look it up. I loved it. Dave Hutchinson's collection 'As the Crow Flies' blew me away, as did his novella, 'The Push'. I really enjoyed the Neal Asher books as well. The closest comparison I can make is Iain Banks's Culture novels. Asher isn't a wordsmith in the same way as Banksie, but he's more than a match when it comes to spooning up the sensawunda that got me reading SF in the first place. Who else...? Ah, the Batemans and McKinty titles impressed me no end. Can these Norn Irish chaps do no wrong? I think not. And finally, I was impressed by the handful of small press books I read this year. Must try to make it more than a handful in 2010.

What a way to close out the year: I found out yesterday that my story, "Oh, the Ho Ho Horror", has been accepted into BLOOD LITE 2.



The first volume, edited by bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson, had some heavy hitters within its pages including Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher and Sherrilyn Kenyon, so I'm pretty excited to see the final TOC for the second volume.

My story is, as you might have guessed, a festive tale, centred on a Scrooge/Grinch-like father who is confronted and taken prisoner (to be tortured and killed, natch) by the Big Guy in Red and his reindeer, Harvey. Oh, in case you didn't know, this is an anthology of humourous horror stories, so the fact that such an odd story was accepted isn't as strange as it might seem...

Since I haven't had much time to write and submit new fiction lately, this acceptance is particularly gratifying. I wrote the story specifically for this book on my breaks at work throughout November and squeaked it in right at the deadline. Huzzah!

We're going to celebrate by having a relaxing New Years Eve out, dinner and a movie (Sherlock Holmes), then back home in time for the countdown. However you're celebrating New Years, I hope 2010 is a stellar year for you and your family!