2024-01-21 15:05
I started this as a post for social medial, but it didn't quite seem right for that. Maybe it's a prose poem. Maybe it's just a few thoughts at the end of a week, an OK week except for conte… Read More
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Sid Is Alive Blog
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Reflections on everyday experiences by novelist and short story writer Sidney Williams. Sometimes funny and sometimes introspective.
2023-11-14 12:03
I've mentioned not loving self-promotion, but I'm also aware repetition is necessary on a project so I share where I can. It's in marketing textbooks, but I got got a personalized lesson onc… Read More
2023-11-10 11:53
The team at Crossroad Press actually broached the notion of bringing some of my backlist out in new print editions for the first time at Scares That Care Authorcon in the spring of this year… Read More
2023-09-26 13:28
Here's a picture of the Long Waltz trade paper edition. There's been a flurry of activity so I'm a little late in posting here. RSS Feed Read More
2023-04-12 13:04
The sequel to Fool's Run is called Long Waltz, and it's coming soon. Final touches are being put on the cover, so the full reveal will be in the near future.Meanwhile, here's a bi… Read More
2022-12-07 11:56
Just like a TikTok video, Halloween got over too soon.It's fun experimenting with the TikTok platform. It's challenging to work in a form that can fit in a very short time frame. I did a ser… Read More
2022-12-07 11:56
@willysid #microfiction #horrortiktok #horrortok #Christmas #christmasghoststory #christmasghost #ghost #scary #spooky #flash #YALit #youngadult #youngadultliterature #YA #horror #flash #fl… Read More
2022-11-29 11:51
Okay, long story shortened - I was in a writer's group and a workshop challenge was posed, compose a Christmas horror story.Years ago, as I sat at an intersection stop light, a car with thre… Read More
2022-10-29 10:17
2022-10-19 14:50
The cool folks at Fantagraphics Books are dropping a collection of Ray Bradbury's stories adapted for EC Comics publications such as Tales from the Crypt and The Witch's Cauldron. It's… Read More
2022-10-07 11:05
A workshopping group recently suggested we all try Christmas stories so we have a holiday tale in the quiver should an open call or invite arise.Sometimes a notion grabs you, so in the middl… Read More
2022-09-13 12:42
I received a short story acceptance the other day, on my birthday in fact. It's for an anthology to be called Unknown Superheroes vs. the Forces of Darkness edited by Steve Dillon and Will J… Read More
2022-02-10 15:00
Here's another article from my file cabinet. I loved the original Dark Shadows as a kid, so I was happy when the chance came along to interview actors from the revival series in 1991. I… Read More
2022-02-03 13:33
Got a chance to do a listicle for Wicked Horror about some of my Marvel horror favorites.Check out: Five Marvel Monsters That Deserve Films After MorbiusRSS Feed Read More
2022-02-02 16:41
I've been going through some files in anticipation of a move to a new place, and I ran across some fun things from my newspaper days.Here's an interview I did with Gates McFadden in the midd… Read More
2021-12-12 11:36
Should have shared this a while back. It's a nice review of Fool's Run by E.G. Stone at QuillandPen.com.RSS Feed Read More
2021-10-05 14:38
I'm pretty sure I watched The Midnight Hour when it first aired in 1985. I don't remember much about that first viewing except an okay-fine reaction. I wouldn't have been watching for d… Read More
2021-10-01 10:41
My wife, Christine, loves The Odd Couple original film, something about the combo of Neil Simon's humor and Jack Lemmon's performance as Felix. Anyway, it was streaming on Plu… Read More
2021-08-09 13:35
Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse, which includes my story "The Witch of Washington Pari," is part of the Strong Women in Science Fiction Event for August 2021.Check out all there is to see. &hell…Read More
2021-06-23 13:29
A few years back, a request came in to the writers Meet Up group Owl Goingback was running in the Orlando area. A student up in Gainesville needed a short mystery piece to shoot f… Read More
2021-05-27 14:05
As noted as an addendum on a recent post on Edward D. Hoch's story "Something for the Dark," the tale originally appeared in the June 1968 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. … Read More
2021-05-24 13:50
To identify one sub-category of Edward D. Hoch's fiction is to spoil a bit, I suppose. Hoch excelled at all varieties of mystery from the locked room to the procedural to the cozy and more… Read More
2021-05-15 12:29
I get periodic reminders my memory is not what it used to be. My story "Scars" originally appeared in the online magazine Blue Murder. It's in the ebook collection Scars and Candy … Read More
2021-04-13 15:29
I first turned to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in the late '70s. They were in the mix and progression of interesting and eclectic things… Read More
2021-04-12 13:45
Best known as the creator of Fu Manchu, Sax Rohmer, real name Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, also produced a host of stand-alone novels. He also penned several other series, Gaston Max, Red Ke… Read More
2021-04-11 12:21
Apparently even if I read reviews, I'm guilty of not reading them carefully. A gentleman named Mark Louis Baumgart was kind enough to write a thoughtful review of my novel Blood Hunter some… Read More
2021-04-05 18:13
Curt Siodmak made significant contributions to the Universal horror canon with screenplays for The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Son of Dracula and others. His novels… Read More
2021-04-04 12:38
I occasionally write reviews and other articles for the nice folks at Wicked Horror. I did a quick take on Godzilla vs. Kong. You can check it out here. RSS Feed Read More
2021-03-29 14:37
When the paperback gothics were hot in the women running from houses era, many other paperbacks got similar looks, even tales from crime novelists like John D. MacDonald, creator of the Trav… Read More
2021-03-28 12:57
I was able to get my first vaccine shot this past week. I have to keep reminding myself I've taken a step. I'll feel better after the second shot and the wait for immunity to kick in is… Read More
2021-03-23 14:36
Apparently I'd never seen the film P.J. (Universal, 1968). I missed the NBC debut, but watched on late-night TV as a kid in the seventies. Word on the 'net--and the new Kino Lorber Blu… Read More
2021-03-22 14:52
Faith Sullivan is a versatile author who has written a number of novels sometimes harnessing genre elements or myth. This signet edition is dated February, 1983.SEE ALSO: Biblioholic's Books… Read More
2021-03-15 19:50
I've probably mentioned on this blog before that I read Lawrence Block's fiction writing column in Writer's Digest in my formative years. His blog today still gives a taste of what that… Read More
2021-03-10 14:30
When I heard BBC radio was doing an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," I was interested. Then I realized when episodes written by Julian Simpson became availab… Read More
2021-03-09 16:13
Not long before I left Florida for my current home in Virginia, I went into my kitchen for my morning coffee. Some of you, especially if we're Facebook friends, may know how important that i… Read More
2021-03-08 14:15
As mentioned here before, I loved the brief series The Most Deadly Game when I was a kid. It's remembered less fondly on the Thrilling Detective website, so my youthful zeal may have be… Read More
2021-03-05 13:08
Have you ever sat in a coffee shop making odd sounds? Then you might be a comics writer. Way back in the day, when my wife was still my girlfriend, and I used to sit at her kitchen tabl… Read More
2021-03-01 13:44
Following the posts of the last couple of weeks on '80s domestic thrillers and Campbell Black's Thomas Altman books, here's The Intruder. It's from Bantam, October 1985. It brings a serial k… Read More
2021-02-26 18:57
I've been doing some freelance comics script editing because it fits my schedule. The work coming my way varies. Some of it's very professional and complete. Often I get scripts that don't t… Read More
2021-02-25 15:48
I realized I hadn't done a post about the audiobook version of my newest novel, the mystery-thriller Fool's Run. It actually rolled out at the same time as ebook and trade paper edition… Read More
2021-02-22 12:05
A sub-genre of menaced brides, mothers and expectant mothers cropped up in the 1980s, perhaps an offshoot of the fading gothic surge. It seems to anticipate the current crop of domestic thri… Read More
2021-02-17 15:48
The White Koi 2007 One of the koi Has all-white scales.“He’s an albino,” an old woman says. She sits in a wheelchair Having found her way to the pondOn… Read More
2021-02-15 13:24
Kiss Daddy Goodbye (1980) is another from Thomas Altman aka Campbell Black and Campbell Armstrong, following up on last week's post. If you think about it, the Altman novels kind of an… Read More
2021-02-08 14:29
As I've discussed here from time to time, I worked at a newspaper for many years. After a while in general news, I moved into the features department. They asked for me after my first novel… Read More
2021-02-01 15:02
I got this one from my older cousin. It was in a stash with some issues of Galaxy and a book assessing the James Bond book series, things from his youth. I think he was out of college by the… Read More
2021-01-28 13:24
The weather forecast made it sound iffy, but I walked into the home office this morning to find Christine peeking out the blinds. I thought she might have heard something like a dog howl, bu… Read More
2021-01-26 11:43
It's been a while since we've had a new cat in the household. As I've mentioned in one spot or another, Oliver Littlechap's death in 2019 ended a feline era stretching back to 1997 when Chri… Read More
2021-01-25 19:14
A gothic by Dan Ross aka WED Ross who wrote many Dark Shadows novels under the name Marilyn Ross. This one's copyright 1969.RSS Feed Read More
2021-01-23 14:03
I was fortunate enough to cover David McCullough discussing his Truman bio once upon a time. As research, McCullough went to the location of President Harry Truman's vice presidential o… Read More
2021-01-23 12:23
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2021-01-22 12:11
I know a lot of people cried on Wednesday. I was teary-eyed pretty much from the time the band tuned up until the ceremony wound down on Inauguration Day, but when Lady Gaga sang the nationa… Read More
2021-01-19 13:01
Robert L. Fish is probably best known for his Sherlock Holmes parodies featuring Schlock Homes of Bagel Street. Ebook editions of many of the tales are available.As Robert L. Pike, Fish penn… Read More
2021-01-11 13:51
I'm a big fan of the Vincent Price vehicle Madhouse (1974), in which he plays a horror star whose return sparks a series of murders. To me, it along with Theatre of Blood from United Ar… Read More
2021-01-06 14:35
The holidays seem vast and brief at the same time. I always feel a little tinge of something when I'm putting away Christmas decorations.I open a box to put something back and find an… Read More
2021-01-04 14:14
I suppose The Butterfly Revolution by William Butler fits best into a sub-genre somewhere along side something like Glendon Swarthout's Bless the Beasts and Children and maybe even Lord… Read More
2020-12-30 16:19
I've been in a remembering mode for the last few days. I guess my last post on "A Christmas Memory" touched on that. Maybe it's the holidays or just COVID times. My cousin, who is deep… Read More
2020-12-23 15:57
I read "A Christmas Memory" first in junior high. It was assigned reading in our textbook. I didn't know who Truman Capote was yet. My Weekly Reader neglected coverage of the Black and… Read More
2020-12-21 14:31
Happily as I mentioned recently, the original Dark Shadows novels are being reissued. This is another adjacent, branded book from the original Paperback Library era. It includes classics suc… Read More
2020-12-15 13:42
Just happened to spot a robin while walking the other day. Looked seasonal. RSS Feed Read More
2020-12-14 14:16
As you're probably aware, the Dark Shadows paperback novelizations were wildly popular when the gothic soap was on the air. Happily those are coming back into print from Heremes Press. … Read More
2020-12-11 15:26
If not a household name, Stanley Ellin's still a not-inconsequential figure in the history of mystery and suspense fiction.A new article about his unique private investigator novels&nbs&hell…Read More
2020-12-09 14:30
I like train travel and had started doing more of it right before the pandemic hit. When Christine and I were moving from Orlando to Williamsburg, we did a couple of car train rides. It was… Read More
2020-12-08 11:24
Holding the trade paper edition of Fool's Run. Christine did the honors, opting for the natural light of what is usually our dining room. RSS Feed Read More
2020-12-07 13:34
The Fawcett Gold Medal edtion 1947 novel by Robert Bloch that's clearly a stepping stone on his path to Psycho. SEE ALSO: Favorite Short Stories - Talent by Robert BlochRSS Feed Read More
2020-12-04 14:34
We took another walk at York River State Park. After just a few weeks, the marsh grass had browned and more leaves had fallen though a good bit of color was still on display, and the sky was… Read More
2020-12-02 18:38
I was excited to receive a contributor's ebook version of the new issue of Sanitarium this morning. It includes a short story from me called "The Fury."It's a bit of literary horror fic… Read More
2020-12-01 14:00
My wife Christine began studying the Heritage Humane Society's website a short time back, feeling possibly ready to adopt a cat again. Oliver Littlechap passed away a year ago. Som… Read More
2020-11-30 13:34
When I was very, very young my mom discovered a series airing late on Saturday nights, and by late I mean probably 9 p.m. our time. That was of course, The Most Deadly Game.It starred George… Read More
2020-11-30 12:31
Unboxing is always an exciting time. UPS moved them fast. RSS Feed Read More
2020-11-27 13:55
Here's an all new Flash of Fear installment, "Come Sunday, recorded to coincide with the release of Fool's Run. This little tale set in the Great Depression was written for a crime fict… Read More
2020-11-23 14:02
I discovered Michael Avallone and his detective hero Ed Noon via a Writer's Digest cassette on mystery writing. I've mentioned that often in interviews and online forums.I began t… Read More
2020-11-19 15:48
Not sure now where I ran across this the other day, but I snagged it because at the very least it looks like a prophetic depiction of QVC and HSN shopping if not quite Zoom meetings and Face… Read More
2020-11-16 13:55
Billed at times as "The French James Bond," Prince Malko Linge starred in the SAS (French for His Serene Highness) series created by Gérard de Villiers. To my knowledge, on… Read More
2020-11-09 14:38
I've often mentioned in online musings that I discovered the detective novel via a bit of young reader's naïveté. In the wake of Chinatown, a host of new detective films ro… Read More
2020-10-31 18:09
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2020-10-31 14:01
Very sad to read this morning of Sean Connery's passing. I'd thought of him recently, perhaps because of the not-much-loved League of Extraordinary Gentlemen cropping up on A… Read More
2020-10-30 13:18
Just a brief note here. It's less than a month until the release of Fool's Run, my new detective thriller. Leading up to the release from Crossroad Press's Gordian Knot imprint, a… Read More
2020-10-27 14:18
My wife Christine and I moved to Williamsburg in 2019. We'd planned to travel more in the state this year. Those plans got a little upended. SEE ALSO: PANDEMIC - THE MEALSBut since outd… Read More
2020-10-26 13:29
When my wife, Christine, visited Williamsburg in the fall of 2018 for a job interview, she found the area bathed in an array of colors we hadn't seen for a while in Florida. It was an array… Read More
2020-10-09 13:13
Jove, 1986 RSS Feed Read More
2020-10-07 13:57
Christine watched a New York Times webinar last night called Breaking the Bubble: Staying Creative and Connected while working from home. It was interesting and meaningful, and part of… Read More
2020-09-29 13:53
I always sweat a bit about reviews, and when Crossroad Press said they'd be sending a review copy of Fool's Run to Publisher's Weekly, I perspired a bit more. It's a natural move, but you ne… Read More
2020-09-01 14:29
In happy news, Publisher's Weekly reviewed my upcoming novel Fool's Run, and they liked it. I was a little nervous about that when it was submitted, but they summed it up by saying: "Th… Read More
2020-08-21 15:37
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2020-08-17 13:38
Coming November 24, 2020Pre-order now on Amazon#coverreveal #cover #thriller #mysteryRSS Feed Read More
2020-07-07 14:41
Haven't done one of these in a while. Manor Books, 1977. Inside, other books by the same author are noted: Mondo No. 1, 2 and 3 and Dachau Treasure. RSS Feed Read More
2020-05-13 18:59
Friction rises among friends on a night drive to check out reports of a will-o'-the-wisp in this tale called "Foolish Fire."The most recent Flash of Fear was very brief, so this once co… Read More
2020-05-07 15:14
Reading loglines for upcoming comics projects on the Silverline Live show May 6.https://www.twitch.tv/silverlinecomics/clip/GlutenFreePopularEyeballGivePLZRSS Feed Read More
2020-05-07 14:40
Still Gone The sun hits the blindsBright, white, blinding.I can’t quite see the tree,But the leaves are green again.The leaves have gone and returned.Only Ollie is still gone.&nbs&hell…Read More
2020-05-05 15:01
I'd decided to post a new Flash of Fear story reading every six weeks or so, aligning with haircuts. Lockdown put the kibosh on haircuts, but I thought I'd check in with a few words and a ne… Read More
2020-04-19 13:47
For a while yesterday (April 18, 2020, in the time of quarantine), Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse edited by Lyn Worthen, which includes my story "Witch of Washington Park," had the Hollyw… Read More
2020-04-01 12:16
When I went to see The Invisible Man on March 3 word of Coronavirus arrival in the U.S. was on the news, and I was a little nervous though reports of cases were pretty far away yet and it wa… Read More
2020-03-30 14:04
Act Now: https://storybundle.com/catsFor a limited time, you can get Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse via a special pre-launch offer. Cat Ladies includes my story "The Witch of Washing… Read More
2020-03-23 17:58
A new Flash of Fear installment, this time a reading of a piece that appeared first here on the blog.More readings hereThis story and more short horror and mystery tales are found in the ebo… Read More
2020-03-19 14:45
I'm happy to present the cover art for the upcoming anthology Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse.Plans for this collection edited by Lyn Worthen began last fall, and that's when I wrote my story… Read More
2020-02-25 12:32
I'm excited to announce my 8,000-word story, "The Witch of Washington Park," will be included in the upcoming Camden Park Press anthology Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse edited by Lyn Wort… Read More
2020-01-25 16:37
Don't know that I'll be maintaining a weekly pace for these, but here's a new installment in my little Flash of Fear series of readings for You Tube.This time around it's a crime story with… Read More
2020-01-16 19:58
I'd been meaning to develop some content for You Tube for a while. With me reading, very brief pieces seem to be the best idea.This is a bit of flash fiction that appeared first in Sanitariu… Read More
2019-12-11 16:25
I'm excited to be part of the new collection Love Among the Thorns, a collection of paranormal and Gothic romance stories.My tale is the 10,000-word "Strake Hall," the story of Aleda Ga… Read More
2019-11-28 12:10
I wasn't the biggest Game of Thrones fan, but I was engaged enough to keep up with it and certainly to feel the elation in Arya Stark's great moment as she restated the caveat from her child… Read More
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