We’ve nearly arrived ya’ll!
This is my favorite time of the year. First of all, I’m finished with harvest which for my family, is always a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. All year my parents, my uncle, and my grandparents toil to prepare 6000 acres of crop, and when harvest rolls around we work our butts off to reap what they’ve sown. It’s as high stakes as stakes get. Practically all their preparation and annual income relies on a successful harvest which depends on weather, equipment functioning properly, and of course, the whole crew showing up and being able to stick out the grueling season amongst all the other things happening in their lives.
We managed to pull it off this year despite one of our operators losing a week to a massive windstorm that knocked over some trees onto his house! Everyone was OK, thankfully, and he’s gotten it all figured out.
I lost four days to a friend’s wedding that I had the honor of Emceeing. We had rain storms, breakdowns, and a visit from our lending banker to contend with, but now, all the grain is in the bin and Dad can start the process of selling product and hauling to elevators across the county (the work really never stops for that man).
And for that matter, the work rarely stops for me. Let’s get into some updates for this letter and next month, I’ll hit you all with some recommended reading and watching from my latest travels around the horror realm :).
Writing Updates
Just a couple of these for now. More on the way next month :).
Contemporary Dark Fiction with Richard Thomas
This fall I have the privilege of studying under the accomplished author and editor of horror, thriller, and neo-noir novels and short stories Richard Thomas. Richard is the published author of hundreds of short stories and his collections have been nominated for multiple awards including the Bram Stoker and the Shirley Jackson.
Thus far, the class has been worth every penny (it is a little pricey but definitely worth it). There’s a reasonably heavy workload for a 16-week class, as well. We have to read four books, 16 short stories, 16 columns (1 per week), write weekly assignments employing the writing techniques we’ve covered in class, and each quarter we have to turn in a full short story up to 4000 words. Though this has been a fairly strenuous addition to my already overfull plate, I’m getting a ton out of the class so far.
For one, we have great discussions each week surrounding the books, columns, and short stories. It’s always awesome to engage in quality literature with a group of peers and a seasoned veteran manning the proverbial ‘helm.’
For another, the writing exercises are very well designed and they’ve been an excellent way to keep my moral high and my productivity consistent as we enter October, which is an insanely busy time of year. This is super important for me, as oftentimes, my creative work is the first thing to falter when I get overwhelmed. This class is helping me to keep my priorities straight. At the end of the day, I’m a writer first. Everything else, second.
Finally, it’s always rewarding and helpful to get the insight from peers and a mentor on your own work. More people reading, more feedback and opinions on what works and what doesn’t, it all supplies a methodology and roadmap for further professional development and thus far, this class has been an excellent way to cultivate that for my own creative exploration.
I’ve also been getting some pretty positive feedback on my work, thus far. That affirmation and encouragement goes a long way for us writers. We spend lots of time doubting ourselves, living alone in our heads, and comparing ourselves to our more successful peers, so anything that helps keep the pen moving (literally and figuratively) I’ll certainly accept!
2.2025 Crypticon Seattle Writing Contest
Exciting news, ya’ll! Last year’s Crypticon Seattle Anthology was well-received and we are getting renewed for another year! Hopefully, we can keep the momentum from last year and continue to build this thing back up to its former glory.
Last year we had over 100 entries and I anticipate even more this time around, since more and more people are realizing that we’re back! We will be reopening submissions in a few weeks, so keep your eyes and ears open if you’re a writer and you want to throw your hat in the ring. Winners get a cash prize, free entry to the convention, and publication next to some local industry pros, so it’s a pretty sweet deal!
Hope to see some of you local folks at the convention next year! Crypticon Seattle is one of my favorite places in the world :).
3.October Author Events!
I’ll be making some appearances this October, so if you’re local, would like to pick up some signed books, and would enjoy hearing me read stories or talk horror with some peers of the industry, please stop by and say hello at any of the following events:
First Friday Artwalk at Pacific Mist Books
When is it:
Friday, October 4th from 5 PM PST - 8 PM PST
Where is it:
Pacific Mist Books in Sequim, Washington
What are we talking about here:
I’ll be representing the bookstore as their featured Artist for Sequim’s monthly First Friday Artwalk. I’ll have a table with all my books for sale and I’ll be available for anyone who wants to talk horror, climbing, surfing, or whatever else! Hope to see some of you folks for this first event in my new home town :).
Book Tour at Kirkland Barnes and Noble with Tamara Kaye Sellman
When is it:
Saturday, October 12th from 1 PM PST - 3 PM PST
Where is it:
What are we talking about here:
This will be a co-author interview including story readings and a Q&A/book signing afterward. Evan J. Peterson, another local horror author has generously volunteered to interview Tamara and me as we celebrate the launch of her new book Cul De Sac Stories and the impending release of our co-authored short story anthology Beneath the Rain Shadow (more about that in the podcast updates).
The Kirkland B&N is one of my favorites of the entire chain, especially in the Seattle area. They love horror there, the staff is amazing, and they always put on stellar events. It should be really fun and I highly recommend checking that store out, even if you can’t make it to this event :).
Horror Night at Artisans Books and Coffee
When is it:
Saturday, October 12th from 6 PM PST - 9 PM PST
Where is it:
What are we talking about here:
This is essentially a mini-book fair dedicated to horror! We will have an author’s panel centered around the topic ‘Demystifying Horror,’ all our panelists will have tables set up where you can meet them, chat about their work, horror in general, or whatever else, and otherwise mingle with some seasonal beers. Artisans is the first bookstore that took my work in and really put in an effort to promote and sell my stuff. As a local artist, I cannot express how much that meant to me and still means. I will ALWAYS be a huge proponent of everything Judi and her family do in that store. It’s a wonderful place and I hope you can make it out to support, or even pop in for a cup of coffee and a tasty sandwich if you’re ever in the Everett area!
Artisans rocks and they have tons of local art to peruse, not just authors, but visual artists, clothes, music, and everything else you can imagine. Do yourself a favor and stop in sometime.
Podcast Updates
Fermented Fiction is back NEXT WEEK!
I’m over the moon about this announcement, everyone. What started as a closet-recorded podcast with my brother (basically just so we could reconnect and chat about movies and books) has grown and evolved into something I could have never forseen.
Last year, due to a scheduling mishap, we had several episodes planned and guests arriving live on set but Travis wasn’t able to make any of them. We had to think fast, so instead of our usual debate format (it was always me vs Travis, originally) we invited our author guests (who we’d traditionally just interviewed) to join our debates and fill in for Travis. It went so well that we decided to completely restructure the show around it last season, inviting guests not just for interviews, but for debates on a regular basis.
This season, we have a guest EVERY SINGLE WEEK and we have some amazing people coming on. I owe many thanks to Stokercon and the programming staff for putting me on some amazing podcasting panels which caught the interest of some fellow horror enthusiasts and everything sort of spiraled up from there.
That brings us to this season. Season 3 of Fermented Fiction!
Check out this line up for October, ya’ll! I mean, can you even believe this? I can’t…
Final exciting update: We are going live for every episode as well. All episodes will stream live on Youtube and then be released the following Saturday of the same week as regular podcast episodes (you, as a subscriber, will get those delivered directly to your inbox).
Tune in for episode one, October 2nd, at 7 PM PST for our debate with Johnny Compton. The topic: A Quiet Place: Day One.
Beneath the Rain Shadow: Only three months left…
Another thing that’s hard to believe. Tamara and I have been doing this project for 10 months now! Woah…
We set out to alternate writing and critiquing a short story every month with the hopes that we could come out the other side with a passable PNW-themed horror anthology and I have to say, I’m beyond pleased with the resulting work we’ve produced. This is going to be a really fun collection you guys and I cannot wait to share it with you!
That said, if you’re interested in seeing behind the scenes on the creation of stories, the creation of a collection, the editing and professional reading processes, and even a little bit on the creation of a podcast, be sure to watch BTRS while you can! Our final episode will be December 30th, and after that, we’re going to take a year off the show to market the resulting book.
We have plans for a SSN 2 of BTRS with more authors and some structural changes, but that’s a project for 2026, so I won’t make any empty promises now.
Anyways, thanks to all of you who have followed along on this journey. It’s been a very fun experiment and I look forward to doing it even better next time around. In the meantime, I’m getting really excited to put on my editing hat and polishing up all these awesome shorts so we can put together a truly unique and terrifying collection. Stay tuned for that :)
Personal Updates
I finally get to come home to my beautiful wife and my lovely cat. I get to return to the work I love in writing and producing writing events and I get to enjoy September on the wonderful Washington Peninsula which I now have the privilege to call home.
Fun fact: September is known in the climbing community as SENDtember because it’s one of the best months of the year, regarding weather conditions and rock quality, to climb. Deanna (my wife, for you newbies) and I always have a big friends camping/climbing trip to celebrate my return from harvest, so we’re both getting excited for that next weekend.
We’ll be out in Frenchman Coulee near Vantage WA, which is an amazing river canyon filled with walls of basalt pillars. Warm, dry, and including a nice river beach for lounging during the heat of the day, this is always one of our favorite places to enjoy the outdoors.
That’s all for me my friends. Hope you had a lovely September and that you’re all geared up for Spooky Season! Come see me at an event, hit me up on social media or email, and of course, tune in to Fermented Fiction ;)
I’ll see you out there. Thanks for being here and allowing me to live my dream every day. I appreciate you all more than I could ever express with words.
Yours,
Clay
Great stuff as always! I’m really looking forward to the return of the podcast. It’ll be a bit too early in the morning (in the UK) for me to catch the live recording, but I’ll be all over the audio when it releases!