Shadows and Tall Trees, Vol. 7 came out a few months ago, from Undertow Publications. It’s an anthology of new short fiction. I did interior design and layout.

Vince Haig did the swell cover art and typography. My wife, Rebecca Kuder, has a story in it. Because this is my blog and I can do what I want, I used her story for a sample of story opener and story spread. Please go order a copy of the book here.

I finished a book for Michael Kelly’s Undertow Publications called Aickman’s Heirs. It’s a multi-author anthology of stories inspired by the work of Robert Aickman—a writer I very much admire. In his introduction, the editor, Simon Strantzas, describes it thusly: “a sampler of how Robert Aickman’s work has become a significant source of inspiration for contemporary writers.”

Designing a multi-author work is always challenging. Some stories had longer titles, some had section numbers, and two had epigraphs. I created a space for the story openers that would allow for two- or three-line story titles and epigraphs, but keep the first line (or first section number) of the story falling in the same place, regardless. I didn’t feel a need to try to capture the sense of unease and bafflement that fills much of Aickman’s writing; rather, I wanted something clean and clear.