Literary Landmark Press

Our Publication Date

2011-12-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

It's been a long and difficult process. Understandable and completely unavoidable issues kept the introduction from arriving when we would have liked, and as we rushed headlong to get the anthology out, we decided a quality anthology was more important than making a deadline.

We think the quality will speak for itself. Our stories represent the best in psychological, visceral, and supernatural horror. We're excited about what we've put together and what we'll end up doing for the Baltimore Poe House and Museum.

The release date for the Anthology will be January 19th, 2012. It's a fitting date, Edgar Allen Poe's birthday.

If you know of an independent bookstore in your area that might like to stock it, send us an email. We'll be trying to arrange some signings in some of our author's home towns.

Dr. Cantalupo's Introduction

2011-11-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

Dr. Cantalupo has gone far above and beyond what anyone could expect, and it the midst of personal tragedy completed and delivered her introduction. I want you to read a few excerpts:

"From childhood's hour..." that phrase, to Poe fans, finishes itself: "I have not been as others were." Yet who was that I who was that man? Who was that poet who had not been as others were? So much has been fabricated about Poe's life, and so much remains a mystery. We have very little to go by: no diaries, no notebooks, only a few daguerreotypes, and his letters, so carefully re-edited by Burton Pollin and Jeffrey Savoye. But we do have something else: his home in Baltimore at 203 (3) Amity Street.

Her writing is evocative and powerful, and we're thankful to have the introduction in hand. Listen to her appeal:

No one can take away his words. But 203 Amity is vulnerable. We know that. We know that we may lose our chance to come close to the man who believed that places hold echoes of their pasts. We need to keep Poe's home in Baltimore the historic and venerable site that it is.

This collection of stories and poems has emerged from the urgency of this appeal to save Poe's home.

Now that we have everything, the book will go to final editing and formatting, and we'll do our best to have both the paperback and the e-versions available in time for Christmas. In the meantime, help us out, will you? Reserve your copy today.

Oh, and a quick note:

The current address for the Poe House is 203 Amity Street. While Poe lived, it was 3 Amity Street.

A Gift from John Darling

2011-11-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

Author John Darling, who writes the fabulous Detective Anderson series of stories, has been kind enough to offer us a 1944 copy of Tales of Edgar Allen Poe. It has wood engravings by Fritz Eichenberg, and it's in nearly perfect condition.

John will be featured in our next anthology, which will focus on stories inspired by Poe's Dupin stories. Keep your eyes out for a call for submissions and for purchase details.

If you'd like a chance to win this beautiful book, simply pre-order an anthology today or tomorrow. We'll choose one person randomly from those that purchase and send out the book as well as their anthology.

Thanks again to everyone for caring about this cause!

Our Contributors...James WF Roberts

2011-11-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

We’d hoped to already be on the virtual and brick and mortar shelves, but while we’re disappointed by the few delays, we’re still excited about the anthology. James William Francis Roberts is one of the reasons we’re not losing any enthusiasm for the project.

A poet, writer and internet radio presenter on www.phoenixfm.org in Australia, he is strives to find the balance between the common man and high culture. Log on to the website to get times for his show. It’s really remarkable to hear his rich baritone voice reading poetry, stories, and creative nonfiction. Get in touch with him and he may read some of your work.

His writing explores the themes, metaphors and imagery of the past using contemporary language, and more often than not, that language is of the average person on the street. Would you believe it? He’s a poet without pretense! His poem in the anthology is The Echo of You, and here’s an appetizer:

i scream in the depths of night

when I dream

when I came home late

no noise.

no TV

no freshly brewed coffee.

the house a mess—

worse than usual

James is influenced heavily by William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe, Frederick Nietzsche, Plato, Rainer Maria Rilke, Allen Ginsberg and AD Hope. His poem for this anthology was highly commended by the coveted John Shaw Nielson Poetry Prize for the Fellowship of Australian Writers in 2009/10.

There’s still time to pre-order the anthology to read the rest of James’ poem and the other great writing we’ve put in.

Our Authors…Melissa Dollahon Eyler

2011-11-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

Melissa grew up in the Chihuahuan desert during the last echo of the old west riding horses and hiking through the desert. After high school, she was American Field Service Exchange Student to Austria. She worked as a fine and performing arts critic at New Mexico State University, and was on the National AAF Advertising Team where she was recognized for writing music and lyrics. She graduated with a bachelor of communications and two of her college advertising campaigns appeared on national TV. After graduation, she and her father went to Ireland and England to study ancient monuments while traveling for fun.

Today, she lives with her husband of 23 years, a young adult son, and a variety of animals. She works behind the scenes for her family monument business, designing some of the stones and doing paperwork. She also cooks and keeps the household functioning while trying to find time to write and draw. After a twenty-year absence from the writing scene, she won the sonnet competition on Harpers Collins Authonomy web site and is currently working on a collection of spooky poems, short stories and several novels. She is also in the process of illustrating a variety of her own children’s picture books.

Outside of the amazing accomplishment of staying married for 23 years, Melissa also composed a wonderful poem for the anthology entitled “Window Wraith.” Here’s a taste:

I rocked and I swayed and I silently prayed

For help to escape the macabre masquerade

Of dark shadowed figures on silent parade

Ghosts out on their witching hour tirade

Pre-order your anthology today!

Our Authors, Zain Richard Bennett

2011-10-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Zain Richard Bennett was born in Bedfordshire, England in the mid eighties. Spending much of his young life buried in books, he found a love for stories and words. It wasn't until his mid teens, though, that he discovered the authors that would come to influence his particular style. His fascination with words has led to a deep passion for poetry and language, seeding a habit of writing whenever inspiration strikes. Inspired by Poe , Lovecraft and Alghieri, Zain finds particular delight in tales of the odd and amazing.

His writing is fresh and inventive while still reminiscent of the brilliance of his influences. His story, New World, was a delight to read and include in the anthology. Here’s a little bit of it for you:

I heard that noise again last night, that ghastly rattling from behind that locked door in the tower. It sounded with a preternatural boom and self-dissonance while wholly unblemished by any hint of accord. I tried my best to not whimper nor respond and hoped my wife, as ill as she now was, would remain asleep in the room next door. It faded after a few short moments, seemingly disinterested by my lack of response. By this point, however, I had long surrendered any hope of sleep myself, though eventually I did manage to drift into a semi-daze of musing and memory.

Read the rest of his story and a number of other great pieces. Pre-order your anthology today.

Our Contributors...Michele Brenton

2011-10-26T15:31:00.001-07:00

Michele Brenton was born in Swansea, South Wales and shares her birthday with another Swansea poet, Dylan Thomas. She spent some time living on Kefalonia as did another poet, Lord Byron. She has lived longer than they managed and has been happily married for twenty-one years so far during which time she (with some help from her long-suffering husband) produced a remarkably talented son who will far outstrip her creatively. She writes poetry and is delighted, surprised and honored each time her work is included in a publication.

Three books of her seven book series the Alternative Poetry Books (the Yellow edition, the Pink edition and the Blue edition) are published by Endaxi Press and can be found fleetingly from time to time in the Amazon poetry bestsellers lists. She is known online as banana_the_poet and can be found at http://twitter.com/banana_the_poet and http://facebook.com/michelebrenton

Her wonderful poem in the anthology, House, is remarkable in its power and simplicity. Here’s a taste:

Family on cotton pillows,
Tucked up warm and soon to sleep
Know the noises of the building
Do not hear the things, which creep

Read the rest and support the Poe Anthology. Pre-order your book today.

Our Authors…Wakefield Mahon

2011-10-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Wakefield Mahon is an up-and-coming speculative fiction writer. His short stories have been published in anthologies from Daily Science Fiction, Sam's Dot Publishing, Poe Little Thing, Rymfire, and Living Dead Press. His current series Sacred Stones explores the nature of storytelling, myth and legends across cultures and time through the adventures of a teenage heroine who must unite the weapons of legend in order to save the world from the ultimate evil.

His fabulous piece of short fiction in the anthology is titled Ex-Boyfriend. Here’s a taste of it:

It watched her from the desk, mocking her, promising to ring if she took a step out of the door. She took a deep breath and stepped out of her apartment. She heard only silence. She checked to make sure she had her keys. She pulled to and checked the door. She checked the door again just to make sure. When she felt the hand on her shoulder, Lynn whipped around with her finger on the mace trigger.

This is a horribly haunting and twisted story so sparse and yet powerful that even when you see the ending coming, you’re still shocked. We’re thankful to have Wakefield included in the project.

Our Authors…Scott M. Goriscak

2011-10-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

Scott began writing in high school but it wasn’t until a conversation with Clive Barker did his writing turn to the dark side. Scott published his first collection of short stories, Grim and Ghastly in 2008. He followed up with a second collection Dead and Decaying in 2009. Also in 2009 his story “Home Sweet Home” was selected for the 2010 Masters of Horror anthology. The following year he was again chosen for the Masters of Horror anthology Damned If You Don’t with his story “Easy to Digest.” Netbound Publishers will be publishing Scott’s third collection of horror to be release in October 2011 entitled Welcome to the Darkside-I’ve Been Expecting You. In 2012 Angelic Night Press will be publishing Scott’s fourth collection, Horrorism, and Netbound Publishers will be publishing his fifth collection, Walking

into Spider Webs. He is currently putting the final touches on his first novel, The New Jersey Devil.

Scott’s story in the anthology is “Field of Shrieks.” It’s a truly horrifying journey that will strike you right between the eyes. You can pre-order the anthology now for delivery in early November.

A Slight Delay

2011-10-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

Dr. Cantalupo, who is the foremost expert on Poe in America (and maybe the world) active today is writing our introduction. Unfortunately, a personal tragedy has prevented her from a timely delivery.

Dr. Cantalupo is the editor of the Edgar Allan Poe Review and a remarkable academic who has advanced the study of Poe throughout her career. Karen and I have decided it would be better to let the anthology release be a week or so delayed than to miss the opportunity to have an introduction from this remarkable scholar.

We hate missing Halloween, but we'd hate putting out anything other than the best possible anthology. We're still hoping to have everything wrapped up only a week or so late.

Please forgive the delay and if you'd like to send well wishes to Dr. Cantalupo, be so kind as to send them via comment here rather than to overwhelm her personal pages and email.

Thanks.

Our Authors Kerri Nelson

2011-10-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

We’re excited to have Kerri Nelson involved in the Spirit of Poe Anthology.

Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

After a fifteen year career in the legal field, Kerri fulfilled her lifelong dream of publication and is now an award winning multi-published author of nearly every genre under the sun (and moon) and also writes young adult fiction under the penname K.G. Summers.

A true southern belle, she comes complete with a dashing, stately gentleman and three adorable children for whom she often bakes many homemade treats.

Kerri is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America as well as numerous chapters including Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Writers and the Kiss of Death Chapter for mystery/suspense authors.

Kerri Nelson contributed two poems to the anthology, Darkishly Yours and The Trials of Abby Normal. You’ll enjoy them and you can preorder the anthology now for delivery in early November.

Visit Kerri at www.kerrinelson.com

Our Authors: Jackson Creed

2011-10-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

We’re excited about our mix of authors and stories. Jackson Creed has written a fabulous story called “Gum for the Soul” and it’s another wonderful reason to pick up our anthology.

Straight from his website: Jackson Creed writes dark fiction of various forms. He lives in the deepest, darkest wilds of Europe. He rarely ventures out of his cave.

We’re glad he ventured out for this story. Take a look:

With his horn-rimmed glasses and the way he pushed them up his nose with one finger, mousy-coloured hair, thinning slightly and patted carefully into place, and his nondescript grey suit, he fitted into the appointments of his drab office with a seamlessness that made him part of the furniture. The contracts department was a place of paper and files, accumulating dust in the corners and dim light in the height of day. A patina of city grime obscured what little view lay out the window, not that Joshua would have looked. He was comfortable in his workplace, comfortable inside his little two-room apartment, cluttered with cardboard cartons, both old paperwork and the records of past deals, and the leftovers of solitary meals in the siren-cut darkness of the city’s night.

That’s fabulous atmosphere and powerful, descriptive writing. You can reserve your copy of this story and the rest in The Spirit of Poe Anthology by pre-ordering a copy for delivery in early November.

Our Authors J.R. McRae

2011-10-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

We'll be letting everyone know a little bit about each of our authors over the coming weeks. First off is J.R. McRae.

J.R.McRae, has short stories published in Basics of Life [Australian Literature Review], Rose and Thorn, Wired Ruby, 100 Stories for Queensland, Stories for Sendai, Tribute to the Stars and more, has won awards for poetry appearing in multiple journals and anthologies (e.g. Long and Winding Road, Square Poets, Recent Queensland Poetry, Quadrant, Antipodes Journal of Australian and American Literature, Social Alternatives, Divan, Gathering Storm, Ripples, Paper Wasp). Her artwork and photography features on covers of Ripples and in Micropress Yates/The Mozzie and ABC Pool.

Under the name J.R. Poulter, she authored 12 books & 4 digital books for children and education in the UK, USA and Australia, including Crichton Award winner, MENDING LUCILLE. Her 13thbook comes out September 2012 with Windy Hollow. She writes articles (WQ Magazine, The Courier Mail, Magpies Journal of Critical Review for Children’s Literature, Queensland Country Life and more) and takes workshops and readings for ETAQ Conferences, SCWBI International Conference, Brisbane Poetry Festival, Kyeema Arts Festival [Arts Qld Funded], Channel 7 Family Picnic, Opening of BCC Central City Library, Mountains to Mangroves, Book Week and more. A former senior librarian, senior education officer and English Expression tutor to international postgraduates, she also once worked in a circus. You can visit her site at http://www.jenniferrpoulter.weebly.com.

McRae’s selections in The Spirit of Poe include The Mortician’s Art, a poem originally published in Ripples. Here’s a taste:

The tracery of veins still blue, the skin …
No line or wrinkle, smooth as ice
Is cold – how old were you?
For whom do I apply my art?

Her beautiful and haunting short story, The Crypt, is also a welcome addition to the anthology. You can expect wonderful prose such as this:

I bought the house next to the old church and the mass spread of graveyard that had cared for the city’s dead for generations. It was cheap and frankly, after a lifetime in a noisy city apartment with paper thin walls, I reckoned it would be bliss – way on the outer edge of town, no neighbours, church property one side and graveyard on two others. It was quiet as, well, a tomb, for the first year. Then the noises, started, not the usual cat spat or stray dogs, not the odd night bird or even the occasional teen spree in the graveyard. Eerie noises that seemed to come from far away, over the other side maybe. I put it down to some cult rituals or other. Didn’t really worry me. I told myself I wasn’t superstitious.

The anthology is filled with wonderful work by wonderful writers, and J.R. McRae is one of many. Do yourself and the Baltimore Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum a favor and pick up a copy. You can pre-order now for delivery in early November.

Our Contributors

2011-10-10T15:05:00.001-07:00

We have put together a great anthology. We received enough great stories and poems that we’re still looking at some for future anthologies. If you have submitted a work and haven’t heard back from us, it means we’re still considering offering you a place in a future anthology.

The Spirit of Poe Anthology will feature stories and poems from (in no particular order):

Bev Vincent

William Holt

Aye Wollam

Len Hazel

John Charles Manonne

Kathleen Michele Wright

Rolli

Curtis James McConnell

Betty Lipton

Bill Butler

Joshua Scribner

Aaron Patterson

Michele Brenton

Curtis James McConnell
Zain Richard Bennett

Wakefield G. Mahon III

Karen Rigley and Ann House

Melissa Eyler

Kerri Nelson

Pam Hawley

Angelo Dalpiaz

James WF Roberts

J.R. McRae

James Dorr

Berenice Wakefield

Jackson Creed

Guido Henkel

Adam Joffrain

Annie Neugebauer

M. Bennardo

Michael G. McGlasson

M.M. MacLellan

Noctavia Poe

Blaze McRobb

Cathy MacKenzie

Barbara McMickle

Scott Goriscak

Kincaid Savoie

This was a very rewarding project, and far more difficult than I imagined. Thanks for everyone who has submitted, and feel free to email if you have any questions.

Contributor List This Sunday--Can We Get Thirty Pre-Orders By Then?

2011-10-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

We have received remarkable submissions for the anthology, and we'll have a contributor list by Sunday. I want to highlight one, though.

There’s a little bit of comedy in almost all great horror, but it takes a wonderful writer to satirize Poe while still treating him respectfully. Thankfully, a wonderful writer undertook to do that. Bev Vincent wrote a remarkable and very funny story called The Case of the Tell-tale Black Cat of Amontillado (with Zombies and an Ourang-Outang), and although he offered up “profound apologies to EAP” he needn’t have. The story is wonderful, and we’re lucky to have it. The story has so many references to Poe’s work that we lost count! Look for a contest later on that challenges you to recognize them all. I’ll give you a little taste, though:

“Dupin is my name. You may have heard of me.”

The man didn’t respond. He retreated into the house as if expecting Dupin to follow, so Dupin did. The front room was large and lofty, but even after the man threw open the heavy curtains, light struggled to render distinct the adornments within. Several musty, overstuffed chairs were scattered haphazardly around the perimeter. The bust of a Roman deity, Pallas perhaps, stood on a pedestal next to a desk littered with manuscripts and papers. The room had an overall atmosphere of sorrow and gloom.

Dupin’s host produced a pair of wooden chairs that he placed carefully in the middle of the room, as if by some design. He paid special attention to the location and position of his own chair, and smiled to himself once he was satisfied.

How many so far? No fair counting all three Dupin stories as individual references!

We have other great works here as well, including poetry selected some time ago by the museum for a museum-sponsored time capsule. We have stories from five countries and three continents. We still have some submissions to get to as well.

Help us out, now. We would like thirty more pre-orders to ensure that every expense is covered prior to the book’s release. Pick one up for yourself or for a friend. Thanks again for all of the support.

The Need is Simply Critical--WJ Rosser

2011-09-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was dismayed to read that the media is already talking about closing the museum.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/12/us-poe-baltimore-idUSTRE78B46B20110912

Access to history and our literary heritage is going to be gone. Thankfully, the building is protected by landmark laws, but who wants to drive by? This is the house in which Poe started and ended his career. He wrote MS. Found in a Bottle here.(The picture above is an illustration from an early edition by Wommel.) That story was so influential that many critics credit it with influencing the entire class of tragic sea voyage stories such as Moby Dick.

Help us save it!

Quick updates:

We'll have t-shirts soon, donated by a wonderful businessman local to me. In addition, we'll have e-readers to give away soon, too.

I'm happy to say we have so far accepted stories from Aaron Patterson, Bill Butler, Zain Richard Bennett and more. Beautiful poetry has been supplied as well. This is shaping up to be a fabulous anthology. I'm so honored to be able to participate in this project.

You can participate, too. Can you take just a moment to pre-order an anthology? Can you donate?

The Poe House needs you, and you can help.

A Matching Contribution!

2011-09-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

We've been fortunate enough to have a local businessman (local to WJ Rosser in Orange County, CA, that is) who has volunteered to buy one Spirit of Poe Anthology to ship to the Baltimore Poe House for every Anthology presold by Midnight PST today. That means your anthology purchase gets triple power.

Money from the sale of your book will go to the Poe House--something like $9-10
Money from the matching sale will go to the Poe House--something like $9-10
The Poe House will make a profit on the matched book--something like $9-10.

When was the last time you spent $14.99 for something and ended up giving more than twice that to charity?

Support for the Poe Anthology

2011-09-12T13:18:00.001-07:00

A great many submissions have poured in, and we're thankful. We're also thankful for the pre-orders of the anthology. (If you haven't pre-ordered it yet, take care of that now. Remember, every cent above the absolute minimum necessary expenses will go to the museum.)

We also appreciate the many bloggers who are helping. You'll soon see guest posts by WJ Rosser on a great many blogs, and I hope you'll choose to follow a number of them. Thanks to Jen and Marty at Fictitious Musings, who will be one of the first with a post I drafted about the importance of saving the Baltimore Poe House and Museum.

I want to thank some other folks as well. Picasso Games, Etc. has made it possible for us to give away e-readers. We're still working out the details, but look for an announcement this week with specifics. This I can tell you--if you pre-order the anthology, you'll have a chance to win an e-reader pre-loaded with Poe's works. At this point, it looks like we'll have at least five to give away.

I've also been in touch with a silkscreen printer who's helping us get some tee shirts together. Look for a post on that once we get the design done. And, yes, we'll be throwing five or ten of those into the pre-order and you might win something mix as well.

So...thanks, and keep the support coming. Pre-order an anthology or two and send in your submissions.

We’re Proud to Have Dr. Barbara Cantalupo Involved

2011-09-08T07:14:00.001-07:00

Dr. Barbara Cantalupo has kindly agreed to write the introduction for the upcoming anthology, The Spirit of Poe, and has refused compensation. We’re humbled and grateful.

Dr. Cantalupo is a rare and wonderful academic. She is a founding editor of the Edgar Allan Poe Review, and one of the foremost Poe scholars in the world today. At the risk of sounding flippant, I (this is WJ Rosser writing) have to tell you that her CV can be summed up as “Dr. Cantalupo knows a whole heck of a lot more about Poe than I do.” Of course, she would never suggest such a thing—she’s far too gracious.

Nonetheless, she has scores of essays, articles, interviews, and books on the subject. In addition, she’s chaired conferences, presented at conferences, and lectured all over on Poe and his works. We’re excited to have this noteworthy and committed individual on board.

When we first decided on the anthology, it was just a thought, almost an afterthought. We just wanted to do what little we could to help. The wonderful outpouring of support from the literary community is overwhelming and encouraging. Thanks, Dr. Cantalupo, for helping us to do what we can to preserve this important part of literary history, the Baltimore Poe House and Museum.

What's Poetry without Poe?

2011-09-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

In an ultimate “duh” moment typical of a day in the life of WJ Rosser, we completely forgot about poetry for this anthology.

Is there a person in the western world who wasn’t required to memorize at least some part of “The Raven” during the long days of education? Karen and WJ have decided no anthology that truly cares about the spirit of Poe could neglect to include some poetry.

Send no more than five dark poems. We will favor poems similar to Poe’s and attention to strong imagery and structure is important to us! That said, regale us with your lyrical brilliance! We will pay $25 per poem, will accept no more than two per author, and of course, the option to donate back your pay to help the cause is available.

Send your poems to literarylandmark@gmail.com.

Our First Anthology, The Spirit of Poe

2011-09-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore has lost its $80,000 per year funding from the City of Baltimore. Literary Landmark Press is publishing an anthology called The Spirit of Poe, all proceeds of which will go to the museum. That's everything. All proceeds. Every cent above the costs of printing and paying the contributors.

We are seeking short horror fiction up to 10,000 words. For this anthology, we're looking for horror along the lines of Fall of the House of Usher or The Telltale Heart, psychological and mysterious. Both of those short stories will be in the anthology.

Contributors will receive payment of 5 cents per word for original, new fiction. Reprints will be considered and will receive compensation of 2 cents per word. Contributors will also receive one copy of the printed anthology and one electronic copy. (Contributors are free to donate their earnings to the cause!)

Send submissions in word or rtf format to literarylandmark@gmail.com. Submissions will be accepted until October 1st. The anthology is scheduled for publication on or about Halloween, 2011.