Lots of News

= The ForeWarner =
The Matthew Warner Newsletter
December 8, 2005

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HI, AND THANK YOU

It's been a jam-packed couple of months since the last time I wrote you: fiction published in both major and minor venues, a run-in with Google, and an encounter with one of the authors of the bestselling LEFT BEHIND series (details below).

First, I'd like to thank a few people:

(1) Chris Rhoades for his complimentary high school term paper about me, now posted on the matthewwarner.com "interviews" page;

(2) Mark Sieber's daughter, India, for her nice portrait of me, now posted on the matthewwarner.com "bio" page;

(3) FIRST BLOOD author David Morrell for publishing, on his website's November news items, my photo essay about our Morrell-tribute home decor; and

(4) Deena Warner (deenawarner.net), my wife, for her steadfast love and support.  Deena recently added a public guestbook to matthewwarner.com, which you can find through the "contact me" link in the menu bar.  Please drop by and say hi.

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FICTION

I have four new short story publications to report.  Links can be found on matthewwarner.com.

--> "The Magic of Court Reporting: A Halloween Story" was published in the Virginia Court Reporting Association Newsletter, fall 2005 issue.  (also available as free online read)

--> "Backwards Man" was published in Dark Discoveries #6, fall 2005 issue.

--> "The Cave" was published in Cemetery Dance #53.  It also appears in my collection, DEATH SENTENCES: TALES OF PUNISHMENT & REVENGE.

--> "Life Insurance" was published as a special one-of-one limited-edition hardcover book, sent randomly to one subscriber to Deena Warner's free annual Halloween greeting cards.  The story was inspired by this year's image of a giant pumpkin and was reprinted on her website.

Also, "Middle Passage" can still be downloaded and listened to in its entirety.  Just follow the link for DEATH SENTENCES.

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NON-FICTION

A BIG announcement is coming on December 12 from Horror World.  The Pod Of Horror podcasters will make the announcement, which you'll be able to hear at http://www.horrorreader.com/horror_reader/pod_of_horror/index.html

In the meantime, I've continued to write monthly columns for Horror World, which you can read at http://www.horrorworld.org/columns.htm

--> "To Be or Not To Be a Reader" (November)

--> "Message Versus Medium: The Agenda of LEFT BEHIND" (December)

The column about the bestselling Christian apocalyptic thriller novel LEFT BEHIND recently attracted the attention of one of its authors, Jerry B. Jenkins, when I pointed out the similarities between the novel's opening sequence and Stephen King's "The Langoliers."  Jenkins wrote a reply, which is posted below the column.

I was also published in my hometown newspaper, the Staunton News Leader, on November 30, 2005.  My letter to the editor decrying bigotry against homosexuals was published in response to an acrimonious exchange between Dr. Larry Roller and writer Elizabeth Massie.

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INTERVIEWS

Links to these can be found on the matthewwarner.com "interviews" page.

--> Featured guest in Fireside Chats, Red Light District message board, to take place January 24, 2006

--> Grave Thoughts Radio, to be broadcast soon

--> Horror Reader, "Voices of Horror: Matthew Warner and Google BookSearch," November 28, 2005 (downloadable podcast about Google's recent unauthorized scanning of THE ORGAN DONOR)

--> Augusta Free Press, "Quel horreur!" October 18, 2005

--> Clarissa Lyons Interview, May 31, 2005 (belated posting of Clarissa's school project)

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NEW BOOK REVIEWS of DEATH SENTENCES

"Warner pulls no punches with his writing. His writing is taut and to the point, weaving the deeply disturbing with the wholly personal aspect of each of his characters into a remarkable assemblage of fear and dread."
--Dark Discoveries magazine (November 2005)

"DEATH SENTENCES succeeds greatly on the author's understated style and refusal to wallow in gore for its sake. . . . the perfect sampler for those who have not yet made his acquaintance."
--Hellnotes Newsletter (November 24, 2005)

The full text of most of these reviews can be found on my website.

There are still a few copies of DEATH SENTENCES available.  This 250-copy, autographed, limited edition from Undaunted Press collects five of my best short stories under a cover illustrated by Deena Warner.  Introduction by Gary A. Braunbeck.  Just $10, exclusively at Shocklines.com.

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LOOKING AHEAD

My next novel, EYES EVERYWHERE, ships in hardcover from Raw Dog Screaming Press in August.  Pre-orders start in February.

This story depicts a father's terror as he comes to believe that a bio-terrorist is conducting experiments on his young children.  Worse, his co-workers--and even his wife--might be in on the conspiracy.  Can Charlie Fields save his toddlers from the mysterious CalPark Biotech corporation and its haughty chairman, Philip Duke?

To write the book, I relied heavily on first-person accounts of the experience of paranoid schizophrenia, basing much of the protagonist's perceptions--such as his fear that people are reading his thoughts--upon the typical delusions of one suffering from that condition.  When schizophrenia goes untreated, the hallucinations and altered thinking caused by it can worsen to terrifying extremes.

As far as Charlie Fields is concerned, however, there's one question even more frightening.

What if he's not crazy?

Gary A. Braunbeck, award-winning author and president of the Horror Writers Association, is providing an afterword.  In an advance quote, he said, "With EYES EVERYWHERE, Matthew Warner comes into his own as a novelist.  . . . From first page to last, this novel grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go, barreling its way toward one of the most powerful final images I've read in years."

*** FREEBIES FOR YOU ***

Want to get free stuff, like toys, posters, and free excerpts? 

Good.  I have a ton of fun giveaways and contests planned for the coming months, and readers of The ForeWarner newsletter will be among the first to know.

I could also use your help promoting the book--which in turn will make you eligible for yet more cool stuff.  If you're interested in helping me spread the word, please reply to this email or drop me a note through the "contact me" tab of matthewwarner.com.  I'll reply within the next couple months with specifics.  Thanks in advance!

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WHERE I'LL BE

SheVaCon 14
February 24-26, 2006
Holiday Inn Tanglewood
Roanoke, VA
* Featured author *

World Horror Convention
May 11-14, 2006
San Francisco, CA

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RECOMMENDED READING

As always, I've been reading a lot of great (and not so great) books.  I thought you'd be interested in the great ones:

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Jack Ketchum
LEFT BEHIND by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
PRESSURE by Jeff Strand, forthcoming from Earthling Publications in 2006
HOME BEFORE DARK: THE COLLECTED CEDAR HILL STORIES, VOL. 2 by Gary A. Braunbeck

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"Matt Warner remembers the first time that he met Elizabeth Massie. . . . who, for the record, is blissfully unaware of the details of her initial meeting with Warner."
--October 18, 2005 article in the Augusta Free Press

Matthew Warner
Staunton, VA
www.MatthewWarner.com


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