Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books, has added Tumblr to their social media efforts. On this blog, writers from all walks of life and experience levels may enjoy “Get Your Words Out” – a series of tips for writers – as well as other updates.
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It’s always great to share news of our alumni, but it’s especially great to share news of forthcoming first novel publications.
Morowa Yejidé
“When you work so hard at something and constantly dream and strategize about it and then you finally do get a YES, it’s hard to believe it,” Morowa Yejidé said. “That was my initial reaction to hearing that my novel, Time of the Locust, was going to be published by Atria/Simon & Schuster. Disbelief.” The Wilkes alum said the premise of her novel had been floating around her mind for several years before she even put pen to paper. It’s the story of an autistic boy living in the universe of his mind and his supernatural relationship with his incarcerated father.
Prior to focusing on her thesis, Morowa had a few sample chapters that were published as short stories. With that early success and encouragement, she took the project further. “I decided to give a complete manuscript a serious effort through the Wilkes MFA. The faculty really seemed to be in the trenches as working writers—which was what attracted me to the program,” she said. “I listened to Robert Mooney read one of his powerful, visually-driven narratives and knew right away I wanted to work with him as my Faculty Mentor.”
Morowa was determined to strengthen the story, but she was also eager to have an audience. “I continued revisions along the way, working with Mooney, sending the manuscript out, sort of building the plane while I was flying it. After many rejections from various agents and publishing houses large and small, I decided to try some national competitions.” That’s when she began making headway. “Time of the Locust placed as a finalist in the 2012 PEN/Bellwether Prize and the Dana Awards.”
The Wilkes alum had already seen success in other venues. Her short stories have appeared in the Istanbul Literary Review, Ascent Aspirations Magazine, Underground Voices, the Adirondack Review, and others. One of her stories had been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, too, but she still wanted the book manuscript to strike a chord with publishers. Once she had the selling point as a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize and the Dana Awards, Morowa took another chance. “I sent out more queries. The rest is, as they say, history. Time of the Locust is forthcoming Spring 2014.”
More about Morowa Yejidé can be found on her website at http://morowayejide.com.
Wilkes alum Carol MacAllister’s book, The Blackmoor Tales, is now available from Northampton House Press!
About the Book:
In Blackmoor, time runs differently. Each period spirals and intertwines with the next. Hideous beings from times forgotten and places unnamed slip across dimensions to hunt among the living, stealing innocence and culling blood for insatiable appetites. Prayers and candles, fortitude and cunning, heavy latched doors and shuttered panels offer no protection.
Eleven dark tales of fantasy and horror draw the town of Blackmoor before the reader’s eyes. These shivery tales range from short fiction to novella-length, with transitions in dark poetic verse between the stories.
The characters range from Lovecraftian creatures that stalk man in remote swamps, to flesh-eating monsters roaming the countryside. Blood-culling grotesques, demons disguised in childhood rhymes, psychological and physical vampires and zombies abound. Souls are lured and corralled at Blackmoor’s Inn for malevolent entertainment, and interplanetary intrusions torment and harvest mortals. The physical settings include remote swamps, burial grounds, fairytale landscapes, a clearing ringed by blood-culling pines, caves that touch the ocean, a willow-strewn river, and an Inn laced with ghastly evil. Remember the old Celtic warning: From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!
About the Author:
Carol MacAllister’s short stories and poetry have been published in the US, UK, and Australia, gained mentions in Ellen Datlow’s The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, received numerous awards, and been featured in many trade paperback books, online collections and magazines. She has served as panelist and speaker at the Jersey Devil Conference and been guest speaker at the Philadelphia Writers’ Workshop. Her work was presented on local television in the Princeton, NJ area, and on radio shows in NJ and Australia. She’s a past officer of the Garden State Speculative Fiction Writers, a member of Horror Writers Association, SIC-NJ, AWP and co-founder of Tri-Muse writers.
The Write Life 