Joel A. Sutherland

Colleen and I have been asked a lot (and by "a lot", I mean "A LOT") if we've had the baby yet. Well, now you can check the following website for the answer!!! http://haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com

I was holding off officially announcing this until the ink on the contracts had dried completely, but since I just received a congratulatory email from someone who read the news on Shocklines, I guess it's safe to spread the word. Leisure Books (Dorchester Publishing) have purchased the mass market paperback rights for FROZEN BLOOD, my first novel which was published in 2008. It's one of their two November 2010 releases, and I'm pretty freaking stoked, to say the least.

Don D'Auria at Leisure has been incredible to work with. He's asked for my input on the cover art and the cover copy (back cover blurb, quotes), he's accepted my request to significantly alter the formatting in a large section of the novel, and he's answered all of my questions in a timely and professional manner. He's also entertained my idea for a second, original novel, and encouraged me to send a synopsis and the first few chapters asap -- with any luck (and if he likes it enough to buy it!) it could be released as early as June 2011. It's not a sure thing, but it's exciting all the same.

With BE A WRITING SUPERSTAR! coming out from Scholastic in August, BLOOD LITE 2: OVERBITE in October and FROZEN BLOOD in November, the second half of the year promises to be busy. But not as busy as the first half, as my wife is now only eight days away from her due date -- our first child. The countdown continues...

Guess I can kiss sleep goodbye.

p.s. To see the full 2010 Leisure lineup, click here.

I just noticed that editor Kevin J. Anderson has posted the final TOC for BLOOD LITE 2, which is due this Halloween, 2010. I find myself sandwiched in the middle of a great lineup of authors with some intriguing titles. As Anderson says, there are "31 stories…a real feast with a wide range of subjects, a half dozen New York Times bestselling authors and a host of award winners—we’ve got winners of the Bram Stoker Award, the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, the World Fantasy Award, even the Grammy Award."

Here's the full list:

Death and Taxes—Heather Graham

Table for Two—Jeff Ryan

Treatment—J.A. Konrath

Dead Clown Séance—Christopher Welch

The Day the Devil Swallowed a Heapin’ Helpin’ of Pride at the Beaulahville Gospel Jubilee—Scott Nicholson

Piecemaker—Don d’Ammassa

Good Breeding—Lucien Soulban

Tails—John R. Little

Dog Tired (of the Drama!)—L.A. Banks

A Sweet Girl for Todd—Mark Onspaugh

Dark Carbuncle—Kevin J. Anderson & Janis Ian

Tastes Like Chicken—Jordan Summers

Presumptuous Beast Throws Sumptuous Feast—Mike Baron

Bad German—Edward Bryant

The Halloween War—Brian J. Hatcher

Oh, the Ho-Ho Horror—Joel A. Sutherland

The Unfortunate Persistence of Harold Francis Beamish—Aaron Polson

Dick and Larry—D.L. Snell

Son of…a Bitch!—Sam W. Anderson

Her Lucky Day—Allison Brennan

A Wing and a Prayer—Sharyn McCrumb

Barewolf—Daniel Pyle

American Banshee—Eric James Stone

The Epicurean—Amy Sterling Casil

The Ghoul Next Door—Nancy Kilpatrick

Daycare of the Damned—Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Season’s Tickets—Derek Clendening

The Close Shave—Mike Resnick & Lezli Robyn

Shaggy Dog Story—Steve Rasnic Tem

Eight-Legged Vengeance—Jeff Strand

Lucifer’s Daughter—Kelley Armstrong

Now I've gone and done it.

I've started a Twitter account. Something I didn't think I'd ever do.

Crazy thing is, I kinda like it. The brevity of characters allowed in each post suits my busy schedule, and keeps me from feeling guilty about not writing more.

So hey, if you've got an account too (as far as I know, I'm the last person of everyone I know to have signed up), check me out at http://twitter.com/joelasutherland

How did you celebrate New Years Eve? As I said before, Colleen and I went out to dinner and the movies with a couple of good friends. Sherlock Holmes was good if not great but quite a bit of senseless fun. After the movie we got our dogs together and rang in the new year with champagne and mocktails. Today I'm celebrating by sitting on the couch procrastinating, ignoring all the cleaning and schoolwork and general life stuff that has to be done. In other words, starting 2010 off on the right foot!

What a way to close out the year: I found out yesterday that my story, "Oh, the Ho Ho Horror", has been accepted into BLOOD LITE 2.

The first volume, edited by bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson, had some heavy hitters within its pages including Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher and Sherrilyn Kenyon, so I'm pretty excited to see the final TOC for the second volume.

My story is, as you might have guessed, a festive tale, centred on a Scrooge/Grinch-like father who is confronted and taken prisoner (to be tortured and killed, natch) by the Big Guy in Red and his reindeer, Harvey. Oh, in case you didn't know, this is an anthology of humourous horror stories, so the fact that such an odd story was accepted isn't as strange as it might seem...

Since I haven't had much time to write and submit new fiction lately, this acceptance is particularly gratifying. I wrote the story specifically for this book on my breaks at work throughout November and squeaked it in right at the deadline. Huzzah!

We're going to celebrate by having a relaxing New Years Eve out, dinner and a movie (Sherlock Holmes), then back home in time for the countdown. However you're celebrating New Years, I hope 2010 is a stellar year for you and your family!

December 1st was my 29th birthday, and I decided to celebrate in style this year.

First, one of the best book blogs on the net today, The Book Smugglers, kicked off their new annual tradition, Smugglivus, with a guest post by yours truly on my birthday. You can check it out HERE, if you'd like. In the post, I talk a little bit about their blog, a little bit about why I've been so busy these past six months or so (which is also why I've also been so quiet on this here blog, my apologies), and I also announced a new contest, one much simpler than my last: post a comment to my guest blog over at The Book Smugglers, and you're automatically entered into a draw for a free e-book version of Frozen Blood, and I'll also add the three winners' names as characters (either villains or heroes) into my next published book. People seem to be really enjoying it so far, and that's a relief. It would have been mightily embarrassing if people didn't comment, or worse, if they commented but said something like, "Please don't enter me in the draw -- who does this Joel guy think he is, anyway?" So head on over and post a quick comment, why don'tcha?

Second, the 3rd annual Black Quill Award nominations were announced on my birthday, and much to my surprise, Frozen Blood was nominated for Best Small Press Chill. I'm listed with some extraordinary work and a couple of good friends (Michael Louis Calvillo and Kim Paffenroth), and that made the news even merrier! Two awards are given in each category, an editor's choice and a reader's choice, so if you liked Frozen Blood and wanted to vote for it, I won't stop you -- there's information at the bottom of the ballot on how to register and vote. You can check out the full ballot HERE. So head on over and vote, why don'tcha?

Third, I worked all day and then went to a course at night. So that wasn't really celebrating in style, but no matter. I received a whackload of Facebook and Myspace comments, emails and telephone calls, wishing me a happy birthday, and Colleen gave me some Grade-A presents, so it's all good.

Heck, it's all great.

Below are the winners of the Frozen Blood contest. It's interesting to note that the three people with the most amount of points each won a prize, as did a few people who ended in the middle of the pack, and even a person or two who were near the bottom. Regardless of who won what, I'd like to thank everyone who entered the contest for your support, and I hope you had fun with it. The prizes are packed, addressed, and will be in the mail tomorrow!

Grand Prize Winner - Bram Stoker Award signature sheet:

Michael Stone

Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths, signed by both co-editors:

Robert Harding

The Teddy Bears of Tomorrow, signed by yours truly:

Pete Allen

Alien DVD box set:

Rob Houglan

Interview With the Vampire DVD:

Bret Jordan

M:I-2 DVD:

Robert Essig

X-Files: Fight the Future DVD:

Matt Hults

Congrats to all the winners!

The third -- and final -- bonus mystery prize is another wonderful piece of original artwork from Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths, by none other than Bret Jordan. The illustration accompanied "Sugar Pie, Honey Pie", and a small portion even appeared on the front cover as an image on a newspaper blowing in the wind.

And the winner is Whitt Pond, who not only bought a copy of the book, but also wrote the first review to appear on Amazon.com.

Congrats, Whitt! And many thanks to Bret for supplying two pieces of original art for the contest!

Don't forget, this weekend is your last chance to post a short review online, to tag my book on Amazon, or to do any of the other acts to gain points before the big draw next week. You don't want to miss your chance to win one of the main prizes, including the signed Stoker sheet, do ya? Alrighty, then.

Wow, it's been a while since my last post, eh? It's been a busy time, that's for sure. Back in early July I began working at the library full time, whereas I was only working there part time previous to that. I've also been racing against some tight deadlines for school to complete enough credits to travel to Wales for my third and final study school in a couple of weeks. I've been chugging along nicely on the Scholastic book that's due in November, and have been doing a lot of work to spruce up the new pad, making it feel a little less cold and a little more like home.

But the biggest news of all is that I'm going to be a proud poppa next February! Colleen and I broke the news a couple of weeks ago and although it hasn't been taking up much of my free time yet (other than having to fetch the odd pickle or two), I'm sure life is going to be a tad crazier in 2010 than it was in 2009. I can't wait.

So amidst all the hustle and bustle, I forgot about my little Frozen Blood contest. I had said that there would be a few mystery prizes awarded along the way leading up to the deadline (which happens to be tomorrow!), but I've only given out one. I've got two more, one to give out now, and one yet to come. So here's what I'm thinking: the deadline of the contest should be pushed back, but only by a week and change. That way I can do a draw for the third mystery prize in the middle of the week, and then do the final draw for all the prizes on Tuesday, September 8th (I'll be attending a friend's wedding this long weekend, so that's out). Sound good?

Good.

So, enough blabbering from me. It's time to give something away!

What is it? With the winner's permission, I will give their name to one of the major characters in my next novel. The winner will get the choice of whether or not the character is good or evil. In fact, I plan on having the winner fill out a quick survey about what they want the character to be like, and what type of fate awaits the character at the end of the book. It could be a lot of fun, and I hope the person who has been drawn is game (I have a feeling she will be, but if not, I'll draw names until someone digs this prize).

And the winner is...Thea, from one of the grooviest book blogs on the internet, The Book Smugglers! I have to admit that this makes me pretty happy, since Thea not only read an early electronic copy of Frozen Blood and wrote a great review for her website, but also later drove to Dark Delicacies bookstore in L.A. to come meet me (dragging her incredibly understanding boyfriend along) and bought a copy while she was there. A class act, all the way.

Next draw coming soon!