Archive for the ‘My Body’ Category

Imaginarium 2012

I’m very happy to announce that my story, “The Candle,” which appeared in Michael Kelly’s excellent journal Shadows & Tall Trees, has been selected for inclusion in Imaginarium 2012, an anthology coming out next month from ChiZine Publications.

This is the first time one of my stories has been chosen to appear in a “year’s best” collection, and I’m pretty freaking excited about it. I was also informed that two of my Felix Renn stories, “My Body” (which originally appeared in the anthology Chilling Tales) and Black-Eyed Kids (a chapbook from Burning Effigy Press) both received honourable mentions in the book.

If you’re interested in checking out Imaginarium 2012 — where my story will appear alongside others by Kelley Armstrong, Cory Doctorow, Rio Youers, Gemma Files, and many more — the pre-order links are already up at ChiZine Publications.

The Post-Con, Post-Flu Report

I’ve been out of the loop the last couple of weeks. Wizard World Comic Con was great, our table was about ten feet away from Amy Acker’s, I met a lot of really nice people, sold a bunch of books, was even interviewed a couple of times. Unfortunately, during all of my glad-handing, I picked up an extremely unpleasant flu virus that hit me with five days of fever. Even now, a week later, I’m on the mend but still very weak.

It’s taken me a little while but I’m finally starting to catch up on things. Pictures from Comic Con are now available on my Facebook page. One of the two interviews I gave is now online, over at Press +1. The two best things about this con: seeing people come up to the table and pointing at one of the Felix Renn chapbooks and saying, “I already have that one!” And a couple of people who bought chapbooks coming back to the table later in the day to say they already started reading them and couldn’t put them down.

I found out that my Felix Renn story, “My Body,” and another short story, “The Candle” (that appeared in Shadows & Tall Trees), received honourable mentions in Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4.

I also came upon a review of the three Felix Renn chapbooks by Robert Morrish. Here’s an excerpt:

“…I’m usually not a fan of horror/comedy mash-ups. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I do enjoy horror-comedy when it’s done well, but more often than not I find attempts to combine the two genres fall flat. So when I say that I really enjoyed Ian Rogers’ three darkly humorous Felix Renn novelettes, understand that I’m a tough critic when it comes to these types of tales.”

Read the full review.

In other news, I have seen the almost-final draft of the cover artwork for my forthcoming ChiZine collection, Every House Is Haunted, and it is absolutely fantastic. Ever since my book was accepted, I’ve been imagining what my cover was going to look like, because the CZP covers are always so incredible. Artist Erik Mohr didn’t disappoint, and I think you’re really going to dig his take on haunted houses. I should be able to post it here in the next day or two, and the pre-order info for the limited edition hardcover should be online around the same time.

The Bloodlight

I’m very excited to announce that I am the feature author of this month’s edition of The Bloodlight over at BloodyBookish.com. Over the next few weeks, BB will be posting a series of articles about me and my work. I’m very honoured to have been asked to take part in this. BloodyBookish.com is a really great website for readers and writers. I strongly recommend you check it out.

First up in The Bloodlight is an interview with yours truly. Next week: a review of “Black-Eyed Kids”!

Speaking of reviews, the fine folks over at Innsmouth Free Press have reviewed the Canadian horror anthology Chilling Tales. Here’s what they had to say about my Felix Renn story:

Ian Rogers brings us My Body. This is a well-thought-out tale with some great twists. A private detective meets a little girl who takes him into a haunted house. It is now his job to try to figure out who is doing the haunting.

Read the full review.

Thanks to IFP for the review, and thanks to BB for putting me in The Bloodlight!

“Chilling Tales” reviews and Felix news

The first reviews of Chilling Tales are in!

Rue Morgue magazine liked the book a great deal, and while only a few stories were singled out, “My Body” was one of them. (The review isn’t online. You’ll have to pick up the mag to read it.) The second review appeared on the SFRevu website, and even though the reviewer didn’t like the book as much as Rue Morgue, he seems to have enjoyed my story:

Among the good stories I will mention Barbara Roden’s “404”, a Kafkaesque tale of office horror where employees mysteriously disappear one at the time, and Ian Rogers’ “My Body”, a modern ghost story with an undercurrent of sadness.

Read the full review.

It’s also worth noting that Chilling Tales is now for sale in the U.S., with copies available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc., etc.

In other Black Lands-related news, I have a new Felix Renn short story making the rounds, and I just hit the 12,000-word mark on the new novelette. If I can maintain my current pace, I should have it finished within the next couple of weeks. And once it’s done, I start work on the first Felix Renn novel.

World Horror Convention 2011 schedule

On Thursday I’ll be flying out to Austin, Texas, for this year’s World Horror Convention. This marks the second time I’ve attended this particular con — the first being the one held in Toronto in 2007— and the first time I’m actually taking part in the programming. My involvement is fairly minor compared to some, but I’m very happy to be moderating a panel and taking part in a book launch. Here are the deets:

Book Launch – EDGE Books

2:00 – 4:00 PM, Friday, April 29 – Convention Suite

Join hosts Michael Kelly and Jaym Gates for the multi-author book launch of “Chilling Tales”, “Rigor Amortis”, and “Those Who Fight Monsters”. Plus get a special sneak peek of EDGE’s Fall Horror line up, including “EVOLVE Two: Vampire Stories of the Future Undead”, and “Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes.”

The End of Good Advice

1:00 PM Saturday, April 30 – Dezavala

Mikal Trimm, Ian Rogers (M), Vanessa Fewings, Peter Straub, Gord Rollo, Wayne Allen Sallee

In the old days, there were a few solid ways to build a career—get some attention with short stories, or get an agent and sell a novel to New York. But good advice often has an expiration date, especially in the rapidly changing publishing field of the Internet era. What good old advice still works, and what new advice do the old pros not even know?

If you’re going, don’t be stranger. Come up and say hello. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

“Chilling Tales” Launch – Part 2

I will be at Ad Astra this Saturday for the second part of the Chilling Tales launch. There will be a panel discussion at 11 a.m., and then a launch party from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you’re attending the convention, make sure to stop by and check it out.

Double-Booked Book Launches

My work hasn’t appeared in very many publications that have had actual book launches, so what were the odds I’d get double-booked for two such events? Pretty good, apparently.

BIFF BAM POP, the pop culture website where I’m currently writing a book review column, is publishing a graphic anthology called The Collected Biff Bam Boo, featuring two of my flash fiction pieces, “Wendy” and “Vogo,” with artwork by J.P. Fallavollita.

Meanwhile, EDGE Books is launching the all-Canadian horror anthology Chilling Tales, featuring a new Felix Renn story called “My Body.”

Both events take place this Saturday, March 19th. The Biff Bam Boo launch will be held at the Curzon restaurant (1192 Queen St East) from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The Chilling Tales launch will be at Bakka Phoenix Books (84 Harbord St.) from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

My plan is to hit the Chilling Tales launch first and sign books for an hour or two, then zip over to the Curzon for the Biff Bam Boo launch. The latter is taking place at a restaurant, and even though the end time is slated for 7:30 p.m., I’m told that the event will go on as long as people are there.

So if you’re hankering for more Felix Renn and you want your book signed, I’d suggest you come to the Chilling Tales launch on time, as I won’t be there for the whole thing. And if your interests lie more toward horror comics, you should swing by the Curzon and pick up a copy of The Collected Biff Bam Boo.

Or hell, come to both and have a REALLY good time!

Chilling Tales now available… in Canada

The all-Canadian horror anthology, Chilling Tales, which features a new Felix Renn story called “My Body,” is now available from Amazon.ca.

Amazon.com and BN.com list an April 2011 release date, so U.S. readers may have to wait a bit longer for the book. Of course, if you’re really hankering for more Felix Renn, you might want to just go ahead and order it from Amazon.ca. I wouldn’t blame you if you did. The line-up for this book is pretty damn impressive. I count myself lucky to have my work appear alongside such talented authors.

In other Felix news, I learned the lesson of why it is usually a bad idea to talk about works-in-progress. About a week into the writing of the new Felix Renn chapbook, I came to the conclusion that the story was much bigger than I had originally envisioned. Suffice to say, Exhibition Loop will be written one day, not as a novelette but as a novel.

After a week or two of tossing around new ideas, I finally started on another story that will be the third Felix Renn chapbook. And no, I’m not going to tell you what it’s called. At least not until it’s finished. I learned my lesson.

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What are the Black Lands?

The Black Lands is a dimension filled with supernatural creatures that lies next to our own world. This alternate reality is the setting for a series of stories by Ian Rogers.

To find out more about the Black Lands, read the history.