So this news isn’t exactly new. I found out about it at the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, but I can announce, now that I’ve signed agreements, that I have an agent! My literary work, such as it is, is now being represented by the fantastic Joe Monti of the Barry Goldblatt Agency. I am thrilled and excited to be working with Joe and am hard at work polishing up my middle-grade fantasy novel for him.

I have a lot that I want to get accomplished in the next few years and I’m thrilled to be working with Joe on this and future projects.

One of the reasons for me not being here recently is that I have been having trouble with my WordPress installation, or at least with some plugins that were causing me some trouble. Fingers crossed, but I think I’ve fixed the issue finally. Which allows me to post some recent news soon which I’ve been meaning to share for a little while.

But also just to post thoughts and observations as well. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged for myself or anyone.Expect a post soon…

Plugin test.

I know it’s been a while since I last posted anything of substance. WordPress and website woes were the culprit for part of the time and I guess I just got used to not blogging as a result. I still have to deal with a faulty plugin. But I wanted to wish all my Jewish friends a Happy Chanukah.

I celebrated in my own heathen way last night with this gift set from Shmaltz Brewing Company. Their He’brew Jewbelation is always one of my favorite beers with each release and this gift set includes a twelve ounce bottle of each of the releases from 8-14 as well as a blend of all those that’s been aged in rye whiskey barrels. To make it even more fun, the bottles are meant to be used with candles (and come with candles) to form a beer menorah.

Last night I opened the first of the beers, the Jewbelation 8. Tonight, I’ll open the 9 and so on until ending with the Vertical Jewbelation (the blend).

Shmaltz are also setting up events all month long in NY and other cities with the various Jewbelation beers on tap and others (like Coney Island) as well. They’re one of my favorite breweries so I’d suggest checking them out.

And while it’s not Chanukah related, I also got as a gift an advent calendar, so I’m looking forward to opening that every day this month and, soon, decorating my apartment.

Are you doing anything fun for the holidays?

I’ve been having website difficulties lately, so I haven’t had a chance to mention this here yet, but while I was at the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus last weekend, I had the opportunity to see The Way of the Wizard anthology, which has my story, “Card Sharp”, in it. It’s definitely a worthwhile anthology, with stories from writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Jeffrey Ford, George R. R. Martin, Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link and more. It’s still a pre-order on Amazon, but I expect it will be available there, and in stores, soon.

However, if you don’t want to wait, several of the stories are available online in their entirety, including my story. The site also has more information and interviews with some of the authors.

I also read Card Sharp at World Fantasy in my first ever solo reading and I think it went pretty well. I think the high point for me was someone who came to the reading, who I didn’t know, who told me at a party afterward how much he liked the story.

If you check it out, hope you do, too.