Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Borderlands 6




This non-themed anthology of horror features never-before-published works by: M. Louis Dixon, John McIlveen, Jack Ketchum, Rebecca J. Allred, Dan Waters, Michael Bailey, John Boden, Trent Zelazny & Brian Knight, Bob Pastorella, Peter Salomon, Carol Pierson Holding, Steve Rasnic Tem, Darren O. Godfrey, David Annandale, Anya Martin, G. Daniel Gunn & Paul Tremblay, Gordon White, Sean M. Davis, Tim Waggoner, Bradley Michael Zerbe, and Gary A. Braunbeck. Also included, one amazing previously published novelette by David Morrell.

I've a story in the newly released Borderlands 6 anthology alongside the work of some of the heroes & legends of modern horror fiction. Is it a Generation Dead story? Well, there are dead people. And most of the action takes place in the mysterious depths of  Oxoboxo Lake (yes, in the Oxoboxo!). And although I don't mention him in the story at all, Takayuki is watching George gnaw on a deceased opossum just off-camera on page two .Note: this last "fact" is fiction, and as anyone knows a fiction told about fiction de facto becomes fact.

You may have a difficult time finding my story because it is very short and because I used my super secret, non-YA, adult pseudonym: Dan Waters.  Shhh! Don't tell anyone!

Some other clues to help you locate the story: it is called "Sinkers", and it begins on page 41. You won't be able to locate "Sinkers" in Generation Dead Book 4: My Best Friends Are Dead, out from OMZ Press later this summer.

The roster of authors is stellar, as are the stories they've created.  I'm thrilled to be in such company.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can I ask when you received your acceptance letter? I'm a no-name writer who submitted to this anthology back in 2004, got a note that I was on the short list for acceptance, and then lived through twelve years of life without any other contact from this anthology. Until now, I guess, when I just learned it's actually coming out. Don't get me wrong. I never actually expected to be accepted, but I still feel kind of weird reading about its existence now, in a time-warpy sort of way. Thanks.

Daniel Waters said...

A few years ago, I think. I know that at one point the editor experienced a traumatic computer crash and so you may have been a victim of that. All manner of setbacks happen in publishing; try not to take things personally if you can. The competition for space in anthologies like Borderlands is fierce, so you should feel proud at the short-list acceptance even if things didn't pan out.

Checking in on a short story acceptance with an occassional email is appropriate.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for responding, and congratulations on on your own writing. Honestly, I wouldn't even want to look at the story I submitted to them. It was written back in what now seems like the early days of the Internet, about a character using his new-fangled computer, and would probably be terribly dated by now. And like I said, there were zero expectations, just a vague possibility way way in the background, but in a strange way it feels like an old chapter of my life is now over. Thanks again.