Paul’s latest Hellnotes editorial has been posted. You can find it right here:

Hellnotes Editorial

While you’re visiting over there, be sure to subscribe to the newsfeed, so you won’t miss any of the horror news, updates, reviews and other information being posted around the clock!

As we anticipate (finally) getting back on a regular schedule around here, Paul has unveiled a new project — a Web site that will focus on his independent projects and a variety of other topics, some of which may not quite fit under the umbrella here at olsonandsilva.com. Despite the occasional detour or outright divergence, that site should complement this one quite nicely as time goes by.

Now that the dust has begun to settle a bit, we probably owe you an explanation of what happened here.

Apparently, there was some sort of large-scale natural disaster that none of us heard about on CNN — a huge fire, a flood, an earthquake, at attack of locusts, frogs raining from the sky, or the arrival of pale horsemen on pale horses. Something like that must have happened, because the company that formerly hosted this site (as well as Hellnotes, Dave’s personal site and many other Web sites that he administers) simply vanished off the face of the earth a few weeks ago. This was a seemingly reputable firm that had never given us a moment’s trouble or cause for concern, so you see, it must have been something of strange and biblical proportions that caused them to disappear overnight, with no notice, no explanation, and no response to our queries.

At first, we didn’t think much of the “service outage.” About six weeks ago, the whole system had gone down for a couple of days, presumably for some technical problem or other. It seemed likely that the same thing was happening again, and we expected everything to be back to normal in a day or two. But then two days stretched to three, then to seven, then to ten, and with no response from the hosting company, it became clear that we’d have to make a move.

Which is precisely what we have done.

Set up with a new host, we then faced the daunting task of rebuilding the site. What should have been just a minor nuisance, a boring busywork sort of task, soon turned into a major headache, when it became clear that neither of us had a complete local backup of what was posted here before.

I know … I know. You can say it. You can call us every name in the book. It’s true. We were idiots. And we’ve learned our lessons, believe me. From this day hence, we will always — always — keep local copies of our Web sites. Did I say always? Because that’s exactly what I meant. Daily backups. Local copies. Always.

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending. I was eventually able to salvage all the old material in several different ways (one of them quite mysterious, even miraculous), which brings us to where we are today — in rebuilding mode.

As of now, just the biography and FAQ pages have been reposted, but as I said below, the rest will be gradually reappearing over the next week or so. That includes all of the exclusive material and all of the old posts. There’s a fair amount of formatting involved, so it’s relatively time-consuming, but when I start getting frustrated, I remind myself that the problems here are nothing like what Dave is facing at Hellnotes, where hundreds of posts need to be put back up. We’re all thinking of you, Dave, we really are. Now get back to work!

Anyway, that’s our story in a nutshell. There may be more to tell someday, including the fairly inexplicable way I was able to capture some of that old material. But for now, let me just say thanks for your patience and your support. It means a lot, and we appreciate it.

Yes, the site’s a little empty right now. Wait … did I say “a little empty?” It’s actually completely empty, as in desolate, barren, devoid of all life.

We’ve had a few technical problems, but they’re being ironed out even as I write this. Over the next week or two, you should start seeing all the old content reappear, including posts, links, exclusive material, etc.

As the title says, please stand by. All should be back to normal — or what passes for normal around these parts — soon.

Dave will be participating in an online chat tonight. The time is 7:00 pm Pacific time (8:00 MST, 9:00 Central, 10:00 EST) at The Lost and The Damned Message Board.  If you aren’t watching Monday Night Football and you have a few free minutes, stop by and visit.

Dave’s currently in the process of developing a short story course. Before he puts the finishing touches on it, he wants to make sure he hasn’t missed anything. You can give him a hand by answering a simple question: What single, most important element of writing a short story would you like to see in a short story course?

Got something in mind? Send it along to: David Silva

Oh, and for anyone who’s interested in being notified when the short story course becomes available, just drop him a note with your first name and your e-mail address. When the course is ready, he’ll send you an e-mail with all the details. Send to: Short Story Course

Thanks for your help!

With a twist that would have movie fans walking out of the theater in disbelief, Hellnotes has gone through a third metamorphosis and is now being delivered as free content through a new blog format.

Hellnotes, a weekly newsletter started by Paul F. Olson and David B. Silva in 1997, was taken over in 2002 by Judi Rohrig. The change came after Paul and Dave achieved combustion after five years of trying to maintain the weekly schedule while keeping the quality high. Judi stepped in, offering to take over the newsletter because she believed in its contribution to the horror genre and didn’t want to see it die. She carried Hellnotes from 2002 until now, doing an unbelievable job and winning a Bram Stoker award for her hard work. Now, Judi’s decided the weekly grind has overtaken other areas of her life and she’s handing the newsletter back to Dave.

What does this mean?

On the negative side, it means Hellnotes will no longer be delivered in either an e-mail format nor a hardcopy format. Readers will have to visit the Hellnotes website (Hellnotes) to find out what’s new in the horror genre. Or, far more practical, they can sign up for the free Hellnotes RSS Feed, which will deliver the latest information directly to their desktop or browser.

On the positive side, Hellnotes will be updated daily instead of weekly, and there is no longer a yearly subscription fee. It’s now available to everyone as a free service.

Stop by and see what you think: Hellnotes

Paul’s story, “Faith and Henry Gustafson” has been added to our Exclusive Material section.

This is not a formal announcement — more of an early warning, I guess.

Starting later this spring, perhaps around mid-May, I’m going to be distributing a previously-unpublished novel to members of our mailing list. The free e-serial will be sent out on a fairly regular schedule, probably a couple of times a week, to every subscriber. The novel is big and complex, so the journey promises to be a long and interesting one. At the same time, I’ll be using this space to blog a bit about the book and its creation, which I hope will add another level to the experience.

What can you do?

Well, for starters, keep watching this spot for the official announcement and updates.

Also, if you haven’t already signed up for our mailing list, why not do it right now? You’ll immediately get access to the “classic” stories Dave and I are giving away, get important news from time to time, and be assured of receiving every single installment of the novel.

Finally, if you know of anyone else who would be interested, send them a link and tell them to sign up, too. It’s always nice to have your friends along when embarking on a new adventure!

Since this is the genre Paul and I usually choose to work within, I thought you might be interested in the upcoming World Horror Convention. Here’s some recent news:

For the first time in its seventeen-year history, The World Horror Convention is being held outside the United States. With a theme exploring “The Diversity of Horror”, World Horror Convention 2007 will take place over March 29-April 1 at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre, located in the heart of Toronto, Canada.

Guests of Honour at World Horror Convention 2007 include British writer Michael Marshall Smith, the multiple award-winning author of such novels as Spares, Only Forward, One of Us, and the best-selling The Straw Men trilogy; Montreal-based author Nancy Kilpatrick, whose books include novels Near Death, Child of The Night, Jason X: Planet of The Beast and The Goth Bible: A Compedium For The Darkly Inclined; Chesley Award and World Fantasy Award-winning American illustrator John Picacio; British writer/editor/publisher Peter Crowther and Toronto editor and pulp magazine authority Don Hutchison.

Learn more about the World Horror Convention 2007 here: http://www.whc2007.org

Paul reads his short story “Down the Valley Wild.” Available now in MP3 format in our Exclusive Material section.

Enjoy!

I recently did something I’d never done before. I read an entire novel in e-book format. I know I’m late to the party. Way late. Welcome to the 1990s, and all of that. But quite honestly, despite thousands of attempts over the years, I’ve never developed the mental muscles needed to become a good “screen reader.” I’m one of those guys who has to print out everything I write before I can proofread and edit it. I download stories from the Web and immediately print them out, too. Sometimes, I even print long Web pages, so I can hold the information in my hot little hands. It’s not that I don’t try reading on screen. It’s just that I’m no good at it. No matter what I do, no matter how intently I focus, I tend to get restless and impatient after just a few minutes. I start to squirm. And pretty soon I’m scrolling faster and faster, skimming more than reading.

Then, about six weeks ago, I decided to buy a copy of Stephen King’s The Cell for my Palm. The book was already on its way from my preferred online retailer (I live in the wilderness, remember). I could have simply waited for it to arrive, but I wanted to get a head start. I figured I’d purchase the e-book, play around with it a bit, and read at least some of it before the hardcopy showed up in my mailbox.

As luck would have it, I picked the perfect time to do it. I had a lot of meetings that week and found myself spending way too much time just sitting around, waiting for board members to assemble, gavels to fall and proceedings to begin. In the past, I would have filled that time by staring aimlessly at the ceiling, chatting idly with other audience members or gazing with dismay at my growing to-do list. Suddenly I could pass the time a whole new way, by firing up the Palm and skipping right past the jam-packed date book, reading 20 or 30 pages of The Cell instead. I not only found it convenient, comfortable and useful, it was actually kind of fun, and much to my surprise, I finished the entire e-book two days before the novel turned up in the mail.

Will I do it again someday? Maybe. I don’t think I’ll ever get addicted to screen reading, and I certainly won’t opt for e-books over ink-and-paper or even audio, but I won’t automatically dismiss them, either.

So, go ahead. Tell me how out of date I am. Call me a Luddite. I can take it. But give me some credit for persistence, too, for trying again and again until I finally got it. And don’t be surprised if the next time you see me, I’m squinting at my Palm with a big grin on my face. Playing Tetris? Maybe … or maybe just catching up with the rest of the world at last.

If you haven’t read part one yet, scroll down. Then come back up here for the rest.

P.W. Sinclair’s Horrorstruck columns never drew many comments, but there were a few kind words here and there, which was nice. I had never expected those backpage essays to generate lots of attention. They were there to do a job, to be a little palate cleanser after a heavy meal, and at that I guess they mostly succeeded.

In the beginning, there were only three people who knew that I was P.W. I knew, of course. So did my wife. So did Dave Silva. But what happened as time went by? Did anyone else ever catch on? To the best of my knowledge, just one person – a good friend and Horrorstruck columnist (Hi, Shelia!) who revealed her suspicions in a brief note. “It’s funny how P.W. Sinclair sounds a lot like you do in your letters,” she wrote. And then the coup de grace: “I wonder what P.W. stands for? Pseudonymous Writer, perhaps?”

I was impressed with her deduction skills and her sense of humor. Maybe she should have been writing the magazine’s back page. I was also amused that she’d given me credit for being more clever than I was. I liked the idea of P.W. standing for “Pseudonymous Writer,” but hadn’t been sharp enough to think of it myself. For all I knew, the initials could have stood for Pendergast Wainwright or Psychological Warrior or Piggly Wiggly.

P.W. might have vanished along with Horrorstruck if I hadn’t made the unusual decision to use the penname on “Getting Back,” my contribution to the Post Mortem anthology that Dave and I were putting together. To this day, I can’t say with any real certainty why I did that. I was really proud of the story, and still am satisfied with it today, so it’s not as if I was trying to hide the authorship of a substandard work. Still, there was almost certainly a degree of hiding involved, since I was feeling a bit shy about putting my name on the cover of the book and on one of the longest stories inside. I also enjoyed the thought of people wondering who P.W. Sinclair was – the only writer in the anthology who didn’t come with any sort of “name” or reputation. And finally, there was some ego involved. At the time, my career was starting to take off, and I think I decided, way back in some dark recess of my mind, that it might be helpful some day to have a pseudonym ready to go, with an established name and a list of credits, all set to use when I had two stories appearing in the same issue of a magazine or four new books coming out in the same month. I was, in effect, trying to give P.W. a leg up in the business while preparing for my own eventual superstardom. I know. Go ahead. Laugh now. It’s all right.

As it turned out, the name P.W. Sinclair never appeared on another piece of writing. After Post Mortem came out, he simply disappeared from the radar screen, vanishing just as quickly as he’d been born on that day I needed a Horrorstruck column and couldn’t find anyone to write it.

If I had it to do over again, I’m sure I’d put my real name on “Getting Back.” If the story is ever republished somewhere, I will use my real name. In the meantime, subscribers to our mailing list will find both names on the tale. It seems only fitting. It seems fair. I’m happy to share credit with P.W. one last time, thanking him for the thankless services he provided me, and I hope you’ll think of him kindly as you read his words.

First things first. If you haven’t signed up for our mailing list and gotten your free copies of our Post Mortem stories, “Getting Back” and “Brothers,” why not do it right now? Go ahead … I’ll wait.

Okay, you’re back. All signed up for the list? Got the stories? Good.

The release of “Getting Back” to list members marks a first for me: the first time I’m officially revealing that I was P.W. Sinclair, under whose name that story appeared in Post Mortem. Now, I understand this isn’t exactly earthshaking news. It’s not as if there were hundreds of people, or even dozens, or (let’s be honest) even one, spending sleepless nights wondering about P.W. Sinclair’s true identity. But I still want to explain who P.W. was and how he came to be.

I invented P.W. many years ago, when I was publishing my magazine, Horrorstruck. He was born of necessity. From the very first days of the magazine, I had wanted to conclude each issue with a lighthearted backpage column – not humor, necessarily, but something a little lighter and fluffier for loyal readers who had just worked their way through 50 or 60 pages of horror analysis, news, critiques, and articles about the hardships of being a freelance writer. The problem was, I couldn’t find anyone willing to take on the task. I had plenty of people who wanted to write for me, but they all wanted to be Tom Monteleone, whose MAFIA columns were making waves and drawing lots of attention. I tried to explain. I said, “I already have a Tom Monteleone in the magazine, and as luck would have it, he’s not just a Tom Monteleone, he’s the Tom Monteleone. I don’t need another one.” To no avail. Everyone wanted to be the next disseminator of controversial opinions. Nobody wanted to write a few hundred words of goofiness to wrap up each issue of the magazine.

So I did it myself.

As for the decision to use a pseudonym … I honestly didn’t think about it very much. I just did it. Part of it, I suppose, was wanting to avoid yet another page of Paul F. Olson in a magazine that already had a lot of Paul F. Olson. Part of it may have been embarrassment or self-protection: wanting to hide behind another identity in case my attempts at humor fell flat, as they sometimes (often?) did.

I chose the name quickly and easily. In an early unpublished novel, written just after high school, I had a character named Louis St. Onge, a DJ who went by the radio name Pat Sinclair. I thought about that novel one day, and decided it would be fun to fall back on that particular character – an inside joke that was so far inside I was the only person in the world to know about it. For some reason, “Pat” seemed a little too definitive for Horrorstruck, so I added a bit of mystery by using initials instead, and P.W. Sinclair was born.

To be continued …

I had two items on the agenda today. The first was to tell you about a new anthology by Delirium Press called In Delirium. It was a clever idea … get together a group of writers that had been published by Delirium, have each of them contribute a short story, put all the stories together and offer the book to Delirium’s Shane Ryan Staley as a gift of appreciation from all the writers. I wish the idea had been mine, but it was the brainchild of Brian Keene, who also edited the anthology.

The story I submitted to Brian was called “Watershed.” It was a reprint from many years ago, but I thought it still held up well. And apparently it held up well enough to make it into the book.

So I was going to tell you how you could pick up a copy if you were interested. Unfortunately, when I went to Delirium’s website (http://www.deliriumbooks.com/) to check out the price, etc. I discovered that the book had sold out in pre-publication. Still, if you get a moment, you might want to pop in over there and check out some of their other titles. Shane tends to publish material that’s a little more gruesome than I generally write, but there’s a good selection to sift through if you enjoy the horror genre.

The second item I wanted to tell you about is called A Little White Book of Lies. It’s published by Borderlands Press, as part of their Little Book Series. The concept is simple … pick a color, create a theme around that color, then add in some stories that fit the theme. White lies quickly became my theme, since it runs through so many of my stories, and these are the stories that I selected to be reprinted: “Fade In/Fade Out,” “Brothers,” “The Hollow,” and “Where The Past Lay Buried.” Sandwiched in between these is a new short story, titled “Never Far From Mind,” which fits right into the theme since it’s all about lying and self-deception.

Now, let me be perfectly honest with you … I’m quite pleased with the theme and the collection of stories that were built around it. However, the Little Book Series is unique in that the books are quite literally little. They measure 4 3/4″ by 6 1/4″. Some readers may find this off-putting. Others may find it intriguing.

A Little White Book of Lies comes numbered and signed, and sells for $20.00. You can learn more by dropping by the Borderlands Press site here: http://www.borderlandspress.com/white.html