I met Lynne Hansen at one of the World Horror Conventions so long ago now that I can’t tell you which one.  I got to know her at the World Horror in Atlanta, when we spent one evening talking about being women in the horror field, our hopes and dreams and future projects. It was one of the most inspiring conversations of my life.

Somewhere along the way, Lynne started to design book covers. Last year, when I decided to put together a short story collection, I paged through Lynne’s available covers. There were some things I really loved, but noting was quite right. For the first time in my life, I commissioned a book cover — and I was thrilled by what she designed for me.

In addition to all her commissioned covers, Lynne also designs a monthly calendar which she gives away to her newsletter subscribers. Those images are available to be turned into book covers. You can subscribe to her newsletter here and check them out for yourself:  https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5efe1de66d32be002643c1b5

Last October, Lynne also (because clearly this woman needs to keep busy!) challenged herself to make a book cover a day. All of them were for sale at a discount off her regular rates, first come, first serve.

One day, she put up a mock cover that I just had to have.  My hands were shaking as I sent her an email, hoping no one else had beaten me to it. I’ve never sent a payment so quickly in my life.

Then I had to come up with a book worthy of the book cover. I’ve been working on it all year. It’s a collection of confessional essays I’ve written for zines, including Morbid Curiosity magazine, online magazines from Gothic.Net to Scoutie Girl, print magazines like Unzipped, and the Sex Toy Tales book.

The 45 essays range from taking prom pictures in a cemetery to spending a couple of days in a cadaver lab, from nursing a friend who was dying of AIDS to raising a kid who isn’t afraid of anything. I am so excited to unleash this book on the world — and I am so grateful to Lynne for inspiring me to pull the book together.

This Morbid Life comes out August 22. It will be available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, Bookstore.org, and Smashwords. You’ll be able to get it in paperback and the ebook format of your choice. I’ll post the links as soon as I have them.

“Witty, touching, beautifully written, and haunting — in every sense of the word — This Morbid Life is an absolute must-read for anyone looking for an unusually bright and revealing journey into the darkest of corners.  Highly recommended!” — M.Christian, author of Welcome To Weirdsville