J.W. Schnarr

Proof copies of A Quiet Place showed up today, and I’m more than thrilled with how they turned out. I ordered five, and will have some very sharp-eyed people go through it for me one last time before we are ready to go live.

As you can see from the interior photo, each story comes accompanied by an illustration.

These are art pieces I built myself using AI software – a strange and amazing process. I’m in no way any kind of visual artist, but it has been amazing getting to know this new technology better and being able to explore this kind of art.

The cover and interior work was all done by the outstanding Alberta writer, artist, and graphic designer E.M. McCallum. She does really great work!

I’m still shooting for a mid-October release date, so keep an eye out here and on my FB and Twitter pages for more news.

I’ll also be highlighting more of the art in A Quiet Place as we move along, so watch out for that as well!

The awesome folks over at Dark Peninsula Press have officially announced the Table of Contents for their new anthology, Negative Space 2: A Return to Survival Horror.

I’m super thrilled to included among the many fine writers who will make up this collection.

My story, “The Places Where Sunflowers Grow”, is a about a girl who is obsessed with painting her mother’s favourite flowers – sunflowers. But the world of an artist can be dark, and this one is made darker still by the worldwide appearance of billions of otherworldly monstrosities that flit through the night thirsting for blood…

I’m really excited about this book, as some of you know I have a real soft spot for the end of the world.

Here is the full ToC:
“Dominion from the Deep” by Benjamin DeHaan
“The Place Where Sunflowers Grow” by JW Schnarr
“The Bird is the Werd” by Xariffa Suarez
“Meat” by Kristin Kirby
“Eight Glasses” by Scott McCloskey
“Your Memories of Mine” by Brad Kelechava
“Derelictus” by Stephen Kozeniewski
“Sap” by SR Miller
“Brown Bear, Brown Bear” by Scotty Milder
“Adrift” by Ashley Lezak
“Badlands” by Richard Beauchamp
“Portrait of Dad With Cuts and Holes” by Rosemary Thorne
“The Night Before Midnight, off Arkansas River Trail” by Eric J. Guignard
“Monastery Blood Moon” by MJ Mars

You can read the full news release here.

And here is a little piece of art to give you an idea of what’s in store when you dig into “Sunflowers”…

It’s been nearly a decade since “A Quiet Place,” J.W. Schnarr’s second short story collection, was first published by 5 Rivers Publishing. But a new illustrated version is scheduled for release late in 2022!

The book will feature a new cover and complete interior redesign by Alberta author and book designer/cover artist E.M. MacCallum, and each story will feature a full-colour piece of A.I. generated art. A Quiet Place will self-published in e-book, paperback, and hardcover formats.

From the original text:

J.W. Schnarr’s second collection of short horror stories marks a distinct development in his very aggressive style, yet demonstrates a growing subtlety into the psychological over the physical. We journey with him through the hazardous discovery of adolescent female sexuality, the imperatives of affordable labour, watch myth become reality, environments launching attacks, and the dark landscapes of minds battered into breaking. Eleven short stories that will leave you anything but comfortable…

A Quiet Place is the first of a number of re-releases planned by J.W. Schnarr over the next year, and readers can expect a brand new novel out in 2023!

Looks like things are moving along with a new anthology I’ll be part of, and that’s great news!

A few days ago, Dark Peninsula Press (@darkpenpress) announced via Twitter that they have signed on the last few authors for their anthology, NEGATIVE SPACE 2: A RETURN TO SURVIVAL HORROR.

My story, “Sunflowers”, will be among them. I’m very much looking forward to seeing this book in print!

Sunflowers is a story about a painter who spends the final days of the world doing what she knows best, cloistered away with her parents on the family farm. But there are no safe places when the world ends,

And the sound of sunflowers shushing the wind isn’t loud enough to drown out the dread beating of wings that fill the sky after sunset…

For more information on this project, please visit Dark Peninsula Press.

Check out the cover here!