Category Archives: Upcoming Projects

Blog, Conventions, Events, Upcoming Projects, Updates

Back from Hiatus In Time for Spooky Season

September 9, 2025 philgiunta@ptd.net

For me, the end of summer is typically accompanied by trepidation. As much as I love autumn for its gorgeous foliage, cooler weather, and of course, Hallowe’en, I dread the imminent approach of winter. Once the holidays are over, I have no use for the cold, dark months that exacerbate my battles with depression and anxiety. January and February are like the Monday of the year. Bleah.

However, we’re not there yet and I’m enjoying a spate of sunny September days with mild temperatures. I’m also looking ahead to several wonderful book events in the coming months, which will be listed at the end of this post. You can also find them on my Upcoming Events page.

As I write this, I’m awaiting the results of two writing contests that I entered in the first quarter of this year and I hope to hear back soon from a popular magazine about a short story I submitted over the summer. Should I have any good news to share about these, I’ll post it here and chat about it on my YouTube channel.

Speaking of summer, I took a hiatus from writing new material to compile a collection of most (but not all) of my published short stories from the past fifteen years. I reviewed each one and made a few light edits. Revisiting these characters and their adventures was a fun trip down memory lane.

Dreams from the Edge of Reality will offer 27 stories of fantasy, paranormal, detective, and even a few inspirational. Advance review copies have been sent to a handful of writers for their opinions and I hope to release the book by summer 2026.

I held back all of my science fiction stories as they take place in the same region of our galaxy and will be gathered into a collection of their own to be published in 2027. More on that later.

There were also a few personal reasons for taking a break from writing, which included a series of minor home repairs and renovations, ongoing business regarding my late mother’s estate, litigation over a matter I cannot reveal at this time, a few health issues, travel, and the need for self-care while juggling all of the above.

Despite the obstacles, I managed to record new videos for my YouTube channel, Got a Story for Ya, in which I read story excerpts and offered updates on upcoming events, writing awards, and book releases. A new episode should go live in late September.

Near the end of August, I got my writer’s legs under me again and started working on a short ghost story that is partially derived from a novella-in-progress that I placed on hold in 2024. I should finish the ghost story in the next week or two and if accepted by the publisher, it will be included in a Halloween anthology in 2026.

In October, I plan to resurrect the aforementioned novella and focus on that to its long overdue completion. With any luck, that will be published next year.

As promised, here are a few upcoming events where you can find me this autumn. Hope to see you at one or more of these if you’re in the area. In the meantime, enjoy these final weeks of summer and stay safe out there.

CREATURES, CRIMES, & CREATIVITY – Doubletree Hilton, Columbia, MD. September 19-21, 2025. Keynotes: Tom Straw and Jody Lynn Nye. Additional author guests include Ellen Crosby, L. Marie Wood, Joe Brosnan, Mark Bergin, Sharon Buchbinder, Weldon Burge, Austin Camacho (con organizer), Ef Deal, Bill Fawcett, Phil Giunta, Dana King, Serge Koren, Joanne McLaughlin, Roberta Rogow, Ilene Schneider, Ann Stolinsky, Lane Stone, and more!

WITCHES DAY OUT – Tri-Boro Sportsmen Club, Northampton, PA. Sunday, October 12, 2025. Halloween craft fair with live DJ, tricky tray, costume contest, kids activities, and more! I will have a table at this show.

EASTON BOOK FESTIVAL – Downtown Easton, PA. October 13-19, 2025. The seventh annual Easton Book Festival presents literary programs for adults, teens, and children, including readings, seminars, open mic performances, story-times, panel discussions, a Small Press Expo and a Young Adult Fest. I will participate in a number of literary events and discussion panels on Sunday, October 19 in the Sigal Museum Gallery.

BROWSEABOUT BOOKS – Rehoboth Beach, DE. Saturday, November 8, 2025 from 11AM – 1PM. Excited to join several fellow authors at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to sign copies of our latest Mindful Writers anthology, Retreat, along with previous titles such as Shell House, Into the Woods, Love on the Edge, and more.

Blog, New Releases, Upcoming Projects

All the Irons in the Fire

May 6, 2025 philgiunta@ptd.net

We’re five months into the year and for me, 2025 is delivering a heaping tablespoon of stress and turbulence on a personal level but on the writing front, the outlook continues to be bright.

To recap, my SF adventure tale “In the Span of a Heartbeat” was published in January in Black Cat Weekly online magazine issue #176. This was my first time submitting and publishing with them. I’m pleased to report that at the end of April, Black Cat Weekly accepted a supernatural story from me called “Where Halloween Never Ends.” It will be published in one of their October 2025 issues. Stay tuned for more info. It’s an honor to work with editor and longtime genre writer John Betancourt.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, of which I’m a member, publishes a themed anthology every odd year. For 2025, the theme and title are Writing a Wrong and I’m pleased to have my ghost story “Give Them Peace” included. It’s the first short story featuring Miranda Lorensen, my psychic-medium protagonist from my novels Testing the Prisoner, By Your Side, and Like Mother, Like Daughters.

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In early April, I learned that I’d won two first place awards from the Pennsylvania Press Club—one for my novel, By Your Side, and one for a time travel story I wrote last year called “A Thorne in Time” about a scientist and detective who travel back twenty years to stop a serial killer. That story was published in Ruth and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel (Celestial Echo Press, August 2024). All first place winners in every category are forwarded to the National Federation of Press Women communications contest to compete against other state affiliates. Results will be announced in June.

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My next science fiction story comes out on May 20th. It’s called “Isaac Geary’s Instant Utopia” and will be published in a utopian science fiction anthology called Bright Mirror.

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So much of our science fiction is rooted in cynicism about what’s next, but Bright Mirror will delivery stories of discovery and promise.

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Retreat Anthology Cover showing an open gate in the middle of a forest with golden light shining down from above

Finally, I have a supernatural tale called “A Certain Magic” that will be included in a charity anthology later this year from Year of the Book Press in partnership with the Mindful Writers Retreat. The retreat takes place every February and October in Ligonier, PA nestled in the Laurel Highlands region of the Allegheny Mountains. I attend the five-day October retreat almost every year as the area is gorgeous in autumn.

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As a group, attendees of the retreat produce an annual themed anthology of stories and all proceeds are donated to charity. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Mindful Writers Retreat, the editors decided that the theme should be “Retreat” (any kind, not just writing) and this year’s charity of choice is House of Ruth Maryland. The release date of the book is TBA, so stay tuned!

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What’s next? Well, all new writing projects are on hold until I finish a series of home improvements through spring and summer. However, I’m compiling the first of a two-volume collection of my short stories that have been published over the past decade. I hope to have it out by the end of the year with volume two slated for 2026… if all goes well.

Once the renovations are over, I hope to resurrect a project I started two years ago—a sequel to Like Mother, Like Daughters. The first draft was nearly finished before I put the project aside to work on a spate of short stories for various publishers and deal with a series of personal and family matters. At least I’ll return to the project with fresh eyes, which can’t hurt.

I’ll be back with updates about Bright Mirror and Retreat in the coming weeks. I’ll probably post them to the “What’s New?” section on the front page of this site. Until then, be safe, be healthy, and enjoy a good book!

Blog, Book Reviews, Events, New Releases, Upcoming Projects, Writing and Publishing

New Video Newsletter on YouTube!

April 7, 2025 philgiunta@ptd.net

My YouTube channel was experiencing abandonment issues given that my last video newsletter was over three months ago. YIKES! Since I had the day off, I recorded a brief update show today in which I prattle for 20 minutes about recent publications and awards, review a book about Harlan Ellison and a book by Harlan Ellison, and plug two upcoming events in my neck of the woods.

Click the image below to watch the video and thank you for supporting independent authors!

Blog, Opinion, Upcoming Projects

Ain’t Got No Razzle-Dazzle

April 21, 2023 philgiunta@ptd.net

Sun-Maid Raisins prints nuggets of advice or motivation on their box tops. It’s typically a random mix. However, every message this week has been the same.

I sure as hell don’t feel that I have much razzle-dazzle, but I’m flattered that someone thinks so and reminds me on a daily basis.

The past seven months have delivered a steady supply of crises and complications in my professional and personal lives, all of which have affected my health.

In late September 2022, a colleague at my day job died suddenly at the age of 42. The ripples of that loss have not yet abated. We’re still feeling it and stress levels have been high, but we’ve brought in help and made enormous strides. That’s all I can say about that.

Unfortunately, a few weeks before he died, I began experiencing a few health issues, which have since been exacerbated by extreme stress. I’m managing it with help, but I’ve been in a dark place for seven months and counting. Anxiety and depression have been frequent companions for most of my life, but this is worst they’ve ever been. Every day I hold onto hope that it will get better with time, patience, and taking the proper actions toward recovery.

Of course, recovery would me much easier were it not for for a recent family complication that has landed on my shoulders. Again, I can’t say much about it, but this could evolve into a critical situation in the near future and erode even more of my writing time.

Another complication that presented itself even before all of the above was the 2021 announcement from the small press that published my paranormal mystery novels (Testing the Prisoner, By Your Side, Like Mother, Like Daughters) that they closed shop and are no longer accepting submissions. Although they’re leaving all current titles on the market for the time being, they are no longer working with the writers to promote, run sales, or otherwise keep the books viable.

In light of this, I’m preparing to publish second editions of Testing the Prisoner (2009) and By Your Side (2012) over the next year. I’m taking the opportunity to re-edit both books, tweaking them just enough to strike a balance between my writing style of the time and my writing style today. Both will undergo a facelift with brand new covers by a local comic book artist. As for Like Mother, Like Daughters (2018), I’ll tackle that once the first two are finished. Stay tuned for more info.

I am pleased to report that my detective story, “Pearl of Great Price,” will be included in the crime noir anthology, Hard-Boiled and Loaded with Sin by Hawkshaw Press (an imprint of Devil’s Party Press). The book is slated for release on June 26, 2023.

Also, my science fiction comedy tale, “See You Around the Cosmos, Sweet Cheeks!” took Honorable Mention in the 2023 NFPW Communications Contest. Click here for more information about the National Federation of Press Women.

I was disappointed to learn that Delaware publisher Cat & Mouse Press retired their annual Rehoboth Beach Reads short story contest after ten years. The contest had a fantastic run and I was honored to have two stories published in the contest anthologies Beach Nights (2016) and Beach Secrets (2021). I also had two stories included in Beach Pulp (2019), an open call anthology that pays homage to the detective and SF pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.

Finally, my YouTube channel has not been updated with new content in nearly a year and is suffering from abandonment issues—again. I recorded a reading of “Pearl of Great Price,” which will posted to my channel when the book goes live in June or thereabouts. I plan to record other stories and updates that will go live soon as well.

That’s where I’ve been for the past several months. Peace of mind has been at an all time low, but as always, I press forward.

I hope all is well with you and yours and that you remain safe and healthy while navigating these bizarre and dangerous times. Don’t lose your razzle-dazzle!

Blog, New Releases, Upcoming Projects, Works in Progress

What I’ve Done and What’s in the Works…

July 17, 2021 philgiunta@ptd.net

It’s been too long since I wrote a blog post that wasn’t merely a catalog of interesting articles about writing and publishing.

We’re over the midway point of 2021 and while this year has been nowhere near as miserable as its predecessor, the past six and a half months have served up generous portions of stress and change. I lost two dear friends, turned 50, started a new full-time job, and finished a few home renovations and landscaping projects.

Just to recap events on the writing front, the first quarter was marvelous. In January, my story, “Where It’s Needed Most,” was published in the Mindful Writers anthology, Love on the Edge, by Year of the Book Press. For some unexplained reason, the anthology briefly went missing from Amazon in June but was quickly re-released using Ingram Spark. Proceeds from the anthology benefit Allegheny Children’s Initiative-Partners For Quality, Inc. As a sample, you can read my story for free on Wattpad.

In that same month, my South Korean ghost story, “Before She’s Gone Forever,” was accepted by Gravelight Press for the next volume of their Halloween Party anthology series to be published in September. More details on that soon.

Another of my ghost stories, “Bottom of the Hour,” reached the quaterfinals in the Screencraft Cinematic Short Story Competition and to this day remains in the top 35% of discoverable works on Coverfly. “Bottom of the Hour” was originally published in A Plague of Shadows (Smart Rhino Publications, October 2018).

March saw the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity, the final book in the Middle of Eternity anthology series that I created and edited for Firebringer Press. It’s available in all formats except for Kindle, which has been delayed but should be out eventually. In keeping with tradition, three of my stories were included. You can read two of them for free here on my website: “Take a Cue from the Canine” and “So Hungry…” The third is a Finnish fantasy tale called “The Forest for the Trees.”

Also in March, the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group released their latest biennial anthology, Writes of Passage. First in that book is “Help Me Rise,” my tale of a female rock star and recovering alcoholic who struggles to resurrect her career following the death of her husband. It’s the first of two general, or “mainstream,” fiction stories I wrote this year.

The second was “Where Do I Begin?” in which a middle-aged man moves to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to start a new life only to be tormented by voices from his past. This story was submitted to the annual Rehoboth Beach Reads short story contest, sponsored by Cat & Mouse Press and Browseabout Books. The theme this year is Beach Secrets and the winners will be revealed during the first week of August. Stay tuned!

Speaking of (writing of?) Rehoboth Beach, on July 1, I submitted a detective story, set in that town, to Hawkshaw Press for their 2022 anthology, Hardboiled and Loaded with Sin. They accepted the story within two days! If you’re a writer of detective noir tales and 40 years of age or older, check them out. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2021.

Of course, no writer’s life would be complete without rejections and I received about a half dozen of them this year. There’s an old adage in this business—if you’re not getting rejections, you’re not submitting enough. I’m shopping around two SF adventure stories and a dark horror tale while working on draft three of a science fiction novel.

That about sums it up for the first half of 2021. I’m immensely grateful for the successes and hopeful about the future. Later this year, I plan to submit several short stories, and one of my novels, to various contests. I’ll post details in the months to come.

Enjoy the rest of summer and stay safe.

Blog, Gratitude, Upcoming Projects, Writing and Publishing

Before She’s Gone Forever

January 17, 2021 philgiunta@ptd.net

I’m thrilled to announce that my South Korean ghost story, “Before She’s Gone Forever,” has been accepted by Gravelight Press for their Halloween Party 2021 anthology. Click here for more information about Gravelight Press.

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Comments from Managing Editor, David Yurkovich: “I’m delighted to report that “Before She’s Gone Forever” received very big thumbs ups. I would be thrilled to include it in the HP 21 collection. IMHO it’s one of the most original innovations in the art of horror writing. If you are okay with this, Dianne will send out a standard publishing contract. I’ll also send you an edited version of the work (probably in February) with changes tracked, but you shouldn’t expect to see much because the writing is very tight. It’s pretty clear that you spent a lot of time crafting this tale.”

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Stay tuned for more information!