MY FIRST EVER BOOK DUMP: ARVADA CO 1992

Too bad you can't read it, but my name in bold print was WANYE ALLEN SALLEE. We went ahead and put in a hyphen for WAN-YE. This was The Little Bookshop of Horrors, run by Doug and Tomi Lewis. Arvada is a suburb of Denver.

Articles in LOCUS by the late Ed Bryant.FOR YOU, THE LIVING (Roadkill Press) came out at the same time.

THE BEST OF THE SCREAM FACTORY

I was lucky enough to have a story in the issue of THE SCREAM FACTORY that was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. My story was called "The Zombie Who Walked Down Division Street" and is set in the universe of my novella FOR YOU, THE LIVING. Harry Fassl (HEF), dead a decade now, did the beautiful artwork.

ED BRYANT, ONE OF MY BEST PROMOTERS, RIP 1946-2017

 Ed passed away in his sleep a few nights ago, in Denver, after suffering from Type 1 Diabetes for most of his adult life. I first met Ed in 1989, and there's a photo of him on a panel. We were in Seattle at the World Fantasy Convention. The bottom photo is of Ed and George R. R. Martin last October.

Ed was, like me, a short story writer. He had another thirteen years on me, plus he wrote science-fiction, and the late 70s markets for sci-fi were very good. He started up a writers group that grew so much that when I read at The Little Bookshop of Horrors In Arvada back in 1992, there were so many writers in the crowd that I felt as if I was at a convention. My novel, The Holy Terror, had just come out, but I was there to promote my novella For You, The Living. It was published by Roadkill Press, the back cover had an image of Ed himself being the roadkill, tire tracks over his torso.

I loved him for being who he was. He wrote columns for LOCUS, a science-fiction magazine, and would go out of his way to mention my books or chapbooks, including Pain Grin and True Tales of The Scarlet Sponge. One of the wonderful things about my life as a writer is that I've been able to meet so many wonderful writers and artists along the way. I'll catch up with you soon, Ed.

THE BEST BOOK SIGNED TO ME AND THE BEST COVER BLURB by JAY BONANSINGA

Jay Bonansinga and I have been friends for twenty years, going back to his first novel, THE BLACK MARIAH. He is currently writing the THE WALKING DEAD novels (co-written by Robert Kirkman) and is knocking it out of the park, as they say. Before I show you the photo of the book Jay signed, let me put up the quote, which pertains to my novella FOR YOU, THE LIVING.

“Chicago has its share of treasures – deep dish, the Bean, Kingston’s blues, and Wayne Allen Sallee.  Toiling in the stubborn vineyard of short fiction for most of his career, Sallee reaches a sort of a literary apogee with his brilliant and brutal horror novella “For You, The Living.”  Ostensibly a plague tale, told in classic Lovecraftian diary form, Sallee’s yarn manages to deftly mingle the deeply personal with the gruesomely Grand Guignol.  Riveting, ghastly, hilarious, creepy, and unforgettably Wayne-like, “For You, the Living” is at once a wholly original take on the zombie apocalypse genre while at the same time a heart-wrenching love story.  This one will haunt you forever, folks.  Highest recommendation!”
- Jay Bonansinga, national bestselling author of THE WALKING DEAD: RISE OF THE GOVERNOR and THE WALKING DEAD: THE ROAD TO WOODBURY

 How can you not beat that? Maybe with the book and the signature, ha ha.