Halloween Hearts is an anthology of true love & spooky romance; twelve tales of cursed love, monstrous meet-cutes, dark and stormy witchcraft, and happily ever hauntings. You can get your copy just in time for Halloween (and get your name included as a supporter) by backing the project on Kickstarter.
I knew D. B. Olmsted could write a long time ago. Together, we are members of a nerdy online baseball community, and I had read an awful lot of his fanciful musings. He was always fun to read. The question, however, was whether he understood how to finish a story.
So, when he submitted “Dawn at Chapel Bluff” to our call for Halloween Hearts, I approached his manuscript with some trepidation. Please let this be good, I said to myself. It’s no fun whatsoever to reject any story, better yet a story from someone you know and who is just starting his career.
I shouldn’t have worried.
Or, better said, D. B. Olmsted knows exactly what he’s doing, thank you very much. This may be his debut story, but he writes like he’s been making art for a very long time. Brigid agreed. We both knew we had our lead story.
Don’t believe us? Here’s an offhand comment from Kelly Washington, who we had asked to blurb the anthology. “A real stand out for me was ‘Dawn at Chapel Bluff,’ she wrote to me. “If this is the author’s first professional short story sale, it’s a killer good story! I loved it. It kicks off your volume with the perfect tone!”
I couldn’t have said it better.
D.B. Olmsted talks about Halloween, himself, and “Dawn at Chapel Bluff”