Rick

About

R. Michael Burns is an October child with a background in philosophy, theater and other occult arts, and holds two BAs from the University of Colorado. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group, and the Gainesville Fiction Writers. His fiction has appeared in various venues including Dreams of Decadence, City Slab, Dark Regions, Andromeda Spaceways, Dark Recesses, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Arkham Tales, and Shroud, as well as in such anthologies as Bell, Book & Beyond, Cthulhu Express, Extremes 5, Bound for Evil, Horror Library III, and Made You Flinch. His article "Creative Writing 301" was picked in a Predators and Editors poll as the second-best non-fiction article of 2006. His first novel, Windwalkers, was published in fall of 2012 by Evil Jester Press. A Colorado native, he lived for the better part of five years in Japan, where he taught English to Japanese students from 1 to 70. He currently resides in the deep dark swamps of Florida, with his feline familiar, Lilith. More of his work, both fiction and non, can be found at http://www.coloradospringsfictionwritersgroup.org/members/r-michael-burns/index.php

Articles by Rick

Mischief Managed!

Friday, July 29th, 2022

Had an absolutely wonderful time at the recent Christmas in July book sale sponsored by Author! Author! For me, there were two big highlights: getting a long-overdue to sign side-by-side with my dear friend — an amazing horror writer — Morgen Leigh. That, and being told by a very charming and enthusiastic young woman that […]

Now Available!

Tuesday, July 19th, 2022

Mr. Menace — Audio Book Narrated by Christopher Harbour

The Windwalkers Return!

Wednesday, July 7th, 2021

After several years of being out of print, my first novel Windwalkers is now back in print, available from Amazon.com in both Kindle and paperback formats!

Free Holiday Fiction — “It’s the Most Wonderful Time…”

Thursday, December 24th, 2020

Once upon a time, it was tradition to tell ghost stories around Christmas. This is the origin of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and the reason for the line “There’ll be scary ghost stories” in the song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” What follows is my first effort at telling a Christmas ghost […]

Publications in 2020!

Thursday, November 26th, 2020

As well as my new supernatural crime novel MR MENACE, I have some short stories coming out (or already out) this year: “At the Cat Parade” in Books of Horror Community Anthology #2 — Two young American tourists find themselves caught up in an ancient and terrifying festival in an out-of-the-way English town. “Cravings” in […]

MR. MENACE is here!

Saturday, October 17th, 2020

When a mysterious woman saunters into his office and begs him to help her find a missing person — herself — detective Frank Orpheus is intrigued on more than just a professional level.  The perplexing puzzle of his client’s lost memory is the most interesting case he’s gotten in years . . . and the […]

MR. MENACE now available for pre-order!

Sunday, October 4th, 2020

My new novel MR. MENACE, a classic film noir tale with a mythic twist, is now available for pre-order from WordFire Press!

My forthcoming novel MR. MENACE featured in WordStar Press’s new Chills & Wonder story bundle!

Thursday, July 30th, 2020

THE CHILLS & WONDER BUNDLE The Chills & Wonder Bundle – Curated by Kevin J. Anderson We live in creepy times. It’s summer, when we sit around the campfire and tell fun and chilling tales. Better yet, sit back with your e-reader and enjoy these thirteen books in the “Chills and Wonder” StoryBundle curated by […]

New Publications Available!

Sunday, December 8th, 2019

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly’s latest Best of anthology (volume 3) is now available!  Included is my short story “Shadows and Foxfire”, the fourth of the tales of the samurai Hokage.  I won’t lie — it’s my favorite of those stories. HFQ’s other anthologies have been excellent, and I expect this one will be as well.  I am especially […]

Already Available — The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Volume I!

Friday, August 11th, 2017

Of all the anthologies in which my work has appeared, this one is truly among the best.  Not a single weak entry among them — not even my own. My contribution is the first tale of samurai Hokage, “Shadows from Firelight.”  I am very pleased that the editors of HFQ selected my tale of medieval […]

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