Richard Thomas (author)

Richard Thomas
Occupation	Novelist, short story writer, art director
Education	Bradley University (BS); Murray State University (MFA)
Genres	Neo-noir, horror, transgressive, speculative, magical realism
Influences Stephen King, Will Christopher Baer, Stephen Graham Jones, Craig Clevenger, Philip K. Dick, Chuck Palahniuk
www.wwhatdoesnotkillme.com

Richard Thomas (born November 21, 1967) in an American author. His focus is on neo-noir fiction, typically touching on the darker aspects of life, including elements of violence, mental instability, breaks in reality, and tragedies. His work is rich in setting and sensory details, and often has a sexual element to it.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Influences 3 Published Novels and Short Story Collections 4 Published Short Stories 5 Editing 6 Awards and Contests 7 Interviews 8 References 9 External links

Biography

Richard was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in Webster Groves, and went to Webster Groves High School. He pursued his undergraduate studies, and obtained a Bachelor of Science at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois. He is completing his MFA at Murray State University, where he is studying under Pulitzer nominated professor, Dale Ray Phillips. He currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Influences

Growing up he was heavily influenced by Stephen King. He also read work by Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Peter Straub and Dean Koontz. Later in life, around the time that Fight Club the movie came out, he discovered Chuck Palahniuk, which led him to the Velvet trio of Will Christopher Baer, Craig Clevenger and Stephen Graham Jones, all authors that deal with the transgressive, and many of whom have called their work "neo-noir". Other influences include Philip K. Dick, China Miéville and Clive Barker as well as literary authors like Mary Gaitskill, Denis Johnson, Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor.

Published Novels and Short Story Collections

• Staring Into the Abyss: Stories (late 2012-TBA)
• Herniated Roots: Stories (Snubnose Press) 2012
• Disintegration (WIP)
• Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications, 2010) [4]

Published Short Stories

2012

• "Rudy Jenkins Buries His Fears" in the Slices of Flesh anthology, from Dark Moon Books [5] March 2012
• "Tinkering With the Moon" in Gargoyle [6] DATE AND ISSUE TBD

2011

• "Farmland" in Stories From a Holiday Heart (DWB Publishing) [7]
• "Transmogrify" in Dark Moon Presents: Vampires (Dark Moon Books) [8]
• "The Jenny Store" in In Search Of a City: Los Angeles in 1,000 Words (Thunderdome Press) [9]
• "Kiss Off" in Emprise Review #21 ^[1]
• "Buried" at Rotten Leaves^[2]
• "Death Knell" at Thunderdome^[3]
• "Twenty Reasons to Stay and One to Leave" at Metazen^[4]
• "Love Letters" at Cannoli Pie^[5]
• "Underground Wonder Bound" reprinted in the Noir at the Bar anthology, to benefit Subterranean Books ^[6]
• "Seeing Red" in Crime Factory #7^[7]
• "Say Yes to Pleasure" in the Warmed and Bound anthology^[8]
• "Descent" at We Are Vespertine^[9]
• "Herniated Roots" in the eBook Speedloader, from Snubnose Press, an imprint of Spinetingler Magazine.^[10]
• "Daybreak" at Stepaway Magazine^[11]
• "After She Has Gone" at Shotgun Honey^[12]
• "Gateway" at Dirty Noir^[13]
• "Ten Steps" at ChiZine (The Chiaroscuro)^[14]
• "Splintered" at PANK^[15]
• "Stillness" in Shivers VI (Cemetery Dance)^[16]
• "Victimized" in Murky Depths #15 ^[17]
• "Victimized" (extended version) as an esingle at Amazon (self-published)^[18]
• "Terrapin Station" in Pear Noir #5^[19]

2010

• "Released" at Outsider Writers Collective^[20]
• "Transmogrify" in Eternal Night: A Vampire Anthology (Living Dead Press)^[21]
• "Condemned" at Cherry Bleeds^[22]

2009

• "Honor" in Colored Chalk #10^[23]
• "Interview" at Troubadour 21^[24]
• "Your Enemies Will Devour You" in The Oddville Press Volume 1, Issue 4^[25]
• "Paying Up" in Colored Chalk #8^[26]
• "A Bird in the Hand" at 3:AM Magazine^[27]
• "Three Mistakes" at Word Riot^[28]
• "Twenty-Dollar Bill" in Colored Chalk #7^[29]
• "Unzipped" at Dogmatika^[30]
• "Underground Wonder Bound" in Vain Winter Issue^[31]
• "Freedom" at Nefarious Muse^[32]
• "Fate" in Cause & Effect #5

2008

• "Amazement" in Colored Chalk #5^[33]
• "Fringe" in Colored Chalk #4 ^[34]
• "Fallible" in Colored Chalk #3 ^[35]
• "Committed" in Colored Chalk #2^[36]
• "Steel-Toed Boots" in Colored Chalk #1^[37]
• "Redemption" in Gold Dust Magazine #15^[38]
• "Animal Magnetism" at Opium Magazine ^[39]

Editing

• New Madrid - Contributing Editor, Summer 2010 ^[40]
• Sideshow Fables #2 - Co-Edited and designed^[41]
• Sideshow Fables #1 - Co-Edited and designed^[41]
• Colored Chalk #9 - Edited and designed^[42]
• Colored Chalk #6 - Edited and designed^[43]

Awards and Contests

• Awarded a 2011 writing residency at Writers in the Heartland (Gilman, IL).^[44]
• Winner of the 2011 Cafe Doom / One Buck Horror contest for his story "Wicker Park Pause."
• Nominated for four 2010 Pushcart Prizes for "Terrapin Station," "Twenty Reasons to Stay and One to Leave," "Carve Away Everything That Isn't a Turtle," and "Daybreak."
• Winner of the 2010 Jotspeak short story contest (August) for his story "Maker of Flight."
• Winner of the 2009 "Enter the World of Filaria" contest, at ChiZine ^[45] for his story "Maker of Flight."

Interviews

• 3:AM Magazine^[46]
• The Cult^[47]
• Word Riot^[48]
• Jay Slayton-Joslin^[49]
• Oxyfication^[50]

References

External links

• The Official Richard Thomas Blog [10]
• His debut novel website, Transubstantiate [11]
• Transubstantiate on Facebook [12]
• Richard Thomas Fan Page at Facebook [13]
• Book reviews he's written at The Nervous Breakdown [14]
• Twitter [15]