Gerald C. Matics -- Author

It's taken awhile -- longer than I expected -- but "The Sisters" has found a home.

I found out on Sunday that this story, my second-oldest piece of horror fiction (not counting a piece I wrote in grade school called "Dr. Heidigger's Experiment," which was a horror in a whole 'nother sense), was accepted for publication by Fantastic Horror, an online magazine or "webzine."

Fantastic Horror is a little different from the standard webzine in a couple of ways. First, it is beautifully done. The editor/publisher, J.J. Burke, seems to have a real gift for web design, and it's immediately apparent when you click on the site. The artwork is top-notch as well.

Second, there's a whole little community of authors on there -- in their words, "a free and independent enclave of creative fellows working to build something of uncommon value" -- who "workshop" each other's stories. While not always a positive thing, most of the time this kind of review is a valuable experience. It's like having a writing group and publisher wrapped up in one. In my case, I got saved from an unintentional guffaw when someone noticed I'd written "dessert" when I meant "desert." And, by the way, they're open to writers of every skill and experience level.

Anyway, needless to say I'm excited about the upcoming publication. Don't know exactly when it will be because it hasn't been scheduled yet -- I think they try to stick to certain themes for each issue -- but it will definitely be in February, April, or June (it's a bi-monthly). Whatever issue it turns out to be, I will link to it as soon as it is released.

A funny note about "The Sisters" itself. Before I was able to update this site, I updated the status on my Facebook page to read: "Gerald just found out his short story "The Sisters" was accepted by the online magazine FantasticHorror.com (pub date TBA)."  I immediately started receiving comments from several friends and family members.  Almost all of them congratulated me on the impending publication. The exception? One of my own sisters, Emily Anthony, who just wanted to know if the story was based on them.

(If you want to know the inside story on the creation of "The Sisters," I have a new page on this site called "Behind The Stories" that will tell you about it.  Eventually I'll have something to say on there about each story I've written.)