"They say Jimmy made it out. But the postcards we get, well, they don't seem...real." When an experiment with population control works too well, and the planet is decimated, seven broken people are united by a supernatural bond in a modern day Eden. Most on the island are fully aware of this prison disguised as an oasis. Unfortunately, Jimmy is on the mainland, desperate to get back, in a post-apocalyptic stand-off, fighting for his survival and that of his unborn child. Back on the island, Jacob stares at the ocean through his telescope and plots his escape, reluctant to aid the cause. Marcy tries to hide from her past sexual escapades that may be her saving grace. X sits in his compound, a quiet, massive presence, trapped in his body by ancient whispers and yet free in spirit to visit other places and times. Roland, the angry, bitter son of Marcy is determined to leave, and sets out on his own. Watching over it all is Assigned, the ghost in the machine. And coming for them, to exact revenge, and finish the job that the virus started, is Gordon. He just landed on the island and he has help. Transubstantiate is a neo-noir thriller, filled with uncertainty at every portal, and jungles infiltrated with The Darkness. Vivid settings, lyrical language, and a slow reveal of plot, motivation, past crimes and future hope collide in a showdown that keeps you guessing until the final haunting words. Transubstantiate: to change from one substance into another.
Richard was the winner of the ChiZine Publications 2009 "Enter the World of Filaria" contest. His short story "Maker of Flight" was chosen by Filaria author Brent Hayward and Bram Stoker Award-Winning editor Brett Alexander Savory. It has since gone on to also win at Jotspeak, beating out over 200 entries. This short was based on the novel Filaria by Brent Hayward, published by ChiZine in 2009.
His debut novel, a neo-noir thriller entitled Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications) was released in July of 2010 and includes a signed, limited edition of 100 hardcovers with bonus items (extra chapter, extended interview from chuckpalahniuk.net, and audio CD with five short stories), as well as a paperback and ebook.
His work is published or forthcoming in the Shivers VI anthology (Cemetery Dance) with Stephen King and Peter Straub, the Warmed and Bound anthology (Velvet Press), Speedloader (Snubnose Press), ChiZine, Gargoyle, Murky Depths, PANK, Pear Noir!, 3:AM Magazine, Word Riot, Dogmatika, Opium, Vain, Crime Factory, Metazen, Dirty Noir, Stepaway, Shotgun Honey, Cherry Bleeds, Rotten Leaves, We Are Vespertine, Blink-Ink, Leodegraunce, Eternal Night: A Vampire Anthology (Living Dead Press), Outsider Writers Collective, The Oddville Press, Colored Chalk, Cause and Effect, Gold Dust, Nefarious Muse, and Troubadour 21.
In his spare time he moderates at The Cult writer's workshop where they are putting together an anthology that Chuck Palahniuk will publish in 2012. He has been an Editor for Colored Chalk (Issue #6 - Waking Up Strange and Issue #9 - Heaven and Hell) and is Co-Editor and Designer at Sideshow Fables. He also writes book reviews and interviews for The Nervous Breakdown. Richard is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers. He was the Fiction and Poetry Curator for Around the Coyote, a Wicker Part art festival.
He lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
