Education: MA (1986) University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee Taught Creative Writing and Composition at the University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee (1985-1988) William D. Gagliani's literary influences span from the works of Jules Verne to the mind-blowing fantasy tales of Tim Powers, with stops in between for Edgar Allan Poe, Harlan Ellison, James P. Blaylock, Karl Edward Wagner, Charles de Lint, Robert Bloch, Charles Grant, Philip K. Dick, Stephen King, Richard Laymon, Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Matthew J. Costello, Doug Clegg, Tamara Thorne, Brian Hodge, Lawrence Block, Alistair MacLean, Duncan Kyle, Desmond Bagley, Charles Spain Verral, George Wyatt, Robert Arthur, and too many more to name. Even good old "elusive" Franklin W. Dixon made an impact! And Mark Twain. And Ernest Hemingway. And Richard Matheson. And so many more. In the cinema, influences range from Alfred ("PSYCHO") Hitchcock to Brian ("Body Double") dePalma, George ("Dawn of the Dead") Romero to David ("Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks") Lynch, Ken ("Gothic" and "Lisztomania") Russell to Sam ("Straw Dogs") Peckinpah, the Coen ("Fargo" and the masterpiece "Blood Simple") Brothers (of course!), Dario ("Inferno") Argento to Tim ("Sleepy Hollow") Burton, and many others. Music has helped shape his work, as well, and most of Bill's influences span the progressive rock genre -- starting with ELP, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, through Rick Wakeman's solo works, King Crimson, Kansas, and Tangerine Dream, and going all the way to the neo-Progressive music of Fish & Marillion, Spock's Beard, and Transatlantic, with a special place in his heart for Alan Parsons (engineer of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon), whom he's met -- and there are unretouched pictures to prove it! :-) The romanticism of the Progressive movement in rock -- with its blending of various styles such as classical, jazz, and R&B -- lends itself well to the Fantastic in its many literary forms. Also, it's adventurous and challenging music which tends to resist "backgroundization." Check out Spock's Beard at a club near you! Besides music, Bill Gagliani counts weapons and history as special interests, as well as writing about the writing process itself (he wrote "The Writing Life" column for THE IGUANA INFORMER). Look for WOLF'S TRAP, Bill Gagliani's first novel, due from Yard Dog Press in Fall 2003. Besides the various editions of PSYCHOS, his fiction and nonfiction has appeared (or will appear) in the anthologies MORE MONSTERS FROM MEMPHIS (Hot Biscuit), EXTREMES 3: TERROR ON THE HIGH SEAS (Lone Wolf Publications), EXTREMES 4: DARKEST AFRICA (Lone Wolf Publications), THE ASYLUM Volume 2: THE VIOLENT WARD (DarkTales Publications), BUBBAS OF THE APOCALYPSE (Yard Dog Press), THE MIDNIGHTERS CLUB (Alphabeta Soup Media), TOOTH AND CLAW 2 (Lone Wolf Publications), MORE STORIES THAT WON'T MAKE YOUR PARENTS HURL (Yard Dog Press), THE RED RED ROBIN PROJECT (Lone Wolf), and MIDNIGHT JOURNEYS (Ozark Triangle Press), as well as publications including The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cemetery Dance, Flesh & Blood, Hellnotes, Crimespree, BookPage (and www.bookpage.com), Bram Stoker Award-winning web site The Chiaroscuro (http://chizine.com), Horror World, Science Fiction Chronicle, 1000 Delights (www.1000delights.com), BookLovers, the much-missed Bare Bones and The Scream Factory, The Grimoire, Dark Muse, Horror Magazine, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, and various others.

I have had six Honorable Mentions in THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY & HORROR: "The Great Belzoni and the Gait of Anubis," "Lead Me Into Temptation," "Port of Call," "Icewall," "Until Hell Calls Our Names," and "Kneel at the Shrine."

The story "Until Hell Calls Our Names," in the anthology MORE MONSTERS FROM MEMPHIS (Zapizdat Press, ISBN 1-880964-24-4), won the 1999 Darrell Award of the Memphis Science Fiction Association, and garnered an Honorable Mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror (12th ed.).

The story "Icewall," in the anthology ROBERT BLOCH'S PSYCHOS (Pocket Books, ISBN 0-671-88598-7), made the Preliminary Ballot for the Bram Stoker Award and was named an Honorable Mention in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror (11th ed.).

Two "Ghosts of the IRA" stories (still available in SHADOWPLAYS) have also won 2nd Prizes in consecutive Science Fiction Writers of Earth annual contests (Ed Bryant, judge).

SHADOWPLAYS (ISBN 1-931207-01-1) features “Icewall,” 2 from the “Ghosts of the IRA” cycle, and 12 other tales of horror, SF, fantasy, and hard-boiled noir. Includes story notes. Currently available from Ebooksonthe.net in PDF, RB, PDB, and HTML formats. Price is $6.00 and orders may be placed on a secure server. “I wanted my first collection to represent my development as a writer,” Gagliani says, “so it’s a retrospective covering both early work and more recent fiction. I chose to publish it electronically because suddenly, with the advent of the Web, the whole world can spot your book, unlike what might happen to the few copies that would make it into traditional bookstores. With the ever-growing numbers of people searching for e-books, the chances to be found increase exponentially, and the book is available much longer than the one or two month shelf-life of most paperbacks.” Gagliani notes that he sold his e-book just as Stephen King announced his Riding the Bullet experiment. “A wonderful coincidence. He brought a lot of attention to the format.” It’s not his first involving Mr. King: Gagliani’s story “Icewall” shared a spot in the 1998 anthology Robert Bloch’s Psychos (Pocket, ISBN 0 671-88598-7) with King’s own “Autopsy Room 4.” It's still Gagliani's proudest moment as an author, though some of the upcoming publications come close. **Please note: all cover art is displayed for promotional purposes only -- copyright is owned by the individual artists and/or publishers.**

Ebooksonthe.net (e-book publisher)
Shadowplays available here.

The Chiaroscuro
My "Literature Fantastique" reviews appear in The Chiaroscuro (Chizine). Enjoy both the fiction and nonfiction at this great site. Super Big News: The Chiaroscuro has won the Bram Stoker Award of the Horror Writers Association!

Publishers Marketplace
Look at my pages and available rights at this professional site for industry insiders. Simply do a Member Search under my name, or check the recent updates list.

W.D. Gagliani's author website!
Learn about W.D. Gagliani's novel, WOLF'S TRAP (Leisure Books), as well as his stories, book reviews, articles and interviews. Purchase signed and personalized copies of WOLF'S TRAP and various anthologies directly from the author. Read an interview with William Gagliani, or read interviews he has conducted with authors such as Elaine Bergstrom, Charles de Lint, and Matt Costello. View anthology and book cover art, scan a bibliography, and peek in on the new Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The Dark World of W.D. Gagliani beckons... Link Title
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Horror Writers Association