Joe Hill (writer)

Infobox Writer
name = Joe Hill


imagesize = 200px
pseudonym = Joe Hill
birthname = Joseph Hillstrom King
birthdate = birth year and age|1972|6
birthplace = Maine, United States
deathplace =
occupation = freelance writer
nationality = United States
period = 2000-present
genre = Horror
subject =
movement =
children = 3
relatives = Stephen King (father)
Tabitha King (mother)
Owen King (brother)
Naomi King (sister)
influences = Bernard Malamud
influenced =


website = http://www.joehillfiction.com

Joseph Hillstrom King (born June 1972, Hermon, Maine) is an American writer of fiction, writing under the pen name of Joe Hill.

Biography

Hill is the second child of authors Stephen and Tabitha King. He grew up in Bangor, Maine. His younger brother Owen is also a writer. Hill has three sons.

Hill chose to use an abbreviated form of his given name (a reference to executed labor leader Joe Hill, for whom he was named) in 1997, out of a desire to succeed based solely on his own merits instead of as the son of Stephen King. After achieving a degree of independent success, Hill publicly confirmed his identity in 2007 after an article the previous year in "Variety" broke his cover (although online speculation about Hill's family background had been appearing since 2005). [ [http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-03-17-king-son_N.htm "Secret of Horror Writer's Lineage Broken"] , Associated Press 17 March 2007]

Joe Hill is a past recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship. He has also received the William L. Crawford award for best new fantasy writer in 2006, [ [http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/07Hill.html Excerpts from interview] in July 2006 "Locus"] the A. E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize in 1999 for "Better Than Home" [ [http://www.joehillfiction.com/fiction.htm#otherwriting joe hill fiction :: fiction ] ] and the 2006 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella for "Voluntary Committal". His stories have appeared in a variety of magazines, such as "Subterranean Magazine", "Postscripts" and "The High Plains Literary Review", and in many anthologies, including "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror" (ed. Stephen Jones) and "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror" (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant).

Hill's first book, the limited edition collection "20th Century Ghosts" published in 2005 by PS Publishing), showcases fourteen of his short stories and won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, together with the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story for "Best New Horror". In October 2007, Hill's mainstream US and UK publishers reprinted "20th Century Ghosts", without the extras published in the 2005 slipcased versions, but including one new story.

Hill's first novel, "Heart-Shaped Box", was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins on February 13, 2007 and by Victor Gollancz Ltd in UK in March 2007. Simultaneous to these two editions, a limited edition of "Heart-Shaped Box" was also released by Subterranean Press; it sold out several months prior to publication. The novel reached number 8 on the "New York Times" bestseller list on April 1, 2007. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/books/bestseller/0408besthardfiction.html NYT Hardcover Fiction Bestseller list] (registration only)]

On September 23, 2007, at the thirty-first Fantasycon, the British Fantasy Society awarded Hill the first ever Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award. Hill's first professional sale was in 1997.

Among unpublished works is one partly completed with his father, "But Only Darkness Loves Me", which is held with the Stephen King papers at the Special Collections Unit of the Raymond H Fogler Library at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine. [Rocky Wood, et al: "Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished", Abingdon, Maryland: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2006, p. 110]

Hill is also the author of "Locke & Key", a new comic book series published by IDW Publishing. The first issue, released on February 20, 2008, sold out of its initial publication run in one day. [ [http://www.comicsbulletin.com/news/120365512436828.htm Fantasy-Horror Comic Locke & Key Sold Out in One Day] (press release), Comics Bulletin, February 21, 2008] A forthcoming collection of the series in limited form from Subterranean Press sold out within 24 hours of being announced. [ [http://subterraneanpress.com/index.php/2007/11/24/limited-and-lettered-locke-key-by-joe-hill-sold-out/ Limited and Lettered LOCKE & KEY by Joe Hill Sold Out] , November 24, 2007]

His only screen appearance so far was aged 10 in the film Creepshow (1982) (dir. George Romero), which co-starred and was co-written by his father.

Awards

* "Better Than Home" (A.E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize)
* "Voluntary Committal" (World Fantasy Award for Best Novella)
* "20th Century Ghost" (Bradbury Fellowship)
* "20th Century Ghosts" (Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection)
* "20th Century Ghosts" (British Fantasy Award for Best Collection)
* "20th Century Ghosts" (International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection)
* "Best New Horror" (British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story)
* "Best New Horror" (Bram Stoker Award for Best Short Story)
* Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award - 2007
* "Heart-Shaped Box" (Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel)
* "Heart-Shaped Box" (International Thriller Writers Inc award for Best First Novel)

Bibliography

* "20th Century Ghosts" (2005, collection)
* "Heart-Shaped Box" (2007)
* "Pop Art" (2007) [chapbook]
* "Locke & Key" (2008)—comic book series with artwork by Gabriel Rodriguez

hort stories

Dates by original magazine or anthology publication.
* "The Lady Rests" (1997), "Palace Corbie" 7
* "The Collaborators" (1998), "Implosion" 8
* "Better Than Home" (1999), A. E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize Series, stand-alone chapbook
* "The Saved" (2001), "The Clackamas Literary Review" spring/summer issue
* "Pop Art" (2001), "With Signs & Wonders", anthology; 2007 Subterranean Press chapbook
* "20th Century Ghost" (2002), "The High Plains Literary Review", journal's final issue
* "The Widow's Breakfast" (2002), "The Clackamas Literary Review" spring/summer issue
* "You Will Hear the Locust Sing" (2004), "The Third Alternative" 37
* "Abraham's Boys" (2004), "The Many Faces of Van Helsing", anthology
* "The Black Phone" (2004), "The Third Alternative" 39
* "Dead-Wood" (2005), "Subterranean Press" February online newsletter
* " Last Breath" (2005), "Subterranean Magazine" 2
* " Best New Horror" (2005), "Postscripts" 3
* "Voluntary Committal" (2005), "Subterranean Press" stand-alone chapbook
* "In the Rundown" (2005), "Crimewave" 8
* "Scheherazade's Typewriter" (2005), "20th Century Ghosts", within the book's acknowledgments section
* "The Cape" (2005), "20th Century Ghosts", original to collection
* "My Father's Mask" (2005), "20th Century Ghosts", original to collection
* "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead" (2005), "Postscripts" 5
* "Thumbprint" (2007), "Postscripts" 10
* "Jude Confronts Global Warming" (2007), "Subterranean Press" online magazine, spring issue
* "Gunpowder" (2008), a novella forthcoming from PS Publishing at the end of 2008.
* "Throttle" (2009) written in collaboration with Stephen King, "He Is

*"The Devil on the Staircase" (2009) forthcoming in February 2009 in the anthology STORIES edited by Al Sarrantonio and Neil Gaiman.

Anthology appearances

Below is a list of Hill's short fiction which has been reprinted.
* "20th Century Ghost": "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Volume Fourteen" (2003), ed. Stephen Jones
* "My Father's Mask": "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 19th Annual Collection" (2006), ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant
* "Best New Horror": "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Volume Seventeen" (2006), ed. Stephen Jones
* "The Cape": "Horror: The Best of the Year, 2006 Edition" (2006), ed. John Gregory Betancourt and Sean Wallace
* "Thumbprint": "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Volume Nineteen" (2008), ed. Stephen Jones
* "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead": "The Living Dead" (2008), ed. John Joseph Adams
* "20th Century Ghost": "Poe's Children: The New Horror" (2008), ed. Peter Straub

Miscellaneous credits

* "Pop Art" was reprinted in 2007 by Subterranean Press as a chapbook featuring illustrations by Gahan Wilson. As well, 52 lettered (A-ZZ) hard covers and 150 numbered soft covered chapbooks were signed by Hill. [ [http://www.subterraneanpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=hill03 Hill, Pop Art (preorder): Subterranean Press ] ]
* "Fanboyz", a comic script, was written for "Spider-Man Unlimited" 8 (2005). The story was illustrated by Seth Fisher.
* "The Saved", first published in "The Clackamas Review" in 2001 and also as part of the bonus material included in the 2005 deluxe slipcased edition of "20th Century Ghosts", was reprinted in December 2007 as part of PS Publishing's annual Holiday Chapbook series, available, free of charge, to subcribers of the quarterly magazine Postscripts.
* "Thumbprint", first published in "Postscripts" #10 in 2007, was reprinted as a chapbook in summer 2008 to accompany the anthology "Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy" published by Subterranean Press.

References

External links

* [http://www.joehillfiction.com Personal website]
* [http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/twentiethcenturyghosts.htm Review of "20th Century Ghosts"] by Gary Couzens
* [http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=5&id=36683 Interview by John Joseph Adams - Part One] and [http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=5&id=36742 Part Two]
* [http://www.tuginternet.com/jja/journal/archives/004120.html Joe Hill comments on the origins of the stories in "20th Century Ghosts"]
* [http://www.powells.com/blog/?author=102 February 2007 blog at Powells, featuring previously unpublished poetry and prose]
* Read "Heart-Shaped Box" [http://www.nekonata.com/fce/0061147931.htm excerpt online]