Darrell Z. Grizzle's Blog

Sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, “Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” So finally I would write one true sentence, and then g...

Hope to see you at DragonCon! August 28 through September 1, 2025, in Atlanta! This is my TENTATIVE schedule (everything is tentative at DragonCon until 5 minutes after it happens). I will be updating this post throughout the con itself. I am very proud to be on panels and events this year on the Horror, Urban Fantasy, and Writer’s Tracks.

2025 DragonCon Schedule:

Thursday 7:00 pm: Dark Academia, Chastain 1-2 Westin
Our panel will take a deep dive into this fascinating and very popular...

Edmund White’s death is hitting me hard. I never met him, but his novels and memoirs were a constant presence during my coming-out years and thereafter. I remember buying his books back in the 1990’s at Charis Books & More and at Outwrite, the LGBTQ bookstore that used to be in Atlanta. The main character in my short story “Time After Time” (which will be published in an upcoming anthology on August 1st) is looking at an Edmund White book when he meets his partner in a bookstore. I have an a...

Here are some words I never thought I’d be able to say: There is a queer bookstore in Cobb County, Georgia.

It’s called The Lavender Bookshop, and it’s at 1289 Roswell Road, Suite 700, Marietta GA 30062, just under half a mile from the Big Chicken (if you’re from Cobb County, you know what that is).

It’s an indie bookstore with a warm and inviting atmosphere, a full calendar of monthly book clubs and other events, a comprehensive Young Adult section, and a very good selection of ...

Guy Varnum Grizzle, my sweet little murdercat, is gone. I took him to the vet yesterday afternoon because for the last week he had been acting disoriented, bumping into things, acting confused. It turns out Guy was in third stage kidney failure, had a heart murmur and a tumor on his thyroid, and he was partially blind, with blood in his retinas. His prognosis was not good, especially considering his age (15), and Michael and I decided not to prolong his suffering. When the doctor gave him th...

UPDATED JANUARY 27, 2025:
I’m very proud to announce that my Appalachian zombie story “Ephriam” has been published in We Bite Back, edited by Sage Moon, a charity anthology from Pride With a Bite to benefit the Human Rights Campaign. Click here to buy it in ebook, paperback, or hardcover. APPALACHIAN ZOMBIES FOR THE WIN!

Also, my queer ghost story “Knock Five Times” is in the new anthology, Yay! all queer, from Inkd Publishing! Here’s a link to buy the ebook and here’s a link to buy ...

Two new short stories by me, both of them queer ghost stories, have been accepted for publication in upcoming anthologies, one with an expected publication date of December 2024 and one in the Summer of 2025. More details coming soon!

Here are all my links to social media and other online places I haunt: https://linktr.ee/dzgrizzle

Here is my most recent publication, a “grit lit” noir story set in Georgia in 1987, during the AIDS epidemic. Based on a true story. Here’s the link to the...

I’m very proud to have a “grit lit” story in Reckon Review, the online journal of Southern literature and culture (“Dirt Road Driving, Jelly Jar Sipping, Dollar General Shopping”). Previous authors published by Reckon Review include Brian Panowich, S.A. Cosby, and Gabino Iglesias. My story, “Judgment Call,” is set in Georgia in 1987, during the AIDS epidemic. Based on a true story. Here’s the link to the story.

My Facebook account was hacked and deleted several months ago, and I have no access to the author page I had created on Facebook. Please note that the only Facebook account that is truly me is my new one: 
https://www.facebook.com/shadowhaunted

I am mostly active these days on Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, and Tumblr. You can find all my links, including my Amazon and Goodreads author pages, at this Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dzgrizzle

And you can find links to my published short stories o...

The short film based on my story, “Moonlight Sonata, With Scissors,” is now available for streaming on Vimeo! This 8-minute film is directed by award-winning indie filmmaker Chris  Ethridge and produced by Dayna Noffke. I am extremely proud of how Chris and Dayna adapted my short story into an awesome film. Here’s the link where you can rent it for $5.00 for a one-week rental period:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/soff2023/883448788

You can also watch a behind-the-scenes interview with C...