Mike Allen works weekdays as the arts columnist for The Roanoke Times. In his spare time he wears a number of wacky hats. With help from his wife Anita, he edits the anthology series Clockwork Phoenix and publishes the long-running poetry journal Mythic Delirium. Stories and poems from those projects have been reprinted in various “Year’s Best” anthologies, and nominated for and even won a variety of sf, fantasy and horror-related awards. On his own, Mike’s won the Rhysling Award three times for his poetry and his horror tale “The Button Bin” was a Nebula Award finalist in 2009. More than 200 poems and more than 30 stories have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Best Horror of the Year Vol. One, Nebula Awards Showcase,Cthulhu’s Reign, and many other places. He’s also acted in local theater productions, recorded narrations for the Hugo Award-winning podcast siteStarShipSofa and provides a regular column, “Tour of the Abattoir,” for its sister podcast Tales to Terrify. Apex Publications will publish his first collection of short stories, The Button Bin and Other Horrors, in early fall of this year.
