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 Bits and PiecesSlices of news and chunks of randomness 02/01/09 Arkham Tales has purchased the rights to my short story, "I Peel Pretty". Click on the link below to go to the site and download your FREE copy.of the current issue. http://www.arkhamtales.com 02/06/09 Dark fiction writer Richard Dean quotes my '2008 In The Rear View Mirror' blurb about his novel, "Inhabited" on his website. Great guy, great writer, check him out.  http://www.myspace.com/darkeprose 02/09/09 Meet a bunch of nice new writerly folks at a new (to me) writer's group. First time in and I'm too busy to make it home first to bring anything to read, so I spend the night eating and drinking and listening to their tales instead. Good stuff and among the group is singer/songwriter Ben Treffer who is opening for Nashville Stars favorite Buddy Jewel soon. Check out his video, this guy's got some serious talent. Watch it here 02/12/09 I've been shorlisted for the new "2012AD" Anthology from Severed Press. 02/15/09 About 40k into my new (and as of yet untitle novel) and I give the pages to my wife to edit. About halfway through, I ask her what she thinks and she lowers the pages and says, "After all these years, I will never, ever, truly know you." I think it's going well so far. 02/20/09 I stumble across an old picture of me from an undated Halloween from years ago. My wife says it was probably a sign. She says I look cute. I tell her I look fat. Feel free to laugh as long and as hard as you want to. I did.  02/23/09 Am advised to 'get my face out there more' and try to work on some 'thanks for the add' pics for MySpace. Send the one out and get a note back that the writer (female) fears for her life from me. I seek more time to improve the designs.   02/26/09 Take a break from working on the new novel to finish working on a new short story entitled, "A Question of Pain". Have one of those rare blissful days when the phone does not ring and do not have twenty million other errands to run or things to do and finish most of it in one sitting. Now it can sit for awhile so I can distance myself from it and come back later to hack into it with appropriately non-bias edits. Life is good. 02/30/09 Take a break from pushing the keys to smile pretty for the camera again. Send the second pic off with a 'thanks for the add' to a certain B-Movie actress who shall remain nameless. She unexpectedly messages me and wants to know if 'I'm an actor'. I send back that no, I'm not, I'm a writer. She writes back 'you mean like a director?'. I write back, that no, though there are writer/directors I am not one of those. I write novels and short stories. She writes back, 'so, you're not in the movie business?' I tell her no, no one has optioned anything of mine as of yet. She responds only with, 'I don't, you know, read things like books much.' She does not write back again. I vow to send anything I have off to any publisher no matter how small so that I can just put the cover of something on the 'add' thing and not have to worry about this anymore.   03/01/09 Jermey C. Shipp posts a note about a place called The HorrorMall. I love Jeremy’s writing, so I investigate. I see Shane Ryan Staley’s name attached to it (he of the deliciously demented ‘The Cleansing’, one of my favorite books) and I’m in, sign me up, log me in, no questions asked. 03/02/09 I join the group The Dark Fiction Guild. 03/03/09 So I get an invite from a Mort1s on The Horror Mall (I’ll leave out his real name unless he tells me otherwise, lawsuits and all you know) and check out his page. The collection of horror memorabilia that he has is beautifully astounding (if you’re on the ‘Mall, check it out, my drool is still drying). Later, he sends me a comment asking what the name of the story I had in Peep Show was. I’m shocked anyone is already reading my profile for one thing, let alone that anyone has even heard of Peep Show, let alone asking me about it all these years later. I mention this because the story I sent in for “Peep Show” was actually the first thing I ever wrote and subsequently, the first thing I ever had published. I sent it off on a lark as they say and got a reply back that yes, we’ll take it, and yes, I was going to be in print! Excited and amazed, I emailed the editor, a Mr. Paul Fry, and thanked him. He sent back a note about a few grammatical adjustments and would I be so kind as to correct them and here’s what will be in the issue as well. There was a feature on the Richard Laymon Kills web site and (oh, so young and naive) having never read Laymon before, I decided to pick up one of his books. A day later after having read “Stake” straight through, I emailed Paul back and told him how great Laymon was. He emailed me back, several times, and we had a brief correspondence over Laymon’s work, the differences in English and American roadways and, oddly enough, Scooby Doo. Bewildered that an editor, especially one that had worked with some pretty heavy names, would even acknowledge an email from little old me, let alone write me several times absolutely floored me. I mention this because he was the first of many editors along the way who have completely amazed me at their kindness and openness, even when rejecting something (seriously, after sending tons of things off, we’re talking a lot here people, I’ve only had one bad experience). So if anyone out there knows Paul Fry, tell him at least one guy, years and years later, thanks him from the bottom of his heart for his kindness and warm welcoming ways. (I could throw in a joke about how he took my publishing virginity in the sweetest of way, but I won’t) :). So here’s a litle toast to Mort for reminding of this, and here’s to great editor everywhere. Whether you know it or not, the simplest of things are remembered for a lifetime. 03/05/09 Writers are the nicest people. I send a message to Dave Dunwoody ( http://daviddunwoody.com) on The Horror Mall and mention briefly that he has great taste in music after seeing The Police listed on the tops of his favorite bands (number one for me as well). He writes back and we engage in a few short emails about Jung, horror figures and he checks out my website and compliments me on it (love him already). So just a note to any writers out there, being a nice guy pays off as Dave just topped my list of the next books I'm going to buy (along with James Roy Daley, who I saw from his profile is a drummer and a writer which makes him automatically cool in my book and somebody I've got to read). In honor of talking with Dave and to my friend who calls himself 'the hugest fan' of Sting and the boys (and who shall remain nameless because of my shame of him for never having seen or heard this before in this day and age of Internet availability of almost anything), here's my favorite recording Sting has ever done of "Message in a Bottle". Enjoy.  TheSecretPoliceman'sotherball03/11/09 I'm feeling particularly loved this week. My man Richard Dean makes mention of my website in his blog (http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=30341054&blogId=475408059) Check it out for his updates on how his new novel, Colony, is progressing. Drop him a note, order a book and say hi for me while you're there. Coral King from TTMC (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=424387138) sends me a quick note and asks if I have any spare artwork for her. My art isn't really of the 'horror' or 'fantastic' nature, but I'm flattered and speaking of feeling loved, go on over there and show Coral some. She seems like a really nice gal. 03/12/09 I've been following JA Konrath's blog tour and make a stop at Between the Lines, a place I've never been before (http://laurinwittig.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/seventy-words-or-less-guest-blog-by-ja-konrath.) There's an excercise on writing a story that's 70 words or less and I jot down the first thing that comes to my mind. It's a great excercise, especially just throwing it out there without thinking, like doing some sort of improv thing. The story is nothing special upon reading it, but the first four lines stick with me. I sing a song of pleasure I sing a song of pain I sing a song of children dying again Just a note to any writer's out there. The old axiom of just write always rings true. I'm not sure what or when or where I'll use these, but they will be used somewhere along the line. And on another note, if you've never been to JA's site(s) and you are a writer, it's required reading as far as I'm concerned. And if you're not, head on over there anyway. The guy is funny as heck and though he's usually classified under mystery or suspense, his books are as horrific and well-written as they get. 03/13/09 And the kindness just keeps on coming. Dave Dunwoody emails me and wants to know if I have a banner for my site so he can put it on his. I'm loving Dave more and more and while I patiently await the arrival of his novel, Empire, he posts a blog that Infernal Dreams has a free download of an anthology called Blood From the Underground (http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vaW5mZXJuYWxkcmVhbXMubmV0Lw==). Have I mentioned that while in no way, shape or form will the Internet ever replace the tactile goodness of an actual book printed on paper, oh how I do love the things at our fingertips (if you're one of those people who can just stand in a book store, and I'm talking the used-kind with stacks of unorganized wonders, and just take it the smell of it, you know what I mean). So after finding a place to submit my short story, The Risen, I'm taking a break from writing today and heading over there to get my free reads before going out this evening. Here's a toast to Dave and a toast to all that is available at the stroke of a key to information and story junkies like myself.  03/24/09 Design a new business card. Hate to put a label on anything, especially myself, and want to avoid any of the usual 'dark fiction' or 'horror writer' tags since I write a little bit of everything. Run my mug through a red filter and this is what I get. The first person I give it to who deosn't know me takes one look, pauses and says, "So, I take it from the picture you don't write children's books?" Mission accomplished.  04/01/09 Writer's group is uneventful. Half the gang calls to say they can't make it because of the weather. I grew up in Montana (where 'Winter Storm Warning' and school closures gave us an excuse to go on a road trip) and I brave the roads without a second thought and go anyway. Ben and I are fighting the same cold/Captain Tripps death flu and he can't sing and I barely manage to croak out a story. Ben does however let it slip that he's just watched the remake of "Dawn of the Dead" for the first time and couldn't sleep the night before. He kept having nightmares about being eaten alive. To compensate for sharing that embarrassing tale with you, here's what the cover art for his new CD looks like. Buy a copy when it comes out so Ben can build a fort so the zombies won't get him :)  04/28/09 A pretty girl from England wrote me today. I just like the sound of that. Could be a lyric should I ever get back to writing some songs. I promised myself this ‘news’ thing wouldn’t be some boring Blog or Bulletin thing about my day-to-day doldrums, (I mean really, do you actually care if someone is eating ice cream and the like?). But apparently not putting something down here more often has garnered me emails of worry about my health and welfare. So, to Becky from London (who was kind enough to send me a few pics of her with Tom Savini and another with Sting!!), yes, I am fine. Nothing exciting. Waiting for replies, writing, rewriting, the usual exciting adventures of someone who writes. Biggest thing lately is the wife and I bought the Wii Fit and spend our days letting a computer simulation of a real person tell us how much weight we have to lose (or gain in my case) before we will be perfectly fit and stable human beings. Love technology, but there is something sinisterly sad and strange about how we live our lives these days. And a special nod goes out to Brian from Michigan, who sent me the funniest little note. Yes, I do take photos of things other than myself and no, it’s not because I’ve learned from other serial killers to not take pictures of my victims. You are a funny, funny, man, Brian! And by the way, Bry, maybe I’m just smart enough not to actually post the pictures after I’ve taken them. And by the way, you did send your address along with that note. Okay, okay, just kidding. Becky wanted to know if I had any more pictures of myself ‘looking scary’, so here’s this until I have some actual news.  09/01/09 Buy a snazzy new computer and spend (literally) months transferring this and that from the old one to the new one. The old beast (though she did serve me well for years and years) has no working .zip drive so I hook and unhook the Internet connection to email things to myself and waste some cash on a floppy transfer thing that causes me even more work. Get lost in what to save and what not to save, but am now hopefully back to biz as usual. 12/03/09 'Arkham Tales' goes belly up. Contract states I still get paid even if I don't get published which is a lot like having sex and not getting the happy ending. Nice to feel accepted, but ultimately unsatisfied. 02/05/10 Real life keeps smacking me in the face. Family duties, friends in need, etc., relegate me to man-duties of doing a lot of driving, heavy lifting and 'being strong' for everyone. Writer's group dissolves. Very nice folks, but I am ultimately 'too disturbing' for their homespun tastes. The '2012' Anthology for which I have been short listed seems lost in limbo, the end of the world certain but the future of this publication unknown. New local writer approaches me about forming a new group and life goes on quickly with (hopefully) greater adventures on the horizon. His new book includes a serial killer. Things are looking up. 02/08/09 Great writer, great person and good friend Richard Dean dedicates his new book 'Colony' to me! Buy this book and show this man some love! 12.jpg?854) 02/14/10 Host the local 'Dating Game' for Valentine's Day. Make a lot of jokes and in the words of Kevin Smith, at least locally for now anyway, yes, I am a media whore. 02/15/10 'Arkham Tales' lives! Get an email from Nate Shumate that he wants my story 'I Peel Pretty' back in the Tales as it finds a new home! Life is good. 03/20/10  The latest issue of 'Brutarian' featuring my story 'Block' is out now! Check out the fantastic illustration for the story by the very talented Gaven De Lint http://gavin.delint.ca/Gallery/Illustration/brutarian-block.htm 04/05/10 Richard Dean has invited me to write a tale for the upcoming 'Stella Star' anthology! For those of you who don't know who Stella Star is (shame, shame), she's is the very loverly heroine from the classic film 'StarCrash' (also featuring the equally lovely David Hasselhoff in all his young dewey glory and 'Maniac's Joe Spinel.) It is a must see, so check it out if you haven't already seen it. If leaping cavemen, robots who sound like Rory Calhoun and laser beam eyes aren't enough, here's a pic of Stella (played by the timeless beauty Caroline Munro). Yeah, I've got your attention now, haven't I?  04/27/10 The Stella Star anthology just keeps getting more and more exciting! It's been officially titled 'CURVED SPACE' and have gotten word that not only will director Luigi Cozzi be doing an introduction to the book (as well as possible contributing something else), our little written adventure will be mentioned in the new Dvd/Blueray release of 'StarCrash' in the special features! 05/05/10 The very talented Robin Greenville Evans is on board for the 'CURVED SPACE' adventure and has sent us a sneak peek at what the cover will look like. Check it out, Robin's work is amazing!  06/15/10 'Curved Space' continues to evolve into a huge project! So huge in fact, that I'm just going to make a seperate page instead of upadating this thing constantly. Until that's done, here's a look at some of the swag that'll be available for this monumental project. 1_opt.jpg) _opt.jpg) |
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