Saturday 10 December 2011

Night of the Assholes by Kevin L. Donihe

Night of the AssholesNight of the Assholes by Kevin L. Donihe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Night of the Assholes only confirmed something I all ready knew: the world is full of assholes.

Myself included.

It also confirmed that assholery is contagious. If you're an asshole to an asshole in Night of the Assholes, then you become an asshole yourself. I believe that in real life it is the other way around, but this formula works very well for Night of the assholes.

This book reminded me of our own race and how every one of us would probably be like the assholes in this book if we always acted out all the angry, lusty, greedy, inconsiderate thoughts and emotions every time we had them. Sometimes we do, but we also have what I like to call "the editor" in our heads. It makes us choose our battles, the appropriate times to make a pass on the opposite sex, where to defecate, etc. These assholes, however, do whatever it is that enters their minds.

I have met and known assholes who didn't seem to have an internal editor at all, which made this book feel somehow triumphant.

There are a lot of funny parts to this book, and the characters were a lot of fun to follow. The entire book was a fun read, in fact, and I felt that it worked really well as a parody of Night of the Living Dead.

A good, solid read. I highly recommend it.







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Friday 9 December 2011

The Transition

I've been going through a strange time lately. A time of transition. A reminder of the past and a look into the future.

First, the past:
For some reason, I've had a few old friends contact me, or I them, through Facebook. I've had short and brief conversations with each, but all of them have brought on a flood of memory. It reminded me how much I miss my adolescence and my old friends. It was a completely different time back then and I was a completely different person. I feel that back then I was a bit of a drama-queen, while today I am an indifferent, sometimes apathetic asshole.

Of course, I make jokes at myself, but there is a serious change in my personality over the years. Where back then I thrived on emotion, these days I like to have fun more than anything else.

Which leads me to the future:
I've been struggling, in a fun way, to make stories previously published in magazines, e-zines, and anthologies by yours truly into an anthology all my own. A physical anthology along with an eBook anthology. My plan is thus:

First, I will publish each story as a single and then as a collection of three on the Kindle store at Amazon.com. Once I have nine, plus the tax return numbers I need from the IRS, I will publish the entire thing in one single volume. Both, of course, in eBook and physical format. The physical format will only be available with all nine stories, but if you have an Amazon Kindle, you'll be able to get all nine for your device, and probably for much cheaper as singles, triples, or all nine collected.

Apparently, this is a trend.

I will let you know all updates as I know them. I will also let you know if, and when, I will have my short stories available for the Kobo and the Nook.

This look into the future, in itself, is a scary adventure. But I hope to have the first Kindle shorts up sometime next week. Again, I'll let you know, if you're interested.

The past month or so has been a real adventure in reflection, in hopes and fears of the past and future. I'm looking forward to revisiting the past as well as heading face-first into the future. Of course I fear failure on both counts. That, in fact, is my biggest fear of all. But I'm possessed, and I can only hope that the demons possessing me are correct in their own estimations.

Saturday 3 December 2011

Kill Them All

Kill Them All(The Dead Man # 6)Kill Them All by Harry Shannon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My joy for reading Shannon's work led me to Kill Them All, book six of the Dead Man series, and my first dip into the series. It's a novella and can be read in less than a day, unless you read multiple books like I do.

Matt Cahill is a man who was frozen solid for three months before being brought back to life. Now that he is back, he can see that some people have something supernatural, something evil possessing their mind and actions. He is on the hunt for the ever elusive Mr. Dark.

In Kill them All, Cahill rescues a young girl deep crevice within the desert's rock. He is then the praise of the small town from which she comes from. They want to shower Cahill with beer, a free night at the hotel, and food, but he just wants to move on, continue his search.

A team of mercenaries, however, are on his trail. Someone wants to study Matt under the radar, and when the mercenaries find and forcibly take Cahill, his plans are ruined.

What comes next is like reading a fun western set in modern times, with shoot outs and fire. Some of the action near the end, except for maybe one or two things, felt very realistic to me. The characters are also very well drawn and I could picture them all clearly. My favorite was the town itself. A tourist town, it was built and maintained like the downtown district of the old Wild West. I would just love to visit such a town.

What it comes down to is that this is a short, fun ride into a modern western with a supernatural twist. If the rest of the series is this good, then I am a new fan and can't wait to read more.



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Friday 2 December 2011

The Traveling Dildo Salesman by Kevin L. Donihe

The Traveling Dildo SalesmanThe Traveling Dildo Salesman by Kevin L. Donihe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A Fun, Twisted Ride Through a Perverse, Corrupt World.

Ralph is a door to door salesman with a briefcase full of sentient dildos. Stuck in a world corrupt with endless streets and houses, he survives by living off the promise (and hope)that once he has sold all the dildos in his briefcase, he will be able to leave and not have to sell the things. This is Ralph's dream as he rarely gets a break, and the only bus around town won’t let him on board.

What follows is an interesting cast of potential customers, failed getaways, and a giant eye in the sky that always watches Ralph while he tries to succeed in selling all his dildos. Which is something he has to do. There simply is no other way out.

What I liked best about this book is that not only is it really fun and hilarious, but Ralph and his determination to escape, his highs and lows within this journey, was really interesting to read. This sort of makes light of what I felt was the ultimate message, that it doesn’t matter how hard you struggle, you’re stuck where you are in life. Only those who fight hard can find a way out of their mundane, non-special consumerist lives. The deck is stacked against you, just as it is against Ralph, and I think that there is a very real meaning here. An important message about capitalism that people aught to recognize and look at. Study and dwell on.

Attached to this book are four short stories. The first one, Milky Agitation, didn’t really make an impression on me. If you feel the same way, do not let that deter you, because following are three strokes of genius that had me feeling disturbed even though I laughed, or simply whispered, "What the hell?"

Which is the best kind of story.

Get this book. I highly recommend it.









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Saturday 26 November 2011

Wilum H. Pugmire Has Been Hospitalized !

I don't really know Wilum. I might have met him at a few conventions or not, but I do enjoy watching his YouYube videos. I've always enjoyed his thoughts on the horror world and community, his stories and experiences.

I got an e-mail today by Will Hart with some sad news about Wilum. This is what he had to say:

"The Greatest Living Lovecraftian Author - Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire - Has Been Hospitalized with Heart Disease in Seattle!

I just got word today, that 60-year-old Wilum has been admitted to a Seattle area Hospital due to the worsening condition of his heart disease.

It looks like his heart may be in worse shape than anyone imagined; so there is no way to tell how much time he still has left to share with us.

I spoke with him a few minutes ago by phone, and he said I could reveal that he is in the hospital; but he's not sure when (or if) he's going home from there.

He has no computer access in the hospital, but I hope everyone will keep him in their thoughts, prayers, emails, and blogs; and that we will all be aware of just how special a person he is, and how much he has brought to each of our lives.

Will Hart"

My thoughts and well-wishes are with Wilum and his loved ones. I hope you get better soon, Wilum. In honor of him, I've uploaded a favorite of his YouTube videos of mine below.

Friday 4 November 2011

Malice by Griffin Hayes

MaliceMalice by Griffin Hayes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been on a roll lately with my reading. One great book after another has passed through my hands all year, both independent and professional fields of publishing, too. When I decide to do my top ten reads of the year in month or so, it's going to be one of the most difficult lists I've ever had to make since I started recording these things.


One book that might make that list is Malice by Griffin Hayes. I felt a familiarity with the prose and characters almost right away. It reminded me of late summer nights I used to stay up and read the darkness away when I was a lonely teenager. Back then, I would read books from the likes of Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Stephen King. Malice reminds me of them.


Lysander is the new kid in town. Right away he makes more than a few enemies, but he also makes some friends. Which is a good thing, because he's going to need their help. Something is after Lysander, something that is killing other people in town and making it look like suicide.



I don't want to go into too much more plot for fear of ruining things. But, let's just say that there are a few twists and turns and a lot of action along the way that will keep you guessing.


The two main characters interested me a lot, too. Both Lysander and Samantha were both the reason I was reminded of those other authors. Watching them develop and get out of the perilous dangers hunting them was a lot of fun. As this is a YA novel, I think that Hayes will have similar sixteen year old readers, identifying with always being the odd one, the outcast.







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Tuesday 1 November 2011

Halloween 2011

For Halloween this year, Jen and I decided to decorate our dwelling with tombstones and zombies and pumpkins. It's the first time we've done this together; I'm not sure why we never really did so in the past. I think it was partly my fault. When I was a kid, my parents' never decorated for Halloween. So, technically, this was my first time.

Popping my Halloween decorating cherry went very well, too. I was a little nervous about carving the pumpkins. I have memories of trying to do so when I was a kid at school, and the horrifying results. The results of my pumpkin carving present day were pretty horrifying, too, but I'd say they turned out much better than those early, sloppy attempts.

It was fun carving them. Jen and I got ourselves some beer to keep our throats wet, put on some horror movies, and got to the slaughter. Here are some pictures of the end results:

This is my werewolf:


This is Jen's Cthulhu:


I fucked up his teeth, but here's my Jack Skellington face:


And Jen's haunted tree:


And finally, our outdoor display:


Okay, that's it. As you can see, Jen is much more talented at detail than I am. Who knows, maybe I'll choose some more complicated outlines next year. I'm not so sure that that's a good idea, though.

I hope that everyone's Halloween was as fun as mine was.

Coming soon: A review of Malice by Griffin Hayes. Plus some interesting news on my own writing front. I hope you stick around.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

That Which Should Not Be!

That Which Should Not BeThat Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've been reviewing a few indie books lately. So far, they've all gotten four to five stars from me. Am I being easy on these writers, sympathizing with their independent ventures? Hell no. Of all the indie books I've read thus far, none have let me down. I'm sure that there is crap out there, crap meaning unedited writing that should is not, and perhaps never was ready for publishing, of which was the fear for small and/or self-published press before eBooks exploded onto the scene.

The latest one I've read is That Which Should Not Be, by Brett J. Talley. Let me tell you, this book is a brilliant mix of not just the Cthulhu Mythos, but many other myths and legends, religions and cults. While reading, I thought of Talley's book as an onion. You keep peeling back layers and layers of detailed, rich stories that's both fascinating and frightening. Yet the onion is one whole story. Talley obviously has a strong grasp upon the things he writes about, with the Cthulhu Mythos taking center stage, and it was a lot of fun to pick out all the Lovecraftian references, such as a boat named "Kadath".

We start the story with Carter (another reference), who is studying at Miskatonic University, of course. One of his professors has an important job for him. He must travel to an old port town called Anchorhead to retrieve a book called The Witch's Fire. This book, like the Necronomicon, is a dangerous tome, to be handled only by the most experienced of sorcerer. This leads Carter into an adventure where he is told tales of wonder and violent death at the hands of the Wengido, a cult, and an alternate universe on the sea. Each story brings us closer to the main story, and when it all comes together, it's like an explosion of tentacles and black, leathery wings.

If you enjoy the old classics by authors like Lovecraft and Blackwood, you will have no problem sinking into this one. It is, in the end, a terribly fun ride.




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Friday 7 October 2011

The Hungry by Steven W. Booth and Harry Shannon

The HungryThe Hungry by Steven W. Booth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What makes this book a fun read is just that: It’s fun. It’s also full of action. Steve Hockensmith says in the first paragraph of the afterward: “What you hold in your hands is an adrenaline-fueled sprint through an obstacle course of horrors, and if you weren’t totally spent by the time you reached the last page of the story, you have stronger nerves than I.”

I cannot agree more.

I finished reading The Hungry a few days ago or more, but I had to wait to write my opinions of this story. At first I was a little disappointed, because the story is an expanded version of a short story found in Harry Shannon’s marvelous collection “A Host of Shadows”, so it felt like I was reading familiar material. Yet, once we got past the original short story, things blew up.

Literally.

And it never stopped.

The Hungry is like a punch in the face. It’s as though Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead got married and had a baby and named it 28 Days Later. The story, in fact, was one of the most fun zombie stories I have ever read. I do not say this lightly.

Does it Involve a bad ass woman wearing a wedding dress as the cover suggests? Why, yes it does! Not only that, it is very interesting and somewhat comical as to why this woman, the story's protagonist, is wearing a wedding dress, and why she continues to have to wear the thing. Not only is the action jaw-dropping and terribly fun to read, the banter between characters makes this crazy ride even more fun.

This is my third book that I've read by Harry Shannon, and I am quickly becoming a fan. If this book is any indication of Steve Booth’s writing as well, I can’t wait to see what he can do on his own.

So, really, just get this book and read it. If you like fun and fast and action-packed, you will not be disappointed!




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Thursday 15 September 2011

Fleshbags by Gerald Rice

FleshbagsFleshbags by Gerald Rice

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The zombie subgenre has really taken off in the last ten years. Personally, I thought it would have died five years ago, but today it’s still running strong. The zombie is like the vampire. Both creatures are undead, and yet we love them. We love them so much that it might take another ten years before we finally get bored of them, if ever.



Fifteen years ago, zombie literature was scarce. Today it’s everywhere. This brings me to Gerald Rice and his short gem of a novella, Fleshbags. The title of this book itself reeks of the undead, and what Gerald has managed to do with this story is not revolutionize the zombie market so much as help it evolve. His undead creatures are a different beast from your typical zombie, and it is really welcoming.



What I liked most about Fleshbags, however, were the interesting characters that populate the story. Loman is on a mission to get to his daughter from school and save her from the sudden outbreak that makes people strip naked and their stomachs to look like translucent sacks filled rotting organ tissue. Along the way he teams up with a person who wears all leather and a motorcycle helmet, the latter of which he/she never takes off. Ms. Mila is a teacher at Loman’s daughter’s school who hates the children she teaches. Bill and his wife, Sarah, notice that Mr. Anders is home early from work, which he never is, and that there seems to be something wrong with him. When Bill goes over to investigate, he finds much more than a sick man.



I once had a conversation with a friend about how zombies can be used for any metaphor the writer chooses, and Gerald Rice does a marvelous job of doing so in Fleshbags. The story, I thought at least, is about the dark things we store and lock away. Beneath the skin of every individual, there is something darker, perhaps even dangerous, lurking. There’s a secret behind every locked door you pass ignorantly by every day. Not only has Gerald created his own zombie, but he put them in a setting that was easy to believe, amongst humans, everyday people we all know, love and hate.



My biggest criticism is that this is a novella with a large cast. It was difficult at first to remember who was who and what they were doing, but once I caught on, it was one hell of a ride. I also would have liked it if some of the subplots were smoothed out more. But don't let these things deter you from what is very much a fun read. If you like zombies and the zombie subgenre, then I invite you to give Fleshbags a try. Do so, and you just might meet some interesting people.





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Saturday 10 September 2011

Ghosts

I just read a great blog post by James Everington, titled A Drunken Conversation About Ghost Stories.

This post brought back memories of when I was a kid, having conversations with friends about whether or not we believed in ghosts. These kind of conversations happened regularly, and inevitably the ghost stories would come out.

When I got older and began drinking with friends, the ghost stories became more and more animated. Yet, as I get older, the less people want to talk about ghosts. The people I know now either get too spooked about such topics or they are complete atheists.

Which is cool. I'm an agnostic in pretty much all matters regarding the supernatural and spiritual, myself, so I find both atheistic and theistic conversations about ghosts fascinating.

Here is my comment in James's blog post:

"Great post. I love a good ghost story, but I don't think I believe in them. That makes me sound indecisive.

What I mean is, I've seen and experienced some things in my life that I cannot explain. But I know that they could have been hallucinations. If they were not hallucinations, then that doesn't mean that the things I've seen were ghosts. I don't think we can know for sure until science proves it, or more than one person actually talks to a ghost at the same time."

The things I've seen and experienced, as I said above, could have been explained as anything but having seen something supernatural. There was one time, and I didn't mention this one because I wanted to write about it here, when a friend and I were sitting together in the basement of a mutual friend's home. I was on the phone with my girlfriend of the time and there was some music playing softly. The lights were very dim. Someone entered the basement. He was wearing a sweater with brown and white stripes. He sat down on the easy chair next to us, and then faded and disappeared.

As you can imagine, both me and my friend made a strained "ahhhhh!" sound at the same time. This, however, was reassuring; my friend had seen it too. If that wasn't bad enough, the figure came again, doing the exact same thing and eliciting more "ahhhhh!" sounds from us. My girlfriend, still on the phone, kept asking, "What's going on?" but I was too afraid to speak. I hung up on her and me and my friend took off upstairs where everyone else was.

Once we explained what had happened,, we were told by the people who live there that we had just met Bill, their ghost.

Despite having had this experience, I still realize that there might not be any such thing as ghosts. Granted, my friend saw it and reacted to it at the same time as I did, but the lights were so low as to be nearly nonexistent. There was just enough light to see the mans sweater, the white and the brown stripes. His face was lost in shadow.

I cannot explain what it was we saw that night, but I've thought about it a lot since. Ghosts, or things like it, could be anything from mere imprints we leave on space and time, or they could indeed be lost and confused spirits. It's certainly more fun to think of them as the latter, but when it comes down to it, I don't believe in ghosts.

I suspect they might exist, but that's just me. I spend a lot of time sitting on a fence, observing. One thing I do know, though, is that if I was an eccentric millionaire with time on my hands, I'd be a ghost investigator. The Skeptical type, but I'd do it nonetheless!

Saturday 27 August 2011

CLAN by Harry Shannon


This is a short review I wrote for Amazon.com:

I'm a chronic reader. Because of this, it can be difficult to find a book that will knocks my socks off. I was lucky enough to come across Harry Shannon's CLAN recently, and now I must tread barefooted.

All silliness aside, CLAN is a lot of fun to read. Case is an ex detective and recovering alcoholic. His sister is worried about her scumbag husband, who has disappeared. She has asked Case to look for him. Kelly is an assistant to a small movie production company who has just lost her boss's Russian mob money and is now on the run for her life. Both journeys lead these two dynamic characters to the small town of Salt Lick, where bodies have been recently found torn to pieces.

What fascinates me about this book is that the genre crossing is so well done, it all makes perfect sense and is very easy to suspend your disbelief. The characters are also so well-drawn that they feel like real people, and by the end of the novel it feels as though they've become close friends.

I love it when that happens.

Shannon is so good with characterization, in fact, that even the lesser characters get their moment to shine.

What this really comes down to is that if you don't read this book, you're missing out on a great time. I don't rave about books like this very often. As I said, I am a chronic reader. It's difficult to get me excited about a book. So do yourself a favor and lose your socks.

I also recommend his book of short stories A Host of Shadows. This book contains some of the best short fiction I've read in a long time.

Saturday 20 August 2011

H. P. Lovecraft and Thomas Ligotti

Today was H. P. Lovecraft's 121st birthday. Not only that, it was also Thomas Ligotti's Un-birthday, as described by Matt Cardin. For it was on this day in 1970 when Ligotti had a psychic break, realizing that the universe is both meaningless and malicious, and a great artist was borne.

To celebrate this, below is the link to Matt Cardin's brilliant blog post, where he describes the meaning of all this much more eloquently than I can. Enjoy!

Celebrating Lovecraft's birthday and Ligotti's un-birthday.

Friday 19 August 2011

Lamenting Blind Melon

As a teenager, the 90s were my years. They will be the years I will brag to my children about, if I ever have any, annoying them with the stories and books and the music of the decade. As though it’s the only decade that ever existed. Although I don’t think I’ll actually be that bad, I do know that I will always cherish the 1990s. It was the decade I became passionate about books and music. Throughout the years since, I have stuck with the books, always remembering my old favorites, but some of the music has fallen to the wayside. One such band is Blind Melon.

Now, it was easy for me to let Blind Melon go. Their singer, Shannon Hoon, died of a cocaine overdose while on tour in October 1995. I remember that the day I heard the news well, actually. I was a big fan of Blind Melon’s and I heard of the dark news while watching Much Music, Canada’s equivalent to MTV. I didn’t believe it at first. And the fact that nobody else reported it nearly stamped my belief that the singer was still alive, his death nothing but a terrible rumor. I didn’t believe it until surviving band members appeared on Much Music, talking of their experience of losing the singer and their plans for the future.

Finally learning of Shannon Hoon’s death was a massive letdown for me, and for good reason. Anyone who is or has been a fan of the band knows what I’m talking about. Blind Melon wrote music that was infused with passion almost unmatched by any other band. They used many different instruments, infused many different genres, and the singing along the lyrics, in my opinion, was always topnotch. I’ve recently had the chance to check out newer Blind Melon music, their 2008 release “For My Friends”, but I just can’t get into it. Not yet, at least. The music doesn’t have the same “umph” and the lyrics, and therefore the music’s arrangement, seems dry in comparison to Hoon’s.

I am smart enough, and know myself well enough, to know that I might be biased, though. I’ve only recently rediscovered Blind Melon, and I might just need some time to adjust to the newer sound the band has acquired. Some say that it’s a lot like the old stuff. But right now, I just can’t hear it.

All this just brings home the fact that Shannon Hoon’s death pissed me off back in the 90s, and it still does today. The man, along with the band, was highly talented. His death was nothing but a waste. At the same time, however, I am glad to have just reconnected with this band and their great music. And I hope that, in the future, I can forgive and forget enough to enjoy what is new and what ought to be appreciated for what it is. Music. Life. Passion and art. It’s all there. I just have to find it.


Friday 5 August 2011

Divorce and the Black Cat

An interesting thing happened to me this week. On Monday, I learned that I had made the "panic list" for Title Goes Here:, a great new magazine that has published three of my stories. The panic list is for any story that they had planned on publishing getting pulled at the last moment before publication, therefore leaving a gap in their magazine or web edition. Well, this very thing happened to them this week, for whatever reason, and so they sent out the email to their list.

This was the first time that they had to do this, and I was proud to have made that list. I was even more proud to have had them accept the story I sent in: Divorce and the Black Cat, my retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat.

Even better were the words Inanna Gabriel said about me and my story in the web edition's editorial. My work has never received such a kind review publicly before, and so I was, and still am, overjoyed. It feels good just getting an acceptance, but to have your editor compare you to Clive Barker in the editorial makes one's skin tingle.

And to think that I almost shelved Divorce and the Black Cat.

I was writing it for an anthology based off Poe's style, and at first I hated the story. I thought nothing worked and that it had collapsed on me. Then, one night while watching the Masters of Horror episode of The Black Cat, I decided to pull it out and give it another look over. After a few adjustments, I gave it to my first readers. That lead to an interesting conversation on what else could be changed about some of the content. After that, the story, I felt, was good enough to send out.

Only problem was, who would want a retelling of a story? It would be a hard sell, I knew, so I almost shelved it again. When Title Goes Here sent me their panic email, I thought, "What the hell?" The worst they could say is no.

And now it is ready to be read, for free, on their web edition.

I'm proud to have worked with Inanna Gabriel and C. Bryan Brown, editors of Title Goes Here. I highly recommend the magazine, and not just because they've published my work. They put out consistently great issues, both in print and their web editions. And I thank them and my first readers, Jen and Richard, for all the help and encouragement! It's guys like you who offer the rewards of writing fiction other than the self-gratification: that buzz I get when I feel that I've written a well done short story and have trouble believing that I wrote it. Which, in itself, is rare.

Friday 17 June 2011

When Darkness Calls Pt 1

I’ve been reading a lot of interesting fiction lately. About a year ago, I made a commitment to read all the H. P. Lovecraft I could find. Finding it all was easy. You can get the entire short stories and poetry, including some essays, all in one volume for your Amazon Kindle for something like ninety-nine cents. Reading it wasn’t that difficult either. If you’ve never read Lovecraft, or even if you have and loved it, I would highly recommend that you read a short story then go over to The H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast and listen to the corresponding episode. Chris and Chad, who host the show, are both awesome.

But I digress.

H. P. Lovecraft is a fascinating writer of dark fantasy/science fiction/horror. Where I simply admired the man’s work earlier, he has now become a favorite. But I am now learning of even more fascinating authors; writers who are taking horrific and weird fiction in the vein of Lovecraft in entirely new and refreshing directions.

I’m speaking, of course, of Thomas Ligotti.

As an avid reader, I’ve heard of Ligotti’s fiction for years now. His work has even been recommended to me, but for some reason I never got around to it. Such is life. I don’t know how many books I have in my to-be-read mountain, a lot of them from authors I’ve never read before. Thankfully, however, I recently decided to give Ligotti’s Teatro Grottesco a try. It, of course, is brilliant. I somehow knew that it would be, and so I regret not having read this man’s work before this year.

What I like about Ligotti’s work the most is how much it seems to speak to me. Nearly every theme is a topic I have thought of more than once in one way or another. The overall landscape and pure beauty within the stories themselves is almost like opening my ribcage or cracking a hole in my skull and seeing what’s inside. Stories like Purity, The Town Manager, Sideshow and other stories, and The Red Tower were fascinating journeys into nightmares perhaps a little too familiar. Other stories, like My Case for Retributive Action and Our Temporary Supervisor come straight from my life.
These stories are not simply stories. They are art. They are a mirror to any soul with substance. I look forward to reading more from Ligotti, and I can’t recommend him enough.

This isn’t all. There’s a lot more in fiction that I’m finding fascinating. Not all of these writers are Lovecraftian, but they are great. I will post more about these fascinating reads when I have the time. But for now…

Happy reading!

Friday 29 April 2011

Empire Kindergarten

I had a good week since we last spoke. The work week went quickly with the Easter holiday last weekend, and somewhere around Tuesday or Wednesday I got an email from an editor who is interested in a story I had submitted to him. He said he'd be happy to buy it if I made a few changes.

Now, one thing I don't understand is a writer who wants to be published but would say no to such a thing. I write stories for many reasons, some of them are like pieces of my soul, others are for pure fun. Some are both. It doesn't really matter to me. I want people to read my work, and if an editor thinks that he or she can improve it, then so much the better.

Does that make me a sell out? I don't think so. Not if my intention is to sell stories and gain readers.

So, I ended up making the changes the editor requested. I also sent the manuscript out to a few friends for their opinions, making certain that it was as polished as could be. I want this sale to the very marrow of my bones.

If I don't get it, another anthology will come around, I'm sure. A magazine might be interested in it. But I can be certain that I did my best to get this one sold.

Friday 22 April 2011

"Babe Ruth May Have Been a Dick, But Baseball is Still a Beautiful Game" Pt 2

So, Jenn and I went to the Blue Jays game. It went into extra innings at four runs a piece for both Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. Finally, at the bottom of the 11th inning, when things looked bleakest, Rivera ( I think his name is) hit a ground ball base hit. Then John McDonald hit a home run, winning the game.

It was an awesome game, all told. And I'm glad that it's just the beginning of the season. I wish it were this easy to go see the Leafs play.

Until next time, play nice!

Babe Ruth May Have Been a Dick, But Baseball is Still a Beautiful Game.

Why, you might ask, did I set up a Blogger account? If you know me, I have a blog at Livejournal, MySpace, and even one on my own website. I'm everywhere, yet nowhere. I created one here because there's a lot of people whom I know, either from the Internet or in real life, who blog here. So why not? I also like Blogger's format better. It just seems so much more simple. And more appealing to the eye, in my opinion.

Tomorrow, Jen, my long time girlfriend, and I are going to the Blue Jays game in Toronto. So, I shall post a few things after that, when I'm back at home, relaxing, watching a few horror movies.

If you don't know me and stumbled here accidentally, then I welcome you. I write short fiction of the...horrific/weird type. Everyone who's interested is more than welcome to visit my website:

Jason White Fiction

If I like it here, I think I may move all blogs to this one. No sense in having a hundred accounts at a hundred different places.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to talk to you again soon.