Archive for May, 2019
Well, not just a “sheet” but a whole 256 page book, ITTY BITTY WRITING SPACE (see May 14, March 27, et al.), or at least a Word DOCX copy thereof. The challenge: The stragglers are in. What’s attached is the manuscript proof for our book. Here’s your assignment.
Step One: Read your entry carefully (including your listing in the table of contents).
Step Two: Email me here with either an indication that all is well or exact specifications of changes you want. This is emergencies only. Misspellings. Typos. Using your real name 
instead of your pen name. The time for stylistic “improvements” is long past.
Step Three: Read the entries immediately before or after yours, checking for typos and similar errors. If you have the last entry, read the one before and the first. If you have the first entry, read the one after and the last.
Step Four: Include suggested changes in the email.
This is the compendium of “100 Stories by 100 Authors,” each story no more than 1000 words long, edited by Dani J. Caili and Jason Brick and with my story in it a 750-word epic, “The Junkie,” about current day medico-socialogical problems . . . and zombies. And, the challenge further to be getting corrections in by the middle of next week, I made a point of returning mine (just one minor change needed) this evening. Or as co-editor Brick expressed it, [i]f you can get this done by mid next week, that would be amazing. We’re still on track to ship in June, but we’ll have to hustle a wee bit.
The email from John Mannone started off modestly enough. Congratulations! The following has been nominated for the 2019 Dwarf Stars Anthology: Never Trust a Vampiress. The poem, “Never Trust a Vampiress,” had been published in Spring 2018 in STAR*LINE (cf. May 16 2018, et al.), the magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, and John Mannone is the Editor/Curator of the Dwarf stars Award and associated anthology recognizing the best ultra short (1 to 10 lines) speculative poem published the previous year. Unlike similar awards, however, the poets themselves send suggested work to the contest/anthology in the same way that one might offer work to a 
normal publication, and those the editor himself selects become thus the official nominees.
Confused? Well, maybe, but here it runs parallel to the better known Rhysling Competition in that the resulting DWARF STARS ANTHOLOGY is then sent to all SFPA members, whereupon they vote and one of the poems is selected the winner. Though probably not mine, the untrustworthy vampiress of the title preferring to keep a low profile unlife, beneath the attention of vampire hunters. Indeed her poem is just six lines long. Nevertheless, her fur coat around her in case it’s cold, she’ll skulk with the others and we’ll see who wins.
More on DWARF STARS and the competition (and SFPA) can be found here, while the sneaky vampiress can still be discovered in STAR*LINE for last spring, modestly situated on the right and toward the bottom of page 10.
Well, in its category anyway, and according to co-editor Bob Brown of B Cubed Press there’s a sort of funny story about it. In his own words: Alternative Theologies just hit the #1 Best Seller in its category. (Amazon anyway)
This came about when someone raided my booth at MisCon and took about 15 copies.
I kind of wrote it off and posted about it.
That post went a bit viral and sales responded.
The book’s full title is ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGIES: PARABLES FOR A MODERN WORLD and my own part in it is rather modest, a humorous poem called “Tit for Tat” (cf. August 14, August 11, et al.) — and a reprint at that, originally published in GHOSTS: REVENGE (James Ward Kirk Publications, 2015). But there’s lots of other stuff in there with it and reviews I’ve seen are extremely positive so, if you haven’t looked into ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGIES yet yourself, more information can be found by pressing here.
Or to quote from the start of the Amazon blurb: Henry Frederic Amiel stated that “Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.” And while this book explores theology and beliefs, it is written to be kind as well as thoughtful, and at times funny. It will give you belly laughs, but it will also give understanding of the notion of believing. It will remind you that no matter what you believe, we make this journey together.
Just saying. . . .
Or, as one might say, the last “Last Sunday Poetry Reading & Open Mic” of the current season, the series going on summer hiatus for June through August. Presented by the Writers Guild at Bloomington in collusion with The Monroe County Convention Center, there were two featured poets this wonderfully warm end-of-May afternoon: the first, Nancy Chen Long, author of LIGHT INTO BODIES along with a chapbook CLOUDS AS INKBLOTS FOR THE 
WAR PRONE, both of which were available at the reading, read six poems from her latest project, WIDER THAN THE SKY, about memory and the actions of the brain; this then followed by Writers Guild regular Eric Rensberger reading from the most recent “sequence” — a chronological grouping of fifty to sixty poems — from his ongoing internet collection ACCOUNT OF MY DAYS. Then after the snack break a larger than usual group of seven poets offered their work, of which I was sixth with three summer (or at least with summer mentioned in them) poems, “Dust to Dust” about a fire in a cemetery, “Summer Cancellations” concerning seasonal ways to die, and the vampirically-tinged “The Esthete,” the last of which also appears in my own VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE).
Can’t live with it, can’t live without it, once in a universe long ago, far, far away, PayPal used to tell one when one had received money. Or maybe it is that they now considered themselves so important that, why just naturally, people would visit them every day — maybe even each hour! — to see what they’d spent and/or what they’d got. So, silly me, having blogged about Tell-Tale Press’s publication of my novelette “The Bala Worm” (for which, see just below for yesterday’s post), I started to wonder if, having earlier posted on May 14 that payment was due within a week, I 
had in fact been paid. So, what to do? Check PayPal.
So the good news is this: I have not only been paid, but the cash came just a day after the 14th, on May 15, semi-pro to be sure but nevertheless a nice little sum and worth several dinners. Even with cocktails, should I wish to have them. And one more surprise, one more little secret the folk at PayPal were concealing from me — or, rather, were daring me to seek myself — payment had also been received from CURIOUS GALLERY (cf. May 1) for “Appointment in Time” apparently just after I’d sent back the contract, on May first as well!
“Appointment in Time” is a clockpunky New Year’s Eve story originally published in Untreed Reads Publishing’s YEARS END: FOURTEEN TALES OF HOLIDAY HORROR, about how the New Year actually comes forth (not exactly the same as they show on TV), while for “The Bala Worm,” well, you can read it yourself right now for free by just pressing its link in the post just below.
Late May, we will notice, seems to be a bit of a dead time for news of authorial doings, at least for me. I checked last year’s entries and that was the case for 2018 too — movies and similar things could be covered, but subjects concerning the actual writing life, not so much. Today, however, I’m happy to 
announce that “The Bala Worm” is up and free from Tell-Tale Press as part of their, to give it its full title, THE BLOOD TOMES, VOLUME 2: CREATURES, NOVELETTES EDITION (cf. May 15, 14; April 26, et al.). To see for yourself, press here and just start reading (or, if you’ve a yen to see what other titles lie under the TELL-TALE PRESS — HORROR LIBRARY rubric, then click the little left-pointing arrow at the top left of the page). “The Bala Worm” is the recounting of a hunt for a dragon in modern-day Wales, originally published in BLACK DRAGON, WHITE DRAGON (Ricasso Press, 2008) and also reprinted in my collection THE TEARS OF ISIS (for which press its picture in the center column), and is the second of five long tales in the NOVELETTES EDITION.
Also all five novelettes are available on Kindle now for $0.99, for which one may press here, while more selections from Tell-Tale Press in the “CREATURES” universe may be found here.
It’s seventeen movies in all, or at least the characters of the mothers who star as “The Baddest, Raddest Moms of Horror” by Jacob Trussell, et al., on FILMSCHOOLREJECTS.COM, as brought to us courtesy of this week’s THISISHORROR.CO.UK. The films range from THE OTHERS to HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, from CUJO to CHILD’
S PLAY, THE BROOD to BRAINDEAD (a.k.a. DEAD ALIVE), and that last one alone gives this new list some heft. From Mama to mother! to the oft-forgotten Mom, no two horror movie matriarchs are born alike. Some may be cannibalistic like in Bob Balaban’s cult masterpiece PARENTS or classically psycho like Kathleen Turner in John Waters’ SERIAL MOM, but we love them all the same. For this list curated by your very own Boo Crew, Rob Hunter, Meg Shields, Kieran Fisher, Anna Swanson, Chris Coffel, Valerie Ettenhofer, Brad Gullickson and myself are bringing you a selection of not just the baddest but the raddest movie moms that genre cinema has blessed us with. And if we can take this opportunity to remind you: did you remember to call your mother? So we’re a week late for Mothers Day, perhaps, but there’s still time to make it up with a mini film festival of female parents by, yes, pressing here.
movies have stuck with us in the last decade.A xenological invasion. A creature in the pipes. A monster in the dark. A dragon. And childhood toys that are more than they seem.
Five novelettes. Five stories that will force you to get in touch with our undeniable connection to the animal and insect worlds and the monster within . . . for are we really all that different from the monsters that we loathe?
Thus the blurb, the book is entitled THE BLOOD TOMES, VOLUME 2: CREATURES, NOVELETTES EDITION, and to get to the point it’s the one with my story “The Bala Worm” (see jus
t below, May 14, et al.). And the news that just came, the Kindle edition is up for pre-order rather faster than had been expected, on Amazon now, for which press here! As noted above, you get five novelettes for $0.99, 171 pages according to Amazon divided between authors Gordon B. White, me, Mark Pantoja, Jon Gauthier, and Peter Emmett Naughton, my part being the one with the dragon in the above description, though at novelette length of course there’s more. Much more. While for more information from the publisher, Tell-Tale Press, including other CREATURES volumes (horror short stories, fantasy, mystery, . . . ) one can press here.
Or, going back to the Amazon copy, so says the blurb: We challenge you to read these stories, but only if you’re ready to explore the nightmarish creatures within us all.
Two quick bits of news arrived late yesterday and today, the first from Editor Andrea Dawn that payment (ahem!) for my story “The Bala Worm” (cf. April 26, 6) will be coming in less than a week, with the Tell-Tale Press anthology CREATURES on schedule to appear on Kindle on May 23 with stories also available then on the publisher’s website. 
“The Bala Worm,” a novelette of dragon hunting in modern Wales, is itself a reprint, originally published in BLACK DRAGON, WHITE DRAGON (Ricasso Press, 2008) and also appears in my collection THE TEARS OF ISIS.
Then today’s note comes from Editor/Publisher Jason Brick that things had gotten a wee bit behind for ITTY BITTY WRITING SPACE (see March 27, et al.), so to catch up we’re going to . . . skip the step where everybody gets a pdf proof of the copy of their story individually, and roll right on to sending out a pdf proof of the book itself. Which I’m hoping we’ll send out late next week. This is an anthology of 100 stories of 1000 or fewer words apiece, “any genre, any style,” including my original flash piece,”The Junkie,” with publication still expected for June.
jamesdorrwriter 