Nicholas Diak's Blog, page 40
October 26, 2016
Blog Catchup - Progress on Projects and other Writings
Good day everyone!
It’s been an incredibly long time since I’ve updated my Goodreads blog. It’s not forgetfulness, business or even laziness (which this post will attest to is quite the opposite), but I simply wanted to keep my Call for Papers for my Neo-Peplum book up as long as possible as my most current post. Since I’ve closed the window for submissions, I feel like I can update this blog again! I have a lot of catchup to do since my last productivity post which was in…. February?!? Cripes!
First things first is that I have ANOTHER Call for papers open! Michele and I are the co-chairs of a brand new academic conference, the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference, which is part of StokerCon! Our first conference will be in April 2017, but the window to submit abstracts closes at the end of December. So all you budding horror academics out there, please take a look at our CFP and consider submitting! The link to it is right here:
http://stokercon2017.horror.org/ann-r...
Secondly, I had my very first short story published! I don’t dabble in fiction much, but the opportunity came up, I gave it a shot, got accepted and got published! Very cool! It’s a story called “Nix’s Night About Town” and it appears in the anthology Kill Those Damn Cats: Cats of Ulthar – Lovecraftian Anthology. As many of yall know, I like to consider myself an aspiring Lovecraft scholar, being part of the HP Lovecast Podcast, so being able to write a story to contribute to the Lovecraft canon was a real honour. So please, check out the book and consider giving it a purchase! Here is the Amazon link to it:
https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Those-Dam...
In terms of smaller writing projects, I have been productive in terms of writing reviews and articles for both Heathen Harvest and Fanbase Press. I invite you to check out my work at these websites and consider supporting them as well!
For Heathen Harvest:
Interview with the synthwave project Red Marker: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/10/16...
Review of the John Murphy Tribute compilation: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/09/18...
Review of Something to Drink 6 by the cabaret-industrial band Division 6: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/06/25...
Review of The Uncanny Valley by the synthwave project Perturbator: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/06/13...
Review of Grave Needs by the neofolk project Time Moth Eye: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/04/27...
Review of From the Ashes by the Dark Pop group Miel Noir: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/03/26...
Review of René Guénon et la tradition primordiale by the industrial project TSIDMZ: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/02/24...
For Fanbase Press:
Review of Ben-Hur (2016): http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/pre...
Review of Stan Drake and Leonard Starr’s Kelly Green – The Complete Collection: http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/blo...
Review of the Lovecraftian anthology Whispers from the Abyss Vol 2: http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/blo...
In regards to the HP Lovecast Podcast, we been plugging away with more sessions. We had technical issues these past two months, but expect to resume in November. Those can always be found at http://www.hplovecast.com
Currently write now, I am working on the introduction to my neo-peplum book, an essay on the TV show Stranger Things, a few book reviews, and possibly another essay on an old Silly Symphonies cartoon. For novel November, I may take a stab at this – but not for a novel, but a short story. I’ve taste the success of writing one short story, I’d like to do it again.
That is is for this time! Appreciate everyone’s support.
It’s been an incredibly long time since I’ve updated my Goodreads blog. It’s not forgetfulness, business or even laziness (which this post will attest to is quite the opposite), but I simply wanted to keep my Call for Papers for my Neo-Peplum book up as long as possible as my most current post. Since I’ve closed the window for submissions, I feel like I can update this blog again! I have a lot of catchup to do since my last productivity post which was in…. February?!? Cripes!
First things first is that I have ANOTHER Call for papers open! Michele and I are the co-chairs of a brand new academic conference, the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference, which is part of StokerCon! Our first conference will be in April 2017, but the window to submit abstracts closes at the end of December. So all you budding horror academics out there, please take a look at our CFP and consider submitting! The link to it is right here:
http://stokercon2017.horror.org/ann-r...
Secondly, I had my very first short story published! I don’t dabble in fiction much, but the opportunity came up, I gave it a shot, got accepted and got published! Very cool! It’s a story called “Nix’s Night About Town” and it appears in the anthology Kill Those Damn Cats: Cats of Ulthar – Lovecraftian Anthology. As many of yall know, I like to consider myself an aspiring Lovecraft scholar, being part of the HP Lovecast Podcast, so being able to write a story to contribute to the Lovecraft canon was a real honour. So please, check out the book and consider giving it a purchase! Here is the Amazon link to it:
https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Those-Dam...
In terms of smaller writing projects, I have been productive in terms of writing reviews and articles for both Heathen Harvest and Fanbase Press. I invite you to check out my work at these websites and consider supporting them as well!
For Heathen Harvest:
Interview with the synthwave project Red Marker: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/10/16...
Review of the John Murphy Tribute compilation: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/09/18...
Review of Something to Drink 6 by the cabaret-industrial band Division 6: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/06/25...
Review of The Uncanny Valley by the synthwave project Perturbator: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/06/13...
Review of Grave Needs by the neofolk project Time Moth Eye: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/04/27...
Review of From the Ashes by the Dark Pop group Miel Noir: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/03/26...
Review of René Guénon et la tradition primordiale by the industrial project TSIDMZ: https://heathenharvest.org/2016/02/24...
For Fanbase Press:
Review of Ben-Hur (2016): http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/pre...
Review of Stan Drake and Leonard Starr’s Kelly Green – The Complete Collection: http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/blo...
Review of the Lovecraftian anthology Whispers from the Abyss Vol 2: http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/blo...
In regards to the HP Lovecast Podcast, we been plugging away with more sessions. We had technical issues these past two months, but expect to resume in November. Those can always be found at http://www.hplovecast.com
Currently write now, I am working on the introduction to my neo-peplum book, an essay on the TV show Stranger Things, a few book reviews, and possibly another essay on an old Silly Symphonies cartoon. For novel November, I may take a stab at this – but not for a novel, but a short story. I’ve taste the success of writing one short story, I’d like to do it again.
That is is for this time! Appreciate everyone’s support.
April 1, 2016
Call for Essays: Neo-peplum Films and Television 1990 to Present
I have a call for abstracts for my new edited anthology - posting here on Goodreads incase some wayward scholar happens by and is intrigued enough to submit.
Introduction
After the success of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator in 2000, the sword-and-sandal genre of films was officially resurrected and has not seen such a prolific output since its heyday in Italy in the late 1950s and 1960s. This second wave of peplum films - or more specifically “neo-peplum” to reflect this distinctive contemporary cycle - has achieved unprecedented critical and commercial success, with big screen films such as 300 to ambitiously realized small screen fare such as Spartacus and Rome. Marginal, critically panned and box office bombs such as Gods of Egypt still make an impact, contributing to the canon of films. With an upcoming remake of Ben-Hur on the horizon, films set in ancient Greek and Roman times, based on their mythologies or featuring gladiatorial combat or large centurion armies, are certainly in demand to theater-goers and Netflix binge watchers.
With such sword-and-sandal films enjoying such popularity, it invites an academic gaze to unearth their cinematic importance beyond simple movie watching consumption. These films and television shows are definitely important: are they a reflection of our times? With our high tech lives, what is the fascination with depictions of the ancient world? With body and gender dialogue more open, what does this say about films that have a strong emphasis on the herculean male or Amazonian female?
This anthology is looking for essays that aim to explore this neo-peplum cycle of films that shares commonality to the original Italian films and Hollywood historic epics. The original peplum cycle of films began with Hercules in 1958, so it is appropriate to say the neo-peplum cycle begins anew with the Hercules character in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys of the 1990s. This anthology seeks to solidify the neo-peplum genre as a distinct term and re-appropriate it to specifically refer to sword-and-sandal films and television shows made after 1990 and evaluate these entries in a variety of interdisciplinary lenses and frameworks.
Potential Essay Topics
A list of possible (but not comprehensive) topics and themes that contributors could submit on:
Anti-Peplum – exploring change in tone from adventure and action to more dramatic and gritty stories
Auteur theory (Timur Bekmambetov and The Arena)
Portrayal of women from vamps and damsels in the original peplum cycle to Xena-inspired characters in the present cycle (Xena, The Arena)
General Masculinity/Femininity portrayal
Compare/contrast original Italian cycle with present cycle
Compare/contrast original stories/characters with remakes (Hercules remakes, Clash of Titans remake)
Close reading at source material and how neo-peplum films interpret them
Neo-peplums as allegory for present day politics
Peplums for young adults (Gods of Egypt)
Neo-peplums combining with other genres – such as sci-fi (John Carter) or disaster film (Pompeii)
Ancient worlds portrayed in “hyper-realistic” fashion
Mono-myth and neo-peplum characters
Pastiche, parody, subversion (Hail, Caesar!, Meet the Spartans)
Representations of race, white-washing
Shakespeare, tragedy (Titus)
Authors are encouraged to submit more than one abstract. If you have multiple great ideas for potential essay chapters, feel free to submit each one. I will assemble the most cohesive arrangement of essays that will provide the most well-rounded discussion of neo-peplum films.
Films and Television Series
Below is a list of potential films and television series post 1990 that could potentially fit into the neo-peplum formula. This list is by no means complete, but it is presented to give examples of the types of films/TV shows that fit within this genre and to inspire creative ideas for the films to write about. Not all neo-peplum films deal directly with ancient Greece or Rome, as some of the aesthetics and styles are being used for Egyptian, Viking and barbarian themed films as well. This list is only a guide; other films and TV shows that are neo-peplum-like will certainly be entertained for this book.
Films
300 (2007), 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), Agora (2009), Alexander (2004), The Arena (2001), Centurion (2010), Clash of the Titans (2010), The Eagle (2011), Gladiator (2000), Gods of Egypt (2016), Hail, Caesar! (2016), Hercules (1997), Hercules (2014), Immortals (2011), John Carter (2012), The Last Legion (2007), Meet the Spartans (2008), Pompeii (2014), Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010), The Scorpion King (2002) and its sequels, Titus (1999), Troy (2004), Wrath of the Titans (2012)
Television Series
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999), Rome (2005-2007), Spartacus (2010–2013), Vikings (2013-present), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001), Young Hercules (1998-1999)
Publication Timetable
Below follows a generous timetable at essay composition, editing and submitting:
June 30, 2016 – Deadline for abstract submissions
July 10, 2016 – Notification of acceptance, distribution of style guide
December 4, 2016 – Chapter drafts are due
April 29, 2017 – Chapter revisions due
May 31, 2017 – Submission of manuscript to the publisher
Drafts and revisions are strongly encouraged to be submitted before the deadlines. The essays will follow Chicago style citations. The style guide when disseminated will round out the essay specifications.
Abstract Submission Instructions
Please submit your abstract(s) of roughly 500 words along with your academic CV/resume and preliminary bibliography to the email address below before June 30th. Please use an appropriate subject line when submitting – have it contain the phrase “neo-peplum submission.” I will confirm each submission via email within 48 hours.
Essayists will receive a contributor’s copy of the book when it is published.
Nicholas Diak, editor
Email: vnvdiak@gmail.com
Website: http://www.neopeplumbook.com
Nicholas Diak is an independent pop culture scholar residing in southern California. He has a strong interest in neofolk and post-industrial music, exploitation cinema, Italian genre films and H.P. Lovecraft. He has contributed to the book James Bond and Popular Culture: Essays on the Influence of the Fictional Superspy (McFarland, 2014) and has an essay appearing in an upcoming anthology on space-horror films. He is a frequent presenter at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Conference, a contributor to the website Heathen Harvest and a member of the H.P. Lovecast Podcast. He is also an academic member of the Horror Writers Association and National Coalition of Independent Scholars.
Introduction
After the success of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator in 2000, the sword-and-sandal genre of films was officially resurrected and has not seen such a prolific output since its heyday in Italy in the late 1950s and 1960s. This second wave of peplum films - or more specifically “neo-peplum” to reflect this distinctive contemporary cycle - has achieved unprecedented critical and commercial success, with big screen films such as 300 to ambitiously realized small screen fare such as Spartacus and Rome. Marginal, critically panned and box office bombs such as Gods of Egypt still make an impact, contributing to the canon of films. With an upcoming remake of Ben-Hur on the horizon, films set in ancient Greek and Roman times, based on their mythologies or featuring gladiatorial combat or large centurion armies, are certainly in demand to theater-goers and Netflix binge watchers.
With such sword-and-sandal films enjoying such popularity, it invites an academic gaze to unearth their cinematic importance beyond simple movie watching consumption. These films and television shows are definitely important: are they a reflection of our times? With our high tech lives, what is the fascination with depictions of the ancient world? With body and gender dialogue more open, what does this say about films that have a strong emphasis on the herculean male or Amazonian female?
This anthology is looking for essays that aim to explore this neo-peplum cycle of films that shares commonality to the original Italian films and Hollywood historic epics. The original peplum cycle of films began with Hercules in 1958, so it is appropriate to say the neo-peplum cycle begins anew with the Hercules character in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys of the 1990s. This anthology seeks to solidify the neo-peplum genre as a distinct term and re-appropriate it to specifically refer to sword-and-sandal films and television shows made after 1990 and evaluate these entries in a variety of interdisciplinary lenses and frameworks.
Potential Essay Topics
A list of possible (but not comprehensive) topics and themes that contributors could submit on:
Anti-Peplum – exploring change in tone from adventure and action to more dramatic and gritty stories
Auteur theory (Timur Bekmambetov and The Arena)
Portrayal of women from vamps and damsels in the original peplum cycle to Xena-inspired characters in the present cycle (Xena, The Arena)
General Masculinity/Femininity portrayal
Compare/contrast original Italian cycle with present cycle
Compare/contrast original stories/characters with remakes (Hercules remakes, Clash of Titans remake)
Close reading at source material and how neo-peplum films interpret them
Neo-peplums as allegory for present day politics
Peplums for young adults (Gods of Egypt)
Neo-peplums combining with other genres – such as sci-fi (John Carter) or disaster film (Pompeii)
Ancient worlds portrayed in “hyper-realistic” fashion
Mono-myth and neo-peplum characters
Pastiche, parody, subversion (Hail, Caesar!, Meet the Spartans)
Representations of race, white-washing
Shakespeare, tragedy (Titus)
Authors are encouraged to submit more than one abstract. If you have multiple great ideas for potential essay chapters, feel free to submit each one. I will assemble the most cohesive arrangement of essays that will provide the most well-rounded discussion of neo-peplum films.
Films and Television Series
Below is a list of potential films and television series post 1990 that could potentially fit into the neo-peplum formula. This list is by no means complete, but it is presented to give examples of the types of films/TV shows that fit within this genre and to inspire creative ideas for the films to write about. Not all neo-peplum films deal directly with ancient Greece or Rome, as some of the aesthetics and styles are being used for Egyptian, Viking and barbarian themed films as well. This list is only a guide; other films and TV shows that are neo-peplum-like will certainly be entertained for this book.
Films
300 (2007), 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), Agora (2009), Alexander (2004), The Arena (2001), Centurion (2010), Clash of the Titans (2010), The Eagle (2011), Gladiator (2000), Gods of Egypt (2016), Hail, Caesar! (2016), Hercules (1997), Hercules (2014), Immortals (2011), John Carter (2012), The Last Legion (2007), Meet the Spartans (2008), Pompeii (2014), Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010), The Scorpion King (2002) and its sequels, Titus (1999), Troy (2004), Wrath of the Titans (2012)
Television Series
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999), Rome (2005-2007), Spartacus (2010–2013), Vikings (2013-present), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001), Young Hercules (1998-1999)
Publication Timetable
Below follows a generous timetable at essay composition, editing and submitting:
June 30, 2016 – Deadline for abstract submissions
July 10, 2016 – Notification of acceptance, distribution of style guide
December 4, 2016 – Chapter drafts are due
April 29, 2017 – Chapter revisions due
May 31, 2017 – Submission of manuscript to the publisher
Drafts and revisions are strongly encouraged to be submitted before the deadlines. The essays will follow Chicago style citations. The style guide when disseminated will round out the essay specifications.
Abstract Submission Instructions
Please submit your abstract(s) of roughly 500 words along with your academic CV/resume and preliminary bibliography to the email address below before June 30th. Please use an appropriate subject line when submitting – have it contain the phrase “neo-peplum submission.” I will confirm each submission via email within 48 hours.
Essayists will receive a contributor’s copy of the book when it is published.
Nicholas Diak, editor
Email: vnvdiak@gmail.com
Website: http://www.neopeplumbook.com
Nicholas Diak is an independent pop culture scholar residing in southern California. He has a strong interest in neofolk and post-industrial music, exploitation cinema, Italian genre films and H.P. Lovecraft. He has contributed to the book James Bond and Popular Culture: Essays on the Influence of the Fictional Superspy (McFarland, 2014) and has an essay appearing in an upcoming anthology on space-horror films. He is a frequent presenter at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Conference, a contributor to the website Heathen Harvest and a member of the H.P. Lovecast Podcast. He is also an academic member of the Horror Writers Association and National Coalition of Independent Scholars.
February 1, 2016
Essay Submitted, Next Adventures
A five month chapter comes to an end.
On Saturday I completed my meteorite-horror essay and submitted it to my editor. The ending word count, including endnotes and footnotes, is 7,057 words – yet I still lack a title. The next steps are of course to await and incorporate edits and hopefully to see print at the end of this year.
I'm still early in my writing career, this will be my second essay published in a book, but having the project more-or-less completed is a huge weight off me. Though the results are not instantly manifest, I still feel like I've accomplished something big, or at least big to me.
There's of course reflection. Five months of research and composition to pen an essay that is barely over 7,000 words in length. With my first essay published back in 2014, this has me thinking that I am not being productive enough with my own writing. Granted, I've attached obligations to writing reviews to the Heathen Harvest publication, but I look at some of my other peers and writer friends who are much more prolific.
So I am not sure how to take it, perhaps something to improve on. As I write more, I will “write more” if that makes sense?
The time has come now to cash in the 2 essay promise to myself. I said once I was in two book, the time would be for me to compose my own. So in the coming months I am going to align myself, get my ducks in a row and submit a proposal to a publisher for a book I have in mind. No details quite yet (though personal acquaintances may know what book I have in mind).
But I shall not stay static, a tiny respite this week before I dive into the next few projects which include:
Composing and submitting an academic review for “The Art of Rube Goldberg” to the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics at Taylor and Francis
Composing a short story about the Cats of Ulthar for a call for stories for an upcoming anthology
Begin preliminary research on an essay for a possible upcoming book on Weird-Westerns. I would be submitting a proposal for “Beast of Hollow Mountain” and “Gwanji.”
Reviews and Interview for Heathen Harvest
Speaking of, I just had a review published there on a vinyl of spoken words of the H.P. Lovecraft short stories “The Hound” and “The Music of Erich Zann.” This review can be read here:
https://heathenharvest.org/2016/01/31/h-p-lovecraft-the-hound-the-music-of-erich-zann/
For fun, I been catching up on my reading, such as Beth Cato's The Clockwork Crown and playing Shovel Knight on the Xbox One. Oh, how eager am I for the new Doom game to come out.
The rest of February looks to be extremely busy: Michele and I got invited to be part of a music video this upcoming weekend, and there is the Long Beach Comic Expo and other obligations as well. However for tonight, I'll afford myself a little bit of laziness.
On Saturday I completed my meteorite-horror essay and submitted it to my editor. The ending word count, including endnotes and footnotes, is 7,057 words – yet I still lack a title. The next steps are of course to await and incorporate edits and hopefully to see print at the end of this year.
I'm still early in my writing career, this will be my second essay published in a book, but having the project more-or-less completed is a huge weight off me. Though the results are not instantly manifest, I still feel like I've accomplished something big, or at least big to me.
There's of course reflection. Five months of research and composition to pen an essay that is barely over 7,000 words in length. With my first essay published back in 2014, this has me thinking that I am not being productive enough with my own writing. Granted, I've attached obligations to writing reviews to the Heathen Harvest publication, but I look at some of my other peers and writer friends who are much more prolific.
So I am not sure how to take it, perhaps something to improve on. As I write more, I will “write more” if that makes sense?
The time has come now to cash in the 2 essay promise to myself. I said once I was in two book, the time would be for me to compose my own. So in the coming months I am going to align myself, get my ducks in a row and submit a proposal to a publisher for a book I have in mind. No details quite yet (though personal acquaintances may know what book I have in mind).
But I shall not stay static, a tiny respite this week before I dive into the next few projects which include:
Composing and submitting an academic review for “The Art of Rube Goldberg” to the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics at Taylor and Francis
Composing a short story about the Cats of Ulthar for a call for stories for an upcoming anthology
Begin preliminary research on an essay for a possible upcoming book on Weird-Westerns. I would be submitting a proposal for “Beast of Hollow Mountain” and “Gwanji.”
Reviews and Interview for Heathen Harvest
Speaking of, I just had a review published there on a vinyl of spoken words of the H.P. Lovecraft short stories “The Hound” and “The Music of Erich Zann.” This review can be read here:
https://heathenharvest.org/2016/01/31/h-p-lovecraft-the-hound-the-music-of-erich-zann/
For fun, I been catching up on my reading, such as Beth Cato's The Clockwork Crown and playing Shovel Knight on the Xbox One. Oh, how eager am I for the new Doom game to come out.
The rest of February looks to be extremely busy: Michele and I got invited to be part of a music video this upcoming weekend, and there is the Long Beach Comic Expo and other obligations as well. However for tonight, I'll afford myself a little bit of laziness.
January 25, 2016
Essay Progress, Next Projects
A little cross-platform blog-style update (to appear in a variety of places)
This is the final week to get the last section of my Meteorite-horror film essay done for Michele’s new book. I’ve a shade over 5,000 words written, and I am in the home stretch! But I am also in the toughest part, were all the theoretical bits come together. It’s been a long essay, but I know it will be amazing.
Projects afterwards:
Reviews for Heathen Harvest (as always)
Book review of The Art of Rube Goldberg for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
Possibly a story about the Cats of Ulthar for an upcoming anthology
Prelimary research on an essay about Weird Westerns
And the big big one….
Submit my own book proposal in
My plan for the longest time has been to get 2 essays done for other journals/books before tackling a book myself. The time is coming very close that I need to step up and do that.
Aside from finishing my essay on meteorite-horror films, yesterday Michele, Jule, Adam and I recorded our 10th podcast episode of H.P. Lovecast, this time about C. Hall Thompson’s short story “The Spawn of the Green Abyss.” It was a lively dialog about a story not talked about much, and of course it can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58RgiqLt5BI
I’ve submitted a review to Heathen Harvest about an upcoming vinyl about with some spoken word tracks of Lovecraft stories, so that should be published soon.
For personal fun stuff, on Saturday Michele and I went to Phat Con – a comic book convention held at Dave and Buster’s and put on by Phat Collectables. I got a Turok comic signed by Rob Liefeld, so that was awesome.
This upcoming February is going to be a crazy month, as Michele and I will be in a music video, going to some awards, going to the Long Beach Comic Con, along with general writing and other fun stuff. Exciting times!
This is the final week to get the last section of my Meteorite-horror film essay done for Michele’s new book. I’ve a shade over 5,000 words written, and I am in the home stretch! But I am also in the toughest part, were all the theoretical bits come together. It’s been a long essay, but I know it will be amazing.
Projects afterwards:
Reviews for Heathen Harvest (as always)
Book review of The Art of Rube Goldberg for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
Possibly a story about the Cats of Ulthar for an upcoming anthology
Prelimary research on an essay about Weird Westerns
And the big big one….
Submit my own book proposal in
My plan for the longest time has been to get 2 essays done for other journals/books before tackling a book myself. The time is coming very close that I need to step up and do that.
Aside from finishing my essay on meteorite-horror films, yesterday Michele, Jule, Adam and I recorded our 10th podcast episode of H.P. Lovecast, this time about C. Hall Thompson’s short story “The Spawn of the Green Abyss.” It was a lively dialog about a story not talked about much, and of course it can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58RgiqLt5BI
I’ve submitted a review to Heathen Harvest about an upcoming vinyl about with some spoken word tracks of Lovecraft stories, so that should be published soon.
For personal fun stuff, on Saturday Michele and I went to Phat Con – a comic book convention held at Dave and Buster’s and put on by Phat Collectables. I got a Turok comic signed by Rob Liefeld, so that was awesome.
This upcoming February is going to be a crazy month, as Michele and I will be in a music video, going to some awards, going to the Long Beach Comic Con, along with general writing and other fun stuff. Exciting times!
December 30, 2015
Zeena Shreck, Journals - final blog of the year
Ave everyone!
Final blog post of the year. I noticed with my last few updates I've forgotten a few news items and accomplishments.
First, this evening a new book review I wrote was published at Heathen Harvest - a review of the zine/book "The Zaum of Zeena" - about Zeena Schreck and her work. While not as meaty as my review of "Troubadours of the Apocalypse" was, I think this was a damn fine review. Have a read here:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/12/31/the-zaum-of-zeena-by-zeena-schreck/
Secondly, I hinted at my 2015 retrospective, but didn't dive into it, but another book review I did was published in a physical journal!
Last year I did a review of the book "Drawn and Dangerous" which was published in the academic journal "The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics" under the Taylor and Francis umbrella. I thought this was a digital only journal - turns out a year later they made a physical issue and I got a copy. Here it is!
So neat! So awesome to be published!
I had another music review published at Heathen Harvest a few weeks ago, "Scenes through the Magic Eye" by Rasplyn. That can be found here:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/12/19/rasplyn-scenes-through-the-magic-eye/
And one last Heathen Harvest update, they just did a 2015 year end review were all the writers got to select their top 3 albums of 2015 and their top album of the last five years. Curious to what I picked? Find out here:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/12/22/heathen-harvests-best-of-2015-best-of-the-quinquennium/
Ok, that's enough Heathen Harvest news.
The other weekend we recorded our newest episode of HP Lovecast in which we talked about "At the Mountains of Madness". Hint - we were disappointed. Have a listen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JicxYmKngH4
On personal writing, I am a little over 3000 words (out of 7,500 give or take) on my meteor-horror essay. The due date is the end of January, but I am having some great momentum on it now.
I didn't read as much as I would've like last year. When the 2016 Goodreads reading challenge goes live, I am going to make sure I take part again, and try to increase what I read. I was bombarded with reading requests from the Horror Writers Association, and I simply could not partake this year - but I am hoping to rectify for next.
I hope everyone have as a safe, but fun New Years!
Final blog post of the year. I noticed with my last few updates I've forgotten a few news items and accomplishments.
First, this evening a new book review I wrote was published at Heathen Harvest - a review of the zine/book "The Zaum of Zeena" - about Zeena Schreck and her work. While not as meaty as my review of "Troubadours of the Apocalypse" was, I think this was a damn fine review. Have a read here:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/12/31/the-zaum-of-zeena-by-zeena-schreck/
Secondly, I hinted at my 2015 retrospective, but didn't dive into it, but another book review I did was published in a physical journal!
Last year I did a review of the book "Drawn and Dangerous" which was published in the academic journal "The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics" under the Taylor and Francis umbrella. I thought this was a digital only journal - turns out a year later they made a physical issue and I got a copy. Here it is!
So neat! So awesome to be published!
I had another music review published at Heathen Harvest a few weeks ago, "Scenes through the Magic Eye" by Rasplyn. That can be found here:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/12/19/rasplyn-scenes-through-the-magic-eye/
And one last Heathen Harvest update, they just did a 2015 year end review were all the writers got to select their top 3 albums of 2015 and their top album of the last five years. Curious to what I picked? Find out here:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/12/22/heathen-harvests-best-of-2015-best-of-the-quinquennium/
Ok, that's enough Heathen Harvest news.
The other weekend we recorded our newest episode of HP Lovecast in which we talked about "At the Mountains of Madness". Hint - we were disappointed. Have a listen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JicxYmKngH4
On personal writing, I am a little over 3000 words (out of 7,500 give or take) on my meteor-horror essay. The due date is the end of January, but I am having some great momentum on it now.
I didn't read as much as I would've like last year. When the 2016 Goodreads reading challenge goes live, I am going to make sure I take part again, and try to increase what I read. I was bombarded with reading requests from the Horror Writers Association, and I simply could not partake this year - but I am hoping to rectify for next.
I hope everyone have as a safe, but fun New Years!
December 18, 2015
Personal Retrospective of 2015
The year 2015 draws near its end, it was a busy year – good and bad. I’d like to do a recap of the year for posterity, and maybe reflect on it or refer back to it as 2016 progresses. So let’s get the bad stuff out of the way to spend more time on the good stuff.
2015 – The Negatives
While 2015 started off decently, the last half of the year was atrocious for yours truly. The biggest travesty was the loss of our cat Caesar who we had the euthanize on the 4th of July. His kidney’s just rapidly failed on him. I was so mad at myself afterwards, reflecting that I could’ve been a better cat-owner-person to Caesar. He was always really clutzy and kind of dumb at times and simply could not stop barfing everywhere; but he was also my homie and the only cat who would come and lay right next to me on the couch. So I miss him a lot.
I wound up going to the hospital/doctor’s office three times this year – this is more than the last ten years COMBINED. Hitting my head on the shower door handle, being sick and other things – it just all happened in rapid succession this autumn. I and my pocket book was not a happy campy. Sure, I have insurance, but I see folks who have some accident befall them and bam! – despite insurance they have dozens of thousands of crippling dept. That scares me to no end.
Our car finally died. Michele had her Camry for 15 years or so and it just finally gave up at Long Beach Comic Con. A month or so later we procured a new car, a cute little FIAT that we call “The Beep Beep”, so it’s awesome to have a modern car that can actually play music and take less gas, but we were also spoiled by not having that car payment each month. Boo!
Lots and lots of layoffs at work. I’ve been lucky so far, but as Edward Norton says in Fight Club, “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” It’s a dour, dark cloud over my head, it weighs on me, but the easy remedy for that is to not give up on job hunting, and see if perhaps another and awesome opportunity shows its head.
Ok, that’s enough bad stuff. Let’s talk awesome things.
2015 – The Awesome Stuff
I didn’t make it into any books this year, but I am working on my next essay about Meteor-Horror Films for Michele’s next book, an anthology about Space horror films. My first draft is due at the end of January 2016, so getting into another book next year is looking way more promising.
I was pleasantly surprised that a review I wrote back in 2014 for The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics was published in a physical version this fall. I had thought the journal was electronic only, so getting a print version and seeing a review I did in a real academic journal was awesome.
I was part of the new Ceremony of Innocence album “Labyrinth of the Mind” – a split album with the band Onyx. I did vocals and lyrics for three songs. Spoken words and lyric writing is not my strong suit, but it is still fun to do and be part of the creative process.
I got mentioned in the thank you notes of the newest TSIDMZ album “Rene Guenon Et La Tradition Primordiale”. I thought this was a big honour, so I am humbled by the mention.
I joined the Horror Writer’s Association in the spring time. This was at the urging of one of my heroes, Robert Cabeen and awesome friend David Lucarelli. It’s awesome to attend a meeting every month and feel motivated to keep plugging along. I am not writing as much as I want to quite yet, but I am definitely on my way and the organization definitely helps.
I became a writer for Heathen Harvest, an online zine or music site devoted to neofolk, metal and other underground forms of music. I’ve had 13 music reviews, 2 interviews, 3 concert reports and one really awesome book review I am the most proud of published there, with more submissions in the works.
I became part of the HP Lovecast Podcast with Adam Crowley, Michele Brittany and Jule Schlag. We meet once a month to discuss a work either by Lovecraft or influenced by him or in his mythos. It’s been awesome to read a story each month and talk with friends too. A nice get together to look forward to each month.
Michele and I celebrated out 10 year anniversary together. We didn’t really do anything, but instead are going to next year take our trip to Vegas and have a wonderful time.
Ate a Chicago style deep dish pizza – oh, you do not know how joyous that was…
Goals for 2016
There’s a lot of stuff I want to try and shoot for in 2016. So let me share some with yall, and maybe yall can help me in my journey.
Re-Animator Re-Edited – I want to take the original HP Lovecraft story of Re-Animator and edit it to get read of the serialized feel of it and instead flow like a cohesive story. Just for fun.
Edit my own anthology – my goal has always been to get essays published in 2 books before tackling my own book. Essay #2 happens next year (meteor-horror), so the time draws close for me to try a book on my own. I am seriously thinking about a neofolk book.
Lose enough weight to dress up really nice and get a nice picture done of me – I would love some awesome pictures of me done in a spyfi style or something. Overall, I would like to try and become more handsome or attractive next year for sure.
Get a fictional piece published in a book – I want to take a serious stab at creative writing at some point next year and submit a piece for publication
All the above goals I think are within reason. I’ll see what I can do!
2015 – The Negatives
While 2015 started off decently, the last half of the year was atrocious for yours truly. The biggest travesty was the loss of our cat Caesar who we had the euthanize on the 4th of July. His kidney’s just rapidly failed on him. I was so mad at myself afterwards, reflecting that I could’ve been a better cat-owner-person to Caesar. He was always really clutzy and kind of dumb at times and simply could not stop barfing everywhere; but he was also my homie and the only cat who would come and lay right next to me on the couch. So I miss him a lot.
I wound up going to the hospital/doctor’s office three times this year – this is more than the last ten years COMBINED. Hitting my head on the shower door handle, being sick and other things – it just all happened in rapid succession this autumn. I and my pocket book was not a happy campy. Sure, I have insurance, but I see folks who have some accident befall them and bam! – despite insurance they have dozens of thousands of crippling dept. That scares me to no end.
Our car finally died. Michele had her Camry for 15 years or so and it just finally gave up at Long Beach Comic Con. A month or so later we procured a new car, a cute little FIAT that we call “The Beep Beep”, so it’s awesome to have a modern car that can actually play music and take less gas, but we were also spoiled by not having that car payment each month. Boo!
Lots and lots of layoffs at work. I’ve been lucky so far, but as Edward Norton says in Fight Club, “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” It’s a dour, dark cloud over my head, it weighs on me, but the easy remedy for that is to not give up on job hunting, and see if perhaps another and awesome opportunity shows its head.
Ok, that’s enough bad stuff. Let’s talk awesome things.
2015 – The Awesome Stuff
I didn’t make it into any books this year, but I am working on my next essay about Meteor-Horror Films for Michele’s next book, an anthology about Space horror films. My first draft is due at the end of January 2016, so getting into another book next year is looking way more promising.
I was pleasantly surprised that a review I wrote back in 2014 for The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics was published in a physical version this fall. I had thought the journal was electronic only, so getting a print version and seeing a review I did in a real academic journal was awesome.
I was part of the new Ceremony of Innocence album “Labyrinth of the Mind” – a split album with the band Onyx. I did vocals and lyrics for three songs. Spoken words and lyric writing is not my strong suit, but it is still fun to do and be part of the creative process.
I got mentioned in the thank you notes of the newest TSIDMZ album “Rene Guenon Et La Tradition Primordiale”. I thought this was a big honour, so I am humbled by the mention.
I joined the Horror Writer’s Association in the spring time. This was at the urging of one of my heroes, Robert Cabeen and awesome friend David Lucarelli. It’s awesome to attend a meeting every month and feel motivated to keep plugging along. I am not writing as much as I want to quite yet, but I am definitely on my way and the organization definitely helps.
I became a writer for Heathen Harvest, an online zine or music site devoted to neofolk, metal and other underground forms of music. I’ve had 13 music reviews, 2 interviews, 3 concert reports and one really awesome book review I am the most proud of published there, with more submissions in the works.
I became part of the HP Lovecast Podcast with Adam Crowley, Michele Brittany and Jule Schlag. We meet once a month to discuss a work either by Lovecraft or influenced by him or in his mythos. It’s been awesome to read a story each month and talk with friends too. A nice get together to look forward to each month.
Michele and I celebrated out 10 year anniversary together. We didn’t really do anything, but instead are going to next year take our trip to Vegas and have a wonderful time.
Ate a Chicago style deep dish pizza – oh, you do not know how joyous that was…
Goals for 2016
There’s a lot of stuff I want to try and shoot for in 2016. So let me share some with yall, and maybe yall can help me in my journey.
Re-Animator Re-Edited – I want to take the original HP Lovecraft story of Re-Animator and edit it to get read of the serialized feel of it and instead flow like a cohesive story. Just for fun.
Edit my own anthology – my goal has always been to get essays published in 2 books before tackling my own book. Essay #2 happens next year (meteor-horror), so the time draws close for me to try a book on my own. I am seriously thinking about a neofolk book.
Lose enough weight to dress up really nice and get a nice picture done of me – I would love some awesome pictures of me done in a spyfi style or something. Overall, I would like to try and become more handsome or attractive next year for sure.
Get a fictional piece published in a book – I want to take a serious stab at creative writing at some point next year and submit a piece for publication
All the above goals I think are within reason. I’ll see what I can do!
November 23, 2015
HP Lovecraft Podcast -Imprisoned with the Pharaohs
Good day everyone!
It’s thanksgiving week, and as is custom everyone should be on youtube watching the Turkey Drop episode of WKRP Cincinnati.
Yesterday Michele, Jule, Adam and I met for our monthly HP Lovecast Podcast. This time we discuss the ghost written story “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs”. An interesting bit of literature in the Lovecraft canon – I am of the belief it was kinda on the generic side. But, yall should have a listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9EEpmMpt3U
On my writing end, I am trying to revise a short story for submission, but it’s a toughie. I am still researching for my meteor-horror essay for Michele’s next book. I got a review to do for Heathen Harvest and my Hackers essay, which is seriously 75% done, for Fanboy comics. Feeling a bit overwhelmed! But I’ll see what I can do.
It’s thanksgiving week, and as is custom everyone should be on youtube watching the Turkey Drop episode of WKRP Cincinnati.
Yesterday Michele, Jule, Adam and I met for our monthly HP Lovecast Podcast. This time we discuss the ghost written story “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs”. An interesting bit of literature in the Lovecraft canon – I am of the belief it was kinda on the generic side. But, yall should have a listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9EEpmMpt3U
On my writing end, I am trying to revise a short story for submission, but it’s a toughie. I am still researching for my meteor-horror essay for Michele’s next book. I got a review to do for Heathen Harvest and my Hackers essay, which is seriously 75% done, for Fanboy comics. Feeling a bit overwhelmed! But I’ll see what I can do.
November 17, 2015
Getting a cold and reviews
I really need to do something more productive with this blog. But I confess, trying to juggle all the different social media platforms get's cumbersome! I used to blog almost everyday on the video game website True Achievements. I don't do that anymore. I see folks with prolific blogs everywhere, but I am not sure that's for me?
Anywho, I've been sick these past 2 weeks. Probably caught a bug from the Comikaze Comicbook con.
I'm back to researching my essay for Michele's space horror book. I'll admit, I wish I was further along than I currently am. I mean, it's not due until the end of January, I had just hoped I would have it done earlier so I could sit on it and edit it better.
I have a new review published at Heathen Harvest:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/11/10/j-orphic-epoch-tsidmz-unsere-weltanschauung/
It's on a 3-way split CD of martial-industrial acts. It more meh than good.
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
Anywho, I've been sick these past 2 weeks. Probably caught a bug from the Comikaze Comicbook con.
I'm back to researching my essay for Michele's space horror book. I'll admit, I wish I was further along than I currently am. I mean, it's not due until the end of January, I had just hoped I would have it done earlier so I could sit on it and edit it better.
I have a new review published at Heathen Harvest:
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/11/10/j-orphic-epoch-tsidmz-unsere-weltanschauung/
It's on a 3-way split CD of martial-industrial acts. It more meh than good.
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
October 25, 2015
HP Lovecast - Film version of Re-Animator
It's been busy this October!
First, finally got a new computer. Prior, I was using a 10 year old iMac and it was barely plugging along. 5 minutes to open Word, web pages not loading. So a nice update and I got a machine that is running amazing. Writing doesn't feel like a chore now, I'm excited to be doing it again.
I've been working on a short story to submit to a HWA anthology. My first draft is done, and I've gotten some edits back from some readers. Some tweakings and I'll submit it this week. Wish me luck!
Earlier this morning, with Adam, Michele and Jule we did our next episode of HP Lovecast. We revisit Herbert West: Reanimator with the film version. A greart dialog had by all. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHIiZ1zrP5I&feature=youtu.be
First, finally got a new computer. Prior, I was using a 10 year old iMac and it was barely plugging along. 5 minutes to open Word, web pages not loading. So a nice update and I got a machine that is running amazing. Writing doesn't feel like a chore now, I'm excited to be doing it again.
I've been working on a short story to submit to a HWA anthology. My first draft is done, and I've gotten some edits back from some readers. Some tweakings and I'll submit it this week. Wish me luck!
Earlier this morning, with Adam, Michele and Jule we did our next episode of HP Lovecast. We revisit Herbert West: Reanimator with the film version. A greart dialog had by all. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHIiZ1zrP5I&feature=youtu.be
October 5, 2015
Death Aesthetic and Blood Wisdom
Good evening everyone!
It's been an odd past few weeks. Car shopping, computer shopping, doing alot of walking (and yet not seeing my stomach reduce in size - what gives?)
Hard at work on many projects:
Hackers essay - still not finished yet :(
Short story to submit to holiday themed horror stories
Meteor horror essay for Michele's next book
And also reviewing for Heathen Harvest.
I have a new concert report published there, this on the band DEAES and The Blood Wisdom that performed locally at the end of August. I hope yall have a read!
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/10/06/live-report-deaes-the-blood-wisdom-in-anaheim/
It's been an odd past few weeks. Car shopping, computer shopping, doing alot of walking (and yet not seeing my stomach reduce in size - what gives?)
Hard at work on many projects:
Hackers essay - still not finished yet :(
Short story to submit to holiday themed horror stories
Meteor horror essay for Michele's next book
And also reviewing for Heathen Harvest.
I have a new concert report published there, this on the band DEAES and The Blood Wisdom that performed locally at the end of August. I hope yall have a read!
http://heathenharvest.org/2015/10/06/live-report-deaes-the-blood-wisdom-in-anaheim/
