R.C. Mulhare's Blog: Notes from a Grocery Clerk With a Too-Big Imagination, page 2
July 28, 2019
Zombie Viruses, Memorials, and Devil Trees Galore…
Just under a week has passed since my last entry, but I’ve had a few developments come about even in that time. First off, a memorial fund has been set up for Cary Daniels, to defray the funeral fees. Please click here to donate and help his family?
Also! My thirty-first tale has gone into publication, this time in Night to Dawn Magazine’s Issue #36.
Read more over here!
Also! My thirty-first tale has gone into publication, this time in Night to Dawn Magazine’s Issue #36.
Read more over here!
July 14, 2019
Farewell to a Dear Editor
This is going to be a tough post to write. I’m still processing something I discovered last week.
Read More Here...
Read More Here...
July 1, 2019
Summertime and the Writing is Busy!
Life has gotten very interesting for me, in the sense of the proverb involving “living in interesting times”. I’m working “summer hours” at the day job (read: less than usual), but while my pay may be shorter than usual, that gives me more time to write and actually finish things. I’ve also had some family excitement of a medical nature: prayers of all kinds appreciated for the healing of this family member.
In the meantime, I’ve had one very excellent public event, namely, the Oddities Market, held at Lowell’s Mill No. 5, a lovely venue with a great little mall and a theatre that shows classic horror movies. I had a wonderful time: the aura of the place is like they took a section of Essex St. in Salem, relocated it to the banks of the Miskatonic River – err, the Merrimack River – and put a roof over it....
Read More Over Here!
In the meantime, I’ve had one very excellent public event, namely, the Oddities Market, held at Lowell’s Mill No. 5, a lovely venue with a great little mall and a theatre that shows classic horror movies. I had a wonderful time: the aura of the place is like they took a section of Essex St. in Salem, relocated it to the banks of the Miskatonic River – err, the Merrimack River – and put a roof over it....
Read More Over Here!
March 11, 2019
At Long Last Words About My Long Silence. Part Two: The Good News
Now that I’ve gotten all that off my chest, I can also say that a lot of the clouds that have hung over me have had some silver linings:
-Macabre Maine, the awesome people who published a story of mine in both their Lovecraft ME, and Bite Me, included my “A Visit From the Yule Cat” in their The Spirits of Yuletide: An Anthology of Ghosts and Lore, in which a Providence celebutante with “connections” has a creepy encounter with a beast from Icelandic lore. It Ithaqua be late in the season for a Christmas tale, but there’s always next Christmas.
-January 31st, I recorded an interview with my writing friend Mark Ryan, who has a writing podcast he calls “Mark’s Musings” https://soundcloud.com/wctvpodcasting... . We chatted about the inspiration behind some of my favorite and best stories, and the things that lead me to take up horror writing. You can listen to it on Over here on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/wctvpodcasting... or watch the video version Here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhBjJ...
-FunDead Publications held their third annual Write Like a Girl event at legend-haunted Salem’s Witch House, benefiting Safe Child Africa http://www.safechildafrica.org/, which offers support and legal assistance to girls and women accused of witchcraft. For the first time, I read my “Handmaid of the Key”, a reworking of “The Dunwich Horror”, from Lavinia Whateley’s viewpoint in which she has a deceptively quiet moment with her weird twins, and which first appeared in Weirdbook #38 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3....
-At long last, my “Yellow Labeled VHS Tape” has appeared in Weirdbook’s Annual Special, for this year has the theme of the Cthulhu Mythos. In it, a young grocery clerk with a fondness for vintage technology stumbles across the titular item, linked to an Internet legend of a mysterious cursed play. You can buy it now at on Kindle
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B... and Hardcopy https://www.amazon.com/Weirdbook-Annu... and even on Kobo
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/weir...
-I mentioned in the entry before this one that I had returned to one of my roots, in fantasy fiction, and in particular, the King Arthur legendarium. As such, I’m currently working off and on at a retelling of the Grail mythos from the point of view of a somewhat minor villain, namely Klingsor, the main antagonist in Wagner’s opera, Parsifal, which I saw at the tender age of fifteen when my lit class covered selections from Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, and which left a profound impression on my mind. Between the chapters of the novel (in which I trace the anti-hero’s start of darkness), I’ve started drafting a related short story, in which the anything but kindly and not always wise wizard acquires an apprentice that he didn’t ask for, and while this apprentice has some talent, he lacks the discipline to handle it well (as long as the humility to learn that discipline). I’m writing and preparing it for consideration with an anthology that a friend pointed me toward, except my brain has decided to lock up at the least opportune time. I have the beginning written and the end written, but my brain has bogged down on the scenes in between. Prayers, kind thoughts, invocations of all kind that my mind finally unbinds could really help, but please don’t feel obligated.
-And last but not least! I will be at FunDead Publications and Die With Your Boots On's second annual Daughters of Darkness Market on March 23rd, 2019, at the Hawthorne Hotel. This year, they've added an author's room, and I will be vending some of my books and offering a few more literary tricks and treats. There's a $5 door fee, with the proceeds going to support HAWC North Shore. I'd hoped to take part in last year's version, and this year, it's shaping into an awesome night of strange delights for sale, a true bazaar of the bizarre.
-Macabre Maine, the awesome people who published a story of mine in both their Lovecraft ME, and Bite Me, included my “A Visit From the Yule Cat” in their The Spirits of Yuletide: An Anthology of Ghosts and Lore, in which a Providence celebutante with “connections” has a creepy encounter with a beast from Icelandic lore. It Ithaqua be late in the season for a Christmas tale, but there’s always next Christmas.
-January 31st, I recorded an interview with my writing friend Mark Ryan, who has a writing podcast he calls “Mark’s Musings” https://soundcloud.com/wctvpodcasting... . We chatted about the inspiration behind some of my favorite and best stories, and the things that lead me to take up horror writing. You can listen to it on Over here on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/wctvpodcasting... or watch the video version Here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhBjJ...
-FunDead Publications held their third annual Write Like a Girl event at legend-haunted Salem’s Witch House, benefiting Safe Child Africa http://www.safechildafrica.org/, which offers support and legal assistance to girls and women accused of witchcraft. For the first time, I read my “Handmaid of the Key”, a reworking of “The Dunwich Horror”, from Lavinia Whateley’s viewpoint in which she has a deceptively quiet moment with her weird twins, and which first appeared in Weirdbook #38 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3....
-At long last, my “Yellow Labeled VHS Tape” has appeared in Weirdbook’s Annual Special, for this year has the theme of the Cthulhu Mythos. In it, a young grocery clerk with a fondness for vintage technology stumbles across the titular item, linked to an Internet legend of a mysterious cursed play. You can buy it now at on Kindle
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B... and Hardcopy https://www.amazon.com/Weirdbook-Annu... and even on Kobo
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/weir...
-I mentioned in the entry before this one that I had returned to one of my roots, in fantasy fiction, and in particular, the King Arthur legendarium. As such, I’m currently working off and on at a retelling of the Grail mythos from the point of view of a somewhat minor villain, namely Klingsor, the main antagonist in Wagner’s opera, Parsifal, which I saw at the tender age of fifteen when my lit class covered selections from Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, and which left a profound impression on my mind. Between the chapters of the novel (in which I trace the anti-hero’s start of darkness), I’ve started drafting a related short story, in which the anything but kindly and not always wise wizard acquires an apprentice that he didn’t ask for, and while this apprentice has some talent, he lacks the discipline to handle it well (as long as the humility to learn that discipline). I’m writing and preparing it for consideration with an anthology that a friend pointed me toward, except my brain has decided to lock up at the least opportune time. I have the beginning written and the end written, but my brain has bogged down on the scenes in between. Prayers, kind thoughts, invocations of all kind that my mind finally unbinds could really help, but please don’t feel obligated.
-And last but not least! I will be at FunDead Publications and Die With Your Boots On's second annual Daughters of Darkness Market on March 23rd, 2019, at the Hawthorne Hotel. This year, they've added an author's room, and I will be vending some of my books and offering a few more literary tricks and treats. There's a $5 door fee, with the proceeds going to support HAWC North Shore. I'd hoped to take part in last year's version, and this year, it's shaping into an awesome night of strange delights for sale, a true bazaar of the bizarre.
At Long Last Words About My Long Silence. Part One: The Bad News
At the risk of stating the obvious, I haven’t updated this blog in several months, as you’ve no doubt noticed. I had every intention of updating, but life has royally messed with my creative process. I’ll explain this at some length, but I’d better warn you, it gets involved. I also need to beg your compassion and patience. I write this from a place of great emotional vulnerability, as a fragile human being in need of a bit more than the usual kind words and kind thoughts.
I won’t elaborate, but I’ve had yet more family trouble and health troubles. This has rattled some of my trust as well as my mental stability, to say nothing of the fact that I tend to put other people’s needs above my own, even when I really should take a step back. This left me in a very emotionally vulnerable state, which gradually got worse.
Secondly, back in December, I had slowed down on writing, simply because my day job (grocery retail, if I haven’t talked about it before) had, as it does every Christmas/December holiday season, gotten too busy for me to juggle it and the writing, or at least writing anything working on anything for publication. In that time, I somehow picked up what I’m calling an anti-fan who stalked me on just about every social media account I have. They even tracked down one of the editors I worked with and accused me of being a plagiarist, since I’ve written fanfiction in the past (and while I’m on it, fanfiction isn’t plagiarism; it’s arguably copyright infringement, though as long as no one’s asking money for the fan-created story in question, it’s not something that can be prosecuted). I found this out when said editor contacted me, asking what was going on, though the editor didn’t believe any of this, as the intruder posted such incoherent things, they suspected none of this came from the healthiest of minds. No one needs this, especially when life threw a bunch of curve balls at one’s head. I’m not going to name this person, even though I know who they are and I’ve seen them attack some of my friends in the horror writing community. I do this not to protect this person, but just in case someone should confront them and start the cycle all over again.
Unfortunately, I have a bad case of what’s sometimes called imposter syndrome or fraud syndrome. Despite knowing that I can write well, that my stories have impressed more then several editors, including for more than one market, my mind and my heart worry that nothing I create can really stand up to scrutiny. My rational mind knows this just isn’t true, but the emotive part of me worries otherwise. I suffered a minor nervous breakdown shortly before Christmas, and I’ve since had to cut back on my hours at the day job, in order to regroup. I’m still not out of the woods. I’ve even decided to take a step back from writing horror, as I don’t have the emotional energy to step into the darkness. I’ve returned to one of my roots in fantasy, and I’m working a new story to submit to a fantasy anthology, but mind is working slower than I’d like. I’ve managed to get a couple of stories submitted to a couple of markets, and I’ve revised a few for some other markets. Even still, I’m working slower than I’d like. Maybe I’m just pushing myself hard, but writing is where and when I feel the most alive. It’s a compulsion, but it’s a compulsion that brings my readers a moment of wonder or shivers, depending on the tale.
All of this has made promoting my stuff extremely difficult. I have a hard time self-promoting anyway, since I’ve been on the receiving end of pushy self-promoters and I dread coming across that That Self-Promoter, to the point that I barely promote my stuff when I need to.
I ask only for your continued patience and support, your kind words, prayers, kind thoughts. I’m slowly coming out of a dark place, and every step I take brings me closer to my usual self.
I won’t belabor this half of the news any longer. My next entry, I promise, will more than balance out this gloom.
I won’t elaborate, but I’ve had yet more family trouble and health troubles. This has rattled some of my trust as well as my mental stability, to say nothing of the fact that I tend to put other people’s needs above my own, even when I really should take a step back. This left me in a very emotionally vulnerable state, which gradually got worse.
Secondly, back in December, I had slowed down on writing, simply because my day job (grocery retail, if I haven’t talked about it before) had, as it does every Christmas/December holiday season, gotten too busy for me to juggle it and the writing, or at least writing anything working on anything for publication. In that time, I somehow picked up what I’m calling an anti-fan who stalked me on just about every social media account I have. They even tracked down one of the editors I worked with and accused me of being a plagiarist, since I’ve written fanfiction in the past (and while I’m on it, fanfiction isn’t plagiarism; it’s arguably copyright infringement, though as long as no one’s asking money for the fan-created story in question, it’s not something that can be prosecuted). I found this out when said editor contacted me, asking what was going on, though the editor didn’t believe any of this, as the intruder posted such incoherent things, they suspected none of this came from the healthiest of minds. No one needs this, especially when life threw a bunch of curve balls at one’s head. I’m not going to name this person, even though I know who they are and I’ve seen them attack some of my friends in the horror writing community. I do this not to protect this person, but just in case someone should confront them and start the cycle all over again.
Unfortunately, I have a bad case of what’s sometimes called imposter syndrome or fraud syndrome. Despite knowing that I can write well, that my stories have impressed more then several editors, including for more than one market, my mind and my heart worry that nothing I create can really stand up to scrutiny. My rational mind knows this just isn’t true, but the emotive part of me worries otherwise. I suffered a minor nervous breakdown shortly before Christmas, and I’ve since had to cut back on my hours at the day job, in order to regroup. I’m still not out of the woods. I’ve even decided to take a step back from writing horror, as I don’t have the emotional energy to step into the darkness. I’ve returned to one of my roots in fantasy, and I’m working a new story to submit to a fantasy anthology, but mind is working slower than I’d like. I’ve managed to get a couple of stories submitted to a couple of markets, and I’ve revised a few for some other markets. Even still, I’m working slower than I’d like. Maybe I’m just pushing myself hard, but writing is where and when I feel the most alive. It’s a compulsion, but it’s a compulsion that brings my readers a moment of wonder or shivers, depending on the tale.
All of this has made promoting my stuff extremely difficult. I have a hard time self-promoting anyway, since I’ve been on the receiving end of pushy self-promoters and I dread coming across that That Self-Promoter, to the point that I barely promote my stuff when I need to.
I ask only for your continued patience and support, your kind words, prayers, kind thoughts. I’m slowly coming out of a dark place, and every step I take brings me closer to my usual self.
I won’t belabor this half of the news any longer. My next entry, I promise, will more than balance out this gloom.
November 3, 2018
A Loaded Trick or Treat Bag of News!
October was a tricky month, between events and some health troubles that I'm not at ease discussing. It even made self-promotion really difficult, hence the lack of updates, even though I had an event later in October. I spent the weekend before Halloween in legend-haunted Salem, MA with my buddies in the New England Horror Writers at the outdoor bazaar... Well, we spent Sunday outdoors in Derby Square as we have the past two years, but that Saturday, a nor'easter blew in, and we nearly cancelled out, til a friend of a friend pulled some strings and got us a spot indoors in the warm, dry Museum Place Mall across from the Peabody-Essex Museum. Predictably, we didn't sell a whole lot, since a lot of people wisely chose to stay home out of the elements. But the next day, everyone who hadn't gone the day before all descended on Salem. I arrived at our booth Sunday, started unpacking my books to put them on our display racks. I literally had one stack of one title out, and had turned around to take another stack of another title out of my bag, when someone called out, "Renee? How much for :: insert title :: Someone wants a copy." I literally had just arrived a minute earlier and made a sale in the very next minute, and it stayed like that the rest of the day. My best one day of book sales ever!
Our tables in a corner at Museum Place! (I got too busy Sunday to take pictures...)
I've had some difficulty writing, due to everything that's gone on this month, but I'm close to completing that weird tale involving some local lore and some eldritch beasties. I sadly had to drop that Lovecraftian apocalypse, since I probably won't have a chance to finish it, given that the holiday crash looms before me (and given the health troubles I had, which made writing this kind of story really draining). Likely, I'll find another similar venue for it, at a less crazy time.
I have, however, made some new sales of stories looking for homes in print:
- The good folks at 18th Wall Productions are putting together an anthology of "Overdue" books, long lost books brought back to light, and I'll be digging up a here-to-fore unknown tome of eldritch lore, "The Book of the Ways", or Ketab-al-Taq, which I first referenced in "The Handmaid of the Key". This time, it stands at the center of my longest short story to date, a story that I'm really looking forward to seeing in print. My apprenticeship in fanfiction has paid off, as this story will take its place in a shared universe created by Jon Black and M.H. Norris, where the paranormal may be a thing and artifacts that make one ask educated questions about history can and do turn up. The release date will go live when the information comes to me, so keep an eye on this space!
- Just (digitally) inked the contract for "The Horror on the Buffet Table", which will be going to press in the Summer 2019 (!) issue of Rogue Planet Press's Lovecraftiana. I've been looking for a good home for this one after circumstances I've discussed elsewhere required me to withdraw it from one market I'd submitted it to. But I stumbled across this one and the classic-era genre fiction vibe about their publication intrigued me. And so I offered this tale of geological discovery and eldritch encounters in the wilds of 1950s Alaska for their consideration, which they accepted. Hopefully I can obtain sale copies to offer at NecronomiCon, 2019 (Yep, I'm already planning the next sojourn to eldritch Providence...).
- Also! I have a Halloween treat for everyone: I've made all my patrons-only tales on my Patreon page free for a few days. You can find out more about this Here on this Facebook post and comment thread After Tuesday, November 7th, these stories will go back to their usual donations-only stat.
Our tables in a corner at Museum Place! (I got too busy Sunday to take pictures...)
I've had some difficulty writing, due to everything that's gone on this month, but I'm close to completing that weird tale involving some local lore and some eldritch beasties. I sadly had to drop that Lovecraftian apocalypse, since I probably won't have a chance to finish it, given that the holiday crash looms before me (and given the health troubles I had, which made writing this kind of story really draining). Likely, I'll find another similar venue for it, at a less crazy time.
I have, however, made some new sales of stories looking for homes in print:
- The good folks at 18th Wall Productions are putting together an anthology of "Overdue" books, long lost books brought back to light, and I'll be digging up a here-to-fore unknown tome of eldritch lore, "The Book of the Ways", or Ketab-al-Taq, which I first referenced in "The Handmaid of the Key". This time, it stands at the center of my longest short story to date, a story that I'm really looking forward to seeing in print. My apprenticeship in fanfiction has paid off, as this story will take its place in a shared universe created by Jon Black and M.H. Norris, where the paranormal may be a thing and artifacts that make one ask educated questions about history can and do turn up. The release date will go live when the information comes to me, so keep an eye on this space!
- Just (digitally) inked the contract for "The Horror on the Buffet Table", which will be going to press in the Summer 2019 (!) issue of Rogue Planet Press's Lovecraftiana. I've been looking for a good home for this one after circumstances I've discussed elsewhere required me to withdraw it from one market I'd submitted it to. But I stumbled across this one and the classic-era genre fiction vibe about their publication intrigued me. And so I offered this tale of geological discovery and eldritch encounters in the wilds of 1950s Alaska for their consideration, which they accepted. Hopefully I can obtain sale copies to offer at NecronomiCon, 2019 (Yep, I'm already planning the next sojourn to eldritch Providence...).
- Also! I have a Halloween treat for everyone: I've made all my patrons-only tales on my Patreon page free for a few days. You can find out more about this Here on this Facebook post and comment thread After Tuesday, November 7th, these stories will go back to their usual donations-only stat.
October 1, 2018
"She's Using a Machete to Cut Through the Red Tape"
Been a while since I updated, and that time has been rather full. Real life has thrown some challenges: the day job got especially crazy, which has infringed a bit on the writing, and my allergies packed up my sinuses so hard I ended up seeing an ear/throat/nose specialist who put me on a couple of different medicines. Now that my airways have cleared up, I can better address myself to my writing, and come bearing a lot of news.
First, and foremost, this Friday, I will be wending my way to eldritch Providence again, joining several folks from the New England Horror Writers for A Night of Horror!at the Books On the Square bookstore. For the first time, I'll read "The Handmaid of the Key", a tale I'm immensely proud of, and which I have the honor of reading in the hometown of the Old Gent whose work inspired it.
On Saturday, October 13th, starting at one o'clock in the afternoon, I'll be at Die With Your Boots On, Salem, Massachusetts's awesome premiere Gothic boo-tique, to sign books with the lovely folks from FunDead Publications. Should be a ghoulishly good time!
Also, I've set to work putting together my first-ever collection of short stories, some already published that have reverted back to me, some never before seen in print, one written with this collection in mind. I'd planned to send this off to a recently opened call for short story collections.
Until I realized one of the stories hadn't quite reverted back to me, due to problems with the contract for the original release, including the fact that the publisher (who will remain nameless, since I don't want to create drama) hadn't sent the contract til after the book went to press. I'm not even sure what legalities come into play with that situation, and so I'd rather play it safe, and so I've shelved the collection for the time being, I'll work on preparing it, a little bit at a time each day till I find another market to send it to. Another open call will present itself, and by then, I'll have this book ready for it.
But in the meantime, I have two stories which went live today:
-"The Ink Eater": My first ever children's story appears in the October issue of Spaceports and Spidersilk. In it, a young girl finds something with a strange appetite lurking in the stacks of her local library. You can order it over Here
-"The Nastiness in the Cold Box": another tale of Herbert West the ReAnimator, in which Lovecraft's mad scientist has to use a very strange means to fend off his latest experiment gone wrong. It now graces the pages of the October edition of Deadman's Tome's free to read magazine, which you can find over Here!
I've also submitted a few things here and there to various markets (admittedly, I've mentally lost track of them, though I have them notated in a small ledger I'd created for this purpose), and I'm still working on three stories to be finished in the next few months, hopefully before the December madness. I'm also penning my first ever article, based on a strange sight that I saw in our yard the summer that I turned twelve, It's something I haven't spoken much about, but I'm ready to open up about it now.
First, and foremost, this Friday, I will be wending my way to eldritch Providence again, joining several folks from the New England Horror Writers for A Night of Horror!at the Books On the Square bookstore. For the first time, I'll read "The Handmaid of the Key", a tale I'm immensely proud of, and which I have the honor of reading in the hometown of the Old Gent whose work inspired it.
On Saturday, October 13th, starting at one o'clock in the afternoon, I'll be at Die With Your Boots On, Salem, Massachusetts's awesome premiere Gothic boo-tique, to sign books with the lovely folks from FunDead Publications. Should be a ghoulishly good time!
Also, I've set to work putting together my first-ever collection of short stories, some already published that have reverted back to me, some never before seen in print, one written with this collection in mind. I'd planned to send this off to a recently opened call for short story collections.
Until I realized one of the stories hadn't quite reverted back to me, due to problems with the contract for the original release, including the fact that the publisher (who will remain nameless, since I don't want to create drama) hadn't sent the contract til after the book went to press. I'm not even sure what legalities come into play with that situation, and so I'd rather play it safe, and so I've shelved the collection for the time being, I'll work on preparing it, a little bit at a time each day till I find another market to send it to. Another open call will present itself, and by then, I'll have this book ready for it.
But in the meantime, I have two stories which went live today:
-"The Ink Eater": My first ever children's story appears in the October issue of Spaceports and Spidersilk. In it, a young girl finds something with a strange appetite lurking in the stacks of her local library. You can order it over Here
-"The Nastiness in the Cold Box": another tale of Herbert West the ReAnimator, in which Lovecraft's mad scientist has to use a very strange means to fend off his latest experiment gone wrong. It now graces the pages of the October edition of Deadman's Tome's free to read magazine, which you can find over Here!
I've also submitted a few things here and there to various markets (admittedly, I've mentally lost track of them, though I have them notated in a small ledger I'd created for this purpose), and I'm still working on three stories to be finished in the next few months, hopefully before the December madness. I'm also penning my first ever article, based on a strange sight that I saw in our yard the summer that I turned twelve, It's something I haven't spoken much about, but I'm ready to open up about it now.
September 11, 2018
Works in Progress Piling Up
My typing spoons are limited these days, which made posting a text blog a bit tricky. So! This time, I rambled to camera about the stuff that I'm working on (when the day job isn't eating me).
Click ye link for ye video ramble-thing
Click ye link for ye video ramble-thing
August 23, 2018
Happy 128th Birthday, H.P. Lovecraft!!
At last an entry from me after last weekend, the 17th through the 19th! I had a busy one but an awesome one, and I'm glad I let my dad talk me into going. Felt good to be back in eldritch Providence in all its weirdness. I reconnected with some friends I've made through the New England Horror Writers ( :: waves to Barry DeJasu, Thomas Broadbent and Matt Bartlett :: ), also made some new friends and new connections, and generally just soaking up some good brain food to feed ye creativity.
And here's a video of me running down my take on all of ye films at ye film festival!
Also, the morning of Monday the 20th, I decided to record a little offering for ye folks in the HPL fandom - and to anyone who's wanted to hear me read some of my work - and to the Old Gentleman from Providence, who has inspired so many people over the years. For a man who passed thinking he was a failure, he has many descendants. In his honor, I present a video recording of me reading "Curiosity Shop", a tale I published in 2015, in which a young HPL stumbles upon a book shop that wasn't in his College Hill neighborhood a few days ago...
"Curiosity Shop"
Also, on the evening of the 20th, I went to the book launch, at the Wilmington Memorial Library, for The Writers Next Door
, a marvelous little anthology by a lovely group of folks. Check it out: it's a great beach read for the upcoming Labor Day weekend here in the States, and great to curl up with wherever you are.
Film Festival Swag!
And the Providence Athenaeunm's bust of probably its most famous patron:
And here's a video of me running down my take on all of ye films at ye film festival!
Also, the morning of Monday the 20th, I decided to record a little offering for ye folks in the HPL fandom - and to anyone who's wanted to hear me read some of my work - and to the Old Gentleman from Providence, who has inspired so many people over the years. For a man who passed thinking he was a failure, he has many descendants. In his honor, I present a video recording of me reading "Curiosity Shop", a tale I published in 2015, in which a young HPL stumbles upon a book shop that wasn't in his College Hill neighborhood a few days ago...
"Curiosity Shop"
Also, on the evening of the 20th, I went to the book launch, at the Wilmington Memorial Library, for The Writers Next Door
, a marvelous little anthology by a lovely group of folks. Check it out: it's a great beach read for the upcoming Labor Day weekend here in the States, and great to curl up with wherever you are.Film Festival Swag!
And the Providence Athenaeunm's bust of probably its most famous patron:
August 9, 2018
An Entry with a Lot of Lists
I'm in the process of making up lists for some up-coming events, so this entry decided to come out as a series of lists.
When lists haven't eaten up my attention I've gotten some writing work accomplished:
- Got a good-sized chunk of work done on "Book of the Ways", finally getting a head of steam for this. I've had some interesting research dives involving antique book appraisal terminology, or What's the difference between a quarto and a folio, and just what is foxing?? I'm also at the point where I'll need to seriously channel the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft and pen some weird verses from the text, ala "That is not dead which can eternal lie...". Hoo boy, this could get weird.
- "Even Reapers Need Some R & R" - My second patrons-only posting on Patreon! In this stand-alone tale, a young lady on a cruise spies a highly unusual guest on board. Hopefully, I can post a piece or two every other week. And I have a plan in mind involving:
- An Alphabet of Weirdness. I'm in the process of making up a list of twenty six weird and spooky words to inspire some flash fics. Maybe this will turn into a small ebook of tales, as a first step toward me putting out a stand-alone collection of my work.
Speaking of publication, I also had some unusual responses to some submits I had made some time ago.
- One story was released from an anthology that had been in limbo for some months, before the editor sadly had to cancel it.
- Another weekly short fiction market I'd sent a piece was closed for a lack of subscribers.
- A third was rejected from the market I'd submitted to, but there may be a place for it in another market in the works. Prayers, positive energy and pleading with the universe, as always, is appreciated, that this anthology thrives and my story shows up in its pages.
Also, mark your calendars! The next few months will be really busy. Besides writing, I will be attending a few book-related shindigs, including but not limited to:
- The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Friday August 17 - Sunday 19 - Accommodations are taken care of and my ticket is bought! And since a lot of the events start up in the afternoons, in the morning, I may be hanging about in the coffee shop in the Omni Providence or the Dunkins behind the Biltmore, doing some writing and open to an informal chitchat with folks. So if you've wended your way to eldritch Providence, feel free to stop by and say hello.
- Book Launch Event: The Writers Next Door Monday August 20 - These lovely friends of mine are launching their first anthology, and I'll be on hand to help them celebrate and sell their books.
- Die With Your Boots On Grand Opening Saturday September 1st - My awesome editor-friend Amber Newberry has opened an elegant Gothic boo-tique, featuring an eclectic selection of Gothic couture along with the line of books from FunDead Publications. I'll be there to help kick things off and maaybe treat myself to a Gothic makeover (not that I haven't already rocked a Corporate Goth or Casual Goth look before...)
- Tewksbury Author Festival: Saturday September 22nd - Details to come in a future entry, but I have dotted the i's and crossed the t's on the Second semi-Annual Tewksbury and Wilmington Author Festival. I had a blast at last year's event and this year should be just as much fun and maybe a bigger blast, as I will have some new titles to offer.
When lists haven't eaten up my attention I've gotten some writing work accomplished:
- Got a good-sized chunk of work done on "Book of the Ways", finally getting a head of steam for this. I've had some interesting research dives involving antique book appraisal terminology, or What's the difference between a quarto and a folio, and just what is foxing?? I'm also at the point where I'll need to seriously channel the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft and pen some weird verses from the text, ala "That is not dead which can eternal lie...". Hoo boy, this could get weird.
- "Even Reapers Need Some R & R" - My second patrons-only posting on Patreon! In this stand-alone tale, a young lady on a cruise spies a highly unusual guest on board. Hopefully, I can post a piece or two every other week. And I have a plan in mind involving:
- An Alphabet of Weirdness. I'm in the process of making up a list of twenty six weird and spooky words to inspire some flash fics. Maybe this will turn into a small ebook of tales, as a first step toward me putting out a stand-alone collection of my work.
Speaking of publication, I also had some unusual responses to some submits I had made some time ago.
- One story was released from an anthology that had been in limbo for some months, before the editor sadly had to cancel it.
- Another weekly short fiction market I'd sent a piece was closed for a lack of subscribers.
- A third was rejected from the market I'd submitted to, but there may be a place for it in another market in the works. Prayers, positive energy and pleading with the universe, as always, is appreciated, that this anthology thrives and my story shows up in its pages.
Also, mark your calendars! The next few months will be really busy. Besides writing, I will be attending a few book-related shindigs, including but not limited to:
- The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Friday August 17 - Sunday 19 - Accommodations are taken care of and my ticket is bought! And since a lot of the events start up in the afternoons, in the morning, I may be hanging about in the coffee shop in the Omni Providence or the Dunkins behind the Biltmore, doing some writing and open to an informal chitchat with folks. So if you've wended your way to eldritch Providence, feel free to stop by and say hello.
- Book Launch Event: The Writers Next Door Monday August 20 - These lovely friends of mine are launching their first anthology, and I'll be on hand to help them celebrate and sell their books.
- Die With Your Boots On Grand Opening Saturday September 1st - My awesome editor-friend Amber Newberry has opened an elegant Gothic boo-tique, featuring an eclectic selection of Gothic couture along with the line of books from FunDead Publications. I'll be there to help kick things off and maaybe treat myself to a Gothic makeover (not that I haven't already rocked a Corporate Goth or Casual Goth look before...)
- Tewksbury Author Festival: Saturday September 22nd - Details to come in a future entry, but I have dotted the i's and crossed the t's on the Second semi-Annual Tewksbury and Wilmington Author Festival. I had a blast at last year's event and this year should be just as much fun and maybe a bigger blast, as I will have some new titles to offer.
