Allison M. Dickson's Blog, page 4

"John Dillinger and the Blind Magician" is Now in Apex Magazine!

Lookie here!

Guys, I'm super proud of this one.



Last year, I decided it was time to start placing at least some of my stories into decent paying markets again. I had abandoned submitting in favor of e-publishing my short work, but I decided it was time to give myself a gut check and see if my work had evolved enough in the last couple years to become enticing to professional markets. Particularly the stories of mine that have a more definitive genre and a suitable enough word length.



Only problem is it's hard to find homes for a lot of my short work. Either it's not speculative enough for spec fic publications, or it's too speculative for more mainstream or literary ones. And since my typical short story length is around 8,000 words, they're often too long for a lot of publications that pay by the word. So in most cases, it's just easier for me to release it myself and grow my indie backlist. But a few of my stories fit the bill, so why not give it a go?



Apex Magazine has been at the top of my submissions list for years, alongside Fantasy & Science Fiction and Clarkesworld. The good people at Apex have read several of my stories over the years and rejected them more or less handily every single time. I had an almost with "Singularity," but it just didn't quite make the cut.



So it was with very low expectations I submitted my historical fantasy mash-up, "John Dillinger and the Blind Magician." It had just received its second rejection from two very good markets, but those rejections were actually near misses and very helpful ones, where both editors gave the same reason for why they turned it down. After making the decision to ax that particular darling, I submitted it to Apex, and a week later I received a response I was almost certain would begin with, "Thank you for submitting your story, however after careful consideration . . ."



Instead it read, "Thank you for submitting your story. I would like to purchase it for an upcoming issue."



Wait . . . WHAT?



Now feel free to have a gander at the story! It's up on the Apex website as one of their free reads, but I also highly recommend checking out the rest of their offerings. It's an honor have my name associated with such great talent!



Additionally, in February, you can look for my story "Nectar" in the GRIMM MISTRESSES anthology from the great people at Ragnarok Publications. I get to appear next to three other wonderful female authors, and I was so honored to be invited to submit something for this. We were asked to do a contemporary horror spin on a classic fairy tale. I chose Hansel & Gretel, because it already has a hell of a horror story built into it. I'm looking forward to people getting their hands on this one! Information on ordering and the official release date will be forthcoming. So here's to a great start to 2015 and MOAR SHORT STORIES! I'm about to make another submission to another publication, so fingers crossed.

2014 in Pictures, Bullet Points, and Snark

Like any year, this one was marked by various highs and lows. But rather than wax poetic about it in paragraph form, I figured I would cater to the Buzzfeed generation by briefly summarizing each month of 2014 with relevant pictures, bullet-points, and whatever news headlines or viral sensations stood out that month -- most of which I gleaned from my Facebook feed. I guess Zuckerberg's soul-hole can be handy at times.





Ready?? Here goes!






January







It got THIS cold






And then it got hot



Polar. Fucking. Vortex.
I finish a short story, "Daddy's Glasses."
I begin work on my novel KUDZU.
TRUE DETECTIVE becomes a thing, and it is a good thing.
Jaime Hobbes, Justin Wasson, and I begin the Doctor Who Project.
Hilarious news headline: Police Find Entire Jewelry Store in Teen's Rectum.






February





Most delicious show ever



ACHIEVEMENT EARNED




STRINGS has a great month via a BookBub promotion.
I briefly join the only other female author (V.C. Andrews) in the Top 20 horror authors on Amazon.
R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman -- you are so incredibly missed.
I discover another TV obsession: HANNIBAL.
I leave Facebook for four weeks. Get lots of shit done.





March



The cupcakes are not a lie



Colt Coltrane takes a dive



Read this collection. Now.



My baby boy turns eleven and my mom makes him Portal cupcakes.
I sell my short story "John Dillinger and the Blind Magician" to Apex Magazine.
Acute bronchitis! Yay!
This amazing lip sync battle between Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd happens.
An airplane full of people just POOF disappears (and is still missing). Sigh.
I fall in love with COSMOS, hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
I write a new Colt Coltrane short story, "Colt Coltrane and the Harrowing Heights of Hollywoodland," based off a poster Justin Wasson created for the Gem City Comic Con.
I discover probably my favorite read of 2014 (though it was published well before that): 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill.
My story "Daddy's Glasses" is officially published in the WRAPPED IN WHITE anthology.





April



Does this really need an explanation?




My First Convention!



Visual storytelling is fun



Gem City Comic Con! My first convention, sharing a table with my good friend and Colt Coltrane illustrator Justin Wasson, is a huge success.
I have a table at Comic Book Studio Day at the Rosewod Arts Centre, which leads to the collaboration between Justin and me on the Free Comic Book Day comic, Colt Coltrane and the Case for Comic Books.
We all receive a wonderful reprieve from the horrendous winter weather. Until it snows again mid-month.
Gary Busey becomes the spokesperson for the Amazon Fire TV device and makes one of the greatest commercials of all time.





May




My daughter creeps me out.



Middle school, AHOY!




A new spot of sunshine. With claws.



We welcome a pretty little stray, Juno aka Ginger Beast II aka Princess Fluffy Butt, into our lives. She makes it even more awesome.
Natalie invents a creepy D-face meme.
I finish the first draft of my dark suspense novel KUDZU.
My baby boy graduates fifth grade.
R.I.P. Maya Angelou.
I discover the amazing FX mini-series sensation known as FARGO.
I get copies of STRINGS into a U.S. Army library out in California.
Success at two great shows, Free Comic Book Day at Maverick's Comics and Cards, and Jim and Dan's Toy & Comic Show with Justin Wasson.





June



The start of a beautiful new relationship



Queried several agents with KUDZU. Got an offer within three weeks. And not just any agent -- the agent of one of my literary heroines, Gillian Flynn! I think other things happened this month, but this is the only thing I can remember, and that's perfectly okay with me.





July



My husband decides to scare me to death



Absurdity.




The end of an era




CREATIVE COMMONERS, the podcast I hosted with Chris Armstrong and Corey Bishop, airs its final episode.
I release CONSUMPTION: A TRILOGY OF OBSESSION.
My long-running short story, "Dust," is re-released as a revised and expanded edition
Ken stands up and faints dead away. Terror and an ambulance ride ensues. But he ends up being totally okay.
Another Malaysian Airlines disaster happens, this time over Ukraine. :( 
A mysterious crater appears in Siberia.
Amazon unleashes Kindle Unlimited, and it has a voracious appetite for author earnings.
I start work on a new novel called A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE.
Weird Al releases new album. It's awesome.
Potato salad sort of breaks Kickstarter.





August


I fall in love with another Doctor



Teenage wasteland



Cooler heads prevailed



My baby girl turns thirteen.
I celebrate 14 years of marriage to my wonderful husband.
Peter Capaldi and his attack eyebrows debut on Doctor Who
The ALS Ice Bucket challenge raises a ton of cash and even more cynicism.
My friend Scott Bachmann and I share a table at the Yellow Springs Book Fair, where the very first print copies of THE LAST SUPPER are sold.
I finally read the HUNGER GAMES trilogy. Not bad, not bad.
Guardians of the Galaxy, y'all!
R.I.P. Robin Williams. :*(
Elias begins his first year of middle school at the Dayton Regional STEM School.





September





Don't panic



The first LAST SUPPER illustration



Applefreude



Ken celebrates his 42nd birthday with a Hitchhiker's Guide print I commissioned from Justin Wasson.
The world of THE LAST SUPPER comes to life via illustrations.
iPhone 6 is bendy. Hilarious memes ensue.
U2 ruins everyone's lives with a free new album.
I complete work on a novella called "Nectar" for the GRIMM MISTRESSES anthology.
Scotland says it can't quit the U.K.
Borderlands Pre-Sequel. BECAUSE REASONS!
Jim Terr options my Consumption Trilogy for film.
R.I.P. Joan Rivers.





October




Mom and Daughter, taking over the world




MASS HYSTERIA



Happy Anniversary



Ebola madness reaches a fever pitch.
STRINGS celebrates one year, over 26,000 copies downloaded or sold, passes 100 reviews
I turn 35
The author collective, DeadPixel Publications, invites me to join, and I eagerly accept
The WRAPPED IN BLACK anthology is released, containing my story "Number One Angel"
I release a new short story, "Tumble."
Two more shows, the Champion City Comic Con and SuburbiCon happen on back-to-back weekends.
Natalie sells her first pieces of artwork at SuburbiCon.
The tradition of Frappe Friday, where the kids and I visit a local coffee shop every week, begins.
I corrupted local youths at a neighborhood high school.  Some of them appear to want to be writers. Sorry, parents.





November





They like me! They really like me!



This new version of a mythical plasma light sword wielded by telekinetic space monks is deemed "impractical."



THE LAST SUPPER receives a starred review in Publishers Weekly!
Teaser trailer for STAR WARS VII teases some people into a stupor.
Plot twist: Italian Thanksgiving, featuring osso bucco and risotto.
Reads REVIVAL by Stephen King. Loves it.
Trailer for THE LAST SUPPER is released.
60% of America decides to sleep through and not vote on Election Day, gets the government it deserves.
Ernie from Sesame Street gets a colonoscopy.
Humans land on a COMET, y'all!
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian allegedly breaks the internet. With her ass.
INTERSTELLAR winds up being every bit as awesome as I'd hoped it would be.
I begin on COLT COLTRANE AND THE STOLEN SKY.





December



Congratulations! It's a book!



Sony gets really stupid



A new family member



At long last, THE LAST SUPPER is released into the world!
Something about a massive Sony hack, North Korea, and a stupid movie that ultimately shouldn't have mattered, but did anyway, because the world is fucking insane.
Christmas is glorious. A brand new telescope. A PlayStation 4. A Doctor Who Christmas tree.
Kidney infection! Hooray!
I read BIRD BOX by Josh Malerman. Awesome book.
I play an Atari 2600 for the first time in thirty years. Just as good at it now as I was at age 5.
I accept an offer to teach a writing workshop in January for a local arts center.
Another disappeared airplane out of Asia. :( 
I get to play test an early version of a friend's new board game. Lots of great quality friend and family time to close out the year.
Stephen Colbert ends his long-running, much loved COLBERT REPORT to prep for his debut in David Letterman's stead on The Late Show. America mourns.
BONUS: It appears we may yet get out of this year relatively unscathed.


That just about wraps up this year's highlights. There were a lot of things I undoubtedly missed, but the year was long, and time stretches ever onward. 2015 is looking very promising. Apex will be publishing "John Dillinger and the Blind Magician" in January's issue. I'll be teaching that workshop. "Nectar" via GRIMM MISTRESSES should be out in February. COLT COLTRANE AND THE STOLEN SKY should be out by March. My agent intends to sell my book KUDZU in Q1, and I have two conventions planned in January and March, with more undoubtedly to follow. I also hope to see a STRINGS sequel enter the world, as well as a number of other works.



So if your seatbelt was already buckled, might as well keep it that way. The ride continues, and I anticipate a lot more fun bumps and curves ahead. TO 2015 AND BEYOND!

An Open Letter to Artists

Dear Artists of the World,




Remember to play it safe. It's your responsibility. You're risking people's lives, and isn't that just selfish?




Your medium should never be used to offend anybody or challenge the status quo or upset any particular apple cart. Mocking someone in our brave new world is dangerous, after all. They could hack your computer systems or call in a terrorist threat if you don't suppress yourself. You don't want that, do you?




And if someone gets hurt because you didn't do what they said, why, it'll be YOUR fault for "going there" when you could have just as easily changed a name in your story, or better yet kept your mouth shut. Besides, maybe you just need to make "better art." You know, the sort of thing 100% of people find tasteful and wonderful. Yeah, I wasn't aware such art existed in this world, but apparently there is, because this one person on the internet said all you have to do is make art their way, and everyone will be happy. I don't know where they get their info, but I'm ready to believe them, because for a few minutes with this whole situation with THE INTERVIEW I got a little uncomfortable, and I just hate that feeling.



As for the people who might enjoy your iconoclastic wares, who gives a shit? They're part of the problem too.




We certainly couldn't blame any attackers for the atrocities they chose to commit because they're a bunch of humorless cowards, just like we certainly couldn't blame a rapist for raping when they saw that nice young girl wearing that short skirt. She should have worn pants and a turtleneck, and you should just put tape over your mouth and write about majestic horses.




See? Doesn't that make everyone happy? Just conform, for fuck's sake. Be proper! We have a civilization to run here, and it's really hard to do that if we don't all act civil! 




Besides, what do you really sacrifice if you cow to the demands of the craven lunatics of the world? Oh sure, they might "win," but isn't your safety and well-being worth your pride and your freedom of expression and a healthy cultural discourse? Your whole world might be reduced to the color taupe, but you'll be taking air into your lungs and breathing it back out again, and if that it isn't the definition of living, I don't know what is. Why stand up for those things when you could be going about your day to day lives, buying things you don't need, never feeling your pulse spike above seventy, and having parts of your brain shuttered off for good?




I don't know about you, but I think we would all get along better if we just kept our heads down and did what those people wanted. No one "needs" art anyway. Especially the "shitty" kind. And how do I know it's shitty? Well, because I said it was, and the yardstick by which I judge something's cultural value is good enough for everyone else. If you don't see it my way, you're clearly an idiot.




Of course, next time, if the crazy people threaten something I actually like, I might change my mind on all this. Because the movies, books, paintings, and other pieces of art I deem worthy of fighting for really ARE worthy.



In closing, artists, when you sit down to your canvases or computer screens today, ask yourself first: whom might this offend? And if someone slightly dangerous pops up on that list, just close your mouth, shut your eyes, and let that person win. Maybe that will empower them further and encourage them to extend their reach beyond silly comedy movies and into things like foreign policy, energy and financial stuff, or social engineering shit, but meh? Who cares? Having our lives controlled and altered by a proxy dictator because of the remote possibility they might harm us if we don't obey is something I've always wanted to try on for size. But at the very least, if you remain quiet and docile, you won't be inconveniencing the rest of us. If you're having trouble with that, try this on:












There. It's really that simple.

Scenes from The Last Supper -- Part 8: Darkness in the Light

In this eight-part series, I will be discussing the world and the characters of my upcoming book, THE LAST SUPPER, due out on 12/13/14. Original artwork by Justin Wasson. Pre-orderpaperbacks and Kindle now! Also don't forget to join the GoodReads Giveaway going on now through 12/21/14!







What we've come to


We've made it to the end of the series, and less than a day until the premier of the book. The inside of my head feels a lot like the crazy guy you see in the picture above, and apart from the Heretics picture, it's actually my favorite illustration of the lot.



While I won't describe the scene in detail, I can discuss certain elements of it. Like, for instance, what is that light? THE LAST SUPPER throws a lot of vocabulary at people, enough that by the time the planned trilogy is completed, we might need a small compendium to keep track of it all. But one of those things involves the bright lights.



When I started adding the more fantastical/mystical elements to this story, I was particularly interested in seeking out prevailing thoughts and theories on the idea of essential life forces. You know, without going full Lucas. My research brought me to Élan vital, which French philsopher Henri Bergson described in 1907 as the "vital impetus." According to Wikipedia: "It is a hypothetical explanation for evolution and development of organisms, which Bergson linked closely with consciousness - with the intuitive perception of experience and the flow of inner time."



Naturally, this seemed like a great fit for what I was going for. No, it isn't scientific by a long shot, but that's also why I caution at calling this story strictly science fiction. It's a mixed bag, and the element of the vital impetus has a lot to do with that.



A second element I want to discuss is a place in the book called a Sin Bin.



So imagine you live in a world where you have to test yearly to prove your usefulness to society, but let's say you had a bad year, that you're pretty well off and you realize you're not going to pass Justification. Imagine you had the opportunity to not take the test, but trade in all your chits toward a trip to a Sin Bin, a place where you can live out one final year of your life in complete debauchery? Drinking, drugs, sex, pure gluttony -- the whole nine. And that these places were owned and run by the Divine Rite, so of course they have a vested interest in keeping places like this going.



I guess you could say it's my version of a seedy underbelly in this world. Because even an iron-fisted theocratic citizen-murdering-under-the-guise-of-piety regime should have a seedy underbelly, and in the Supperverse, the Sin Bins are it.



And besides, who wouldn't want a look inside a place jam packed with people whose lives have firm expiration dates, and who have all the chemicals and flesh at their disposal to enjoy those days to the absolute fullest? Depending, of course, on you would define "enjoy" and "fullest."



Would you take a trip to a Sin Bin or would you rather die quietly? I look forward to your answers.



Thank you for joining me on this eight-part journey into the world of The Last Supper! I hope I have given you enough tidbits to whet your appetites for more. Visit the official page here and click on the link that will take you to your preferred store! Or watch the trailer, join the GoodReads giveaway, or read up on all the other Scenes you might have missed!

Scenes from The Last Supper -- Part 7: The Land of Madness

In this eight-part series, I will be discussing the world and the characters of my upcoming book, THE LAST SUPPER, due out on 12/13/14. Original artwork by Justin Wasson. Pre-orderpaperbacks and Kindle now! Also don't forget to join the GoodReads Giveaway going on now through 12/21/14!







Sometimes you can't tell if the screams are coming from inside your own head.


We're nearing the end of our little series, folks. We're also nearing the point of book where I eventually left it for three years.



It was almost symbolic. John and Genevieve reached a mist-filled ravine, and though I knew the horror lying within it . . .

I looked back to see a thick, green vine wrapped around her ankle. Blood was already welling up as it dug into her skin. I pulled her again, but she screamed even louder, the opposing forces threatening to rip her to pieces. Already, I could feel her shoulder dislocating, and my shoes losing grip on the sloped chunk of concrete.

. . .I could not guess what was waiting on the other side. Thankfully, when I went back to the story in 2012, the answer was staring me in the face, and I wondered why I hadn't thought of it in the first place. Sometimes we over-think things. Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees, or in this case the path for the weeds.


Another huge thanks to Justin Wasson for envisioning this particular illustration, which is an amalgamation of John's struggles both with the land and himself. It will make a lot more sense when you read the book, and I hope you do.



Only one more Scene left! In the meantime, if you haven't already, catch up with the others. Or order yourself a copy and let me know what you think!

Scenes from The Last Supper -- Part 6: The Heretics

In this eight-part series, I will be discussing the world and the characters of my upcoming book, THE LAST SUPPER, due out on 12/13/14. Original artwork by Justin Wasson. Pre-orderpaperbacks and Kindle now! Also don't forget to join the GoodReads Giveaway going on now through 12/21/14!







Enough said. For now.






I'm not going to spoil this moment, but I know folks have questions. What are the Heretics? What does this scene mean? What exactly is happening to that person?



Well, I'm not going to describe it beyond what the picture shows you, and I'm not going to even going to provide an excerpt from the book this time, because doing so would wreck the moment of reading it fresh. And now that we're nearing the end of the SfTLS series, we'll be featuring more such moments I don't want to spoil. I don't want to be like one of those movies trailers that reveals the entire movie and leaves you wondering why you should bother with the rest, but I'm all for a few images that tease your curiosity.



Besides, I got you through the portion of the book described in the blurb: John loses his wife to the unfair population control system of a theocratic regime that came to power in the aftermath of a societal blight caused by a voracious super weed. He begins to rebel against the powers that be, and eventually has to escape.



And then, as evidenced by the above picture, things really get weird.



But maybe you're coming to this series after you've read the book, and you know all about Heretics and Sentinels, and the Cradles, and Sin the Bins, and all the other elements that make up this crazy world. I'm more than willing to discuss this scene and all the others in the comments section, so fire away! Spoiler haters, consider yourself warned!



But without revealing what this scene is, I'll instead talk briefly about what writing it was like.



To me, it's probably the most iconic moment of the book. Other than the opening, when we meet John and see the poisoned Supper laid out before him, this part is where I felt like I was dealing with something live and powerful. Over the years, when I would think about this book called The Last Supper that I started as a rookie writer, but never finished, this was this scene my mind always returned to, and when I commissioned Justin Wasson to do artwork you've been enjoying through this whole series, this was the moment I absolutely had to have him capture. And he did so beautifully.



In fact, having your work illustrated this way is brilliant, because this was Justin's take on it after he read the story. It doesn't match line for line what I envisioned in my head, but of course it wouldn't. No person's two brains envision things the same way.



And isn't that what makes the world AWESOME? I sure think so. I love Justin's interpretation of this moment that was so significant to me in the making of this book.



Only two parts left after this! Can you hear the buzz? If so . . . be prepared to defend yourself. (that'll make more sense after you read the book).



Get caught up on the other entries here!

Scenes from The Last Supper -- Part 5: Together in a World Without Hope

In this eight-part series, I will be discussing the world and the characters of my upcoming book, THE LAST SUPPER, due out on 12/13/14. Original artwork by Justin Wasson. Pre-order paperbacks and Kindle now! Also don't forget to join the GoodReads Giveaway going on now through 12/21/14!






The moon isn't the only harsh mistress.


I have a thing for plants in fiction. In my short story, "Under the Scotch Broom" (which you can find in this collection), they don't play a starring role, but the vivid yellow-flowered plants, which are an invasive species to the Pacific Northwest, are used to conceal a mass grave. In my novel KUDZU, currently resting with my agent, the destructive and voracious vines figure heavily into the Georgia setting and again have a metaphorical place, mimicking the smothering and constricting influence of a particular family member over a couple of generations. But in THE LAST SUPPER, the plants are in many ways front and center, because they are the genesis of the world's demise.



When John leaves the protection of God's Hope, the world is unlike anything he'd imagined. Of course, he knew of the serpent weeds and had received carefully edited glimpses of the civilization that once was, but once a whole lifetime of Divine Rite propaganda had been stripped away, he began to truly understand the true alien horror of the earth.

The few buildings we saw looked like random humps in the weed-covered landscape as the plants had eventually grown to consume them in full. In the distance, some herd animals, perhaps cattle or bison, roamed around in the poisoned pasture. I thought it was a trick of the eye, but it looked distinctly like a few of them had more than one head. Mutants. Sadly not uncommon, even in God’s Hope on the limited amount of livestock people raised on the Lazarus grain, but these were worse. Even the birds were strange, almost like reptiles, with leathery wings and bald, scaly heads. A few of them circled overhead, probably waiting for a fresh carcass to skin. Maybe they were checking us out. Even the sky they flew in looked funny. I hadn't realized until then that the net over the town provided an illusion of normalcy. Out here, the horizon, tinted by the unchecked pollination of the serpent weeds, was the color of infected piss.

I mentioned in a recent interview how THE LAST SUPPER is largely a metaphor for truth and discovery. Anyone who leaves a life of protection, even if that protection is largely dubious and harmful as it was in God's Hope, is usually in for a pretty big surprise when they learn how harsh and cruel the world can be. These themes are usually reserved for young people first setting out on their adult lives, but as anyone who has lived long enough can tell you, there is no real resting point. You continue to learn, you continue to discover, and the world will always do its best to shape us like the lumps of clay we are.



There is a wide range of ages featured in the book. John is around forty. His twin daughters Beth and Kaya are sixteen. Genevieve is in her mid-20s, and her father is in his fifties. Then we have Turpin, an ancient one who remembers a very different time altogether. Can the combined years and wisdom get them through this hellish place? I suppose we'll have to wait and see. But I think as in life, getting anywhere takes different pairs of eyes and ears from all walks, whether they come from a group or the same person learning and changing over many years.



We're past the halfway point of our series, and it won't be long before you can experience the full story for yourself! In the meantime, if this is your first time here, venture back to the archive to read Parts 1-4!

Scenes from The Last Supper -- Part 4: The Hand of God and a Very Special Treat

In this eight-part series, I will be discussing the world and the characters of my upcoming book, THE LAST SUPPER, due out on 12/13/14. Original artwork by Justin Wasson. Pre-order paperbacks and Kindle now!







When these folks come after you . . . run.


The very first draft of The Last Supper I wrote was an 11,000 word short story with the working title of "Justification." Completed in July, 2008, it was up to that point the longest work of fiction I had ever completed, and in terms of the writing, was pretty rough. It was also pretty cut and dry. While it followed more or less the same trajectory about an embittered widower who rebels against a totalitarian authority and eventually escapes his town, the story had none of the fantastical elements that eventually became part of the novel. It didn't even have the serpent weeds or much detail about the Blight, or anything else that defines the novel it currently is.



Anyway, I have decided to make those 11,000 words available to any who would like to read them out of a sense of morbid, masochistic curiosity. Mind the disclaimer, won't you? In terms of whether you should read this before you read the novel, that's up to you. Or maybe you'd rather not read it at all. That's okay too.



Download the PDF



One particular element added in the second edition of this story, one that went on to become the novel you're hopefully buying in a few days, was the Hand of God, which is the creepy enforcer squad working for the Divine Rite to round up Nils, or seditious people who post a direct threat to the authority of the Rite, and deliver them to prison camps called Cradles. Much of what the Hand of God does is shrouded in mystery, as most people in God's Hope have never actually encountered them (or if they did, they didn't stick around to talk about it). They wear dark robes and gas masks. The only thing on them not black is one white glove on their left hands. They carry sticks that wield electricity to subdue their prisoners, and they have some other surprises in their arsenal of tricks.



Their most important asset is the Sentinel, which is a special person the Hand of God forces carry with them wherever they go, in the belief that he or she has a direct line of contact with God, and can protect them in the terrifying landscape. Take out the Sentinel, and the Hand of God scatters, or so that's the theory. Those were John's orders. Shoot the Sentinel . . . Only it's never so simple.

The Hand of God seemed to have lost track of me as I lay among the fallen, and I gazed at the source of the light coming from the center of their now decimated phalanx. Although my legs tingled with pins and needles, I began to crawl toward that pulsing beam, hoping the darkness and the chaos would shield me long enough to have a clear shot at what was in the center of it all. The three HOG agents still guarding their guide shifted again, and I finally saw the supposed direct lifeline to God. My breath stopped cold in my chest.

The Sentinel was just a boy.

I lowered my gun as Genevieve cried out from behind me, “Shoot him, John! We can’t hold out much longer!” The boy was on his knees in a praying stance, his shaven head bent in stern consternation. He seemed completely unaware that he was exposed, or of the fight surging around him. White robes draped a body too emaciated for walking, and the white light gave his skin a near transparent pallor.

“Goddamn it, John! Kill it! Kill the Sentinel!” Genevieve screamed. This time she sounded closer, but struggling. I looked back over my shoulder and saw the side of her face bleeding freely.

“He’s just a little boy,” I said. “I can’t do it.”

“DADDY!” Kaya’s screams dissolved into shaky gibberish as an agent took her down with his electric stick. She lay on her stomach, immobilized as one towering brute held her down beneath his foot. I screamed to the sky and shot at them, but one missed, and I knew in my heart that I only had one shot left. In that moment, there was no other choice. It was either kill the kid or save Kaya. I then realized that killing him would accomplish just that. I leveled the shotgun at the praying little boy, and prepared to squeeze the trigger, hoping like hell the ancient gun wouldn’t pick that moment to

seize up or misfire.

“Please forgive me,” I whispered and closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see him die.

In tomorrow's entry, we will journey a little further along the path John and his friends take as they seek refuge in this alien world. Things get a lot more dangerous. In the meantime, visit the official Last Supper page to catch up on all the other entries!

THE LAST SUPPER Available for Pre-Order on ALL the Sites!

We're getting down to the wire with the LAST SUPPER release, and now you are able to pre-order the book at all major ebook retailers.



Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

iTunes



Also, don't forget to join my Thunderclap for a chance to win a signed paperback!



Meanwhile, if you're not convinced this book is for you, you can watch the trailer as well as partake in my running Scenes from the Last Supper blog series featuring original artwork by Justin Wasson!



I'm very excited about December 13th!

Scenes from The Last Supper -- Part 3: Seditious Acts

In this eight-part series, I will be discussing the world and the characters of my upcoming book, THE LAST SUPPER, due out on 12/13/14. Original artwork by Justin Wasson. Pre-order paperbacks now. 

Sedition in Haiku Form


When I started writing THE LAST SUPPER way back in 2009, I was going through a major dystopian fiction phase. Orwell in particular was hot on my mind. Though I'd read 1984 years previous, I rediscovered it in the mid-2000s, and not surprisingly, a good bit of it colors the world of my book. In fact, the last name of the main character, Welland, is a mishmash of "Orwell" and "Logan" (of LOGAN'S RUN), another story that shares some sentiments with this one.



Another way 1984 influences this book is through the journal John starts keeping in the early days after his wife dies, when he's working through the worst of his angst against the Divine Rite. In fact, a more direct hat tip/Easter egg for the book is that John's journal is red leather, just like the one Winston uses.



But it's really John's venturing into leaving slips of seditious haiku around town that becomes his most ambitious act of subversion.

I’d also taken up a new form of defiance, my most daring one yet. I wrote Haiku-style poetry on little slips of paper and left them lying around in various public places: park benches, grocery baskets, store shelves. One of my last trips into the Divine Rite Fellowship was to leave a slip of paper in one of the Bibles.

Divine Rite is Wrong
Peddles death, yet we don’t act
Where is your outrage?

I realize I’m no poet, but it no less felt cathartic to envision my words spreading around like viruses, in the form of hushed dinner conversations or murmurs at church social events. A waiter on the night shift at the Daily Bread Café may have swept one up into his dustpan and become curious enough to read it. Would those seventeen syllables awaken a longing spirit in him and spur him into action? Would he then write a poem of his own or just pass mine along? Even if only five more people read it and spread it on to another five, I’d consider that an accomplishment. The population of God’s Hope wasn’t very big, a couple thousand at most, but even if a tenth of them became intrigued enough to write something, it could change the whole chemistry of the place.

I guess you could say John was still practicing the ways of viral marketing, long after the death of the internet.



Writing about John's early rebellion was one of the funnest parts of writing the book, because there is nothing better than riding along in the head of someone just discovering his true freedom. I am more or less a collectivist kind of thinker, but even in that, there is a need for individual thoughts and feelings. When Publishers Weekly called THE LAST SUPPER "a paean to indvidualism," I wasn't sure how well many would take that, but ultimately I think it's a good thing. Together we accomplish a lot, but as individuals, we have unique thoughts and feelings and experiences. We should be allowed to write in our diaries, love who we want, express ourselves through poetry, even the dangerous kind that questions the authority of the collective.



THE LAST SUPPER, ultimately, is a book of awakening and rebellion, one that in many ways heralded awakenings of my own as a budding author. And John's own personal awakening sets him on a path that is dangerous, enlightening, tragic, and ultimately meaningful, as any good rebellion should be.



Since we're coming up soon on the release, the last five entries of Scenes from the Last Supper will be appearing in quicker succession!



Part 1: What's in a Meal?



Part 2: Life in God's Hope