James Dorr's Blog, page 101
July 4, 2018
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2018!
A very happy Fourth of July to all, on a sizzling, sunny, summer day! On the menu tonight, “American Dream” ice cream, consisting of three broad stripes of strawberry, vanilla, and blueberry flavors. Yum!
Triana looks forward to licking the bowl (maybe).
July 2, 2018
Working Fast: Alternative Theologies Table of Contents Is Here (Almost All of It, Anyhow)
Such is the wending way of the internet, this comes to us from Bob Brown and the B CUBED PRESS PROJECT PAGE, courtesy of Elizabeth Eve King via the DIGITAL FICTION PUBLISHING LEAGUE, all on FACEBOOK. Got that straight? Or, re. yesterday’s posting (and ain’t it amazing how sometimes the news just doesn’t stop coming, other times — e.g., much of the last half of June — the gaps between entries just lengthen and lengthen. . . .), it looks like B Cubed Press’s ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGIES lineup is already filled up tight. Or, to give Editor Bob Brown the floor:
Here is the ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGY line up. There are two additional stories in reserve, depending on final size of edited works. 69 K words from some great writers: Author Title
Phillip Hall Devine Justice
Lillian Csernica Righteous Spirits
Tom Barlow The Forsaken Wall
Anton Cancre Extinction Level Non-Conjunction Event
Louise Milton Ways of Knowing
Larry Hodges An American Christian at the Pearly Gates
James Norris Izzy Tells No Lies
Kara Race-Moore First
Melvin Sims The Good Mexican
Paula Hammond Last Words
Heather Truett Counting Sunrises
Colin Patrick
Ennen The Audit
Irene Radford Forgiveness
Joe Cook Temple Tantrum
Liam Hogan Liliths Daughter
Mike Resnick The Pale Thin God
E. E. King The Faithless Andgel
David Brin So you Want to Make Gods.
Jim Wright Foreword
Joanna Hoyt Whose Good News
Debora Reinert Don’t Get the Bible Wet
Marilyn Holt Everlasting Due
David Gerrold Christian Nation
Jill Zeller Angelica
C. A. Chessse Ruby Ann’s Advise Column
Rebecca
McFarland
Kyle Prayer
James Dorr Tit for Tat
Charles
Walbridge The Lost Gospel Writers
Gwyndyn T.
Alexander A Conservative Prayer
Gwyndyn T.
Alexander A liberal Prayer
Jane Yolen Nature Does not always know
Jane Yolen St. Patrick 1, Snakes Nil
Joyce Frohn Were You Good Stewards?
Meg Bee Mary, are you there.
Jane Yolen A Parable About the 8th Day
Jane Yolen Believing
Great stories all, many stories, just as good didn’t fit. Picked up two of them for ALTERNATIVE APOCALYPSES for next year.
And there you have it.
July 1, 2018
Alternative Theologies Summer Acceptance, or, Little Willie Meets B Cubed Press
So went the call: This anthology will focus on a re-mastering of core biblical themes that will help justify, or perhaps even expose, modern evangelical theology. This is an unabashedly critical look at the often hypocritical deviation of the religious right from their biblical and moral base. This will be a disturbing read for some. But for which was added, [h]umor and good will are key. A sharp wit and a sharper pen is the objective. We’re taking fiction, poems, and essays. The book in question, B Cubed Press’s proposed ALTERNATIVE [image error]THEOLOGIES: PARABLES FOR A MODERN AGE.
Ah now, thought I, this sounds like a job for “Little Willie,” the late Victorian-styled urchin whose causing or succumbing to disaster oft leads to either narrator indifference or some kind of highly inappropriate moral. A case in point a poem, “Tit for Tat,” originally published in GHOSTS: REVENGE by James Ward Kirk Publications in 2015 (cf. February 16 of that year; also on “Little Willies” as a sub-genre, February 6 2012), in which a preacher’s predictions of hellfire fall somewhat short, and which seemed to me a possible fit — but only, that is, if Editors Bob Brown and Irene Radford could be tempted to take a reprint.
Well, you probably know where this is going. Unabashed (ah, now), I sent it on in with a note explaining its reprint status. Then last night the report arrived from Bob Brown: “Tit for Tat” was in! With it was some info about forms of payment, for which I emailed back my acceptance as well as saying I’d look forward to further information, which to be sure will be shared here as well.
Then one other note. While it is possible ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGIES is filled by now, technically submissions are still open until July 15, for information on which one may press here. But be warned as well, as stated in the original guidelines as I received them: This is not for the Faint of Heart.
June 30, 2018
June Closes Out With Another Giant Royalty
Gee, it’s a three-figure check, that is counting both sides of the decimal point! Well maybe not quite, but mid-year mammoth royalty payments are upon us again, and the first for me is here this last day of June. Or, well not the payment, but the report which if not huge contains one nice datum: that the several solo items I have with this publisher all made at least some sales (by contrast[image error] to a multi-author item which usually does better, but sold zero copies this time out). Also, however, has come an announcement that unless what’s owed exceeds a certain level, the publisher (as is my custom, I’ve declined to identify either this or the actual books involved to avoid embarrassment on both sides) says they’ll hold back sending an actual check till the end of the year. A wise choice, I think, as I settle down to wait six more months for it.
June 29, 2018
Latest Interview Live on DeadSteam Blog Site
No, this isn’t the one I mentioned June 16 as having received the questions for (though I’ve since sent the answers back); nor is it the one previewed on June 3, published in England on the 6th. No, this is the interview mentioned May 8 for Grim and Grimmer Books’s DEADSTEAM anthology, conducted by Editor-Publisher Bryce Raffle, on such subjects as dreadpunk, historic fiction, Victorian funeral directors, and . . . [image error]well, you know. If I’ve done it right, there’ll be mentions as well of THE TEARS OF ISIS and TOMBS: A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, the books I’m flogging for myself. But the major point of this one is DEADSTEAM, the anthology due out later this fall in which my entry is “The Re-Possessed,” a saga of the funeral profession in 19th Century England (originally published in CEMETERY RIOTS by Elysium Press in 2016) and inspired by thoughts during a real-life memorial service.
This will be the fourth interview Editor Raffle has done of DEADSTEAM authors, previous ones having appeared on June 8, May 11, and February 25, and can be read by pressing here. Or if you would like to read some of the others (presumably after mine, of course) the blog main page can be reached here. Or, for mini-biographies of all DEADSTEAM authors, one can indulge by pressing here.
June 24, 2018
For the Horror Fan Who Has Everything, Or, Fun in the Shower (or Just Outside)?
Okay, this has to do with a commercial product, so all you’ll see here is a video of it in use (albeit with a link to press if you scroll beneath it). But it made my day — and even if I’m not going to buy one, I can’t say I’m not tempted. It comes to us courtesy of Peter Salomon, Danielle Kaheaku, et al., via HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION on FaceBook (which subsequently deleted it!), from “The 55 Most Genius Products We’ve Found on the Internet” by Danny Murphy on BESTPRODUCTS.COM.
So get ready, don’t blame me if you never want to take a bath again, and to see something you possibly never realized you were missing press here.
June 20, 2018
2018 Scary Horror Movie Roundup (So Far)
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How many of these have I seen myself? Well, possibly none . . . at least so far. But then I usually catch things like this after they’ve had, as it were, a chance to fester, to mature in time and imagination. So at the halfway point for this new year, here’s a list we may all look at for films to enjoy as the year winds down by pressing here.
June 17, 2018
Cyclops Quick Pick for Sins & Other Worlds Antho
Talk about fast! Thursday, June 14, I submitted a story to a reprint anthology for short (1500 words or less), dark science fiction, SINS AND OTHER WORLDS. As it happened I had a story I rather liked at about half that length,”The Cyclops,” about a deformed but hyper intelligent baby first published in DARK MOON DIGEST YOUNG ADULT [image error]HORROR in June 2013. And in fairness, the call for submissions did say responses could come in less than two weeks.
But in only two days? Sent late yesterday came the reply from Editor Eric Fomley: Thank you for sending me this. I would like to use “Cyclops” in the SINS AND OTHER WORLDS anthology. I’ll keep you in the loop as the project progresses. So, technically it was three hours and some minutes over two days if one reads the time stamps (assuming, that is, they’re for the same time zone), but that’s still pretty quick!
Also according to Editor Fomley there should be a crowdfunding campaign in the near future, for which expect news here as soon as it’s known. More money raised, after all, means more money in authors’ pockets (the project will be called off, in fact, if we can’t be paid at least an advance of $0.01 a word). Also they’re still open for new submissions, to close only when the anthology’s full — but at this rate of speed that might not be too long. So if interested in submitting yourself, details can be found here.
June 16, 2018
Before Seeing the Movie, What About that Title Sequence?; “Forbidden” Interview Questions Received
Good, bad, pique your interest? Alternatively do you roll your eyes and hope the movie itself will be better? Welcome back to author Dennis Cooper’s blog (see post just below) and another long list o’ goodies, this time the title sequences of more dark movies than I can count, wi[image error]th (usually) explanations of how and why they work. Plus, of course, links to the sequences themselves.
So, how many have you seen? For reminiscence, comparing notes, or maybe finding what you’ve been missing, please to sample “The Title Sequences of 56 Mostly Horror Movies” by Dennis Cooper on DENNISCOPPERBLOG.COM, courtesy once more of Robert Dunbar via Facebook and LITERARY DARKNESS, by pressing here!
Then in today’s email I also received a list of questions from Martin Ingham regarding Martinus Publishing’s upcoming FORBIDDEN! anthology (see June 10). Attached are the interview questions that you can answer at your convenience. I’ll start running the interviews on my blog in a few weeks, and space them out as we get closer to the release date for the anthology. So, as noted before, things are chugging along pretty quickly, with more to come (including the actual interview date when it becomes known) on these pages!
June 13, 2018
Feel Like Some Frights on Your Summer Vacation?
Wherever you are. . . Wherever you go. . . They’re coming to get you. . . You cannot escape them. . . . Well, yes, [image error]there are airline screw-ups too, the expected hazards of vacation travel, but what about something out of the ordinary? Horrors to seek of your own free will?
Welcome, courtesy of Robert Dunbar via Facebook’s LITERARY DARKNESS, to Dennis Cooper’s “Halloween for Keeps: 25 Year-Round Worldwide [image error]Haunted and Horror Attractions” on DENNISCOOPERBLOG.COM. You can’t even wait out the summer to dodge them!
They speak for themselves, in myriad countries, myriad cities, myriad fairs and amusement parks the whole world over, the U.S., Canada, China, Finland, Italy, Spain, England and Japan . . . but also accompanied by brief [image error]descriptions by author Cooper, plus clickable previews, some long, some short. . . .
Some tacky, some terror-filled. . . .
If you dare . . . press here!
