James Dorr's Blog, page 102

The Writing Life: Taglines, Interviews, Updated Bios

Things are moving fast for Martinus Publishing’s FORBIDDEN! anthology (see post just below), with a Sunday afternoon email from Editor Martin T. Ingham:  I am pleased to finally announce that the anthology is nearly complete!  The final stories have been compiled, and the proofing has begun!  With any luck, we’ll have this book ready to release by the end of summer.  So this evening I worked out some of the details then requested, making sure my biography (for publication along with the stories) was up to date, offering suggested mini-taglines (for possible back cover use) to describe the stories themselves, double checking to be sure I’d sent in a photo.  And one more detail, agreeing to do an author interview, more on which will appear here when it’s ready.

Fetuscam First Fiction Sale for June — and It’s Not Forbidden!

A funny story:  On July 22 last year I sent a tale of loss of faith titled “The Wind” to Martinus Publishing, a reprint submission to an upcoming anthology, FORBIDDEN!  TALES OF REPRESSION, RESTRICTION, AND REBELLION.  Sounds intriguing, yes?  So much so, in fact, that exactly five months later, on December 22, having quite forgotten the first — and with a December 31 deadline fast coming — I sent another, originally published in Spring 1990 in PANDORA (and also reprinted two years later in MinRef Press’s ABORTION STORIES:  FICTION ON FIRE), “Fetuscam.”  And then about three weeks after that, an acceptance came for the original submission (“The Wind,” remember?  cf. January 13).  Oops!

Well, not to worry, the guidelines in fact allowed multiple submissions as long as sent separately.  And so it goes.  But then, today, from Editor/Publisher Martin T. Ingham:  Thank you for sending Fetuscam to the FORBIDDEN anthology.  It is a good story, and I thank you for offering it as a reprint in this collection.  I believe it will be a good fit.  I’ve attached the publishing agreement that you can send back when you have the chance.

Some may recall I am not a stranger to Martinus Publishing, having appeared in prior anthologies LIFE OF THE DEAD and ALTERED AMERICA, with stories titled “Girls Gone Dead” and “Avoid Seeing a Mouse,” respectively (see July 31 2016, January 20 2015, et al.), all reprints too.  Martinus is a nice outfit to work with — and not only that but ALTERED AMERICA is still earning royalties (tiny by now, but the first, especially, was quite handsome for an anthology with other authors to divide the goods among).  So now it looks like, with their latest, I’ll have not one but two dips into the pot if sales go well, even if somewhat by mistake.

But, harkening to the guidelines again, it isn’t forbidden.

 

And Here it Is, Meet the Writer . . . Me!

And here it is, as promised (June 3), UK writer and blogger Jacky Dahlhaus’s Wednesday MEET THE [image error]AUTHOR with the interviewee for the start of June, me.  Find out the answers:  What do I like to do in my free time (excepting reading)?  Favorite authors, and how they’ve influenced me?  Pen or typewriter or computer?  My favorite genre (well, you probably know that) but also why?  Pseudonyms, writing styles, the moral of TOMBS?  And more on both TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH and THE TEARS OF ISIS — for these and more, along with a “thank you” to Jacky from me, press here!

“Found Footage” Movies Anyone? (Some of These Are Actually Good)

Mileage may definitely vary on this one.  Some find “found footage” movies realistic and scary, others complain about headaches induced by shaky hand-held camerawork, while I’m probably somewhere in the middle.  THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, granted an excellent pre-release public relations buildup, ultimately suffered from (in my opinion) a [image error]danger inherent in the sub-genre:  a genuinely, promisingly scary buildup dissipated by the end “reveal” — or lack thereof.  Was that all it was?  In the case of THE BLAIR WITCH . . . well, I shouldn’t reveal it, but it was disappointing to me.  Or in the wonderfully, terrifyingly built-up Spanish film [REC], well what was it after all — could anyone actually see?  Or is that just me?

Then there are ones where there’s just too much waiting (realistic, I suppose in fairness) for, again to me, too little payoff even in the buildup.  PARANORMAL ACTIVITY anyone? — spooky to some perhaps, but to me, well, I have a cat.  Bang!  Too many “special effects” just found a, to me, too easily found possible explanation.  But also there are ones that I think work well.  CLOVERFIELD for instance starts perhaps too slowly, but when it gets going it becomes genuinely scary and, granted one does have to suspend disbelief, it’s fast enough that [image error]the ending packs a genuine punch!  And for one that both packs a genuine punch, and builds up horrifyingly along the way — and is all too believable (especially if one is into conspiracy theories) — may I suggest THE BAY?  Granted there may be a little cheating, the film presumably composed and edited “after the fact,” but I recommend it as possibly the best of the genre so far.*  And also, in this case maybe a sort of “hybrid,” but partially “found footage,” Norway’s TROLL HUNTER is funny as well, though perhaps more fantasy than actual horror.

So that’s my opinion.  Others may differ.  But for a rundown on these and five more, to decide for oneself, please to peruse “11 Seriously Scary Found Footage Horror Movies ” by THE-LINE-UP.COM staff by pressing here.

 

*Reviewed here, I might add, on these very pages, see June 8 2015.

Upcoming UK Interview Set for Wednesday

Comes June and with it a bright sunny afternoon, breezy and in the lower 80s and, with that, the start of the Summer Reading Season.  What better way to celebrate, then, than with a new interview of . . . me, this one by UK author and blogger Jacky Dahlhaus, tentatively to go live Wednesday morning?  So three days from now be prepared for more dish on TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, a [image error]mention or two (it mustn’t feel left out!) of THE TEARS OF ISIS, the importance of (*ahem*) reviews to all authors, plus details on the inspiration and influence of Poe and Bradbury (with mentions here of Ginsberg and Brecht), whether I start writing with a pen or on the computer . . . well, you may have seen interviews by me before, but maybe this one will have new stuff to say too.  You can’t really tell until you read it, coming up Wednesday.

And a quick second note, Ms. Dahlhaus is looking for a few more interviewees for the summer, if any other writers out there might be interested in some free publicity.  But there are a few qualifications in terms of work already published, more on which can be found at her website by pressing here.

Pole to Pole Re-Launch, Re-Quest Publication Times Pushed Up

A quick note today from Pole to Pole Publishing to announce the impending publication of their reprint science fiction and fantasy anthologies RE-LAUNCH and RE-QUEST (cf. February 6, et al.).  And, yes, I have a piece of the [image error]pie(s) with a story of a washed-up spaceman’s redemption, “The Game,” originally published in HUB in November 2007 in the former and “The Blade of Gudrin,” about a plucky heroine vs. a tricky goddess originally in the Spring 1993 SPACE AND TIME, in the latter.  Thus, according to Editors Kelly A. Harmon and Vonnie Winslow Crist, RE-LAUNCH is being moved up from an originally planned October release to “late June/early July” with RE-QUEST to follow after.  More on which as it becomes known will be announced here.

Triana Is NOT Amused, or, America’s Got Talented . . . Cats

They’re coming to get us, these talented cats.  Beware, beware!  Or, now for something completely different — and if not beware just enjoy, courtesy of Gary Ogden on SHORTLIST.COM, “‘America’s Got Talent’ Just Gave Us the Greatest Cat Video of [image error]All Time.”  To quote from the blurb:  A cat doing tricks?  Well, now you’ve got our attention.  The reason for this is, that cats do whatever the hell they want and will not pander to your requests to perform.  Getting a cat to do something is extremely difficult, as anyone who has ever had to give their cat a pill can attest. 

However, it seems that some people have a knack with their cats. . .  To which I would add, half the fun’s watching the faces of the judges, or, to see for yourself, press here.

Triana Is NOT Amused, Or, America’s Got Talented . . . Cats

They’re coming to get us, these talented cats.  Beware, beware!  Or, now for something completely different — and if not beware just enjoy, courtesy of Gary Ogden on SHORTLIST.COM, “‘America’s Got Talent’ Just Gave Us the Greatest Cat Video of [image error]All Time.”  To quote from the blurb:  A cat doing tricks?  Well, now you’ve got our attention.  The reason for this is, that cats do whatever the hell they want and will not pander to your requests to perform.  Getting a cat to do something is extremely difficult, as anyone who has ever had to give their cat a pill can attest. 

However, it seems that some people have a knack with their cats. . .  To which I would add, half the fun’s watching the faces of the judges, or, to see for yourself, press here.

Your Tuesday Gross-Out: 12 Top Exhibits at the Mutter Museum

Though it was originally intended for biomedical research, the Mütter Museum is a funhouse for those with a morbid sense of curiosity, explains Jessica Ferri on THE-LINE-UP.COM.  She also suggests:  The next time you find yourself in Philadelphia, you may want to consider paying a visit to the infamous Mütter Museum.  It was founded in 1863, after Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter donated his collection of medical anomalies, wax models, disease[image error]d specimens, and medical equipment to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.  Today, the museum boasts a collection of over 20,000 specimens, with about 15 percent on view to the public.  Believe us, that small percentage is plenty for nightmares to last a lifetime, and adds this warning, be sure to skip lunch before your visit, lest you want to lose your meal.

And so, the wonders one might find there include objects removed from people’s lungs, anthropodermic books (that is, bound in human skin), “wet specimens” (don’t ask), the Hyrtl Collection of 139 human skulls, a two-headed baby, the “Eye Wall” . . . well, you get the drift.  All these and more which you can read about yourself in “The 12 Creepiest Exhibits at Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum of Medical Oddities” by pressing here.

Move Over Charlie, Enter Roald Dahl’s Creepy TV Debut

The name of the series was ‘WAY OUT, with an apostrophe, and, yes, it didn’t last very long, but for CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY fans (or better yet, the superior [image error]earlier movie version with Gene Wilder starring and WILLIE WONKA in the title), children’s author Roald Dahl actually did host a spooky adult TV show way back in 1961.  The hell of it is, though, it’s never been made available on DVD, one reason why you (or anyway, I) may have never heard of it.  But for some information, check out “Roald Dahl’s 1960’s Version of ‘Twilight Zone’” by Trisha Leigh Zeigenhorn on [image error]DIDYOUKNOWFACTS.COM, via “Discover Roald Dahl’s Dark Side in His Creepy Twilight Zone-like Show, Way Out” on THE-LINE-UP.COM (or, the magic of serendipity strikes again!), by pressing here.  And with that all may be no longer lost — scroll down to the very, very bottom and there’ll be a link to see at least some of the episodes on YouTube.