James Dorr's Blog, page 112

Fall Star*Line Arrives with Mermaid Vamp; Astounding Output Kindle On Sale at 99 Cents

Two items today, the first that the current issue of STAR*LINE arrived Friday afternoon with a three-line mermaid-vampiress poem, “Wet Work,” by me on page 12.  Hidden, [image error]where one would not expect her, look for her down in the depths on the right.  STAR*LINE is the publication of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) which also runs an annual Rhysling competition for speculative poetry.  More information on that and STAR*LINE can be found on their website by pressing here.

Then ASTOUNDING OUTPOST (for more on which see just below, December 1) announces that a Kindle edition of NEURAL NETS, UPLINKS, AND WETWARE is now up and on sale for 99 cents for a limited time.  They don’t say for how long the sale will last, so to take advantage one should press here now.  Also don’t forget you can vote for my story, “No Place to Hide,” by using the link in the post below and, as a bonus, as it’s third in the contents in the Kindle edition one can read it in its entirety in the sample pages at the Amazon site (much more readable there than in the original web publication, which one can also find linked to at the end of the post just below).

No Place to Hide: Astounding Outpost, Neural Nets Fan Voting Open

“No Place to Hide,” a tale of interstellar war and the horrifying fates of some who fight it.  Space opera, maybe, but also a tale that fit the bill as described above — or at least so was the decision of the ASTOUNDING OUTPOST editors!  But there was a catch concerning payment, that all dogs in this fight would not be equal.  Or as the acceptance email put it:  “The voting to determine prizes will occur during the first week of December.  Be sure to let your friends and family know so they can vote for your story.”

Such was the post here November 13.  My story, “No Place to Hide,” originally published in SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW dated Summer 1991, had been reprinted in ASTOUNDING OUTPOST’s “Neural Nets, Uplinks, and Wetware” issue.  And now it is time for readers and fans to vote for their favorite story in the issue (e.g., *hint* “No Place to Hide”) because, to quote the publisher: [image error]Remember the top three fan favorites win cash and treasure.

What does that mean [to continue the quote]?  If you’re a fan pick your favorite story.  IF YOU’RE AN AUTHOR LET YOUR FANS KNOW ABOUT THE POLL.  Share it on social media, harass your neighbors, and beg your family to vote for your story.  We’re all family here, aren’t we?  But do not tarry, voting is only open for one week, ending next Thursday December 7.

So to vote for “No Place to Hide,” one need but press here, scroll down until you find the title, and vote, vote, vote (actually I don’t know what happens if someone tries to vote more than once, so why take a chance, ask your friends to vote too instead).  Remember . . . sufficient votes mean “cash and treasure,” pour moi!  (Not a lot of cash and treasure, maybe, but easily outstripping the average mammoth royalty individual stories of mine in other publications tend to receive.  And anyway every bit counts.)

Also, if you haven’t yet, to read “No Place to Hide” yourself press here.

Re. Zippered Flesh 3: A Quick Reminder

A quick reminder from Editor/Publisher Weldon Burge that, while waiting for the Smart Rhino Publications “countdown sale” to begin (see just below, November 29) there’s still, as of this writing, a little over eleven hours left to enter a Goodreads drawing to get a free paperback copy of ZIPPERED FLESH 3: YET MORE TALES OF BODY ENHANCEMENTS GONE WRONG — including (ahem) my story in it, “Golden Age.”   Feeling lucky?  Press here.

Smart Rhino Publications December 1-8 Kindle Countdown Sale Includes Zippered Flesh 3; Cthulhu Christmas Pre-Order, Live Reading December 1

Also in the Smart Rhino sale, INSIDIOUS ASSASSINS, which has a story of mine in it, “The Labyrinth,” about myths and terror in modern-day Crete. In all, eight books will be included along with that and ZIPPERED FLESH 3 (with my “Golden Age” closing out the contents, see November 10, et al.), the others being the original ZIPPERED FLESH, THE BOX JUMPER, GREEN TSUNAMI, BROKEN: STORIES OF DAMAGED PSYCHES, and THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER AND HUCK FINN (both Adult and YA editions).  This will be for Kindle editions [image error]only, starting at $0.99 each at midnight, Friday, December 1 and ending at midnight December 8.  But the thing is, the way these countdown sales work, the prices will gradually increase until they reach the original list price, so it’s best to buy early — again, starting midnight, Friday, December 1.

(For an early look at these, as well as some non-sale titles, one can press here.)

Then also this Friday, December 1, DEADMAN’S TOME CTHULHU CHRISTMAS SPECIAL AND OTHER LOVECRAFTIAN YULETIDE TALES (cf. November 26, et al.) will be officially released, to celebrate which . . . well, let’s let Editor Jesse Dedman explain in his own words:  This Friday Marchese and I will host a live drunk reading where I’ll consume a mass amount of shots.  The amount of shots I consume is totally up to the number of pre-orders we receive!  Can my liver take it?  Will I wake up with regret?  Will I wake up in the front yard completely naked, again?  Let’s find out.  He goes on to say you can listen to the reading yourself Friday night at 10 p.m. CST by using this link, or catch the recorded version of the show afterwards on Spreaker, iTunes, YouTube, and other podcast apps.  But to reiterate, the degree of drunkenness he plans to attain is dependent on how many pre-orders CTHULHU CHRISTMAS SPECIAL receives, for which (if one wishes to egg him on, or just order the book early for yourself) press here.

 

Just Plain Weird (But In a Nice Way) Dept.: Mr. Trash Wheel Conquers Baltimore

The first thing she decided was that the 15-foot long, garbage-eating steampunk river cleaner would have a cheesily well-developed sense of humor.

“As soon as I started making snake puns, you had 20 other followers that were making hilarious other snake jokes,” she explains.  “So it became really great that way.”

Stegman continues to infuse Mr. Trash Wheel with her own “nerdom and geekdom,” which has endeared him to fans around the city.  He loves “Star Wars.”  He makes “Lord of the Rings” fan art.  He writes “Choose Your Own [image error] Adventure” novels and has spent hours answering questions on Reddit.  Occasionally, he participates in local events.

The “she” is Robyn Stegman, the official voice of Baltimore’s “Mr Trash Wheel,” a fifteen-foot long solar-powered device built to help clean trash out of Baltimore’s Jones Falls River.  And snake puns refer to an incident involving an escaped ball python found, having climbed up its conveyor belt, wrapped around a control box on Mr. Trash Wheel.  Baltimoreans loved it (well, most of them anyway).

It is what it is.  The article’s full title, by Eric March, is “2 Googly Eyes and a Dream:  How Mr. Trash Wheel Went Viral and Conquered Baltimore” and can be found on UPWORTHY.COM.  But what a neat idea!  And a happy story for environmental protection mavens as November ebbs and we enter the season of coming Christmas.

To read it for yourself press here.

Cthulhu Christmas Special Cover Revealed, Publication Set for December 1

The email arrived today, along with a pre-publication electronic copy, to the effect that (to give it it’s full name) DEADMAN’S TOME CTHULHU CHRISTMAS SPECIAL AND OTHER LOVECRAFTIAN YULETIDE TALES is scheduled to be out December 1 in Kindle, with a print edition expecte[image error]d “soon after.”  My story in this is third in the lineup, “A Christmas Carnage” (see November 11; January 18 2016, et al.), originally published in IN THE BLOOD (Mocha Memoirs Press, 2013) as well as THE FIRST ANNUAL GEEKY KINK ANTHOLOGY (Riverdale Avenue Books, 2015).  And, yes, Santa’s elves under the age of 18 may not find this tale entirely appropriate.

Indeed others may find “A Christmas Carnage” inappropriate also, including lovers of Charles Dickens’s immortal A CHRISTMAS CAROL.  Or lovers of puns (the dead don’t approve of such things, you know).  It is the tale of a rather high strung young man (he keeps a chainsaw in his closet for personal protection) with a very specific Christmas wish, and an “umpty-umpth-great” aunt named Carol who might be in a position to grant it.  Or possibly not — but to find that out you’ll just have to read a copy yourself, available for pre-order by pressing here.

And What Better Thing: Fifteen More Horror Films to Look Out For

And what better thing for an extended holiday weekend than to wallow in horror movies you may not have seen yet?  So for tonight, from THE-LINE-UP.COM, “15 Brilliant and Creepy Horror Movies You May Not Know About but Need to See” by Abbey White.  “Goodnight Mommy,” “We Are What We Are” (“Somos Lo Sue Hay”), “I Saw the Devil,” “The Void,” “The Loved Ones,” more, for all of which press here.  Then read and enjoy.

The Goth Cat Triana Wishes All A Happy Thanksgiving

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(Triana plans to eat herself senseless. . . .)

Serendipity Strikes Again, Dept.: Did You Know Today Is Voltaire’s Birthday, and. . . ?

Yes indeed!  Through a chain of e-jumps, what should I run across quite accidentally but ARTLARK.ORG with today’s topic, “Voltaire:  The Father of Sci-Fi?”  And why today?  On the 21st of November 1694, François-Marie Arouet, known under the pen name Voltaire, was born in Paris. This French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher, who wa[image error]s also a great enthusiast of science and empirical knowledge, was probably one of the most prolific authors of all times.

That’s why.

As for the father of sci-fi, though, had not Cyrano de Bergerac already written of a voyage to the moon, published posthumously in 1657?*  Well, yes, but Voltaire perhaps wrote the first ever book of actual interplanetary travel (and, presumably, interstellar) in his philosophical tale of MICROMÉGAS [who] is 20,000 feet tall and comes from a planet 21.6 million times larger than Earth.  After a short visit to Saturn, where he acquaints his slightly smaller in size (only 6,000 feet tall) future travel companion, he finally lands on Earth.  . . .  At first sight, the planet seems uninhabited.  However, once standing ankle-deep in the Baltic Sea they spot small specks of life below them, which at closer inspection turn out to be a whale and a boat full of philosophers returning from an Arctic expedition. . . .   So that is a first, surely.

In any event, for more on MICROMÉGAS and Voltaire, press here.  Also for Voltaire, a happy 323rd birthday!

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*THE OTHER WORLD: COMICAL HISTORY OF THE STATES AND EMPIRES OF THE MOON (French: L’AUTRE MONDE OU LES ÉTATS ET EMPIRES DE LA LUNE) was the first of three satirical novels written by Cyrano de Bergerac, that are considered among the first science fiction stories.  Arthur C Clarke credited this book with being the first example of a rocket-powered space flight, and for inventing the ramjet.  It was published after the author’s death, in 1657.  (Wikipedia)

Death and the Maiden: “Fashion and the Macabre Unite”

Sometimes it’s best just to quote the source:  Fashion and the macabre unite in the delicate ink drawings of Finnish artist Mira Johanna Väänänen.  Lace gowns and ornate crowns adorn these lovely dames and femme fatales who all appear ready for the red carpet with Death on their arm.  These nibbed pen and ink drawings combine bold silhouettes alongside hair-thin lines and pointillism, illustrating the decadent details of perfectly coiffed tresses, [image error]flower petals, snake scales, and dewy spider webs.  Thus “Death and the Maiden:  The Art of Mira Johanna Väänänen,” by Janae Corrado courtesy of DEARDARKLING.COM, sometimes reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley, sometimes unique to itself, and in this case especially inspired by a theme as old as the Middle Ages and before, and best to be simply enjoyed on its own by pressing here.  Though if you like it, within you may find a link to more, so read, gaze, and enjoy.