James Dorr's Blog, page 138

It’s About Time Advance Sale Discount Ending Oct. 3

Hurry, hurry, hurry.  The IT’S ABOUT TIME early ordering period, with early bird discount, is ending in just under two weeks according to MSR Publishing editor M. Scott Douglass.   You have seen the inside galleys.  They have been corrected and sent to the editors for final review.  That means we are approaching the deadline to shut off the Advance Sale Discount price from the MSR Online Bookstore.  . . .   Advance Sales WILL expire October 3.

My story in this one is called “Curious Eyes,” about a time traveler, a chance encounter, and a good night in a Kansas City Bar.  It’s a not very heavy science fiction story, from a long time ago when I was writing a fair bit of SF, and actually published in a general fiction magazine, in the December 1988 THE FICTION PRIMER.  Nothing fancy, mind you, just plain folks, plain setting (well, maybe a little after-hours loneliness, cue in alto sax, a little brush work on the drum, but muted and sad-like, a rainy night outside — you know the scene), pleasant when it’s all over.  Yes, I’ve written a few stories like that.  Way back when-like. . . .

So think of “Curious Eyes” as a rarity,  one of a kind I don’t write too much nowadays, but yours to savor in IT’S ABOUT TIME, and one to be had at a discount to boot — but only for the swift.  For more information, pre-ordering press here.

Weekend Includes WG Prompt Session

Monday, a new week, but after a weekend that saw some action.  Saturday was my “SCIFI” Writers Group critique session, always fun for the socializing whether or not for the actual comments.  My meat for the griddle this time was a 500-word absurdist tale about something improper – at least unusual – found in the protagonist’s mailbox which, it seemed to me, survived quite well.  Though probably not “extreme” enough to call Bizarro, marketing could still be a challenge (actually it’s at a contest right now that unfortunately had its deadline the previous Thursday, that supplied the “prompt,” but it was fairly high level and I doubt my piece will have much of a chance).

Then, speaking of prompts, Sunday afternoon brought a Writers Guild workshop on writing on moderator-supplied subjects (see, e.g., July 17), this time that didn’t suggest to me any actual stories, but was still enjoyable as a set of exercises.  Thus I wrote personal mini-essays on “I ____” (in my case “I Steal . . .,” which was also the subject of the example we were shown first, and thus one I stole); “What’s in a Name?” (on the origins, or anything else, of the essayist’s personal handle); and an incident involving one of a group of ten friends one was to dredge from his or her past (“But I don’t have ten friends,” “Oh, but what about Facebook?”) on which I wrote of a long-past girlfriend whose name I omitted to protect the, well, maybe not quite innocent.

Bottom line on this:  maybe not entirely useful this time, but a break from routine and, again, socializing, so maybe I’ll do it again next month.

Dark Horizons, Street Magick Available for Amazon Pre-Order; Everywhere Stories Vol. 2 Received

We have a quick a double header to announce for today, that not just one but two Elder Signs Press anthologies are now available for pre-order from Amazon:  DARK HORIZONS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF DARK SCIENCE FICTION (see just below) and STREET MAGICK: TALES OF URBAN FANTASY (with DARK HORIZONS, see also January 22, et al.).  Needless to say I have stories in both, the near-future set “Dark of the Moon” in the former and a late 1950s tale of vampires and Cold War paranoia in Cambridge Massachusetts, “Bottles,” in the latter.  Both have histories, “Bottles” also appearing in my own collection, THE TEARS OF ISIS, and now both will be available for new readers as well.

More on both these anthologies can be found on Amazon, DARK HORIZONS by pressing here and STREET MAGIC here, while for THE TEARS OF ISIS one can click on its picture in the center column, or check it out on Amazon here.

Also, yesterday’s street mail brought my copy of EVERYWHERE TALES, VOLUME 2 (cf. July 25, et al.), from Press 53, with my “The Wellmaster’s Daughter,” originally published in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, an adventure of deserts and double crossings for more on which one can press here.

Dark Horizons, Dark of the Moon Up for B&N Bookstore Distribution

This is encouraging news!  Charles P. Zaglanis of Elder Signs Press announced today via Facebook:  “Barnes & Noble wants multiple copies of DARK HORIZONS in all its stores chain-wide.”  Elder Signs Press, we may remember, will also be publishing my upcoming novel-in-stories, TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, in spring-summer next year (cf. July 24, 15, et al.), though of course that doesn’t guarantee that B&N will want it as well.  But it does give the feeling the door could be open.  And it happens the lead story in DARK HORIZONS is also one by me (cf. January 22, et al.).

Technology gone wrong.  Madmen playing with science beyond their control.  Alien creatures with malign intent. . . .  Thus saith DARK HORIZONS’ official blurb.  And as noted above, the fun begins with a tale by me, “Dark of the Moon,” of an international space expedition gone very, very wrong.  Originally published in THE CHILDREN OF CTHULHU (Del Rey, 2002), the story concerns the first manned exploration of the moon’s dark side — the side perpetually hidden from Earth — and what’s there to be found.  And perhaps more pointedly, how it was it got there in the first place.

DARK HORIZONS is scheduled for release this fall, with more to appear here as it becomes known.

Serendipity: First Things First, or, How You Yourself (Maybe Even I) Can Be a Writer

In a paragraph about the importance of getting facts right, primarily nonfiction writer Rebecca Solnit added this:  Fiction operates under different rules but it often has facts in it too, and your credibility rests on their accuracy.  (If you want to make up facts, like that Emily Bronte was nine feet tall and had wings but everyone in that Victorian era was too proper to mention it, remember to get the details about her cobbler and the kind of hat in fashion at the time right, and maybe put a little cameo at her throat seven and a half feet above the earth.)  I might not have thought of exactly the same example, but it’s something I’ve adhered to too for a long, long time, that research has a place in fiction writing.  Even in poetry.  And it’s advice I’ve read elsewhere, often in passing in diverse places like TV GUIDE, and something I’ve brought up from time to time in my writers group as well.  We, as fiction writers, are in the business of telling lies, but getting the little factual bits of it right is what gets the readers to, at least for the moment, believe us.

By pure coincidence, from the post just below, how does a 21st century vampiress first contact her prey?  Why over the internet, of course — or at least that might work.  But writer Solnit has more to say to us, which, generally speaking, I think is wise and worth repeating.  And this contact, too, was over the internet, specifically (and quite serendipitously) through the aegis of Facebook courtesy of Brooke Nicole Plummer.

The article is “How to Be a Writer:  10 Tips from Rebecca Solnit” on LITHUB.COM, and can be found here (the picture, incidentally, is of Oscar Wilde, who was a writer).

Sweet Lesbian Vampire Love (2): Eternal

The vampiress explains to her minion:  it’s not just biting your victim, but you must seduce her.  Elizabeth (chat room handle “Erzsebet”) is good at seducing.  Indeed it’s not even just drinking the blood that keeps her young looking, but taking baths in it.  For those astute who’re hearing an echo of real-life mass-murderess and contributor to vampiric lore Elizabeth (Hungarian:  Erzsebet) Bathory (1560-1614), for more on whom one can press here, you just may be on to something.

But then there’s that pesky police detective, who’s into kinky sex behind his wife’s back, who’s hounding our Liz in present-day Montreal.  It seems that wifey took a night off herself and never came back, and the last place she can be traced to is Elizabeth’s dungeon.  The one with the rec room with the portrait, one which in real life went missing in the 1990s, of historical Erzsebet over the wet bar (no, not that wet, as the lady has also been seen drinking wine, but insofar as she favors reds who really knows) — and could it be possible both have survived?  Or at least, in common with the very good movie ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (cf. August 10 2016, June 26 2014), if one is to do the vampire thing right, it helps to have a lot of money.

Thus the movie, ETERNAL, and, yes, it’s one noted in last month’s “Sweet Lesbian Vampire Love” posting (see August 14).  The detective himself, though, is a sort of bargain basement Kojak with sleazoid intimations added (and someone’s got to say it, yes, he probably likes licking things other than lollipops), not exactly a credit to the Montreal PD, and I, for one, was rooting against him.  But there is some nice cat-and-mouse action as he slowly brings his case together as, simultaneously, Lizzie and minion are building a Class A frame-up against him.  Then as the traps are about to snap, the vamp moves to her other house in Venice and would-be Kojo follows.  It seems Interpol has been keeping sort of an eye on her too, although the agent in question may have other loyalties as well, so they and Kojo have their own dance as all converge on Elizabeth’s Italian den, on, as it happens, apparently party night — lots of decadence, lots of skin, lots of girl-on-girl action, and this is just the glanced at in passing background — and can’t a lady take a bath in private anymore?

Well, apparently not.  And the minion (remember her?) doesn’t do too well either, but there’s a possibly implied ending after the ending — recall the first two sentences, way above — and possibly more ambiguity than one at first might have expected.

Bottom line, I liked the film.  It’s one of those hovering on the line between cheap, albeit sexy, thriller (the casting of the sleazy detective may be a minus, I’d like to have seen some believable moral ambiguity here that would have given it more of a noir flavor) and a reasonably true to its roots vampire piece that even offers space for a little thought.  How does the modern vampiress hunt? — in this case it’s through chat rooms for readers of kinky romances.  Any writers of kinky romances here?

So see the movie, and if you like your vamps hot and smart, you might well enjoy it, although it still may just miss a spot on the shelf you reserve for classics.

Housekeeping, Housekeeping (was “And Then, Speaking of Poems . . .”)

So it has to be done now and again.  At the end of last month, August 31, I added a note to my post on poetry to the effect that I’d updated my biographical information, such as is sent out with submissions, etc., to reflect that my combined new poetry and prose fiction publications had recently surpassed 500 in number.  Not really a brag — suffice that it’s a lot, but I’d think hardly a record of any sort — but a little housekeeping thing that needed to be done.  So today I’ve added another tweak, this time to this blog, in adding that  update to my biographical “ABOUT ME” blurb at the top of the right hand column.  And one other tweak:  while it’s still in the future, and this one is a brag of sorts, I’ve added at the top of that bio a note about my to-be-published book TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH.

For after all, if not I, someone’s got to do it.

First September Sale to Zippered Flesh 3

The email actually came Wednesday, and this may be a sneak preview of sorts as I don’t think the book has opened yet to general submissions (nor do I know for sure if it will).  I do understand there will be a Kickstarter later, probably early next year, to try and move author payments up.  So although I asked, not having been requested not to I’ll softly announce here that I’ve made a new sale.

The acceptance is from Smart Rhino Publications for the third volume in their ZIPPERED FLESH series, ZIPPERED FLESH 3:  YET MORE TALES OF BODY ENHANCEMENTS GONE BAD, described by Editor Weldon Burge as seeking “dark or supernatural stories in which body modifications play pivotal roles in the plot,” and tentatively scheduled for late 2017.  “Stories do not necessarily have to be straight horror (chilling stories are preferred, however), but they must fit the theme of the anthology.  Psychological horror is especially preferred.”  Previous works by me in Smart Rhino anthologies are “The Wellmaster’s Daughter” in UNCOMMON ASSASSINS and “The Labyrinth” in INSIDIOUS ASSASSINS (cf., respectively, February 7 2014 and January 23 2015, et al.)

Running against type, my story here is actually science fiction, “Golden Age,” originally published in Catherine Asaro’s MINDSPARKS in Spring 1994, and not that dark except in an existential sense, suggesting perhaps that psychological barriers, regardless of physical, might stand in the way of overly extended lifespans.  “Golden Age” has also been published in England in ANDROMEDA’S CHILDREN (Fringeworks 2015, cf. September 4 2015, et al.) and, probably close to one extreme in terms of content thus far lined up for ZIPPERED FLESH 3, it could be thought of as a balance to, to paraphrase Editor Burge, tales of the more “gruesome.”

Flame Tree Mysteries Now Ready to Order; Everywhere Stories in Fall for the Book Fest

For news of the day for Tuesday, Gillian Whitaker of Flame Tree Publishing tells us, “You may be seeing hints already on our website and elsewhere, but I am pleased to report that the now-published MURDER MAYHEM and CRIME & MYSTERY anthologies are finally available to order!”  I have stories in both, as it happens, “Mr. Happyhead” about a not-so-nice man who won’t let death deter him in the first and 1998 Anthony Short Story finalist “Paperboxing Art” in the second (cf. July 11, et al.).  They also can be found on Amazon, etc., but for more about them from, as it were, the horse’s mouth, one simply need press here for MURDER MAYHEM SHORT STORIES (to give it its full name) or, for CRIME & MYSTERY SHORT STORIES, here.  And if that weren’t all, one may still check out last year’s CHILLING GHOST SHORT STORIES with my “Victorians” (see November 4 2015, et al.) by pressing here.

Also on Tuesday, Editor Clifford Garstang sends news for those who might be in the Washington DC/Northern Virginia area that EVERYWHERE STORIES:  SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET, VOLUME II (cf. July 5, et al.) will be one of the books featured at the 2016 Fall for The Book festival, at George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus from September 25-30.  The EVERYWHERE STORIES panel will be on Tuesday September 27 at 1:30 p.m. in the Sandy Spring Bank Tent, Johnson Center North Plaza, according to festival information, with Editor Garstang “joined by some of the contributors whose stories follow the new edition’s theme of ‘it’s a mysterious world’:  Frances Park and her story ‘The Monk in the Window,’ set in Korea; Joel Hodson and ‘Memiş the Conqueror,’ set in Turkey; Brandon Patterson and ‘Jonkshon,’ set in Sierra Leone; and Chris Cleary and ‘An Idea of the Journey,’ set in Norway.”  My story in this one is “The Wellmaster’s Daughter,” originally from ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE and set in Mali; I myself, however, will not be able to attend.

Flame Tree Mysteries Now Ready to Order; Everywhere Stories in Fall for the Book

For news of the day for Tuesday, Gillian Whitaker of Flame Tree Publishing tells us, “You may be seeing hints already on our website and elsewhere, but I am pleased to report that the now-published MURDER MAYHEM and CRIME & MYSTERY anthologies are finally available to order!”  I have stories in both, as it happens, “Mr. Happyhead” about a not-so-nice man who won’t let death deter him in the first and 1998 Anthony Short Story finalist “Paperboxing Art” in the second (cf. July 11, et al.).  They also can be found on Amazon, etc., but for more about them from, as it were, the horse’s mouth, one simply need press here for MURDER MAYHEM SHORT STORIES (to give it its full name) or, for CRIME & MYSTERY SHORT STORIES, here.  And if that weren’t all, one may still check out last year’s CHILLING GHOST SHORT STORIES with my “Victorians” (see November 4 2015, et al.) by pressing here.

Also on Tuesday, Editor Clifford Garstang sends news for those who might be in the Washington DC/Northern Virginia area that EVERYWHERE STORIES:  SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET, VOLUME II (cf. July 5, et al.) will be one of the books featured at the 2016 Fall for The Book festival, at George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus from September 25-30.  The EVERYWHERE STORIES panel will be on Tuesday September 27 at 1:30 p.m. in the Sandy Spring Bank Tent, Johnson Center North Plaza, according to festival information, with Editor Garstang “joined by some of the contributors whose stories follow the new edition’s theme of ‘it’s a mysterious world’:  Frances Park and her story ‘The Monk in the Window,’ set in Korea; Joel Hodson and ‘Memiş the Conqueror,’ set in Turkey; Brandon Patterson and ‘Jonkshon,’ set in Sierra Leone; and Chris Cleary and ‘An Idea of the Journey,’ set in Norway.”  My story in this one is “The Wellmaster’s Daughter,” originally from ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE and set in Mali; I myself, however, will not be able to attend.