James Dorr's Blog, page 149

Casket Girls Revisited for First Sunday Prose Reading

Back into the swing of things for spring with March’s First Sunday Prose Readings.  Guest readers this time were Indiana University Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies visiting faculty member Abegunde with excerpts from a continuing “memory work,” a composition neither wholly fiction nor nonfiction; Lisa Kwong, an “AppalAsian poet in the Midwest” and MFA graduate currently teaching Asian American Studies and Freshman Composition, this month reading from new work in progress, mostly essays but also ending with two poems; and historical novelist Annette Oppenlander reading from her latest book, ESCAPE FROM THE PAST:  THE KID, in which time-traveling gamer Max journeys to the wild west of 1881 New Mexico, rubbing elbows with, among others, the original Billy the Kid.  When open mike time came, my offering was a 400-word piece as a sort of background on last month’s “A Saint Valentine’s Day Tale” (cf. February 7), recounting the arrival of the “casket girls” in New Orleans (in one sense covering much the same ground of my 2014 DAILY SCIENCE FICTION story “Casket Girls” — see April 17 2014, et al.) but adding the sense of irony to it that I then transferred to the character Claudette in last month’s offering.  And one other thing, written for an exercise as a 500-word or less story containing the exact words “taxes,” “carpenter,” and “vinegar,” in this case ending up with the title “The Flavor of the Jest.”

Pavlov’s Dogs Accepted for Second in Great Tomes Series, Contract Received

Well, talk about speed.  Tuesday’s email brought a missive from Bards and Sages Publishing, who we’ve already met in conjunction with THE GREAT TOME OF FORGOTTEN RELICS AND ARTIFACTS due out later this month with my story “The Candle Room” (see February 27, et al.).  But this wasn’t about “The Candle Room”; rather it contained an all-new contract, this for the second in the projected four-volume Great Tomes series, THE GREAT TOME OF DARKEST HORRORS AND UNSPEAKABLE EVILS.  I had indeed sent a story to it, but as far as I knew I hadn’t yet received a formal acceptance.  I had to remind myself, in fact, what the story was.

Stealth acceptance though, or original notice caught in the spam filter, with a bit of a search I found the call:  “Plots revolving around monsters, evil aliens, or otherworldly entities that serve as the antagonist for the story.  We will not consider stories in which the monster is the protagonist.  For purposes of this anthology, the monster or entity must be a wholly original concept to the story and not based on an existing ‘real world’ legend.”  And the story itself, like that for the first volume, was a reprint, this one originally published in GATEWAYS in Spring 1994, called “Pavlov’s Dogs.”

Confusion aside, an acceptance is an acceptance.  The story is one of a nerdly young man and his girlfriend Sairy and possible notions of world domination (or at least proving the power of science).  And the construction of a gigantic bell.  How are these connected?  Well, the contract will be in the mail and, if all goes as scheduled after that, THE GREAT TOME OF DARKEST HORRORS AND UNSPEAKABLE EVILS, with “Pavlov’s Dogs,” should be available to read by the end of June 2016.

Untreed Reads March Sale Reminder – Discount Prices Now Shown with Titles; A Tip of the Flightless Rats Hat to Staying

 

Two more quick items for today:  First, a reminder that the Untreed Reads Publishing 30-Percent Off March Sale (cf. February 28) had its start today and will last through the whole month.  Discounts apply to all Untreed Reads-published ebooks in addition to extra savings for some print editions, and now will be displayed with the titles themselves rather than only when checking out.  Included are my electronic chapbooks PEDS, I’M DREAMNG OF A. . ., and VANITAS, which can be reached by clicking their pictures in the center column; the page you come to will display all three titles as well as the New Year’s Eve anthology YEAR’S END containing my story “Appointment in Time,” along with links to various other Untreed Reads offerings.

Then second, for those following the Mocha Memoirs Woman in Horror Month flash fiction contest, the winner was announced today, “Staying” by Myriah Strozykowsky.  A rather nice suspenseful tale from an unexpected point of view, “Staying” can be read along with the other entries by pressing the link on February 23’s post, below.  A second link also will lead to a listing of all ten finalists, including my own “Flightless Rats.”

Wellmaster’s Daughter Steps Out, Accepted for Everywhere Stories, Vol. II

The pay wasn’t much, but it could be prestigious, possibly extending circulation outside of genre boundaries.  In any event, the call was inciting:

EVERYWHERE STORIES:  SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET (Edited by Clifford Garstang, published by Press 53 in Fall 2014) is an anthology of short fiction (short stories of any length, short shorts, and flash) set around the globe, including the United States.  Volume I consisted of 20 stories by 20 authors set in 20 countries. 

Volume II will consist of around 20 fictions, with no more than one story set in any one country.  Included stories will be a mix of previously published and new work. . . .

Other terms followed, including a loose theme-by-default, “it’s a dangerous world,” and a list of nations already taken.  The mundane, the exotic, the ends of the Earth, the just around the corner.  And therewith a challenge that could be kind of fun.  What setting could I find so out of the way that no other author might claim it before me?

How about the middle of the Sahara Desert?

So out stepped a story set in Mali a century or so back, “The Wellmaster’s Daughter,” of shifting sands and caravan routes and illicit slaving, originally published in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE in November 1991.*  Late yesterday the word came back for a pleasant cap to a slightly longer-than-usual February.  “Thank you for sending us ‘The Wellmaster’s Daughter.’  We love it and would like to include it in the anthology.  We’ll be in touch soon with more details.”

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*For those who might wish for a sneak peek,”The Wellmaster’s Daughter” is included in my 2001 collection STRANGE MISTRESSES:  TALES OF WONDER AND ROMANCE.  It also appears in Smart Rhino Publications’ 2012 anthology UNCOMMON ASSASSINS (cf. February 7 2014, September 27 2012, et al.).

Untreed Reads Sale for Month of March; Taking a Bye on Last Sunday Poetry; Dreams and Nightmares Proof Returned

Three short items to round out the weekend.  First, Untreed Reads Publishing has announced that they’re celebrating six years of doing business (and, indeed, my first publication with them, VANITAS, a steampunk/mystery originally published by ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE in January 1996, came out as a stand-alone chapbook in August 2011 during their first year) by having a 30 percent off sale on all Untreed Reads-published ebooks during the month of March.  In addition to VANITAS, they’ve since brought out my Christmas horror short story I’M DREAMING OF A. . . ., and my dystopian near-future science fiction novelette PEDS, all of which should be covered by the discount.

If interested, pressing the picture in the center column of any of these three titles will bring a description/ordering page which also includes the New Years Eve anthology YEAR’S END:  14 TALES OF HOLIDAY HORROR, featuring my lead story “Appointment in Time.”  From there, one can also click to the Untreed Reads general catalog for other authors and titles, etc.  Sale prices should start Tuesday, March 1, with the 30 percent discount being applied to orders during the checkout process.

On a less happy note, this being the last Sunday of February I would normally plan to post a note on the Bloomington Writers Guild’s “Last Sunday Poetry Reading & Open Mic,” this month with guest readers JT Howard, “a fiction writer, translator and occasional poet currently working to complete an MFA in Creative Writing from Indiana University,” and Bloomington resident and recent IU graduate Harlan Kelly, who is also a founder and current host of the Bloomington Poetry Slam.  However, I’ve been rather under the weather this past week and, even though it’s a lovely day outside, prudence (combined with Bloomington buses not running on Sunday) has caused me to stay home this weekend.

Finally, speaking of poetry,  late Saturday brought a proof sheet from David C. Kopaska-Merkel of DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES 102, officially dated for January 2016 although possibly now one should say the Spring Issue, which I okayed and sent back last night.  My poem in the potpourri is titled “Plus-Size” (cf. August 30), about an Ancient Egyptian mummy, large to begin with, that due to an excess of tana leaves just kept on growing.

Candle Room, Great Tomes On Track for End March Release

Word came today from Julie Hedge of Bards and Sages Publishing that the final files for Volume 1 in the “Great Tomes” series, THE GREAT TOME OF FORGOTTEN RELICS AND ARTIFACTS (cf. February 3, January 7, et al.), have been completed and sent to the printer and various digital outlets.  In fact, it’s already available for pre-order at Amazon at $4.99 and should start appearing for pre-order at other sites within the next week.  At that point the print edition will undergo a final proofreading with everything on track for an announced March 31 release date, with a trade paperback price set at $15.99

As noted in the headline above, my entry into this eldritch ediface is a tale of candle magic and playing with fire called “The Candle Room.”  Of troll-shaped tapers and unearthly entities.  It is a reprint that first appeared in the Summer 1995 issue of TERMINAL FRIGHT and can also be found in THE TEARS OF ISIS.

For those who wish, for the Kindle page and pre-order information for THE GREAT TOME OF FORGOTTEN RELICS AND ARTIFACTS press here, with, again, other electronic versions and the print edition available over the next few weeks.

Flightless Rats Makes Top Ten, Voting Opens for Mocha Memoirs Woman in Horror Month Best Flash

Now it has been revealed!  My story, “Flightless Rats,” has made the list of finalists for the Mocha Memoirs Press Women in Horror Month Flash Fiction contest.  Or, in the official wording:  The following stories have been chosen as the TOP TEN Flash Stories of 2016!  These stories (pending various technical stuffs) will be compiled into a micro-anthology for use by the press.  However, now we need YOUR VOTES to determine the winner of the GRAND PRIZE — $20 Amazon GC!  So use the form below to find your favorite (CLICK THE TAB FOR WiH Flash Fiction Contest 2016) and VOTE!!!!   “Flightless Rats” was originally published in T. GENE DAVIS’S SPECULATIVE BLOG for January 12 2015, and is one of several flash pieces I’ve been working on concerning the origin and further adventures of the “Casket Girls” of  New Orleanian urban legend (cf. February 18, et al.).

Following is the list of finalists which can be reached for voting by pressing here.  Also for those who want a reminder read-through of some or all tales, texts of the original twenty-plus entries can still be found by pressing here.

The Top Ten Flash Fiction Finalists!

Diabolique by Tracy Vincent

Flightless Rats by James Dorr

Pickman’s Model by Jason Ellis

Hell on Earth by Carrie Martin

The Damned by Melissa McArthur

Servant Girl Anihilator by Robert Perret

Staying by Myriah Strozykowsky

Hag by Marcia Wilson

What the Dollhouse Saw by Karen Bovenmeyer

Thin Ice by Marcia Colette

Geminid Press SF Giant Emerges

Well, on second look perhaps not so much a literal giant in length — the total story count, after all, is just twenty-one — but, Geminid Press’s just-announced NIGHT LIGHTS:  AN ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT FICTION (FIRST CONTACT, CONSPIRACY, AND SPACE OPERA) is, as the extended title suggests, a combining of what were initially planned as three separate books.  Such was the impression.  The pay offered was good, and paid in advance, for tales of 1000 to 7500 words and when I bit with a 7000-word original tongue-in-cheek space adventure, “The Needle-Heat Gun,” for their “space opera anthology, Title Pending” (the other two themes of Conspiracy and First Contact being covered by separate anthology calls) an acceptance came back, followed by a contract, in breathtakingly rapid time (cf. November 7, 6 2014).

Then, however, things slowed down.  Publication was being looked for in lateish 2015, but one knows how that goes.  Move up to Sunday though, yesterday evening, and, ever so quietly, the word was slipped in by Co-Publishers Paul and Phil Garver:  “Your short stories are finally out!  The anthology of short fiction has been published as a Kindle eBook, and the paperback will arrive next month.”  The message went on to discuss things like authors’ copies — thus far, Geminid Press is proving to be a nice outfit to work with! — and a note that, while the regular Kindle price for NIGHT LIGHTS is $4.99, “please note that it will be on sale for FREE on February 26-28.”  Presumably that will be for everybody (there wasn’t some special code, for instance, that authors might use just to get theirs for free) which can be a good way to get word out fast on what could be a classic science fiction anthology.  I would suggest for readers who take advantage of it and like what they get, that in return they thank Geminid Press by considering posting a review.

Below is a list of NIGHT LIGHTS stories and authors arranged by sections (I’m in the third), while if, appetite whetted, you’d like to order it, Amazon’s page can be found here.

Conspiracy Hour – Freak us out with the most awesome conspiracy and cover-up tales you dare to divulge.  Raise our suspicions and make us question reality!

•    Brian Leopold – Only a Matter of Time

•    Suanne Schafer – Suite for the Lady in Red

•    Dennis Mombauer – The Garbage Mandala

•    Nick Nafpliotis – Destructive Theories

•    Dean H. Wild – The Harvest Consortium

•    Jamie D. Wahls – Maestro

Take Me to Your Leader – An alien visitor to Earth speaks his first words, which are, essentially, “Take me to your leader.”

•    Russell Nichols – Tie Goes to the Runner

•    David Boop – Ragnarök-n-Roll – A Story of Pre-cod-nition

•    Daniel P. Douglas – Well, Haruki, Looks Like It’s Just You and Me, Kid

•    Chris Doty – The Windfall

•    Kurt Bachard – The Singular Martian Invasion

•    Robert Bagnall – Shooting the Messenger

Space Opera – Rock us with cool short stories that have laser beams, spaceships, heroes — both male and female — and far out faraway places.  No singing required.

•    Frances Pauli – User Error

•    Julian Drury – Noctis Mons

•    James Dorr – The Needle-Heat Gun

•    Rebecca A. Demarest – Pit Stop

•    Richard W. Black – Space Partners

•    J.B. Rockwell – Three Penny Raven

•    Michael McGlade – Fortune Awaits You on Mars

•    Milo James Fowler – Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the Devious Powers of Persuasion

•    Tracy Canfield – Lift Up Your Cores, O Ye Ships

Speaking of French: It’s Come to Our Attention Available via Smashwords, Amazon

Yesterday, as noted, was S.C.I.F.I. writers critique group day at which my story on the griddle was my recent flash piece “A Saint Valentine’s Day Tale,” as also noted in a different outing on February 7.  This introduced the blithely-humored Frenchwoman Claudette, recently come to New Orleans with the vampiress Aimée and the “casket girls” of New Orleanian urban legend.  (For more on the casket girls, incidentally, see just below, February 18, regarding a tale starring Aimée herself called “Flightless Rats,” including a link to allow you to read it yourself.)  The story was well received with one comment I especially liked, from one who added she had been a French Literature major, that even in less than 600-words Claudette’s character came off as unmistakably French.

Come we now one day later, and it’s come to my Sunday afternoon e-attention (sorry, couldn’t resist) that IT’S COME TO OUR ATTENTION, the Spring 2016 entry in Third Flatiron Publishing’s “Third Flatiron Anthologies” series, has just been published.  IT’S COME TO OUR ATTENTION from Third Flatiron Anthologies contains imaginative speculative fiction short stories about things that could be happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, but which could still be extremely significant or make a big difference, to quote Amazon’s blurb.  Visit a landfill to hear some real trash talk.  Tag along with an alien agent here to save the earth from his hideout in the insane asylum.  Bust a conspiracy to change the climate via mind control.  Form an unhealthy attachment to your radio.  Go down to the basement even though we told you not to. Decide on the pros and cons of immortality.  Tell a librarian she would look beautiful without her glasses.  Find out what’s at the bottom of the wishing well (besides coins).  Indulge in a little illegal but highly satisfying genetic tinkering.  Acknowledge the debt we all owe to French culture.  

So, speaking of French. . . .

In any event, my story in this is called “Chocolat” (cf. January 25, et al.), about a Frenchman and, like “A Saint Valentine’s Day Tale,” it’s told in about 500 words and has a lot to do with food.  To savor for oneself, one can find IT’S COME TO OUR ATTENTION on Smashwords by pressing here, or Amazon by pressing here.

Art House Horror — Another Movie List?

There’s something about February.  Bitter cold just a week ago, today it’s in the low 60s (though, alas, not to last very long).  But it’s also a month for lists of films, it seems, and what should I run into whilst perusing my email, following this month’s “S.C.I.F.I.” (you don’t want to know what it stands for, honest) writers group meeting at the county library — two Valentines Day appropriate stories discussed, as it happens — but, yes, another one.  And this also one where I’ve seen most of the entries myself, “13 Greatest Art-House Horror Films” on DREAD CENTRAL, by Erin Hoyles, courtesy of Mike Olson who we’ve met before via Facebook’s ON THE EDGE CINEMA.  Standard disclaimer:  it’s one compiler’s opinion, I might have chosen some differently myself, and also some of these come up on the list of Visually Stunning Horror Movies, below, for February 9.  But I’ll stand behind them being worth seeing, at least those I’ve seen (WARNING to even the slightly squeamish, though, beware of MARTYRS).

To enjoy, check here.