James Dorr's Blog, page 180

“Vault” Open Mike Reading at September’s First Sunday Prose — Featured Spot Scheduled for October

It may have lasted a few seconds more than the three-minute limit we try to adhere to for open mike readings (cf. August 3), but the piece I read is one that’s unpublished this time (though being looked at by DAILY SCIENCE FICTION), an odd sort of vampire tale called “The Vault.”  I think of it as being existentialist in a NO EXIT-y kind of way (or maybe more Henri le Chat on Youtube — for which, if you’re unfamiliar with Henri, press here).  Perhaps others would prefer “pretentious.”  In any event, it went well enough.

Featured readers were MFA candidate Tia Clark, currently working on both a novel and a short story collection and reading an entry from the latter; recent poetry MFA Lisa Kwong who also coordinates the Writers Guild’s Fountain Square Poetry Series, with a fairytale about love poetry and office supplies that had itself begun as a poem; and Indiana University Writers’ Conference Associate Director and former Fiction Editor of the INDIANA REVIEW Trevor Mackesey with a story of dogs and floods on Chesapeake Bay.

Sponsored by the Bloomington Writers Guild at local bookstore Boxcar Books, these things are fun in general, literary pretensions aside — though I’m a show-off enough that I’ll always try to have something to read (memo to me, I need to write more 500-word flash pieces).  However next month I’m scheduled for one of the featured slots (see August 14) as part of the buildup to Halloween, as it were, so I’ll have a bit more time for reading then.

For more information on the Writers Guild as well as upcoming events, press here.

Halloween Head Start: The Tears of Isis Post-Labor Day Sale through September 30

Kindle readers alert:  For a start on the upcoming Halloween season, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing has gone one up on its Labor Day sale (see September 1) with a month-long special discount on the Stoker Award® nominated dark fantasy/horror collection THE TEARS OF ISIS.   In effect from now through September 30, according to publisher Max Booth III, the electronic edition can be obtained for just 99 cents.

To quote from the blurb on the PMMP site:  . . . the book we have here, THE TEARS OF ISIS, begins with a poem about a sculptor, a modern Medusa, and concludes with the title story of another sculptor who travels a continent for inspiration, in search of the goddess, “the Weeping Isis,” and ends with discovery of her own self.  But THE TEARS OF ISIS, the book, is a journey too, encompassing, yes, “forms such as never were in nature,” as not just “La Méduse,” but also a man’s soul absorbed by an octopus, vampires both physical and metaphorical, music and retellings of Cinderella, an Ancient World caper involving the Golden Fleece of legend, a far-future recasting of Sleeping Beauty — one of three stories in THE TEARS OF ISIS set in the author’s world of the “Tombs,” another “Tombs” tale of the origin of ghouls, cockroaches spawned by war, insects by UFOs, Lovecraftian monsters called forth by candles, a woman who takes in a rat as a pet, the “death planet” Saturn and women who buy birds, the life-cycle of dragons, another “Tombs” story of love and a zombie-like form of revenge, and at last to Isis — her search to create but destroying as well, as is part of her nature, and back full circle to sculptress Medusa who “spoke to her hair at times” and “in her dreams . . . her hair hissed its/ answers.”

The sale is just for the electronic edition, normally priced at $2.99, but there is a print edition as well for only $12.38 on Amazon, reachable from the Kindle site for those who prefer the feel of paper.  For further information including readers’ reviews, or to order, press here.

And as for the portion I wrote in this one (excepting the introduction), all of it.

Five Vampy Poems to Come Out November

They were just five little vamps looking for a place to stay.  Or something like that.  In any event these were five vampire poems I’d originally sent to DISTURBED DIGEST last October, and quickly got a reply that they were filled for the next issue or two and would I like to resend them to companion magazine BLOODBOND.  So I did, but these were confused times, and so the vamps languished.  They dropped off the radar.  Then finally, in June, came word from Assistant Editor Rachel Holt that BLOODBOND wished to accept all five.

But more complications ensued in that, in the meantime, I’d accidentally submitted one of the poems to a different market.  So I had to withdraw it, meaning that four would be in BLOODBOND (cf. June 25).  Except that later the fifth vamp came slinking home, so I emailed Rachel again offering it back — and so things lay for two more months.

But — Happy Ending! — late last night (we are talking about vampire poems, after all) an email came:  “I’m working on the layout for the November 2014 issue of BLOODBOND, the one in which five of your poems will be included, and I’m concerned that some of the line breaks got goofed up along the way (they were pasted in the email).”  Would I mind resending them again as an attachment?  And so, while it took a little time, I managed to find the original submission .RTF file, check them again against earlier printed out versions, and off they went again to their new home at, according to my printed out carbon, exactly midnight.

The five poems are (to give them their full titles):   “Entertain the Concept, or, A Vampire’s Dilemma,” “Sinister,” “The Vampire Muses,” “Valentine Vamp (‘And So to Bed’),” and “The Vampire’s Suggestion (Don’t Forget Breath Mints).”  Barring the unexpected, we should meet them all a month after Halloween.

Tears of Isis, PMMP Anthologies 25 Percent Off Labor Day Only

I don’t do my email first thing in the morning, especially on holidays, so I almost missed this one.  As it is, if you’re in my time zone there may be little more than four hours left to take advantage.  So quickly, quickly:  Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing is running a special Labor Day Sale, 25% off any title including three dogs I have running in this pack.  These are the children’s cancer charity anthology BLEED and Kurt Vonnegut tribute anthology SO IT GOES, and my Bram Stoker Award® nominated collection THE TEARS OF ISIS.  The promo code is 25LABOR

To check these out press here, then scroll down to the end for THE TEARS OF ISIS.  You’ll notice the two anthology titles on the way along with some others.  Also, if you want to sample other titles from PMMP, go back to the list of links at the top and click on “Our Library.”

But go to THE TEARS OF ISIS first and remember, the promo code to fill out during checkout is:  25LABOR

From Aimée to Ashleigh: Rocky Road Out to Daily Science Fiction Subscribers

Just a short note that my second story in 2014 for DAILY SCIENCE FICTION went out to subscribers this morning, to celebrate Labor Day.  The first, “Casket Girls” (see, e.g., April 17), was on April 10 which celebrates nothing to my knowledge other than a story of mine being published on DAILY SF.  These are the third and fourth for me and the previous two, “Killer Pot” and “Naughty or Nice,” were also both published in the same year, 2011.  Numbers 1, 2, and 3 are also still posted in the DAILY SF archives — just press here, then enter “Dorr” (no, without the quotation marks) in the SEARCH box at the upper right — and, while you’re at it, you can use the box just below it to subscribe free to the ezine too.  Or, if still a non-subscriber, “Rocky Road” should go into the archives itself on September 8.

Then, finally, two fun facts about “Rocky Road”:  (1) At less than 500 words, “Rocky Road” is the shortest of the four stories I’ve had in DAILY SCIENCE FICTION while, at nearly three times the length, the Christmas story “Naughty or Nice” is the longest; (2) of my four stories in DAILY SCIENCE FICTION “Rocky Road” is the only one that contains no words in French.

Rocky Road, Daily SF Up for Labor Day Monday; Spoken Word Reading Not Deterred by Weather

The word came later than usual for DAILY SCIENCE FICTION (cf. April 17, et al.), these things happen, but there it was this morning, the proof sheet for my latest story plus the announcement that it would be posted this Monday, September 1.  That’s right, Labor Day, so if you have a holiday that day, there’s plenty of time (that is, after marching in the parade if you’re scheduled to do so, otherwise watching it and enjoying the picnic after) to read and reread all approximately 500 words of the story, called “Rocky Road.”   “Rocky Road” is the tale of a woman who develops unusual habits after a surfeit of Rocky Road ice cream and so has to give it up.  As for the habits, well. . . .

The neat thing, though, is that this is my first story for DAILY SCIENCE FICTION that will include the warning, ***Editor’s Note:  Adult Story, Mature Themes***.

Then speaking of DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, this afternoon saw me on the Spoken Word Stage at this year’s Bloomington Arts Fair (more properly, the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, cf. August 1, et al.) for a half hour prose horror reading, the final story of which was “Casket Girls,” originally published there earlier this year on April 10 (q.v.).  Far from the sweaty sun-filled weather expected, this morning was marked by thunderstorms, serious enough that the start of the Indiana University football team’s opening game elsewhere in the city was delayed due to lightning.  However, the show went on — the Bloomington Writers Guild had a shelter the readings were under which helped during rain spells, granted originally planned for protection from the sun — and by the time my “prime time” 2:30 p.m. slot came round (the afternoon weather having improved to warm but cloudy), things were only running about five minutes late.

In all I had a pretty good crowd as these things go, about a dozen people give or take or roughly half the seating capacity which, to put it in perspective, was comparable to the number Indiana Poet Laureate George Kalamaras got at his reading two hours later, despite his being accompanied by a very cute dog.  The other stories I read, in order, were “Tombs” story “River Red” from THE TEARS OF ISIS (July 23, et al.) and, as a light interlude, my flash “Undying Love” from UNTIED SHOELACES OF THE MIND (January 6 2013).

So, Did You Hear the One About this Zombie. . . ?

The word is out about ZOMBIES GALORE as of early this morning (cf. August 24, 20):  “And the ebook is live folks!  Start pimping.”  The official launching in England is still scheduled for tomorrow, but you can beat the crowd now – at least if you like Kindle.  The print edition, too, should be out almost any time though.

And what, one might ask, is ZOMBIES GALORE?  To quote from the foreword, “[t]o tickle your taste buds, editor T. M. McLean has compiled sixteen tales of zombie goodness.  From the entrée ‘Monday Matinee Madness’ by H.G. Bleackley to the grand finale ‘Hungry’ by Nicci Murphy, this collection of zombie stories will leave you slavering — and literally hungry for more.”  Also, I do now have an official table of contents, with page numbers even:

7. FOREWORD – THERESA DERWIN .

8. MONDAY MATINEE MADNESS – H. G Bleackley

16. CINNAMON ROAD – A A. Garrison

20. SON OF ANUBIS – Christian A Larsen

28. THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL ZOMBIE SLAYERS – Patrick D’Orazio

46. PASCAL’S WAGER – David Johnson

51. BIRTHDAY BOY – T Fox Dunham

60. THE PALACE OF DEAD ROCK STARS – Theresa Derwin

71. ROAD WHORE – Timothy Frasier

80. FIRE TEAM – Al Halsey

99. THE DRIPPING NOSE THAT WOULDN’T WIPE – James S Dorr

107. THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE – J S Lawhead

128. SO THEY AIN’T YANKEES – Melanie Browne

131. LIFE SENTIENCE – Kaye Inglis

155. THE CHICKEN IN BLACK – Nathan Robinson

181. ZOMBIE: DEATH DAY – Johnny Andrews

199. HUNGRY – Nicci Murphy

Interested?  Hungry as well?  To order your own (in Kindle at least for now) just shamble on over and click here.

The Artist Galore: A Sneak Splatterlands Peek from Grey Matter Press

“There are countless mediums for an artist to choose to ply their trade.  Some artists, like Vince, are drawn to the unusual. . .  Vince creates his masterpieces from slabs of raw meat, carefully selecting just the right cuts from the deli where he works.”  So begins the blurb on the Grey Matter Press website concerning my story in SPLATTERLANDS (cf. August 18, June 9, et al.).

But that’s not all.  There are, of course, other stories in the anthology too, including their own blurbs, plus links enough to continue to Amazon to buy your own copy.  But one other thing I’ve only lately discovered on the Grey Matter site, there are previews as well giving samples of  several of the stories.

And, yes, one of them is of my tale, “The Artist.”  To see it, press here.

Zombies Galore, Galore

A bit of breaking news about ZOMBIES GALORE (see August 20) courtesy of Chris Larsen’s EXLIBRISLARSEN blog.  The exhumation, as it were, is still on for Saturday, noon to 3 p.m., August 30 at Southcart Books in Walsall England, for which I must make my own excuses (I’m on a different side of the ocean for one thing, but also I’m doing a reading that day, cf. August 1), but for those who’ll be in the UK that weekend, Chris notes that Walsall is “just outside beautiful downtown Birmingham.”  Just a tad north I might add, according to my atlas, and should you be there please eat an extra cupcake* for me.  Chris also offers a short list of contents of sorts, to which one must append his own corpse in this charnel house, “Son of Anubis,” and says that the editor is T.M. McLean, not Theresa Derwen as I had thought, though she does have a story in the book.“The Birthday Boy” by T. Fox Dunham

“Monday Matinee Madness” by H.G. Bleackley

“Cinnamon Road” by A.A. Garrison

“The Dripping Nose That Wouldn’t Wipe” by James S. Dorr

“Hungry” by Nichole Murphy

“Road Whore” by Timothy Frasier

“So They Aren’t Yankees” by Melanie Brown

“The Last Line of Defence” by Jeff Lawhead

“The Seven Habits of Highly Successful Zombie Slayers” by Patrick D’Orazio

“Zombie Death Day” by Johnny Andrews

“The Palace of Dead Rock Stars” by Theresa Derwin

He cautions, however, “[t]he above table of contents is not complete, or even in order.  It’s all so hush-hush, I’m surprised I can even get away with telling you, but I guess the government chooses its battles.  Now, if I were to tell you about the zombie measles, I’m sure the CDC would be all over me.”  To see if they are, or just to get it from Chris himself — plus comments as well as more becomes unearthed — press here.

* Or regular cake as the case may be, I assume brain-flavor.  Chris also adds, “[w]ith free cake, tea, and coffee to go with the interviews, readings, chats, it’s being billed as a mini-con, so if you’re in the Walsall area, you’d better go to this thing.”  Also, for coffee, see if you can hold out for French roast.

Science Fiction Super Pack Out on Kindle; Towers of Darkness Poems Migrate to Bones

In what’s turned out to be a busy week, another big book is now available, FANTASTIC STORIES PRESENTS:  SCIENCE FICTION SUPER PACK #1 from Wilder Publications (cf. April 9 and 21, March 31).  At more than 750 pages, with 38 stories — “Fantasy & Science Fiction from the Present, Past, & Future,” to quote Editor Warren Lapine.  “Featuring stories by classic SF greats and up-and-coming new voices” — it also has a companion volume, FANTASTIC STORIES PRESENTS:  FANTASY SUPER PACK #1.  Both of these are primarily reprint anthologies designed in part in support of Wilder Publications’ new ezine, FANTASTIC STORIES, but judging from the contents of just the science fiction entry, with authors ranging from Isaac Asimov to Marion Zimmer Bradley, they look like good buys on their own merits especially for newer readers who may not have had time to be familiar with some of the masters.

I (ahem!) am a part of this too, although only in the science fiction one, with a story going back to when I was writing more sf, and one of my first professional sales to boot, “No Place to Hide,” originally published in Summer 1991 in the long since defunct SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW.  For this and more — much, much more — with a print edition expected to join the electronic ones in two weeks or less, information can be found here.

Then, speaking of “ancient” times, word came yesterday from James Ward Kirk Publishing that a mini-poem sequence excerpted from my long out-of-print chapbook TOWERS OF DARKNESS (Nocturnal Publications, NIGHT VISIONS poetry series #3, 1990 — my first published single-author book of any sort, by the way) has been accepted for their BONES III anthology.  Under the title “Three Dance Poems:  A Mini-Sequence from Towers of Darkness” — lots of threes here! – it’s somewhat experimental in form with a prose “introduction” setting the poems in the context of an evil, doomed city, followed by the poems themselves, “The Instrument Maker,” “Vibrations,” and “Bal D’Enfer,” on the subject of music and dancing and . . . bones.