James Dorr's Blog, page 22

May 3rd Sunday Write (for Me) Comes in June

Be it mostly on me that, not for the first time, the Bloomington Writers Guild’s “Third Sunday Write” on Facebook (see April 23, et al.) gets reported here closer to the first Sunday of the next month. I generally make a point to not even look at the prompts until I have some time I can put aside to sit down and write, more or less on the spot, on the one that “speaks” to me. Or even decide which prompt that one will be. And this May’s closing days, as luck would have it, were busier than most (cf., e.g., May 31, 30).

But as life will have it, here it is now.

(Prompt 3) *What would you have in your picnic basket? Maybe share a recipe or two. Who would you share it with? Where are you?

The vampiress planned, for her picnic basket, yes. Catheters, of course, as well as a blanket. Nice bowls, with a flowery pattern perhaps to celebrate summer, even if they’d be eating at night.

Or would that be drinking?

Some bottles as well, to receive donations — some of the guests would not be going back when the meal was over. That would be the main course, enjoyed on the spot still warm, directly out of its original containers. But always one still had to plan on leftovers. And — that reminds her — some raw meat too just in case the werewolf should happen by?

And a few pre-filled blood-bags, chilled before leaving. A bracing, cold soup — in lieu of a salad. Beverages however should be no problem. Perhaps, though, some drinking straws?

Then for dessert a nice blood pudding.

End of May Double Header: I’m Dreaming, Marcie Accepted by Hawk and Cleaver, The Rabbit Hole

Messing with minds — mine, or yours? We go weeks without any new news of note, then, Bang!, two acceptances on the same day. Ah, the writing life.

So, no time to waste, both with contracts attached, signed and sent back this p.m. The first from British publisher Hawk & Cleaver for THE OTHER STORIES PODCAST plus possible year’s end anthology in print and/or electronic. The email (from Editor “Kez”) was thus: We loved this story. Fun and bonkers and gory!/ We’d love to run it on the main feed./ I’ve attached your paperwork. Could you also confirm your Paypal email address?

The story a reprint, “I/m Dreaming Of A. . . .,” originally published by Untreed Reads in December 2011, and met again on these pages just last month re. the Hurricane Ian relief anthology MONSTROM (see April 22, et al.). The tale, perhaps to come out around Christmas?, is as implied in the wording of its acceptance about mad, bad weather. As well as gory.

Then for the second, another reprint originally appearing in BlackWyrm Publishing’s 2015 cinema/horror anthology REEL DARK, “Marcie and Her Sisters” (cf. April 28 2016, November 15, May 19 2015, et al.). The call for the Writers’ Co-op’s annual THE RABBIT HOLE anthology, this year’s (Volume 6) theme “Destination: Journey,” explained, [i]n a simple sense, the journey itself being the destination can be taken literally or as a metaphor for life. On the other hand, as a non-sequitur it can mean almost anything — think Kafka, Bierce, Serling, or Lovecraft — and we’re really looking forward to your interpretation, because falling into the Rabbit Hole is always a strange and different experience. What we’re looking for are odd, unusual stories where the journey can be the destination, or the destination the journey, anything at all — happy, sad, good, bad, or even indifferent. Stories can emphasize whatever floats, or sinks, your boat. Just remember to keep it weird as befitting a trip down the Rabbit Hole.

That seems simple enough! (THE RABBIT HOLE also, I might add, like MONSTROM with a tie-in to charity, this one with option for royalties to go to the Against Malaria Foundation.)

And as for mind-melting, “Marcie and Her Sisters” decide one day they might marry zombies — or do they? In any event, the journey (ah, now!) is not one wholly filled with flowers and butterflies. Oh, no! Nor is the narrator entirely reliable. . . .

The bottom line, from Editor Tom Wolosz: Congratulations. The editorial committee has reviewed your story, “Marcie,” and would be very happy to include it in our upcoming anthology, THE RABBIT HOLE VI. I must say, we all enjoyed it very much.

Nightmare Abbey 3, Great Man Is Published

14 chilling tales of terror featuring haunted houses, tormented souls, and the creeping unknown! Featuring the macabre art of Allen Koszowski; a photo-illustrated article revisiting Night of the Eagle, aka Burn, Witch, Burn; two classic ghost stories and much more!

Such is the modest blurb today on Amazon. And the publication? Issue number 3 of Dead Letter Press’s semi-annual weird fiction anthology, NIGHTMARE ABBEY, as of Memorial Day, May 29 — and with it my story, originally published in Spring-Summer 1999 in THE STRAND MAGAZINE, “The Great Man” (cf. April 25, March 13, et al.).

The story, then, a saga of post-Revolutionary France, and a story-within-a-story told by a veteran of Napoleon’s army in the years that followed. A story of science, and adventure — and executions. And a behind-the-scenes manipulator named only as, in that he could still be living, “The Great Man.”

So I’m looking forward to my author’s copy, and not just for my story alone — the earlier issues of NIGHTMARE ABBEY thus far have been keepers! More here as it becomes known.

(Not Quite) Friday the Thirteenth Brings Dragon Acceptance

So, okay, it’s really Friday the 12th. But then the first story I’d sent, a comedy about a large load of festering laundry that came to life, was rejected — a near miss, too.

The call, toward the end of last month, had been this: The theme of BLACK INFINITY 10 will be CREATURE FEATURES. Think 1950s or ‘60s SF movies. I need stories with monsters, beasts, insects, man-eating plants, etc. — some type of “creature.” Do you have something to fit this fairly broad theme, 2000 to 12,000 words? You’ve yet to let me down, so please send something.

So what the heck, I sent them a lighter, perhaps more absurd piece, “Got Them Wash Day Blues,” initially appearing in Third Flatiron Publishing’s MONSTROSITIES anthology, but was reminded as it were that BLACK INFINITY (cf. October 6, 8, et al.) doesn’t really do “light.” So it goes. But now with a request for a replacement submission, decided to take a chance with a 7300-word dragon story — sort of a separate sub-genre in itself, to my mind, but technically, really, a Creature Feature too, a giant-size monster in a (in this case) contemporary setting in early 21st century Wales. The story: “The Bala Worm,” originally published in BLACK DRAGON, WHITE DRAGON (Ricasso Press, 2008) as well as appearing in my third collection, THE TEARS OF ISIS, sent out earlier this afternoon.

And so, the reply just a few hour later, Thanks for sending “The Bala Worm.” I was hoping to get a dragon story for this issue, and yours fits the bill nicely. I can pay . . . for this one. Let me know if acceptable and I’ll send a contract soonish.

More to come as it’s known.

Fiction, Memoirs, More Mermaids Mark May First Sunday Prose

A stormy morning and gloomy, if pleasantly warm afternoon may have kept the crowds down for this month’s “Bloomington Writers Guild’s First Sunday Prose” (cf. April 2, March 5, et al.) in the back conference area at Morgenstern Books. But, even if mostly confined to nine or ten listeners in all, the quality of the work read was high.

First up was a Bloomington fixture of sorts, retired Unitarian Universalist minister and peace (and other causes) activist Bill Breeden with two essays from his ongoing memoir, BILLY PILGRIM AND THE BLACK FEMALE JESUS, on a visit by Batman to Owen County and, at age 13, learning the true meaning of pacifism. He was followed by fiction, memoir, and history author Wendy Teller, currently working on the third of a novel trilogy set in Hungary, reading her earlier Richard Eastman Prose Award winning short story, “Dusting the Towels,” along with an excerpt (also touching in part on pacifism) from her coming-of-age novel BECOMING MIA.

Following a short break, a majority of the rest of us — five in all — filled the “open mic” session, of which I was fourth, reading the final of my own short story trilogy, “Mermaid Vampiress Unlucky In Love,” followed by essayist/MC Joan Hawkins to close the session for spring. Then, after a three-month summer hiatus, the next “First Sunday Prose” will be in August.

First Wednesday Celebrates Ryder Poetry

The Bloomington Writers Guild’s First Wednesday Spoken Word usurped for a “RYDER MAGAZINE Poetry Issue Showcase” (cf. April 18, February 28)? Well, not really insofar as reading poetry comes legitimately under the “spoken word.” And it could be all poetry for other reasons too, e.g. that on a particular Wednesday poetry was all they got.

But this is special. And if celebrations end up translating to more readers for the magazine (hint: To see an electronic edition press here, but paper copies are free as well at various kiosks locally), why not? The more the better. And for the poets, also, it’s one more opportunity to introduce one’s work to the public.

And so, okay, I’ve got work in THE RYDER too — three poems in total: “Existential Vamp” (the philosophic), “Let’s All Go to the Movies” (nostalgic), and “Last, Shoemaker Stick To” (surreal). So I, too, was in line in what functionally was a giant-size “open mic,” only lacking a formal, invited readers session first. Or maybe, rather, the “price” being no more than having poems there, we were all invited.

Or maybe who cares? A lot of us read to, at a tad over thirty attendees at peak, a reasonably hefty crowd at downtown Bloomington’s Backspace Gallery and that may be celebration enough!

Great Man, Nightmare Abbey Proof Received, OKed

The email, from Tom English, was succinct enough: ­Hope you’re doing well. Here’s a proof of your story in NIGHTMARE ABBEY 3. (No changes to the story were made beyond correcting typos, etc.)

Let me know of any concerns at your earliest convenience. Thanks!

And as usual the story copy was flawless, so back it went late today with a suggestion, only, on some ancillary matter. The story: “The Great Man” (cf. March 13, January 20), originally published in THE STRAND MAGAZINE for Spring-Summer 1999, of post-French Revolutionary times, and soldiers, and guillotines. And the upcoming publication, as seen above, the third issue of NIGHTMARE ABBEY, sister magazine of BLACK INFINITY which we’ve also met before (see October 8 2022, et al.).

As for the story itself, as noted above it contains guillotines, along with some medical speculation of the day and a sort of steampunky final scene. Plus dark fantasy, weirdness — that goes with the course. Some politics of the time is there too, with off-stage nods from notables such as Charlotte Corday, Lavoisier, and even Napoleon (one’s tempted to say, “to add to the madness”). But then you’ll have to read the story yourself.

More information here as it becomes known.

Writers Guild 3rd Sunday Write — for the Birds?

A play on words this time. Have you ever wondered? Anyhow this month’s Bloomington Writers Guild “Third Sunday Write” offered prompts the fourth Saturday, Earth Day, April 22, the day before today. So today is a cold day, unseasonably so (freeze warning this morning!), and guess what? The heat is off.

Today being Sunday, it’s wait till tomorrow to call the repair folk, whilst meanwhile leaching heat from the laptop and perusing topics, one of them having to do with “Sunlight!” (at least at the start). Thus:

(prompt 4, respond to the poem “I Was Told the Sunlight Was a Cure,” by Hanif Abdurraqib)
Line 3 (taking the title to be line one): “. . . but tell that to the lone bird who did not get the memo”
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What does the bird know? A small, flying creature who makes its living by beaking bugs, notably from the air. A feathered dive bomber of fluff and cuteness. Good for outsmarting cats in cartoons, but that’s only when caged. (Going “tweety-tweet-tweet,” yeah — you ever heard real birds? Ear shattering “Caws!”) But here, silent marauders, sweeping the skies of life. Insects. Smaller birds. Little heads near-brainless, at least for the purpose of solving riddles.

Full little bird-bellies, that’s avian cognizance. Sunlight for marking time, but in a crude way. A non-intellectual counting cadence: Eating time. Drinking time (flit off to find one a pond or a birdbath). No sunlight? — sleepy time! Time to usurp a branch, make it its own digging in with sharp talons. Fluff up those warm feathers. Tuck its head solidly into an armpit. Or is that its wingpit?

Is “wingpit” a real word?

Maybe the bird knows. . . .

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(Atlantic Puffin guest portrait courtesy of Ray Hennessy)

Monstorm, Hurricane Ian Relief Anthology Arrives

For one reason or another it took its time, but at last, on an otherwise windy and somewhat cold Saturday, Madness Heart Press’s charity anthology MONSTORM (see February 24, 12, et al.) has arrived in my mailbox! This is the one produced as a response to hurricane Ian, with proceeds earmarked for Florida’s All Faiths Food Bank, serving the areas most affected by Hurricane Ian.

To quote from the blurb: Storms are the epitome of nature at her most primal, savage, and untamable. They inspire awe and terror in equal measure. When storms unleash their fury, nothing and no one can stand against them.

Hurricane Ian was such a storm. When Ian ripped into South Florida in the fall of 2022, homes and businesses were reduced to piles of rubble. Cleanup and recovery were slow, and as of the printing of this book, there is still much to be done to get things back to normal for those in the region whose lives were turned upside down.

And so, MONSTORM, with twenty stories about wild weather. Dangerous weather! Mine, fourth in the mix, is one of five or so reprints, “I’m Dreaming of A. . . ,” originally published in chapbook form by Untreed Reads Publications in 2011, the tale of a “white Christmas,” but one more likely to have been a part of a Bing Crosby nightmare. To see for yourself, more information including ordering can be found here.

Quoting the blurb again, [t]hese are stories of terror, but this book is one of hope, produced to help raise money to support those who, in Ian’s wake, need help most. Or to the main point: Storms will always come. What matters most is how we respond to them.

New April/May Issue of Ryder Out, With 3 Poems

I don’t write very much poetry these days, concentrating the time I have on prose. I don’t get to too many Writers Guild just-poetry programs. But I do get to some.

I don’t publish too much poetry either these days, as would follow. But, again, there’s some. A case in point, Sunday I heard via Facebook that the new April-May THE RYDER — a local arts and commentary magazine — was out. And with it, presumably, some poems by me (cf. February 28, below).

Some may remember: The last time I announced new poetry here was in summer last year, also in THE RYDER (see July 12, June 13 2022). As is my wont, these were on horror/dark fantasy subjects, one concerning zombies, “Don’t Always Believe Everything You Hear,” and a second, “The Vampiress’ Soliloquy,” on — guess what — a vampire. While this year the word was I might have three, albeit with all three a little bit shorter, though (with lots of local poets being showcased, but in limited space) perhaps only two. Though I gave some broad hints, with my acceptance of the acceptance, that I would much prefer it be all three.

So, good news!, it is three, though each standing alone, separated from its mates by two or three pages, but that’s okay with me. I’ve not gotten a print copy of it yet either, but I have seen the electronic edition which you may, too, by pressing here. (Go ahead, give it a try. You may like it.) But be prepared to do LOTS of scrolling; as with last year’s appearance, the poetry feature is way at the back.

So a quick guide here: three poems on three pages. Starting on page 53 with a nostalgic 13-liner, perhaps the weakest but also the most “mainstream” of the entries, “Let’s All Go to The Movies.” This is followed by maybe my personal favorite, the most intellectual — or was that “absurd”? — of the three, “Last, Shoemaker Stick To,” on page 56. Then the most philosophic to bring up the rear on page 59, the last page in the section, “Existential Vamp.”

And one more note. Plans are afoot from editor/contact Tony Brewer to have a mass reading on Wednesday, May 3, at the Bloomington Writers Guild’s First Wednesday Spoken Word, 6 p.m. at the Backspace Gallery downtown.

See you all there?