James Dorr's Blog, page 31

And Speak of the Devil . . . The Mystery Is Solved!

What a difference a day makes. Things move fast at Unknown Anthology and, as of this afternoon, the answers to yesterday’s “mystery” are known. The contents revealed. And the story in question one close to my heart, my very first sale to DAILY SCIENCE FICTION published on August 9 2011, a 1400-word flash piece called “Killer Pot.”

But not a crime story despite the “killer,” it’s rather a tale of a pleasant, bizarre evening between two ex-lovers aided by some really good marijuana. And its new venue a charity anthology, STRANGE WEEDS, with proceeds to go to The Last Prisoner project. We’re looking for weed-centered horror stories of any sub-genre (this from the initial call). How you interpret that, is honestly up to you. Any idea is welcomed as long as it is not demonizing the substance or its users.

So, though stretching the idea of horror a bit, maybe — maybe “surrealism” would be more apt — “Killer Pot” seemed to me to be worth a try. And it is a tale more than ten years old with a probably narrow potential market, that I think is worth offering to readers again. A more or less new generation, as it were.

And how times have changed too in terms of acceptance of the substance in question — of relevance to The Last Prisoner as well! But you won’t have to be high to read “Killer Pot” in its new surroundings, with STRANGE WEEDS still on track for consumption this fall.

Another “Mystery” Acceptance Received (Contract Signed, Sent Back This P.M.)

For whatever reason — Covid? lazy spring weather? — the writing biz has been going through a fallow season of late, at least in this corner. Imagine my delight, then, in scanning today’s email haul, with one from a publisher with an attachment. Well, not every time, but often that will be the sign of a new success. The attachment, perhaps, a copy . . . or contract?

Bingo! It was a story acceptance, with contract included. Not the most major, maybe, in this case a reprint, but to be celebrated — the small, as well as the greatest to be cherished. The point of the writing: acceptance and publishing. What it’s about.

Quivering, bragging pen at the ready I opened the email, read down the text. . . . would be honored to have it included . . . attached the contract . . . But then a new paragraph: . . . are still reading stories and plan on finishing the TOC very soon, so . . . . Yep. Please hold off on mentioning any details for a bit longer.

So there you are. Another anonymous story will be appearing later (a mention is made of a hoped-for October release) in an unknown anthology, and there you have it! You heard it here first! But also, the plan is to announce, officially, the full table of contents later this month so, the contract signed and returned this evening, stay tuned for more news soon.

Tears of Isis, Others, on Sale at AbeBooks Through May 30

So, yes, most of these are used, but they also include ones that are out of print like the sometimes hard to find THE TEARS OF ISIS. And some go back quite a ways too, like (speaking of the devil, cf. just below) the original published appearance of “Victorians” in GOTHIC GHOSTS (Tor, 1997). Or earlier stories in professional publications like DARK TYRANTS (a game-oriented anthology from White Wolf, 1999), BORDERLANDS 2 (1994), or GRAILS: VISITATIONS OF THE NIGHT (with a long poem by me, also 1994), many of these as by “James S. Dorr” going back to when I used my middle initial.

But beware of some other Dorr-like authorings, or, not every book listed has stuff that’s really by me, such as ENGINEERING DESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY PROBLEMS by James Dorr McFarland or JUSTICE TO THE SOUTH by James Augustus Dorr. So sometimes a double check via Amazon might be wise before buying, especially as the farther down you go in AbeBook’s list, the more expensive the offerings, some of which might not be bargains at all.

But for fun exploring (and for me, in some cases nostalgic), check here.

And It’s Here — Nightmare Abbey 1st Issue Arrives!

Thus says the Amazon blurb: The first big volume of NIGHTMARE ABBEY features 19 tales of terror by such masters as Ramsey Campbell, Steve Duffy, Lynda E. Rucker, David Surface, Helen Grant, Gregory L. Norris, Robert Bloch, Douglas Smith, James Dorr and others. Plus, articles on Jacques Tourneur’s classic horror film I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, and the iconic TV fright series KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER. Tons of photos and illustrations by Allen Koszowski. (From the creators of the popular BLACK INFINITY series.)

So the riddle was posted below January 30 and April 10: A first sale for me to start the new year, but details to be secret. Then, offering a hint, the story by me had to do with houses. Victorian houses.

Then May 17, just below, the solution was given: NIGHTMARE ABBEY, a new magazine from Tom English’s Dead Letter Press (publishers also of the darkish science fiction BLACK INFINITY, noted in many posts below) had just been published. And so today, Saturday, in the midst of an appropriately stormy afternoon, my authors copies have arrived!

What is there to say? See the Amazon blurb again, above. In much the same format as BLACK INFINITY, fiction, both classic and new, is offered, plus overview articles including for starts an appreciation of the mid-1970’s TV series, KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER (a quick look to check the DVD shelf — yep, my copy is still there). Of a size to compare with BLACK INFINITY too, the premiere issue starts with an interview of featured author Ramsey Campbell, followed by three short stories. Then sixteen more tales along with non-fiction, including — a tad more than two-thirds of the way through — a story by me.

But that you already knew (see post just below); the story, “Victorians,” reprinted from GOTHIC GHOSTS (Tor, 1997), is about an old Queen Anne house with its share of secrets, but also accompanying Victorian attitudes proving to be a not healthy mix. More to the point, for more information on NIGHTMARE ABBEY, and possible ordering, press here.

Victorian Houses, or, Now It Can Be Told: The “Mystery” At Last Unmasked!

Let us recall entries for April 10, “The Mystery Thickens: Unnamed Proof Returned for (Secret Title) Premiere,” and January 30, “New ‘Mystery’ Acceptance on 27th,” the latter celebrating my first acceptance for 2022. But I couldn’t give details, except it was for a proposed new magazine, slated to be released in May.

As of yesterday, Monday, the time has arrived!

The publisher/editor is Tom English who we’ve met before (cf. January 1, et many al.), with, this time, an initial announcement January 23: I’m working on a new dark fantasy/literary (“light”) horror magazine, NIGHTMARE ABBEY — a companion to BLACK INFINITY — and thought you might like to send something. I hope to publish the first issue by May. Until then, please keep the title a secret.

Guidelines: I’m looking for creepy tales that rely on atmosphere, suspense, and/or building a sense of dread; with minimal or no violence and gore, no on-stage sex, and no F-bombs. (Stories “rated” PG-13 or better, if you will.) I need 2000- to 8000- word “light” (or literary) horror, weird tales, traditional ghost stories (Jamesian or other), dark fantasy (preferably with a surprise- or twist-ending), or gothic fiction. No current politics or problems; nothing disparaging of any political, religious, racial, ethnic, or social groups. . . .

And so I sent back a story I thought might do, “Victorians,” originally published in GOTHIC GHOSTS (Tor, 1997), about an old Queen Anne home, perhaps haunted by memories of the past. Always the secrets, but spooky ones this time. The story in fact was inspired by photos I’d received of an actual house in, as I recall, Iowa, augmented by reading of my own on domestic architecture, and went through a number of rejections before finally selling just about twenty-five years ago — and, on a per-word basis, still one of the best paid sales I’ve had.

But is it still spooky? To see for yourself you can check out NIGHTMARE ABBEY 1 here.

Self Indulgence: 5 Books from Lulu at 15 Percent Off Through Friday

DARK BITS. ROLL THE BONES. THREE DROPS FROM A CAULDRON, SPORTY SPEC: GAMES OF THE FANTASTIC, DEADMAN’S TOME CAMPFIRE TALES. What do these five titles have in common?

They are anthologies for one thing, that have a poem or a story by me in them. They span a period of almost exactly ten years, from SPORTY SPEC, published October 25 2007, to THREE DROPS on October 13 2017. And they’re all on sale for this week only (Monday through Friday) from Lulu.

The e-announcement of this was simple. Two lines only: 15% Off All Print Products and Use code SELFLOVE15 | Offer valid through May 20th. That is, through this Friday.

And my part in some of these may not be great: at least one is a single short poem, another . . . well, “DARK BITS” sort of suggests itself that we’re talking flash fiction. And the savings themselves not precisely huge, but what the heck, the books could be fun — a small grab bag, sort of, for taking a chance on a pleasant, weatherwise, late spring week (at least where I am in Indiana).

And some, I hate to say, are ones that I seem to have never received authors’ copies of myself, so maybe it’s I who should take that chance. Though in any event, I’d look them up first on Amazon too, for fuller descriptions and possible reviews, not to mention to see if the Lulu price, even on sale, can be beaten.

But again, what the heck. I don’t even know why there should be a sale this particular week, not to mention why “self love” should be its theme, but if curious, press here.

April Third Sunday Write Four Sundays Late

A whole month late? Wow, that’s a record even for me, but it’s not all my fault. That is, at the start of May (about two weeks ago) my Facebook account got hacked. There were complications. So I had to open a new account, which the Facebook cops (or something like that) busted one day later — more complications. Although in the meantime I had paid the Writer’s Guild’s “3rd Sunday Write” a visit and, this being a new “me,” Facebookwise, had to send a request to rejoin the group.

And still, back in Facebookland, the complications — but the latter at least finally cleared up, and so, here I am! (Though one more complication: Insofar as it is a new Facebook account, the old one thus far being apparently lost forever, any Facebook friends reading this post, please “re-friend” me as well if you would, and wish to — old friendships, apparently, don’t transfer to us by themselves anymore than group memberships when we move.)

But, today, the posting, with prompt (again, a month late — possibly I’ll do better for May?): #2. What do you see from your window?

A brooding sky. A sky dark and ugly, weighted by the troubles of the world. A clear sky, hiding, shoving its true nature behind the trees that crowd the horizon. A fearful sky, feigning nonchalance, unwilling to commit.

A gnarled sky, cowering.

A changeable sky, one that reflects the world, capable, in theory, of showing brightness. Maybe that will.

Last First Sunday Prose (for Spring) Brings Guest Emcee, Three Featured Readers

April’s having been displaced by a special reading by multi-prizewinning author Brian Leung, in Bloomington on an Indiana Authors Grant, and next month beginning the Guild’s annual summer hiatus, May’s Bloomington Writers Guild “First Sunday Prose Reading and Open Mic” at Morgensterns Books (see March 6, et al.) boasted three featured readers as well as a special guest moderator, Guild member Hiromi Yoshida. First up was woodworker, furniture maker, and writer Nancy Hiller with a pair of essays on parrots and pet dogs, among other things, from her latest book, SHOP TAILS; followed by memoirist/novelist Claire Arbogast with a chapter from her 2016 AAUP Public and Secondary School Library Selection winner LEAVE THE DOGS AT HOME (hmmmm); and, currently “bridging the gap between college and the real world,” new novelist Winnie Lyon with the beginning two chapters from THE CURSE OF THE KING, about a young woman who’s also a witch — and in fact a descendant of the trio who cursed Macbeth in Shakespeare’s play.

After the break, there were only four walk-ons, of which I was fourth. Noting that my last First Sunday offering had been a deconstruction of the fairy tale “Snow White,” I offered this time another, older, similar tale tackling “Cinderella,” originally published in RAPUNZEL’S DAUGHTER AND OTHER TALES (cf. July 3 2011, et al.) and titled “The Glass Shoe,” its moral of sorts being that everything these days is just public relations.

Reading Accepted for Dragon’s Roost Lovecraft Plus Laughter Anthology

That’s LOLCRAFT: A COMPENDIUM OF ELDRITCH HUMOR to give it its official title, by Dragon’s Roost Press. And it’s not your everyday Lovecraftian anthology.

And it’s my cover letter that said of my story of poets and public readings and eldritch summonings, that it’s [p]erhaps best thus considered “literary horror.” But you’ll get a chance now to decide for yourself, with an estimated autumn 2022 publication date.

So let’s go back a little. The original call, via the GRINDER on April 20 (the one I got anyway) put it this way: Horror generates fear and dread. Our hearts race. The stress rises and we feel the need for a release, to scream. Humor generates similar physical reactions, but the release comes in the form of laughter. When done well, the feelings don’t leave us when the story is finished, they stay with us.

And that is what we want from you. Make us laugh. Make us cry. . . . Make us long for that release, whether it be in the form of laughter or shrieking in dread. Or, more specifically: Finely crafted works of Dark Speculative fiction which combine humor with something from the Cthulhu Mythos. The humor can be light or dark, subtle or over the top. We want the laughter but we also want that sense of helplessness and dread that comes with a good Lovecraftian tale.

As it happened I had what turned out to be such a tale, originally published in Third Flatiron Publishing’s 2013 UNIVERSE HORRIBILIS, and titled “The Reading” (cf. March 1 2013, et al.), of which I said at the time, about a reading by a horror poet. Oh, and Cthulhu’s there too. So why not, I sent it in. And late Tuesday evening, the 26th, came the word back from Dragon’s Roost Editor in Chief Michael Cieslak: We thoroughly enjoyed “The Reading.” It definitely called up the feeling associated with public speaking and we loved the idea of Cthulhu being nervous. We would be honored to include it in our upcoming anthology.

More will appear here as it becomes known.

Three Vampires Join Library National Poetry Month Outdoor Fest

So the sound system wouldn’t work, but all that meant was we shouted them out — pausing just once when the dune buggy roared past.

Say what?

The poetry.

The occasion was “Poetry in the Plaza,” Saturday afternoon from 4 to 6, at the place with the bear sculptures just outside the co-sponsoring (with the Bloomington Writers Guild) Monroe County Public Library. But it’s complicated. The idea at first was that this would be a reading by poets who’d be also appearing in the April issue of local magazine THE RYDER. But then Russia’a attack on Ukraine intervened, with THE RYDER changing plans for a special issue on that, with the poetry to be re-scheduled for June — and the accompanying poets’ reading put back to June too, probably at local bookstore Morgensterns Books (cf. March 19, 3). So, the April 23 reading already announced as well, it now became a general reading, with RYDER poets, Writers Guild poets, any other poets who wished to read — or just listen — invited.

Also it turned out today brought a beautiful, summer-like afternoon with about thirty people in all turning out, maybe twenty or so of these presenting poetry. And a non-working “mic,” but a compact enough audience that just loud voices worked well enough for the most part. My own reading came about seventh in this with three poems from my VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE)* about, respectively, a cosmopolitan vampire, “La Meduse,” a racing vampire (with a nod to Indiana University’s “Little 500” also this weekend) in “Leaves,” and a vampire whose poem ends up with her partying, “Night Child.” Whereas my poems for THE RYDER in June will feature a vampire enamored with Shakespeare and a zombie with economics.

But back to the present, combined the readings took us from 4 to about 5:30 with the Writers Guild’s Tony Brewer acting as emcee, a generally pleasant time all around.

.

*Currently, apparently, out of print, but with a promise by Hiraeth Publishing to bring it back into publication (cf. below, September 2). More here when it’s known.