James Dorr's Blog, page 35

Clockpunk Proof — Curiosities Out in Time for New Year’s Eve?

Some tales get around in curious ways. New Years Eve-set story “Appointment In Time,” for instance, may be remembered from November 26, where it and the anthology YEAR’S END: 14 TALES OF HOLIDAY HORROR (2012) were part of a bundle of books on sale from Untreed Reads Publishing. But, weirdly, it’s in the news again today, for which we must go back to. . . .

Well, came today’s email: Attached is the web proof of CURIOSITIES #9. Apologies for the tardiness. I should have had this out back in spring. I was feeling very optimistic about a lot of things early in the year, but then things kind of fell apart on everything. I did a couple of conventions in Denver this fall, and nearly everyone on Author Row had the same story to tell. “I should have had one or two more on the table, but. . . .”

So now hark us to an earlier year for “Appointment In Time” (cf. May 1 2019) and: This was a quickie, sent just eight days before submissions closed — and accepted one day after! The call was intriguing, under the rubric “Curious Gallery”: “Hello! This project is a comfortable two-headed beast at play in the curious and often dark corners of retropunk fiction. That means steampunk, dieselpunk, dreadpunk, bronzepunk, others too numerous to name punk . . . but not atompunk. Sorry, space fans, we draw our line at Sputnik. About 2/3 of rejections are for ‘bad fit.’ We buy nonexclusive rights for fiction, cover & interior art, music & sound effects usage, and narration services.” The name of the magazine, CURIOSITIES.

Then, minor editorial changes seen to three days later, “Appointment” languished. And languished. Such is the way of the writing biz. (And let us not forget worldwide pandemics.) Until now, back on track, Editor Kevin Frost continued: Hopefully I can have this uploaded to Amazon early next week, and for the conventioneers amongst you, we can all start the new year with a fresh book on our tables.

So, no corrections needed except for a minor contributors blurb update (sent back and already corrected today), it just might happen: CURIOSITIES published in time for Christmas as well as New Years.

Aimée, Casket Girls “Flash Suite” Now Up for Reading

That is all five parts have been posted on Defenestrationism.Net, and can now be read from beginning to end as a single about 3300-word story. That is to say, in “normal” fashion, for those who’ve not been following it day by day.

The story: “Casket Suite” (cf. December 10, 2, November 24, 8) is one of seven finalists in a Flash Suite Contest, with “fan voting” (i.e., by you) open January 1 through 14, the result to be combined with the choices of four professional judges to determine a winner and runner up, to be announced January 17. And what is a Flash Suite? From the contest editors: A series of at least three flash fiction works that correlate, and build to something greater. Recurring characters, extended motifs, harmonious subject matters, and/or sustained narrative are such correlations — but we encourage innovation and new ideas.

Thus, “Casket Suite,” five mini-tales of Aimée and les filles à les caissettes, the “Casket Girls,” the vampiresses who’ve made New Orleans their home since their 1728 coming from France. The individual flash piece subtitles: “The Flavor of the Jest,” “A Surfeit of Poe.” “Reflections,” “Shades of Difference,” and “What’s In a Name?” All now are available in proper order for your reading pleasure, by pressing here — with details on voting among all the finalists, should that be your inclination, to be supplied as they become known. But for now just enjoy!

Then one final note: the picture, above, which has graced these several “Casket Suite” posts is of a French actress, Musidora, who starred in the 1915-16 movie serial Les Vampires. In the film the “Vampires” is only the name of a criminal gang, but, in that we writers imagine details about the characters we create, the portrait, in my mind, is one of Aimée.

Late All Around: Third Sunday On Moonlight, Who’s Grateful or Not

It’s me mostly that’s late though. That is, November’s Bloomington Writers Guild “3rd Sunday Write” challenge was offered on FaceBook on the 22nd, a Monday, and just one day late. The first of the prompts to write something based on “By the light of the moon,” the second involving a gratitude exercise, a third . . . but wait, the first two were enough! But then I was late — with getting “Casket Suites” ready and such, it had been a very busy month. I didn’t actually write my own essay, and post it on the 3rd Sunday Write site, until Thursday, December 9. And only now, in the wee, wee hours of Monday morning, am I sharing it here.

So let it be: 1. By the light of the moon + 2. Gratitude

Naturalists are especially grateful for a full moon because that’s what brings the werewolves out. In the woods, that is — there are regular wolves galore in the woods on any night (as well as naturalists, of course), but a full-blooded werewolf is especially attractive. At least that’s on nights with no rain — or even clouds — but rain especially makes werewolves droopy. And hunters, also, have mixed feelings on nights with full moons.

The thing with hunters is you have to use silver bullets to kill a werewolf, which gets expensive. And even then when they die they revert to human form, which means the pelt has lost half its value. One could, to be sure, use regular leaden bullets so only regular wolves would be killed, with their regular-wolf pelts, but werewolves still feel the pain when they’re struck by any bullets. Even lead ones, and that makes them mad.

It’s not a good thing to have a wolf mad at you, werewolf or otherwise.

And there are the vampires, too, who hate nights with a full moon. For them, though, it’s business — with werewolves around it means more competition.

Hanging Vines Proof Sheet Received; Galvanic Unearthed in Computer Cave Mailbox

Ah, Christmas, a target to aim for but often missed! Today saw the receipt of the proof for my story “Hanging Vines,” for the STARSHIPS AND SPACESUITS edition of BLACK INFINITY (see August 25, et al.) and with it, from Editor/Publisher Tom English: ­There’s a slim chance I’ll be able to publish issue #8 a few days before Christmas. If not, then the 1st week of 2022. We got behind schedule due to many factors, but mainly because I keep adding a new photo here, a piece of art there, etc.; and in one or two cases, I redesigned a story title page.

So we shall see — to expedite the process anyway, no errors being found, I got the word right back to BLACK INFINITY, noting as well the very apt illustration English had found, by classic SF artist Ed Emshwiller, to grace the story.

Then in other news, some ten months ago came word that “The Galvanic,” originally published in LORE for Autumn 1997, had been accepted by Hiraeth Publishing for POTTERS FIELD 7 (cf. February 12). And — well, delays do happen, especially in times like these — this afternoon my authors copy arrived! The story itself is one of the education of Edinburgh doctors in the early years of the nineteenth century, and finding anatomy lecture subjects. And those who helped the effort.

Or, quoting the volume’s back cover blurb: The stories in Potter’s Field 7 relate in some way to unmarked graves. You’ll find herein stories about a lethal doubloon of a conquistador; an abandoned infant; a homeless man with a priceless heirloom; mysterious deaths on the Moon; reanimation; a trip into the woods on Halloween night; and a serial killer’s nightmare. Read this one with all the lights on. . . .

To see for yourself and/or order press here.

Aimée, Casket Girls Saga Begins on “Flash Suite” Finalists Listing

Yes, it has begun, the first of the five mini-stories that make up “Casket Suite” (see December 2; November 24, 8), my entry in Defenestrationism.net’s “Flash Suite” competition, can now be seen. One of seven finalists, a new story portion will be added each day from now through Tuesday, December 14th. Thus you may wait until the final date for the full impact, when one will find the parts listed one after the other to read the entire Suite; or you can indulge now with the first as a sort of amuse-bouche, to be followed by four more delicious courses, but just one per day, to complete the feast.

The courses themselves, then, with their separate titles (as quoted from November 8’s post): “The Flavor of the Jest,” an alternate “origin” story of Aimée and the others’ original 1728 coming to the New World from France; “A Surfeit of Poe,” a mid-1850s placing of les filles in their literary context, as led by the “poetic” casket girl, Yvonne; “Reflections,” in which we meet glamor-casket girl Lo in a musing on vampiric superstitions, and which ones are wrong; “Shades of Difference,” also not anchored to a specific time, the shortest tale depicting an amusing conversation on the color red; and “What’s In a Name?” with Aimée again, and relations with humans both there and in France. And make no mistake, “Casket Suite” is about food.

That is, cuisine of course for those with a specialized preference in diet, and based on an actual New Orleanian urban legend. But see for yourself, by pressing here. And remember, too, that there will be a chance in January to vote for your favorite of all seven suites, more information on which will be reported here.

Christmas Vulture Contract Returned . . . In Time for Christmas?

Well, maybe not quite Christmas, the email received Thursday night specifying a hoped for publication date for January. But then, the acceptance was a while back too (cf. November 3 2020), for a story submitted some four and a half years before then, on May 25 2016.

But better late than never, eh? As received from Editor Jason Marchi: Publication for AUTOMOBILIA is coming up in 2022. The copyright/publication year was moved to January 2022 so the book can be entered earlier into more contests.

So, finally, here is the contract I owe you . . . [a]ttached is a PDF of the contract, which you can sign and send back as a PDF if you are tech-savvy. I’ve attached the WORD version too if that’s easier for you, but your fonts probably won’t like it.

Next, I will send a PDF galley of the story for your review for changes, if any.

Or those are the highlights, with the contract, signed, going back just after midnight. As for the book, AUTOMOBILIA, while some details have been lost in the quicksand of time, this much is recalled: as the title suggests an automobile should be such an integral part of the story that if removed the story collapses. And the story to be in it, “The Christmas Vulture,” originally published in UNTIED SHOELACES OF THE MIND, Fall 2010, is the tale of a compassionate carrion bird that cruises the freeways on Christmas Eve, searching for crashes and food for its chicks.

But what of crash survivors?

The Good Work: DeadSteam II Dreadpunk Anthology Is Here

The monsters are witches, real or suspected, and/or 1850s (i.e. after the 1843 publication of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and the new popularization of celebrating Christmas) London street urchins. Thus my description to Editor Bryce Raffle when I sent it in.

The story: “The Good Work,” originally published in BLURRING THE LINE (Cohesion Press, 2015), and the anthology, DEADSTEAM II (see October 27, September 27), A delightful collection of dreadpunk HORROR stories, to quote from the back cover. Think Penny Dreadfuls. . . . full of vampires, zombies, witches, and so much more. And so, my part in it another witch story (see post just below, December 3), but this time in Victorian England instead of 18th century Spain.

Or, from Amazon’s blurb: Just when you thought the nightmare was over, what was dead comes crawling back from the beyond. We warned you not to open that fateful tome. But you just couldn’t resist, could you?

Back with more chilling tales of the dark and supernatural, the anthology of dreadpunk, gaslamp, and dark steampunk returns to haunt you with mummies, witches, vampires, gorgons, ghosts. The second installment in the DeadSteam series from Grimmer & Grimmer Books, DEADSTEAM II promises an even darker, grimmer gothic than the first offering.

My part in the original DEADSTEAM, incidentally, was “The Re-Possessed” (cf. November 9, September 15 2018, et al.), also Victorian London set and originally published in CEMETERY RIOTS (Elysium Press, 2016). And now there’s a sequel — that is for the book, the stories themselves otherwise unrelated — for details and/or ordering of which one may press here.

Natural Instincts, Witches, Warlocks Arrived

The full title is NATURAL INSTINCTS: TALES OF WITCHES AND WARLOCKS (see October 4, September 29, et al.) and my story in it, a reprint from DEAD OF NIGHT, Summer 1995 (also DARK ANNIE, December 1998, . . . — it got around a bit in the last century), called “Flying.” The latter about the creation, in 18th century Spain, of — you guessed it! — a witch.

Or, back to NATURAL INSTINCTS as a whole, to quote from the back cover: Welcome to the world of witches and warlocks! Inside the following pages, you will discover tales of magic, power, and the lore of the past. Stories of magical bars, a book filled with magical creatures that won’t stay put, or an enlightening narrative of a witch finding her way after a long absence. NATURAL INSTINCTS: TALES OF WITCHES AND WARLOCKS is a fun collection of thirteen short stories to be enjoyed no matter the season.

And so it has arrived in the (as it were) flesh today, a bit thin perhaps at 153 pages but, judging just from the story titles, it looks to be an exciting read. One can see for oneself by checking it out here.

Casket Girls News: Flash Suite Contest Finalists Page Upgraded

Comes the beginning of December and the main “Flash Suite” contest (see below, November 24) page, for which “Casket Suite” with Aimée and les filles is among the finalists, has been upgraded. Now listed are all seven finalists with their authors and component titles, along with their publication schedules, as opposed to the general Defenestrationism.net page of the earlier listing, a sort of “home page” from which one still, to be sure, could reach those more specialized.

So it gets complicated? But no, for the new “main contest page” one need but press here, for a destination which will, as it becomes more defined, feature links to all the works, links to Meet the Judges and Meet the Finalists, and eventually a link to Fan Voting. All finalists’ work will also appear on an individual page — posting at something along the lines of Defenestrationism.net/your-story-title/

“Casket Suite,” we may recall, is a sort of mini-chapbook of five Casket Girls stories, “Flavor of the Jest,” “A Surfeit of Poe,” “Reflections,” “Shades of Difference,” and “What’s In a Name,” scheduled for publication December 10 through 14. More to be found here as it becomes known.

Untreed Reads Again: Chapbook Links Upgraded

Untreed Reads Publishing (see just below, November 26) is at again or, rather, has been at it the last few weeks. A redesign of their website and sales links, including the icons here in the middle column.

Say what? The pictures, that is, of the books. Three under “Chapbooks” are for Untreed Reads publications, “Peds,” “Vanitas,” and the dark Christmas tale “I’m Dreaming Of A . . .” (that “. . .” is part of the title). If you’d happened to click on one of those the last week of so, you would have landed on a generic Untreed Reads entry page with no obvious way of getting from there to the book you were seeking (which isn’t to say, that is, that you couldn’t have reached the title you wanted, just that it would be a sort of adventure).

But now as we start December all is updated. (Just in time for Christmas, one might say, but the truth is more like it’s just now that I’ve had time to go into the coding behind the curtain and bring the links there up to date for the new Untreed Reads pages.) So go ahead, click on the titles now! See the pages they bring you to! All complete with author bio, opening paragraphs of the story, a choice of ordering directly from the distributor — the one you’ll come to being DriveThruFiction — but, if desired, one may switch to others.

So, again, that’s the novelette “Peds,” and short stories “I’m Dreaming Of A . . .” and “Vanitas,” all of which, as it were, are once more only a click away.