James Dorr's Blog, page 69

November 3, 2019

Ghost Ship Second Sailor at Writers Guild First Sunday Prose

Sunday afternoon was Bloomington Writers Guild “First Sunday Prose Reading and Open Mic” day (cf. October 6, May 5, et al.) at local tavern Bear’s Place.  As of last month, there have been two featured readers rather than three to give sufficient time for open mike readers and still be cleared before 5:00 p.m. (at which time the Ryder Film Series has scheduled screenings), this month’s being Andy Hubbard with several books of both prose and poetry who, in the spirit of “Days of the Dead,” [image error]read four poetry-like shorts on ghosts and hauntings both in the rural midwest and coastal Maine; followed by me with “Ghost Ship,” a tale set in the universe of my mosaic novel TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH of a “Flying Dutchman” type figure’s appearance on a far future ocean, originally published in TECHNO-GOTH CTHULHU as well as reprinted just last month in BLACK INFINITY (see October 28, 21, et al.; also April 28 2013 et al.).


After a break (which included shared candy courtesy of Antonia Matthew, who we’ve met before), the “Open Mic” portion drew only three readers this time, the last being Andy whose scheduled presentation had run a bit short with two more extra-brief ghostly poem-stories.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 03, 2019 16:17

November 2, 2019

Space Opera Libretti Bio Requested, Returned

A quick Saturday note from SPACE OPERA LIBRETTI (cf. February 11, January 16):  We need updated bios for each of you.  However you wish [image error]to write them, but ideally two paragraphs or less, written in the third person, and including social media links if you’d like them.  The anthology theme is probably self-evident, my part in it being “The Needle Heat Gun,” a tale of two intrepid spacemen and a song badly sung, originally published in NIGHT LIGHTS (Geminid Press, 2016).  And so — as quick as that! — the bio was sent as requested, with more to come here as it becomes known.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 02, 2019 17:51

November 1, 2019

Monsterthology 2: Pre-Halloween Monster Mash Up on Amazon

They’re here!  This edition contains thirteen horrifying tales of vampires, werewolves, demons, zombies, and even Frankenstein!  Along with other monsters that go bump in the night:  Salla by Stephanie Bardy . Dumb Luck by Dawn De Braal . Just Like Us by Belinda Brady . The Caged Wolf by Steve Carr . Mummy’s Daddy by Brandon Cracraft . Beefcake and The Vamp by James S. Dorr . Potentia by T. Fox Dunham . The Prodigal Son by Walter G. Esselman . The [image error]Invisible Man by Tom Fowler . Black Lagoon by David K. Montoya . Demonically Nice Neighbor by Copper Rose . Suicide Mission by Alan Russo . Tinfoil Bullet by Phil Thomas .


So says the blurb, but they were actually here a tad before now, ten days before Halloween in fact.  The “they” is MONSTERTHOLOGY 2, the anthology from Zombie Works Publications (see October 7, et al.) with tales of monsters harking back to the movie classics, vampires, wolfmen, zombies, et al.  This, my second MONSTERTHOLOGY appearance (the first, a cryptobiological tale called “Stink Man,” was in the initial anthology in 2012), is titled “Beefcake and the Vamp” and, a pre-“Casket Girls” New Orleanian story, features both a vampire and zombie.


So a check with Amazon has MONSTERTHOLOGY available as of October 21, with mine and twelve other stories as cied above.  For more, one may press here.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 01, 2019 12:35

October 30, 2019

October 29, 2019

Scary Snippets, Micro-Fiction for Halloween Up on Kindle

The title was SCARY SNIPPETS:  HALLOWEEN EDITION and the contents to be stories — lots of stories — horror of 500 words or less (cf. September 27, 21), to be out for Halloween.  “Ghosts, goblins, any and all [image error]horror is accepted.”  So Tuesday night the word came from Editors Kyle Harrison and Natalie Brown, and with it authors’ electronic copies:  Thank you so much for submitting!  We are so honored to have you be a part of this!


So there it is, a very short post for some very short tales, mine titled “Silent Scream” on the golden aura of quietness.  To see, or order for oneself press here.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 29, 2019 21:52

Beer-Battered Authors Listed, Beer-Battered Shrimp Kickstarter Ends Halloween at 1:20 p.m. (EDT)

It’s BEER-BATTERED SHRIMP FOR COGNITIVE RUMINATIONS, the witty and wacky all-illustrated micro-story and saying compendium (cf. October 6, 2, et al.), now into the final stretch of its kickstarter.  Plenty of bargains (with two levels of pledges including a mini-ebook by me, A JAMES DORR SAMPLER, for those who indulge in the “Shrimp Platter” and/or the “Mantis Shrimp Ninja”).  Also artists and writers are listed on the site for all to see, including again on the author list, me.


Or to quote Editor/Publisher Jaleta Clegg:  BEER-BATTERED SHRIMP is a collection of extremely short things that will hopefully bring a smile to your face or make you stop a[image error]nd think for a moment, or just entertain and amuse.  My vision is a colorful, quirky little book, a very short story on each page.  The authors range from best-selling authors to some just breaking in to some never-before-published authors.  The youngest is four.  The oldest isn’t telling.


Authors appearing in this collection include:


Deborah Drake • William J Joel • Jaleta Clegg • C H Lindsay • James Dorr • Michaelbrent Collings • Tricia Lowther • Karen Thrower Walker • Juleigh Howard-Hobson • Scott Huggins • Diane Clark • C Michelle Jefferies • Dianne Arrelle • Stephan P Mount • Rowan Ray Eve • Jacek Wilkos • Lena Ng • Yrik Max Valentonis • Jude-Marie Green • Rose Blackthorn • A Collings, Age 4 • D J Tyrer • Andrew Wilson • Nemma Wollenfang • Jeffrey G Roberts • Jennifer D Lerud • Karina Fabian • Edward Ahern • Abra Staffin-Wiebe • Jenna Eatough • Stephen Coghlan • Wm Henry Morris


Anyone you know there?  My part, I should add, is a mega-story (by BEER-BATTERED standards) of 75 words called “As Fine as Frogs’ Hair,” a fairyland epic of glamor and magic — but it won’t be seen unless pledges are gathered before Thursday, October 31, at 1:20 p.m. EDT.  That is to say, Halloween just after lunch.


For pledges (and more information) press here.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 29, 2019 12:03

October 28, 2019

Triana Reminds Us: Tuesday is National Cat Day

Says the National Cat Day website:  We explode the internet every October 29th.  We live to celebrate cats and help them to find forever homes.  Through our large social media & press platform, all year long we’re able to partake in the wonderful world of cats and put the plight of cats in shelters, center stage.  We educate literally millions all year long but on October 29th . . . it’s party time!  We encourage you to spoil your fur baby a little more on National Cat Day [image error]than any other day (you don’t want them to get too demanding do you?) by buying them a new toy drenched in cat nip, giving them something simply scrumptious to eat, offering LOTS more cuddling and making a donation to your local shelter in their honor.  The best way you can celebrate though is to save a life!  So if you can . . . ADOPT . . . don’t shop.  Estimates reveal that there are approximately 4 million cats entering shelters every year with 1-2 million being euthanized.  Often cats are overlooked and under-appreciated because they don’t usually have jobs like dogs.  But cats still lower blood pressure, offer unconditional love and companionship, tons of laughs and alert their owner to danger.  Many cats have been named heroes.  So take that . . . dogs!


(And Triana, a mostly black rescue cat herself, intends to celebrate Halloween just two days from now as well.)

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 28, 2019 21:02

Black Infinity Payment Arrives, Issue to Come

The email was to the point:  Thanks so much for making Black Infinity a great reading experience.  All payments via PayPal or by check have been sent and Amazon will be shipping contributors copies soon.  So, Amazon not always being speed demons, the issue still should be here in, say, less than two weeks.  It’s one I’m really looking forward to, both for the concept and for the author lineup (see October 21, et al.), but also to help decide what I might send for considering for future issues.  Or, in short, I think this one will be a keeper.
.
BLACK INFINITY 5, incidentally, was officially published just ten days ago, on October 18, and if interested can be ordered by pressing here.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 28, 2019 13:00

October 27, 2019

Sunday Movie “Hero” Examines Stories and Points of View

This was another trip to the movies, a Sunday matinee, this one related to questions of remembering and forgetting (see October 23 below) but with emphasis on the point of view of the person who might be telling the story.  Events may be altered — or at least the way one relates them — according to the teller’s agenda, purposely in the case of this film, but it also could be just a matter of interpretation.  One of a series labeled “The RASHOMON Effect,” the film was YING XIONG, translated as HERO, directed by Zhang Yimou, and is somewhat about an actual historical event, an attempted assassination in 227 B.C. of the king of Qin who subsequently united seven warring kingdoms to form the empire that became China.  But it is a “wire fu” fantasy too, a martial arts film where fighters fly through the air as they do their deeds, and a single assassin not being enough there are at least three [image error]here, not to mention at least two or three versions of what actually happened.


To let the Indiana University Cinema explain:  In pre-Imperial China, during the Warring States period, a nameless soldier with supernatural skill embarks on a mission of revenge against the fearsome army that massacred his people.  To achieve the justice he seeks, Nameless (Jet Li) must first take on the empire’s most ruthless assassins — Sky (Donnie Yen), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung), and Broken Sword (Tony Leung).  Once his mission is complete, he is granted an audience with the ruler of the most powerful of the seven warring kingdoms, and he relates to the King (Chen Daoming) the tales of how he defeated each of the three of the ruler’s adversaries.  Despite what Nameless has told him, the King presumes his score with the assassins was not all it seems to be and weaves his own tale of what he believed is at play.  In Mandarin with English subtitles.  Contains mature content, including violence.


The film has been criticized on somewhat political grounds, as placing emphasis on the idea of “state,” which brings up point of view again; it is at least a film to make one think, regardless of the action/adventure aspect.  And the fights themselves are more like dance sequences, the film being amazing in places in terms of beauty, my favorite being a battle between Flying Snow and another woman, both dressed in red, within an autumn forest of swirling leaves in bright yellows and oranges, deepening as the fight ends to its own red.  Other scenes are in blues or in greens, others in more natural colors, even a couple of brief dream sequences of sorts in black and white. . . .


Or, story completely aside, YING XIONG is still stunning.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 27, 2019 20:14

October 25, 2019

Dreaming Saturn, Hyperion & Theia All Hallows’ Eve Sale to Start Sunday

Came the announcement and with it the link:  AURELIA LEO’s All Hallows’ Eve Sale is around the corner!  Horror, dark fantasy, and paranormal titles are up to 25% off from October 27-November 7th!  Grab a discounted haunting tale before it’s too late!  Pay using credit or debit, including your bank account, using PayPal, Square, or CCBill.  You can even mail a check!  And so there’s more to it than just one book, but that’s the one that interests us (i.e. me), the Saturnalia-the[image error]med anthology HYPERION & THEIA and in it my long poem, originally published in White Wolf’s 1994 DARK DESTINY (also a Rhysling Nominee that year), “Dreaming Saturn.”


Or as Amazon has it, HYPERION & THEIA:  An Illustrated Anthology features otherworldly speculative poetry, stories, and art.  Gods and Goddesses of old prepare for destruction.  A demonic circus delivers a haunting finale.  The Shebeast lurks in the forest and pulls at heartstrings.  Alien diet supplements wreak havoc in near-future San Francisco.  Three women conspire to break an oath with a wicked witch.  The Herculaneum Scrolls reveal the role of ancient aliens.  A Roman warrior and a warrior turned slave venture into the territory of a Queen of ancient Egypt.  Two cowboys track dark magic in the Wild Wild West.  Ghosts stuck in the mortal realm high off drugs.  You are a lone radio jockey after the apocalypse.  Including, heading the contents, my multi-page poem “Dreaming Saturn.”


The sale, as said, covers other books as well and will run from October 27 through the first week of next month, ending November 7.  For more, press here.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 25, 2019 11:53