James Dorr's Blog, page 88

Itty Bitty Junkie First 2019 New Story Acceptance

Well, at 750 words my flash piece “The Junkie” is an itty bitty story so, when the call went out for an anthology called ITTY BITTY WRITING SPACE, who was I to resist?  The idea is, as I understand it, that one hundred stories at 1000 or fewer words each will be accepted for the book, “any genre welcome, just keep it awesome.”  Pay — and perhaps even just publication — will depend on Kickstarter success in the[image error] near future, so watch these pages for an announcement and link when I know it.

But I get ahead of myself.  The point is that in less than a day’s time, at 9:37 last night according to the time stamp, the email came:  I am thrilled to accept “The Junkie” for the book.  You are now officially confirmed.  This was followed by information on a mailing list for further details plus a request for my confirmation that I was still interested, which I returned.

So, again, check back here for future info and, when the Kickstarter is announced, be aware that generosity will be appreciated by ninety-nine authors as well as me.  And then, when the time comes, enjoy an all-new story (hint:  it does have a zombie in it) by me.

Re-Terrify: Last of Pole to Pole Re-imagined Series Is Here

Friday’s street mail brought my copy of RE-TERRIFIED, with my story “Gas” (see July 10), fourth and last of Pole to Publishing’s all-reprint “Re-Imagined” series.  Previous titles were RE-LAUNCH, RE-ENCHANT, and RE-QUEST (cf. December 29, et al), each of which also includes a story by me.  The titles also suggest the book themes, the first science fiction, the [image error]next two fantasy, and finally horror or, to let the back cover blurb tell it:  Vengeful undead.  Demons.  Hungry Rats.  These creatures and more haunt city streets, unlit hallways, deep space, and the corners of your imagination in RE-TERRIFY.

My story, “Gas,” originally published in the Winter 1994-95 EULOGY, falls into the “unlit hallways” category and was inspired by the basement of Indiana University’s Chemistry Building.  But it has chemicals in it too, and not always used for the nicest of purposes.  To find out more about this and seventeen other stories, one can check out the publisher’s page for RE-TERRIFY by pressing here.

Not Just In the Movies: 10 Best Zombie Musicals Scored

Not every list on this blog is of movies, and this one is too delicious to pass up.  So the entries are varied, music videos (Michael [image error]Jackson with THRILLER, one of the early starts), individual scenes (the line dance in DEAD AND BREAKFAST), shorts and cartoons (LULLABYE, the video at the end of PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES), stage plays (RE-ANIMATOR:  THE MUSICAL), as well as full-length films (ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, at number 1) — including at number 3 the play EVIL DEAD:  THE MUSICAL (for which see below, December 15).  To see for yourself, check out “Zombie Musicals are the Perfect Genre Mash-up” by Seanan McGuire, on TOR.COM, by pressing here.  Then enjoy, enjoy.

Needle Heat First Sale of 2019, to Space Opera Libretti

The call was out:  Dramatic, large-scale stories of the distant future, focused on optimism and inclusion and blowing things up.  Weird mashups.  Actual arias.  Fat ladies singing on funeral pyres.  Watery tarts distributing swords optional.  Play fast and loose.  No holds barred as long as it’s a tasteful treatment written with respect.  Lengths were to[image error] be 2500 to 7000 words with [o]riginal stories preferred but we will accept a few outstanding reprints.

So you’ve heard the tale.  I responded to test that final provision, but also at the extreme of the guidelines.  Attached is a 7000-word submission for SPACE OPERA LIBRETTI, “The Needle-Heat Gun,” that even ends with singing.  It is a reprint (reprint rights in my possession) that was originally published in NIGHT LIGHTS (Geminid Press, 2016).  And yesterday, exactly two months and one day later, came the response from Editor Jennifer Lee Rossman:  We love The Needle-Heat Gun and would like to publish it in our anthology!

With this — “the writing life,” you know — came a contract and information concerning editing, etc., with me returning the signed contract yesterday afternoon.  As a reprint the editing won’t be much, mainly just a copy edit to [image error]make sure everything’s in the right format.  “The Needle-Heat Gun,” incidentally, has been met before on these pages, notably for its original sale (see February 22 2016; November 7, 6 2014) but also for an as far as I can tell never published electronic-only reprint by DIGITAL SCIENCE FICTION (August 20, July 29 2017), that first NIGHT LIGHTS publication being paid at a professional rate to boot.  It does get around!  And now for its third (well . . . actually second) appearance, SPACE OPERA LIBRETTI is aiming for a release in August.

More as it becomes known.

At the Movies (Again): Monday Night and The King

A cross-country road trip in Elvis Presley’s 1963 Rolls-Royce, THE KING is far more than a musical biopic; it’s a penetrating portrait of America at a critical time in the nation’s history and an unflinching investigation into the state of the American dream.  And so, Elvis Presley!  Remember him?

A funny story:  About five hours ago as of this writing (which is to say last night) I was hustling toward the IU Cinema, worried that I might have left home too late.  Would the line be so long it would extend outside (the lobby space in the IU Cinema is not large), meaning I’d have to stand in the cold?  Should I have bought my ticket in advance?  Fast forward ten minutes and an older couple behind me as I was buying my ticket wondered if the movie had been sold out.  In fact, when I got there there was only one person, an even older man, finishing paying in cash for his ticket.  The fact is, as I opined to the ones behind me, it may be only us older people who even remember, that younger folk (such as IU students) might not even know who Presley was — a seminal figure in rock ‘n’ roll.  And once in the theatre that [image error]may have been borne out, there being only a handful of viewers and most of these rather gray looking too.

On the other hand, it was a cold night, and there will be another showing next Saturday, possibly more convenient to get to.

One hopes so anyhow, because the film is about a lot more than just rock ‘n’ roll and one of its earliest popularizers — in movies eventually as well as records and TV specials.  And one with a rather tragic ending, exploited like mad by a con-man manager, and dying young under sad circumstances as much through bad health as bad business decisions.  But there are also parallels to the culture he represented, of America in the 1950s when he came to fame and people still thought that by working hard anyone could “make it,” Presley just being an extreme example, no matter how poor or downtrodden their origins; but then in the ’70s when he died, with Presidents Nixon and in a few years Reagan, and what the country was seen now to stand for was less democracy than capitalism.  Thus money corrupting not only art through excess pursuit of the “bottom line,” but business in general and even democracy itself, with elections becoming playthings of the wealthy (and, yes, it was noted the current President’s origins are not exactly humble).

Or, to continue the quoted blurb from above:  From Memphis to New York, Las Vegas, and beyond, the journey traces the rise and fall of Presley as a metaphor for the country he left behind.  In this groundbreaking film, Eugene Jarecki (WHY WE FIGHT, THE HOUSE I LIVE IN) paints a visionary portrait of the state of the American dream and a penetrating look at how the hell we got here.  A diverse cast of Americans, both famous and not, join the journey, including Rosanne Cash, Chuck D, Emmylou Harris, and Dan Rather.  THE KING was executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Errol Morris, and Roseanne Cash.  Contains mature content, including strong language, disturbing images, and drug references.

Crow and Rat, Two Humanagerie Reviews Recorded

‘Crow and Rat’ by James Dorr is a mesmerisingly unusual love story with a dark edge, post-apocalyptic urban myth feel.
.
Yes, they’re at it again, those two malcontents Rat and Crow, byblows from the world depicted in TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH.  But their story was in a different book, HUMANAGERIE (see December 16, October 28, 3, et al.), published in the UK by Eibonvale Press.  And so the above came in Saturday’s [image error] email from HUMANAGERIE Editors Allen Ashley and Sarah Doyle:  Some of you may have seen this on social media, but I’m getting in touch because I thought people might like to read this wonderful review of our beastly book, written by renowned poet, critic and publisher, Sarah James, for Abegail Morley’s Poetry Shed.  Such a detailed and sensitive reading is really heartening; Allen and I are so pleased to see you all recognised and appreciated.  To see it all for yourself, press here.
.
Also a second, more eclectic review appeared about a month ago on the blog RAMEAU’S NEPHEW by nullimmortalis, which can be seen here.  This takes an impressionistic approach and doesn’t necessarily cover the the book’s entire contents, but “Crow and Rat” is there, as seventh in the listed items.  Of interest as well is a link in that item to a review of the BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY JOURNAL, October 2014, and another story — which does appear in my novel-in-stories, TOMBS, incidentally — “Flute and Harp.”

The Shape of Water: A Friday Followup to Thursday’s Film, Border

(From the DVD)  From master storyteller, Guillermo del Toro, comes THE SHAPE OF WATER, an otherworldly fairy tale set against the backdrop of Cold War America circa 1962.  In the hidden, high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation.  Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.  Rounding out the case are Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkens, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Doug Jones.  
.
Thursday “at the movies” we watched the Swedish film BORDER (for which see below, January 11) with its description in part as [b]lending supernatural folklore and contemporary social issues, the film explores themes of tribalism, racism, and fear of the [image error] “other.”  So last night, Friday, I made it a point to watch THE SHAPE OF WATER on DVD, a film cut in part from the same thematic cloth, but with another theme as well that permeates both films:  that of loneliness.  Both films’ protagonists are themselves in some part “the other” and, in both instances, come up against a recognized non-human creature of folklore and find within themselves an affinity.  But what does that then say about them?  The “other,” the “different,” does like then attract like?
.
Weirdly there’s a bit of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” to THE SHAPE OF WATER as well, with some role reversal, not to mention CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.  Posters, the DVD cover itself, make no bones that here the “other” will be a merman or similar creature.  But here there is magic too, hinted at in the very beginning, then demonstrated a little bit in the film’s final third (in contrast to BORDER where the creature itself is finally identified — here it’s obvious as soon as we see him) which sets us up for a magic-assisted, surprisingly happy ending.  And it is a good film, even if as mermaids go I did like the Polish film THE LURE better (see December 27, April 25 2017 — in fairness though THE LURE does have vampires, as well as music), and for del Toro I don’t think it quite matches PAN’S LABYRINTH either.  But especially when seen with BORDER as a curtain raiser, THE SHAPE OF WATER makes for part of a great double feature!

Gräns (a.k.a. Border) Folkloristic Entry to Indiana University Cinema Fare

“Holy crap, what am I watching?”

So said the IU Cinema docent, describing her initial reaction, in introducing Thursday night’s showing of the Swedish film GRANS.  There is, in fact, a lot of “what’s going on here?” to wonder about although, having used elements of folklore and fairylore at times in my own writing, when the main reveal came about two thirds of the way through, I was able to nod and think, okay, and consider how the threads had been wound together.  It is rather neat, though others may be taken more by surprise — some at the showing even laughed, in perhaps a nervous sort of way.  And in certain ways, the [image error]film is even ugly — it isn’t one I’m overly anxious to see again — but it is one that I recommend watching, especially for those of us into dark fantasy/horror, though I wouldn’t call it a horror film either.  More like just . . . different.

Or, ending by quoting the catalog blurb:  It is a safe assumption to say you have never seen a film quite like BORDER.  Tina (Eva Melander) is a customs officer who has the keen ability to literally smell guilt, fear, and fury seeping off of some travelers.  When she encounters a mysterious man with a smell that confounds her detection, she is forced to confront hugely disturbing insights about herself and humankind.  The film is adapted by Danish-Iranian director Ali Abbassi from a short story by author John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also created the lonely vampire classic LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.  Blending supernatural folklore and contemporary social issues, the film explores themes of tribalism, racism, and fear of the “other.”  The film has been referred to as a genre-bending cross between an X-Men film and a Nordic noir crime drama.  In Swedish with English subtitles.  Contains mature content, including graphic nudity, sexual violence, strong language, and violent imagery.

Tears Sale (Sort Of) on Amazon Through January 31

We may recall AbeBooks which seems to have sales about every month (see December 21, et al.), but here’s one for a change from Amazon, and for the rarely discounted THE TEARS OF ISIS.  But there is one catch, that when one adds Amazon’s usual price for shipping, the total [image error]still comes to more than the marked list price of $12.95.

But wait!  TEARS is also on a special deal until January 31 where, when ordering, even if one is not on Amazon Prime there is a special box that can be checked to get shipping free.  And with that the price for THE TEARS OF ISIS is less than ten dollars — at $9.64 (well, also plus tax, Amazon’s getting picky about that) which isn’t a bad deal at all.  So, if interested, just click on its picture in the center column and don’t forget to scroll down to the section on shipping options, but best do it now while it’s on your mind or at least before the end of the month.*

.

*Barnes and Noble, it might be noted, also has THE TEARS OF ISIS on a slight discount, at $12.30, and also right now with “qualification” for free shipping so, even if not as good a deal right now, it still pays to shop around.  More can be found here.

First Sundays Back to Help Start the New Year

As we continue to settle into 2019, today brought the Bloomington Writers Guild’s opening event, “First Sunday Prose Reading & Open Mic” (cf. December 2, November 4, et al.), this time in the back room of the downtown Soma Coffeehouse.  Featured readers were Bloomington-based writer and occasional dancer and actor Zilia Balkansky-Sellés with “mostly memoirs,” Wendy Teller with the opening chapter of her novel-in-progress THE SORROWS OF SEX, and local poet Eric Rensberger with a brief historical chat about the afternoon’s venue followed by a series of fifteen loosely connected “prose poem paragraphs.”  Holding a larger than average audience, these were followed by seven walk-ons, of which I was third with a just-written (on New Year’s Day to be exact) science-fiction satire of zombies and borders titled “Steel Slats.”