James Dorr's Blog, page 95

Poets Weave Poems Continued at Sept. Last Sunday; October First Sunday Defers to Frankenstein

With a busy week coming up, today’s “Last Sunday Poetry Reading and Open Mic” (cf. August 26, et al.), co-sponsored by the Bloomington Writers Guild and the Monroe County Convention Center, offered featured readings by relative newcomer Breon Rochelle Tyler (see May 29 2017) who read a poem about being free, introducing her own work on freedom, mothers, art, and creation; followed by many-time participant Maria Hamilton Abegunde (August 27, April 1, et al.) with several works in progress, including two inspired by current events, and ending with three selections from her LEARNING TO EAT THE DEAD.  In the audience readings afterward, my part consisted of three more poems from VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE), the second of the three recordings done for fall broadcast on WFIU’s “The Poets Weave” (see August 26, et al.), “Why She Started Writing Poetry,” “California Vamp,” and “Chagrin du Vampire.”

Of busy weeks, though, next Sunday’s normally scheduled prose readings will not be held due to FRANKENFEST (cf. August 5), the 200th Anniversary celebration of the first publication of Mary Shelley’s [image error]novel FRANKENSTEIN, co-sponsored by the Monroe County Library and the Writers Guild at Bloomington, and made possible by a grant from Indiana Humanities with additional funding from the IU Arts and Humanities Council.  Running October 3 through 7, events will include a Wednesday evening FrankenPanel, of which I will be a participant; FrankenFilms (FRANKENSTEIN, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and GOTHICA) on Thursday, October 4; a FRANKENSTEIN Read-a-Thon among other activities on Saturday the 6th; and FrankenTheatre on Sunday, a live radio theater adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN by Russell McGee, who also directs, presenting the creature as an intelligent being who suffered the injustice of mankind.  All events will be held in the Monroe County Public Library.

“Scummy” SF/Horror Accepted for Christmas, Contract Signed

The story concerned a somewhat slightly built, skinny alien with pointed ears who, disguised as a cosplay Mr. Spock, has been gaining intelligence at STAR TREK conventions in preparation for the invasion.  But Earth, he learns, is preparing for an annual celebration, affecting virtually every nation, offering an opportunity for him and his fellows disguised this time as Christmas elves to infiltrate department store “Santa’s Villages” in nearly every city of any size on the planet, to start the conquest on Christmas Eve.  The story’s title was “Holly Jolly” but somehow calls for invasion stories, with horrific endings, revolving around [image error]department store Santas seemed strangely sparse.  And so the story languished.

Until. . . .

The call was from a magazine I was unfamiliar with, PLANET SCUMM, but for information on which one may press here.  A horror issue?  In winter?  Not, perhaps, the season you think of when it comes to frights and ghosties and things that go bump in the night, eh?  Then again, perhaps your favorite intergalactic editors forgot to send out the submission call in time, and are now one cycle behind on their theme issues?  Hmm, yes.  Perhaps, perhaps.  And [i]f your story plays off the “winter” theme — literally or not — even better.  Most of our normal submission stipulations still apply here. Ideally, submissions should be both horror AND have a speculative/sci-fi element — a slasher cutting through skiers with an ice-pick (while fun) won’t cut it.

And Christmas is winter, yes?

The rest is history.  Came the reply this afternoon:  Scummy is . . . pleased with your science fiction offering.  We’d like to publish “Holly Jolly” in our Winter 2019 issue of PLANET SCUMM.  A contract was offered which went back today (a little bit of money up front, perhaps a royalty).  So buy an issue when it comes out.  And look for more information here, or maybe at the link above, as it becomes known.

And One More Thing . . . TV Poetry Reading Goes Up on YouTube

Well, the lighting seems a bit dark to my eye and it sounds like I might made a hideous mistake early in the first poem, seemingly reading “or I’ll” for “or else” (hence implying Fay Wray would willingly get her hands dirty, doubtful [image error] in light of the second poem), but here it is, my reading of three poems “all revolving around everyone’s favorite, skyscraper-obsessed giant ape,” or so says the accompanying blurb.  And so, for Tuesday September 25, my public TV reading at the local WTIU studio (cf. September 16) of three Kong poems, “Godzilla vs. King Kong,” “On the Other Hand,” and “Monkey See,” for which press here.   (sigh)

Woo Hoo! Tombs Paperbacks, New, for $6.94

That’s with free shipping to from the UK to boot, which probably means the exchange rate is breaking really hard in US[image error] buyers’ favor.  And . . . hmmm . . . this morning President Trump made a speech at the United Nations.  Coincidence?

Maybe so, maybe not, but if you’re really interested in a bargain copy of TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, the seller is ABEBOOKS.COM (cf. September 20, just below) and can be reached here.  And at this price, heck, the wise might consider ordering two or three extra for Halloween presents!

A Little Bit Offbeat, a Little Bizarre? A Brief Listing of Movies to Help Set the Mood for a Coming October

PONTYPOOL anyone?  REPULSION?  THE VANISHING (the original 1988 Dutch-French version, not the remake)?  THE BROOD?  These are but four of “10 Bizarre but Great Horror Movies You Need to See,” by The Lineup Staff on THE-LINE-UP.COM.  Subtitled “[t]hese weird horror movies flew under the radar, but they’re worth finding,” the [image error]feature adds:  Horror movies are inherently at least a little bit weird.  These picks lean into it, resulting in some twisted, hilarious, haunting, and horrifying films.  Next time you’re in the mood for something a bit off-beat, one of these bizarre but great horror movies should do the trick.  I will say I’ve enjoyed the titles here that I’ve seen myself, or, as days grow shorter, here perhaps are some films to shake up your late night viewing, for more on which check here.

Spooky Samhain Revisit — The Other Nine Winners Revealed

Taking the wayback machine back a week, we may recall that my story, “The Great Man,” won second place in OKLAHOMA PAGAN QUARTERLY’s “Spooky Samhain 2018 Contest” (see September 16).  There were three actual (i.e., money) prizes for stories in any of three divisions, “True Tales of Terror,” “Spooky Semi-True Stories,” and “Fantastic Frights,” based on degree of actual truth and/or believability, which with seven runners-up added are slated to be published in the magazine’s Samhain 2018 edition.  And so, here revealed in order (note that there was a tie for third place), a tip of the hat to:

1. Just Up the Street and Back – Jef Rouner

2. The Great Man – James Dorr

3. Falling Up – John Haas

3. Keep Me Company – Phillip Ivory

4. Last Dance – Bryn Schurman

5. The Last Sacrifice – James Paris

6. Eyes of Corn – Alexandria Baker

7. My Little Katie – Summer Robbins

8. Serpent’s Head – Thomas Vaughn

9. Beyond The Locked Door – Morgan Chalfant

To this OKLAHOMA PAGAN QUARTERLY Editor Belwoeth Harbright has added, noting first that it was a close contest, [w]e had so much fun with this, however, that we definitely intend on doing it again next year!  So keep writing, editing, and tightening those horror tales and try again next time!  

AbeBooks, Tombs Sale Begins Final Week! (Also, Reviewers Gain Special Thanks)

Today brought a reminder from AbeBooks (cf. below, September 6) that their September sale has just eight days to go.  Or to put it in their words:  Save up to 50% on books and collectibles from select sellers.  Discover a great selection of new, used, and collectible books, art and ephemera, all discounted until September 28th.  Or to put it in my words, if you might have a [image error] temptation to get a paperback copy of TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, there’s a week left to find astounding bargains as low as $7.08 and $7.33 — and that’s with free shipping to boot — by pressing here.
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For more on TOMBS itself, you can click on its picture in the center column, or read some reviews by pressing here (and yes, these are all 5-star as it happens, but to be scrupulously honest you can find a few 2 or 3-star ones on GoodReads, for all of which my special thanks!).  Or, more to the point, if you have read TOMBS — or are getting it now and are about to start — why not jot down what you think of it, just one or two sentences will do, and send it to both GoodReads AND Amazon as your review?

Take . . . Two — King Kong on YouTube by End of Week?

Let us recall August 17’s post, including a reading of three vampire poetry presentations I taped for local public radio station WFUI’s “The Poet’s Weave.”  Today was the day for its TV equivalent at sister station WTIU with, according to producer Payton Knobeloch, [image error]possible airing on YouTube, etc., “as early as the end of the week.”  Or later, depending on editing, etc.

So, while the vampire readings will wait until closer to Halloween, this approximately three-minute set should appear in such places as YouTube quite a bit earlier, date and link to be shared on this blog if/as soon as I know myself.  Also unlike the radio, these poems were not that closely identified with horror as such, representing a celebration of movie great King Kong.  And to be sure, his love, Fay Wray.  Thus the poems themselves, “Godzilla vs. King Kong,” originally published in DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES, May 2016; “On the Other Hand” in GRIEVOUS ANGEL, 30 August 2015; and “Monkey See” in SPACE AND TIME, Fall 2011.

Serendipity: Strange . . . and Hauntingly Beautiful

This is mostly unclassified, but weird and strangely beautiful, from Viral Busted via YouTube, brought to our attention courtesy of Rodger Cunningham:  “When a 10-Year-Old Girl Covers Metallica.”  The girl is named Jadyn Rylee, and can be heard here.

Perhaps this is one for us, as writers.

 

Great Man Cops Spooky Samhain Second Prize

The call was from a magazine I’m unfamiliar with, OKLAHOMA PAGAN QUARTERLY, but seemed straightforward enough.  Do you have a scary story to share?  Fiction, fact, or otherwise, share your prose with us and you, too, can win up to $100 and get your story printed.  Enter your submission today!  Contest will be judged by a panel of three impartial judges, all of whom have a vested interest in the unknown.  Scare us, terrify us, and thrill us!  I could do that!

On closer inspection, the competition had three divisions, of which I selected number 2:  ‘Spooky Semi-True Stories’ are maybe tall tales, maybe not.  They’re more fantastic stories that the reader may not want to know are real or not.  Consider a well-crafted story about a shopping mall that may or may not have undergone a quarantine that the local [image error]news covered up.  The point here is that the reader questions whether the story could have happened or not.   Word length for this choice (they varied) was three to six thousand and, as it happened, I had a 3600-word tale of guillotines and the French Revolution and happenings just after, originally published in THE STRAND MAGAZINE, Spring-Summer 1999, which if they took reprints might just fill the bill.

They did and it did.  So Saturday’s email, which betwixt writers group meetings and the Bloomington Writers Guild (a separate organization) I only got to lateish that night, brought the word from Editor Belwoeth Harbright that “The Great Man” had won second prize!  Your prize is 50 dollars US payable through Paypal or Venmo, contingent upon signing a first-print-run contract for your story with Oklahoma Pagan Quarterly.  You are also entitled to a Physical Contributor’s Copy of our magazine.  Please send us an email back ASAP to let us know how you’d prefer payment, preferably with an author’s photo, and we’ll send you a contract upon your approval via Adobe Sign today.

And so, this afternoon, I have done.