Phil Giunta's Blog, page 19

It’s SCARY STUFF, People!

In all of the chaos of the election and our Indiegogo campaign to fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity, I neglected to mention that not only has the Scary Stuff anthology been released, but my author copy arrived on Halloween!

 

 

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Defintely a treat! Even my ghoulfriend found it a jaw-dropping read and she ain’t easy to please.

The book also came with an autograph checklist card (below).

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Scary Stuff, published by Oddity Prodigy Productions, is an homage to the classic EC Comics titles Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and Haunt of Fear as well as the magazines Creepy and Eerie. The anthology includes my story. “Burn After Writing,” dedicated to one of my litrary heroes, Harlan Ellison (below).

 

 

 

Meeting Harlan Ellison at I-Con in 1999.

“If These Walls Could Talk” in the Middle of Eternity

We welcome Christopher D. Ochs into the Middle of Eternity with his extraordinary mythological fantasy tale, “If These Walls Could Talk.”

Chris and I are both members of the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group where Chris currently serves as President. He also lends his layout and cover design talents for the group’s biennial anthologies consisting of stories, poems, and essays written by our members.

Below, Chris briefly discusses the inspiration behind his entry for Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. 




I grew up in a home where the TV was nestled in the haunted corner of the basement, surrounded by four walls of rough hewn knotty pine paneling. After being scared witless by the Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Night Gallery, and occasional whispers from empty rooms, it was only natural that an impressionable mind besieged with an overactive imagination and a healthy dose of pareidolia would see all sorts of mythological creatures, aliens and monsters staring back him from the knots and grain in those walls.
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We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!





Christopher D. Ochs dove into writing in 2014 with his epic fantasy, Pindlebryth of Lenland followed by a collection of mirthful macabre short stories, If I Can’t Sleep, You Can’t Sleep . His latest release is the  YA urban fantasy/horror, My Friend Jackson.

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He continues to write the gamut from short fiction to novels in the veins of myth and legend, paranormal, horror, and the occasional sci-fi — all in the hope to reassure himself that his life is normal.

Chris has too many interests outside of writing for his own damn good. With previous careers in physics, electrical engineering and QA; along with his incessant dabblings as a CGI graphic artist, classical organist, voice talent on radio, video and anime conventions, it’s a wonder he can remember to pay the dog and feed his bills. Wait, what?

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021. In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.

 

From Deserts to Forests in the Middle of Eternity

This week, April Welles reveals the inspirations behind both of her exciting entries in our upcoming speculative fiction anthology, Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity.

Years ago, I had to make a delivery from California to Arizona by way of the Mojave Desert. There were two of us in the truck. One of us drove while the other rested, and we would switch later. That way, no real stopping would be required in order to make the delivery as quickly as possible.

At the time of my idea for “Horror of the Mist,” I was the passenger, staring out at the desolation on either side of the highway and noticing the small exits onto narrow roads that led into the vast middle of nowhere. It felt as though if one were to take one of these exits, one could become lost and then anything could happen.

For about two months, I lived in a tent in the woods. At the time, I’d been writing adventures about a sword-wielding character. However, the idea for “Queen of the Forest” was akin to a lost tale, explaining how she found her “son”. What happened to the mother was not what I had intended. However, that was the way she—or the muse—compelled it to go. I’m still filled with tears when I read about her. The title is also meant as a play on words. A double meaning for the females in the tale.

We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!

April Welles found herself drawn to the diversity of writing within different fiction genres and the possibilities within each one from a young age. Her stories have been published in Fantasy Times Issues 1 and 2, and Pure Fantasy and Sci-Fi Volume 2.

April’s horror tale, “Terror in Agradeb,” can be found in Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity.

She lives with her sister and their two cats in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, loving the mountains and trees. Click here to visit April’s Amazon author page.

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021. In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.

 

On Gods, Monsters, and the Rainbow Bridge in the Middle of Eternity

In keeping with tradition for this anthology series, I have three diverse stories in our final installment, Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity.

My New Mexico ghost story, “So Hungry…” is discussed in another blog post here.  My other two entries include “Take a Cue from the Canine,” and “The Forest for the Trees.”

Both “So Hungry…” and “Take a Cue from the Canine” took Honorable Mentions in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable contests in 2017 and 2019, respectively, and as a sneak preview to Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity, you can read “Take a Cue from the Canine” here on my website. 

I was inspired to write the story when the Bethlehem Writers Group announced animal stories as their 2019 contest theme. I wanted to write a “boy and his dog” story, but with a fantastic and emotional twist that answers the question, what is at the other end of the fabled rainbow bridge?

Illustration by Laura Inglis.

“The Forest for the Trees” takes place in Finland during the great famine of 1697, but was originally one of three stories pitched to Crazy 8 Press for their ReDeus mythology series. They chose one of my other stories (“Root for the Undergods” published in ReDeus: Beyond Borders) so I rewrote “The Forest for the Trees” into the epic tale you will read in Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity, incorporating battles among gods, monsters, and mortals where willpower is the greatest weapon. Illustration by Michael Riehl.

We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!

PHIL GIUNTA enjoys crafting powerful fiction that changes lives and inspires readers. His novels include the paranormal mysteries Testing the Prisoner, By Your Side, and Like Mother, Like Daughters. His short stories appear in such anthologies as A Plague of Shadows, Beach Nights, Beach Pulp, the ReDeus mythology series, and the Middle of Eternity speculative fiction series, which he created and edited for Firebringer Press. As a member of the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, Phil also penned stories and essays for Write Here, Write Now, The Write Connections, and Rewriting the Past, three of the group’s annual anthologies.

Phil is currently working on the second draft of a science fiction novel while plotting his triumphant escape from the pressures of corporate America where he has been imprisoned for over twenty-five years.

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021. In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.

 

 

Making First Contact in the Middle of Eternity

Susanna Reilly returns with an illuminating tale of first contact between a human starship captain and an enigmatic alien. A member of our core writing team since book one, Susanna reveals the origins behind her contribution to Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity.

I originally wrote “In the Eyes of the Beholder” as a fan fiction story based in the Star Trek: Enterprise universe.  Around that time, sci-fi in general had taken a turn toward darker, more realistic stories and I missed the more light-hearted, positive view of alien/human interactions that original Star Trek exemplified.  So I decided to create a story about aliens who were not only happy to see Earthlings going forth into the universe, but also delighted to see what mischief they would bring – while causing a little mischief of their own.

Taking the story out of the Star Trek: Enterprise universe presented its own challenges.  Using an established universe allows a writer to take some short cuts in character development due to readers’ existing knowledge.  I feel that I met those challenges and am pleased with the result.  I hope you find the story as enjoyable to read as I found it to write.

We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!

SUSANNA REILLY has been enthusiastic about writing since she was named first runner-up in a story writing contest at the age of 11. For many years writing took a backseat to school, work, and motherhood, but the fire stayed alive. It was stoked in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when she joined a science fiction fan club that published an annual fanzine. Although the fanzine sold less than 30 copies per year (mostly to friends and family of the authors), the joy of writing stories in her favorite sci-fi universes kept her going.

Susanna’s first professional publication came in 2013 when her short story “To Protect and to Serve” was included in the Main Line Writers Group’s first anthology Unclaimed Baggage: Voice of the Main Line Writers. She subsequently published two stories (“Form and Substance” and “Perchance to Dream”) in the 2014 anthology Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity and one story (“Tree of Love”) in the 2016 anthology Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity.

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021.  In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.

 

“The Dividing Wall” in the Middle of Eternity

We’re thrilled to have another of our core storytellers return for this final voyage into the Middle of Eternity.

Stuart Roth has been with us since book one and has crafted some of our most unusual and memorable tales, including his latest entry, which he discusses below.

Memories affect who we are, but if those memories become confused, how does that change our essence?

In my story, “The Dividing Wall,” twin sisters grow up in Berlin, living through World War II, the division of their city during the Cold War, and the eventual fall of the Wall. Time and experiences have defined who they are. During that time, the sisters are watched by a creature of the wastes of eternity. Individuality and identity are nothing but a curiosity to such a being. Memories and emotion become a snare that entangles the three and highlight the dividing wall between living and existing.

We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!

STUART S. ROTH lives in the Philadelphia, PA area. His work has appeared in anthologies for Pseudoscope Publishing and prior volumes of Firebringer’s Middle of Eternity Series. He has recently completed a novel entitled Myomria and is shopping it around for publication. For freelance work, Stuart can be contacted at stuartroth42@gmail.com. He also takes criticism, good or bad, and loves to hear from readers.

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021. In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.

 

“It Just Happened” in the Middle of Eternity

Joining us for the first time in the Middle of Eternity is Peter Ong, who discusses the inspiration behind his action-packed military SF story.

I wrote “It Just Happened” based on the comic book movies, Sci-Fi video game stories, and Graphic Novels.  While I’m not a buyer and a reader of comic books and Graphic Novels, I do manage to flip through a few sometimes to gain a sense of the technology, stories, and the action told and illustrated throughout the pages.  The visual imaginations of these genres’ artists truly astound and mesmerize those who read and watch them.

In “It Just Happened,” I took the approach of empowering the female role models in action and leadership roles, similar to the superheroines found on television and in the movies.  Often the protagonist is a male carrying a massive rifle. I wanted to reverse that role and have the female perform this function, leading a squad of S.W.A.T. police to apprehend a high-ranking and successful CEO in a world where money, fame, prestige, and power reaches far beyond the normal grasp of law enforcement and the government in a game of “Catch Up.”

How will governments of the future respond to such crooked galactic-wide businesses when space is so vast and there are many places to hide?  For starters, the law enforcement arm of these governments will pursue those high priority suspects on their radars. The perpetrators know this, adjusting their bodyguards, armory, lifestyles, and activities to stay a few steps ahead of the law by fielding the best technologies and resources that money can buy.

Thus, “It Just Happened” is a story of this “cat and mouse” game pitting the police against the most powerful Society has created in a tale of the “Best against the best”—corporate vs. government, crime boss vs. agent and squad leader, spaceship vs. spaceship, and the one-on-one challenge of mental and physical combat skills to determine the outcome of a mystery across time and space.

We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!

PETER ONG is a freelance writer based in California, USA with a bachelor’s degree in Technical Writing/Graphic Design and a master’s degree in Business. He writes for defense, maritime, and emergency vehicle publications and also for product and travel reviews and blog websites.

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021.  In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.

 

Finding “Bodies of Evidence” in the Middle of Eternity

Let’s see, here.

One cup of Isaac Asimov…

Two tablespoons of Alfred Hitchock…

And just a dash of Rod Serling.

Such are the ingredients masterfully blended by Lance Woods in his contribution to Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity,  proving yet again that he has an eye for suspense. Lance is one of our core writers who has been with us since book one in the series. Below, he briefly reveals the inspiration behind his SF-themed mystery.

“Bodies of Evidence” came about when I developed floaters in my left eye a few years ago. Now, everyone experiences floaters in their eyes at some times, and they’re usually temporary. Mine aren’t anymore. They’re permanent, a natural occurrence of middle age, and they’re frequently annoying.

But, while trying to work at the computer— and watching some of these annoying shapes and outlines interfere with my field of vision— one of them caught my attention.

It looked like the chalk outline of a dead body.

Combine that with the fact that one of my favorite SF movies ever is Fantastic Voyage, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I got another murder mystery out of it.

We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!

LANCE WOODS’s first script was a one-page episode of the Batman TV series (he was 7), which ultimately led him to become the creator/writer of SuperHuman Times for Prometheus Radio Theatre in 2006. The podcast series inspired his first book, Heroic Park: A SuperHuman Times Novel, published by Firebringer Press in 2012.

Lance’s short stories include “The Gravest Show Unearthed” in the anthology Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity (Firebringer Press, 2016) and “Dead Air” in the anthology Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity (Firebringer Press, 2014).

Additionally, he has had two comedy-mysteries—Breeding Will Tell and Murder Case—produced by the Baltimore Playwrights Festival and has written for more than 25 years in areas of the comic-book industry he doesn’t like to talk about on his own time. When he isn’t daydreaming about writing under the palm trees of Orlando, he lives with his family in a situation comedy format outside of Baltimore.

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021. In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.

 

 

Book Review: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale and Other Classics by Phil K. Dick

I read this collection of 27 speculative fiction tales immediately after The Phil K. Dick Reader, also by Citadel Press. Both collections are outstanding, with “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” as the only common story between them.

My favorites include “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (on which the 1990 film, Total Recall, was based), “The Cookie Lady,” “Jon’s World,” “The Cosmic Poachers,” “The Commuter,” “The World She Wanted,” “The Adjustment Team” (on which the 2011 film, The Adjustment Bureau, was loosely based), “A Present for Pat,” “The Hood Maker,” “Human Is,” “The Impossible Planet,” “Imposter,” “Small Town,” and “Survey Team” (albeit, the ending was predictable).

Of those mentioned above, it should be noted that “The Commuter,” “Human Is,” “The Hood Maker,” and “The Impossible Planet” were among ten Phil K. Dick stories adapted for the 2017 Netflix mini-series Electric Dreams.

Terrors from Beyond the Grave in The Middle of Eternity

There is no dearth of paranormal tales in the Middle of Eternity and for our final installment, we bring you two chilling ghost stories provided by series editor Phil Giunta and newcomer Julie Feedon.

Regarding her entry, “Vicious Victoria,” Julie says, “My inspiration for the story was the old familiar rhyme, Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. It always creeped me out and left a fascination in the macabre with me.”

Illustration by Julie Feedon.

Phil’s inspiration for “So Hungry…” stemmed from the legend of Starvation Peak in Bernal, New Mexico where Spanish settlers were allegedly chased to the top of the mesa and starved out by the Navajo. Of course, Phil took some liberties with the fable and added an even more grisly embellishment.

Illustration by Michael Riehl.

As a sneak preview of what you’ll find in Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity, you can read “So Hungry…”  for free on Phil’s website.

We hope you’ll check out the perks we’re offering in our Indiegogo campaign and consider a contribution to help us fund the publication of Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity. Thank you for supporting small press writers!

JULIE FEEDON is originally from Scranton, PA, but has been living in the Lehigh Valley since 1986. She is a specialist in the sales support department of a large capital medical supply company. Her hobbies include writing, painting, and crochet. She is also a certified Jane Austen junkie. Next to her daughter and husband, she loves the beach most dear.

PHIL GIUNTA enjoys crafting powerful fiction that changes lives and inspires readers. His novels include the paranormal mysteries Testing the Prisoner, By Your Side, and Like Mother, Like Daughters. His short stories appear in such anthologies as A Plague of Shadows, Beach Nights, Beach Pulp, the ReDeus mythology series, and the Middle of Eternity speculative fiction series, which he created and edited for Firebringer Press. As a member of the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, Phil also penned stories and essays for Write Here, Write Now, The Write Connections, and Rewriting the Past, three of the group’s annual anthologies.

Phil is currently working on the second draft of a science fiction novel while plotting his triumphant escape from the pressures of corporate America where he has been imprisoned for over twenty-five years.

We look forward to launching Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity in February 2021. In the meantime, check out the first volumes in the series by clicking on a cover image below.