Manuel Arenas's Blog, page 4

Book of Shadows in the works!

I have received several communications from Dan Sauer of Jackanapes Press and have seen the prospective cover art for my book of shadows, as well as a PDF of the formatted text replete with several illustrations and flourishes, and let me tell you, it is a beautiful book! I cannot wait for it to be released into the world! We are still in the process of proofreading, with the help of fellow weird poet Scott J. Couturier, but I expect it should be done in time for Halloween, if not sooner! I will of course keep you all posted of any updates.

Speculations III and Book of Shadows

I received news that the third collection of poetry from the Weird Poets Society (edited by founding member and fellow poet Frank Coffman) has finally become available! It is called Speculations III and is available on Lulu.com and Amazon.com, respectively. A corrected version of my poem "Hell-Flower" is featured.
In other news, I also received a PDF of the formatted draft of my Book of Shadows collection from graphic designer Dan Sauer from Jackanapes Press, and it looks amazing! He is still working on the artwork as I write this, and I am so excited to see what he comes up with! Updates to follow...

Spectral Realms #15

Spectral Realms #15 is available now on the Hippocampus Press website, and it features three of my poems: Manurog, Witch's Tit, and Black Hymeneal.

Altagracia's Lament accepted for Spectral Realms #16!

On 6/22 I sent my poem Altagracia's Lament to the editor of Spectral Realms for consideration. He responded soon after saying that he liked it, but suggested that I tweak a few lines. I did so and this weekend I got the official word that it has been accepted for issue #16!

Just as a reminder, issue #15 is due to be released any day now (I imagine, within the first week or so in July), so keep an eye out for that one. It will feature my poems Black Hymeneal, Witch's Tit,, and Manurog.

Gothilocks in the Book of Shadows

I recently checked in with Dan Sauer of Jackanapes Press, to see how things were coming along with my Book of Shadows. Although he has been busy with the publisher's upcoming releases, he has begun reading the draft I sent him of the manuscript and made suggestions about the placement of some explanatory notes and also recommended that I add my Gothilocks to the Table of Contents. I suggested we do one better and include the relevant companion tales as well. He agreed, and so I have been busy cleaning up the stories which I first wrote some 20-odd years ago. I have also whipped up an afterword section called Mannymärchen, to help put the tales in perspective as they relate to one another, as well as the other tales in the collection.
Also, my good friend Scott J. Couturier has updated his intro for the book to include mention of this new addition as well as a nod to my old musical project from the 90s, The Dark Young. I cannot wait for this book to be released into the world.

Get your Knock Knock here!

The Folk Horror issue of Knock Knock (from Frisson Comics), which features my story Errant Jenny, will be out in another week or so and I am told one may procure a copy here, once it is posted:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FrissonC...

I have seen a PDF file of the book and it is quite an eclectic mix of comics, art and prose.

Back to the drawing board

Well, I finally heard back on my submissions to Penumbra and, unfortunately, they did not make the cut. My tale Gothilocks is an admixture of Fairy Tale, Gothic Horror and Black Humor, which most readers can't seem to figure out what to make of, so I didn't expect much; still, as Penumbra editor S.T. Joshi is generally supportive of my work, I figured I would give him a try. Lamentably, he is not a fan of humor in horror, so it didn't grab him as my submissions generally do. Alternatively, I have long considered making it into a picture book, or even a puppet play.
The other piece, Feretrina, struck him as "a rather elementary supernatural revenge vignette." He is right, and I know it. Despite the supernatural trappings, there isn't much to the tale and if I hope to publish it properly some day, I need to work on it some more, or perhaps abandon it all together and write something better in a similar vein. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Knock, knock... I'm there!

I just received an email from Frisson Comics telling me that Errant Jenny has been selected for inclusion in the Folk-Horror issue of Knock Knock! More details to follow.

Slenderman in limbo

I recently submitted my poem Slenderman to an Urban Legends anthology from some of the folks who brought you A Walk in a Darker Wood. They have acknowledged its receipt, and co-editor (and fellow weird poet) Phil Breach has contacted me saying that he liked it, but that it needed some technical adjustments, which he is willing to help me with. He is currently going over the poem and will get back to me shortly with some definitive suggestions for me to look into. Mr. Breach is an accomplished poet in his own right (check out his Observations of a Black Toad in the aforementioned anthology) and I respect his opinion on such matters, so I am anxious to see what he has to say. More on this as things develop.

And so it begins....

I finally have sent the draft of my Book of Shadows to Dan Sauer of Jackanapes Press as well as the lovely introduction from fellow weird poet Scott J. Couturier. Mr. Sauer now has the unenviable task of piecing it all together and making it look pretty (as he is wont to do) transforming it from a mere paperback book to an objet d'art with his attractive settings and lush illustrations.

I will keep you all posted of any updates.