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The Essential Sick Stuff
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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October 2020-Group Read #1: The Essential Sick Stuff by Ronald Kelly
Welcome Mr Ronald kelly, and I look forward to check out your book.
I just grabbed a copy of the book - looking forward to reading these stories and participating in the discussion.
Hello, Ronald! I'm so happy to see you here again.
Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! It’s great to be back again. The Essential Sick Stuff will be a bit different (okay, quite a bit different) than your last RK reading with Fear. This one is much darker and more visceral in nature. Hopefully ESS will make your nerves cringe and your skin crawl... and it might even make your stomach do a few back-flips along the way. Twenty-three tales of all manner of nasty folks and creepy crawlers... and lots of dark and disturbing art in between from cover artist, Alex McVey.I hope y’all enjoy this journey into the dark side of Ol’ Ron’s Southern-fried fiction. And, of course, I’m here to answer any questions you might have. Again, thanks so much for inviting me... and during my favorite month of the year, too!
I enjoyed a previous group read with Ronald Kelly and look forward to this one. I got my Kindle copy ready to go.
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Great to see you Ronald!!! :)I will be joining this read, but will be starting first part of next week. :)
Hey everyone!! I bought the book today and will be starting here in the next few days. I'm really looking forward to it.
So I just finished the story Abduction...very clever Ron lmao! I got to the end I was was like "wait a minute" and proceeded to re-read it. Uh huh...I thought so lol
Eric wrote: "So I just finished the story Abduction...very clever Ron lmao! I got to the end I was was like "wait a minute" and proceeded to re-read it. Uh huh...I thought so lol"Lol! Yeah, a lot of folks don't get that story at first. But if they give it a second reading and pick up the hints and clues along the way, they'll eventually discover the identity of poor Little Buddy.
I hope to start this later in the week.A member kindly pointed out that this isn't your latest, Ronald, I'm sorry I erred in my introduction! What is your latest release?
Char wrote: "I hope to start this later in the week.A member kindly pointed out that this isn't your latest, Ronald, I'm sorry I erred in my introduction! What is your latest release?"
Actually, ESS is my latest. I had two books come out in the span of one week (can you believe it?!!); The Halloween Store on Sept 25 and Essential Sick Stuff on Sept 28, so that makes ESS the latest release in the RK bibliography.
Oh great-now I don't feel so bad.Also, The Halloween Store sounds great!
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When you write stories do you specifically set out to write short tales or a novel, or do you end up writing how the ideas evolve once you start writing?
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Alan wrote: "Hey Ronald,When you write stories do you specifically set out to write short tales or a novel, or do you end up writing how the ideas evolve once you start writing?"
Hi Alan! I pretty much know from the start whether the idea will be a short story or novel. I shuffle it around in my head for awhile and have the basic premise and structure worked out before I sit down at the keyboard. There have been short stories that have evolved into novellas (sometimes an idea just needs more character development and fleshing out to make it work). And there was one instant when a ghost story ended up turning into a full-blown novel (The Possession/Burnt Magnolia). My favorite form of writing is short fiction, so I tend to gravitate toward them more than the lengthy process of novel writing.
Latasha wrote: "Miss Abigail’s Delicate Condition is one of my favorites of your short stories. It’s has that old timey southern gothic feel to it and I eat it up! How did that story come to be?"Actually, Tosha, I got the idea for Miss Abigail from a story my grandmother told me when I was kid. The story sent chills down my spine when she told it and, years later, when I began to write horror fiction, it came back to me and I decided to craft a Southern-fried macabre tale based on what she'd told me. Later, I did some research and discovered that it was an actual medical case from the late 1800s. Of course, I embellished the ending a bit with the birth of Abigail's baby.
I've written several stories based on tales and family history that my Grandmama Spicer told me. My story "Midnight Grinding" is an example. The first half of the story is entirely true... just the way Grandmama told it... about her frightening encounter with a deranged handyman named Green Lee when she was a small girl. And, again, I twisted the ending and turned it into something more eerie and disturbing in nature.
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That’s so awesome! Your Granny must have been one awesome lady!
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Kimberly wrote: "I have to say (although I read the "original" SICK STUFF before), I am enjoying seeing the contrast between your "usual" brand of Southern horror, and the more extreme. The 90's era was where they ..."If some folks out there are reading Essential Sick Stuff to discover Ron Kelly for the first time, I'd like them to know that this is the extreme side of my fiction and not my customary Southern-fried way of storytelling that's apparent in novels like Fear, Blood Kin, and Undertaker's moon. Every writer has layers or levels to their talent and the way they present their work at particular times during their career, and ESS is about the nastiest and darkest layer of RK you're going to find. They may even disgust, offend, or turn some readers off, but basically I do believe they're outrageous and fun to read, and certainly of the splatterpunk variety compared to my other stories and novels.
The story Housewarming was rough Ron! LOL I felt bad for Chuck and that was a gross read! Yikes! I also thought Pins and Needles was rough too! (view spoiler)
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Forgive me for this, but that description brought to mind those albums of one style of music covering another (like "When Punk Goes Crunk".) I can see you starting a whole new literary sub-genre - When Southern-fried Goes Punk...Splatterpunk! :D
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I also thought Pins and Needles was rough too! [spoilers removed]"
i didn't read Housewarming, I was told not to due to my fear of those horrible 8 legged devil creatures.
My mom and dad would not let me or my sister have any halloween candy until they checked it. this wouldv'e been in the late 80's/early 90's. stuff in Halloween candy isn't a complete urban legend. The man who killed Halloween- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_...
Marie wrote: "The story Housewarming was rough Ron! LOL I felt bad for Chuck and that was a gross read! Yikes! I also thought Pins and Needles was rough too! [spoilers removed]"
Haha! It's funny... those are the two stories that seem to really gross people out the most. I even had to pause a few times when I wrote them... which, strangely enough, was back in the late 80s and early 90s. The bed scene in Homecoming really makes folks skin crawl and everyone has to stop and take a little break when you reach the milk and cake scene in Pins and Needles. If these and the other stories in the collection trigger a physical or emotional reaction during the reading, then I reckon I've done my job correctly.
Latasha wrote: "Marie wrote: "The story Housewarming was rough Ron! LOL I felt bad for Chuck and that was a gross read! Yikes! I also thought Pins and Needles was rough too! [spoilers removed]"
i didn't read Ho..."
Now, Tosha... I didn't say couldn't read it... just that maybe you shouldn't because you loathe the little arachnids so much. Truthfully, I think you should face your fears and read Homecoming... in the dead of night... in your bed.
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Latasha wrote: "Lol, I'm not that brave :p"Yeah - don't read it Tosha! You will never get that image out of your head! I swear! LOL :-)
Ronald wrote: "Haha! It's funny... those are the two stories that seem to really gross people out the most. I even had to pause a few times when I wrote them... which, strangely enough, was back in the late 80s and early 90s. The bed scene in Homecoming really makes folks skin crawl and everyone has to stop and take a little break when you reach the milk and cake scene in Pins and Needles. If these and the other stories in the collection trigger a physical or emotional reaction during the reading, then I reckon I've done my job correctly ..."Gee thanks Ron for the "visual" images! Since reading that I have been checking for spiders!
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Marie wrote: "Ronald wrote: "Haha! It's funny... those are the two stories that seem to really gross people out the most. I even had to pause a few times when I wrote them... which, strangely enough, was back in..."Oh, and did I tell you about the 24-inch chicken snake we found in my daughter's bedroom closet the other day? We have no idea how it got in the house, but you know those snakes... where there's a will there's a way.
Ronald wrote: " Oh, and did I tell you about the 24-inch chicken snake we found in my daughter's bedroom closet the other day? We have no idea how it got in the house, but you know those snakes... where there's a will there's a way .."That is what happens when you live out in the country! Critters will find their way inside your house! But having a chicken snake in your house is better than having a rattlesnake in your house! :-)
Marie wrote: "Ronald wrote: " Oh, and did I tell you about the 24-inch chicken snake we found in my daughter's bedroom closet the other day? We have no idea how it got in the house, but you know those snakes... ..."A rat snake rolled off a rafter of the outhouse once, right into my Grandpappy Spicer's lap while he was in the middle of his morning sit-down. Grandmama said he ran all the way to the house with his overalls around his ankles.
Ronald wrote: "A rat snake rolled off a rafter of the outhouse once, right into my Grandpappy Spicer's lap while he was in the middle of his morning sit-down. Grandmama said he ran all the way to the house with his overalls around his ankles..."LMAO!!! 😂 🤣 I am sure that was a sight to see!
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There is quite a few stories in this book that are icky and bloody! lol :)
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I see your name there in the front, Latasha! You're a star!
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Quote from "The Essential Sick Stuff" by Ronald Kelly -
"They had to exhibit much of the same qualities that he, as a demon god, possessed. T..."
That was a great quote!
I finished the book and loved it! :)
Latasha wrote: "Ron, Old Hacker. I mean this in the best way possible but that was the nastiest!"Both my grandfathers were tobacco farmers one time or another in their lives, so it just seemed natural to write this one. Also, Old Hacker is sort of based on my Pappy Spicer, who would cough and gag and carry on, and hack up the most bright green lungers you'd ever seen. They didn't act like the ones in the story, though... just laid there until you accidently stepped on them.
Marie wrote: "There is quite a few stories in this book that are icky and bloody! lol :)"Marie, I'd apologize and say that I'm sorry for that... but I'm not and so I won't.
Char wrote: "I see your name there in the front, Latasha! You're a star!"And, incidently, The Halloween Store is dedicated to both Tosha and Marie K. Their friendship and support has always been greatly appreciated!
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Sick...
This book is also available on Kindle Unlimited. Please join me as we welcome Mr. Ronald Kelly!