:-)
Yeah, figured it might be good to catch up on publishing credits, for the interest of those who might be, um, interested, as well as so I can keep track of things. Busy times.
Also out in January, my surreal Lovecraftian tale, "The First and Last Performance of Varack," was included in the Omnibus edition of the Monk Punk & The Shadow of the Unknown anthologies. An interview with an obscure musician at a strange bar along the coast of northern California leads to a performance of apocalyptic proportions. This was from an old idea, one I'd had flitting around my head for years, finally taking shape when the request was made for this anthology.
That's it for out now, but there's a lot in the pipeline. I'll just give you the list and will be adding more details, a post about the tales, when they are published. I'm catching up now because there will be a lot more blog posts dealing with my debut novel, Riding the Centipede, slated for late May release. I will be posting teasers and samples and more from that soon. As I type this, my editor/publisher at Omnium Gatherum, Kate Jonez, has started in with the edits, so it's getting close. As for the list of upcoming tales...
"This Is How It Ends" will be in the Soul Survivors 2 anthology. It was scheduled to be out last year, but you know how the publishing industry is. The same thing has happened to...
"I Am..." which will be in the A Mythos Grimmly anthology, combining Fairy Tales with Lovecraftian elements. Circumstances out of hand have delayed that as well, but both these anthologies should be out soon.
My Heavy Metal horror tale, "Moshing With Adolf" (yes, That Adolf) will be reprinted in the second edition of the Axes of Evil series.
"The Lust Vacuum," a Weird tale set in a strip club, will be included in Dynatox A-Go-Go, published by Dynatox Ministries. It's available for pre-order now. It's also a reprint and one of my earlier tales I like a lot. You know how some earlier tales just make you shake your head in a bad way. This is not one of them.
:-P
"American Ghost" will be included in the Joe Pulver edited, The Leaves of the Necronomicon. It's a novel-length round-robin exploration of the Necronomicon, each tale dealing with a different decade. "American Ghost" takes place in the 1970s.
"The Cooing," an atmospheric exploration of escalating tension that turns Weird will be included in the inaugural edition of CM Muller's Nightscript.
"Those Who Dwell in the Periphery" will be in the...
Ah, can't say yet, not until the publisher gives the okay. It's a subtle Weird tale, one I've had for awhile and messed with often, nipping, tucking, and tearing it apart, because I really like it, dig the idea, and always knew it would eventually become what it is now: the tale it was always meant to be.
And...as noted above, my debut novel gets dropped in the middle of all this, so there's a lot to look forward to if you're into whatever it is I am doing with words.
Also, I dabble in poetry and will have two poems--"Food For Sharks" and "Black Dog"--published in the next issue of Thirteen Myna Birds. Quite pleased to have these out any day now. I'll post a link in the blog when they are up.
:-)
I hope to add more tales to the list, but that's a start...
:-)
Here's the wild cover for Monk Punk & The Shadow of the Unknown.
Dear John,
ReplyDeleteHaving recently finished your collection 'The Dark Is Light Enough For Me', I can say I'm bound to get my hands on some more of your work as said collection has left me greatly impressed!
Now moving on topic, could you please shed some light on the creative process behind any (or some/all) of these upcoming tales and maybe delve into some more detail as to what they deal with?
Best regards from one who's now surely a fan,
Renan
Hello Renan,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words, so glad you enjoyed The Dark... There's another collection out there, too, called Autumn in the Abyss. As for the tales noted here, I will be blogging about the creative process, inspiration and what-not when the tales are published, so be on the lookout...and just follow the blog, of course. There will also be a few blog posts dealing with the novel. Introducing the characters, as well as samples and more. A lot happening!
Thank you!
John Claude
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteI'll get my hands on your Autumn in the Abyss this month and I know for one I won't be disappointed, for as I told you before, I've been impressed by your work thus far - but this is a bit off topic regarding what I wanted to ask you.
Well, I'd like to know whether you find the financial returns of a writing career satisfactory. Would you ever be inclined (if you haven't already done so, that is) to disegard every other source of income and live solely off of your fiction writing?
I know for one Caitlín R. Kiernan is especially critical of how difficult it is to live off full-time writing and has many a time in the past stated that she's "barely" able to do it. So I'd like to know your thoughts on the matter, provided the subject is not too uncomfortable, that is.
Best regards and keep on writing the great stuff!
Renan
Hello Renan,
ReplyDeleteRight now the financial returns are an extra few dollars here and there, and last year was my best financial year as a writer, but one could not live off what I made. No way. I would love to make enough from writing to have writing be my primary source of income, but that's not exactly in my hands. So I must continue to write, get books out there, and hope the Gods of Good Fortune and/or the Gods of Chance decide to smile on me, because that might be the key to getting to that point.
:-)
JCS
Also, let me know what you make of Autumn... when you get to it. Presently I'm digging into the edits for my debut novel, Riding the Centipede, which should be out late this month or some time next month.
ReplyDelete:-)
JCS
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete[Reason for deleting two comments: just a few edits I had to do.]
ReplyDeleteHey John,
I have finished reading Autumn and it is beyond superb! Plot, settings, characters, prose - it is all there and worked to the maximum potential of the Weird!
The type of horror you deal with - something I'd noticed back when I read The Dark Is Light Enough For Me - seems way much more intrinsically horrific and horrifying to the reader than most Weird fiction plots nowadays! It goes quite beyond the scope of cosmic/ethereal landscapes and entities. All in all, prime stuff!
Your prose is intoxicating! Your usage of metaphors, similes and out-of-the-box expositive sentences/paragraphs being almighty stuff!
And the way you wove the tales of Autumn altogether was beyond good!
I'm positive you're more than capable of producing Stoker/Hugo/Nebula/Whatever-worthy material, so long as you keep producing anything even slightly resembling both of your collections! :)
More than ever, I'm eagerly waiting on your debut novel, Riding the Centipede (alongside Barker's The Scarlet Gospels and Talley's He Who Walks In Shadow - which also promise to be top-chart stuff!) :)
Now, one last thing, though this is a curiosity of mine, so if you find it too uncomfortable a think to talk about, just feel free to dismiss these questions: did you ever go to college? And in case you did, what did you study?
Best regards and the image of phallus-endowed cockroaches raping a dude's frame shall forever be imprinted in my mind thanks to you!
Renan
Renan,
ReplyDeleteSorry for getting back so late, but novel edits had me in their grip. :-)
So glad you enjoyed Autumn... I like your take on my fiction, too, thank you. I was thinking how I sometimes want to write a straightforward horror tale, but as soon as I start getting into it, the layers start showing themselves and I have to keep peeling to see more. Hence, perhaps the intrinsically horrific and horrifying deal, perhaps. I appreciate your compliments throughout. We'll see about the novel, what it can do. Final stages of edits are in motion. Can't wait to get it out there.
Thanks again,
and sorry about the image of phallus-endowed cockroaches etc. haha...
JCS