Monday, November 7, 2022

There's A Lot Going On

 Yeah, I know. Haven't posted here in quite a while. Let's rectify that Right Now. 

What's up? 

Omnium Gatherum, the publisher of my books Autumn in the Abyss, Riding the Centipede, and Occasional Beasts: Tales, has gone out of business. A wonderful publisher, I was sad to see this happen. [ETA: my understanding is that by the end of the year, doors officially close.] Ah, but already I am working on getting those books back out to You early next year. I will follow up with details as things develop. 

What else?

I presently am shopping two novels to agents and will probably work them to publishers, too. But I started with agents thinking, Hey, JC, it's about time you got an agent!  

Birdland, though I may change the title to Odd Blue--I'm leaning that way--clocks in at 68k. 

Briefly: Birdland is a melting pot neighborhood that is invaded by a creature (Odd Blue) from another dimension set on annihilating humanity. The core of the novel deals with the interactions of gritty, diverse characters as events unfold leading to a confrontation with the creature. 

Our Savage Anatomies runs lean and mean at 46k. 

OSA includes werewolves and vampires and a mutation creature of a vampire and includes a mind-boggling [redacted; I cannot give away all the surprises] centerpiece and is, as I noted to my girlfriend as I was writing it, completely nuts! Yeah, everything and the kitchen sink AND the pipes and monsters that live in the pipes and, hey, what the hell is that? Yeah, so, it's a wild ride. 

I am wrapping up a novella called The Ouroboros Ballads this week (the file is up as I type this). Just tightening up the last 20-25 pages. It runs 36k and includes lyrics, c'mon! Music is a key, there's a mysterious guitar, and another humanity hating creature utilizing it all for its own apocalyptic designs or...something like that. Anyway, that will be done this week and I already have a publisher lined up who I hope will be interested. 

There's another novel in need of revisions, The Ecstasy of Becoming, more of a bizarre, fantastical tale that comes in around 51k at the moment, and, yes, Another Novel, this one in progress, that will probably be my primary focus for the next few months. More info sooner than later. 

Short fiction for magazines and antho calls will be interspersed throughout the process of writing the larger pieces, as well as poetry. I've been leaning a lot into poetry right now, keeping the writing chops sharp as I work through the fiction. 

So, as you can see, there's a lot going on. Busy is good, as I like to say. Now, time for me to shut up and get to it. 

I will be more regular in posting now that I've swiped away the cobwebs. 

Here's a photo of the Clark Nova I just picked up that I am using for my writing...and no, ha, but gotta love it. It IS the Clark Nova from David Cronenberg's spin on William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, one of my favorite movies. The 'other' typewriter from the movie is the more familiar insect one with the talking asshole, but I tried to use that one for a while and it just would not shut up! So, trying out the Clark Nova. Or not. 

;-)