Well, here we are, a full week into 2023. Has anything changed for you? Have you made your New Year’s resolutions? Have you broken them yet? I’ve never been a big fan of them myself. I totally get why people like to set them. It keeps folks on a path, focused, determined. Me, I haven’t personally bothered with setting any in several years. I always find I can’t stick to them, always disappointed once they start to fall away and be forgotten. That’s okay though. There are always things I try to do to better myself, i.e. eat better, lose weight, be a better person. My biggest goal is to be the best father and husband to my son and wife I can possibly be. I’m quite sure that’s something I can’t fail.
I do hope everyone had a great New Year’s Eve. Like I had written last week, the local party was held this year at author Stephen Kozeniewski’s home. With most of the local authors and creatives in attendance, as you can imagine good times were had. Brian Keene once again played DJ, as he does at all our local parties and gatherings, so most of the music was solid. I was having a hard time staying awake for most of the party. I’m getting older and having a child keeps me pretty exhausted. I managed to stay awake until literally just after midnight, then promptly fell asleep on the couch for around ten minutes. I woke up abruptly and then gave the old Irish Goodbye and left. I hated doing it, but I was dead tired and terrified of falling asleep on the twenty-five minute drive home. Despite the ridiculously thick fog, I made it home okay.
So yeah. Not a whole lot to report from this week. I did however spend a few of Christmas Amazon gift cards. I purchased four books (The Bleak Season by Lucas Mangum, Below by Laurel Hightower, Christmas at Wheeldale Inn by Gemma Amor, and Always Listen to Her Hurt by Kenzie Jennings) and I got brand new 4K editions of Starship Troopers and Train to Busan. I still have a little but left on one of my cards, so I’m on the fence about what else to get. Suggestions?
So…writing updates. Well, as I said last week, work continues to roll along on the new re-release edition of my first novel The Betrayed. Edits are nearing competition and once that’s done it’s off to Scott Cole who will work on the layout and interior. I’m still shooting for a February release. And the cover… Oh, man, the cover is fantastic. I hate to be such a tease but I promise it’ll be worth the wait. My newsletter subscribers will be the first to see it, as well as be the first to have access to signed copies from my webstore if interested.
As far as new fiction goes, I have a lot of stuff in the pipeline. Much like I said in the newsletter last week, being a parent now has nearly killed my writing time, but I have been learning how to carve time out when I can to write. I have several projects started, but I am unfortunately not far enough into any of them to say when they would be out for mass consumption. But… I can tell you I have started a new project with my good friend, author Wile E. Young, that we’re going to have out just in time for AuthorCon this March/April. No, it’s not a co-writing project per say. More like each of us are writing a novelette with a specific theme and both stories will be in one book together. I can’t tell you much more than that right now, but both of us are excited by the project and are working on our stories as I write this. Once we’re closer to completion, I’ll let you all in on the book’s title and theme. I think it’s a pretty neat idea and deals with subject matter I don’t see tackled all that often.
My Tales from the Crypt full series re-watch continues…
Lover Come Hack to Me (S1, E5)
A rich young woman gets hitched to the man of her dreams, and on their ill-fated honeymoon they find themselves stranded at an abandoned mansion. Her new beau has plans to off her for her inheritance, but she has plans of her own…plans that where set in motion long before she was even born. Amanda Plumber plays the young bride and in typical Plumber fashion goes wild like we’ve come to know her roles. Honestly, this might be my least favorite of season one. It was a perfectly fine episode, but by the end I was kind of shrugging and ready to go to the finale.
Collection Completed (S1, E6)
Old man Jonas was forced into early retirement and must get used to being back home all day with his wife. The only problem is his wife’s animal companions and they’re driving him absolutely crazy. His insanity breeds a new hobby…taxidermy. Other than And All Through the House, this might be my favorite of season one. It’s easily the funniest. M. Emmet Walsh and Audra Lindley were perfectly cast. Directed by Mary Lambert, who had to have been fresh off directing Pet Semetery.
Dead Right (S2, E1)
Cathy visits a medium in hopes of meeting a rich man to marry. Who she finds like Charlie, a slovenly man who may or may not eventually inherit a ton of money, so says the psychic. Can Cathy last that long with the man of her nightmares, or will her lust for money turn Charlie against her? I specifically remember seeing reruns of this episode all the time. We didn’t have HBO growing up, but luckily Fox replayed the episodes late at night (heavily censored). Season two was where the show really started to find itself, and you could tell there was a lot more money put into the episodes, as well as higher caliber casting. Demi Moore and a heavily prosthetic’d Jeffery Tambor headlined this one and both were great. My only complaint was the episode was incredibly fat-phobic, but it was 1990, so what can you do? Tales From The Crypt had a reputation for being a mean-spirited show.
The Switch (S2, E2)
A rich old man falls in love with a beautiful young woman, but she has no desire to be with someone his age. Out of options, he finds a mad scientist who agrees to take body parts from a young stud and, piece by piece, they switch bodies. But will that be enough for his lady? This was another one I remember seeing all the time. It’s not a scary episode by any means; it’s pretty silly and a little sad honestly. Sort of the “Be careful what you wish for” moral. It stars the late great William Hickey and a gorgeous young Kelly Preston (RIP), and directed by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Cutting Cards (S2, E3)
Rival gamblers face off to drive the other man out of town for good. But how far will they go to rid themselves of the other? This is a pretty fun episode. I’m a big fan of Lance Hendrickson and he was great at the gruff, angry cowboy-type. I remember being super grossed out as kid watching them chop each other’s fingers off with a butcher’s knife but loving it. The last shot of them playing checkers against one another at the hospital, both missing their arms and legs, is priceless.
Much like myself, there are now a ton of my peers who have webstores where they sell signed books and merch directly from their homes to you, the reader. Below is a list of those who have these. Please check them out and throw some support their way.
Wesley Southard: https://wesleysouthardhorror.com
Aron Beauregard: https://www.abhorror.com/
Kristopher Triana: https://www.trianahorror.com/
Daniel J. Volpe: https://www.djvhorror.com/
John Wayne Comunale: http://johnwayne-comunale.squarespace.com/shop
CV Hunt: https://cv-hunt.com/books/
Kristopher Rufty: https://www.kruftybooks.com/
Ronald Kelly: https://rkhorror.bigcartel.com/
Bryan Smith: https://bryansmithhorror.bigcartel.com/products
My good friend horror author Stephen Kozeniewski has a new project out called We All Live in a Fascist Police State Now, Thanks to This One Fucking Guy, which is being serialized week-by-week on Kindle Vella.
Description:
It happened here. Fascism came, wrapped in the flag and carrying a Bible. Nobody much noticed. Sure, a few traitors like to whine about their missing "rights," but it's up to the heroes of the Federal Bureau of Patriotism to silence them. When someone starts spilling FBP secrets, Captain Leo Nergali is assigned to track him down. But wait, Leo himself *is* the mole? Record scratch! Tune in weekly to see how Leo censors the arts, disappears his enemies, and perhaps even finds jackbooted love!
You can check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Fascist-Police-State-Thanks-Fucking/dp/B0BQYJL71M/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2OCIVXDQUBYB6&keywords=Stephen+Kozeniewski+we+all&qid=1672972374&sprefix=stephen+kozeniewski+we+all%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-2
Also, 2023 is the ten year anniversary of Stephen’s first novel Braineater Jones. To celebrate, he’s dropped the price down on the e-book to a scant $0.99! Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Braineater-Jones-Stephen-Kozeniewski-ebook/dp/B07Q4344LJ?ref_=ast_sto_dp
And speaking of $0.99 sales, Cemetery Gates Media has dropped the price of my latest book They Mostly Come at Night: Collected Short Fiction, of which Brian Keene provided a wonderful introduction to, down to just under a dollar from now until sometime Monday morning. Take advantage while you can! Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/They-Mostly-Come-Night-Collected-ebook/dp/B0BFSX6M3Z/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YNPRT69PLDXW&keywords=they+mostly+come+at+night&qid=1673050142&s=digital-text&sprefix=they+mostly+%2Cdigital-text%2C453&sr=1-1
Currently Reading: Beasts of 42nd Street by Preston Fassel (A fascinating look at the grimy grindhouse film scene in 1970’s New York City.)
Currently Watching: Starship Troopers (Man, I love this film and I love Paul Verhoven, the director. I know this movie was terribly misunderstood when I came out back in 1997, but it has since become a cult hit. If you haven’t seen it, please unfuck that immediately. The special effects and gore are outstanding.)
Currently Listening: Tears for Fears Greatest Hits (I never really gave this group the time of day, but I kind of “discovered” them recently and I’m really loving their music.)
And that’s it. Thanks, everyone! See you next week!