The Seekrit Nonfic WIP — Revealed!

I’ll be giving my first academic presentation ever at Ithaca College’s 2011 Rod Serling Conference in September.  The conference is “an interdisciplinary academic conference dedicated to the works of Rod Serling.”

Here’s my abstract…

Where Else Would You See a Story Like This: H.P. Lovecraft Adapted for Rod Serling’s Night Gallery

Writer H.P. Lovecraft describes “Weird Fiction” as a literary form which focuses on evoking atmospheric and psychological dread, as opposed to the simple description of physical horror.  Adapting this literature for film and television typically relies on the depiction of physical horror as a concession to visual media.  Two successful attempts to adapt weird fiction with its sense of dread intact are found in the anthology series Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, where such weird tales as Lovecraft’s own “Cool Air” (adapted by Rod Serling) and “Pickman’s Model” (adapted by Alvin Sapinsley) found a natural home.  An exploration of Serling’s and Sapinsley’s individual approaches to adapting Lovecraft’s work for Night Gallery will show how, despite allowances that were made for the television medium (and in some instances, because of them), they succeeded to a greater extent than other film and television adaptations of the same material.

Now, I just have to finish writing the paper. I already know that I’m starting the presentation with this video clip…

Maybe I overdid it with the cloak and dagger, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say anything publicly until I got the proposal submitted and received a response.  I did tell a few select individuals what I was up to (Though I accidentally spilled the beans a bit when I was interviewed on Functional Nerds a couple of months ago).  But the folks I told were the ones I trusted to talk me out of this if they felt they had to.  I’m glad they didn’t!

My Face Is Made for Podcasting

Out today: the 49th episode of The Functional Nerds podcast, hosted by Patrick Hester and John Anealio , featuring Carrie Cuinn and me talking about Cthulhurotica, which of course degenerated, uh, led to discussions of tentacle pr0n, plushie C’thulhus, and Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend.

Thanks again to Patrick and John for having us!

Listen | Download

“What is this thing called love?”

I’ve joked before about how I look at my last two publications of 2010, which fall under the umbrella of “weird erotica,” and think to myself, as David Byrne sang, “My God! What have I done?”

Pulling double duty, Harry Markov reviews both of the anthologies in which I’ve appeared recently, and he does so on Valentine’s Day, no less.  Because nothing says Valentine’s Day like zombie sex and tentacle pr0n…

Markov mentions my story “Sublimation” in his review of Rigor Amortis over at Innsmouth Free Press, which he says “…pushes all the right buttons in a lust-filled story about human cruelty and zombies used as sex toys.”

You might argue whether or not “Rigor Amortis fails as zombie erotica,” but the part about how “it succeeds as an examiner of the human heart and the human libido after death”–yes, that!

I didn’t consider this ’til just this second–you’d think my story “The C-Word,” set in Innsmouth, would be somewhere in IFP.  I’m not bothered, though, since Cthulhurotica is mentioned more than a few times there.  Markov does mention it over at Rise Reviews.  I have to say, I agree with him when he says that, “What you, as the reader, must know about “Cthulhurotica” is the anthology’s conviction.  I’ve never read an anthology so sure in its identity, with a such a strong voice or as consistent in its theme.”

They’re Coming to Get You, Barbara

Check out Robert “Nix” Nixon‘s cover art for the upcoming anthology Rigor Amortis.  I’m not ashamed to say that I did stare at it for several minutes before typing up this entry.

What’s in store for you, the reader?

Maybe a tender love story is your thing, a husband doting on his wife’s rotting corpse. Or perhaps a forbidden encounter in a secret café, serving up the latest in delectable zombie cuisine, or some dirty, dirty dancing in the old-time honky-tonk. Voodoo sex-slaves and vending machine body-parts? You’ll find those here, too.

Whatever your flavor, these short tales of undead Romance, Revenge, Risk, and Raunch will leave you shambling, moaning, and clawing for more.

Rigor Amortis, with my story “Sublimation,” drops on October 1st.  Order yourself a copy.  You know you want to.

“14 karat love, you are my jewel of the Nile”

If I didn’t feel guilty enough for not taking the time to spotlight more of my favorite writer-friends, like Regan Leigh, I do now.  Especially since she threw the spotlight on me in her eighth installment of Writer Love!

Her kind words seriously made me blush…

Don is a great friend and very talented, but his dedication is just as impressive. I can’t tell you how many times I see him (via Twitter) writing in his spare minutes, no matter where he might be.

The best part is, she dedicated a song to me.  The other night, for some god unknown reason, I had Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force on the brain.  And Regan made sure they stayed there, with this dope, funky fresh tune from back in the day.

You have my eternal gratitude, Regan. But, it begs the question–were you even alive when this song came out? 😀