Goals for July

I've been kind of out of it for a while due to a bout of severe depression, my regular unmedicated anxiety (that will soon be medicated...in August since that was the first available medication appointment), and a shoulder injury in early June, so I'm trying to get back into writing and reading by making small goals that are relatively easy for me to achieve. Maybe I'll set more ambitious writing goals in August, but for now this is supposed to motivate me instead of discourage me.

Writing Goals:
Finish a short story I've been calling, "We can't stop here, this is Lovecraft country"--It will probably be done at under 8k, but it's at 3.7k right now.
Rewrite six poems in order to make them more firmly in the Horror genre.

Reading Goals:
Finish reading Dark Faith (I'm about halfway through it)
Finish reading Queer Fish: Volume 2 (I have a story in there, but never got around to reading all the others)
Read Long Hidden
Read All Marketers Tell Stories by Seth Godin
Read Gods and Monsters: Unclean Spirits by Chuck Wendig
Read Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

Consumable Media: June 2014

Short:
Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death by James Tiptree Jr.
No Longer A Fragment by Alexis A Hunter in Kasma Science Fiction Magazine

Novels:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Addams

Articles:
51 Awesome Webcomics The Eisners Have Completely Failed To Recognize
6 Boring New England Destinations Made Awesome by H.P. Lovecraft
A digital renaissance for the science fiction short story

Webcomics:
Lovecraft Is Missing
Oglaf NSFW

Podcasts:
Welcome to Night Vale
Writing Excuses

Audiobooks:
The Collected Public Domain Works of H.P. Lovecraft (LibriVox)
The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft (Voices in the Dark)
The Festival by H.P. Lovecraft (via Youtube)

Movies:
Fear of the Unknown: H.P. Lovecraft Documentary (via Youtube)
Spaceballs (1987)
Beautiful Darling (2010)
A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (2007)
Tiny: A Story About Living Small (2013)
The Woman Who Wasn't There (2012)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Beginning of the End
Re-Animator (1985)

Consumable Media: April 2014

Here's what I read and observed in April...

Novels:
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Poetry:
"The Death of Aweilo" by Sofia Samatar

Short Fiction:
Abomination Rises on Filthy Wings by Rachel Swirsky
Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
Magdala Amygdala by Lucy A. Snyder


Articles:
The 50 Most Disturbing Movies
Diversity Is Not Enough: Race, Power, Publishing by Daniel Jose Older

Movies:
Frozen (2013)
30 Days of Night (2007)
Titicut Follies (1967)
Mean Girls (2004)

Consumable Media: March 2014

Here's what I remember reading, watching, etc.  in March.

Novels:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Wicked After Midnight by Delilah S. Dawson

Short Fiction:
"Anyway: Angie" by Daniel José Older (Tor.com)
"Ghost Days" by Ken Liu (LightSpeed)
"The Moon" from Grimms' Fairy Tales
"The Crumbs on the Table" from Grimms' Fairy Tales
"The Grave Mound" from Grimms' Fairy Tales
"Death's Messengers" from Grimm's Fairy Tales

Articles:
Inclusive Reviewing: A Discussion by Samuel R. Delany, L. Timmel Duchamp, Fabio Fernandes, Andrea Hairston, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Sofia Samatar, and Aishwarya Subramanian (Strange Horizons)
Escaping Ethnocentricity by Samuel R. Delany (Strange Horizons)

Movies:
The Hunger Games (2012)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Consumable Media: February 2014

Delayed posting this as I've been sick, which is starting to feel like an early March tradition since I had the flu followed by an unshakable chest cold at this time last year. I don't think I had the flu this year at least. Bonus!

I didn't read all that much in February because I used most of my free time to watch video lectures about ancient Roman architecture. I also got cable tv for the first time in a few years, but oddly I haven't watched it that much. I'm in the middle of reading two books as well, but will finish with those pretty soon.

I will list what I remember reading... and the next one of these posts will be much more organized/complete.

Short Fiction-
Antumbra by Lucy Snyder in Apex Magazine

Poetry-
Death is Not a Cormorant by Amy Tudor

Consumable Media: Janurary 2014

An assortment of the books, stories, articles, and other items of interest that I read/listened to/viewed in January 2014 (started keeping track part of the way through the month, so I forgot some things):

Books:
Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig
The Gift by Hafez
The Cormorant by Chuck Wendig

Short Fiction:
"Eating the Pomegranate" by Megan Kurashige
"The Carnival Was Eaten, All Except the Clown" by Caroline Yoachim
"Until It Fits" by Steven Saus
"All the Pretty Colors" by John A. McColley

Articles:
Post-Binary Gender in SF: Introduction by Alex Dally Macfarlane

Podcasts:
Welcome to Night Vale
Writing Excuses

Etc:
Rome Reborn

Happy New...wait...when was that?

I'm around, but have been lazy recently. I guess not "lazy" but just not blogging. I've been planning things and sending out poetry submissions to clear out every piece I have that is finished but sitting around on my computer still. (And I have a new laptop because my old one finally lost its mind) Clearing out some of that poetry makes way for finishing some short fiction. And continuing work on my NaNoWriMo novel. I wrote over 50k on that story in November, so yay! But I need to add about 25k to finish it out.

In December I was trying to finish a different novel, but didn't. I decided to split the story between two characters. The main narrator is left in the dark a lot, and I figured getting her "I'm new to this and don't know what's going on" narrative too often would get annoying. So I'm giving the other part of the story to the character who has the most power and knowledge, but throws away some parts of what is going on because it doesn't fit with what she thinks is useful. She's a fighter, no time for whimsy. Take no prisoners. Ever.

Other than writing, I have some art projects I've been working on. More about those some other time.

I'm attempting to take some edX courses. Poetry in America: Whitman, and Intro to the Music Business start this month. Also starting in January, Coursera has Roman Architecture and Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences. I should know enough about Roman Architecture between all the Art History, Ancient History and Classics courses I've taken, but wanted a refresher on locations, engineering and terms.
I think the most interesting course will probably be Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World. That one starts in early February. In late February there's another intriguing course offered through edX called Library Advocacy Unshushed. Once those courses start I'll probably have some comments on them.

So, there's an update. I hope to get back to regular posting in the near future.

One last thing--Steampunk World: A multicultural Steampunk fiction anthology has a couple days left in its Kickstarter campaign, check it out.

Gender, Roadside Signs And Randomness

Well, I've missed a few posts due to having to go back to Ohio on short notice last week. I've been sick this week--flu-like fun. And I'll be heading back to Ohio to attend my great uncle's funeral at the beginning of next week.
Other than that, I do have some random things to share with you today...

There's been some debate about gender and book covers happening in many places this week...It was all kicked off by Maureen Johnson on Twitter, and has resulted in Coverflip: Maureen Johnson Calls for an end to Gendered Book Covers with an Amazing Challenge (Images), and this The Most Incongruous Book Covers of All Time--those are especially odd to look at.

And today I watched this video about Gender in Advertising-- I love the reversed gender roles portion at the end, especially the Marlboro woman...


And to round out our gender extravaganza I'm including Paul Richmond's Cheesecake Boys and I'll throw in The Hawkeye Initiative for good measure.

Unrelated to gender, but related to book covers--
Good Show Sir--the worst in Science Fiction/Fantasy book covers

Here are a couple roadsigns I've been meaning to share. These are actually to the south of where I live. I really didn't notice the elephant when I took this picture because everything was grey and it just blended into the surroundings. Yeah, really. I'm not sure if We Got Stuff is still in use....

...but this hotel is not. You could buy it though, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a great business venture because there's not much of anything out that way. I really like that the sign advertises the presence of color TV's and phones in the rooms. Then there's the bright yellow roof which is probably the only reason I noticed it.

There's also a place with some signs advertising a hotel further up the road, but the hotel sign and an empty lot are all that remain once you arrive.


And this last picture is in honor of my birthday weekend. I'm turning 30 on May 12th and don't have anything much planned to celebrate it. I thought this picture was pretty absurd...

What I want for my birthday is for whatever viral illness I have to go away, and to find the presser foot screw for my sewing machine.The presser foot screw has earned the distinction of being the most annoying item that I've ever lost...And I've actually been to JoAnn Fabrics since it went missing, but it's so insignificant that I can't remember that I need to buy another....ugh

Review: Queer Fish: An Eclectic Anthology of Gay Fiction

Queer Fish: An Eclectic Anthology of Gay Fiction

Edited by Rose Mambert and Margarita Bezdomnya

Published by Pink Narcissus Press

This anthology was easy to enjoy because the whole collection is really solid. My favorites were "Mike Dies at the End" by W2, "Baker Boy" by Thomas Fuchs and "Dark Entries" by Michael C. Thompson.  Okay, so I'll just move onward to the summaries:

Incubus-Ex by Ashley-Renee Cribbins

I could kind of see where this one was going from the beginning, but I like the inclusion of an incubus. Okay, so the main plot points would be sister has a relationship with an incubus, Sully, but wants to go to college unburdened so she puts up a hex bag to bind him to the house. Her brother, Austin, is the only one who can pull down the hex bag and set Sully free. He decides not to...as to why he doesn't, that's up to you to find out. 

Mike Dies at the End (A Parody) by W2

First, I just have to say that I love the idea that mystical powers are sexually transmitted. I love all the well-placed absurdity of this story. The line the squirrel says near the beginning, and the fact the fries sing...yeah, you see where I'm going with this-- uh, no you don't. I don't even know where I'm going.

Anyway, the characters are fun and have lots of personality. The situations are crazy, but well-written so that makes them believable in a surrealist on acid kind of way. The descriptions of Real Dolls; horrifying. The solution to the puzzle; quite entertaining.

In final review I love this story. It speaks to me.

Monsters So Fair by Lyle Blake Smythers

This is a fantasy story about fate and prophecy. The narrator, Agib, has first been told that he is the person who can end the curse over a stretch of ocean by destroying the bronze statue on top of Bent Mountain that keeps destroying boats with magnetism. Droo, the son of a merchant, has been told that if the statue on Bent Mountain falls he will be killed by a false Prince named Agib by the time he turns eighteen. The two end up on the same island, but there is no animosity between them, so how can the second prophesy be fulfilled if there is love and not war? In a way I was kind of dreading getting to the ending because the moment that Droo and Agib have together is quite perfect.

The Song by Rob Rosen

Somewhat scary in the build up to the siren, and I enjoyed the treasure hunter's determination to thwart the siren's song. The basic story is that a treasure hunter goes on a quest for gold where he knows that others have failed due to reports of sirens luring the adventurers to their death. Despite his preparations the siren manages to get his attention anyway, but not as he was prepared for.

Dark Entries by Michael C. Thompson

This story is rather twisted and made me want to listen to Bauhaus while reading to get the full effect. The couple, Jonathan and Lawrence, in this story already has a lot of issues with drug problems and paranoia just being the icing on the cake. Lawrence's nightmares and reality start to blur together, and things get even more disjointed around the time he meets a strange, but beautiful man on the beach. The strange man appears to be mocking him, and claims to be named Peter Murphy. Lawrence sees Peter as teasing him, then he sees him as a disturbing fish creature in his nightmares, and then Jon's paranoia sees them as entirely something else. The ending of this story is rather shocking as it is revealed that both men end up with their wishes fulfilled.  

Welcome to Anteaterland by Nathaniel Fuller

I kind of felt like I was missing something as I went through this story. It was like something bigger going on behind the scenes, which I guess is kind of what happens in Anteaterland so maybe that all works out.  

Blood Sugar Sex Magic by Geogina Li

This story is interesting because it reads like a prose poem with influences of city life, and I also get this sensation of contrast between night and day. I had to read this one a couple times to pay attention to everything that's going on around the characters. The rhythm of the words is interesting. I also like the idea of James reading the signs and believing that there are meanings and then other meanings. This story feels like a series of images and has a pace that reminds me of wandering around cities at night after the bars are closed and everything is kind of disorienting.  

Baker Boy by Thomas Fuchs

I love how this story looked at temptation, and it was strange enough that I had to tell a friend who has a culinary arts degree about it right after I read it. References to Baker Boy have been added to our dialogues about food. So, good job.

In this story a man in the best shape of his life gives into the temptation of a mysterious bakery, and to the allure of the baker boy who tempts him with food among other things. Sure, the main character gains a lot of weight that the sexual escapades can't work off, but the end results were not quite as expected.

The Zombissager by Colleen Chen

Sir Zomablot is out to conquer Peaceville with his army of undead cocks that he has packaged and sold as Zombissagers.  Super boyfriends Coolman and Awesomeman can't let that happen. If the names are any indication this is a silly story, but it is pretty entertaining.

Shudder by Alice Fox

This is a cute little graphic novel-like piece that involves an exiled noble and the headless apparition of a minstrel who has a demon problem. The demons look like stretchy cats, which I suppose would be quite horrifying to see in person. After the demon problem is remedied the exiled man can stay in the castle and you can cue true love's first kiss, or something like that.

Mondeval's Heart by Rose Mambert

Ash and Tamaril are companions by chance or fate, but they are loyal to each other and prepared to die on their quest. Ash is human while Tamaril is a ferlik who is also Cursed with a powerful magic that can only be used at a high price. Tamaril trades his memories or blood for magic, use of the power in the past has destroyed his memory to the point that he doesn't remember even his original name. This story throws your from the heat of passion into the heat of battle and makes you wonder what all will be lost and gained once the fight is over.

Zombie Hunt by Danielle Renn

In a post zombie apocalypse world zombie infectee James Hunt protects a settlement of survivors in exchange for shelter and feedings of blood to sustain him. A young man named Evan who lives in the settlement latches onto Hunt and follows him around. Evan is quite curious and in awe of Hunt and wishes to forge any sort of connection that he can between the two because they have a relatively simple past, and within the settlement connections between people are not as simple as they seem. In this world the ugliness of the created society in the settlement is hidden behind the façade of civilization. Evan's actions indicate that he is looking for a sort of salvation and an escape from the settlement, but how far away can he get? And at what price?

The Hollow Hills of New Hampshire by Frank Muse

This was an amusing horror story about a young man named Derek who becomes the owner of a brownie--a short, hairy, naked house elf of lore. (Side note: brownies creep me out already and I rarely encounter them in my usual reading...so that got to me right away.) At first the brownie makes sure the apartment is clean, food is prepared and the place is comfortable to the point of creepiness, but then he starts to cause a bit of trouble when he panics at the realization that his new owner really has no interest in women or reproduction...and the Brownie kind of needs him to have an heir in order to survive.

This Won't Hurt a Bit by Thomas Kearnes

The narrator first hooks up with a guy named Harrison, and is annoyed by Harrison's show of consideration over whether or not he was enjoying their encounter. Soon after that the narrator admits that he's used to getting in between couples and at the moment is trying to be involved with Blake, who is already living with Sam. Blake and Sam are a train wreck of a relationship, but Blake has obvious feelings of complacency and fatalism towards his situation. When the narrator is given a slight chance with Blake it isn't quite what he expected, but from that he garners a sort of revelation.

 The Golem of Rabbi Loew by Johnny Townsend

As I read this I noticed that the pacing of the story feels similar to a biblical story. I enjoyed this retelling of The Golem of Prague, and found it easier to read then the version of the original story that I was supposed to read for a Survey of Jewish Culture class. Anyway, the golem in this story not only defends the Jewish population of Prague, but also serves as a companion for Rabbi Loew who feel that his desires for other men would lead others to sin, but since Joseph lacks a soul there's no concern for him sinning. The story is quite bittersweet.

Fools in Love by Chelsea Crowley

Gus, the court jester, insults the court wizard, Horatio Metorimax, and as punishment the jester is forced to assist him in order to better appreciate the wizard's work. Horatio is surprised to find that he can relax around Gus and they both get along better than expected. Gus turns out to be a more complex character than he initially seems and he confesses that he has been hurt by magic before. This is a cute story and I enjoyed the explanation of Gus's background, and I think Horatio learned a lot from Gus.

Super Love by Chris Helton

This story deals with the everyday frustration of dating a super hero, which is a profession with a highly irregular schedule. Odd schedules are a rather relatable feature of relationships in general, and I enjoyed seeing how Maddex tried to bridge that divide in order to spend more time with Greg.

Starpoint Rendezvous by E. Craig McKay

Simon and Jeremy work together as prospectors and play together in the Melia Starpoint space hotel that can provide all varieties of tantalizing sexual experiences. They spend most of the story indulging in what each other, and the hotel, has to offer, but also discuss their newly joined business endeavors and the trouble of transporting asteroids. I must admit that my mind kept wondering off while reading this story because I kept imagining what all could possibly be at such a hotel. So, I generally enjoyed the lazy, sexy and indulgent nature of this tale, and the excitement of the trials of hauling asteroids through space kind of took a backseat to the entertainment at the hotel.

Color Zap! By Sam Sommer

The Genofacility allows two people of any gender to have children, and produces those children in a regulation manner in which they are prepared for a drab world, but Spencer was born with periwinkle blue hair. His parents force him to cover his hair with a hat, and then begin shaving his head as he gets older. He decides for himself that he wants to show off his hair, but on his first time out in public he is given an unfair amount of abuse. He soon finds more people with colorful hair including his boyfriend, Gavin, who has bright green hair. The people with brightly-colored hair form a society to promote the acceptance of them in the general population. I found the story interesting and inspiring and think it was a good note to end the anthology on. The feeling I got from this story was that even though some progress is made there is still room for equality, and sometimes different groups get left behind during the quest for acceptance.

Flash Fiction: Deaf on the Right

Needed time to recharge, so that's why I've been rather scarce online recently.
I participated in Columbus Creative Cooperative's Flash Fiction Smackdown on March 1st. Didn't win, but that's okay because the final round involved writing another story in 15 minutes based on a prompt, and then presenting that story. Scary, yes?

So, here is what I read that night--

Deaf on the Right

By J. Lannan

Spending summer at home was boring. But I kept seeing this guy. Hiding in bushes. Standing behind garages. So, like I said I was bored. That afternoon I snuck up and snapped him in the back of the head with the stupid rubberband on his Halloween mask. I hadn't been expecting that falsetto scream. I took off down the street even though I wasn't scared. Why was he even wearing that when it was ninety degrees out? And he had to be way too old to be creeping like that.  I felt justified. He ambled after me groaning like a constipated walrus.

"Really?" I could walk backwards and he wouldn't even catch up. So, that's what I did. "Are you seriously such a spazz that you're following me? Look at how you're dressed. Who do think you are the next member of Slipknot?"

I stopped on the sidewalk. He lurched forward with his hands aimed at my neck, but he didn't know that I played soccer. I corner kicked him in the junk and ran for a friend's house.

Now, no one had seen any of them for about a week, but maybe they went on vacation. Without telling anyone. The door was unlocked. Inside, the place smelled like road kill. Like big roadkill.

You know, in these situations most people try to rationalize that the creepy guy who showed up a week ago and the house that smells like week-old death were somehow not connected. I wasn't one of those people. 

I knew they had guns. The downstairs cabinet was locked. I knew about the loaded pistol in the nightstand. But that was upstairs, and there are rules against that.

Serving as a reminder of the rules I encountered Colleen laid out on the stairs with a knife wound to the chest. "You never run up the stairs." I yelled at her, but that was pointless.

So the gun wasn't in the nightstand, it was on the bed by Colleen's dead dad. The psycho was faster. He gripped my throat. But I had the gun. Put it up near the side of my head. Pointed back. Heard him breathing. Pulled the trigger.

And that's why I'm kind of deaf in one ear.