Monday, January 18, 2010

Check Gauge



I just wanna scream Hello!
My God, it's been so long... never dreamed you'd return.
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town - Pearl Jam

I'm late to the game for my end of year blog - I know. I've been meaning to write this one for a bit.

I'm not making excuses mind you, but these last few weeks have been a bit more frantic than any other I can remember. I could blame crazy schedule, driving through a snow storm in Michigan and laying first tracks a'la a Lewis and Clark expedition.

I could say there was yet another outbreak of lice in the region (though I was spared the sitcom-moment indignities of revisiting the same cashier of my past experience in purchasing lice medication).

Oh, there's other things that made the holidays of 2009 hectic and melancholy and wonderful all at the same time - a collection of amazing little moments that continued to chip away at the beast of time until another year had been laid to rest before I knew it.

Each year I usually reflect about what has happened and what I'd like to see for the upcoming trip around the sun. Seems that - as people used to tell me when I was a hell of a lot younger - the older I get, the faster the years seem to go.

This year I'm not making any predictions - no long term ones. I think I'll just go day by day and stop pushing the river that flows all by itself.

Goals on the other hand... those I've got. Some are a hell of a lot more immediate than others, but I've got a handful of those at the ready. Those I'll keep quiet until you see the fruits of my labor.

There's been a lot of changes this past year... good and bad. Some I couldn't control - others I need to start taking command of again.

Some things have fallen along the wayside and I need to unfuck that. For the longest time, I forgot who I was and what I'm capable of. One of my brothers mentioned to me a while back that he hadn't seen "me" in a long time. That struck a nerve with me. A bad one.

I'm long overdue to reintroduce myself. After some emotional trauma, some people reinvent themselves... naaah, that's not for me. After this past year, I just needed to find the core of me again... unearth it and show it some sunshine.

It's going to be hard while life gets in the way, but I need to be aware of vital signs. Check gauges. Observe any warning lights. Make sure things are running as smoothly as possible. While it may not be tip-top, at least it will get me where I need to be.

I just want to scream hello!

My God, it's been so long... but I've returned.

But now here you are, and here I am.


May you all have the best 2010 you can have.
b

Friday, January 08, 2010

Dark Faith

Just Announced:

Dark Faith and the chapbook Last Rites (featuring my story, The Taste of Our Indiscretions is up for pre-order.

Dark Faith Up for Pre-Order (Plus Bonus Offer)

Faith.
So much of our reality is determined by what we believe, and it can so easily become … undone.

Editors MAURICE BROADDUS and Jerry Gordon have created an anthology that explores the dark side of faith and what it may mean. These twenty-six stories and five poems (130k+ words of content) may make you cry, may make you laugh, and will certainly terrify you. You may never look at the light the same way again.



Cover art by Edith Walter

“The Story of Belief-Non” by Linda D. Addison (poem)
“Ghosts of New York” by Jennifer Pelland
“I Sing a New Psalm” by Brian Keene
“He Who Would Not Bow” by Wrath James White
“Zen and the Art of Gordon Dratch’s Damnation” by Douglas F. Warrick
“Go and Tell It on the Mountain” by Kyle S. Johnson
“Different from Other Nights” by Eliyanna Kaiser
“Lilith” by Rain Graves (poem)
“The Last Words of Dutch Schultz Jesus Christ” by Nick Mamatas
“To the Jerusalem Crater” by Lavie Tidhar
“Chimeras & Grotesqueries” by Matt Cardin
“You Dream” by Ekaterina Sedia
“Mother Urban’s Booke of Dayes” by Jay Lake
“The Mad Eyes of the Heron King” by Richard Dansky
“Paint Box, Puzzle Box” by D.T. Friedman
“A Loss For Words” by J. C. Hay
“Scrawl” by Tom Piccirilli
“C{her}ry Carvings” by Jennifer Baumgartner (poem)
“Good Enough” by Kelli Dunlap
“First Communion” by Geoffrey Girard
“The God of Last Moments” by Alethea Kontis
“Ring Road” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Unremembered” by Chesya Burke
“Desperata” by Lon Prater (poem)
“The Choir” by Lucien Soulban
“Days of Flaming Motorcycles” by Catherynne M. Valente
“Miz Ruthie Pays Her Respects” by Lucy A. Snyder
“Paranoia” by Kurt Dinan (poem)
“Hush” by Kelly Barnhill
“Sandboys” by Richard Wright
“For My Next Trick I'll Need a Volunteer” by Gary A. Braunbeck

AND THAT'S NOT ALL...

There's an Apex Store exclusive offer: pre-order now and receive the limited edition promotional chapbook Dark Faith: Last Rites. Only 500 chapbooks will be produced!



"Taste of Memories" by Nate Southard
"That Singing Sea" by Toiya Finley
“The Taste of Our Indiscretions” by Robert Ford
“Little Gods” by Sara Genge



Order here, order often!