Gods in Darkness

I met my goal of releasing 12 projects in 12 months - one exactly every month in 2015.

The final one was my new anthology of new and previously released sci-fi horror materia titled Gods in Darkness - get it HERE

Some of these stories might be familiar - the titular novella was released just over three years ago in Space Eldritch, and several new tales follow that same strange semi-lovecraftian vein. I also wrote some dark poetry that I put in as some spacers between the short stories. Some of it is pretty weird and I sometimes wondered what was running through my head when I wrote those lines and yet, I also felt like letting the Muse take me where she would. So in some respects it makes me feel vulnerable putting that kinda weird out there - so I haven't promoted it all that much by comparison to earlier books like Whispers Out of the Dust, and LO what to my surprise do I find as I'm putting this blog post together but Gods in Darkness is already in the top 100 Anthologies on Amazon!

Makes a writer who does struggle with - nobody cares about what I write feel pretty good.

Thanks to whomever you are out there getting a copy. I do suspect its some of you guys (My handful of blog readers)

As for just a little more of my motivations for this antho: granted at least half of it is previously released and I wanted to meet my goal for the year, but also I love those old pulp collections with a variety of stuff like Wolfshead  and the Cthulhu Mythos. I have several stories kicking around but decided to keep them all on a science fiction kick and am saving my weird western and fantasy type tales for some other project - (one weird western/aliens tale did go into Gods in Darkness- but I decided I no Porter Rockwell tales would make it into this one - so it was rewritten).

So I had this one keep to a theme as it were. Thanks again and Happy New Year!

What a Year its Been

Where to begin?

My daughter Athena was born this last august and she is doing amazing!

I accomplished a lot this year writing wise, I've had a personal goal for some time to have something creative of mine come out every single month in a year and I've finally done it.

Granted six months out of the year it was my ongoing serial, Walking Through Walls in the pages of Utah Geek Magazine but that is still more than 15,000 words in a novella getting in front of thousands of people locally - I'm hoping it pays off in the long run with some local fanbase - between you - my regular blog friends (because you are) I  haven't seen much in the way of that working out yet, but I'll at least finish the novella and self-pub it and I'm pretty damn happy with it.

Those other six months saw several collections of my stories and a new weird anthology project that I never planned on doing until right before I did it - Whispers Out of the Dust. That was the fastest I ever wrote in my life yet. about 56K in four weeks, eventually cut down to 53K but still.
I also released, The Mad Song in January and The Hand of Fate in June. I was a part of an improv  rock/spoken word album with the Freestyle Gargoyles II - my song was 'Read Em and Weep', and I've heard good things by those that heard it. I also contributed a few stories to an anthology put together by some writer friends - 5 Blades. 

And just in time to still meet my goal, I just put up on Kindle and Create Space - Gods in Darkness, a collection of sci-fi horror and prose. It has a 4 previously released stories and a few new ones and some dark poetry with a Lovecraftian flavor. I'll put up another post when I can actually see it on Amazon.

I also attended some great cons and will do so this coming year to an even greater degree - so good things are coming.

All the best to the rest of you and have a great New Year!

Now in PULP = (print) SPACE ELDRITCH: The Haunted Stars

Now available in print! Space Eldritch: The Haunted Stars

Please, think of the hungry shoggoth (my kids) and buy a copy.

SPACE ELDRITCH II: The Haunted Stars

Just in time for Halloween reading!
The cold of interstellar space is again closer than you think as eleven authors -- including New York Times bestseller Larry Correia, Nebula winner Eric James Stone, Amazon #1 bestseller Michaelbrent Collings, and multiple Hugo nominee Howard Tayler -- explore what happens when space opera meets Lovecraftian cosmic horror.

Contents:
A Darklight Call’d on the Long Last Night of the Soul – Michaelbrent Collings
Dead Waits Dreaming – Larry Correia
The Implant – Robert J Defendi
Plague Ship – Steven L. Peck
From Within the Walls – Steven Diamond
Space Opera: Episode Two—The Great Old One Strikes Back – Michael R. Collings
The Queen in Shadow – David J. West
The Humans in the Walls – Eric James Stone
Seed -- D.J. Butler 
Full Dark – Nathan Shumate 
Fall of the Runewrought – Howard Tayler

I've been pretty pleased with all the feedback I received for my first Space Eldritch tale, Gods in Darkness, online reviews generally said it was the best or the worst in the collection, which I just take to mean I am doing something right. I was tempted to do a sequel of sorts but ultimately opted not to, instead I decided to twist up a few expectations = instead of the protagonist going insane upon discovery of the Eldritch horror, I thought what if the Elder Thing was insane???
Hope you all enjoy and purchase SPACE ELDRITCH II here on Amazon or here on Smashwords.

In the Works...

Life has made my blogging this year incredibly erratic (did I completely miss February?)

But projects are coming along, The Mad Song in Artifacts & Relics shouldn't be too far off, and The Dogs of War in Thunder on the Battlefield will be shortly behind that I think, Rolling in the Deep in A Flame in the Dark: Monsters should be out anytime as will Make A Monkey Outta Me in Heavy Metal Horror and The Problem with Magick in Another 100 Horrors. Wish I knew something more on the Rogue Blades Entertainment Challenge antho = The Serpents Root and the rumored Sword & Sorcery League collection which supposedly has accepted Sailing to Valhalla, but alas I know nothing on either project.

I still need to format Whispers of the Goddess, so that delay is all on me and I did finally receive the edits on Bless the Child, so I will absolutely have a sword & sandals novel out this year - I'm hoping in the next few weeks but can't promise anything since I honestly don't know what I'm doing with formatting yet.

Bring the Fire (tentative title) for The Barbarian Coast is coming along nicely = almost done. And I have dreamt up my story for Space Eldritch 2 I just have to write it now.

Two more projects demand near immediate attention, one is a Sci-Fi sure thing, the other is a limited invitational Fantasy submission, best 10 out of 25 (good odds), and both MIGHT get published through Baen, so that's cool.

I'm also sitting on a half dozen finished spec tales that I need to just get off my butt and submit somewhere - and then there are the fifty plus starts to tales I need to finish...and then there are the books I need to finish, I wish I was half as prolific as I sound.

Part of the writing problem has been the busy family life and drama but it seems the Muse has returned ~

Storming the Gates of Troy

 

One thousand ships launched astern
For you, the flames they burn
Scarlet lips and hands to hold
Passion unfurled and courage bold
Swords are raised as bridges crossed
One thousand moments count and lost
Two for the neck, one for the heart
Hopes blaze that we may never part
All for you my queen, so regal
I shall be cloaked dark with eagle
Stricken in the heart and the heel
I write to forge what I feel
To be with you again I hope and pray
And win but a kiss today
No tears, no pain, no sorrow
All so I may win the war tomorrow
With sacred horse and a tour deforce
The gates will fall and I’ll tear down your wall
Chariots race and dooms embrace
Will open the path to proceed
And truly fulfill that primal need
To be as one and never ever come undone

Also, it seems I am getting 5 times the hits to this blog from Iran than I am from the usual suspects = The US of A, Canada, Germany and the UK - What the Hell? Can I be so interesting to the Persians? Or is it just the Spartan thing??? I've barely been posting this year - what's so interesting???

Rock the VOTE: If You Please

I have been voting for a couple years now in the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll and this is the first year that I have been nominated.

And though you may be quite tired of hearing about it, I sure wouldn't mind some clicking,and email confirmation thereafter/voting in support of my Space Eldritchness.
My story is in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy short story category and a couple of my friends are in the horror category, also the antho is in the running...so...

To vote for "Gods in Darkness" go Here and for anthologies you can vote for Space Eldritch here,
AND to vote for my friends,
Bruce Durham and his tale "Colony" from Rogues in Hell or D.J. Butler's "Arise Thou Niarlat From Thy Rest" also from Space Eldritch go here since both are in the short horror category.

Space Eldritch Yet Beckons...

SPACE ELDRITCH the Lovecraftian Sci-Fi anthology I'm in with 7 other wondrous writers (and a helluva foreword by Larry Correia) was recently released in print. I'll be grabbing some personal copies soon because I love having a tactile book for one thing and because its awesome for a second.

Thirdly, we also received a favorable mention over at Black Gate not a review quite yet, the editor John O'Neil just barely got a copy, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

Retrospecticus 2012

I may or may not be offline for the next little while we'll see, so IF that be the case, I thought I'd post this while I could. A bit of a look-back.



For my favorites of things...


Favorite Fiction of the Year: RED COUNTRY, by Joe Abercrombie
Love this western-flavored take on fantasy by one of my favorite authors and the return (albeit name unspoken of Logen 'The Bloody-Nine' Fingers'.







Favorite Historical Non-Fiction of the Year:  The Bloody White Baron, by James Palmer

Fascinating historical all the way around, even if I felt like the author wanted to demonize the Baron, who I feel was a ambitious driven man of his time and place, in another realm, he could have been a Howardian hero!







 Favorite Other Non-Fiction of the Year: Turning Pro, by Steven Pressfield

I could not leave this one out. Absolutely a must for kicking yourself into gear.




 Favorite Graphic Novel of the Year: Conan,Throne of Aquilonia, by Roy Thomas and Mike Hawthorne

I enjoyed this, but will admit that 2012 did not have strong competition (that I read) this year. Here's to hoping 2013 has more comics that move me - very high hopes for Hellboy in Hell.







Favorite New Indie Fiction Series: Rock Band Fights Evil, by D.J. Butler

I love the esoteric concept merging rock music, demons, and all manner of myth come to life in the modern era. With an eclectic cast of characters this is quite the series for pulp fans to sink their teeth into!




Favorite Television Series: Game of Thrones


Favorite Movie of the Year: Hmmmmm....
Like Graphic novels I didn't think this was a terribly strong year but with a few exceptions, I didn't see  lot of great indies like I did last year so I have to go with some of the bigger blockbusters = I liked The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises and I have not seen it yet but I expect The Hobbit to be right up there with them.

Favorite Music (released this Year): SKYWORLD, by Two Steps From Hell

I'd be remiss to not include a sample, the first track All Is Hell That Ends Hell, I have loved writing to this epic instrumental stuff.



For myself, I am very pleased to have almost twice as many publications this year as last, not quite but I can't help publishers being delayed - I have the terribly ridiculous goal to attempt a double again for next year - though I don't plan on trying to double that number for 2014 - everything within reason.

Still I am well pleased. 2 Sword & Sorcery Magazine tales 99 Deaths of the Monkey God and Hel Awaits

2 Weird Western Porter Rockwell tales - Tangle Crowned Devil in Unnatural Tales of the Jackalope and Garden of Legion in Wandering Weeds

2 Horror/Sci-Fi tales The Dig in IN SITU and Gods in Darkness in SPACE ELDRITCH - which of course that's the big one for the year, we made it to Amazon's #2 spot in Space Opera, #10 in Horror for the kindle and we actually were the #1 bestselling book on Smashwords in November! And we have been discussing the idea that we will continue that Eldritch collection in the next year - perhaps Steampunk?


And 2 more tales - A Good Home for the Spoon, a bizarre Hemingway werewolf pastiche in Dark Eclipse magazine, and a third Lovecraftian/Porter Rockwell tale Rolling in the Deep is supposed to be released any day now.

More tales were accepted for publication and await 2013, and I can finally discuss a secret project from earlier this year because he has already mentioned it on his weekly radio show. I am assisting Douglas Dietrich with his book The Reality of the Red Undead: The Untold Story of the Supernatural Soviets, fascinating stuff that. It will likely have an early 2013 release.

My self-published projects for my Lost Realms Press have regrettably been delayed but are moving forward, in all likelihood there will be a barrage in the New Year, I'll space them out but it will still make me look like a writing machine.
All the more to make writing my career and grant me the ability to only do that and kiss the day-job farewell.

All the best to you my readers and friends. I'll be back online as soon as I can.

Devil in the Details

How about that! I'm a Kindle bestseller. SPACE ELDRITCH made it to #2 in Space Opera (#10 in Horror) thanks to our big release day and Book Bomb (extra special thanks to Larry Correia and Howard Tayler and their fan's) We were never quite able to unseat Ender's Game.

Also, I will be a guest once again on Douglas Dietrich's radio show Critical Omissions
tonight Oct 30th, at 8:30 pm mountain - 10:30 pm eastern
Click the link, hit play, and it will open up live at the correct time. We'll be discussing some of the true weird history that inspired my Space Eldritch tale "Gods in Darkness" as well as all manner of Lovecraftian strangeness. The call-in lines will open as well to phone in and talk. 1-347-688-2902
Youtube link to follow in a couple days.

Thanks again to everyone that ordered a copy of Space Eldritch, yesterday was literally the first day that writing paid me more in one day than the day job. Now to just try and keep that up everyday!
We are already chatting about a volume 2 for next year.

SPACE ELDRITCH UNLEASHED!!!

“With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos.”
– H.P. Lovecraft

Startling Stories meets Weird Tales in SPACE ELDRITCH, a volume of seven original novelettes and novellas of Lovecraftian pulp space opera. Featuring work by Brad R. Torgersen (Hugo/Nebula/Campbell nominee), Howard Tayler (multiple Hugo nominee), and Michael R. Collings ( author of over 100 books), plus a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Larry Correia, SPACE ELDRITCH inhabits the intersection between the eternal adventure of the final frontier and the inhuman darkness between the stars.

Can I just say how pleased I am to be a part of this horrifying pulpy collection. I'm honored to be rubbing shoulders with these guys and being able to put my best foot forward with their legions of fans (OK, at least Larry and Howard's legions of fans)
I've been reading these other tales the last few days and WOW am I happy I'm in this.

The Table of Contents 

Foreword – Larry Correia
Arise Thou Niarlat From Thy Rest – D.J. Butler
Space Opera – Michael R. Collings
The Menace Under Mars – Nathan Shumate
Gods in Darkness – David J. West
The Shadows of Titan – Carter Reid and Brad R. Torgersen
The Fury in the Void – Robert J. Defendi
Flight of the Runewright – Howard Tayler

So if mind-shattering Lovecraftian space opera is something your wicked soul needs, grab a copy now on Amazon, or Barnes & Noble or if you are so inclined you can get it from Smashwords

The print edition is soon to follow and I'll of course keep everyone updated on that as well.

All of us are book bombing the Unfathomable Reaches out of this today to get some traction with the rankings, so I'd appreciate some help spreading the word if you're so inclined. Thanks

The Ball is Rolling

I'm feeling pretty slick. Space Eldritch is coming October 29th,  an excerpt of my tale "Gods in Darkness" is up on Cold Fusion Media
This of course is my big Lovecraftian science fiction piece, which I actually tried to channel how would I do a near modern day Sword & Sorcery tale. It takes place in the indeterminate 60's during the hidden heyday of the U.S./Soviet space race.

AND

I have been told that my tale, "Rolling in the Deep" should be available on Halloween itself in the
A Flame in the Dark: Monsters anthology.
This particular tale is one of my Porter Rockwell weird westerns, though it takes place largely at sea. Lot of interesting motivations gelled together for this. This collection was put together with the idea that Faith had to play a big part, so I crafted a  Porter (Samson) meets a Lovecraftian Elder God (Philistine God, Dagon) Sorry, no wicked Delilah this time round. YES, I loved the Adele title so much I stole it-I think I blogged I was gonna do that last year.

They posted the table of contents last week, I only saw it just now.

"Visitor Bob," a unique look at the bogeyman by Ellen C. Maze
"Divide and Conquer," wherein author Greg Mitchell looks at a different kind of vampire
"Running Late," a vampire tale by Pauline Creeden
"Closet Commentary," Teric Darken's tale of voices in the night
"Willing Blood," A vampire tale with a twist by Kat Heckenbach
"We Create Them," Thomas Smith's look at poverty through a lens of horror
"Invisible Intruder," by Stoney Setzer
"Twelfth Night," a Christmas story by Sean Philips
"Psychobabble, Toil, and Trouble," in which Stephen McQuiggan laments the loss of our monsters
"Of the Lake," JR Roper's tale of aquatic terror
"More Lives," a cat tale by Dana Bell
"Smoke," a good old-fashioned werewolf story or is it? by Jeremy Tyler
"Cornhusker," a tender, coming-of-age story (mua ha ha ha) by Tim Ward
"Holy Angels," Delphine Boswell's story of a church's uninvited guest
and of course
"Rolling in the Deep," a decidedly Lovecraftian tale by David West

 AND

What gave Papa Hemingway that head-wound?

Find out in my tale "A Good Home for the Spoon".
It is supposed to be up on November 1st in  Dark Eclipse Magazine
This one is my lost chapter of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast (one of my all time favorites)
I tried to make the piece fit as if it had been left out for some reason, perhaps because Papa wasn't sure himself if it was true or simply an absinthe induced nightmare.

This is my only tale where I have deliberately tried to sound like another writer.


So having three stories come out in one week is making feel like this writing thing is working out.

Amazon's Author Ranking Mean's...?

I have to laugh. Authors/Artists by nature are moody bastards and I am a Cancer which only increases that moodiness. And now Amazon has instituted a new author ranking system so that it not only tracks your books ever-fluctuating rhythm of sales, it will track you and all of your books combined to evaluate your ranking.

I and most other writers I know of, have gone through bouts of constantly scanning Amazon to see how are sales are. I finally broke free of the habit after a few months and only occasionally look now-(granted once I start self-publishing with Lost Realms Press, I am sure I will check more often because I will be getting paid more frequently than the current situation.)

I look once in awhile now and shrug, oh I sold a few more I'm in the top 40,000. No big whoop.

I had a friend last night post on facebook that Stephen King was/is #1 in the Horror ranking and my friend Michael Brent Collings was #88. Hey good for him, I thought/posted/liked. I had no concern for myself on this, guessing I was far too lowly for any such ranking.

Then I got the email in the morning telling me I was #547 in Horror. That's not too shabby if you consider how many people are writing horror these days. I was surprised because while I write horror stories I don't consider myself a horror writer, but then what is the next thing coming down the pike? Space Eldritch is  Sci-Fi/Horror so I suppose I'll embrace that rank after all.

Checking the stats tonight, I found some ever changing numbers and guidelines for what I do (according to Amazon)

In Contemporary Fiction (do I even write that?) I was as high as #5,077 but am now #9,573

In Action & Adventure (this is what I would say I write) I was #1,685 but am now #3,441

In Fantasy I was #1,792 but have dropped to #3,721

and In Horror I was as high as #497 but have dropped to #665

Does any of this matter?

NO

If I was actually the 497th best selling horror writer on Amazon, I think I wouldn't still be worrying about the day job, even the 665th and I think I would quit and be writing full time. But these numbers only take into account my name paired with all of my books, anthologies etc. Heroes of the Fallen which is decidedly not a horror novel is selling at least a copy or two a week and thus drives up my overall numbers. I don't believe I rank even 665th in the Mormon authors category for which I am not even listed.

I probably ought not to even look at these rankings again for all the good they do...But, I probably will come October 29th when Space Eldritch is released and me and the crew seriously book bomb the hell out of it. Maybe I'll break the top 100 that day and can list myself as "Best-Selling Author"!

*** UPDATE!!!
We did make it #2 in Science Fiction/Space Opera and #10 in Horror!

Read Just Lately

I have not made it through my regularly scheduled book reading as of this last month-too much work on polishing a pair of novella's Gods in Darkness and The Mad Song but I did read a good number of short stories.

I started out doing my sci-fi research with The Cold Equations, by Tom Goodwin.

The foreword and afterword in the collection of Goodwins other tales extolled the virtues of his story and why many believe it to be the best sci-fi short story ever written.

If that is truly the case, no wonder I lean so far to the fantasy aisle.

It is a good story, but it lacks a certain amount of wonderment, awe, and  even terror. It does not have any of those. It is just what the title says, Cold Equations. This is not a story that I think I will ever read again for enjoyment. It does have something to say about the nature of the universe. It does give a twist on what you expect (spoiler* you do expect a rescue of sorts) and you don't get that rescue.

But best sci-fi story ever? please

Conan and the Witch-Queen of Acheron, by Don Kraar, Gary Kwapisz and Art Nichols

Has the dubious honor of being just about the worst Conan comic I have read yet. Its a shame because I like that title and thusly expect something more out of a Conan story. I actually ordered this from Alibris quite awhile ago, just so I could read/have a copy and when I finally get around to it, we have a story that makes Conan the Destroyer seem deep and well thought out. At no time did the lead character really act like himself and the logic in the story was weak. Early on Conan fights off half the town guard in some idiotic standoff because he paid a tavern girl with Acheron gold.
Then is quickly felled with the old hit from behind trick=lame.
Of course he must go on a quest to show some stupid petty ass king where he found the Acheronian gold.
This all could not be more unlike Conan. Also I can forgive a bad story sometimes with great art-we don't get that either, pretty sub-par art throughout. Any given Savage Sword of Conan has better art and a better story.

The Doom that Came to Sarnath, by H. P. Lovecraft

This is a collection of older Lovecraft tales, many that somewhat predate the usual mythos, and as such are generally regarded as not quite as good.
It does however have some gems, this is where Nyarlathotep dwells and The Nameless City and his Houdini ghost written piece Imprisoned with the Pharaohs.

While perhaps not as good as later tales, this still contained many that I did enjoy and that Lovecraft ambiance is throughout, Some tales like The Other Gods actually struck me as very unlike Lovecraft, but I think it has to do with their being written before he truly found his voice.




The Science Fiction Century, edited by David G.Hartwell

Considering that this is a massive tome (that I have read some stories in) with stories by all the greats of 20th century sci-fi, I doubt there could have been much editing at all in comparison to just sheer selection. I'll bet this has to be the single biggest volume of short stories I own. Many of them I had already read from other collections, but some like Frank Belnap Long's The Hounds of Tindalos were a first.
It was an interesting story that at least hints at horror, wonder, mystery, and terror as opposed to Cold Equations but it did leave me wishing for a little more of something, if anything I would have greatly enjoyed the tale continuing.
Many other writers such as Bradbury and H.G. Wells, C.S. Lewis and Poul Anderson will be readily familiar in the collection and those are some tales that I skipped as I skimmed this collection. But this is a comprehensive collection. No doubt I will be returning again soon.

The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells, by Ben Bova

I have owned this book for months having found it in a thrift store and I had not intent of moving it into the TBR pile, but I pulled it out when a friend on facebook said he had been hunting for a Ben Bova writing book and he would pay handsomely for it.

It turned out to be the wrong Bova book, but since I was working on a sci-fi tale I read it. It does have a lot of tips but many are outdated or I had already learned (hard way or not) I did like that it broke up what could be a certain sterility by having some of Bova's tales intermingled as examples of what works-and while I found them somewhat interesting, it isn't going to make me run out and buy more of Bova's work either.

Seems that for me, a lot of the advice was just too late and that's on me not Bova, it probably would be a great book for a writer just starting out.



I am also reading my fellow Space Eldritch contributors tales and it is going to be a great collection-coming October 29th.

Gods in Darkness

It took far longer than I ever meant, or honestly thought it would, but I finished 'God's in Darkness' (title gratefully stolen from a Karl Edward Wagner chapter heading in Darkness Weaves.)

for my Space Eldritch contribution. At least this time he didn't haunt my dreams saying I could not use his title as he did here.

Gods in Darkness is 15K of pulpy speculative assault on the seven senses in the cold emptiness of space. My goal with the piece was to put a Lovecraftian Sword & Sorcery tale up into the Detritosphere (Crypto-Cosmic military term for a Low Earth Orbit) ~ alas I never did put a sword up there, but knives, blunt objects and sorcery abound.

I am pleased that my wife says it is the best thing I have ever written.

There are several homages thrown in for good measure, the naming of my protagonist as Cormac Ross was deliberate as the Cold War veteran is cut from the same Gaelic cloth as the bulk of Robert E. Howard's hero's.

And while I didn't name (yet-still doing copy edits) the Lovecraftian being, its hard to not throw out some kinda Zyth-Yog as an addition to that mythos too. I am sucker for name meanings and it is the rare exception that I don't have a purposeful name with a meaning in relation to that character. Not being fluent in Elder Gods vernacular, I chose to simply not name the thing.

Still, this has been a fantastically satisfying month for writing and I figure my regular readers will greatly enjoy what is likely my very best work to date.

The chilling artwork at the top is 'Breathing the Void' from 5kypainter  Absolutely awesome!

The above is an example of a Soviet tool used in space by the cosmonauts. Deadly blunt objects indeed!