Ahh, Friday. I was supposed to check out a preview screening of Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses tonight, but I waited too long on the RSVP, and now I have lost out. That means a dull Friday night alone, just me and the cats, some cleaning, and (lucky you), a website update.
As some of you already know, I was on CFRB last Saturday night. I had a great time talking about my old UFO-chasing days, and the host, an old friend named Errol Bruce-Knapp, invited me to come back for another visit. Which is nice, since I enjoy spewing my opinions across the radio waves for the type of audience that a show about UFOs attracts. (One friend who listened was quite amused by my sarcastic comments on Internet diaries, or “blogs”, right before the host went on to plug a few on air. Hil-arious!)
The issue of Rue Morgue magazine with my first set of reviews is out now, so rush right out and pick up a copy. It’s a fine publication, and if you’re a fan of horror in all its shapes and forms, I strongly suggest you check it out.
Right now I’m reading The Dark Half by Stephen King. This is the second of three books that comprised the last of his “Castle Rock” stories. The first, a novella called “The Sun Dog” is quite good, and I strongly recommend it (you can find it in Four Past Midnight, and it’s also soon to be an IMAX movie). The third is Needful Things, which was turned into a not-so-great film; the proper cut of which you can catch on TBS (which airs the same movies so frequently, it shouldn’t be hard to find).
Speaking of King, the man is set to publish his last three novels before officially retiring. These books will tie up his long-running Dark Tower series, and will be published in various formats (hardcover, paperback, audio) by three different companies in a unique deal that has apparently never been done before. If you’d like to check out the new cover art for the reprints of the earlier DT books, visit Lilja’s Library. It’s a decent site, though Lilja’s newly-designed color scheme leaves a little to be desired. If you want to read the press release on the new books, go here.
I’m also reading Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite (think a lesser known but much more talented Anne Rice). It turns out that’s her real name, though I never believed it before. I figured that someone in the business of writing erotic horror would have had to make up a name like that. But it’s her real name, and the book is actually quite good, even though I’ve never had much interest in melodramatic vampires and s&m. There’s a first time for everything, I guess.
This site is supposed to be about my writing, so I guess I better give you an update about that. Well, the new job continues to go smoothly, everyone is friendly and helpful. There’s more work than at my other job, but not so much that it’s taking away from my writing time. I’ve been working steadily on various writing exercises that I have designed myself, as well as a couple of short stories that will hopefully see completion sometime before the end of March. At which time I will put them on the submission circuit and see what happens. I’m subscribed to three different word-of-the-day emails which are always amusing and sometimes helpful. I’ve always loved wordplay and etymology.
Anyway, that should bring you up to speed. There will be more frequent updates here — assuming nobody blows up the planet in the interim — and I’ll try to have something more interesting to tell you then.
Ian
