I recently finished writing the greater part of a longish movie review of The Mothman Prophecies. I picked up the special-edition DVD the other day and was reminded of just how good it was. Creepy visuals, great cinematography and use of color – and the story was pretty good, too! The review is called "Of Mice and Mothmen," and I’m going to try and pawn it off on Book of Dark Wisdom or maybe Rue Morgue.

Also, a new horror anthology, tentatively titled Horrors Beyond, has just started taking submissions. The concept is "creatures from OTHER places, and the technology that reveals the reality we are blind to." Strangely enough, I have a story that fits that description perfectly. I had been looking for something new to work on since "Colony" fizzled, and now I do. The new story is called "The Dark and the Young." Right now it’s just a bunch of notes, but I have a feeling it will come together quickly, as was the case with the last short story I wrote, "The Tattletail."

Wow. This place is actually starting to look like a writer’s website. Imagine that.

Ian

This past weekend was the first one I’ve had to myself in over a month. I had a chance to catch up on a lot of work: transcribing notes that had been piling; scanning the photos from this year’s Autumn Huntsville Roadtrip; and finishing a new short story!

It’s a dark comedy about a boy and his demon, called "The Tattletail" (and yes, I’m aware the actual word is spelled differently). I wrote it for a contest currently being held by Book of Dark Wisdom. (I’ll have to tell you about the fine people over there one day; they really deserve a whole journal entry of their own.) Unfortunately, the contest has a limit of 2000 words, and my story clocks in at around 3,500. I haven’t edited it yet, but I doubt very much if I’ll be able to excise 1,500 words and still have something I like. But who knows, anything’s possible. If I can’t, I’ll send it to them as a regular submission.

Going back to the photo update (over 400 photos in there now, boys!), I want to point out that in addition to five – count ‘em five – new albums, I’ve included some new pictures of Eels Lake that were taken on the Thanksgiving weekend. The colors were incredible, and there’s one particular shot that I’ve pointed out that I thought was especially great (yeah, I’m working in the wrong industry).

Having your own place in the woods means never having to say, Aw fuck, I missed the leaves changing again this year! And it sure beats trying to time a trip around one’s hectic work schedule, that’s for certain. Just one of the thousand or so reasons I want to write for a living. Couldn’t you just see this on the dust jacket of one of my novels?

The Writer at the Lions Lookout in Huntsville

I mean, come on!

Ian

When I first heard about Poppy Z. Brite many years ago, I thought she was just another artsy Goth Anne Rice wannabe whose work (which would be entirely about vampires) I probably wouldn’t like and whose fan base would doubtlessly blame said dislike not on her poor writing but on my own unrefined palate (the old it’s-not-bad-you-just-don’t-understand-it defense).

How wrong I was. In addition to being an excellent writer, Brite is intelligent and funny and keeps a deliciously wry blog (yes, I know, another blog that I actually like!), and her work goes far beyond the limiting boundaries of so-called “erotic horror.” And the work she has done in this subgenre deals very little with vampires. Apparently Brite was smart enough to know when she was flogging the undead horse and move on to greener pastures. Her recent novels, The Value of X and Liquor are not horror at all but the tales of a pair of gay cooks in New Orleans. You can’t get much further away from vampires than that! Even more, they’re good reads.

Anyway, this is just proof that you really shouldn’t judge a book (or its writer) by its cover. I almost did, and I would’ve been missing out on an important talent.

Speaking of her blog, Brite posted a very amusing piece about the old One must suffer to produce good art argument:

To those who would consign your favorite artists to unhappiness, poverty, and poor health because you think it makes them do better work: Fuck you. Fuck you right side up, upside down, backwards, and sideways. You don’t deserve any art. A decent society would respect its artists, attempt to keep them healthy, and try to prevent them from dying in poverty. But as long as pinheads buy into the notion of the romantic, suffering artist, it’s another good excuse not to do any of that. As if any more excuses were needed.

That’s it, Poppy. Stick it to the man.

And wanna know something creepy? While I was writing this I happened to notice the time, 10:42 p.m., and then I saw on my archive file list that it was two years ago today, at 10:42 p.m. that I posted my first ever journal entry. Creeepy.

Ian

Just got back from a great trip up north. Saw the leaves all over Muskoka – from Huntsville to Dorset to Algonquin Park, including a short side trip to Ravensclife and Ilframcombe. Excellent leafage, some very Cecil B. DeMille beams of sunlight amid all the dreary overcast, which allowed for some very excellent picture-taking (five rolls’ worth, to be exact).

Now that I have a weekend of my own coming up, it’s time to get back into the swing of things. The first thing on my list is to commence my much belated hibernation period for the year. I need to finish foraging and pick a few projects that I will stick with until completion. There are contests and anthologies o’ plenty and plenty of magazines accepting submissions right now. This is the time to be productive.

I also turned 28 today, which might have something to do with my urge to get off my ever-aging butt and make something of this so-called writing career.

Ian

Autumn! The smell of wet leaves, burning wood, hot cider. The sound of wind in the trees. The Weather Network’s Fall Color Report. Ahh, autumn! And what better time to introduce the girl to my favorite television show, Twin Peaks.

Speaking of the girl, I’ll be taking her on my annual pilgrimage to Huntsville this weekend, to see the leaves and to forget the city for a few days. This will be my real vacation. I’ll have my camera with me (natch), so you can be sure there’ll be another big photo update when I get back (oh how I spoil you).

And speaking of updates, I should be back on schedule after next week. I’ve been really run down as of late, due mostly to an extremely hectic schedule and not having a weekend to myself in over a month. That will change after this weekend, though. I have two new short stories nearing completion (the previously-mentioned "Colony" and a new one called "The Tattletail"), and I’m prepping a small package of material for the good people at Book of Dark Wisdom, who have expressed an interested in both my writing and my artwork. There’s a chance that Dr. Pork (or its comic-strip equivalent Chuck the Wolf) will back in print. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

It’s a very exciting time.

Now I just need to get some sleep so I have the energy to appreciate it.

Ian

Remember that limited edition of ‘Salem’s Lot I mentioned a few months ago? Only 300 copies printed, signed by King, featuring the two short stories connected with ‘Salem’s Lot, as well as over fifty pages of deleted material? Well, King has given permission for Centipede Press to produce another 600 copies, sans his autograph (which put it within my price range), and I have got my name down for one hot copy. It should be here by December.

Looks like I won’t have to whore myself on Ebay after all!

Ian

So I’ve been back from Alberta for over a week, had a wicked-fun time but I’ve been totally exhausted, hence the lack of updates. But I’m well-rested now, I’ve got my pictures back from the photolab, and it’s time for a new journal entry.

The mountains were great, the weather was the best they’ve had the entire summer, and the wedding went off without a hitch (it was the only time and place you could see me sing "Love Me Tender"). All in all, it was a perfect trip. I shot ten rolls of film, which you can see for yourself in the Photography section.

I’ll have a more substantial update tomorrow or Thursday, but posting the pics has taken more time than I expected tonight.

Until then.

On top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff

Ian