February Updater

— my AWP Chicago events this week (two readings, one panel, a meet-up*, one screening**) :

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* that meetup being with all the Velvet people who show up
** that screening being, of course, Friday the 13th, which, talking about:

— look for a follow-up to that “State of the Slasher Address*” from a few months ago, this one being the write-up I did the night I saw My Bloody Valentine. Trumpets sounded, gates opened, some cool dude in the corner nodded yeah. The title I had on it’s “We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.” Maybe it’ll be the same. Anyway, hopefully more Friday morning, provided I remember to lug a laptop with me, or can bum one.

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* not that there aren’t already excellent write ups out there, and a lot faster: Mike Bracken and Vince Liaguno‘s, to be specific. But there can never be enough good word when the word’s slashers.

–be aware:

  • Brian Evenson’s Last Days is upon us. If how a person might scribble* in the back’s any indication, then, yeah: it’s something excellent.
  • Kris Saknussem’s Private Midnight** looms.
  • Paul G. Tremblay’s The Little Sleep‘s leaning our way as well.***
  • And, talking two days after that release, Joe. R. Lansdale’s Vanilla Ride.
  • Red is on DVD now: get thee to a video store. still bummed not to have caught it big-screen style.
  • Pygmy (was going to say ‘looms’ again, but I don’t think that fits with ‘pygmy,’ really. ‘sidles?’)

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*this being one of I-don’t-know-how-many pages I filled. A story, yeah. Like always. Have to write upside down to the text when I do this because it always spills onto the last pages, and, as you can tell, my handwriting’s so good I could get confused, not know which words where whose.
** which, yeah, I’ve hit it too, and it’s so excellent, so cool, so not what anybody’s seen before.
*** got the galley of that too (‘too’ meaning the Evenson; I didn’t have the galley for Private Midnight). And, talking Tremblay, he rightfully beat me (and others) out in Darkscribe‘s Black Quill Awards.

–that chapter I wrote for Texas Monthly‘s Texquisite Corpse “Twin Wells” novel, the audio for the whole thing’s up now, here. I didn’t want to make it easy for Elmer Kelton, I mean, c’mon.

— that zombie western I was talking about forever ago, “Lonegan’s Luck,” it’s up in the next New Genre, #6, available at the very least by ReaderCon.

— one of my favorite pieces I’ve ever accidentally written, “Little Lambs,” will be up soon in Iron Horse Literary Review, along with a self-interview involving aliens, dogs, and I forget what-all.*

— really seems like I have one or two more recent acceptances, but I’m so terrible about keeping track of things until somebody puts something in my mail- or inbox. so, apologies to which magazine I’m forgetting here.

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* was going to link it, but it looks they haven’t updated their site in a while. New fiction editor, though: Lee Martin (I think — my latest issue’s up in my office)

–and, talking links you just can’t do without, I know:

  • Christopher Moore’s in Boulder on the 20th here, at Boulder Bookstore, promoting Fool. Very excited (still sucks I had to miss Gaiman). Just coming back from Providence then, a mystery panel I’m doing at Brown U. Guaranteed fun, though. Well, Moore, anyway. Can’t say anything for myself. I’ll likely end up trying to steer the conversation to werewolves, the latest Lycans installment (forget the vampires), or who knows.
  • I’m just discovering Talks@Google.* Some wonderful stuff there. So far’ve only hit the Junot Diaz, but I predict hours of viewing.**
  • Dan Butterworth’s got a hilarious poem up, here
  • and, talking Facebook, yep, I couldn’t help it, had to do that 25 Random Things list. Kept saying no, but then finally wrote it on the back of a receipt while I was, I don’t know, running from a pack of koalas or something. Mean, uncuddly ones.
  • who I’m listening to a lot lately, aside from David Bowie and Shooter Jennings and Christopher O’Riley: Slim Cessna Auto Club. Thanks to Benjamin Whitmer for that/them, of soon-to-be-Pike fame.
  • FML (being a family-friendly blog here, nevermind all the horror, you’ll have to click to get to the fun)
  • OverHeardEverywhere (I’m thinking there’s no real cap on how long I can spend here)
  • Married to the Sea
  • some crazy stuff going on here
  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Like chocolate and peanut butter
  • Land of the Lost‘s getting a reboot? (apparently I’d know this if I’d watched the Superbowl). Anyway, hopefully this means there’ll be more Sleestak swag around. I’ve bought a lot over the past few years, but none of it so far’s been cool enough to keep, really.

sleestak

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* thanks for most of these links to: Christopher David Rosales, Trevino Brings Plenty, Matthew J. Purdy
** if I haven’t said it yet, either, no book’s deserved the Pulitzer so much as The Brief Wondrous Journey of Oscar Wao lately. And I still think Virgin Suicides and Love Medicine and American Psycho got robbed, should have won the world. But I’m trying not to talk about that so much anymore. And yes, The Road, The Road, okay, it deserved it too.

Aside from all that, just pounding away on the new novel — hundred and twenty or so pages in, since January 13th — and trying to figure a way to get to Coraline, and to steal enough time to burn through Sean Carswell’s Train Wreck Girl, which I’ve been meaning to do forever now, and to nab The Wrestler soundtrack, which has got to be the best soundtrack ever. except maybe for Footloose. because, I mean, Footloose‘s had Quiet Riot and Bonnie Tyler.1

overout,
stephen

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1. yeah, this is more a Bandits song. any excuse to link it, though. and, while I’m here and not being on-point, I highly suggest the complete Avatar series (that is, 1, 2, 3). best animated series I’ve caught since Starblazers, I think (though I did really dig that Mtv Spider-Man, incomplete as it was. The Maxx as well. [ and no, in that Starblazers clip: ask not what the arrows on their costumes are pointing to; if you poke that kind of fun, they point to you] ) .

Author: SGJ