Untitled Fable

I have recently written, and am currently in the process of editing and re-writing (lies!) a little fable-esque story which falls along the adventurous lines of Jim Henson's Labyrinth and possibly Neil Gaiman's Mirrormask while teetering on the edge of Lewis Carrol's Alice In Wonderland.

The story concerns a girl (Ditzy) who loses her baby (Whoopsie) when she is kidnapped by the dreadful Boogeyman.  And so begins Ditzy's quest, with the unlikliest of strangest friends, as she tries to rescue Whoopsie before the Boogeyman turns her into a nightmare.  And like any quest, it isn't easy . . . filled with puzzles and danger and mazes every step of the way.  

I hope to post some examples here soon, but as I have a lot to do today, I will instead post a few pictures which I hope to include amidst this trippy mess . . .

 

All those forgotten books

The books you've forgotten over the years  . . . those stories, hard to recall.  Are there any books that hide in the shadows of your mind?  Book that make you think: hmm, I read it; but when?  Why?  And what the hell was the title and who the hell was the author?!

Books, like any style of artistic expression, are subject to genre-biases.  For example: there are those who read The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, and then there are those who read The Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin J. Anderson.  And I am proud to be genre-biased.  I own The Saga of Seven Suns; furthermore, I don't even care about this whole Twilight saga [sic] to begin with--read it, don't read it; love it, hate it; emo, artist; tomato, potato--who cares? 

But yeah, yeah . . . who cares?  Right?

Being as I am, (and that doesn't mean I don't read mainstream fiction), I often read randomly.  My tastes change ever-so often and if I see book I think I may like, I'll buy it.  Book stores are a nemesis of my personal monetary goals.  I'm always buying books and magazines.  And some of those books are gone.  Gone to friends, ex-lovers, used book stores . . . the garbage. 

But which books?  What were they?

There are a number of books rolling around inside my head that I just can't seem to recall in grave detail.  I know I read it, I know what it was about, I even remember a scene or two and various descriptions.  But what the title was, who the author was . . . I haven't the faintest.

I wish I could remember these books . . . I mean, I remember reading Weasel by Cynthia C. DeFelice when I was like 12 years old (and that was 17 years ago), but books which came later in my years, like when I was in college . . . poof!  Gone!

I mean, there was this book which had a black cover, with a girl, and gears from a clock tower, and there was a pocket watch; and I remember a scene with a bad guy from her dreams, and she belched this purple light which the bad guy caught and proceeded to eat, ultimately leading to his demise. 

And I remember reading this homo-erotic vampire story, where people are converted into the realm of the undead via Dracula's(?) phallus. 

And then there was that book about farming . . . an entire full-length novel about farming . . . corn . . . soil . . . chickens . . . farming . . . Ohio.

There are others I assure you, books that are just lingering in the deepest crevices of my wrinkled brain.  And it drives me insane . . .

Childish?

Kayla says my new layout/design for my personal blog is childish . . . well of course it is!  What am I other than a big child?!  I mean, my blog is titled "The Satanic Teddybear" and that's me to a tee . . . totally cuddly, cute, yet with a touch of the dark.  So yes, this is my personal blog and it's childish! 

In the meantime, I'm going to try getting things rolling over at Wordpress, where I hope to a host a more "professional" blog which really only caters to my dreams, triumphs and failures as a writer.  Check it out, there's a link on the left.

A writer writes . . . and is accepted!

For years I have befriend this machine before me, using it to link letters together to form words into stories and poems.  For years I have hated this machine as I searched and searched and searched for a market that might accept my stories.  And for years I have cried before this machine as I received rejection after rejection after rejection.

But I never gave up.

And so finally, after all those years, I am proud to announce that two of my stories are forthcoming in the short-story market!

Careful What You Wish For is slated for a spring release from Title Goes Here: in there e-zine.  It's a story about a weed which wishes to be a flower.  Befriending a worm, which blossoms into a butterfly, this little plant never loses hope of one day being as beautiful as a flower.  But even beauty has its ugliness.

Outside the Box is also slated for a spring release from Bard's and Sages Quarterly in their spring issue.  It's a story about a crayon . . . the terrible life of a crayon.  What exactly is outside the box? 

Rotten Sushi . . .

Yeah, it was rotten . . .

Rotten Sushi?

No such thing!  Who cares if the expiration date is two days ago?!  Rotten, raw squid doesn't bother me!  I'm eating it!

And so I did . . . I ate it.

And it was good.  A little chewier than usual.  I guess I will just have to wait and see later tonight, possibly tomorrow morning, if it truly was rotten . . .

In the meantime, Kayla wants to get latte and cupcakes.

Mmm . . . what a wonderful day!  Rotten squid and an extra-large latte with an extra shot of espresso!

The Bitter Button

So Kayla has this dream of running her own lil' business sewing zipper pouches and whatnot, and when we were trying to think of a name, we instantly loved The Bitter Button.  So I, in my ageless pursuit of enjoyment, has been trying to keep her dream alive by entertaining her with my own little mythos behind The Bitter Button.  As such, I made a stupid lil' video . . . enjoy!  Or don't!

In Just 100 Words

Autumn Attacks

Within the forest the fall leaves fly from the trees and swim on the breeze, landing here and there softly, gently. It’s beautifully serene, but the aliens watch cautiously, yet mesmerized as the leaves litter the landscape in an array of autumn colors.

“Interesting,” commander Czulk comments as the alien spaceship settles in a nearby field. “It appears those organic creatures are hurling parts of their extremities.”

Suddenly, the wind changes directions and the leaves float towards the aliens, sticking to their spaceship.

Terrified, horrified, commander Czulk cries, “Holy Knight Rider, we’re under attack! Shields up! Evasive maneuvers! Fire! Fire!”

In Just 100 Words

Way To Go Kid

Mommy always said, “Pick your toys up off the floor before someone trips and falls.” But who could’ve guessed that it would’ve been a burglar? It’s an odd sense of justice, but you should’ve done as mommy said; because it’s your fault mommy has to pay the burglar’s hospital bill and reparations for their time off work. Not too mention a small, undisclosed sum, for post-traumatic stress as the burglar now proclaims they can no longer visit any toy stores, for the sake of their children, due to some sense of paranoia and fear. So, do as mommy says.

Astral Conflagration

So here's a little music video for the song "Astral Conflagration" by band Silver Cypher (who I am currently drumming for).  The song is from our upcoming album (as of yet untitlted) and it's still in its pre-mix stages, but I figured it sounded good enough to post . . . by the way, as for the "music video" aspect, it's honestly just some video clips of the band recording but I spent a lot of time (up to six hours) editing the clips, splicing them together, and making it match to the music.  It was honestly a lot of fun, so much fun that I decided to call off work! 

P.S. from the first glance at the video's thumbnail, it appears to be another drum video of me, it's not!  So, enjoy!