Here we are in a new year. It always seems like a good time to make a change. Not really a resolution, but a change, as if day one of this new year holds more significance than day one of any other month. I try not to get too hyped about resolutions. I made some changes to my life last year and I’m trying to continue and get better. It’s not always easy. I had a dream last night that I was in a boat on a tumultuous sea. Massive waves would hit the boat and fling me into the water. I’d have to struggle my way back to the boat and climb aboard just to have another massive wave do the same, flinging me even further away. I don’t need psychoanalysis to understand what the dream means. I don’t typically dream (or remember them) when I drink alcohol, but that one happened just before waking with a terrible hangover. The good thing is that I don’t wake up with those terrible hangovers nearly as much as I used to. So, I have no resolution. Only to continue getting better. And, of course, to forge ahead even stronger with some killer books I hope you all will indulge yourself with over the course of 2024.
Welcome to my bi-weekly newsletter!
News
The Philth Pig is coming very soon. I’m knee-deep in edits right now. Also, I’m putting together the cover. I hope to have the book out at the end of the month. Here’s the back cover copy. Well, this is the copy until I rewrite it or change it. Who knows!
Imagine if emotions could be consumed like drugs.
When you see the Filth Pig, you don’t actually SEE the Filth Pig. The Filth Pig sees you. And when the Filth Pig gets a taste . . . WATCH OUT!
The Filth Pig’s not addicted . . . no, his life depends on the sweet nectar of human feelings. Happiness, joy, dreams and . . . there’s something certain people possess that’s so powerful the Filth Pig will ruin anyone to get it. Something found in the affluent beach community of La Jolla, California.
How do you fight the Filth Pig? Well, most people can’t fight him. They’re helpless under his spell before they realize what’s happening. The Filth Pig comes off as a chill beach bum, a certifiable cool dude. But something sinister lurks behind his chipping veneer.
How do you spot the Filth Pig? You don’t. Not until the Filth Pig spots you. That doesn’t matter, though. By then it’s too late. He’ll look into your vacant eyes and tip back a bottle of joy while basking in your sweetest dreams.
He’ll smile as you wither away.
All hail THE PHILTH PIG!
Here’s an idea of what I have coming this year. First is The Philth Pig late January, then This Damned House II in March/April. I plan to have copies of TDHII at Scares That Care III and officially launch the book that weekend. My splatter western Sing Me a Death Song will be published with Dead Sky Publishing/Death’s Head Press in September. I will be releasing at least three more books throughout the year, but I’m unsure which ones I will choose. Master of Bodies will likely get published this year. As for the other two . . . I’m just not sure yet. There should be some collaborations out as well—a new collaborator is hard at work on one of them right now—which might affect how I release my own work. It’s all in flux and impossible for me to predict at the moment.
There is word of possible foreign translations coming, as well. That’s just a tease. Nothing is contracted as of yet, but things look promising.
Recent Reads from Hell
The first book I finished this year was The Comfy-Cozy Nihilist by Nathan D. Ludwig. This is a collection of short stories that mostly have a humorous bend to them. The title is apt! In the best of ways. I enjoyed the hell out of this one. Ludwig writes mostly in present tense, which can drive me nuts. My brain tries to turn everything into past tense. But his writing is so smooth that I easily became absorbed into these stories. And the humor is black as squid ink. Just really dark stuff, so you know I like that. Humor is a hard sale for me, but Ludwig has just the right touch.
Currently reading Confess by Rob Halford, Massacre at the Ole Farm by Johnathan Tripp and Dead Lines by John Skipp and Craig Spector.
Closing Words
This was a quick one for the new year. I plan on making the newsletter more streamlined and shorter. I always wonder how many readers actually make it to the closing words portion. I’ve buried a giveaway here at the end before. As I sit here listening to chickpeas pop while soaking in the kitchen, I figure it’s time for a little giveaway to start the year off. So, if you would like a code for a free Audible audiobook of Baby Fights, narrated by John Wayne Comunale, please let me know in the comments. I only have a handful of US codes left and plenty of UK codes.
Thanks for reading!
I read til the end! I’m not asking for a code, since I already read it, but I’m excited that you used John Wayne Comunale! I love to hear him narrate. Can’t wait for STC!
Great newsletter! And if live a coffee, if you have any left!