The 66th Delusion

Is it splatterpunk or extreme, dammit!

I’ve decided to be more positive in 2025. I know, a lot of you are screaming, “How can you be positive with everything that’s going on???” I’m talking about my writing. Well, life in general, I suppose. But mostly for the sake of this newsletter, I’m speaking of my writing and general social media presence.

I have a tendency to become negative. It’s easy for me to go down that street. It’s a place no one wants to be. A viewpoint that causes potential readers to take pause. No one wants to listen to my self-deprecating bullshit. Sure, sometimes it can be helpful, especially to other struggling writers out there, and often I would get a message from another writer telling me they know how I feel, but I’ve realized the negative approach is the wrong approach to have to sell books and develop and audience.

I have to constantly remind myself that we are all on different paths. I cannot compare myself to others. Nor do I know how hard others are working at their own success. We have our own pace, our own abilities, our own path to, hopefully, success . . . whatever that is. I suppose even success is something we all define in our own terms.

I think this is the way.

My new book, Disco Rice, comes out on March 3rd. But you can order a signed copy right now! That’s right, I have a bunch of copies in my possession that are available before the book goes live on Amazon. It’s also available for pre-order at just $1.99.

People don’t understand why I do what I do. I’ve always been misunderstood. I have accepted this but maybe I’ve gone too far.

I just can’t help myself. I like the soft texture, the squishing of them in my mouth. The way they pop between my teeth. And I can’t get enough.

It all started when I worked at the landfill. But that was taken away from me. So I brought my habit home. My family doesn’t understand but I think they’re coming around to seeing things my way. If only people tried it they too would grow to appreciate the feeling of squirming in their mouths. The complex flavor profile. The thrill of engaging in something so exclusive, so . . . taboo.

It’s an experience. A way of life.

Nothing hits quite like Disco Rice!

I’ve been thinking a lot about labels. I’m pretty sure I’ve written about labels here in the newsletter before. Namely, I’ve been thinking about splatterpunk vs. extreme. We see posts about the difference between the two a lot on social media these days and I think that’s good. They are very different and should be regarded that way. I, for one, am a far bigger fan of splatterpunk than extreme. I don’t particularly like horror that is violent and gory with zero substance. Now, that’s not to say that extreme fiction cannot have substance. But there is a lot of it out that that feels pretty empty and I’m not a fan of that at all.

I’ve been thinking a lot about where my fiction fits into these subgenres, because what I write typically fits somewhere between the two, but not always perfectly nestled in one or the other. At least not to me. For instance, Stronger Than Hate is extreme, but would it be considered splatterpunk because it illustrates a form of elder abuse in its theme? Or is that not “punk” enough? Not enough of a social examination? Broth House is definitely splatterpunk. There is a lot of social commentary in that book. Everything from issues with consumerism to political scandals.

On top of that, I write stuff that isn’t extreme or splatterpunk at all, such as Secret Basements and The Philth Pig. Are they quiet horror? Well, I’m not so sure about that. But they certainly aren’t hardcore .

My new book Disco Rice certainly has extreme elements in it. It’s gross at times. It’s bloody and loaded with rotten stuff and yucky eating habits and whatnot. It does examine mental illness and even addiction, but is that punk enough to be splatterpunk? I really don’t know but I think I’m giving up on classifying where my stories fit. Or am I? Who fucking knows? The cover of Disco Rice speaks for itself, I suppose? And now, reading through this newsletter a week after writing it and reading early reviews coming in for Disco Rice, I think it’s unequivocally an extreme horror story. One of my ARC readers actually DNF’d the book because the content was too much to handle. Of course, that put a smile on my face.

I’m a writer, not a marketing genius.

Oh, and on one final note, I started writing Baby Fights 2 the other day.