The 96th Delusion

Do You Collect Things?

I’m getting to that point where I’m forgetting to write newsletter in a timely fashion. I had a nice long stint of regularly releasing two a month. I realized that was one too many. Sometimes two too many. I mean, what do I have to offer that’s so great you’ll bother reading the newsletter twice monthly? Maybe it’s a writing exercise. I suppose it kind of is that. It’s not like there is actual publishing news so frequently as to justify two newsletters a damn month.

I am a collector of things. I always have been. That goes back to when I was five or six years old and wanted Garbage Pail Kids like the ones I’d seen plastered on my cousin’s little TV set in his room. One of my parents took me to GoGo’s Liquor down the street from our house to get a pack but they were out. I was in little league or tee ball or whatever at the time, so I opted for a pack of baseball cards. And thus, my life of collecting things began. Started with cards, then comics, then VHS horror movies, CDs and cassette tapes, vinyl records, and eventually vintage horror paperbacks. Though I still have portions of those old collections, I had this habit of trading things or selling them at yard sales to further fund whatever current collection I was obsessing over. Even now I’m recollecting onto books I sold a few years ago for one reason or another. I’m also beginning to acquire vintage movie posters, lobby cards, and pressbooks. They look great framed!

The other day I got a box of 82 horror books from a Facebook transaction. Some really good titles. A few white whales I never thought I would get unless I was lucky enough to stumble upon them in a thrift store or one of those old used bookstores that time forgot, which are so far and few between these days. I have a few thousand books. Is that too much? Don’t answer that because unless the answer in no, I do not need your negativity in my life. Over the weekend my wife, son, and I went out thrifting. Didn’t find much. We went to one of our favorite record stores and I scored when I found three Skinny Puppy records and a Cramps album. And they weren’t stupid expensive like at the antique malls or some other record stores. I snatched them up like they were made of gold.

I have an old 1970 RCA Victrola record player cabinet that sounded amazing when I saved it from a thrift store about six years ago. One of the capacitors has gone out on the right speaker. It looks like a fairly easy fix, but I haven’t gotten around to getting a replacement and soldering it on. Looking in the guts of the beast of a record player is intimidating. The thing has dozens of tubes and countless wires and capacitors and holy shit it’s amazing it works so well after all these years. It probably sat in someone’s den for decades without being used. I will one day fix this record player, but when we move into a new-to-us house someday, hopefully soon, I plan on buying a new record player. Once the needle goes out on the RCA, I have no idea how to fix it.

Have you grabbed a Devil’s Reign Deluxe Bundle yet? There were only 75 of them. I have reserved 20 for ShiverCon in August, but there are still a few left in my Big Cartel store. You get everything pictured. As for the story itself, wel…

Fresh off a successful tour, heavy metal band Devil’s Reign celebrates with a private party in an old movie theater with plenty of booze, drugs, and mischief. The album went gold, their fans love them, the future is bright . . . and yet there is division.

In this story that’s Demons meets Mark of the Devil, read about a band that faces their inner demons for a wild night those who survive will never forget!

Art by Ruth Anna Evans

Here’s the cover for Back Alley Baby Fights, the long awaited sequel to my popular book Baby Fights. If you haven’t read Baby Fights, you can get a free download right now from BookFunnel to prepare yourself for the sequel, coming very soon.

That’s all for now. A note to the readers out there: you do all the heavy lifting when it comes to getting the word out. People don’t listen to us writers when we shill our wares. They listen to other readers when they review books, express interest in books, discuss books, post videos about books. It’s all you. And I appreciate the hell out of you! The social media merry-go-round can get grueling and uninspiring. I get it. I feel the same way. Remember, you don’t owe the authors anything. Enjoy the books you’re reading. If you feel so inclined, tell the world about it. We’ll always appreciate that but above all I want you to enjoy what you read without the pressures of getting the reviews posted or making a video. The reviews and social media posts are a wonderful bonus that goes a long way in helping us get more attention on our books and I speak for most if not all writers when I say we love you for that!