EFiction Adventure's on Facebook!

Hey, everybody.

Just wanted to let you know that eFiction Adventure's Facebook page is now active. You can check it out here: http://www.facebook.com/EFictionAdventure.

Things are just getting started around here and I'm very excited to work with this group. I am in need of submission readers and copy editors, so if you're interested in helping out then check out http://www.efictionmag.com/submissions/ and submit an application.

That's all for now, but stick around. There's more to come...

eFiction Managing Editor

Hey, folks.

Got some cool news for ya. Yours truly is now a managing editor at eFiction (http://www.efictionmag.com/). Check out the website and the other mags while you're there. Will keep you posted on what I'll be up to in the next couple of days.

T-Shirt Voting Begins Now!

Hey, folks.

Just wanted to let you know that my brother submitted a T-shirt design on Threadless, featuring the Pizzadon. A majestic creature in its time, the Pizzadon could feed an entire tribe for months on its mass of cheeses and Italian meats. Sadly, the beast was hunted into extinction by the beer-guzzling Bro-Magnons, who in turn went extinct with their only food source depleted.

Here's the link if you're interested in voting and supporting his work: www.threadless.com/submission/450079/Pizzadon/

Beneath the Makeup

Hiya, folks!

Check out my latest short story, "Beneath the Makeup," on http://www.snmhorrormag.com.

Be sure to read the other stories as well. Great stuff!

Summer Reading #4: Last of the Breed

Louis L'Amour's "Last of the Breed" takes place in the frigid wasteland of Siberia during the Cold War. Soviet agents sabotage Air Force Major Joseph "Joe Mack" Makatozi's plane over the Pacific ocean and take him to a secret prison camp where he will be interrogated and executed. However, Makatozi is part Sioux, part Cheyenne, part Scottish, and a total bad-ass. He escapes the prison and flees across Siberia on an impossible mission to return to America by crossing the Bering Straight. He makes friends and enemies among the natives as he struggles to survive in the unforgiving landscape and escape from the Soviet army.

This was a kick-ass novel. It was my first time reading anything by L'amour and nowI want more. His detail on surviving in the wilderness was impressive and his pacing was phenomenal. Not once did the action slow down, not even during slow parts where Makatozi philosophized about the conflict between the US and the USSR. There was always the threat of discovery and capture hanging in the background which drove the plot along at a steady pace. I appreciated these cerebral moments of the novel. There were many instances were the characters would talk of history, politics, and human nature in the shadow of nuclear war. They were refreshing and made the story more than literary junk food. Sure, there was action. Cars exploded and Russian soldiers got shot, impaled on traps, and buried under an avalanche. Makatozi even brought down a helicopter with a bow and arrow! The Cold War may be over, but this was still a great read.

What really impressed me was L'amour's background. According to the brief bio at the end of the novel, the man was a "lumberjack, elephant handler, skinner of dead cattle, assessment miner, and officer on tank destroyers during World War II." He was even shipwrecked on an island in the West Indies and stranded in the Mojave desert. Wow! Talk about writing from experience. Thankfully, I don't need such an "extensive" background in order to be published. But it helps.

The next novel will be another L'amour special called "The Haunted Mesa."

Summer Reading #3: The Purple Quest

Frank G. Slaughter's novel "of seafaring adventure and royal intrigue in the ancient world" takes place in the ancient Phoenician city state of Tyre and follows the journey of Straton, sailor and major He-Man of the story, and his quest to save his city from Assyrian invaders. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Straton's story is really the story of how the love triangle between him, the daughter of a Greek merchant, and his former lover, Queen Dido, shaped the founding of Carthage.

This novel was kind of a chore to read at times. I appreciate Slaughter's attention to historic detail, but there were times when the prose read too much like a history lesson. The action did pick up halfway through the book. I liked the naval battle for the city of Arvad where Straton's massive warship plowed through the entire Assyrian fleet and was all like "BEEP-BEEP, MOTHER$&@%! I GOT A BRONZE HULL AND YOU DON'T!"

The part that made me laugh was the night before this epic sea battle. Straton is sitting alone in his room aboard his kick-ass ship thinking about the coming battle. The Greek girl he fell in love with rushes in and they start talking all lovey-dovey. Straton and the girl look into each others eyes. They could die tomorrow at the hands of the numerically superior Assyrian fleet. This could be their last night together. But what does Straton say?

"I desire you with every fiber of my body. But I also want you to be the mother of my children, the wife I will come home to at night, the strong staff I can lean upon in time of trouble and uncertainty, and the compassion of our declining years. Such a union is not built in a night of passion before sailing on a hazardous mission, Hera. It is built in marriage and a gradual understanding of each other through the years."

Sheesh. What a buzz kill.
Now, to be fair, what Straton says does establish a healthy relationship in a marriage, but COME ON!

Anyway, for a novel written in 1965 it holds up pretty well and made an interesting read. I didn't hate it, but I won't be sailing with Captain Buzz Kill again any time soon.

Next up is Louis L'Amour's "Last of the Breed."

Summer Reading #2: Running with the Demon

 
Terry Brooks is known for his novels of high adventure starting with The Sword of Shannara. I picked up Running with the Demon at my local library's book sale having already journeyed with Brooks through his realms of fantasy. I was excited to see what he would do in a more realistic setting and I was pleased with the result.

Running with the Demon is about a force of great evil invading a small Illinois town and the people who stand against it. Magic and nightmarish creatures called "feeders" run amok in the forests surrounding this small town as it prepares for a 4th of July celebration. At the same time a stranger rides into town on a quest to hunt down this evil while being plagued by visions of an apocalyptic future should he fail. Events quickly spiral out of control as people become possessed by this evil and jeopardize the future of the human race.

I must admit, I was a little skeptical when I first started reading this novel. There was this uncomfortable feeling that I was diving into a saccharine sweet modern fantasy tale without substance to it. Knowing that the author was Terry Brooks, though, helped me read on and get over this feeling. Magic and fantastical creatures play such a vital role in this novel that these characters could easily inhabit the realm of Flick Ohsmford and the druid Allanon on their quest for the sacred sword. Brooks just can't seem to resist the allure of fantasy. But then again, the genres of horror and fantasy are so closely related that it's sometimes hard to tell the two apart. Horror usually involves fear of the unknown, while fantasy is filled with creatures and powers beyond our ken. What is scarier than facing something that you can't understand?

I appreciate Brook's ability to capture the mood and voice of Midwestern folks. Being raised in the state of Missouri, I could easily imagine the people of the town in this novel. The rising tension in the second half of the novel was also very well done. It was fast but not so fast that it left me behind. It had me rooted in place and wouldn't let me go until the story was over. Unlike The Tommyknockers, which felt like prolonged torture (the good kind of torture, mind you), Running was more like a short and sweet roller coaster that strapped me in for an exhausting ride. I'm not saying that it was better than the last book I read, but it was different and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Next time I'll be taking on a much shorter book by Frank G. Slaughter (god, such a great name!) in a work of historical fiction called The Purple Quest.