The Blog That Dripped Blood

Samhain and a new beginning

2012-01-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Those of you actually still following this blog after my year of trauma and loss (and intermittent posting) may recall a novel I talked about back in 2010 called The Late Night Horror Show. This was a novel I had sold to Leisure Books/Dorchester Publishing based on a synopsis. I had written 15,000 words of it when Dorchester abruptly dropped their mass-market publishing line. No need to rehash all the associated drama with that development. The bottom line is I negotiated a cancellation of that contract and parted ways with Dorchester. I did not resume writing The Late Night Horror Show as there seemed to be no point at that time.

However, because of a brewing dissatisfaction with some other things I need not go into, I recently wound up talking to former Leisure horror editor Don D'Auria again about Late Night Horror Show. Don is now the editor of the new horror line at Samhain Publishing. And yesterday I signed a new contract for this book. Samhain Publishing will publish The Late Night Horror Show in early 2013. I'm happy to join the Samhain crew and very glad to be working with Don D'Auria again.

More news on this as it develops. In the meantime, check out Samhain Horror's page at the link below:

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/horror.htm

Kayla paperback

2011-11-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

It's been out via Kindle for a while, but my new urban fantasy novel Kayla and the Devil is now also available in trade paperback. Although this novel falls within the urban fantasy category, it contains plenty of elements that should appeal to horror fans. You can get the paperback at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Kayla-Devil-Bryan-Smith/dp/1467923737/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Or at Create Space:

https://www.createspace.com/3721779

I'll take a moment to point out that I get a significantly higher royalty rate if you order from Create Space. That said, I won't hold it against anyone who orders from Amazon. Amazon is easy and it's always what I use, too. Just wanted to put the info out there.

While I'm posting, I'll also note that I am currently working on The Killing Kind 2. I'm about 35,000 words into it at this point.

Kayla And The Devil

2011-10-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The price at both Amazon and Smashwords has been reduced to $2.99.

My new urban fantasy novel, Kayla and the Devil, is now available from Amazon.com for the Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Kayla-And-The-Devil-ebook/dp/B005UD2EQA/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1

And for non-Kindle e-readers at Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95230

As mentioned above, this is an urban fantasy novel. Although it does feature supernatural subject material, readers should not go into it expecting anything like The Killing Kind, Depraved, or any of my other hardcore horror novels. This is more along the lines of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer (though it isn't about vampires). So there isn't much in the way of gore. However, I think horror fans willing to give it a chance will enjoy it. It's a fun story.

For now this novel is only available in digital format. A trade paperback will follow at a later date. I'll let you know when that's available.

Return of The Killing Kind

2011-08-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

A lot of regular readers of this blog will know that the original mass market paperback edition of The Killing Kind was released a little more than a month before everything went to hell at Dorchester Publishing.

Flash forward to now, and my new publisher, Deadite Press, has unleashed a new edition of this book upon the world:

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Kind-Bryan-Smith/dp/1936383748/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

Big thanks to Jeff Burk and everyone else at Deadite Press for making this book available again. The Killing Kind may well be my favorite of all the books Dorchester released, and I'm happy to see it get back out there in the world. Deadite will also release new versions of the rest of my Dorchester backlist later this year and into 2012.

Highways To Hell available now

2011-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

The print edition of my new short fiction collection from Deadite Press, Highways To Hell, is finally in stock and available from Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Highways-Hell-Bryan-Smith/dp/1936383683/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311270923&sr=1-1

Highways To Hell will also be available in ebook formats in the very near future. I don't know exactly when yet, but I imagine this will happen at some point in the coming few weeks.

99 cent zombies

2011-07-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

The ebook of Rock And Roll Reform School Zombies is 99 cents on Kindle through the end of this month:

http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Reform-School-Zombies-ebook/dp/B004T5W6PY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=merchant-items&qid=1300782251&sr=1-1

This is a 34,000 word novella. It's a homage to 80's heavy metal and B horror movies.

Sorry, it's not available in other ebook formats at this time. Amazon/Kindle is easy to do, and I'm lazy about getting it up on other sites. Maybe someday down the line a bit I'll get around to that. Meanwhile, though, if you have a Kindle, you can snatch it up cheap.

Highways To Hell cover

2011-06-24T16:36:00.001-07:00

Time for the first non-depressing post on this blog in quite some time. Here is the cover for Highways To Hell, my short fiction collection from Deadite Press. It should be available for order from Amazon.com by the end of the month.

Endings

2011-06-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Nothing ever stays the same. Things change. All the various parts of our daily existences that we take for granted are not excepted from this rule. It even applies to all the things that seem most deeply rooted in our lives, things that over a long stretch of time, many years or decades, may come to seem “permanent.” But this is only an illusion, a trick of the human mind and the way we perceive things. Not a single thing in your life is permanent. Not any of the things you love, none of your life’s endeavors, and certainly not the company of any of the people you cherish the most. None of it is here to stay. It all goes away in the end. There are times when life allows you ample opportunity to anticipate the end of important things, and there are times when these things are taken from you so abruptly the event leaves you stunned and short of breath. One may imagine that the former scenario is the ideal way of things, that it will leave you sufficient time to prepare and adjust, but this isn’t necessarily true. Sometimes that period of anticipation, especially when dragged out over a longish span, is perhaps more cruel, because you can see what’s coming and are faced with the horror of knowing there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. And sometimes, no matter how much time you have before the oncoming change or end of things, that time isn’t nearly enough.

Today marks fifty days since Rachael passed away. We didn’t quite make it to our tenth wedding anniversary. That would have been May 6th, 2011. Rachael looked forward to that date for a long time. Her dream was to renew our vows on that day, to have a bigger and better ceremony, the kind she didn’t get to have the first time around. You see, Rachael’s cancer battle was a very protracted one. When we were married on May 6th, 2001, she had already had a major surgery and was undergoing chemotherapy. Cancer is cruel. Cancer is a thief. It robs its victims not just of their lives, but of all their hopes and dreams. It shuts down their plans and eliminates the future. I am able to think of few things more cruel than that vile disease. In fact, at the moment, nothing else really comes to mind. Cancer killed Rachael’s dreams as surely as it robbed her of her life. It prevented her from achieving things she very much wanted to achieve. On May 6th, instead of walking down the aisle with Rachael again, I visited her grave in Nashville. I would rather have spent that day another way, preferably in fulfillment of her dream for that date, but it was all I could do because things had changed. She had been taken from me.

Last night I watched a new episode of South Park. The title of the episode was “You’re Getting Old.” Those of you reading this may be wondering how this is relevant to the above. In fact, it is very relevant. I won’t take time to explain the show or its characters. In its fifteenth season now, South Park has been on for a long time, and by now you know the show or you don’t. What’s relevant here is the theme of the episode, which is the same thing I’ve been talking about. Changes and endings. Life transitions. But that’s not the only way in which South Park is relevant. Rachael and I had differing interests in many areas. We liked different kinds of music and books. Of course, there were things we both liked as well, and one of those things was South Park. Early in our relationship, for a short time I lived with Rachael in a tiny one-room apartment in Madison, Wisconsin. This was in 1999, the year South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was released to theaters. It was one of a handful of movies we saw before returning to Tennessee. We both thought the movie was hilarious, and it was one we would revisit again and again through the years. We also faithfully watched each new episode of the TV show that aired during our twelve years together.

Of course, Rachael didn’t get to see this latest batch of new episodes, and I couldn’t help wondering what she would have thought of “You’re Getting Old.” In the episode, one of the central characters, a kid named Stan, is growing apart from his friends Eric, Kyle, and Kenny. Following the occasion of his tenth birthday, he has become deeply cynical and unable to see the worth in anything, literally viewing everything he encounters as “shit”. And by literal, I do mean actual depictions of excrement. Trust me, it was hilarious, as were many other elements of the plot as the episode progressed. If this had been a normal episode, this situation would likely have been resolved in some absurd and possibly funny way. But this wasn’t a normal episode, as the last few minutes revealed. Stan’s doctor diagnoses him as having become a “cynical asshole”, a condition for which there is no cure. Stan becomes desperate to retain his friendship with Eric, Kyle, and Kenny, but they turn their backs on him. This theme of change extends to the cracks showing in the marriage of Stan’s parents. After a final screaming argument, both admit they have been unhappy for a long time and both see each other as “kind of shitty.” What follows is a montage of scenes depicting deepening changes in the lives of these characters with the Fleetwood Mac song “Landslide” playing over it. The song choice is fitting as it is a very melancholy tune. We watch Stan’s parents pack up their belongings and split up. We see Stan’s best friend Kyle turn his back on him a final time. We see Stan moving away. The final shot is of Stan lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling in his new home. It was an unexpected and oddly moving last couple minutes. And this was the last new episode until October. Generally, you don’t expect a silly cartoon to end a run of episodes on a note like that. Maybe the status quo will reset in October, but perhaps not. Because last night, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of the show, seemed to be saying, “Even in South Park, things change. Things end.”

I’ve watched the episode three times now. I’m not afraid to admit that I became emotional in the last few minutes each time I watched it, especially on the repeat viewings as the meaning really began to penetrate.

Last night, after I finally went to bed at four in the morning (so I guess it wasn’t actually “night”, but whatever), I dreamed that someone came and took away Rachael’s hospital bed, which had remained in the spare room where she spent the last four months of her life. This morning at around 11 am, a knock on the front door jolted me out of sleep. I wasn’t expecting anyone, but hurriedly dressed and answered the door. A white van was parked in my driveway. A representative from the medical supply company was standing on my front step. Please understand that I had not contacted them. My dream and this man’s arrival at my door were pure coincidence, I suppose. It’s tempting to see something mystical in it, but it was inevitable that they would want their stuff back. My mother had been telling me for a while that I needed to contact them and have them come retrieve their equipment. But I never did. It may sound odd or even morbid, but that hospital bed was one of the last tactile connections I had to Rachael when she was alive. Over these last several weeks, I would go in there, shut the door to keep my animals out, then sit down and talk to her. Whether she could hear me in some way or not isn’t the point. It was something that helped me cope in some of my worst moments.

So I let the guy into my house. He quickly broke down the hospital bed in a precisely methodical way and carried out all the various parts to the van. He also took away the wheelchair I’d used to take Rachael to so many of her appointments over the last several months. Then I closed the door on him and he was gone.

I broke down. I didn’t expect to react in quite that way. After all, that bed and that wheelchair are connected to the worst period in Rachael’s life, a time when she was never really comfortable and was in so much pain. So why should I lament the departure of those items and the painful memories associated with them? I think it’s because its another way in which I have to say goodbye to Rachael on a psychological level all over again. And so today the grief felt as fresh as it did in the earliest days of this empty time.

And it was yet another reminder.

Nothing stays the same. Things change.

Things end.

Dear Rachael

2011-04-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Rachael,

I lost you just three days ago. The pain remains as intense as it was that first day. Right now it feels as though there will never be any relief from this pain. The hole in my life your absence has created is immense, bigger than I ever could have imagined. That aching emptiness consumes me. Only now do I fully understand how completely my whole world revolved around you. At the service for you yesterday, I stood before our loved ones and told them of the difference you made in my life. Many have talked of your bigger than life personality. Of your incredible vibrancy and boundless enthusiasm for life. So I told them about how my personality is so very different from yours. I told them of the brightness, color, enthusiasm, and energy you brought into my life, where before my existence was sorely lacking in those qualities. I said that you changed my life. You changed me. You made me a better person, albeit one still with many shortcomings. I also told our families that I would never forget you, and that I would always try to honor your memory.

Rachael, regarding that last sentiment, I will try my very best, within my pitiful limitations, to do just that. You were an idealist and I admire that about you. It’s not overstating it one little bit to say that you had a higher level of ideals than anyone I’ve ever met. There’s no way I could ever quite live up to the standard you set, but I do promise you that I will try. Some days, maybe many days, I will fall short. But on every succeeding day I will try to do better. I will try to do better, and I will strive to do things that would make you proud. These things will be done in your name, and in each case I will make it known that it could not have happened without you. You will continue to make a difference through me, just as you continue now to make a difference in all the wonderful and treasured memories everyone who loves you will carry with them for the rest of their days.

Rachael, I am so sorry you couldn’t have stayed with me here longer. I wish I could have stopped what happened to you somehow. I feel that I have failed you. People tell me this is not the truth, that I did everything I possibly could for you. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, I don’t know. I always told myself to try harder, to do better, to do right by you. And I did try. But it still couldn’t keep you here, and so, yes, I feel like I failed. That may make no logical sense. I am not God. I had no power over the disease that took you. On some level, I recognize this. But that feeling of coming up short persists regardless.

Rachael, the memory of what you endured, especially in your last months and weeks, is so very painful, so much so that I am not sure I can withstand it. No one should have to go through what you went through, but it seems particularly unfair that it could happen to someone as loving, sweet, generous, and kind as you. I can’t think of how the disease ravaged your poor little body without wanting to cry. The memory of the constant agony you were in causes me physical pain. I remember how you would cry out to me even in your sleep, and that also hurts. You counted on me to protect you and help you feel better in various ways, but in the end none of it worked anymore. It hurt so much to hear those cries of my name and know there was nothing I could do. I think of how you would say “owie” like a little girl when you were having excruciating pain, and that also makes me want to cry. I think it always will. You suffered so many horrible indignities, and the memory of those things makes me feel a deep anger in addition to the emotional misery. It is fundamentally WRONG that you had to endure those things. It is rage without a target--who do I blame for those awful things?--and therefore there is nowhere to discharge it. So I’m afraid I will always carry that anger with me as well. Again, I wish I could have stopped it. I wish I could wipe it all away, make it so that none of it ever happened. But I can’t. I just can’t, and that also makes me want to cry. There is scant consolation to be had in any of this, but if there is any, it lies in the fact that you are feeling none of those things any longer. You are not hurting now. I wish you were still here. I wish you could stay with me forever. But you’re not hurting. The agony and the suffering are over. Rachael, baby, I’m glad you’re not hurting now.

Rachael, as we discussed several times, none of us are really sure what comes after this life ends. I know that after lifetimes of a professed disbelief in an afterlife, we both did open ourselves to the possibility of there being something else out there. I remember being out in our back yard one night with our dogs and staring up at all the stars in a very clear sky. I thought of how vast and mysterious this universe is and how there is so much we don’t know or understand about our existence. In a place so vast, there are possibilities beyond anything we could ever imagine. Potentially strange and wonderful things. So we had to allow for the possibility that maybe we had been wrong all along, and that perhaps there is something else beyond this hard life on earth. And so it is my fondest and most sincere wish that you are somewhere better now. That you are in a place where you know only joy and are forever free of pain of any kind.

I love you, Rachael. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone or anything. I will never stop missing you. I hope somehow you are able to know of these words. That you hear me talking to you. Maybe you can. Somehow. Know this above all else, then. Despite the pain I feel, I will always be grateful that you shared your life with me for these last twelve years. I am grateful that you were able to be with me for as long as you were. Thank you for living with me and loving me. There is no way I could ever equal or repay what you gave me, but I am so grateful to you.

Rest in peace, sweet Rachael. Rest in peace.

House of Blood eBook

2011-04-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

The first digital edition of House of Blood is now available. It's the "authorized edition" to distinguish it from anything Dorchester might do, though in the case of this book, I don't expect them to try to get their own edition out, as we've reached an agreement reverting the rights to this title to me. When I get the digital rights to the others back, they'll also all be "authorized" editions.

http://www.amazon.com/House-Blood-Authorized-ebook/dp/B004VT3YZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1302354561&sr=1-1

E-Book Sale

2011-03-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

My first two self-published eBook titles, Darkened and Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies are 99 cents through the end of March. Prices will be bumped back to regular price April 1.

http://www.amazon.com/Darkened-ebook/dp/B004NIFHD0/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2

http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Reform-School-Zombies-ebook/dp/B004T5W6PY/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

EDIT: Sale over.

Second Bitter Ale Press release

2011-03-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

The eBook edition of Rock And Roll Reform School Zombies is now available from Amazon. This edition includes contest winner Brian Bishop's Bitter Ale Press logo, which is one of three BAP logos I'll use on a rotating basis for these releases.

Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Reform-School-Zombies-ebook/dp/B004T5W6PY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=merchant-items&qid=1300782251&sr=1-1

Other formats will follow in the coming weeks.

I am currently working on what should be the third Bitter Ale Press release, a longish zombie novella that may yet turn into a short novel. I'm hoping to have it available at some point in April. However, though it involves zombies again, it will be a very, very different take on the subject than RNRRSZ.

New Facebook Page

2011-03-06T19:48:00.001-08:00

I created a fan page this weekend. Come by and "like" it if you're so inclined.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryan-Smith/150422995019571

The personal page is still around, but this new page will strictly be for writing-related posts. News and the occasional general thoughts on writing and the writing biz.

Deadworld becomes DARKENED

2011-02-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

The title of my recently published original ebook novel has changed from Deadworld to Darkened.

Let me state a fact. You cannot copyright a title. This is why you see duplicate titles across various forms of media all the time.

However, this will not necessarily prevent someone else who has used the same title from raising the specter of lawyers.

My wife has been seriously ill for some time. Her condition has worsened considerably in recent months. It should go without saying that we do not need more stress in our lives at this time.

So there was never any thought of fighting the title change.

The book formerly known as Deadworld is now Darkened and that's just the way it's going to be.

I have already uploaded cover, title, and product description changes to Amazon and Smashwords. The Smashwords changes are already fully in effect. On Amazon, the cover and title changes have already been published. However, as of this writing, the revised product description has not published and still refers to the book as Deadworld. I am hopeful this will change within the next 24 hours.

But the currently in process Amazon update is only the first revision. The interior of the book still shows the old cover and says "Deadworld" on the title page. I have received a revised file from the designer correcting all that. However, I have to wait until the first revision finishes publishing before I can upload these other changes.

If you have already purchased this book as Deadworld, please be aware that DARKENED IS THE SAME BOOK. I'm hopeful most readers will be discerning enough to notice this, but realize there may be some confusion. I'm also hopeful all the changes will be fully published on Amazon within the next couple of days.

In better news, I received the following kickass blurb for the new book yesterday:

"Bryan Smith's DARKENED is a full-throttle pedal-to-the-metal ride straight into the heart of the apocalypse. Deeply disturbing and absolutely riveting. Highly recommended." -Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of THE KING OF PLAGUES and PATIENT ZERO

Ordering link for Darkened:

http://www.amazon.com/Darkened-ebook/dp/B004NIFHD0/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

Bitter Ale Press contest

2011-02-14T23:41:00.000-08:00

I know there are some readers of this blog with good art/design skills. Recently I released my first self-published ebook, Deadworld. I made up the name Bitter Ale Press as the publisher. I want to continue using that name as I put more ebooks out there in the future. I thought it might be nice to have a cool logo to include with those releases. So let's have a contest to design one.

The main prize winner would get a copy of the limited hardcover edition of Depraved from Altar 13. I would inscribe this book any way the winner wants. The winner would also receive copies of two of my Leisure paperbacks. Again, inscribed any way you want. I'd even throw in some cover flats. And, of course, you'll get a design credit in any future Bitter Ale Press releases.

A second prize winner would receive two signed Leisure paperbacks and a third place finisher would receive one signed Leisure paperback. Both second and third place winners would also get some bonus cover flats.

Use your creativity. Incorporate anything cool that comes to mind when you think of the name Bitter Ale Press, any imagery or concepts associated with any of those words. Designs can be dark and sinister or whimsical or just plain weird, or any combination thereof. They can be suggestive of things horror, literary, or booze related. Or, again, a combination.

To enter the contest, just post your entry in the designated thread on my message board (registration is required):

http://www.briankeene.com/forum/index.php?topic=6538.0

Feedback from forum readers is welcome, though I'll be making the ultimate call on the winner. Contest is currently open-ended as it may be a while before the second Bitter Ale Press release.

Deadworld ebook

2011-02-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

For some time I have been following stories of the success authors such as J.A. Konrath, Scott Nicholson, and Amanda Hocking have experienced with original, self-published ebooks. The industry is changing and I believe I must explore the possibilities of this new outlet. To this end, I have released a never-before-published epic novel of apocalyptic horror entitled Deadworld. Deadworld is available now for Kindle download via Amazon. Other formats will soon follow. See the link below to order:

http://www.amazon.com/Deadworld-ebook/dp/B004NIFHD0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1297542776&sr=8-1-catcorr

New Collection, New Publisher

2011-01-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

In my previous entry I alluded to an upcoming new short story collection and described the process of pulling together the stories for that collection. Many of you reading this will no doubt have already heard the news from various other sources earlier this week, but I'll go ahead and formally announce it here, as this blog essentially functions as my official site.

The title of the collection is Highways To Hell and that "publisher-to-be-named" is Deadite Press. The release date for the collection is April of this year. The content of the collection has largely been decided, though we are still working to finalize the lineup. Yes, the title is an allusion to the AC/DC song "Highway To Hell." No shit, right? The reason I selected that name is pretty straightforward. As I was reviewing the stories under consideration, I noted that several of them could, in one sense or another, be described as "road stories". Because I am a horror writer, they are a particularly nasty and, well, hellish take on that trope. Not all of the stories in the collection fall into that niche, but enough of them do that the title feels appropriate. It also dovetails nicely with another of the stories included, "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be", which originally appeared in Necro's Edward Lee tribute anthology Infernally Yours. Many of you may also recognize that story title as the name of an AC/DC song. Again, no accident, as the protagonist of the story, a serial killer, runs into the late AC/DC singer Bon Scott in hell after committing suicide.

Another story that should be of particular interest in Highways To Hell is "Pizza Face", which is a story slated to eventually appear in Cemetery Dance's Richard Laymon tribute anthology In Laymon's Terms. A lot of you are likely familiar with the saga of that long-delayed tome. For a lot of reasons to which I am not privy, publication of that anthology has been delayed for several years. The story was accepted in early 2003. The people at CD kindly allowed me to use the story for my new collection. It will still appear in In Laymon's Terms when that book is eventually published, but it felt right to include it in Highways To Hell as well.

Deadite Press will now function as my primary publisher. This is not to say my book length work will not appear elsewhere. You will occasionally see things from me by other publishers, including later this year. But 90% of my output will be done by Deadite. In addition to the collection, they will also be releasing new editions of my entire Leisure backlist, beginning with The Killing Kind in June. A new backlist title will follow every other month thereafter. In 2012 Deadite Press will publish a new original novel, The Killing Kind 2.

I'm in pretty good company with Deadite, who are also now the primary paperback publisher of horror luminaries Brian Keene, J.F. Gonzalez, Edward Lee, Wrath James White, and Robert Devereaux.

Pop on over to their site and pay them a visit. If you're a regular reader of my stuff, I think you'll like what you see.

http://www.deaditepress.com/

Trunk stories and other effluvia

2011-01-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

Recently I agreed to a deal with a publisher-to-be-named to do a collection of my short fiction. I've been so focused on writing novels for so long that there really isn't a big wealth of material from which to cull stories for this thing. However, in my research for this project, I was pleased to discover there were just enough stories to warrant one decent-sized collection.

My first print publication of any real significance was a chapbook of four short stories called Under The Skin. Under The Skin was released by Undaunted Press in early 2003, about a year and a half before my first novel from Leisure Books was released. All of the stories from the chapbook will appear in this new collection. Prior to the chapbook, I'd had a few stories appear online at Horrorfind and at a now-defunct e-zine called Dream Forge. Two of the Horrorfind stories appeared as free fiction offerings on my message board for a couple of years, but have now been pulled from there due to their upcoming inclusion in the new collection.

So that takes us up to half a dozen stories. A good start, but not quite enough for a full collection. While I was searching for things for this project, there was one story in particular that I badly wanted to find and include. Not necessarily because it is any better than any of the other stories--it isn't--but because of its significance in my early writing history and development. The story is called "Slugger" and it was technically my first professional sale when it was accepted in 1990 by New Blood Magazine. For those too young to know, New Blood was one of a number of upstart small press genre fiction mags that sprang up in the wake of the demise of the vaunted Horror Show (which was basically the Cemetery Dance of its day). New Blood's editor, Chris Lacher, quickly made a name for himself with a brash editorial style. He was from roughly my generation, maybe slightly older. I submitted numerous stories to New Blood. They were consistently rejected, but in the series of chatty cover letters and rejection notes this period covered, I found that Chris and I both enjoyed the novels of Richard Laymon and many of the same rock and roll bands of the era. Lacher's in-your-face editorial approach occasionally offended people. He really had a kind of Brian Keene vibe about him, and back then I thought he was going to end up being a big deal.

Anyway, "Slugger" was my breakthrough with New Blood and I was of course thrilled when Chris accepted it. True to my luck back then, however, something went wrong at New Blood. They never published another issue and "Slugger" never appeared. Having it appear in this collection is my way of achieving a sort of belated closure with that mostly forgotten period of my writing history. However, the problem was finding an actual copy of the story. It had previously existed only in a physical, typed form. I hunted through box after box of old junk in a desperate search for the manuscript. I was on the verge of giving up when I came across a pair of keys at the bottom of one box. The keys were to an old lockbox, which I knew to contain other old manuscripts, as well as many fragments of unfinished stories going all the way back to my early teenage years.

The lockbox was going to be my last ditch effort. I hadn't opened it in ages and I'd assumed I was going to have to break it open somehow. Luckily, the discovery of the long-missing keys spared me that effort. I opened the lockbox and breathed a sigh of deep relief when I discovered the "Slugger" manuscript near the top of a very tightly packed-in stack of old stories. I set "Slugger" aside and started a trip down memory lane as I sifted through the old things. I found one more useable story, one called "Rattlehead", which appeared in the Dream Forge ezine circa 1996. It's a good story and deserves new life.

Nothing else in the lockbox really was good enough or fully realized enough to warrant inclusion in the collection. It was, however, a personally fascinating look at my development down through the years. I read one story written when I was fifteen called "When The Goblins Came To Spencer Avenue", which was highly derivative of both the Twilight Zone and Stephen King. Not a great story by any means, but I was surprised to find several paragraphs that were pretty solidly constructed, even if the ideas they conveyed weren't worthy. None of the dialogue in that story rang true in any way, but what do you expect? I was fifteen.

Another story called "Autopsy Queen" was written a bit further down the line, probably somewhere in my early twenties. It's a longish story about a strange girl who lovingly maintains photo albums of dead people. As I read the story, it struck me that this girl was sort of an early version of Julie in The Killing Kind.

There were five pages of something with the astonishingly original title Return of the Dead, which was written somewhere in my teens and appears to have been meant to be the start of a novel. As you probably guessed, it was a zombie thing and probably about the blandest bit of zombie fiction you could imagine. Nonetheless, I think it was probably my first stab at writing about zombies and seems noteworthy for that alone at least.

I won't go into the rest of it in any real depth. There was simply too much stuff, including a number of complete stories amongst all the fragments. But even the complete stories are too much a relic of the past to ever warrant public scrutiny. They'll never be published and that's as it should be. It's likely that any writer who has been writing nearly his or her whole life has a similar trove of ancient stories. They're interesting to look back on every once in a long while to see how we've developed over the years and decades, but that's about it.

So "Slugger" and "Rattlehead" brings us up to eight good stories for the collection. Not quite enough. Luckily we will be able to include some stories of more modern vintage, stories that were previously only available in a limited way via anthologies, including one from a long-in-the-works tribute anthology that, as of this writing, still hasn't been published. That puts the collection at a dozen stories, which feels like a decent size. It may yet include one or two other things, and I think my regular readers will enjoy the finished product.

More news about this project, including the publisher, coming soon.

Pre-order The Dark Ones

2011-01-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

The Delirium edition of my new novel The Dark Ones is now available for pre-order:

https://www.horror-mall.com/THE-DARK-ONES-by-Bryan-Smith-Limited-Edition-HC-p-21605.html

They are The Dark Ones. The name began as a self-deprecating joke, but it stuck and now it’s a source of pride. There is a darkness within them all. A hidden danger waiting to be exploited. A rage in desperate search of expression. They’re the one who don’t fit in. The misfits who drink and smoke too much and stay out all hours of the night. Everyone knows they’re trouble.

But soon the other residents of Ransom, TN, will discover the true meaning of trouble. On the outskirts of Ransom is an abandoned, boarded-up house. Something evil happened there long ago. The evil has been contained there ever since, locked down tight in the basement—until the night The Dark Ones break in and set it free.

Soon a demonic darkness spreads through Ransom, quickly infecting the entire town. And now The Dark Ones are their town’s only hope. They must return the demon—Andras, The Killer of Men—to his prison beneath the earth before it is too late.

Zombie soundtrack

2010-11-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

Unofficial soundtrack for Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies, my new novella from Deadite Press. Compiled using the 8tracks website. The novella is a period piece set in 1987 and the music is all punk and heavy metal music from the 70's and 80's.

The Zombies Are Here

2010-10-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

My new novella from Deadite Press, Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies, is now available from Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936383276/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_6xWXmb0CKF60E

This story is a period piece set in 1987. It's meant to be a homage to the B horror movies of the 80's (especially Return of the Living Dead), hence the Troma-like title. The story is also influenced by the 1987 documentary Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years, which depicted the decadent hard rock/metal scene that thrived on the Sunset Strip in California in that decade. An interview in the movie with a conservative anti-metal person provided inspiration for an institution in my story that exists to "de-metal" teenagers and return them to society as squeaky-clean and well-behaved little automatons. It is a cesspool of corruption to begin with and then the zombies show up. I think most of you will have fun with it. So go buy a whole bunch of copies, okay?

New novella

2010-10-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here's the cover for my forthcoming novella Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies. This should be out very soon from Deadite Press, possibly by the end of this month. I will post the ordering link when it goes live. This is a trade paperback. The list price is $10.95. This is a period piece set in 1987, and is sort of a dual homage to Return of the Living Dead and Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years.

Depraved limited edition

2010-09-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

The limited edition of Depraved from Altar 13 officially went on sale the other day. Check it out at the link below:

http://www.horror-mall.com/DEPRAVED-by-Bryan-Smith-Limited-Edition-HC-p-21098.html

The limited edition contains a new afterword by me as well an original 8,000 word novelette entitled Depraved II: The-In-Between-Quel. The cover art is by the renowned horror artist Alan Clark. If you buy this thing, you'll help ensure that there'll be more of these limited editions in the future. And believe me, with the publishing industry in a state of chaos these days, I can use all the extra cash these limiteds bring in.

By now I assume you've all heard about the upheaval at my primary publisher, Dorchester Publishing. A lot of people have asked me about my plans in light of the developments there. In truth, I don't have any solid news to report on that just yet. But be assured I have been working hard behind the scenes on how to proceed. When I have something solid I can pass along, I will.

Pre-order The Dark Ones

2010-08-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

Though my latest novel, The Killing Kind, was released barely a month ago, the next one is already available for pre-order on Amazon. Click the link below to pre-order my eighth novel, The Dark Ones. My Hollywood one-sentence pitch for this one would boil down to this: The River's Edge meets The Exorcist.

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Ones-Bryan-Smith/dp/0843964111/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2

Am currently working on novel number nine, The Late Night Horror Show, and it is going well so far. There'll be some more news regarding more limited editions of my books coming soon. Stay tuned.

Freaking out with The Killing Kind

2010-06-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Those who visit the Dorchester site regularly know that authors often contribute "special feature" articles regarding their new releases, and I've done that several times in the past. This time I did something a little different. Instead of an essay on the writing of the book, I wrote a new 2,000 word short story in which surviving characters from The Freakshow run into characters from my new novel, The Killing Kind. Beware, though--this story contains mucho spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the earlier novel.

The new story:

http://dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/SpecialFeatures.cfm?ID=2829

The Killing Kind should start showing in all the major chain stores by next week, so be looking for it soon.

Cover for The Dark Ones

2010-06-07T13:18:00.001-07:00

This is the cover for my eighth horror novel from Leisure Books. It will be released in January, 2011. And remember that my seventh novel, The Killing Kind, will be out in just a few weeks.

The Late Night Horror Show

2010-04-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Couple pieces of news to report. The biggest is that as of last week I have sold novel number nine to Leisure Books. The title for this one is The Late Night Horror Show. I won't go much into specifics at this point about the plot, but it's a supernatural horror tale, this time a big ol' monster rally. I think readers will find it a lot of fun.

The other news regards The Dark Ones, which I recently completed and turned in to Leisure. It came in at a shade under 90,000 words. This book will be out in January 2011, just six months after my next release for Leisure, The Killing Kind, which comes out this July. I'm very pleased with the way The Dark Ones turned out. The Killing Kind was a very intense depiction of crazed thrill-killers, and while I am also pleased the way that book turned out (it may be my personal best, in fact), it was good to get back to escapist supernatural horror.

The Late Night Horror Show will be out in the second of half of 2011.

Spent the weekend at Full Moon's Nashville Tattoo and Horror Festival. Met the guys in The Creeping Cruds, the greatest horror rock band around these days, and they were all very cool. Met a lot of other cool people. A good time was had.

In other convention news, I'll also be a guest at this year's Horrorfind Weekend in Gettysburg, PA in September. More about that later, and more news updates later.

Amps On 11

2010-03-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

A non-writing post. It's a miracle. Airbourne's new album No Guts No Glory is out soon. I've already listened to it and it continues in the same fine Australian hard rock tradition of AC/DC and Rose Tattoo that made their first album a winner. Below is the video for the first single, "No Way But The Hard Way."

Pre-order The Killing Kind

2010-03-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

My next novel from Leisure Books, The Killing Kind, is now available for pre-order at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Kind-Bryan-Smith/dp/0843963565/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2

So go on and order a copy or two, or, hell, three or four. One for you, one for your SO, one for your dog, whatever. And, just throwing this out there, little known fact, Amazon is totally cool with it if you want order, say, a thousand copies for personal use. So, hey, go ahead, if that's what you really want to do. I won't stop you.

Dark Ones draft completed

2010-02-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I finally typed 'The End' on the first draft of The Dark Ones. At a shade under 130,000 words, it's way too long. I have to cut it down to 90,000. Most of the cuts will come in the first third of the book, where I maybe took a bit too long getting to the point. By the time I've cut it down, it should be a lean and mean read. For the first time, though, I think I'll save the full thing in a separate file in the event I ever want to look into the possibility of an unexpurgated version.

It's looking like this one will be released in January, 2011, just six months after the release of The Killing Kind. The thinking is to build my momentum by tightening the gap between books. I wasn't aware that I actually had any mo, but it was a cool thing to hear nonetheless.

And here's a bit of information on the publisher doing the limited edition of Depraved:

http://horrorgy.com/blog/2010/01/27/introducing-altar-13-new-horror-publisher/

Depraved limited edition in the works

2010-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Attention Depraved fans. I have sold the limited edition rights to this recent Leisure release. It will be a high-end collector's edition. Details, including the publisher, to follow in a week or two, as I have agreed to wait for the publisher to make their official announcement before saying anything else.

Lists redux

2010-01-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

Depraved makes yet another year end best list, this time from Famous Monsters of Filmland:

http://www.famousmonstersoffilmland.com/my-top-ten-books-of-2009/

One Depraved Year

2010-01-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Depraved has made a couple of year end best lists for 2009. There's this one from author Brian Keene:

http://www.briankeene.com/?p=3185

And this one from Shroud Magazine:

http://shroudmagazinebookreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/shroud-magazines-20-recommended-reads_30.html

For many months before Depraved came out I did a lot of going on and about how I believed it was my best novel yet, so it's cool to see that conviction validated to some degree by things like this.

Interview

2009-12-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Below is a link to a recent interview I did with Rhonda Wilson of Monsterlibrarian.com. This was published online a couple weeks ago, I believe, but I'm just now getting around to posting it here because I have been slowed down in just everything by the holiday season. Bring on the damn new year.

http://monsterlibrarian.com/BryanSmithinterview.htm

The Killing Kind cover

2009-12-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

This is the cover for The Killing Kind, my seventh horror novel for Leisure Books, out next July.

Wrath James White on Depraved

2009-10-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Wrath James White has been developing a reputation as one of the most badass of the hardcore horror writers, right up there with Edward Lee. So I was pleased to learn today that Wrath enjoyed my new novel, Depraved. Here's the blurb he's given me for the book.

"Bryan Smith's Depraved is a violent fast-paced read that's fun in the way that only the sickest most twisted of minds can truly appreciate. I enjoyed the hell out of it!"

-Wrath James White, author of Succulent Prey and The Resurrectionist

House Of Blood reprinted

2009-10-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Just learned that Leisure Books has reprinted House of Blood, which was my first novel. It had been out of stock from the publisher for some time, but it will soon be readily available again. So for newer readers, here's your opportunity to get a copy. It will probably be a few more days before it's in stock in places like Amazon again, but it's already available from the Dorchester site and I plan to stock up on some new copies myself.

http://dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/productdetail.cfm?product_ID=1121&L1=1

The Dark Ones--liftoff achieved!

2009-10-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

Finally started the actual writing of The Dark Ones this past week. I did a bit more than 1,500 words on it today. This was the third or fourth writing session, but the first couple were sort of tentative, with me feeling my way into it a little bit, which is almost always how it is after I've taken my usual between novels break. Today, though, I was firing on all cylinders and I now feel well immersed in the world I'm creating. As hinted at in a previous post, The Dark Ones will be a bit of a shift in a slightly different direction. The Killing Kind is very brutal and real world-based, and DO is a move back toward over-the-top supernatural horror. The difference between DO and something like Deathbringer is twofold--I'll be trying to create a somewhat more layered story this time around, applying some of the gritty realism of TKK to a more fantastical story (as contrary as that sounds) and it'll be the first of my novels to feature any significant amount of kinda/sorta autobiography. I went into in the earlier post, of course, but as I move into the active writing phase of this project, I can already see this element will be even more pronounced than I originally envisioned. I'm going to have to be conscious of avoiding making any one character identifiably based on moi. That said, I think I'm going to have a blast writing this one.

Famous Monsters reviews Depraved

2009-10-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

Famous Monsters Of Filmland has reviewed Depraved. FM gave my last novel, Soultaker, a really pretty decent review, and a quote from that even made the back cover of Depraved. But this review for Depraved is good deal more enthusiastic than the review for Soultaker. I've been saying all along this is by far the best of my published novels (or at least it will be until the insanely brutal, bleak, unforgiving, and unrelenting The Killing Kind comes out next July), so it's gratifying to see a review like this. Of course, there's extra kick just due to my memories of reading the print version of FM as a kid back in the 70's. Yeah, Forry Ackerman is gone, but it's still fucking cool. Check out the review at the link below:

http://www.famousmonstersoffilmland.com/2009/10/07/literature-review-depraved-by-bryan-smith/

Bringing the Depravity to you live in person...

2009-10-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

I will be appearing at the October Comic & Horror Festival here in Nashville on Oct. 17th. Get your books signed. There were will also be plenty of copies of my latest releases for sale. Check it out at the link below (they just added my info at ...the bottom of the page):

http://www.comiccitytn.com/hfest_guests.html

Book news and a change

2009-10-01T04:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while again. Sorry about that. Couple bits of news to announce. Firstly, I have reset my www.bryansmith.info url to start redirecting to this blog. Previously it had forwarded to my My Space page. I had been thinking about changing it for a while. Not everyone has a My Space page, and not everyone wants to hear that music player start blaring as soon as the page loads. With this page, you get the blog right away, as well as options to go to my My Space or Facebook pages. I just think this will be better in the long run, especially as I start to update this page more regularly.

Depraved is officially out now. It started shipping from Amazon a week or so ago and is hitting stores everywhere this week. My "special feature" article on the writing of the book went up on the Dorchester Publishing site yesterday. Link below:

http://dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/SpecialFeatures.cfm?Special_ID=2735

Sorry, I still don't know how to make links clickable with Blogger, so you'll have to copy and paste.

The other big news is Leisure Books has accepted my novel The Dark Ones, which will be my eighth book with them. Previously sold novel The Killing Kind will be out from them in July of next year, which would likely put The Dark Ones into early 2011, but official pub date is yet to be determined.

Regarding The Dark Ones, I posted the following at my Keenedom message board recently. More thoughts on this book to come as I actually write it (it was sold based on a synopsis).

"The setting will be a small town neighborhood patterned exactly (or as close to exact as I can get this many years down the road) after the neighborhood I grew up in. Some of the towns in previous books (Soultaker and Deathbringer, in particular) have been loosely inspired by my old hometown, but this will be the first time I have essentially recreated the old neighborhood in a fictional setting. So when you're reading this book in 2011 and I'm describing any given house or street or landmark, odds are it'll be a real place or thing, down to the smallest detail I can remember. I have an underlying reason I won't reveal for now for doing this, other than to say that a big part of the inspiration for this story is something that actually existed back in the long ago. In some ways it'll be my most personal novel, but never fear, it'll be just as jam-packed with wild, kooky, outrageous things as any of the earlier books.

One big difference between fiction and reality--though patterned after the real places, the town and neighborhood in the book will have fictitious names. Even so, I imagine anyone who grew up there with me who reads it will frequently think, 'Holy shit! I remember that!" Should be an interesting writing experience."

Rare item (Grimm Awakening) on ebay

2009-07-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

Before Leisure published my first novel House of Blood in 2004, small press publisher Undaunted Press put out two 60 page chapbooks by yours fiendishly. Under The Skin was a collection of four short stories, and Grimm Awakening was a novella about a 50's style Sam Spade detective specializing in all things paranormal. One day he wakes up to find himself literally in hell. Only 250 or so of each of these were printed and they are long since out of print. Over the years, numerous people have asked me where they can get these. Unfortunately, the answer has always been, "I have no freaking idea." I only have one copy of each left in my personal collection and can't, obviously, part with them.

Well, now someone's selling a copy of Grimm Awakening on ebay. No, I'm not the seller. Shocklines is the seller, and they're probably selling it for someone else (who, I have no idea). But this is one lucky soul's chance to snag it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390062660973

Right now it's still pretty cheap at $6.50. Again, I'm not the seller and won't profit from this in any way. I post this solely for the benefit of the many who have asked me about this over the years. A link to it was posted on my message board, but I thought the rest of you should know, too.

For what it's worth, Grimm Awakening is still one of my favorite things I've ever done. Most who read it seem to find it highly entertaining. Grimm has been under development as a possible film or TV series for some time. Someday something may actually happen with that (or not, 'cause sometimes that's how this business goes). It's also my wife's favorite of my writing, again for what it's worth. And at some point down the road, in some form or other, there will be new Grimm stories.

Anyway, check out the listing, and good luck if you're bidding.

Blog neglect

2009-06-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't updated this blog in three and a half months. That seems...what's the word...oh yeah...excessive. I'll make an effort to post more in the last few months leading up to the October release of Depraved. I've never looked forward to one of my releases as much as this one and I'll be very happy when it hits shelves. Right now I'm editing The Killing Kind (after having finished the rough draft a week or so ago). And my early verdict is it's even better and more brutal than Depraved, which has easily been my personal high water mark so far. That one will be out in 2010. After I wrap up editing TKK, I need to work up a synopsis for the next one.

That's all for now. Again, I'll try to post more often.

Depraved cover

2009-03-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Whoa

2009-03-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

Just stumbled (via a link at Thunderstorm's message board) across a group started at The Haunt to post photos of the House of Blood limited edition:

http://www.horror-mall.com/haunt/forums/display_topic/id_445/House-of-Blood/

The individualized artist "remarques" are pretty cool. The one PC copy I have so far doesn't have that. Only copies ordered prior to a certain date were getting the remarques, by the way.

New novel: The Killing Kind

2009-02-24T15:21:00.000-08:00

Announced this elsewhere yesterday, finally getting around to it here. Yesterday I sold my seventh novel, The Killing Kind, to Leisure Books. It will be out in 2010. Too soon to know the exact publication month. More specifics about this book in the months to come.

While you're waiting for that, Soultaker is in stores now and my next novel, Depraved, will be out later this year, in October.

In other news, the limited edition of House of Blood is shipping this week. I have an early copy and Thunderstorm did an amazing job on this book. Kick yourself if you missed out on this one.

Bryan

New message board

2009-02-13T13:10:00.001-08:00

Courtesy of Brian Keene:

http://www.briankeene.com/forum/indexphp?board=30.0

I nuked my old Horror World message board a few weeks back. This one should be much more active. You do need to sign up for an account to view the board, though.

New Masthead

2009-02-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Look at the cool new masthead. I like. It's courtesy of writer and designer John Hornor Jacobs.

John's blog:

http://bastardizedversion.blogspot.com/

Famous Monsters Of Filmland on Soultaker

2009-02-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

Pretty good review of Soultaker in Famous Monsters of Filmland. The guy isn't a fan of explicit sex and gore, so he had some problems with that, but overall it's a pretty good review. And, really, I'm pretty happy that someone who doesn't like that sort of thing somehow wound up coming away with an overall favorable opinion. To me, that's cool and a not inconsiderable accomplishment.

http://famousmonstersoffilmland.com/category/reviews/

PSA for new readers

2009-02-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

I am also active here

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=678904921&ref=name

...here...

http://twitter.com/Bryan_D_Smith

and here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=31794083

Gord Rollo on The Freakshow

2009-02-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

Fellow horror author Gord Rollo, of the acclaimed Jigsaw Man, on my 2007 novel The Freakshow:

"Every now and then a book comes along that shocks the hell out of you and knocks you on your ass with it's sheer audacity, bizarre uniqueness, and the superb way it weaves multiple storylines together into a gruesomely satisfying ending. For me, that book was THE FREAKSHOW by Bryan Smith. Loved every word of it and couldn't put it down."

-- Gord Rollo, Author of CRIMSON and THE JIGSAW MAN

Soultaker contest

2009-02-01T19:31:00.001-08:00

Win a copy of my new novel Soultaker courtesy of Horror World and Dorchester.

Details here:

http://www.horrorworld.org/leisurecontest.htm

Soultaker special feature

2009-01-27T16:55:00.001-08:00

A special feature article I wrote for Soultaker went up on the Dorchester site today.

Check it out here:

http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/SpecialFeatures.cfm?Special_ID=2616

A Sunday playlist

2009-01-25T14:23:00.000-08:00

"Method To My Madness" by Lords of the New Church
"KKK Bitch" by Body Count
"Born With A Tail" by the Supersuckers
"Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)" by W.A.S.P.
"Almost Human" by KISS
"Six Pack" by Black Flag
"Nice Boys" by Guns N' Roses
"Sex & Outrage" by Motorhead
"Everglade" by L7
"Supermodel Suicide" by the Erotics
"March Of The Pigs" by Nine Inch Nails
"Some Fun" by Smack
"I, Zombie" by White Zombie
"In Love" by the Datsuns
"Blood At The Door" by the Creeping Cruds

I woke up this morning with Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" running through my head. So it was good to have GNR's cover come up randomly. The main line in the song is "Nice boys don't play rock and roll." And it occurred to me to wonder whether any female band had ever covered the song and changed the lyric to "Nice girls don't play rock and roll." I did a google search and came up with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKluPjGh1mk

I think it's two girls, one guy. Close enough. Haven't listened to this version though, so don't blame me if it sucks.

The Haunt

2009-01-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

The people at the Horror Mall have started a horror equivalent of social networking sites like My Space and Facebook. It's called The Haunt and is pretty cool. Check out my Haunt here:

http://www.horror-mall.com/haunt/Bryan_Smith

Come by and add me, sign up, comment, whatever.

And, oh yeah, Soultaker's out:

http://www.amazon.com/Soultaker-Leisure-Fiction-Bryan-Smith/dp/0843961937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230731239&sr=1-1

Go forth and buy.

Favorite reads of 2008

2009-01-13T17:22:00.001-08:00

Originally posted this on Brian Keene's board, but figured what the hell, I'll blog it too.

Read but not necessarily released in 2008 top 10

1. Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
2. Queenpin by Megan Abbott
3. The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston
4. The Name of the Game Is Death by Dan J. Marlowe
5. Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler
6. Nuclear Jellyfish by Tim Dorsey
7. So Nude, So Dead by Richard Marsten (aka Ed McBain)
8. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
9. The Max by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
10.Money Shot by Christa Faust

Mostly crime fiction, as usual the last few years.

2008 Reading List

2009-01-01T17:34:00.001-08:00

I kept track of this throughout 2008 on my Horror World message board (which I'm about to deep-six, by the way). The list isn't extensive. I work a full-time day job and in 2008 I wrote two full-length novels and several short stories. As you can see, between those things and other obligations, I couldn't possibly have a lot of spare reading time. But here's what I did read in 2008:

The 2008 Reading List:

Slash, by Slash with Anthony Bozza
Preacher: Alamo
The Midnight Road by Tom Piccirili
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issues 1 through 10
Duma Key by Stephen King
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 11
Money Shot by Christa Faust
A Diet Of Treacle by Lawrence Block
Dead Man's Walk by Richard S. Prather
House Of Sorcery by Carter Brown
Find This Woman by Richard S. Prather
Queenpin by Megan Abbott
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 12
Darling, It's Death by Richard S. Prather
A Devil For O'Shaugnessy/The Three-Way Split by Gil Brewer
Cuts by Richard Laymon
The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston
Half The Blood Of Brooklyn by Charlie Huston
The Velvet Vixen by Carter Brown
Fires Rising by Michael Laimo
The Name Of The Game Is Death by Dan J. Marlowe
Working For The Devil by Lilith Saintcrow
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 13
The Vengeance Man by Dan J. Marlowe
The Blue-Haired Bombshell by John Zakour
AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll by Murray Engleheart and Arnaud Durieux
The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx with Ian Gittins
The Sure Thing by Richard S. Prather
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 14
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 15
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
So Nude, So Dead by Richard Marsten (aka Ed McBain)
The Score by Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake)
Double In Trouble by Richard S. Prather and Stephen Marlowe
13 French Street by Gil Brewer
Bright Orange For The Shroud by John D. MacDonald
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 16
The Woods Are Dark (restored and uncut version) by Richard Laymon
Dead Man Rising by Lilith Saintcrow
Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 17
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler
Gypsies Stole My Tequila by Adrienne Jones
Transmetropolitan: Back On The Streets by Warren Ellis
Slab Happy by Richard S. Prather
The Max by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
Brides Of The Impaler by Edward Lee
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 issue 18
Home Is The Sailor by Day Keene
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Nuclear Jellyfish by Tim Dorsey
The Jigsaw Man by Gord Rollo
Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston
Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
The Hong Kong Caper by Carter Brown

I'm Second To None, I'm A Gun

2008-12-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

I've had snippets of Shotgun Messiah's "I'm A Gun" float through my head almost daily forever despite not having actually heard the song in several years. Today I downloaded the album it's on and put it on my Zune. I just listened to "I'm A Gun" and turns out it's still awesome. This is the video for the song.

Alestorm

2008-12-26T16:49:00.001-08:00

I downloaded and listened to an album called Captain Morgan's Revenge by Alestorm. They've been described as "Scottish Pirate Metal." Yes, pirate metal. Songs about...well, being pirates, drinking rum, and carousing with wenches in port taverns. It's a lot of fun. Here's a song from the album called "Wenches and Mead."

Ronald Kelly on Depraved

2008-12-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned here and elsewhere numerous times, I feel that Depraved, my second forthcoming Leisure release for 2009, is a significant step forward for me and is easily the best thing I have ever done, bar none. I am going to be doing all I can to put this one in the forefront of everyone's minds in the months to come. Things like this new blurb from respected genre vet Ronald Kelly can't hurt.

"DEPRAVED lives up to its name in the most brutal
and visceral way. Sort of like a roller-coaster
ride... but with battery acid and razor blades
on the handlebars. Smith's most effective
and merciless work to date!"

-- Ronald Kelly, author of HELL HOLLOW,
UNDERTAKER'S MOON, and MIDNIGHT
GRINDING & OTHER TWILIGHT TERRORS

True Blood

2008-12-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

My favorite new television show this fall was HBO's True Blood. The show is a mix of familiar horror tropes and soap opera romance, but it is so well-crafted that it well exceeds what one might expect based on that description. The basic premise is a world in which vampires have "come out of the coffin" and work to live openly among humans. The impetus for this development is the introduction of a new synthetic blood substitute called TruBlood, which allows the vamps to get their daily nutrients without, you know, having to kill humans. Of course, some vampires aren't happy with this "mainstreaming" and still prey on humans. This makes things harder for the vamps earnestly attempting to fit in with human society (though even they struggle mightily with their baser instincts). Not surprisingly, many humans remain wary and even frightened of vamps. Show creator Alan Ball (of Six Feet Under fame) weaves in a lot of parallels between what the vamps go through and civil rights struggles of the past and present. Some of these are not so subtle, such as the sign glimpsed in the opening montage that reads "God Hates Fangs." But the show very skillfully interweaves its several subplots, with each episode's conclusion leaving the viewer hungry for more. The show is superbly acted. The players have great chemistry together. I also love that the show is steeped in a deep south atmosphere. My only real complaint is having to wait so long for season two, which is set for next summer.

The show is based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. I'd always heard these books described as "paranormal romances", and that sort of thing has never much piqued my interest. But I enjoyed True Blood so much that I found myself thirsting for more and decided to pick up the second book in the series, Living Dead In Dallas, which picks up more or less where the show's first season leaves off. There are some differences between book and show, as is to be expected. Some characters are different. Some from the show are barely present, while others are altogether missing. But many of the elements of the show are nonetheless there. Most of the basics of the world Harris fashions are represented on screen. The one significant difference is that Harris's prose lacks the grit of the show and is a good deal less explicit. Regardless, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first 100 or so pages of Living Dead. I felt the book faltered some in its middle third, with pages of blandly-written and unconvincing action scenes. Sookie's incongruous wholesomeness in light of the vamp scene she's immersed herself in also grates. Throughout this section, the book began to feel more lightweight and closer to what my worst expectations of what it would be like. I was thinking I might not read any more books in the series at this point. Then the book did an abrupt turnaround and again began to strongly resemble the show I so enjoyed. Overall I'd give it a grade of about B. It would be a B+ without that droopy middle part. I wouldn't really recommend it for horror purists. It's just not going to be their cup of bloody tea. Not even close, really. But if you're a fan of True Blood and, like me, are suffering withdrawal pangs, it might be worth checking out. I'll probably give the third book, Club Dead, a whirl at some point. I've been told it's better than book two. Time will tell.

The Backyard Babies "Look At You"

2008-12-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

This is a clip for a song called "Look At You" by the Backyard Babies. It's from their 1999 album Total 13, which is probably my favorite pure rock and roll album of the post-GNR era (original GNR, that is). Their last couple albums, unfortunately, haven't been as good, but any real rock and roll fan should have Total 13 in their collection.

The Itch

2008-12-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

I've got it. Or I'm starting to get it. And I don't mean the old Kix song "The Itch" (although that's a good song off a damn good pop metal album of the 80's). I'm talking about writing. I've been taking a break since wrapping up Depraved in late October. I always feel pretty burned out at the end of writing any novel, but this was especially case with Depraved. I enjoyed the writing process with that one more than with any of my novels, but it was written in such a feverish rush. Between the writing and the other demands of my life, there was barely any time to catch a breath and relax. So it's been nice to take a longish, langourous break.

But it's almost time to get back to work. I've got a couple of anthology invites and I'll need to get cracking on those soon. Then there's the matter of the next novel. I have two or three main ideas I'm mulling over. One in particular is much more fleshed out than the others, but I'm not yet sure it's the right one to pick. It feels like it is, but I need just a little more time to be sure in my decision. Whichever way I go, I have to be sure it's something that's a worthy followup to Depraved, which is my best work yet. And I think this one can be...it just needs to simmer a little longer. I'm thinking I'll continue my break through the holidays, then buckle down. Or, hell, maybe I'll go ahead and break the ice a bit before then by knocking out one of those short stories.

Whatever the case, it's almost time to scratch...

The new book

2008-12-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

My next paperback blood and guts extravaganza will be released by Leisure Books in less than two months. Have you got your pre-order for Soultaker in yet?

Go here and grab it:

http://www.amazon.com/Soultaker-Bryan-Smith/dp/0843961937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219716942&sr=1-1

My Defense of Nickelback

2008-12-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

Um...

Hold on a second, I'm thinkin' about it.

No. Nevermind.

They still suck.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

My Defense of Chinese Democracy

2008-12-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

“Loaded like a freight train
feelin’ like a space brain
one more time tonight.”

It is the fall of 1987. The age of Reagan. Iran-Contra and arms for hostages deals. The Black Monday stock market crash. There is a tendency among some to recall the 1980’s with a sort of Day-Glo nostalgia. A time dominated by a soundtrack of bright, bouncy pop music of little substance. Younger people with no first-hand knowledge of the time have been led to believe it was an essentially happy-go-lucky decade thanks to VH1’s I Love The 80’s specials. And while there are elements of truth in the lingering impressions of superficiality, the real story is more complicated.

November of that year. The setting--an apartment in Nashville, a largish two-bedroom with a spacious living room. The second-floor balcony overlooks a hill that slopes toward a line of trees and a creek beyond. In the kitchen there’s a picture of Sid Vicious taped to the wall. The refrigerator is rarely stocked with anything other than alcohol. Shelves crammed with cans and bottles. These shelves are emptied and restocked at a shocking rate. Case after case of Budweiser, Beck’s, and Heinken. Boone’s Farm wine. Mad Dog 20/20. Liters of vodka and pure grain alcohol (190 proof). Jack Daniel’s. Southern Comfort. Bacardi 151. Canadian Mist. Wild Turkey. Crown Royal. None of this just sits around. Enough is consumed to fill multiple recycling bins. The deterioration of the apartment’s interior is perhaps inevitable. Its occupants proceed to trash it with the gleeful, toxic abandon of a platinum-selling rock and roll band laying waste to a hotel room. Couple of important differences:

1. There is no band.
2. And, thus, no team of managers and handlers to pick up the pieces and pay the tab.

I didn’t officially live there, but I spent so much time there—and passed out there so often—I might as well have. We thought we were having good times, but there was a dark undercurrent at work. Soon everything would go down in flames. One person would move out in disgust. Others wouldn’t talk to each other again for years. Some of it was based on genuine personal antipathy, but a lot more of it was attributable to a strangely willful plunge into a whirlwind of self-destruction. A time marked primarily by bad decisions and epic hangovers galore. Drinking again after waking up passed out on the floor. Drinking in the shower. Drinking before work. During work, if possible. Drinking and driving. Drinking while sick as a dog.You get the picture.

Drinking 24/7, pretty much.

“Some people got a chip on their shoulder
An some would say it was me
But I didn't buy that fifth of whisky
That you gave me
So I'd be quick to disagree”

A rock and roll album called Appetite For Destruction was released a few months earlier. All the regulars at the crash pad described above were early purchasers of the debut by the gang of L.A. miscreants, most acquiring it the week it came out or the following week. To say the album struck a chord is an understatement of truly epic proportions. From the first ominous notes of “Welcome To The Jungle” to the final crashing chords of “Rocket Queen”, it was clear that the one and only perfect soundtrack to this wild and desperate stage of our lives had been unleashed. It is the sound of life lived treading a delicate line between ecstatic abandon and a face-down crash-landing in the gutter. You can feel that edge between the grooves and in every note, pouring raw and bleeding from throbbing speakers. These guys were the real deal and we recognized that right away. We could relate in ways we never could have related to the likes of Bon Jovi and Poison. Axl and Izzy were refugees from the heartland scratching out a tenacious new existence on the streets of L.A., living the life we desired for ourselves. They had escaped their small town roots to concoct this instant classic of razorblade blues-punk-metal-inflected guitar riffs and air raid vocals. It was the perfect distillation of everything dangerous and cool about rock and roll, and for decades I believed it could never be topped.

“Not bad kids just stupid ones
Yeah we thought we'd own the world
An gettin' used was havin' fun
I said we're not sad kids just lucid ones yeah
Flowin' through life not collectin' anyone."

Guns N’ Roses success in no way seemed assured back in 1987. The album took almost a year to really take off. The band seemed too raw and intense for the mainstream. Too cool. Too real. Everyone knew you had to have some slick, flashy image to get over in the 80’s. There was a reason the MTV kids lapped up Poison and Def Leppard, after all. GNR had much more in common with another favorite of my crowd back then, the criminally underappreciated Hanoi Rocks. Hanoi never broke big in the states and their career ended on a down note when drummer Razzle died in a tragic accident. Hanoi was like the second coming of the New York Dolls, only with better players and even groovier songs. Mega stardom was not in the cards, and it likewise did not seem to be part of GNR’s destiny. The masses could never “get” something like Guns N’ Roses. Besides, we all figured one or more of them would be dead of an overdose by the time 1988 rolled around and that would be that. The band would break up, and would always be fondly remembered as a great underground cult legend. But GNR did endure into 1988 and in that year they released the long-hidden ace up their sleeves, the classic pop-metal ballad “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” The single exploded and the band became the biggest hard rock success story of the decade. Shows how much we knew.

The volatile band did eventually fall apart, but for a gloriously decadent few years they were the biggest fucking thing in the world. I saw them twice, in ’88 and ’92, and I will always be grateful I was able to witness those slices of genuine rock and roll history. The following years were not a fun time to be a GNR fan. It was a dry period, characterized by a disheartening lack of real news regarding a potential new album. Then Slash left. Then Duff. It seemed GNR was well and truly over, but at least we had some amazing memories.

Except that it wasn’t over, at least according to Axl Rose. He had somehow wound up with rights to the GNR name and was assembling a new roster of players to carry on under the GNR name.

“You don’t know why
I won’t give in
To hell with the pressure
I’m not caving in”

A lot of people scoffed at the notion of Axl carrying on the GNR brand with no other original members. To many it was perhaps the most egregious example of a superstar’s ego run amuck, an impression cemented by the many years of silence punctuated by only sporadic media accounts of activity. Axl was rarely—almost never—seen in public. He was a hard rock Howard Hughes. So it was easy for his critics to dismiss him as disconnected from reality. GNR couldn’t exist, they said, without Slash’s searing guitar work, Izzy’s songwriting smarts, and Duff’s lock-solid groove. Axl seemed to think that he WAS Guns N’ Roses, its spiritual heart and core, in much the same way Trent Reznor IS Nine Inch Nails. The situation wasn’t helped any by the problems that plagued the reconstituted band seemingly every time they tentatively ventured back into the public spotlight. The widely criticized performance at the VMA’s in 2002. The multiple tour cancellations and riots. The years kept passing and even many of the most ardent fans began to believe GNR 2.0’s album Chinese Democracy would never see the light of day.

A word or two about being a GNR fan and lessons in patience. In the first few years after Appetite was released, I played that album so often I knew every note and lyric by heart. I lived and died by that album. The first copy I owned was a cassette. Yes, boys and girls, once upon a time we bought new music releases on cassette tapes. And dinosaurs once walked the earth. I took that cassette everywhere. There was something in the music made me feel more alive than when I wasn’t listening to it. Like I’d found something essential that had been missing in my first twenty-two years of existence. I’m forty-three now. I realize how insane a statement like that sounds now, but at the time that was absolutely how I felt. So you can imagine how deep my yearning for a new full-length album became after some years passed. GNR did release the Lies e.p. in late ’88, but that stopgap wasn’t quite enough to slake my thirst for new material. Month after month, year after year, I read the rock magazines and watched every MTV News report, hanging with bated breath for every tiny scrap of new information about the new album. There were delays upon delays. It was maddening. Then, finally, in September of 1991, the band released the Use Your Illusion albums. The holy grail of rock and roll (as far as I was concerned) was in my hands, and, for a while, all was right with the world. Or so it seemed.

“Don't hail me
An don't idolize the ink
Or I've failed in my intentions
Can you find the missing link
Your only validation is living your own life
Vicarious existence is a fucking waste of time”

It should come as no surprise, then, that I continued to follow every development in the epic and seemingly endless Chinese Democracy saga. I remained cynical for the reasons outlined earlier, but my heart rate nonetheless kicked up a notch every time some new morsel from the recording sessions leaked. I became excited again when the band’s spurt of activity in 2006 appeared to indicate the album’s release was imminent. And even after that, I kept checking the fan forums and news sites on a daily basis. The ultimate, long-delayed culmination of this period arrived in the form of an announcement that Guns N’ Roses had agreed to an exclusive deal with retailer Best Buy to release Chinese Democracy on Nov. 23rd, 2008. I hardly dared to believe it and kept expecting the deal to evaporate somehow, even as the weeks until release dwindled down to days and then to just hours.

In fact, it didn’t feel real until I made my trip down to Best Buy on Nov. 23rd and purchased two copies of the album, one vinyl and one compact disc. I’m looking at my copy of the CD as I type this, and even now the actual fact of its existence feels quite surreal. As if I’m some fabled medieval knight and have procured a long-missing and cherished artifact at the end of a long and daunting quest.

But I have it. Chinese Democracy. I really fucking do.

Was it worth the agonizing wait?

In a word, yes.

But let’s not stop there. Axl and his new cohorts have met even the wildest expectations I ever dared to imagine for them, they have exceeded them by a margin wider than I ever could have imagined. Please note this is not a first listen impression. On first listen I liked it a lot, but was not necessarily completely blown away. But this album kept revealing new layers and textures with each subsequent listen. I would go back to certain songs and listen to them repeatedly, then go to another batch of songs and do the same. After a dozen or so full spins, I was convinced that this was not merely a very good album, but was an excellent album. But the evolution of my overall opinion of Chinese Democracy did not end there, either. I continued to play the album, listened to nothing else but this album, in fact, for days. Some of the songs began to reach that place inside me that Appetite For Destruction had stirred so effectively so long ago. After a few days, I was ranking Chinese Democracy well ahead of Use Your Illusion I & II. And that’s essentially where I stand now. Chinese Democracy is the second best Guns N’ Roses album, behind only Appetite.

There have been rave reviews in Rolling Stone, the Boston Globe, and elsewhere. The acclaim, however, is by no means universal. There has been harsh criticism in certain segments of the press and the public. To some extent this is to be expected. No work of art, no matter how brilliant or generally revered, is without its detractors. And while I accept that there are people who objectively just don’t like the music—including some people I well respect—I believe a significant portion of the negative opinions are based not on the music but on kneejerk instinct and the cumulative ill will generated by a decade and a half of bad press. Many of these people are reacting against Axl’s persona and recluse mystique rather than the art he has produced with his collaborators. It is almost as if many of them have been programmed to negatively react against Chinese Democracy without regard for its true merits. Again, I refer here not to the more astute and informed naysayers, but to the plethora of so-called critics who have panned the album with only the broadest observations and the shallowest of supposed insights. Many of them are bloggers as opposed to real journalists, spewing inanities from bully pulpits that didn’t exist twenty-one years ago. Many of them were perhaps five-years-old when Appetite came out, if that. Some weren’t even born. This contingent of critics—not to put too fine a point on it—is talking out of its collective ass. They don’t know what they’re talking about and their opinions aren’t worth the electrons required to convey them across cyberspace. The work of 14 years deserves more than your snide five-sentence dismissal, Joe Blogger Douchebag. You say Axl isn’t relevant anymore, Joe? Well, while the question of whether that’s true is certainly open to debate, one thing is stone cold certain—you never HAVE been relevant and nothing you will do in your entire life will matter like Appetite will always matter.

One thing the critics—smart ones and dumb ones alike--have said pretty much uniformly is that the band that recorded Chinese Democracy is not really Guns N’ Roses. I alluded to this earlier. It is a fair criticism and is one I have offered myself over the years. I didn’t think anything could ever sway me from that viewpoint, but one of the new album’s many revelations has been the way it has confounded and even short-circuited many of my long-held doubts. Truly, this is not the band that recorded Appetite. And seeing Axl again share a stage one day somewhere down the road with Slash, Duff, and Izzy remains one of my fondest rock and roll dreams. However, the best songs on the new album are so overwhelmingly majestic and transcendant that I can’t imagine them having been crafted in quite the same way by the original band (or any other group of collaborators, for that matter). Songs such as “Prostitute”, “Sorry”, and “There Was A Time” are astoundingly great. They are as good an anything ever released under the Guns N’ Roses banner. On the strength of songs like these, Axl’s group clearly deserves to bear the proud name originally made famous by another lineup. Regardless of whether the original band one day reunites for a renewed run at glory, here and now, in this moment, this is Guns N’ Roses. It may not last long. Or maybe it will. Who knows what the future holds?
Right now, I’m just grateful to have this album.

The other day I was talking with one of my oldest friends about Chinese Democracy. This is one of the guys who lived at the crash pad referred to in the first paragraph of this epic essay. He and I have had our ups and downs over the years. There were times when we didn’t see eye to eye (to put it mildly) and didn’t talk for a long time. And yet there’s always been a lot of common ground (and I’m not just talking about the trips to rehab). When it comes to rock and roll music, there is no one whose opinion I respect more than his. He said it was possible that his opinion could change, that it was very possible that he was just caught up in the moment. What he said was that he thinks Chinese Democracy is the best album ever recorded and released by anyone, ever. Now, I can’t go that far. It’s not even my favorite Guns N’ Roses album ever. That’s Appetite, now and forever. But I do understand how he can say what he said. And maybe you have to have grown up in the time we grew up in and in a similar set of circumstances to really understand. A few years later they called Kurt Cobain the “voice of a generation.” I was the same age as that guy—and I liked Nirvana—but I never felt that guy “spoke” for me. Guys like me and my friend, Axl was that voice. Still is that voice. It didn’t always say pretty or reassuring things, but it spoke the truth as we understood it. And maybe it was an ugly truth, but that didn’t make it any less worth saying.

“Ask yourself what I would do
To prostitute myself
To live with fortune and shame”

So, Axl, in my view, you’ve done it. Chinese Democracy, in my opinion, is the grand statement you were clearly always shooting for. It’s been said that you have two more albums’ worth of material recorded more or less with this same lineup. Like many of the long-time GNR faithful, I am now more eager than ever to hear this new music. Here’s hoping the release of Chinese Democracy is a sign of things to come and you actually let those songs out of the vaults sometime in the near future.

In the meantime, again, congrats on Chinese Democracy. Thanks for letting us finally hear it in all its glory.

(NOTE: It should go without saying, but in case anyone’s clueless, all the lyrics quoted above are from Guns N’ Roses songs.)

Top 3 reasons I came over to Blogger

2008-12-03T05:04:00.000-08:00

Brian Keene

http://www.briankeene.com/

Kent Gowran

http://www.bloodsweatmurder.blogspot.com/

Kent Allard

http://deadinthesouth.blogspot.com/

Coming soon:

My Defense of Chinese Democracy

Later,

Bryan

Depraved publication date

2008-12-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

The publication date for my sixth Leisure Books horror novel was set today. This one will be released in October 2009. That's just eight months after the February release of Soultaker, which will be by far the shortest gap between novels yet for me. I'm anxious for this one to get out there into the world, because I am absolutely convinced this will be THE book to make my reputation, the one everyone remembers me by years from now. So, yeah, I'm pretty fucking happy about this news. Now if I could just line up a quality small press publisher to do a nice limited edition. Of all my books, this one is by far the most deserving of lavish treatment.

Infernally Yours

2008-12-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

Okay. Need to add a first post to this new blog so it won't look so desolate. So might as well mention my latest credit. Infernally Yours is an anthology of stories based on Edward Lee's vision of Hell as established in his Infernal novels. My contribution is called "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be", a longish tale approximately around 7,000 words. No, it's not about Bon Scott or AC/DC, though Bon does make a cameo appearance. It's about what happens when things suddenly go horribly wrong for a semi-reformed serial killer. The book will be available in late January from Necro Publications.

www.necropublications.com