Another collection in paperback, three word poetry prompts
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It’s been a long couple of weeks. Without going into details, Trish was in the hospital for surgery, out because the surgeon wanted her blood pressure to be under control, back in the hospital a week later and the surgery went fine. Also, heart checked and in good shape. Still recovering, and I am cheerfully filling in as both of us at home. I have gotten slightly less done on the writing and publishing fronts than usual, but stress relief is therapeutic, and good things are still happening.
The novel in progress has been a lot of fun and will probably have a first draft before the end of the week. It is also a cautionary lesson about that old adage less is more. As I’ve mentioned, the initial hope was to include as many horror tropes in one form or another as possible and still provide a strong, interesting story. With that in mind, I did not miss many opportunities to add in details that, at the time, were just there for the visual and in no way integral to the plot.
As I near the very end of this monster (It’s about 116k now) at least three things I just tossed into the mix because I thought they were fun have come front and center to turn the ending upside down and inside out. Not only are those early threads now incorporated, but readers unfamiliar with my newsletter, or my social media accounts, will believe I did it on purpose. These are the things I love about writing – the things I did not know, or expect, when a project started, and that feel as if they were handed to me by some part of my mind I can only connect to through words. I can’t wait for people to read this.
Anyway, I have laundry to fold and cats to entertain, so let’s get on with the meat and taters of this newsletter.
I am still auctioning off books from my personal collection with many more to come. None of our kids is really a reader except Katie, and she leans more toward Poppy Z. Brite than the older authors. I would rather these find a good home and honestly, the shelves look crazy with the ridiculous number of books weighing them down.
What’s New?
Last week I ran a contest – a call for one-word prompts to become stories for an upcoming project. It started slowly, but in the end I got 46 words. I have them stored in a spreadsheet with contact information for those who submitted. When the project reaches print, I will ensure that signed copies go to those whose words I used.
For fun… if you read this and (before midnight on Tuesday, the 23rd ) send me sets of three-word prompts, I will write poems for each. Who knows what might come of that, but I’ll be nearly certain to call the project Raptured. Please send prompts to david@davidniallwilson.com
Here is an example of a past 3 Word Poem to give you the idea. Please, don’t just choose obscure words with the thought it will make it more difficult. It will more likely make the outcome less interesting.
Prompt from author Wayne Allen Sallee: pitchfork / derby / marionette
AFTER THE WAR
After the war,
Power lines down,
Powerless,
Buildings crumbled,
Windows, doors, stone
Shattered,
They came back.
They dug trenches,
Graves for the lost and
Lifeless.
Still clawing at the bars
Of cells and cages
Still seeking freedom
In death.
Long dead leaders
Locked them away.
Profane.
Different, and banished.
And left behind.
When the war came.
Forgotten.
The graves were pits,
Fires stoked and bright-hot coals
Glowing.
The only freedom remaining
That of ash and dust
And wind
In slow motion circles,
Like some macabre derby
Run by skeletal men
With barrows and carts,
They loaded and unloaded,
The fire-zone for that alone,
Lifting bodies with spades
And shovels.
It played out like a final
Pitchfork tine puppet show,
With rotting marionettes for actors
And the barren fields as stage,
The players flinging limbs
to an uncaring sky
As they flopped
And dropped
And burned.
After the war,
The cleanup crews
Wore tears for makeup
Crying the lost home,
And for lost homes.
Waiting for the dead sun
To rise.
After the war.
By Monday: The paperback edition of Etched Deep & Other Dark Impressions will be available. This will be book 3 in “The Short Fiction of David Niall Wilson” as we work through the many collections I’ve had in digital over the years.
Here are a couple of links. This Universal Book Link is publishing and should be live by Monday. This Amazon Kindle link will display the link to the paperback once it’s live (It’s in review). This book is also available in unbridged audio, performed by Al Dano.
From Writing What Hurts
There are too many influences in a writer’s life to categorize them all. I think you can break them down into categories though – or periods. I grew up in small-town Illinois. I was a nerdy book reader, not great at sports but participated anyway, picked on by several different groups and types of other students and friends with some great kids. From that period, I brought Vonnegut, Bradbury, Lovecraft, and Tolkien with me. I left behind The Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Abraham Lincoln and Kenneth Roberts, whose historical autobiographies kept me glued to the page for days at a time and taught me the truth behind history – that it’s rewritten repeatedly and just a form of fiction. The book that set me straight told the full story of Benedict Arnold, who was far from the traitor we are taught in school. I also left behind a ton of comic books, and somehow never re-acquired the love of reading them I had as a boy.
What came next were my US Navy years. From those I brought Stephen King, Salvador Dali, the music of Steeleye Span and a thousand rock groups, the ability to play guitar and the first few novels of my career. I left behind mountains of fantasy trilogies, elves, goblins, and other such critters, even as I moved to and through Dean Koontz and on to Clive Barker. I also left behind my first publishing venture – a magazine called The Tome – the editing of which was eye-opening and deeply influential on my career, as well as my writing.
I’m cutting each of these periods far short. I visited countries and continents in the US Navy, lived in Spain, joined a Bike Club (Tiburon MC) – visited Masada and Jerusalem, Rome and Pisa and Florence, Greece and Crete. I loved lost, married and divorced. In other words, I lived – a lot. All of that is in my writing if you look for it, though it may not be easily discernible to anyone who didn’t share all that experience (a person, in other words, who does not exist).
You can gain absolutely nothing from huge chunks of your life and be influenced forever by just a few moments. What you take from a book might be a short quote you can’t shake, a style of getting a particular bit of plot or information across, a conversational tic. Stephen King’s characters often say, “I had an idea that,” or “I had the idea that,” and that sticks with me. I haven’t used it, but I recognize it in his work and smile when I see it.
Since we’re still in the introductory part of this book, I’m going to close the door on this influence thing for a while with the note that throughout the pages of this book, the things that have influenced me will become apparent. I’ll tell you stories. I’ll reference other writers and talk about things I like or do not like in their work. I’ll say repeatedly that all opinions are subjective, and that these are just mine…something I have learned to say through the influence of Mr. Richard Rowand, editor of the late and much missed STARSHORE MAGAZINE – who published my first major genre piece, “A Candle Lit in Sunlight,” which later became the novel This is My Blood. He used to tell us – right before hacking our work to bits – that we should keep in mind that all reviews are subjective.
Before I continue, I’m going to sit back and listen to some Hank Williams Senior and follow that with Charlie Johnson’s Birdland – music picked up while being influenced by Poppy Z. Brite’s novel “Drawing Blood,” though ol’ Hank was with me since my childhood (and you can read about that in my novel Deep Blue). Onward.
What I’m Reading
On the Kindle I have Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse, and Bad Mannersand I’m about 72% through it. Just about to dive into the Eric Larocca story. There are some great stories here. I will hold off mentioning them until I finish the anthology. I will note that, having mentioned how I usually rate anthologies in earlier newsletters, this one is slightly above normal so far.
Also on the Kindle, The Essential Bukowski: Poetry. The brutally honest images these poems present are a serious lesson for any author / poet / creator. I will also note that, in the hospital waiting for your wife to get out of surgery, maybe this isn’t the best choice of a reed.
What I’m Watching
Banner & Cash – something we somehow missed when it came out. Holds up beautifully, funny, entertaining and a great chance to see stars we watch on current shows in earlier roles.
We are also still watching PEACEMAKER. Good stuff.
We are nearly done with he five episodes dropped of Murder in the Building. New season is great.
Finally watched the new Superman and concur with most of the world. It’s a great movie, with some messages, some humor, but the start of this one is Krypto.
What I’m Listening to
In audio I am VERY MUCH ENJOYING Bitter Karella’s novel debut, MOONFLOW. The characters are crazy. The plot is crazy, but it is very well written, there are no cardboard characters, and despite leaning toward humor, there are deep issues at stake, and a solid horror backdrop. Also there are mushrooms and a cellphone glitch. UPDATE – 86% complete. Review to follow this week.
Buy My Books
UNIVERSAL DAVID NIALL WILSON LINK
Closing Time at the Sunny-Side-Up
The Devil’s in the Flaws & Other Dark Impressions