Happy Holidays

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday weekend, and I do say happy holidays because there are a lot of holidays being celebrated...not for PC reasons. And for those that think that we need to get back to where this holiday season came from, I say Happy Saturnalia.

Insomnia

Anyone know a good cure for insomnia??? Other than prescriptions or reading my old stats book? I've had trouble sleeping for years, but this week has been really bad. I feel like I'm a zombie just barely stumbling through life...

I've tried teas, tai-chi, and just about everything else...

If you like kick ass metal

If you like the kind of in your face metal that kicks your ass and then leaves you lying bloody by the side of the road, then you have to pick up "Doctor Butcher." That's the band and the album.

This is a re-release of a ten year old album with new bonus tracks. The band was put together by Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery of Savatage as a way of releasing some pent up aggressions, I would guess, as it's even heavier than what Savatage puts out.

And as I understand, there are plans for more Doctor Butcher songs, which is amazing given the amount of music Jon Oliva is involved with. Savatage has spawned a lot of side projects, including Jon Oliva's Pain, Circle II Circle, Chris Caffery's Faces, and of course their most famous side project Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

TSO and Dr. Butcher, that's an amazing spread of music...........

Tales of the Talisman story

I got a glimpse of the artwork that will be going with my story in Issue 4 of Tales of the Talisman, and it's quite cool...which shouldn't be a surprise since Laura Givens did the work. Laura's one of the best artists in the small press world, and should really be doing covers for major publishers.

Denver in 2008

Denver is making a bid to host WorldCon in 2008, so follow the link above and check out what they're offering, and while you're at it, become a pre-supporting member, because let's face it, Denver would be a much better choice than Chicago or Columbus.

Damn it's windy

I love living in Colorado, but the one thing I've always hated about it is the wind...it's almost always windy here, and today's certainly no exception. We're getting sustained winds between 30 & 50 mph with hurricane force gusts. My power's been knocked out several times already this morning.

I'm really not looking forward to that long walk to work in a couple of hours. If you don't hear from me for a few days, look for me in Kansas...

The novel that doesn't want to get written

I've now come to the harsh realization that this novel I've been working on just is not working. Where it started, where it is now, and where I see it going just don't seem to blend together into any kind of cohesive whole. Hell, at this point, I'm not even sure they're part of the same book (exaggerating, but there are some definite problems.)

I'm now faced with the sad task of either plodding through to the end, and hoping that something comes out of it that I can edit into an actual book, or starting the whole damn thing over again.

And writing's fun, right? I think I heard someone say that once...........excuse me, I need to find that person...we need to have a long talk...................

Busy, busy, busy

Not much to report here...just busy getting the December updates for Sam's Dot ready. It's three on-line zines and two newsletters, plus updating all of the other pages that have new info. My eyes hurt from staring at HTML code, but hopefully I'll be done by this time tomorrow...

My highly cynical view of Thanksgiving

My thoughts on the first Thanksgiving...

Pilgrim: Gee, mister Indian, thank you so much for helping us to survive in this new land...and speaking of land...

My thoughts on modern Thanksgivings:

I think too many people in this country have lost touch with the real meanings of all of the holidays, and Thanksgiving has become more about gluttony and football than anything else.

Having said that, I'd like to say that I'm thankful for my family and friends...most of whom now live far away. I'm also thankful for all of my readers, and not because they've put money in my pocket, because believe me, I'm not getting rich from writing, but rather for taking an interest in what I have to say...and I'm most thankful for the voices in my head, without whom, none of this would be possible.

Marionettes on the Moon on sale

Nomadic Delirium Press has put my newest short story collection on sale just in time for the holidays. Click on the title above, and it should take you right to their site where you can order your copy, or several copies...

Help me in my quest to escape hell............

As Pink Floyd would say...

Is there anybody out there? For months I had people e-mailing me about doing a blog...and now I feel like Keith's the only one reading it. Is there anyone else out there?

As far as news in my life...nothing to report...just working a lot at that god awful hellhole of a job...but such is life...

Let's hear it for rational thought

A couple of years ago, the board of education in Dover, PA added intelligent design to the science curriculum, and has sparked controversy throughout this country as people have tried to get intelligent design into the science classrooms in other areas, even though it's been shown repeatedly that the "science" of intelligent design is bad science.

In Tuesday's elections, rational thought finally had its say as all but one member of the board of education was voted out and a new board dedicated to science as science was elected. Pat Robertson may be saying that the town will feel God's wrath, but the truth is that intelligent design is just plain bad science, and thus does not belong in a science classroom. If Darwin's theory is ever overturned, then it shouldn't be taught as science either. This wasn't a debate of religion from the scientists' perspective, but rather a defense of science.

Tales of the Talisman party pictures

Pictures from the Tales of the Talisman room party at MileHiCon are now posted on my site. So, head on over and have a laugh at my expense...

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 5 is here

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 5 is now available from Sam's Dot Publishing. This is our annual best of the web anthology, which I edit. Amazing that it's in its fifth year now.

This issue features cover art from Teresa Tunaley and features stories and poems from Keith Graham, s.c. virtes, Tyree Campbell, John Bushore, Jennifer Schwabach, L.A. Story Houry, Jonathan Alexander, Terrie Relf, Bruce Boston, William Campbell, Mike Allen, Arthur Sanchez, Cathy Buburuz, Fredrick Obermeyer, Richard Jones, Marge Simon, Matthew Bey, Lawrence Dagstine, Kristine Ong Muslim, Kevin Anderson, and t. santitoro.

There's something here for everyone, so click on the title, and that will take you right to The Genre Mall anthologies page. The titles are listed alphabetically, so I'm sure you can find this one with ease.

Henry Rollins

Saturday night I went up to Boulder to see Henry Rollins. For those of you who don't know who he is, he was in the bands Black Flag and The Rollins Band. That was where I knew him from. I had no idea he did Spoken Word tours, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm always up for something new, so I decided to go.

If you haven't seen him, I would most certainly recommend going to one of these shows, unless you're a conservative...then you might want to stay home.

He certainly didn't fit the stereotype for a "rock star," although there was quite a bit of angst!!! He was very articulate and well read, and like most "intelligent" people I've met, he realized that there's a lot more out there than any of us could ever hope to know...and thus we don't know all that much. Maybe it's easier to be ignorant.

A friend of mine once gave me an analogy about intelligence. I'm not sure if it was his, but we'll give him the credit...so this one's from Andy...

Intelligence is like a balloon. The volume of the balloon is what you know, and the surface area of the balloon is what you realize you don't know...thus the more you learn in life, the more you realize there is to learn...could be depressing because we can never actually know all that we want to know...which is what I want.

Anyway, I digress. If you get an opportunity to see Rollins, go...you won't regret it. However, getting home at midnight when you have to be at work at 5:00 AM the next morning is not something I would recommend...I was a walking coma patient all day long...but again, it was worth it.

A new sale

My story "The Mind of the Cat" has just been picked up for the June issue of Aoife's Kiss. Originally this story was to appear in an anthology called "Standing on Mars," but sadly Jim Baker passed away before the collection could be published...so it's appropriate that Aoife's Kiss would pick up the story, as the editor, Tyree Campbell, and I were both "discovered" by Jim Baker.

The Final MileHiCon Post...for now

I'm going to sum everything else up in one posting, as I'm getting tired of writing these things. As with the last few, if you really want this to make sense, scroll down to the entry titled "MileHiCon first post," and then read up from there.

Saturday night ended with a party for Tales of the Talisman. Crazy bunch of people, and unfortunately, there was a camera there, so I'm sure those pictures will be surfacing at some point. I have a feeling the Charlies Angels picture will haunt me til the day I die. If I can get my hands on the photos, I'll post them on my site, and maybe some really obnoxious ones here.

Sunday morning then came too early. I hit a couple of panels during the day, and hung out in the dealers' room, and spent a lot of time talking to people I'd met during the weekend.

As the Con was coming to a close, I realized that I'd almost managed to cover my expenses with the books I'd sold (not bad for only my second Con,) so I decided I wanted to go out and celebrate. Dawn Stanley was in the dealers' room at the time, so I invited her to dinner. (That doesn't necessarily sound good...the way that's phrased...makes it sound like I was stuck with her, but that's not what I was trying to say. I was more than happy to take her to dinner.)

In a strange twist of fate, Ed Bryant, a friend of Dawn's and a multi-award winning author, ended up going to dinner with us...and dinner lasted a looooooooooong time, but we had a great time...other than Dawn spilling her iced tea all over me.

Then the Con was over, and now I'm looking for a new Con, so if you know of some, let me know. I have a few in mind for next year, but I haven't finalized any plans yet.

And in a note to fellow writer Keith Graham...I hope these postings save a lot of kittens!!! He'll understand, but the rest of you won't...

As an epilogue to the whole MileHiCon extravaganza, I've gotten a lot of great e-mails from people I've met there. A few people have added links to my site on theirs, and it looks like I might be doing a book signing at Who Else Books sometime next year. I'll keep everyone informed as I get more information.

If you can't tell...This was one of the best experiences of my life...even returning to the job that's too dreadful to mention hasn't been able to kill my spirit yet...but give it time...it will...

Rogues and Rogue Writers

This is yet another MileHiCon post...this is getting way out of hand, but you guys wanted me to do this blog, and you wanted to know what was going on in my life...so it's your own damn fault.

Again, if you want this to make more sense, scroll down to the "MileHiCon First post," and then read up...

If you're a writer, and you're ever asked to participate in such a panel, make sure you're one of the first readers. The idea behind the panel is that each person does a brief reading of their work...emphasis on brief. I was the moderator, which basically meant that I got to go last...bad luck for me.

When the panel started, there were more than 20 people in the room. By the time I was able to read, there were four (other than the panelists.) A combination of people taking longer than they should, some bad writing, and some bad readers scared everyone off. That's not to say everything was bad. I did enjoy some of the work, but there were a few that made me cringe "in a thousand different ways."

The response to my reading (the second chapter of The Opium of the People...the torture scene) was positive...and to put it mildly, I felt much better about my writing after that panel.

Halloween imagery

Cathy Buburuz just sent me a halloween greeting as she does every year, and I loved the graphic, so here it is.

Signing

Again, this is part of the MileHiCon posts, so if you want this to make more sense, scan down to the entry marked "MileHiCon First Post," and the scroll up from there.

I had a book signing scheduled for 5 on Saturday, and it was pretty boring. I basically spent most of it talking to Alyse, Adam, Dawn, and Nina (from WhoElse Books.) A few people stopped by, including one who was more interested in Alyse than in my books...he disappeared quickly when he realized who Adam was.

I did sell one book, but that was to Dawn. I think maybe she felt like she had to buy something because she'd been picking my brain for a sociology paper she was doing. She didn't need to feel obligated...I was enjoying the conversations, but a sale is a sale is a sale, right?

After the signing, we hit the bar! Not to get drunk, but for more questions and answers for her sociology paper. Lots of fun.