Lost and Not Found – Director’s Cut – Episode 2: In which the main character convinces Tink to leave Never-never Land with him, they happen upon the villages of Titana and Old Titana along their way, then continue on until they reach Haven, find an Inn, and get a room to sleep in.

Today’s poem is another brand new, not-yet-published (because I wrote it last night) work. I’ve also posted it (in written form) to my blog, less than this… so I suppose that’s a form of publishing? Anyway, it isn’t “in print” anywhere (yet).

Lost and Not Found – Director’s Cut – Episode 1: In which the main character, fed up with life in the mundane, workaday world he’d been trying to fit into, steps of of a plane in mid-air, returns to a Never-never Land not much changed since his childhood adventures there, then has an emotional reunion with Tink.

Second Thoughts – This is a story about getting so caught up in love with someone that you stop living your own life, stop moving forward. – This is a story about finding yourself so stuck in seeking the same somebody that you become unstuck from the world. – This is a story about love, and about waiting.
 
This story is also available as a handmade, numbered limited edition chapbook at http://modernevil.com/second-thoughts/ for only $2 plus shipping.

Second Thoughts – This is a story about getting so caught up in love with someone that you stop living your own life, stop moving forward. – This is a story about finding yourself so stuck in seeking the same somebody that you become unstuck from the world. – This is a story about love, and about waiting.
 
This story is also available as a handmade, numbered limited edition chapbook at http://modernevil.com/second-thoughts/ for only $2 plus shipping.

Second Thoughts – This is a story about getting so caught up in love with someone that you stop living your own life, stop moving forward. – This is a story about finding yourself so stuck in seeking the same somebody that you become unstuck from the world. – This is a story about love, and about waiting.
 
This story is also available as a handmade, numbered limited edition chapbook at http://modernevil.com/second-thoughts/ for only $2 plus shipping.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 15: In which Larry shows Merle how sharing enlightenment and universal truth with humanity can only make things better, changing even violent criminals’ lives in an instant.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 14: In which Larry confronts the dragon Bryyt, whose arrogance and hatred has poisoned dragon teachings for millennia while holding humanity back from enlightenment.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 13: In which dragons invade America, and no man-made weapon is able even to slow down their fiery path of efficient destruction.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 12: In which Larry learns nearly everything humanity has ever put down in words.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 11: In which Merle arrives, reveals that an army of dragons is on its way to destroy America, then agrees to teach Larry everything there is to know about dragons in the hope that humanity will have some small chance against them.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 10: In which Larry and Ghadshyk discuss how Ghadshyk’s influence on a few local teachers has become a national phenomenon that is threatening to bring the economy to its knees as people everywhere become passionate about going back to school.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 9: In which Larry’s teachers reveal their intentions for his future education, and his parents reveal their continued disinterest, none of them realizing there’s a dragon in the room.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 8: Ghadshyk Comes of Age, in which Ghadshyk first reveals his scandalous relationship with a human wizard to the dragon community.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 7: In which Larry receives notes from his teachers about a meeting scheduled between them, his parents, and his dragon tutor – and discusses the implications of the note with Ghadshyk.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 6: The Second Meeting, in which Ghadshyk and Merle meet after a year and discuss what Merle has done and learned in the time he’s had.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 5: In which Ghadshyk explains the often-overlooked relationship between studying Algebra in middle school and leading a long, happy, and fulfilling life.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 4: In which Larry gets a taste of the magical security system protecting Ghadshyk’s home, learning that only dragons may enter safely on their own.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 3: The Story of the Ugly Dragon, In which Ghadshyk meets an unusual pink dragon who is revealed to be the human wizard Merle in dragon form.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 2: In which Larry, alone, is invited to enter Ghadshyk’s home, and quickly agrees that he’ll do his homework and accept tutoring in exchange for hearing the dragon’s stories.

Dragons’ Truth – Chapter 1: In which 12-year-old Larry first meets the dragon Ghadshyk.

Last Christmas – A story that follows Santa Claus as he prepares for and makes deliveries on a dark, post-apocalyptic Christmas Eve. At first Santa doesn’t know precisely what has been going on all year, but slowly the pieces begin to come together to form a picture of what remains of the world. Listen to the end to find out whether a little Christmas magic will be enough to bring holiday cheer to a world on its last legs.
 
I wrote this Christmas story in the last couple of weeks, specifically to run here in the Modern Evil Podcast. It’s a little longer than I’d hoped, but I think you’ll appreciate it.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 13: Death and Salvation – In which Melvin Spall, abandoned and alone, dreams of his own death, and Stacy joins forces with the Sergeant, discussing the true danger of the zombie outbreak with Lorraine.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 12: Rejection, Revelation – In which Melvin and Stacy gather supplies as they argue about what happened with Frances, and Melvin gets left behind once more.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 11: Together Again – In which Melvin and Stacy face a confrontation with zombies in different ways and Frances appears and suddenly attacks her cheating husband, then at sunset the Sergeant’s forces begin to assemble at Civic Center Park.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 10: Turning Around – In which Melvin walks back toward downtown to rendezvous with Stacy, and Frances’ trancelike wanderings lead her back to the grocery store where she left Melvin.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 9: Finding, Failure – In which Melvin’s solo wanderings lead him to a seemingly-safe bakery and into a situation that is more dangerous at every turn, then finds a working phone and calls Stacy.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 8: Indecision, Separation – In which Melvin and Frances get to the heart of their argument and Frances decides to leave Melvin for good, walking off into the zombie-infested streets alone.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 7: Taking, Chances – In which a couple of guys decide that the chaos of the zombie outbreak has created the perfect chance for some looting, and Melvin tries to protect his family and to gather supplies before things go horribly awry for everyone.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 6: Leaving Safety – In which a young woman wakes up in the back of a van with no idea that there’s been a zombie outbreak while she was passed out, and Melvin leads his family away from the imminent disaster of the over-crowded stadium to try to find food and shelter.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 5: Hysterics and Histrionics – In which panic leads to pandemonium, and the morning’s distressing events lead to an argument between Melvin and Frances about his cheating.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 4: Go With the Flow – In which two teenagers argue about each other’s choice of late-night sneaking around before being whisked away to Mile High Stadium for safety, and Melvin’s family gets separated from each other there when zombies are noticed inside the stadium.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 3: On the Road – In which the police attempt -ineffectively- to keep things under control on the roads leading out of Denver, and Melvin gets his family in their SUV and on the road with the zombies already spreading into his neighborhood.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 2: Breaking News – In which the local news tries to decide how to frame the story of the ongoing zombie outbreak, and Melvin’s family is awakened to see how that news show goes horribly wrong, putting Frances in a panicked state as she tries to get her family ready to escape.

Cheating, Death – Chapter 1: Trouble In Traffic – In which a truckload of zombies is spilled across I-76 on the outskirts of Denver, and Melvin Spall narrowly avoids becoming one of the first victims of the zombie outbreak.

I wrote this flash story in my attempts to get something started for NaNoWriMo; it was one of several failed attempts. This brief scene seemed pretty-well-resolved after only a few sentences, so I thought I’d share it here. Enjoy.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 10: In which the tall stranger explains Trevor’s true place in the world, Trevor’s daughters make a shocking reappearance, then without much warning an unexpected authority extracts Trevor (and other anomalies) from the room.

I’ve been feeling pretty depressed, lately, so I thought I’d read a couple poems from this collection that are in the neighborhood of how I’ve been feeling.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 9: In which Trevor and Nirgal find themselves at the End of The World Ball where Trevor addresses the crowd, sings them a song, dances with a beautiful young woman he’d never met before, and -ignoring a violent interruption- kisses her.

Cheating, Death – Appendix Z: About the Zombies
 
For more information, please visit:
http://modernevil.com/cheating-death/

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 8: In which Trevor, Nirgal, and the Gollum share memories, come up with a plan that will allow the living to escape Hell, and take the ’scenic route’ out of it.
 
Also includes a promo for Mike Luoma’s new podiobook, Alibi Jones, a science fiction adventure.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. This poem is not part of a series; this poem, ‘In Mind’, is a “found” poem – which would have been obvious to you if you’d just listen to it. :p

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 7: In which Trevor plays an intense, violent, and chaotic dodgeball game against Satan and the damned, then comes to terms with an outcome that is both somewhat less and far more than he’d expected it to be.
 
Also includes a promo for my new book, Cheating, Death, available now as an eBook and for pre-order in paperback (and coming soon to the podcast). If you like zombie books, you’ll enjoy Cheating, Death.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. This is the third of the ‘Love’ poems, and it is about the happy flowery version of love that people like to feel – but it’s also about the way modern use of the word ‘Love’ has diluted its meaning to the point of foolishness.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 6: In which Nirgal is nearly convinced to destroy the Gollum, then is reunited with his original party only to watch Trevor agree to duel the devil for a chance to free his friends.
 
Also includes promos for Calls for Cthulhu and its companion Calls For Cthulhu Podcast. Visit http://www.callsforcthulhu.com/ for more info.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. This is the second of the ‘Love’ poems, and it is also not about the happy flowery version of love that people like to feel.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 5: In which Nirgal’s first sexual encounter is transformed into an impossibly fast and visible reproductive act within an imagined biology at the whim of an ancient goddess, then finally finds out that his recent experiences may not have been at all what they’d seemed.
 
Also includes promos for Nathan Lowell’s podiobook South Coast, and for Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. This is the first of only three ‘Love’ poems from this collection (though there were other love poems that are not part of the numbered series), and you can tell I wrote it immediately after working on the ‘Homicide’ series. But that’s how love is, sometimes, right?

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 4: In which Nirgal eats breakfast, sings some more, and is drawn into an unbelievably detailed sexual encounter with a ghost-like nurse.
 
Also includes a promo for A.P. Stephens’ The Stolen Moon of Londor, and a mention of my new novel-in-progress, Cheating, Death, which you can read as I write it. Find out more at http://modernevil.com/cheating-death

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. This is the last of the ‘Homicide’ poems from this collection, and it is a bit different. After last week’s poem stuck so rigidly to the syllabic structure of the 8 poems that came before it (yes, there is a ‘drip’ for every syllable in any one of the suicide poems or the first three homicide poems), this one is … not as structured. In fact, it’s a bit nuts. Hopefully it’s exactly as nuts as its content. Enjoy.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 3: In which Nirgal discusses the size and shape of Hell with his traveling companions, then sings with a whirlwind/demon to negotiate the party’s delivery from Hell directly to the Wolyd Centre.
 
Also includes a promo for Scott Roche’s Archangel, and a mention of my new “Subscribe to Teel McClanahan III” option which you can find out more about over at http://teelmcclanahan.com/subscribe.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. Or, in the case of this experimental poem, the intention was to create an experience that felt nearly as real for listeners as for the fictional subject of the poem. This is probably my favorite of the Homicide series. Try to listen to the entire thing.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 2: In which Satan has a bit of a breakdown in front of Trevor, Jurrin battles a demonic horde of misshapen beasts, and what appears to be all four party members together flee the dark church, escaping into Hell.
 
Also includes a promo for Starla Huchton’s The Dreamer’s Thread.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. Yes, I wrote a lot of poetry about death when I was in high school. Didn’t everybody?

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell, episode 1: In which Trevor meets Satan, is distracted by his nefarious fireplace, and negotiates for the release of his party from Hell.

Also includes a promo for Wander Radio, http://wanderradio.com/.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. I intend to release an updated, annotated, edited and rewritten version of The Vintage Collection at a later date, but for now I’ll read it aloud to you in between chapters of Untrue Tales… and yes, I’m going to keep using the same descriptor text for these, because I’m a lazy bastard. The poem is what, two minutes long? Just listen to it!

Book Three starts this Friday, September 4th, 2009 on both the Modern Evil Podcast and Podiobooks.com. The following links are to the MP3 and AIFF versions of this 60 second promo for Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Three: Escape from Exile -or- Confusion and Contraction -or- How to Get Out of Hell — Please listen, share, and if you have a podcast, insert it into one of your episodes. -Then let me know you did, so I can run your promo in my feed. Thanks.
 
UTFBFRoaAP3-Promo.mp3
UTFBFRoaAP3-Promo.aif
 

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 10: In which the ongoing battle against the twins comes to a bloody and disgusting end, Sqrat is reunited with his master, and in the end the only way out is for Trevor to willingly open the doors to Hell.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. I intend to release an updated, annotated, edited and rewritten version of The Vintage Collection at a later date, but for now I’ll read it aloud to you in between chapters of Untrue Tales…

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 9: In which Trevor, after spontaneously kissing one of the wizards of the second wave, remembers how to locate Hannah, whereupon the true battle for the lives of his unborn children finally comes within his reach.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. I intend to release an updated, annotated, edited and rewritten version of The Vintage Collection at a later date, but for now I’ll read it aloud to you in between chapters of Untrue Tales…

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 8: In which Trevor and his compatriots too easily overcome the congregants of the church they’d thought was their target, meet a large two-headed woman who explains how wrong they were and who puts the challenge ahead into perspective, then inform the second wave of their invading force of wizards and warriors of their revised plans.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. I intend to release an updated, annotated, edited and rewritten version of The Vintage Collection at a later date, but for now I’ll read it aloud to you in between chapters of Untrue Tales…

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 7: In which Trevor tries to cope with experiencing Hannah’s intense labor pains while assembling a small team to attempt a rescue mission for his daughters, and they face their first challenge on the doorstep of a cathedral.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. I intend to release an updated, annotated, edited and rewritten version of The Vintage Collection at a later date, but for now I’ll read it aloud to you in between chapters of Untrue Tales…

Getting closer to getting caught up, here. I’ll try to get Episode 7 of Book Two up soon.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 6: In which Trevor’s enemies plot against him, Kay wakes up in a panic, and Trevor -upon learning the true strength of those holding his daughters captive- nearly gives up the fight.

This is another poem that was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection, which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. I intend to release an updated, annotated, edited and rewritten version of The Vintage Collection at a later date, but for now I’ll read it aloud to you in between chapters of Untrue Tales…

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 5: In which the experts at the Wolyd Centre fail to develop any solutions or ideas after a week of observation and speculation and Sunshine decides to take action, waking Trevor and Kay only to discover more dark secrets.

This poem was originally published in 2004 as part of The Vintage Collection – including short stories and poetry that I wrote as a teenager (mostly during high school), and which I copied word for word and typo-for-typo from the hand-written and hand-typed originals. The intention was, as with my other, more recent poetry collections, to capture the raw immediacy of what was captured at the time. I intend to release an updated, annotated, edited and rewritten version of The Vintage Collection at a later date, but for now I’ll read it aloud to you in between chapters of Untrue Tales…

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 4: In which Sunshine helps Trevor escape from being naked, paralyzed, and in the thrall of the hivemind, then after being psychically attacked by it they, together with Kay, go to the Wolyd Centre to get professional help.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 3: In which Trevor, Kay, and Elle experience the mind-bending sensuality of teenage sexual passion enhanced and multiplied by their intense psychic mental connections, until Trevor senses something is not quite right in his girlfriends’ minds.

Today’s podcast contains another sort of essay, this one from the “About Modern Evil” section of modernevil.com, titled ‘Available Forever (and green)’. It goes into some differences in the way Modern Evil Press approaches the business of publishing when compared to the big ‘industry leaders.’

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 2: In which the outcome of the co-ed championship game leaves the audience dumbstruck, and Trevor and his twin girlfriends go to their place and work through the inevitable awkwardness preceding any teenagers’ first time.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How to Make Love With Twins, episode 1: In which Trevor has an idea that helps his team win the National Dodgeball Championship, and the search for the mother of his unborn child continues unsuccessfully on multiple fronts.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 10: In which Trevor lets his mind wander from his last class of the day, the hospital finally informs Hannah’s parents of her condition, and the stunning conclusion of Book One sets up the events of Book Two.

Another of the several poems I wrote at Shoshone Falls, this one really takes advantage of physical form, the words creating the shape of the side of the cliff, and only the word “overlook” jutting out from it, mirroring in form what it describes. I tried to do something interesting with the shape of the words in time as I read it, to capture the feeling of the sheer drop off of the cliff, that potential plunge. I hope you enjoy.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 9: In which the tall stranger, trapped in a darkness thick and clinging like living tar, attempts to steal Trevor’s satchel, then Mrs. Leeds is confronted by Sunshine, and finally Trevor sees how interesting -and mathematical- the exploration of magical ethics can be.

Another poem from my road trip, this one written while overlooking Shoshone Falls at sunset. What you don’t get from the audio version that you would get by buying the paperback & reading the poem form the page is that this poem is shaped, on the page, like the cascading water it describes. Many of the poems in both of my Worth 1k poetry journals are similarly constructed, where the layout of the words on the page helps build the experience as much as the choice of words.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 8: In which Trevor finds that having Sunshine’s first-hand memories of watching history unfold makes sitting through a bad history class unbearable, then experiences his first direct magical attack.

Sorry this one is a couple days later than normal -though if your podcatcher is only set to check the feed once a week, you probably won’t notice the difference- it’s been a heck of a week. Been doing a lot of art & not a lot of audio work (though I did get everything set up for the launch of UTFBF-RoaAP, Book Two, next month)… This poem is really about how all the stupid details, conventions & requirements, paperwork, and government intervention in something as simple as me selling you a copy of a book or an original work of art are almost enough to make me not want to sell you anything at all. It is a lament that I’m not able to simply create without concerning myself with business.

With Book One well under way and Book Two beginning in just over a month, it’s time to start spreading the word. The following links are to the MP3 and AIFF versions of this 60 second promo for Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book Two: The Twofold Invasion -or- Penetration and Destruction -or- How To Make Love With Twins. Please listen, share, and if you have a podcast, insert it into one of your episodes. -Then let me know you did, so I can run your promo in my feed. Thanks.
 
UTFBFRoaAP2-Promo.mp3
UTFBFRoaAP2-Promo.aif
 

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 7: In which Trevor, in only a couple of highly dramatic plays, wins the dodgeball match for his team without even a basic grasp of its rules, then turns down an offer to join the school’s dodgeball team.

Today’s poem, from the second (and more personal and emotional) of the Worth 1k poetry journals, contains an obscenity. “Team building” games were just the sort of thing that desk jobs at corporations did to me to try to drive me over the edge. Sometimes they succeeded.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 6: In which Trevor attends his English class without incident, then finds himself in P.E. – where he gets a very fast and harsh introduction to Dodgeball as he’s never seen it before.

This one is actually a haiku. A semi-blasphemous haiku, depending on how you interpret it. Enjoy.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 5: In which Trevor gets ready for his first day at his new school with only a couple of missteps before he makes it out his front door, makes a good first impression in the hallway before class, and then finds himself fitting in and performing well during first hour.

This is another quick one, but from my other Worth 1k collection, capturing a bit of how I was feeling after hiking and driving around in the Utah desert most of the day (after driving most of the night).

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 4: In which Trevor is transported magically by Sqrat to a school he’d thought he’d only imagined existed, learns he’s to be a student there, and quite suddenly finds he knows more than enough magic -and the world’s secret history- to be able to fit in come Monday morning.

This is another quick poem from the second of my Worth 1k poetry journals. It’s about nostalgia, I suppose. There’s a part of town where a surprising number of the women whom I’ve had emotionally intense and meaningful relationships have been living, almost all of which while I was living (one time or another) where I live now. These neighborhoods are easily half an hour away from each other, by car, and some of these relationships occurred well before I (or they) drove. So there are a lot of memories of this drive across town, in the middle of the night, after spending time with someone I care about.
 
This poem was written on one such drive, after spending the evening with the woman who I came to marry, driving through an all-too-familiar neighborhood an experiencing an all-too-familiar feeling that spoke to me that night of all the times I’d felt that way before. Of all the times I’d thought it would become something more before, and it didn’t work out.
 
This time, it would work out; it did work out. I just didn’t know it yet.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 3: In which Trevor takes a journey of the mind, hopping from person to person and place to place at a thought, growing better and better at getting into the innermost thoughts of other people, and finally reaching the mind of Betty, one of his classmates, to try to learn what he imagines she thinks of him.

What can I say about this poem? What can I say without ruining this poem? If the poem works, if it captures the feeling of seeing that guy, of remembering that night, of fearing my own future, my own potential for aging and for ending up stuck, frozen as I was 15 years ago… If the poem does all that, then what good does a prose description of it do? What good do show notes do, for an eighty-two second episode? Listen, already! You have eighty-two seconds available. Figure out what it’s about on your own.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 2: In which Hannah experiences the most disastrous of mornings, ending up hospitalized, Trevor begins exploring the most mundane details of other people’s daily lives in his imagination with remarkable clarity, and two doctors make an unethical decision regarding Hannah’s unexpected medical mystery.

Mid-week episodes are going back to poetry from my Worth 1k poetry collections for a while, and here is the first. I know it makes them really, really short episodes, but I’m thinking I just want to do one poem at a time for a bit. I also want to try doing things like this experimental interpretation of the multiple, structural & parenthetical statements, using stereo sound to separate lines of thought from the poem. Buy the poetry book in paperback to see what this looks like on the page.

Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction to Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How to Begin an Apocalypse, episode 1: In which Trevor has a vivid sexual fantasy that the object of his imagination seems to experience as well, and the next day gets ready for and then walks to school, letting his imagination wander to a particularly ominous vision of himself being watched in an unusual, magical way, on his way there.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 31: The final chapter of FWYCR, in which Lorraine and the Sergeant discuss how all his plans and aspirations have been torn apart, seemly all at once, and then Paul and Mary discuss his putting a stop to all future attempts to undo doomsday after what happened to Fantastician in his machine.

I’ll be starting the podcast version of Untrue Tales From Beyond Fiction – Recollections of an Alternate Past, Book One: An Introduction To Dodgeball -or- Conception and Induction -or- How To Begin An Apocalypse here next Friday (The final chapter of Forget What You Can’t Remember is going up Tuesday) and I’ve begun work on a few elements for it. I’m not 100% satisfied with the music I’ve got here, and I’ve still got to do 7 flavors of 5-second transition music (for narrative breaks – I use a variety of different wingdings in the text depending on where we are and where we’re breaking to), so I welcome your feedback on the background music here – I’m planning on using it for the intros and outros of each episode.
 
You are welcome to run this promo in your own podcast to let people know about the new book, and if you advise me you’ve done so, I’ll gladly insert your promo into my own podcast. Please note that the book itself is explicit and is intended for mature audiences. Oh, and I don’t have a solid date for when it’ll start at Podiobooks.com – depends on when they have a slot free, but I’ll try to keep parity between the two feeds once that one starts.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 30: In which Paul and Fantastician discuss, over lunch, the counterintuitive repercussions of the heroic actions which saved Skythia -and the rest of the Solar System- from Brady’s doomsday devices and then, after lunch, Paul uses his machine to try to restore Fantastician’s memories.
 
For more information on the Contest mentioned in today’s episode, click here (contest has ended) to visit the official contest page.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 29: In which Fantastician flies toward the sun, and toward Brady’s doomsday device, at incredible speeds requiring his advanced knowledge of math and physics to save the day, then returns to Skythia to stop Brady’s next, nano-scale, attempt to destroy the world.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 28: In which Paul and Colm witness Fantastician’s participation in the Sergeant’s mixed martial arts competition as it takes a terrible turn, and then Fantastician briefly confronts Brady between frantic dashes to destroy his doomsday devices.
 
My blog, for those of you who didn’t get it down during my intro, is at lessthanthis.com

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 27: In which Fantastician discusses ethics, zombies, martial arts, and memory loss with Paul, before trying to help with the mathematics Paul’s machine were based on.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 26: In which Mary explains to Paul, in a way he finally begins to understand, why she doesn’t want him to use his machine on her to restore her memories of before Doomsday – but ends up leaving him, anyway.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 25: In which Brady and Colm, the mayor of Skythia, discuss how the lack of zombies in Denver will effect his plans to destroy the infested city with his Doomsday device.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 24: In which Fantastician explains his various super powers to the Sergeant, and explains the details of the Denver zombie cleanup to a group of Skythians.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 23: In which Fantastician reaches Denver and sets himself to the long, hard, solitary work of cleaning it of zombies and of the damage they wrought there.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 22: In which Fantastician encounters a battlefield whose complexities and ethical uncertainty serve mainly to unhinge him from any sense of direction or purpose, even after he takes dramatic action to bring the conflict to a rapid conclusion.
 
You can order More Lost Memories, and read the companion stories to the events in chapters 20, 21, and 22, in paperback, for your kindle, or as an eBook in nearly a dozen formats from Smashwords.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 21: In which Fantastician interrupts a group of murderous thieves as they storm a Kwytzwik Temple, and finds himself thrust further along his path of realizing the oblivion he hadn’t noticed in himself.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 20: In which the deep personal and ethical quest of Fantastician (also known as Job) begins with a chance encounter in a deep, dark forest that climaxes in a nearly failed rescue.
 
For those of you who read and/or listened to Lost and Not Found, yes, this is the same character that you know from that book. What is he doing here? Stay tuned to find out! (Or buy the paperback, and find out now!)

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 19: In which the Sergeant discusses the subtle and complicated smellscape his dangerous animals habitat will be employing with the scent expert installing the system that will create it, and then discusses the competitive mixed martial arts group that he’s found himself having to create.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 18: In which Paul and Mary discuss his ideas about trying to build a machine capable of restoring memories -and perhaps also people, places, and things- from before Doomsday removed them from the world.
 
You can find more information about Art Detour, coming up March 6-8th, by doing a google search for “art detour Phoenix“, as the official site, artlinkphoenix.com is pretty much useless. I’ll be showing among the vendor booths that run along Garfield between 4th & 6th and down both 5th & 6th Streets between Garfield and McKinley (Roosevelt Row) on Friday night between 6PM & 11PM, and then I’ll be in the parking lot between the Eye Lounge and Modified Arts (on Roosevelt between 4th & 5th) on Saturday from 10AM to 6PM and on Sunday from Noon to 6PM. I’ll have my art on display, and I’ll also have my books available for sale (and signing) if you’re interested. I hope to see you there!

UPDATE: I accidentally attached the wrong file to the podcast – please re-download this episode to listen to chapter 17!
 
Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 17: In which Paul and Brady get into further detail about Brady’s dissociative disorder, consider the fine line between perception and awareness, and Brady reveals his idea of something worth living for.
 
Also: The image on the book’s cover was partially inspired by a scene in this chapter, and partially by how the concept explored in that scene applies to the entire experience of reading this book.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 16: In which Mary discovers the disreputable background of Paul’s psychiatrist, she and Paul discuss the actual cause of his mental unbalance, and they read his mysteriously surviving novel about the Doomsday come and gone.
 
The social media site for book readers I mentioned in my intro today is Goodreads, and I encourage anyone who enjoys books (paper books, eBooks, audio books, whatever) to take a look.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 15: In which Lance and Brady discuss Paul’s relationship with Mary, some of the extreme body modifications available in Skythia, and the challenge of getting into Skythia’s top culinary school without good references.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 14: In which Lorraine and the Sergeant discuss his plans to clone rare and extinct dangerous creatures and fight them, in a series of cage matches, to the death.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 13: In which Paul and Brady meet coincidentally in the lobby of a psychiatrist’s office and discuss disappointment, disassociation, and Skythia’s radical, pro-active resident wellness program.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 12: In which Lance refutes Brady’s paranoid suspicion that Skythia must have a dark underbelly or some secretly repressed group on board, and Paul has a panic attack so severe it results in an emergency medical response.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 11: In which the Sergeant and Lorraine discuss the personal and political ramifications of living in Skythia.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 10: In which Paul and Mary walk the circumference of Skythia while discussing the silence and distance still lingering about her, two weeks after the rescue at Denver.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 9: In which Paul, Mary, and other survivors of the zombie outbreak begin going through Skythia’s full orientation while waiting for their quarantine period to end before they are allowed into the city proper.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 8: In which the survivors in Denver prepare for Skythia’s arrival, Paul arranges to be among the Skythians heading to the surface to meet them, and then Paul and Mary meet for the first time.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 7: In which, on the third day after hiding the world and the time from Skythia, Paul gives the go-ahead to switch everything back on and look around, allowing Skythians to find out that Denver has been lost to zombies.
 
The link to the discounted books mentioned in the podcast, for those of you who haven’t taken a moment to look around the site, is http://modernevil.com/books-on-sale/

I’m giving away 5 copies of my new novel, Forget What You Can’t Remember, through Goodreads‘ First Reads program. “How can I be the lucky recipient of one of these free books,” you ask? It’s easy:
 
1) Sign up for a Goodreads account.
 
1b) Actually use your account; put in books you’ve read, are currently reading, want to read, write reviews, and otherwise participate!
 
2) Go here and click ‘Enter to win’.
 
No, really, it’s that easy to enter. Then, at the end of the month (ie: January 31st, 2009) Goodreads will work its mojo and semi-randomly select 5 people to receive free books. ((They have an algorithm and everything: “Goodreads will collect interest in the book, and select winners at our discretion. Our algorithm uses member data to match interested members with each book.”)) Then I’ll ship out the books personally to the winners, and they’ll bask in the wordy-goodness that is the new book.
 
For those of you who either a) don’t win, or b) don’t like paper books, but still don’t feel like paying: Please feel free to enjoy the free serialized audio version of the novel, either by signing up for the Modern Evil Podcast or by going to Podiobooks.com and signing up for either the default feed (which gives you episodes as I post them) or a custom feed (and get episodes on your own schedule). The free eBook version should be available in February, 2009, as well. Enjoy!

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 6: In which Lance and Brady, while running through the zombie-infested streets of Denver, discuss their current predicament.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 5: In which Skythia’s navigation and timekeeping systems are all either shut off or randomized -to keep any Skythians from being able to see or even know when Doomsday hits- and Colm shows Paul the city’s transportation network and its awe-inspiring skyline.
 
Sorry the episode is coming so late, today. Glad I could get it up before midnight on Tuesday, though – I like being able to say I’ve stuck to the schedule I set for myself. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 4: In which the Sergeant first hears about a zombie outbreak near Denver he’s partially responsible for, we learn that he ended up with Lorraine rather than Mary, and Lance and Brady set out to try to finish their training in time to face the Denver outbreak.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 3: In which Paul makes his escape from the Doomsday he’s been predicting, arriving via private flight to Skythia -a flying city- in the middle of the night and being met by the city’s Mayor, Colm O’Reiley, who is eager to do whatever it takes to protect the city.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 2: In which Paul and Eddie discuss the financial viability of the novel which Paul wrote in less than a month about the Doomsday now only a few days away.
 
In my intro I mention the Phoenix First Fridays Art Walk; if you’re actually thinking of heading down, I show in the “Roosevelt Row” street closure, usually on 5th Street, between Garfield and McKinley (Garfield is a block South of Roosevelt). The Art Walk runs from about 6PM to 10PM (or 11PM, depending on when the police open the road closure) on the first friday of every month. As soon as I finish uploading this, I’m going to go load my car; I hope to see you there – If not this month, then soon.

Forget What You Can’t Remember, chapter 1: In which Lance sets Brady straight about the zombie survival training camp they’re both headed to, Mary talks Lorraine into attending the same camp with her, and the two head trainers there discuss running the camp without the Sergeant.
 
Note: If you downloaded this on 1/1/09, you may want to re-download it. The audio has been updated, with a new voice for Brady and with part 2 of chapter 1 completely re-recorded. Wondering which version you have? If Brady sounds like Lorraine, you have the old one. If Brady sounds slow/tired/confused, you have the new one.

The final episode of Lost and Not Found, in which the police break in to the main character’s house at Ariadne’s anxious request, the doomsday Paul predicted in Episode 1 comes to pass right on schedule, and in which -ten years later- we find out about Tink and the main character’s life together in Haven on their final day there.

In which the main character and Tink get a glimpse of their future together, get engaged, and find themselves surrounded at their engagement party by friends and neighbors they didn’t know they had, and then in which Ariadne calls Sally, panicked that the main character may finally have killed himself.

Also including the details of my plans for next week, including putting the final episode of Lost and Not Found on the Modern Evil Podcast on Tuesday (3 days before it goes live at Podiobooks.com) and then the first chapter of my new book, Forget What You Can’t Remember at midnight on 1/1/09 – with the second chapter going live on the morning of 1/2/09. That’s three episodes next week, and the exciting beginning of a new novel in the feed!

The last two poems in the feed for 2008, also from Worth 1k — Volume 2. The first one is actually somewhat fun/humorous, and is a sort of a meta-meta-poem. Post-post-modern, or post- Post-post-modern, perhaps. (Yes, I think piling repetitive tags on things like that is silly. So is my poem, intentionally about a breakdown in meta-.) The second poem is more personal. A look at how I sometimes bury myself in a world of numbers and math to escape from or distract from the world, or simply to give my mind something to do when (especially at a boring day job) there’s literally no challenge to getting the job done.

Nowadays, I still find myself scrawling notebooks full of numbers, column after column of hard-calculated numbers, the explanation of which just makes other peoples’ heads hurt (though not for mathematical sophistication; I’ve never taken any really advanced math classes), but -lately- which produces an end result of interesting and/or beautiful music. (I’ve been composing intro/outro and bed music for my podcasts mathematically.)

In which the main character and Tink get dressed, exchange introductions with Trunk, the two-headed inkeeper, and then visit Haven’s old museum.

Also including a promo for Steampod, a fiction podcast featuring steampunk stories – with a Christmas themed steampunk story hitting tomorrow, December 20th.

I’ve got another two poems for you this week, from my poetry book, Worth 1k — Volume 2. These two poems capture experiences I had at work. One is about the actual experience of the work itself, and the other is more a visual snapshot of something that was going on outside my window.

In which the main character and Tink reach Haven, find an Inn and get a room, have a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast, and take a bath before washing the dishes.

Also includes the promo for Quarter Share, by Nathan Lowell – the first Podiobook in a series of SciFi books you may enjoy.

The first two poems from Worth 1k — Volume 2. I tried to do a bit of stereo effect to clarify some of the structure of the poem on the page (see this preview of the poem to get an idea), and I think the MP3 compression caused a bit of weirdness. For the best effect, I recommend buying the book (it’s only $9.99) and reading the poetry from the page – though I may someday release an audioCD version of the poetry book, which would not have MP3 compression weirdness. Feel free to leave feedback in the comments.

In which Sally and Ariadne discuss the main character’s disappearance, and in which he convinces Tink to leave Never-never Land with him, soon after which they happen upon the villages of Titana and Old Titana, meeting an amicable Titan along the way.

This week’s mid-week episode contains two poems (no, not the first two in the book) from Worth 1k — Volume 2. I picked them because the first is about the differences between Volume 1 and Volume 2, and the second relates to the late nights I’ve been having, lately. I think I’m going to do a couple more poems here, and then Forget What You Can’t Remember will begin, and I’m thinking of doing something different with that.

Almost definitely, something different will include posting the final episode of Lost and Not Found on the Modern Evil Podcast several days before it hits Podiobooks.com. Just a few more weeks, now!

In which the main character, remembering the first time he’d met Peter Pan, steps out of a plane in mid-air… and then in which he returns to Never-never Land for an emotional reunion with Tink.

I think this is my favorite episode of Lost and Not Found so far, though perhaps because I got to do voices for it. Although it added a lot more time to the recording and editing, I really like the way Peter and Tink’s performances came out in the end.

This short story, from the upcoming collection More Lost Memories, may not make a lot of sense. It has a lot of made-up words (actually no: It has the names of a lot of nations and species that only exist in the universe of these books; nothing but proper nouns have been invented for this one), plus it’s dealing with complex rights issues that don’t apply to you (so you might not be interested enough to care enough to try to understand them), and despite being only about 20 minutes in length it has three breaks each representing several months’ time passage.

Please remember that this may not be the final version of the story. This is something I wrote for NaNoWriMo within the last two weeks, and have spent roughly no time editing. If you have questions or suggestions, please comment!

In which the main character faces harsh criticism from the other people in his local writing group for the somewhat controversial content of his novel, following which he decides once again to set aside his novel in progress and go in a new direction.

Saturday, November 22, 2008
10:00am – 4:00pm
4839 E Greenway Rd, Scottsdale, AZ
(SE Corner of Greenway & Tatum)

This is, so far, my favorite of the short stories I’ve written for this collection. It centers around one of the seven main characters in Forget What You Can’t Remember, Lance, who I felt didn’t get enough time in the novel and didn’t really get to show his full journey just because it wasn’t particularly related to the path of that book’s story. So you get a look at it here. Currently called ‘Self Serve’, this story is one that will probably keep the same name when it appears in the print version of More Lost Memories. Enjoy.

In which the main character’s continuing second attempt to write a novel in a month follows his first long distance relationship and includes several more of his saved love letters and the details of how David finds himself falling in love with Renee in time to do something about it.

In this short story (written last week, for NaNoWriMo), we get a look at a situation that never gets fully explained, not in this story and not in the corresponding scenes in the companion novel, currently titled Forget What You Can’t Remember. It’s possible that what you’re left with here is so far from making sense that it’s a complete failure – if you think so, please leave a comment or send me an email. Heck, I’d appreciate a comment or email if you thought it was great, too.

I’m pretty sure that this story makes more sense if you’ve read the novel, and that the novel makes more sense if you read this story. I’m also pretty sure that this story doesn’t belong in the novel, and duplicating what the novel shows by putting it in the short story wouldn’t be appropriate, either.

In which the main character shows up to another less-than-encouraging write-in, and in which he writes about a dark turn his romantic life had taken, a strange one, and then into what turned into his first long-distance relationship.

For National Novel Writing Month this year, I’m writing a collection of short stories, all connected to the novel I just finished writing in October (probably called Forget What You Can’t Remember, though no titles are yet final) in that they take an idea or character or background element and expand or focus in to give depth to that novel’s world and tell more of the stories that take place there. I expect to release both the novel and the short story collection in December, 2008. The current name of the short story collection is More Lost Memories, and for the next month or two I’m going to be giving you previews of its stories here in these mid-week episodes.

I don’t want to overwhelm you too quickly by going right into one of the longer ones (although admittedly I haven’t finished any of the longer ones quite yet), so today I’ve recorded the shortest story. It’s only 825 words long.

I hope you enjoy it.

In which David -the protagonist of the main character’s second attempt at writing a novel, a thinly veiled fictionalization of his own love life- meets, dates, finds love with, and loses Dawn.

Another two poems from Worth 1k — Volume 1 today, both written at Delicate Arch itself, and neither of which written about Delicate Arch itself. The first poem, about the wind, captures something about the experience of Delicate Arch that a photograph of a rock formation doesn’t. The air there is (usually) clear, so there’s nothing blowing by to show how hard the wind blows, visually – but with words, with poetry, it’s no big thing to express something that -though invisible- easily dominates a person’s experience.

In which the main character, after a disappointing meeting with the other writers, and after writing a disappointing meeting between his superhero character Job and the journalist from the beginning of his story, becomes so disillusioned that he gives up on that story and starts a new one from scratch, this time about his own past relationships, writing them out with all the intimate, personal details he can recall.

Saturday, October 25, 2008
10:00am – 4:00pm
4839 E Greenway Rd, Scottsdale, AZ
(SE Corner of Greenway & Tatum)

Today’s mid-week episode features another two poems from Worth 1k — Volume 1. These two are poems I wrote as I made my way along the 1.5 mile trail between parking and one of the most famous arches at Arches National Park, Delicate Arch. You can see a picture of me standing next to Delicate Arch taken by my wife this summer (2008) when I returned Arches National Park. Unlike the feeling captured in the first of today’s poems, this year’s trip was transformed by sharing it with someone else.

In which the main character, despite finally getting a chance to meet with and write with other writers, begins to lose faith in his ability to write a superhero’s story properly -especially after doing a bit of research on the subject of superheroic story arcs- and during the course of which he writes about Job’s discovery of super strength, extremely rapid healing, and his first steps toward designing his costume.

As promised, the URL for National Novel Writing Month is NaNoWriMo.org. Check it out!

Monday night I finished typing up the first draft of my new novel. (I’m still working on a name – what do you think of “Forget What You Can’t Remember”?) I wrote the entire thing on a manual typewriter, an Olivetti TROPICAL, which is to say ‘on paper, with ink.’ In between other projects and errands in the last two days, I’ve read the entire thing from start to finish. Out loud. Mostly to myself and to the cat. But it sounds pretty good, and I think it’s self-consistent, well-resolved, and perhaps yet another novel without an easy answer to the question “What’s it about?”

Briefly: It’s a followon to Lost and Not Found, though not a direct sequel. There are roughly two characters in common between the two books, and the main character from Lost and Not Found does not appear at all in this new one; it has an entirely new cast of characters and settings. It begins with the event that changed the world at the end of Lost and Not Found, and with zombies, but soon the story follows the characters to the flying city of Skythia while delving into the ways these various characters respond to both what has happened to them and the strange environment they now find themselves in. Going back to their old ways, moving on with their lives, lashing out against a system and a world they don’t understand, falling in love, or simply going a bit mad in a mad, mad world – the several interconnected characters’ journeys are really the heart of the story.

I’m about to start re-typing the whole thing into my computer. I haven’t decided how and when to first make it available, but I know for sure that it’ll be available in all the formats I have to offer: Paperback, eBook, and audiobook. I’m also planning on writing a companion book in November (for NaNoWriMo, actually), a collection of short stories which will tell stories somewhat perpendicular to the main thread of this novel. That is, where the novel follows closely the lives of its ensemble cast, especially re: the main progression of events, the short stories will help to build out the world the story takes place in, adding richness in the periphery of that story by telling stories that intersect with it. So, for example, in one chapter of the novel a superhero interrupts a mysterious, murderous heist at a Kwytzwyk Temple, and it changes his outlook on justice and ethics – and I want to write the story of the thieves, their previous exploits, and to give a lot more detail on the specifics of the Kwytzwyk religious practices and beliefs; all things that weren’t relevant to the main story of the novel, but which is a narrative with details worth exploring. (Playing around with a title for that gives me things like “More To Forget” and “More Memories For Forgetting”…)

The first two of these poems were written at the South Window in the Windows area of Arches National park in Utah, and the other was written not far around the corner from there, at the Garden of Eden Viewpoint. The first two are actually intended to be in the form of a modified Haiku (or Tanka), with three short lines together followed by a pair of additional short lines. This is a form I go back to often, especially in these poetry journals, because it allows me to craft the entire poem and hold it in my mind as I take in the experience, without having to stop experiencing to put it down in words. The brevity also usually helps enhance clarity, as I am forced to try to get my thoughts, feelings, impressions and observations encapsulated within such a small space.

Though the middle poem is certainly not my favorite from this book… Feel free to share your opinion in the comments section, below.

In which the main character writes a sort of origin- or back- story for his superhero character, Job, detailing the secrets of his birth and early life, and later writes about Job’s experimentation with flight and super-sight, far from civilization.

These two poems are the first two written in the ‘Windows’ area of Arches National Park, in Utah. They try to capture my first impressions of the North Window and the Turret Arch areas.

In which the main character continues writing Job’s story of discovering his powers, and then goes through a ridiculously disorganized job interview experience.

Also containing a promo for ScatterPod Dark, by a Twitter-friend of mine, @Bekemeyer who helped me out earlier this year with getting up-and-running with producing and distributing my audiobooks as podcasts. Without his support, and the support of many other people like him (who I will also be running promos for, in the future), this podcast probably wouldn’t exist. Thanks.

If you have a podcast or blog (or whatever) and would like to help spread the word about the Modern Evil Podcast, please download the promo linked below — and then let me know you did; I’ll gladly play your promo in a future episode, link to your podcast or blog (or whatever), and otherwise try to share the love.

You feedback is welcome – I’m still getting the hang of podcasting and marketing and all that goes into this, so if there’s a problem or something I could do better here, please let me know. Thanks.

Three poems, all written at the same stop on my road trip: Balanced Rock at Arches National Park, in Utah.

Saturday, September 27th, 2008, from about 10AM to 3PM
SE corner of Greenway & Tatum (in N. Phx / Scottsdale)
Sponsored by Angel’s Serenity & Intatto Coffee

Intatto Coffee will be closed -the owners have to leave town somewhat last-minute- but this is part of their semi-regular local Art Walk series. I also showed at their August Art Walk. It’s a very casual atmosphere, relatively little foot traffic compared to downtown (more on that in a moment), so it’s easier to take your time and really look at everything that’s being shown. I’ll be glad to talk with you about all my different books, and my art, and would even be glad to do readings if you like. I’m also told there will be live music by Amber Gaia, so it should be pleasant all around.

Friday, October 3rd, 2008, from about 6PM to 10PM
I’ll be in the “Roosevelt Row” street closure / booths area
(Either on Garfield between 4th & 6th, or on 5th S. of Garfield)

This is part of the Phoenix First Fridays Art Walk, and October is when “art season” really seems to start in Phoenix, so I expect a lot of foot traffic and big crowds, despite the downturning economy. I’ll still be glad to talk to you about any of my art, or my books, but I am definitely aware that a lot of people coming to the Art Walk downtown want to try to “see everything” and don’t want to stand still too long. It’s a lot of fun, especially if you like crowds and people-watching with your arts and crafts. I spoke to the Roosevelt Row organizers today and am told that there will be a stage set up at the end of 5th Street with live music.

I bought some interesting 4×4″ canvases today, and I’m going to try to have them ready for sale before the Art Walk on the 27th. I want to put as much effort into them as I would for any of my other pieces, but to have art that’s priced a little cheaper, probably $15 each. (Unless I do something weird/sculptural/with-lights to them…) I’ve tried to keep all my art at affordable prices, and while I’ve been creating larger and larger pieces (with larger and larger prices), I’d also like to do some smaller pieces with smaller prices, to suit a wide range of budgets. Come out and see what I come up with!

In which the main character’s novel begins, following the story of a man discovering that he has super powers by accident, and during the writing of which only one other person shows up for the meeting, and then only to bring further disappointment.

The next two poems from Worth 1k — Volume 1.

In whi