“A Choir Of Ill Children” by Tom Piccirilli

It was that title that caught my interest. It’s brilliant, evocative, and I wish I had thought of it. What a perfect Gruntsplatter song title. . . and so it fermented my brain, teasing and prodding my curiosity

I stumbled on a used copy of the Night Shade hardcover edition, in great shape, for $10 a few months ago and snatched it up. I’d draw it from the shelf now and then to admire the title and Caniglia cover art, then put it back for another day.

An opportunity to have a story critiqued by Mr. Piccirilli is what got me to excavate it from the “to be read” pile. I had only read a handful of his short stories, and I wanted to get a better idea of where his vision was coming from before I saw his critique.

It’s an impressive vision. A Choir Of Ill Children takes place deep in the superstitious bayou. It’s a degenerate world of swamp witchery, the ghosts and demons of family, and transcendent loyalty.

It’s Piccirilli’s sense of place and characterization that impressed me. He’s sculpted a rich world steeped in the sense of history that’s so important to the numerous story threads.  His character’s, each of them haunted in their own way, are authentic. The story weaves in a lot of things I have a personal affection for  – bog witches, the resonance of landmarks, the inherent creepiness of small towns, shabby carnivals, and so on – Piccirilli paints them with vivid colors.

The story is dense, some threads that seem crucial at the beginning end up not being as significant as the book evolves. They are introduced as catalysts for something else, and then fade into the background. If I had a gripe, it would be that. There is more that could have been done with some of the threads, or they could have been removed if they weren’t as important as suggested. They do add to the texture of the world and the personality of the large cast though, and that texture and personality is how A Choir Of Ill Children worms into your guts.

Piccirilli’s vision and captivating prose, earns A Choir Of Ill Children a home among other notable Southern Gothics. There are various editions that have been released since it was first published, and I’m not sure what’s in print and what’s not, but you should go find out.

Mythoscon Recap

Towering, primeval arachnid limbs cloaked within palm trunks, diabolical spores in the shifty guise of citrus fruit, an airport flight path spitting forth chromed Nightgaunts at clockwork intervals and a desk clerk who informed us that in the hotel courtyard we would need not worry about the DEA. (seriously – and for the record, the DEA is about the last thing in the world I worry about.)

Readings I attended:
Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire – Read three sonnets from his forthcoming 37,000 word response to Lovecraft’s Fungi From Yuggoth. Here is some more info on the complete work from Wilum’s site. His presentation was engaging and personal with some entertaining asides, really enjoyable.

Richard Gavin - Richard read The Abject, a new piece slotted to appear in S.T. Joshi’s forthcoming Black Wings II. I look forward to reading this powerful piece in print to fully absorb the atmosphere, powerful visuals and isolation presented in the reading.

Simon Strantzas – Simon read In The Air, A poignant story of grief and loss. from the recent reissue of his first book Beneath The Surface from Dark Regions Press. It was nice to hear this read as I had recently finished Beneath The Surface.

Matt Cardin – presented The Stars Shine Without Me from his collection Dark Awakenings issued by Mythos Books. This tale of alienation, the power of absent minded creativity and corporate horror was one of my favorites from his collection, and was a treat to hear read in person.

Michael Cisco – Michael Cisco is someone I hadn’t read going in, but expected I would like once I had. His reading was the highlight of the convention for me. He read, I believe, Violence, Child of Trust from the anthology Black Wings (I know it was from Black Wings, but I didn’t note if it was from the original or the forthcoming edition). It was nearly a one man show in presentation. The delivery and content were as dramatic and emotional as a I think one person sitting behind a small table could be. He was riveting and the prose infectious, I left there knowing I needed to read as much of his work as I can get my hands on.

Rick Dakan – Rather than a reading, Rick spoke of his process of writing and gathering experiences for his novel The Cthulhu Cult: A Novel Of Lovecraftian Obsession that was funny and impressive in its scope. Check out Rick’s Lovecraftian Obsession Podcast if you haven’t for some nice interviews with the likes of Wilum Pugmire, Laird Barron and others.

Panels I Attended:
Contemporary Mythos Fiction I – Featured Wilum Pugmire, Cody Goodfellow, Robert M. Price and Ann Schwader.  They gave folks like Joe Pulver, Sr. Stanley Sargent & Lin Carter a lot of love in their panel.

Contemporary Mythos Fiction II – This featured Richard Gavin, Simon Strantzas, Rick Dakan and Lois M. Gresh. This was another highlight for me (even at 9am Sunday morning). They dealt with the subtler influences of Lovecraft. Gavin sparked a great discussion by raising Alan Moore’s concept of Ideaspace. This was a discussion I was hoping to hear, and one that made a greater impression on me than simply retreading the Mythos and the minutiae of Lovecraft’s life.

Small Press Panel I & II – I was hoping for a little more vision from these panels. There was more mistrust of technology f than I expected and from some members a feeling that the major publishing houses focus on blockbuster books was a good thing for the small press. I’m not sure I agree with that, particularly that limited (expensive) books will keep their niche safe. There wasn’t a lot of talk about reaching out and trying to grow the small press aside from the Perilous Press folks who seem to have a really good perspective on what they are doing. (hmm – tried to link the Perilous Press site and apparently it’s down)

Personal Highlights:

This was the first Mythoscon, and while I suspect the organizers would have liked a larger turnout, Adam Niswander and his crew put together a great event. Adam was a gracious host, and personally stopped 2-3 times just to make sure my wife and I were enjoying ourselves. It was my first convention and his team made created something memorable.

I was able to speak with some of my favorite authors, each of whom were gracious and tolerant of me… stood next to Ramsey Campbell at the buffet… got to see the original artwork for Laird Barron’s Occultation in person… picked up some great books (Centipede Press’s table was as delectable as I feared)

I left feeling invigorated, inspired, and eager to tell stories. I’m hopeful that some of the acquaintances I made or reinforced will continue, and I’m pleased to have had the chance to see first hand the passion for weird tales is alive and well.

2010 Writing

At this time last year, I set a goal for myself – write one short story a month. If I hadn’t learned anything this year I could have done that. They wouldn’t have been very good, but I could have pulled it off. Fortunately, I did learn a lot this year, and while I don’t have 12 stories to wave around I do have a few.

Throughout the year, I continued to take classes from Michael Knost, continued to write, and read as much fiction as I could (post forthcoming). Nearly every class had me wanting to rewrite something that came before it. Now, at the end of another year of study, I feel fortunate to have a very sound tool box to draw from.

There are about half a dozen pieces that are done or nearly done, and several other fragments that class obligations (which also produced completed work) prevented me from finishing. A couple of which are closer to chapbooks or novelette’s than short stories. I am looking forward to wrapping those up in the first part of the new year .

I sent out my first submission in August, followed that up with a couple more, and currently have a couple of things out for consideration. No sales yet, but as I said somewhere before, if you see me dancing the Charleston on a flagpole at any point you can assume that changed. This coming year I’ll make submission a higher priority I suspect.

When I look at the year, I understand much better how to tell the stories my way, how to stitch together the amorphous ideas and what my muse is expecting me to convey. Gruntsplatter, all my music really, is built on a foundation concepts and themes, transcribing those into something coherent befuddled me for a long time. I’m starting to understand now.

Looking ahead to next year, that is my goal. Not word count, not acceptances, but writing stories in my voice, conveying my ideas as best I can, and applying that tool box to greater effect. The other stuff will come if I can manage that.

I need to thank the friends, family and those in the field… who have been there with simple words, first reads, and worldly wisdom for their faith and support. My wife most of all.

Next year starts with my first convention attendance. Thomas Ligotti Online asked me to do one of their member interviews (a 20 questions thing), that should show up on their boards in mid-January. I have a head full of ideas I’m looking forward to purging. If I do it well enough, perhaps I’ll be able to share them with you.

Conventions?

I’ve not been to a genre convention. Recently, I labored to the conclusion that I needed to attend Mythoscon in Phoenix. My folks live in that part of the world, and just look at that list of attendees. Two birds.

I have no idea what to expect. I’m not an autograph hound, and while several of my favorite writers will be attending, I don’t fawn over people in the fan boy sense. I’ve got nothing I’m trying to sell, and no track record to point at that gives me any sort of credibility. So why am I going? Does that justify the enormous expense?

I don’t know.

The convention experience, I’m told, is the best way to network. That hit the ground running, synergistic* lingo is the kind of thing that makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to selfishly “network.” I would like to have a few good conversations and simply say thank you to those who’ve written things that have stayed with me. Maybe the difference is only in my head, I’ll have to check the optics on that.

It is a bit nerve racking. I’m going to try to go into it without expectations, and the simple goal of leaving the vendor’s room with the shirt still on my back and all my organs in the same place they were when I arrived. Stay tuned on that one.

All of this said, I am looking forward to it. Whether it is worth the debt will sort itself out in time. It should be invigorating if nothing else, in the end, I suspect that in itself will feel like it was worth it.

*the fact that “synergistic” clears the spell check is upsetting and vulgar.

Writing vs. Music: Labels and Publishers

Since making writing a serious focus, I have tried to find parallels between small press publishers and underground record labels. Chances are if you’re reading this it’s because you found the site via my own music or because of something I released on Crionic Mind. I understand underground music and labels pretty well I think, so I keep hoping that familiarity will assist in finding a foothold in the publishing world.

There are similarities in the spirit of both worlds, but the machinations really are pretty different. This will be the first of a couple posts looking at those differences. The more I look into it the greater the differences become.  The soul of the participants share common ground but the approach and relationships are unique.
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Underground music for this discussion refers to experimental music, dark ambient, lesser known metal, punk, industrial etc. Music that is released by small labels that operate out of the corner of the labels owners house. Limited edition releases that end up somewhere near the high/low mark of 1,000 copies,  There are publishing companies that fit this description as well, good ones.

Underground music functions more or less on a barter economy. Labels and distributors trade merchandise more often than not rather than buying from each other at wholesale rates. This allows each to diversify their mail orders while being able to put any real money into releasing new product. Bands or projects are usually paid in product that they can then sell. There are exceptions, but much of the music is obscure enough, and the pressings small enough, that a royalty arrangement is essentially agreeing to do it for free.

If you aren’t familiar with my music and found this through a tag search, there is a discography in the side bar. I never signed a contract, never received a check for any of it. I received product. This worked for me because with running the label I was able to convert my releases into other releases and build a nice mail order catalog (that I will get online again at some point). The bands I did releases for -  I would take care of the artwork and mastering if they wanted, but I paid them in product. No one even raised the issue of money because we all knew how it worked.

I’ve been releasing music since 1995, and recording it longer than that. What did I get out of this model? Reviews, contacts, interviews and friends on every continent but Antarctica. It helped me build a record label that  garnered some amount of respect, had an identity and supported itself. It put me in touch with people who remain friends and inspirations and people who I think might say the same about me. Those things have a value,  but none of them pay my bills. For what I do soundtracks are perhaps the one area that could be lucrative, even then there are a lot of variables.
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I’ve not yet published anything, in fact I have not yet submitted anything, though that time is near.  These impressions are based on the extensive research, market reports, submission guidelines, classes and the advice and comments of those who have.

With publishing, the battle cry is that the money flows to the author. If you publish something you aren’t paid for it’s seen as an invalid writing credit by many. If you self publish, it’s viewed with scorn and can work against you when you submit through the established channels. The editors and publishing houses have determined the chain of worth. It counts if they say it counts.

Print on demand services and e-publishing  have made it easier than ever to self publish, just as affordable home recording software, mp3′s and cdr’s made it easier to make and spread music. The distaste for self publishing comes from the amount of sub par writing that surfaces there. There is so much garbage that the gems are not worth the energy it takes to find them. However, I’ve read books published by reputable houses that contained work I’d have been embarrassed to show anyone. It’s not that published work is better, just that it is more likely to be better.

There is a saying, the hardest book to sell is your second book. Publishers will take a chance on new writers, but once you are published your track record is established. If you aren’t able to sell through your first pressing, your opportunities become more limited. Other publishers have access to the sales numbers for books published by other houses. Not only are your chances diminished with your original publisher if you don’t sell through, they are hurt with prospective publishers. This is with marketing budgets nearly non-existent in the small press world and the responsibility falling to the writer to hustle their work.

Joe Konrath, has a blog called A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing that makes a case for ignoring some of this conventional wisdom and ways to get the money flowing to the author without filtering it through the publishing houses. Paul Jessup had a nice bit of musing on the state of publishing recently on his blog as well. The model is going to change because the tools exist now in such a way that it will have no choice. There will always be garbage on the market, but the time will come when it is the market that determines what is garbage and what is not.

R. Thomas Riley has a post on the Apex Books blog regarding the differences between writing and publishing which I think is a good place to wind this down. This is incomplete, and maybe even ignorant. I wrote it for myself as much as anyone else. Having had success, at least as I measure it, with music and exploring this new parallel underground is an odd thing. There are more rules and more divides. Right now my goal is to write well. I will try to publish. Whether I am successful at that end of it or not I will still try to write well.

To be continued…

Richard Gavin

I recently finished Omens (published by  Mythos Books )  by Richard Gavin, and wanted to sound the horn for him.  The 12 stories here showcase a diverse and peculiar dread. Gavin has some great ideas  and his command of language and tone made this a quite enjoyable.

His work has been compared to such shambling giants of the macabre as H.P. Lovecraft,  and Edgar Allan Poe and Thomas Ligotti and Omens deserves such comparisons. It’s not as nihilistic as Ligotti, or as cosmic as Lovecraft. Of the three, I’d place it closest to Poe. The pervasive creep factor that each of those writers possess is present in Richard Gavin.  His imagination is impressive and unique, and he does a really nice job of overlaying that strange darkness into a modern setting.

I’m always looking for more writers that capture this side of horror. The current crop of writers that are making waves seem more straight forward. That is not to say they are unskilled or not to be enjoyed.  I have just always favored more obscure tales of secrets, nightmares, and oddities and Gavin impressed me.

He has a brand new collection entitled The Darkly Splendid Realm (published by Dark Regions) that I’m anxious to get my hands on. The introduction was written by Laird Barron (who I swear I will do a post on one of these days). It was Barron’s involvement that brought Richard Gavin’s name to my attention and I’m grateful for it.

http://www.richardgavin.net/

Eyes Wide Pus

A crony of mine did the 48 Hour Film Festival last weekend. This is what they came up with.  From no idea to finished film in 48 hours.

Dark Dreamers

I just recently learned of this series. Dark Dreamers is a collection of interviews with several of the strongest minds in horror. The interviews are conducted and compiled by Stanley Wiater, considered by many to be one of the leading journalist on the horror field. There is a book I haven’t seen yet, and there was a Canadian TV series that is available on DVD.

I just picked up the DVD’s, it’s a 4 disc set with over 10 hours of content that features interviews with Forrest J. Ackerman, Clive Barker, Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Richard Laymon, Wes Craven, Jon Landis, Jack Ketchum, Douglas Clegg, John Skipp… and a mess of others.

There are people on here I wasn’t familiar with at all, and names I know but haven’t read in addition to people I do like. I’ve only gotten to watch the first 5 or 6 interviews so far, but it’s been really interesting. The interviews focus not only on the artists careers, but also the nature of the craft and the passion that drove those careers. The interviews were conducted between 2000 and 2001, but because of the nature of the interviews that doesn’t date the information. I have seen suggestion that Wiater intends to resurrect the series and conduct future interviews, and the DVD set does say “Volume 1.” I’m not sure when or if that is happening, but I certainly hope so.

I’ve always found interviews such as these that look at craft and creativity as being really fascinating and motivating. Wiater put this series together with more passion than money and I really hope he continues where he left off. It’s a labor of love that has delivered a level of insight you don’t get from the average PR interviews. A few of the people on this collection are dead now, and a few are the first on screen interviews of certain participants.

Here is a segment of the Harlan Ellison interview to wet your whistle…