A Tribute, A Deal, & Two Charities

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my dad's death. One year ago, ALS finally took him. Right at the end of ALS Awareness Month. Adjacent to Memorial Day. The Thunderbirds rocketed over us as I arrived at the house to wait until his death could be called. Neighbors who'd come out to watch for the Thunderbirds and their annual flyover saw emergency vehicles outside our house. I imagine they knew what had happened. After all, they'd come out just a few years earlier to celebrate dad's birthday in the form of the ice bucket challenge.

I've been down during the lock down, but as it turned to May and the trees blossomed, birds swarming back into the neighborhood (along with the miller moths), I started to dread this anniversary and how everyone in my family will handle it, especially with the isolation. I'm not sure I'll ever look at another Memorial Day without thinking about my dad. Interestingly, it was most likely his stint in the Air Force that led to ALS in the first place, meaning he's earned his rightful place among the veterans honored. It's just that the long term damage occurred on U.S. soil, likely at the bloodied hand of the U.S. government.

I sat down the other day and wondered what I could do to honor him in some way, and to change my thoughts from the negative to the positive. That led to the following:

I'll be doing a Kindle Countdown deal for one week with Bruised Souls & Other Torments. The e-book will be priced at $.99 from 8 AM (MT) tomorrow morning to the afternoon of May 31, when it will change to $1.99 until Wednesday, June 3, at 11 PM. It only let me do this in one region, so it's only applicable in the U.S. as far as I know. I'm not positive, though, as this is my first time doing this.

I can also ship a signed paperback copy to anyone who'd like one. Book + Shipping will be $15.00 (U.S. only).

All profits from e-book and paperback sales this week will be donated to the ALS Association and Team Gleason. I will personally match those profits, so both charities will receive the full profit amount. Both organizations helped my dad during his 6 1/2 years battling ALS. Many of his friends in the ALS community are still fighting to this day, and they need all the help they can get. #nowhiteflags

Links:

E-book

Secure Paperback Checkout via Square (it only asks for email--I will email those who purchase to get shipping/inscription information)

Team Gleason (for more information on what they do)

ALS Association (for more information on what they do)

All donations will be made in memory of my dad, Greg Kenoyer. If anyone is interested in donating directly to either of the charities, it would be wonderful if you did so in his name. However, I also know that times are hard right now, so hopefully none of this feels like pressure. 

If no sales are made, I will still donate something to each charity in his name.

I'll also be doing a couple readings online. I'll post on my Facebook page, and if I'm able, I'll repost to here.

Also, I'm doing some research. For readings and/or author interviews, what software/online program would you most recommend? Right now, I'm most familiar with Zoom, so would likely use that, but I'm open to other ideas.

Stuff I've Been Enjoying:

I haven't finished a book this week, but will finish it tonight or tomorrow, so should have at least one to pass along next week! All I have for today is a movie.

Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood

I didn't expect to like this. In fact, I'd avoided it like the plague, because I kept hearing it was boring and had no point. But once I watched it, I enjoyed it. It meanders a bit, but I kept watching, wondering what was going to happen. When they showed the year and the location, I was sucked in, because it implied a certain historical event was going to happen in the course of the film, and I wanted to see if it would actually go up to that point. There ends up being quite a twist, but the end of the movie had me laughing. It's preposterous, silly, and violent. The rest of the film? Laid back, watching two friends and their neighbor...Sharon Tate.

Link Time!

Bear in mind I'm merely passing these along, not endorsing them. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

And Lately, The Sun is seeking short fiction about our future in a changing climate. 2000 to 8000 words. Pays $80. Deadline June 30.

Fabled is seeking eerie gothic tales about women who dwell in the forest. 2000 to 8000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline June 30.

Writer Shed Press is seeking stories with the theme Love and Sacrifice. Up to 2500 words. Pays $20. (Must have Venmo to get paid). Deadline July 1.

Any of these links sound interesting? Anything to share? If you've lost a parent, what did you do to commemorate the one year anniversary, if anything? Have you seen Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood? What did you think? What recording software do you prefer for video?

May you find your Muse.

Updates & Author Interviews

I didn't post last week, because I completely forgot what day it was, and I try to post every Wednesday. So I realized Thursday that Wednesday was already gone. I know I'm not the only one having issues with keeping track of the days!

My webinar was yesterday, and it went well! Great conversations in the chat. Fantastic answers to my questions. It was something I needed, something I'd been missing. With appearances canceled, those familiar types of interactions are gone, and the little ways I can help are reduced. I'm glad I had the chance to do it.

I've been thinking of doing an interview series with a focus on authors at home, so I may be hitting some of you up soon. More details to come soon!

Stuff I've Been Enjoying

Books

Advice From a Toaster, VOL 1-3, by R.J. Rowley

A trio of books in one, there's comedic advice on working out, dealing with death, and finding love. At moments absurd, it's a bunch of fun, and a cotton candy tome to read.

Allison, by Jeff Strand

Crime and supernatural powers, this ones also got a sense of humor. Plenty of sarcasm. This was fast paced, and I read it quickly. Allison has the power to break people's bones, but she's never learned to control the power. The opening scene had me aghast. Allison has a touch of sociopath in her, but she's doing her best to keep others safe from her. That is, until a mob boss pushes her too far. She doesn't start fights, but she certainly finishes them.

Movies

Gretel & Hansel

A nice, creepy, girl-power kind of movie with undertones of coming of age, and the fear of women with power. Plus, some dead children and a mysterious house in the woods that smells of bacon and cakes. (Redbox)

Troma's War

This was part of the double feature from The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder. It's completely ridiculous. And I do mean completely. But it was a kick. American tourists get stranded on an island when their plane goes down. They discover guerilla terrorists are using the island to stage an attack on U.S. soil, so they take matters into their own hands and go after the terrorists. Fun Fact: The director of this film turned in an edited copy to the ratings board to sneak it by with a PG rating. Upon approval, he sent out the unedited version. He got busted. (Shudder)

One Cut of the Dead

I absolutely loved this movie! It's a Japanese horror comedy (subtitled). This was the second film in the Joe Bob double feature. At the start, you see the movie they're filming play out in one cut. Then it goes back to the beginning, to the pitch, then casting, then the issues plaguing the film as it's made. On the surface, it's a film about zombies. But then real zombies bust out and come after the cast. The crazed director keeps filming. And round and round we go. This film was clever and funny, and I'll definitely be watching it again. (Shudder)

Bad Boys Trilogy

Each week, we have a movie and pizza night with the kids. The last three weekends, we've watched the Bad Boys films in order, ending with the newest one, Bad Boys for Life. If you haven't revisited this series in a while (or you've never seen them) now's a great time. They've announced Bad Boys #4. Can anyone tell me if Will Smith ever takes a day off? Look at his filmography! You'll be blown away by how many projects he has going on at any one time. I highly recommend at least watching number 2 before seeing 3. There were details I forgot in between.

TV Shows

'Til Death Do Us Part

True Crime series about marriages ending in death, either because one spouse kills another, or because someone else kills one or both of them. When they say hate is love gone bad, they're not wrong. These are heart breaking. (Hulu)

Married With Children

Yep, the one and only. I watched this as a kid (it started airing when I was around 10), so viewing it as an adult is a completely different experience. Peg and Al are awful, but there are surprisingly sweet moments in most episodes. And it's a lot of fun seeing the younger versions of these folks who are so familiar. As an old, married gal, watching them influence the newlywed couple (Marcy and Steve) is pretty funny. And I'm relieved to say that my husband and I are nothing like the Bundys.

Never Have I Ever

This is a cute YA show about an Indian American teenage girl trying to change up her life. In case you think this sounds serious, let me tell you who's narrating the show: John McEnroe. McEnroe narrating a young girl's life. This show has a great sense of humor, but also addresses teen issues.

#BlackAF

Disguised as a documentary, this mockumentary features the real Kenya Barris (creator of Blackish) as himself, with a cast playing his family. One of his fictional daughter's is making a documentary for school, which has her following her family around and doing one on one interviews with them. With hints of Blackish, Barris plays a funny version of himself, and we get a slightly different view on the kids and wife. His wife's name on the show is Joya, but he's actually married to Rainbow Barris (so the name of the wife in Blackish). I'm not too ashamed to admit that I thought for a few minutes that it was an actual documentary, and that he was married to Rashida Jones. Then he called her Joya. Okay, maybe I'm ashamed to admit it. In real life, he has six kids. Yikes!

Fire in Paradise

This documentary involves survivors of the fire in Paradise, CA that wiped out an entire city. I've been on the receiving end of a wildfire sweeping toward my home and the terror it caused, but their experiences are absolutely horrific. From a teacher on a school bus full of kids trapped in traffic, with smoke filling the bus so badly that they're falling asleep, to a cop forcing a couple who refuse to evacuate into his car just in time to gun it through pure fire to get them away, to people trapped on all sides who are told to get out of their cars and flee on foot. It felt incredibly short to me, but it's an extremely powerful documentary, especially in this era of increasingly erratic fires that defy the rules they've always followed.

Podcasts

The Murder Squad - Jensen & Holes

Retired cop Paul Holes (who helped hunt down The Golden State Killer) and true crime journalist Billy Jensen focus on a case each episode that they'd like help solving. Their first episode involved Bill Bradford and the search to track down the women whose photos were found among his things when he was caught. There are still 47 women needing identification.

Okay, on to links. Bear in mind I'm just passing these along, not endorsing them. Always do your own due diligence when submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Page & Spine is seeking short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. Up to 3000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline June 1.

Eerie River Publishing is seeking horror/dark spec fic stories involving the sky for "It Calls From the Sky."1000 to 10,000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline June 1.

Pandemic Publications is seeking fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography, and art. Pays $50 to $150, depending upon submitted medium. Up to 3000 words.

Occult Detective Magazine is seeking stories about...an occult detective. Pays $.01/word. Deadline June 5.

Third Point Press is seeking fiction and poetry. Up to 3500 words. Pays $10. Deadline June 26.

The Whorticulturalist is seeking essays, poetry, and fiction by female identifying authors. 2000 to 3000 words. Pays $5 to $100, depending upon submission type.

Reflex Press is seeking flash fiction up to 1000 words. Paying market.

Submarine Magazine is seeking fiction, nonfiction, and poetry full of emotion. Word limit varies per type of submission. Pays $10 to $30.

The West Review is seeking poetry and prose. Up to 1500 words. Pays a small honorarium.

Have you been watching any of these shows? Seen any of the movies? Have you heard of this podcast? Read any of these books? What would you want to hear in an author interview?

May you find your Muse.

May IWSG & Dark Wisdom

It's the first Wednesday of May, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG exists for writers to seek and lend support once per month. Anyone can join. Just click on Alex's name and put your name on the rolls, then post the first Wednesday of each month and jump around to visit other participants.

The co-hosts this month are:

Feather Stone, Beverly Stowe McClure, Mary Aalgaard, Kim Lajevardi, and Chemist Ken!

The optional question this month: Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE?

I used to have rituals, but at some point I stopped using them. Now I just sit down to write where it's going to happen!

I'm happy to say that this past month things picked up a bit, and I got lots of writing done, as well as edits. It feels good to have enough energy to get things done again. I hope others are finding their creative energies building back up, even if it's slowly.

I'll be doing a Dark Wisdom Webinar for Denver Horror Collective on May 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM MT. What Lies Beneath: Redefining Horror will be about what makes something horror. Some of it may surprise you. Anyone's welcome to attend, but there is a $5 registration cost. I'm hoping to have a good dialogue with folks about the definitions of horror and how far I think they stretch.

I like to do my stats for submissions each month to keep myself accountable. April's numbers:

3 submitted

3 rejected

0 acceptances

5 currently on submission (I'm about to pull one since they haven't responded to my query)

Media Update

BOOKS

Wandering Star, by Steven J. Anderson (the e-book is currently $.99 on Amazon!)

Science fiction. Ted Holloman heads into space for the reunification project, only to find things are worse than they've been presented. He falls in love, stops an assassin, aids a rebellion, and explores new planets.

Where Nightmares Come From: The Art of Storytelling in the Horror Genre, edited by Joe Mynhardt and Eugene Johnson

With essays from horror greats such as Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Mercedes M. Yardley, Mort Castle, and Elizabeth Massie, this book covers everything from defining horror to writing horror screenplays and more. My favorite essay was by Stephanie M. Wytovich, entitled How I Spent My Childhood Looking for Monsters and Found Poetry.

The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2015, edited by Paula Guran

As always, a collection of talented horror authors, such as lair Barron, Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Steve Rasnic Tem, and many more.

Current Reading: Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert's Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You'd Rather Stay Home)

TELEVISION SHOWS

After several false starts, I finally got sucked into the Hulu show Castle Rock, based on the fictional city created by Stephen King. There are so many easter eggs for King fans mixed in that I'm sure I missed half of them, but the ones I did see were such a pleasure. Dark and twisty, I enjoyed the second season more than the first.

We've been watching the old Fear Factor show with the kids. I could do without the "eating freaky things" portion of the show, but it's fun watching the rest of the stunts again.

What have you been reading, watching, and listening to? What are your insecurities this month? How are you holding up? Getting any writing done? Have you submitted anything?

May you find your Muse.