Caravans Awry

We’re at it again…Planet X publications and I, that is. We’ve embarked on another book-length project that developed from a casual discussion, as the Test Patterns books have. I’ve just about finished the editing and proofing of the Creature Features volume and dove right into heading up Caravans Awry, a series of teals and poems about traveling circuses on Rt 66 in the mid-sixties, the heyday of those marvelous carnivals.

As per usual, we’re doing pre-orders via GoFundMe, and we have a Facebook page. Ebooks are 2.00. TPBs are 15.00, and an ebook is included. HCs are 25.00.

Caravans Awry . Fourteen tales and poems of carnival knowledge in the 1960s
from the folks who bring you Test Patterns — and — Creature Features , Planet X Publications .

Contributors:

Michael Adams, Adam Bolivar, Scott Couturier, Ashley Dioses,
Sam L Edwards, John Paul Fitch, Maxwell Gold, John Linwood Grant,
Jill Hand, Ted Morgan, KA Opperman, Duane Pesice, Peter Rawlik,
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, Russell Smeaton, William Tea, Sarah Walker, and Can Wiggins are creating content.

JB Lee and Derek Pegritz are creating art.

Coming Hallowe’en 2018.

Thanks for your time and attention! Happy reading!

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Test Patterns: Creature Features revealed

The ToC:

1. Danger Slater-Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster

2. Cody Goodfellow-The Greedy Grave

3. Erica Ruppert-Pretty in the Dark

4. Robert Guffey-The Eye Doctor

5. Alistair Rey-Regeneration

6. Farah Rose Smith-In the Room of Red Night

7. James Fallweather-Little House in the Suburbs

8. Ashley Dioses-Amadis the Enchantress

9. James Russell-Spirit of Place

10. John Paul Fitch-Signals

11. Brenda Kezar-From Little Acorns Grow

12. SL Edwards-With All Her Troubles Behind Her

13. Debra Robinson-Chaos and Void

14. Calvin Demmer-The River Ran Red

15. Kurt Fawver-Extinction In Green

16. Aaron French-Chosen

17. Duane Pesice-Bone Sequence

18. Buzz Dixon-The Bride of the Astounding Gigantic Monster

19. Natasha Smith-Underground Rose

20. Orrin Grey-The Pepys Lake Monster

21. Jill Hand-The Bride of Castle Frankenstein

22. Jayaprakash Satyamurthy-No More Iron Cross

23. Dominique Lamssies-Admitted Inhabitants

24. Daniel Brock-Bitter Waters

25. Lana Cooper-Mrs. Doogan

26. John Linwood Grant-For Whom There is No Journey

27. John Claude Smith-Normal

28. Aksel Dadswell-Something Hungrier Than Love

29. Jeffrey Thomas-E

Coming soon!

Neon noir in the Cities of the Red Night

Riding the Centipede by John Claude Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Terrance Blake is the best man in his world and would be a good man in most worlds. Rudolf is a mutant villain without a shred of decency, but still disciplined and purposeful. They are on a collision course, and don’t know it. Jane and Marlon Teagarden are only the twin rails that the story rolls along on, and only one of them is Riding the Centipede.
I get the sense that a lot of the actual journey was cut. The scenes of experience don’t seem as protracted as they might be. And that may be for the best.
The setting and denouement are determinedly Burroughsian, though there’s not as much of the old up and out and more of the Burgessian ultraviolence as Chernobyl performs his version of art. Though Jane Teagarden could use a little more fleshing-out of character, that would probably detract from the hold-your-breath movement of the narrative, which comes to an explosive climax.
Background-5;plotting-5;characters-4;style-5. Round up to 5.
Highly recommended.

View all my reviews

Tinfoil Baseball Cap

As usual, we’ll cover a lot of subjects with a too-small, too-thin blanket. But cover them we will.
Firstly…Saturday night, for a little while, my one-man internet band moderan was the #1 band in Tucson/Rock, according to data from music-posting site Reverbnation. I’m sitting at #2 right now.

It was pretty easy to get there, and the maneuver was mostly pre-planned. I embarked on a series of cover tunes, some of which I’ve actually registered. Eventually I’ll register them all, but they’re about 20 bucks each, and I plan to do a LOT of them. Cuz they’re fun. I have a system for producing them quickly, based on midi drums and the forty or so years I’ve spent playing those songs, off and on. The music ranges from pop tunes like Killing Me Softly through progrock epics such as Dance On a Volcano.

I sing, play all of the guitars and basses (with a couple of notable exceptions for collaborators), most of the keyboards, some of the strings, and arrange and produce the tracks. The drums are fashioned from midi tracks, which means faithful timing. I seldom monkey with the structures, though I add or change instrumentation.

You can listen here: