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The Blather Before the Quiet

I'm busy. The good kind, like you want, but still--busy. So busy, in fact, that I anticipate keeping an even lower profile than usual between now and the end of the year, so if you need me then the best thing to do would be to shoot me an email, as I'm going to be avoiding LJ, G+, FB, etc as much as possible. One thing about living on the internet I never could stomach--all the damn time-vampires.

Before I dive, though, some random items of dubious worth. The Good:

I'll be at Mile-Hi Con in Denver at the end of October. Not sure what all I'll be doing there, but a reading and a panel or two seem like safe bets, and if you're there as well be sure to introduce yourself. If you don't see me around, check the bar.

'll be heading south this winter to attend several weddings, visit family and friends, and sneak in an anniversary trip to New Orleans with my wife. We've never really celebrated our anniversary in grand fashion, forgetting it all together on one occasion, so this ought to be a fun time--I haven't been to the Big N.O. since before Katrina, and have no idea of what to do while I'm there beyond the obvious. Suggestions welcome!

I'm working on revising my third novel, which I've been calling Hook and Cod but am now scheming up an alternate title for--the political elements which led to my picking said title are being scaled back a bit, so seeing if I can find something tidier. These revisions are the main reason I'll be maintaining radio silence--I've got a lot that I want to do with the book, and know how to get there, but it'll take my full attention and a lot of hours. It's shaping up to be far less fantastical than the first two novels, and less over-the-top in general--more of a historical Gothic than anything else. I freaking love Gothics, so this is something of a dream project. Or maybe a nightmaaaaare. Hilarious.

And speaking of Gothics, Innsmouth Free Press has released their second anthology, Candle in the Attic Window, which is, gasp, a collection of contemporary Gothic fiction and poetry. I've got a piece in there, as does Orrin Grey, Martha Hubbard, Don D’Ammassa, Mary E. Choo, James S. Dorr, Leanna Renee Hieber, Paul Jessup, Ann K. Schwader, E. Catherine Tobler, Colleen Anderson, and tons of others.

I've got some other short stories coming down the pike, but I'll probably just pop on here whenever they become available--some online, some in print. The one that I'm perhaps the most excited about is a novella set in the Zombies Versus Robots universe--IDW has long done great comic book work, and this new ZVR literary project confirms that their awesome Classics Mutilated anthology wasn't a fluke foray into prose but the start of something fierce and sustained. If you take a look at the above press release for the ZVR thing you'll see that I've crept in alongside a bunch of my betters, including Stephen Graham Jones, Ekaterina Sedia, Nick Mamatas, Nicholas Kaufmann, Amelia Beamer, Rio Youers, Norman Prentiss, Steve Rasnic Tam, Rhodi Hawk, and ZVR creator Chris Ryall himself. Many thanks to editor extraordinaire Jeff Connor for giving me a shot at this, and of course Ryall and badass artiste par excellence Ashley Wood for letting us in on their sandbox. And many, many thanks to my buddy Bri for letting me use her derby name for a roller-team in my story--the Pwn Jetts are gonna knock the shit out of some shamblers. Also: time travel?

Reviews for The Enterprise of Death keep cropping up, which is always a good feeling. For whatever reasons, the reception to this one has been quieter than that of the Brothers Grossbart, and I very much appreciate everybody who's taken the time to help get the word out about my weird little book--really warms my cold, withered heart, regardless of whether the review is glowing or guarded. Anyway, yeah, some of the recent reviews, and my apologies if I missed any:

The Telegraph: "...Lurid, gruesome and larded with the blackest humour, this is grimly fascinating."

Rising Shadow: "...wickedly disturbing and utterly compelling..."

Impact Online: "...well-plotted and entertaining. This definitely is not a book for kids, but quite a bit of naughty and dark fun for the rest of us."

From the Sorcerer's Skull: "If you like your fantasy of the dark, darkly humorous, and dirty variety exemplified by Warhammer fantasy, then I’ve got a couple of book recommendations for you. Jesse Bullington’s two (standalone) historical fantasy novels are just the sort of grubby, violent, and irreverent stories you’ve been looking for."

Elitist Book Reviews: "..when writing these responses, I always do my best to show you the playing field, lay out my set of rules, and then stay consistent from one review to the next. And then someone like Jesse Bullington comes along and shows me that, yes, sometimes, you can even break the big rules and still come out on the other side smelling like roses...In the end, the story seemed to be about friendship, though it was littered with betrayal and hatred, with the grotesque and the creepy, with the weird and absolutely the unsettling. This is one of those novels that I think deserves a warning for the weak of constitution. This guy has put together a whole load of stuff that’ll make some of you squirm for a month. Others may never forget some of the twisted stuff Bullington throws around on the pages like a millionaire might his twenties."

Thanks, one and all, for giving the book a read, to say nothing of reviewing the damn thing. And hey, good news for all the Enterprise readers who are less fond of head-hopping than myself--the third book has a much tighter POV focus, so rejoice!

So that's the Good. The Bad, then:

Fuck the Bad. Fuck all the depressing political choices nations and individuals have been making, fuck all the personal tragedies that have been harrying people I care about, and fuck people who are jerks for no reason. Fuck'em all right in the nose.

Also, won't be swinging World Fantasy this year, which is what it is--have been on the waiting list since early February, and a membership never materialized. Thought about bar-conning it, but in the end that didn't seem worth it--I like going to panels and readings, and if I'm coughing up the dough for travel I wanna be able to do more than buy overpriced drinks, even if it's in the company of people I like. Hope everyone who makes it has fun, and looking forward to '12!

So that's the Bad. Then there's the Ugly (or the Weird, depending on your preferences):

Prednisone is crazy, yo. I've been on this mega-steroid stuff for a while now in an effort to dodge a gross-out bizarro surgery, and lo, it's evidently effected my skull-pudding something strong. The weird thing about it is that I only notice my erratic/freaky behavior when I really concentrate on it, otherwise I'm totally oblivious to it. Case in point--I wanted to get some Dogfish Head Punkin Ale (that's not the weird part). It was later in the day so I opted to drive, wanting to be home sooner rather than later. I then drove to three different stores beyond the one right down the street, all of whom had the stupid beer, because I thought I'd seen it for marginally less cost at one of them but couldn't remember which store. Half an hour later, as I was cruising home with my fifty-cent-cheaper four-pack, it occurred to me that I was behaving like a batshit-insane asshole, and had been for several weeks. It's terrifying, albeit mundanely-so, to realize you haven't been yourself, and then you start going back over various items in the mental roll and cringing at this or that bit of quiet craziness that seemed perfectly reasonable at the time. So yeah, apologies if I've bit your face or hooted at/with your chickens--not trying to excuse my behavior, but at least explain it. I don't like talking about my medical whatsits on the old blog, but for reals--prednisone is a total dick.

Right, so that's me out--will try to make the odd post here and there, but otherwise, yeah, deep down in the word places until further notice. Hope everyone has a wonderful Fall--my favorite time of year, and I'm going to try and sneak some hiking in while the aspens are gold and the snow's yet a promise. Take care, everyone.

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