Halloween eve

Well, tomorrow is Halloween. I have to agree with Stephanie that Halloween, and October in general, is a great time of year in southern Illinois. For the most part, the weather is mild during October, although we've had record amounts of rain (more rain, in fact, this October than any other October on record). Hopefully, it'll dry out well enough for me to attend Halloween parties in between editing SAMURAI ROBOTS FROM HELL this weekend. I'll also be appearing on WGGH radio Saturday around noon to discuss things I'm up to - books, comics, movies, etc... Tune in. I think it 1130 on your AM dial.

Until then, savor the waning days of October 2009, my friends.

Roger

Perspective and What You Don't Know Can Hurt Me

I try to pride myself on being different. Unfortunately, sometimes people don't understand "different". They want the same old cookie cutter people who act like life has been zapped from them and they're ready for death. It drive me nuts to see people I went to high school telling me "All I do is work, come home, watch TV and go to bed." That's not living, my friends.....that's existing. I'm not saying that my life is all shits and giggles, but I'm at least creative and I try to act like a living creature and not a wage slave zombie.

Where did this come from? Well, last night I went to a party at the lovely Ms. Stephanie's house and we had a brief conversation about DEVLIN'S DESCENT, my online novel (you can read it free at www.annihilationpress.com). Anyway, after I came home I realized that I needed to explain a few of the reasons behind the book to her. The average person will receive no such explanation, but Stephanie, having dealt with me on a more personal level, deserved it. I hope I explained it well enough that she understands the reasoning behind the book better. I'm actually proud of DEVLIN'S DESCENT. Hell, I'm proud of just about EVERYTHING I've written over the course of the past three and a half years. And, on a different subject, 3 stories from HELL IN THE HEARTLAND, an anthology I co-edited with Martel Sardina back in 2007, received honorable mentions in Ellen Datlow's "The Year's Best Horror Stories." Pretty amazing, considering there are 15 stories in the book and the astronomical number of horror stories that are written on a yearly basis worldwide. I'm proud of that, too. Damn proud.

Anyway, I learned a long time ago that writing can be misconstrued and misinterpreted. DEVLIN'S DESCENT was very experimental for me. But, in the end, the book is about the triumph of the human spirit. Devlin descended into darkness: the darkness of the human soul...but, at least he acted like he was alive. He was hurting; but he was alive. Any character worth his or her salt that I write about will always act alive. You might not completely understand what I'm getting at with the story, but please try to take that away when you've read something I've written.

Thanks,
Roger