On Being Thankful

Well, now that Thanksgiving is past us and we're "straight on till morning" for Christmas, I've been reflecting on what I should be thankful for. It's hard sometimes to be thankful. It seems like over the past few years I've tolerated every idiot there is to tolerate on this planet. I've lost a lot; but I've gained a lot, too. I've had my heart ripped from my chest and spat upon; I've been harassed by what Harlan Ellison would call "arrogant stupidity"; I've been to the lowest spot I think I've ever been in my life, dear readers. But, even in the darkness, there were things to be thankful for. I've had great times with my children and friends; I've laid in the arms of a truly beautiful woman and felt a rare but, sadly, short-lived, moment of nirvana there; I've been more creative than probably any time in my life, and I have laughed. I filmed a low-budget movie - something I've ALWAYS wanted to do, and something I plan on doing again very, very soon. I've met and befriended some wonderfully eclectic peopled ("Better weird than plastic", I always say....and there are a lot of plastic people out there, my friends). So, I guess I'm just saying that I have much to be thankful for. I have my health (according to recent check-up) and I've fought some battles these past few years. I've won some; I've lost some. Some were ties, I think. I am thankful for all the people who have made my life a pleasure. Those who didn't....well, I'm not quite so thankful for them. But, I will not "go gently into that good night." I will rage, rage, against the dying of the light.

I hope everyone has a joyful holiday season.
Roger

Try to remember that kind of November

Here we are a whole week into November. Less than eight weeks till Christmas. You wouldn't tell it from southern Illinois weather this weekend, though. It was in the 70's today and it's supposed to be warm tomorrow, too. I took the kids to the park. We filmed a little knight fight scene that turned ugly (sibling rivalry can be brutal!) so I took the plastic swords away from the kids and told them to go play. I sat there and watched and soaked up the sun. Not a bad way to spend your Saturday afternoon. I splurged on myself this week and bought a new book by one of my favorite authors, Harlan Ellison. This is a little omnibus volume with two books in it. I had one of the books already, so I bought it for the second book, "Harlan Ellison's Movie." What a weird movie script....it has a 70 ft tall Boll Weevil devouring a farmhouse! I shite you not! It'd be cool to see this film produced, although the language is dated as all get out (very hippies 60's kinda talk). Otherwise, it's Ellison's usual flair for outrageous fiction.

On my fiction side, I put together STRANGE SEX STORIES, a chapbook of 56 pages I plan on having out there for the public by the end of the year, alongside LIL' FELLERS, another short story collection. I've been working on UNDER THE BOARDWALK and I have the second chapter to SUCKERS, my online vampire novel, finished. And, to top it off, I've been working a bit on SAMURAI ROBOTS FROM HELL, the "no-budget" movie I shot in early October. Check out some rough clips over at www.myspace.com/rogerdaletrexler

More later, Roger

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

SAD IRON MEAT is coming soon

It's a strange world, my friends. More on that in a moment.

I've been fairly productive this year, fiction-wise. I wrote an online novel, DEVLIN'S DESCENT (available for free online at www.annihilationpress.com ) that I'm fairly proud of. It was an experiment to see how far I could go with a few concepts. It also (I hope) helped finally purge my heart of a few things that have troubled me these past three years. Time will tell on that one. Anyway, DEVLIN'S DESCENT was finished back in late July, just short of my 48th birthday (yeah, I feel old). Anyway, after DEVLIN'S DESCENT, I sat around and pondered what I would do next. I've been toying around with the idea of doing a movie, but time and finances have been prohibitive. I still have the script to THE BIG MUDDY MONSTER, but put it on a back burner time finances aren't so tight and I can do it right. Yeah, I'm a poet. So, I decided I'd do a silly little movie called SAMURAI ROBOTS FROM HELL. We are scheduled to shoot the movie this weekend. It'll be a bunch of friends acting like idiots. It ought to be awesome fun. I'll post the trailer (which Brad Moore and I discussed last night) on here. You'll want to buy five copies for your mother, I'm sure.

I had so much fun and creative liberties with DEVLIN'S DESCENT that I thought I'd write another online novel. This one, SUCKERS, is a redneck vampire novel. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek; but, I think, you'll enjoy it. Chapter one is already posted over at www.annihilationpress.com and chapter two will follow as soon as I proofread it.

I also started work on the sort-of sequel to MURDER AT PK'S. UNDER THE BOARDWALK is set in Makanda, Illinois and starts out just after Woodstock during The Summer of Love. It's a grisly murder novel that, I think, will put MURDER AT PK'S to shame in the graphic murder department. I've written a couple thousand words on that so far.

Now, to the "it's a strange life" department. Love is a weird thing, my friends. I thought when I was young that, by the time I was the age I am now, I would understand things. Trust me, I don't. Shakespeare said it correctly when he wrote: "There are more things on Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophies." Well, I wholeheartedly agree. Hope springs eternal, my friends. If you care for someone, don't let them slip away.

As a final comment, the artwork gracing this post is for a comic book called SAD IRON MEAT. I worked on this comic with artist Brad Moore and Steve Woolridge (amongst others) and my story, "Sad Iron Meat", will be featured in issue #1. It will be available for sell at Vulturefest in Makanda On Oct. 17 (knocking on wood right now)

Hope everyone is well (with the exclusion of those who read my words with malice...buzz off, would ya?)

later,
Roger

Saturday Afternoon Matinee and where does the time/money go?

Once again, it's been a while since I posted a blog. I've been trying to make by blog entries a bit more generic, considering the fact that there are some serious idiots reading my blog these days. If you don't like it here, move on, would ya? As the old saying goes: "Say what you want. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." So, idiots, you don't matter, okay? Yeah, up yours, too!

Anyway, I broke down and cleaned out my basement the other day. I've been seriously lax in that regard (I haven't cleaned down there in at least three years). Three trash cans full of dirt and trash so far (with at least another three in the near future). I uncovered the pool table and the kids have been playing pool. I moved the television over by the computer and it's actually a pretty cool rec room these days. I'm looking for a cheap (aka free) couch or futon to compliment the seating arrangements. After that, starting in October (or whenever the weather gets too cold outside), I plan on doing a Saturday afternoon double-feature in the basement. I've got a buttload of old sci-fi and horror movies that I can screen and, if I run out, my buddy Brad has a stash of his own. So, we'll enjoy the winter months in style. You folks that aren't idiots are more than cordially invited to come over and watch.

Hope everyone is well (except the idiots, of course). Take care, Roger

Where does the time go?

I've been thinking about angels, lately. I wrote a pieces for Clifton Bailey and Little Deady Boy Productions' JULIAPALOOZA benefit. It was a short story called, "They Walk Among Us". I set out to write the most unoffensive piece of fiction I could. I'm sure there's SOMEONE out there who took offense, but they really, really, really need to get a life. Anyway, the story was about how people can be angels right here on good ol' terra firma. You just have to care for someone besides yourself. That's a rarity these days. The topic came back to me last night when I read my all-time favorite poem, "Annabelle Lee", by Edgar Allan Poe. In it, the angels are jealous of his love for her and they send a cold wind "chilling and killing" Annabelle Lee. The image sticks in your mind. Jealousy and angels? It's an interesting combination, and something I'm sure I'll explore fictively in the future.

Anyway, it's been well over a month since I posted here. In that time, I finished DEVLIN'S DESCENT. You can read it for free over at www.annihilationpress.com until I decide to pull it down or start writing SUCKERS, a book about redneck vampires.

I need to get off to bed. Maybe I'll dream of angels tonight?