That's this post, for certain. No narrative thread. No cohesion. Just a bunch of... things, I guess. I won't even try to ascribe a value to what's going on here. You may find wisdom in here, or amusement, but don't say I didn't rule out consternation.
Item 1:
Riot Lit is here. Call me a joiner if you will, but this is another crew (like Bizarro) of writers with a lot of energy and some intriguing ideas about the literary business. And check out the website- it's sharp as an adamantium nano-syringe (not a real thing- please just imagine). Stay tuned for increasing levels of Riot Lit shenanigans...
And if you dig what you see over at the Riot Lit site, be sure to add us at MySpace so that Rupert Murdoch will know you like our ragtag squadron.
The guy behind the net-tastic good looks of the Riot Lit hub is Ryan Scott, and I'm happy to note that he's currently working on the new version of JRJ.com. Watch for that to launch and burn many a retina in October of this year.
Item 2:
Three of the writers associated with Riot Lit owe their appearance on the bookish radar to this lovely woman: PODdy Mouth. In fact, she's got a great review of DSB's new book up right now. And she was nice enough to give a shout out to my book in her recent interview with Bloggasm.
Girl on Demand, whoever you are, wherever you are, you kick ass. If you were my spoiled daughter, I swear I'd buy you a pony and coat it in gold. Thanks again for all the good mojo.
Item 3:
I'm getting very, very excited for this book.
Item 4:
Don't watch this. It's proof that YouTube is putting every wasted, worthless bit of human existence out there for pointless consumption:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEZqJRxtzA8
Never seen an idiot with a gigantic skull spinning a coffee table book (it's about sharks) on his head while sort-of-reciting Old Dirty Bastard lyrics? I offer this cell phone footage as Exhibit A for anyone who ever mistakenly thought I was anything but a supreme nerd.
My cousin Joel put this up. He's an ass. But he's about to be a year older, so... Happy Early Birthday, You Ass!
Item 5:
If one were to check out the Honorable Mentions section of this year's edition of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror they might come across a couple of stories by a guy I call The Me. Yup, Ellen Datlow was nice enough to include my stories "The Gravity of Benham Falls" and "Precedents" on this year's list.
Also nice to see two mentions ("A Mean Utility" and "The Apprentice's Guide to Modern Magic") for Craig Davidson on there. Congrats to all the writers who are mentioned in the book this year, and thanks are due to Ellen for reading every stitch of strange fiction published in 2006.
Item 6:
I'm currently reading a collection titled Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder and it's wonderful. This guy can pull off strange and poignant in the space of a single sentence and has ideas bleeding out his ears (not a real malady- please just imagine). More on this book when I finish it up, but I can already recommend it. If you don't trust my rec, maybe Stephen King's gushing page-long blurb will do it for you. It did it for me.
Item 7:
Haven't checked out Riot Lit yet? Get over there and play with some floaty flash graphics, stat! They're like digital indie writer playing cards!
Okay, now I'm hungry. I done blogged myself up an appetite, and so I bid you good day.
JRJ