The 2006 PDX Zine Fair
I'll be there pimping Scissor Press/Verbicide Magazine, and this year I'll also have copies of Angel Dust Apocalypse, Extinction Journals, and Siren Promised with me ($10 a pop, or 3 for $20, which is a cool deal). I'll be there for the whole event so if any NW folks want to drop by and say hello, that would be fun. Here's Verbicide editor Jackson Ellis' rundown on the event:
Author Jeremy Robert Johnson will once again represent Scissor Press at the Portland Zine Symposium in 2006. The PZS will be held on August 11, 12, and 13 on the campus of Portland State University, and Jeremy will be giving away hundreds of copies of Verbicide and selling copies of his books. For more information, visit www.pdxzines.com.
The Bizarro Books Reviewing Quandary
How does one state that the work might be overly jacked-up for the general readership but will be enjoyed by tweekers, deviants, thinkers, and drinkers? By introducing a sliding scale based on the reader's tastes. That's what Horror Wench did in this fun Horror-Web review of Extinction Journals. So, depending on who you are, this book ranks in at anywhere from 3.5 to 5 stars. Intriguing.
I want some chocolate mousse.
JRJ
8/09/2006
7/31/2006
Audio Buggery and Warmongering
The lovely folks at the die-hard DIY site Fall of Autumn have decided it would be a good idea to have one of my stories "audiofied" and available to all comers. And so it was that I agreed and sought out my music producer muchacho Remote View to make the thing not only listenable but potentially entertaining. Clocking in at about twelve minutes of alliterative strangeness, this is a sonic rendering of my insectile short story "The Sharp Dressed Man at the End of the Line" (which happens to be my staccato ode to roaches, paranoia, and the direct style of Ellroy's The Cold Six Thousand, and also happens to be a sort of brief prequel to my novella Extinction Journals).Remote View must have used some type of high band-pass EQ ultra-filter to make my voice sound like that. Because, really, my voice is this sort of silky smooth ultra-manly basso profundo.
It's Barry Whitey, you could say.
But don't.
Also on the fictional warfront, I just sold a short story titled "Simple Equations" to the anthology A Dark and Deadly Valley. Should end up being a very strong batch of bizarre and horrific war stories from the WWII era. With fellow contributors like Harry Shannon, Steve Vernon, Brian Keene, Brian Hodge, Graham Joyce, Gary Braunbeck (and so on) I can't wait for the thing to come out so I can read every story but my own (I know how that one ends).
Check it out- I've now got a ZineWiki entry. One can never have enough Wikis, and this one is quite nice (and a great resource for independent writer types).
And at a level of lastliness I'd like to note that I recently discovered I was born the day the original Nuclear Proliferation Act was signed into action. No wonder I've always got mushroom clouds on my mind...
Barely coherent but still typing,
JRJ
7/15/2006
Where the Hell Have I Been?
Oh, man- two months since the last blog. I can't make any excuses for that. All I can say is that I was busy with a couple of different things, one of which I'm happy to be able to finally announce:
As of today, I've officially signed to a literary agent.
I've been mulling and fretting about this decision for some time because the Needle Awards magically put me in this dream position where I had multiple agents eager to see my work- I know, it's the best kind of problem. I'm not complaining. But it can be stressful. I don't want to cross over the NY threshold meekly, and I have to be sure that I find the right agent who will place my books with the right publisher and help me reach decent enough sales that I'm viewed as viable for later publication. Slow sales tied to the ISBN of your first novel can have a nasty quicksand effect on a writer's career (or so I've heard).
So after many emails and phone calls I've decided that the agent for me is Mollie Glick with The Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc. (JVNLA for short- they represent some NY Times Bestsellers like Phil Margolin and Jean M. Auel who both also happen to be PDX'ers.). I've now signed on with her to represent my new novel TUNING FORK, and my amended collection. Mollie's previously worked in foreign rights consulting and did an editorial stint at Crown before joining on with the JVNLA team. She's got a great breadth of industry knowledge, is very well vetted industry-wide (and is an AAR member), and happens to really dig my work (I'm pretty sure that's one of the most crucial elements- to have an agent who's a real advocate for the story you're telling).
Now it's "put up or shut up" time. Somehow, in the next six or seven months I'll need to navigate my way through the following tasks-
1. Take TUNING FORK from its preliminary stages to full blown super-novel.
2. Complete 3-4 stories for anthologies I've committed to.
3. Stay on top of Swallowdown Press marketing/promotion for existing titles while trying to develop new books for the press by a few writers I've expressed interest in.
4. Relaunch JRJ.com.
5. Complete SKULLCRACK CITY (which has temporarily taken a back seat to TUNING FORK).
6. Not let all this monitor radiation melt off my face.
7. Spend less time wondering how much bone density I've lost to my soda pop addiction.
So, that's a decent list going forward. I'm excited and nervous, and can only guess that this workload will only increase my consumption of the toxic phosphoric-fructose soup that is Pepsi. Hopefully by the time my brittle bones shatter they'll have that whole "adamantium skeleton" thing figured out.
Get to it M/I Complex.
Also of interest (to me, and apparently, some very nice British people):
Somehow both Angel Dust Apocalypse and Siren Promised managed to make the final lists (in collection and novel) for this year's British Fantasy Awards (established by Ramsey Campbell). Very nice to be on there with guys like Gaiman, Wolfe, Braunbeck, Joe Hill, etc.
I'm not likely to be a front-runner for either award, but if by some miracle I won something I'd be on the next plane out. I've always wanted to eat the sort of fish and chips that actually cause small heart attacks. My friend Ben from London said I could acquire that there. And I'd like to see Bristol because I'm attracted to wet, grey cities.
Lastly-Most:
I just kicked out some free signed books (ADA/SP/EJ) in a pack for the "Hurricane Katrina Victims Fashion Charity Event" (my brain keeps transposing it as Hurricane Katrina Fashion Victims which strikes me as a particularly cruel phrase). I'm not sure when this thing hits (the MySpace page is a wee rough on the eyes) but the organizers seem to have their heads on straight (okay, aside from the layout of that MySpace page) and will also be auctioning off some signed stuff from guys like Harry Shannon and Will Clarke. So, when this thing drops it's a good chance for somebody in Alabama to score some cool books, kick out cash for a still needy cause, and add another tax write off item into their filing forms next April.
To those who've noticed my sloth- yes, this post is pretty much a copy of my recent post over at the ChuckPalahniuk.net Cult Discussion for ADA. Like I said, I'm keeping busy. Work smarter, not harder- all that.
In that same vein, here's something excellent that I'm jacking from RN Lee's ever-entertaining blog:
Chris Cunningham's New "Parasite" Video
He retains his god-like status with just under two minutes of full-fledged freakout. This guy, methinks, is special.
Waiting for summer to die,
JRJ
As of today, I've officially signed to a literary agent.
I've been mulling and fretting about this decision for some time because the Needle Awards magically put me in this dream position where I had multiple agents eager to see my work- I know, it's the best kind of problem. I'm not complaining. But it can be stressful. I don't want to cross over the NY threshold meekly, and I have to be sure that I find the right agent who will place my books with the right publisher and help me reach decent enough sales that I'm viewed as viable for later publication. Slow sales tied to the ISBN of your first novel can have a nasty quicksand effect on a writer's career (or so I've heard).
So after many emails and phone calls I've decided that the agent for me is Mollie Glick with The Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc. (JVNLA for short- they represent some NY Times Bestsellers like Phil Margolin and Jean M. Auel who both also happen to be PDX'ers.). I've now signed on with her to represent my new novel TUNING FORK, and my amended collection. Mollie's previously worked in foreign rights consulting and did an editorial stint at Crown before joining on with the JVNLA team. She's got a great breadth of industry knowledge, is very well vetted industry-wide (and is an AAR member), and happens to really dig my work (I'm pretty sure that's one of the most crucial elements- to have an agent who's a real advocate for the story you're telling).
Now it's "put up or shut up" time. Somehow, in the next six or seven months I'll need to navigate my way through the following tasks-
1. Take TUNING FORK from its preliminary stages to full blown super-novel.
2. Complete 3-4 stories for anthologies I've committed to.
3. Stay on top of Swallowdown Press marketing/promotion for existing titles while trying to develop new books for the press by a few writers I've expressed interest in.
4. Relaunch JRJ.com.
5. Complete SKULLCRACK CITY (which has temporarily taken a back seat to TUNING FORK).
6. Not let all this monitor radiation melt off my face.
7. Spend less time wondering how much bone density I've lost to my soda pop addiction.
So, that's a decent list going forward. I'm excited and nervous, and can only guess that this workload will only increase my consumption of the toxic phosphoric-fructose soup that is Pepsi. Hopefully by the time my brittle bones shatter they'll have that whole "adamantium skeleton" thing figured out.
Get to it M/I Complex.
Also of interest (to me, and apparently, some very nice British people):
Somehow both Angel Dust Apocalypse and Siren Promised managed to make the final lists (in collection and novel) for this year's British Fantasy Awards (established by Ramsey Campbell). Very nice to be on there with guys like Gaiman, Wolfe, Braunbeck, Joe Hill, etc.
I'm not likely to be a front-runner for either award, but if by some miracle I won something I'd be on the next plane out. I've always wanted to eat the sort of fish and chips that actually cause small heart attacks. My friend Ben from London said I could acquire that there. And I'd like to see Bristol because I'm attracted to wet, grey cities.
Lastly-Most:
I just kicked out some free signed books (ADA/SP/EJ) in a pack for the "Hurricane Katrina Victims Fashion Charity Event" (my brain keeps transposing it as Hurricane Katrina Fashion Victims which strikes me as a particularly cruel phrase). I'm not sure when this thing hits (the MySpace page is a wee rough on the eyes) but the organizers seem to have their heads on straight (okay, aside from the layout of that MySpace page) and will also be auctioning off some signed stuff from guys like Harry Shannon and Will Clarke. So, when this thing drops it's a good chance for somebody in Alabama to score some cool books, kick out cash for a still needy cause, and add another tax write off item into their filing forms next April.
To those who've noticed my sloth- yes, this post is pretty much a copy of my recent post over at the ChuckPalahniuk.net Cult Discussion for ADA. Like I said, I'm keeping busy. Work smarter, not harder- all that.
In that same vein, here's something excellent that I'm jacking from RN Lee's ever-entertaining blog:
Chris Cunningham's New "Parasite" Video
He retains his god-like status with just under two minutes of full-fledged freakout. This guy, methinks, is special.
Waiting for summer to die,
JRJ
5/19/2006
A Plague of PromoLocusts aka Thrice the Mojo
Good mojo comes in threes, right? It must- here's my new triumvirate of crazy luck:
1. I usually wait until I'm "contract in hand" on this sort of announcement, but in this case, I couldn't wait. I just found out that Cemetery Dance will be publishing my short story "A Flood of Harriers" in Issue #56 (accompanying the interview Steve Vernon did with me). Having a story in CD's always been on my "To Do Before I Die" list, so I'm very buzzed about the news.
2. My new books (Extinction Journals & the paperback edition of Stoker Nominated novel Siren Promised) are in from the printers and finally available at Amazon.com, Powell's, Shocklines, and JRJ.com.
3. Angel Dust Apocalypse has been chosen as the most recent pick of The Official Cult Book Club at ChuckPalahniuk.net. I've offered to be a part of the discussion and it's been going great. Any fans of Chucky P and ADA are totally welcome to drop by and join in.
As a sign of karmic balance it is notable that my car pretty much exploded today (what does it mean when all the dash lights come on at once and the thing just stops?). Mojo can be fickle.
Cheers,
JRJ, Brand New Bike Commuter
1. I usually wait until I'm "contract in hand" on this sort of announcement, but in this case, I couldn't wait. I just found out that Cemetery Dance will be publishing my short story "A Flood of Harriers" in Issue #56 (accompanying the interview Steve Vernon did with me). Having a story in CD's always been on my "To Do Before I Die" list, so I'm very buzzed about the news.
2. My new books (Extinction Journals & the paperback edition of Stoker Nominated novel Siren Promised) are in from the printers and finally available at Amazon.com, Powell's, Shocklines, and JRJ.com.
3. Angel Dust Apocalypse has been chosen as the most recent pick of The Official Cult Book Club at ChuckPalahniuk.net. I've offered to be a part of the discussion and it's been going great. Any fans of Chucky P and ADA are totally welcome to drop by and join in.
As a sign of karmic balance it is notable that my car pretty much exploded today (what does it mean when all the dash lights come on at once and the thing just stops?). Mojo can be fickle.
Cheers,
JRJ, Brand New Bike Commuter
What the Hell is a Meat Socket?
Honestly, that's a question you're better off not knowing the answer to. It's not as bad as, say, a "blumpkin" but it is pretty foul.The Meat Socket is also the name of an ultra-sleazoid Canadian magazine that just released its fifth issue, titled Pornography Hurts. This thing is jam packed with truly foul content, death metal, and pics of sex acts I usually choose not to contemplate.
Somehow, amidst the filth, you can also find excerpts from my fiction, a gonzo interview with me (accompanied by photos of prolapsed colons and me reading Angel Dust Apocalypse to school children), and a graphic adaptation of my short story "Amniotic Shock in the Last Sacred Place" (seen above).
The whole experience will make you feel dirty on the inside (and maybe even on the outside). Consider yourself warned. Seriously.
Although the issue is currently up as a disc based magazine, rumor has it that the mag will soon be available online (at which point it will likely be banned).
I'm a bit chuffed that my material ended up in this issue next to hate-based cocksmith Max Hardcore and homophobe horror hip-hopper Necro, especially since (my hero) Mike Patton is scheduled to appear in issue six. Thems the breaks.
Genuine sickos- pick this up or watch for its net appearance soon. Everybody else- this shit will make you lose your lunch. Then it will make you eat that same lunch again. It's that messed up.
JRJ
p.s. The new Tool album continues to grow on me.
4/25/2006
1: EXTINCTION JOURNALS- Coming May 1st
You can survive a nuclear blast.All you need is some luck, and maybe a customized business suit coated in cockroaches. It could work. At least that’s what Dean believed before the bombs actually dropped and his suit led him to murder a Very Important Man at the foot of a blackened obelisk.
Now D.C. is looking awfully empty. Life on Earth is pretty much coming to an end. All of which leaves Dean with a single question-“What now?” The answer to that question will take him on an uncanny voyage across a newly nuclear America where he must confront the problems associated with loneliness, radiation, love, and an ever-evolving cockroach suit with a mind of its own.
Dean’s bizarre adventures mark the last chronicle of human existence, the final entries in our species’ own…
Extinction Journals
“DUCK AND COVER, BITCHES! Jeremy Robert Johnson answers the call to glory with his intimately insectoid mini-epic of apocalypse, Extinction Journals: a trip far weirder and more fucked up than it has any right to be. Just like these times.”
— John Skipp, author of Conscience, co-author/editor of The Scream, Mondo Zombie, and Book of the Dead
“Extinction Journals is like a Twilight Zone episode made without Standards & Practices telling Serling he couldn't feature any human/insect love scenes. Move over Chris Genoa- there's a new sexy genius in town.”— Chris Genoa, author of Foop!
“Johnson swirls just enough lucidity and knowing, zombie-Vonnegut hilarity into his bizarro fable of mutually assured delirium to make me question my own sanity. Until science finds a cure for whatever ails this boy, we can only hope to bask in the cool plutonium glow of his weaponized mind... and start collecting cockroaches.”
— Cody Goodfellow, author of Radiant Dawn and Ravenous Dusk
— John Skipp, author of Conscience, co-author/editor of The Scream, Mondo Zombie, and Book of the Dead
“Extinction Journals is like a Twilight Zone episode made without Standards & Practices telling Serling he couldn't feature any human/insect love scenes. Move over Chris Genoa- there's a new sexy genius in town.”— Chris Genoa, author of Foop!
“Johnson swirls just enough lucidity and knowing, zombie-Vonnegut hilarity into his bizarro fable of mutually assured delirium to make me question my own sanity. Until science finds a cure for whatever ails this boy, we can only hope to bask in the cool plutonium glow of his weaponized mind... and start collecting cockroaches.”
— Cody Goodfellow, author of Radiant Dawn and Ravenous Dusk
2: SIREN PROMISED- Coming to Paperback May 1st
Angie Smith and Curtis Loew are having dreams they can’t shake. At the heart of each is Angie’s daughter, Kaya. Angie’s dreams end in death, the spreading of hand-shaped bruises across her daughter’s throat. Curtis’ dreams end in something else, something closer to obsession than love.Angie is worlds away, trying to keep her drug-shattered mind from falling apart, traveling through an American underbelly filled with inhuman shapes, dark whispers and old friends with empty eyes.
Curtis is Kaya’s new neighbor. He’s getting closer to her, and her mentally unstable grandmother, Colleen. He’s had families before, but he’d always made mistakes. Mistakes that led to new names, new towns. But this one time, he swears, things will all work out. He’s got so much love to give.
The Bram Stoker Award Nominated Novel
Siren Promised
Featuring an introduction from author Simon Clark, over thirty illustrations by Alan M. Clark and an afterword by the book’s creators, Siren Promised sets a new benchmark in visual and written storytelling.
"Using Alan M. Clark's gorgeously dark fantastique artwork to springboard the lush, compelling, often raw storyline forward, Johnson and Clark have created a unique literary atmosphere full of dread and wonder. This is a synergistic fusion of major talents that seethes with the black, beautiful energy of nightmares made real."— Tom Piccirilli, author of Headstone City and A Choir of Ill Children
“I have just one word for you – DAMN! By the time I was done reading I was wondering about the purpose in my own life; they left me with an emptiness I didn’t even know existed.”— Horror-Web.com
"What makes Siren Promised such a towering achievement is the rare skill that both men possess to transform their personal experiences into a work of such visionary power. It's harrowing, it's horrific, it's moving, and it's mesmerizing.”— Simon Clark, From the Introduction
“Siren Promised is a page-turner. Johnson and Clark are masters of their crafts…”
— Verbicide
“Siren Promised is a tale of addiction and legacy and rebirth. It is spontaneous and compelling. Dark, sordid characters, bound together like weaving vines of a bog rose. A haunting tale that will surprise you constantly. I recommend it highly.”— Cemetery Dance Weekly
“I have just one word for you – DAMN! By the time I was done reading I was wondering about the purpose in my own life; they left me with an emptiness I didn’t even know existed.”— Horror-Web.com
"What makes Siren Promised such a towering achievement is the rare skill that both men possess to transform their personal experiences into a work of such visionary power. It's harrowing, it's horrific, it's moving, and it's mesmerizing.”— Simon Clark, From the Introduction
“Siren Promised is a page-turner. Johnson and Clark are masters of their crafts…”
— Verbicide
“Siren Promised is a tale of addiction and legacy and rebirth. It is spontaneous and compelling. Dark, sordid characters, bound together like weaving vines of a bog rose. A haunting tale that will surprise you constantly. I recommend it highly.”— Cemetery Dance Weekly
3: SIREN PROMISED/JRJ Interview at SCI FI WIRE
This just popped up today. It's a pretty cool short piece about Siren Promised and the Stoker Awards at the Sci Fi Channel's net news section:
Siren Promised in the Realms of SCI FI
Big thanks to JJA for taking the time to conduct the interview, and to the SCI FI Channel for always playing that Frankenfish movie.
Okay, that's enough gumption from me,
JRJ
p.s. It turned out that JJA had some quality leftovers from our interview that he couldn't use in the SCI FI WIRE piece, so he posted the rest of the Q&A at his blog:
The Slush God Speaketh
It's pretty much the only place I've ever used the phrase "burrito party."
Siren Promised in the Realms of SCI FI
Big thanks to JJA for taking the time to conduct the interview, and to the SCI FI Channel for always playing that Frankenfish movie.
Okay, that's enough gumption from me,
JRJ
p.s. It turned out that JJA had some quality leftovers from our interview that he couldn't use in the SCI FI WIRE piece, so he posted the rest of the Q&A at his blog:
The Slush God Speaketh
It's pretty much the only place I've ever used the phrase "burrito party."
4/21/2006
Chit Chat of the Damned!
CHAT WITH JEREMY ROBERT JOHNSON, MONDAY APRIL 24TH
On Monday, April 24th I'll be the guest author for the “Message Board of the Damned” weekly author chat. It starts at 6:00pm PDT (7 MST, 8 Central, 9 EDT) and lasts for an hour or two depending on how many people show up and whether I decide to answer all questions monosyllabically or en espanol.
I’ll be officially announcing the release of my next two books (and talking about my new imprint Swallowdown Press) at the chat, which is pretty exciting. I’m also open to questions about the Stoker Awards, Bizarro, socialism, parasites, sharks, etc. If any of that is of interest to you then meet me at Message Board of the Damned on 4/24/06.
NOTE:
You might want to come early to sign up for a Message Board of the Damned account. It's free and easy, but might take a few minutes to sign up. You probably won't need to sign up if you already have an EZBoard account.
Also, once you’re signed up you’ll be able to come back on 5/1/06 and chat with New York Times Bestselling author John Skipp whose ninja-like skill with banter will make your minor effort all the more worthwhile.
INFO OF POTENTIAL BENEFIT FOR THOSE NEW TO “THE CHATTING”:
Please use the ‘?’ method to get your place in the queue. Don’t blurt out questions. Make sure the patient folks ahead of you have had a chance to ask their questions.
Please feel free to randomly shout the word “Blitzkrieg!” should you find that amusing (as I do).
Also, no side conversation while the chat is in progress. It tends to jack the flow. There will always be a free-for-all period after the official chat has ended.
I think that’s about it. Hope to see you there!
Bout It,
JRJ
p.s. The chat is now done, and here's a link to the Transcript for those interested.
On Monday, April 24th I'll be the guest author for the “Message Board of the Damned” weekly author chat. It starts at 6:00pm PDT (7 MST, 8 Central, 9 EDT) and lasts for an hour or two depending on how many people show up and whether I decide to answer all questions monosyllabically or en espanol.
I’ll be officially announcing the release of my next two books (and talking about my new imprint Swallowdown Press) at the chat, which is pretty exciting. I’m also open to questions about the Stoker Awards, Bizarro, socialism, parasites, sharks, etc. If any of that is of interest to you then meet me at Message Board of the Damned on 4/24/06.
NOTE:
You might want to come early to sign up for a Message Board of the Damned account. It's free and easy, but might take a few minutes to sign up. You probably won't need to sign up if you already have an EZBoard account.
Also, once you’re signed up you’ll be able to come back on 5/1/06 and chat with New York Times Bestselling author John Skipp whose ninja-like skill with banter will make your minor effort all the more worthwhile.
INFO OF POTENTIAL BENEFIT FOR THOSE NEW TO “THE CHATTING”:
Please use the ‘?’ method to get your place in the queue. Don’t blurt out questions. Make sure the patient folks ahead of you have had a chance to ask their questions.
Please feel free to randomly shout the word “Blitzkrieg!” should you find that amusing (as I do).
Also, no side conversation while the chat is in progress. It tends to jack the flow. There will always be a free-for-all period after the official chat has ended.
I think that’s about it. Hope to see you there!
Bout It,
JRJ
p.s. The chat is now done, and here's a link to the Transcript for those interested.
4/11/2006
Swallowdown, Chat, Stokers, Hype & Powell's Re-Restocked
This is the new custom logo for the micro-press I'm launching in May of 2006. Much thanks to Alan M. Clark for the design job and for coming up with the elegant and slightly disturbing image (that bird doesn't necessarily look too healthy).Swallowdown Press is a Bizarro imprint- much like Carlton Mellick III's Avant Punk- that will release its own weird books while still marching to the communal lit tune established by Eraserhead Press. Inspired by the DIY ethos of guys like Ian MacKaye, Jim Munroe, and, of course, CM3, Swallowdown Press will strive to release underground books at overground levels of quality.
Basically what it is right now is a cool label that you'll be seeing on brand new weird work coming from me. Will it become more than that in the future? Perhaps. Some have suggested that the press name might also be appropriate should I decide to start releasing gay erotica. They were joking, but I've heard there's good money in that market, so we shall see (tweedling fingers and stroking waxed-and-curled moustache like a greedy corporate bastard).
Want to hear more about the upcoming books from Swallowdown? Make sure to come visit with me at 6:00pm PDT on April 24th, when I'll be doing a live chat at The Message Board of the Damned. I know I've been evasive about upcoming releases so far, but I'll be spilling all the beans and half a can of soda at the chat, I swear.
I can tell you that I should have some lovely cover art for EXTINCTION JOURNALS to show you by the beginning of next week. Oh, and here is the back cover copy, for folks who can't get enough of vague promotional text:
You can survive a nuclear blast.
All you need is some luck, and maybe a customized business suit coated in cockroaches. It could work. At least that's what Dean believed before the bombs actually dropped and his suit led him to murder a Very Important Man at the foot of a blackened obelisk.
Now D.C. is looking awfully empty. Life on Earth is pretty much coming to an end. All of which leaves Dean with a single question- "What now?" The answer to that question will take him on an uncanny voyage across a newly nuclear America where he must confront the problems associated with loneliness, radiation, love, and an ever-evolving cockroach suit with a mind of its own.
Dean's bizarre adventures mark the last chronicle of human existence, the final entries in our species' own...…
Extinction Journals
All you need is some luck, and maybe a customized business suit coated in cockroaches. It could work. At least that's what Dean believed before the bombs actually dropped and his suit led him to murder a Very Important Man at the foot of a blackened obelisk.
Now D.C. is looking awfully empty. Life on Earth is pretty much coming to an end. All of which leaves Dean with a single question- "What now?" The answer to that question will take him on an uncanny voyage across a newly nuclear America where he must confront the problems associated with loneliness, radiation, love, and an ever-evolving cockroach suit with a mind of its own.
Dean's bizarre adventures mark the last chronicle of human existence, the final entries in our species' own...…
Extinction Journals
So there's that.
Some other news of interest- SIREN PROMISED has been officially nominated for a 2005 Bram Stoker Award (in the First Novel category) by the members of the HWA. The Stoker is like the Oscar of the horror world, so I'm very honored and excited to be included among the nominees (including Weston Ochse and Kealan Patrick Burke in our category, and lesser knowns like King, Palahniuk, Mieville and Barker in others). Clark and I won't find out if our little dark horse of a book will take home the prize until mid-June, but in the meantime I threw myself a burrito party- that's the kind of party where I eat a giant burrito(!)- just for being nominated. Here's a link to the Final Ballot to give you an idea of the kind of excellent writing that's up for the award this year.
Hype! I love me some hype! And thanks to some kind words and a Needle Award nomination from the incredibly cool Girl on Demand at POD-dy Mouth, I've been nearly coated with "the hype" for the last few weeks. No, I didn't win the coveted Needle Award, but just being a nominee sent a modest cavalcade of interested New York literary agents in my direction. Although most have agreed that ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE is doing what it's doing just fine, the real interest from New York has been in seeing a new novel from me. I can't fathom not returning that interest so I've already started work on a new book tentatively titled TUNING FORK.
That's all I can tell you about it right now, since the novel is only in partial outline form and I haven't officially signed on with any agents yet- but things are looking very interesting. Hopefully I'll have more info on this front soon, although I may not actually end up agented until I've written this new book, which I'm hoping to do by 3rd quarter of this year. Crazy...
Finally, I wanted to offer another big THANK YOU to the Portland people who've been heading into Powell's Books (1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97209) to pick up copies of ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE. It has already sold out once since I announced its inclusion as a featured small press title last blog. I love heading down there to deliver new copies (gives me a chance to loiter and check out a bunch of magazines while feeling like I'm doing "work"), so much love is due to the Portlanders who have been picking up the weird little book. One of the agents I was speaking with last week said Portland and Seattle are two of the biggest, most supportive literary communities on the planet, and I believe him.
I think that's enough info dump for now. On a personal note I'd like to offer my best wishes to my friend Kane who just joined the Coast Guard and is now somewhere in NJ learning how to be a military man. Glad we got to party, play poker and pool, check out Chappelle's Block Party and Slither, etc. last week. Sorry I never found you a Last Detail-style hooker with one eye to give you syphillis. Hope basic training's going awesome, man. You'll be fighting sea pirates and dope smugglers in no time!
Should have the EJ cover and more chat news next week...
JRJ
3/22/2006
Powell's Restocked & Some Big News (Sort Of)
First, big thanks (!) to the people who quickly bought out the first batch of ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE at Powell's Books (1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97209). Powell's has since decided to increase their stock and make it part of the featured display for small press, which is very cool. I dropped off a bunch of copies this week.So, that's good news. Thank you to all the PDX people and others who support their local booksellers.
Next, the new issue (#16) of Verbicide is now out and is ridiculously great. I have to give props to Nate and Jackson for putting out their most attractive, solid issue yet. You've got in-depth interviews with Saul Williams (a major artistic influence on ADA and a hero of mine) and Gorillaz alongside the weirdest "interview" ever with the Wondershowzen guys (it's total chaos but frequently laugh-out-loud and lasts much longer than I'd expected). On top of that you get artist profiles, politics, tons of music reviews, some dreamy Suicide Girls shots, and fiction by people like Agent Automatic and some jackass called... ME!
That's right. The new issue features one of my most popular stories, "The Sharp Dressed Man at the End of the Line"- a cockroach riddled story of paranoia, nuclear war, and creative tailor-work. Which leads me to my "big news" for this blog...
EXTINCTION JOURNALS is coming!
Scheduled to be available by the end May, EXTINCTION JOURNALS is a book-length follow-up to the aforementioned short. I'd give you more details but I don't want to ruin any surprises from the prior short for those that haven't checked it out yet (not that it's a necessary read- EJ works as a standalone- but it's likely a little more resonant if you've read the story). I can say that EXTINCTION JOURNALS is the strangest thing I've ever written, which is exciting.
EJ will be relased by the same mysterious press that's putting out another book of mine (which I also can't say anything about at this point in time). I swear that by the beginning of May all my jibber-jabber will make more sense. Sometimes contractual obligations keep me from reaching any level of lucid communication. What can you do?
On a final Powell's note, Ultra Marathon Man Dean Karnazes happened to be speaking the night I dropped the books off, and he's always highly entertaining, especially when you realize that he has magical powers and is basically the closest thing to a living super-hero you may ever meet. I mean, I've never met anyone else with a 38bpm pulse rate who is capable of running 350 miles non-stop. Have you? He plays it off very casually, but I can't help looking at him and thinking, "Man, this dude's like the endurance version of The Flash." It was good inspiration for the new batch of marathon training I've just kicked off (1/2 marathon in June, full marathon in October).
Maybe too inspiring. I headed out an ran myself into some sort of lame immune-suppressed state and came up with a brutal cold/fever/sinus infection. But once my tonsils are no longer so swollen they touch, I'm headed back out for speed drills.
Final note for now- the new Ghostface album is his best since Supreme Clientele. Not a point for argument, just a fact. Going to check out his live show tomorrow night.
Best Wu-wishes,
JRJ
2/22/2006
The Staccato Sound of Random Promotion
That's the blog quandary- how much time do you spend talking about the sort of personal experiences that people actually find compelling, and how much time do you spend talking about your writing career (which is fascinating pretty much only to yourself)? I shoot for balance. I do. I let you know about Benchley's influence on my childhood in the last blog. But this new one is pretty much all business. But it is good stuff. Here goes...
After I fired up the computer this morning I discovered:
1. An interview with me (done by Steve Vernon aka Mick Lebowski) will appear in upcoming Issue #56 of Cemetery Dance. CD's always been a sort of horror mag Grail for me, so I'm hugely excited about this.
2. The Bookgasm reviewer that read ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE ended up digging it. The new review is three down, just under the new one for Bryan Smith's DEATHBRINGER. (If you're checking this out a bit after February '06, here's a perma-link to the review.)
3. ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE has been nominated by Girl on Demand for POD-dy Mouth's Needle Awards. This means that of the 1,400 some titles considered, and fifty reviewed, ADA was one of the top five commercial titles. The awards are being judged by prominent NY agents and editors, and a copy of whatever wins has already been requested by 27 agents and editors so far, including esteemed folks at Bantam, Crown, Tor, Penguin Putnam, William Morris, Trident Media, ICM, Inkwell and many others. I don't have many illusions about the viability of a collection winning, but I'm still very honored by the nomination.
So that was my morning. My bagel could have been made from musk ox and it still would've tasted great.
JRJ
After I fired up the computer this morning I discovered:
1. An interview with me (done by Steve Vernon aka Mick Lebowski) will appear in upcoming Issue #56 of Cemetery Dance. CD's always been a sort of horror mag Grail for me, so I'm hugely excited about this.
2. The Bookgasm reviewer that read ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE ended up digging it. The new review is three down, just under the new one for Bryan Smith's DEATHBRINGER. (If you're checking this out a bit after February '06, here's a perma-link to the review.)
3. ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE has been nominated by Girl on Demand for POD-dy Mouth's Needle Awards. This means that of the 1,400 some titles considered, and fifty reviewed, ADA was one of the top five commercial titles. The awards are being judged by prominent NY agents and editors, and a copy of whatever wins has already been requested by 27 agents and editors so far, including esteemed folks at Bantam, Crown, Tor, Penguin Putnam, William Morris, Trident Media, ICM, Inkwell and many others. I don't have many illusions about the viability of a collection winning, but I'm still very honored by the nomination.
So that was my morning. My bagel could have been made from musk ox and it still would've tasted great.
JRJ
2/16/2006
Another Hero Gone
"The great fish moved silently through the night water..."
When I was five years old I wanted only one thing for my birthday- to finally watch the movie Jaws. I'd already developed a shark fixation thanks to National Geographic specials and a coloring book dedicated to the toothy beasts. They were the only thing cooler, in my book, than dinosaurs. I had a brutal case of fear-based fascination that made my first swimming lessons terrible- who knew where sharks could pop up. I even had the awesome Jaws game, wherein two people compete to hook various items from the rubber-band rigged mouth of a plastic great white. Lift one item too abruptly or get one of the final pieces and SNAP!
But I still hadn't seen the film. The big one. THE shark movie.
So, on my fifth birthday, when I heard the first bass-heavy strains of the score- yup, I knew the iconic music long before seeing the movie- coming from my parents' living room, I knew I'd got my birthday wish. And for the next two hours I sat in my mom's lap and watched what was to become one of my favorite films of all time.
It was about two years later when I discovered a ratty old copy of the paperback among my dad's books. I dived right in, of course. Having already seen the film thirty-or-so times by then I was a bit shocked when Hooper and Mrs. Brody became intimate, and even more shocked with what happened to Hooper later in the book. And the Quint-incites-a-frenzy scene was priceless, if a bit too dark for Spielberg's film. Sure the ending lacked the cinematic POW! of the movie version, but it was still a deeply rewarding read and one that introduced me to Peter Benchley's potent world of oceanic thrillers.
Benchley's writing often merged captivating facts about marine biology with pulpy thrills, and still managed to excite even when he basically re-wrote his own Jaws with a giant squid instead of a carcharodon carcharias in Beast. His books read effortlessly and always satisfied. His later take on sharks as less malevolent creatures (Shark Trouble) was equally interesting, and will hopefully one day reach an audience as wide as Jaws has had. He was a man deeply concerned with humankind's abuse of the ocean, and you could sense in his later work a desire to exorcise the damage his early work may have had on cultural perception.
Had Benchley never written Jaws? Well, I wouldn't have shelled out serious cash for a framed original theatrical poster (including the "...may be too INTENSE for younger children" note next to the PG rating). I wouldn't own four copies of the book including the awesome illustrated Reader's Digest condensed version that I "procured" from a hotel lobby. Steve Alten would have no career. I wouldn't have wasted so much time on the Jaws NES game. Shark Week wouldn't drop me into a TV-coma. Spielberg may not have ended up where he is today, and the phrase Summer Blockbuster might not have entered the lexicon. I never would have contemplated a career in marine biology. I'm sure there are other things I'm missing. The influence of his book was huge.
His passing at age 65 is indeed sad, a literary voice and caring steward of the sea lost, but there is a sense that his work will endure for some time. Jaws has deservedly become a part of the thriller canon, and I hope it will continue to delight readers throughout the next century.
Peter Benchley, RIP. Thank you for the stories.
Sincerely,
JRJ
p.s. If there is indeed some sort of Writer's Valhalla as I'd like to imagine, I hope Peter's knocking back a cold one with Selby and Hunter right now. My heroes need to stick around a little longer.
p.p.s. On the lighter side of things- Tom Piccirilli, author of one of my top five books of last year, A Choir of Ill Children, has offered up this awesome blurb for Siren Promised:
"Using Alan M. Clark's gorgeously dark fantastique artwork to springboard the lush, compelling, often raw storyline forward, Johnson and Clark have created a unique literary atmosphere full of dread and wonder. This is a synergistic fusion of major talents that seethes with the black, beautiful energy of nightmares made real."--Tom Piccirilli, author of HEADSTONE CITY and A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN
So that's cool.
When I was five years old I wanted only one thing for my birthday- to finally watch the movie Jaws. I'd already developed a shark fixation thanks to National Geographic specials and a coloring book dedicated to the toothy beasts. They were the only thing cooler, in my book, than dinosaurs. I had a brutal case of fear-based fascination that made my first swimming lessons terrible- who knew where sharks could pop up. I even had the awesome Jaws game, wherein two people compete to hook various items from the rubber-band rigged mouth of a plastic great white. Lift one item too abruptly or get one of the final pieces and SNAP!
But I still hadn't seen the film. The big one. THE shark movie.
So, on my fifth birthday, when I heard the first bass-heavy strains of the score- yup, I knew the iconic music long before seeing the movie- coming from my parents' living room, I knew I'd got my birthday wish. And for the next two hours I sat in my mom's lap and watched what was to become one of my favorite films of all time.
It was about two years later when I discovered a ratty old copy of the paperback among my dad's books. I dived right in, of course. Having already seen the film thirty-or-so times by then I was a bit shocked when Hooper and Mrs. Brody became intimate, and even more shocked with what happened to Hooper later in the book. And the Quint-incites-a-frenzy scene was priceless, if a bit too dark for Spielberg's film. Sure the ending lacked the cinematic POW! of the movie version, but it was still a deeply rewarding read and one that introduced me to Peter Benchley's potent world of oceanic thrillers.
Benchley's writing often merged captivating facts about marine biology with pulpy thrills, and still managed to excite even when he basically re-wrote his own Jaws with a giant squid instead of a carcharodon carcharias in Beast. His books read effortlessly and always satisfied. His later take on sharks as less malevolent creatures (Shark Trouble) was equally interesting, and will hopefully one day reach an audience as wide as Jaws has had. He was a man deeply concerned with humankind's abuse of the ocean, and you could sense in his later work a desire to exorcise the damage his early work may have had on cultural perception.
Had Benchley never written Jaws? Well, I wouldn't have shelled out serious cash for a framed original theatrical poster (including the "...may be too INTENSE for younger children" note next to the PG rating). I wouldn't own four copies of the book including the awesome illustrated Reader's Digest condensed version that I "procured" from a hotel lobby. Steve Alten would have no career. I wouldn't have wasted so much time on the Jaws NES game. Shark Week wouldn't drop me into a TV-coma. Spielberg may not have ended up where he is today, and the phrase Summer Blockbuster might not have entered the lexicon. I never would have contemplated a career in marine biology. I'm sure there are other things I'm missing. The influence of his book was huge.
His passing at age 65 is indeed sad, a literary voice and caring steward of the sea lost, but there is a sense that his work will endure for some time. Jaws has deservedly become a part of the thriller canon, and I hope it will continue to delight readers throughout the next century.
Peter Benchley, RIP. Thank you for the stories.
Sincerely,
JRJ
p.s. If there is indeed some sort of Writer's Valhalla as I'd like to imagine, I hope Peter's knocking back a cold one with Selby and Hunter right now. My heroes need to stick around a little longer.
p.p.s. On the lighter side of things- Tom Piccirilli, author of one of my top five books of last year, A Choir of Ill Children, has offered up this awesome blurb for Siren Promised:
"Using Alan M. Clark's gorgeously dark fantastique artwork to springboard the lush, compelling, often raw storyline forward, Johnson and Clark have created a unique literary atmosphere full of dread and wonder. This is a synergistic fusion of major talents that seethes with the black, beautiful energy of nightmares made real."--Tom Piccirilli, author of HEADSTONE CITY and A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN
So that's cool.
2/06/2006
GOD on ANGEL DUST
The GOD I'm referring to, of course, is the lovely Girl On Demand, the anonymous Penguin Putnam author behind the ever-popular POD-dy Mouth blog. Somehow I was lucky enough for her to select ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE as one of her "treasures" to be saved from the pulp mill that is Print on Demand, or POD (my publisher, Eraserhead Press, utilizes POD technology instead of the more traditional offset printing to create its books).
The review (visible on the main page now or on the right-side archives if you're reading this after February) can be seen here: Girl on Demand on ADA
My favorite bit?
"Johnson is probably a few books away from doing for horror what Jonathan Lethem did for science fiction. Plain and simple? Forget horror; this is good fiction. From stem to stern, each story will amaze you--and I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts you'll read them all more than once."
For those who enjoy Girl on Demand's industry insights, you might also want to check out this blog: Agent 007
My right ear itches. And now, thanks to the miracle of blogging, you know about it. Oh, the verdant digital age, so rich with promise!
JRJ
The review (visible on the main page now or on the right-side archives if you're reading this after February) can be seen here: Girl on Demand on ADA
My favorite bit?
"Johnson is probably a few books away from doing for horror what Jonathan Lethem did for science fiction. Plain and simple? Forget horror; this is good fiction. From stem to stern, each story will amaze you--and I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts you'll read them all more than once."
For those who enjoy Girl on Demand's industry insights, you might also want to check out this blog: Agent 007
My right ear itches. And now, thanks to the miracle of blogging, you know about it. Oh, the verdant digital age, so rich with promise!
JRJ
1/28/2006
Free James Frey/Avant Garde DNA/Rust and Bone
Free James Frey-
Jerry Stahl (another "narco memoir" author who has appeared on Oprah and also wrote the genius-level novel Perv-A Love Story) has written a very funny and somewhat scathing essay about the AMLP shenanigans. Had me laughing out loud, and frequently. Here are a few samples from the bit:
"That is to say, I may experience the despair and soul-death of a man who has knocked over convenience stores — though, technically, if you’re going to go all Smoking Gun on my ass, I was held for shoplifting M&Ms. Peanut.
The kind that feel like little skulls between my pain-racked teeth. The chocolate mushing to bloody brown with every bite. Blood. Mouth. Peanuts.
Okay, okay. Fuck the bullshit. I wasn’t exactly arrested. There was a security guard, in a turban. Whom I turned into a cop for dramatic purposes. And fuck you if you think I need to embellish my super-bad criminal status by describing how I smacked him in the face with the jerky rack. Jerky everywhere.
Preserved meat. Which I ate off the floor on all fours. Like a wolverine . . ."
and
"Haters like to make a big deal out of whether I really murdered the rabbi who asked me to take the dreidel out of his pocket and cup it. Maybe I did. And maybe I didn’t. You smoke crack and guzzle brewskis under a parked bus for two weeks and see how your fact-to-fantasy ratio shakes out."
Here's the link (you have to scroll down after you get there): Free James Frey!
Also, here's an interesting article about another acclaimed author. The article pitch- "Did a struggling white writer of gay erotica become one of multicultural literature’s most celebrated memoirists — by passing himself off as Native American?"
And the link (scroll down again): Navahoax
Avant Garde DNA-
A few days ago this, over at the Mondo Bizarro forum, I received an unexpected post from hyper-cyber-avant-garde-David-Bowie-acclaimed-author Kenji Siratori:
"Jeremy Robert Johnson, you mash-up the apocalypse head of a drug fetus and brew the genetic code of guerrilla=sex."
Which is weird, because I've always kind of felt that way about myself but have never been able to articulate it.
I will, of course, create a T-shirt utilizing the quote. Too great not to.
Rust and Bone-
So, a while back I saw an ad for a fiction collection called RUST AND BONE by Craig Davidson. I noticed the acclaim it was receiving from folks like Bret Easton Ellis and Clive Barker. I maximized the cover image for the book and saw that Chucky P also had some kind words for the work. "So," I thought, "this is the other guy." I knew Chuck had blurbed two books in 2005, but wasn't sure what the other one was. Turns out RUST AND BONE is a dark literary fiction collection from a guy with a background in horror. Sound familiar?
I got my grubby mitts on a copy as soon as I could and by then end of the first story I realized this guy was the most exciting new author I'd read since Cody Goodfellow. Craig Davidson (whose highly amusing blog can be found here) is "realer than Real Deal Holyfield." Were I to continue to quote that delightful rap couplet I'd also say, "and now you hookers and hos know how I feel" but that's always seemed a bit redundant to me, despite the delightful rhyme cadence and important message.
Back on point- Davidson has delivered a hell of a first book. Odds say you'll love it. You can check out more details and see a rather rambling review from my alter ego S.P. Doyle over at:
RUST AND BONE at Amazon.com
Hell, you could buy a copy of ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE with it and get Super Saver shipping and all that. Wouldn't hurt my feelings.
Okay, pimping done, I'm off to brew the genetic code of guerilla=sex, and then maybe I'll eat some sourdough toast. That sounds fun.
Kill all machines,
JRJ
Jerry Stahl (another "narco memoir" author who has appeared on Oprah and also wrote the genius-level novel Perv-A Love Story) has written a very funny and somewhat scathing essay about the AMLP shenanigans. Had me laughing out loud, and frequently. Here are a few samples from the bit:
"That is to say, I may experience the despair and soul-death of a man who has knocked over convenience stores — though, technically, if you’re going to go all Smoking Gun on my ass, I was held for shoplifting M&Ms. Peanut.
The kind that feel like little skulls between my pain-racked teeth. The chocolate mushing to bloody brown with every bite. Blood. Mouth. Peanuts.
Okay, okay. Fuck the bullshit. I wasn’t exactly arrested. There was a security guard, in a turban. Whom I turned into a cop for dramatic purposes. And fuck you if you think I need to embellish my super-bad criminal status by describing how I smacked him in the face with the jerky rack. Jerky everywhere.
Preserved meat. Which I ate off the floor on all fours. Like a wolverine . . ."
and
"Haters like to make a big deal out of whether I really murdered the rabbi who asked me to take the dreidel out of his pocket and cup it. Maybe I did. And maybe I didn’t. You smoke crack and guzzle brewskis under a parked bus for two weeks and see how your fact-to-fantasy ratio shakes out."
Here's the link (you have to scroll down after you get there): Free James Frey!
Also, here's an interesting article about another acclaimed author. The article pitch- "Did a struggling white writer of gay erotica become one of multicultural literature’s most celebrated memoirists — by passing himself off as Native American?"
And the link (scroll down again): Navahoax
Avant Garde DNA-
A few days ago this, over at the Mondo Bizarro forum, I received an unexpected post from hyper-cyber-avant-garde-David-Bowie-acclaimed-author Kenji Siratori:
"Jeremy Robert Johnson, you mash-up the apocalypse head of a drug fetus and brew the genetic code of guerrilla=sex."
Which is weird, because I've always kind of felt that way about myself but have never been able to articulate it.
I will, of course, create a T-shirt utilizing the quote. Too great not to.
Rust and Bone-
So, a while back I saw an ad for a fiction collection called RUST AND BONE by Craig Davidson. I noticed the acclaim it was receiving from folks like Bret Easton Ellis and Clive Barker. I maximized the cover image for the book and saw that Chucky P also had some kind words for the work. "So," I thought, "this is the other guy." I knew Chuck had blurbed two books in 2005, but wasn't sure what the other one was. Turns out RUST AND BONE is a dark literary fiction collection from a guy with a background in horror. Sound familiar?
I got my grubby mitts on a copy as soon as I could and by then end of the first story I realized this guy was the most exciting new author I'd read since Cody Goodfellow. Craig Davidson (whose highly amusing blog can be found here) is "realer than Real Deal Holyfield." Were I to continue to quote that delightful rap couplet I'd also say, "and now you hookers and hos know how I feel" but that's always seemed a bit redundant to me, despite the delightful rhyme cadence and important message.
Back on point- Davidson has delivered a hell of a first book. Odds say you'll love it. You can check out more details and see a rather rambling review from my alter ego S.P. Doyle over at:
RUST AND BONE at Amazon.com
Hell, you could buy a copy of ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE with it and get Super Saver shipping and all that. Wouldn't hurt my feelings.
Okay, pimping done, I'm off to brew the genetic code of guerilla=sex, and then maybe I'll eat some sourdough toast. That sounds fun.
Kill all machines,
JRJ
1/11/2006
Get Out of the House
Seriously.
Go. Make sure your clothes are weather-appropriate and get the hell out.
I did it, at around 2:30am, this Wednesday morning, and it was great. I'd spent five hours straight in my midget-box office, typing away at short stories, blogs, message boards, emails, etc. My wife is working out of town and the place was (and is) Capital L Lonely and feels quiet even with my computer pumping out tunes. The rain outside has been near torrential and has rendered my life into a series of boxes. Apartment to car to grocery store to fast food joint to Post Office to home, etc.
This place, my brain, the patterned but effective lifestyle- all gone stale. So I grabbed my keys and got out. But where to go?
Anywhere. Just walk. Just breathe. Pull some fresh air into your lungs.
I spent half an hour trolling the streets, in the rain. Gallivanting. Being a flaneur (I think that's the word). I saw one other human being. We nodded at each other and kept walking. TV's flashed through a lot of the windows. The only screen I caught was selling air filters with seven layers of protection.
Seven layers of protection. You know, for the boxes we live in.
The rain picked up its force. I started to soak and turned back towards my place. On the way back I stopped and touched the bark of a tree. What kind of tree, I don't know. I'd check Google but that seems so against the point. It was the kind of tree that was rough and thick and huge and will outlive me, and I could barely see the moon through its branches and the thickening clouds.
Before I reached home, I heard a noise. Like industrial bird song. Beautiful but metallic. As I got closer I realized it was water running and pressurizing through pipes on the outside of a building. I stood and listened to the song and its rusty melody and imagined a nice drumbeat boom-bapping under it.
The noise ceased as I walked away. Kind of perfect, this tiny performance.
And that kind of shit is happening everywhere, right now. It's not huge, but it's something different. It's something I can't fucking Google up.
My hair is still wet with the rain as I type this. I'm tempted to head back out. I didn't want to write this down, didn't want it to become part of the culture where an experience is only validated if you have fourteen forms of digital files notating its existence, blog included. But I've got a lot of love for the people who read this, and I'm telling you...
Get out of the house.
Best,
JRJ
Go. Make sure your clothes are weather-appropriate and get the hell out.
I did it, at around 2:30am, this Wednesday morning, and it was great. I'd spent five hours straight in my midget-box office, typing away at short stories, blogs, message boards, emails, etc. My wife is working out of town and the place was (and is) Capital L Lonely and feels quiet even with my computer pumping out tunes. The rain outside has been near torrential and has rendered my life into a series of boxes. Apartment to car to grocery store to fast food joint to Post Office to home, etc.
This place, my brain, the patterned but effective lifestyle- all gone stale. So I grabbed my keys and got out. But where to go?
Anywhere. Just walk. Just breathe. Pull some fresh air into your lungs.
I spent half an hour trolling the streets, in the rain. Gallivanting. Being a flaneur (I think that's the word). I saw one other human being. We nodded at each other and kept walking. TV's flashed through a lot of the windows. The only screen I caught was selling air filters with seven layers of protection.
Seven layers of protection. You know, for the boxes we live in.
The rain picked up its force. I started to soak and turned back towards my place. On the way back I stopped and touched the bark of a tree. What kind of tree, I don't know. I'd check Google but that seems so against the point. It was the kind of tree that was rough and thick and huge and will outlive me, and I could barely see the moon through its branches and the thickening clouds.
Before I reached home, I heard a noise. Like industrial bird song. Beautiful but metallic. As I got closer I realized it was water running and pressurizing through pipes on the outside of a building. I stood and listened to the song and its rusty melody and imagined a nice drumbeat boom-bapping under it.
The noise ceased as I walked away. Kind of perfect, this tiny performance.
And that kind of shit is happening everywhere, right now. It's not huge, but it's something different. It's something I can't fucking Google up.
My hair is still wet with the rain as I type this. I'm tempted to head back out. I didn't want to write this down, didn't want it to become part of the culture where an experience is only validated if you have fourteen forms of digital files notating its existence, blog included. But I've got a lot of love for the people who read this, and I'm telling you...
Get out of the house.
Best,
JRJ
1/08/2006
New Digs/ADA for Collectors/2005 Top 5 Lists
New Digs-
So, you may have noticed a change over at JRJ.com. When you click on the handy Blog icon on the menu, it brings you here, to my newfangled Blogger page. I've outsourced my blog for a few reasons- ease of interface, presentation (I think this page looks halfway sharp and should improve as time passes), and most of all, the COMMENT option.
I say some ridiculous things in my blog and I've always wanted to give readers a chance to hammer me for my indiscretions in a public forum (aside from, you know, my actual forum). So the next time I say something like, "There's no one in modern Croatian hip hop that's worth listening to!" you can respond with a comment like, "Well, obviously, Mr. Johnson, you've never heard of DJ Zeb and the Dzirn Street Krew." And then we'll all reflect on the brilliant discourse and laugh like kings with mouths half-filled by mutton!
Of course, you don't have to be contradictory... any kind of comments will be welcome.
And no, I still have no idea where the name for the blog comes from. I was drunk when I came up with it and have kept it out of a vague sense of nostalgia, despite its silliness. I suppose it has vague connotations in either sci-fi, math, or hip hop territories. But I've never once written a blog anywhere near the basement. I've done some other things in the basement, but that remains under lock and key (and some of it is under quicklime). What happens in the basement, stays in the basement...
Oh, and for anyone who really enjoyed the old blog entries, they've been archived here at the Blogger page, all under January 2006.
ADA For Collectors-
There are only 16 copies of the "Old, No-Palahniuk-Quote-Having Edition" of Angel Dust Apocalypse left in the known galaxy. 6 have been shipped to my friend John and the remaining 10 are with me, available for purchase at my website. There are less than 300 of these in print, so it may be worth a couple more bucks on eBay some day.
Pick one up if you're interested in having a copy that'll prove you were down for Bizarro work before it was lauded by one of the World's Best Authors (caps and title inserted subjectively by blog-writer). Just indicate "Old Version" in the inscription zone during purchase. These are likely to go quick, so establish a false sense of urgency... NOW!
(Update: "Old Version" copies have dwindled since this announcement, so the sense of urgency could now be considered genuine if this sort of thing is up your bookish alley.)
2005 Top Five Lists
My lists will involve what I call "the cheating," meaning that not all picks will actually have been created in '05. Last year is just when I happened to come across the item.
Oh, and if there were any doubts about how truly un-hip my taste is, these lists should serve as a permanent confirmation. What can I say? Maybe my near-thirty status is starting to show through. Or maybe I've always been a nerd. Probably the latter.
Books:
1. Radiant Dawn/Ravenous Dusk by Cody Goodfellow- HP Lovecraft meets David Foster Wallace meets James Ellroy meets Robert Ludlum meets Alan Moore meets... okay, enough of that. What I'm trying to say is that this guy has skills and you need these books. Plan on losing some sleep once you're addicted to this epic chunk of madness.
2. Off Season by Jack Ketchum- One of the most balls-out and lyrical examinations of human darkness I've ever read. Plus, there's some mid-book trickery that will shock you. That Ketchum was capable of pulling off such a nasty coup still amazes me.
3. A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli- This book sucks you in from the opening sentence and pulls you deep into a mutant southern gothic that's often poetic, sometimes surreal, and always engaging. It's like someone slipped absinthe into your moonshine.
4. Porno by Irvine Welsh- Being back in the presence of Sick Boy and Begbie made me giddy and nauseous, respectively, but always with a smile on my face (okay, except for that scene with poor Spud and the bar-slag- that's just nasty). Plus, seeing characters from Glue added into the picture helped to further define Welsh's sick and wonderful world.
5. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk- "Shooo-rook!" From the heartbreak of tales like "Post-Production" and "Exodus" to the straight-out existential horror of "Hot Potting" and "Ritual" this was the year's most enjoyable horror collection.
Honorable mentions include Blood Father by Peter Craig, Play Dead by Michael A. Arnzen, and The Troublesome Amputee/The Horrible by John Edward Lawson.
Films:
1. Brokeback Mountain- Forget the words "gay cowboys." That's boring. Really. Just know this- Brokeback is one of the finest representations of love, longing, and loss ever committed to film. Beautifully written, beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and brutal in its emotional implications.
2. Syriana- When's the last time you spent an hour after the film just trying to sort out the plot, but finding the act gratifying? A smart, gritty, and surprisingly even-handed examination of the geo-politics of oil (and a rewarding character study).
3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang- Fast, funny post-modern noir (PoMoNo?) with a real love for the genre and one of the best recent performances from Robert Downey Jr.
4. Ong Bak/Kung Fu Hustle- Hell, both these movies made me want to take up martial arts again. Tony Jaa is like the love child of Jackie Chan, David Blaine, and Jesus. I'm pretty sure he's not even human. And KFH is pure cinema, the sort of thing that feels new but presses the old buttons that made you love film in the first place.
5. Wolf Creek- Yeah, you might think there were a lot of other films worthy of a top five spot, but I've got to hand it to Wolf Creek for sheer effectiveness. I cared about its protagonists more than any other batch of horror flick kids in recent memory, and I started grinding my teeth and having rapid palpitations as they were dragged further and further into their outback hell. Sharp cinematography, too. I don't want to watch it again, but I respect it.
Honorable mentions include Munich, Ju-On, and A History of Violence.
Music:
1. Frances the Mute/Scab Dates by The Mars Volta- Did anyone else even try to rock this hard in 2005? Okay, so they got a little indulgent on Scab Dates (who really wants to listen to ten minutes of backstage noise through LSD filters?) but when they hit those high points, there's no-one else I'd rather be listening to.
2. Saul Williams Fader Album by Saul Williams- Saul channels his poetry into more musical structures and adds a new punk energy and aggression. "Shakespeare," his collaboration with Zack De La Rocha, kept me going through four months of harsh marathon training. "When they tell you to achieve, ask yourself, 'Is that for them or for you?'"
3. Vheissu by Thrice- The singer learned how to sing but didn't forget the power of a guttural scream, the songs got even more complicated (but somehow more song-like than their prior work), they donate album proceeds to Eggers' literacy program, and the songs all contain a real sense of urgency in favor of human transcendence. Ambitious without over-reaching, this is a very positive slab of punk-metal energy.
4. A Healthy Distrust by Sage Francis- Every time I listen, I pick up a new genius line. Whether rapping about politics, relationships, or a hip hop battle between the sun and the moon, Sage is furiously on point in his best work to date.
5. Hell's Winter by Cage- I never thought Cage would come anywhere near one of my favorites lists, but something must have happened to him when he went through that mushroom coma (or whatever trauma hit him). His Def Jux debut is so full of neck-snapping beats and sharp lines that I have to give him props. The old Cage was content to offend with nasal tales of drugs and misogyny. The new Cage is flexing a variety of flows on topics like his jacked-up childhood and the "war on terror" over ridiculously hot beats from El-P, Camu Tao, DJ Shadow, and RJD2, among others.
Honorable mentions include With Teeth by Nine Inch Nails, Arular by MIA, Black Dialogue by The Perceptionists, Leviathan by Mastodon, and B-side and Rarities by Deftones. And the best live show of the year was incontestably Ozomatli at the Kauai Convention Center, followed by The Mars Volta at The Rose Garden, The Perceptionists at Doug Fir, and RJD2 at Holocene.
2005 will be a tough year to leave behind. Somehow in the last twelve months I managed to have two books published, run a marathon, get married, and get a literary quote from one of my heroes. In 2006 I'm going to have to get four books published, run an ultra-marathon, move to Utah and marry some more people, and get James Ellroy to co-write a book with me.
I'm going to need some benzedrine, for starters. I better get moving.
And thank you to all the wonderful friends, family, and readers who made 2005 such an incredible year.
Let's make 2006 The Year of the Lazer! (Hint: this will involve lazers!)
I need another drink,
JRJ
So, you may have noticed a change over at JRJ.com. When you click on the handy Blog icon on the menu, it brings you here, to my newfangled Blogger page. I've outsourced my blog for a few reasons- ease of interface, presentation (I think this page looks halfway sharp and should improve as time passes), and most of all, the COMMENT option.
I say some ridiculous things in my blog and I've always wanted to give readers a chance to hammer me for my indiscretions in a public forum (aside from, you know, my actual forum). So the next time I say something like, "There's no one in modern Croatian hip hop that's worth listening to!" you can respond with a comment like, "Well, obviously, Mr. Johnson, you've never heard of DJ Zeb and the Dzirn Street Krew." And then we'll all reflect on the brilliant discourse and laugh like kings with mouths half-filled by mutton!
Of course, you don't have to be contradictory... any kind of comments will be welcome.
And no, I still have no idea where the name for the blog comes from. I was drunk when I came up with it and have kept it out of a vague sense of nostalgia, despite its silliness. I suppose it has vague connotations in either sci-fi, math, or hip hop territories. But I've never once written a blog anywhere near the basement. I've done some other things in the basement, but that remains under lock and key (and some of it is under quicklime). What happens in the basement, stays in the basement...
Oh, and for anyone who really enjoyed the old blog entries, they've been archived here at the Blogger page, all under January 2006.
ADA For Collectors-
There are only 16 copies of the "Old, No-Palahniuk-Quote-Having Edition" of Angel Dust Apocalypse left in the known galaxy. 6 have been shipped to my friend John and the remaining 10 are with me, available for purchase at my website. There are less than 300 of these in print, so it may be worth a couple more bucks on eBay some day.
Pick one up if you're interested in having a copy that'll prove you were down for Bizarro work before it was lauded by one of the World's Best Authors (caps and title inserted subjectively by blog-writer). Just indicate "Old Version" in the inscription zone during purchase. These are likely to go quick, so establish a false sense of urgency... NOW!
(Update: "Old Version" copies have dwindled since this announcement, so the sense of urgency could now be considered genuine if this sort of thing is up your bookish alley.)
2005 Top Five Lists
My lists will involve what I call "the cheating," meaning that not all picks will actually have been created in '05. Last year is just when I happened to come across the item.
Oh, and if there were any doubts about how truly un-hip my taste is, these lists should serve as a permanent confirmation. What can I say? Maybe my near-thirty status is starting to show through. Or maybe I've always been a nerd. Probably the latter.
Books:
1. Radiant Dawn/Ravenous Dusk by Cody Goodfellow- HP Lovecraft meets David Foster Wallace meets James Ellroy meets Robert Ludlum meets Alan Moore meets... okay, enough of that. What I'm trying to say is that this guy has skills and you need these books. Plan on losing some sleep once you're addicted to this epic chunk of madness.
2. Off Season by Jack Ketchum- One of the most balls-out and lyrical examinations of human darkness I've ever read. Plus, there's some mid-book trickery that will shock you. That Ketchum was capable of pulling off such a nasty coup still amazes me.
3. A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli- This book sucks you in from the opening sentence and pulls you deep into a mutant southern gothic that's often poetic, sometimes surreal, and always engaging. It's like someone slipped absinthe into your moonshine.
4. Porno by Irvine Welsh- Being back in the presence of Sick Boy and Begbie made me giddy and nauseous, respectively, but always with a smile on my face (okay, except for that scene with poor Spud and the bar-slag- that's just nasty). Plus, seeing characters from Glue added into the picture helped to further define Welsh's sick and wonderful world.
5. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk- "Shooo-rook!" From the heartbreak of tales like "Post-Production" and "Exodus" to the straight-out existential horror of "Hot Potting" and "Ritual" this was the year's most enjoyable horror collection.
Honorable mentions include Blood Father by Peter Craig, Play Dead by Michael A. Arnzen, and The Troublesome Amputee/The Horrible by John Edward Lawson.
Films:
1. Brokeback Mountain- Forget the words "gay cowboys." That's boring. Really. Just know this- Brokeback is one of the finest representations of love, longing, and loss ever committed to film. Beautifully written, beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and brutal in its emotional implications.
2. Syriana- When's the last time you spent an hour after the film just trying to sort out the plot, but finding the act gratifying? A smart, gritty, and surprisingly even-handed examination of the geo-politics of oil (and a rewarding character study).
3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang- Fast, funny post-modern noir (PoMoNo?) with a real love for the genre and one of the best recent performances from Robert Downey Jr.
4. Ong Bak/Kung Fu Hustle- Hell, both these movies made me want to take up martial arts again. Tony Jaa is like the love child of Jackie Chan, David Blaine, and Jesus. I'm pretty sure he's not even human. And KFH is pure cinema, the sort of thing that feels new but presses the old buttons that made you love film in the first place.
5. Wolf Creek- Yeah, you might think there were a lot of other films worthy of a top five spot, but I've got to hand it to Wolf Creek for sheer effectiveness. I cared about its protagonists more than any other batch of horror flick kids in recent memory, and I started grinding my teeth and having rapid palpitations as they were dragged further and further into their outback hell. Sharp cinematography, too. I don't want to watch it again, but I respect it.
Honorable mentions include Munich, Ju-On, and A History of Violence.
Music:
1. Frances the Mute/Scab Dates by The Mars Volta- Did anyone else even try to rock this hard in 2005? Okay, so they got a little indulgent on Scab Dates (who really wants to listen to ten minutes of backstage noise through LSD filters?) but when they hit those high points, there's no-one else I'd rather be listening to.
2. Saul Williams Fader Album by Saul Williams- Saul channels his poetry into more musical structures and adds a new punk energy and aggression. "Shakespeare," his collaboration with Zack De La Rocha, kept me going through four months of harsh marathon training. "When they tell you to achieve, ask yourself, 'Is that for them or for you?'"
3. Vheissu by Thrice- The singer learned how to sing but didn't forget the power of a guttural scream, the songs got even more complicated (but somehow more song-like than their prior work), they donate album proceeds to Eggers' literacy program, and the songs all contain a real sense of urgency in favor of human transcendence. Ambitious without over-reaching, this is a very positive slab of punk-metal energy.
4. A Healthy Distrust by Sage Francis- Every time I listen, I pick up a new genius line. Whether rapping about politics, relationships, or a hip hop battle between the sun and the moon, Sage is furiously on point in his best work to date.
5. Hell's Winter by Cage- I never thought Cage would come anywhere near one of my favorites lists, but something must have happened to him when he went through that mushroom coma (or whatever trauma hit him). His Def Jux debut is so full of neck-snapping beats and sharp lines that I have to give him props. The old Cage was content to offend with nasal tales of drugs and misogyny. The new Cage is flexing a variety of flows on topics like his jacked-up childhood and the "war on terror" over ridiculously hot beats from El-P, Camu Tao, DJ Shadow, and RJD2, among others.
Honorable mentions include With Teeth by Nine Inch Nails, Arular by MIA, Black Dialogue by The Perceptionists, Leviathan by Mastodon, and B-side and Rarities by Deftones. And the best live show of the year was incontestably Ozomatli at the Kauai Convention Center, followed by The Mars Volta at The Rose Garden, The Perceptionists at Doug Fir, and RJD2 at Holocene.
2005 will be a tough year to leave behind. Somehow in the last twelve months I managed to have two books published, run a marathon, get married, and get a literary quote from one of my heroes. In 2006 I'm going to have to get four books published, run an ultra-marathon, move to Utah and marry some more people, and get James Ellroy to co-write a book with me.
I'm going to need some benzedrine, for starters. I better get moving.
And thank you to all the wonderful friends, family, and readers who made 2005 such an incredible year.
Let's make 2006 The Year of the Lazer! (Hint: this will involve lazers!)
I need another drink,
JRJ
TEL : Stories is Poppin' Fresh
TEL : Stories is a new anthology edited by Jay Lake, two time World Fantasy Award finalist and 2004 John W. Campbell Award winner. The basic premise of the antho is that "great style makes great literature."
Yeah, I have a story in it ("Last Thoughts Drifting Down") and I'm excited to have it included alongside fiction by folks like Forrest Aguirre, Greer Gilman, and Jeff Vandermeer.
This batch of stories is fresh out of the oven and already receiving very positive reviews, which I will now indicate the presentation of using what most folks call a colon (looks like this ':') :
"Elegant, erudite and strange, TEL:Stories is a remarkable anthology, containing much to enchant, perplex and terrify."
—Liz Williams, author of Snake Agent
“In some cases, the style is challenging enough that the reader is likely to experience an ‘A-ha’ moment when, well into the story, the style's role in the fiction as a whole is suddenly understood. Jeremy Robert Johnson’s ‘Last Thoughts Drifting Down,’ exemplifies this approach, gradually revealing the narrator's identity to powerful effect.”
—Rudi Dornemann for Rain Taxi
TEL : Stories is also available at Amazon for people who like to shop there.
In a semi-interesting side-note, this publication marks the second re-printing of one of my Nuclear Family stories from Angel Dust Apocalypse. The other two, "Snowfall" and "The Sharp Dressed Man At The End Of The Line," either have appeared or will appear in issues of Verbicide Magazine. Who knew my insane fear of nuclear war would prove so beneficial?
And why won't my fear of clowns yield the same result?
JRJ
1/01/2006
Bizarro vs. Hail Saten & DMX-Mas
Just a quick heads-up. Brian Keene (author of the hugely successful zombie novel The Rising and the super-natural crime thriller Terminal) has just posted his interview with the founding fathers of the Bizarro scene, including yours truly, Carlton Mellick III, etc. So, for those folks interested in hearing me wax un-poetic about Bizarro, Dio, Dungeons & Dragons, and other sundry topics, head here:
Bizarro Interview at Hail Saten
And yes, there’s a reason he spells Saten that way. Don’t ask me, ask Keene. If you’re reading this much later, check out the December 2005 Hail Saten archives for the interview.
I’m off to Central Oregon to celebrate DMX-Mas with the fam. It’s like Christmas but we celebrate the birth of everyone’s favorite Ruff Ryder by drinking codeine-laced egg nog, riding around the tree on quads, shooting at each other, and saying the occasional prayer to show how deep and conflicted we are. Get at me, dawg!
Hope everyone’s having a lovely holiday season,
JRJ
Bizarro Interview at Hail Saten
And yes, there’s a reason he spells Saten that way. Don’t ask me, ask Keene. If you’re reading this much later, check out the December 2005 Hail Saten archives for the interview.
I’m off to Central Oregon to celebrate DMX-Mas with the fam. It’s like Christmas but we celebrate the birth of everyone’s favorite Ruff Ryder by drinking codeine-laced egg nog, riding around the tree on quads, shooting at each other, and saying the occasional prayer to show how deep and conflicted we are. Get at me, dawg!
Hope everyone’s having a lovely holiday season,
JRJ
ADA Hits PDX (12/9/05)
Great news! Angel Dust Apocalypse is now available in Portland bookstores, at Powell's (1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97209) and Reading Frenzy (921 SW Oak Street, Portland, OR 97205). If it’s out of stock at one, the other store is a short walk away (and I’m likely headed that direction with more copies).
Reading Frenzy is a huge supporter of local writers and independent press and Powell’s is, well, it’s Powell’s- the biggest, best bookstore on Earth. I remember being a little guy and asking my parents to drop me off there for four hour stints. Growing up in Oregon, the place has always been a literary Mecca for me, and I’m honored to have my book available there. Where is my book shelved? Check out the substantial Small Press section. I think it’s in the Blue Room, but might be wrong. Like I said, this place is BIG…
And thanks are due to Powell’s fixture Kevin Sampsell for choosing to stock the book. As an aside it’s worth noting that Kevin himself is a respected author and editor and the major force behind indie powerhouse future tense publishing. I hope PDX people interested in the book will head downtown and support their local booksellers. And when you’re there, why not ask when the next Jeremy Robert Johnson reading will be…
Also, issue #15 of Verbicide is now available. For those on the fence about picking up ADA, here’s a great chance to check out a short of mine (“Swimming in the House of the Sea”) and get the best issue of Verbicide yet. Even if you’re not interested in my story (and by the way, what are you doing reading this if that’s the case?) the new issue has an excellent interview with hip hop pillar Chuck D, as well as sessions with Kim Coletta of Jawbox and 40 Oz. Comics creator Jim Mahfood. Verbicide is one of those magazines that gets better with every issue and with their recent expansion you should be able to find an issue in your zone.
All business today,
JRJ
Reading Frenzy is a huge supporter of local writers and independent press and Powell’s is, well, it’s Powell’s- the biggest, best bookstore on Earth. I remember being a little guy and asking my parents to drop me off there for four hour stints. Growing up in Oregon, the place has always been a literary Mecca for me, and I’m honored to have my book available there. Where is my book shelved? Check out the substantial Small Press section. I think it’s in the Blue Room, but might be wrong. Like I said, this place is BIG…
And thanks are due to Powell’s fixture Kevin Sampsell for choosing to stock the book. As an aside it’s worth noting that Kevin himself is a respected author and editor and the major force behind indie powerhouse future tense publishing. I hope PDX people interested in the book will head downtown and support their local booksellers. And when you’re there, why not ask when the next Jeremy Robert Johnson reading will be…
Also, issue #15 of Verbicide is now available. For those on the fence about picking up ADA, here’s a great chance to check out a short of mine (“Swimming in the House of the Sea”) and get the best issue of Verbicide yet. Even if you’re not interested in my story (and by the way, what are you doing reading this if that’s the case?) the new issue has an excellent interview with hip hop pillar Chuck D, as well as sessions with Kim Coletta of Jawbox and 40 Oz. Comics creator Jim Mahfood. Verbicide is one of those magazines that gets better with every issue and with their recent expansion you should be able to find an issue in your zone.
All business today,
JRJ
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