Editing by Elizabeth

September 20, 2011

Beat On The Brat by Nigel Bird

Mr. Bird has been a very busy bee of late. In addition to the recently released Pulp Ink collection which he co-edited, he also has a relatively new short story collection of his own, Beat On The Brat, out in the wild.

Featuring nine entries – seven short stories, a poem, and a little haiku just to mess with you – Beat On The Brat is a wonderfully diverse collection. Though I enjoyed them all, these two really resonated with me:

“Back in Black” is a beautifully layered recounting of Johnny Sullivan’s return to his hometown for his mother’s funeral. Things are a little more complicated than simply the loss of his mum, however, as it is also Johnny’s first time back since being sent up for child molestation. Things go about as well for Johnny as you’d expect, but you know an author has some serious skills going on if he can make you actually feel sympathy for a child molester.

“Snow-Angel” graphically demonstrates something I fully believe: all practical jokes and other forms of messing with people done in the name of “good fun, no harm intended” in fact comes from a much darker, mean-spirited place. In “Snow Angels,” a group of punks’ snowball ambush on a complete stranger spins horribly out of control, with devastating consequences for a Good Samaritan. →

September 19, 2011

Pulp Ink by Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan, Editors

Edited by Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan, Pulp Ink is a blistering collection of 24 deliciously dark tales, each inspired by a song from the Pulp Fiction movie soundtrack. Murder and madness, sex and seduction, revenge and redemption, Pulp Ink has a little bit of everything going on. A few of my favorites:

“Requiem For A Spider” finds Reed Farrel Coleman’s well-known and much loved character Moe Prager roped into acting as combination backup/security blanket for an old friend at a meeting with a potential business partner…in the Russian Mafia. Proving that no good deed goes unpunished and people aren’t always who they seem to be, things go seriously sideways.

With their infant son in tow, Junior and his wife, Nina, travel the country in Matthew C. Funk’s “You Can Never Tell” systematically tracking down – and eliminating – all the old associates of Junior’s father in order to determine which one betrayed and killed him. Always one to push a story places you’re not quite expecting it to go, Funk takes the age-old concept of revenge and redemption and gives it a startling twist. →

September 14, 2011

Intoxication by Tim Kizer

Intoxication by Tim Kizer “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.” – Joseph Heller in Catch 22

Paranoia. It’s an insidious thing, feeding upon itself and driving the sufferer ever deeper into its clutches. Office worker Leslie comes to know this all too well in author Tim Kizer’s novella, Intoxication.

When Leslie’s boyfriend becomes seriously ill after drinking coffee that one of her coworkers brought into Leslie’s office, Leslie becomes convinced the coffee was poisoned, and that she was the intended target.

Her boss dismisses Leslie’s accusations as far-fetched and, well, paranoid, so Leslie decides to take matters into her own hands and force a confession. Easier said than done, especially when your mental demons begin to get the better of you.

And while there’s nothing funny about genuine mental illness, there’s definitely a healthy dose of dark humor involved in Leslie’s quest to bring her (imagined?) would-be poisoner to justice. →

September 13, 2011

The Women Behind Miranda Corbie by Kelli Stanley

September 08, 2011

Fish Tank by Carl Ray

Fish Tank by Carl Ray This isn’t a review per se because, frankly, I’m not quite sure how to go about reviewing a cartoon book. Suffice it to say I thought the Fish Tank collections by Carl Ray were clever enough to warrant spreading the word about them.

Fish Tank follows the exploits of three aquarium fish who are not only tank mates but close friends. Ted is a super-genius goldfish with lots of ideas, inventions and a thirst for adventure, usually with disastrous consequences. Angelo is a self-absorbed angelfish and Ted’s sometimes reluctant sidekick. Hoover is the bottom-feeding algae-eating plecostamus who wants nothing more than to be left out of Ted’s ideas and given some peace.

There are currently two volumes available, The Dawning of the Age of Aquariums, and Something Whiskered This Way Comes, with a third volume, A Tale of Mothic Proportions scheduled for release on September 15th.

Each is (currently) $1.99 for Kindle or $0.99 for Nook, so if you’re a fan of things like Finding Nemo or Madagascar give the Fish Tank crew a go. You can learn more about Ted, Angelo, Hoover, and the Fish Tank series on their website.

September 02, 2011

Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill

Wire springs poked through the worn vinyl of the front seat like he imagined the mattress of a jail cell’s bed would, pricking his conscience as he sat within his personal purgatory. – “The Penance of Scoot McCutchen”

Frank Bill has caused quite a stir with his debut collection, Crimes in Southern Indiana, getting himself compared to heavy hitters like Woodrell, McCarthy, and Steinbeck. Open the book to any story in the collection at random and you’ll immediately understand why.

Populated by people who make their living the best way they know how, often in unsavory ways, people with names like Scoot and Pitchfork and Pine Box, Frank Bill’s Southern Indiana is bleak. Bleak, but not without dignity.

The people in Frank Bill’s world live by their own moral code, a unique perspective on “right” and “wrong” forged through decades of poverty and disillusion and hopelessness. They’re people you won’t necessarily like, though will probably still respect, but you’ll damn sure remember.

And amongst a collection brimming with headliners, there were nevertheless still a few that were particularly memorable, no mean feat in a collection of stories that are the literary equivalent of a bar full of Hells Angels. →

September 01, 2011

Indie Lit Awards Nominations Open

The year is nearly three quarters over (where’d the time go?!), so that means nominations for this year’s Indie Lit Awards are now open!

Independent Literary Awards are given to books that have been recommended and voted on by independent literary bloggers. Nominations are open to independent literary bloggers only, and are then voted upon by a panel of bloggers who are proficient in the genre they represent. Each panel is led by a judge who oversees the integrity of the process.

Awards are given in a number of genres, and nominations are open from September 1st through December 31st. So what are you waiting for? Click over and nominate your favorite reads of 2011 for the Indie Lit Awards.

August 31, 2011

Where ‘The Need’ Came From by Frank Bill

I’m thrilled to welcome author Frank Bill for a guest post, in which he discusses the story behind “The Need,” one of the blistering entries in his newly published collection, Crimes in Southern Indiana.

FrankBill There were three of us. The oldest and I were separated by a year and two mothers who named us after our fathers. The youngest was seven years behind me. He and the oldest were brothers. We were cousins.

The oldest found trouble when the girl problems started and the bottle of Ever Clear was never far from his reach. He’d racked up a few DUI’s and even ditched his car and out peddled Johnny Law on foot a few times. Running through fields and treading water. “Like Rambo.” He once told me. He eventually out grew his wild streak, moved north and settled down.

To this day he proclaims, “I ain’t no damn yankee.”

His younger brother was an avid hunter. Was disciplined in the ways of the woods by our grandfather. Who taught him how to hunt deer, coon, rabbit, turkey and squirrel. Train a hound and site a rifle. He entered the US Army reserve out of high school. Was later drafted to serve in Iraq. Came back home, dealt with the aftermath of our grandfather’s passing. But also what he’d seen and done on a continent of sand, heat, foreign tongues and bombs shaking his being from sun up to sun down. →

August 17, 2011

The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun by Ken Denmead

The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun by Ken Denmead Pssst. Wanna know a secret? You don’t have to be a dad, or even have kids for that matter, to enjoy the hell out of The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun.

The follow up to his book Geek Dad, in The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun author Ken Denmead presents a wide range of activities designed to bring parents and kids together for hours of fun and education.

Each project is clearly broken down with a chart that gives you an idea of cost, difficulty, duration (how long it will take), reusability, and the tools and materials required. And while some projects will require an expenditure, Denmead goes out of his way to structure most around common household items that most will already have readily accessible.

The projects themselves range from educational (Did you know you can measure the speed of light using nothing more than chocolate and a microwave? Sure can.), to cost saving (Tired of spending tons of cabbage on role playing games? Then learn how to make your own combat card games and terrain pieces.), to downright James Bond-esque (Seriously, who wouldn’t want to know how to build a backyard zip line or Nerf dart blowgun?!).

And since the whole idea behind the book is to promote learning through hands-on activity, many of the projects also include a section called “Extra Geeky Ideas” that suggest variations and ideas for further customizing the project or experiment to encourage kids to use their immaginations. Similarly, where applicable there are sidebar boxes called “Quick Science Lesson” to help kids further understand the concepts behind the projects and experiments.

No question about it, The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun is a great book for parents, kids, and those who are still kids at heart. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think there are two trees in the backyard that would work perfectly for that zip line.

The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun is available from Gotham Books (ISBN: 978-1592406449).

Ken Denmead is a husband and father from the San Francisco Bay Area, where he works as a civil engineer. He’s also the editor of GeekDad, the parenting blog for Wired magazine’s online presence, where along with a group of other dedicated, geeky parents he posts projects, book and movie reviews, weekly podcasts, and more about being a parent and being a geek. The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun is the follow up to Geek Dad. To learn more about Ken, visit his website.

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