The Memory Eater has Arrived!

Okay folks, my apologies for being so late to the party. The Memory Eater was officially released already and somehow I missed it. Oh well, better late than never, eh?

I must say that this book has been an amazing project to work on and I am very fortunate to be included with such an outstanding group of writers and artists. It is quite an honor to be lumped together with all this amazing talent. Kudos to Matthew Hance for putting all this together. It just goes to show how a spark of an idea can spread like wildfire if only given the chance. Pick up your copy on Amazon in Print or ebook format.

Here’s the blurb for the book followed by a quick video trailer for my own included story, Vanishing Cycle:

The Memory Eater is an anthology consisting of 27 uniquely illustrated stories based on a device with the ability to locate and destroy any memory in the human mind. Follow the story of a conflicted man who tries to become the fantasy inside his head by deleting reality. Or the story of a devastated couple who lost their child and turn to a shady Memory Eater doctor to erase their problems. Discover the truth behind the urban legend regarding where the Memory Eater really came from, and how it was used during World War II in the fight against Hitler and Nazi Germany. Drop in for a tale of love, and how one man never gives up hope to find his childhood sweetheart after the Memory Eater tore them apart. Witness how a teenage prank involving the machine and a chore goes hilariously wrong. Or how, with the introduction of this new technology, mass paranoia begins to spread, prompting people to tirelessly investigate their own pasts. See how the Memory Eater will shape the future into the perfect utopia. How it evolves into much more than deleting memories. Memories will become transferable and sold in back alleys. They’ll become viral. But ultimately, nothing will be safe, not even the sacred depths of the mind.

Writing Slump and This Well So Deep

In case you were wondering, I have not fallen off the face of the planet or gone tumbling down the trenches of a deep well. You could say I have fallen into a bit of a writing slump, and that does feel something like falling into a well, I suppose. This ‘slump’ has not only affected my blog and social networking activity, but also my personal writing projects. And this comes less than a month after I declared a daily writing goal for myself. Which by the way, was going really good for the first two weeks–I exceeded the goal on 9 out of 14 days–but then I ‘fell’ and haven’t written any new words for over a week and a half. Well, aside from some journal scribbles and a poem or two. But fear not, the goal is not dead, just a bit wounded. And if indeed I am trapped at the bottom of some deep lonesome well, I’m pretty sure Lassie isn’t coming, so I’m gonna have to find a way to climb out on my own.

I’ll attribute this slump to distractions in life which have made it exceedingly difficult to get my head into writing. It’s easy to find excuses, and it’s not difficult at all to find distractions and let them detour you from the writing path. But such things are necessary for me to move forward in life and provide for my family. Right now I’m charging to the end of a four year journey which will culminate in becoming a Radiologic Technologist. This means scrambling to meet the last of the program qualifications, studying for test after test in preparing for the national registry, and I now have the added stresses of trying to find a job, because sadly, there will be no more money handed to me for education (and most of that money will have to be paid back). In actuality, it feels like these tracks I’m speeding along are sending me straight into a brick wall–or to the bottom of a brick well, as it were.

Yesterday brought a bit of disappointing news to pile on to all this. Twisted Library Press announced they must cancel the majority of their upcoming anthologies due to the economic crisis. This includes the zombie-themed, Through the Eyes of the Undead II, which was slated to include my story Fleshward Bound. It always hurts to hear about any small press closing or making significant cutbacks, and it stings even more when it affects you personally. Oh well, I found a potential home for the story once,  so I know I can do it again.

To end on a more positive note: my entry into MicroHorror’s annual story contest was accepted for publication yesterday and is now available to read here: This Well So Deep. It’s a chilling little story about a boy who falls into a well (see there was a point to all this well stuff!). The theme for the contest this year is water, and this is my first time entering. I must say it was fun writing for it, and I produced a story that otherwise would not have come into existence. There are loads of great entries so far, so stop by, have a read, and get immersed in some terrific watery horror!

Oh, and I hope you are all doing quite well.

The Swarm

Things here have slowed a bit over the last couple weeks as I work toward putting together a more regular posting schedule. I should have all that figured out soon. In the meantime, I’d like to leave you with a short short story in the spirit of the harvest season.

(Originally published in Daily Bites of Flesh 2011: 365 Days of Horrifying Flash Fiction by Pill Hill Press, and also appears on MicroHorror.com.)

Enjoy!

The Swarm

By Wesley Dylan Gray

The swarm came with cruel ferocity. Countless bands of nymphs had merged to create the mighty force of locusts. This vicious militia from the wilds held an insatiable hunger. They tore into my crop like a buzz saw, reaping, stripping it clean as they moved throughout the field. The haunting chatter of their monotonous chewing resonated through the air, a constant reminder of my inability to end their wake of devastation.

But my crops are my livelihood. So I found a way: an experimental brew of pesticide which I ordered from overseas. The purpose of the concoction was not to kill directly, but to alter their desires. It soaks deep into their core to change their appetites. Once the bug juice took effect, the object of their cravings was no longer my vegetations.

Soon after I dusted the crop, the swarm departed the field, rising up like a wisp of fog. It hovered in the sky momentarily, seemingly confused. The black haze swirled for hours and I watched it dance, listened to it sing. It twisted about as if to leave, then swayed listlessly, letting the autumn breeze churn it left and right across the gray skyline.

At last the mass of insects tightened up and I knew it had forged a purpose. It formed into a point, like a grim arrow plunging toward the horizon, forking the air, cutting it to form a ragged scar. It bypassed the field of corn, overshooting the crops to settle with complete violence upon my pasture of cattle. The sorrowing sounds of agony rose into the air, joined by the red mist as black and white flesh was flayed from bone. The swarm cut deep into the bovine herd, devouring every organ, bringing every last ounce of tissue to harvest. It left nothing but the bones, perfectly clean bones, gleaming, and polished to absolute whiteness.

Again the swarm ascended the ashen sky, a black shroud that blotted the sun like a thick stain of ink.

I stand now within its shadow. The wind has shifted to my direction. The ravenous army looks hungry, and I know it aims to feed.

Aberrant Embodiment

I recently noticed a common theme with several of my stories: aspects of characters either changing physical bodies in various manners or altering their existing physical or mental state from one thing into another. It then occurred to me that this commonality might make for a good collection. As it stands, there are about eight or nine stories I’ve written that fall within this theme.

This simple realization has inspired me to further build upon it, and even write more stories to fit within this mold. I have a few more ideas brewing for new stories, and now with this concept in mind, I can work to make them more focused as I write them. I believe I might even have a few poems that could be included to further flesh this manuscript out.

The working title is currently Aberrant Embodiment: Curious Tales of Strange Metamorphoses.

And now I’ll leave you with a quote from Ovid, Metamorphoses:

“Nothing in the entire universe ever perishes, believe me, but things vary, and adopt a new form. The phrase “being born” is used for beginning to be something different from what one was before, while “dying” means ceasing to be the same. Though this thing may pass into that, and that into this, yet the sums of things remains unchanged.”

Big Book of New Short Horror

The Big Book of New Short Horror is now available for Kindle, and will be available in both trade paperback and hardcover very soon.

My story, “Sporemind,” (you know, that one inspired by those Zombie Ants) is included along with 57 (that’s right, 57!) other short stories by a fantastic line up of talented authors. At only 2.99 for Kindle, this massive collection makes for quite a bargain.

The (BIG) book is put out by Pill Hill Press and is edited by Jessy Marie Roberts. There’s lots of good stuff here to make your skin crawl and keep you up at night. You can get more info on this publication or even grab a copy by clicking HERE or on the cover.

In My Own Blurbs Pt. 3: Feeding Lazarus

Okay folks, I’ve kept you in suspense long enough. Here’s the rough draft blurb for my novella, “Feeding Lazarus.” If you missed the other two blurb posts, you can check them out here: Pt. 1 and Pt. 2.

The MS that goes along with this blurb is nearly finished. I’m rounding out final revisions and will start submitting it to publishers very soon. If all goes well, we’ll hopefully see it published in a year or three! Okay,  enough stalling then. Here it is. Enjoy!

Daniel Jacobs is just your typical thirteen-year-old boy. He’s dealing with the onset of puberty and struggling to fit in—the kind of kid who’s surrounded by monsters and has a penchant for setting things on fire…

You see, Daniel lives in a darkening world of visceral horror. He awakens each day to find himself trapped in the onslaught of two very real nightmares. At school, he plays the role of loner and social outcast and suffers from a ritual of torment at the cruel hands of three resident bullies. At home, the madness appears to be even worse. His father’s been missing for years, replaced by a seemingly dangerous man—an alcoholic ex-convict who’s been secretly beating his mother.

When Daniel finds a dead body at an abandoned construction site—a dead body which just might be returning to life—his world is going to change. But will this grisly discovery be the key to Daniel’s salvation, or is it just another nightmare waiting to drag him straight to the pits of Hell?