Come Fly with Death: Release Date (and ebook Cover Reveal)

Do you have a date with Death? Well, you do now. On 10/12/14, my chapbook, Come Fly with Death: Poems Inspired by the Artwork of Zdzislaw Beksinski, will be unleashed upon the unsuspecting public.

The ebook is now available for pre-order HERE for $0.99. While this pre-order is exclusively for the ebook, the print version will be available to order on the same date, provided there are no set backs with the proofing.

The ebook cover image is revealed above, and I will post the full-wrap cover for the physical book soon.

And now I will leave you with the book’s newly updated description:

Book Description:

Come Fly with Death is a chapbook of 20 poems inspired by the artwork of the late Polish painter, Zdzislaw Beksinski. Up until the time of his murder in 2005, Beksinski created a fantastic collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photographs, specializing in the field of utopian art.

Like Beksinski’s works, the poems contained here are surrealistic and graphic. They are at times horrific, Gothic, even erotic, and apocalyptic. Above all, they attempt to serve as a rare glimpse into the heart of our most beautiful nightmares.

Contains reprints from: The Horror Zine, Twisted Dreams Magazine, Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine, Indigo Rising Magazine, Gothic Poems and Fiction, Death Head Grin Anthology Vol. 2, and Fossil Lake: An Anthology of the Aberrant. Also includes several poems never before published.

Posted with Blogsy

Nightmare Dreamer (working) Cover

Well I’ve been toying around with this for a few months now and I think it’s finally ready to at least share with some folks. The process for creating this image has been quite a learning experience to say the least. Before starting this I had never used Photoshop or any similar program, unless you count Paint, and well, uhm no.

Bear in mind this is still very much a working cover, and so it will likely change a bit before the book is published, and there is even a good chance I might wake up one day with the need to scrap the whole thing and start over. In either case, the book is coming, so one way or another there will be some sort of cover to go along with it.

Also of note, look for a good sampling of the poems from this chapbook in the August issue of The Horror Zine!

And now I leave you with the blurb (Yes, again…) to go along with the book.  Farewell readers!

Nightmare Dreamer is a chapbook of 20 poems inspired by the artwork of Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski. Each poem was crafted out of the poet’s response when viewing individual pieces from the artist’s canon. These are not descriptions of Beksinski’s paintings, nor are they interpretations. Rather, each poem attempts to reflect upon the nature of the individual work that inspired it, as witnessed by the poet during those moments of creation. Like Beksinski’s art, the poems contained here are surrealistic and graphic. They are at times horrific, gothic, and apocalyptic. Above all, they attempt to serve as a rare glimpse into the heart of our darkest nightmares.

Contains reprints from publications such as The Horror Zine, Twisted Dreams Magazine, Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine, Indigo Rising Magazine, Death Head Grin, as well as several poems never before published.

Welcome Dreamers, and may your Nightmares be just beginning…

In My Own Blurbs Pt. 2: Inner Phases

Welcome to the second blurb in my 3 part series. If you missed Pt. 1, don’t worry you can still read Pt. 2 without missing any crucial plot elements. I promise! If however, you are something like me and need to experience things in their entirety and proper order, you may visit the first part HERE before continuing.

This working blurb is for a poetry chapbook entitled Inner Phases. The book will be my entry into Midwest Literary Magazine’s 2011 Poetry Chapbook  Contest. I’ve had lots of fun writing for this and in putting the book together. I’m just finishing with making final selections and edits before sending it out. So here’s the blurb as it reads so far:

Inner Phases is a collection of 40 poems divided into three distinct areas: Life Phase, Earth Phase, and Dream Phase. Each of these offers a unique glimpse into the author’s poetic voice:

Enter Life Phase, and walk through the shadows of the poet’s memoirs, tracing from his earliest childhood experiences to include the traumas, the tragedies, the moments of near-death, all the way to the joys and fears of becoming a husband and a father. Earth Phase bends to the forces of nature itself, with poems that reflect upon the simplest pleasures of the tiny lovebug, to pondering the living essence lurking in the heart of the trees. In Dream Phase, the path will darken considerably, and you’ll quickly find yourself delving ever deeper into a realm of nightmares, as the poems contained here are richly woven with surrealistic imagery and hinge upon the horrific. Wherever your tastes may lie, the journey presented by Inner Phases will offer something for you to enjoy and carry with you long after its completion.

I feel it describes the contents of the book rather well, but I just hope it:

1.) Makes sense, and

2.) Succeeds in making people want to read it.

We shall see.

In My Own Blurbs Pt. 1: Nightmare Dreamer

I’ve been writing some blurbs for a few of my WIP’s (2 chapbooks and 1 novella), and since I’m quite new at writing blurbs, I thought it would be fun to share what I’ve come up with so far. I’m doing this for  a few reasons:

1) I could always use feedback.

2) It seems like a good way to share some info about the projects I’m working on.

3) I thought some folks might actually want to read them.

First up is the blurb for “Nightmare Dreamer: Poetry Chapbook Inspired by the Artwork of Zdzislaw Beksinski.”

Nightmare Dreamer is a chapbook of (xx) poems inspired by the artwork of Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski. Each poem was crafted out of the poet’s response when viewing individual pieces from the artist’s canon. These are not descriptions of Beksinski’s paintings, nor are they interpretations. Rather, each poem attempts to reflect upon the nature of the individual work that inspired it, as witnessed by the poet during those moments of creation. Like Beksinski’s art, the poems contained here are surrealistic and graphic. They are at times horrific, gothic, and apocalyptic. Above all, they attempt to serve as a rare glimpse into the heart of our darkest nightmares.

Contains reprints from publications such as Twisted Dreams Magazine, Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine, Indigo Rising Magazine, as well as several poems never before published.

Welcome, Dreamers. And may your Nightmares be just beginning.

Okay, I just decided to split each blurb into its very own post, and have appropriately re-titled this one as (Pt. 1). Now, you may be asking, why have you done this? Well, that’s a great question. I’m so glad you asked. And the answer is quite simple, to make things easier on you readers, of course. Ain’t I nice?

I’ll be posting the other two blurbs soon, but don’t hold your breath. In the meantime, please enjoy gazing at this beautiful painting by Beksinski, which just so happens to be the same painting that inspired the very first poem of this book. Enjoy!

(Note: A sample cover for this title is nearly complete and will be posted here once it’s ready for exposure to your eyeballs. Stay tuned!)