Happy Halloween! Come Fly with Death: Free Days

Hi folks! Happy soon-to-be Halloween!

As a special promotion for Halloween, the ebook edition of my dark poetry chapbook, Come Fly with Death: Poems Inspired by the Artwork of Zdzislaw Beksinski, is free for Amazon Kindle starting today, Thursday, October 29th, and lasting through Sunday, November 1st. That’s four days to grab a copy if you haven’t already done so, plus a little extra time to duct tape your friends to chairs and force them politely invite your friends to do the same.

Also, I highly encourage you to visit beksiński.pl to learn more about Zdzislaw Beksinski and immerse yourself in his fantastic, horrific, and truly beautiful works of art.

Thanks for reading, and thanks again for all your support.

Cheers!

Free Today and Tomorrow – No Foolin’

Hey folks! My little chapbook of horrific poetry, Come Fly with Death, is free today and tomorrow for Amazon Kindle. If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, now’s your chance!

Here’s the rundown:

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 poems new and collected, including 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.

Thanks! Now go spread the word.

Cheers!

Come Fly with Death

Come Fly with Death: Poems Inspired by the Artwork of Zdzislaw Beksinski is available now as an ebook for $0.99 and trade paperback for $5.99, and will also be available to order through your local bookstore in the coming weeks.

Below you’ll find two poems from this chapbook (two because I failed to post yesterday when my iPad became possessed). First is the title poem, ‘Come Fly with Death’ along with ‘Bring the Light.’ You can also sample three additional poems which I’ve previously posted: ‘One in Hell,’ ‘Ocean Eyes,’ and ‘Hell Fossil.’

Thank you so much for having a look at my work, and if you like it, tell a friend! (If you don’t like it, just pretend you never read it.)

 

COME FLY WITH DEATH

Zdzislaw Beksinski

Come fly with Death
and feel the splitting as you come apart
with turbulent screams bifurcating bones.

Flee further from this life—
unfurl your wings and soar
with tangled feathers cutting the night.

Join his skeleton beak,
slicing stabs at airless wind,
and wield its dashing spine.

Stay near to glinting shroud and glide,
knowing tattered wings will guide,
as whispering scars are left behind.

Go now into that hollow abyss,
but do not pass the dark in calmness;
break the barrier with raging clamor!

Do not scrape or merely crawl.
Come fly with Death—
and swoop, and yawp, and bawl.

 

BRING THE LIGHT

Zdzislaw Beksinski

What wretched creatures lie before me!
Squealing, squirming in the dark,
enthralled
amidst their feasting orgy.

Gnashing teeth, spattering blood,
festering bone;
their tongues dance along the drips
of other men’s pain.

A cryptic overseer
looms beyond the mist,
his crow shoulders
pecking upon the scars.

A thousand wicked grins
gleam from rubble and from rot,
a pile of waste—
dead men leering in the dark.

A door to freedom is at their backs,
but most will never see it,
long since trading eyes
for sharper teeth and larger maws.

But I bring the Light,
and I wear the shroud.
My candle burns;
my flame never falters.

The Bearer of the Cross walks beside me.
We pass among the throng
and it parts before our steps;
like the splitting seas—

I bring the Light
and the darkness scatters.

 

One in Hell

Zdzisław Beksiński – 1986

With only four days until its “official” release, I think it’s time I let you folks sample some of my chapbook, Come Fly with Death: Poems Inspired by the Artwork of Zdzislaw Beksinski. So as a sort of “countdown,” I will be posting one poem from the book right here every day through launch day, Sunday, October 12.

Today I am sharing the first poem included, which is also the first one I wrote for the collection. It was inspired by the image of the painting above (and I might be breaking some copyright laws by posting that, I really don’t know).

So have a read, and if you like the poem, consider pre-ordering the ebook on Amazon for only $0.99, or grab a physical copy, which has (unintentionally) arrived a few days early (whoops!) and is now available to order on Createspace or Amazon for the retail price of $5.99. The print edition should also be available to order through your local bookstore in (just?) a few weeks (why that process takes so long, I have no clue).

And be sure to stop back here to check out a new poem from this little chapbook every day through Sunday.

Enjoy!

ONE IN HELL

Bones wrapped in bones,

wrapped in layers,

layers of bone on bone;

encrusted earth of flesh

crumbles at our feet,

our feet formed of clay.

Your face, my face—

we melt into one.

Our place,

Our flesh,

Our bones,

heaped upon this pole,

this whipping pole,

this torture pole

jutting from the nightmare.

You give me hugs.

I taste your lips;

they are one inside my mouth

and fused in teeth,

blended as I bite,

and eat you whole

and eat your parts.

My heart still beats

somewhere inside your chest,

deep within your cage,

ribs stripped of flesh;

and your heart mingles, tickles,

tingles in my skull.

My eyes peel wide

to wicked weather,

creeping fog,

settling dew

saturated with our fluids;

rain of skin

falls softly now upon us.

Me, you, we—

there is no start,

there is no end;

our twisted corpses

stretching on

forever,

and forever—

we are intertwined.

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…

Medieval Nightmares

Medieval Nightmares anthology from Static Movement is now available to purchase in print! The book features a fine collection of horror stories in medieval settings written by great authors of which I am humbled to be published alongside.

Two of my own tales are present including one that has never before been published and one reprint from an online journal. The reprinted story is making its print debut here and has been newly revised just for this collection.

Besides my own offerings, there is a wide assortment of medieval horror goodness that is likely to keep you sleeping with the lights on! Don’t miss it!

Poem: Dead Flowers

Dead Flowers

 

Dead flowers in the trees

fall from branches

like the blood from broken lips.

 

Dead flowers in the grasses,

petals curling

like the legs of upturned spiders.

 

Dead flowers on the sidewalk,

sun-scorched and bleaching

like the unfortunate wayward slug.

 

Dead flowers in a hand,

anchored with a burden

like the bones of buried loved ones.

 

Dead flowers on a tablet,

the memory of color fading

like the whispers lost in wind.

 

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!)