Announcing Haunted: 11 Tales of ghostly horror

A few weeks ago I promised an announcement for fans of Blood Groove, my first novel about vampires in Memphis in the Seventies.  Here it is. Sir Francis Colby, the Victorian spiritualist and the only man to ever defeat vampire Baron Rudolfo Zginski, returns in a new adventure, “What’s the Frequency, Francis?” as part of the anthology Haunted: 11 Tales … Read More

Guest blog: SJ Tucker on the magick of music

S.J. “Sooj” Tucker’s official bio states she performs with “a unique alternative-rock style, flavored with a dose of blues, a dash of celtic, a taste of punk, and even a hint of folk for good measure. Her music is interwoven with mythic lore, avant-garde poetry, and modern storytelling.” Having seen her perform, I’ll sign that. She was kind enough to … Read More

Film review: “Dawn of the Dragonslayer”

First, a digression: the SyFy Channel, much like MTV before it, has done considerable damage to the very thing it first embraced. Now the phrase, “A SyFy Original Movie” elicits the same sort of laughter as Mystery Science Theatre 3000, and for the same reason: you hear it and you know you’re in for a bad movie. And SyFy is … Read More

Jennifer Goree: the voice of the Tufa

If the Tufa have a voice, it belongs to Jennifer Goree. The Tufa may be the fictional people at the heart of my novel The Hum and the Shiver, but Jennifer is very real.  She’s a singer-songwriter from Six Mile, SC who has recorded three marvelous CDs that demonstrate such a range, it’s hard to believe the same person is … Read More

Guest blog: Dale Short on the music of the South

Dale Short is the author of Turbo’s Very Life and The Shining Shining Path, and the host of “Music from Home,” which airs on Oldies 101.5 in Jasper, AL and is archived here. I was born in the middle of the woods near a coal-mining town in northern Alabama, and I grew up in church. Literally. Seeing as everyone in … Read More

Reading in public: advice from the pros

Last Monday I posted a few things I’d learned from doing readings in public.  I asked some of my writer friends for their suggestions as well, since many of them have much more experience than I do.  Below are their comments.  Thanks to all of them for pitching in. “I have a lot of stage and comedy background, so I’m … Read More

Stone Reader: One and done

Because I’m so far from the cutting edge that I’m likely to fall off the spine (that’s the flat part of the blade opposite the edge), I just now saw 2002’s documentary Stone Reader.  It’s a must-see for every writer, and especially for writers who wonder if anyone “gets” what they’re doing.  This is the story of how a writer … Read More

Reading in public: learn from my fails

I’ve attended a lot of readings, and been on both sides of the podium.  It can be nerve-wracking to look out at the crowd; it can be ennervating sitting in that crowd and realizing you’re in for a dire presentation.  I make no claim to being a “good” public reader, but I have learned some things from both reading and … Read More