Today marks the first official snow here in Holliston, not a dusting but an honest amount requiring shovels and salt. At long last I get to see what the locals have been warning me about. Of course it’s hard to impress a Buffalonian with snow, so if this were the really old days I’d shake my fist at the leaden sky and challenge the winter gods to let loose. But this isn’t the really old days, and I’d much rather take the time to tell you some news.
First, Penny Blood #11 is available at fine bookstores everywhere and just waiting to be brought back to your home for a cozy read by the fire. My essay on John Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy” is only one reason to make Penny Blood your horror mag of choice. Editor Nick Louras is succeeding in an era where print is in serious trouble, and he does so by sifting through the underbelly of horror and cult entertainment and plucking out only the juiciest bits.
What else. My Throwback Thursdays column on Jetcomx.com continues to grow, courtesy of a steady stream of retrocheese delivered with semi-serious commentary. It could have gone either way, really–pop culture is such an easy target that simply posting ridiculous videos and saying “Look at how ridiculous that is!” might be entertaining but it makes one a cultural voyeur and little else. And since we can all be culture voyeurs whenever we want, I wanted to bring something new. Well, not exactly new, since The Missouri Review posted an interview with Chuck Klosterman where he says his intention is to comment on pop culture rather than simply pointing and laughing. Or something like that.
None of this matters if you never knew Steven Seagal had a music video. So use Throwback Thursdays however you like.
My Facebook author page is up and jogging. Become a fan to hear infrequent updates (for example: the release date of my next book, or the pub. date of my award-nominated short The Love Life of Tigers), which is better than a newsletter. At least that’s what my publicist says.
Anything more? Let me see. Ah, yes. A book recommendation. Kobo Abe’s The Woman in the Dunes. Terrific. Plus, you can tell people it’s Kafkaesque, and rather than being an unsufferable snob, you would be spot on.
