Monthly Newsletter #1 January 2017

Hello, horror freaks! If you are reading this, then you are reading the inaugural monthly Robert Essig horror author newsletter. No, I'm not asking for your email address or anything - not yet at least. I'm going to kick off this newsletter here on my blog/website. Down the road, if demand merits, I will offer an email newsletter. You can expect to find info on new and forthcoming releases, a suggested book title that I have recently read, maybe a pic of recent thrift store book finds, and who knows what else. I'm sure it will take a few newsletters to dial in exactly how I want to format the letter. So, here you go. Enjoy!




News

The big January news is that my next novella BROTHERS IN BLOOD is scheduled to be released as an ebook from Grand Mal Press. The release date hasn't been set yet, but the novella is being edited. I will be updating as the publication date grows nearer. I'll say this: BROTHERS IN BLOOD is kind of like HG Lewis's GRUESOME TWOSOME meets Rex Miller's SLOB.



If you would like to know where the title for this novella came from, well, I was struggling to find something catchy. My working title sucked, whatever it was. At the time, I was listening to Anthrax's Persistence of Time album a lot at work. "Blood" is one of my favorite tracks off the album. I was thinking about the story one day and the chorus just seemed to pop. I had my title.



 Cool Read

Last month a I read I WILL ROT WITHOUT YOU by Danger Slater. I had heard an interview with Danger on the Bizzong! podcast, which piqued my interest. On top of that, there has been some buzz about the novel. I really didn't know what to expect since I'm not inclined to read much bizarro, but

the interview and the buzz sold me. I WILL ROT WITHOUT YOU is surreal and intense, and Danger has a way with words that is inspiring. His style is psycho poetic, gripping, and wild. There were moments when the story went so far off the rails of sanity that my interest wavered, but, like certain Richard Laymon novels, I couldn't stop reading no matter how preposterous the plot seemed. If you're into bizarro, this one is a no-brainer. If you like the weird and unusual, give it a shot.



Featured Fiction

In December my story "Hank R. Chief" was published at DarkFuse.com as Horror D'oeuvre #61. This piece of flash fiction is an intimate look at an unusual murderer fixated on a certain aspect of the kill. I mean, what can I say about a five hundred word story without giving it away? If you are a subscriber, follow the link and you can read this story, as well as "Inflatable War", which was published in 2015. If you aren't a subscriber, consider it. DarkFuse provides new fiction weekly. It's well worth the price of admission.


Thrift Store Finds

I'm big on going to thrift stores, primarily looking for books and music. It's kind of an addiction, but I'm no hoarder. I do need a larger book shelf, though. Here are a few pics of some recent finds.

 










Closing Words

So there you have it. You've survived my debut news letter. Feedback is always appreciated. I would like to hear what you think I'm doing right or wrong, what you love or hate about the newsletter. Like I said in the intro, I will be making adjustments in the coming months. This is kind of an experiment, really. I hope you tune in for the February installment. Thanks for perusing!

Liar Liar Pants on Fire!

You can't judge a book by its cover, but damn this cover is cool! This brand new anthology of flash fiction is now up for pre-order HERE.


59 flash fiction fables from 29 of your favorite Post Mortem Press authors.
What? What? I thought you said 44 Lies by 22 Liars?
Well, the editor is a liar too ...

Flash fiction from ...
J. David Anderson, Paul Anderson, David Bernard, Max Booth III, C. Bryan Brown, Kenneth W. Cain, Brad Carter, Kyle Dickerson, Emma Ennis, Robert Essig, Teel James Glenn, Scott Goudsward, KT Jayne, Tally Johnson, MF Korn, Christian A. Larsen, Michael Matula, Josef Matulich, Jessica McHugh, P. Andrew Miller, Georgina Morales, Billie Sue Mosiman, g. Elmer Munson, Andrew Nienaber, Cynthina Pelayo, Nelson W. Pyles, Patrick Scalisi, Rob Smales, and Tim Waggoner.



I happen to have three stories in this book. To tell a little bit about a tiny story is pretty difficult to do without giving something away, but here it goes.

"Moonlight Sonata" is perhaps one my oldest ideas, spawned from a poem a good friend wrote when we were in Arkansas on a family vacation. He told me I could use the idea. The draft I wrote back then was atrocious (I was about sixteen), but the idea stuck with me, so I rewrote it into a flash story and I think it's quite effective. We were metal heads, but we could also appreciate classical musicians such as Bethooven, Mozart, Mussorgsky and Brahms.

When I was a kid I was always fascinated with what people carved into tree trunks, the lunch tables at school, or even fresh concrete. I remember the word SLAYER in the concrete near my grandma's house and an amazing rendition of Iron Maiden's Evil Eddie on a table at my grammar school. "Names in the Sidewalk" came straight from my childhood brain, because there's something deeper to a name in the sidewalk than someone merely stumbling upon fresh concrete.

I have no recollection of writing "Meeting the Quota." I do recall that I wrote it for a Blood Bound Books anthology of which I landed three other flash fiction stories. As for where the idea originated...