Quick Rumor Mill Update:

A short story I recently had accepted that I assumed was only going to be published online just might be appearing in a physical publication as well! More on this once I've received confirmation.

Meanwhile, here's a free online story of mine for you!
(Feel free to leave a comment)

Deadly Bargain: A Colors in Darkness Anthology: Another Positive Review.

Not only did I just receive my copy of this anthology featuring my short story, "Your Future for a Low, Low Price," but I also happened upon another positive reader review. This one doesn't mention my name but since the reviewer thought all of the stories were great, it kind of does!

Read it here.

Question About the Previous Post

I realize I'm probably urinating into a monsoon, but I'm curious about why the reaction to my previous post responding to a reviewer has become so highly viewed. Without divulging specific statistics, I can tell you it's one of my most viewed posts ever. That's not me using Newspeak and being melodramatic. I'm being literal. This post, something I considered a mere throwaway to keep the blog active, has clearly struck a chord or, at the very least, wound up appearing in many, many online searchers.

But why? How? Which? Where?

Who?

If anyone reading this is willing to provide their insight, even if it's negative, I'd love to hear from you.

Open Letter to a Certain Reviewer (The post where I get a lil' petty but not very)

Foreword: It still makes me giggle uncontrollably when I say I Googled myself. The images it conjures up instill in me a certain middle school level glee and I do not apologize for that. What I will apologize in advance for, however, is the minor descent into writer pettiness you will bear witness to if you keep reading this post. Who am I kidding? Most of you wouldn't miss that for anything!

Well, today you can consider me the Aaron Spelling of bloggers; far be it for me to not give the audience what it thinks it wants.

Dear Reviewer,

Sometimes I Google myself. I'm not proud of it but I'm a lonely, lonely man and when I'm alone in the dark, certain alluring thoughts enter my mind and I --- Never mind that. This letter is to follow up on your review of one of my short stories from 2011. That's right! Two-thousand ELEVEN. 

Before you start thinking you've been in my head like Thanos has been with Tony Stark, (That's a Marvel Cinematic Universe reference, which I'm sure you consider yourself above) I had forgotten about the review until today, when I decided to go against the laws of my religion and Google myself to a satisfactory conclusion. 

I do that on occasion so I can see if there's any new me-related information online that I can share with the readers of this blog. I actually ran across two reviews of my work by you, both from different editions of a particular publisher's annual anthology, and neither was favorable. And that's okay. One cannot go into this field and expect nothing by praise and positive responses. There will be be those who dislike what you offer no matter what it is. I certainly have authors I feel that way about and I would have to be a fool to think I wouldn't have the same effect on others.

So, please do not take the following sentences as an indictment of your absolute right to hate what I wrote, Reviewer. In fact, much like working in a laughingly named "Right-to-Work State," as a reader, you have no obligation to explain why you dislike anything you read. As a reviewer, however, a certain amount of comprehension is expected and, dare I write it, encouraged? Judging by your dismissive review and its incorrect conclusion about my story, I am confident you do not grasp stories that don't spell out their concepts and plots in easily digested bursts of exposition. 

As they say these days, "Do you, man." That means be who you are without feeling pressured to be someone else. Sorry if it wasn't clear the first time.

I suppose if pinned down, I would be forced to say my main issue with your review was its tone. As pointed out earlier, arrogant dismissiveness should come with a working understanding of the thing being dismissed. Your review did not because you obliviously admitted to missing the whole point of the plot. Where I come from --this place called Earth-- that negates your entire point of view. If you aren't even able to tell whether or not the fate of a character is Option A or B when it should be clear by the end, I can forward some sit-com pilot scripts that might be more in line with your comprehension level.

If you think I'm being petty or an asshole or both, you're right. Your review inspired me to act in kind, except in my case I actually comprehend what I'm discussing. I Googled you, too. I found a much older man than I'd expected, which was a tad disappointing. I saw your one professional sale, which was surprising, but I commend you for reaching that level. It doesn't appear as though you ever did again, and that's okay. At least you can say you did it. But I don't think you feel that way about it. I think you're angry at every story you read that doesn't meet your narrow-minded standards precisely because you didn't continue to reach that level. I can only hope you were being intentionally obtuse when it came to my story (and a few others in the anthologies) but something tells me your confessed inability to understand things that aren't made clear is also the reason those professional sales didn't keep happening.

I'm going to bring this letter to a close now. I've already devoted more time and space to your review than you did to my story. Let me close by saying I have also worked as a reviewer. Perhaps because one of my three great writing mentors taught me to focus on the written work rather than the author's intent, I at least make an attempt to be fair-minded. I don't have much patience for bad writing but I also know that's a subjective term. I hope I never become like you and forget that. 

Not-So-Warmest Regards,

Christopher Nadeau
Author

Another "What do you Call that Noise?" Review.

At this point, this might just become the most reviewed publication I have ever been involved with.  Again, there's no mention of my comparatively meager contribution and I'm perfectly fine with that.

You can read the review and interview here.

Things People Say to Writers

I have heard numbers 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10. I guess that means I've been fortunate.

AND JUST LIKE THAT, THE BAD LUCK STREAK ENDED!

Regular readers of this blog know what the title is referring to, but for those who don't, permit me a brief recap. Basically, I've been receiving more rejections than a Trump staffer in Washington, D.C. looking for a date. That wasn't a slam, by the way. It's a documented fact.

I realized early in February of this year that part of the reason for the high number of rejections was based on when the stories had been submitted. Most of them were sent to their prospective anthologies in the closing few months of 2018, so naturally the editors would want to clean their slate as early in the New Year as possible. Unfortunately, the decisions they made did not swing in my favor.

It wasn't as if I had nothing being published this year, but the rapidity with which I received the rejections felt like a bombardment. Today, that all came to a screeching halt thanks to The Horror Zine editor Jeani Rector. I have published stories with her before. Two were published and can still be read on the website here and here, and in two published volumes here and here.

Describing my story as "creepy and odd," she found it a good fit for her online, award-winning zine.
More on that as it materializes.

Good news for you cheapskates out there...it will be free to read!

Irish Times Reviews "What do you Call that Noise?"

As I recently wrote, I had a very different kind of piece published recently in Mark Fisher's latest book on the phenomenal English band XTC.  Titled "What do you Call that Noise?" a line from the band's song, "This is Pop," this one is just chockful of anecdotes and essays, some by members of the band.

The Irish Times reviewed the book, which can be read by clicking here.

Not only is this my first work of non-fiction published in book form, it's also the first time I've been in anything that was reviewed in a European newspaper.

I'm not only honored to be in such a book, I'm also humbled, giddy and filled with renewed purpose.