A Welcome Invitation.

I've been invited to submit a story prior to the official submission period to the next Smart Rhino Publications anthology being edited by writer/editor/unfortunate Libertarian Weldon Burge called "Uncommon Assassins." My short story "You With Me" appeared in the previous one pictured below:

As it so happens, I have a story already written. I just need to find the damn thing and polish it up.

The Dumbest Facebook comment yet.

I'll preserve the person's annonymity despite my desire to post her name everywhere, but here's what she wrote on the "Atlas Shrugged 2" page:

"While on a business trip, during two separate dinners, drinks were omitted from my bill. When I told the waiters of the errors, they both shook their heads and said "Oh, that's ok. Its on the house. My error." But I insisted. "No. I am a follower of Ayn Rand. We believe in paying for things fairly negotiated. Please correct my bill."

Nothing wrong with paying what one owes, but "Follower?" Apparently, they admit to be Randroids. Good to know. My arsenal just grew by leaps and bounds!

Praise from Wordcraft Wednesdays.

Two days ago, I journeyed out to Macomb Community College, where I read two stories before a small but attentive audience. I knew my second story fared very well, considering the laughs it ellicited (it was a satirical piece, I swear.) Still, only a couple people approached me afterwards, although plenty asked me questions when I was finished reading, unlike the other guest writer of the day.

But you never really know what impact you had on people until someone else confirms it for you. That happened last night when Nicole Castle sent me the following email:

Chris,

Wow, it was so awesome having you at WW. Both of your stories were fantastic.

I had several of my students talk about you and your work. They were quite impressed.

I hope "Dusk" gets published soon! I will definitely have you back another time!

Please email me info. about your Author Page and your blog address so I can put it on WW facebook page.

Also, info. about the Green Pen conference.

Thanks again!

-Nicole

'Nuff said?

A Couple Quick Updates.

The Ghostly Reflections anthology I edited and contributed to (pictured below) actually premiered at #1 on Amazon's ghost tales list and mainted a spot in the top five for a couple days before powerhouse authors moved it down to #18:

Also, if all goes well, I will be a presenter at the Greenpen Writer's Conference, the brainchild of my publisher COM Publishing and its partner illustrator, Dark Elf Designs. Early registrants get $100.00 off the cost! Check out the flyer below:

From a Work in Progress Currently Titled "The Trickster God Revealed."

There is a Pool. A place where all powers originate. A place that can be tapped into if one possesses the proper knowledge. All things that come into the worlds must pass through the Pool on their way out. Few have any memory of it, but those who do often seek to return to it. These are the gods of old, immortal beings with their memories of birth intact, the true measure of what makes one powerful.
The Pool assigns most of us with whatever abilities or traits we wind up possessing. But when someone winds up with power that was not meant for them, they return to the Pool without knowing that they have. And that is where the real problem lies.
Transformation is the natural order’s way of adjusting things in accordance with any changes that have been made. But when a man has godhood forced upon him…

“He will go insane,” Louis said, surprised by the sound of his own voice.
Fern nodded. “It’s only a matter of time.”
“That stupid son of a bitch.” Louis brushed the hair out of his eyes with his right hand. “What has he done?”
Fern raised an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t know?”
Louis shook his head, not really wanting to hear the rest. He felt responsible. No, he was responsible. Surely there was some way he could have prevented this from happening. His own passivity might have given rise to something truly terrible.
“He’s declared himself God and started demanding total obedience to his ‘divine will.’ It’s been on all the websites and cables shows. The FBI has been looking into his practices to make sure he isn’t abusing anyone, but what they couldn’t possibly know is that he doesn’t need to abuse anyone.”
“But our powers only work if someone is wishing for something.”
Fern smiled in a decidedly humorless manner. “When you’re the Trickster God, you can get people to wish for anything you want.”

Why I am Probably Gonna Faint.

As some of you may know, my short story "Always Say Treat" which originally appeared in The Horror Zine last year was selected for inclusion in the best of collection titled "A Feast of Frights" from the Horror Zine. Editor Jeani Rector has been sending out so many drafts of this thing that I confess I didn't look at the last few, assuming they wouldn't be all that different from the ones I'd decided looked fine. However, earlier today she sent out the final drafts, and for the first time I read Ramsey Campbell's foreword and nearly fell out of my chair.

While perusing the foreword, I noticed he mentioned most of the writers by name and, naturally, I scanned the piece for my own. What I found was beyond my wildest dreams, namely praise on a level I had not expected. Here's what he wrote:

"Christopher Nadeau has a Halloween tale for us; some of the prose echoes the cadences of Bradbury—the man who has made the date his own—and this vision is as dark as any that Ray ever brought us."

I might need to change my lacy under-garments...

Yep. Yep, I do~

And the #1 Reason We Horror/Dark Fantasy Authors are Jealous of Reality!

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Quote O' the Day

"You don't FIND or GET time to write. you STEAL it, sneakily, aggressively, creatively, constantly, voraciously, unapologetically!"

-Nnedi Okorafor

Upcoming Publication.

My short story "On the Eighth Day," which first appeared in an anthology I edited that shall not be named here, has been picked up for reprint in the Open Casket Press "Earth's End" anthology. This is their final anthology, so I'm glad I could make it into its hallowed pages:



More info to come at this one becomes available.


















Also coming soon from Open Casket, My Short story "Mr. Damage"

Quote O' the Day

" If you're a working-class American who still votes Republican ... you're stupid."

-Bill Maher

Why Facebook is an Ass: My Adventues with an Idiot.

I'll get this part of the way right now: As a fiction author, I am not only in favor of Freedom of Speech, I depend on it for my choice of career. Still, there has always been a blurry distinction for many between speaking or writing unfettered and using harmful, derogatory or inflammatory language for the sake of causing harm to others. To borrow from my own experience, my short story "Finally, the Source" which was published in the Pill Hill Press anthology Leather Denim & Silver:Legends of the Monster Hunter deals with issues of religious belief and Biblical claims in a way that would be considered blasphemous by many Christians and Jews alike. One reviewer actually wrote, "Holy Shit! Did they really just do that?" in reaction to the ending.

However, my intent was to extrapolate the Creation Myth and turn it on its ear, not to offend. I was even careful with the wording of the piece because I know how easily one can fall into the shock value for its own sake trap. By contrast, there's a Facebook Page called "At least I'm Honest," which is also moderated by a user bearing that phrase as his screen-name. This person goads the religious as often as possible under the cloak of humor with as many offensive comments and pictures as he can. To be fair, his page contains a disclaimer with the welcoming phrase, "If you are easily offended, this page is not for you." As opposed to, say, the Christians Vs. Atheists page that actually encourages discussion that can often turn hostile, At Least I'm Honest prefers to offer up his views as good-natured humor, claiming those who disagree are somehow tight-asses or just plain stupid.

It's the refuge of the intellectually stunted and the small child, and one often wonders if he might be both in equal measure. He certainly seems to me enjoying himself, nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but his vitriol is so hateful and no transparent that even the simple act of someone clicking "like" on the comments of a person who is responding to his insults by coming back with better ones of their own results in a quick dressing down and a ban from his page. It's not a leap of logic to conclude that this man-child is indulging himself in online masturbation. He isn't the first, nor is he the worst offender, but he made one mistake: He presumptuously decided he would put me in "my place."

Below is his message to me regarding the fact that I enjoyed the insults he was receiving from someone he banned and my reply:

ALIH: "I'm leaving all the comments with her name tagged, I"m guessing nobody can see her comments anymore since I banned her. Christopher, consider if you should be here again. If you like her posts when she's talking shit, I don't know why you are around anymore."

At this point he'd already banned me, but I wrote back:" So in other words, we're only allowed to like what you write because it's so hilarious and insightful or you'll ban us like a little groinless bitch. good to know. crawl back inside your own asshole with the rest of your cum guzzling sychophants. "

Keep in mind this was after he'd repeatedly referred to the women he banned as the "C-word" for pointing out how offensive she found his post. Just in case he didn't see the message, I found his comment on someone else's post and posted it there, too. I also reported him to Facebook for targeting a specific religion, resulting in the following exchange:

Hi,

Thanks for your recent report of a potential violation on Facebook. After reviewing your report, we were not able to confirm that the specific page you reported violates Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

Learn more about what we do and don't allow by reviewing the Facebook Community Standards: https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards.

Thanks,
Viki

My reply: "Wow, so telling religious people to "fuck off" and penalizing them for having differing viewpoints by constant threats of banning while posting offensive pics of Jesus being consumed by zombies among others is difficult to confirm as a violation? I'm not even a Christian and I'm repulsed. Oh, and apparently calling a woman who expresses her religious beliefs a "cunt" is acceptable as well. Nice to know. Now I can create that page I was afraid would be too offensive because apparently anything goes. "

That is why Facebook is an ass!