Monday, July 31, 2017

OtV: Pumpkin Progress 7

They are getting so big and soon they will fight sibling vs. sibling to the death.  I'm trying to move a few away from each other as much as possible though.

(A late blooming Cinderella above and a Sugar Pie below.)

(My beauties!)

(Amish Pies are slow growing but doing well.)


(I found the 5th Big Max but it's right up against the pillar!)

(2 Jacks aren't growing as fast as they should.)

(My biggest Jack is sprawling over the edge.)

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Diary of a Sorceress Update and Release Date!

My debut poetry collection, Diary of a Sorceress, has been scheduled to be released this October at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, OR!  Words can't express how excited I am at this new, and much earlier, release date.

(Witch Lord of the Hunt)

Because I wasn't expecting this book to come out this year, it was scheduled for some time early next year, I had to haul ass to work on things this past week to get them in before the cover art was finished.

I wrote my Afterword, updated my Acknowledgements page, bugged people for tribute poems and blurbs, and went over proofs meticulously.  I saw a rough look at my cover and am loving it.  I can't wait to see its final form.  As for blurbs, I have blurbs, so far, from Wilum Pugmire, Ann K. Schwader, Linda Addison, Kyla Lee Ward, Lisa Morton, Joe S. Pulver, Sr., Peter Atkins, Charles Lovecraft, and Jessica Amanda Salmonson.  That seems like a lot, Ashley, and you're still expecting more!?  I will admit, I might've been a tad... zealous.  Honestly, I thought I would be turned down because, well, it's poetry.  Not a favorite, unfortunately.  However, everyone, except two who never responded, said yes!  And then someone else offered and I wasn't going to say no.  So I'm expecting five more.

This is my first book.  I am sure I am making a lot of newb mistakes or strengthening stereotypes.  I will not apologize, I can only grow and learn from this.  I'm sure, by following this blog and reading the first entries to the recent, I have grown considerably and can only continue to do so.

(Lover's Witch)

This collection is looking amazing and I can't wait until the rest of the art is finished.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Prelude: My Dark Diary

I. Entry One: Atop the Crystal Moon
Diary of a Sorceress
Entry One
Letters to a Sorcerer
A Sorcerous Tome
The Glass Vial
Witch Lord of the Hunt
Labyrinthine King
Midnight Strides
Night Play
Moon Enchantress
Atop the Crystal Moon
Dragonspeak
Scarlet Autumn Aurora
Fire Sprite
Lord of the Deep
Selkie
Fallen Atlantis
Medusa’s Mirror
Morning’s Moon
Lady Death

II. Entry Two: Kiss the Stars
A Sea of Snow and Frost
The Abandoned Garden
Graveyard Blossom
Under the Chrysanthemums
Calla Lilies
Black-Veined Whites
Vapors
The Perfect Rose
The Dwelling Place
The Moon
Kiss the Stars
Celestial Mysteries
The Hands of Chaos

III. Entry Three: Star Lighting
One Winter Eve
To an Unknown Mistress
A Queen in Hell
Ever Fair
Star Lighting
Lover’s Witch
Witch’s Love
Enchantress
Dark Poet of My Heart
Dark Valentine
Dark Valentine II
My Dark Valentine
The Celebration of Dreams
The Fires of Summer
Rondel to My Love
Sky Fallen Maiden
A Sorceress’s Love
A Lover’s Sorceress
Panic
Maenads
They Sing in Whispers
A Glamorous Touch
Prisoner of Love
On Amaranthine Lips
Sweet Renegade
Siren’s Song
Sephora
Can I Stop Your Heart?

IV. Entry Four: On a Dreamland’s Moon
Daemonolatry
Goetia
The Black Goddess
Ligeia
Ghoul Mistress
My Corpse, My Groom
A Valkyrie’s Vendetta
The Rotting Goddess
Nyarlathotep
On a Dreamland’s Moon
Nitokris
Winter Witch
The Necro-Conjuring Sorceress
Narda the Czarina
Castle Csejthe
Painted in Blood
Bathory in Red
I. Nadia
II. Bat in the Boiler Room
III. Black Orchid
IV. The Power of the Sun
Blood Siren’s Alcove
Anthropomancy
Carathis
Twisted Trails of Thought
Lady in Black Velvet
Mircalla
With a Love So Vile
The Easter Lily
Even Madness Cannot Hide
Horror
The Medallion
Ilvaa
Saturn
Vexteria
A Sorceress’s Final Vision

Tributes
A Page From Jack’s Diary, by Adam Bolivar
My Lady of the Nightshade Flower, by K. A. Opperman
Upon Reading Diary of a Sorceress, by Mike Fantina
Ashiel's Garden, by D. L. Myers

Afterword

Acknowledgments

Illumen 28 by Alban Lake


My copy of Illumen 28 by Alban Lake has arrived.  It contains my 2 poetry reprints, Carathis and Mircalla.



Why Read Poetry, by Alan Ira Gordon. Other voices include Amanda Faye, Deborah Guzzi, Kendall Evans, Michael Kulp.

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Dead Reckonings No. 21 by Hippocampus Press


Dead Reckonings No. 21 by Hippocampus Press features my article, The Resurgence of Weird Magazines.  It also features reviews and articles by Daniel Pietersen, Darrell Schweitzer, Amber Doll Diaz, Ramsey Campbell, Gavin Callaghan, S. T. Joshi, and others.



My article mentions weird publications:

Xnoybis edited Jordan Krall by Dunhams Manor Press

Weirdbook Magazine edited by Douglas Draa by Wildside Press

Skelos: The Journal of Weird Fiction and Dark Fantasy edited by Jeffrey Shanks, Chris Gruber, Mark Finn by Skelos Press

The Audient Void: A Journal of Weird Fiction and Dark Fantasy edited by Obadiah Baird
Ravenwood Quarterly edited by Travis Neisler

Nightgaunt edited by Adam Joffrain

Feverish Fiction and Feverish Chixxx edited by Michael Faun by Sleazy Viking Press

Nightscript edited by CM Muller

Cirsova edited by P. Alexander

Turn To Ash edited by Benjamin Holesapple

Occult Detective Quarterly (and Borkchito: Occult Doggo Detective) edited by John Linwood Grant, Sam Gafford, and Travis Neisler


Obscurum: The Death Issue No. 2 by Wolfwych Press


My poem, Lady Death, appears in the latest issue of Obscurum: The Death Issue No. 2 by Wolfwych Press.  Obscurum is a cool little periodical that covers 'the occult, magic, mysticism, poetry and literary works from contemporary writers' and is based in the UK.


This is the second themed issue of Obscurum and features:

Thomas Hurlock 
Magdalena Salata 
Melanie Marshall 
Abigail Wildes 
Ashley Dioses 
Carole Abourjeili 
William Garriock 
Joseph Bouthiette Jr. 
Josh Konwinski 
Katie Doherty


OtV: Pumpkin Progress 6

5/10 Jack-o-Lantern sprouts
4/5 Big Max sprouts
5/5 Sugar Pie sprouts
5/5 Cinderella sprouts
2/5 Amish Pie sprouts

(2 Amish Pie sprouts)

(5 Sugar Pie sprouts in a row, 1 Jack in the corner, 4 Cinderellas)

(1 Jack top left corner, 1 Sugar bottom left, 4 Cinderellas, and 1 Jack on the right)

(My biggest sprout!  Jack-o-Lantern)

(3 Jack-o-Lantern sprouts, 3 Big Maxes)





Friday, July 14, 2017

Patreon!

I have decided to make a Patreon account.  By pledging $1 a month you can access one of my poems every month.  I plan on starting with older work and work my way up.  It would be awesome if you decided to support.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

OtV: Pumpkin Progress 5

They are growing so fast!  My first pumpkin sprout, Crispy, is no longer with us.  He detached itself from the ground.  R. I. P Crispy.  I also got rid of 2 other sprouts that were yellow and did not seem to grow anymore.  I believe that leaves 19 sprouts growing.

(This is the Jack-o-Lantern sprout in the corner.  It is caked in mud and drooping.  Hopefully it lives.)

(These five are my sugar pie pumpkins.)

(Four Cinderella pumpkin sprouts and one Jack-o-Lantern sprout.)

(Giant Jack-o-Lantern sprout.)

(Three Jack-o-Lantern sprouts.)

(Four Big Max pumpkin sprouts.)

Thursday, July 6, 2017

OtV: Pumpkin Progress 4

Two sprouts have sprouted from my second mound!  I also planted five Cinderella seeds, five giant pumpkin seeds, and five sweet pie seeds.  There's definitely going to be some over crowding if they all grow.

(Six can be seen here.)


(Two sprouts on second mound.)


(I think my first sprout will not make it.  Bottom left.)