Dark Poetry Special: The Crimson Circle by The Grim Tidings Podcast

This is the first time I have ever been interviewed for a podcast!  It was really fun.  Hopefully, I don't sound too bad.  I had a few drinks that night.  Other interviewees include The Crimson Circle, comprising poets of me, KA Opperman, Adam Bolivar, and David Myers, as well as Obadiah Baird and Dan Sauer.

Just click the link to listen to the episode, Dark Poetry Special: The Crimson Circle by The Grim Tidings Podcast.

Bruce Campbell Signing at Dark Delicacies!

Bruce Campbell has been a favorite actor of mine since Army of Darkness.  To be able to meet him was a dream of mine.

Ravenwood Halloween Issue by Electric Pentacle Press

I am so excited to announce that my story, the Goblin of Tara, was accepted for the Ravenwood Halloween Special.  This makes it my second story sale ever!  And in the same month as my first story sale!  October must be my lucky month!  My poems, A Witch's Necromancy and the Skull Beneath the Skin, also appear in this, with the Skull Beneath the Skin appearing on the back cover with art by Mutartis Boswell.

(Look at that gorgeous back cover!)

Table of Contents

Samhain Remembered by K. A. Opperman
A Summoning by S. L. Edwards
Trick or Death by Calvin Demmer
Jakob's Yard by Andrew Bell
The Great God Belial by Michael Shultz
Heiya Hush Ya by Donald Armfield
The Score by Brandon Barrows & Steve Rupp
A Place of Escape by Rob F. Martin
Apex Predator by Julie Frost
A Witch's Necromancy by Ashley Dioses
These Guys by Russell Smeaton
Moundbuilders by Kevin Wetmore
Repeat by DJ Tyrer
The Goblin of Tara by Ashley Dioses
Walking the Veil by S. L. Edwards
Weatherall by Diane Arrelle
The Headless Horseman by K. A. Opperman

On the back:
The Skull Beneath the Skin by Ashley Dioses
Art by Mutartis Boswell

Black Wings VI edited by S. T. Joshi by PS Publishing

I am ecstatic to be in this!  My poem, On a Dreamland's Moon, can be found within Black Wings VI by PS Publishing.  'Signed by the contributors'!  Really??  Does that mean me??  😲

 AN ANTHOLOGY edited by S. T. Joshi
CATEGORY Lovecraft inspired Horror
PUBLICATION DATE November 2017
COVER ART Jason Van Hollander
PAGES 326
INTRODUCTION S. T. Joshi

EDITIONS
Unsigned Jacketed Hardcover — ISBN  978-1-786362-01-8  [£25]
300 Slipcased JHC signed by the contributors  — ISBN 978-1-786362-00-1  [£50]

SYNOPSIS
This sixth volume of S. T. Joshi’s acclaimed Black Wings series demonstrates as never before how infinitely malleable are H. P. Lovecraft’s weird conceptions. The twenty-two stories and poems in this book run the gamut of modes and genres, but each of them is fueled by elements large and small drawn from Lovecraft’s inexhaustibly rich corpus of writing.

Cosmicism is central to Lovecraft’s imaginative vision, and it oftentimes is manifested in tales of archaeological horror. In this volume, stories by Ann K. Schwader, Lynne Jamneck, Don Webb, and Stephen Woodworth treat this motif in varying and distinctive ways. Lovecraft’s work is also infused with a profound sense of place, as he himself was attached to the familiar locales of his native New England but also travelled widely in search of new vistas to stimulate his imagination. Here, stories by Tom Lynch, Aaron Bittner, W. H. Pugmire, and Darrell Schweitzer summon up the landscapes of diverse realms in America to tease out the horrors embedded in them.

Alien creatures are featured in many of Lovecraft’s greatest tales. In this volume, William F. Nolan, Nancy Kilpatrick, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jonathan Thomas, and Jason V Brock summon up multiform monsters inspired by Lovecraft’s notions of hybridism and alien incursion. The forbidden book theme is deftly handled by Caitlín R. Kiernan, and the notion of other worlds lying just around the corner from our own is the subject of stories by Donald Tyson and Mark Howard Jones. Finally, David Hambling cleverly adapts Lovecraftian concepts to the locked-room detective story.

In commemorating the incredible efflorescence of weird poetry in our time, this book presents poems by four leading contemporary poets—Ashley Dioses, K. A. Opperman, Adam Bolivar, and D. L. Myers. Each of their works fuses skilful use of rhyme and metre with compact evocations of Lovecraftian themes. H. P. Lovecraft’s work is likely to continue inspiring writers for many generations, and this volume presents a vivid snapshot of what can be said in this idiom by sensitive and talented authors.

CONTENTS
Introduction     S. T. Joshi
Pothunters    Ann K. Schwader
The Girl in the Attic    Darrell Schweitzer
The Once and Future Waite    Jonathan Thomas
Oude Goden    Lynne Jamneck
Carnivorous    William F. Nolan
On a Dreamland’s Moon    Ashley Dioses
Teshtigo Creek    Aaron Bittner
Ex Libris    Caitlín R. Kiernan
You Shadows That in Darkness Dwell    Mark Howard Jones
The Ballad of Asenath Waite    Adam Bolivar
The Visitor    Nancy Kilpatrick
The Gaunt    Tom Lynch
Missing at the Morgue    Donald Tyson
The Shard    Don Webb
The Mystery of the Cursed Cottage    David Hambling
To Court the Night    K. A. Opperman
To Move Beneath Autumnal Oaks    W. H. Pugmire
Mister Ainsley    Steve Rasnic Tem
Satiety    Jason V Brock
Provenance Unknown    Stephen Woodworth
The Well    D. L. Myers

The Dark Poetry Scholarship!

I have won the Dark Poetry Scholarship from the Horror Writers Association!  I am beyond words!  I am excited to use this money to improve my skills as a formal poet and broaden my knowledge the art.

"The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce The Dark Poetry Scholarship to supplement its Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Horror Writers Association Scholarships.
The first Dark Poetry Scholarship was awarded in 2015. Thereafter, the scholarship will be given annually. The scholarship is designed to assist in the professional development of Horror and/or Dark Fantasy Poets.
A sub-committee appointed by the HWA Board will choose the winner, who will be announced each year.
The Dark Poetry Scholarship is worth $1250, which may be spent on approved writing education over the two years following the granting of the scholarship."

H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival and Other Misadventures of the Crimson Circle in Portland, OR.

Oh man, where do I even begin.

Kyle (KA) and I departed by train on Monday Oct. 2nd and arrived in Portland on Tuesday.

Tuesday, Oct. 3rd

We met Dave (D. L.) Myers at the train station, who just arrived from his 6 hour drive from Washington, and headed toward our host, Adam Bolivar.  The Crimson Circle unites!

We made a quick stop at Adam's house to drop our luggage and take showers and then headed to the Horse Brass Pub to dine.  After dinner, we headed to our favorite cemetery, Lone Fir, and were gifted by Kyle pewter medallions, made by the amazing Joe Broers, of the Crimson Sign.  The Crimson Sign is a sigil representing the Black Shepherd, designed by Adam.  Learn more about the Black Shepherd in The Lay of Old Hex by Adam Bolivar.  We escaped the graveyard as we saw flashlights; not wanting to find out if they were security guards or merely grave robbers or necrophiliacs....

Wednesday, Oct. 4th

Wednesday we headed to this huge pumpkin patch and corn maze.  So it's the beginning of October and I guess the popularity of the corn maze hasn't hit yet, for we wandered through discarded Halloween props and not-yet-built props.  We were the only people wandering through this maze.  It was actually creepy in the middle of the day.

(Adam, Kyle, and Dave)

(The Crimson Circle)

We found a blackberry bush entangling a structure of some sort and cut through the corn to try some.

(Blackberries)

(Our travels were almost thwarted by this guy.)

(We had to have a sacrifice for the corn gods.)

The corn maze then led us to a mysterious abandoned carnival tent.  It also had four canned sodas still cold on a table.  Whoa.  Why were they still cold?  How did they get there?  This is in the middle of the day and the tent is nowhere near...anything.  There is nobody else around but us.

(Headless saint)

After we escaped the corn maze, we couldn't just head back and buy the pre-plucked pumpkins they had at the stand... No, we had to trek across the field to the actual pumpkin patch and pick pumpkins ourselves, because Kyle.  I chose 2 pumpkins; a perfect white pumpkin and an orange pumpkin shaped like a flying saucer.  We saw a garter snake and tons of frogs.  With our picks, we trekked back across the field, past the corn maze and carnival, back to the little market to purchase our pumpkins.

After that, we headed toward the legendary Witch House.  

(Witch House story)

We then headed to dinner at a lovely Cuban place and headed back to Adam's, where we sampled some Absinthe as poets are wont to do.

(3 different kinds of Absinthe.)

(Adam perfects the art....)

Thursday, Oct. 5th

Arising bright and early, we headed toward the airport to pick up a man of most refined poetry taste; Derrick Hussey, publisher of Hippocampus Press.  We all squeezed in the tiny car and headed to breakfast that had unlimited tea!  We chatted for a long time and then headed off to drop Derrick off at his hotel room.  We headed back to Adam's house to carve the pumpkins so they'd be ready as our props for our reading.

(And here Kyle is mad at me because I suggested it have a skeleton nose [because it's white!] instead of the vintage triangular nose.)

(Oh, I messed up?  What a tragedy!  That's okay, I can easily make it into a triangle....-Kyle)

(The Crimson Sign.  UFO Saucer pumpkin  in the background.)

We picked up Derrick and headed to an antique shop to kill time before heading to the Book Bin in Salem for the release party of The Audient Void: A Journal of Weird Fiction and Dark Fantasy Issue Four, The Lay of Old Hex, and Diary of a Sorceress.  

(Spotted Cassilda's mask.)

(The Book Bin)

(Dave and Kyle read first)

(Dave, Kyle, and Obadiah Baird, editor of the Audient Void.)

(Adam and me.)

(I'm reading Atop the Crystal Moon.)

(I'm reading Master of Potions.)

After the reading, we did a raffle, and then people could come up and buy our books and get them signed.  That was awesome, of course, but I was excited to see David Barker and get his autographs for various books I brought.  He came up to me to ask about Atop the Crystal Moon and I told him to sit next to me so that I could tell him all about it.

After the reading, we brought the party to Obadiah's house to end the night.

(Dan Clore and Adam)

(Kyle and Dave)

(Blaine Stevens reading Diary of a Sorceress and Dan Clore)

(Obadiah and Dan)

(Dan Sauer and Derrick Hussey)

(Kyle)

(Derrick and Dave)

Friday, Oct. 6th

The Crimson Circle returned to the scene of the crime in Lone Fir cemetery where we could enjoy it legally, in the day time.  

(Squirrel on a headstone.)

Fresh from the cemetery, we headed to the festival to get our guest badges and cause mischief.  We walked into the EOD Center where Ross E. Lockhart announced our arrival. Lol! 

At 7 pm, the Crimson Circle read.

We then attended Scott Connor's presentation on Clark Ashton Smith's art.

The rest of the night is a blur.  We probably ate dinner with Obadiah and Dan Sauer, because we ate with them for three days at various mealtimes so they're all kind of blurring together.  Best company.

Saturday, Oct. 7th

We attended a mass author signing in the morning.  It would have been better if I had been sitting somewhere else.  

I can't remember anything after that and before the Hippocampus Happy Hour party at Sam's Billiards that started at 4 pm.  Probably because I was nervous as Hell.

(Dave, Adam, Dan Clore)

(Obadiah and Scott Connors)

(Derrick)

(Snacks and drinks!)

(Dave)

(Adam, Dan Clore, Derrick, Dan Sauer, Obadiah)

(Kyle)

(Obadiah with Derrick and Rob Matheny in the background)

(Rose O'Keefe made an appearance.)

(Adam)

Our reading was recorded by DB Spitzer of the People's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos podcast.

http://pgttcm.podbean.com/e/hippocampuspresscom/

Kyle and I were also interviewed by Rob Matheny for the Grim Tidings podcast.

Sunday, Oct. 8th

Last day!  We stopped at Blue Star donuts as appetizers before having breakfast at Sam's Billiards with the Audient Void gang.  

We checked out vendors, bought books and various things, ate, drank, hung out with friends, and received and gave autographs.

We attended a panel on Fungi, which was moderated by Orrin Grey.  It was awesome.  Afterwards I sat at the Hippocampus table and signed my Diaries for Derrick to have on hand.

(Derrick)

(Dan Sauer and Scott Connors)

(Derrick, Dan, and Adam)

(John Shirley, Dan Sauer, and Adam)

Dave, unfortunately, had to leave early.

Kyle and I left Monday and arrived home late Tuesday.  And so ends the misadventures.  Till next year!