Exquisite Corpse- Put Together by Angela Yuriko Smith

To celebrate the final day of National Poetry Month, Angela decided to gather a few poets on Facebook and put together a collaborative poem, called an Exquisite Corpse.  An Exquisite Corpse is a collectively assembled poem.

"Each contributor added to the composition in sequence by following a pattern rule. There are other ways to do it, but for this we followed a “The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun” pattern.

Example of a line: “The green duck sweetly sang the dreadful dirge.”'

You can find her post on it on her blog here.

Here is the result, titled Universe Calling.  Angela put, in italics, the connecting words for the lines.

Universe Calling

The brilliant night quietly called the lost galaxy
while the wistful question endlessly spinning the infinite realms
and the mournful wind longingly cried the broken mantra.

The faint spark sullenly echoed the long-dead reply
as the eldritch chasm eerily awaited the falling angel.
The doleful flight yawningly dreams the green moon
and the pulsating quasars luminescently spiral the depthless void.

—Written by (in order of line) Angela Yuriko Smith, A.F. Stewart, Devon Lewis,
Robin Wiesneth, Ashley Dioses, John Reinhart and R.A. Smith

I think this turned out to be a totally awesome poem!

Author Spotlight: Ashley Dioses by Gehenna and Hinnom Books

I was recently interviewed by C. P. Dunphey of Gehenna and Hinnom Books on my poem which is featured in issue 006 as well as other aspects of my writing and such things.  You can find it on their website as well as right here.

Greetings from the Ether,

With the upcoming release of Hinnom Magazine Issue 006, we wanted to take a moment to spotlight some of the authors involved in the project. Ashley Dioses‘ poem “O Won’t You?” is a disturbing Bathory piece that succeeds in matching its morbidity with elegant prose. Join us as we dive into the crafting of the poem, and what the future has in store for the author.

CP: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How you came to write dark poetry?

AD: I have an AS in Health Information Technology, I have a first-degree black belt in Soo Bahk Do, I work at a college bookstore, I enjoy studying the occult, and am a Pagan. My dad is a poet and an avid horror and fantasy reader. I came to the realization, after reading Poe for the first time at a young age, that one could blend the two together.

CP: “O Won’t You?” is a grotesque Bathory-themed poem. The prose is equal parts graceful and disturbing. Can you tell us how it came to fruition? What inspired the piece?

AD: I am a fan of the mysteries revolving around the Countess. I already wrote 3 Bathory poems and thought I was done when I realized that a Bathory poem was needed for my Gothic-centric poetry collection, Diary of a Vampyress. It wasn’t hard to write one when I settled down to put the piece together.

CP: We just started publishing poetry, your piece being the second to ever appear in Hinnom Magazine. Your work is prolific, and you’re one of the best horror poets working today. Where exactly, from here, do you hope your writing takes you? What goals do you hope to achieve?

AD: I hope to extend my writing from poetry to short fiction and eventually become a novelist. I have already written two fantasy novels that are meant to be in a series. I hope to edit them, get them published, and hopefully continue writing more for that series.

CP: Do you have any other projects you’re working on? What does the future hold for Ashley Dioses?

AD: I am currently working on a poetry collection containing a few choice pieces of juvenilia entitled, The Withering. It has about 50 poems in it. It focuses more on supernatural and psychological horror themes. I am also putting together the next ‘diary’, Diary of a Vampyress, which will be a more Gothic poetry collection.

CP: What has been your favorite moment thus far, as a writer?

AD: Oh man, there are so many. When an editor wanted a full-length poetry collection from me by only reading five poems, when someone wanted my autograph for the first time when I was invited to be on a panel for a con as a guest. Those were all incredible experiences for me.

CP: What writer do you find the most inspiring, living or dead? Why?

AD: I know this is cliché but everything goes back to Poe. He showed me that I can take the rhyming, children’s poetry my dad used to read to me and make it horrifying and fantastical. He opened the doors for me.

CP: Can you tell us about your recent collection, Diary of a Sorceress?

AD: Diary of a Sorceress is a collection of light and dark fantasy, dark romance and erotica, and horror formal poetry. It is loosely centered around the Sorceress and each section is labeled as an entry in her diary. Each entry gets darker as you read through it and it represents the Sorceress’s changes and developments throughout her life. You will find subjects such as dragons, sirens, fae, daemons, vampires, Bathory, maenads, Valkryies, Gorgons, and more.

CP: We always like to end our interviews with a little tidbit of advice for the many readers who are writers themselves. What’s the best advice you could give to a new author?

AD: Read everything inside the genre you’re writing in and write every day.

Ashley Dioses is a writer of dark fiction and poetry from southern California.  Her debut collection of dark traditional poetry, Diary of a Sorceress, was released in 2017 from Hippocampus Press.  Her poetry has appeared in Weird Fiction Review, Skelos, Weirdbook, Black Wings VI: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, and others.  She is an Active member in the HWA and a member of the SFPA.  She blogs at fiendlover.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Make sure to pre-order Hinnom Magazine Issue 006 and read Dioses’ gruesome poem, “O Won’t You?” Check out our Patreon as well for some awesome rewards.

The Order of the Thinned Veil Year Two: Pumpkin Planting Day One

Alright, it's time for another year of pumpkin planting.  You might have noticed that after a certain point, I stayed quiet about my pumpkins while Kyle took over all the attention.  That's because I only managed to grow one, single pumpkin.  And then it soon rotted.  I have a few suspicions as to why that was the case, I aim to remedy that this year.

(Cinderella mound.)

(Jack-o-Lantern mound.)

 

Hinnom Magazine Issue 006 by Gehenna and Hinnom Books

My Erzsebet Bathory inspired poem, O Won't You?, has been accepted for issue 006 of Hinnom Magazine by Gehenna and Hinnom Books!  O Won't You? is the second poem ever to be published by Hinnom Magazine.  I hope this will be a continued trend.

HINNOM MAGAZINE ISSUE 006
"Summer Horrors" Introduction by C.P. Dunphey

FEATURED COMIC
Bob & Ivan #2 -- A comic strip by Phil Witte & John Littleboy

INTERVIEW
"One-of-a-Kind" -- An Interview with Dark Fiction Author S.P. Miskowski

FICTION & POETRY
"This Must Be The Place" by Brianna Zigler
"Decoys" by George Taylor
"The Space Between" by P.L. McMillan
"O' Babylon" by S.E. Casey
"O Won't You?" by Ashley Dioses
"The Idea of You" by Ed Kurtz
"White Noise" by Kevin M. Folliard

GUEST COLUMN
"Finding Your Hidden Muse: Seven Tips for Unlocking Your Unconscious Writer" by Melissa Burkley

REVIEWS
I Wish I Was Like You by S.P. Miskowski -- A Gehenna Post Review
Strange is the Night by S.P. Miskowski -- A Gehenna Post Review
A Quiet Place -- A Gehenna Post Review
Ready Player One -- A Gehenna Post Review

L. A. Times Festival of Books!

Kyle and I will be signing at the HWA booth #828 on Sunday, the 22nd from 3-5pm at the L. A. Times Festival of Books at USC!  We will have Diaries and Tomes available for sale and of course, we'll sign anything you have.

The Withering Update

A few days ago, The Withering was just a ms, a work in-progress.  I finished my first round of edits, saw it was cleaning up nicely, and decided that I should probably pitch this collection somewhere.  I always had the perfect place I wanted to send this particular collection in mind and, of course, I was nervous to pitch it, but decided to just do it.  I waited in agony for about a week and then received an email saying they were interested!  That blew me away.  I was sure I would have to shop this around a bit before receiving a positive response.  After I received that response, my collection began to feel more real to me.  This was now something a publisher wanted to look at it.  It was now desirable. 

As it became a bit realer to me, I realized, man, I need someone to write an introduction to this, but who would write that??  I tried to think of writers who this collection would resonate with and I came up blank.  A few people suggested a few names and then Kyle came up with who we both felt was the perfect person for this collection.  I decided to be bold again and shoot this person a message to feel them out.  They said they'd be happy to read it and would only write one if they liked it, because they do not write intros or blurbs for things they do not like.  That makes perfect sense to me and is how it should be. 

And now I'm freaking out because The Withering just got even more real.  A publisher is interested and I have a potential, possible author of my introduction.  Of course, they both might hate it when they read it, and if so, you'll hear about that here.  But for the present, I will keep my optimism!

Now to the progress of The Withering itself.

The Withering is not for a young audience.  Yes, it's my juvenilia that spans approximately between the years of 2001-2011, but it's very dark.  There is no fantasy, much less light fantasy, in this collection.  Supernatural and psychological horror are its primary themes, with some dark nature and gory/body horror.  There are currently 49 poems but I'd like to add at least one more to make it at hit 50.

The Withering is very different from Diary of a Sorceress.  The Withering does, however, contain a couple Sorceress poems that didn't make it into Diary of a Sorceress.  I felt they didn't fit well with the newer poems.  Other than that, I don't feel the collections are similar. It is meant to sate my readers' appetites until Diary of a Vampyress is finished.

After another round of edits, I shall submit it.