Xnoybis Issue #2 and Spring Equinox 2016 Issue by Eternal Haunted Summer

At long last my contributor's copy of Xnoybis #2 from Dunhams Manor Press arrived which has my poem, Medusa's Mirror in it.  My poem depicts Medusa as more of the tragic figure she is instead of the common monster portrayal.

The awesome editor Jordan Krall also included his book Gorgonaeon because of the long wait and I finished it in one sitting.  It's a series of vignettes that depict paranoid and insane perspectives from different characters and makes a fascinating read.

The Spring Equinox issue of Eternal Haunted Summer came out today and features my poem, Witch Lord of the Hunt.  You can read the issue here.

My 3 poems, Horror, the Abandoned Garden, and Morning's Moon will appear in for Folk Horror Revival: Corpse Roads.  They are all reprints.  100% of all sales profits of the book will be charitably donated to The Wildlife Trusts.  

      

'Visit the Tarot' Class

The Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Southern California begins next month and it runs between April 9th through May 22nd on weekends only from 10 am to 7 pm.  I work at the Queen's College which is a group of educational workshops that teach a skill, a craft, a trade, etc.

(This was when I first started the class in 2011.)

"Queen’s College invites Faire visitors to learn historic art and craft found in our Port village. Master artists, artisans, and traders teach their craft in workshops to adults, teens, family groups, and children. Workshop students receive supplies and tools needed to make their own keepsakes, and some will have kits to continue working at home. Fees are low ($3 to $25) with the average $10 since we are under the auspices of a nonprofit educational organization, the NorCal Renaissance Institute for Renewal of Past Arts and the Artist. Drop-In Workshops run for 1-2 hours and allow students to come in during the time to learn, and Scheduled Workshops are listed with a starting time. Some workshops are short (perhaps 15 to 20 minutes), but most will be about 45 minutes. Ask if time is important to you. It is possible to pre-register at the College to guarantee a seat at a later workshop."

The class that I teach is called Visit the Tarot and I teach students a little about the Tarot and how to read them.  I provide a packet to take home which goes over everything that I teach.  I DO NOT sell Tarot decks, but I will tell you how to acquire them.  It is not necessary to bring your own; I provide a few different decks to use and look at.  I also DO NOT read your fortune with them.  There are about three different Tarot readers toward the end of the faire who do great work; if you want your fortune read with Tarot, go see them.  I am not allowed to, so don't ask.

This will be my 3rd year teaching this class.  I started for only an hour in 2011 for I was doing multiple faire jobs and then I was solely a part of the Queen's College last year.

April and May are busy months for me, not including the faire.  I will be attending the L. A. Vintage Paperback Show on April 3rd, the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival® and CthulhuCon™ San Pedro 2016 April 29th-May 1st, and the StokerCon 2016 May 12-15.  Needless to say, I won't be teaching Visit the Tarot those days.

This is the only faire I teach this class at; I do not travel to other faires.  I also do not teach this outside of this workshop.

So please come visit the Renaissance Faire this year and learn how to read the Tarot with me!  Classes last year were $12, I'm assuming they'll be the same price this year, I haven't heard otherwise.

Saturdays & Sundays
April 9 thru May 22, 2016
Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area
15501 E. Arrow Highway • Irwindale, CA
10am - 7pm • Ph: 626.969.4750

Spectral Realms No. 4

I have recently received my issue of Spectral Realms No. 4.  I was quite surprised to see a certain name in the table of contents, for last I heard, he didn't want to get published anywhere near Kyle.  Also I recognize his poem as being a reprint and Spectral Realms doesn't take reprints, except for in the Classic Reprints section.  Well I can't let the sour the rest of the book for me.  I have two poems in this one; With a Love So Vile, which is dedicated to the wonderful D. L. Myers, and Illva, which is based on the character from Clark Ashton Smith's story, the Isle of the Torturers.  I look forward to reading the rest of it.

A Tribute to George Clayton Johnson: Life Celebration

"This program is free to the public - first come, first served - with a suggested donation of $8 to our nonprofit to help cover expenses. You can RSVP here: http://bit.ly/1RZc4ye

George Clayton Johnson (July 10, 1929 – December 25, 2015) penned some of the most memorable science fiction scripts of the 1960s and ’70s, including the first episode of “Star Trek” and seminal episodes of “The Twilight Zone,” as well as co-writing the novel Logan’s Run. Join us for an evening celebrating Johnson’s life and career, including "Twilight Zone" episodes “Nothing in the Dark” (1962), “A Penny for Your Thoughts” (1961), “A Game of Pool” (1961) and “Kick the Can” (1962), as well as remembrances from colleagues. There will be a panel discussion and a performance by members of Ray Bradbury’s Pandemonium Theatre Company.

Panel discussion follows with biographer Vivien Cooper, LOGAN'S RUN co-writer William F. Nolan, writers Dennis Etchison, Mark Scott Zicree and Wendy All and producers Jason and Sunni Brock, moderated by George's son Paul Johnson. There will also be a performance by members of Ray Bradbury’s Pandemonium Theatre Company. (approx. 150 min.)"

Kyle and I, along with my parents, went to the Egyptian Theatre on Friday night to attend the George Clayton Johnson tribute.  I had the brief pleasure of meeting George Clayton Johnson once, last year at the L.A. Vintage Paperback Show.  I shook his hand and he signed my edition of Logan's Run.  I told him how much I liked the story and he thanked me.  I wish I had known more about him at that time but I didn't.  I knew very little about him then.  I still don't know as much as I would like to but I plan on changing that by reading more of his work.

We didn't get to stay for the whole thing, it was already late for us, but we did watch the panel and the Twilight episode “Nothing in the Dark” (1962) which featured a young and handsome Robert Redford.  Here are some pictures of and from the event.  It was good to see the Brocks again but we didn't have time to chat with them much.  

Vendors at the 7th Annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in San Pedro!

I'm excited to announce that Kyle and I will be vendors at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival® and CthulhuCon™ San Pedro 2016!

 
"KA Opperman & Ashley Dioses, two of today's finest Weird poets, will be at the 7th Annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in San Pedro, California, April 29th to May 1st at the Warner Grand Theatre, where they will be reading from, signing, and selling a number of choice titles in which their work appears."

K. A. Opperman is a writer of Weird and horrific formal poetry from southern California, USA. His influences are many, but Clark Ashton Smith and H. P. Lovecraft are at the top of the long and seedy list. Think exotic, erotic, psychotic, and necrotic—often at the same time. His debut verse collection, The Crimson Tome, will appear from the famed Hippocampus Press a little later this year—nearly 200 pages of madness wrought in rhyme. Aside from that, he has appeared in the journal Spectral Realms, will appear in several anthologies from Horrified Press, and will appear in The Weird Fiction Review #6.

Ashley Dioses is a poet of dark fantasy and horror from southern California. She is currently working on her first book of dark traditional poetry to be out from Hippocampus Press, hopefully this year. Her poetry has appeared in Weird Fiction Review, Spectral Realms, Weirdbook Magazine, Omnium Gatherum Media, Eye to the Telescope, Xnoybis, Necronomicum, Gothic Blue Book, and elsewhere. Her poem, “Carathis”, published in Spectral Realms No. 1, is mentioned in Ellen Datlow's full recommended Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven list. She blogs at fiendlover.blogspot.com.

This is totally awesome!  I've never been a vendor before!  I am so excited.  We will also be reading some of our poems on stage, which is frightening but also awesome.  I'm stoked.

More Poem Acceptances

My poem, Fallen Atlantis, has been accepted for Spectral Realms No. 5 by Hippocampus Press.  It is dedicated to the Last of the Courtly Poets, Donald Sidney-Fryer.  If you are not familiar with Don or the California Romantics, I highly recommend The Golden Phantasticks and The Atlantis Fragments.

My poem, Labyrinthine King, has been accepted for a David Bowie anthology called 47 – 16 : Short Fiction & Poetry Inspired by David Bowie by Penny Dreadful Publications. My poem is inspired by his role as Jareth, the Goblin King, in the movie, The Labyrinth.   

  

D. L. Myers Reads My Poem "Ligeia"!

D. L. Myers reads my poem Ligeia, which is published in Spectral Realms No. 2 by Hippocampus Press!