SHADOW PEOPLE is my second full length album. This LP is a soundtrack for daydreams and nightmares, filled with somber synth soundscapes, industrial rhythms, and eerie atmospheres. It’s the perfect score for writers, filled with meditations for ideation. Stream it here or buy it on Bandcamp.
Monthly Archives: September 2015
How to Scare a Skeptic
I’ve seen the northern lights stream across the sky like a special effect, but I’ve never seen an unidentified flying object. I’ve awoken to a shadow standing beside my bed post, but I can’t claim to have seen a ghost. I’ve hiked through many a forest until my legs went caput, but I’ve never laid eyes on big foot.
I’ve met people who’ve claimed to have performed exorcisms, to have had near death experiences, and to have spoken to spirits. I want to believe everything they say, because it makes the world seem magical, but there’s something I’ve learned over the years: people say a lot of things. Continue reading How to Scare a Skeptic
The Soundtrack for My Work in Progress
A writer isn’t sure if the ghost occupying her basement is real or a figment of the tumor in her brain. A sex addict seeks anonymous fun only to find himself the unwitting pawn of a mysterious librarian. A house husband has an idea for a haunted trail that may involve murdering his wife. An accused killer falls in love with her lawyer. A defense attorney is in the process of being disbarred for sleeping with his client. A grief stricken widower is put on trial by his own demons.
These are the tortured souls living in my work in progress: We the Damned. This is the playlist I listened to help get inside their heads. Songs of loss, yearning, and cocksure defiance. Check it out.
Dream Detective: Audio Short Story Collection
Here are 8 Dreams and Nightmares turned into 8 works of flash fiction, all in 18 minutes of audio. Each one is something straight out of the Twilight Zone: haunting, surreal, and filled with twists. Stream for free or download and pay whatever price you want.
How Writers can Give Fear an Upgrade
The bedrock of our deepest fears was laid by our ancestors. Fears like the dark, heights, inclosed spaces, intimacy, loneliness, embarrassment, and death. Our ancestors’ survival depended on these base instincts. Neanderthals told tribal legends, cautioning Paleolithic people of the dangers of the game trail. Lions, tigers, and bears were the original monsters. Horror writers have been trying to reinvent them ever since.
Modern people take our survival for granted. We assume we’re going to live longer than our parents. We scan crime maps to see where threats are coming from. We watch the news to stay apprised of what the bogeymen are doing. We’re more horrified of each other than of phantoms in the dark. Continue reading How Writers can Give Fear an Upgrade
My Audiobook is now on Bandcamp
My horror novella Terms and Conditions is now on Bandcamp! Find out what happens when an artist accidentally sells his inspiration to the devil.
Download the audio from Bandcamp:
I’m Not Me: On the Reality Behind Internet Personalities
What Trent Reznor Taught Me About Public Personas
In 1997 the band Nine Inch Nails filmed a music video for their hit single The Perfect Drug. In the video the lead singer, Trent Reznor, looks like he’s stepped out of an Edward Goyer drawing. His skin is so pale it’s blue. His jet-black hair hangs down to his long black coat. He roves a hedge maze, wielding a scepter. He sits beside a phonograph with a vulture perched atop a skull. He lip syncs, lying down on a bear skin rug. Continue reading I’m Not Me: On the Reality Behind Internet Personalities
DESIGN GALLERY UPDATES
Check out Tree Face and the rest of the insanity in my design gallery. Continue reading DESIGN GALLERY UPDATES
Writing While Angry: On Being a Frustrated Novelist in Public
You know those people that always assure you they’re a good person while their actions say otherwise? I’m not one of them. If you wander into my writing environment when I’m having an off day you will meet a terrible person.
Most of the time my inner curmudgeon sits behind his view screens, a grouch on a couch making observations that never turn into vocalizations, but every so often my inner sourpuss comes to the surface. I don’t need a full moon to trigger the change just one too many annoyances in my writing space. Continue reading Writing While Angry: On Being a Frustrated Novelist in Public