Transmission #11
Round and Round We Go
Hello, my fellow Earthicans! Welcome back to the Transmissions From Black Hole Planet 3, the newsletter for the discerning literature lover.
I’m Wile E. Young and a lot of things have happened in the last few weeks. Ups and downs, reunions with good friends and the bliss of seeing good friends the the knot.
We’ll start with the good news.
Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend the wedding of Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni. They’ve been in love for as long as I’ve known them, and to see them tie the knot and choose peace was a happy moment for those who attended to witness.
While there, I got to brainstorm with Stephen Kozeniewski, who helped me fill in the middle section of my new novel (more on that later). I got to speak with Wesley Southard about the future of Disasterpieces, and I got to play Maurice Broaddus in Magic the Gathering.
I’m an avid Magic player, having played for 15 years, and I’d like to think I have some skill. That skill carried me through as Maurice was a tough opponent, I did manage to secure victory in 6 of the 7 games we played.
I’m eagerly awaiting a rematch.
As for my current writing projects. I’m working on a new novel that I’m very excited about. I’m already about a third of the way through and it feels like getting back in the saddle after a long time away.
As for the subject matter, I have a soft spot for Slashers, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween, especially. This book is what I imagine a sequel would look like to a few of these franchises, but unlike a few other novels that explore this concept (Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke and Kin of the Fallen by Carver Pike, both which are great books), this asks one simple question:
What if therapy had actually worked on Michael Myers?
What are the effects of a reformed slasher released into society years after their massacre? Do they still struggle with murderous urges? What if those same skills that caused so much hurt could be used to help?
I’m exploring all of this, and I can’t wait to bring y’all along on this journey.
This week saw the cover reveal Wesley Southard and I’s pseudo-collaboration, Disasterpieces.
This book features two brand new novellas, Rivers of Mercy and Everybody Wants To Rule The World.
The book is themed around disaster horror stories both natural and man-made. I’m excited about the concept, in real life these events are already horrible, we are just throwing a little something extra into it.
A piece of trivia, we consciously made the decision to not include supernatural elements in the stories. I think this paid off in the quality of our work.
Look for it on July 4th, when all the best disaster movies were released.
Now, for the difficult part of this newsletter. Some of you may be familiar with Sean Duregger. He is one of the driving minds behind Encyclopocalypse Publications and the revival of horror novelizations.
Some weeks ago, a newbie author contacted Sean asking if the rights for Halloween 5 were available as he had written a novelization of the film. Sean did his due diligence and informed our newbie author that the rights holders were not interested in a novelization, but that he would like to look at other projects the kid had.
Normally, this is where that story would end, but our newbie author decided to put his unlicensed novel on Amazon anyway.
I have nothing against fan fiction, it has led to great things, great ideas, and great characters. Copyright exists for a reason, and even if the profit is minuscule and hurts no one, you’re still profiting off the work of what doesn’t belong to you.
Sean then led a continuous effort to get the book removed from Amazon, lest the kid be sued into oblivion by the rights holders. Eventually, the kid did so, and this is where the story should have ended.
As of June 2nd, a YouTube named In Praise of Shadows has gotten involved and has made a slanderous video accusing Sean of attempting to bully our newbie into leaving forever. This is simply not true, as nothing is keeping our newbie writer from continuing to write. This YouTuber also admits that he is biased due to his dislike of Sean about 4 minutes in, at 40 or so minutes in he admits that he’s using his platform hoping it makes Sean feel uncomfortable.
Because of this, he has faced harassment from twitter users who have used vile rhetoric such as “kill yourself”, “eat shit”, and “narc ass loser”.
The weird mentality of defending stolen IP non-withstanding, I reported the video and every single one of the tweets that was engaging in harassment. If any of you support Sean, or want to do so, you can also go and report the video on YouTube. The title is: The Most Controversial Novelization of All Time.
Sean has done a lot for this community, given help when it was needed, provided homes for books when publishers gone over, and done tireless work for many authors. Hopefully, the slanderous video gets taken down.
One last thing, in no way is the newbie author at fault. This YouTube influencer is at fault, the kid just made a dumb mistake and responsibly took the book down. In no way should his burgeoning career be ended for this.
It’s been a few weeks since For A Few Souls More was released and it is finally starting to get some reviews, most of which have been good. I know the price is high, and I’ve disagreed vehemently on it, but that was the price DHP set for the book. For all of you who are hesitant, it’s worth it. I honestly think I poured more “soul” into this one than I did Magpie Coffin.
Here is a link for it: FOR A FEW SOULS MORE
My reading schedule has thankfully picked up a bit, so I’ve finally moved on. I really enjoyed Final Girls Support Group by Grady Hendrix and The Thing Under Your Bed by Stephen Kozeniewski. Here are the current stats.
What I’m Currently Reading: Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror.
What I’m Currently Watching: Devotion. A character study about the first African-American naval aviator, Jesse Owens. It takes place during the Korean War, which needs more representation in media.
What I’m Currently Listening To: Half-Life 2 soundtrack. One of the best games and best soundtracks of all time.
Well, that’s all for this week. We’ll keep circling the Black Hole here on the Third Planet, and hopefully catch you fine people on the next rotation.