THE GORELETTER:
Arnzen's Weird Newsletter
+++ Vol. 8.1 | Oct 31, 2013+++
A New Goreletter
Happy Halloween from The Goreletter!
Thank you for being a long-time subscriber to The Goreletter. Now that a decade has passed, I have decided it is time for an overhaul. I've moved my author's newsletter to a new server dedicated exclusively to email, which allows for more options, higher security and a fresh and varied graphical appearance.
I will also make a few substantial changes to how I have approached The Goreletter over the next few months:
* MORE NEWS, LESS TEXT. Newsletter subscribers deserve to hear important things first, but I've gotten in the habit of posting news to twitter while I work on the upcoming issue instead. Updates get stale if I wait six months before sending each issue. Instead of listing all my news in a big block, I'll send out the highlights, with maybe one or two features from the blog (see below) or other quirky item attached. I won't bombard you with them, but messages from me will probably be appearing in your inbox a little more regularly with shorter, quicker reads (which is more true to the original intent of a “gorelet,” right?)
* MORE FLASH FICTION & POETRY. I see my newsletter as a creative playground, and I bet you signed up because you wanted to read something unique that you couldn't otherwise find in the usual sources. I will feature creative work you can only find on the goreletter more often, and these may arrive as discrete emails you can read independently, rather than buried in a long newsletter.
* DEPARTMENTS BECOME FEATURES: The departments you already know from the former Goreletter – like “Blather,” “Our Odd Triple Feature” or “Dictionscary” – are posted my weblog at gorelets.com/blog. Since many readers already visit my blog often, I feel this is redundant. So I won't always share these via email anymore, though you can expect them to appear as a feature in a newsletter every once in awhile.
* SPECIAL TREATMENT: I still feel strongly that newsletter subscribers deserve special treatment for being loyal readers and fans of my work. So the newsletter will continue to share “Boo Coupons” for discounts on my books and to run contests for exclusive opportunities to win books, get swag and acquire rarities.
* ARCHIVES: The first ten years of the newsletter have always been archived at gorelets.com, but now that the best material from these issues have been collected into one big hardcover volume, The Gorelets Omnibus (http://www.gorelets.com/books/the-gorelets-omnibus/) , the timing is right for a change. Back issues will remain archived on gorelets.com for posterity, but starting today, the “new” mailing list will be archived elsewhere, and you'll be able to open your mailings in a web browser if you ever have trouble reading them in your inbox. The new archives will also be more “user friendly” when it comes to liking or sharing on your social networks
I've been celebrating Raw Dog Screaming Press' re-release of my novel, Play Dead (http://www.gorelets.com/books/play-dead/) , in paperback and ebook at various readings and booksignings, including the publisher's “DogCon” in Columbus, Ohio, a jaunt to Killercon in Las Vegas, a poetry reading in an abandoned West Virginia lunatic asylum (cool!), a “bookhop” around Pittsburgh, and a special horror fiction reading/workshop in Virginia. You can see plenty of fun photos from these events at http://www.gorelets.com/dept/ambulations/
My next appearance will be a booksigning for Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction (http://www.gorelets.com/events/headline-books-authors-holiday-signing/) , alongside other Headline Books authors at the Barnes and Noble in Morgantown, WV on December 1st.
I am in love with all the wild creations that folks have come up with using The Fridge of the Damned horror poetry magnet kit. I thank all of you who backed or developed the project at the top of the year again – together we really produced something unique and exciting! If you haven't been by my flickr gallery for this (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorelets/sets/72157632386748387/) , drop by sometime – it's rife with dark and hilarious poetry and creative photography by readers like you. I invite you all to keep the photos of your favorites coming in, and I'll keep sharing them. You also might want to pick up a fridge for your holiday gift shopping. Luckily, Raw Dog Screaming Press still has these horror poetry magnets for sale on their website for just $12 (http://rawdogscreaming.com/books/the-fridge-of-the-damned-poetry-magnet-kit/) (USA).
* I have resurrected my own publishing imprint, Mastication Publications (http://masticationpublications.com/) ?
* I now curate a tumblr blog dedicated to horror gaming called Playful Dead (http://playfuldead.tumblr.com/) ?
* My collection of one hundred horror short-shorts, 100 Jolts, is now available for the Kindle (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FEMB79M/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00FEMB79M&linkCode=as2&tag=michaearnzenhorr) ?
* I feature writers and post fresh creative prompts at the Instigation Showcase (http://www.gorelets.com/showcase/) ?
* I wrote 30 weird poems in April and you can read them all here (http://www.gorelets.com/blog/arnzen-news/national-poetry-writing-month-2013/) ?
Art Appreciation
blood spatters
differently than paint –
freighted with cells
which still stir with life
jittering invisibly in air
fighting the linear boredom of gravity
and
defiant against fate,
defining their own trajectory
despite the certain
uniformity of death
each droplet is doomed
to be yet another human stain
but nevertheless,
the fall splashes in a pattern
that is ultimately unique –
every drop an artist
and
I free them
and twist their parents' faces
to witness their newborn prodigy
before I take my photographs
and leave
Visit gorelets.com/books/ for excerpts and more information from any of my titles…
PLAY DEAD
Arnzen's supernatural noir about gamblers who take the wrong kind of risks. Now in Paperback and Ebook for the first time!
$15.95 pbk | $1.99 Kindle!
BUY NOW: http://rawdogscreaming.com/books/play-dead/
INSTIGATION
More than 500 creative prompts on the dark side, practical articles for novelists, and inspiration to get your weird on. Includes special help for NaNoWriMo (http://nanowrimo.org)!
$3.99 ebook (avail. for all devices)
BUY NOW: http://www.gorelets.com/books/mastication-publications/instigation/
THE GORELETS OMNIBUS
Celebrate 10 years of short, sharp shockers – a treasury containing hundreds of horror poems.
$29.95 hardcover (bonuses!) | $13.95 paperback | $4.99 kindle ebook
BUY NOW: http://rawdogscreaming.com/books/the-gorelets-omnibus/
You are reading a “plain text” version of The Goreletter. Beginning with this issue, the newsletter is now designed with HTML in mind, so I recommend you review your subscription options and choose HTML if your email reader or browser will allow it.
VIEW THE FANCY HTML VERSION OF THIS NEWSLETTER WITH ARTWORK AND MORE: http://eepurl.com/H17F1
ARCHIVE NOTES:
* Due to the temporary nature of internet URLs, some websites mentioned in back issues of the Goreletter may no longer be live, or may also point to unscrupulous web servers. I will try to denote these with overstrikes, red icons, and slashed globe icons as I discover them, but if you encounter a dead, changed or unscrupulous link, please feel free to inform me via email.
* “Boo Coupons” are expired in all but the current issue; providers may ask for subscription verification.
* If you are seeking a particular book by Arnzen mentioned in The Goreletter, try https://gorelets.com/books-for-sale/
* Arnzen's blog is now located at https://gorelets.com/blog/ Visit it for breaking news and extras not appearing in The Goreletter.
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