Mid-August Insights
Recently, when not checking for typos and dead-end plots, I’ve been working on the history of a “certain seaside town” and its strange inhabitants. This work will be consuming most of my time over the next few months. Such things involve a lot of work: rereading source materials, checking historical details, and expending brain power in terms of determining narrative plots, interesting characters, and cross-referencing streets and points of interest.
In my spare time, I recently wrote an essay for a forthcoming book called Fantastic Flops — Reflections on Misjudged Films That Broke the Rules. This is a collection of essays about movies and movie-makers that challenged the way films are made, marketed, and released. Most of the movies covered have some form of interesting legacy or influence. The book was successfully funded through Kickstarter and should be available in the not-too-distant future.
The series, called Everyone’s Gone to the Movies, is masterminded by Prof. Christopher McGlothlin of Ghost Show Press. The Prof. is a pleasure to work with and a keen film buff too.
My contribution is all about The Big Lebowski, you know, that film by the Coen Brothers about that guy. If you want to know more, you’ll have to read the essay in the book!
The first volume in the series was all about horror films, called Transgressive Horror.
I contributed an essay on JAWS for this, looking not only at the film itself but also its impact on merchandising and marketing. You can pick the book up through Amazon and other places.
Later this year, in November, I’m honored to be the guest of honor at Grogmeet 2023. The convention happens from the 10th to the 12th of November in Manchester, and I’m looking forward to playing some games and chatting with the good folks there. If you’ve somehow missed the Grognard Files podcast, it’s a wonderful show with a diverting host called Dirk the Dice. Check it out if you like TTRPGs.
Lastly, this week saw the release of my second short horror story, called Stonework, on Mason & Fricker’s Eldritch Stories episode 4. Every other week we present a new story written by either me or Paul Fricker. In the off weeks, we release Eldritch Extras wherein Paul and I chat about gaming, movies, books, and other nonsense. If you like what you hear, please recommend it to a friend.
Thanks and see you soon.