July News
July 21, 2008

I’m glad you came over to see the latest happenings at Afterbirth Books!  After a slow fall and winter, we’ve exploded with several new titles for your reading pleasure.

New books now available!

• Super Cell Anemia by duncan b. barlow.   As I had announced before, this book was used as a textbook for a fiction workshop at Brown University.  It’s been available for a little while, but I hadn’t had a chance to remind you it’s time for you to order it.  Check out the adventures of this unfortunate character who shocks himself unless he is biting down on copper strips.
• Cocoon of Terror by Jason Earls.  The evil artist, Zelian, is creating a masterpiece that will trigger a supernatural disaster…his Cocoon of Terror!  He doesn’t use the typical sculpting materials…no, his choice is decapitated corpses.  Sound like fun?  Only his former student, Trey, has a chance to stop this most lethal work of art ever conceived.  It’s here in our office to order now!
• Mother Puncher by Gina Ranalli.  Yes, Gina has written another in her group of absurd novellas.  How could she possibly write something to follow the woman who fell in love with a wall (in Wall of Kiss)?  Well, how about with a man whose job is to give new mothers a punch (and not the fruit kind)…?  It’s just the latest in the government’s attempts to control the population.  But, it apparently doesn’t deter everyone!  Available next week from us or the usual sources.

Our books are now carried at Horror Mall!
We are so excited to announce that all of our titles are now available to you over at Horror Mall. Larry and the crew over there have stepped into a void and created a terrific site where you can peruse a wide variety of horror books—and they’ve agreed to provide our bizarro books a home as well.  Look for our publisher listing.  Please support them by visiting their site often.

Don’t forget to visit Bizarro Central

• Come over for a taste of all things bizarro…including forums, bios, articles, and the like.  Updated frequently!  Bookmark the address at www.bizarrocentral.com
• The Bizarro Starter Kit (Blue) is now available!  It contains stories from Afterbirth authors Christian TeBordo, Ray Fracalossy, and Bradley Sands, as well as from other bizarros Eckhard Gerdes, Steve Aylett, Jordan Krall, Andersen Prunty, and others.  You can order it in the usual places, but you’ll get a deal on the Bizarro Central site:  BOTH kits (Blue plus Orange) for $13, if you haven’t got either one yet.  These amazing samplers will help you decide which of the bizarro authors you want to read more of next.

I have a few contracts in the works…and hope to announce them to you soon, so stay tuned!  Happy summer, everyone!  Remember to take the time to do something totally bizarre at least once a day. 

November News
November 26, 2007

I can’t believe that so much time has gone by since I wrote up some news for the website!  We’re still alive over here, though, and here are some bits of news for you all:

New books!

• Wall of Kiss by Gina Ranalli.  Another of Gina’s absurd novellas, this one about a woman who falls in love with her wall.  Yes, that’s what I said…her wall.  With a topic like this and cover art by Indio, you don’t want to miss it!  Available now from us or the usual sources.
• Super Cell Anemia by duncan b. barlow.   This story follows an “electric” character who must bite down on copper strips to keep from shocking himself.  Spending your days trying to avoid spontaneous combustion is a tiring thing…  Due out in December, this book has already been ordered as a text for a fiction workshop at Brown University.  Pre-order this one now also.
• Cocoon of Terror by Jason Earls.  An evil artist collects decapitated corpses for his masterpiece…while his ex-student tries desperately to stop him!  This long-anticipated book is coming in the next couple months.

Bizarro Central website opens! 
Come visit us and other bizarro authors and publishers over at the new website at www.bizarrocentral.com where you will find features including:

• Author bios…read a bit about your favorite authors of bizarro, and get acquainted with a few more.
• Forums…discuss bizarro with the authors, publishers, and readers of bizarro fiction.  You’ll find talk about nearly everything bizarro…film, books, conventions, news, and just plain chat.
• Articles…read short pieces about the genre and related topics.  Of course you’ll want to read my series on Top 10 bizarro books…so far I’ve done preschoolers and school age, and teenagers are on the horizon.
• Books…information about the titles, and a place to order books from the major publishers of bizarro:  Eraserhead Press, Raw Dog Screaming Press, and of course, us.  You can fill your shopping cart with books from all of us in one place!

Author news!
Our authors are busy with lots of projects…here are only a few!

• Bruce Taylor’s latest book Edward: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity.  Released by Redjack Press.
• Misadventures in a Thumbnail Universe by Vincent Sakowski.  Released by Eraserhead Press.
• 10 Nails on a Screaming Chalkboard edited and illustrated by Brandon Duncan and published by Raw Dog Screaming Press.  A cross between a graphic novel and an illustrated story with contributions by John Edward Lawson, Gina Ranalli, Vincent Sakowski, Bradley Sands, Nicole Del Sesto, Anderson Prunty, Dustin LaValley, Sean Kilpatrick, D. Harlan Wilson, and Brandon Duncan.  Not due out until next summer, but you’ll want to keep this on your radar.
• The next Bizarro Starter Kit is coming soon—watch for details!
• Also, Afterbirth and Eraserhead Press exhibited at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland on October 5-7, along with the Northwest Horror Professionals. A great time was had by all!

That’s it for now!  Have a bizarro day…

May News
May 29, 2007

Before May is over, I want to take time to tell you what’s been happening over here at Afterbirth.  First off, this month saw the release of Better Ways of Being Dead by Christian TeBordo, and just this week—13 Thorns by Gina Ranalli and Gus Fink!

Laird Hunt, author of The Impossibly and The Exquisite had this to say about Better Ways of Being Dead:
In this mind-warping, time-looping, wonderfully smart novel, there are "pants involved, and no pants, and stiletto heels and fortune cookies and the devil herself, indirectly." Throw in a polar bear suit, a creepy professor or two, suicide that doesn't stick, an intrepid narrator who is not afraid to drive an old stolen hearse through deep snow, and you've got the makings of something, well, unusual (and thank God)!  Which is another way of saying, wow, I'm really, really glad I read this.  You will be too.

“Speaking Eyes,” one of the stories from 13 Thorns appeared in the recent MungBeing.  You can find it, as well as bio pages about Gina Ranalli and Outsider artist Gus Fink (and two of his drawings), by following this link:  http://www.mungbeing.com/issue_13.html?page=26#1069

Speaking of Gina’s work, her novella Suicide Girls in the Afterlife was reviewed in the May edition of Fantasy & Science Fiction by Charles de Lint.  Here’s some of what he had to say:
There are some very funny—and sacrilegious—moments (and) the author has serious things to say.  But that doesn’t stop a lot of it from being irreverent and tongue-in-cheek…it’s certainly a fascinating—and for this reader, successful—experiment.

Vincent W. Sakowski has been busy and created a video for his book, Not Quite One of the Boys. You can find it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/v/skm3T5d2gag  Take a look!

All Encompassing Trip by Nicole Del Sesto is getting a lot of notice!  Nicole was interviewed in PubGuy—you can find it here. She was also interviewed in BlogCritics.

Kevin Dole 2’s novella "Coming" appears in print and online in the latest issue of The Swallow's Tail.    Edited by Forrest Armstrong, this third issue also features work by Jason Earls, D. Harlan Wilson, Benjamin Robinson, and others, as well as poetry, book reviews, art, and an interview with Kevin Donihe.  Kevin Dole 2 also appeared recently at the Ann Arbor Book Festival on a panel called "Emerging Genres."  It was moderated by Paul Toth.

Duncan Barlow, upcoming author of Super Cell Anemia was interviewed in Punk Horror.  It gives some interesting details of his musical and literary career so check it out.  You can find their site here.

Jason Earls recently released a novel, Red Zen, (available at Amazon) and Bradley Sands put out the winter issue of Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens.  You can find it here.

Several authors of Bizarro were featured in the anthology Falling from the Sky which you can find here. Included you will find work from Bradley Sands, Gina Ranalli, Kevin Donihe, Carlton Mellick III, and Jeremy Robert Johnson.

This summer, we’re working on Cocoon of Terror by Jason Earls, Wall of Kiss by Gina Ranalli, and Super Cell Anemia by Duncan Barlow.
 
Well, it’s yet another long news page…and I dedicate this to all the loyal supports of Bizarro—fans, authors, publishers, online and brick-and-mortar stores, zines, reviewers, and whoever else I may have missed.   Have a good one!

News Archive

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