Joe R. Lansdale, Master Storyteller

I haven't stayed up late to finish a book in a few years. Having children cuts down one's desire to be groggy the next day. They're always on, and a parent isn't really allowed a day off.

Joe R. Lansdale weaves stories I would cringe to write (and give my left pinkie, to boot).  The cringe comes from his subject matter--he doesn't shy away from awful race relations, lynchings, and rape.  But damn, can this man write. My Saturday night became Sunday morning, but I had to finish The Bottoms.

The Bottoms (2000) is beautiful and thrilling, and a fine companion for an older audience looking for a read in the vein of To Kill a Mockingbird.The subject matter is challenging, but realistic, and man... Mr. Lansdale keeps the pages turning.

WIP Wednesday: The Inferential Power of Hint Fiction

Yes, I was one of those who received my pre-order of this:

...before the official release date. I shared a story, Joe R. Lansdale's "The Return" with students and had them riff on it during a quick, three-minute writing session. My favorite (I haven't edited a word, but I want to):

They buried him deep again. The morning before we buried that old man six feet deep and covered him good. But last night, we found his open coffin with no one in it. The town was quiet. No one told their children. Our arrogant sheriff said it was rain that washed him up, but it was hardly a storm.

I love the last line, especially the well placed use of the word arrogant. Sometimes, I feel like the students are "getting it". (I reprinted that little snippet with permission, of course.)

The other magic I've found in the pages of Hint Fiction is how each tiny story encourages inference.

From the Kansas State Reading Standards:

1.4.5 - uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions.

This is hint fiction--it's all inferences and unsaid conclusions. Many of the stories, even in the life & death section, are quite funny.

Nice work, authors. Nice work, Mr. Robert Swartwood. Thank you for helping me reach my students.

In WIP news, I'm looking over edits for Loathsome, Dark and Deep. If you haven't checked out the novel's web site, here it is. I smell a contest coming...

Oh, and buy a copy of Hint Fiction, okay?

Chilling Short Fiction: Five of My Favorites

I've never been much a fan of "best" or "top five/ten/twenty-five" lists (even though I've thrown together a few myself). Call this a list of some of my favorite works of short fiction fitting the Halloween spirit. I'm sure I'll add more in time.

1. "The Lonesome Place" by August Derleth. No other single story has influenced my own writing more than this short story by Lovecraft's biggest fan. You can find snippets on the 'net (like at Google Reader), but the real value is in finding a dusty old book with the whole text.

2. "The Assembly of the Dead" by Chet Williamson. I've read this piece more than any other I've not taught. (as a teacher, I have too many touches with some stories to count) The end still baffles me, but in a good way: just enough mystery, just enough darkness.

3. "The Caterpillars" by E.F. Benson. You can read this one yourself.

"Occasionally one fell off on to the floor, with a soft fleshy thud, and though the floor was of hard concrete, it yielded to the pincerfeet as if it had been putty, and, crawling back, the caterpillar would mount on to the bed again, to rejoin its fearful companions."

4. "The Rats in the Walls" by H.P. Lovecraft. Only recently has this piece unseated "In the Vault" as my favorite by Mr. Lovecraft. Gawd...the ending. Just read it.

5. "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" by Joe R. Lansdale. Say what you will about Mr. Lansdale, he spins one helluva entertaining story. "Incident..." kept me going right up to the end, then blam!--punch to the gut (in the best way possible).

I'll add more before Halloween. Promise. I haven't even touched King or Poe, so you know it's going to get messy.

What else should I consider? What are some of your favorites?

WIP Wednesday: This I Believe

If you've never listened to NPR's This I Believe, you just might be missing something. Maybe.

What do I believe?

I believe in persistence, for one thing. I believe the underdog fights harder because he/she has something to prove. I believe in rewrites.

I believe I'm ready to start revising Loathsome, Dark and Deep. This past week, I finished "The Unfortunate Persistence of Harold Francis Beamish" (yes, I changed his name); it's my most Joe R. Lansdale-style tale (think "Stepping Out, Summer 68"). Let's just say the man they hit on that lonesome country road was already undead and stays that way.

“I wanna go home, man,” Bobby whined.

“I know…I know.” Darren rubbed his sore knee and suddenly snapped his head to one side.

“What?”

“Listen,” Darren whispered.

I wonder what he heard?

I've also finished two flash pieces since last week, and I'm mulling markets for them. One, "Sometimes They Come Back" is a rumination by a librarian. Yes, he/she is speaking of overdue books. Of course, these books are different. The other, "Billy Boy", is a (hopefully) haunting piece about a missing child. From "Billy Boy":

The game was Billy’s idea.

We built a circular wall of boxes in the storeroom of one of the anchors to the mall, the largest building on the south end. In our circle, our sanctuary, we told stories, we pushed our imaginations to the blackened corners of that space to flirt with spiders and dust. Our stories grew arms and legs, fingers and eyes; they flickered just past our musty cardboard fortress.


We made monsters, and Billy was the best.