Vasectomus / New artwork / Artwork by Will Jacques / Horror Blog / Writing Blog

 Okay, this blog is for my current writing updates, so I'm posting this piece of artwork by Will Jacques. This is for my short story, Vasectomus, and is going to be published in The Gates of Chaos , a short story collection, coming soon. So enjoy the artwork!

A RUM inspiration / Ideas from the past and future / The Twins are HOME / Writing Horror

Back in the earlier days of my life. Shit, I'm talking prior to my twenties, where each and every new alcohol introduced by my friend, Chris, was excellent and a notch in my pallet. I remember distinctly this particular rum that he, or his sister, my memory for those moments are slightly fogged due to the alcoholic endeavors, took the bottle out. We drank it just the same. The name of the rum wasn't Bacardi or any other name brand, and it had a distinctive difference in taste, which made the blunt of jokes in times to come. In other words, it was nasty.

Flash forward to the future. I was working at Target, these were my grunt years, pushing freight from the truck, unloading trucks, sweating buckets of salt that would usually form patterns of dry white shaped continents on my red shirts. I laugh about the sweat stain today, but then it was a little embarrassing. I worked with a guy who loved to drink, and it was the beginning to be, what I saw, a problem. I began to write a story, loosely based on this guy, and I mean loosely. The character's name is Tomkin and recently, with the Christmas season springing upon us, I decided to re-write the tale and give you a taste of it below. The story is going well, whether I get it finished before Christmas is a different situation altogether. I hope you are all doing well, thanks for stopping by, it appears that the writing bug has bitten me and I'm slowly getting into a routine I talked about in the last post.

The Twins are HOME (tentative title)

Daylight dimmed casting dark shades over the Christmas tree farm. Instead of thirty five degrees, it was more like ten with the wind chill. People were cold, shivering, huddled together on the hay rides. Families, friends, and tradition to get that perfect tree. This was Tomkin’s first time at the tree farm and he decided to take Henrietta, his wife. This Christmas was going to be great!

The wagon came to a halt and the tractor’s diesel engine silenced. Tomkin hopped off the wagon and reached his hand up to his bride. Henrietta was on the large side, bright red lipstick plastered on her lips. A pair of cheap sunglasses covered her blood shot eyes, to hide the binder the night before, and she laughed stepping into Tomkin’s arms. He almost tumbled.

I Just Realized...It's been awhile...no, I'm not dead, yet!

Some things dawned on me today. One, that I'm slightly warped, no surprise there, and, two, it's damn hard to get into a writing routine. I've been home for a week, no work in sight, plan on taking off as a snow bird, and I've not written much of anything. I find myself gazing at older works, beating myself up, because I wasn't as evolved in the craft in these past arcane works. Through this calamity of thought, and a rampant mindset, I've been looking and attempting time management on what I really want to write. Will it be a collection of shorts, many of which are finished and need final touches? Will the outcome of my writing over the next five or six months be a finished novel? Will I be able to get into a routine of writing at all in our thirty foot motorhome?  All these questions and I still haven't found an idea, okay, maybe an idea, although it's foggy, obscured by the excitement of travel. The idea nests in my head or in a "KEEP" file titled with some weird character names that I'm hesitant to use because they belong in a great story. Anyway, I'm not dead, I'm alive, kicking, and taking precautions to live the best life. If I don't give all of you my fiction or rants here, you can always look at my mug over on our travel channel on youtube at youtube.com/darknesttravels, fair warning, I'm no Steven Spielberg. Thanks for stopping by, again, thanks for reading. If you haven't already purchased a softback copy of Blood, Dreams, & Tears, what are you waiting for? Buy one today, here, now, it's cheap! BLOOD, DREAMS, & TEARS  .

Don't forget to purchase Brent D. Seth's Book: Loose Cannon : Short Fuse II as well, I'm half way through, I'm a slow reader, and it's the best sci-fi book I've read since his first novel Short Fuse. You won't be let down!

New Cover Update to Blood, Dreams & Tears

 I know that it's been awhile, but I have some great news for all of you supporting my fiction. I have a new cover update to Blood, Dreams, & Tears, albeit, not much of a difference, but I think you need to buy it, so head on over to Amazon and check it out, and click buy! Thanks for the support! You can buy it here: Blood, Dreams, & Tears

The History of The Stencil Ceremony

The Stencil Ceremony, what is it, when did it arrive in Stevats' history, and how come they are in my book? One will never know the mystery, the when, or who it was that read their Stencils. You reader will have a window: dark, demure, and less ambient than most want, to those words of truth, hurt, and sometimes murderous events in Stevats' antiquity. The first Stencil Ceremony that I stumbled on was published in a fledgling on-line magazine titled Dark & Dreary Magazine, its title was Rearing. The magazine eventually fizzled out, but it was published, albeit, for a short time period, and never saw the light of day in tangible soft back, or e-book format. The short, very short, Rearing, was flash fiction piece, under 1000 words, that I found in the crawl space beneath an old house we were renovating. The cold damp document was weathered with age, soil, and wrapped in a thin layer of protective coating, which was unidentifiable. I copied it quickly, put it back in the spot I found it, and submitted it to get the words out to the masses, or the small audience that Dark & Dreary could muster. Since finding that Stencil, I continued to search, making it a game for my wife, and kids. The Stencil in the paper back of Blood, Dreams & Tears (e-book here) is quite longer, a little more three dimensional, and full of the weirdness that most expect to appear in those pieces. 

I found, Life in a Sheltered Mind somewhere in the Honey Swamp in Louisiana. We took a vacation and on that visit to Louisiana, took a swamp tour back in June of 2005, the summer before Katrina hit. The swamp tour guide stopped at a floating house boat, and I rummaged through it, when the other tourists had left, almost getting left behind, I found it under some old floor boards that had creaked underfoot, there was a steel box attached to the bottom of the floor to protect it from the swamp water. This parchment was protected in the same material as Rearing. My wife, Maria, was pissed that I made the tour guide wait on the boat, and had been worried I was going to be left behind (more like excited), marriage with kids can surface all kinds of emotion. She got over it, when I read the Stencil to her and the kids around a very hot campfire at the campground in the hundred plus degree heat. It wasn't an ideal night for a story telling session. I sometimes wonder if we had been in the comforts of the Airstream's air conditioning maybe it would have been better welcomed. I've found several after that, on many vacations, on many drives through the countryside exploring old houses, and often wonder, how the hell these Stencils, which took place in the small town of Stevats, arrived in so many places, and more bizarre how the heck they are connected to me? Is it coincidence? Is it I, the destined craftsman, pen in hand, to put words to paper and share them with the world? I guess I'll never know, but my quest and collection of Stencils will continue to grow on every travel and exploration I make. 

For now, indulge in the introduction to every Stencil, the introduction written by me to best describe their nature, and what I've learned from reading them. Thanks for stopping by, and as always, thanks so much for reading!

The history of Stevats’ is marked by a peculiar ceremony. The rituals, hosted by an elusive group of people, give a bizarre afterward to death---taboo speeches written and real about the dead, presented by a person who was exclusively invited to read or write the afterward. These customs are called Stencil Ceremonies, an outline of deceased, unenlightened, and catering to the dark side of their lives. The people who wrote these words often used pseudonyms to shroud the fact that the dead were being disrespected. These were rare written letters that were read with masks of concealment; the readings often taking place in obscure, secretive locations.

Again, here's the link to buy Blood, Dreams & Tears in soft back (e-book found here), where there is a Stencil for your indulgence. Thanks.

Sadly and Slowly... Pages Turn

I've waited awhile to write this blog to promote my book, which is sadly and slowly moving off the shelves at Amazon. No worries, I didn't compile this collection, edit it, and work late at night to polish it up as much as I could, to make riches. I did it for the readership. To build an audience who would either appreciate what I've written, or hate it. I write because that's my voice, and my voice, whether heard or unheard, belongs to me. It will forever and always, as abrasive as it can be sometimes, be mine. It's unique like a snowflake falling to the ground, or fingerprints on some of the victims/characters I've written about. I hope that you who purchase the book, will identify, hate, love, or just abhor my ideals, or my style, but most of all I hope that everyone of you will spread the word, share the book with as many as you can, because someday, there just may be another, completely different book, more mature, attracting more to the light of my fiction, even though the light is muddled and often times dreary with a certain bleakness. Thanks to all of you who have supported my book, thanks to all of you who have read it, and thanks to all of you who share it with friends of common ground.

Blood, Dreams & Tears
(click link to purchase)

Blood, Dreams & Tears

Well, diligence has paid off. Lake Leviathan Books is going to publish my collection, after a lot of convincing on my end: Blood, Dreams & Tears will be released over the next one to two months, May or June 2016. The publisher is finishing the editing and proofing as I write this. I wanted to make sure that the timing was right before posting. Everyone, dig deep in your pockets, get ready to buy, and get ready to read some, tangible, in your hands, fiction, thanks for the support.

Tim Eagle

Writer's Block & Fiction by Brent D. Seth

 Sorry fans? I began the previous story, Oh, X-Mas, something or another, with angst and not enough seasonal time to finish or material to continue posting. If you enjoyed it, sorry I had to do that to you. I know at least the ten of you reading this blog may have actually liked it, it just wasn't doing it for me. There will be more soon. On another note, there's some awesome fiction out there to get your hands on by a writer friend of mine, Brent D. Seth, it's always refreshing to read his stuff. He's a great writer, with a lot of talent, that is often unnoticed by future fans. He has a novel titled Short Fuse, which you can buy here, reasonably: Brent D. Seth's : Short Fuse or, and this is my favorite by Brent, because of my attention deficit, it's a collection of short stories, always quick, witty, dark, and fun to read, did I mention witty? This is a great collection to support him as well: Brent D. Seth's : Gladiolus tormentus . So click those links, buy, and read some great local fiction. Make sure to check back here often for some of my free sampler chapter-lets, and goodies. 

Sincerely,

Tim Eagle