I returned to school for this semester in the never ending quest to finish my degree. I'm close, but it still seems so elusive to get the damned thing. I'm - by the way - taking a class on the origin of the English language. So, in addition to learning that the Queen's English is basically a bastardized mix of Celtic, Scandinavian, and French; I'm also having to relearn all of those parts of speech I learned way back in Mrs. Cutler's 3rd grade class. Things like Nouns, Verbs, Direct Objects, Participial Phrases, Gerunds, and so on.
So, on the horror front, my quest for a horror-themed mancave goes on. I'm close to beginning basic construction soon. For those who don't remember, I am building a small (and I mean SMALL!) room in my basement. The future site of Dr. Zombie's Mancave of Terror is in a dank, prone to wetness area that I've been slowly cleaning and preparing for the inevitable construction phases. I'll attach some before and after pictures, as the main area right now is mostly open, with one corner dedicated to my home brewing. I have a large bench there with bottles, pans, a Bud Light Shamrock neon light I managed to inherit some years back, and a minifridge that I keep stocked with all sorts of tasty frothy adult beverages.
My plans? Primarily, I'm going to build a subfloor with a product called DriCore. It's basically t-111 with a plastic base. the base has little plastic feet that lift the flooring up off of the floor by like 7/8 of an inch. This is being done to mitigate the infrequent flooding that happens in the basement. I can't waterproof the basement because I live in a century home and the historical society and the city I live in won't allow me to do that. Their fear is that, when I dig up the walls, they'll collapse. It's a possibility as it's happened with other houses in my neighborhood. Many of our 100 year old basement walls are quarried limestone. So, the alternative that the city will allow is to jack up my house, remove the basement walls, and pour new, reinforced concrete walls. Who has the fucking money for that?!?
So, we're going Dricore, fans, dehumidifiers, and prayers to the dark, Pagan gods.
On top of that, I'll build the walls.
The final plans are to move all of my horror collectibles and mind-boggling larger horror movie collection down... and finally add a ratty old coach and a media center and a bar. Everything that an undead horror hound needs!
I've also been thinking about doing either some podcasting or video blogging. I think that I'd like to expand the Doctor Zombie Media Empire with some other ways besides my woefully unproductive blog. Back on Halloween, I did a video update and I enjoyed the flexibility and creativity behind it. That's sort of a secondary purpose of the man cave. Besides being my Undead Fortress of Solitude and Manliness, it can also act as a small studio. What do you think? Are you ready to see my ugly face more, or hear my nasally, un-masculine voice?
So what else is going on?
I've been working on a new novel, well, a couple new novels lately. I have the basic framework of a 'teen-in-peril/supernatural-killer' story that's written, but is only at about 40,000 words or so. To be a viable novel, it needs to be at least 75,000 or so. I've been ignoring it lately because my Mac pissed me off. I'd written probably 5,000 or so words one oight in a creative burst, then failed to correctly save it. So, it's been put in a timeout until I get the energy to rewrite the sections I lost and pick it up again.
I've also been working on a new novel that I'm really, really excited about. It's a horror based, modern film noir sort of story that I think has the potential to be a couple books long. I really, really think this book has potential. I've written 90% of it in my head, which is a shitload more than I have with any other book I've written. Usually my writing process is much more haphazard. I usually start writing with a character in mind, or a concept, and the story develops as I write. In many cases, the characters become distinct personalities and I'm less writing them, than transcribing the screaming they're doing in my head.
This time around, though, I've got a full story and plot developed. I've got entire scenes, characters, motivation, and plot planned. It has a definite beginning, middle, and end... with a lead into a second book in a series. I just need to write the damned thing. I'm chipping away at it slowly, but I feel really good about. I feel like this is the book. The one that raises me above the mediocrity of my life.
I've also been slowly working on an anthology of thematically linked short stories centering around a town somewhere in Ohio where horror is a commonplace thing. Whether it's cursed, or on Hellmouth, it's the site of strange goings on that transcend the towns 150 or so years of existence. This will definitely end up on Kindle under my Dark Autumn publishing banner. Watch for it sometime by the end of summer? I hope?
Finally, I wanted to direct you towards an awesome new series I've been watching, Todd Vs. The Book of Pure Evil. A Canadian production, it was run by Fearnet and just hit Netflix.
I LOVE THIS SHOW.
Imagine an irreverent take on high school awkwardness, Satanism, and Heavy Metal music in a horror-of-the-week format. What's even better is it's like a profane Joss Whedon Scooby Gang setup.
Add to that Jason Mewes (Jay of Jay and Silent Bob!) and plenty of gore, and you've got a kick ass horror themed show.
Well worth it. Check it out of you get a chance. I'm only halfway through the first season, so I'll probably write up a fuller review when I finish it. Watch for it.
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