Taxes and Homeschooling and Writing and Publishing and Art and, sometimes, Naps

On March 11, 2022 By nicholasdayonlineIn Uncategorized1 Comment

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I will keep this short and sweet. Once Covid became a giant clusterfuck, I started homeschooling my kid. I helped her wrap up Kindergarten. First grade was all online. Some of second grade was, but I have taken teaching over completely since moving last fall. It isn’t hard, but it is time intensive. And, happily, the kiddo seems sharp as a tack.

But, that means every week is non-stop. And, you know, I love writing and all that, but it takes a backseat to my kid’s education. Nothing here is happening fast, that’s for sure.

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Figuring out New Shit and ignoring The Rest (plus, artwork for CHROMOPHOBIA)

On February 10, 2022 By nicholasdayonlineIn NewsLeave a comment

2022 will be a year of transition, and it’ll be a challenge, for sure. I am trying to tackle so many different things. But, this is because I’ve put so much of myself on the back burner, so to speak. Now, I find myself wrapping up previous commitments. And, personal projects, some long dormant, are finally getting a chance to breathe.

One of these projects, a zine, is coming along. Honestly, and if I am being really honest, figuring out the formatting was the big obstacle (I am not, by trade, one who formats), but I finally set aside a week and got it done. I chose a story and laid it all out and arranged and rearranged and, finally, I had something printed that is starting to look like what I’d been imagining. Sometime soon (likely, very soon) I will do some proofs of this zine, sending it out to a handful of people to see what they think.

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Little Revelations While Reading Jim Thompson’s SAVAGE NIGHT (and a bit about how The Iliad Bookshop is the best place on Earth)

On January 14, 2022 By nicholasdayonlineIn True StoriesLeave a comment

I found myself re-reading Jim Thompson’s SAVAGE NIGHT, this week. May be my third time, but it is a slim volume and it never fails to pack a punch. I mean, you are set up from the get-go for violence and you wait and wait and when it finally hits… holy hell. The last handful of chapters are a goddamned ride, man. Straight to Hell.

Jim Thompson is a beast. I see other books of his recommended more often, but SAVAGE NIGHT is the one I always come back to. Lyrical and, at times, surreal. And violence that just punches off the page.

And then, that got me thinking how much I probably owe noir, like SAVAGE NIGHT, for its inspirations throughout GRIND YOUR BONES TO DUST. I always jokingly referred to GRIND as “Magic Nihilism” but I think, in hindsight, you could just as easily call it a “Horror Noir” and not be too far off the mark. Continue reading “Little Revelations While Reading Jim Thompson’s SAVAGE NIGHT (and a bit about how The Iliad Bookshop is the best place on Earth)” →

What A Weird Fuckin’ Year, Man

On January 7, 2022 By nicholasdayonlineIn Book News1 Comment

I, for one, am certainly not going to miss 2021. There were bright and shining moments through that year, but the overall feeling was oppressive. I wasn’t hitting a wall anymore. No, in fact, I had hit the wall so hard that I actually fused to it.

But, after much scrambling, several cross-country trips, and a move from Oregon to Illinois… the dust has settled and suddenly it’s a new year. And here I am, in 2022, writing new material and finishing long-gestating projects. Hard not to feel positive about it all after a year and a half of personal sludge.

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Free Reads: Never The Ghost You Want

On October 29, 2021November 24, 2021 By nicholasdayonlineIn Free Fiction1 Comment

In accordance with the Bram Stoker Awards® Etiquette Rules, for the Non-Fiction Category, I am offering this free version of “Never The Ghost You Want” (originally published in the 2021 anthology PARANORMAL CONTACT: A QUIET HORROR CONFESSIONAL, via Cemetery Gates Media) for Bram Stoker Award® consideration.

Title of Work: Never The Ghost You Want

Publisher: Cemetery Gates Media

Publication Date: 14 March 2021

Never the Ghost You Want

by Nicholas Day

I do not believe in ghosts but lived in a haunted house, years ago, and it fucking sucked. People just think you’re telling stories, for starters. They imagine you’re going a bit crackers. And maybe you are, but why wouldn’t you be? After all, your house is haunted, goddammit.

Now, I’ve had roommates before, sure, but they could be reasoned with, even possessed material form. Conversations may not have always been ideal, but they weren’t out of the question, nor did they require the aid of a medium or the clumsy fingering of a ouija board. These roommates were, best to my knowledge, alive. And, at the very least, they chipped in for bills, rent, and the occasional pizza. Motivations weren’t mysterious, and most of them didn’t slam doors.

In my experience, ghosts don’t give a fuck about you. In that way, they are actually quite a lot like living, breathing people, roommates or otherwise. Ghosts are busy doing their own thing. What you are doing is of little concern to them, or their need of wandering the hallways or marching up and down the stairwell, invading your dreams, what have you.

That’s how it started, for me, through dreams.

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Running Around With My Head Cut Off

On September 28, 2021September 26, 2021 By nicholasdayonlineIn NewsLeave a comment

The newsletter seems to be doing well. However, I have never run a newsletter, or even attempted one, previously. Regardless, it’s doing what I need it to be doing, so I will go ahead and consider it a success.

In fact, I have gotten some very nice feedback, so far, of my non-fiction story, “Never The Ghost You Want” and I am starting to get… ideas. What kind of ideas, you ask? Why, including more short stories with future newsletters, for starters. Until last year, I was a very prolific short-story writer and I have a pretty deep back catolog. Plenty to share, that’s for sure!

Continue reading “Running Around With My Head Cut Off” →

Do you like ghosts? Do you like being depressed? Oh boy, do I have something for YOU.

On September 20, 2021 By nicholasdayonlineIn Free FictionLeave a comment

“Never The Ghost You Want” was written on Christmas morning in 2020. Getting all that misery down on paper served as an exorcism. Cemetery Gates picked it up for inclusion in their anthology, PARANORMAL CONTACT, which felt a bit like last rites. And then, I moved on.

I never even bothered re-reading the story. I couldn’t, then. I have trouble, even now, though I’ve had enough private correspondence regarding the story to make me believe “Never The Ghost You Want” may, in fact, be very good. Readers seem to like it, seem to connect, and those are the notes a writer hopes to hit.

“Never The Ghost You Want” is a non-fiction piece. Now, I have written non-fic in the past, but most all of that has been squarely within the field of journalism (once upon a time, I used to cover the film circuit in Los Angeles). I’d never really written anything terribly personal.

Here’s a few snippets from “Never The Ghost You Want”:

Continue reading “Do you like ghosts? Do you like being depressed? Oh boy, do I have something for YOU.” →

Social Media Marketing Is A Buffet; Take What You Want And Leave The Rest

On September 9, 2021September 8, 2021 By nicholasdayonlineIn Book News, True StoriesLeave a comment

Firstly, if you’re reading this, then thanks for stopping by! I truly appreciate it.

Secondly, I’m (mostly) migrating from social media and utilizing this site AND a newsletter. I long ago dumped Facebook. However, I will keep the Twitter account running, as long as it does what I need it to do: move books.

I will be 100% honest: I am only on social media because it is a free and easy marketing tool. I do not have representation and, thus far, the presses I have worked with do not have marketing departments or marketing budgets. So, social media is where that proverbial buck stops.

“Now I am become Marketing, the destroyer of disposable income.”

And, there’s a lot of “cult of personality” types on various social media platforms. I am not one of those. Now, I certainly do not begrudge one’s interest in flexing their cult-building skills. If that’s your bag, then go out and drop those hot takes! There’s a whole load of folks who love hot takes. Hot takes, I’m sure, have even nabbed a sale or two. In general, I don’t give a single shit for hot takes.

But, I will tell you what I like about hot takes, even if they aren’t my particular bag. I like hot takes because I like reading people as much if not more than I like reading books. Hot takes, more often than not, are an open door into someone’s head. Enough hot takes, and you can start piecing together the inner workings of a person. I don’t mind taking a walk through your head, and I will do so if you open that door enough times.

Now, I get that a lot of shit on social media is, at best, performative… but so are interactions in the real world. Any single person is a multitude. You are getting to know someone, whether it is the subjective “real” or the projection. The distinction is awfully ethereal outside of true performance art. And, I am not picky. I’ll take whatever you’re giving.

Finally, if you’ve made it this far, I thank you for a second time. I’d be thrilled if you signed up for my newsletter, and it will be the only way to get my upcoming novella, OCTOBER ANIMALS.

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OCTOBER ANIMALS; THE BODY IS A MACHINE THAT MAKES GHOSTS; UNTITLED WEREWOLF NOIR

On September 7, 2021 By nicholasdayonlineIn Book News2 Comments

You know, GRIND YOUR BONES TO DUST is closing in on its 2-year anniversary. If you told me it came out yesterday, I don’t think I’d have the strength to argue. The last year and change has been challenging, to say the least. I mean, I look like a wizard now. You don’t just end up looking like a wizard because you’re doing great.

But, the dry spell is about to end. OCTOBER ANIMALS will be the first of these to see publication (in early 2022). THE BODY IS A MACHINE THAT MAKES GHOSTS and my “Untitled Werewolf Noir” will be written in tandem. However, I suspect that “Untitled Werewolf Noir” will likely wrap first. The narrative is much more straightforward than THE BODY IS A MACHINE THAT MAKES GHOSTS, which not only juggles multiple narratives but also drifts in and out of various timelines and realities. When will they come out? Who can say? But, I will be shopping both of these around, as I have no intention of publishing them myself.

So, here’s the pitch: OCTOBER ANIMALS will, indeed, come out in early 2022, though it will only be a limited release, available exclusively to people who have subscribed to my newsletter. I have no plans to shop the novella around for further publication, and I do not anticipate reprinting OCTOBER ANIMALS in any capacity in the immediate future. If you want OCTOBER ANIMALS, the first step is signing up…

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Two subscribers have already secured their copies of OCTOBER ANIMALS. I will outline how you can get your copy in my upcoming Thanksgiving newsletter. Sign up! Let me entertain you somewhere besides Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or whatever hellsite is in fashion.

And, about that “Untitled Werewolf Noir” I am working on. Turns out . . . it actually does have a title. If you subscribe, you’ll find out exactly what it’s called in my next newsletter (due the last week of September). Maybe, just maybe, I’ll even tell you what it’s about (hint: I will tell you).

Thanks for reading!