Bill Bodden's Blog - Posts Tagged "fiction"
Sad News
Nothing lasts forever.
I just received word very recently that the publisher of an anthology I'm in will cease publication entirely, closing up shop for good. I hate to say it, but this news isn't particularly surprising. The publisher has had a number of major personal issues crop up in his life over the last couple of years. I don't feel comfortable relating what little I know about the situation: first, it isn't my story to tell, and second, I don't know all the details, so it seems grossly unfair to just fling what I know out there without context or even the full story. The end result is, Alliteration, Ink is closing its doors, so Sidekicks! and my story, "In the Shadow of His Glory," will need to find a new home, or, more likely, the book will simply...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/06/sad-...
I just received word very recently that the publisher of an anthology I'm in will cease publication entirely, closing up shop for good. I hate to say it, but this news isn't particularly surprising. The publisher has had a number of major personal issues crop up in his life over the last couple of years. I don't feel comfortable relating what little I know about the situation: first, it isn't my story to tell, and second, I don't know all the details, so it seems grossly unfair to just fling what I know out there without context or even the full story. The end result is, Alliteration, Ink is closing its doors, so Sidekicks! and my story, "In the Shadow of His Glory," will need to find a new home, or, more likely, the book will simply...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/06/sad-...
New Fiction Available!
Darkened Streets, edited by Joseph Nassise, is available now: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294150/Darkened-Streets?term=Darkened+Streets
Some good news for a change: an anthology for which I've written a story has officially been published and is now available. Darkened Streets is a collection of stories from White Wolf Publishing's World of Darkness line of tabletop RPG settings. This anthology comprises stories about being on the road - in one way or another - and the adventures, trials and tribulations that follow.
My story is about a werewolf in the old west. Having grown up without a pack to rely on, Jake Johnson has decided to move west, find a place to settle down, and live his life in peace. Problem is, the world has other plans in store for him...
http://billbodden.com/2019/11/18/new-...
Hope and Heartbreak
November has proven to be a month of extremes for me this year. Incredible lows and a few very nice highs have competed for brain space, leaving me tired and cranky and out of sorts, and looking forward to the new month and a fresh start.
Followers of this blog may remember me writing about a fall I had earlier this month in my home. I slipped on our carpeted stairs, landed heavily on my butt, and had an epic bruise for weeks afterward. To this date, there is still a small spot inside the muscle that is intensely painful; not sure if it's just a deep bruise or if I chipped a bone but fortunately it only bothers me very rarely. I also weathered TWO different bouts of the common cold this month; the first immediately after GameHoleCon, and the second on the heels of TeslaCon. I've now spent more than half the month sick, and indications are that this latest batch will last into December. I've spent the last half of the month in something of a fog because of it. This after nearly two years of not getting sick at all; guess I was due.
However, there is good news to report as well. First, I had a short story published in the Darkened Streets ebook anthology - available on DriveThru RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294150/Darkened-Streets?term=Darkened+Streets) and had word that...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/11/25/hope...
Followers of this blog may remember me writing about a fall I had earlier this month in my home. I slipped on our carpeted stairs, landed heavily on my butt, and had an epic bruise for weeks afterward. To this date, there is still a small spot inside the muscle that is intensely painful; not sure if it's just a deep bruise or if I chipped a bone but fortunately it only bothers me very rarely. I also weathered TWO different bouts of the common cold this month; the first immediately after GameHoleCon, and the second on the heels of TeslaCon. I've now spent more than half the month sick, and indications are that this latest batch will last into December. I've spent the last half of the month in something of a fog because of it. This after nearly two years of not getting sick at all; guess I was due.
However, there is good news to report as well. First, I had a short story published in the Darkened Streets ebook anthology - available on DriveThru RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294150/Darkened-Streets?term=Darkened+Streets) and had word that...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/11/25/hope...
Exciting Start to the Year!
The exciting news I have to share is that Pugmire: Tales of Good Dogs is finally available. I have a story in this anthology, "Hidden Within,", and it's been three years since I wrote it. The road to this point has been a long and frustrating one, but I'm delighted the book is finally out. The book can be ordered either as an e-book, or in paperback (print on demand). Here's the link to buy your copy: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294913/Tales-of-Good-Dogs?term=Tales+of+Good+Dogs
Pugmire is an interesting setting: It's a world populated by dogs, cats, lizards, badgers and all manner of creatures, many of whom are descendants of animals that were uplifted - genetically modified to be better servants for humans - at a time when humans had reached the pinnacle of their technological advancement. Then something happened, and the humans went away. At the point in time in which the action of Pugmire takes place, it's been so long now that no one remembers what happened to the humans or why they disappeared. The animals moved on with their lives as best they could. The setting is highly reminiscent of one of my favorite novels: A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
http://billbodden.com/2020/01/06/exci...
DON'T Steal This Book!*
* With no apologies to Abbie Hoffman.
Reading for Haunted: Eleven Tales of Ghostly Horror, Room of One's Own bookstore, October 2011. L to R: Georgia Beaverson, Monica Valentinelli, Jason Blair, Alex Bledsoe, Bill Bodden. Reading was well attended.
Occasionally, memes go by on Facebook or Twitter regarding ways to support authors. This does not necessarily mean every and all authors, mind you -- just ones whose work you enjoy. It has never been more important to do so now; with conventions cancelling and postposing their events because of conrona virus fears-- events that many authors were counting on as a source of income as a guest by or selling their books -- it's possibly more important than ever to help spread the word so your favorite authors can continue to eat and pay rent.
Let's start with some basic things (I'll recap in a numbered list a the end.) First: Buy their books, of course, but also READ them. We're losing reading for pleasure as a thing people want to do, and the negative feelings toward reading are reinforced by all the dreck we're forced to read in school by people who think those paper implements of torture are Important Books. Buying books isn't always possible due to financial issues; everyone's comfort level with their disposable income is different. If you can't buy books, request them from your local public library. They buy books too, and their purchases help just as much, plus...
To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2020/03/09/dont...
Reading for Haunted: Eleven Tales of Ghostly Horror, Room of One's Own bookstore, October 2011. L to R: Georgia Beaverson, Monica Valentinelli, Jason Blair, Alex Bledsoe, Bill Bodden. Reading was well attended.
Occasionally, memes go by on Facebook or Twitter regarding ways to support authors. This does not necessarily mean every and all authors, mind you -- just ones whose work you enjoy. It has never been more important to do so now; with conventions cancelling and postposing their events because of conrona virus fears-- events that many authors were counting on as a source of income as a guest by or selling their books -- it's possibly more important than ever to help spread the word so your favorite authors can continue to eat and pay rent.
Let's start with some basic things (I'll recap in a numbered list a the end.) First: Buy their books, of course, but also READ them. We're losing reading for pleasure as a thing people want to do, and the negative feelings toward reading are reinforced by all the dreck we're forced to read in school by people who think those paper implements of torture are Important Books. Buying books isn't always possible due to financial issues; everyone's comfort level with their disposable income is different. If you can't buy books, request them from your local public library. They buy books too, and their purchases help just as much, plus...
To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2020/03/09/dont...
Horrific Women
Besides being Black History Month, February is also Women in Horror Month. (Who decides these things?) I thought I'd take a moment to highlight some of my favorite women horror authors, because what's better than having a new book to read, or finding a new favorite author?
Lee Murray has been a major force in fiction over the last few years, both as an editor and as an author of novels and short fiction. Her Taine McKenna series of novels, set in her native New Zealand and featuring a Maori main character, has garnered significant critical acclaim. One of her newest works, Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, edited with Geneve Flynn, is available in stores now and features stories by Southeast Asian writers. You can learn more about Lee and her books at her web site: https://www.leemurray.info/
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2021/02/09/horr...
Another New Anthology!
So I got involved with a writer’s group — Wily Writers — a while back because the person who was promoting it — Angel Leigh McCoy — was a colleague of mine; we’d both had stories in Changing Breeds: Wild West Tales and I was familiar with some of her work from the gaming industry as well as some of her short fiction. There have been a number of fairly prominent writers involved with this group, and frankly it’s been good for me to see that other writers — even writers whose names I’d heard of and whose work I’ve admired — are struggling to get noticed, too.
Some months ago the idea was floated to...
To read the rest of this post, please go to
http://billbodden.com/2022/07/19/anot...
Some months ago the idea was floated to...
To read the rest of this post, please go to
http://billbodden.com/2022/07/19/anot...
