Last year I put together a lengthy neonoir mystery that reimagined Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer as a gritty outlaw misfit.  A series of murders are being pinned on the nefarious red-nose, and Rudolph must make his way through a grim North Pole to find the truth.  It features numerous strange takes on familiar faces as well as dark spins on classic themes.  In a weird way, there's dark humor a plenty but also a touch of heart.

That said, a while back I did an audio adaptation of the first part for Unreal:  a fiction-focused, experimental open mic here in Chicago.  It worked out, though needed a little tweeking.  To that end, I've started putting it together now.  Granted, the holiday season is passed, however, that didn't stop me from carrying on with the written version well beyond Christmas.  (Also, I got tackled into a pile of uselessness thanks to a cold that lasted weeks.) 

Over the last year I've been working on an animated music video for the Beerfinger song "Please Sally" off the album "Uncle Stumble's Mumble Juice."  Frankly, it took an intolerable amount of time, but at long last the end product is finally here.  To call it a relief is an understatement.  For months I struggled with trial and error trying to figure out how exactly to get this thing made.  Having little experience when it comes to animation didn't help speed things along.  However, perseverance proved to be the route to success.  A lot of mistakes stalled the project as well as diminished the belief I could get this done.  

What finally proved the most useful direction was a combination of stop motion alongside digital editing of the photos.  A tedious process that made me want to hit myself with a hammer.  Yet, that said, I have a new found respect for those who do this for a living.  Not everything I shot, with the help of my friend, made it into the video, but that's something I've noticed with any video project.

All in all, I'm glad I made the effort.  While I may not be about to dive into another animation project, I could see myself doing another down the road.  For the time being, enjoy "Please Sally."

The song as well as the full album are available on Apple Music.

In other news, I recently got a piece of creative nonfiction published.  It's a story I've performed around the Chicago area on several occasions.  It always gets laughs, gasps, and makes people feel less optimistic about the human race.  It's the story of a time I almost got stabbed, but I don't want to spoil it.  You can read it at the website Talking Soup.  Be sure to float around their site and check out the other great stories there as well.

Until next time, my best to you and yours!

In an effort to keep readers appraised of events, here's an update as to my recent activities.  Lately I've been asked to perform around the Chicago area, alternating between fiction and non-, at events such as the Test Literary Series and Universal Sound: a storytelling event.  I also enjoyed the pleasure of telling some creepy stories at Unreal: a fiction-focused, experimental open mic as well as Story Sessions.  Be sure to check out those pages to see when other events are occurring, and maybe I'll see you there.  Even when I don't perform I try to attend.  There are always great stories being shared by fantastic performers.

However, I've been able to get some writing done in-between.   Below are links to various anthologies that've been kind enough to accept my stories.  The most recently available fall into the horror genre.  My story "Offerings" in Game Over from Lycan Valley Press falls into a pulp realm that'll appeal to any fan of the Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, or Weird Tales.  "Beware the Láir Bhán" in Aphotic Realm's "sinister and strange magazine" is a classic horror story best read by candlelight to maximize the scares.  But mine aren't the only astonishing tales to terrify, so be sure to flip through it all because you don't want to miss a single spine chilling story.  

Enjoy!

Aphotic Realm, Halloween


Game Over (Black Book Series Vol. 3):

Apple Books

B&N Nook

Amazon Kindle