So I took this semester off campus, to finish my thesis and a draft of the novel for the White Wolf contest, at my parents’ house.  It sucks to say this to a stranger, “Yeah…I’m living in my parent’s house…”  But, for those who know me and my folks, they know hanging around here is not a bad prospect.

My mom, for a few weeks, is visiting family in Florida.  So it’s just me in the house, typing away at my book…and occasionally, I see my Dad.

The other night I’m telling him about my trouble sleeping (in general…but lately in particular) and he has trouble understanding this because, he can drop off whenever he needs to, regardless of how much caffeine he’s ingested (my brother is like this too and I envy them).

“Are there any worries keeping you up?” he asked.

“No, nothing like that,” I said.

“You probably aren’t getting enough sex.”

“………………………………….”

I think my mouth probably hung open, in mild shock, for a bit.  Even if I had any words to answer that, I couldn’t really deny it.

“…..uh….yeah…huh…that’s true….”

Well, far be it from me to rebuke the wisdom of my elders.  I guess I’ll just put it on my TO DO list, after I finish my Thesis this week…

-Name a CD you own that you think no-one else on your friends list does.-

Winter’s Knight – by Nox Arcana

–Name a book you own that you think no-one else on your friends list does.-

Malleus Maleficarum (“The Witches’ Hammer”) – the guide book the inquisition used

-Name a movie you own on DVD/VHS/whatever that you think no-one else on your friends list does.-

Black Days – Haha…it’s not really out yet, I just have one of the handy cast/crew copies!

-Name a place that you have visited that you think no-one else on your friends list has.-

The Fulani village in Senegal, Africa – where I gave a little girl my sunglasses and she smiled bigger than the sky.

-Name a piece of technology or any sort of tool you own that you think no-one else on your friends list has.-

A snake hook (used for the safe removal of feisty serpents from their cages, or the wild…and by removal I mean picking up…not exterminating).

It’s been well over a week of waking up after dark. It’s not the same kind of delirium as jet lag…but it’s definitely a first cousin – it definitely sees jet lag at the Sunday family barbeque.

I wrote all night.  I’m too tired for a real update.  Instead, here’s a little passage that I put down, one I particularly like.  It’s about a very sad character that wandered into the scene…

Now he stairs in the bathroom mirror,

eyelids fluttering like dying moths,

empty eyes –

if you dropped pennies down his eyes,

you’d never hear the splash.

The Cook Book

© Joshua Alan Doetsch

            “Have you ever heard the word ‘satire’?” I asked.

            “No,” he said.

            And that explained the copy of A Modest Proposal open on his kitchen table and the little legs and hands bobbing out of his stewpot.

Today I was awoken by a call from the Chicago Tribune.

“Hello?”

“Is this the Wauconda Funeral Home?”

I look around my room and notice the various skulls, crossbones, and skeleton carving décor.

“………no.”

I wrote long and hard tonight…and I think I spotted Lord Byron, smiling from a dark corner of the room.  It’s funny when you are randomly surfing the web…and you come across and image that you thought was just in your head…

…the place I’m at, in the story of my epic poem, at this very moment…

…looks exactly like this.

So Mike Urnikis’ indi flick, Black Days, is going through those touchy stages of post production promotion.  YOU CAN HELP OUT!

It’s on the IMBD website at (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411168/).  If you’ve been to one of the premier showings of it with me, or if Nick or I have shown it to you on DVD, go log on (or register if you are not…it’s free) and vote and/or comment on the film.  More, visible feedback is only going to help Mike sell this.  If you haven’t seen it, Nick and I have the DVD.

So help Mike out…if for no other reason than to get him rich and famous so that Nick and I can ride his coattails…

Come one!  It’s got prostitutes and sledgehammer fights…oh yeah!

OK…I heard back from the editor of Bloodlust.  She got my info.  Now she just has to wait and see which stories the print magazine wants from her webzine.  So…my name and one or two of my stories might get print in BITE ME MAGAZINE.  Until then, if you haven’t and you’d like to read the stories, you can read one or both of them, online, at BLOODLUST UK (just scroll on down to find  “Varmints” and “For Poor Lucy”).

It’s nice to know that some future editor will be looking over my credentials and my submission letter might suddenly read “Bite Me.”

Time to work some word witchery in my plasma screened cauldron…

Last week, a pack of coyotes all howled and whooped in waves of wailing. One coyote howling is cool and spooky (not as spooky as a wolf howl…but certainly distinguishable from a dog howl). When more than one go at it, it goes in rolling waves of unexplainable sound and is, I imagine the very same sound a person hears at the exact moment they go insane. I think they made a kill of some kind, and wailed thanks to whatever shivering, fanged thing that wild dogs give thanks to.

The other night, when a foot of snow came, my dad dragged out the snow blower. After our drive, I went with him and helped those neighbors who didn’t have any shovel (some we knew…some we didn’t). It was kind of like being a duo of superheroes…only our power was to fling snow at great velocity.

Writing and writing and writing and cabin fever is starting to intrude and soon, very soon I’m going to have to seek out some friends, old or new, and spend some socializing time, and stay just sane enough.