Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’ve been asked by Christina L. Rozelle, author of The Truth About Mud (the second-longest story in my troll anthology), to post “Why I Write.” If you have blog-hopped here from there, thank you for coming. If you have hopped here from elsewhere, please hop on over to the link above. (Not now! Sheesh!)

Of course, there are lots of answers to Christina’s question — a different one for every day. A month ago I might have answered glibly, “Because it’s fun to wantonly use adverbs,” and run away — figuratively, of course, since my ass was firmly planted in this chair and it was hot, so my elbows were hopelessly stuck to the desk. (They still are.)

Here’s me, showing my panties to a cabbage

I started writing (actually printing) as a four-year-old, when I made up stories about the family that lived in my closet — the closet I…

Please join us in congratulating Mr. Harvey Click for being this month’s CALLING ALL INDIES! winner!

The Dirty Little Bookers witches will be reading and reviewing Click’s horror, The Bad Box. Stay tuned for an author interview, character interview and more, and pick yourself up a copy by clicking on the cover image below so you can join our ongoing discussion about the book and author.

A warning, though: not all witches will be reading The Bad Box. It’s too scary. Honestly, really dark. Those of you who can handle gore of the scratch-at-your-spine, something’s-behind-the-couch variety, get onboard ’cause it’s badass.

Sarah Temple hopes to find a bit of peace and quiet when she leaves her abusive boyfriend, but instead she finds a world of horror. It’s bad enough that a sadistic serial killer and another maniac are both trying to murder her, but what’s worse is the mysterious Solitary One who controls both…

Jack Graham-Parker was convicted of indecent exposure at Edinburgh station on three days in March 1920. He was sentenced to 60 days imprisonment

Here we are in the centenary of World War One. There have been many ceremonies, many articles on the price paid by those who fought in the trenches.

John Moir, a goods checker at Leith Walk Goods Yard, stole some tea and was fined £3 or 10 days imprisonment in April 1920

I recently read one on the assassination of Franz Ferdinand – the trigger that lead to over four years carnage, and I’m sure I’ll be reading more as we hit the various milestones of terror that form the history of those years.

Private Roy Crooks, of the 2nd Battalion Australian Forces, stole a suitcase from Edinburgh Waverley station in January 1918 and was fined £7 or 30 days imprisonment

We think of those times and…

I never did believe those disclaimers authors put up front in their novels: “This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to real-life people is coincidental.” Lindy Moone was parented by mental health professionals, and her grandfather worked in or lived near a castle like Hyperlink’s, so there is some real-life inspiration that gives this unbelievable novel a bizarre authenticity. The mental patients are so vivid and real, they can only be taken straight from real life. Real people, after all, are stranger than fictional characters.

I must not be as unhinged as I’ve suspected, because for all my willing suspension of disbelief, I couldn’t tell what was going on in Hyperlink from Hell. I envy the reviewer who writes, “I’d nearly finished the book before I realized who Al and Jimmie represent.” I hate being obtuse! People often have to explain jokes to me, which makes me shake my…

If our forefathers only knew about what they would be giving up…

I may have to get some Newcastle today for Independence Eve and toast what could have been!