Return to Bardin's Mountain

I know few of you have read the first volume, and there's a valid reason for that which I will get to later. Forget about that for now and allow me to tell you how exciting it is to be back writing the sequel to my fantasy adventure Being Bardin, the first in the Bardin series of stories set atop Whirligig Ranch in the mountains of North Carolina.

As far as the first book goes - I am working at nights to get that ready for publication in paperback sometime this year. I'd feel really dirty publishing volume 1 without volume 2 ready to go - which is why I've returned to these four characters that won my heart last summer.

Without revealing too much, this second portion of the saga revists the main characters that we first met in volume one (Singer Bardin, Lady Buggargon, Teddy and Queen Mother Beulah). The action begins far in the past, thirty years prior to the adventures in Being Bardin. I wanted to show Bardin's kingdom when it was blossoming into the fairytale land we saw rusting away in the first novel, so when volume two starts - we're in WW2 Berlin. Fast forward dramatically to 1980's Vienna where the story follows two different people - a man who's struggling to find a job in his field during the economic dark days of Europe and a woman - who's hiding something behind her facade as a waitress.

As the adventure proceeds - we're introduced back to our magical foursome and whisked to North Carolina to witness the dawning of Bardin's mountain, just three years after his purchase - and on the opening day of Red Castle, the train line and ... well, that's enough for now.

For anyone interested - you can check out the first chapter of this saga as a bonus feature at the end of MATTROPOLIS (which is so good it hurts to talk about it, so I can't right now).

Feel free to check out Singer Bardin and Lady Buggargon on Facebook. They're not very good at using computers, but they do the best they can.

New Old Friends

Since last time - I've had a handful of new stories published. Since it makes sense to keep track of things like this - I'll be compiling the links to stories here.

If you missed it - to harken in the Spring, Deep South Magazine chose my precious little ditty entitled "Gardenia Blossoms" to be their cover story. It was my first attempt to focus on a romantic tale - it almost worked too...but someone had to die. They always have to die, you know? I also have always been fascinated with the idea of skunk love...nevermind that part.

Another recent addition is the story "Patience" which appeared for April Fool's Day in The Big Stupid Review (one of my favorite current publications). This story was an attempt to tell a full-fledged narrative using ONLY dialogue to move the action along. I think it worked, despite the fact that there is little to no action in this short story about standing in line. Yes, I was a bit put-off at the obnoxious lines to get into the 9/11 memorial. This is how I coped.

There are a few more lingering out there that I will post here once they go live in the various publications. One - a gripping horror story recounts a local legend anyone from Nash County, North Carolina will recognize - the Momeyer Ghost. That should be appearing in a print anthology sometime later this year (I think Halloween-time?).
The other is a companion to "Patience" entitled "Porcelain" - which is also somewhat gross in nature.

AND IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY EXPERIENCED THE MAGIC....

Journey to MATTROPOLIS - where bed bugs aspire to become poets. You're guaranteed to laugh, cry and possibly call in an exterminator.