Lily Passed away

Our oldest rabbit Lilly passed away yesterday. She was our last Indiana rabbit. And the only member of our family that has lived with Cari since before we got together in late 2001. Lily was dumped in a pet smart in Indiana. Cari had a call from the shelter about her, she decided to adopt her right away. When she got there she discovered that Lily had bonded at the shelter with another big white bunny named Houdini.
The plan was to foster Dini and Lily and find a home for them before we moved to San Diego. We tried but no one wanted to huge white bunnies. To bad they were adorable. So they came to California with us. In 2004 a couple of months after our wedding Dini got very ill and passed away.
Lily lived alone for four years after that, she fought with every bunny in the house, even biting the end of Luna's nose off. We never thought Lily would ever get over the loss of Houdini. Then in 2008 Cari found a little lop bunny. When he can home we expected to bound him with Yuen and Luna.
I'm not sure how Cari figured out but one day I came home and found the little guy and Lily Grooming each other. I have never seen two rabbits so in love. Lily treated the very young puppy like her little son. They snuggled together all the time.
Lily has struggled in the last year with health problems, she was super smart. When she couldn't breath she used to jump on the bed to wake Cari up, to get help. In the last month she had a infected tooth, that caused white goop to come out of her eye. In the last few weeks she was losing mobility in her legs. She was having trouble breathing. The infection was causing her pain, and would never go away until the tooth was pulled.
We were faced with the horrible choice, risky surgery that she might not survive, or her never ending pain. We tried the surgery, she came out of it fine, but a few hours latter while our friend Ron was driving her home for us, she passed away.
Our friends were there for us. Ed and Randall helped me bury her under the stars up at Mt. Tabor. Now we are worried about her little son. He is young and most of his life he has lived and loved Lilly. He is starved for attention when ever we are in the bedroom. He follows the cat around presenting his head to be groomed, but Asimov doesn't understand. I think we will have to get another rabbit from rabbit advocates as soon as possible.

Screams up on amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Do a search for Screams from a Dying world and you'll find them, Shane Durgee's amazing artwork will not be up for a few more days. So yeah please buy my book!


Cell phone towers fall as an ancient prophecy plays out in the heartland. A young woman begs an angel to let her die, while trapped in an ecological wasteland. An android designed to be a sex slave plans her escape. With themes both serious and grotesque, these 13 tales of horror and science fiction will leave you wondering—how will it end? With a whimper or a scream?

“Screams from a Dying World by David Agranoff is a moving reading experience rich with descriptive prose that makes each story come alive and a subtle message that will leave you looking at the world in a whole new way.” —Horrorworld.org

“You’d likely find his collection of stories dark, imaginative and disturbing…These are stories that not only entertain, but they stick with you and may even challenge your thinking.” —Bram Stoker award nominated author Fran Friel

“Screams from a Dying World is the kind of dangerous stuff that makes its neighbors look like creepy comfort food. Agranoff brings an artist’s eye and an activist’s fist to these chilling reports from our war on the natural world, and restores a sense of beauty and purpose to a genre all too enamored of vapid shock tactics.” —Cody Goodfellow, author of Radiant Dawn and Jake’s Wake

“A kaleidoscopic burst of strange stories and righteous anger, balanced by a real concern for the future of our species, and more importantly, the ever-more-ravaged sphere we inhabit…a wonderful new voice.” Jeremy Robert Johnson, author of Siren Promised



Details

Author: David Agranoff
Publisher: Afterbirth Books
Edition: Trade Paperback
Release Date: May 2009
Page Count: 180
Cover Artist: Shane Durgee
Price: $12.95

Classic Serial Killer novel - Exquisite Corpse

I think any novel is better the colder you go in. The less you know the better. So Let me try to do as ambiguous of a review as possible. In the 90's the horror fiction community had a young rising star named Poppy Z. Brite. Her third horror novel, was the last she would write in the horror genre. She continues to write novels set in the restaurant culture of New Orelens, where she lives. I can see why Poppy burned out on horror after writing this book. Perhaps I am wrong about the reasons This book seems like it would be painful to write, it is basically a romance between two serial killers.

The sex in the book is also quite intense. there is a reason that Brite has a loyal gay male following.

I have a hard time imaging a more gruesome novel, Charlee Jacob's Haunter might be more gruesome but I found that book to be almost unreabable. While the splatterpunk generation of writers from John skipp to your Edward Lee's are known for the gore and grue nothing they have writen hold's a candle to Brite Transgressive 240 page horror masterpiece. Gruesome is just not strong enough of a word.

If that sounds intriguing then I suggest this book to you. If gore is not your thing but your interested in Brite's horror work then I suggest her second novel Drawing Blood. I prefer Drawing Blood myself but one thing about Exquisite Corpse is no one, not any other writer could have written Exquisite Corpse.

Spoilers...

I read this novel a few years back but picked it up again because I had a feeling I would be able to get things out of it I didn't the first time. The first chapter is probably the books creepiest moment and this book has probably the most effective use of of an opening quotation ever. The quote about Jeffery Damher manages to stick in your mind as the pages turn.

The center parts of the book tell a gruesome and interesting story Brite does an excellent job of building up concern for the main charter Tran before putting him a horrible situation. the end of the book has equal suspense to the opening and it cements EC as being one of the most hardcore serial killers ever written. Kiss the girls is like a harlaquin novel compared Exquisite Corpse.

David Morrell is back with The Shimmer

The Shimmer by David Morrell
Hardcover due out July 2009
352 pages
$25.95

I have written a lot over the years about David Morrell, he is the bestselling author who started the international thriller writers organization. He is most well know for his debut and often misunderstood novel First Blood. Over the years he has written action thrillers(Testament), horror (The Totem) and spy novels (Brotherhood of the Rose) to name a few.

His latest novel combines elements of many genres that Morrell has touched on before. What starts as a dark mystery that reminded me early on ‘The Totem’ Morrell’s early horror novel becomes something different. As the pages fly by the tone shifts many times. At times it has an action feel, at times it feels like a mystery or a techno thriller and in the end it is seamlessly blended into an eerie science fiction adventure novel.

The story is about Dan Page, a Santa Fe police officer and pilot whose wife one day disappears. When he follows the trail he ends up in Rostov Texas, which is home to an odd tourist attraction. Rostov is known for a series of lights that behavior strangely on the horizon, according legend they have been seen for hundreds of years.

As he did In 2004 Morrell's novel Creepers he has spun his novel off of true legends. The military and techno conspiracy seems an obvious invention of Morrell's you still find yourself wondering what is real throughout the book.

Morrell usually keeps his books fast paced by writing very short chapters, but not in the Shimmer. Morrell seems to spreading his wings a bit, going in a non-linear structure that includes flashbacks and a perfectly timed back story. What is most impressive is that the mystery is not easy to guess and keeps The Shimmer interesting right up till the last time you close the book.