Biting the Bullet
An Elaborate Book Announcement & Cover Reveal
Art by Samira Ingold
We’ve escaped the clutches of Mercury Rx, alien remains have been unveiled in Mexico, and I believe we’re stepping foot into a new moon and an eclipse. A lot is going on in the stars as well as my writing career. I have two big ass announcements on deck.
Kelby, cue the grandiose trap music and the twerking dancers please. I walk up to the stage slowly, pull off my Gucci sunglasses, and adjust my gold Rolex so it doesn’t blind the audience.
New book deal and a big body cover reveal.
That’s the badass cover courtesy of Chris Fryant. I’m excited for y’all to read this next year. It’s my longest book at 33k words, which isn’t much, but it’s emotionally substantial and pretty wild. J. David Osborne called it my best book after reading it.
God’s Leftovers made The Wonderland Book Awards Preliminary Ballot.
The Wonderland Book Awards are a recognition presented annually at BizarroCon for superior achievement in bizarro fiction writing. The 2023 awards, for books published in 2022, will be presented at BizarroCon on November 18th. Voting for the Wonderland Book Award preliminary ballot begins now for the Best Bizarro Novel and Best Bizarro Collection of 2022. Please send your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place votes in the Novel and Collection categories to bizarrocon@gmail.com with the subject line “Wonderland Book Award Preliminary Ballot.” Preliminary voting ends September 30, 2022.
You can see the full list of titles here and obviously, you can shoot them an email at the address above.
I’ve been reading Fun & Games by Duane Swierczynski and this has been the inspirational kick I’ve been needing. This is why it’s important to read across genres. I’ve always held a deep love for crime fiction and you could probably see the influence in most of my work. The prose in Notes from the Guts of a Hippo is crime fiction disguised as a bizarro novella.
Swierczynski does some amazing things here. There’s a scene where he holds your hand and gets you comfortable with an expert/professional. The worst thing possible happens just when you get comfortable with the narrator and put your trust in him. The rug gets pulled out from under you and it’s a shock too the nervous system.
I peeped game with a lot of these literary tricks and it’s inspiring me to go harder in Motorpapi Chronicles book 2. Motorpapi is really getting put through the ringer and I feel bad for him.
Currently Watching: Love, Death & Robots Season 3 & Lost Season 1 & Jury Duty Season 1
I binged season 1 of Jury Duty and man, this is an incredible show. Feels like a social experiment and sort of a character test. I hope they can pull off a season 2.
Currently Reading: Full Throttle by Joe Hill & Cosmic Horror Monthly #2 & An Altar of Stories to Liminal Saints by Rios de la Luz & Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy by Hailey Piper
Currently Smoking: Nada
Listening: Black Tapes Podcast, The Danny Brown Podcast, The Higherside Chats
Denzel Curry comes through with the rap equivalent of the monkey fist on “SKED.” It’s only one minute and 39 seconds, but that’s all that’s needed. I’ve been let down by his last couple of singles, but he’s tapped into something special with this one. A raw, bass-rattling beat with intense raps.
No one raps quite like Earl Sweatshirt. The raps are too potent, too personal, but Vince Staples and The Alchemist are the perfect collaborators. B boy poses in the green house laced with smooth raps, it doesn’t get any better than this. And that skat/jazz bar is crazy.
Sexyy Red has somehow become the female Chief Keef and “Hellcats SRTS 2” goes crazy. Prolly one of the best cases I’ve seen for authenticity plus fast cars makes her coochie leak. Lil Durk comes through with a dope ass feature and even says he’ll put a girls wig back on if it falls off while giving him head. What a gentleman.
The Pro Era veteran reminsices about the good ol days with Joey Bada$$ over a nostalgic hiphop beat. In my older years, I find some of these tracks to be cheesy, but this well done and endearing. Shoutout to Nyck Caution. I need to revisit his catalogue.
Until next time…
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For business inquiries email grantwamack@gmail.com
Yerp mayne...dat book deal is da Lick.