Shoot Your Shot
Art by Graham Yarrington
We’re back at it. I’m feeling much better this month and more upbeat in general. If you didn’t know, I come alive in the summertime. Still, going to the gym and happened to find out former welterweight boxing champ Zab Judah lives in the same building as me and was chillin by the pool when I was hitting the heavy bag in his line of sight. Hopefully, my boxing form was alright.
Living in LA is always interesting. Used to run into Woah Vicky all the time in the elevator. One of my jiu jitsu coaches played Chef Ryan on that show Billions.
We got another blurb for God’s Leftovers from the splatterpunk standout Lucas Mangum and this is another winner.
"If you can picture The Hills Have Eyes imbued with Jodorowsky's psychedelic sensibilities, you might get something close to God's Leftovers. With it, Grant Wamack makes a spectacular, bloody entrance into the splatterpunk arena. You've gotta read this book!" — Lucas Mangum, author of Gods of the Dark Web
Jodorowsky is a big influence on my artistic output especially films like Holy Mountain and El Topo so I’m happy someone noticed this. This brings me back to the subject of this week’s newsletter—shooting your shot. This simple action is something I live by especially when it comes to navigating the writing world and courting women. Currently, I’ve been on the blurb hunt for God’s Leftovers and I just started the blurb hunt for Black Gypsies. Don’t get me wrong, I get a lot of people to say yes, but the people who actually come through always surprise me.
I never thought Richard Thomas would blurb God’s Leftovers. And I never thought *REDACTED* would be interested in blurbing Black Gypsies. Sometimes I get in my head and wonder if I’m shooting outside of my paygrade, but that’s the negativity and imposter syndrome talking. You just have to push that bullshit aside, open your mouth, and shoot your shot. You’d be surprised by the results.
I’ve been revising a few short stories, looking for submission targets and working on Project Hum. Cracked into the first chapter of Project Colour which has some interest from a publisher I’ve never worked with before. Exciting stuff…
Also, read this excerpt of Whitney’s Webb’s forthcoming book One Nation Under Blackmail. She talks about this feature done on Jeffrey Epstein’s mentor Leslie Wexner in 1985. I’ve never heard of this guy before but he openly talks about being possessed by a dybbuk, basically a demon in Jewish folklore. Apparently, this demon drove him to consume businesses like a giant pac man and make as much money as humanly possible. Crazy read…
I’m sure it’s no surprise that I believe in spirits and possession. I feel like humans are susceptible to a lot of things in the spirit world. You can still be a piece of crap without a demon, but this is an interesting theory that makes sense why Epstein is the way he is with an insidious influence like Wexner. Add a demon into the mix and things get crazy.
Also, I might be showing up on more episodes of the Agitator podcast in the future so be on the lookout for that.
Currently Watching: Moon Knight & Ozark Season 1
Don’t ask me why this season of Moon Knight only has 6 episodes and I’m still a couple episodes behind. I’ll finish it eventually. The pacing of this show is off the walls though.
Currently Reading: Inspection by Josh Malerman and Hunger for Death by Joshua Marsella & Berserk by Kentaro Miura
Marsella writes his ass off in Hunger for Death. He captures that golden magic of childhood so well to the point where I kept thinking about Ray Bradbury. So much potential and talent, I’m surprised he’s not bigger. I feel like he could have easily been getting novels published alongside Brian Keene, Tim Lebbon, and Richard Laymon in the Leisure book days.
Currently Smoking: Project Fusion-Diamond Infused Gush Mints Pre-Rolls
I promise you, these pre-rolls hit. If you need something euphoric, not too heavy, and will make you feel light as a feather, this is for you.
The G.O.O.D. music juggernaut 070 Shake bares her soul, skin and bones on this romantic single. One of the best cuts off her new album You Can’t Kill Me.
K. Camp came back to grace us with a toxic banger for the summer. Gotta respect Camp’s authenticity and accountability though.
Light up some weed and listen to this R&B ballad “Nxwhere” with poppy production. Feels warm, feels organic…feels right.
Electronic punk vibes this week. Hoping to write a short story with this breakcore music filling my eardrums…
Thanks for smoking with me. And remember to go outside and shoot your shot.