Smoking on that McCarthy Pack
Respectfully...
Art by Chiara Bautista
So the internet is still arguing about cozy horror, people are attempting to cancel Cormac McCarthy days after his death, Saturn has gone retrograde, Amanda Nunes retired from the UFC, a New Moon looms overhead, and I’m contemplating what pieces of art I want to buy for my new place. We’re getting closer to the release of my sixth book MELANCHOLY’S FINEST (June 27th). If you’re on Goodreads, click “want to read” here. If you’re a reviewer or a fan who wants to read the book ahead of time on some exclusive ish, you can download the ebook from Book Sirens here. Also, you can preorder the ebook on Amazon here.
I’m packing and getting ready to move so anyone who preorders physical copies here, would be helping me out A LOT. Obviously, I’ll sign these babies too.
“I love Melancholy’s Finest. It’s so clean and fast. It’s like the perfect chicken box from the perfect carryout. Five-piece wings, fried hard, salt/pepper/ketchup. It’s packaged well”—David Simmons, author of Ghosts of West Baltimore
It’s strange having a series out even though Book 1 is the only one that exists at this current point in time. Book 1 has some painful elements of a past romantic relationship so we’re transmuting pain and turning it into gold. You know that alchemical flow…
On another note, if you’ve read and enjoyed any of my books, consider leaving a review on Amazon. Once you hit 50 reviews, Amazon starts promoting your book and more traction can be gained. And to everyone who has already shared my books on social media and/or has written a review, I appreciate you deeply.
Cormac McCarthy’s death has me a bit sad. 89 years is a helluva run though. I remember when I was a teenager, my mom handed me a hardcover copy of The Road and said “I think you’ll like this.” Of course, I would like it.
Post-apocalyptic goodness. I was starting to get more serious about my writing at this time and I wrote long short stories with purplish prose influenced by Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, and Ramsey Campbell among others. The Road shook me up and shifted the tectonic plates within my creative foundations. I’d take brief pauses to inhale the powerful minimalistic prose and certain passages that hit me in my core.
I said damn, Cormac doesn’t need ten pages to say something profound. All he needs is one paragraph. I couldn’t look at fiction the same. Certain books felt bloated and overwritten. Thanks to Cormac, Gary McMahon, and Richard Christian Matheson, my prose became a lot more stripped down and bare. Plus, I think it’s so cool that one of McCarthy’s wives had a gun hidden in her vagina during an argument about aliens.
Let’s smoke one for a real one…
I linked back up with the Agitator bois to talk about John Wick Chapter 4. You know J. David Osborne, Kelby Losack, and David Simmons were in rare form. You can listen to the first hour of the podcast above or you can listen to the full episode on the Agitator Patreon.
Morgan Scorpion hit me up to ask permission to read my short story “What Happens When The Crickets Stop Singing” from my short story collection The Hum of the World & Other Stories. She has a great voice and hit the story out of the park. Still only 99 cents here.
I made some headway on a dark scifi short story and The LV Diaries pt. 3. Plus, significant notes have been made for Project Bunny Bloodbath.
Currently Watching: Love, Death & Robots Season 3 & Lost Season 1 & The Idol Season 1 & Gantz
I was confused by The Idol at first with it’s campy satirical tone, but once I realized that was done on purpose, I’m starting to vibe with the show. Things are heating up.
And I can’t get enough of the dark anime Gantz. It feels designed for me with aliens, gore, boobs, and hyper-violence.
Currently Reading: Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei & Gleipnir by Sun Takeda & The Train Derails in Boston by Jessica McHugh & Full Throttle by Joe Hill
I finished the manga Gleipnir earlier this week and loved it.
Currently Smoking: CLSC Peanut Butter Breath
Listening: Black Tapes Podcast, The Danny Brown Podcast, The Higherside Chats
Coi Leray really seems to be coming into her own musically. Just last year, the internet was hating on her, but she continued believing in herself and that confidence is apparent in “Bops.” Good ole fashioned raps with twerking laced over a teetering beat reminiscent of the Neptunes. How can Coi not win?!?
I first heard the Chicago songstress Eryn Allen Kane on Saba’s old songs back in the day and I was pleasantly surprised to her featured on this cut with Future, Andre 3k, and Killer Mike. Andre’s verse is strikingly beautiful, but don’t sleep on Future’s emotionally charged verse and Killer Mike comes thru like a wrecking ball in the last third of the song. Glorious raps…
Living in Spain had a profound impact on me and something about Rosalia’s music stirs these olds feelings inside me. She travels to exotic locales to visit a distant lover who shows up when the clocks strikes 22:22. "Tuya” is a sultry, confident pop ballad that slides into the recesses of your heart when you least suspect it.
There’s something endearing and vulnerable about MiLES. singing soulfully while walking around the textile district with rugs perched on his shoulders. MiLES longs for a mysterious lover who seems to be losing interest and the pain drips off his powerful vocals.
Until next time…
For business inquiries email grantwamack@gmail.com
Loved seeing all your influences mentioned here. And fuck anyone who wants to cancel Cormac McCarthy.
Great read! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾