The Onyx Glossary: 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

The Five Year Reading Experiment is Complete

Towards the end of December 2007, I made the New Years resolution that I would try hard to become a better reader again, and try to read at least 50 novels that year, unaware initially that it would be the start of a yearly tradition. Inspired by Dennis Cooper's "Top 50 Novels" list, I decided I needed to read many more books before I could create a list of my own. I eventually conceived of a 5 year reading plan in which I would try to read at least 50 books a year, from 2008-2012, and while I still don't think I'm ready to make my top 50 novels list, I'm slowly getting there. During the course of this experiment, I read over 330 books, mostly novels and short story collections (although only 56 books are listed for 2008, I actually read over 60 that year, but only kept track of fiction books: it was only in 2009 I started keeping track of non-fiction as well). All in all, I'm pleased with the end results (my only real regret is that I never really got around to reading much Dostoevsky), and I look forward to reading many more interesting new books in the years to come (and yes, I intend to still keep track of them on a monthly basis). I would like to take a moment also to give thanks to all the friends who gave me such great reading recommendations over the last few years.

2008

1. "The City and the Pillar" (Gore Vidal) (Jan. 3) 1948
2. "Sway" (Zachary Lazar) (Jan. 9) 2008
3. "Paradoxia" (Lydia Lunch) (Jan. 12) 1997
4. "Eden Eden Eden" (Pierre Guyotat) (Jan. 23) 1970
5. "The Maimed" (Hermann Ungar) (Jan. 25) 1923
6. "Jack the Modernist" (Robert Gluck) (Jan. 25) 1985
7. "The Stranger" (Albert Camus) (Jan. 26) 1946
8. "Less Than Zero" (Bret Easton Ellis) (Jan. 30) 1985 *
9. "The Torture Garden" (Octave Mirbeau) (Jan. 31) 1899
10. "Zombie" (Joyce Carol Oates) (Jan. 31) 1995
11. "The Atrocity Exhibition" (J.G. Ballard) (Feb. 7) 1970
12. "Play it as it Lays" (Joan Didion) (Feb. 10) 1970
13. "The Blind Owl" (Sadegh Hedayat) (Feb. 10) 1937
14. "La-Bas" (J.K. Huysmans) (Feb. 15) 1891 *
15. "Against Nature" (J.K. Huysmans) (Feb. 22) 1884
16. "Moravagine" (Blaise Cendrars) (Feb. 29) 1926
17. "Briefing for a Descent Into Hell" (Doris Lessing)(March 14)1971
18. "In a Glass Darkly" (Sheridan Le Fanu) (March 18) 1872
19. "The Weaklings" (Dennis Cooper) (March 22) 2008
20. "The Mage's Holiday" (Tom Champagne) (April) 2003
21. "Invisible Cities" (Italo Calvino) (April 9) 1972
22. "Exercises in Style" (Raymond Queneau) (April 17) 1947
23. "The Wild Boys" (William S. Burroughs) (April 21) 1969 *
24. "Downstream" (J.K. Huysmans) (April 21) 1882
25. "The Crying of Lot 49" (Thomas Pynchon) (April 27) 1965
26. "The End of the World Book" (Alistar McCartney) (May 1) 2008
27. "Foucault's Pendulum" (Umberto Eco) (May 8) 1988
28. "Us Ones in Between" (Blair Mastbaum) (May 10) 2008
29. "The Man Who Fought Alone" (Stephen R. Donaldson)(May 23) 2001 *
30. "Valis" (Philip K. Dick) (May 26) 1981 *
31. "Angels of Perversity" (Remy de Gourmont) (June 30) late 1890's
32. "Monsieur de Phocas" (Jean Lorrain) (July 6) 1901
33. "Inferno" (August Strindberg) (July 10) 1897
34. "Soul Kitchen" (Poppy Z. Brite) (July 19) 2006
35. "Monsieur Venus" (Rachilde) (July 20) 1884
36. "A Haven" (J.K. Huysmans) (July 26) 1886
37. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (Truman Capote) (July 30)
38. "Surfaces" (Thomas Moore) (Aug. 7) 2008
39. "Bat-Wing" (Sax Rohmer) (Aug. 13) 1921
40. "Convolvulus & Other Poems" (Kenneth Grant) (Aug. 14) 2005
41. "Recollections of the Golden Triangle" (Alain Robbe-Grillet) (Aug. 18) 1978
42. "Gamaliel/Dance, Doll, Dance!" (Kenneth Grant) (Aug. 23) 2003
43. "The Other Child & Other Tales" (Kenneth Grant) (Aug. 27) 2003
44. "Our Lady of the Flowers" (Jean Genet) (Sept. 3) 1943
45. "The Street of Crocodiles" (Bruno Schulz) (Sept. 7) 1934
46. "The Hearing Trumpet" (Leonora Carrington) (Sept. 10) 1976
47. "En Route" (J.K. Huysmans) (Sept. 10) 1895
48. "Some Kind of Love" (Jack Dickson) (Sept. 14) 2002
49. "God Jr." (Dennis Cooper) (Sept. 21) 2005 *
50. "The Beetle" (Richard Marsh) (Sept. 22) 1897
51. "Action Kylie" (Kevin Killian) (Oct. 20) 2008
52. "Against the Light" (Kenneth Grant) (Nov. 5) 1997 *
53. "The Elementary Particles" (Michel Houellebecq) (Nov. 15) 2001
54. "The Miracle of the Rose" (Jean Genet) (Nov. 22) 1946
55. "Teatro Grottesco" (Thomas Ligotti) (Dec. 17) 2008
56. "Grimscribe" (Thomas Ligotti) (Dec. 23) 1994

2009

1. "Songs of a Dead Dreamer" Thomas Ligotti (1/6/09) short story collection
2. "Gnosticism" Stephen Hoeller (1/9/09) religion
3. "Voudon Gnosis" David Beth (1/10/09) occult
4. "My Work is Not Yet Done" Thomas Ligotti (1/12/09) short story collection
5. "Hospital" Thomas Moore (1/23/09) poetry
6. "Nausea" Jean-Paul Sarte (2/18/09) novel
7. "Kierkegaard for Beginners" Donald D. Palmer (2/20/09) non-fiction
8. "Ariel: Restored Edition" Sylvia Plath (2/21/09) poetry
9. "The Bell Jar" Sylvia Plath (2/23/09) novel
10. "Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos" Various (3/12/09) short story collection
11. "The Mind Parasites" Colin Wilson (3/23/09) novel
12. "The Philosopher's Stone" Colin Wilson (4/2/09) novel
13. "The Magus" John Fowles (4/27/09) novel
14. "Snakewand/The Darker Stain" Kenneth Grant (5/2/09) novella collection
15. "Noctuary" Thomas Ligotti (5/8/09) short story collection
16. "Lovely Biscuits" Grant Morrison (5/21/09) short story collection
17. "Ugly Man" Dennis Cooper (5/23/09) short story collection
18. "The Space Vampires" Colin Wilson (5/30/09) novel
19. "Cities of the Red Night" William S. Burroughs (6/29/09) novel *
20. "Safe" Dennis Cooper (7/7/09) novel
21. "The Show That Smells" Derek McCormack (7/8/09) novel
22. "Count Magnus & Other Ghost Stories" M.R. James (7/11/09) short story collection
23. "The Burning Bombing of America" Kathy Acker (7/11/09) novella
24. "Great Expectations" Kathy Acker (7/18/09) novel
25. "Empire of the Senseless" Kathy Acker (7/19/09) novel
26. "Florida" Kathy Acker (7/22/09) novella?
27. "The Place of Dead Roads" William S. Burroughs (7/27/09) novel *
28. "Blood and Guts in High School" Kathy Acker (8/1/09) novel
29. "Perdido Street Station" China Mieville (8/4/09) novel
30. "A Season in Hell/Illuminations" Arthur Rimbaud (8/5/09) poetry
31. "The Shit of God" Diamanda Galas (8/6/09) poetry
32. "Ficciones" Jorge Lois Borges (8/9/09) short stories
33. "The Consumer" Michael Gira (8/17/09) short stories
34. "Funeral Rites" Jean Genet (8/26/09) novel
35. "Inherent Vice" Thomas Pynchon (8/28/09) novel
36. "The Thief's Journal" Jean Genet (9/10/09) novel
37. "The Western Lands" William S. Burroughs (9/16/09) novel
38. "Magic & Mystery in Tibet" Alexandra David-Neel (9/18/09) Hindu/Buddhist
39. "The Gita: a New Translation of Sacred Hindu Scripture" Irina N. Gajjar (9/19/09) Hindu
40. "Official Book Club Selection" Kathy Griffin (9/23/09) biography
41. "Shy" Kevin Killian (9/30/09) novel
42. "Ether, God & Devil/Cosmic Superimposition" Wilhelm Reich (10/3/09) philosophy?
43. "The Letters of Mina Harker" Dodie Bellamy (10/10/09) novel
44. "The Interior Castle" St. Teresa of Avila (10/20/09) mysticism
45. "Lost Souls" Poppy Z. Brite (10/29/09) * novel
46. "Marthe: The Story of a Whore" J.K. Huysmans (10/29/09) novel
47. "The Dhammapada" Buddha (10/29/09) * Buddhist
48. "Downstream" J.K. Huysmans (10/31/09) * novella
49. "The Wall" Jean-Paul Sartre (11/2/09) short stories
50. "The Plague" Albert Camus (11/6/09) novel
51. "The Flowers of Evil" Charles Baudelaire (11/10/09) poetry
52. "The Informers" Bret Easton Ellis (11/14/09) * novel
53. "Cold Print" Ramsey Campbell (11/25/09) short stories
54. "Against Nature" J.K. Huysmans (11/29/09) * novel
55. "The Late Work of Margaret Kroftis" Mark Gluth (12/4/09) novella
56. "In November We'll Burn" Andrew Champagne (12/10/09) novel
57. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" Oscar Wilde (12/16/09) novel
58. "No Exit" Jean-Paul Sartre (12/25/09) play

2010

1. "The Devil: Perceptions of Evil From Antiquity to Primitive Christianity" (Jeffrey Burton Russell) 1/1/10
2. "V." (Thomas Pynchon) 1/11/10
3. "Naked Lunch: The 50th Anniversary Edition" (William S. Burroughs) 1/16/10 *
4. "Hollywood Babylon" (Kenneth Anger) 1/19/10
5. "T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism" (Hakim Bey) 1/29/10
6. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (Lewis Carroll/Camille Rose Garcia) 2/1/10 *
7. "Impossible Princess" (Kevin Killian) 2/7/10
8. "Satan and the Early Christian Tradition" (Jeffrey Burton Russell) 2/19/10
9. "Child of God" (Cormac McCarthy) 2/23/10
10. "The Origin of Satan" (Elaine Pagels) 2/27/10
11. "The History of Hell" (Alice K. Turner) 3/2/10
12. "Blood Meridian: or the Evening Redness of the West" (Cormac McCarthy) 3/13/10
13. "Good Girls Don't" (J.M. Cosentino) 3/14/10
14. "Tongues Tied to Anchors" (Laurence Wilhelm Lillvik) 3/20/10
15. "No Country for Old Men" (Cormac McCarthy) 3/22/10
16. "The Road" (Cormac McCarthy) 3/26/10
17. "Grimoire" (James Champagne) 3/30/10 *
18. "Despair" (Vladimir Nabokov) 4/7/10
19. "Invitation to a Beheading" (Vladimir Nabokov) 4/13/10
20. "Port of Saints" (William S. Burroughs) 4/18/10
21. "Maldoror" (Comte de Lautreamont) 4/23/10 *
22. "Turmoil in the Toybox" (Phil Phillips) 4/25/10
23. "Mere Christianity" (C.S. Lewis) 4/29/10
24. "The New Testament" (various) 5/2/10
25. "The Abolition of Man" (C.S. Lewis) 5/3/10
26. "The Great Divorce" (C.S. Lewis) 5/9/10
27. "A Grief Observed" (C.S. Lewis) 5/10/10
28. "Lolita" (Vladimir Nabokov) 5/15/10
29. "The Screwtape Letters"/"Screwtape Proposes a Toast" (C.S. Lewis) 5/15/10
30. "Wittgenstein's Nephew" (Thomas Bernhard) 5/19/10
31. "Pnin" (Vladimir Nabokov) 5/20/10
32. "Death Sentence" (Maurice Blanchot) 5/22/10
33. "Less Than Zero" (Bret Easton Ellis) 5/26/10 *
34. "American Psycho" (Bret Easton Ellis) 6/3/10 *
35. "Psycho" (Robert Bloch) 6/4/10
36. "Moonchild" (Aleister Crowley) 6/12/10 *
37. "The Book of the Law" (Aleister Crowley) 6/13/10 *
38. "Imperial Bedrooms" (Bret Easton Ellis) 6/17/10
39. "Coma" (Pierre Guyotat) 6/22/10
40. "Pale Fire" (Vladimir Nabokov) 6/30/10
41. "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race" (Thomas Ligotti) 7/11/10
42. "Smothered in Hugs" (Dennis Cooper) 7/12/10
43. "Tao Te Ching" (Lao Tzu) 7/14/10
44. "Necronomicon" (Simon) 7/19/10 *
45. "The Naked Civil Servant" (Quentin Crisp) 7/20/10
46. "The Hellbound Heart" (Clive Barker) 7/24/10
47. "Books of Blood Volume I" (Clive Barker) 8/3/10
48. "Closer" (Dennis Cooper) 8/8/10 *
49. "Kwaidan: Japanese Ghost Stories" (Lafcadio Hearn) 8/8/10
50. "Bruges-la-Morte" (Georges Rodenbach) 8/10/10
51. "Frisk" (Dennis Cooper) 8/11/10 *
52. "Try" (Dennis Cooper) 8/15/10 *
53. "Guide" (Dennis Cooper) 8/19/10 *
54. "Period" (Dennis Cooper) 8/21/10 *
55. "Scorch Atlas" (Blake Butler) 8/22/10
56. "Crash" (J.G. Ballard) 8/29/10
57. "The Curse of the Blue Figurine" (John Bellairs) 9/7/10 *
58. "Brother Curwen, Brother Crowley: a Correspondence" (Aleister Crowley/David Curwen) 9/8/10
59. "American Campgrounds" (Philip Best/Peter Sotos) 9/9/10
60. "The Cathedral" (J.K. Huysmans) 9/25/10
61. "The Malady of Death" (Marguerite Duras) 9/25/10
62. "Recollections of the Golden Triangle" (Alain Robbe-Grillet) 9/25/10 *
63. "Imperial Bedrooms" (Bret Easton Ellis) 9/28/10 *
64. "At the Feet of the Guru" (Kenneth Grant) 10/2/10 *
65. "Hidden Lore" (Kenneth & Steffi Grant) 10/3/10
66. "Songs of a Dead Dreamer" (THomas Ligotti) 10/5/10 *
67. "Obsessions" (Joseph Mills) 10/9/10 *
68. "Soluble Fish" (Andre Breton) 10/11/10
69. "The Upanishads" (translator: Eknath Easwaran) 10/12/10
70. "First Steps 2 Forever: My Story" (Justin Bieber) 10/15/10
71. "The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi" (Ramana Maharshi) 10/17/10
72. "Uncle Silas" (J.S. Le Fanu) 10/21/10
73. "Siddhartha" (Herman Hesse) 10/27/10
74. "Frankenstein" (Mary Shelley) 10/28/1
75. "ACT" (N.J. Rhoades) 11/7/10
76. "The Collector" (John Fowles) 11/8/10
77. "Dark Awakenings" (Matt Cardin) 11/19/10
78. "Communion" (Whitley Strieber) 11/20/10
79. "Close Range: Wyoming Stories" (Annie Proulx) 11/27/10
80. "The Problem of Pain" (C.S. Lewis) 11/28/10
81. "The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman" (Angela Carter) 12/8/10
82. "The Man Who Was Thursday" (G.K. Chesterton) 12/10/10
83. "Dark Entries" (Robert Aickman) 12/30/10

2011

1. "Welcome to my World" (Johnny Weir) 1/12/11
2. "Cold Hand in Mine" (Robert Aickman) 1/14/11
3. "The Mechanics of Homosexual Intercourse" (Lonely Christopher) 1/20/11
4. "Illuminated Shadows" (James Champagne) 1/20/11 *
5. "Eat When You Feel Sad" (Zachary German) 1/23/11
6. "The Marble Index" (James Champagne) 1/25/11
7. "Brigit" (Andrew Champagne) 2/15/11
8. "Gravity's Rainbow" (Thomas Pynchon) 2/25/11
9. "Demons by Daylight" (Ramsey Campbell) 3/4/11
10. "Neuromancer" (William Gibson) 3/7/11 *
11. "Don Quixote" (Kathy Acker) 3/16/11
12. "Snow Crash" (Neal Stephenson) 3/31/11
13. "Shoplifting From American Apparel" (Tao Lin) 4/1/11
14. "Franny and Zooey" (J.D. Salinger) 4/7/11
15. "The Failure" (James Greer) 4/8/11
16. "The Gospel of Anarchy" (Justin Taylor) 4/16/11
17. "Dhalgren" (Samuel R. Delany) 4/21/11
18. "There Is No Year" (Blake Butler) 4/25/11
19. "Star Maker" (Olaf Stapledon) 5/1/11
20. "Death in Venice" (Thomas Mann) 5/3/11
21. "The Celestine Prophecy" (James Redfield) 5/9/11
22. "Selfish, Little: the Annotated Lesley Ann Downey" (Peter Sotos) 5/11/11 *
23. "The Quantity Theory of Insanity" (Will Self) 5/15/11
24. "Principia Discordia" (Malaclypse the Younger) 5/18/11 *
25. "Topology of a Phantom City" (Alain Robbe-Grillet) 5/21/11
26. "The Archaic Revival" (Terence McKenna) 5/23/11
27. "The Wasp Factory" (Iain Banks) 5/27/11
28. "Stories Toto Told Me" (Baron Corvo) 5/29/11
29. "The Oblate of St. Benedict" (J.K. Huysmans) 6/2/11
30. "Ubik" (Philip K. Dick) 6/8/11
31. "Ecpyrosis: The Best of Starfire Vol. I" (Various) 6/12/11
32. "Messengers of Deception: UFO Contacts & Cults" (Jacques Vallee) 6/15/11
33. "Earth Inferno" (Austin Osman Spare) 6/18/11
34. "The Book of Satyrs" (Austin Osman Spare) 6/18/11
35. "A Scanner Darkly" (Philip K. Dick) 6/20/11
36. "Nineteen Seventy Four" (David Peace) 6/21/11
37."Nineteen Seventy Seven" (David Peace) 6/24/11
38. "Nineteen Eighty" (David Peace) 6/28/11
39. "Nineteen Eighty Three" (David Peace) 7/2/11
40. "Q.B.L. or the Bride's Reception" (Frater Achad) 7/7/11
41. "Graves" (Thomas Moore) 7/9/11
42. "The Book of Lies" (Aleister Crowley) 7/13/11
43. "The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love): The Psychology of Ecstasy" (Austin Osman Spare) 7/14/11
44. "The Focus of Life" (Austin Osman Spare) 7/16/11
45. "Anathema of Zos" (Austin Osman Spare) 7/16/11
46. "Querelle" (Jean Genet) 7/19/11
47. "Myths of the Near Future" (J.G. Ballard) 7/29/11
48. "Empire Star/Babel-17" (Samuel R. Delany) 8/12/11
49. "The Waves" (Virginia Woolf) 8/19/11
50. "Lost Worlds" (Clark Ashton Smith) 8/26/11
51. "Grimscribe: His Lives & Works" (Thomas Ligotti) 8/28/11
52. "The Great Gatsby" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 9/5/11
53. "The Remains of the Day" (Kazuo Ishiguro) 9/11/11
54. "Nova" (Samuel R. Delany) 9/12/11
55."Mrs. Dalloway" (Virginia Woolf) 9/20/11
56. "French Hole" (Dennis Cooper) 9/29/11
57. "Tropic of Cancer" (Henry Miller) 10/2/11
58. "The Age of Nothing" (James Champagne) 10/3/11
59. "Confessions of a Mask" (Yukio Mishima) 10/8/11
60. "Vineland" (Thomas Pynchon) 10/17/11
61. "Scared Stiff: Tales of Sex and Death" (Ramsey Campbell) 10/21/11
62. "Confessions of a Guidette" (Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi) 10/22/11
63. "The Marbled Swarm" (Dennis Cooper) 11/2/11
64. "Wormwood" (Poppy Z. Brite) 11/19/11 *
65. "The Haunting of Hill House" (Shirley Jackson) 11/24/11
66. "The Boy With Pink Hair" (Perez Hilton) 11/30/11
67. "The Recognitions" (William Gaddis) 12/1/11
68. "The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein" (Thomas Ligotti) 12/2/11
69. "The Turn of the Screw" (Henry James) 12/7/11
70. "Backwoods" (Natty Soltesz) 12/11/11
71. "Ghost Story" (Peter Straub) 12/11/11
72. "Supernatural Horror in Literature" (H.P. Lovecraft) 12/14/11
73. "ACT" (NJ Rhoades) 12/14/11 *
74. "The Face That Must Die" (Ramsey Campbell) 12/15/11
75. "Powers of Darkness" (Robert Aickman) 12/21/11
76. "Lady Gaga/Terry Richardson" (Lady Gaga/Terry Richardson) 12/30/11
77. "The Hill of Dreams" (Arthur Machen) 12/30/11

2012

1. "In Youth is Pleasure" (Denton Welch) 1/26/12
2. "Grapefruit" (Yoko Ono) 2/2/12
3. "Sub Rosa" (Robert Aickman) 2/7/12
4. "Grimoire: uncorrected publisher's proofs" (James Champagne) 2/9/12 *
5. "Dark Companions" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
6. "The Inhabitant of the Lake & Other Unwelcome Tenants" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
7. "Goose of Hermogenes" (Ithell Colquhoun) 2/23/12
8. "Obsession" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/29/12
9. "Mason & Dixon" (Thomas Pynchon) 3/10/12
10. "The Crystal World" (J.G. Ballard) 3/24/12
11. "Finnegans Wake" (James Joyce) 4/14/12
12. "Dark Gods" (T.E.D. Klein) 4/22/12
13. "High-Rise" (J.G. Ballard) 4/28/12
14. "It" (Stephen King) 5/7/12
15. "Grimoire" (published version) (James Champagne) 5/20/12 *
16. "Grist to Whose Mill?" (Kenneth Grant) 5/29/12
17. "Sam's Port" (Andrew Champagne) 6/13/12
18. "Spreadeagle" (Kevin Killian) 6/19/12
19. "Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" (Arthur Machen) 6/25/12
20. "The Croning" (Laird Barron) 6/28/12
21. "Orthodoxy" (G.K. Chesterton) 7/6/12
22. "Lord Foul's Bane" (Stephen R. Donaldson) 7/16/12 *
23. "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Chris Colfer) 7/24/12
24. "The Ceremonies" (T.E.D. Klein) 7/30/12
25. "The Bloody Chamber" (Angela Carter) 8/4/12
26. "To The Lighthouse" (Virginia Woolf) 8/11/12
27. "The Magic Toyshop" (Angela Carter) 8/19/12
28. "Jhonn, Uttered Babylon" (David Michael Tibet) 8/21/12
29. "The Sky Went Red While He Was Inside" (Ken Baumann) 8/27/12
30. "Death Poems" (Thomas Ligotti) 8/27/12
31. "Orlando" (Virginia Woolf) 8/28/12
32. "Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction" (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik) 8/31/12
33. "Venus in Furs: (Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch) 9/5/12
34. "Notes From Underground" (Fyodor Dostoevsky) 9/8/12
35. "Noctuary" (Thomas Ligotti) 9/20/12 * (1st time I ever read this edition, however)
36. "The Garden of Mercedes" (Tom Champagne) 9/24/12
37. "Drama" (Raina Teigemeier) 9/29/12
38. "The Magic Mountain" (Thomas Mann) 10/6/12
39. "All God's Angels, Beware!" (Quentin S. Crisp) 10/11/12
40. "The Dark" (Scott Bradley & Peter Giglio) 10/18/12
41. "Edwin Mullhouse" (Steven Millhauser) 10/27/12
42. "The Drowned World" (J.G. Ballard) 11/3/12
43. "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" (Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson) 11/13/12 *
44. "The Maids/Deathwatch" (Jean Genet) 11/16/12
45. "I Murder So That I May Come Back" (O.B. De Alessi) 11/16/12
46. "The Feast of St. Rosalie" (Poppy Z. Brite) 11/18/12
47. "The Story of the Eye" (Georges Bataille) 11/18/12 *
48. "Ghost of Chance" (William S. Burroughs) 11/18/12 *
49. "The Cat Inside" (William S. Burroughs) 11/18/12 *
50. "Love" (Angela Carter) 11/18/12
51. "The Drought" (J.G. Ballard) 11/22/12
52. "Masks of the Illuminati" (Robert Anton Wilson) 11/25/12
53. "The Verifiers" (Andrew Champagne) 11/30/12
54. "Howl and Other Poems" (Allen Ginsberg) 12/10/12
55. "Against The Day" (Thomas Pynchon) 12/25/12

*= book I've read at least once in the past.

Friday, November 30, 2012

2012 Reading List Monthly Update: November

Books completed in November of 2012:

"The Drowned World" (J.G. Ballard) 11/3/12
"The Illuminatus! Trilogy" (Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson) 11/13/12 *
"The Maids/Deathwatch" (Jean Genet) 11/16/12
"I Murder So That I May Come Back" (O.B. De Alessi) 11/16/12
"The Feast of St. Rosalie" (Poppy Z. Brite) 11/18/12
"The Story of the Eye" (Georges Bataille) 11/18/12 *
"Ghost of Chance" (William S. Burroughs) 11/18/12 *
"The Cat Inside" (William S. Burroughs) 11/18/12 *
"Love" (Angela Carter) 11/18/12
"The Drought" (J.G. Ballard) 11/22/12
"Masks of the Illuminati" (Robert Anton Wilson) 11/25/12
"The Verifiers" (Andrew Champagne) 11/30/12

2012 Reading List Total:

1. "In Youth is Pleasure" (Denton Welch) 1/26/12
2. "Grapefruit" (Yoko Ono) 2/2/12
3. "Sub Rosa" (Robert Aickman) 2/7/12
4. "Grimoire: uncorrected publisher's proofs" (James Champagne) 2/9/12 *
5. "Dark Companions" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
6. "The Inhabitant of the Lake & Other Unwelcome Tenants" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
7. "Goose of Hermogenes" (Ithell Colquhoun) 2/23/12
8. "Obsession" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/29/12
9. "Mason & Dixon" (Thomas Pynchon) 3/10/12
10. "The Crystal World" (J.G. Ballard) 3/24/12
11. "Finnegans Wake" (James Joyce) 4/14/12
12. "Dark Gods" (T.E.D. Klein) 4/22/12
13. "High-Rise" (J.G. Ballard) 4/28/12
14. "It" (Stephen King) 5/7/12
15. "Grimoire" (published version) (James Champagne) 5/20/12 *
16. "Grist to Whose Mill?" (Kenneth Grant) 5/29/12
17. "Sam's Port" (Andrew Champagne) 6/13/12
18. "Spreadeagle" (Kevin Killian) 6/19/12
19. "Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" (Arthur Machen) 6/25/12
20. "The Croning" (Laird Barron) 6/28/12
21. "Orthodoxy" (G.K. Chesterton) 7/6/12
22. "Lord Foul's Bane" (Stephen R. Donaldson) 7/16/12 *
23. "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Chris Colfer) 7/24/12
24. "The Ceremonies" (T.E.D. Klein) 7/30/12
25. "The Bloody Chamber" (Angela Carter) 8/4/12
26. "To The Lighthouse" (Virginia Woolf) 8/11/12
27. "The Magic Toyshop" (Angela Carter) 8/19/12
28. "Jhonn, Uttered Babylon" (David Michael Tibet) 8/21/12
29. "The Sky Went Red While He Was Inside" (Ken Baumann) 8/27/12
30. "Death Poems" (Thomas Ligotti) 8/27/12
31. "Orlando" (Virginia Woolf) 8/28/12
32. "Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction" (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik) 8/31/12
33. "Venus in Furs: (Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch) 9/5/12
34. "Notes From Underground" (Fyodor Dostoevsky) 9/8/12
35. "Noctuary" (Thomas Ligotti) 9/20/12 * (1st time I ever read this edition, however)
36. "The Garden of Mercedes" (Tom Champagne) 9/24/12
37. "Drama" (Raina Teigemeier) 9/29/12
38. "The Magic Mountain" (Thomas Mann) 10/6/12
39. "All God's Angels, Beware!" (Quentin S. Crisp) 10/11/12
40. "The Dark" (Scott Bradley & Peter Giglio) 10/18/12
41. "Edwin Mullhouse" (Steven Millhauser) 10/27/12
42. "The Drowned World" (J.G. Ballard) 11/3/12
43. "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" (Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson) 11/13/12 *
44. "The Maids/Deathwatch" (Jean Genet) 11/16/12
45. "I Murder So That I May Come Back" (O.B. De Alessi) 11/16/12
46. "The Feast of St. Rosalie" (Poppy Z. Brite) 11/18/12
47. "The Story of the Eye" (Georges Bataille) 11/18/12 *
48. "Ghost of Chance" (William S. Burroughs) 11/18/12 *
49. "The Cat Inside" (William S. Burroughs) 11/18/12 *
50. "Love" (Angela Carter) 11/18/12
51. "The Drought" (J.G. Ballard) 11/22/12
52. "Masks of the Illuminati" (Robert Anton Wilson) 11/25/12
53. "The Verifiers" (Andrew Champagne) 11/30/12

*= book I read at least once in the past

Currently Reading:

"Against the Day" Thomas Pynchon (up to pg. 226)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

2012 Reading List Monthly Update: October

Books completed in October of 2012:

"The Magic Mountain" (Thomas Mann) 10/6/12
"All God's Angels, Beware!" (Quentin S. Crisp) 10/11/12
"The Dark" (Scott Bradley & Peter Giglio) 10/18/12
"Edwin Mullhouse" (Steven Millhauser) 10/27/12

2012 Reading List Total:

1. "In Youth is Pleasure" (Denton Welch) 1/26/12
2. "Grapefruit" (Yoko Ono) 2/2/12
3. "Sub Rosa" (Robert Aickman) 2/7/12
4. "Grimoire: uncorrected publisher's proofs" (James Champagne) 2/9/12 *
5. "Dark Companions" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
6. "The Inhabitant of the Lake & Other Unwelcome Tenants" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
7. "Goose of Hermogenes" (Ithell Colquhoun) 2/23/12
8. "Obsession" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/29/12
9. "Mason & Dixon" (Thomas Pynchon) 3/10/12
10. "The Crystal World" (J.G. Ballard) 3/24/12
11. "Finnegans Wake" (James Joyce) 4/14/12
12. "Dark Gods" (T.E.D. Klein) 4/22/12
13. "High-Rise" (J.G. Ballard) 4/28/12
14. "It" (Stephen King) 5/7/12
15. "Grimoire" (published version) (James Champagne) 5/20/12 *
16. "Grist to Whose Mill?" (Kenneth Grant) 5/29/12
17. "Sam's Port" (Andrew Champagne) 6/13/12
18. "Spreadeagle" (Kevin Killian) 6/19/12
19. "Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" (Arthur Machen) 6/25/12
20. "The Croning" (Laird Barron) 6/28/12
21. "Orthodoxy" (G.K. Chesterton) 7/6/12
22. "Lord Foul's Bane" (Stephen R. Donaldson) 7/16/12 *
23. "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Chris Colfer) 7/24/12
24. "The Ceremonies" (T.E.D. Klein) 7/30/12
25. "The Bloody Chamber" (Angela Carter) 8/4/12
26. "To The Lighthouse" (Virginia Woolf) 8/11/12
27. "The Magic Toyshop" (Angela Carter) 8/19/12
28. "Jhonn, Uttered Babylon" (David Michael Tibet) 8/21/12
29. "The Sky Went Red While He Was Inside" (Ken Baumann) 8/27/12
30. "Death Poems" (Thomas Ligotti) 8/27/12
31. "Orlando" (Virginia Woolf) 8/28/12
32. "Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction" (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik) 8/31/12
33. "Venus in Furs: (Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch) 9/5/12
34. "Notes From Underground" (Fyodor Dostoevsky) 9/8/12
35. "Noctuary" (Thomas Ligotti) 9/20/12 * (1st time I ever read this edition, however)
36. "The Garden of Mercedes" (Tom Champagne) 9/24/12
37. "Drama" (Raina Teigemeier) 9/29/12
38. "The Magic Mountain" (Thomas Mann) 10/6/12
39. "All God's Angels, Beware!" (Quentin S. Crisp) 10/11/12
40. "The Dark" (Scott Bradley & Peter Giglio) 10/18/12
41. "Edwin Mullhouse" (Steven Millhauser) 10/27/12

*= book I read at least once in the past

Currently Reading:

"The Illuminatus! Trilogy" Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson (currently at pg. 338) *
"The Drowned World" J.G. Ballard (currently at pg. 78)

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Books completed in September of 2012:

"Venus in Furs: (Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch) 9/5/12 
"Notes From Underground" (Fyodor Dostoevsky) 9/8/12 
"Noctuary" (Thomas Ligotti) 9/20/12 * (1st time I ever read this edition, however) 
"The Garden of Mercedes" (Tom Champagne) 9/24/12 
"Drama" (Raina Teigemeier) 9/29/12 

2012 Reading List Total:

1. "In Youth is Pleasure" (Denton Welch) 1/26/12 
2. "Grapefruit" (Yoko Ono) 2/2/12 
3. "Sub Rosa" (Robert Aickman) 2/7/12 
4. "Grimoire: uncorrected publisher's proofs" (James Champagne) 2/9/12 * 
5. "Dark Companions" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12 
6. "The Inhabitant of the Lake & Other Unwelcome Tenants" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12 
7. "Goose of Hermogenes" (Ithell Colquhoun) 2/23/12 
8. "Obsession" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/29/12 
9. "Mason & Dixon" (Thomas Pynchon) 3/10/12 
10. "The Crystal World" (J.G. Ballard) 3/24/12 
11. "Finnegans Wake" (James Joyce) 4/14/12 
12. "Dark Gods" (T.E.D. Klein) 4/22/12 
13. "High-Rise" (J.G. Ballard) 4/28/12 
14. "It" (Stephen King) 5/7/12 
15. "Grimoire" (published version) (James Champagne) 5/20/12 * 
16. "Grist to Whose Mill?" (Kenneth Grant) 5/29/12 
17. "Sam's Port" (Andrew Champagne) 6/13/12 
18. "Spreadeagle" (Kevin Killian) 6/19/12 
19. "Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" (Arthur Machen) 6/25/12 
20. "The Croning" (Laird Barron) 6/28/12 
21. "Orthodoxy" (G.K. Chesterton) 7/6/12 
22. "Lord Foul's Bane" (Stephen R. Donaldson) 7/16/12 * 
23. "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Chris Colfer) 7/24/12 
24. "The Ceremonies" (T.E.D. Klein) 7/30/12 
25. "The Bloody Chamber" (Angela Carter) 8/4/12 
26. "To The Lighthouse" (Virginia Woolf) 8/11/12 
27. "The Magic Toyshop" (Angela Carter) 8/19/12 
28. "Jhonn, Uttered Babylon" (David Michael Tibet) 8/21/12 
29. "The Sky Went Red While He Was Inside" (Ken Baumann) 8/27/12 
30. "Death Poems" (Thomas Ligotti) 8/27/12 
31. "Orlando" (Virginia Woolf) 8/28/12 
32. "Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction" (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik) 8/31/12 
33. "Venus in Furs: (Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch) 9/5/12 
34. "Notes From Underground" (Fyodor Dostoevsky) 9/8/12 
35. "Noctuary" (Thomas Ligotti) 9/20/12 * (1st time I ever read this edition, however) 
36. "The Garden of Mercedes" (Tom Champagne) 9/24/12 
37. "Drama" (Raina Teigemeier) 9/29/12 

*= book I read at least once in the past

Currently Reading:

"The Magic Mountain" Thomas Mann (at pg. 460) 
"All God's Angels, Beware!" Quentin S. Crisp

Friday, August 31, 2012

2012 Reading List Monthly Update: August

Books completed in August of 2012:

"The Bloody Chamber" (Angela Carter) 8/4/12
"To The Lighthouse" (Virginia Woolf) 8/11/12
"The Magic Toyshop" (Angela Carter) 8/19/12
"Jhonn, Uttered Babylon" (David Michael Tibet) 8/21/12
"The Sky Went Red While He Was Inside" (Ken Baumann) 8/27/12
"Death Poems" (Thomas Ligotti) 8/27/12
"Orlando" (Virginia Woolf) 8/28/12
"Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction" (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik) 8/31/12

2012 Reading List Total:

1. "In Youth is Pleasure" (Denton Welch) 1/26/12
2. "Grapefruit" (Yoko Ono) 2/2/12
3. "Sub Rosa" (Robert Aickman) 2/7/12
4. "Grimoire: uncorrected publisher's proofs" (James Champagne) 2/9/12 *
5. "Dark Companions" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
6. "The Inhabitant of the Lake & Other Unwelcome Tenants" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/17/12
7. "Goose of Hermogenes" (Ithell Colquhoun) 2/23/12
8. "Obsession" (Ramsey Campbell) 2/29/12
9. "Mason & Dixon" (Thomas Pynchon) 3/10/12
10. "The Crystal World" (J.G. Ballard) 3/24/12
11. "Finnegans Wake" (James Joyce) 4/14/12
12. "Dark Gods" (T.E.D. Klein) 4/22/12
13. "High-Rise" (J.G. Ballard) 4/28/12
14. "It" (Stephen King) 5/7/12
15. "Grimoire" (published version) (James Champagne) 5/20/12 *
16. "Grist to Whose Mill?" (Kenneth Grant) 5/29/12
17. "Sam's Port" (Andrew Champagne) 6/13/12
18. "Spreadeagle" (Kevin Killian) 6/19/12
19. "Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" (Arthur Machen) 6/25/12
20. "The Croning" (Laird Barron) 6/28/12
21. "Orthodoxy" (G.K. Chesterton) 7/6/12
22. "Lord Foul's Bane" (Stephen R. Donaldson) 7/16/12 *
23. "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Chris Colfer) 7/24/12
24. "The Ceremonies" (T.E.D. Klein) 7/30/12
25. "The Bloody Chamber" (Angela Carter) 8/4/12
26. "To The Lighthouse" (Virginia Woolf) 8/11/12
27. "The Magic Toyshop" (Angela Carter) 8/19/12
28. "Jhonn, Uttered Babylon" (David Michael Tibet) 8/21/12
29. "The Sky Went Red While He Was Inside" (Ken Baumann) 8/27/12
30. "Death Poems" (Thomas Ligotti) 8/27/12
31. "Orlando" (Virginia Woolf) 8/28/12
32. "Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction" (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik) 8/31/12

*= book I read at least once in the past

Currently Reading:

"The Magic Mountain" Thomas Mann (at pg. 62)
"Venus in Furs" Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

2012 Reading List Monthly Update: July

Books completed in July of 2012:

"Orthodoxy" (G.K. Chesterton) 7/6/12
"Lord Foul's Bane" (Stephen R. Donaldson) 7/16/12 *
"The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Chris Colfer) 7/24/12
"The Ceremonies" (T.E.D. Klein) 7/30/12

2012 Reading List Total:

*= book I read at least once in the past

Currently Reading:

"The Bloody Chamber" Angela Carter (up to pg. 30)
"The Illearth War" Stephen R. Donaldson (up to pg. 90)

Friday, July 27, 2012

The Doubly Nature of Louis Wain

A brief and introductory article I wrote this year on the life and work of the cat artist Louis Wain may be found in the summer issue of Yuck 'n Yum magazine. Here's a link to the article in question:

http://www.yucknyum.com/the-zine/?read=summer2012&pp=5

The entire magazine may be read (and downloaded) for free at this link:

http://www.yucknyum.com/the-zine/?read=summer2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

2012 Reading List Monthly Update: June

Books completed in June of 2012:

"Sam's Port" (Andrew Champagne) 6/13/12
"Spreadeagle" (Kevin Killian) 6/19/12
"Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" (Arthur Machen) 6/25/12
"The Croning" (Laird Barron) 6/28/12

2012 Reading List Total:

*= book I read at least once in the past

Currently Reading:

"The Ceremonies" (T.E.D. Klein) at pg. 42

Saturday, April 28, 2012

From The Vault: "The Hornet Queen" (1997): Scans

Front cover artwork of The Hornet Queen, yet another basketball thriller I wrote during my high school years (and the fifth of the ten books I handwrote from 1995-2000). This 312 page novel I began on July 17, 1997 and completed August 17, 1997, when I was 17 years old. A sort of spiritual successor to Bullet Games, this novel was inspired by the work of John Grisham (who I was reading a lot of novels by that year), and also Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction screenplay, which I first read in June of that year (though I did not see the actual film until November of '97).

Back cover of The Hornet Queen. The premise for this novel was that the Charlotte Hornets basketball team suffers a devastating team accident right before the start of the season (when their bus explodes), and the team ends up hiring a Jewish woman named Eva Diaz, the league's first female coach (who proceeds to persuade the team to pick up 3 female players, 2 of whom end up becoming lesbians). The main bad guy is a disgruntled former employee of the team who doesn't even kill anyone: so much for all that "evil threat" nonsense.

The Hornet Queen's about the author page. After the travesty that was Bullet Gamesit would seem I couldn't be arsed to include a photo for this novel.

Critical praise for The Hornet Queen. Ah, those halcyon days of youth, when my ambitions as a writer were primarily to be the "John Grisham of basketball!"

More critical praise.

Inner cover for The Hornet Queen.

Table of contents for The Hornet Queen pt. 1. "The Darkhorse Team" was actually one of the working titles for the novel. The terse one-word chapter titles were a sign that I was still somewhat influenced by Tom Clancy as a writer by this point.

Table of contents pt. 2.

The "cast" of The Hornet Queen. The fact that I said Miramax released the film adaptation was probably an example of the Tarantino influence. Sean Bean and reginald VelJohnson were two actors I tended to "cast" in my books quite a bit back then. In fact, Sean Bean had "played" the character of Sypha Nadon in Bullet Games.

Photograph of Lucy Lawless that I taped to one of the book's back pages. She was cast as one of the female basketball players, Ashley Roberts. I kind of had the hots for her at that time, though I wouldn't actually watch a Xena episode until November of that year.

Pg. 1 of The Hornet Queen. One of my goals of this novel was to have as little bloodshed as possible: therefore I decided to begin the book right after the explosion of the team bus that sets the whole stupid plot into motion.

Pg. 57 of The Hornet Queen. A player tosses a drink into Coach Eva's face during a game.

Pg. 95 of The Hornet Queen. There's a ton of Jewish stuff in the book (that utterly mystified my father at the time). Much of it was copied word-for-word from the family set of Funk & Wagnall encyclopedias.

Pg. 116 of The Hornet Queen. One of the female players, Ashley, I decided to make a witch, giving me the chance to go on for page after page about modern witchcraft in America. This could be seen as an early example of my fascination with the occult.

Pg. 125 of The Hornet Queen. It could very well be the only basketball novel to feature a bunch of skyclad witches raising a "Cone of Power" to help the home team win the championship that season.

Pg. 129 of The Hornet Queen. More Jewish lore.

Pg. 133 of The Hornet Queen. Man, nothing gets those pages turning faster than some dreidal action.

Pg. 162 of The Hornet Queen. In this very silly scene, Pat Murphy, the novel's main bad guy, hires a male prostitute named Lloyd to have sex with Eva, so that he can blackmail her later on (as Eva is married).

Pg. 223 of The Hornet Queen. Holly, one of the lesbian players, prepares to out herself to the woman she loves. To motivate her, she reflects on the lyrics to the 1983 single "Mr. Roboto" by Styx. Hey, weirder things have happened.

Pg. 234 of The Hornet Queen. This was around the time in my life where I first started to question the Catholic Church. Why I was under the notion that a black man couldn't be a Catholic priest, I have no idea.

Pg. 235 of The Hornet Queen. More theological speculations.

Pg. 238 of The Hornet Queen. Eva's husband is kidnapped by Pat Murphy and he sends her a typewritten note, which I typed out on my mom's old typewriter. At the time I thought that quite clever.

James Brandy (one of the team's made-up players, played by James Spader) and Ashley Roberts drive to Barnes & Noble, where James Champagne (one of the most famous writers in the world, it would seem) is having a book signing. Wishful thinking?

Pg. 246 of The Hornet Queen. In one of my first dalliances with meta-fiction, I insert myself into the text. My dad found this cameo quite amusing.

Pg. 271 of The Hornet Queen. James drives to Ashley's house to pick her up for a date while rocking to "Laylah." Later on in the book you see him listening to ABWH's "Long Lost Brother of Mine." Glad to see I was so bad-ass back then.

Pg. 301 of The Hornet Queen. One of the first sex scenes I ever wrote. James and Ashley do it. It would seem my primary sexual fantasy back then was banging witches who looked like Xena: Warrior Princess.

Pg. 302 of The Hornet Queen. More badly-written erotica. Then again, if Fifty Shades of Grey can sell...

Last page of The Hornet Queen. Just like in Bullet Games, the team wins the NBA Finals.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

From the Vault: "Bullet Games" (1996): Scans

This is the front cover of Bullet Games, a 280 page novel I wrote from August 1st, 1996 to August 27th, 1996. I was around 16 at the time. The 4th of 10 handwritten books that I wrote during the years 1995-2000, this basketball thriller was heavily inspired by the novels of Tom Clancy: even the book title is a rip-off of Clancy's novel Patriot Games. In any event, Bullet Games follows the highs and lows of the Washington Bullets basketball team during their 94-95 season. Like all my basketball books, the team was a mix of real-life players and players that I myself had created.

The back cover of Bullet Games. Piston Wars was a basketball novel written by my brother Tom Champagne that same year.

Bullet Games about the author page. I think that's my tenth grade yearbook photo. Too bad I had forgotten to shave that day: also too bad that I had decided to rock an Australian Outback t-shirt.

The critics loved Bullet Games. Most of these blurbs I just copied from Tom Clancy books, just changing the author's name.

Bullet Games copyright page. Observe that the book was "published" by Berkley Books, who was Clancy's publisher at that time. For some reason all my handwritten books had the ISBN of 9999-9999 (which isn't even close to resembling an actual ISBN).

Bullet Games table of contents page. A lot of these chapter names, again, are taken from some of Clancy's novels.

The dream cast for Bullet Games.

A Bullet Gamesreader's survey that I had my dad fill out after he had completed the novel.

Page 1 of Bullet Games. Observe how the NBA draft is taking place in late July instead of late June.

Page 125 of Bullet Games. The bucking van in this scene is based on one that my parents once owned.

Page 131 of Bullet Games. For some reason I decided that Boston Celtics legend M.L. Carr just needed to be the book's main bad guy.

Pg. 138 of Bullet Games. A tense scene between Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton and his wife. Revolutionary Road, eat your heart out.

Pg. 163 of Bullet Games.

pg. 174 of Bullet Games. One of the Washington Bullets' female players, Non Nothma (named after Star Wars' Mon Mothma, leader of the Rebel Alliance!) is forced to watch as her husband dies from cancer at the hands of a bunch of lunatic doctors who are clearly quacks ("We need a heart pump!")

Pg. 211 of Bullet Games: A scene in which one of the Bullets' female players is attacked by an assassin. She kills him with the help of one of her plants, a "Strangler Fig."

Pg. 212 of Bullet Games. I can't think of too many sports teams that have their own personal staff of psychiatrists on standby.

Pg. 225 of Bullet Games. More implausible action nonsense.

Pg. 246 of Bullet Games. The team's head coach, Jim Lynam, shows up for game 7 of the NBA Finals dressed as a priest. As his team takes its final shot, he recites the Lord's Prayer, and as soon as he finishes it off with "Amen" they hit the game-winning 3 pt. shot. You can't fake that kind of writing.

Pg. 249 of Bullet Games.

The final page of Bullet Games.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Out Now: Grimoire

My debut short story collection "Grimoire" is now available for purchase through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It may also be purchased at the Rebel Satori website.

From Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Grimoire-A-Compendium-Neo-Goth-Narratives/dp/1608640388/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335283252&sr=8-1

From Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grimoire-james-champagne/1029929778?ean=9781608640386