SUPER SECERT BLOG

 3/16/2025 9:44 AM CST

Dear Reader,

I know you missed me last Sunday. You probably did not know what to do with yourself when I left you without the healing power of my golden words for more than a week. I would apologize for leaving you so weak, but I would like to restate my former informal promise: I am only committing to three blogs a month. Furthermore, I must emphasize that this stated promise is informal, as it is a soft commitment on my part.

Ok, for real though, I can only commit to 3 blogs a month right now, and as we get into this week’s subject, maybe you will understand why. No, this week, you will not be getting the INLAND EMPIRE analysis essay, nor will you be getting the “Street Fighter and the Art of Craft” essay. I know it probably seems like a running joke by now, but maybe this week’s topic will clear that up too.

Today, we are going to talk about what the hell I have been up to for the last three months and what you can expect to see from me in the year 2025.

Hint: This is what I was doing.

At the beginning of the year, I put out a blog stating that you were going to see some releases from me in the year 2025. I hinted that it was probably going to be my book SPECIAL DELIVERY, a novel told in a series of interconnected short stories. Even while I hinted that I would get SPECIAL DELIVERY out in 2025, another idea hit me that I didn’t share with anyone.

See, SPECIAL DELIVERY features four stories about a character named Mike Fontaine. Mike is a serial killer, and each story documents one of his kills, but each story also frames each kill like the release of a hardcore punk rock record. In one world, Mike is the frontman of a psychedelic hardcore punk band, and in another world, he is a serial killer. Each time the band releases a record in one world, Mike kills in the other. I named each story, “Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—(Name of Record),” and each story starts with a fictional music review of that record. The reviews function as both a meta-reflective critique of the story you are about to read and a preview of what is to come.

The idea that I got, which I didn’t share with anyone, was to release each Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs story on its own as a stand-alone release, each book detailing one of the times he claims a victim (or two). I started liking this idea more and more but decided to still focus on my next draft of SPECIAL DELIVERY instead because around Christmas, I got this inclination that I really wanted to be featured in a certain online horror webzine.

I am not going to name them here because I do not want to give the impression that I am disparaging them, as I still think it is a really cool venue and publication for horror. In SPECIAL DELIVERY I hinted that there were other “releases” by Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs and that they just were not relevant to the SPECIAL DELIVERY story. So, I decided to write a fifth Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs story specifically for submission to this publication. They are into blood and gore, so I figured, “What better place could there be for one of my serial killer stories?”

I submitted the story around Christmas. I knew that I was breaking a couple of the stated preferences on their submission guideline page, but I foolishly thought, “They won’t mind. I am a rule breaker because my stories are just that cool.” It was one of the first times that I was relatively confident that I was going to get an acceptance letter. I had taken my story to a pretty nasty place, and this publication was just going to love it. This was just another reason to shelve the idea of giving Mike his own series of short books, since this cool-ass publication was OBVIOUSLY going to put my Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs story out; wouldn’t want to step on their toes or anything.

Then on February 13th, I see that I have an email from the publication. Even as I opened it, I was sure it was going to say, “Your story rocked, and we are glad to have you onboard!” but it did not. I am going to paraphrase, but it basically said, “We publish horror, not music reviews. Are you ok?”

My first instinct was to reply and explain that I was not a crazy person and that I had submitted a horror story that just starts like a music review, but it has always been my understanding that responding to rejection letters is tacky, so I tried to just take it in stride. It was really gnawing at me, though. How could my genius have been so misunderstood? Was my vision so misleading as to have someone completely not understand that it was a horror story?

I even made a venting post online explaining what had happened. Looking back, making that post feels kind of embarrassing, but I don’t regret it because people said they wanted to read it. That was the kick in the pants I needed to realize a couple of things.

It was good that the publication rejected my story and seemed to misunderstand the premise altogether. I was stalling, hoping for someone else to get my vision and support me. If I want to do my weird experimental styles of fiction, I am probably going to have to start out as the one who puts it out there. I want complete creative control over most of my work anyway, so why would I subject myself to the throes of traditional publishing right now? There are some works I see in the future that I might be more flexible on, but for now I want these stories that I have fallen in love with to be exactly what they intend to be, with little to no outside influence.

This is not to say I won’t be submitting shorts to publications, because I will. Hell, I still want to be featured in the one that rejected the Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs story, but if the piece is part of a bigger vision, I am going to be the one who puts it out. For now. (I mean, Exploitation Media is going to be putting it out. For now.)

So here today, I am making a super-secret official announcement. Super-secret, because this is my blog, and only a handful of you read it regularly. Official because this is the release schedule I have in mind.

Many of you already know that “Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—A Night on the Town” is releasing next Friday, 3/21/25. Here is what you didn’t know.

 

#3 Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—A Night on the Town, Release Date: 3/21

One night in the life of Mike Fontaine. He meets a charming woman after a concert downtown.

 

#2 Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—Grandma Got Run Over by a Psycho, Release Date: 5/4

Mike finds himself away from home, selling cable door to door. This was the first one that counted.

 

#1 Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—The Dog Days of Youth, Release Date: 7/7

Every serial killer has a first.

 

#4 Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—The Leap of Faith, Release Date: 9/9

Sometimes you have to let go. Mike asks for a sign, and he gets one.

 

#5 Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—The Brassy Avenue Massacre, Release Date: 10/29

Mike overhears someone give out their address while enjoying his favorite meal at the Pie and Dine. He also hears that guests are expected and that the house will be empty up until the party starts. There are promises of exotic “party favors” waiting in the empty house. When opportunity knocks, you must answer. Mike is one hell of a party crasher.

 

So, here is where it gets weird. There is a 6th and final story for the serial killer, Mike Fontaine. But I can’t let you have it yet. If I release it first, it spoils a big part of SPECIAL DELIVERY. You just can’t have it yet, and that is final.

Here is another soft promise on my part. SPECIAL DELIVERY will be released in 2026. It will be a serialized novel comprised of interconnected short stories that center around moments of profound violence and corruption within the cursed town of Greymoor.

I will release SPECIAL DELIVERY in 6 installments, in one-month increments, like an old-school horror comic. One of these installments will contain the final story in the Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs series. Once that is done, because I am an insane completist, I will also release the last Blood Slugs story as a stand-alone book.

Now, let's tie this all back to the first part of this blog. Why am I only willing to commit to 3 blogs a month? Because I am insane, and all of this is turning out to be way more work than I thought. I have spent every second of free time trying to get my socials up so I can promote, designing cover art and advertising, formatting the books for print and eBook for multiple publishing platforms, trying to find a way to have my own online bookshop without a middleman, trying to get on Godless.com, getting reviewers for the first release, starting a TikTok because now I have to do video content too…

The point is, I am living and breathing promotion and publishing so much that I have barely found time to write. So now, I must go and make good on all the big talk I just did. One of those Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs stories hasn’t even been started yet, but I won’t tell you which one.

Do me a favor and get the hell off my lawn! But before you go, order yourself a copy of “Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs—A Night on the Town” right now because it releases in a couple of days, and you want that eBook the second it releases, or you want the paperback to ship before the release date.

Love you.

Bye.