Forrest’s Comments (group member since Nov 13, 2012)

Forrest’s comments from the Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" group.

S.E. wrote: "Happy 45, Forrest!"

Thank you, Seth!

"It's been a good day. I didn't even have to use my AK."

Tomorrow is my birthday. For this birthday, I'm giving some gifts. It's another Heraclix & Pomp giveaway! This time, I'm putting up 2 signed ARCs as prizes for readers in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Please let your friends know!

Can't believe I didn't post this earlier! I am giving away a signed ARC of Heraclix & Pomp! Open to US and CA residents at this time, though I might have another copy later on that I can give away to anyone in the world. You can enter the giveaway here:

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

And read the reviews, so far, here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Best of luck!!!

Charles wrote: "glad the surgery came out successful!"

Thank you, Charles! It's still going to take a while to fully recover, but I'm on the right track!

Periklis wrote: "Forrest wrote: "I have, admittedly, been absent a lot lately. One reason is because of back surgery (successful, thankfully) and the other is because I have been VERY busy with edits of my upcoming..."

Thanks, Periklis! I understand - the more I work on edits of my own novel, the deeper I am buried (or at least the deeper my bedroom is buried) under books to be read!

S.E. wrote: "Forrest wrote: "I have, admittedly, been absent a lot lately. One reason is because of back surgery (successful, thankfully) and the other is because I have been VERY busy with edits of my upcoming..."

Thanks, Seth! Contact me directly and we can discuss timelines. 3 or 4 more weeks and I should be done with edits, but might even be able to squeeze something in during the meantime. Both Heraclix and Pomp would love to be interviewed, as would I. :)

I have, admittedly, been absent a lot lately. One reason is because of back surgery (successful, thankfully) and the other is because I have been VERY busy with edits of my upcoming novel, Heraclix & Pomp. There are no barbarians (unless you count a band of angry Cossacks or a horde of Ottoman warriors), but there are plenty of swords, evil sorcerers, and a flesh golem and fairy as the main protagonists! You can preorder it or add it to your Amazon.com wishlist RIGHT NOW! I would appreciate any help in getting the word out. I think you guys are going to love this novel, I really do! Stylistically, it's a Fritz Leiber lean, and with just as much sorcery and swordplay, plus a spoonful of 18th-Century Central European political intrigue and a dash of deep philosophical thematic issues. Please help me get the word out!

Here's the blurb:

Heraclix was dead and Pomp was immortal. That was before Heraclix’s reanimation (along with the sewn-together pieces and parts of many other dead people) and Pomp’s near murder at the hands of an evil necromancer. As they travel from Vienna to Prague to Istanbul and back again (with a side-trip to Hell), they struggle to understand who and what they are: Heraclix seeks to know the life he had before his death and rebirth, and Pomp wrestles with the language and meaning of mortality. As they journey across a land rife with revolution and unrest, they discover that the evil necromancer they thought dead might not be so dead after all. In fact, he might be making a pact to ensure his own immortality.

Steve wrote: "I just returned a contract to publish "Demons, Within and Without," a new Faceless Sons sword -and- sorcery tale, in Swords and Sorcery ezine. Link should go live soon, and I will share here when i..."

Awesome news! Looking forward to reading it.

Joe wrote: "I wanted to go with a humorous story for Dorgo the Dowser as the third story in the book, the last to have that sort of humor (and the only story told in 3rd person)because the following three stor..."

Sounds great, Joe!

Cloaks of Vermin and Fish is the first of the misadventures of Italo and Vincenzo.

Twins, thieves, and idiots, Italo and Vincenzo are drawn into a complex web of intrigue that would befuddle smarter men, but not these twins! Follow Italo and Vincenzo as they stumble on to a dark, fish-god-worshipping cult bent on destroying Renaissance Venice and find themselves in the middle of a feud between Venice’s Assassins’ and Thieves’ guild. Italo's not-very-clever plans and Vincenzo's mangling of language are on full display as they ply their . . . skills? . . . prowess? No, their dumb luck, to solving the mystery of this strange cult and the elusive artifact that everyone seems to want, but no one can seem to find, The Bottle of Eyes. Will dumb luck, piscomancy, and the boys' blades be enough to save the city? Find out for yourself, in "Cloaks of Vermin and Fish"!

S.E. wrote: "Forrest wrote: "...I have something that might work, although it's a little long..."

Something = Cloaks of Vermin and Fish...nice title. I enjoyed your work "An Apotheosis"...and this seems like ..."

Not a continuation. This one is in a more ridiculous vein. Think Laurel and Hardy as renaissance thieves with a cameo by Dagon. Yes, *that* Dagon.

I'm still really curious about Lovecraft's influence vis-a-vis an organically grown tentacular nightmare in other writer's works. I know he wrote to the others a lot, but is there evidence of someone who did not have correspondence with him coming up with a sort of Swords and Mythos work on their own? This is where we need S.T. Joshi in the group.

S.E. wrote: "Phil, nice catch. Sword & Mythos looks like a good release. Of course, members seemed to asking for some weird S&S now (the Sword & Mythos theme is currently still winning the poll...and the Ryre..."

Dang. I wish I would have seen the Innsmouth submission guidelines. I have something that might work, although it's a little long.

On the subject of Lovecraft and his contemporaries in the "Sword and Mythos" arena - how many non-Lovecraft works, I wonder, came up with a pseudo-Cthulhu mythos ouvre/monster/god independently from Lovecraft's work? Did his tentacles reach out and grab the whole lot of them (Howard, Smith, et al), or did some sprout up on their own?

S.E. wrote: "Wanted to highlight a neat feature of this group's bookshelf (link)...

View Activity = Ratings/Reviews/Updates of book...but only the member's feedback (not all of Goodreads). So, if you want to ..."

That's a *really* nice feature, actually. My "to read" list is going to spiral out of control quickly.

Cool. I've marked Mad Shadows "to read".

Haven't tried Black Kiss yet. Fatale, Volume 2, I was just notified by Amazon, is in the mail. Can't wait!

"Moonstones" is a little too "cutesy" for my tastes, but I can see the point about stylistic similarities with hardboiled fiction. Still, I'd like to see someone do for S&S what Fatale does for Cthulhoid fiction (yes, "Cthulhoid" - or maybe "Cthulhesque"?). Maybe I'll have to give it a shot myself . . . hmm.

Thanks for pointing us to the introduction thread, Seth!

I read, edit, and write dark fantasy, surreal "literary" works, and a whole lot of other genres. I've been an S&S fan since age 7, when I was forever corrupted by stumbling on a few copies of "Savage Sword of Conan" ("Where are her clothes? Is that a head he's holding? How did that guy turn into a snake? MOM!!!!!").

As far as my own work goes, I am a World Fantasy Award-winner for having edited the Leviathan 3 anthology with Jeff VanderMeer. My own fiction has appeared in over 50 venues as far-flung as Asimov's, 3rd Bed, American Letters & Commentary, Exquisite Corpse, and Postcripts, to name a few. I also have some of my work up on Smashwords (couple of free stories there, if you're interested, though I don't consider either one S&S).

My reading tastes run the gamut. Seriously, I can't categorize them. And I go in waves. I didn't read S&S for a long time, mostly while I was in college. But I came back "home" in time, and here I am.

I also run a blog, Forrest For The Trees, where I post my goodreads reviews, rant about some things, and blather aimlessly on such topics as dark chocolate and wandering my beautiful city of Madison, Wisconsin.

Well, my deep, dark secret is that my agent owns the book, not me! So I borrowed it from him . . . for a long time. Just returned it a few weeks back. Got sick of trying to keep it nice. :)

Mike's work in Death is No Obstacle was largely about his initial writing process: how to get ideas, how to write quickly, how to keep the story moving (something dramatic should happen every four pages, for instance), etc. I was simply reading the finished product, so I didn't get to see him actually mid-process. He was very good about receiving editorial critique, though. A gentleman and a scholar, as they say.

I strongly recommend Moorcock's book Death is No Obstacle. Frankly put, the best book on writing I've read. Besides, Mike is a great guy (I worked with him while editing Leviathan 3). It's pricey, if you can find it, but worth it!