Month: June 2012

“Hellfire & Damnation II” Out Soon: See Introduction Below

On June 28, 2012

Vincent Chong's cover for "Hellfire & Damnation II"

Rising star in the horror genre Jason V Brock, who both writes and publishes, has penned the Introduction to “Hellfire & Damnation II,” the sequel to “Hellfire & Damnation,” a collection of short stories, both of which revolved around the framing device of Dante’s “Inferno” and the 9 Circles of Hell (and each crime punished therein.)

The first book (www.HellfireandDamnationTheBook.com) was a 47,000 word collection of stories. This second book is longer, at 53,000 words, and contains approximately 25 pictures to illustrate the work, plus a From the Author section describing how each story was inspired.

The E-book should be ready for purchase from Amazon and Barnes & Noble by July. The paperback, from The Merry Blacksmith Press, is scheduled for Labor Day release. In addition to the Introduction by Jason V Brock, blurbs are tentatively slated from Fran Friels (2006 Stoker Finalist “Momma’s Boy”), Gary Braunbeck, Nate Kenyon, Terrie Leigh Relf, and Brian Pinkerton.

Introduction:

A World Gone to Hell

The Italian poet Dante Alighieri is a tough act to follow. His epic poetry tour de force, the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), ranks as one of the single greatest achievements in all of world literature. It was a major reason that the dialect from his native Firenze (Florence, Italy, later to be the cradle of the greatest Renaissance in Europe) was codified as the principal language of Italy, even to the present day. One segment of this magnum opus, the Inferno, is among only a handful of literary pieces that has transcended its creator’s original intentions to rank in the same echelon as (among others) Homer’s dual narratives The Iliad and The Odyssey, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and The King James Edition of The Bible. Not only are these works a core foundation of Western thought and erudition, but they also stand as monumental artistic expressions of unfettered genius. The other two pieces of Dante’s Commedia – the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso – while dazzling efforts, do not quite rise to the same level as the Inferno.

The fact of its rank among humankind’s singular greatest creative representations – not to mention its powerful political subtexts and religious preoccupations — has not intimidated others from trying to emulate Dante and his astonishing feat. Nor should it: Dante’s masterpiece has inspired writers, artists, dramatists, musicians — even filmmakers — for hundreds of years, as any great work should. Such is the power of the written word wielded by a keen intellect, honed by a sharp wit, and expressed with passionate conviction.

The book in your possession is an example of one of the many attempts at something new that has taken Dante’s seminal classic as a springboard. Additionally, author Connie Corcoran Wilson has chosen to pay direct homage to the Italian maestro by capitalizing on his reputation for political acumen, scathing characterizations, and the fascinating physical structure of his conceptualization of the Underworld. In lesser hands, this could easily become a silly contrivance, or even an irritant, but I am pleased to report that Wilson not only pulls it off, she also leaves the reader wanting more, and renews interest in the original work that obviously so inspired her in the process.

When I first met Connie, she was a bit of a blur: Fast-talking, fast moving, on the run. I had a passing acquaintance with her work through our mutual connection to William F. Nolan. Once we were able to talk a little, and I read more of her work, I was pleased to see that she had an abundance of talent, a lot of drive, and was a good writer, to boot! I don’t report that lightly: Earth is polluted with the detritus of godawful grammar, infected by an accumulation of misplaced modifiers, populated with the teeming chimera of egregiously mixed metaphors. With the Print on Demand (POD) boom, the sadly abundant illiterati have proliferated at an astonishing pace. One thing I’ve noticed: Bad writers suffer from logorrhea. They write, all right, and write a lot. Enter Connie Corcoran Wilson: She has a brevity that is refreshing, a style that is stripped down, yet evocative, and cool ideas. She’s also funny, down-to-earth, and courteous. Who better to lead us through Hell and back? I was flattered that she asked me to craft an Introduction, and was even more pleased that the book was in the manner of Dante, one of my personal literary heroes. Even better, it was patterned after the Inferno, one of my all-time favorite pieces of literature.

So, how is the book? Well, in the first of the eleven tales (divided among the Nine Circles of Hell as defined by Dante), we have an interesting reversal of the Inferno. We begin our plummet into the chaos that is Hell with a character in Circle One: Limbo (by way of the story Cold Corpse Carnival) who is communicating to us beyond death, and in a state of being permanently frozen (in the Inferno, Satan is imprisoned in the Ninth Circle of Hell, which is a dark, frozen wasteland as far from the warmth of the sun [and therefore Paradise] as can be imagined). It is an auspicious and fascinating start to our voyage into the black heart of humanity. As we assume the unconscious role of Dante, Wilson metaphorically dons the mantle of a dispassionate, but silently contemplative, Virgil. This sleight-of-hand is effective and strangely comforting, allowing us to experience the horrors yet to come at a safe, albeit painful, distance.

Wending our way ever downward, through the terrible events in Circle Two: Lust (particularly the well-executed The Shell), past Circle Three: Gluttony (The Champagne Chandelier), and into Circle Four: Avarice and Prodigality (with the haunting, meditative A Spark on the Prairie), Wilson hits her stride. In this heartbreaking and compelling episode of our government’s institutionalized genocide of Native America, the shame, regret, and loss are sharp, and Wilson demonstrates some fine writing chops, avoiding pity even as she examines the horror up close (the opening quotation is chilling, and all-too accurate).

Suffice it to say that Wilson acquits herself nicely in the stories that follow. Whether dealing with family secrets and their unintended consequences (Letters to LeClaire, from Circle Six: Heresy), wordplay with a political menace (Oxymorons from Circle Eight: Fraudulent Behavior, Political Corruption), the tragi-comic repercussions of a sudden impulse to murder (Circle Seven: Violence and the story Room Service), or the icy deliberations that lead people to misjudge those they thought they knew, and ultimately are their own undoing (The Bureau from Circle Nine: Treachery has the feel of something that Old Scratch would perpetrate), Connie Wilson does an outstanding job of creating believable characters enmeshed in nightmarish scenarios. She also brings a bit of levity and black humor to the proceedings, à la Dante (namely both stories in Circle Five: Wrath & Sullenness; M.R.M. and A Bridge Too Far, respectively).

I enjoyed Hellfire & Damnation II and feel certain that you will, also. I think even ol’ Dante himself would have a chuckle, and an appreciation for the imaginative interpretations that Connie Wilson has brought to his Inferno! Connie, you done good.

–Jason V Brock

Vancouver, WA

2012

CTA In Chicago Crimes Are Widespread: Red Line @ Roosevelt is the Worst

By Connie Wilson

On June 28, 2012

In News, travel

Buses Are Best!

As a woman alone in Chicago much of the time, often traveling alone to my destination, is it safer to ride the bus or the ell?

That question prompted me to argue that public transportation was not necessarily the “best” way for my friend and I to travel to attend the Chicago Film Festival in October at the AMC Theaters, on Illinois Street.

She argued for public transport; I argued against it, pointing out that we would be coming home after dark. Parking your car in the AMC Theater lot, where the film festival has been held the past 2 years, costs $33 if you are there more than 4 hours, which we are if we attend multiple films. (If you are there only 4 hours, you can have your ticket validated and pay something like $17, still a horrible cost, thanks to ex-Mayor Daley selling all parking to Morgan Stanley).

Still, does having your purse or cell phone stolen, or being assaulted sound better? And that is happening at an alarming rate on the Chicago CTA, which has only kept records of such things since 2008. Furthermore, if you ARE assaulted or the victim of a robbery, chances are very slim that anyone will be caught. Arrests have been on a downward spiral for decades and are made in less than 4% of thefts (probably why so few are even reported) and only 15% of the time in robberies. If you see someone jumping a turnstile to avoid paying a fare, chances are good that someone will be involved in a crime later on, perpetrated against someone innocent other on the CTA buses or trains.

The CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) has not been very eager to reveal figures on crime(s) committed on their buses and subways. Because I live near the Roosevelt Red Line, I remember the touching story of the elderly woman who was knocked down a flight of stairs there by thugs who were attempting to steal her cell phone. She died as a result. The nurse who tried to help her commented in that story that she was still haunted by the event to this day. I am haunted by the event, because that is the train I would have to take, were I to ride the subway. But, really, with $33 parking rates, who can afford to drive and park in the city of Chicago ? The alternative is to take the Red Line, so let’s examine the “Tribune’s” findings about its safety.

The “Chicago Tribune” team of Jon Hilkevitch, Alex Bordens and Joe Germuska (Sunday, June 24) set out to find out what the true crime figures are for riders of the CTA. If you guessed that buses are safer than subways (I did), you are right. If you guessed that the Roosevelt Red Line is the most dangerous subway station of all, you are right. If you guessed that the Number One crime reported on both buses and trains is theft, you are right. [From 2009 to 2011, thefts rose +42%. Many are not even reported, since they have become commonplace.]

From 2009 through 2011, robberies of CTA passengers went up +69% (500 to 800). Many do not report being ripped off, figuring (correctly) that they’ll never see that IPhone or IPad again. However, if they are accosted at gun or knifepoint, they tend to report it, (for all the good it does.)

A second sobering statistic involved batteries on the CTA. Battery of passengers increased 15% on buses and 1% on rail in the same time period (2009-2011). But let’s be clear: the number of reported incidents on buses were about half of those reported on trains, 5,457 versus 10,759.

Q: What is the most dangerous period of the day to travel on the CTA?

A: Two o’clock in the morning. It’s actually pretty dangerous to get on a bus or train after dark, period. From 11 p.m. until 4 a.m., riding buses or trains hasn’t much to recommend it, in terms of safety. Said Mike Bjordal, a 52-year-old Iowa native who manages Leona’s restaurant in Hyde Park and rides the train home to Edgewater at 3 a.m., “The Red Line late at night is dangerous as hell.”

Bjordal’s rules: (1) Always ride the first car (2) Never make eye contact (3) Take the individual seat on the car so no one sits next to you (4) Mind your own business. Of course, “minding your own business” didn’t prevent Nicholas Antunes, age 21, from being robbed and beaten on the Red Line. Nor did it prevent Jeremy Kniola, age 35, from being robbed at gunpoint on the Blue Line. Nor did it prevent Melissa Singleton, age 43, from being the victim of a pickpocket on the bus. [Pickpocketing becomes more likely at Rush Hour and the subway platforms are among the dangerous areas.]

One victim, Kody Zaagman, 22, a pre-med student at Loyola who was robbed on the Green Line while returning to his Oak Park home says he no longer takes public transportation. “I drive everywhere now. I just don’t want to be on the train any more. It’s not worth it.”

One bright spot is this: Although 5,800 crimes were reported on the CTA in 2011, the CTA provided rides to 532 million passengers. Also, robberies on the CTA for the first 5 and 1/2 months of 2012 are down 31%, batteries are down 22% for the same period, and thefts declined 14% when compared to 2011. Now, if the Chicago police can just do something about the broad-daylight muggings being reported at bus stops in the Chicago Station District (near the Museums), I’ll hang up my car keys.

And the $240 million overhaul of the 95th Street station at 43rd and Cottage, plus a 5-year renovation of the Red Line, which promises 55 mph trains and will be completed by 2014 was reported by Mary Ann Ahern of Channel 5 only a few days ago. The station services 20,000 people daily, and is 43 years old. Despite the sobering statistics in this article, hope springs eternal and regular people who have to get to work will, no doubt, still take the bus or the ell.

Nate Kenyon Pens “Diablo: The Order”, A Novel Based on A Video Game

By Connie Wilson

On June 28, 2012

In Books, Pop Culture, Reviews

“Diablo,” is a dark fantasy/horror-themed action role-playing game that was developed by Blizzard North and released on December 31, 1996. That New Year’s Eve release preceded additional versions of the game, “Diablo II” released in 2000, and “Diablo III” released on May 15, 2012.

The game features Warriors, Rogues, Sorcerers, Monks, and a female character, the Bard. There are items that add to the fun (rings, amulets, swords, axes, maces and clubs, armor, shields, etc.)

What better method to further promote “Diablo” than a book based on the game ? And why not a book by a very good writer, whose work in the horror genre has marked him as a rising star? Nate Kenyon of the Boston area is that writer, and Diablo: The Order is the book he has written for Gallery Books, (a division of Simon & Schuster.)

It seems like only yesterday that I was reviewing Bloodstone, Kenyon’s first novel, which went on to become a Bram Stoker Finalist in 2006. I think the term I used then to describe Nate was “Stephen King Lite,” but not as a put-down: it was a reference to his small-town Maine roots.

I like Kenyon’s writing—both here and in his other books such as The Reach—because he uses complete sentences and great imagery. Here is a descriptive passage to give you a sample:

“The night was heavy and moist, and the fog had grown thicker. He could

see it pooling under the lights hung on posts, obscuring the muddy ground.

He heard his mother get up, but he did not turn around at first. Only when

he heard the crackle of flame did he whirl to find Aderes with his book in

her hand, holding it against the open lantern as the brittle, dry pages caught

fire, his mother’s eyes like pools of orange and yellow that reflected the

heat back at him.”

This kind of descriptive prowess goes a long way towards fleshing out the book Diablo and lines like “Something terrible was coming, something that would make the previous attacks seem like child’s play” help raise the bar of anticipation in this game-related book.

Coming in at 372 pages, even Kenyon, himself, notes that the Diablo universe is “amazingly complex and exciting.” There were an estimated 2.5 million copies of “Diablo” sold worldwide as of August 29, 2001. With the 2012 sequel, the audience for the game and the book is huge.

I only hope that Kenyon returns to writing books that are not necessarily based on video games. That does, indeed, appear to be happening, as he continues writing COMPLETE SENTENCES ( a rarity in fiction these days) and composing the book Day One, the story of a New York City man trying to reach his family in New Jersey in a plot described as Cloverfield meets the Terminator.

Carry on, Mr. Kenyon. I’ll be waiting for that one and cheering you on!

“The Color of Evil” Will Be On Virtual Tour in June

By Connie Wilson

On June 5, 2012

In Books, Local, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

"The Color of Evil"

My novel The Color of Evil goes on a Virtual Tour of book blogger sites this month. The tour dates and stops are below. The journey begins June 18th.

If you want to read others’ reactions to this first-in-a-trilogy novel about Tad McGreevy, a young boy with paranormal abilities who must battle evil to save the lives of those he loves, consult this schedule for book bloggers’ reactions. Tad McGreevy has the ability to see auras around others that tell him whether a person is good or evil. In dreams, later, he “sees” the acts of the evil-doers.

As this is my first solo novel outing, I hope the bloggers will be kind. I’ve become quite invested in Tad and Stevie Scranton and Jenny SanGiovanni and the rest of the book’s many characters. I’d like to think that Book 2 (“Red Is for Rage”) and Book 3 will be eagerly anticipated as the adventures continue, and I hope it will be available by Christmas.

For the current book (and all others), locally, stop at the Book Rack in Moline or Bettendorf, where a local author section exists and all books are to be found in paperback and/or hardcover. The book is also available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble in Kindle, Nook and paperback formats.

Color of Evil Tour Stops for Website:

Moonlight Gleam June 18 Giveaway & Guest Post

Good Choice Reading June 19 Giveaway & Guest Post

Books & Quilts June 20 Review

Just Another Rabid Reader June 21 Review

Just Another Rabid Reader June 22 Giveaway & Guest Post

MN Girl in LA June 25 Review & Giveaway

Earth’s BookNook June 26 Guest Post

Alternate Readality June 27 Review

Two Kids & Migraine June 28 Review

Two Kids & Migraine June 29 Giveaway & Guest Post

Popcorn Reads June 29 Review & Guest Post

Wormhole July 2 Review

Wormhole July 3 Interview

Donna’s Home Blog July 4 Review

Reader Girls July 3 Review

Reader Girls July 5 Giveaway & Excerpt

Twelve Tenors End Show in Chicago on Sunday, June 3rd

By Connie Wilson

On June 4, 2012

In Music, Pop Culture, Reviews

Jay McManus of the 12 Tenors and Me

The Twelve Tenors are one of the groups touring the country that were formed by 56-year-old entertainment entrepreneur David King, who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in July, 2011, for his contributions to the entertainment industry, which consist of approximately 20 touring groups, all of them inspired by King’s 1996 exposure to Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance” onstage performance(s). Recognizing that there was a worldwide market for entertainment of this sort, King went on to bet the farm (and all of his wealth) to start Spirit Entertainment and form entertainment juggernauts such as this group of 12 handsome, suited Irish tenors, all of whom introduce themselves as Irish, although some are American-born of Irish stock.

Jay McManus, one of the 12 Tenors, onstage in Chicago (6/3/2012).

The group has a theater in Branson, Missouri, which was struck by a tornado and destroyed in 2012. Dolly Parton has offered the Twelve Tenors a starring role at Dollywood this season. Chatting with me after the show about their involvement were lead dancer and one of the singers, Jay McManus, from Galway Bay, who has been with the troupe for 7 years. McManus definitely worked hard for the money. His dance moves mid-performance were a big crowd-pleaser and made most of the mature audience dizzy just watching, I’m sure.

Rhys Tees, 23, (l), youngest of the 12 Tenors & Tim Oxbrow, 33, the oldest with 7 years with the group.

The troupe also sends its members into the crowd at various points, as they sing opera favorites from “Carmen” and “Turandot,” tributes to Barry Manilow, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles, and traditional Irish favorites like “Oh, Danny Boy” and “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” In chatting with youngest member of the group Rhys Tees, who is 23 and joined the group in January of 2012, I learned that many of the group have permanent residence(s) in Branson, Missouri, and the age range goes from Rhys, the youngest, who is from London and trained at the Millennia School for the Performing Arts there to oldest-in-the-group 33-year-old Tim Oxbrow, who is single and has been with the group for 7 years.

Riverfront Tent in Chicago, seen from Japonnais Restaurant across the Chicago River.

: The 12 Tenors onstage at RiverFront Tent in Chicago, June 3, Sunday.

IWPA Silver Feather Award Presented, June 2nd, at Chicago’s Union Club

By Connie Wilson

On June 4, 2012

In News

Connie Wilson & Deidre Sommerville with the Silver Feather Award.

The Chicago chapter of IWPA (Illinois Women’s Press Association) awarded its Silver Feather award for literary excellence in a variety of genres to Connie (Corcoran) Wilson on Saturday, June 2nd, at the Union Club in downtown Chicago.

Entries were awarded points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and Honorable Mention(s) in a wide variety of journalistic areas, including print and online and radio and television media. Awards can also be awarded for Best Press Releases, Best Videos, brochures, online journalism and a host of other areas. The Mate Palmer writing awards also recognize young journalists from high school entrants with a Silver Pen award. Approximately 48 IWPA members of the local chapter, plus guests, were present for the 4 hour ceremony and luncheon.

The Silver Feather top winner then goes on to National Competition at the NAWP level, to be announced later.