Zhadi’s Den

That’s right, tomorrow (Monday, May 17th) at 1pm PST, we will be talking about our newly released book WHAT WOMEN REALLY WANT IN BED!  Got questions?  Call in!

Feel free to tell your friends and fans to call in to the show
1 (877) 205.9796

Show can be heard by SIRIUS and XM radio subscribers.
Playboy Radio SIRIUS and XM 99, between the hours of
11am and 3pm PST.

Visit www.playboyradio.com <http://www.playboyradio.com/> for more information.

Received via email today:

Dear Cynthia & Dana,
Greetings from Religious Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Living Word
Publishing Ministry here in Nigeria . A member of the Christan books
sellers association of Nigeria ,(cban).We are highly committed to
printing and distributing of Christian and Motivational books in
Nigeria and some West African Countries.

After going through your web address, we came across your books with
great potentials and we wish to inform you that we are interested in
the books and therefore, officially solicit for your permission to
reprint and distribute in Nigeria . However, let us know your
condition[s] attach if any.
The books

1,What Men Really Want In Bed by Cynthia W. Gentry

2,What Women Really Want in Bed by Cynthia W. Gentry

Contact us at
Religious Broadcasting Inc.,
10 owseni street off mission Road,
Benin City , Edo State , Nigeria

That’s right, my first radio interview!  I’ll be talking to Phoebe Jordan on her Blog Talk Radio show, “Talk About My Favorite Authors.”     The times are: 6-7:30pm PST/8-9:30pm CST/9-10:30pm EST.  The call in number if you have questions you’ve been dying to ask me is:

(347) 857-2123

 Go to the link above for more information and I hope to see…er…hear you there!  

Looking for some romance?  A fan of zombies?  Interested in seeing how the two genres combine?  Check out Hungry For Your Love at Ravenous Romance!   This unique anthology includes stories by yours truly (that’s me, writing under my own name this time), Kilt Kilpatrick, Isabel Roman, Brian Keene, and John Skipp…er…I mean, Gina McQueen.  Who we think is John Skipp in drag!  And plenty of other authors whose work I can’t wait to devour…  

Sorry… I had to say it.   

BACK FROM THE DEAD AND READY TO PARTY

Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox, and Unusual collects 40 stories from the cult nonfiction magazine, Morbid Curiosity.  These are the editor’s favorites about growing up Mormon in the bathtub of the dead, assisting a friend’s suicide, attending a Black Mass, and much more.  The book includes stories from all ten issues of the magazine, leaning heavily toward the early out-of-print issues. See what you’ve missed! 

http://charnel.com/morbidcuriosity or http://books.simonandschuster.com/9781439124666

MORBID CURIOSITY IN PICTURES AND MUSIC

You can get a taste of the book through the Morbid Curiosity book trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2euCWtVxFA

IN THE FLESH

There are a slew of book release events planned, from radio interviews to an enormous party at Borderlands to a crossover event between the Thrillpeddlers and the most scandalous contributors to Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues.  There will even be side trips to Half Moon Bay, Berkeley, and Seattle.  All the tour information is up at http://booktour.com/author/loren_rhoads.

NEXT WEEKEND

Friday, October 2 - 8 p.m. reception, 8:30 reading.

Stories Books and Café in LA hosts the first Morbid Curiosity event.  Editor Loren Rhoads will discuss and read from the new book.  Please join her for complimentary beer and wine. Stories Books and Café, 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.  More information at 213.413.3733 or http://www.storiesla.com/

*

Saturday, October 3 - 6-9 p.m. Opening Reception & Book Signing

To celebrate the publication of Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues, Loren gathered prints, photographs, and original artwork to showcase her favorite images from the book and magazine.  Featured artists will be Hugues Leblanc, Dorian Katz, M. Parfitt, Suzanne Dechnik, Erik Quarry, Mike Hunter, R. Samuel Klatchko, Chris Schnapp, and Timothy Renner.

Chaos Gallery at the Museum of Death, 6301 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 323.466.8011

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2298/MC-Art-Flyer-4×6-w-trim.jpg

*

Sunday, October 4 - 11:50-2:00

West Hollywood Book Fair panel and signing, hosted by Del Howison of Dark Delicacies, featuring Loren Rhoads, Michael Hemmingson, Dana Fredsti (me!), and a special guest.

West Hollywood Park • 647 N. San Vicente Blvd • West Hollywood • MAP.  Venue information: http://www.westhollywoodbookfair.org/

And if you’ll notice on the ginchy poster, we are having the book release party on October 20th at the Hypnodrome Theater in San Francisco!  If you’re a Bay Area local and love the unusual, please come to the party!

ONLINE BOOK CLUBS

If you are a member of any online book clubs, you can rate the book and help us by drawing attention to it:

http://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Curiosity-Cures-Blues-Unorthodox/dp/1439124663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253039375&sr=8-1

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6355365-morbid-curiosity-cures-the-blues-true-stories-of-the-unsavory-unwise

http://weread.com/search/book/morbid%20curiosity%20cures%20the%20blues

http://www.librarything.com/work/8983569

I’m very excited to see this book in print and not just because one of my essays is included! Check out the table of contents!  My personal fave, btw, is Souvenir of Hell by Brian Thomas.   

Contents

Editor’s Introduction
Morbid Curiosity Changed My Life by Loren Rhoads

Childhood’s End: Growing Up Morbid
Why by M. Parfitt
You Lock it Behind You by Lee Smith
The Barbie Wrecking Yard by Michael Hemmingson
The Fruit of All Evil by John A. Domeier
Gilding the Afterlife: My Pubescence in the Bathtub of the Dead by Dean Estes
This is a Very Old Scar by Dorian Katz
The Road of Life by Simon Wood

Far From Home: Morbid Curiosity on the Road
Souvenir of Hell by Brian Thomas
Happy Trails in Southeast Asia by Jessica Eisner
Museum Pieces by Julia Solis
Amsterdam by Christine Sulewski
Dragon’s Teeth by Claudius Reich
Holiday in Genoa by Daniel McQuillan
Tracking the Zodiac by Darren Mckeeman

Gainful Employment: Morbid Things People Do for Money
Hell on Heels by Dana Fredsti
Blood Gags by Frank Burch
The Jumper and the Crabs by Kalifer Deil
A Night in the House of Dr. Moreau by R. N. Taylor
Brain Salad Surgery by Seth Flagsberg
Another Day, Another Dead Guy by Kim Poeppey-Del Rio
Halloween Hell by Mary Ann Stein

Curious Behavior: the Morbid Catchall Category
Prelude and Fugue State for Roadkill (An Accident Report) by William Selby
Thanksgiving at Bel’s by Mehitobel Wilson
Feed by Katrina James
The Black Mass by Gravity Goldberg
The Pain of Art vs. the Art of Pain by Christopher R. Bales
Be Careful What You Ask For… by Vance Yount
The Bomoh by A. M. Muffaz

Medical Adventures: Morbid Medicine
Killing Max by JD
Slippery Little Devil by T. M. Gray
DIY Urology by Geoff Walker
Donating My Body to Science by Wm. Rage
Needles in the Spine by Dalton Graham
Man-o-gram: Guys Shouldn’t Give Milk by Maurice G. Broaddus

Beyond Death: Exploring Behind the Curtain
Finding Paul by George V. Neville-Neil
In Grandpa’s House by Trilby Plants
Going into Tombs by Hugues Leblanc
Love Among the Tombs: Adventures in Forensic Anthropology by Leilah Wendell
Grandmarama by Allegra Lundyworf
The Keeper of the Shop by Jill Tracy

Epitaph: the Final Word on Morbid Curiosity
The Mortician’s Gift by Loren Rhoads

Color me embarrassed, but I forgot to post about this earlier!  I’m part of a virtual writers’ conference being put on by the lovely and talented Gayle Trent, author of Murder Takes the Cake (highly recommended by Yours Truly!).   Authors, editors and agents share war stories and advice at this cost free, cyber-conference.  To quote Gayle’s introductory speech, “So while we will not be serving food, what we will be serving up is plenty of helpful information and advice. This advice will come from authors, journalists, freelance writers, columnists, editors, publishers and agents. Two agents are seeking new clients. Come back on Friday for more information on those agents and the types of manuscripts they’re looking for.”   For the rest of her intro, go here.

My article is here, but I encourage you to read all of the posts and check back later for new ones!  In the archives are fun and informative articles on the editing process, fan fic, writing YA, and much more!

Tuesday night I participated in a mystery writer panel along with fellow authors Ann Parker (Silver Rush mysteries), Mark Coggins (August Riordan series) and Camille Minichino (Periodic Table mystery series) at the Castro Valley Library.

To the right are me and Ann, while below Ann and I listen in evident fascination to Mark.  And below that you can see throngs (yes, that’s right!  Throngs!) of audience members coming up after the talk to buy copies of our books.  That’s Camille at the far end of the table, btw.  All in all a very satisfying event!

K. A. Laity at Wombat’s World and Sia McKye both ran interviews with me today. I feel very popular. 

Please visit these lovely ladies’ blogs and show them some love!

Now excuse me while I bask in my moment in the sun…   

This is actually a ‘reprint’ of a post I wrote a year ago for my first blog book tour.  Since I hadn’t ‘met’ a lot of my readers back then, I wanted to repost it ’cause I’m particularly fond of it.  Also, it goes hand in hand with an interview the lovely Jean Henry Mead did with me for her new blog Mysterious People.  Please check it out!  And now…on with the post!

To quote Wikipedia:

“An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby.”

Tonight I was part of a panel of mystery writers at the West Portal Library.  I actually instigated the panel when Jess Lourey and I were on the first leg of our Thelma and Louise book tour and hitting all the bookstores and libraries in the Bay Area that we could hit in one day.  Terri and Melissa were the librarians on duty and they were as friendly and receptive as any non-famous author could desire.  They were definitely interested in having a mystery themed panel at the library and I was up for putting one together.  The panel included:

Kelli Stanley, (Nox Dormienda, the first Roman Noir mystery.

Melanie West (Conflict of Interest),

Peter Gessner (The Big Hello and the Long Goodbye);

(this was the biggest jpg of Peter’s cover I could find);

and (bats eyelashes demurely) Yours Truly,

Dana Fredsti (Murder for Hire: The Peruvian Pigeon.)

(I had a BIG jpg on hand)

Dave Fitzgerald was the moderator at my request  - I knew he’d make sure all four of us had equal microphone time and keep things moving along.

See, depending on the personality of the authors, panels can be highly entertaining and informative, or great cures for insomnia.  Sometimes one panelist will monopolize the entire session, the alpha wolf in the author pack, snapping and snarling if another writer dares to get to close to the kill (i.e. audience attention). If they don’t snap and snarl, they just don’t. stop. talking.  And if the moderator can’t take control, things spiral out of control, less extroverted panelists get shut out and no one is happy except the narcissist who wouldn’t shut up.

I am pleased to announce that not only did Dave keep the panel moving after first giving each of us well researched introductions and a chance to say a little bit about ourselves, but all four writers understood the concept of give and take.  No one tried to monopolize the panel, answers to questions sparked comments from the rest of us, and the audience members (some of whom none of us had met before, always exciting) were responsive and had plenty of questions of their own.

The only glitch for me was having it held in the children’s room of the library and the only reason that was an issue was because a ‘bitch’ slipped out during one of my answers (why did you write your mystery in the first place?  Because I worked with a total bitch and wanted to kill her) and there were still a couple of kids squirreled away in a corner with the computers.  I quickly changed my reply rating from PG to G.

So my question to my fellow bloggers and authors: what’s the worst panel experience you’ve ever had?  The best?   And if you’ve never been on one, but attended as an audience member, same questions.  Add to that, what makes a panel enjoyable for you?  And what makes you want to throw bricks at the panelists?

Inquiring minds want to know.