Dan's Favorite Heavy Metal of 2018

I'm wrapping up a two year stint as a reviewer for MetalExpressRadio.com having reviewed nearly one hundred albums, and have contributed my 2018 "best of" radio show, which will air on New Years' Eve. Here's a sneak peak of my favorite releases of the year:

13-11. Judas Priest--Firepower, Dee Snider--For The Love of Metal, Lizzy Borden--My Midnight Things. I cheated and made my top eleven a top thirteen, putting these battle-scarred veterans and their commendable releases in a three-way tie for 11th.

10. Fantasy Opus--The Last Dream Complexly layered, epic in scope, reminds me of late Arch-era Fates Warning while sounding nothing like them.

9. Last Pharoah --The Mantle of Spiders A very NWOBHM sounding debut from an American band. Lots of fun and what a great title and an especially great title track.

8. Against Evil!--All Hail the King! A thrash band from India that has some sonic similarities to Death Angel, one of my favorite bands, all time. Punchy.

7. Sonic Prophecy- Savage Gods Another fun band with a classic metal sound. "Night Terror" is an especially good track.

6. My Regime--A Peek Through The Pines I fell in love with My Regime with last years' Deranged Patterns. This one is a bit less Slayeresque, sounding somewhat in between Deranged Patterns and last year's Shadows Remain from Band of Spice, ringleader Spice's other current product. He's had a prolific and varied career; check out Spiritual Beggars as well.

5. Witherfall--A Prelude To Sorrow Their second album; get last years' Nocturnes and Requiems also. Intricate, expertly crafted metal that reveals more nuance with repeated listening. "Portrait" off their debut was one of my favorite songs of the year.

4. Dark Hound--Dawning American stoner/thrash metal; seek out their first couple independent releases. Hard hitting and heavy.

3. Sin Theta--"No Allegiance" My #3 pick isn't for an album at all, but an unreleased demo track that I just happened to run across in the metalexpressradio folders. Eight minutes of metal bliss, stellar performances at every position in a song packed with great ideas and riffs. I must have run twenty miles on the treadmill this year just listening to this song. 2019 should see them release their debut EP.

2. Ascendant-A Thousand Echoes  Debut album from a Dubai-based band, three members of which grew up in Syria. Unbelievably good songcraft from a new band whose emotive power and song structures hearken to Powerslave-era Iron Maiden. Lindsay Schoolcraft lends vocals on the haunting "Morning Light", a standout track (a ghost story!) on an album utterly devoid of weakness. I can't recommend this one enough.

1. Voivod--The Wake Their best album, especially when packaged with the Post Society EP of a few years ago and a live set. The spirit of Piggy is strong in this one, an endlessly thrilling album from an iconic and sui generis band.

Thanks to all at MeralExpressRadio.com for some great times and great music!

Soccer Zombies and BMH1kx

I sponsored my son's soccer team, and so was given a section of the promotional shirt to, well, promote. I struggled with what to have my corner of the shirt read; a big ad for Break My Heart 1,000 Times didn't seem conducive to the tough and gritty competitive spirit required for the soccer field, and the tagline I invented for the Gen Dead series, "Some of My Best Friends are Dead" seemed equally inappropriate for a U-14 soccer team.

As you can see (top right) I went with my trusty brand name, with website and titles in a small font.

I was secretly hoping that they would name the team the Griswold Zombies, but no such luck. Maybe next year.

Don't forget: Release day for Break My Heart 1,000 Times is...tomorrow! Buy three or four copies and give to all of your spooky friends to read for Halloween! Or buy the special Bite-Sized edition to drop in unsuspecting trick or treaters' bags!*

* (Disclaimer: the special Bite-Sized editions of BMH1kx exist only in my mind; any edition of BMH1kx may prove harmful if swallowed)

Also, check out this wonderful review from Lost In A Great Book if you are still on the fence: Lost In A Great Book

Break My Heart 1,000 Times Reviews and Interviews

Will these reviews break my heart? See for yourself: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY RIFFS AND REVIEWS Will this interview reveal how many times my own heart has been broken? THE MILITANT RECOMMENDER Lots of linkage will follow over the next month--I'm going on a Blog Tour! Wheeeeee! Time to pack!

Break My Heart 1000 Times Movie News--I Am Not Daniel Waters

Directors are onboard!  I know what movie I'm going to see this weekend!

Gold Circle Films has hired Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, directors of The Words, which opens this week, to direct BMH1kx from the fantastic script that Jason Fuchs wrote!

Read the article from The Hollywood Reporter HERE

There are also similar articles HERE and HERE and also HERE.  A couple dozen articles appeared on the internet since the announcement yesterday, and I read as many as I could find because a). I am a raving egomaniac and b). because I thought it would be fun to find out how long it would take before an article mistakenly identified me as the Daniel Waters of Heathers fame (answer: within 12 hours of the announcement).  I'm a great fan of the man's work, and I love that we both have brothers named Mark, but I am not Daniel Waters!  A few of the many articles botch other similarly minor details like the synopsis, characters, etc., but, That's Entertainment!

I wanted to link to the very nice Kirkus  review for BMH1kx, but that won't post until two weeks before the release date of OCTOBER 16.  And speaking of October, Matthew Dow Smith's brilliant second issue of OCTOBER GIRL is available at Comixology, for less than a dime a page.  You can't go wrong.

Also, here is a very nice review of the book from The Scribbler in the Rye HERE. I love having a review on a site which also is a Salinger reference.  Like Phoebe.

(I covered the not-being-Dan Waters thing HERE, on my very first blog post.  In 2007!  Time, time, time, see what's become of me.

Break My Heart 1000 Times

A couple early reviews:

The Militant Recommender Written by an artist,Stephanie Piro, who did an illustration of a scene from the book!

Dark Faerie Tales A lovely site!

And an interview:Zone Out ModeBMH1kx will be out mid-October! Preorder early and often!

Phoebe's Playlist

I'm sometimes asked via posts to my blog or at book events to talk about what I like to listen to (or, even more often, what Phoebe and Margi like to listen to) when I'm writing. My usual answer--"almost anything"--may seem like a cowardly dodge, but considering that there are currently 33,422 songs on my iPod, I assure you it is a true statement.

That said, I tend to have certain things on in a heavier rotation during certain projects. I'm listening to a lot of Miles Davis and Flying Saucer Attack for something I'm working on now, for example. GD and KOL were written while under the influence of a number of specific songs and albums, and I got the chance to write about a few of them for the wonderful blog LARGEHEARTED BOY, which, in addition to reviews and news about music and literature, also has two great sections, "Book Notes" and "Note Books", featuring authors writing about songs, and songwriters writing about books, respectively.

Click the link to read about what I listened to at the start of writing the GD series--I guarantee that both Phoebe and Margi have these songs on their iPods!--but budget your time, because you are going to want to click around and read what all of the other great writers and musicians have to say about the works that inspired them.

Three Cheers for Necromancy

Necromancy Never Pays, that is, one of my favorite literature blogs. I first came across the blog when I was obsessively googling myself (insecure egomaniac that I am) in the months that followed the publication of Generation Dead. Jeanne wrote an essay/review of the book entitled Fiction and Lies. I've been a fan of Jeanne's commentary ever since. I think I'd even enjoy her blog if she slammed my books, she's so interesting.

Okay, that's a lie. The enjoying it if she slammed me part, not the part about her being interesting. I'd probably start sniveling and have to jog an extra mile the way I always do when someone sends me a lousy review (I really don't google myself anymore!). But check out Fiction and Lies; she doesn't let me completely off the hook but then again she accurately nails so much of what I was trying to do I don't mind.

She's also written a review of Kiss of Life that you can find by clicking the first link above, but don't stop there--click around and discover some of the best writing on writings available out on the blogosphere.

And This Concludes The Tour...For Now

The final stop on the Spring Kiss of Life Tour was in one of my favorite towns, Salem, Massachusetts. I had an excellent time at the excellent Cornerstone Bookshop. A personal highlight was meeting Michelle, a librarian who writes Tempting Persephone, one of my favorite book blogs. Michelle, although she didn't realize it, was very dear to my heart because A). she wrote one of the first, and kindest, reviews of Generation Dead to hit the web and B). she picked on an intricacy within the book that few before or since have commented on, and as I am a shameless egomaniac that really meant a lot to me. Turns out that she is as cool as her blog, which is to say very, very cool indeed.

And she's giving away a signed copy of Generation Dead at her blog now, if you know anyone that wants one! Read about it HERE

Speaking of contests, Zombie Waters is still without an official name...post your suggestion to the blog for your chance to win the U.K. edition of Generation Dead!

Despite having been to Salem about 72 times in my life, I'd never visited the House of the Seven Gables, which is odd because the book that bears its name is one of my favorites, as is the author of the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Well worth the trip if you find yourself in Salem and are looking for something a little less witchy to do.

There's still some witchy connection there, though. Nathaniel changes his name from "Hathorne" to "Hawthorne", because he wanted to dissociate from certain relatives, especially John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials, as he was ashamed of his family's role in the trials.

You know who else was involved with the Salem Witch Trials? A minister by the name of Increase Mather. His son Cotton Mather, also a minister, had influence on the trials as well.

Wouldn't it be weird if Reverend Nathan Mathers also changed his name, adding the "S", to distance himself from his illustrious ancestors? Hmmm.

From the Tomb!!

A special thrill for me is having GD reviewed in #27 of From the Tomb magazine, out now. I haven't even read the review yet; it could trash the book for all I know, that's how happy I am to be in this magazine's pages! FTT is an oversized, graphics-heavy magazine published in England that covers all sorts of horror and science fiction goodness from the past, with articles on great and obscure comics, pulps, books, and other cultural curio alongside interviews with the people who made them great. My favorite issue was the "Invaders From Mars" issue, which not only had an article on the original Mars Attacks cards from 1954, it had a couple of covers from the comic book Mr. Monster, a Michael T. Gilbert classic that was the publication that gave me my first rejection letter! I submitted a couple comic scripts back when I was a wee lad. I still keep over my desk decades later!



















Anyone interested in subscribing to From the Tomb or buying an individual issue can contact the publisher Peter at Peter.Normanton(at)btinternet.com. Be advised, From the Tomb occasionally contains rated R-ish material!

GD Meets GB

There is a nice review of Generation Dead in the new issue of Margi's favorite magazine, Gothic Beauty, on sale at fine bookstores everywhere.


















And speaking of gothic beauty, today's art pieces are from Bryony. I love the way Bryony remixed the artwork for the U.K. cover on this piece with Tommy:















And also how the color scheme of Kiss of Life was anticipated by this piece of Phoebe:





Thanks, Bryony!

Let's Interactive!

Many thanks to Becca for allowing me to post the above video review. I swear neither I nor Skip Slydell bribed her in any way, although I may be paying her kindness back with a visit to the library where she works. Has anyone else noticed my empty calendar at right???

Happy of the Day

Our love is overdue

My editor sent me an email today letting me know that Generation Dead was named to Kirkus Review's Best YA Books of 2008.

Wow.

I'm too stunned to even manage an adequate happy dance. Maybe with a little help from the Vince Guaraldi Trio, so fun to play at this time of year...

Thanks, Kirkus!

Texas is the Reason

I love the place...am I misunderstood?

Today I sang, without accompaniment, the entire song "Astronomy Domine" to my puppy, Star. She was confused. As am I. Why do we do the things that we do?

Going to Texas in just a few days. I love Texas, so much coolness comes out of Texas it isn't even funny. I'm going to meet a bunch of great people, see a friend I haven't seen in (gulp)seventeen years, hang out with the dream team from Hyperion, and hopefully sign a few books. My favorite book concerning Texas? Texas Music by Rick Koster. My favorite pulp writer from Texas? Robert E. Howard. My favorite culinary delight from Texas? Texas Toast. My favorite horror punk band from Texas? Ghoultown. My favorite Texan nickname? Tex. My favorite sports nickname from Texas? Phi Slamma Jamma. Favorite basketball player from Texas? Clyde Drexler. Favorite sport statistic from Texas? Clyde Drexler's near quadruple double, Nov. 1 1996 vs. Sacremento:25 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 10 steals

Oops, I'll be in San Antonio, just a stone's throw from the Alamo. They might not appreciate all that Houston love, I don't know.

I could go on and on about all the great things about Texas, but instead I'll write later about all the great things I see and experience when I'm out there.

Generation Dead got some nice ink in Publishers Weekly this week, along with a number of other great books in a sort of "state of the YA supernatural market" article. You can check it out here: The Next Dead Thing.

The New York Times on Zombies

Yesterday the New York Times reviewed Generation Dead and Brian James' Zombie Blondes!

Read all about it here.

Also, I've added an Interviews section to the links on the right. I appreciate the various interviewers' attempts to make me sound intelligent.

Keep an Eye on Summer

I'm having some trouble coalescing my thoughts for "Under the Influence, Part III" and didn't think anyone would be interested in reading the ten pages I'd written thus far. What is a blog, anyhow? Is it entertainment? Information? Infotainment? Edutainment? Entermation? Mindless blather? A masochistic form of therapy? None of the above?

I'll edit, and post. In the meantime, some interesting bits of Generation Dead infoedutaintionment available on the web:

An interview with me at Yapping About YA:here.

An interesting website which breaks down some of the tropes in GD, TV Tropes. Many books and movies are discussed on the site and it would probably be useful for completing homework assignments or possibly broadening one's reading/viewing pleasure. Warning: Mild Spoilers: here.

The website of CJ Bott, Bulliesinbooks.com. Ms. Bott is an educational consultant who "uses literature to start the discussion on bullying." I was honored that she selected GD for reasons I've written about elsewhere in the blog. You can check it out here.

The first review from across the pond, that I'm aware of anyhow, at TheBookbag.co.uk. I absolutely swooned when the reviewer said that the style "is kitchen sink drama with humour." Read ithere.

Speaking of the the U.K. (which I often do, and with great respect), rumour (note special pandering U.K spelling) has it that Generation Dead will appear there in full flower (ahem) on July 7.

Under the Influence--GD T-Shirt Giveaway--Video Review

I was interviewed yesterday by Dylan from Monsterlibrarian.com (I'll post a link when he posts the interview). We did the interview through IM, which was sort of weird to begin with, but I was thrown when he asked a question about my influences as regards to GD being a zombie novel.

I was thrown initially because there really weren't any zombie novels per se that we're top of mind when he asked the question--certainly not novels I'd consider an influence. Maybe the answers are buried more deeply inside my brain (my braaaaiiiiiin), and I no longer consciously recall what my influences are, at least with regards to the zombie-ish aspects of the book. Anyhow, I did come up with a few titles, which you can read about when the interview posts if you'd like.

The question of influence has been an odd one to wrap my mind around, maybe because my starting point is that everything we've read, is influential in some way. There are stylistic influences, thematic influences, and influences on one's world view. I'm going to write about my literary influences over the next few posts, I think--fair warning!

But

Before I do that, I'd like to ask a favor--if any of you who've read the book could take the time to post a comment about who you see as my influences, I'd really appreciate it. I think I know which authors and books had the greatest influence on me, but I want to know what you think.

I'll even sweeten the deal--anyone who post will be entered into a drawing for a Generation Dead t-shirt.

Also, check this cool video review out at OneMinuteCritic.

With a Hope of Making Sense

I posted a few more reviews in the links section, as well as a last minute appearance in the calendar section. If you happen to be in the Waterford, Connecticut area this Saturday around 1 p.m., stop by the local Borders, where I will be signing and discussing zombies.

P.S.--we will be raffling off one of those too-cool Generation Dead T-shirts that are all the rage these days.

Don't be caught dead--mwuh-haha-ha-ha!--without one.

Reviews + Blog of Doom Part Two

I've posted links to a number of online reviews of Generation Dead over on the right beneath the pictures. My sincere thanks to all of the reviewers for taking the time to read the book and write about it for all the world to see.

And now, for Blog of Doom Part Two: THE NIGHT DANNY GOT TO SEE HIS SKULL (Rated R for violence and gore).

I lost forty pounds the summer after I graduated from college (No, that was not the weight of my skull when it fell out of my head. It's my story, just try and be patient, willya?). I was working two jobs, writing late at night, and spending every moment I wasn't with Kim playing basketball. I really didn't start playing basketball until I was out of college, but I'd fell in like with the game watching the Huskies and then fell in love with the game watching the Bulls beat the Lakers in the '91 playoffs. I learned most of the rules and strategy playing the game on Sega Genesis.

By the end of that summer, I have to say I had skills. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say I had mad skillz, especially for a slow guy of average height, no vertical leap, massive allergies, and who'd never played in his youth. I'd still get lost in a team game, but one on one or two on two with my friend Mark G. I was pretty tough to beat.

I was rarely, if ever, the best player on the court, but I would wear people down with my intensity. I would never stop, I would never quit, and I was a terror on defence. What I lacked in speed, height and vertical, I compensated slightly for with good footwork, quick hands and a good handle. I can shoot pretty good, too. I would scrap and scrum for every single point and play. Basketball and writing were a lot alike for me in that way.

Anyhow, one night I was down at the schoolyard shooting under the lights, half-watching a rowdy five on five game in the next court. A couple other guys were shooting around too and one of them says, "Hey, let's play Canadian basketball." I'd never heard of Canadian basketball, but apparently it meant the three of us were playing against each other, with shooter's outs. I scored two before tossing a brick that one of my opponents rebounded. I moved into position to cut off his lane to the hoop, and then I discovered that Canadian basketball must have gotten it's name because it ended up being a lot more like hockey.

WHAM! The guy whipped around, trying to evade his other defender, and the top of his head, smashed into my forehead just above my left eye. I'm certain now that his head must have been covered with bony protuberances, similar to a Styrachosaurus, because instantly my head split and a long spray of blood fell spurted from me onto the asphalt.

Mr. Bony-Head was sort of wobbling around, but both he and the other each gave me a train-wreck expression. the five-on-five next court stopped also so everyone could get a good look.

"Man," one of them said, "you need to get to the doctor."

"Really?" I said. I felt great, actually. No lights, no headache, just a waterfall of blood in my eye. I walked over to my car (the Storm, this was before the drunk totalled it, and me--and saw Something New.

My skull.

I walked to my mother-in-law's house, which was right next door to the courts. She started to say hi, and then saw me and kind of shrieked. I was actually very calm despite the gore and the literal vision of my own mortality, and I cracked some jokes and tried not to notice her hands shaking as she sped me to the emergency room.

The hospital is only five minutes away, so before long I was on a table getting stitched up. The doctor thought my injury was really neat so he invited about seventeen of his doctor buddies to form a ring around me and watch him work. That was real pleasant--I fear doctors the way other people fear clowns. Still, I kept up with the joking, leaving them in stitches while they put stitches in me. Twenty-one of them later, and about as pretty as I was when I went in, I was ready to roll.

I passed Mr. Bony-Head on my way out, he ended up with a concussion. I think I got the better end of the deal, especially because after seeing my skull I had all these great ideas for stories, many of them having nothing at all to do with skulls. Plus now I could also see the future, move small objects with my mind, and fly. I'm kidding (about the flying part). But much like the encounter with the drunk driver a few years later, actually getting to see one's skull makes one think about life and how to live it in new and unanticipated ways. At least it did for me.

I still like to play basketball, although it is fair to say I've lost a step. I'm happy to say that my skull has remained inside my head where it belongs in every game since.