Chaosynthesis: Sequence #2.74
On July 4, 1776, a group of men gathered in Pennsylvania to sign a document proclaiming the independence of the American colonies from British rule. The Revolutionary War ensued, or resumed, depending on one’s outlook, and the United States of America sought its footing at the beginning of a long, rocky road, though short in comparison to many other nations of the old world.
“Who am I?” America has asked, a young country full of vitality and vision, and seeking its own way.
Independent? The land of the free, home of the brave? At the time Francis Scott Key penned the lyrics to what would become the country’s national anthem, crafted to the melody of an English drinking song, slavery would remain a part of that romanticized land of the free for many years to come, and American women would not gain the right to vote in elections until more than a century later.
America, the idea, shining promises of freedom and independence, versus America the outcome, having made immense strides along a difficult road of years, decades, and centuries of careful but unceasing steps, yet stumbling every so often.
In recent times, we have seen a backpedaling of women’s individual rights. As well, I continue to read news of book banning, bans on entertainment and freedom of expression in general, as with the immediate example of drag shows, and I have learned of, or in some cases spoken to, writers who have been terminated from their positions at an assortment of jobs due to the content of their written work. We are witnessing a clear push for heightened censorship.
My stance on censorship remains as it always was. Fuck censorship.
Welcome to the Chaos Synthesizer.
On a more pleasant note, it appears I am one of a handful of nominees for the Michael Knost Wings Award. The award recognizes up-and-coming writers of speculative and/or dark fiction, or authors who have been in the business for a while, but have not gained the recognition they might deserve.
While I’m not certain which camp I fall into, it is an honor to be considered. Other nominees include, in alphabetic order, John F. Allen, Anton Cancre, Elizabeth Donald, and Sandy Lender.
The award is named for Michael Knost, 2015 recipient of the Horror Writers Association’s Silver Hammer Award for his work in the organization’s mentorship chair, a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning editor, a legend in the genre, and a phenomenal individual whose character defines compassion. I have two volumes of The Writers Workshop of Horror on my shelf of writing reference materials, valuable resources, both edited by Michael Knost.
The winner will be announced during the Imaginarium Awards Banquet on Saturday, July 15, at the Holiday Inn Louisville East in Louisville, KY.
Cats, Cats, Cats
Just over a year ago, a random cat wandered into my garage. What resulted was an explosion of kittens. At one time, we had eleven cats.
With assistance from friends and our local cat shelter, Jen’s Kitty Rehab, we managed to find homes for most. While in central Oklahoma for SoonerCon over the past weekend, we had the opportunity to visit with one of those, Vixen. Meanwhile, two others, Princess Butterbeans and Milo, are living comfortably down in Texas.
We still have the mother cat, Cleo, who roamed into the garage following our return from last year’s StokerCon in Denver, and her two orange twins, Ramses and Riff-Raff, which, in addition to our original three, leaves us with a total of six cats.
This concludes today’s session of cat math.
I’ve spoken more about this incident and discussed some of my characters and current works, as well as writing in general and my definition of success, in a brand-new interview at Literate-Ly magazine. You can read it here.
Events
The Black Carmenia book tour continues in support of my newest novel of cosmic and psychological horror, Oblivion’s Child. A few events remain for the year.
July 14-16, 2023: Imaginarium in Louisville, KY.
August 5-6, 2023: Oklahoma City’s Horror Con in Oklahoma City, OK.
August 11-13, 2023: KillerCon in Austin, TX.
For a bit of early news, I have already committed to AuthorCon III, coming in 2024 to Williamsburg, VA.
For additional updates, watch http://tommybsmith.net.
And of course, if you:
While Twitter still exists, you can also follow me there: http://www.twitter.com/penofchaos
And/or Facebook, via my author page: http://www.facebook.com/authortommybsmith
Until the next, friends and readers. Thanks for listening. Or reading, as the case may be.
Love and Destruction,
Tommy B.