OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS

My drawing schedule has cleared some and I am able to offer my services to anyone wishing to purchase them.

Need a head shot for a fan fic site? Be it a new shot of an old character or a pic of your own original character? Maybe a pin up of the hero or villain of your choice? Not limited to the supers either. I have a strong fondness for horror, sci fi and fantasy. I can work up a pencil sketch or ink it if you like. Maybe your original site needs some banner art or something for an ad to promote said site.

Christmas is coming. A little original art goes a long way.

Check out a variety of different things drawn and inked by me here: http://cwilliamrussette.deviantart.com/gallery/

I can provide references should you so desire.

Thanks for your time.

C. William Russette

The Word

Real simple.

Workin on the novel. Editing that vampire thing... one... last... time... then sending it. I wash my hands of it either way. Not the world. There's comics and novels and shorts more there. The Shaman's Skin is on it's last edit though.

Also, workin on a comic. Zain Falcon is gone. Not going into it. Developing a fantasy project now. See if I can channel some Howard and Salvatore and maybe a bit of Tolkien.

Gotta aim high right?

Watch for it, lads.

CWR
11.4.09

Waiting

Freakin hate it.

Got the art gig done. Need to rescan it.

Moving. I hate moving.

Got killed in the last draw off. To another Thor-Simonson fan no less. And it was a drawing of Sif! Thor's wife? My own fault. I waited til the last second and half assed it. Tonight we rematch for CHILDREN of LOKI. My choice of topics.

The worst though, is waiting to see if my pitch for the horror western short is getting picked up or not. Kinda like to stretch my legs on that genre or sub-genre if you will.

Hate waiting.

CWR

And so...

Another one is away. A short story that is. Cross yer fingers, kids.

Working on two new shorts and a longer short? That make sense? Old West kinda horror adventure deal. The latter is comin' slow and the clock is ticking for ideas to flow but we'll see.

Threw down some roughs for some art this week too. One needs the OK before I dig into the next phase. The other is just a doodle of a character. Need to figure out my scanner issues or get one or something. Don't want to have to travel to scan my work then send it from home. Still, I need the work and the dough.

What can ya do?

Keep at the Great Work that's what!

Dewa mata,

CWR

Back in the Saddle

Writer's may write by themselves but it certainly isn't a solitary endeavor. We need other writer's POV between first and final drafts. I do. I get way too close to the work of the moment. Some stuff that I would have tossed to the wind I gave new life to on the advice of another writer.

Thankfully so.

I'm knocking the dust off and retooling two past projects that I have a lot of fun writing but discarded thinking they were worthless.

Two separate worlds, different genre but works I am proud of none the less. Write what you love.

Workin on something fun with Wild Bill as well. Research on this particularly weird piece has lead me to Alchemy and the bizarre revelation (maybe) that Isaac Newton studied a fair share of that chemical-philosopher's art. Weird and worth digging deeper about.

I'm finding more story ideas than I have time to write.

Such is the road of the writer.

The Return

Life and computer woes have made this blog rather sluggish but I should be back for a spell.

Watched the new Green Lantern toon last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. If DC maintains this level of quality they might get back in the game versus Marvel.

Gotten a bunch of rejection letters for some shorts. Workin on more.

And Wild Bill Hickok shares his birth day with my wife. How cool is that? I am very jealous.

Too early to blog here. More later.

Second Story Sub

Just fired off another short story to a publisher. That's the last of the old shorts that I'm still kicking around.

Still working on the novel.

More ideas coming.

Where are all the friggen sites going? I'm searching through the web and the sites either want a smaller tale, are defunct-dead end links or they are not accepting submissions at this time thank you very much have a mint.

Damn economy. Where are the readers!

CWR

Bloodbound

The fantasy horror book editing continues apace!

Almost 25k down and a mere 58k to go!

I'm retreading the easy, oft edited section now. The real work will be removing the cheese and horrific punctuation from the last half. That part wherein I always lose steam in other words.

I shall persevere!

CWR

BOOK REVIEW: BURY ME DEEP by Joshua Reynolds

I like horror stories. Like ‘em big time. Maybe that says something about me, I don’t care. Bring the monsters and I will be entertained. Going into the book BURY ME DEEP I hadn’t read much by Josh Reynolds. I likely stumbled across one of his blogs and saw that he had what I’ll call a healthy interest in the horror genre.

So do a lot of people. Still, he was writing about a place that I had never heard of called Jackapo County. It’s in South Carolina. The South. I’ve lived in the south and I didn’t care for it. Still, lotta fodder for material down there. If I recall I read a listing of stories (and brief summaries) that were in this collection of Southern Folk Songs and just like that, I was hooked.

I just finished BURY ME DEEP today and while some tales were better than others, it was well worth the coin. Turns out Jackapo County is one jacked up place to live. May you never enter it and if you do, seek out Baxter Sarlowe, he might be yer only shot at getting out alive.

Baxter Sarlowe is a reoccurring character in Jackapo County. He is part southern gentleman and part occultist with one of the coolest collections of arcane memorabilia I’ve ever encountered. Guy collects the magical, be it of the light or the dark. Weird crap happens and he is often on the scene to sniff things out and settle the score for those that are only human and without ambition to be anything more.

You might think that would be the majority far as numbers go. In most places it likely is. Not in Jackapo County. If you’re a decent sort in Jackapo County and a human, yer days are numbered. Sure seems like half the human population are predators before you even get into the listing of the things that are under the ground, in the swamps, or on leathery wings. Even a lot of the white trash that appears in Mr. Reynolds’s tales of Jackapo County don’t deserve to go out like they do.

Most do though.

Not a lot of innocence in the County. Place is poisoned from the mantle on up. Like maybe it borders too close to hell or something. I hate swamps anyway and this book just reinforces my desire to steer clear for very obvious reasons. Reasons that are very clear in SONG FROM A WHORE-BONE FLUTE, BURY ME DEEP and NIGHT FALLS OVER TENEBRE.

I will say that NIGHT FALLS OVER TENEBRE is one of my favorites offered here. From concept to execution it just hits the coffin nail on the head. Maybe it’s my loathing of swamps amping things up but Josh has a fascinating concept in this tale that is exquisitely described. I was quickly reminded of Lovecraft before my blood started pumping. It’s tales like that, described so vividly, that made me eager to pick up the book again and again.

I’m a strong believer in naming appropriately. Reading through many of Mr. Reynolds's choices was often a pleasure. It’s a skill not all writer’s posses. From John Bass the Ghost Breaker to that damned stretch of countryside Jack Hollow I found myself grinning at his choices and wishing I had thought of some of them.

There are fifteen stories in this collection and it wasn’t enough. I finished the final tale, DOG-FIGHT NIGHT, and felt somewhat melancholic. Not because the story was lacking in any way. I think it’s the strongest tale of the fifteen (certainly the meatiest). I was disappointed that the book was finished.

I’ll have to find another.

It’s dim, this Jackapo County, at any time. Worse at night. Make sure you have fresh batteries in your flashlight. Best make it a Maglite. You’ll run out of bullets fast and flesh and bone just won’t cut it.


C. William Russette 2009

Hurm

I find myself battling that old monkey on my back.

The first novel. Like a thing of horror it grew from a wretched short story I wrote in high school. It just kept getting bigger and bigger and then a novel was born. I hacked at it with a machete sending great swaths of ichor trailing gore into the brush but like the hydra it regrew.

It's still here. It demands one more shot to prove it's worth.

Was it because I didn't use holy water that I couldn't break the beast?

Its about vampires and demons and ghosts and mages and therianthropes. Just a few of my favorite things.

I finished editing chapter 6 tonight.

Alpha

Coincidence that I begin a speculative fiction blog on the 13th?

I don't think so.

There might be some random art bits thrown in here and there, one never knows. Been drawing a lot lately.

Been thinking about about vampires too. I've always had a thing for that movie monster. I don't know why. Maybe because they scared the crap out of me as a child. I mean sent me running from the room on Saturday afternoon kinda scared.

I even wrote a book. Yes really. Been reworking it for years. Think I might serialize it and plunk it down here. Maybe you, my reader, could throw some thoughts about if you've a second. I'm tired of just sitting on the novel. Someone besides me and the wife should read it. It's the biggest thing I've written to date and I don't think I can just delete it. Doing a weekly serial will ensure I make a final pass over the monster and either throw at an agent again or let it finally rest in peace.

Perhaps Friday will be horror serial day. Something fun to start the weekend with...

CWR