Saturday, January 28, 2017

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: Writer Re-Learning to WalkWith the mounds of snow...

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: Writer Re-Learning to Walk
With the mounds of snow...
: Writer  Re-Learning to Walk With the mounds of snow and the ice slicked sidewalks of late, I have not gone out much. Once a week?  Twic...
Writer Re-Learning to Walk

With the mounds of snow and the ice slicked sidewalks of late, I have not gone out much. Once a week?  Twice, maybe?  Ubering my way to and from. It takes a toll.  

Yesterday, I bused to a shopping area and actually walked someplace other than my apartment, hitting 5 or 6 stores. And quickly became aware that my legs had forgotten how to walk, so it took a while to relearn those skills.

Today, I did something about this.  I headed to the spa, which I've put off a few times this winter, due, again, to weather. But today was a good day, meaning, it was cold, not unbearably so, and there were only a few flakes coming straight down, like some never-ending Christmas light show imitating snow.  

The spa was for a pedicure and a facial. I have pedi's every 4 to 6 weeks. Helps me walk because over the years my poor feet have suffered so much abuse (anyone else wear spikes in their youth?) that my feet need to be in tip-top shape now. The facial, well, I've become a facial sloth. I haven't had one in about a year, and my face needed this. 

But the important part of this day is that my spa moved in December to the Ritz Hotel, which has a pool and health area, and spa patrons get to use those facilities. So I took my swimsuit, got keyed up to the health club, and submerged my body into the warmish waters of the infinity-like pool.  Not a real infinity because there is no ocean or lake leading to the horizon, only a band of water about a foot wide continuing from the pool (which ends up as a waterfall and turns into a wall of water). In any event, the pool, while lovely, is a modern hotel pool, meaning, shallow.  1.5 metres (just under 5').  I like to tred water, which gives me a workout, interspersed with swimming lengths, interspersed with wading lengths.  Most of that is impossible in such a shallow pool.  And after 10 minutes, I was really tired and ready to get out. I persevered, distracted by a young couple, the guy waiting in the pool for the girl who came and went 5 or 6 times over 20 minutes, for a shower, for a hair band, for an extra towel, to chat with the woman at the desk, and finally she arrived and stood at the wall of water flirting with the boyfriend who was still in the pool. By the time he pursuaded her to join him, I had hit the 30 minute mark and figured I'd done well, for someone relearning to walk, so I left the delightful waters to the lovers.

The highlight of the day was showing the pedicurist my book cover for Revenge of the Vampir King. She actually gasped, then declared it 'magnificant', not a word one hears often.

By the end of this (to me) very long day (waking at 6 am, unable to get back to sleep, finally out of bed at 8, leaving home at 11 am, returning home at 7 pm) I needed food and took myself to Le Taj for dinner, since it was just about around the corner.  (And now I have the equivilent of enough leftover curry for two more dinners!)

My face looks good, my feet feel good, I'm pleased I moved at least a bit. Maybe tomorrow I will move some more!


B#15

Thursday, January 26, 2017

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: Scream Quietly - The Best of Charles L. Grantedit...

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: Scream Quietly - The Best of Charles L. Grant
edit...
: Scream Quietly - The Best of Charles L. Grant edited by Stephen Jones Charlie Grant was a special writer.  If he had made films, he...
Scream Quietly - The Best of Charles L. Grant

edited by Stephen Jones

Charlie Grant was a special writer.  If he had made films, he wouldn't have needed special FX, or extreme makeup on the actors. Endless chases and car crashes?--not necessary.  Charlie Grant knew how to construct stories and novels in the way of a great wordsmith. He could get under your skin and make it crawl and you wouldn't know about it until you noticed your flesh moving!

This book is a homage to Grant, a man much loved in the SF/F/H communities (and he also wrote mysteries, humor, and some romances under a nom de plume). It brings together some of his stories and novellas, combined with writers remembering him and his work: Stephen King, Kim Newman, Peter Straub, Thomas F. Monteleone and Nancy Holder.  Back in the day I interviewed Charlie about his background, and also his unique skill at writing 'quiet horror'--that interview is included. 

Here's a link for the just-released trade paperback from PS Publishing:


B#13

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: DARK DISCOVERIES MAGAZINEThis is one of the good ...

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: DARK DISCOVERIES MAGAZINE
This is one of the good ...
: DARK DISCOVERIES MAGAZINE This is one of the good publications in the dark writing field.  I had a short story in issue #25, the all-fe...
DARK DISCOVERIES MAGAZINE

This is one of the good publications in the dark writing field.  I had a short story in issue #25, the all-female issue, and shared the glow with Charlaine Harris, Elizabeth Massie, Nancy Holder, Yvonne Navarro, Asia Argento, Leah Jung, Lynn Lowry, and the illustrious Elvira: Mistress of the Dark!  

The current issue is #37 and in it you will find a LOT of film reviews by yours truly.  

This is a magazine worth supporting if you like fiction, film and great articles tuned to the dark side of the arts.  Like all other publications in this world, Dark Discoveries needs subscribers, and even single-issue buyers. Every little bit keeps the dark fantasy and horror genres vital.  

Here's a page where you can see what #37 is about and make a purchase.


B#11

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

DIAMANDA GALAS

After a decade, Diamanda Galas has two new albums out, and an interview with Rolling Stone Mag.  If you go to this page, you can read the IV and also hear two cuts.  Galas is a one-of-a-kind performer.  "O Death" is heavy, painful, wonderful, unique--and it may not be for everyone.  If you haven't heard Galas before, I suggest you start with the second piece on this site "All the Way".

Monday, January 23, 2017

PODCAST IV WITH JUST JOSHING

Chaotic IV with me on Josh's podcast. SOOOO many tech problems: phones, recording equipment and then skype.  The part with me starts at 7:52. Before that, you can hear Josh talking unicorns, which have nothing to do with me or with vampires!

The Bolshoi Ballet


Yesterday afternoon I went to the cinema for one of the screenings they do of theater, opera, museum tours and the like from around the world.  I saw the classical ballet The Sleeping Beauty. 

We all know the story: Princess Aurora is born to the king and queen, who inadvertently forget to invite the local witch, Carabosse, to the celebrations. The witch crashes the party with six demons in tow, and curses the newborn--at the age of 16 Aurora will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Fortunately, the Lilac Fairy is able to alter the spell--Aurora won't die but she will sleep for 100 years, to be awoken by a handsome prince. Prince Desire finds Aurora and wakes her with a kiss, whereupon there is much rejoicing and a wedding.

I have seen a few ballets but was afraid to see this one. Years ago, I had the good fortune to watch live Rudolph Nureyev. I was mesmerized as he danced the prince and I feared I would unconsciously compare. Nureyev was breathtaking, beyond astounding, his incredible, powerful, magical leaps across the stage imbedded in my memory. 

I shouldn't have worried. The Bolshoi's dancers were amazing in their own way.  Princess Aurora was everything light and young and hopeful, and the young Prince Desire her perfect counterpart. Carabosse was played by a male dancer and got quite few chortles from the packed theater I sat in.

The Bolshoi is based in Moscow. Founded in 1776 out of a 1773 orphanage, it's one of the world's oldest ballet companies. The film of this ballet took us behind the scenes at the Bolshoi Theater.  The multi-lingual (6 languages!!!) mistress of ceremonies, which such screenings usually provide, pointed out the box formerly reserved for royals, now reserved for top government officials. We went to the room adjacent to one of the special boxes, a space that could easily seat a dozen people, adorned with scarlet flocked wallpaper, gilded chairs and sofa with plush red upholstry, glass tables and gold-framed mirrors, "Where they could drink champagne," she said.

If you like ballet, several others from the Bolshoi are playing in theaters around the world on the same days, so hopefully you can find a venue near you!  There's a lovely 2+ minute video on this site, a composite of several ballets they are performing this season. 


B#7

Saturday, January 21, 2017

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: Danse Macabre PhotobookRecently, I created 2 phot...

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER: Danse Macabre Photobook
Recently, I created 2 phot...
: Danse Macabre Photobook Recently, I created 2 photobooks. This one contains photos taken by me and travelling companions of danse macab...
Danse Macabre Photobook

Recently, I created 2 photo books. This one contains photos taken by me and travelling companions of danse macabre artwork. Danse Macabre, Dance of Death, Totentanz is art from the 1400s to the 1800s that is familiar to all of us--a skeleton leading a person to their demise. Also known as 'plague art', it originated on the inner walls of what was really a bone yard at the Cemetery of the Innocents in Paris about 1424-25. The artist was anonymous. 


Fortunately the images were captured and recreated as woodcuts by the German/Swiss print maker and artist Hans Holbein the Younger in 1523-26. The images became popular and were replicated around Europe and today there are maybe 50 left, painted on church and crypt walls, carved in wood under choir seats, made from stained glass or the plaster used for vaulted ceilings.  

I've seen quite a bit of it and there is still more to see.  It's usually beautifully crafted and applies a kind of softening to the moments of death. But the skeletons aren't always just helpful and kind. Sometimes they are sneaky tricksters, and they have been known to be nasty.  Just like the living human beings they used to be!

 Photobook
 Stained glass, wood, plaster
Walls and ceilings

B#5


Friday, January 20, 2017

Forrest J. Ackerman

Forrest J. Ackerman was a big deal in the SF/F/H community, working as a writer, editor and agent, and also the man who put out the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland.  Forry, as he was known to many, also collected print and movie memorabilia in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres--he owned the ring and cape Bela Lugosi wore in the 1931 film DRACULA!  How cool is that!

I met Forry in 1998 at his favorite restaurant, House of Pies, then we headed up the road to his 'Mansion'.  Forry was a nice, sweet man, full of knowledge about the genres he loved, and he showed me around his amazing house crammed to the rafters with all sorts of movie and print items.  He admitted that he adored my Darker Passions series of novels and was missing one, so when I returned home I mailed it to him.  Forry was like a kid, so excited and enthusiastic about the world of the fantastic that he loved, and his excitement charged my own--how could it not?

Forry died in 2008 and his vast collect was split up. But a company formed, Famous Monsters, and they have put out various products, including a mammoth hardcover book of graphic novels called Tales from the Acker-Mansion. There are many wonderful and well-known writers and artists who have penned or inked these comic stories. I am honored to be included in this book with the script I wrote from my story "Heart of Stone", drawn by Drew Rausch.




Forrest J. Ackerman

Nancy @ the Ackermansion

B#4

Thursday, January 19, 2017

A Blog



As I've whined, I'm new to blogging as a blogger. I've read a few blogs by people, when directed by a link I've found somewhere, on a subject that interests me. There is only one blog I read regularly, though it's an irregular blog.  Sylvie DuBois posts it and it's quite fun. She is a mother, wife, works in the corporate arena, and is goth. Put that together and you have a unique view of the world.  And I love her irreverence!

Here's a recent blog you might enjoy:


B#3

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

NANCY KILPATRICK WRITER

The Blog

Group Hex 1

Here's a nice Interview with me on  Bloody Bookish.  I've said some things I've not said before in interviews!  Who knew I had it in me?


B#2