Odds and Ends
Words fascinate me, and because of my insatiable curiosity, thinking about words can take me down the strangest paths. Like today, for instance, I was preparing to do this blog and I had a lot of odds and ends type info to share with you. Then I got to thinking, where in the world did that phrase, "odds and ends," come from? Well, along with my insatiable curiosity, I also have a streak of stubborn laziness, so rather than take two minutes to look-up the origins of "odds and ends," I wasted ten minutes thinking about it. In my frivolous musings, I came up with my own hypothesis.
Having had the misfortune years ago of being a deli clerk, I remember that there were often bits too thin to slice left over at the end of a slab of deli meat. We'd slap them in a package and wrap them with plastic with the fancy "sear your fingers to the bone" sealing machine, then put them out for sale at a reduced price. Same "wholesome" deli meat goodness, great price! But I digress. The point is, I'm hallucinating that the phrase "odds and ends" came from the odd bits left over from the ends of deli meats, and that nifty phrase is probably attributable to the fine German butcher, Gunter Meathaus, from the mythical meat lusting Bavarian village of Wienerhoesen. Okay, maybe not, but it works for me!
So what does this have to do with horror? Nothing really, but I could pretend and say, MEAT, of course. There's a LOT of meat in horror...wet meat, rotting meat, bloody meat, monster meat. You name the messy meat and horror has it!
And today, I have some juicy odds and ends info-meat just for you, and since I've yacked on about my mental musings, I'll try to make it quick.
A New Aussie on the BlockThe wonderful Steve Clark, publisher of Tasmaniac Publications has entered the small press arena with a bang. Tasmaniac is dedicated to quality horror novellas, and proof positive is one of Steve's first titles, Gary Braunbeck's, In the Midnight Museum. US bookseller, Bloodletting Press, is carrying Tasmaniac titles, but remember, ordering directly from the publisher always puts more money in the pockets of the writer and the publisher.
Click here to see all of Tasmaniac's excellent titles!
Pokemon Mama
Ryan Walsh posted the most hilarious thing I've read in years over at Shocklines.com. A woman, who I think could give Erma Bombeck a run for her money (alive or dead - *waves to Erma* - I know you're listening, Ms. Bombeck), is selling a set of Pokemon cards one of her SIX kids put in the shopping cart sans permission. Her item description is a slayer. Go read it!
Six kids! Now, that's horror real for ya'.
Those Aussies Are Busy Million Puppet Project - now there's got to be a horror story in here somewhere, but until I dream that baby into life, I think this is just wildly cool. Studying the behaviors and feeding habits of puppets could be very important. You never know what getting a million puppets together in one place could do. World domination of socks, felt and fingers comes to mind. Be prepared! For your own safety, go visit the Million Puppet Project site. If not for yourself, do it for the children!
Okay, is that enough messy meat for today, kids?
Will You Remember Me?
One more thing, and this is strangely sad for me - I need to go off-line for a while (no, they're not removing my batteries, silly), so I can get some serious writing done.
In all honesty, I'll miss you. I do love blogging for you and hanging out in the comments bar and grille at the end of each yack fest I share with you. BUT, I'm too scatterbrained to work with the distractions of so much fun-ness. I'll need to find my fun in fiction for the next few months.
However, if I meet my writing goals weekly, I'll pop in and visit you as a delicious reward to myself (yup, you're sweet like honey to me - and non-fattening, too!). If my slackerness is under control, I'll give you an update and see what wickedness you're up to. Don't forget me in my absence. I promise, I won't forget you.
See ya', you sweeties!
Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel
PS - If you're missing me (a megalomaniac dream of mine), you can drop me an email at franfriel AT gmail.com. I'm going to work on that newsletter I've been neglecting, as well, so feel free to sign-up, and please ignore the glaring typo in the "thank you for signing-up" message. Jeesh, you'd think I'd catch those typo gremlins in the act...but NOooo. *mutters to self*
