One of those days . . .

Duck Dodgers and The Darker Side of Me

OK, talk about procrastinating! Maybe this day job thingy and working on two writing projects has something to do with it. But I have an announcement to make that’s a week overdue. My short story collection, Darker Passages, is now available in eBook on Amazon. Woot!

Look at the fantastic cover created by my son, Jason Venturini. Yep, shameless plug. Read the title. Do you notice the creepy specter at the end of the passages?  Yeah, it's all kind of dark. 

Well, I have to come clean: my writing and my short stories all have darker tones to them. Slasher stories? No! Vampires? Forget it; they suck out your brains along with your blood. But, you won’t find me writing a new episode of Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century either, no matter how much I love Daffy and Marvin the Martian.  

Why do my tales lean toward the dark? Perhaps it’s because we all have a darker side. No matter how bright and cheerful on the outside, we all have our insecurities, our fears, the personal demons we spar with every day.  Maybe in some small way my writing allows me to layout my demons for the world to see, hoping to find some surcease. Don’t get me wrong. I love life. I laugh and I joke around a lot. I love my family and friends. I’ve had a lot of great adventures. Nevertheless, I do believe we live in a fallen world that can be very dark at times. To quote a famous saying: “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow do! :-)  

I pray that the night is truly far spent, and the day is indeed close at hand.

I’ll leave you with a little Duck Dodgers. Enjoy.

New Member of the Insecure Writer's Support Group!

Hello, my name is Mark and I am an insecure writer. Pause as the cloud responds: “Hello, Mark.” I just discovered that the first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day IWSG and I’m fully ready to support and generally commiserate with my fellow insecure writes.

 

For the most part writes are a neurotic bunch. I see all those who know me nodding in agreement. Over the years, I’ve had 8 short stories published in five small market zines, six of which are now defunct (Hmm, a connection perhaps?).  Now I have a novel out on Amazon and B&N along with a short story series I’m collaborating on, not to mention a couple of other projects in the works. And you know what? I’m nervous. I'm insecure. Always.