Forthcoming, 2008 - Bad Moon Books


I imagine that many professional writers eventually get a "jones" for preserving for posterity their unique "take" upon the creative process of writing. They decide to tap into their own psyches' and experiences, and examine and attempt to explain to both their fellow authors and the unwashed masses of Readerdom, those archaic and mysterious processes by which they come up with an idea and expand it into a finished story.


While most authors don't ever act upon such impulses, this compulsion has produced a number of interesting and even informative minor masterpieces such as Stephen King's ON WRITING and DANCE MACABRE, Richard Laymon's A WRITER'S TALE, and Gary A. Braunbeck's FEAR IN A HANDFUL OF DUST: Horror As A Way Of Life. But author Steve Vernon, familiar to Horror genre audiences for such unique fiction as his Novellas LONG HORN, BIG SHAGGY and last year's superb HARD ROADS, in addition to his Chapbooks, such as the memorable THE LAST STAND OF THE GREAT TEXAS PACKRAT, as well as his short fiction that has appeared both in such magazines as Cemetery Dance and Dark Discoveries and in Anthologies like CORPSE BLOSSOMS and A DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY, is a bit ... different.


In his forthcoming Novella, PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM, author Vernon takes up this same question of an author's creativity and the writing process, but does so from a clever, fictionalized basis. This Novella is being published by Roy Robbins' Bad Moon Books, which has just scored a big success with its first published Limited Edition novel, JOHNNY GRUESOME, by FEARZONE's own Gregory Lamberson. Bad Moon Books has previously published a string of excellent quality limited edition numbered and deluxe lettered Novellas/Chapbooks, including VAMPIRE OUTLAW OF THE MILKY WAY by Weston Ochse, YOU IN by Kealan Patrick Burke, and RESTORE FROM BACKUP, by J. F. Gonzalez and Mike Oliveri. PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM will be published in a limited softcover edition of Two Hundred as well as a Hardcover Leather Lettered edition of Twenty Six. Famed artist Alan M. Clark is providing stunning cover art, and celebrated author Tim Waggoner is providing an Introduction to both editions. Both editions of the book will also contain an Afterword penned by Author Steve Vernon All copies of both editions will be signed by author Steve Vernon, and will also be signed by all contributors. The Lettered edition will also contain a bonus short story by author Vernon with connections to his Novella.


In PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM, author Vernon introduces us to his protagonist, Bobby Kaye, a "mid-list" Horror-genre author and his supportive wife, Maggie, who is also a newspaper copy editor by occupation. As the tale (an argument could be made that the Novella is a modern, deconstructed Fable, and/or that author Vernon is having some "inside" fun with some already published similar fables within the Horror/Dark Fantasy genre) opens, we find our protagonist struggling with an old, slow, unreliable computer and a couple of typically obtuse, amateurish, and aggravating spam emails. Without revealing any important spoilers, it is sufficient to state that PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM very quickly transforms into one of the wildest literary roller coaster rides of all time. Imagine the literary/reading equivalent of the now famous trans-dimensional "trip" sequence from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, except in 3D and with the added benefit of the past forty years of advancements in special effects, all expertly and seamlessly incorporated. This is one roller coaster ride for which you will want to make certain that you've carefully secured yourself in your mental seat, as the G-forces generated by author Vernon's writing and creative force are awesome to behold, and could easily generate mental whiplash in the unprepared. The Novella is permeated with Vernon's clever, droll, and witty humor which is sufficient in and of itself to warrant reading the story. Author Vernon also introduces into PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM the mystical character of Anansi. Vernon, in his prior Novella, TROLLING LURES (part of HAD ROADS), centrally employed a similar traditional folkloric "Trickster God" here, originating with Native American peoples called Coyote to move his story forward. In his new Novella, author Vernon quickly establishes his Anansi character as a similar traditional "Trickster God", whom he utilizes to great effect. No doubt it is no mere coincidence that Anansi, traditionally originating within the myths and legends of West African tribes, is known as The King of All Stories.


The reader is forced to wonder and question whether Anansi is the tale's hero or villain, is real or imaginary, literal or a creation of the protagonist, Bobby Kaye's subconscious?


In short, PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM is one witty and wild ride for a reader. Author Vernon has carefully and artfully designed his ride so that you won't know where it is taking you next, from moment to moment, but moves you along so quickly and so thrillingly that you will joyfully follow his lead, though with a white-knuckled grip on the safety bar at all times. The story will leave you a little exhausted but elated. Author Vernon does raise a number of questions concerning an author's creative process, and at least semi-resolves a number of them ingeniously through demonstration, via the story itself. The story will leave you thinking long after you've finished it, and this will further impel you to re-read it. It is thus an effective and thought provoking work while still being very accessible and an enjoyable, quick read. PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM is multi-layered, fascinating, thought provoking, and intense. It is one roller coaster ride of a story that I guarantee you will want to ride, ... er, read, time and again and is a true must-read. PLAGUE MONKEY SPAM receives my highest recommendation.