Just plain cool wedding cakes, but I don't think my girlfriend agrees...

Well, those of you who know me a little better (or cared to read my bio) will know that I'm currently planning my wedding. That is, my girlfriend is planning the wedding and I just... well...

Anyhoo, we came across some wedding cakes that were really awesome. Unfortunately, none of them will be chosen, but I thought they'd go nicely right here...

Enjoy!

Sample Time: My new audio story 'The Art of Bullying'

Ah.. we all remember this,
don't we? Either one way
or the other...

'The Art of Bullying' is a short story dealing with Eddy the Slayer. He's a high school bully who never really got out of his evil ways. When one night he's stabbed on his way home, he's transported up to Purgatory where he learns exactly what his life of picking on the little guy has earned him...

The story itself earned me an honourable mention in the Lucid Hills Spring Contest. Not too long ago I recorded it with stand-up comedian David Popper one Saturday afternoon. And soon it will be up on Floating Robes in it's entirety for all to enjoy!

Care for some publicity? Submit your story! Win a book!

...or at least a chance to show
what you can do!

For those of you checking my blog regularly, you have noticed the publication I did of Harris Tobias' excellent story 'Owl Head Lake'. If you've missed it, click here!

I'd like to make this a regular thing. So here's A CALL TO ALL TRULY CREATIVE WRITERS! I'll be looking for short stories or flash fiction with roots in horror and/or fantasy. That also means subgenres like urban horror, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, magic realism and everything else that falls into the cracks.

This could mean a BIT OF TRAFFIC to your blog, a chance of GETTING YOUR NAME OUT THERE or just nice to GET SOME ATTENTION.

No strings attached, stories will be offered for free reading and I'll do some editing where needed. So take that story that's been sitting on your shelf for a while, dust it off and send it over. Publication will also mean a small feature, so tell me a bit about yourself and add a link to your blog or site.

The five best submissions will be WINNING A FREE COPY of my short story collection 'Beneath Dark Waters'! If you're one of them I will e-mail you at once!

Submissions can be made to info<at>floatingrobes.com!

Hope to see you all there and don't forget to keep writing!

Marcel

Free Story: Owl Head Lake by Harris Tobias!

Actually Onama Lake, Japan
by Michael Kenna

In the category 'Other people do cool stuff, too' we have today Harris Tobias. He's a writer, living and working in Virginia, USA. His stories tends to go towards the absurdly humourous with a big slant towards sci-fi or horror. He was previously published in E-Fiction, Vox Poetica and The Calliope Nerve. His novel 'The Greer Agency' is out now! You can read all about him on his blog http://harristobias-fiction.blogspot.com/




Owl Head Lake

Monty, a disgruntled lawyer goes to spend a few days of solitude on the banks of Owl Head Lake. He's been there before; it's enjoyable. Still, when he arrives and finds the previous campers leaving, he finds out that the old wives tales about the lake might have more truth in them than previously imagined...

Enjoy!

Open publication - Free publishing

Your story here? Drop me a line! Info<at>floatingrobes.com

Lovecraft's 'Pickman's Model' in photography!

Pickman's Model in photography!

Doing the cover of my own audio book, I got to endulge a bit in my love for photography. Combining horror and photography seems to be a nice thing to do for me. And it seems I'm not the only one (as I knew I wasn't).

Joshua Hoffine has been photographing the weird and macabre for ages. He has an extensive portfolio of some of the most horrific images I've ever seen. I can't help but gawk and awe over the care and time he invests in each one. Believe me, these photos don't just happen...

Recently he has been doing a series based on Lovecraft's short story 'Pickman's Model' and I finally got a chance to combine my love for horror literature and photography. Below you'll find a link to Mr. Hoffine's site and portfolio.

Joshua Hoffine's Blog

I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Review: Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner

 A lesson in creativity...

I purchased this in the wonderful city of York, England about 6 months ago and couldn't wait to start reading it. Coming from indepent publishing house Angry Robot, Nekropolis promises to be weird, out-there, creative and exactly what I'm searching for.

And I wasn't disappointed. 

Nekropolis centers around the character of Matt Richter who is a private investigator in the strange city of Nekropolis, a city inhabited solely by vampires, zombies, werewolves, monsters and the like. When one day he is hired by a sexy, young vampirella to find a powerful artifact, the plot is complete. 

Oh, there's one more thing: Matt is a zombie.

Throughout the book, the plot is ever-present. Waggoner doesn't allow himself to be distracted by the lavishly over-done playground that is Nekropolis. He walks through it as if he lived there all his life. As it turned out, he did. The book was conceived around 15 years ago and Waggoner has been building on it ever since.

Combine the creative setting, the humour and a plot that everybody knows and loves, and you got one wonderful yarn! However, this would never work without the hilarious scenes and situations that Matt the Zombie Investigator gets around every corner. Were there ever be made a film of this, one would gawk at it with mouth wide-open!

Not for the faint-hearted.

Tim Waggoner's site

3 Horror Podcasts!

Coming to get ya'!

Since I'm getting into this whole audio book thing, I found a couple of really cool things out there! I know some of you will be going: "Oh man, this guy has been living in a cave for the last few years....". If you're one of them, please don't hold it against me. I just hope I can bring something new to the worlds of others.

Three nice, well-defined horror podcasts: 

Pseudopod - Been around for ages and very well frequented, I'm sure. Submission will take up to five months, so I'm guessing these guys are quite busy. But the site is very cool, podcasts are clear and they offer a fantastic opportunity for new and upcoming writers.

Horror Podcast - Come on, the name says it all, doesn't it? It's a directory for horror podcasts. If you have a site that produces narrated horror stories, you can submit them here.

Drunken Zombie Podcast - Besides having a hilarious name, this feels like a couple of guys having fun. But as you get into it deeper and deeper there does seem to be a bit more to it. With monthly themes and really well-defined podcasts, this is worth checking out!

Most of these guys do this for the love of horror, so be sure to check it out, twitter them or buy a T-shirt. I know I will!

Marcel

Cool picture by 'Tune in for Terror'!

Resurrection of a Broken Mind out now!

Out now!

Whoompf! There it is!

My very first audio story is out now! Resurrection of a Broken Mind is available for only $0,99! It's a 50 minutes horror story narated by Alan Ballany and written by myself!

It centers around Peter Holleweg, a reclusive young man who tries to make the best of his life since he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. When, one night, his house is wrecked by a derailed train, he starts to understand the source of the apparitions that plagued him for the past years.

For a sample of the book, watch the video on the right!

I will be posting more audio stories in the future. I love to see my characters come alive and working with the narators is great fun! All of them will be posting right here, on Floating Robes! So hit that 'Follow' button and don't miss a thing!

Marcel

Resurrection of a Broken Mind - $ 0,99