[link]

Again today, Wednesday Aug. 1st, my book of collected post-mythic novellas is available for FREE at Amazon Kindle.  Presented & edited by Dark Red Press, it represents a number of tales where I have attempted to explore mythologies, legends & lore after the established canon into modern day.  It's my latest re-release from DRP and features cover art based on stock purchased from a DArt user here... [link]

Sometimes whimsical and adventurous, other times dark and brutal, I combined various genres and themes in ways I thought told the best stories.  Other times, like in the case of the last novella in the collection, I just thought the idea of zombi-fied fairies would be cool.  Same with a Gorgon being used a WMD.

Snag it, read it… I hope you dig it.

[link]

"What truth is there to terror, when does fantasy become faith? Inside are five tales that explore our mythologies, question our beliefs, and set our legends in the present. The ancient Greek Pantheon still roam the 21st century streets, still holding old grudges. A babysitter is needed when Heaven & Hell's new experiment yields unexpected results. The children of Father Time must face horrors at a long forgotten site. A houseful of bored Demons find new ways to entertain themselves. In a Fairie Underworld, a young couple will discover the truth about butterflies & spiders. In this book, you are further from what you held dear, further from an answer, further than fate…"

Featuring the novellas –
Destiny These Days
Far House, Deep House
Scions Of Seasons
A Complicated Divine
The Stitching

[link]

[link]

What happens when the world as we know it comes to an end? Will it be with a bang or a whimper? What comes next? Who survives and why? Here are four disparate stories of post-apocalyptic adventure, terror, revenge and love. In "The Last Pharmacist," underground cities are dealing with the deadly epidemic of a synthetic heroin supplied by an unknown source. In "Smile," the world is overrun by a terrible, terrifying invasion from an unstoppable interloper. In "White Sands," a girl searches for the one responsible for the worldwide pandemic that killed her father. In "Futureblind," one woman finds that she has survived a horrible fate only to face a unique destiny. Welcome to the 4POCALYPSE – Four Tales Of A Dark Future.

[link]

Presented by DARK RED PRESS, a Kindle exclusive anthology of four novellas featuring brand new work by John J. Smith, Jack X. McCallum, C.L. Stegall, and Brian Fatah Steele.  Only $0.99 for a limited time!

[link]

Find more at DarkRedPress.com

I have almost 10k words done for the anthology piece due to Dark Red Press on the 20th of January.  I'm pretty sure it's only half done.  15,000 words was my minimum, but I know I'll go over that and hit closer to 20k.  It's a post-apocalyptic tale, just as the other 3 will be from the other DRP authors, for a book entitled 4POCALYPSE.  An interesting premise, each of us taking a spin on that speculative fiction sub-genre.  Like an idiot, I decided to set mine in the ruins of 2270 and fill it with advanced tech and my twist on zombies.  (I didn't foresee the amount of research that would have to go into this one.)

As with all of my longer works, it took me a while to find the "voice."  Mostly, this was because I hadn't found the soundtrack yet.  Each of my novels or e-novellas have had their own selection of music.  THE STITCHING was done entirely to Murder By Death, while IN BLEED COUNTRY had a lot of Puscifer and Tool.  A COMPLICATED DIVINE was set to Alkaline Trio and other modern punk bands, while my out-of-print novel BETWEEN US AND OBLIVION was penned exclusively to the post-rock band 65DaysOfStatic.  It took me a while, but this current novella is getting hammered out to a mix of DeadMau5, Skrillex and The Glitch Mob.  The music created by those groups fit the vibe of the tale.

I know some authors who must write in near silence - that would drive me insane.  At the same time, once I've found my tale's soundtrack, I won't listen to it during the writing process except when I'm actually writing the story.  It forces me to keep going and doesn't dilute the feeling.  When I'm writing random articles, blogs (or just pissing about on Facebook), I find any instrumental post-rock works well for me.  While emotive and creative, it almost acts as a default sound to be, those guitars from This Will Destroy You and Explosion in The Sky and the vocals from Sigur Ros.

After this novella is done, the sequel to IN BLEED COUNTRY is supposed to be next on my plate.  Perhaps I'll find the soundtrack in one of Maynard Keenan's acts again, but I wouldn't necessarily say it was set in stone.  Certain aspects of a story writes itself, and a tale demands its own tune.

PAST THE PATCH - Now Available... FREE
[link]

Halloween – a holiday that evokes so much. Some say it's a time when the space between worlds is too thin to bear the weight, and outer things spill over for a bit of Trick Or Treating. The stories found inside this e-anthology echo that idea, reporting back from a corner where the mirror has reflected a distorted image of this season.

Inside we'll find a young man's madness has driven him down a bloody path and the brutal folklore of the early 19th century clawed to life. We'll see domestic bliss marred only by suburban lycanthropy and retail employees devoured by cosmic malevolence. Witches, monsters, and maniacs as written by authors of fantasy, adventure, mystery, poetry, romance and horror. We'll dig deeper into a celebration now known for masks, candy and pumpkins while immersing ourselves in this anthology. Here, we'll go past the patch and discover what tales lurk on the other side.

[link]
Edited by Brian Fatah Steele
A Dark Red Press Production

Contributors… Sarah E. Adkins, Jonathan Dukestein, Court Ellyn, Matthew Leverton, Jack Lloyd, Jack X. McCallum, H.H. Shullith, John Claude Smith, John J. Smith, C.L. Stegall, J.T. Warren, Robert S. Wilson and Brian Fatah Steele

Cover art design by Brian Fatah Steele
Artwork elements by
Shoofly-Stock at [link]
Zememz at [link]

As I still work on the principle writing for "Stagnant Absolutions" and finish up some last minute tweaks on the DarkRedPress re-release of "In Bleed Country," I figured it was best to get SOMETHING out there.  So, the main short story that will probably end up launching another e-novella eventually is up and available for *FREE* at both Scribd for online reading and at Smashwords for multi-format download.

I decided to run with the original title and simply call it... "Wetter."

- Something came with the rain one night to the town of New Leeds. Something dark that soaked into the earth, the buildings, the people and gave birth to something darker. Cleaning out his basement, Hollis comes to learn this... and learn something has been born inside him as well. -

Only about 4000 words, go let it give you nightmares.

At Scribd - [link]

At Smashwords - [link]

For the month of July, Smashwords is offering a special on various e-books along with multiple authors who choose to participate.  Some are discounted, some are free.  I decided to offer my 'e-novella of hell' up as a 100% off sacrifice.  

Smashwords is a separate and distinct e-publisher who offers their products in an array of formats; Kindle (mobi), Nook, Sony, Kobo, PDF, etc.  All formats are equally priced, so you just pick the type that suits you best at purchasing - or in this case, at the point you download my disturbing lil' tale for free.  I prefer going through Amazon's Kindle store, but Smashwords always offers great discounts and coupons like this, and I dig giving away my stuff.  I don't write horror and dark fantasy to become rich, I do it so they can be read.  And I'm pretty sure "Far House, Deep House" will give a few folks nightmares.  Chances are, it's the most twisted thing I've ever written to date.

[link]

"Somewhere in a forgotten corner of the Underworld, rumors circulate of Satan abdicating his throne. When the Manager of The House leaves to investigate, she leaves behind a handful of bored Demons looking for ways to entertain themselves. But even this barren niche of Hell has its secrets and the bloody games of the Damned will have consequences."

So yeah, for the rest of the month you have the opportunity to stroll over to Smashwords and snag all types of stuff for insanely cheap or even free.  Grab a copy of my e-novella.  Hopefully it'll ruin your day.  

[link]

There are seriously not enough hours in the day...

Besides trying to run a Used Books Store that makes no money from 11am to 6pm, Monday through Friday, I've got so many other projects I need to work on that my brain is ready to melt out my ears.  I need to finish editing my new e-novella "Preeminent Hollows" by May.  I need to write my next e-novella by June.  I'm halfway done with my next novel, "Stagnant Absolutions," at 39,000 words.  Writing aside, I'm also working on various pieces of Visual Art for covers, promos, logo designs and other assorted things - most of them for other folks.  

**grey matter melting**

At least while my bookstore isn't selling a damn thing, my own books are selling awesome in Kindle e-book format.  Customer sales have linked me up with some amazing other authors on my profile, including J.A. Konrath, Scott Nicholson, David Moody and Derek Gunn.  More than anything else, I feel honored to be included on a list that includes these guys and more.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that my crap books are stupid cheap.  

And while I may have you attention... let me remind you of a few author buddies of mine that have excellent works out right now.  

C.L. Stegall has the urban fantasy novel "The Weight Of Night" here [link]

Chryse Wymer has the horror fantasy e-novella "This Dark Magic" here [link]

Court Ellyn has the high fantasy e-novella "Mists Of Blackfen Bog" here [link]

It's too bad that DArt doesn't allow me to run my RSS Feed here.  One of the main reasons I set up my dot.com was because of RSS features and Auto-Posting.  In my attempt to litter the intarwebz with my name, books, articles, rants, art, etc, it makes it easier to have a site that offers me "One-Stop-Blogging."  Also, I'm incredibly lazy.

Let's see... e-books sales are doing awesome, I was interviewed by Scott Nicholson over at Indie Books Blog, doing cover art and promos for a number of other authors, and I'm about half done with my 5th book.  Unfortunately, I had to drop my biology class and retake it this summer, so that elusive college degree that's been in the making now for almost 15 years will have to wait a bit longer.  The store is doing better now that the snow has vanished, and my idiot kitten (only 8 months old) is currently the size of a truck.  

So yeah, if you find yourself terribly bored, stroll on over to my dot.com at [link] for a dose of lowbrow horror literature, spooky artwork, random videos, philosophical rants, and whatever else pops into my heavily-medicated head.

I had the opportunity to preview about 2/3 of Stegall's debut novel, "The Weight Of Night" this past year.  It's an amazing piece of fiction, an incredible addition to the Urban Fantasy genre.  I seriously can not recommend it enough for fans of Jim Butcher's 'Dresden Files,' James Patterson's 'Maximum Ride' series, or Cassandra Clare's 'These Mortal Instruments' books.  So much so, that my promotional blurb appears on his cover.

"A remarkable mix of the modern and the mythological, with characters that ring true." - Brian Fatah Steele, author of In Bleed Country

[link]

"Alexis is not your average high school graduate, her photographic memory and difficult personality usually making her a loner. But, when her life is further thrown into turmoil and tragedy strikes, everything she has known turns out to be based upon a lie. With her faithful friend Keats in tow, she sets out on a dangerous journey of self-discovery, with a mysterious stalker never far behind. Finding herself in a world populated by nothing less than myth and legend come to life, Alexis must survive to save the one person in the world for whom she cares the most."

I urge fans of Urban Fantasy, Post-Mythic fiction, and intelligent YA to snag a copy.  The e-book version is available in multiple formats, and the paperback will out in February.  Find it below at Smashwords...

[link]

Somebody at Scribd obviously screwed up.

It would seem my short story "Flawed," was chosen to be a Featured Post on their front page.  Who would've known the bleak tale of a haunted house that brings out the madness in a family not-very-loosely based on my own would do so well?  Over 700 reads at last count!  Along with it, I have two other short stories, plus three novellas all for FREE...

[link]

So if you're looking for a bit of horror fiction dripping with urban fantasy, stroll on over to Scribd.  If you like the crap I vomited out of my imagination, feel free to blow cash on my books at Amazon!  (Seriously, I'm broke.)

For a limited time, my novella "A Complicated Divine" that's found in the collection FURTHER THAN FATE can be downloaded for free at my Goodreads author profile site.  I've never been the type to care about money, only that people read & enjoy my work.  Wander over here to snag it... [link]

Oh, you might wanna know what it's about.  Okay.

The Shining Above and The Darkness Below collaborated on an experiment... but they never expected it would work. Now they're stuck with Kylie, who's a bit of an embarrassment. What's a divinity to do? Well, scam two disreputable entities into babysitting and hope for the best! Unfortunately with this crew involved, chances are things will end with a lot of swearing and not just a tad of violence.

If you grab it, all I ask is that you leave an HONEST review on Goodreads, or Amazon.  Thanks gang, I hope you like it!

Kindle.  Some folks (mostly those from the Baby Boomer generation and older) seem to think that Kindle and other eBook Readers somehow spell the end of literacy.  Oh, how I can't wait for the deluded elderly, so desperately clinging to a fictional Golden Age, to simply die off.  By Cthulhu, chances are MORE of today's youth will/would read if they had ready access to Kindles.  Stupid old people.

Personally, I find the whole Star Trek-y aspect of it fascinating.  I can easily recall my father (who has a Master's Degree in Technology) trying to explain to me WHY they would never be able to fully develop those touch screens about 15 years ago.  Epic fail, dad.  Glad he waxed philosophically on the concept of the eBook - I'd have to steal his degree from him.  Of course, he's much better suited to building us a trebuchet/catapult in the backyard with random MacGuyver-like items.

I was totally thrilled to get my 4 main books up on Kindle today.  Hell, I'm selling the stupid things cheap, (you have to go at a minimum of $2.99, so I only added 2 bucks to them) but I'm just hoping more people read my work now.  While I knew the iPhone had a Kindle App, I had no idea the Droid and Blackberry did as well.  Of course, my promotion of all this ebook nonsense is hysterical... given I run a Used Books Store.

However, I also believe there's a reason Borders has shut down, Mall Bookstores like B.Dalton's are a thing of the past, Amazon rules the internet marketplace, and I can't get people to STOP even donating their damn books to me; physical media is dying.  The playlist killed the mixed CD, and I'm told BluRay sales are not what they expected them to be.  Seriously, I'm not updated my damn DVD collection - I'll just have them in a nice, lil' terra-external, thank you.  

Don't get me wrong - The Mona Lisa will always hang disappointingly small in The Louvre, Led Zeppelin will always somehow sound better on record (while stoned), and those battered original copies of Hunter S. Thompson books will always feel like history in your hands.  But... Dave McKean looks awesome in eleventy-billion pixels, Sigur Ros plays amazing through my iTunes, and I'm gonna download the hell outta that new Charles Stross novel.

Occasionally someone will ask me, "So, what do you DO?"  I suppose they mean as a job, as a career.  Regardless, I usually answer the same - I'm a Professional Imaginer.

My parents still have a few of the sheets I used to fill up almost 30 years ago with doodles of X-wings and Tie-fighters in flight across the page.  Not only had I drawn them, I was telling the story of their epic Star Wars space battle.  Today, I honestly can not go more than a few days without, well... creating something.  Four books out, a gazillion pieces of visual art, a few really bad electronica albums.  It's all about exorcizing the emotive information in my head.

I'm somewhat running a Used Books Store now.  This last week, (the first week of opening, incidentally) was hell.  Oh, not because it was busy or because I didn't make any cash.  No, it was because after 8 hours at the store without a computer to write or any supplies to draw with, I would be too tired to create when I got home.  I kinda went nutty over this long, Labor Day weekend.  

While I may have read about 5 books this past week, absorbed the work of others, I simply needed to radiated my own creations.  I needed to produce.  A few friends of mine have joked this is some bizarre need to spawn, to have children.  (Gah, I hope I'm sterile!)  But I believe it's something more transcendental, something more... I dunno...

The next SEVEN books are already lined up, two of them already plotted out.  I have at least three different visual art projects in the works.  There's a folder full of lyrics & concepts ready to be recorded for the next album.  I'm going to be working on two different collaborative projects.  

Oh, and I have to go to work Monday through Saturday.  Damn.

* * * * * *

find more Brian Fatah Steele crap at -

Amazon.com
Goodreads.com
Facebook.com

My mind is a vast ocean of ideas, and currently my imagination is near drowning.

I have so much more research to do before I can begin writing the redeux on "Oblivion."  I'm considering doing sporadic bits of it while I work on another book, one that's far more fantastic, one that's based more on my own bizarre ideas.  Of course, in doing a little prep work for it, I allowed it to get out of hand and the character list grew dangerously large.  I'm not sure where to go with it next, but I desperately need to start writing again.

I go through certain phases with that aspect of creativity - I call them "Absorption" and "Radiation" periods.  After a time of writing, I have to take a break and just read.  Read anything... novels in my genre, short stories online, various essays and articles, whatever.  I need to absorb information and creativity.  Eventually, I will be fulfilled and able to return to radiating my own work.  (Don't ask.  I have a piece of paper that states I'm Legally Insane.) Fortunately, during this time I can create through means of Visual Art or Music Production.  

Which is another current issue...

Too many ideas, too much I want to do visually.  I still have a number of these book promo images to finish, plus a redesign for my High School mascot.  I'd love to try out some photography ideas, and I haven't painted in almost a whole year.  I thought I'd be getting into the next Requiem Engineers album about this time, but I don't feel that pull.  I'm a very "instinctual artist," and while some may scoff at that, at least at 32 years old I still have a driving passion to create every day.  The hacks may concern themselves with their bank accounts, but I simply want to get the words, images and sounds out of my head.  

Too much, too much!  I already have a ReqEng EP written, just not recorded and all the images in a folder to put together the rest of the book promos.  I have the next SEVEN books already plotted out, and I've been trying NOT to come up with any new ideas.  

Oh... and I start back to college in the fall to finish by BA in English (after a nice 10 year break) and I've already snagged a position in the Writing Center as a tutor.  I'm not gonna get ANYTHING done!!!

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find more Brian Fatah Steele crap at...

Amazon.com
Goodreads.com
Redroom.com
Facebook.com

What is "Art?"  A complex question, all human cultures have some form of it and it can be used to help define a society.  Immanuel Kant claimed "there are possibilities in art that can be found neither in scientific understanding nor moral reason."  The artists themselves have played pivotal roles in the social evolution of humanity, quite often without their knowledge.  They have been regarded as everything from the Divine Incarnate to the most wretched miscreants.  These individuals have used both skill and something unquantifiable to add to this world.  

For the purpose of streamlining this argument, we will concentrate on "Created" art as opposed to "Performed" art.

Only modern day artists feel this strange need to "Keep It Real," and suffer for their art. People like Van Gough, Poe and a great number of classical composers would have been appalled by the likes of someone such as Kurt Cobain for even thinking he was miserable. Only a slim handful of our great creators were famous during their own lives. The vast majority of them did not receive recognition until quite a bit of time later, when the next generation of artists discovered their work and applauded their brilliance. The thing is, this is the way it went for centuries and most creators (if you could ask them now) would be just fine with that.

Only today, with our instant gratification media, do we act as if we have failed if we haven't contributed to the arts in any significant way by the age of 30 and been publicly rewarded for it.  H. P.  Lovecraft died in his 30's with most of his works unpublished and now he is considered the Grandfather of Modern Horror with entire anthologies devoted in his honor. He died less than 75 years ago! Anyone who thinks that he would be angry or upset to see his work repackaged and distributed all over the world is woefully naive.

Yes, there is something to be said for Artistic Integrity. In the end, quality and vision is what will sell over the years. A band that keeps changing their style to match the popular trend may sell more albums in the short run, but they will never be remembered the way bands are who pioneered their own way shall be. This isn't to call experimentation into question, but rather it implicates the artists that have gone along with the culture, against their natural abilities and failed.

In the end, modern artists have to realize and take note of their predecessors. What artists do, what they create, isn't for themselves - it is for others, especially for the other artists of the future. It is their Legacy, it is what they are attempting to give back to culture. They should not necessarily expected to be lavishly rewarded for their endeavors in this life.


*****

find more Brian Fatah Steele crap at...

Amazon.com
Goodreads.com
Redroom.com
Facebook.com

Yeah, I went to Art School at one time, but eventually ran away and went crazy.  Now I write Horror & Urban Fantasy with a "Post-Mythic" genre element.  You can find my books on Amazon, or come harass me over at Facebook.  Almost all my Visual Artwork is centered around the Human Figure, my influence ranging from Alphonse Mucha, JW Waterhouse, and Gustav Klimt to Russ Mills, Dave McKean and Natalie Shau.

I'm a writer.  I write mostly Mythic Horror and Dark Modern Fantasy.  I've put out 6 books in the last 2 years.  Although I started out a visual artist, I found my calling in the written word.  I still dabble in visual arts, but it's not my passion; plus I don't practice enough to be really any good at it.

"Paper Cuts: Tales Of Horror & Fantasy" is out from Xlibris Publishing and is available at their website as well as on amazon.com and other online markets.  A slim volume, it contains 32 short stories from subtle terror to visceral nightmares.


The follow-up collection, "The Glorious & The Wretched" has just been released from Lulu Publishing and is currently only available at their website.  Another assembly of 32 tales, this books comes in over 400 pages and is filled with mythic horror and modern dark fantasy.  Look for it at [link]


I've also released a chapbook of poetry and romantic realism shorts entitled "And If Eternity Failed You..."  13 poems filled with dark symbolism concerning relationships are staggered around 6 tales about love and life.  A Lulu Publishing Exclusive, you can also find it at [link]

My 1st book, "Paper Cuts: Tales Of Horror & Fantasy" is still available through all major online retailers.  It is a collection of 32 short stories, many of which have appeared on various online writing forums.  It contains everything from subtle terror to stark, visceral nightmares.  

One of my favorite pieces, "The Armada Of Sensation" was published in the 1st issue of Horror Authors United Magazine.  A tale of vicious psionics who feed on the emotions & flesh of humans, it was well received.  I invite you to check out the ongoing publication of the HAU Magazine at horrorauthorsunited.webs.com

My 2nd book is finished and in its final stages of editing now.  Titled "The Glorious & The Wretched," it is another collection of 32 short stories.  This anthology, however, is bigger, better and bolder than the first.  Look for it in the spring of 2008.

I'm excited to announce the release of my book, "Paper Cuts: Tales Of Horror & Fantasy."

Seek out the mythic and the macabre in this collection of tales about Gods & Monsters, Angels & Demons, and the humans caught somewhere in the middle.  From a college party to the outer rims of reality, inside are tales of subtle terror, visceral nightmares and epic encounters.  Journey along side characters as they experience quiet dread, horrific abominations and divinity in flesh. This slim volume by Brian Fatah Steele will attempt to haunt you, thirty-two quick stories into the furthest depths of imagination...

AVAILABLE NOW!!!

GET YOUR COPY AT

[link]