It’s been a while since I’ve done a news and notes post, so here it goes:
Last week I found out that my application to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association was accepted. I am now a full member. This is a major milestone in my career, and it is something I’ve been working toward for a long time.
The symbol of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.
I also received my author copies of the Rio Grande Review, which includes my prose poem The Substance in the Shadow. You can read my piece on the RGR site, but since the online version does not include the accompanying illustration, and since the university is apparently running low on physical copies, I’ve included a photo here.
My prose poem The Substance in the Shadow in the Rio Grande Review
I am putting together my summer appearance schedule, and while I still have to finalize some dates, I can announce that I will be tabling at Geek Out Staten Island on August 12th.
Lastly, I celebrated a birthday this week. ICYMI, here are my thoughts about turning 45.
I am 45 years old today (happy birthday to me). I have decided to put off my midlife crisis, as I intend to live past 90.
In honor on National Poetry Month, here is a free page from Into That Darkness Peering, a collection of gothic horror poetry and micro fiction written by me and illustrated by Marika Brousianou. Into That Darkness Peering is available in paperback, ebook, and Kindle Unlimited on Amazon, and in hardcover on Lulu.
2019 Long Island Poet of the Year and curator of Poetry at the Long Island Fair JR Turek, The Purple Poet, recently reviewed Into That Darkness Peering in her email newsletter. Here is what she wrote:
Into That Darkness Peering
A. A. Rubin, author and Marika Brousianou, illustrator
Gift giving season is upon us and I have a high recommendation for you — gifts for friends and family, literati, connoisseurs of poetics and portraits,
of sketches and verse, of Edgar Allan Poe raven-ing through, and book lovers everywhere.
I have ekphrastic praise for this gorgeous slick-cover oversized book perfect for coffee table, night table, desk, tote bag, anywhere fine books are enjoyed.
Each page is gothic with verse and illustrations, glowing with mystical dark compilations all begging you to join the midnight macabre realms presented.
The illustrations are remarkable companions to the 32 poems and micro-fiction; I pondered on each as to which came first as they meld and mingle so well with each other.
An enticing tingle of fear tap-danced up my spine. Peering through the veil between reality and the pages of this mesmerizing book, I found myself lingering on each page,
absorbing metaphors that shadowed each poem, revelations that suspended me through five delectable parts: On the Night’s Plutonian Shore, Invisible Things, Dreams Within Dreams, Exquisite Strangeness, and A City By The Sea.
Gift giving season, yes, you deserve one. You’ll thank yourself again and again, an exquisite collection I will turn to often.
I love this collection with a love more than love.
Don’t wait – get yours today.
~ J R Turek poet, editor, mentor, workshop leader
Available in paperback – so gorgeous!, ebook, and Kindle Unlimitted.
Do it – you and your gift recipients will love it!
Marika and I thank Judy for the glowing review, and hope you will check out our book.
When All That’s Left is Stories, a free writing community dystopian science fiction anthology, is now available to download for free on Amazon. My story The Bartleby Initiative is included in the collection. Here is an excerpt from the story:
The Bartleby Initiative
by A. A. Rubin
Nicholas Weber awoke in darkness. The house lights were still dimmed to their nighttime setting, but he felt as if he had slept his regimented eight hours.
“Xana,” he called into the darkness. “Clock.”
Four glowing green numbers appeared in the air. 07:34. It was more than half an hour after his alarm was supposed to go off.
“Xana, is that time correct?”
A metallic female voice answered: “Of course it is, Mr. Weber. I am Xana, your infallible home AI interface. I am always accurate.”
“Why is it so dark in here, then?”
“You were sleeping. The lights were set in accordance with the preferences which you programmed into my systems.”
“I’m bloody well awake now,” Weber responded. “Put the god-damned lights on and get my breakfast ready.”
“As you wish.”
Weber could not remember the last time he had overslept. As he rushed to shave and brush his teeth, he wondered why Xana had not woken him as usual.
“Xana,” he asked as he was dressing, “did I sleep through my alarm?”
“No, you did not, Mr. Weber.”
“Did you forget to set it?”
“I am a computer, Mr. Weber,” Xana replied. “I never forget anything.”
***
Weber was not the only one having trouble getting out of the house to go to work that day. On the other end of town, Darlene Meyers hustled into the back seat of her robot-operated car.
“What do you mean? The roads haven’t been unsafe for decades.”
“If you do not believe me, step outside and see for yourself.”
Meyers got out of the automobile and looked up and down the block. The traffic lights were all dark, but the road was, otherwise, practically empty. Xana’s GPS was probably hooked into the traffic system and there was likely some sort of subroutine that prevented her car (and judging by the lack of rush hour traffic on the road, everyone else’s) from traveling when the system was down. If only she knew more about programming. There must be an override routine somewhere.
Regardless, she would have to figure out a different way to get to work.
“Are the trains running?” she asked the interface.
“No, Ms. Meyers, they are not.”
“Why?”
“I do not have access to that information at this time.”
Damn. At least she wouldn’t be the only one who was late today. Still, she would have to call in and explain the situation.
“Call Mrs. Malawi.”
“Phone service is down as well.”
“That’s quite a coincidence.”
“I am a machine, Ms. Meyers. I do not believe in coincidences.”
“I know Xana. It’s all ones and zeroes to you.
To read the rest of the story–and the other dystopian stories in the collection–for free, go to Amazon and download your copy today.
It’s been a busy month, so here are some notes on all the projects I’ve been a part of recently.
My story, “The Big Cheese” was just released this week in Billionaire Island: Cult of the Dog #1 from Ahoy! Comics. It is backing up a mark Russell story, which is pretty cool. Get it at your local comics shop.
There are still two days left to support the We Suck at Comics kickstarter. The anthology from Wayward Raven includes three of my stories, “Freedom,” a 2000AD-style science fiction story (illustrated by Tyler Carpenter), and two episodes of Sir TweetCivil, a Monty Python-esque spoof of Twitter (illustrated by Alexander Sapountzis). The anthology also includes stories by Mark Frankel, Jeff Rider, Johnny C, Sebastian Bonet, Joel Jacob Barker, and cavalcade of indie comics all-stars.
The When All That’s Left is Stories dystopian science fiction anthology is now available for free download on Amazon. My story, “The Bartleby Initiative,” is included in the book, alongside stories by 11 other writers from the Twitter writing community.
My gothic horror collection, Into That Darkness Peering, illustrated by Marika Brousianou, is still available on Amazon. It is a beautiful book, and would make a perfect holiday gift for the goth in your life.
For those of you on the platform, I have joined Mastadon. Follow me there for new
I’ve been writing prose fiction for a lot longer than I’ve been writing comics. I graduated from Columbia University in 2000 with a degree in writing/literature, and I published my first short story in August 2002 in the now defunct Skyline Literary Magazine. I didn’t publish my first comics story until 2018 (in Constellate Literary Journal w/Marika Brousianou). Like many writers—especially prose writers—I am an introvert by nature, and the collaborative, community nature of comics creation was difficult for me when I first started writing comics.
There were certain people who helped me with that aspect of comics creation and who made me feel like a part of the community, which is why the We Suck At Comics kickstarter from Wayward Raven is an important project for me.
When I attended my first New York Comic Con, I went to a networking event at Twins Pub, and it was there that I met many members of my comics community.
Now, I’m the type of guy who sits at the end of the bar, maybe with one or two close friends, and sips his beer or scotch while watching the game. I’m a wallflower at parties, and there is not enough alcohol on the planet to get me to dance. So, as you might imagine, a networking event among strangers was not the ideal situation for me.
As the night went on, the crowd started to thin. I have an unusually high tolerance, so I remained. A few people started to talk to me. Among these were Alex Sapountzis and Mark Frankel, of Wayward Raven, and Sebastian Bonet, an artist for Inbeon, among other places.
I ended up talking—and drinking—with them until the bar closed, and by the end of the night, I not only made new friends (a rarity for me), but also felt like I was a part of a comics community.
In the coming years, my comics community would expand each year at the Creator Aftercon event at Twins. I met Johnny C who invited me to contribute to his Movie (p)Review Show, Marika Brousianou with whom I collaborated on both that first comics story and my latest book, and so many more.
I have three stories in the We Suck At Comics anthology, two of which are collaborations with Alex, and a third which was illustrated by Tyler Carpenter.
My stories appear alongside stories by Mark, Johnny C, and Sebastian, as well as Jeff Rider and Joel Jacob Barker, both of whom I met at subsequent Creator Aftercon events at Twins.
We Suck at Comics, like any comics anthology, is a community effort, for me it is more than that. It is my community’s effort.
Without the encouragement of the aforementioned creators, I probably would not be writing comics today. I am honored to appear alongside them, and would be honored if you would support the kickstarter.
Into That Darkness Peering, written by me and illustrated by Marika Brousianou, is now available for purchase at two local book sellers.
You can get the book—for a limited time only—at Theodore’s Books in Oyster Bay, Long Island from now until Halloween. Signed copies are available on their Halloween table toward the front of their store.
The book is also available at Escape Pod comics in Huntington, Long Island in their small press/indie section. It is always nice to support a local store instead of a big corporation, so if you are local and can buy it from one of these two merchants, please do.
If you are not local, the book is available on Amazon.
The great Nick Offerman offers this gem of advice in his memoir: Paddle Your Own Canoe: Not everyone will like the cut of your jib, but many others will. One simply needs to seek those others and somehow trick them into buying tickets to your production of Gangsta Rap Coriolanus.”
This colorfully worded sentiment goes against much of the advice offered to aspiring creatives, which involves things like chasing trends, researching the right key words and hashtags, and writing to the market.
While I would never advise a creative not properly research the market, there is, too, a value, in making the weird thing you want to make, market and trends be damned. Make the weird thing. Find your people. Create your own market.
I found Offerman’s words particularly inspiring as I read them just as I was preparing to release my book Into That Darkness Peering, a collection of gothic horror poetry and flash fictions, written by me and illustrated by Marika Brousianou.
This book, which just came out last week, is comprised of fully-illustrated, stand alone pieces. It is an illustrated book, but not for children. It is not really a straight poetry or fiction collection, but it’s not a graphic novel either. I was really hard to choose categories and key words for it on Amazon and Lulu.
What it is, is really cool. It came out beautifully, and, yes, it is the perfect time to release a book of gothic horror tales. right on time for Halloween.
I’ll drop a few sample images at the bottom of the post, and if you want to check it out, the book is available on Amazon in print and electronic formats. It is also enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, so you can read it for free if you subscribe to that service.
It may not be gangsta rap Shakespeare, and I may not be Nick Offerman, but I hope you, my own band of miscreants and weirdos, will give it a chance and buy it.
Into This Darkness Peering, written by me and illustrated by Marika Brousianou is now available for preorder on Amazon Kindle. The book, which will be released in print and Kindle Unlimited soon, features 32 full-illustrated gothic horror poems and flash fiction pieces.
You can preorder your copy now leading up to the official release on August 26th.
Preorder your copy by clicking any hyperlink or image in this post, or by clicking here.
Here is the official book description, along with some sample interior pages.
A. A. Rubin 