Member Publications

The invite to submit to the inaugural issue of The New Bedlam Project wasn't the only fairly recent invite I received. I had also been invited by the editor of The Monsters Next Door to submit poetry for possible inclusion in one of her latest projects, a poetry anthology titled Scattered Verses, Moonlit Curses. Not being one to pass up an opportunity to get more of my poetry out there and read, I sent the editor four previously published pieces ("The Accursed Castle", "The Incubus", "Your Bloody Face", and "Life is the Life") as well as two unpublished works ("Howling on the Moor" and "Nightmares Fell my Fantasy").

Well, all six poems were accepted for publication in the forthcoming anthology. I believe that the book is slated to be released sometime in May. The exact date has yet to be determined.

It appears that the roll will yet roll on! (Into May, at least.)

And in details you'll only hear here (because I don't want to repeat this on my blogs) - my poetry received some wonderful praise from the editor of The Monsters Next Door. She literally wrote "wow" in her e-mail, and said that my poems made her own contributions to the anthology look amateur.


And this is the second "wow" my poetry has received this week - the editor of The New Bedlam Project also said "wow" at one point in her reply regarding "The Damnation of Daniel Brewster", and stated that the poem blew her away.

It's a nice feeling when ones work is so well received.

I am sooooo happy for you Richard!!!

Thanks!

I am just in awe...have you been doing affirmations and manifestation techniques Richard? Cos your success just gets bigger and bigger. Nah, you are a really talented man, and that is obvious. Congratulations mate. More power to you

Thanks!

I haven't been doing anything out of the ordinary, just working at it really, really hard. Being a bit of an obsessive personality helps; when I set my mind to something, I often can't rest until it's done. Once I received the invitations to submit material for Scattered Verses and The New Bedlam Project, I pondered the themes of both venues until ideas started to form. Then I plugged away at the poems "The Damnation of Daniel Brewster" and "Nightmares Fell my Fantasy" until they were finished. "Howling on the Moor" was a troubled piece of lycanthropic poetry just sitting on my hard drive awaiting a new revision. I happened to rediscover it, and managed to rework it a bit. Apparently, my latest revision worked.

I will admit; I recycled ideas a bit. Both brand new poems borrowed some basic concepts from previous works. However, I took those old concepts and steered off in totally new directions. And I worked especially hard at getting my language just right.

Hoping to get a mainstream literary poem or two (or three) alongside my speculative poetry already published in the on-line version of Abandoned Towers, I sent Crystalwizard three pieces for consideration. "Worrying" originally appeared in the Autumn 2007 issue of Skyline Magazine. My haiku "heaven's bright jewels" originally appeared in the July 7-8, 2007 issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network. Earlier versions of "Mother Earth's Children" appeared on various forums, but never in an actual zine-type publication.

Well, Crystalwizard accepted all three. It was decided that "Worrying" and "Mother Earth's Children" would appear in the on-line version of Abandoned Towers, while the haiku would be held for use in a forthcoming print issue. And "Mother Earth's Children" may also appear in a forthcoming collection, if I ever get around to completing it.

Sometimes it pays to go through your older material, just to see what can be sent out as reprints or what can be revised, re-polished, and resurrected.

Link to Abandoned Towers: http://cyberwizardproductions.com/AbandonedTowers/

Link to "Worrying": http://www.cyberwizardproductions.com/AbandonedTowers/poetry/worry.html

Link to "Mother Earth's Children": http://www.cyberwizardproductions.com/AbandonedTowers/poetry/earths.html

Thanks again RHFay for sharing these Wonderful poems with US ALL !! !!

Thanks for reading them!

It might make me less of a true artiste, but I write most of my poetry for others to read. That is my main reason for composing poetry to begin with. And that's why I try to stay away from obscure verse.

This is a forum set up for mentions, links and discussions on the publications of Light Warriors members. This may include book, article and short story publications, or anything related to the publication business as it may relate to members here. This thread is not to be used for free marketing (new members to the site should make sincere posts elsewhere before posting here.)

My poem "The Damnation of Daniel Brewster" has been published in the premiere issue of the e-zine The New Bedlam Project. This particular verse tells the tale of what happens when a less-than-upstanding native son of New Bedlam returns home seeking comfort. He actually finds something else altogether!

Check it out! And, if you wish, please leave a comment on the New Bedlam page featuring this poem. I would love to hear what people think of my little dark tale in verse.

You can certainly comment here, too, but the reason I say comment on the New Bedlam site is because it shows the editor that someone read the poem, and perhaps stayed to read the rest of the zine. In a small way it helps support these sorts of publication endeavours.

My semi-speculative felid cinquain, "Yellow Eyes", has been accepted for publication at Every Day Poets. It may go on-line around Halloween, which is rather appropriate considering the somewhat spectral feel of the piece. After all, I drew my inspiration from a tale about a ghost cat. However, I feel that my cinquain leaves the actual paranormal nature of the subject in doubt, thus semi-speculative instead of wholly speculative.

After all, flesh-and-blood cats can be pretty ghostly at times, slinking around quietly in the dark.

My horrorku "Labyrinthine Pile" has been published in the April 2009 Issue of the web-zine Aphelion. Check it out:
http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/poetry/2009/04/LabyrinthinePile.html

A real-life landmark inspired this little poem, but I won't tell you which one. You'll just have to guess. I'll give you a hint; it was built, in part, to deliberately bewilder angry ghosts.

Wow, those are some accomplishments...great going Richard. May your quill never waiver in delivering the written goods.

Thanks! They're little accomplishments, really, but each little accomplishment helps add to my overall accomplishment.

Anyway, my pen had better get busy delivering the drawn goods, as opposed to the written goods. I currently have lots of illustration projects in the works, including the illustrations for an upcoming poetry collection. I think I have all the poetry I need to make the collection complete, now I have to work on the art.

Being multi-talented is hard work!

The editor of Scifaikuest has accepted my folkloric horrorku "weeping tree" for publication in the November 2009 on-line edition of her zine. While I've had something like four scifaiku/horrorku published in different print issues, I believe this is the first of my speculative haiku to appear in the on-line edition.

Either way, it doesn't really matter to me. I'm not extremely picky about where my horrorku and scifaiku are published, as long as they do get published. And I can post a link to on-line publications here and on my web site's "List of Publications", something I happen to see as a plus. You can't link directly to works published in print publications.

By the way, this is not my first poem about a tree. It seems I have a thing for trees. It must be because I grew up with the forest as my backyard. Oh, how I miss the woods!

Aphelion's poetry editor has accepted three of my speculative haiku ("Clattering Hooves", "Roiling Gyre", and "Electric Blue Sparks") for forthcoming publication in the web zine. They will run over the next few months, exact scheduling TBA.

I guess this means my monthly publication roll will roll on through the summer months!

A while back, I noticed an entry in David C. Kopaska-Merkel's blog stating that he was looking for art submissions for future issues of Dreams & Nightmares. Seeing this as a golden opportunity, I composed a few filler art pieces and sent them David's way.

Well, I just received word that he wants to use two of the five pieces I sent in. So, it looks like "Plantimal" and "Barixas Hunt" will be appearing in a future issue or issues of Dreams & Nightmares. Cool!

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other three drawings.

(Sorry, no posting the art here just yet. David prefers pieces previously unpublished pieces, so I want to make sure they appear in D&N before they appear anywhere else.)

Wow Richard, that's awesome!!!!!

Thanks!

Wow Richard, opportunities just seem to drop into your lap. You are a master at manifesting mister! Good work. And can't wait till they get published so we can have a little looky.

Goth~Ink wrote:

Wow Richard, opportunities just seem to drop into your lap. You are a master at manifesting mister! Good work. And can't wait till they get published so we can have a little looky.

More likely a master at networking and self-promoting, as well as a dogged searcher of opportunities. Keep in mind, I've spent the last two years making connections and slowly building a a list of published poetry and a portfolio of published art. Sending links to my web site when I submitted poetry helped generate interest in my art, and one publication has led to another and another. Thankfully, certain editors like my style enough to keep publishing examples of my work.

My scifaiku "temporal crack" now appears in the May 2009 Issue of Aphelion:

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/poetry/2009/05/TemporalCrack.html

This piece combines two of my favourite things, dinosaurs and knights, into one compact little poem. As a matter of fact, you could say it even has a little bit of dragon thrown in for good measure.

I received some good news today. My poem "At the Wheel" and my illustration "Tom Tit Tot" have been accepted for publication in the Spring 2010 issue of Illumen. This will be my third poem in an issue of Illumen ("The Haunted Isle" and my scifaiku "rainbow against black" both appeared in the Spring 2008 issue), and it will be the fifth publication of my Tom Tit Tot illustration. The drawing previously appeared in Flashing Swords, Abandoned Towers, Macabre Cadaver, and Horror Bound. I guess it's a popular image.

I'm always especially glad when my verse appears in a journal dedicated to poetry. It makes me feel that I may actually know what I'm doing. Sometimes I do wonder. At least I know the poetry isn't simply being bought as a filler between stories.

Anyway, this poem/illustration combo happens to be one of those instances where the image inspired the poem, instead of the other way around. I was prodded into writing a poem based on the illustration. Although the editor that did the prodding didn't think the end product would work in her publication, it certainly seemed strong enough that I sent it right back out after a slight revision. And it was picked up by the very next market.

So, I'm starting to already build next year's list of forthcoming publications. Now I just need to get a few things accepted for the intervening period. I already have publications slated for May, June, July, August, (possibly) October, and November.

Have I let my roll go to my head? Am I asking too much when I wish it will continue into 2010, shooting for a third year? I guess I'll just have to see what the future brings.

Congratulations! Way to go Richard!! No no you are not asking too much - you are believing in the outcome and thus manifesting it as a reality. Brilliant work! Keep having those positive affirmative thoughts and watch your roll continue to grow. Beautiful work, mate