Eraserhead Press

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED

2009-12-02T16:23:00.001-08:00

This blog has moved.
Please update your links to:
http://eraserheadpress.wordpress.com/

Get SHATNERQAUKE for FREE today!

2009-11-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

Bizarro Author Jeff Burk is offering a free download of SHATNERQUAKE today on his website.

About the book:
It's Shatner VS Shatners!

William Shatner? William Shatner. WILLIAM SHATNER!!! It's the first ShatnerCon with William Shatner as the guest of honor! But after a failed terrorist attack by Campbellians, a crazy terrorist cult that worships Bruce Campbell, all of the characters ever played by William Shatner are suddenly sucked into our world. Their mission: hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner.

Featuring: Captain Kirk, TJ Hooker, Denny Crane, Rescue 911 Shatner, Singer Shatner, Shakespearean Shatner, Twilight Zone Shatner, Cartoon Kirk, Esperanto Shatner, Priceline Shatner, SNL Shatner, and - of course - William Shatner!

No costumed con-goer will be spared in their wave of destruction, no redshirt will make it out alive, and not even the Klingons will be able to stand up to a deranged Captain Kirk with a lightsaber. But these Shatner-clones are about to learn a hard lesson...that the real William Shatner doesn't take crap from anybody. Not even himself.

It's Shatnertastic!

Praise for Shatnerquake:

“It’s like Lloyd Kaufman and Sam Rami’s mutant offspring wrote a book.”
- Wil Wheaton, Star Trek: the Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher

“…getting a lightsaber-wielding Captain Kirk in the same room with “Boston Legal’s” Denny Crane is definitely worth the cover price in comedic gold.”
- Jim Gibbons, Wizard Magazine

“If you’ve ever sat tripping on acid surrounded by a hundred tv’s playing various William Shatner programming all at once, you might not need to read Shatnerquake. But if you have not, then there is no excuse for you to miss this absurdly hilarious meta-satire of celebrity, identity, and completism.”
- Whitney Streed, Stand-Up Comedian

“Talk about off the wall!”
- Edward Lee, author of The Bighead and Flesh Gothic

Eraserhead Press Sends a Big Thank You to BizarroCon Attendees

2009-11-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

Eraserhead Press Team (Carlton Mellick III, Rose O'Keefe, Cameron Pierce, Jeff Burk)

The Second Annual BizarroCon (October 21-25, 2009) was a huge success. Five days of Bizarro writers, artists, publishers, and fans came together as one big happy family.

This event was of great significance to Eraserhead Press as it marked our 10th Year in independent publishing. Each year, the Bizarro community continues to grow and BizarroCon provides us the special opportunity to get together in a very unique setting, spend time together creatively and really get to know one another. We are grateful to every person that came out to BizarroCon this year, many of you traveled long distances and overcame financial obstacles and it wouldn't have been the same without all of you here. Everyone at this event contributed in some way. As one participant, Nicole Cushing, put it, "What I loved is that this just wasn't a Con where we talked about being creative. This was a Con where we were creative".
Eraserhead Press would like to send out a hearty THANK YOU to everyone who came to BizarroCon and those of you who were there with us in spirit, THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the writing workshops that Carlton Mellick III and Eckhard Gerdes presented, THANK YOU to all our panelists and those who attended, THANK YOU to all of the readers and those who attended the readings, THANK YOU to everyone who stayed in the Ad House and took care of each other, THANK YOU to everyone who participated in The Ultimate Bizarro Showdown and to the judges who did not get drunk and mistake the Kevins like I did, THANK YOU to everyone who came to our party on Friday night and drank our beer. An atmosphere of creative energy was created and for five days we lived in a different world together. A beautiful, wild, messy, bloody, wonderful world. BizarroCon is not just an event, it's an experience. The contribution of each person was felt by all. In particular we would like to extend special love and thanks to the following people:

(Kevin L. Donihe and the New Bizarro Authors: DW Barbee, Eric Mays, Patrick Wensink, Kevin Shamel)

Thank you to KEVIN L. DONIHE for his tireless work editing the New Bizarro Author Series. The first four releases on this line debuted at BizarroCon along with their authors. Thank you also for arriving early to help with preparations, participating on panels and and keeping us all greatly entertained during the now legendary "Ask Kevin L. Donihe" session. Congratulations to Donihe for winning the Wonderland Award for Best Novel of 2008 with House of Houses.

Jeremy Robert Johnson hosting the Ultimate Bizarro Showdown

Thank you to JEREMY ROBERT JOHNSON author and editor of Swallowdown Press and idiot savant for a truly outstanding job hosting the Ultimate Bizarro Showdown and for presenting the Wonderland Award for best novel, participating on panels, shuttling people to the airport and for your support and attention to detail.

Asphalt Flowerhead Centerpiece

Chrissy Horchheimer & Angie Molinar

Ultra Fuckers Centerpiece

Thank you to ANGIE MOLINAR and CHRISSY HORCHHEIMER, the stand out Bizarro artists who are regular illustrators for The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction and cover artists for Eraserhead Press. Angie and Chrissy designed the fabulous centerpieces for the Wonderland Book Awards Dinner (nine head sculptures themed after Bizarro books) and generously donated their original artwork from the Magazine to the Bizarro Raffle. Hearty thanks for the mimosas, hosting people at the bunker, giving rides from the airport and for generally having my back.

Eckhard Gerdes

Big thank you to ECKHARD GERDES for his fantastic workshop Defense Against the Dark Arts: Preparing for criticism. In this class students were asked to create an artistic statement of purpose and share with each other. This provided a context for relationships that continued into the rest of BizarroCon as we learned more about each other's goals and interests. Additional thanks for judging the Ultimate Bizarro Showdown, participating in panels and hooking us up with "The Good Stuff" (and by that we mean Templeton Rye Whiskey).

Kevin Shamel 2nd Place Winner of The Ultimate Bizarro Showdown bursting his winning pinata with a beer bottle

Thank you to KEVIN SHAMEL author of Rotten Little Animals. Shamel really went the extra mile for BizarroCon, shuttling people from the airport to Edgefield, holding down the bunker, and pitching in whenever he found himself needed. Extra special thanks to Shamel for all of the gorgeous photos he took of the event (including most of the photos that appear in this blog post). Congratulations to Shamel for winning 2nd Place in The Ultimate Bizarro Showdown.

Mykle Hansen

Thank you FAMOUS AUTHOR MYKLE HANSEN for contributing to an intense schedule of panels and readings with flair and for helping out with rides. Many thanks to you and Jeff Burk for putting together a kick ass presentation of Bizarro short films late/early Saturday/Sunday morning. Congratulations to Hansen for winning the Wonderland Award for Best Collection of 2008 with Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere.

Gina Ranalli author of Sky Tongues

Thank you GINA RANALLI winner of the Wonderland Award for Best Collection of 2007 for presenting the award to the winner for 2008 and for judging The Ultimate Bizarro Showdown.

Thank you TROY CHAMBERS, ZACK GOWEN and ERIC ROBINSON (aka CannibalCheese). These underage darlings of bizarro really earned their beer on Friday night decorating for the Eraserhead Press party. I knew right away that these stylish fellows would do a bang up job and they transformed the Ad House into a truly Eraserhead Press space. Special thanks to Troy Chambers for generally being my bitch that weekend and taking charge of a good share of the grunt work with a great attitude.

Andrew Goldfarb looks on at Eric Mays who has just been attacked with squid by Cameron Pierce during Meat Magick

Thank you ERIC MAYS author of Naked Metamorphosis. We just met, but you really stepped in and made yourself a part of the team taking initiative to help where needed. Thank you!

Andrew Goldfarb

Thank you ANDREW GOLDFARB for being your awesome self. Goldfarb is the type of person who has a distinct vision that he expresses in everything he does. A snake oil voodoo surrealistic weeping willow slub glub lump lump world of wonder and magic. He is not only the author of multiple books and comics but he is also a one man band The Slow Poisoner. Thank you for your outstanding entertainment on Friday night, participating in panels and judging The Ultimate Bizarro Showdown. Thank you for giving me a reason to dance, the seance, and your completely unique perspective.

Zoe Welch assisting Cameron Pierce during his performance

Thank you ZOE WELCH #1 Bizarro Fan from TX. We weren't expecting fans to show up at this event but you came and you provided something that no one else could have. Thank you for your feedback as a reader. Bizarro fiction is created for people like you, we are glad to call you our friend.

We would also like to send out special love and thoughts to Chris Genoa and Bruce Taylor who were in our thoughts and to all of the Eraserhead Press authors and readers all over the world. We hope we see all of you again next year!

D. Harlan Wilson Interview in Dark Scribe Magazine

2009-08-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

D. Harlan Wilson is interviewed in Dark Scribe Magazine.

Wilson is one of my favorite authors. I have published two collections of his irreal short stories, The Kafka Effekt and Stranger on the Loose. His stories also appear in The Bizarro Starter Kit (orange). If you are not familiar with his work I would recommend checking out one of these collections.

For more information about D. Harlan Wilson, visit him online at http://www.dharlanwilson.com/

Net Neutrality and Independent Media

2009-06-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Please watch this important announcement from Lloyd Kaufman, Chairman of the IFTA.
Support independent media. We are living in one of the most media democratic times, but in order to keep it that way, we need to be aware of what big media conglomerates are attempting to do.

Eraserhead Press is an independent publisher of Bizarro Fiction. We aim to bring you the weirdest, coolest, most fun to read books you'll ever find.

Portland Lit Offensive

2009-06-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a slideshow from the "Portland Aggressive" reading put on last week by Daniel Scott Buck and the Portland Lit Offensive. The event took place at the Ella Street Social Club (formerly the Towne Lounge).

Bizarro Author Jordan Krall

2009-05-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

It's Jordan Krall's birthday today.

For any of you that have not read any work by Jordan Krall, I highly recommend starting with Squid Pulp Blues. The book is Lovecraftian, Film Noir styled bizarro. It is one of my favorite books of 2008. Jordan's writing is visceral and dark. He combines squishy grotesque details with a gritty fast paced story telling style. When I read his work, I often don't know whether to be turned on or grossed out. I have had people buy this book at conventions, start reading it and come back to buy more of Jordan's books the same day.

Watch for new work by Jordan Krall in the first issue of The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction. His story "The Pistol Burps" is a prequel to his forthcoming Spaghetti Western-inspired novel, Fistful of Feet . I have read it already, and I can tell you it's incredible.

Happy Birthday Jordan. Hope all your squidy dreams come true!

Rose

Portland Aggressive - An Evening of Tough Love

2009-05-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Join me this Thursday at the Ella Street Social Club for mixed drinks and tough love with readings by some of the best writers in Portland.

May 28, 2009 at 7pm
Ella Street Social Club 714 SW 20th Place, Portland, OR
Lovingly put on by the badass Portland Lit Offensive
www.portlandlitoffensive.com

Daily Rituals and Artful Living

2009-05-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

I am lucky to work with a team of driven, dedicated and goal oriented people at Eraserhead Press. A typical "day at the office" is known to frequently involve

a meeting at the brew pub,

a video game competition,

or hanging out with Klingons

We work together in the office and we work separately at home. We work when we go out for drinks or to parties. We work while watching movies and while eating brunch. There is no difference between work and play. We are focused on our goals and are constantly exploring new paths towards obtaining them. The group energy is invigorating. The collective creativity that is at the heart of the Bizarro movement is inspiring and motivating. This group of story tellers is shaping a reality of their own design. A world that supports free-thinking, imagination, and individuality. We believe that there are more people out there that think like we do and we seek to connect to them through the fiction we create.

I just came across this site:
How writers artist and other interesting people organize their day

It has tidbits from all sorts of interesting writers about their daily habits. C.S. Lewis and W.H. Auden's habits were my favorite to read about. I found C.S. Lewis fascinatingly fussy, pragmatic and sociable and W.H. Auden's routine was manipulated with speed and barbiturates. I think it would be interesting to ask about the daily habits of many of the creative people that I work with. I know that I am always examining and tweeking my own routine.

In my opinion, the way to be truly happy about your productivity as an artist is to be able to incorporate your art into your lifestyle in such a way that life becomes art. Living an artful life, the creator is always at work. Art is a beautiful and enjoyable process. Some people think creating things is hard. It is easy, it is natural and it is done constantly every day. It's only the matter of directing your creativity that is difficult to master. That is where habits are helpful and how routine can help tone the creative muscles.

But the flip side of it is the fantasy about what a writer's life is like. I often encounter in new writers the obsessive quality of ritualizing the writing process. The feeling that in order to be a true writer they must go out to a cabin in the woods or that a bottle of wine and candlelight will inspire a great opus. I think the article on the daily routines of writers I mentioned provides some perfect examples to perpetuate that fantasy. Also any movie or book you ever read about authors will always glamorize this aspect of their process. I believe that there is a certain power to ritual, but there are also times when it can become cumbersome to the creative process. Without flexibility there can be no growth. And if you are not growing, you are stagnating. It's never good to get too locked in to thinking that in order to be creative you must be in the perfect environment, or it has to be at a certain time of day, or that you need certain substances to get the juices flowing. All of these things might aid you, but they are not where creativity comes from, nor does the creative process rely upon them.

If you are reading this, I'd like to hear what you think. What are your requirements for creativity and how are they related to your routine?

Carlton Mellick III

2009-05-21T13:23:00.001-07:00

Carlton Mellick III has a new blog! It's up on his website www.carltonmellick.com.

It's awesome! He posts previews of his upcoming book covers, information about other bizarro writers, video clips, and burritos.

The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction

2009-05-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

Check out The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction!

Bizarro Event in Olympia, WA on 5/16/09

2009-05-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Join us in Olympia, WA on May 16th for a special Bizarro performance art event.

Come visit Eraserhead Press

2009-05-07T00:39:00.000-07:00

If you're in Portland, come out and visit us tomorrow.
It's First Thursday in the NW Alphabet blocks.
The Eraserhead Press office is located inside a building called ActivSpace. ActivSpace rents office spaces to artists and writers. In the tradition of the NW art walks on first Thursdays we are opening up our space and setting up tables outside tomorrow. There will be lots of artists, musicians and Bizarro books!

If you live in town, come out and visit us Thursday night.

SHATNERQUAKE by Jeff Burk

2009-05-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

Out now from Eraserhead Press:

It's Shatner VS Shatners!

William Shatner? William Shatner. WILLIAM SHATNER!!! It's the first ShatnerCon with William Shatner as the guest of honor! But after a failed terrorist attack by Campbellians, a crazy terrorist cult that worships Bruce Campbell, all of the characters ever played by William Shatner are suddenly sucked into our world. Their mission: hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner.

Featuring: Captain Kirk, TJ Hooker, Denny Crane, Rescue 911 Shatner, Singer Shatner, Shakespearean Shatner, Twilight Zone Shatner, Cartoon Kirk, Esperanto Shatner, Priceline Shatner, SNL Shatner, and - of course - William Shatner!

No costumed con-goer will be spared in their wave of destruction, no redshirt will make it out alive, and not even the Klingons will be able to stand up to a deranged Captain Kirk with a lightsaber. But these Shatner-clones are about to learn a hard lesson...that the real William Shatner doesn't take crap from anybody. Not even himself.

"It's like Die Hard, but instead of Bruce Willis fighting terrorists it's William Shatner fighting other versions of himself... In other words, it's fucking awesome!" - Carlton Mellick III, author of Satan Burger

It's Shatnertastic!

Buy on Amazon.com

The Faggiest Vampire

2009-04-27T11:44:00.001-07:00

The Faggiest Vampire by Carlton Mellick III

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is the latest release from Spunk Goblin, an imprint of Eraserhead Press. The books I am publishing on Spunk Goblin are children's books for adults (or kids with open minded parents).

This book is written like a Roald Dahl book, it's funny and clever. It's all about maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity and believing in yourself. It's also about a mustache competition.

I absolutely love this book. I want every kid I know to read this book. It's the only Carlton Mellick III book that has ever made me cry. It is such a sweet, funny, adorable story.

View all my reviews.

So long 2008! Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T17:09:00.000-08:00

Hey friends,

2008 wraps up with an extra "leap second" tonight. Just long enough for us to give it a quick kiss goodbye. It's always fun at this time of year to reflect back and review what we've accomplished.

Eraserhead Press had a great 2008. We are grateful for all of the support from our loyal readers and the Bizarro community. It's been a fun and productive year. We published 15 books by 9 different authors in 2008. We discovered six stellar new writers:
Jordan Krall
Andersen Prunty
Mykle Hansen
Tony Rauch
Daniel Scott Buck
Cameron Pierce

And published some of the best new work yet by Bizarro authors Kevin L. Donihe, Andre Duza and Carlton Mellick III. Exciting things are happening in Bizarro Fiction and 2009 should be the best year yet!

For now here's a quick glance back at some of the events of 2008:

Carlton and I road tripped down to Salt Lake City for the World Horror Convention in March where we met up with Bizarro authors Andersen Prunty, Jordan Krall, Bradley Sands, Kevin L. Donihe, Gina Ranalli and Mitch Maraude

From WHC 2008

I went up to Evergreen College in Olympia Washington and participated in a panel on publishing in May and met up with Cameron Pierce.

Carlton went to Seattle for the Clarion West Workshop for six weeks in the middle of summer.

From Clarion West 2008

We attended the Locus Awards and met William Gibson and Neal Stephenson both authors whose work I have been a huge fan of for a long time.

From Clarion West 2008

Jeff Burk joined the Eraserhead staff and also became The Editor-in-Chief of The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction.

From OryCon 2008

We attended the H.P. Lovecraft Filmfestival for the fourth time. The event is always a lot of fun. We shared a table with our friends from the Northwest Horror Professionals and made new friends with Andy Johnson of Cosmic Monkey Comics.

The First Annual BizarroCon was held at Edgefield in Troutdale, OR in November. This event brought together Bizarro writers from all over the United States. It was a four-day party which has spawned many great new collaborations and sparked new project ideas. We can't wait for BizarroCon 2 to be held in October 2009.

Friday night at BizarroCon we served homebrewed Bizarro Beer for the book release party of Apeshit by Carlton Mellick III, The Kissing Bug by Daniel Scott Buck, Shark Hunting In Paradise Garden by Cameron Pierce, and The Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere by Mykle Hansen

From BizarroCon2008

We started a children's book imprint called Spunk Goblin. Spunk Goblin will be publishing dark, twisted children's books for adults (or kids with open minded parents). Our first release on this imprint was The Kissing Bug by Daniel Scott Buck. It's a beautiful, creepy, anti-war tale in the style of Edward Gorey or Tim Burton with beautiful illustrations by Evan B. Harris.

Eraserhead Press attended OryCon in Portland, OR for the first time. We partied with Klingons and made some new friends.

From OryCon 2008

We co-sponsored a book release party for the U.S. release of Steve Aylett's comic The Caterer at Floating World Comics and had Bizarro authors Mykle Hansen, Carlton Mellick III, Daniel Scott Buck, and Jeremy Robert Johnson present performance art readings.

From Caterer Bizarro Release

Keep reading Bizarro fiction. We have lots of great plans for 2009!

Book Release Party for Help! A Bear Is Eating Me! by Mykle Hansen

2008-10-23T18:01:00.001-07:00

I claim this blog

2008-07-23T16:30:00.001-07:00

Technorati Profile

Surprise makes brains happy

2008-07-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Today on my weekly visit to Powell's I bought a copy of Spunk & Bite: a writer's guide to bold contemporary style by Arthur Plotnik. It's a charming companion to Strunk & White that examines modern style and how to break the rules effectively. I recommend this book to writers that are seeking advice on how to punch up their fiction without creating a mess.

In one of the first chapters I found an interesting tidbit about the nucleus accumbens, the brain's pleasure center. Research shows that unpredictable stimuli excites the nucleus accumbens, whereas expected stimuli elicit no response. Which basically means that the human brain enjoys surprise. No big revelation there. But it is useful for writers to keep in mind.

I am a huge supporter of the unpredictable. Bizarro fiction takes risks and sparks imagination. This fiction is scientifically proven to make your brain happy!

That said, check out the latest releases over on BizarroCentral.com

The Kissing Bug and Zerostrata

2008-05-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

This week is busy. I am working on editing The Kissing Bug by Daniel Scott Buck. This will be the first release on the new Eraserhead Press bizarro children's book imprint Spunk Goblin. The book will include beautiful artwork by Evan B Harris . Here's a preview of the cover:

I'm also working on editing the forthcoming novel Zerostrata by Andersen Prunty. Andersen Prunty is one of my favorite new authors. His work appears in the Bizarro Starter Kit (blue) and his collection of flash fiction, The Overwhelming Urge, is available now on Bizarro Central .

I am having a lot of fun with these two books. I'll be excited to share more as time goes on.

BizarroCentral.com Car

2008-04-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

My car is looking hot! Prior to our roadtrip to the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City, I went to Michael's and purchased 3" tall white vinyl letters and Bizarro-ized my car. Check it out:

So, if you see me driving about Portland, Seattle, Idaho, Utah, or California please honk and wave. You never know, I may just stop and give you a book out of my trunk.

If you're a fan of Bizarro, feel free to customize your car too! This project cost $5.

The Dream People Issue #29

2008-04-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

My favorite online zine The Dream People has published issue #29. Among other tasty tidbits you'll find:

A short story by Cameron Pierce, whose first novel Shark Hunting In The Paradise Garden we'll be releasing in October.

An excerpt from House of Houses by Kevin L. Donihe. This book is available now and just debuted at the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City over the weekend.

A review of Piecemeal June the latest novella by Jordan Krall one of my favorite new Bizarro authors.

A review of Ugly Heaven, Beautiful Hell by Carlton Mellick III and Jeffrey Thomas which was recently released by Delirium Books imprint Corrosion Press.

World Horror Convention 2008 Photos

2008-04-02T09:37:00.001-07:00

Though I only took my camera out on one day of the World Horror Convention, I got some great shots of authors reading, including Andersen Prunty, Jordan Krall, Cody Goodfellow and Carlton Mellick III.

Friday night was the mass autograph signing. We had an entire Bizarro table with the above mentioned authors in addition to Bradley Sands, Gina Ranalli, and Kevin L. Donihe.

Portland Literary Offensive (PLO)

2008-03-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will be the first official meeting of the Portland Literary Offensive. We are really excited about the formation of this group.

The PLO is a Portland writing community for serious writers of fringe/underground fiction who have joined forces to help each other out in every possible way. Some are new writers, trying to get their first book polished and published. Some are small press authors, trying to figure out ways to get the word out for their new book. Some are professional authors, looking for new ways to build their readership. Some are small press publishers, looking for new talent. Its primary function is to get people networking so we can become more organized, motivated, and inspired as a community. Current members are Jeremy Robert Johnson, Kristopher and Christine Young (of Another Sky Press), Daniel Scott Buck, Carlton Mellick III, Rose O'Keefe (of Eraserhead Press), Mykle Hansen, and Steve Libbey.

Welcome to the Eraserhead Press Blog

2008-03-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

Check here for info about the daily happenings at Eraserhead Press, upcoming book releases, and special discounts.