Year: 2014

Journal Juice 5 | Identity

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I am not who I want to be. Does that mean I am not who I am supposed to be? I do not know. I only know that I am not who I envisioned myself to be according to the fantasies and daydreams from today and yesterday, even going all the way back to my adolescence.  According to my six year old self, I am not the singer I am supposed to be. The ten year old Me barks that I am nowhere near the drummer I am supposed to be. The thirteen year old Me shakes his head because I am not the artist I am supposed to be. The fifteen year old Me screams that I am disappointingly not the guitarist I am supposed to be. How about that nineteen year old Me who professed himself to be a writer? Said he was going to write dozens of novels? The twenty-something Me has a litany of under-achievements I have amassed. Perhaps most egregiously I am not the father my twenty-one year old self …

Cover Art: The Underneath

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So I’m dusting off my very limited cover-making skills and this is the first test subject. “The Underneath” was published a couple of years back in the bizarro print anthology compiled by fellow writer/editor Joe Jablonsky, entitled Like Frozen Statues of Flesh. The plan at this point is to re-publish the story in digital/e-book form for the first time, via Smashwords. Covers tend to be required for these sort of things and I am a small-time author with a small-time budget (i.e. no budget). That particular predicament invokes the D-I-Y mindset of taking matters into my own hands and, while summoning the spirit of independence (i.e. no-name author of meager means), I make fresh ice tea out of lemons myself. Wait, that’s not quite how that’s supposed to go. Well, at any rate, this is the first pass at it. An arm with a gaping wound, which is integral to the bizarre happenings in the story. It actually came to me pretty quickly (I fortunately have a rather eager Muse). This image might stick. It may not, if, for instance, I manage to do something even more cool …

The Rucker Report: Week 51, 2014

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 I have a bunch of stories that need homes. That means I have much work to do in the New Year (and prior to it). Hello and good day to you all. As I write this the sun is finally shining. A bit of irony in that tidbit is that today is also the Winter Solstice. But I’ll take what small bit of luminescent glory I can from that great ball of radiated plasma in the sky. About the aforementioned work: I has only recently returned to the world of writing prose fiction. I’d been threatening this a few times over the past three years while I basically blogged and wrote comics journalism, while also making feeble attempts at breaking into the comics industry to write comics and graphic novels. That’s a nigh-impossible task without available, competent and trustworthy artists. Admittedly I didn’t quite give that particular arduous journey the desperate push it apparently requires, but that’s a sad story for another day. Writing and publishing prose — which I’ve not done in earnest since late 2011 — is …

Dream a Little Scream of Me

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This poem was originally featured in the speculative fiction and poetry print anthology Dreams and Screams, published by Liquid Imagination Magazine in mid 2010. I wrote it in December of 2009 around the same time I wrote a couple of other little spec-fic poems that will show up on this site soon. I had a great time with this one as the cadence came to me immediately and I knew that would add to the overall hook and help make it more memorable. Fun Fact: the printed and digital versions contain an un-proofed typo in line 22. Totally my gaffe to own. “Dream a Little Scream of Me” by Brandon L. Rucker ~ Dream a little dream of me When you sleep I will creep On your fears and superstitions While you pray I will play I’m the lurker in your closet Boogeyman Yes I can Make you fear what lay in shadows Scaredy cat Insomniac I’m the ghoul beneath your bed I breed fright When there’s no light Fill you up with dread and doubt …

Journal Juice 4 | Noise

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I remain in awe of those – particularly writers, but any creative folk – who can effectively eliminate the Noise with even just a modicum of success. External. And Internal. Noise is generally that thing that imposes itself within the path of the Muse. External Noise is, at least for me, all that goes on around me during creative peak times. Not all of that Noise is bad or even necessarily a hindrance. After all, a great deal of it will in turn inform and service the art of which I am compelled to create. However, going with the general law of averages, to what average does that truly amount? A mere 10% of useful Noise? So what to do with the remaining 90%? That surplus is the struggle. Because we are not manufactured with natural, automatic smart-filters. We must manually, and quite deliberately, apply our filters. The rub, or should I say the fear, is that while filtering we might somehow inadvertently block some of which should be included in the better percentage. Thus, …

Update: Getting There…

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Ah! That feeling you get after the first time you re-read an old story of your own that you had previously put aside for a long spell. That just happened moments ago. The only thing is this particular story is heavy on the bizarre and I’m not sure what the bizzaro market is like these days for short fiction. Truth be told, the story in question, “The Other Roommate”, should have been submitted to, and included in, Joe Jablonski’s Like Frozen Statues of Flesh anthology back in the Summer of 2011 (where does the time go?), but I needed to make a few more passes at the piece before it would be ready and the deadline had come and gone, though not before I managed to get my other bizarro pieces “The Underneath” and “All In a Day’s Work” accepted for the book. Now, this piece is ready for submission, ready to be sent out into the wild for consumption and perhaps resulting in indigestion. So I need to research the short fiction market because I’ve been out …

Journal Juice 3 | When Words Fail

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There are some moments…and days…when nothing you say comes out right and nothing you write reads articulate. In other words, there will be times when your most useful tool fails you. When that happens, should you speak anyway only to at some point find yourself eating your misspoken words? Should you write anyway, knowing that at some point, particularly with the help of a computer and a word processor, that you can erase and rewrite those words, reshape and re-present the core message of what you truly wanted to say originally? Yes, that may very well be the answer. Write. Don’t speak. However, before you write…read. Reading will always better inform the tongue. Reading will always sharpen your pencil and put ink into your pen. Reading will make your fingertips anxious for the tik-tak-tik of the keyboard. When your own words fail, read.

Jubilee

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Here are the lyrics for a little ditty I wrote and recorded a little over five years ago for my 2009 demo LP Bridging the Disconnect. Given its subject matter and the social unrest that has plagued our society of late, I’d say its message is rather timely. To listen to the song just click on the title. “Jubilee” Words and Music by Brandon L. Rucker ~ It’s that special time of year We should gather with each other despite our fears We’ll break bread and dine with wine And discover there’s no trouble and we’re just fine We are all of the same blood So it’s silly to throw punches instead of hugs Peace is not (just) for the naive We should be wearing our compassion upon our sleeves So let’s celebrate today And be grateful that we all have a voice to say That we’re thankful for our lives And we’re laughing, dancing, singing and giving high fives ~ Copyright © 2009 by Brandon L. Rucker dba I Rock Recordings. All Rights Reserved.

On Hiatus

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I am currently busy tending to my other sites brandonrucker.com and Hello, Blank Page. At some point Comic Book Fetish will resume, either here (with a redesign) or be folded into Ruckerpedia, perhaps. It’s all fluid right now. Updates will be forthcoming. 

On Hiatus

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I am currently busy tending to my other sites brandonrucker.com and Hello, Blank Page. At some point Comic Book Fetish will resume, either here (with a redesign) or be folded into Ruckerpedia, perhaps. It’s all fluid right now. Updates will be forthcoming.