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Friday, September 11, 2009

Deep Carnivale!

I've updated my list of appearances for the next couple of months, which includes two more Florida signings for PRESSURE, the Spooky Empire Weekend, and Necronomicon. And, this Saturday, September 12, I'll be at Deep Carnivale: A Celebration of Words in Tampa.

It's a completely free event with lots of writers (fiction, non-fiction, and poetry) and musicians on multiple stages. I'll be on the main stage at 3:00 PM, doing a reading from DWELLER. The first-ever reading from DWELLER! If DWELLER, which will be at a bookstore near you April 2010, goes on to become such a gargantuan bestseller that Dan Brown is all like "Alas! Oh, how desperately I wish that I had written DWELLER instead of THE DA VINCI CODE! I feel so forlorn and sorrowful!" you can say "Dude! I heard him do the very first reading from it! (Not necessarily to Dan Brown, although if you're tight with him go right ahead.)

There are also some workshops, including Sally Bosco teaching you how to write Twitter flash fiction. She may also be reading some smut. Or not. She's reading something. I'll get back to you on the smut level.

Check it out at http://www.deepcarnivale.com

2:08 AM

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Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Twofer One & Diabolical Interview

Tonight, I'll be appearing LIVE on Diabolical Radio! Well, okay, my interview was previously recorded, but the show itself is live, and I'm sure they'll leave in all the parts where I said dumb stuff, so it'll be pretty close to the experience of listening to me live. It's on tonight at 11:00 PM. The episode will be archived, if, like me, it's past your bedtime.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diabolicalradio

And the Horror Mall is having an astounding two-for-one inventory clearance sale on all in-stock books, only good through Thursday the 3rd! They've got a bunch of my books available, including BENJAMIN'S PARASITE, GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES, HOW TO RESCUE A DEAD PRINCESS, MANDIBLES, PRESSURE, SINGLE WHITE PSYCHOPATH SEEKS SAME, and even THE SEVERED NOSE! Quick! Get 'em cheap!

http://www.horror-mall.com/Jeff-Strand-p-1-c-250.html

11:12 PM

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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

3 Left!

That's it! A scant 3 copies of the ultra-super-limited edition of KUTTER remain!

http://...com/lw9ekj

12:52 PM

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Monday, August 24, 2009

KUTTER Now Up For Pre-Order!

The super-duper-ultra-limited deluxe collector's edition of KUTTER is now available for pre-order. Demented cover and interior artwork by Tom Moran. They're only makin' 85 of 'em, so it's gonna be one rare frickin' edition. Have at it, investment-savvy folks!

https://www.horror-mall.com/KUTTER-by-Jeff-Strand-Limited-Edition-p-19461.html

Charlie Stanlon is a serial killer. A ghastly, vicious sociopath who chains women to a table in his basement and tortures them to death. He has no friends. He has no family. He despises his co-workers. His only pleasure in life is to cause pain and terror.

Until the day he finds an adorable Boston Terrier and takes it home...

10:22 PM

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Coming Soon...KUTTER!

Sometime within the next 24 hours, the collector’s edition of my “serial killer gets a Boston Terrier” novella KUTTER will go up for pre-order from Cargo Cult Press, with the book set to ship this December.

Now, when I say “collector’s edition,” I frickin’ mean it. The print run is crazy-low (only 85 copies!) and the price is crazy-high (I’m not even going to mention it here—you can see for yourself when pre-orders begin). There’ll be a civilian edition at some point, I promise, but this will be the first edition and my rarest limited edition book, and when the economy swings back and PRESSURE: The Movie makes $850 million domestically at the box office, I think it’ll have been a good investment.

A little about KUTTER...

In my novella DISPOSAL, the narrator is an absolute scumbag. Frank is reprehensible, unredeemable, and happy to be that way. It was a lot of fun to write an entire story from his point of view, and plenty of readers commented on how Frank was strangely likable, despite being a complete prick. He's entertaining. He's funny. He's shameless. You wouldn't him to move in with you, but he's charismatic. Similarly, Darren Rust, the villain of my novel PRESSURE, is a horrible, horrible human being, but it's easy to see why he and Alex Fletcher become friends. He's a nice guy, when he's not using his knife...

With KUTTER, I wanted to challenge myself. Honestly, it's not that hard to make a serial killer into a likable character. But what if he was inarticulate, uncharismatic, and just flat-out pathetic? Charlie Stanlon isn't just the kind of guy who locks women in his basement and tortures them to death--he's the weasel at work who goes straight to the boss when you make a mistake. He's not a villain you love to hate, he's a mopey creep with nothing much to like about him.

The challenge? Go as far with that character as I could, and then dig him out of the hole, courtesy of an adorable Boston Terrier named Kutter.

This led to other challenges, because I couldn't dig into my usual bag of tools. Charlie can't speak in witty repartee or one-liners. He doesn't see the world in clever turns of phrase. The book is written in third person, but it's entirely from Charlie's point-of-view, so the use of actual "jokes" was inappropriate. In many ways, KUTTER is the opposite of my usual approach, which is to take an unfunny premise and infuse it with wacky humor. KUTTER takes the silly "serial killer gets a doggie" premise and treats with bleak realism.

It’s still a dark comedy, but it’s definitely closer to PRESSURE than, say, BENJAMIN’S PARASITE.

Here’s a partial transcript from the July 30th Diabolical Radio podcast (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diabolicalradio):

“Very, very dark book...for anyone who’s read PRESSURE, which is his Leisure debut, I’m not gonna say it’s darker than PRESSURE, but it’s pretty close.....It basically shows that even the sickest person has a soft spot for something...The stuff that happens throughout is damn amazing, and Jeff Strand is gonna be a freakin’ Name, like Brian Keene, who starts rising and rising and rising...”

Right after I finished the book I sent it to some fellow authors for their thoughts. Adrienne Jones, author of BRINE and GYPSIES STOLE MY TEQUILA, said:

“I can't stop thinking about this now, because I'm realizing that this book is making me more uncomfy than a regular thriller BECAUSE the concept is cute. But this is what you do differently than anyone else--you ease us in with the cuteness, trick us into thinking the character is redeemable, then [spoiler deleted]. When you do your usual humor books, it makes the extremity of it really funny, no question. BUT, although KUTTER is conceptually funny, without your usual rapier wit, this is really some DARK s**t.”

From Michael McBride, author of BLOODLETTING and REMAINS:

“It might not be exactly like your past comedies, but as far as dark comedies go, I thought it was excellent. Like I said before, it reminded me of The DARK BACKWARD, which I thought at the time was absolutely brilliant. You maintained the dreary atmosphere throughout and made Charlie into a likeable character. That was no small feat!”

From Greg Lamberson, author of PERSONAL DEMONS and director of the upcoming motion picture extravaganza SLIME CITY MASSACRE:

“Hey, KUTTER is reminding me (in a good way) of the original WILLARD. [Different e-mail, after he’s finished it.] As moving a serial killer story as has ever been told. It went off in several directions I didn’t expect.”

Then I got an e-mail from a reader named Robyn Miles, who loved PRESSURE and had a link to the Humane Society as her signature line. She took me up on my offer to read KUTTER, and said:

“I read KUTTER this morning. You must be a true animal lover as only somebody who has had a close relationship with an animal could write those words. [Lots of spoilers deleted.] I love the story and it's written extremely well.”

Keep watching this spot for the official notice when KUTTER goes up for pre-order. If you’re all like “Only 85 copies? What if I miss out? WHAT IF I MISS OUT???” send me an e-mail at gleefullymacabre@gmail.com and I’ll send you a notice before I even update my website/blog/newsletter. This doesn’t obligate you to order a copy, and I won’t keep bugging you about it.

7:50 PM

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http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diabolicalradio

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Diabolical Kutting

The episode of Diabolical Radio with my interview hasn't been posted yet, but if you follow this link you can hear great interviews with authors such as Joe Lansdale, Edward Lee, JA Konrath, and of course Greg Lamberson, Sephera Giron, and some other whack-jobs involved with the movie SLIME CITY MASSACRE.

And, hey, if you check out the episode with John Saul, there's a review of my not-yet-for-sale book KUTTER. It's an hour and nine minutes into the episode, but don't skip ahead, because that would be inconsiderate and you'll miss a very entertaining interview.

9:55 PM

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Jeff Strand's Taste of Hideous Foulness

A lot of you read my books and think "He's a way-cool author, but can he cook?"

The answer is: no. Of course not. Do I LOOK like I can cook? But that didn't stop me from saying "Uh, okay, I guess so" when I was asked to contribute to Writers and Recipes. So follow this link for my recipe for Jeff Strand's Taste of Hideous Foulness.

http://www.natalieduvall.com/writersandrecipes

10:57 PM

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Sunday, August 02, 2009

I Need This Like a Hole in the Head...

I went to the BRAINJACKED premiere last night, which played to an enthusiastic, packed house. They even had to bring in extra seats. I'm not a big fan of the "cinema cafe" experience, but I have to admit that the cream cheese-filled jalapeno poppers were pretty good.

The movie itself is a lot of fun. If you object to scenes of large metal drills twirling into people's foreheads, I'm going to politely suggest that this is not a motion picture that you will fully enjoy, and that perhaps you should seek other entertainment options. It's okay. You won't hurt anybody's feelings. The filmmakers are considerate individuals and threw in a sequence before the title even appears that will give you a pretty good indicator of whether or not you're the appropriate BRAINJACKED audience.

There's plenty of action, gore, nekkidness...and one doozy of a shock ending. Not a "Goodness gracious, he was a ghost all along!" type of twist that forces you to reevaluate everything that's come before--just a completely unexpected, jaw-dropping moment that (within the context of a movie where people willingly have holes drilled into their skulls) makes perfect sense. Loved it!

I don't know what the release plans are for BRAINJACKED, but keep your eyes open and your brain exposed..

5:37 PM

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Saturday, August 01, 2009

BRAINJACKED Tonight!

The motion picture BRAINJACKED, directed by Andrew Allan and produced by Andy Lalino, makes its glorious premiere tonight, Saturday August 1st, in Clearwater, Florida, at the Clearwater Cinema Cafe. It starts at 11:00 PM, admission is $5, and it includes free popcorn, which is kind of a scam because based on the trailer the movie is a non-stop festival of gore and you'll be too queasy to eat any popcorn, so they'll just give it to the next audience.

My amazing role as the Drunken Vagrant Who's Lying Unconscious On Some Stairs As The Camera Moves By didn't make the final cut, no doubt because the lead actors complained that my stellar acting (I don't wish to brag, but I had my eyes closed and everything) was sucking away the viewer's attention. Sometimes you don't have to say anything, or do anything, or even be on-screen for more than a third of a second to steal a movie. I think they made the right decision. You don't want viewers still thinking about the unconscious drunken vagrant sixteen scenes later.

Anyway, it's tonight. For more information, visit http://www.thefilmranch.com. You can also view the trailer (which is work-safe...if you work in HELL!!!) and other stuff. I'm totally there.

Also, my set report (back before they called it BRAINJACKED) is here: http://jeffstrand.livejournal.com/144875.html

2:18 PM

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