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American Horror Story: Shows and The Interview

First I'll share my thoughts about this week's episode of American Horror Story.


American Horror Story: FreakShow

All week I'd been waiting to see what crazy deeds Dandy would do next But alas, they chose not to include his storyline this week.

That's AMS for you.

I came into the series at Coven but even then, I saw what they would do and should have expected it. Just when you get entranced by a specific storyline, the writers switch gears and do something else.

Pepper's story on FreakShow was fine. However, it felt like filler after the past two weeks of mayhem. The story is creepy and certainly was well done. I hadn't seen Asylum but I figured that this was one of the tie-ins that I'd read about in the past.

I'm not sure if it matters what happened to Pepper.

I'm not sure I really cared about the story. I kept waiting for the "real" plot lines, the museum, crazy Jessica, the other freaks, and of course, Dandy.

I liked the story of Pepper. However, when I know that this season is near to the finish line, I wanted to stay with the other stories.

I'm of two minds about the episode.

I'm looking forward to the addition of Neil Patrick Harris as a psycho ventriloquist.


The Interview

Was it a publicity stunt?

Is Hollywood really bowing down to the whims of a political figurehead of another country?

Even days later, I'm of two minds about what should have been done about The Interview.

It seems ridiculous for a political leader to dictate the entertainment content in another country. Sony should ignore them despite the hacking.

On the other hand, Sony has a social responsibility for its customers. In this day and age, one can't be too careful about threats. There is an uproar because they cancelled. There would be an uproar if something should happen, whether related to the threats or by an unrelated lone wolf.

Sony is in a difficult position and I don't envy their task.


My Five Wives SisterWives

I should have placed bets.

When I first saw the trailers for the show My Five Wives, I had the fleeting thought that Kody of SisterWives would take a fifth wife to keep up. After all, that's what a narcissist does. And who knows? Maybe Brady will take a sixth!

I'm not certain if Kody is really taking a fifth wife or if TLC is just teasing us and its really a sister or an exchange student or some other visitor moving into the Brown's. I'll Google it later. Who knows what's going to happen with the Browns in the new season in January.

As for My Five Wives, all I can say is that I'm surprised Brady didn't have a heart attack earlier. However the stress of five wives, one pregnant, twenty-four kids, job, and school, he has a lot on his plate. Since he was tweeting tonight, he obviously will be okay.

Happy Solstice!

American Horror Story:FreakShow What a Dandy Blood Bath!

Sometimes when I'm watching American Horror Story, I like to watch the live tweets. The other night, during the Tupperware party, several tweeters lamented how psychopaths are always so hot!

And often they are.

After all, how else can they charm and hypnotise their targets?

They also need to pump themselves up to perform their dastardly deeds. A bit of preening and they're all set for a night of the old ultra-violence.

This is where I found this A Clockwork Orange pic.

Their victims are often innocents who chance to cross their paths. However, if psychopaths spot an opportunity to taunt and goad, they'll take it.

The character of Dandy is proving to be a Class A charismatic Ted Bundy/American Psycho/Paul Bernardo-inspired wack-a-doo.

I will confess, I missed the first few episodes of American Horror Story: FreakShow which so far, hasn't proven to be an issue so I've not felt compelled to watch them On Demand. I came in while the plot of Twisty was in its final two episodes and a spectre of death dude was being introduced.

I'm not sure if the recurrence of Ethel this week is a thread related to that death dude, and if it's not, it's too bad.

At any rate, it seems like that was around the time Dandy came to the forefront of the plot lines.

Even though I've yet to see a freak show on Freakshow, I'm enjoying the spoiled baby antics of this psychopath.

This is where I found this picture.

Anyone who has read any of my work knows that I often visit the themes of psychopaths (Mistress of the Dark, Captured Souls, "All Paths Lead to Psychopath") and bathing in blood (Borrowed Flesh, "Blood Countess"), and  sometimes entwine the two, as is historically done both in reality and in fiction. So to see Dandy bathing in the blood of his doting mom, of Tupperware ladies, and more, while growing stronger (and crazier) in the process, is fun to watch.

This is where I found the blood bath scene.

Real life horrors exist every day, yes. But American Horror Story is just good old-fashioned extreme fun. Or at least that's how I viewed Coven and FreakShow. I've not seen the other seasons yet.

Sure you can drive a truck through plot holes and character motivations. But the visuals and most of the acting from most of the characters are worth watching.

I'll be the first to say the I loved Coven but hated the ending. It should have been two seasons to explore more of the sub-plots and tie up loose ends.

I was a huge fan of Carnivale back in the day. I lived for that show. When it was cancelled, my world was a darker place. I hated how they wrapped that one up as well. But I forgave it as the plot should have had another year or two to unfold, not suddenly race to a conclusion within weeks.

FreakShow has a flavour of the Carnivale we miss. The dirty gritty circus life. The mysteries and tediousness of day-to-day existence. Corruption and temptation; how far is too far?

In a way, I wish FreakShow had more supernatural elements but again, there are already so many plots that more would be too confusing.


Here's a link to one of many recaps from this week:
American Horror Story Freak Show Recap Tupperware Episode

However, back to psychopaths.

This is where I found this image from A Clockwork Orange.

Some of the most compelling characters in life and in fiction are psychopaths. Look at Charles Manson! He just got engaged and he's a crazy old man in prison for life. Yet he still has that psychopath charm that managed to ensnare a target.

Psychopaths are scary characters because they are real. We hear about them all the time. Serial killers. Serial cheaters. Serial thieves.

This is where I found this picture of Dandy from AHS: FreakShow

Dandy has many of the traits of a good psychopath but he'll likely come to a horrible end as he grows too cocky. He hasn't really thought through his money situation and I'm not clear if he's smart enough to figure out how to survive financially forging his mom's name or whatever needs to be done.


What do you think about Dandy? Do you like him as a character? Is he too over the top? Too creepy?

How do you think he'll die? Will he go on to be a psycho in the after-dead clown parade?

Here's where I found this picture of yummy sicko Dandy!

Busy Times for Sephera

Order Borrowed Flesh Here!

The past few months have been very busy.

I'm thrilled to announce that I've signed my third contract with Samhain Horror Publishing for my erotic horror novella, A Penny Saved.

A Penny Saved is based on the nursery rhymes revolving around the concept of picking up pennies for good luck. Here in Canada, pennies were discontinued as a currency, so to find one is a curious matter. Nowadays, we find nickels and dimes.

Cora hoards the pennies she finds, wishing for power, fame, sex, and money. Lots of money.

As she realizes she can trade sex for money, she fast tracks to the top of the company in haze of bondage parties and corporate meetings. The lines between good and evil, earth and hell blur as her lust for greater and bigger deals spirals her towards darker places.


Necon eBooks have redesigned my books. Here are the first two, Borrowed Flesh and The Birds and the Bees.

This is the third set of covers for both of these books and as an author, I must say it's pretty cool to see how artists interpret my mad ramblings!

I love both of these covers and can't wait to see how they're going to redo House of Pain and Mistress of the Dark!

Order The Birds and the Bees Here!

Next Public Appearance!

I will be at Toronto Festivus Comi-Con at the Convention Center on Front Street Sunday December 14, 2014.  I will be running both the Horror Writer's Association booth and my own person booth.

If you'd like a tarot reading from me in person, this is your chance! I'm only charging $20 for a tarot reading this Sunday. I will also have some of my vials of special incense, gemstones, and other charms at a deep discount.


What's Next?

A web series segment produced and directed by filmmaker Chris Griffin called Bar Tab  is being shot in January and I get to be in it!

I'm working on a horror novel called Boy's Club.


Sèphera's Musical Muses 

Here are some of my playlists on YouTube:

Captured Souls (Samhain Horror, 2014) Playlist

Flesh Failure (Samhain Horror, 2014)

Frankenstein Compilation

A Penny Saved (Samhain Horror, 2014) 2015 

Assorted Author Readings

Boy's Club, a horror novel (WIP)



Warm It Up! 2014

If you're feeling charitable this holiday season, why not get in on Warm It Up 2014 on December 17, 2014. You can participate anywhere in the world and share your experiences on the Facebook page.

Warm It Up 2014

"I'm Ready for My Close-Up!" My Killer Rack Adventure

Scene from "Killer Rack." Photography by Chris Cosgrave

On August 15, I drove to Buffalo to be in the movie, Killer Rack.

A few months ago, Greg Lamberson asked me if I was interested in playing a gypsy fortune teller in the movie he was going to be directing called Killer Rack written by Paul McGinnis. He sent me the script and I laughed my ass off when I read it.

Of course I wanted to be part of this madness!

The movie has been in production for a couple of weeks now. It's a huge star-studded cast, as in, anyone who enjoys horror and B-movies is sure to spot someone they know. Debbie Rochon, Lloyd Kaufman, and Brooke Lewis, are just a few of the head-liners. There are many other repeat appearances from Slime City Massacre including myself.

My part was a gypsy tarot reader whom one of the characters consults. It was great fun to put on a crazy accent and tap my inner gypsy. Greg is a fantastic director to work with and Jessica Zwolak was the perfect actress to bounce off. There were some challenges with noise ranging from unexpected construction and traffic and me forgetting the same damn line over and over, a simple obvious line too, as it always is when actors get brain-block, but we powered through.

I had a blast. It was weird how cold it was though. This August weather is not very August-y at all. It feels more like Halloween.

Coming home, there were a lot of high winds. It reminded me of when I shot my scenes in Buffalo for Slime City Massacre. That year, a TORNADO came down the street a block over and tore up the neighbourhood at my home in Mississauga. It was a good thing I wasn't home, because I likely would have had a heart attack to be in a tornado! Luckily, no tornadoes this time and everything was fine on my arrival back to Toronto.

The movie will continue to shoot for a few more weeks. You can follow along on  Greg Lamberson's Live Journal about Day Six


IMBD listing for Sephera Giron




Sephera Giron is a professional guest at Fan Expo/Festival of Fear this year. You may find her in one of two places:


Sephera has a personal booth at Fan Expo in the SOUTH BUILDING on Level 800, just outside of Hall G. Look for a cluster of authors under one of the escalators and you'll find her!


Sephera will also be at the Horror Writers Association booth at the Festival of Fear in the NORTH BUILDING at booth 5314.


Sephera's HWA booth times:  Friday 11-1
                                                 Saturday 11 - 1
                                                 Sunday    11 - 1




Director and author Gregory Lamberson will also be attending Fan Expo/Festival of Fear. You will find him at the Medallion Publishing booth. He will also be screening movies so check your program guides.

Check Out Some of My Playlists!

Flesh Failure, Samhain Publishing July 2014

Every author uses music differently in the inspiration and creation of his or her work.

Sometimes a song gets stuck in my head and it won't go away until I write a story inspired by it. These days, we have Facebook so I'm able to multiply scream, "I can't get that damn What Does the Fox Say? out of my head" without having to actually use it in a story. I think even Baby Beluga has swum its way into my work before we had the Internet.

I grew up in a musical family, my parents are classical musicians and my dad is an award-winning composer. I played violin for about twenty years in various orchestras and travelled to festivals in Scotland and  London, England when I was fourteen. I can kind of play piano, love to sing (though am not fabulous or anything), have attempted guitar but my fingers are way too short and chubby (great for violin!), dance, and love to rock and roll.

I've spent many years in musical theatre and when I was little was really into opera and operettas such as The Medium. I loved how music told a story.

Almost everything I've ever written was inspired by a song or snatches of songs. I guess this is why we have soundtracks for movies; there's opportunity to marry story with music.

I've been working on and off creating various playlists that reflect the inspirations for various books and stories that have been published over the past twenty years. Some playlists include me reading or acting out parts of my work. Others include clips from movies, music videos, and other inspiring or relative medium.

These days, technology makes it so easy for any author to read snatches from her book on instagram or add a song to a playlist. I personally find it great fun to have an opportunity to interpret my own work, even if I don't actually look like any of my characters. Being able to point to songs and say, "Hey, I loved that "Voodoo" song and video by Godsmack and it inspired both "Sycophantic Rapture" and the new novella with the working title of A Penny Saved."

I imagine other horror fans and creators also have found inspiration in many of the same works as me which I've decided to start compiling various playlists.. I find it fascinating to see how what we experience through music impacts our work. I find it interesting too that some of my favourite songs have never inspired a story in me.

Here are some of my playlists on YouTube:

Captured Souls (Samhain Horror, 2014) Playlist

Flesh Failure (Samhain Horror) 2014

Frankenstein Compilation

A Penny Saved (Working title for Samhain Horror novella) 2015 

Assorted Author Readings

The Creative Process Blog Tour

I want to thank Sabrina Kaleta for inviting me into this blog tour. Some previous blogs are listed below.

Next week, three talented friends of mine are going to be participating in the tour so be certain to go to their websites on July 14 to see their posts about The Creative Process. You can go right now just to check them out!

Gemma Files lives here in Toronto and not only is she a kickass writer with several books from Chizine Publications but she’s also a mom and wife. This is a powerhouse of a woman who sings in a church choir at night after taking body combat classes and chasing after her son all day.  Gemma and I’ve been swimming in the same horror pond for a couple of decades and are founding members of the on-going Bellefire Club lady horror writers group.  We’ve seen things...oh yes, we’ve seen things...

John Palisano lives in Hollywood, and is not only an author but a rock star, (I’ve seen him play with Heather Graham’s band so it’s true. Oh, and he also opened for Roger Daltrey last summer but I digress...) and a filmmaker. He created the kickass trailer for my book, Captured Souls (Samhain, 2014) and no doubt, can be commissioned to create one for your own book. How can you not love a guy who works with animal rescue? Since we’re both Horror Writers Association chapter heads in our respective cities, we often pick each other’s brains about HWA matters and horror in general.

Richard S. Todd lives in Toronto and is a tireless creator: author, screenwriter, editor, toastmaster, and entrepreneur. Since I invited him to join HWA, he has shown himself to be a valuable teamplayer and horror enthusiast.  I’ve sucked him into a couple of projects and so far he hasn’t tried to toss me from the CN tower into the Ripley’s Aquarium shark tank. Now he’s doing this blog tour and he fits right in with Gemma and John when it comes living the crazy artist lifestyle.  Richard is President of The Editor’s Desk and I’m proud to be part of his creative editing team.

Here are the bios and blog links of Gemma, John, and Richard:

Film critic and teacher turned award-winning horror author Gemma Files is probably best known for her Hexslinger series (A Book of Tongues, A Rope of Thorns and A Tree of Bones, all from ChiZine Publications). She has also written two collections of short fiction and two chapbooks of poetry. Her next book, We Will All Go Down Together: Stories of the Five-Family Coven (CZP) will be released in August, 2014. http://musicatmidnight-gfiles.blogspot.ca  
Gemma's blog post is here: http://handful-ofdust.livejournal.com/534673.html

Fangoria writer and multiple Bram Stoker Award nominee John Palisano saw his first novel Nerves released from Bad Moon Books, where it was quickly categorized under the "WTF?" section at Amazon. His next book, Dust of the Dead, from Samhain, about zombies in Los Angeles, will have no such problem, it obviously being Non-Fiction. He's also got over a dozen pro-short story sales, in venues such as Lovecraft eZine, Terror Tales, Evil Jester, Dark Discoveries, Dark House, Dark Fuse, Dark Moon, and many other Dark places. You can find all this terrible darkness at his website, www.johnpalisano.com, or just look him up on Facebook or Twitter, because, really? Who goes to author websites when they can be directly mentally harassed through social media. 

Richard S. Todd is a Toronto-born author of Canadian fiction. From the critically-praised novel Raincloud to the newly-released The Orphans of the Creek, Mr. Todd has entertained his denizens of readers with crisp, exciting, character-driven literature. His short story 'Clive' has been published in the Brainstorms anthology and NoD Magazine #15. Visit Richard S. Todd online at http://raincloudbook.wordpress.com/

   

 Here's the creative process at work in Sèphera's World

1) What am I working on? 

An erotic horror novella, two horror novels, a couple of short stories, a non-fiction book, plus my freelance day job of editing other people’s books. Hopefully there’s another play in my near future as I enjoyed working on TheGet Happy Hour with Judy which opened in Toronto during World Pride. I’m also getting ready for my close-up with Mr. Greg Lamberson where I’m playing “Gypsy” in Killer Rack written by and starring Paul McGinniss. Yes, this is my second film with Greg, the first one being Slime City Massacre where I played, “Ruby.”

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I’m not sure that it does. I enjoy crossing genres, such as horror and science fiction such as in Captured Souls, or erotic horror-light romance such as my Ravenous Romance series. Early in my career, people were used to having their horror “pure” so when I had a vampire, werewolf, witch, phoenix, mermaid, werepig, and more all in one book, Eternal Sunset (Darktales, 2000), people thought I was nuts. Now it’s almost expected to combine monsters and tropes.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I don’t know. A compulsion? An addiction? When I was around eighteen, I remember closing a Stephen King book after reading it and saying to myself, “I want to scare the shit out of people just like he scares the shit out of me.” And so, a horror writer was born.

 4) How does my writing process work?

Over the years, I’ve had to be creative about being creative. I’ve had children, cats, dogs, partners, jobs, school, and all the various responsibilities that go with these lifestyles. I was on boards, a dance mom, and yet found time to write. You make the time. When you’re busy, you don’t have the luxury of waiting for the muse.

My writing process up until about the last ten years consisted of always having a pen, and paper handy and then scribble snatches of sentences, ideas, conversations, and so on as they happen. If my sons were in a class and I was waiting, I didn’t sit and gossip with the other moms. I went to my car, a coffee shop, the gym, a tree, the library, and wrote for that half hour or hour or even ten minutes. You can flood a page in ten minutes if you've been building up all day, waiting and hoping for a tiny slice of time. Each little snippet added up. You can see it did, I have over twenty published books after I had children and that was mostly as a single mom. I’ve written various articles over the years about finding the time to write.

My perfect ritual these days begins with waking up around eight or nine; grinding my coffee beans for a perfect cup of coffee is number one priority, check email (I used to read the paper at this time) and consume an entire cup of coffee before making any attempt to work. I work all day and night until I drop around two or three in the morning, if I know I have to go somewhere in the morning.  

At this point in my life, I truly live an artist's lifestyle. Sometimes in this oppressive summer heat, I’ll take a nap around midnight, usually with my head on the keyboard, and burst awake around two with imprints on my face, and work until the birds start chirping in the pre dawn.

 Of course, I’m not just writing. In fact, these days, the writing is a small part. I do a lot of social media including 12 video horoscopes every month (yes, I’m late for July) and sporadic daily Aquarius horoscopes on Instagram. As I’m creating, my work is present in my mind.

I always have my files open and will snatch time to work on them as the day goes along unless I’m editing someone else’s book. On those days, I only write fresh stuff at night, and sometimes don’t at all in case I take on the other author’s voice.

Walking is important to me. I think a lot on my walks about my characters.

I believe in trying new things to in an attempt keep the brain sparking with fresh energy whether it’s taking a class or doing something physical. My latest "build my synapses" experience has been learning Zumba, and other dance crazes to keep my mind active and connected to my body.

When I have a contract, I outline my books and follow my outline. When I was writing a book a month for Ravenous Romance, I had a detailed chapter by chapter outline. Since it was a series, I had an index box full of cards. Each card had a character, a setting, a plot point, general information, and so on. It was easier to keep track of my thirteen main characters and a bucketful of lovers that way.  

I almost always have a piece of paper somewhere with characters and various details written down whether it’s a short story or a novel. Some characters, such as Vanessa in Eternal Sunset, I created when I was a teenager and I never needed a sheet to know who she was and what she looked like no matter where she turns up (Borrowed Flesh for instance is Vanessa in middle-age) however, other characters, I don’t know as well. Index cards are great device for minor characters because we forget their names or eye colour or their job title or even purpose for the plot progression.

When you pitch a book, you need to know your main characters and plot and try not to go off track with what you write.  Index cards can help you stay on course.

When I don’t have a contract, I write the story I want to tell and take as long as I want to tell it. And sometimes, I just abandon it and go on to something else. Yes, I’ve abandoned entire books.

As my career continues to grow, I listen to what my readers want or don’t want to see in my work. My chief goal is to entertain you for a couple of hours. That is why I write, make videos, take pictures, give you free video horoscopes, act, dance, sing...to take your mind off your real life and fall into a strange new world. I love feedback so please don’t be shy to pop me an email or leave a review.

There is no right or wrong way to write or to experience a creative process as far as I’m concerned. All that matters is that you actually write instead of talking about writing. Talent may vary but there is one trait that you may have noticed when you see people who enjoy successful careers as writers. Tenacity is key; from sitting down at the keyboard to pushing forward through rejections of all kinds in every level of life. When you see strangers paying to read your work, then you know you’re on the right path. You don’t have to be prolific but you can’t be a quitter. That’s a very big part of the writing process to me.

See what other authors have to say about the creative process!

Lucy Taylor was born in Rich­mond, VA, and never really got the South out of her sys­tem, as evi­denced by the fla­vor of South­ern Gothic in many of her works. She’s pub­lished seven nov­els, includ­ing NAILED, SAV­ING SOULS, and LEFT TO DIE (under the pseu­do­nym Tay­lor Kin­caid), and over 100 short stories. http://darkfantasy.us/dark-fantasy-blog.html

Sabrina Kaleta is a poet, music journalist, mother, performance artist, Doo-Dah Queen, reluctant debutante, punk, hostess, fortune teller..all these labels might tell a bit of my story. As a poet, I have graced the stages of The Espresso Bar, The Old Towne Pub, Sam’s Book City, the Coconut Teazer and Highland Grounds and been published in Flipside, Saturday Afternoon Journal and Kether. Other publications include Guitar World, Metal Hammer, New Times, Diabolik and BAM. In my Pasadena, CA home, I continue to try to ignore the outside voices, have a good time and create what I can.
Sabrinakaleta.tumblr.com

 John Eder has been writing fiction for the last three years or so.  He’s also a photographer, with a career spanning the film and digital ages. You can see his photo work at www.johneder.com. Eder has always written, mostly non-fiction for mags like the Village Voice, Conde Nast Traveler, Creem, Photo District News, CurbedLA.com, and brink.com.  He also draws, illustrating his own work when it’s called for.  His work is still tragically (to me, anyway) unpublished, to which end he is starting his own house, Moon Base.  Also in production is an anthology podcast of my short stories, To The Manor Borne (By Robots), the idea being that in the distant future a giant monster has invaded Earth. It’s Scheherazade meets Godzilla. To The Manor Borne (By Robots) will be on www.radiotitans.com, a podcast network he’s recently gotten involved in as creative director.  He lives in L.A. and grew up in south Florida, and is the father of a wonderful daughter. May the wind be at your back as you go check out his blog. http://johnederjournal.tumblr.com/

Calling M.Christian versatile is a tremendous understatement. Extensively published in science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and even non-fiction, it is in erotica that M.Christian has become an acknowledged master, with more than 400 published stories, in many “Best of”s. He is also a prolific and respected anthologist, having edited 25 anthologies. M.Christian’s short fiction has been collected into many bestselling books in a wide variety of genres, including the Lambda Award finalist Dirty Words.  He also has collections of non-fiction (Welcome to Weirdsville, Pornotopia, and How To Write And Sell Erotica); science fiction, fantasy and horror (Love Without Gun Control); and erotic science fiction. As a novelist, M.Christian has shown his monumental versatility with books such as the queer vamp novels Running Dry and The Very Bloody Marys; the erotic romance Brushes; the science fiction erotic novel Painted Doll; and the rather controversial gay horror/thrillers Fingers Breadth and Me2. M.Christian is also the Associate Publisher for Renaissance eBooks. Find him at www.MChristian.com

Jim Goforth has been writ­ing tales of hor­ror since the early 90’s. After years of detour­ing into work­ing with the extreme metal com­mu­nity and writ­ing reviews for hun­dreds of bands with Black Belle Music, he has returned to his writ­ing love with his first book PLEBS, pub­lished by J. Elling­ton Ash­ton Press. He has sto­ries in a cou­ple of antholo­gies with a col­lab­o­ra­tive novel and a col­lec­tion of his own short sto­ries to emerge in the com­ing months. To learn more about Jim Goforth, visit http://​jim​go​forth​hor​ro​rauthor​.word​press​.com/

Sèphera Girón is a horror author, tarot reader, editor, and paranormal investigator. Flesh Failure and Captured Souls from Samhain Horror Publishing are her latest forays through the dark fiction labyrinth. You can find most of her work as eBooks these days. She has stories in Axes of Evil, High Stakes: A Vampire Anthology, The Haunted Mansion Project: Part One and Part Two, The Unnatural Tales of the Jackalope, and Telling Tales of Terror. Enter Sèphera’s World at http://sephwriter666.blogspot.ca

Interviews with Sèphera Girón

I've been very fortunate to have been interviewed twice recently.


The Daily Nightmare

The Editor's Desk

Flesh Failure by Sèphera Girón from Samhain Horror Publishing

"Agatha" from Flesh Failure

From out of the grave. 
London, 1888: Agatha drags herself from a shallow grave to roam the fog-shrouded streets of the dark city, trying to piece together what happened. Her new friends, the ladies of the night, live in terror of Jack the Ripper, while Agatha persistently searches for what she discovers she needs to stay alive—electrical charges.
As her memory grows stronger, the hazy images from her past come into focus, but questions remain. Do her answers lie in the shadows of the streets, the hidden corridors of London Hospital, or someplace far more frightening?

Flesh Failure is available for pre-order now from Samhain Horror Publishing at a discount. Order yours today!

I had some fun making short little videos about Flesh Failure. Hope you enjoy them!

Flesh Failure is released July 1, 2014

Are you ready?

Celebrating Hip-Hop at the Gladstone Hotel

On May 26, I saw the Hip-Hop Exhibit at the Gladstone Hotel. I highly recommend you go in and check it out.





Photographs depicting icons in hip-hop adorn the walls of the historic building.

The Gladstone Hotel is a beautiful landmark and in recent years, has fully embraced the artistic community. The Toronto Indie Arts Market was taking place that weekend and people were coming and going steadily.

The hotel is four stories high. The top two levels have lounge areas where one can sit and admire the artwork or do some work.

I highly recommend that you go see this exhibit before it's too late.

Here's a snippet from a brand new review of Captured Souls over at Fresh Fiction!

"Delving into the mind of the psychotic, yet brilliant, Dr. Miriam will make you question your own humanity and boundaries. She is a truly complex character who is mostly detached, seeing humans as specimens and experiments, while showing small bursts of emotion when things do not go her way or she realizes her mistakes."

Read the rest here:

Captured Souls Review at Fresh Fiction

Sink-holes: My New Nightmare!

We all have our secret fears.

When I was a little kid, I was caught in a tornado in St. Charles, Missouri. I’ve had a fear of abnormally dark and colorful skies, and high winds ever since.

In 2009, a tornado came down my street in Mississauga. I wasn’t home. I was in Buffalo shooting my scenes for Slime City Massacre. The tornado didn’t touch our house but lifted a few things from the patio. The nearby forest was a disaster. All the telephone poles along street were toppled, branches everywhere, cars spun around. I was so glad to have missed it. Since I only had a simple cell phone and was in another country, no one told me. I likely would have had a heart attack.

I also have a completely irrational fear of sharks. I swam in the ocean for years before Jaws came out. After that, I was cautious, but still swam. However, my nightmares are plagued with shark attacks and tornadoes, and sometimes, yes, Sharknados.

Over the past couple of years, stories about sink-holes have been catching my eye. There have been some here in Toronto but none as huge as the house swallowing ones in Florida.

Insomnia and T.V. and an over-active imagination can get in the way of a good time.

Currently I live in a several decades old apartment by the lake. Since I moved into the neighbourhood, the city has installed a huge long winding board-walk on the lake that connects the board-walk/bike path that leads from Scarborough to Mississauga. Last summer, there were torrential rains. I noticed the lake rose quite high, only about two feet below the board-walk. There had been actual floods around the area, roads closed, cars abandoned.

Before I lived in this apartment, I lived on a different floor. Over a few years, the walls swelled and grew cracks, the floor popped up. The upstairs unit flooded and our ceiling began to cave in. The plumbing is always an issue. I often joked there was a ghost.

However, even in the new place, items will tumble over, things move, for no reason. Sometimes I check to see if there’s been an earthquake. But there will only be one thing that’s moved. A ghost? I have no pets or small children.

Across the street, they are building a ten story condo. Down the street, a dozen or so giant condo villages have been built or are still being built. The streets are being dug up for making the street-car tracks better and likely to put in wiring for all the new condos.

We had a horrifically harsh winter; ice storms, power outages, temperature below minus ten C, even minus twenty C for weeks at a time. Everything thawed very quickly and now the lake has returned to its proper level.

All this stuff messes with the earth.

For a long time, I wanted to buy a condo in this neighbourhood. I even looked at model suites at the one across the street. But then I see shows on T.V. and wonder about the next big storm. What if there was a tsunami that hit New York and flooded through the lakes and over-spilled the board-walk?  I think there’s only about ten feet of wave swell before the streets would be flooded. A fifty foot wave would sink half the neighbourhood. Then when it all dried, the ground would be even more unstable. Wouldn’t it be just a matter of time before those condos all fall into sink-holes, being so close to the lake, and made from the type of minerals that create sink-holes?

I wonder too if all the weird things that are happening in this building are a ghost, a sink-hole, or am I just slowly going mad in the middle of the night?

My Five Wives Makes My Brain Blow Up

As many people know, I watch a few reality TV shows. I mean, I don't sit and stare at them, but they play in the background while I work on things that don't require total silence.

I watched Sisterwives. Now I've been watching My Five Wives.

I'll begin by saying, I have no issue with alternative lifestyles. If people want to marry one, two, three, or more people, go for it. But...the way Kody's Cult and now Brady's Bunch are being edited by TLC, these two families look more like Gaslighting Nightmares than Happy Families.

The more I watched Sisterwives, the more the blatant narcissistic tendencies of Kody began to leak out. It really is a fascinating study for those who want to examine a live narcissist in action. He doesn't have to say a word as he smugly sits  surrounded by his harem, each wife puffy and sad, even when she smiles.

As this season of Sisterwives came to a close, commercials began to play for a new polygamist family show called My Five Wives. They were cut in a catchy way to Bowie's "Modern Love," looking clean and cute and fun. It was even hinted that this family was more open with their marital relationships with each other with coy snippets of dialogue and lots of smiles.

I laughed at the use of "Modern Love." This is not modern love. This is just another family run by a misogynist narcissist trying to keep his wives in the dark times. Polygamy is an ancient custom, nothing about this show is modern except that it takes place now.

If you thought Kody was selfish, hang on to your hats when you meet smarmy-smiled Brady.

Brady has five wives. Well, he has one legal wife and lives with four other ladies. They rotate nights, so each wife gets Brady to herself one night in five. Unless of course there's an anniversary or something. Then the lady of the hour gets to take someone else's night. There are no make-ups. A wife pushed from her night doesn't get the next night. She gets to wait five more days for her husband's attention.

In the most recent episode, Brady missed a wife's anniversary by a real long time. However, another wife got her anniversary on the show we saw Sunday and no one cared about the wife who had been missed. Then the missed wife had to miss her regular date (sex) night with Brady because Brady had a bee in his bonnet about one of his kids dating and even though she was home by nine, Brady blew off the blown-off wife yet again to stay with the dater's mom, one of his more favoured wives.

It seems to me that even though there are rules and schedules, Brady can break them at will and everyone has to suck it up.

The things that BLOWS MY MIND in both of these shows is the whole children thing.

In Sisterwives, wife #1 keeps talking about adoption even though there are 19 kids or something in Kody's family. I thought that was ridiculous. If she doesn't want to be an empty nester while her husband plays with three of his other wives and their kids, she could get a divorce and marry a man who loves only her. And since she's the only legally married wife, she'd probably do pretty well with a settlement. All she has to do is say she was on the show and the world has already seen how Kody mind-games her endlessly.

Anyway, back to My Five Wives.

One wife wants to adopt a baby since she can't have any more children. She is sucky and whiny about it. She already has kids. Brady has 24 kids. She has a full-time job. Brady wants her to quit her job and hang around the house all day. He says he'll support her, he doesn't want her working full-time. She says she loves her job and doesn't want to quit. He pretty much demands it. She says she's lonely because she doesn't see him much. Yeah, no kidding, once every five days! But even so, he wants her to quit working so she can be paying attention to him. He pretty much said that. It was absolutely jaw-dropping.

He wasn't terribly on-board with looking into adoption until he discovered that they weren't allowed to adopt because they were a polygamist family. This doesn't suit King Brady. He demands to be allowed to adopt a child. And I'm sure the rest of the season will be him on this expensive mission for a trophy. How does he have time to properly father the twenty-four he already has created? And FIVE wives?

Oh yeah, he's also getting a masters degree while working full-time and juggling twenty-nine people.

Oh, what a circus, oh what a show...!

So, he tells the wife they're going to do this adoption thing and she needs to think very seriously about quitting her full-time job.

Then there's another wife. She wants to have another baby. She already has a litter but as the show progressed, it seems like perhaps one reason women want to have a lot of babies is because once they "decide" to make a baby, the husband gets to be with the wife not on her night. I'm not positive if that's true, it wasn't really clear. But it provides pathetic motivation.

Brady says he doesn't want to have another baby, he can barely afford the ones he has now. He keeps putting her off, but at last, she wins. Then she's all worried about telling the other wives in case they realize they're having sex.

Uh, duh. She makes no sense. She acknowledges they all realize they likely have sex with Brady but to announce a baby makes her feel as if she's throwing it in their faces that she's having sex with him. Since everyone kisses and hugs in front of each other, it's pretty obvious Brady is the rooster in the hen-house. So bizarre.

Brady is such a control freak. He micromanages everyone's lives. He has to know everything about everything.

But as with Kody, you can't totally blame Brady. Part of it is the culture most of them were raised in. I would say  most of it is low-self-esteem on the women's parts. You don't see any famous people in a polygamist marriage. If I'm wrong, correct me. Women are not people in these marriages.Not the way they are edited on TLC. Both men claim they are open-minded and forward-thinking but they are not. They are classic examples of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

I can see the pluses of polygamy for sure. Joint finances, joint raising of kids, joint chores, instant parties, taking care of each other, loving each other, lots of great sex with each other.

But to me, a true polygamist marriage is one where everyone has a voice. Where a wife can have five husbands just like her husband, where several couples can sleep in the same bed if they want once in a while, a situation where if there's jealousy, there's work to fix it by respecting each other's feelings and being certain no one is being shunned or shafted. An organic blending of families and sexuality in a committed arrangement certainly has its appeal. But not how it's been depicted in these two shows. The men get all the sex, all the say, pretend the wives have a voice, and have ulterior motives for almost all of their actions including being on a reality show to begin with.

If this is God's will, then why is everyone so sad? Why is it so one-sided? Why do we feel like these men are building communities for their own visions of God at the expense of women and children who either don't know better or are too trapped to get out?

Every single wife on both shows declares her love for her husband and sisterwives. They say they freely choose this life and can leave whenever they desire. Yet even when they smile, one can't help notice the air of sadness and jealousy that hovers over both families. Edited or not, as a viewer, that is what I see.

I had hoped My Five Wives would provide a more progressive look at polygamy than the Browns show does. I was wrong. My Five Wives is like a tragedy. Five depressed, jealous wives, one selfish controlling man, and twenty-four children who are trying to make sense of the world.

What do you think about Brady telling one wife they can't afford to bring any more children into the family and telling another wife to quit her full-time job that she loves and adopt a baby?

Pictures are copyrighted and not to be copied, shared, or used in anyway without written permission. 2014 Sephera Giron


(photos are selfies on the set of "Zombie Love" for the I HATE TODD band video.)

TTC Riders Sardine Award Goes To Glenn Murray

On Friday March 28, 2014, nearly 100 residents of Toronto gathered in front of Glenn Murray's office to give him the Sardine Award.

First we gathered at College and University, where the organizers passed out signs and sardine hats. We didn't know our destination, it was top secret. We were told to board streetcars and so we did, squished together like the sardines that hats and signs depicted. We disembarked at Parliament and waited until everyone was gathered once more. We chanted for a while and then marched up the street. Only then did we know our final destination.

We were giving the award to Glenn Murray.

He didn't come out to accept it. From the articles I've posted, it seems he wasn't in his office when we stopped by.

At least he knows people are trying to make a difference whether it was towards the correct government official or not. The idea is to be heard, and the disgruntled riders apparently made the news.

In recent months, I've decided to become more proactive about my unhappiness with the TTC. I know most of it isn't TTC's fault but the economy, lack of government funding and so on. 

In a perfect world, I envision a subway line that spans from Winston Churchill to the Toronto Zoo. I see other rapid transit lines, above the city. Perhaps a shuttle from Pearon, down the 427 and then along the Gardner while the Gardner as we know it has been eliminated. The QEW would dump into a system that divides into north and east and also provides multi level parking garages where they can catch that subway or rapid train (NOT the GO train) I spoke of into the city. There would be another line that goes up Roncessville then runs along Dundas and loops around back from somewhere in Scarborough.

But those are unrealistic pipedreams.

However, something needs to be done to move more people.

This past winter was harsh and no one sane drove more than he or she had to. I wanted to get around much more than I did but the cost of taking the TTC can really add up day to day. Buying a pass won't help me because I don't take the TTC every day, but sometimes I just want to pop out to the gym or go for drinks and I have to add $6 to my experience. When times are tight, that adds up fast. 

I believe TTC passes should be lowered to around $50 a month. Before people shout about lost revenue, I would bet that lost revenue would be made up from people like me who take the TTC a lot, would take it much more if it wasn't so costly, and would buy a pass every month just to have it. The TTC isn't losing my single use money because they've lost tons of money from me because I can't justify the cost of going 4 km to the gym which is just too far to walk and costs about fifty cents to drive with free parking. However, I would buy a reasonable pass in a flash and get out way more. I still probably wouldn't use up the $50 but it makes more sense to someone like me.

So I've been looking around for what I can do about helping get the cost down and perhaps help with examining service options. 

If you are fed up with the TTC or want to see what you can do to help make things better, check out groups such as TTC Riders. There are often smaller groups in your community examining these very issues so do a google and see where you fit in.

Check out some of these links from the Sardines Award event!

TTCRiders.ca

Inside Toronto

The Sun

City News