Nira/Sussa Published

My transgressive, literary novel Nira/Sussa is currently available in paperback and on Kindle.

In fact, you can get the first 12000 words sent to your Kindle reader instantly for free. If you've set up your Amazon account with a Kindle reader (available for Android, tablets, and PCs), just click on the "Send sample now" button.

And if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow the novel for free.

Nira/Sussa was 10 years in the writing and two more just in editing. Despite its violent and sexual content, it was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, just over a year ago. That was one of the most nervous days of my life. Now, awaiting the response to the novel in its final form, I'm just as nervous...

Seriously, this is a book that's either going to be taught as part of the Western literary canon or that's going to get me burned in effigy. There's no middle ground. It goes there. It's all on the page.

Please, please, please, if you stand for bold, smart literature, do something to let people know about this book. It obviously represents a huge portion of my life and my work. But it's also a test case for whether these new digital media can be used for works like this. It means so much...

Many, many thanks.

Nira/Sussa on Its Way!

As of yesterday, I'm completed my final full edit of Nira/Sussa, the transgressive literary novel that everyone either seems to love or hate with vitriolic passion. And that was awarded a Ph.D., despite being condemned as pornographic.

It should be available for purchase by the end of the month.

I've been working on this novel, as far as I can tell, since fall of 1999. Editing a page of it -- which I've done, over and over, with every page -- is usually harder for me than writing a new page. This has been grueling, soul-wrenching process, beyond anything I could hope to describe.

I hope you like it. But I really, really hope you talk about it. Everywhere. Because the novel is a challenging story with vital things to say. I passionately believe this is an important, even historic novel -- or I wouldn't have thrown such a vast portion of my life into it.

More Yelena, More Miracleman

Even though I've been lax in updating this blog, I've been plenty busy.

Today, chapter 8 of The Many Lives of Yelena Moulin, my aggressive, sexy, existential sci-fi novella, is up on Martian Lit. As usual, it's accompanied by stunning original art of the great Doug Smock, and I particularly love his illustration for this chapter.

Also today, the 11th installment in my analysis of Alan Moore's Miracleman is up on Sequart. This concludes my look at the future interlude "The Yesterday Gambit" and brings me through Warrior #4.

In other news, Sequart's Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes is now on Kindle. And Sequart's newest documentary film, Comics in Focus: The Image Revolution, is on Kickstarter.

I've been working way too hard on the final edits of my literary-transgressive novel, Nira/Sussa. It's grueling, and it continues to be so. But it's wrapping up, I assure you.

Many thanks for your support.

More Miracleman and New Martian Lit Material

The fourth installment of my analysis of Alan Moore's Miracleman is out on Sequart. In it, I look at the powerful depiction of super-hero sexuality in the opening of chapter three ("When Johnny Comes Marching Home").

Over at Martian Lit, the first piece of fiction by someone other than me is up. It's called "Life, Limb, and the Devil's Dissent," by Mark Rapacz, with original artwork by Chris Coffey. It's simply beautiful and well worth reading.

Martian Lit is the publisher of my own free serialized fiction, The Many Lives of Yelena Moulin, as well as two books by me that are currently available on Kindle for 99 cents, and free to borrow for Amazon Prime members: Watching People Burn and The Slave Factory. Martian Lit will also shortly be publishing my transgressive novel Nira/Sussa. These are excellent works that are just begging for your attention.

That is all.

Superman's a Fascist Fantasy... a Huge Twist... and More Self-Promotion

Over at Sequart Research & Literacy Organization, my analysis of Miracleman's second chapter goes live today. It's good stuff, during which I call Superman a fascist fantasy. Because he is. Hey, I like him too, but he is.

If you know anything about comics, you know how important this landmark series by Alan Moore is -- and how rarely discussed, in any depth. Check it out.

Over at Martian Lit, the fourth chapter of my The Many Lives of Yelena Moulin is also up, illustrated with original art by the great Doug Smock. This chapter has a huge twist in it -- two, actually. How huge? PRETTY GODDAMN HUGE.

If you haven't been following this biweekly experiment in serialized, illustrated, wild, sci-fi fiction, you owe it to yourself to start from the beginning. If you don't like it, there's something wrong with you. Seriously, go read Twilight or something. But then, if you weren't smart, why would you be here to begin with?

Did you know I have three books available on Kindle for 99 cents each? Yep, that's how desperate I am! Years of my life, for the price of a telephone call!

If you like comics and comics movies, there's Improving the Foundations: Batman Begins from Comics to Screen. Terrorism and dead kids more your style? Then there's Watching People Burn, the real-life story of the worst school massacre in U.S. history that you didn't know about. Systematic oppression like slavery more your speed? Then check out The Slave Factory, literary historical fiction in 12 short and beautiful chapters.

As we march towards the release of my novel, Nira/Sussa, it's now got a page up on Goodreads. Go rate it five stars, even though you haven't read it. Then spam all your Facebook friends about it, because that's what they'd want you to do.

Then if you do all that, go buy yourself a flagon of ale. You deserve a break today.

Busy, Busy, Busy

First, book news! Martian Lit has announced Watching People Burn, my fictional account of the Bath school disaster. It has also announced my novel, Nira / Sussa, which took over a decade to write. Both couldn't mean more to me. Here are their covers:

Second, Martian Lit published the second chapter of my The Many Lives of Yelena Moulin today, accompanied by art by Doug Smock (see image at right). It's punchy sci-fi, where every chapter has a twist or a mind-bending idea of some sort.

Finally, my second article on Frank Miller's Holy Terror is up on Sequart. It focuses on the introductory sequence as a key to understanding the text.

Thanks for reading! And please, if you like anything, consider sharing them through social networking sites. Many thanks!