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We've received shipment of Chemical Gardens by Gina Ranalli and it is amazing...every time I read a page or two I get sucked into the totally bizarre story...and the cover by Gus Fink is definitely a reflection of the book.  For those who don't know Gus, he is an outsider artist that we've been following for years.  You should check out his other work at gusfink.com or over on ebay.  He also has a comic out that you can find on Amazon, The Trouble with Igor with Chris Reilly.  

You'll be able to see a novella by Gina in the Bizarro Starter Kit, just releasing at World Horror as a collaboration of Afterbirth, Eraserhead, and Raw Dog Screaming Press.  Her novella will also be released separately later this year---it's called Suicide Girls in the Afterlife so watch for it.  Gina & Gus Fink have their own collaboration, 13 Thorns, which will go to press this year as well!  A prolific duo to be sure.

I'll have to catch you up on the doings of the Afterbirth authors a little later, because this week I'm busy getting ready for WORLD HORROR!!! We leave next week on May 11, and will be exhibiting there until May 14!  We'll be in the dealer's room in the Bizarro section with Eraserhead's Carlton Mellick III and Rose O'Keefe, as well as author Jeremy Robert Johnson.  A couple of our authors will be stopping by--Nicole Del Sesto, a California writer whose work we'll publish this fall (All Encompassing Trip) and maybe even Vic Mudd, whose book Deity (The Almighty's Adventures on Earth and Beyond) will release very soon.  And of course Gina will be there, and will be signing her new book Chemical Gardens.  There are apparently some bonus gifts for those who buy books from us at the convention--an eyeball theme, and that's all I'm going to say!

Unfortunately, I need to let everyone know that I haven't read a single submission in at least a month.  :-(  so please be patient if you've sent something.  I hope my life goes back to relative normality after WHC!  Remember that the eyeball rules, as does the Autumn Eggplant of the Underground Zero!

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Chemical Gardens is off to press!  We will get to see the final proof soon, and if all is well, should get shipment of it in a few weeks.  It is such a fun, absurd, and, well, bizarre book!  I can't wait for everyone to see it.  Gina Ranalli has a novella and a book of short stories in the hopper also.  Speaking of the hopper, lots bouncing around in there!  Vic Mudd's book Deity is getting really close to going to the printer.  And we're almost ready for final editing of Tales from the Vinegar Wasteland by Ray Fracalossy.  If you could peek into that previously-mentioned hopper, you would see four or five other books in there, certainly enough to keep us busy into 2007!  

Of course, our published authors are not sitting on their heels.  Several have material that will appear in a brand new collection of bizarro fiction, The Bizarro Starter Kit.  Others have been doing radio interviews and speaking around their local areas.  We're getting prepared for the World Horror Convention in San Francisco, May 11-14.  Some goofy promo stuff just arrived in the mail.  It's a secret though...you'll have to come to WHC and visit our booth to find out! 

From the spring allergies section of the Afterbirth office, this is your editor, signing off with a sneeze.

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Welcome to Afterbirth news!  And a lot of news there is...  Here's what's been going on:

• It Came from Below the Belt by Bradley Sands is just about ready to go to the printer!  Hooray! And isn't that cover art cool?  Reminds me of those old-time movie posters.
• We've just posted new cover art for Deity and Chemical Gardens (our new name for The Hanging Gardens of Babylon--what do you think? Reflects more of the edgy-punk-band nature of the book we think).
• Upcoming releases include Not Quite One of the Boys, The Vinegar Wasteland, and a collaboration between Gina Ranalli and Gus Fink.  Gus is an artist whose work we've followed for a while, who has done comic books and mixed-media paintings up to this point.  (You can find more of his stuff on his website, www.gusfink.com)  We'll have more info on all these titles up soon on our catalog page.
• Bruce Taylor continues to have appearances and book signings.  One was just held at the Madison Market in Seattle on Feb. 8.  There's another one next week--Feb. 16 at Epilogue Books (2005 NW Market Street in the Ballard area of Seattle).  Hope you locals can stop by--starts at 6:30!
• Both John Lawson and Carlton Mellick III have new stuff out, at Raw Dog Screaming Press and Eraserhead Press respectively.  Go check it out!  (Find the links on our links page.)
• Tangerinephant is doing well...and go over to wikipedia.org to see an update on the entry for the word "bizarro fiction" that Kevin Dole 2 worked on.
• We just signed two new authors!  The first, Christian Tebordo comes to us with Better Ways of Being Dead.  Christian lives in Philly, and has a previous book out, The Convicted and Subsequent Life of Savior Neck.  He also says he plays bass guitar in a group called "The Failed Alliance."  We continue with the author/musician combos!
• The second author is a newcomer, Nicole Del Sesto.  Her book, All Encompassing Trip is quite a trip!  She tells us she's a "veteran of the travel industry" and so has travelled all over the world.  She won't want me to tell you this--but her first attempt at a novel was in 7th grade:  a hamster love story.  (Maybe we'll have to snag it to publish some day!) 
• Speaking of new material--we love getting all the submissions!  But...we're looking to be full up for what we can do in 2006.  Not to discourage you from sending things in, because it's great to get the schedule set for the future, but just be aware that it'll likely be 2007 before we can put something else into print.

Wow, you can see we're really rockin' and rollin' over here at the Afterbirth office.  Thanks for stopping by.  I sign off from a beautiful day in Seattle, where it is possible that most of the grass may be dried out at last from our non-stop month or two of rain (I think we beat our record around here).  Not to say that I don't love to squelch around in soggy shoes, but it does make for cold toes...  Anyway, remember that bizarro underground weirdness rules and can change your life forever!

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Hey, everyone, this is Karen, and I've decided to take over this little news column...the "Mighty G-ster" (as she insists on being called) has been writing to you all, but unfortunately her brain parasites have worsened...but, no worries!  I hear brain parasites can actually be good for the creative energy in the long term.  :-)

Lots has happened this fall for Afterbirth.  John Lawson's Pocket Full of Loose Razorblades released in August, and has been doing nicely since then.  (John and Jennifer also birthed a baby in addition to a book, what a combo!)  After numerous computer nightmares, we were finally able to get Kafka's Uncle and Other Strange Tales by Bruce Taylor out just in time for OryCon, Oregon's Science Fiction Convention, in Portland in November.  Bruce spoke on several panels, and we had a book release party in the hotel, with special guests Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (authors of the ongoing books in the Dune series, among other things).  Brian and Kevin had been so kind as to contribute blurbs for the back cover, and since they were guests of honor at the convention, it was a great opportunity to present them with signed copies.  I promise that soon I will post some pictures, because you won't want to miss Bruce Taylor all fancied up in his white suit and top hat for the event, with his gold-colored nametag reading "Mr Magic Realism"!  And if you haven't checked out Bruce's book yet, it's a great read-by-the-fire (or heater) for this winter, with the novel Kafka's Uncle, a novella about Marilyn Monroe and the aliens, and a whole group of short stories.  Something for everyone. 

For those of you living in the Pacific Northwest, Bruce will be doing readings and signings around the area as well.  We just attended one at Balderdash Books in the Greenwood district of Seattle (a bookstore where the owner brings her dog, what else can you want?), and more are planned--we'll make sure to post dates and times here and on the Mondo Bizarro website for anyone who can walk, drive, take a bus, hang-glide, or use any other typical or obscure manner of transport. 

Coming up soon will be our next book, It Came from Below the Belt by Bradley Sands.  We're in the final proofing, and cover formatting, and have some reviewers out there taking a first peek at it.  Speaking of the cover, I can't wait for you to see it!  As soon as I get the title on it, we'll post it for you to look at.  Shouldn't be too much longer now. 

Besides the other projects for 2006 (Ray Fracalossy's Vinegar Wasteland, Deity by Vic Mudd, and Gina Ranalli's The Hanging Gardens of Babylon), we just signed Vincent W. Sakowski for his latest novel, Not Quite One of the Boys.  Vincent is a writer from Canada who you may already know as the author of Some Things are Better Left Unplugged from Eraserhead Press.

Well...guess that is the news at the moment...must sign off before I catch those brain parasites...oops, I think I did!  (No, guess it is just a sinus infection...rats...but I can keep hoping).

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Hey all!

We are happy and proud to announce that John Lawson (Last Burn in Hell) has just released his newest book Pocket Full of Loose Razorblades with our press and you guys NEED to check this book out! It's John's best yet and you can order it from our website (afterbirthbooks.com), amazon, your local bookstore or any number of various online indie booksellers.

This collection highlights dark surrealism at it's most exerimental and absurd depths. From the man who works at the foot fungus factory to the man who lives in the giant rectum, Pocket Full of Loose Razorblades will leave you wondering where you misplaced your sanity.

Check it out and discover why Lawson is considered one of the leading Bizarros of our time!

More big news on the way! Check back soon!

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is good news!

It's finally time for a long over-due update. First things first: we have been seriously freaking SWAMPED with manuscripts!!! It is becoming more and more difficult to keep up with all the submissions and queries and get back to everyone in a timely fashion, so if you've sent us something in the last month or so and haven't heard back from us yet, please be patient. We WILL get to you, it's just taking us a little longer than it did only a few short months ago. Sorry about that.

Of course, this is all a GOOD thing! We've got things stretching out well into 2006 now--something we couldn't have imagined not long ago. It's nice to know there are so many folks out there writing such cool BIZARRO stuff and we have a lot of great things happening right now as a result of all this madness. A bunch of cool writers and artists on the horizon, most recently the infamously talented Ray Fracalossy and his fantasticly strange and funny Tales from the Vinegar Wasteland. We're really excited about this book and the entire world should be too. As many of you already know, reading Ray is a real treat and his novel kicks some mondo bizarro ass!

But, sadly, there is a small bit of not so good news to report along with the good (yin-yang, baby!):

We seriously SERIOUSLY cannot accept any more collection submissions. We know you guys are great at writing short stories but we really need to concentrate on novels for a while. So, be original! Write a novel! Send it to us! Woo us with kindness and compliments--you never know what it may get you!

AND...I'm shutting up now. Thanks for your time. Drive thru please.