November Catch Up

Wow, it’s November already?

So many things have been going on lately!

I guess I’ll start with where I left you last: Reading! I’m super behind on updating my GoodReads account and I’ve actually read quite a few books since I last posted on here. Just to shotgun a few to give you an idea of the range: Joe Hill’s Strange Weather, Stephen King’s The Outsider, CJ Tutor’s The Chalk Man, another Mitch Rapp Novel, A collection by H.P. Lovecraft called Necronomicon and now I’m reading The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson. There’s probably been some more speckled in there but I won’t bore you all with a list. Great fun all around!

What’s next? Podcast. It’s been a while since the last episode of Geek-Men and the Masters of the ThunderNerds podcast but Bo and I have full plates. If we had a volunteer to take over editing duties (wink, wink), we could continue on but until that volunteer steps up, we’ll have to wait until we have more time. Over all, a great first season—eleven episodes that we’re very proud of! You can watch for Season 2 after the holidays. There is potential that other avenues for Geek-Men talk will open up though–more on that to come.

Speaking of Geek-Men, this is a perfect time to segue into Writing! For Halloween, Bo and I wrote an article for Kendall Reviews where we assess the threat level of the classic Universal Studios Monsters in typical Geek-Men fashion. It was great fun!

I have to give Bo all the credit as he put so much work into making that happen, I went back through and gave it just enough of a smattering or #StrokeofYoak, if you will, to allow my name to be associated with the article. Even though Halloween has passed, I genuinely hope you read it as it was great fun. You can find the article here.

A quick note for anyone who isn’t familiar with Gavin over at Kendall Reviews: it’s this great site that is much more than book and movie reviews, they have interviews, guest articles and overall, he does a tremendous amount to help promote horror especially within the indie scene. Give the site a stroll when you have a minute.

Where was I? Writing! Still have some writing news. Several months ago–I want to say it was in March of this year, Bo Chappell, author of Year 47, opened up submissions to what would be an anthology that takes place within the world of his novel Year 47. First of all, for those that don’t know what Year 47 is, do yourself a favor and head over to Amazon and grab yourself a copy. It’s great. To over simplify it, this catastrophic event happened and now, “there is no Heaven, there is no Hell, there just is.”

Needless to say, I wanted in. Months went by, the deadline arrived in August and I submitted my story. I am proud to say, that my story Dead Falls, has been accepted and will appear in the anthology alongside a number of other talented writers on November 27th.

Bo did a fun video where a bunch of folks in the Twitter Horror/writer community all said that we couldn’t help him with the video–it was quite funny if you care to watch it can be found here.

If you skipped that, here is the Book Trailer ONLY without the fun bit at the beginning. Watch that here.

Here’s the gorgeous cover–art by Bo Chappell who, in addition to being a talented writer is also an artist! Dude just hit all the talent branches when he fell from the tree right?

So proud to be in this anthology! I can’t wait to hear what you all think of my story.

Oh and by the way–the image at the very top of this post (the featured art) is the artwork that is inspired by my story, also courtesy of Mr. Chappell.

 

 

 

Ok. So, this post is getting long in the tooth. Well, it feels that way but as of THIS word it’s only 652 words long so far. Hang in there with me as it has been a while and these posts come few and far between.

Aphotic Realm! Ok, well for the latest on AR, you can always follow us on Twitter or head over to our website, but I do want to touch on a few things. First of all, I’ve had the chance to interview some fantastic folks. I don’t think I’ve been able to talk about this enough.

Just THIS YEAR ALONE I’ve interviewed, best selling authors Mylo Carbia, Richard Chizmar, Kevin J. Anderson, and Ronald Malfi. These interviews have been fantastic! I had such a blast and they are all great folks! I don’t think I can stress enough how much fun I have in these interviews.

Check out our issues CLASSIFIED and DYSTOPIA to read their interviews.

If you want a good sampling of what Aphotic Realm has to offer, Tales From the Realm: Vol. 1, will do just that and was edited by yours truly!

On to more writing news! Aphotic Realm’s latest release, ELDRITCH, will feature an interview I did with S.T. Joshi, one of–if not the leading experts on H.P. Lovecraft and his work. It was a lot of fun hearing his insight. But in addition to that, Eldritch will also feature a tale of my own!

One of my favorite stories that I’ve read of Lovecraft’s so far, has been The Whisperer in Darkness. It’s a tale about a man who publicly disbelieves that there are things in the mountains of Vermont. One day he receives a letter from a man who lives there and says he can provide proof but wants him to stop drawing attention to himself publicly for he fears these creatures will come after him. The correspondence and mystery unfolds from there.

My story, The Mountains That Whisper, is designed to be a companion of sorts to Lovecraft’s own tale. I wrote in many references to his story creating new characters within that setting. I sincerely hope you all enjoy it! Watch for it mid November!

If you haven’t seen it yet, the official cover for ELDRITCH is pictured above!

 

Until Next Time!

-DSY

ps. I’m overly proud of the latest bio I’ve written for myself, so I’ll leave you with that. Hey, someone has to laugh at my jokes, might as well be me! HAHA.

 

While traveling across the cosmos, Dustin Schyler Yoak, a writer, editor, and podcaster of little renown among the outlying planets of our solar system, crash landed in a small suburb of Ohio. Seeing the value of a quaint and quiet lifestyle, he put down roots. In 2017, he graduated with a BFA in Creative Writing receiving high marks from his peers and professors all around. Having successfully infiltrated our culture, he co-founded Aphotic Realm Magazine in 2017 and the podcast, Geek-Men and the Masters of the ThunderNerds the following year in 2018. His latest work, Dead Falls, can be found in the forthcoming, By Years End: a Year 47 Anthology, November 2018. 

To this day, Dustin resides at his home in Ohio, hidden among us with his wife and two female offspring, whom he spends his free time mediating arguments and maintaining galactic peace. 

To keep up with the latest from Dustin, visit his website, http://www.dustinschyleryoak.com and follow him on Twitter @DustinSchyler.