The Final Gong

Try on Uncomfortable Shorts

 

Uncomfortable Shorts is a collection of eight irreverent, irregular and irrational short stories. Try on these ill fitting tales that squeeze into horror, cosmic, comic and corny niches.

One size fits none. No refunds. No exchanges. No exceptions.

Pork Roll, Egg & Sleaze: A group of urban explorers find themselves on an adventure that turns into a horror movie.
My Date with the (Non)Word, Ans: An unlikely relationship with an autocorrected word.
Eat Sh*t and Die: An over-the-top tale of cosmic horror in a quiet New England town.
You Can Catch More Flies with Honey: There's more than one way to catch a fly. But which way is best?
There's a Frenchman in My Mayonnaise: A quirky tale of a hangry man who's attempt to make a sandwich sidetracks his entire life.
Conrad Lubbox is Out To Get Me You Stupid Idiot: You sure have a lot of questions about why I let Conrad Lubbox's dog outside.
Dick Sick: Preston isn't feeling well. He's sneezing, coughing and pooping penises out of every orifice.
Inflate: A Zen yogi leads the way to Nirvana (and not the Kurt Cobain kind.)

Uncomfortable Shorts is available now in paperback from Amazon.


The digital Uncomfortable Shorts eBook is available for only 69 cents exclusively through Godless dot com in your preferred file format. (.pdf .mobi & .epub)

Are We Reading Bizarro? (Part 2)

This week, in my ongoing series, "Are We Reading Bizarro?" I've decided to dig a little deeper to see if I could pull the number of people reading Bizarro fiction up. In the first week I used purely anecdotal evidence from my Goodreads feed over the course of a few weeks to surmise that only three of the people I am connected to on Goodreads were reading Bizarro or Bizarro adjacent titles.

Are We Reading Bizarro?

This week I decided to up the ante a little bit. I am still using Goodreads as my measurement but instead of relying solely on what passed through on my news feeds, I dug through my friends list (812 members as of this posting), page by page to see of those reporting the titles they're reading, how many I could count off that were Bizarro or Bizarro adjacent.

The number I wound up at: 5.

Digging In Deeper For The Numbers

An interesting thing happened while I was combing through all twenty eight pages of friends statuses, There were far more than five people who's status reported they were reading a Bizarro or adjacent title. The problem was there were more of those status updates that were year old (roughly in the range of 2013 through 2017.) Obviously, I couldn't count those as people currently reading Bizarro. What I can say is that there are way more of those old statuses reporting reading Bizarro than there are currently.

I can't say that means anything or not. But, it could be an indication that we were reading much more Bizarro years ago looking at those snapshots back over years past than we are now. Again that is purely circumstantial evidence and obviously not concrete. 

I can also say that, after my first blog post in this series, several people stepped up to report that they were currently, recently or intend to soon, read a Bizarro or adjacent title. That is encouraging.

I myself, am about to finish up my first experience with Kurt Vonnegut and I have two Bizarro or adjacent titles up next in my reading queue.  As always, if you're reading Bizarro or adjacent let me know! I know someone reported trouble replying directly to the blog so let me know on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or wherever we interact!

Up next for Mr. Frank

It's a weird time to be alive but a great time to get in more reading! Be well and read weird.

Are We Reading Bizarro? (Part 1)

In recent weeks, in the writer/reader circles that I tend to run in on social media platforms, I've witnessed a call to action to return Bizarro Fiction to the prominence (its "relative" prominence) it once enjoyed. Now, there can be no doubt the genre has been experiencing a decline both in readership and in new material released under the genre label.

Are you reading weird?

But I've read several blog posts, status updates and I have even done a podcast interview on the discussion of what can be done to bring attention back to Bizarro Fiction. In the face of a genre in recession, people are starting to take a positive, pro-active approach and bring Bizarro back from the proverbial dead.

All the "Rah! Rah!" is great. It really is. It needs to continue. But, bottom line, until people start picking up Bizarro books, reading them and talking about them, things simple won't change. Which brings me to what I want to accomplish here.

I've been monitoring for a few weeks now, my Goodreads feeds with an eye on one metric in particular. How many people are reporting that they are reading a Bizarro (or Bizarro "adjacent") title? The fact of the matter is that I'm simply not seeing all the "Rah! Rah!" translating into people picking up Bizarro books.

That is, until today, March 18th, 2020. Today I can report to you that in the past 24 hours I have seen reading activity on three Bizarro or Bizarro adjacent titles. Of course, that is by my definition and parameters. I would say there is one, unquestionable Bizarro title and two adjacent titles of the three.

So, is it progress or happenstance? That's why I'm starting this little blog series. It's all just an idea. I'd like to try to report at least once a week if not more. We'll see how this goes. Let's keep in mind this is pretty anecdotal. I am basing this off my own Goodreads feeds and my own definitions of what constitutes a Bizarro or Bizarro adjacent title.

If you're reading Bizarro or adjacent, please, let me know in the comments. Let me know if you're planning on reading something Bizarro soon. Or maybe you're considering a Bizarro title, let me know about that too!

Happy Ready!

Catcoin: A Fictional History of a Cryptocurrency

Catcoin: The Fictional History of a Cryptocurrency

What if someone turned cats into cryptocurrency? That is the premise of the new book, Catcoin: The Fictional History of a Cryptocurrency. It's the story of Bitcoin, but with cats.

One is a cat. One is money. One is Catcoin, a cryptocurrency. Follow the history of an unlikely cat which becomes the primary coin in an economic revolution that will change the world. Catcoin is a globe trotting tale that reveals the history of a new money that changes the way people spend money and disrupts the way banks do business and tips the scales of the balance of power held by world governments. Friendships are forged, lovers are loved and Durian fruit is smashed. Enrich yourself in the history of Catcoin, the world's first feline-based cryptocurrency.

The new novella from Frank J. Edler. It can be described as Action/Adventure, Techno-thriller and Comedy/Humor. A sound investment on Kindle eBook and Paperback. 

A Year in Reading 2019

Its time to reflect on my year in books for 2019. This is my favorite annual blog post. It has become my annual tradition to spotlight my noteable reads for the past year. I think it's a fun way to reflect on the best material I've had the honor of reading instead of making some inaccurate, ever changing and God forbid, controversial ranked list.

I like to present those books that really stood out to me in the past year. I managed to ready forty one books this year, one more than the previous year. The following are the books that have left an impact for one reason or another. They are presented in chronological order as I read throughout the year. I hope you will be inspired to check out any on this list that you haven't and discover those you wouldn't have ever considered.

And now, my most notable reads of 2019:

• BANG UP: A FILTHY COMEDIC THRILLER by Jeff Strand (2018) Jeff Strand: This book didn't seem to connect with fans of Jeff Strand's more comedic horror books but I loved it for the off-the-wall comedic romp that it was. If I were going to read erotica, it would all have to be like this. A solid 4.75 star effort.

• MY BEST FRIEND'S EXORCISM by Grady Hendrix (2016) Quirk Books: There has been a lot of buzz around Grady Hendrix since Horrorstor and Paperback's From Hell. Instead of starting there, I decided to start with this. If everyone is talking about those other books and this one made my notable reads for 2019 list then I best get cracking on the other's for 2020.

•  IMPOSSIBLE DRIVEWAYS by Justin Grimbol (2018) Atlatl Press: A perennial favorite of mine. Justin Grimbol always delivers with his unique brand of poetry/prose story telling. There is charm and beauty in the uncomfortable truths and honest observations of the poet laureate of the weird and wacky.

• OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES by Chad Lutzke (2019) Poltergeist Press:  Last year, Chad Lutzke made my list of notable reads with OUT BEHIND THE BARN, a collaborative effort with John Boden. I wanted to be sure to read a solo effort from Lutzke. OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES is, without a doubt, my favorite read of 2019. This is the only 5-star rating I awarded this year. I love that the world is slowly starting to discover this extremely talented horror author. I expect to see more awareness and great effort from him in 2020.

• A CONFEDERACY OF HOT DOGS by Christoph Paul (2017) Clash Books:  I've been meaning to read this one forever. I put it off afraid that it would read as an inside joke. The protagonist, Phil LoPresti is a real person and the character is based on that real person. Hence my apprehension of that turning out as an inside joke. But, I did finally commit to reading it and the result was it was my favorite weird/bizarre read of 2019. I think this will translate well and not come off as an inside joke to those in the know. Its simply fucking funny.

• BITCOIN BILLIONAIRES by Ben Mezrich (2019) Flatiron Books:  Ben Mezrich updates and turns the tables on his notorious book, THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. Where that book left the Winklevoss twins looking like the devil incarnate, BITCOIN BILLIONAIRES recasts them as the brilliant entrepreneurs that they are in real life. I have a love a affair with the story of Bitcoin and this telling of the Winklevoss twins story in cryptocurrency with gorgeous, sexy and Romantic. I've fallen in love with it that much more.

•  JURASSIC FLORIDA by Hunter Shea (2018) Lyrical Underground: Beautiful in its simplicity. This is a giant monster book. That's all. Its a great story wrapped around a giant iguana monster book set in Florida. Hunter Shea keeps it simple stupid (k.i.s.s.) and pulls off a notable read for 2019 in the process. 

• TERROR MANNEQUIN by Douglas Hackle (2019) Douglas Hackle: Douglas Hackle turns in a darker, more horror focused offering for 2019 and the result is TERROR MANNEQUIN. This title wins cover of the year handily. Its also backed up by one weird, twisted story full of macabre crazy. This book feels like its own new thing and others will only follow suit. Read the original, whatever it is!
  
  
   

• POPSICKLE HEART by J. Peter W. (2018) DP Books:  POPSICKLE HEART by J. Peter W. represents the sleeper hit of 2019. A full on, bizarro tale of one clown's struggle against the world. So bizarre, so weird, so artistic and visceral. Great weird writing, it's time everyone found out that J. Peter W. has got the write stuff. Dip your pink little toes into this quiet gem.

Honorable mentions for 2019 include: THE WARRIORS by Sol Yurick, a classic that I finally got around to reading: different but as good as the classic film inspired by the book. PRESTO! by Penn Jillette a different type of diet book. F*CKED UP STORIES: VOL. 1 edited by Ira Rat, a stand out DIY 'zine that wasn't big enough to warrant a mention of the main list but still a standout offering in short form for 2019. And lastly, Tim Meyer's LIMBS a twisted tale that simply fell one slot shy of getting main stage recognition.

2019 was punctuated by the fact that I only rated one book at 5 stars. And yet, I probably awarded the most 4-star reviews in a given year at the same time. Lots of great books but just one super stand out. 2020 promises to have more great reads in store. Weird will rise again and horror is sure to birth new great names. Catch ya in 2021!

You can check out the complete list of the forty books I read on Goodreads.
You can check out my notable books read from 2018 HERE.