I couldn't see the forest for the trees, so I stopped looking. That was the wrong decision. I feel like I've missed so many opportunities over the last few years because I let the passion I have for the work fall away. Not any more. I'm back at it, murdering the empty page one line at a time. Full throttle.
I'll talk about the stuff I'm working on when I get closer to having finished products. There will be several more Gavin English Thrillers rolling out over the next year, as well as some secret, fun stuff I can't wait to share with everyone.
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And now let's get to the second meaning.
Joe Hill, one of my top five authors of all-time, dropped his second collection of short stories a week or so back, titled: Full Throttle. His first collection, 20th Century Ghosts, re-ignited my love of short stories almost ten years ago, and I've been waiting for a follow up since then. I listened to both books in audio book format, although 20th Century Ghosts was a bunch of CDs I borrowed from the library, and I got Full Throttle as a download from Audible. Here's the blurb:
In this masterful collection of short fiction, Joe Hill dissects timeless human struggles in 13 relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including "In The Tall Grass", one of two stories cowritten with Stephen King, basis for the terrifying feature film from Netflix.
A little door that opens to a world of fairy-tale wonders becomes the blood-drenched stomping ground for a gang of hunters in "Faun". A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in "Late Returns". In "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain", two young friends stumble on the corpse of a plesiosaur at the water's edge, a discovery that forces them to confront the inescapable truth of their own mortality...and other horrors that lurk in the water's shivery depths. And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of motorcycle outlaws in "Throttle", cowritten with Stephen King.
Featuring two previously unpublished stories and a brace of shocking chillers, Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears and demonstrates this exceptional talent at his very best.
If you follow any of my social media accounts, then you'll already know that I absolutely loved this collection. Joe Hill's writing is heart-breaking and vivid and terribly honest. The stories range from tragic to terrifying. Parts of Late Returns are so sad, I almost wanted to stop listening, but other parts are filled with hope and love, so I never did. Faun brought me right back to my childhood, when I read the Narnia books religiously, and then reminded me that being an adult sometimes means ruining beautiful things for selfish reasons. My favorite story in the collection may have been Mums. It's filled with troubling imagery and even more troubling characters.I can't say enough about Full Throttle. Go read it, you can thank me later. I also won't hesitate to say that if you like audio books, the voiceover cast is amazing. Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Zachary Quinto, and even Joe Hill himself tell these stories passionately and carry you through the good and bad without a hitch. Also, if you like audio books and have never tried Audible, you can get two free books if you start your free trial right now.
And if you haven't read 20th Century Ghosts, or really anything from Joe Hill, I recommend you change that right away. I got his book, Heart-Shaped Box, from a blogger giveaway years ago, and have been in love with his writing ever since.
Okay, I need to get back to work. Thanks for reading!
