Vegas Valley Book Fest Promo Card

Attention humans: I've heard reports that some of you are experiencing problems with the download promo cards I was slinging around at Vegas Valley Book Festival.

If so, let me know! I apologize for any inconvenience too.

I've notified my publisher, Samhain Publishing, to see if somewhere on the webstore a checkbox didn't get checked or something. That sort of stuff happens.

Stay tuned.

The mason

Illiterati in Desert Companion magazine

I totally spaced on the fun news:

Probably, oh, all of you know that I belong to a super secret writers group called The Illiterati.
We are very serious. (see pictures demonstrating our seriousness below)

We meet every week, critique each other's stories and novels, have word wars, bake cookies, act very silly serious, and make plans for world domination through synchronized finger-snapping whilst walking.

All this to say, Desert Companion, a really great arts and culture magazine, sent an intrepid journalist by the name of Scott Dickensheets to sit in on one of our weekly Illiterati critique sessions.

We had loads of fun, we critiqued each other's stories (even made Scott bring a piece so we could make him cry), we played banjo and ukuleles, and no one got hurt! All in all a successful night.

It's in the October issue of Desert Companion! (read it online here)


The Illiterati is: Ryan Bridger, Billie Bundschuh, Mason Ian Bundschuh, Matt Czarnowski, Mercedes M. Yardley

2014 - still serious after all these years

2013 - very serious

that time we were in an MMORPG together

2010 - super incredibly serious

Vegas Valley Book Festival 2014

If you like book things and live in Las Vegas, then you ought to know about the annual Vegas Valley Book Festival. http://vegasvalleybookfestival.org/

Honestly, a book festival in Las Vegas. Didn't you know? We're cultured bro.

There is free food, so writers come out of the woodwork for it. And have I mentioned there are lots of books?

This year I’ll be on the “Las Vegas Writes” panel with a few other local authors such as fellow Illiterati-member Mercedes M. Yardley, Scott Dickensheets, David Armstrong, Heidi Kyser, Joseph Langdon, Launce Rake, Moniro Ravanipour, Geoff Schumacher, and T.R. Witcher.

The panel is 11 AM on Saturday Oct 18^th (in the Auditorium)

Come by and heckle!

Here’s the deets:

Vegas Valley Book Festival

Historic 5th Street School

401 S. 4th Street, Las Vegas NV 89101

Lost and Found in Las Vegas Anthology

More publication news!

My short story Strip Away recently came out in the anthology "Lost and Found in Las Vegas: What the City Hides and What It Reveals" Edited by Scott Dickensheets, Huntington Press (August 28, 2014)

It's a Twilight Zoney twisty tale of creepiness.

Jacob has a problem. He's late for work slinging cards at one of the ritzy casinos on Las Vegas Strip. But that's not really his problem. Instead it's that no matter where he turns and no matter which exit he takes he can't seem to find Las Vegas. It's as if the whole city no longer exists on this plane.
Strip Away.

All the authors in this anthology will be having some panelist fun this year at the Vegas Valley Book Festival (more on that later) so make sure you're planning on attending.

The super fun thing about this anthology is that I share the table of contents with my Illiterati pal Mercedes M. Yardley! Fun times. The writing group that stays together gets published together.

We are very serious writers (photo credit Brent Holmes)

I Wonz teh Awkward Author Photo Contest

I can finally tell my mom that I'm a winner.

Wild and crazy novelist, screenwriter, blogger, and game designer, Chuck Wendig http://terribleminds.com/ had a very serious and thoughtful contest to solicit the most awkward author photos of all time (well, of at least those readers of his blog who were silly enough to enter).

Here's where he scientifically tallied the votes (complete with snazzy info-graphic)

And here's my winning entry:

Let that sink in.

...

...

...

And here's my reaction when I found out I'd won this prestigious award:

Hagrid learns he's been accepted to Hogwarts

good times.

Qualia Nous Released Into the Wild

Ladies and gentlefrogs, my short story “Breathe You in Me” is contained within the pages of QUALIA NOUS.

Go buy it. http://www.amazon.com/Qualia-Nous-Michael-Bailey/dp/0578146460

QUALIA NOUS is a collection of short stories billed as “a literary blend of science fiction and horror.”

I can dig it.

“Breathe You in Me”, was one of those sit-down-with-nothing-in-mind-then-all-of-a-sudden-write-in-a-fury-to-finish-it-in-one-sitting things. Those of you who are writers will have had that elusive experience. It’s a weird form of possession, or so it feels. You’re merely the channel for an idea that must strike the earth like verbose lightning.

It’s the only thing I ever wrote in 2^nd person—and only because the narrative demanded it. I managed to combine the sewer city under Las Vegas and the flesh-eating drug Krokodil and fungi.

Yes, there is a sewer city underneath Las Vegas.

As a Las Vegas writer I find that there is no end to potential material here. This place is full of some crazy stories. You just have to listen.

Anyhow, I’m honored to share the QUALIA NOUS table of contents (TOC for us fancypants types) with some amazing writers. Editor Michael Bailey has a real knack for putting together dynamic and potent anthologies—featuring seasoned veterans and up-and-coming authors you need to know about NOW.

And Stephen King’s in it. Even my mom knows who Stephen King is.

So that’s pretty cool.

I’m trying to start the rumor that ole Stevey and I have been having BBQ’s at one another’s summer homes, clinking glasses and toasting to obscure rock’n’roll bands.

My wife suggests that I’m taking the fanboy thing a little too far. The restraining order from Mr. King would tend to support this observation, except I know that only means he wants me to pursue our friendship even more ardently…

;)

 Here's the table of contents. Mucho kudos goes to those who typed and linked all this out. (if it was you, take credit!)

·                                 “The Jaunt” by Stephen King

·                                 “The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family” by Usman Tanveer Malik

·                                 “The Shaking Man” by Gene O’Neill

·                                 “Dyscrasia” by Ashlee Scheuerman

·                                 “The Rondelium Girl of Rue Marseille” by Emily B. Cataneo

·                                 “The Angel Chaser” by Erik T. Johnson

·                                 “Psychic Shock” by Ian Shoebridge

·                                 “Peppermint Tea in Electronic Limbo” by D.J. Cockburn

·                                 “Second Chance” by John R. Little

·                                 “The Effigies of Tamber Square” by Jon Michael Kelley

·                                 “Shades of Naught” by Lori Michelle

·                                 “The Price of Faces” by James Chambers

·                                 “Simulacrum” by Jason V Brock

·                                 “Shutdown” & “Tomorrow’s Femme” (poetry) by Marge Simon

·                                 “Lead Me to Multiplicity” by Peter Hagelslag

·                                 “Cataldo’s Copy” by Christian A. Larsen

·                                 “The Neighborhood Has a Barbecue” by Max Booth III

·                                 “The Jenny Store” by Richard Thomas

·                                 “Night Guard” by Erinn L. Kemper

·                                 “A New Man” by William F. Nolan

·                                 “Voyeur” by John Everson

·                                 “Kilroy Wasn’t There” by Pat R. Steiner

·                                 “In the Nothing-Space, I Am What You Made Me” by Paul Anderson

·                                 “Dura Matter” by Lucy A. Snyder

·                                 “Ruminations” by Rena Mason

·                                 “Good and Faithful Servant” by Thomas F. Monteleone

·                                 “Twelve Kilos” by Patrick Freivald

·                                 “Breathe You In Me” by Mason Ian Bundschuh

·                                 “18P37-C, After Andrea Was Arrested” by Elizabeth Massie

·                                 “No Fixed Address” by Gary A. Braunbeck

Quick Update and some Reviewer Love

Hey kids, just a quick update:

I'll be at the American Library Association Conference this weekend hanging with Stan Lee, Lois Lowry, B.J. Novak and Jane McGonigal. (Not to mention my pal John Palisano, who literally rocks.)

I'm wrapping up the new novel and fielding beta reader notes.

My super secret writer's group, The Illiterati, will be heading out of country for our annual writer's retreat. If I email you requesting bail $, it's a scam. I'd just call you.

Last year my short story "When We Change" was published in the WHISPERS FROM THE ABYSS anthology (01Publishing) Not only has it gotten some great reviews (Take, for example this one from Innsmouth Free Press, and my story in particular gets some love from SFFWorld.Com) but the publishers are coming out with a print edition for Fall 2014. Huzzah. Stay tuned.

CHIRAL MAD 2, which features my story "Another Man's Bones" has been garnering a bunch of awards.

Also: my short novella / long long story PIERCING THE VEIL (Samhain Publishing) has been getting some nice reviews over on Amazon and elsewhere.

Dark Eva has this to say:

"[PIERCING THE VEIL] has a lot of depth and intriguing layers that highlight not only the author’s skill but also a story with substance."

Read the whole review here: http://thedarkeva.com/2014/05/17/book-review-piercing-the-veil-by-mason-bundschuh/

And Horror Novel reviews says:

A genuine story switch here, I have read quite a number of tales but this one most certainly traveled in an atypical direction. And I must say I am quite enthused with the unique qualities offered forth by Mason Ian Bundschuh. 

Read the whole review here: http://horrornovelreviews.com/2014/03/01/mason-ian-bundschuh-piercing-the-veil-review/

I'm tickled that nearly every reviewer loves to hate the protagonist, Simon. My nefarious plans have come to fruition.

And that's all the news I can think of at this moment.

Shock Totem Issue 8.5

Hey all you people that live on the internet:

My short non-fiction piece "Unlearning to Lie" is in Shock Totem Magazine Issue 8.5 (Amazon link)

This makes me all giddy and stuff like that. Support this amazing magazine while getting a glimpse into the dark corners of my mind.

Piercing the Veil

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I give you my brand new short novella/long long story: Piercing the Veil

"She's electric, boogie woogie, oogie..."

Get yerself over to my publisher's website to grab a copy Samhain Horror
Or if you're more traditional and like the Amazon thing, go here

What's it about?

Simon, a brilliant but narcissistic grad student, will do anything to get a position at a nearby cutting-edge particle collider. So when a bitter and discredited professor offers him the chance at a secret research position on the cusp of proving an impossible theory, Simon thinks it’s a dream come true. But the math doesn’t quite add up and the other technicians working graveyard at the collider give him the creeps.
Meanwhile, students are disappearing from his university at an alarming rate. When Simon becomes the prime suspect he realizes there may be a horrible link to the erratic and impossible research at the collider. Simon is learning that his coworkers may not entirely be human after all. And the disappearances are getting closer to home.

Throw in the sci-fi paranoia of Philip K. Dick and a healthy dose of Lovecraftian cosmic horror and you're getting close.

And check out this "first-peek" review by the people over at Horror Novel Reviews:

http://horrornovelreviews.com/2014/03/01/mason-ian-bundschuh-piercing-the-veil-review/

More Chiral Mad 2 love

Desi Writers' Lounge had insightful and good things to say about CHIRAL MAD 2, and this in particular to say about my story "Another Man's Bones" which opened up the anthology:

"...from the get-go, you are thrown headfirst into an opening story that embodies the essence of all that is to come: a spy-versus-spy style story about time-travel and the creation and destruction of the narrator’s various selves. It introduces the readers to the existential soup of time, memory, mirrors and consciousness that defines this collection."

 Awww shucks.

Now get out there and buy a copy to see for yourself. :)

Some Chiral Mad 2 Review Love

Hellnotes had this to say about my short story "Another Man's Bones" in Chiral Mad 2:

[Chiral Mad 2] opens with “Another Man’s Bones” by Mason Ian Bundschuh. The perfect piece to motivate the reader to hungrily devour the remaining 27 stories. The storyline is not only unique, but delivers the creep factor. In doing so, Bundschuh baffles and eludes, until you reach that final well-structured sentence. This essentially is a story of one man’s quest to eliminate the ultimate foe.  He is a writer this reviewer recommends you seek out beyond this anthology. What a treat, dear readers!

That is some love right there. Wow!

Rainmaker - Story up at Horror d'Oeuvres

I'm such a slacker.

My short story "Rainmaker" went up a monthish-or-so ago on Horror d'Oeuvres (a DarkFuse flash fiction site) and I TOTALLY FORGOT TO MENTION IT.

Face. Palm.

Anyhow, you needz to go to http://www.horrordoeuvres.com/rainmaker/ and get your read on.
Ok, it's a subscription-based site, but dude, it's worth it for a bi-monthly flash fiction story from some amazing authors (and me too).

Get over there and pony up.

And while you're reading that, I'll be driving off to a secret writing shindig with my writer's group, The Illiterati.

When Procrastination is Good

Procrastination hits all of us.

It doesn't matter if you're a bohemian creative-type, or a motivated power-drive type... some days you end up burning hours on facebook, youtube, wikipedia, IMDB, or just pictures of cats.

Sure you may have learned something about the Lost Roman Legion (which bunny-trailed you to Military Use of Elephants, then to Efforts to Clone the Mammoth, then to Mitochondrial DNA), but DANGIT that really important thing you really know you ought to do didn't get done.

Whether it be that book you're writing, the songs you mean to write or record, or that shell of a car moldering in your garage (that you keep telling your spouse will someday resemble a motor vehicle with tires and engine and everything!) -- if you don't do it, it doesn't get done.

Easy, right?

And every minute you're NOT doing the thing that must be done, you beat yourself up and guilt out, then drown your guilt in a bowl of apathy-ice-cream.

Or is that just me?

But sometimes we gotta take a break to do something that is worth doing. Something that recharges you, rather than something that just eats up time.

Play with the kids. Read a book. A paper one. Remember those? Go to that durn park that's been nearby the whole time you've lived here but you've never been. Built a rocket. Learn to play ukulele.

For each of us there are different things that recharge you.

For me it's playing music. Ask my wife, I pretty much have a stringed instrument in my hands at all times.

And recently I've gotten into BUILDING guitars. Or at least modding and assembling guitars from random parts, trying out custom wiring tricks, etc, etc.

Here is my baby. It's a 1990 "Partscaster" an old blues surfer guy in Hawaii made and sold to me. It was my first real guitar. But somewhere several years ago the electronics failed. Sad times.

1990 Partscaster, rebuilt 2014

But if I had made one, my new year's resolution would be "Learn to fix and build guitars." Because no guitar should sit in a closet unplayed.

Sometimes you need to put off doing the thing that requires huge amounts of brain energy and creative mojo... if only to have recharge time.

What's something you do to recharge?