A few weeks ago, the horror review site Flames Rising held a contest called “Tell Peter Straub Your Worst Nightmare“. Previously, FR had interviewed Straub about his latest book and allowed readers to submit their own questions. There’s something deeply personal about our dreams and nightmares, don’t you think? Sharing them with others means laying open the deepest parts of ourselves, which can be an extremely vulnerable feeling. As difficult as it can be to share our dreams, there’s something even more personal about our nightmares. Maybe it’s because they move us on an even deeper emotional level. Fortunately, most nightmares fade pretty quickly. I did recall a disturbing dream from many years ago that made an impact on me, so I submitted it to the contest.
I should mention that all of this is in conjunction with Straub promoting his new book, A Dark Matter. For those of you who like moving pictures, here’s a book trailer.
I’m a fan of Straub. I’ve read his Blue Rose books, Floating Dragon, Koko, Shadowland, and Ghost Story. Despite the rather lackluster trailer above, I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy A Dark Matter. Which brings me to the real reason for this post– to gloat! My entry was one of the winners in the contest, which means that I was sent a free copy of the hardback. Imagine my delight when FedEx(!) knocked on my door and handed me this thick envelope sporting a Random House return address label.
It's not exactly a giant crate with "Fragile" stamped on the side, but I'll take it.
And here's the book! I haven't actually started reading yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
What ever happened to that guy who had the Flametoad blog?
I’m sorry for the long silence. Spare time has been at a premium, and I’ve been spending what little time I’ve had working on ETU. Quick update on that– it’s coming along well. We’re working on refining chapter 10 at the moment and we just have 3 more chapters to go.
Although it’s nothing you’re likely to notice, I used cpanel to block a repeat spammer’s IP address for the first time. I see from my Bad Behavior logs that it has been blocking harvestors and bots, but–more distressingly–attempts at SQL injection. I’m very thankful that the plugin is stopping them…but I can’t help but wonder about the ones it hasn’t. If you can read this post from a feed (such as at Livejournal, Facebook, your RSS reader, etc.) but are denied access to flametoad.com, please let me know!
I’m signed up for the Google Buzz, so if you’re interested in connecting, here’s my public profile. I do share items of interest from my Google Reader feed, so that should be good for a laugh.
Viagara might be useful for pregnant women in promoting healthy fetal development. (I just painted a giant target on this post for spam-bots, haven’t I?)
It costs a business roughly $204 per card in fines and restitution when they are hacked and your card numbers are stolen. Often when this type of thing happens, the number of cards affected are in tens of thousands if not millions. It’s enough to put a mom and pop store out of business and cripple a multi-million dollar operation.
There are some seriously neat technology improvements on the horizon for e-book readers. They’re going to make these first generation e-ink books look like… well, first generation iPods.
Shopping for a new digital camera? Lifehacker recommends staying under the 7 megapixel range, for good reason.
Book lovers rejoice! You have the opportunity to influence the world of literature. Who hasn’t found themselves hating a book that the critics rave about? Clearly you have superior taste in literature, right? Now’s your chance to demonstrate it. The Preditors & Editors Readers’ Choice polls are open for voting, and there are two important categories you need to act upon.
The first is Best Anthology. 12 to Midnight’s very own Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas is in the running. In fact, much to our shock and amazement, we’ve managed to hold the #1 spot for an entire week. However, voting doesn’t close until January 14, so we’re not taking anything for granted. If you read Buried Tales and think it should win, I would greatly appreciate your vote. If you haven’t read it, visit the book’s website or Flames Rising for sneak peeks…then follow the links to pick up a copy of your own.
Speaking for Flames Rising, the other category you should be acting upon is Review Site. Flames Rising has an impressive lineup of author interviews, book reviews, and more. I believe it is well deserving of the award, and if you do too then I’m sure they’d appreciate your vote.
Your vote only takes a minute or two of your time, but it means a tremendous amount to the people behind the books or sites for which you’re voting. Thank you!
Here we are on the last day of 2009. We made it! Congratulations. After reading a few essays titled “The 10 Best Movies of the Decade” and so on, I thought it might be fun to write my own review of the decade. It’s actually a much more mind-bending task than I first gave it credit. A decade is a long time in the human lifespan. We experience a lot of change within the span of a decade. If I tried to encapsulate an entire decade in an essay it would either be far too short, painfully boring, incoherant, or quite likely all three. So instead I’m just going to hit the highlights in timeline form.
2000
Celebrated my 1 year anniversary
2001
Applied and was initiated as a Freemason.
9/11
Started working for Texas A&M University.
2002
Finished my Masonic “work”, became a Master Mason, then dropped out for 5 years.
Celebrated my 30th birthday.
My maternal grandmother passed away.
Took a trip to Paris with Mrs. Flametoad and another couple.
2003
Took a January ski trip with Mrs. Flametoad and a different couple.
Played a convention RPG game called Weekend Warriors run by a pair of dudes named Ed and Jerry. Joined 12 to Midnight as a partner a month or so later.
I started my Flametoad blog. Unfortunately, I accidentally wiped the database during a later Wordpress upgrade and lost more than a year’s worth of posts.
Tadpole 1 born in July.
First 12 to Midnight commercial release, Last Rites of the Black Guard, was released in August. It was followed up with a Savage Worlds edition, plus Weekend Warriors a few months later.
2004
My first commercial RPG writing credit, Bloodlines, released.
Sold our first home and moved into an apartment in Houston so Mrs. Flametoad could attend medical training. We were robbed 3 times in the span of a year.
2005
Returned to Bryan/College Station and bought our second home.
My maternal grandfather passed away.
2006
Tadpole 2 is born.
I drop out of my weekly RPG game, which marks the end of my regularly gaming routine for the remainder of the decade.
2007
My paternal grandmother passed away.
Became active in my local Masonic lodge again.
2008
Took a drastic career change by taking a university job in credit card security and e-commerce.
Celebrated the 20th consecutive annual camping trip with my best friends.
Celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary with Mrs. Flametoad with a trip to Cancun.
12 to Midnight published our first horror anthology, which included a story I wrote.
Of course these are just a few of the highlights. Life is so much more than bullet points. The milestones in my kids’ lives could fill a book and I could dedicate an entire post on my history with 12 to Midnight. A decade of life is really too much to comprehend. I was in my 20s ten years ago. I didn’t have children ten years ago. Those of you who are parents understand the significance of that one alone. Our lives are marked by the epoc. We live BC (before children) and AC (after children).
A decade into the future is near unfathomable. Just look at how technology has changed in the last ten years. All I can predict with any certainty is that in ten years I’ll be 47 and Tadpole 1 will be old enough to drive. Will I be living in the same home? In the same city? What will my outlook on life be like with another decade under my belt and looking at 50 on the horizon? Will I still be the same dorky guy? Or will my dorkocity shift in new directions? It’s easy to get maudlin if you focus on the years already behind you, so let’s stay positive and focus on the future. I hope you’ll stick with me on the journey because if the last decade is any indication then we’re in for one heck of a ride.
Flametoad is the personal website for Preston DuBose, a full-time e-commerce and credit card security professional for the higher-education market, a part-time RPG publisher, and a full-time husband and father.
I ignore conventional blogging wisdom and refuse to focus on a single topic. This website covers gaming, family life, marketing, security, literature, music, and just about anything else shiny that catches my eye.
Do you think I might be your long lost nephew, to whom you'd like to bequeath your vast financial empire? Find my e-mail address and read more of my bio on the About Flametoad page.
I get a small thrill every time someone bothers to respond to one of my posts. I get a big thrill when you post naked pictures of yourself. Well, not YOU.
