Friend, cohort and confidant Derek M. Koch from over at the Mail Order Zombie and from some other spiffy little podcast I heard about called 1951 Down Place has released his new Kindle e-short “Granny and the Hole”! Derek’s been working on this for a bit, so it’s exciting to see it on the shelves! I’ve had the pleasure of reading it already, so I can say…you’re gonna like it.

“Granny and the Hole” is available exclusively on the Kindle at the moment and will cost you a mere $1.29. That’s a bargain!

DEREK M. KOCH’S SHORT ZOMBIE STORY “GRANNY AND THE HOLE” RELEASED FOR KINDLE

Derek M. Koch, producer of the long-running zombie movie podcast Mail Order Zombie, released his zombie short story “Granny and the Hole” on June 3, 2012. The story, a tale of a man who refuses to let death stand in the way of a relationship between his mother-in-law and his daughter, is available for Amazon Kindle as part of the Kindle Select program, or for purchase for $1.29.

In addition to producing Mail Order Zombie, Koch has directed an award-winning zombie short film, appeared as a character in other authors’ zombie stories, and has seen his own zombie stories previously released in other publishers’ anthologies. “Granny and the Hole” is the first story released by Koch’s Black Sombrero Publishing.

“Granny and the Hole” can be found on Amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/grannyzombie. “Granny and the Hole” will be released for other e-reader formats later this year.

About Derek M. Koch

Derek M. Koch lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, his cats and his zombie movie collection which forms the basis of the award-winning podcast Mail Order Zombie (http://www.mailorderzombie.com). The movie collection is for the podcast. His wife is “patiently” supportive. The cats are waiting for dinner. He can be found online at his website Plan D at http://www.derekmkoch.com.

It’s story time boys and girls! Here’s a brand spanking new serial that *may* get woven in between the ongoing episodes of “Trouble Gum” here on CF. Give this a read, if you’ve been around here for awhile, these faces may not be all together unfamiliar .

Clomp, clomp, scritch, scratch, the stout man and the burly dog at his side trudged in silence over distant hills. The man’s shoulders hung low with an unseen weight, his back bent into the pressing breeze, away from the sun that set behind. The dog walked with head slung low, nose pressed to the packed dirt beneath, its ears cocked forward as he snuffled away in concentration.

The duo spoke not a word, nor even spared each other a glance. Yet it was clear in their matching strides, the matching dour looks that rode upon their faces and the way they moved as one that the two belonged together. This man that stood just a hair over six foot tall and stared into the distance ahead with steel black eyes that saw forever would on occasion reach over to give the dog’s sagging ear a quick but gentle tug. The dog, standing nearly to the man’s waist with a chest as broad as a wine cask, thick black fur that stood patchy at best would pause in his nasal search to touch the mans hand with his nose. Nothing more passed between the two.

On and on they marched through the grasses and hills outside the Village Noble, their path always straight ahead and never straying. One foot in front of the other they marched, never pausing to gather their bearings or for a bit of respite and rest.
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Real life reared its ugly head this week, preventing me once again from finishing up chapter two of the “Trouble Gum” story! I know, I know, excuses and all that. But…real life is like that some times! I’m knuckling down this weekend though, hoping to knock out two chapters so we’ll be set for a bit. And before you go thinking I’m just slacking off eternally here…I *did* submit a story to an anthology this week!

Any who….

In order to keep things flowing, I’ve dug back into the vault a bit, looking for something fun that if inspired, I might be able to continue on with. I’ve a lot out there stashed in various forms of completion, but I have a problem finishing projects. (Trouble Gum is going to be my attempt at fixing said problem!) Enter “Hooper Charles, Esq.” Hooper came to me out of the blue a few years back. This story was original published as part of the “Kitchen Cinco” which appears to be no longer these days. Hooper was my attempt at some Hunter Thompson-esque Gonzo character writing with a bit of Hoosier flare and whether or not the end product was good or not…I don’t know. It was a lot of fun to play with though.

So, without further adieu….

10pm, Thursday night, cruising down country road 4, heading due south of the county co-op. The task that called us that day was the grand opening of the new Gnawbone grain elevator, a sure sign of economic growth and fertile fields for Southern Indiana. The mission was handled quickly and succinctly, no further worry until the morning. The task that called us down country road 4 was something grittier and more devout; a corn alcohol still operating in the burnt out remains of the towns last Tractor Supply Company. Tim Simons tipped us off; handy to have met the mayors son.

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It’s Friday afternoon, you don’t want to work any more and my writing has become lazy at best. I need to knock the rust off, you need something to help pass the rest of the afternoon. “We can help each other out” is where I’m going here! In an effort to spur things writing wise, I’ve decided to play with some short fiction, flash fiction, etc. here on Cinema Fromage. This story, “Don’t Spit Into the Wind” is the first output of said venture. I’m not sure that it’s great, but I like it well enough and it’s a good start to get the gears turning again all the same. All the same; I’d love to hear what YOU think.

I can’t say that this will happen every Friday; as soon as I do, I’ll forget about it until next Thursday, panic then get all butt hurt over the fact that I didn’t post on Friday! Nobody wants to see that. It’s going to happen frequently however. It all depends on the work load of the week between the family needs, the day job, the podcasting and all that stuff.

These won’t all be horror related either mind you. This is “Casey’s Grand Experiment” and you, you’re the test subjects. We may cover all sorts of territory as I work out some new ideas, test new voices and the like.

So without further adieu, I invite you to dip into Friday Fondue #1: “Don’t Spit Into the Wind”, a new short, by me.

-C

“You son of a bitch, you almost hit my wife!” The overstuffed man with the handle bar moustache grew red in the face as he pulled his Harley up onto its kickstand. Jim Lowry stood outside his dusty SUV, the gas nozzle still in his hand wondering where this small bundle of fury was directing its vitriol.

“You didn’t even look before you pulled out in front of her, you could have killed her!” The man shouted as he trundled up to stand toe to toe with Jim. He was a mere five foot and five inches in comparison to Jim’s solid six foot; it didn’t stop the smaller man from staring up into Jim’s face with hatred, the wings of his moustache quivering with anger.

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It’s Halloween time, and in the spirit of Neil Gaiman’s All Hallow’s Read, I figured I’d throw a story out there for you all to read!

Willard Ames is a lonely man, his friends far flung and mostly digital. Who needs friends though, when you’re the ruler of your own squalid little kingdom?

“Kingdom of Squalor” is a gruesome tale, not for the squeamish! Fair warning before you read on after the break!

Happy Halloween, share a story with a friend this weekend, and be safe!

(And hey, it’s Halloween, make sure you scare somebody!)

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You know what they say…pimpin’ ain’t easy! But I’m going to pimp this spiffy new ebook short all the same!

This time around, we have a visit from “The Fat Man and his Dog” who once graced these very pages at Cinema Fromage! Originally run as a serial here back in 2007, the story has made it’s rounds and still, somehow, remains a favorite of the few folks that actually read it!

Available for just $.99, “The Fat Man and his Dog” is ready to go in a hearty Kindle flavor on Amazon.com and will soon be available for Nook, iPad and any other e-reader that you can imagine through Smashwords.com.

Get it while it’s hot! (And Fat, cause the Fat Man? He ain’t so fat any more.)

You know, Kraft has been selling their cheese by the slice for decades now, so why should Cinema Fromage be able to sell theirs by the slice as well? For a whopping $.99, you can now buy e-book copies of my short stories “Jack Boots for Jesus” that was originally published in the college literary magazine “The Jack” back in 2007, and “Deep Lies the Murky Floor” that appeared in last years “Dark: A Horror Anthology”!

If you click on the lovely covers above, you’ll be magically transported to Smashwords.com where the books are available in all flavors of e-book, such as the Kindle and Nook variety’s, so there’s no holding back! (There’s a nifty Kindle app for the iphone, Android phone and the PC as well, so no excuses!)

If you enjoy this handy little chunks of story, (tailored perfectly for the bathroom I happily remind you) be sure to stay tuned here at Cinema Fromage! The novella’s “A Fat Man and his Dog” and “Bloodhound” will be coming soon and depending on the response, perhaps some continuing adventures of Sister Mary Elizabeth and her undead annoyances!

So spread the word, comments are always welcome and I hope you enjoy!

As the old natty year of 2010 ticked over to the fresh and shiny year of 2011, I made myself a little mental note. Some call them resolutions, some call them goals. I just made a little check list of crap I’m going to get done this year. I guess you would call those ‘goals’.

Anywho.

The first of those goals has officially begun and by golly, it feels pretty damn good to get that first step over with. Over the past week I’ve been pouring over a 3000 word short story called “Kingdom of Squalor” for a contest. I didn’t find out about the contest until last week but I decided I wanted to go for it. Today, after several rounds of edits and convincing myself that my story is shit; I think I’m ready to send it out the door. That’s a problem of mine; I really can’t convince myself that any of these stories are worth a damn!

As for the goal stuff, my lofty goal was to submit twelve short stories in 2011. Note that I didn’t say sell; just to submit. 12 different stories. A lofty goal? Oh yes. An obtainable goal? Yes, if I get my ass in gear. Is said ass in gear? It’s in something, It’s starting to burn!

So there you have it; “Kingdom of Squalor” makes the first of those 12 stories out the door. We’re going to tick the countdown clock to 11 to make it official. Now if I can get this contest to take the story? Well that’s even better.

Wish me luck!