If you want to read something you can get everywhere, then get my new novel, The Front Yard War.
The new Frighty is out. Before I post the link, remember this zine is designed to be printed. Reading online or otherwise electronically is not recommended. The Internet is just being used as a distribution method because we're too cheap to pay for postage and printing. When you print it, print it doublesided, mark it "flip on short edge"--let's repeat that so no one prints half the pages upside down; once again, flip on short edge--, fold it, staple it if you feel ambitious (to anyone who doesn't have a long stapler, you can do this with any stapler you flip open, you just have to staple the zine into a phone book or something, then pull it out and use a pencil or something to roll over and flatten the raised staple edges down--if that makes no sense, then somebody on YouTube probably has a video showing how to do it or just ask me and I'll show you how; just don't get a boo-boo doing it and use a rubber band or some other binding instead if you're worried you will), and you're good to go. You can make copies if you want others to read it; we don't care. Just don't sell them unless you're sending the money beyond printing it to us.
The issue was fun as usual, so we'll be doing #4 in the winter. Thanks again to everyone who helped with this one! Here's the link for printing/downloading: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RVQ3SL9yDklqNowKdEmYlwk7EKgF6BIQ/view?usp=drive_link
For more Wred Fright writing, then read the latest novel, The Front Yard War.
The new album, Fallout Shelter Ran Out Of Beer, is on Spotify, so presumably it's now available everywhere else digital music is found. If you give it a listen, you might double my monthly listeners. I like the album; it's fun. Based on the Spotify Wred Fright radio, which always amuses me, if you like musical artists such as Pavement, Modest Mouse, The Weirdos, Joy Division, Spacemen 3, Swell Maps, Nobunny, Flipper, and other obscure indie rockers (all of which sounds about right, so not bad for a computer algorithm), then you'll enjoy the album. I didn't use artificial intelligence since human intelligence was messy enough, thank you. Presumably, the reason it took so long to get uploaded was that the distributor is increasingly having to sort through artificial intelligence generated releases, but that's just a guess. I've heard some interesting mashups from AI such as Minor Threat being played in soul style, so the technology shows promise, but I'd rather stick to playing the old-fashioned way at the moment as it is more fun. It's kind of funny though that when I started playing solo as Wred Fright, coming out of the GoGoBots, I had some fun pretending to be a robot musician, a musical machine friend or something, and now the musical machine friends are really here.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
Here's a music video for "AM Radio Song". I used footage from downtown Cleveland, Ohio USA that I filmed last fall. The smashed keyboard might imply a storyline wherein a disgruntled office worker left the office one day in search of the soothing outdoors, but mainly it's just stuff I thought was cool looking. I'll probably finish the videos for What's Your Flow Setting, Baby? (four more to go!), but since I'm several albums behind now, I'll probably only do a video or two from each of the later albums. We'll see. Making the videos is kind of fun.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
While I'm waiting for the distributor to get Fallout Shelter Ran Out Of Beer out to Spotify and the rest (apparently, there's a 22-working day leadtime currently--and that's assuming they don't tell me it needs to be remastered, and I have to remind them it's not K-Pop; if it ever gets out, I'll let you know, though it's not like you can't listen to it on Bandcamp or Soundcloud already), here's a new single to tide us over. This one's an ode to having fun by yourself, though I suppose it could also be interpreted as being sad. The singer sounds a bit happy though in this version though; maybe someone can cover it with a downer arrangement sometime. It's the usual vocals, guitar, fake bass, and drums, though I had fun playing around with a drum machine instead of playing drums live, so programming or whatever they call it when Ministry or somebody uses a drum machine on a recording? Lyrics are below:
Have another drink.
It's always nice to see you.
I tell the mirror.
There's no one else here.
'Cause I'm partying by myself.
Put on some tunes.
It's a good time.
If the rest of the world wants to be miserable,
then I don't mind.
And if there's any melancholy,
I'll drown it in my drink.
The problem with bars is any jerk can walk in.
That's why a party is better,
and this is an exclusive party.
If you aren't me, you aren't invited.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
The new album's on Bandcamp now. Give it a spin please. It's the mastered version, so you likely won't have to lunge at the volume control to turn your volume down (unless you like it loud, then turn it up!). Working on Spotify and the others next, but after earning like $4 for something like 350,000 plays, I'm not going to jump through too many hoops for those. We'll see.
For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
There you go! My new album is out on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/wredfright/sets/fallout-shelter-ran-out-of This likely will be the only place to listen to it in its full needle into the red glory. The other streaming sites will likely get a mastered version of the album that'll sound like the ghost of Tommy Ramone working on Tim by The Replacements. It'll be a fun listen for the three adventuresome listeners who bother to listen to it, especially these days when a lot of new music is formulaic (the other day I saw an ad by a punk band looking for a guitarist--um, you're a punk band, maybe you don't get it, but you find a friend and convince him to learn guitar; you don't run an ad like you're forming Kiss or a yacht rock cover band) and boring (and wait until artificial intelligence starts getting used for everything--this boring era will seem golden by comparison). Anyway, no artificial intelligence used here, just plenty of weird instruments and not so weird instruments played by a human. You should be able to download MP3s from SoundCloud, which I recommend because one never knows when these music sites go under. I'll be working on Bandcamp next, but why wait? Have some fun and rock out now!
For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
The liner notes for my new album are done. They can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ivcMeG_6DhosdcgGE_BNxfaUGmesJmoH/view?usp=sharing The album is Fallout Shelter Ran Out Of Beer. The album will start popping up on various listening services in the next few weeks, but for now you can read about it at least.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
The track list for the new Wred Fright album, Fallout Shelter Ran Out Of Beer, is currently set as follows:
1. Pep In Your Step
2. All Roads Lead To Death
3. All The Onions In The World
4. My Heart Is An Occupied Territory
5. Put Me On Your Shopping List
6. Having Fun In The Former USA
7. Courtesy Flush
8. Hank Rose And The Rank Hos
9. Black Walnut Season
10. Kaurismaki
11. Stop Communication
12. Forget Me Fondly
13. Scatological Scat
14. Childhood Friend
Basically, I kept all the new songs from 2023 and 2024 in the order of composition/release (though "Childhood Friend" wouldn't be released until 2025, it was written and recorded in 2024). There seemed to be a natural order there that was worth keeping, so I didn't mess with it. The whole of the parts add up to something new when grouped together. The album clocks in at about 36 minutes, which is a good length for an album. You can hear the tracks now at https://soundcloud.com/wredfright
though I have not created the official album/playlist yet. Look for the next post to feature the liner notes
for the album.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
A new album should be coming shortly. I was going to call it Having Fun In The Former USA like a bizarre modernday Beach Boys album or something, but having done the last album with a title track (one of the songs on it is "Having Fun In The Former USA"), I decided to give the album its own unique title, so it's Fallout Shelter Ran Out Of Beer. It should make for good listening while you're drinking in the fallout shelter before the beer runs out as well. I opted not to add "The" at the beginning of the album title for easier alphabetizing. I like the ring of the title without the article also. You can hear some of the tracks at https://www.soundcloud.com/wredfright, but I'll list the track listing and cover and liner notes here in subsequent weeks, as well as let you know when it's out on Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, and the rest of the streaming services. I have no plans for a cd or lp release, but you could probably sweettalk me into burning you a cd if you wanted to, and some record label would have to pony up for the vinyl because I'm still scarred from having leftover 1990s singles for decades after (if you need one, get in touch, as I think I still have a couple, but they cost more than they did in the 1990s due to inflation and higher shipping costs, maybe also due to inflation, these days). The first four albums are already out and available for listening (see the aforementioned little blurb below for links).
For more Wred Fright music, give his other albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!
I have autographed copies of Blog Love Omega Glee available now. This novel's a bit longer than the others, so the books cost a bit more. They're $30 with domestic shipping including (i.e., in the USA) and $40 with international shipping included (i.e., anywhere that's not the USA). If you want a dedication or anything, then please just put it in the notes field and I will try to oblige (no guarantees). Of course, the PDF and EPUB versions are available for free from me (pay what you want if you have the dough to spare) and from the usual ebook retailers if you want to pay a third party for some reason. The printed book is available sans autograph from Amazon, but if you can get it for the same price autographed, why wouldn't you do that? If, for some reason, you want to order multiple copies at once for your book club or something, then just do the math and PayPal me at wredfright AT yahoo DOTT com with the appropriate note about what you're ordering. You don't have to do separate clicks on the Buy Now link. That's the last of the additions to the online bookstore. All the novels are available autographed now. Get 'em while supplies last (actually, if they all sell within a decade or so, I'd probably just reorder some more, but that gets rid of the sales urgency to action, so get 'em while supplies last!).
I wrote an article on the vision of the future offered at the 1939 New York World's Fair for the new Hoof & Antler. You can pick up a free copy of the newspaper with its swell other features at Mickey Mart.
If you don't live near a Mickey Mart, then you'll have to settle for reading my latest novel, The Front Yard War.
This is probably the final single for a while since there's a new album coming out this summer. I experimented with fading this song out, both by playing quietly and then by actually fading out on the recording. Musically, it has the usual vocals, guitar, fake bass, and drums, but I think I couldn't find a good hi-hat sound I liked on any percussion, so I just used vocals for that. I'd buy an actual hi-hat, but I probably have too many musical instruments as it is. Maybe someday. Lyrics are below:
Crossing guards often have a thing for me.
I prefer to jaywalk, but they like to cross me safely.
When I was a boy she just held my hand.
She holds something else now that I'm a man.
She helped me across the street of love.
Make the traffic stop. Make my heart go.
She whips her stop sign up from below.
If she were at the ocean, she could hold back the tide,
but she can't hold me back when I'm inside.
If we stay in the lines, we could do it in the street,
but a crosswalk romance can get trampled under people's feet.
The light may change and people may shout,
but she still puts more than just her arms out.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
Thanks to New Pop Lit for their shoutout about Frighty #2! You can read the second issue of Frighty here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mxtKjKFYzM7k3ujI4S43G1ZcCop15i69/view. Remember, it's designed to be printed doublesided flip on short edge, then you can fold and even staple/bind if you're feeling really inspired. It's not really designed to be read online. I'll probably do a third issue of the zine in the fall since some folks already sent material for it.
Today's Bloomsday, so that means summer is upon us, and I will be taking a short break from the blog. See you in July with a new single, a new album, perhaps another autographed novel to add to the others now available, some music videos, and whatever else the rest of 2025 brings!
In the meantime, why not do some summer reading, starting with my latest novel, The Front Yard War?!
Dave Bell had a noise project named Luftkanone around 2000 or so. It was definitely some crazy extreme music. I saw him play it live a couple of times. He was loosely part of the Cleveland, Ohio USA noise scene for a time but drifted away due to lack of proximity (he moved back to Western Pennsylvania) and some of his fellow noise musicians' antics (I remember him telling me one story about how after a noise show or something they went to an inner city strip club and one of the musicians started yelling racial epithets--as you can guess that didn't go over well and guns were pulled). Vicki, Dave's widow, found some of the Luftkanone cds among his stuff. I couldn't find the music (though some might not consider noise music music, it is music, just an extreme version of it) online, so I posted it on Soundcloud for those of you into not so easy listening. You can find seven tracks here: https://soundcloud.com/luftkanone. I found the names of four of the tracks (from the split with Baal), but the tracks from the first ep I have no idea what they are actually called (if anyone does know, then please let me know as I had to make up some names just to avoid the bland track 1, track 2 approach). It looks like he did record some more Luftkanone tracks, but we didn't find a copy of those (if anybody has more Luftkanone, then please post it and let me know). You can find a description of what Luftkanone was like live in this review: https://vareverta.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/das-waren-noch-zeiten-2000-too-loud-for-the-crowd/.
You can also find more Dave Bell music on Soundcloud:
Anal Spikemobile (I also added 3 tracks here though they aren't new since you can hear them at the end of In Through The Out Hole (Full Cavity Search Edition) album--you can hear them separately now.)
Yeast? (Dave plays drums on most of the tracks and provides vocals on "Bloomsday" and "Duster" among others)
All of these aren't quite as extreme as Luftkanone, but they're probably all for adventuresome listeners. I'd love to hear more Dave music, so if anyone has any Black Squirrel & Freaky, Sacred Hearts Auto Club, or other Dave projects, then please post them and let me know!
After Luftkanone, my albums probably sound like Frank Sinatra, but you can find them on Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, and other music services/sites!
Had enough fun doing the first issue of the zine Frighty that I made a second. You can read it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mxtKjKFYzM7k3ujI4S43G1ZcCop15i69/view?usp=sharing Once again, it's designed to be downloaded and then printed out and read. Print it doublesided, flip on short edge, then you can fold it and staple it or bind it however you want and you'll have a nice little zine to read. Reading it online isn't going to be ideal because it's formatted for printing and folding. This issue, King Karl Wenclas and Markell R. West join in the fun. The Midnight Rider sent in three contributions, so there will be at least one more issue, probably in the fall, given the quarterly schedule. This is the summer issue. Feel free to print out and distribute if you know anyone else that needs a new zine in their life.
And if you need more to read, then read my latest novel, The Front Yard War!
If you haven't shit your pants at some point post-infancy, then consider yourself lucky. This song consoles anyone who has suffered such a misfortune. Musically, it has the usual vocals, guitar, fake bass, and drums, but I added some fun noise and keyboards as well. Lyrics are below:
The president shit his pants.
Now he's doing a squirmy dance.
It happened on live tv.
It could happen to you or me.
Maybe it was something he ate,
or he just overdosed on hate.
Maybe it was a voodoo curse,
or a pill his wife hid in her purse.
It could happen to anyone.
The richest man in the world fell on his ass.
He wasn't watching where he was walking in the grass.
He fired the employee who laughed,
and then brushed the grass from his calves.
Maybe his expensive shoes were too shiny,
so he slipped and fell on his heinie.
Maybe he forgot gravity still applies to him,
or maybe the lighting was just too dim.
The valedictorian ended up on the street.
Now she needs something to eat.
She had some bad bad luck,
and nobody seems to give a fuck.
Won't somebody lend her a helping hand?
She just needs a safe place to land.
At the very least buy her a beer,
so she can forget, for a time, the fear.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
This video evokes the espionage theme of the song. I filmed it last fall walking down a street in Cleveland, Ohio USA mostly, aside from the opening shot which is from a state park in eastern Ohio (alas, I forget the name at the moment). I should have time this year to crank out a few more videos, so maybe I'll finish all the ones for the second album just as I get ready to release album number five . . .
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
I wanted to write a grunge revival song for some reason. I'm actually surprised the grunge revival never happened. I expected it in the teens the same way retro music usually becomes popular 20 years down the road (the '70s in the '90s, the '80s in the '00s, and so on), but nope, nothing happened, so I had to write my own grunge revival tune. At least I'm not bitter, I guess . . . Musically, it's the usual guitar, fake bass, vocals, and drums, though I clearly had fun adding extra noise in the middle. Lyrics are below:
She was waiting for the grunge revival.
If it doesn't arrive soon, she thinks she'll die-o.
And her friends all listen to crappy pop music.
She left her bad boyfriend
at the fast food drive-thru.
He's just a boy, and she's no longer a girl.
People ask her why, and she just asks them why not?
People ask her what she wants, and she just says, what you got?
Her neighbors all keep their curtains closed.
They never see the sun, just the electric glows.
They all think it's a scary place, the world.
And she stopped wearing makeup.
And she deleted all the photos of you.
And if she could she'd delete you too.
She dreams of Mark E. Smith at Marc's.
It's 1979. How much are the tomatoes?
Inflation. Inflation. Inflation.
She puts her keys and money in the fridge.
Answers the door when the phone rings.
What can you expect from an American?
But at least you're not bitter.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
I have autographed copies of Edna's Employment Agency available now. They are each $15 domestic postpaid (USA) or $20 international postpaid (anywhere else). If you want a dedication or anything then please just put it in the notes field and I will try to oblige (no guarantees). Of course, the PDF and EPUB versions are available for $5 still, and the novel is available at most ebook retailers as well as in printed form from Amazon should you not want an autographed copy (of course, I can provide that as well, just write in the notes field that you don't want your copy autographed--that would be weird but OK).
This was originally more caddish, but at some point the song turned into a sweeter look at an old maid, kind of like a Shane MacGowan mix of nasty and nice. Musically, it's vocals, guitar, fake bass, and drums. It's fun to play, so I can see playing it live sometime. Lyrics are below.
Terri Cockring was the last girl at the party.
She thinks it's long past time she departed.
And all the boys offer to walk her home,
but Terri would rather be alone.
Oh, Terri you never let me kiss you, but that's OK.
Terri, I've kissed many prettier women than you since those days.
Terri Cockring reads all the cheap romance novels.
She wonders how she ended up in this hovel.
She used to make all the boys turn their heads.
But that was years ago, and now they're half-dead.
Terri, can you believe we're this old?
Oh, Terri, would you still swat away my hand now?
Oh, Terri, with your parents gone that house must be so cold.
Oh, Terri, do you need a hand to hold?
Terri, I bet you still go to church.
And at night with the tv on, on your recliner you perch.
Oh, Terri, I think that I could have saved you,
and maybe you could have saved me too.
Oh, Terri, I hope someone kisses you before it's too late,
and they shovel in the dirt on your grave.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
You're always in luck where The Front Yard War is concerned though, so if you haven't read it yet, then get buzzing!
Some folks who pay too much attention to the news think the world is a much more frightening place than it actually is. This song looks at the little stories the news seldom ever notes. Musicwise, it's the usual vocals, guitar, fake bass, and drums. Lyrics are below.
Bob held the door open for someone today, and Janet smiled.
And people went to work and did their jobs, and someone laughed.
It's the unreported news.
It's not on the radio or tv.
It's the unreported news, and it might make you happy.
And Mark and Wilfreda fell in love, and Dylan read a good book.
And someone checked the mail and was really excited by what they got.
And Jimmy skipped school to hang out at the library, and Teisha made a new friend.
And someone shoveled the snow off the sidewalk, and a cat purred.
And Sarah paid off her mortgage, and Ryan had a nice nap.
And someone saw their last sunset, but they don't know that yet.
And Laronda thought her new recipe was delicious, and Jason got over his cold.
And in 9 months someone will be born, and someone said "Good morning" to a lonely person.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
This song is about having a good time while the world's exploding. It had a funky version and a punky version, and I ended up doing them both because they were each fun to play. Musicwise, it's just vocals, guitar, fake bass, and drums. It's a fun as well as grim song. The lyrics are below:
She was fat, but her skin was thin.
It has to end, so it had to begin.
It was a good time while it lasted.
But now it's time to get your ass on the dance floor!
See you at the dance party at the end of the world!
Don't worry about getting dressed up.
We only have 15 minutes
before the missiles arrive
and we're blown to bits--yeah!
Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom!
Couldn't stay lucky forever.
Somebody was going to press the button.
They just couldn't figure out how to share,
so now the bombs are in the air.
For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
If after reading Frighty, you need more to read, then read my new novel, The Front Yard War!
The Front Yard War by Wred Fright Excerpt by Wred Fright
Scribd finally figured out that I can't violate my own copyright, so they've nicely run an excerpt on their site. I like my DIY excerpt, but I've been posting on Scribd for about two decades now, so it's above on this post. The other exciting news is that The Front Yard War has its own page on the blog. It is here. You can buy a copy there and otherwise read about the book and its reception. Now that the page is up, I'll engage in the relatively futile promotion campaign for about a month. Literature, real literature, in the USA, even in the underground, seems pretty much dead, so I don't expect much reaction, but what the hey. I'm reading the print version now and enjoying it myself, so maybe someone else out there will as well. I write the kind of novels I'd like to read. If somebody else wrote this kind of stuff, then I'd be reading them. As it is now, I can't find too many contemporary writers I find interesting. I'm still looking though. Hey, at least you have me . . . On another note, Amazon apparently won't let you download ebooks anymore, so if you value downloading your ebooks (and you should because otherwise the streaming folks will censor stuff without you knowing it, when they aren't losing the files completely, and no I'm not being hyperbolic), you can always order the novel directly from me, and I'll email it to you. It's yours. Just back it up so you don't have to reorder it down the road . . .
Usually, I use Scribd for the novel excerpts, but they were a bit slow getting back to me (they also sell the whole novel so the excerpt always has to clear their copyright division), so I just cut them out of the loop and did a DIY PDF embed. You can read the first chapter of the novel for free here, and then if you want to carry on buy a copy either directly from me ($5 USD PayPal to wredfright AT AT AT yahoo DOTT com--let me know if you want the PDF or EPUB version). This excerpt is in PDF form of course. You can also get the novel from Amazon (has a print and Kindle version), Google Books, and Smashwords has gotten it everywhere else basically, so you can probably find it at your favorite ebook retailer even whomever Scribd is part of whom can't seem to figure out quickly that I'm the copyright holder they're protecting. Next time, I'll create an official page for the novel on this site and start the publicity campaign (if you write a novel, then you should at least let people know it exists a bit). That might be a futile attempt as there don't seem to be many readers these days. I'm still one though, so maybe some others are out there. Otherwise, literary culture is pretty sad these days. Libraries seem to be mainly keeping it afloat. You have the NPR/MFA set who read well-mannered fiction that's usually boring. You have the genre stuff that still sells to folks who like it, but if you aren't into Amish romances or detective novels or maybe even Amish detectives falling in love doesn't do much for anyone who's read more widely. And then there's the underground which is like the literary equivalent of the open mic where everyone wants to play but no one wants to listen to anyone else for the most part. Ah, well, at least there's still me for anyone who wants to laugh while they read. Slapstick Camus isn't high in demand, but at least there's a supply for the adventurous sort, like me, and maybe only me. Maybe you also?
This is a little sweet song about those friends from early childhood. You may forget them for years, you may never see them again, and you may think of them rarely, but when they do come to mind, if you're like me, you get a warm feeling. Musically, I had some fun with the synthesizer here, plus the usual vocals, guitar, fake bass (also guitar), and drums. Lyrics are below. They're pretty simple just like an early childhood friendship.
Do you ever think of me the way I think of you?
When I remember those days the skies are always blue.
Childhood friend.
Our love was not pretend.
Oh, the fun we had when we would play and play.
That went on and on until I had to move away.
I always hoped we'd see each other again some day,
but as the years have passed, it seems separate we're going to stay.
For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!
It's been over 20 years since I published a zine, but I felt the itch to do one again. Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1crG3N9s09JQ5zDP-dHdhzZHV03YdtoXQ/view?usp=sharing. I had a lot of fun putting it together; I hope you have fun reading it. It's not really designed to be read online though. You'll need to print it out. That's why it's a zine and not an ezine. We're just using the Internet for distribution. Print it out doublesided, so print it on both sides and flip it (print on short edge). Otherwise, you'll end up with pages printed upside down. I mean, hey, if you're into that kind of thing . . . But for anyone, who isn't, let's chant along with me, PRINT DOUBLESIDED ON SHORT EDGE! Then it will come out as it should, and you'll have a nice little zine you can fold, staple, bind however you want. Feel free to make copies and distribute them if you want. I was thinking it might be a one-off, but Mark Sonnenfeld and The Midnight Rider sent more than one contribution, so there will be at least one more issue (no 20 year wait this time!), probably in the summer. Quarterly might be about as much as I can handle as a publication schedule, but, as always, no deadlines remains the motto of Wredfright.Com, except when, you know, there's a deadline . . . Anyway, if anyone tells you that zines are dead, you can toss them a copy of Frighty #1!
And if Frighty #1 isn't enough writing to tad you over, then read The Front Yard War, my latest novel!
All right, I have The Front Yard War on Smashwords, so it should be on its way to the remainder of the ebook retailers such as Barnes & Noble, meaning you can pretty much get it anywhere now. So I've done my part. Now it's time to do your part, and read the thing! I'll be doing my little promotional push in upcoming weeks, but feel free to help out and review it and bug any media outlet you like to review it. It's available directly from me for $5 (PayPal at wredfright AT yahoo DOTT com) as a PDF or EPUB, Amazon has a print and Kindle version, Google Books has their version; and Smashwords has gotten it everywhere else basically.
Smashwords merged with someone or got bought out or something, but uploading the book there was fairly similar to uploading previous books. They have a print on demand component similar to Amazon, but it looks like the two editions might have bumped into one another, so I didn't explore it. It's nice to have another option, however. They did some automatic formatting on the EPUB I uploaded similar to the silly modifications I had to do for the Google edition (it looks like these ebook distributors are getting geared more towards people uploading Word documents and converting them to EPUBs than they are anymore to people who do their own EPUB coding), but it looked fine from what I could tell. Anyone who encounters any issues though is welcome to get in touch with me, and I'll see what I can do (the original EPUB version worked just fine on my phone, so I'm guessing it'll do the same on yours).
So if you're looking for a fun and thought-provoking story, give it a read!
New Pop Lit is running an excerpt from The Front Yard War in their Fast Pop section. Check it out at https://fastpoplit.com/2025/01/25/an-excerpt-from-the-front-yard-war-by-wred-fright/. Thanks to King Karl for running it! If you want to read the whole thing, it's available at Amazon, Google Books, and directly from me ($5 PayPal to wredfright AT yahoo DOTT com--you'll figure it out). The PDF version is available only from me, but you can get an EPUB anywhere, and Amazon has a print edition also. I'm working on the Smashwords edition, so it will be available at most other ebook retailers soon as well. It's a fun novel. If you like good and interesting stories, then give it a read. There is still life in American literature, but you're likely going to have to dig for DIY stuff like this.
That's the White House lawn in Washington DC USA in the summer of 2023. It looks fairly Chemlawned to me. I didn't see dandelions or clover on it anyway. Maybe with a new, if slightly used, president in the house, the lawn could provide a nice model of organic lawn care for the nation.
Yeah, that's probably not going to happen. However, you can read The Front Yard War now on Google Books. Google even has a nice hefty sample, so you can read the first three chapters or so. After that, it'll cost you $5 to read the rest. $5! Just $5! I see people trying to sell ebooks for $10 or $20 even. It's a digital file, dude! It should be like $5. We're not paying for printing or mailing it. Come on! So if you want to see some dandelions on the White House lawn, then read the book and then you can get fired up and write a letter to the president, or at least the White House landscaper.
Based on the preview, the Google Books edition looks pretty good. It's basically the same file as the regular epub, but of course Google or their coders get a bee up their bonnet and I had to change some code for no good reason. I actually use Google Books as my main ebook reader on the phone, and the original file worked great. However, the Google Books edition really hated the underlining code, despite it working perfectly fine in the epub and on their reader software, so I had to turn the underlining to italics. Sorry underlining fans! I think the underlining looks better as well, but that and a hissyfit over the type of center code was keeping it from popping up for sale, so I had to "fix" them. The other amusing thing is that the original epub has 232 pages, but the Google edition has 357 pages, so despite the book description listing 232 pages, you get an additional 135 pages for free I guess. Please let me know what's on them . . .
For now Google fans, of course, the book is still available directly from me for $5 as an epub or pdf (PayPal me at wredfright AT yahoo DOTT com--you'll figure out that complex human code) and at Amazon, which has a printed version as well. Next up is Smashwords, who should get distributed to Barnes & Noble, Apple, and all the other major ebook retailers. They apparently have a new print on demand branch as well, so we might see two different print editions of the book (in addition, to the cheaper alternative probably of just ordering and then printing out the PDF yourself).
The novel's funny and thought-provoking. Given most if not nearly all of what passes for American literature these days, I can understand that people may not be into reading contemporary fiction, but you should give lit a chance again and give this one a read. I bet you'll enjoy it. It's not really like anything else out there. I don't want to say it's better because art's an expression even the crass, commercial stuff in its way, but I wrote the dang thing and it makes me laugh out loud and I know what's coming and I didn't write it in a Mary Sue way, and it still makes me crack up. Give it a shot! In fact, take a shot or two while reading it; I bet it'll be even funnier!
.jpg)
TUESDAY MORNING: AT THE NEWSPAPER
The newspaper offices: glass interrupted by black-and-white horizontal lines. A young woman striding through the entrance disturbed the building’s impersonal design.
The city newspaper’s new publisher, Howell, was hand-picked representative of the billionaire venture capitalist who’d bought the 170 year-old legacy relic for ten percent of what it’d once been worth. Shortly after arriving in town and studying the operation, Howell had taken over editorial duties as well.
“We’re not doing journalism,” Howell told the staffers from behind a smartphone held in front of his face. “Journalism is dead. We’re not objective. Neither are we partisans. Our slant--our politics--is what sells.”
He’d done a stint in Silicon Valley as well as New York, and subscribed to the tech mindset. “Data, Then More Data!” his mantra, to the extent he had the slogan emblazoned in bold crimson-red letters on a large white banner hanging over the main entrance of their new, downsized headquarters.
Then he fired most of the long-time staff and brought in free-lancers and contract employees.
He was a thirty-nine-year-old arrogant cushion of a man wearing Warby-Parker eyeglasses, who’d been raised on video games and sci-fi CGI films. If it wasn’t electronic, he didn’t want it.
“The bottom line is views,” he told Dara Defiant when she arrived in his office to discuss a new assignment. “More views, subscribers, numbers, however we get them. More personalities, celebrities, drama. In this newspaper. On screens. Scandals. Targets. Triggers. Tragedy. Controversy.”
The office looked like it’d been erected yesterday, and would be gone tomorrow.
“That’s why I’m here,” Dara said with indecipherable eyes. “That’s what I write.”
As ruthless as he pretended to be, coddled Howell was intimidated by his encounters with Dara. When she walked, her figure cut through the atmosphere as if separate from it. Tangibly alive.
“What I like about you, Dara,” he said, blinking as he scrutinized her through his glasses (his eyes trained for screens, not people) “is you have no illusions.”
Dara thought to herself at age twenty-five maybe she should still have a few illusions.
"King" Karl Wenclas has a new novel out, The Loud Boys! I am happy to run an excerpt from it as part of drinkdrankdrunk! Check out his "War Hysteria" in The Underground Literary Alliance anthology and his current New Pop Lit project. Finding good contemporary writing can be difficult these days, so the King is a good guide to it, whether it's his own or that of others. He's also still blogging occasionally at Attacking The Demi-Puppets, trying to give American Lit. the jump start it so desperately needs these days!
If you want to read more writing by me about wrestling, then please check out Blog Love Omega Glee, where I had quite a lot of fun creating silly wrestling storylines as part of the novel. Also, the print version of The Front Yard War is in the works.
Posts
All Comments
