New Single!: Terri Cockring

wredfright · Terri Cockring

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!

Article In The New Hoof & Antler!

I wrote an article on beekeeping that is in the new Hoof & Antler.  You can find it at your local Mickey Mart.  And if you don't live near a Mickey Mart, unfortunately, you're out of luck because they don't put it online.  The good news is that the newspaper is free at the Mickey Mart.  Not that that helps you if you still don't live nearby, but, hey, it's something!

You're always in luck where The Front Yard War is concerned though, so if you haven't read it yet, then get buzzing!

Autographed Fast Guy Slows Down Books Available!

Hey, if you're worried about tariffs pushing up the price of crappy corporate books printed in China (and I'm essentially a free trader, so I feel your pain, just like Bill Clinton would), then let me soothe you with the availability of a printed book from an American author printed right here in Cleveland, Ohio USA (even Trump would approve, well, until he read it and found out the main character likes to poop on world leaders such as himself).  That's right!  Fast Guy Slows Down is now available directly from me, the author!  I'll autograph it and even dedicate it (within reason)--just put something in the notes section when ordering.  Printed books are each $15 domestic and $20 international (I still love my international readers, but you're going to have to deal with the response tariffs from your country on your own, so don't be telling me to mark gift on the customs form and expect it to happen) postpaid.  That's right.  Even inflation won't stop me from charging the same price for these books as they were in 2022 (come to think of it, my first novel was $15 mail order in 2006, so maintaining the same price is rare in these days of $10 for a gallon of orange juice or turning the half-gallon into 46 ounces so you can pretend you didn't increase the price).  And, of course, the EPUB and PDF ebooks are available for $5.  They won't be autographed, but hey you'll get a personal email from me with the book attached (probably in response to your email wondering why the book hasn't zapped to you instanteously--hey, I'm one guy and do this manually; if you want instant gratification, then order the book from Amazon or one of the online book retailers who stock the ebooks [or in Amazon's case, the printed book as well]), and you can print out the pdf version at the library or work for free (well, until your boss catches on and yells at you--just give her or him a copy and maybe that will work once the boss starts chuckling as well).

New Single!: Unreported News

wredfright · Unreported News

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!

Autographed Copies Of The Front Yard War

I have some print copies of The Front Yard War available.  You can now buy an autographed copy directly from me.  You can even now buy a non-autographed copy directly from me, just put in the notes section that you don't want it signed.  Conversely, if you want it personalized, then please put in the notes how you want it personalized and I'll do my best to oblige, but no guarantees.  It's $15 USD domestic including shipping and $20 USD internationally including shipping.  This is for the folks who want an autographed copy but don't live near me or for the folks who don't want to buy from Amazon (though Amazon did print the books right here in good old Cleveland, Ohio USA).  I just picked up the new Bookpage at the library, and, believe me (if you don't believe me, then read the rag yourself, but it's true), there isn't a novel like this, even remotely like this, from the mainstream publishing industry.  If you like your fiction well-mannered, written by an MFA, and starring characters who would fit in well hosting an NPR show, then this is not the book for you.  That stuff bores me.  Maybe it bores you also.  That stuff's like a domestic cat, though that's probably being too nice.  That stuff is like a particularly terrible domestic cat you don't really like but you didn't know any other type was available.  Well, there is.  This stuff is more like the friendly stray cat that prowls your backyard in the middle of the night.  If that's your cup of tea as they say, then give it a read.  Lit ain't dead.  It's just in unexpected places such as the front yard.

New Single!: Dance Party At The End Of The World

wredfright · Dance Party At The End Of The World

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!

New Pop Lit On Frighty!

Uh, oh, looks like someone noticed!  Fortunately, they are cool, so all is good.  Thanks to King Wenclas at New Pop Lit for giving Frighty a plug!  It was a lot of fun doing a zine again after all these years.  It was an experiment to use the Internet as a distribution system for what is a printed zine, but based on the picture King used it looks like it's working out.  Postage and printing are crazy expensive these days when compared with the 1990s when the zine medium was flourishing.  I used to sell copies of the zine version of The Pornographic Flabbergasted Emus for $3 postpaid, and most issues were 48 pages.  Today, it costs $1.01 just to mail a 20 page zine and that's not including printing costs, which would probably run a buck alone, so this experimental format might be a good solution for keeping print zines affordable and alive.  It cuts out the postage (sorry, USPS!) and the reader has to pay printing costs (sorry, reader!), so I can just concentrate on content.  Check it out and see what you think (remember it's designed to be printed--doublesided, flip on short edge--don't try to read it online):  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1crG3N9s09JQ5zDP-dHdhzZHV03YdtoXQ/view?usp=sharing.

If after reading Frighty, you need more to read, then read my new novel, The Front Yard War! 

The Front Yard War Has Its Own Page!

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 . . .

The Front Yard War Excerpt!

 

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?  

New Single!: Childhood Friend

wredfright · Childhood Friend

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!

New Zine: Frighty #1!

 

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!

The Front Yard War Is On Smashwords!

 

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!

The Front Yard War Excerpt On New Pop Lit!

 

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.

The Front Yard War Available On Google Books!

 

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!

drinkdrankdrunk: Excerpt From The Loud Boys By Karl Wenclas

 

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!

The Front Yard War Available In Print!

 

If you see a chemlawn truck pull up on your street, then that's a bummer.  Fortunately, in the winter, one doesn't see them much, so score one for the cold season.  Another reason to celebrate is that the print edition of The Front Yard War is now out.  Amazon usually does a nice job on their print on demand paperbacks, so I'm hoping that's the case here.  I haven't seen a copy myself yet.  One change I made with this paperback is that I went with indented paragraphs instead of the blank line between paragraphs I prefer.  All those blank lines add up though and would contribute to more pages costing more.  So with inflation raging still I elected to keep costs down, so The Front Yard War costs the same as Fast Guy Slows Down did in 2022 (and still does), Edna's Employment Agency did in 2020 (and still does), and so on.  You can't say that about many products these days.  And it's not even shrinkflation.  The word count is about the same as the last novel; it's just a thinner paperback due to the indenting.  If you want a print edition and want to save more money, then order the pdf version directly from me (epub also available, though that is not as print-friendly) for $5 USD (PayPal me at wredfright AT yahoo DOTT com) and print it out yourself (maybe your local public library has free or cheap printing, for example).  As for Amazon, the Kindle version is here, and the paperback version is here.  They are $5 and $15 USD respectively.  They'll probably charge you shipping on the paperback unless you have Amazon Prime or are ordering more stuff, and they likely charge sales tax on both (the government always wants its cut, even from indie lit).  I'm working on the Google Books edition next, so stay tuned for those Googler fans!

The Hoof & Antler

I wrote an article on Mega Championship Wrestling for the new The Hoof & Antler.  The Hoof is a fun quarterly newspaper given out at various Mickey Marts.  The newspaper is free, so if you live near one, please stop in, say hello to the moose statue, and pick up a copy.  If you don't live near a Mickey Mart, then you're probably out of luck.  The Hoof seems to be part of the new revenge of print such as County Highway and Capitol Hill Citizen wherein cool stuff doesn't appear online.  I don't think they do mail order either, but if you live in northern Ohio, USA, then you're in luck (maybe the first time that phrase has ever been used in the history of humanity . . .)!  It was fun interviewing Brandon Xavier of Mega.  The great wrestling photos are by Dirk the editor.

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.