Books "Laid to Rest" and "Twist of Fate" are reviewed by Roger Beckett!

Edward A. Holsclaw II has added short story writer to
his impressive resumé, not once, but twice now with
LAID TO REST and TWIST OF FATE. The first book was a
solo effort, and for the second, he teamed up with
Wendy M. Easton, who has proven herself to be as
equally twisted as the talented Mr. Holsclaw.
One of the things that marks a good short fiction
author is the ability to relate a story as briefly as
possible, with no unnecessary exposition, no excessive
explanation. Holsclaw and Easton know their material,
and with a few exceptions, each story is perfectly
suited to be a short story and not a novel or
screenplay. They get in your head, mess with it a
little or a lot, depending on your capacity for such
things, and get out. And that’s a good thing, you
probably don’t want some of these stories bouncing
around your brain any longer than it takes for the
next story to begin.
There are some stories that made me smack myself in
the forehead, and curse out loud for not thinking of
it myself. Two takes on the Sasquatch legend, for
example, open up possibilities that I hadn’t
considered before. And that’s the sort of thing that
makes each of these collections work so well, even
subjects that have been visited before are given a
fresh approach and seem completely new.
There’s something for everyone here, tales of monsters
and other critters, revenge stories where some of the
most obnoxious characters get their due, and a lot of
stories that make you reread them in your mind days
after you’ve put the book down. I caught myself more
than a few times thinking I had something figured out,
only to be misguided at the end with a surprise twist
that I hadn’t seen coming. And from such a jaded
reader and filmgoer as myself, that’s a pretty high
compliment.
All in all, both books showcase the authors talents
quite nicely. I spoke to Edward about his
collaboration with Wendy and he explained that each of
them bring their own ideas to the table, then
brainstorm and finesse each others work to a more
polished form before publication. It’s a system that
works well in short story form, and has translated
into a successful collaboration on their latest novel,
ORIGIN: UNKNOWN, but we’ll save that book for next
time. Believe me, we’ll need all the space we can get
to adequately talk about that one.
There is also an excerpt from TIBURÓN, Holsclaw’s
first novel, included among the new material. I
thought that this short story version may have been
the Genesis for the novel, but Edward told me that it
was included in the collection after the first book
had been published, as a bridge to some of the fans.
That portion of TIBURÓN is especially nasty and some
readers have voiced concern over his depiction of a
slaughter of innocents. Subtle changes were made to
that chapter, and THE PRICE OF FREEDOM is the result.
While most writers, actors or filmmakers would huff
and puff indignantly about changing their art and
refuse to even consider such a preposterous idea, the
fact that Edward did so in such a professional and
conscientious way speaks volumes about the author as a
person. Nothing is lost in the core of the story, and
he shows a respect to the audience that few authors
ever acknowledge. A really nice guy writing very
disturbing stories.
Now if I can just get them to shift some of their
talent to screenwriting, filmgoers will have the
opportunity to enjoy what their readers have known for
years- Edward A. Holsclaw II and Wendy M. Easton are
talents to keep an eye on. Visit Edward’s webite at
www.fearmaker.com and see what all the buzz is about.
You won’t be disappointed.

Something I found about Paul Anderson in the Associated Press

(You can either laugh or not care but I thought some horror fans would have a evil, cruel grin after hearing this!)

November 2, 2006 Associated Press

‘SNL’ Star Sues Over Bedbugs in Her Loft

A $450,000 lawsuit says that immediately after Maya Rudolph, a “Saturday Night Live” performer, her movie director partner Paul Anderson and their baby moved into the third-floor condominium loft apartment they were renting in SoHo last month, something began chewing on them at night.

“The plaintiffs were bitten over portions of their bodies by bedbugs,” the court papers say. “Apparently unbeknown to plaintiffs, the premises were infested with bedbugs.”

Almost as bad as the bedbugs, court papers say, was the couple were unable to flee the infestation conveniently because for at least six of their first 11 days in the building the elevator was out of order.

After Rudolph and Anderson complained, an exterminator showed up on Oct.17 and advised them to leave, at least for a few weeks, for the sake of their year-old baby. They left and never returned, said the lawyer Kenneth J. Glassman.

The Punk Rods

I was given this CD at Dark X-mas in hopes of getting the word out about the CD! The band’s name is “The Punk Rods”! If you like a little rock, a little metal, and some punk mixed together you are going to love this 5 song CD! And of course they did a cover of a Ramones tune which turned out pretty good! It is rough around the edges but I think that is a good thing in the long run. I give it 3 out of 4 stars! If interested in purchasing or just wanna find out more about this band go to www.thepunkrods.com or