4/3/26
Mary is visiting family, so I’ve got the house to myself for the next twelve days, which means I can crank my music to a respectable level and really get some work done. W. D. Miller’s new album, Child of the Kindly South, arrived yesterday, so that is a good start.
Also in the mail was an unexpected royalty check — the kind that’s not enough to make a car payment but just enough to buy yourself a treat. So, my 18-year old and I took a trip to Tom’s Music Trade (one of two record stores we frequent here in Central PA — the other being Iko’s Music Trade. I’ve been shopping at both for years, and highly recommend them both). I bought (on vinyl) Ice-T’s Live at Montreux Festival ‘95, a reissue of Iron Maiden’s Live After Death, and a first edition of Led Zeppelin’s Coda. He bought himself some cassette tapes (which their generation are apparently bringing back into style): Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother, Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti, and Extreme’s Extreme II: Pornografitti. The latter is a new band for him, but he bought it on my recommendation, as he’s discovering that he likes prog, and I have long argued that Extreme were, more than anything else, a prog band that got unfairly labeled hair metal because of “More Than Words”.
Anyway, that’s the fuel for the next few days of work sorted out.
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A reminder that next weekend (April 11th) myself, Joe Hill, Christopher Golden, Ronald Malfi, Emily Carpenter, Rebecca Rowland, Catherynne Valente, Luke Dumas, Nicky Gonzalez, J.H. Markert, Sam Rebelein, Saratoga Schaffer, and V.E. Tirado will be signing at the Ashland Public Library 66 Front St, Ashland, MA 01721 from 9:30am to 4:00pm.
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Women In Horror Year: Day 3
You’re Mine by Somer Canon
Insecure misfit Ioni Davis never thinks she’ll find love in her sleepy West Virginia hometown. Then the tall, fascinating stranger Raber Belliveau transfers to her school. Their attraction is instant and red-hot. And a shared fascination with witchcraft bonds the young lovers even closer. But while Ioni is responsibly studying her newfound religion of Wicca, Raber has chosen an altogether…different path.
Soon, Raber’s behavior becomes manipulative. Even abusive. And their love story for the ages is turning into a macabre farce. All Ioni wants to do is get out. But Raber has discovered a dreadful way to control their relationship. A ritual which hasn’t been attempted in over a century. A spell to unleash a bloodthirsty terror which can never be satisfied.
Ioni finds herself trapped in a struggle for her life and even her free will against a once-trusted lover who has assured her… YOU’RE MINE
If you’ve not read anything by Somer, or if perhaps you’re discovering her via her story in THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES OF STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND and wondering where to start with her book-length works, this is an excellent introduction.
Had Somer been born many decades before, You’re Mine is a book that would have been right at home among the classic Zebra Horror paperbacks of the 80s and early 90s (and indeed, the cover even has that same sort of vibe). But while the horror itself might have a vintage vibe, the writing and story are very much of today, which is fitting, since Somer is one of the most consistent and entertaining voices among the women of this new generation of horror writers. Think Ruby Jean Jensen meets Bryan Smith, or perhaps V.C. Andrews meets J.F. Gonzalez.
You’re Mine is currently available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook from French Press.
