The Ghoulish Times | 08/21/22
Hello and welcome to a new issue of The Ghoulish Times. This is a newsletter. I am Max Booth III. Don’t know who I am? Ask your parents. Are you a parent? Ask your children. Are you a dog? You better let me pet you, goddammit.
I wrote the above paragraph on the night of Sunday, August 7th, realized I was too tired to work on a newsletter, then decided I would continue it in the morning.
I woke up at 6am to a phone call from my brother back in Indiana informing me my parents had been in a car accident.
Someone plowed into them from behind. Allegedly intoxicated.
My dad was discharged from the hospital a couple hours later with a banged up face and some mean bruises and lumps. My mom remained unresponsive until Tuesday evening, when she officially passed away.
She was 58. I am currently 29, which means right now I am the same age she was when she gave birth to me. For the first 29 years of her life, I was not there. For the first 29 years of my life, she was there.
And now she is not.
Here is a photo of her and me and my nephew Xander. Not sure when it was taken. Sometime within the last decade.
I’ve written some pretty hard things in my career, but my mother’s obituary was undoubtedly the hardest.
Right now I am staying with my father in Indiana. I drove from San Antonio, TX to Portage, IN with my dog Frank earlier this week. I was already planning a trip up here later in September. I haven’t seen any of my family since 2018. We’d decided that had been too long. I bought a vendor table for Printers Row in Chicago, with the intention of staying with my parents while driving up to Chicago each day to sell books. That plan is still happening, I haven’t requested a refund on the table, except instead of driving up there on Labor Day, I am already here, and instead of spending time with both of my parents I am just tending to my father and trying to fix and clean everything that was broken and dirty in his life.
Later today there is a memorial service dinner at a restaurant my mom liked. I am not looking forward to it. I am not looking forward to anything.
It’s a rough, dumb time to be a person right now, for obvious reasons and reasons I don’t feel comfortable publicly sharing, but rest assured I am losing my fucking mind—but that’s okay, because I don’t have any other choice.
So yes, I will have a table at Printers Row. It is on September 10th and 11th. Come say hi. Maybe buy a book or two. We could definitely use the monetary help right now, considering today is the first day I managed to find the time and/or mental energy to work on anything writing or publishing related in almost two weeks.
I will also be driving up to Richmond, Virginia this week for a book signing/reading at the Libbie Place Barnes & Noble on August 23rd @ 1pm. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there. My father and my dog Frank will be joining me for the event.
Oh yes and I have another book signing in Chicago at Bucket o’ Blood Books & Records on September 14th @ 5pm, with Daniel Kraus and Cina Pelayo.
At some point last week—it’s kind of a blur in my head right now—Night Worms was kind enough to host a double book cover reveal for Jessica McHugh’s Rabbits in the Garden and Hares in the Hedgerow, both of which are coming out later this year through Ghoulish Books. Check out Don Noble’s glorious covers for these books:
Check out more information about pre-ordering both books (signed!) over on the Night Worms website: https://nightworms.com/blogs/news/double-cover-reveal-rabbits-in-the-garden-and-hares-in-the-hedgerow-by-jessica-mchugh
The audiobook for my novel Maggots Screaming! is available in full, for free, on my GHOULISH podcast. It is broken into five sections. Check out the podcast HERE or download them wherever you get podcasts.
The audiobook is also available to purchase on the typical sites. Whatever you want to do is cool with me. A review would be great, though, if you take advantage of the freebie option, but not mandatory.
Regular episodes of the GHOULISH podcast will probably continue next month. I have 4 or 5 already recorded from before my mom’s death, I just haven’t had any time to edit them yet.
This morning, before taking my dad to a medical appointment, I busted out the first story for a project I’ve had in mind for a couple weeks now. It is going to be a collection of flash fiction all featuring my dog Frank caught up in various hijinks. Maybe it will be called The Book of Frank. Maybe it will be called To Be Frank. I have no need to rush myself on a title for the entire book, but those are two I’ve already conceived as potentials.
The first story in the collection is called “FRANK GOES WACKO IN WACO” and I uploaded it to my Patreon . You can read it (and gain access to many other things) by pledging as low as one dollar. Check it out HERE.
I am going to continue writing these little flash fictions and posting them on my Patreon until I have enough for an entire collection. For one thing, they are easy and fun to write. And also, I think they might be perfect for live readings. I’m hoping to get one or two more done before my Barnes & Noble event this Tuesday. If so, I will read some there (while holding Frank).
Speaking of Frank, here are some pictures I’ve taken during the last week:
Okay, that’s it for this week. You can support us on Patreon, browse the books in our webstore, and follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter (PMMP | DMD | Ghoulish podcast | Ghoulish Books | personal). Reserve your ticket for Ghoulish Book Fest 2023. You can also join us on the Ghoulish Discord.
See you next time, ghouls.
I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. My sincere condolences to you and your family.
I am so sorry for your loss. Losing a parent is heartbreaking. My sincere condolences to you and your family.