Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The BUZZ on Buzzkill: Apocalypse- An End of the World Anthology!

Here it is... the first full day of summer, 2012... so what's the buzz on the Buzzkill anthology?  IT'S PUBLISHED!  Yes, NightBallet Press is very pleased and excited to present the official release of Buzzkill: Apocalypse- An End of the World Anthology!
And it's a whopper, with 80 pages full of catastrophic, apocalyptic poetry, short fiction, and photos from 47 different contributors from around the world! 

There are fourteen pieces written especially for the anthology, including new and exciting poems from George Wallace, Michael Salinger, bree, T. M. Göttl, Kathy Smith, Heather Ann Schmidt, Carolyn Srygley-Moore, Robert Miltner, mark kuhar, Debbie Goings, and Howard Hendrix.

Terry Provost submitted what he called his first concrete poetry- and it's Buzzkill's centerfold. 

Eric Anderson and David Brin wrote some very special short fiction for the anthology- brand new pieces never before seen!

(Brin, you may recall, wrote the wonderful novels Startide Rising and The Postman; his new novel Existence debuted Tuesday.)

NightBallet is enormously pleased that these poems and short fiction, which present everything from zombies (Anderson and Miltner) to devastation from the sky (Göttl) to acceptance, enlightenment,and hope for a better future (bree, Kathy Smith, Schmidt), are making their debut in Buzzkill!

 
I won't give away Brin's fictional slant. (*grin*)


There are 17 illustrating photos from gifted photographers Steven B. Smith, Chandra Alderman (her first published photos- and NightBallet is proud to debut her!), John Burroughs, Jacob Oet, Debbie Goings, Jen Pezzo, artist and studio-owner Amy Mothersbaugh Roos, and the world-renowned (16 year old) Eleanor Bennett.

Some great scripted scenarios start off the book in poems by J. E. Stanley, Geoffrey Landis, and Mary Turzillo.  Mike Finley shoots us with black holes.  Kevin Eberhardt, Russell Salamon, Ed Plunkett, Debbie Goings, Tina Puckett, Alexis-Rueal, Jacob Oet, J. R. Simons, Jay Passer, and Wolfgang Carstens offer tales of rain, rapture, resignation, acceptance, celebration, horror and rebirth.  Clarissa Jakobsons and Robert Smith focus on the moon.  Mark Jordan intones a tale as only an actor can.  Yahia Lababidi, Steven B. Smith, MaxWell Shell, Juan Manuel Perez, Jen Pezzo, Susan Moeller, and F. J. Bergmann each tell of apocalypse in their own unique ways.  The end of the world as seen through Death's eyes is explored by John Burroughs, Lyn Lifshin (her poem "Obituary" is previously unpublished anywhere), and S. A. Griffin (who co-edited The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry).  Charles Lovecraft destroys Australia.  Howard Hendrix is represented by a delightful little song of doom.  Chansonette Buck and R. L. Raymond "burn" with "white hot fear". 

And last but certainly not least, Steve Brightman and John Burroughs take us far into the future and far into space as we "hang our dying arms out the window and drive" and "give the Milky Way a long kiss goodbye"....

These wondrous works of science-fictional dreaming and speculation are not to be missed!  So how, you ask, might you obtain a copy of this book?  Why, right here on the website!  Buzzkill : Apocalypse is only $10 (postage paid in the US; outside the US, the postage costs are just too prohibitive), and is available for immediate shipping, so don't delay- order your copy now!  You never know if the world might end early, and you don't want to lose out on this limited-edition opportunity!  They'll even make great Christmas gifts in December... if the world's still here after December 21st.  Heh heh. 


Stay tuned in the coming days for more tasty tidbits about the making of Buzzkill: Apocalypse... a "behind the scenes" look at the writers and photographers, the poems, short stories, and pics, that make up the anthology.