As far as writing accomplishments, 2018 treated me better than any year thus far. 

I slowed down on submitting to anthologies and magazines and instead focused on novellas. As a result, I had 3 novellas published last year and still had my work published in 5 anthologies (Splatterpunk Forever! not pictured) and 1 magazine.




Some highlights for the year: 

• STIRRING THE SHEETS won the Indie Horror Book Award for best novella.
• VS: X featuring my story "A Season for Pruning" was nominated for a Splatterpunk Award
• Finding myself on close to two dozen "Best of 2018" lists.
• Collaborating on a book with my best writer friend, John Boden.
• I met a slew of great new friends on Twitter and Instagram who make writing worthwhile
• Discovered Raymond Carver
• Was invited to the Shock Totem team to help resurrect the magazine.
  
• Started a Patreon page.

At the beginning of the year I had one goal (other than being more prolific than the year before). In 2017 I shared a Table of Contents with Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell and Jack Ketchum (a few times), so for 2018 I had the dream of sharing one with another of my favorites:  Either Joe Lansdale or Robert McCammon. I knew McCammon would be harder because you don't see much of his short fiction these days, but I thought Lansdale would be obtainable.

And it nearly was.

Joe and I were both to be in an upcoming invite-only Jack Ketchum tribute anthology that crumbled horribly soon after its announcement. Maybe this year, Joe.

Thank you to the readers and reviewers whose praise encourages me to keep at it.

Here's to a great 2019 for us all!

I know. I rarely do the blog thing anymore. There are are a few reasons for that. One being I have a newsletter I send out every 3 weeks or so instead. The other is I'd rather be writing fiction when getting creative. So, let's save the blog posts for stuff like this:  My best of list for 2018.

I didn't keep track of all the TV and movies I watched this year so I'll just give you my favorite movie of the year; however, I did keep track of the books so below is the list of my top 10. It's important to note the following books were not necessarily released in 2018. It just happens to be the year I read them.

Top 10 Books (in no particular order):
1. THE HUNGER GAMES - Suzanne Collins
2.  BODY OF CHRIST - Mark Matthews
3.  THE BOULEVARD MONSTER - Jeremy Hepler
4.  MAPPING THE INTERIOR - Stephen Graham Jones
5.  THE MAGIC WAGON - Joe Lansdale
6.  THE SECRET LIFE OF SOULS - Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee
7.  WESTLAKE SOUL - Rio Youers
8.  WOOM - Duncan Ralston
9.  CRAZY FROM THE HEAT - David Lee Roth
10.  BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS - Stephen King

Best movie:  HEREDITARY

Thanks to all the creatives who put out some great stuff this year. What are your top tens?

You're right.  I don't use this blog much anymore.  But I wanted to share with you my favorites of 2017:  Movies, books, TV shows, and music.  Not everything in my lists was released in 2017.  It just happens to be the year I partook.

Books:  According to Goodreads, I read 20 books this year.  Some of those were fairly short, and at least one of them I had started in 2016. Here's my list of favorites I read in 2017.  With the exception of #1, they are in no particular order.

1.  BLACK GUM - J. David Osborne.
2.  20TH CENTURY GHOSTS - Joe Hill (collection)
3.  MONGRELS - Stephen Graham Jones
4.  SPUNGUNION - John Boden
5.  THE WARBLERS - Amber Fallon



Movies & TV Shows:  I don't keep track of these as well as books, so I'll do my best. 
1.  Twin Peaks
2.  Hap & Leonard (season 1).
3.  Gerald's Game
4.  The Void
5.  Weeds (all seasons)
6.  Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix Series)
7.  True Detective (all seasons)
8.  Rainbow Time
9.  The Good Neighbor
10.  Mindhunter (season 1)

Music: 
1.  David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time
2.  Obituary - Obituary
3.  Lazerhawk - Dreamrider
4.  IVERSEN - Arcade
5.  Michael Oakley - California
6.  Pink Fink - self titled
7.  26Hate - Lovely Memories
8.  Kristine - Kristine
9.  Hello Meteor - The Glowing:  Final Cut
10.  LGHTNNG - Nights Change Days

So I bought myself one of these old school word processors.  That the ancient ones with the giant monitor flashing the blinding green text.  This is a Neo2 AlphaSmart.  I bought it to get away from distractions like Facebook (Man, that thing is the devil ain't it?), Blabbermouth, Amazon, Goodreads, Deviantart, YouTube...ya know, sites that tear away from anything productive in my life.  Since owning this little word saver, I've written more in the last month or so than I ever have.  I lug the thing outside, stare out through the trees, and get to work.

My contribution to Pint Bottle Press' Double Barrel Horror collections was released recently featuring my stories "Punk Rock Re-Animator" and "Holes."  You can get that here for only $0.99.  Paperback is coming soon featuring all the authors, including John Boden, author of JEDI SUMMER.

Not much else to report, but I do like to keep my blog here somewhat updated.  I've got some stuff coming out later this year in different anthologies, one of which I'll be sharing the TOC with one of my favorite authors.  And currently I'm finishing up my next book, a novella titled STIRRING THE SHEETS.  It's bleak. It's sad. It's uncomfortable.  In other words, anyone who enjoyed OF FOSTER HOMES & FLIES and WALLFLOWER is gonna love it.  I'll be shopping around for a publisher for this one soon, but there is already some interest in it so we'll see how that goes.

Currently Reading: Behold!:  Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders
Currently Watching:  Season 5 of True Blood, season 1 of True Detective

Hello, reader!

The response I've gotten from WALLFLOWER has been great.  It's nice to see so many people pick up what I'm laying down, and really get it.  When I started writing, I never wanted to be lumped into one category.  Authors like Lansdale and McCammon are great at appeasing their readers no matter the genre.  That's what I wanted to do.  Dark fiction sums it up pretty well for me I guess.

I had a giveaway recently (congratulations Joli and Stubblebag!).  I have them from time to time for those signed up to my reader list.  If interested, you can do that here.  Don't worry, you'll barely hear from me. 

Shadow Work Publishing has a new book out.  Dark Designs:  Tales of Mad Science.  Tons of stories dealing with....well, mad science.  This features my story "Discerning the Adversary."

I've been working on a few stories that had deadlines and then it's back to work on PALE WHITE, which I hope to have out this summer.

Just read: 
Junky - William S. Burroughs

Currently reading: 
Crazy from the Heat - David Lee Roth
20th Century Ghosts - Joe Hill
Most recent issue of Cemetery Dance

“What have you done, Abby?”  
 
The man’s daughter sat beside him, a grin on her face.  The tickle in his ear had been there for days.  It scratched and scraped and clicked like a playing card in the spokes of a bicycle.   
 
“When I asked Mommy about a puppy she said to put a bug in your ear.”
 
“Honey, it’s only an expression.”
 
The man heard the distant groan of his wife, her agony growing louder, closer.
 
“Abby, what did you do to Mommy?”

“Nothing, Daddy.”  The girl’s grin remained.  “Mommy said she’d keep an eye out for a puppy.”  

 

Seeing my own OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES on a handful of "best of 2016" lists in the past few weeks has really put a nice cherry on top of an otherwise chaotic year that was full of both blessings and hardships.  Because I love to help spread the word of great authors and their books, I figured I'd make my own list of favorites.  Here it is, a small list of my favorite reads I spent time huddled in a chair or leaning back in bed against my headboard, be it with a print copy or with my Kindle glowing dimly while the wife slept next to me.  Do keep in mind that these are books I read this year, NOT necessarirly books that were released this year.  There are a lot of books out there, and because I never even started reading until my mid 20s--followed by a several-year hiatus of all things fiction--I need to catch up on classics (King's The Stand for example...don't hate me) as well as newer books that are getting a ton of recognition including Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones and Odd Man Out by James Newman, both of which I am proud to say I own in print and have broken the spine on one just the other night.  So, without further delay, and in no particular order, here are my favorite books I read in 2016 along with the Amazon links to purchase them yourself if you so desire.

Tis the season to spook or get spooked.  Starting now until November 1st I'm offering my Double Feature Collection III:  DEATH DEALERS:  AID FROM THE ELDERLY for your Kindle-friendly device for free. 

But wait, there's more....

You can get ALL of the AMERICAN DEMON HUNTERS novellas for FREE during that time as well:

AMERICAN DEMON HUNTERS:  Battle Creek, Michigan by Chad Lutzke
AMERICAN DEMON HUNTERS:  Nashville, Tennessee by Zach Bohannon
AMERICAN DEMON HUNTERS:  Albany, New York by Bettina Melher
AMERICAN DEMON HUNTERS:  Washington D.C. by John L. Monk




Don't forget, you can read these in any order...and that includes the original AMERICAN DEMON HUNTERS novel by J. Thorn

No doubt we've all seen that author who gets all up in your personal space, mercilessly invading your Facebook and Twitter feeds and notifications with the unrelenting plugging of their book.  Yes, we all have to shamelessly plug, but come on, there is a line to be drawn, and often that behavior is an indication of the quality of work being offered.  But then there's the quiet artist whose talent eclipses SO many in the field yet you never hear about them.  That's John Boden--an underrated, gentle soul of a man whose is humble to a fault and one of my favorite authors, not just because of his profoundly deep prose but his original ideas. 

I first met John when we had both entered a writing contest.  I placed third.  He placed first.  Admittedly, instead of being content with placing at all, I was a little bummed I'd not taken first place.  Until I read John's piece.  I then left a comment under the winning announcement and congratulated him, telling him he definitely had the superior piece and deserved the win.  He found me on Facebook and we became friends.  Our diverse taste in music brought us closer together and then we began trading stories back and forth, sharing our work (both published and unpublished) as well as ideas we had.  It started to become clear that our writing had a lot in common; not necessarily our writing styles but the content.  It's not uncommon for either of us to write something that leaves the reader feeling a bit...hollow--melding the horrific with heavy emotional attributes that tap into the inner youngsters in us all. 

Then last fall John sends me an email with an attachment titled "JEDI SUMMER."  The email said:  "This is my coming-of-age novella.  It's all true except for the few things that aren't."  I forwarded it to my Kindle, and one night while in bed I decided to read a few paragraphs.  At first I didn't get it.  It read almost like diary entries but not really.  There were no dates or "Dear Diary."  Nothing like that at all.  They were first-person events, moments in a child's life.  But they were highly entertaining, and I ended up reading much more than the few paragraphs I had set out to peek at.  I stayed up far too late and woke the next day thinking about it.  There was no real order to the book yet it was still heading in a single direction, and taking me with it.  For reasons I couldn't understand, I was compelled to keep reading and enjoying every bit of it, wanting...NEEDING to know what the kid would go through next.  I longed for a certain ending, and the ending delivered.  I've been waiting nine months to tell people about the book so they can partake and here we are.  Come July 22, 2016 "JEDI SUMMER:  With the Magnetic Kid" is being released to the public, and it's already gaining rave reviews.  Well, enough about my thoughts on John Boden, here he is answering a few questions:  

CHAD LUTZKE:  Nearly all of your work is very deep emotionally. Why do you think that is? Would you say writing is therapeutic for you?

JOHN BODEN: I'm not entirely certain. I mean, I don't purposefully set about writing that way. I tend to base most
characters on aspects of myself or people I know and I just paint them honestly, realistically. There are things that have been quite therapeutic for me. I wrote out a great deal of the grief after my Dad passed away. I just tend to write personal, I guess. I was actually quite worried that folks wouldn't like this (JEDI SUMMER). It's written in a very untraditional manner and I worried it wouldn't translate into a good read for others. The overwhelmingly positive response from beta readers let me know I was wrong.

CL:  Is writing something you'd like to make a living doing one day or is it just a hobby for you?

JB: I won't lie, it would be great to make enough money with my writing to tell the day job to piss off and just sleep in a little every day, write for hours and not have to go anywhere. Being a realist, that isn't likely to happen. I'm a middle-aged fellow who has worked since he was 17. I have a family and things that need financial attention and I need that promise of a timely paycheck every week. So I guess, I'd say hobby. I love doing it. I love that people actually care enough to read the things I manage to get published and even like them. I'm very grateful for that.

CL:  You've stated to me that your new book JEDI SUMMER is based heavily on your life and much of it is autobiographical, also your brother plays a significant role in the book. I'm curious what he thinks of it, as well as the rest of your family.

JB: I wrote it as a sort of olive branch/love letter to my little brother. When we were growing up, we fought a lot. There was always a resentment from me, because I was older and our Mom worked so much, I was thrust into an adult role of raising him in a lot of ways. As a teen , it made me mad. I was mean to him, hurtful and shit. I never really thought about it. He let me know once a number of years ago, how that made him feel and all I could do was say I was sorry. I never forgot it. I wrote a short once called "The Magnetic Kid", which was basically a scene that ended up in JEDI SUMMER...but I had not yet planned on expanding...it was just a little story about my brother. Then I decided to make it longer...and more and more truth fell into it and before I knew it JEDI SUMMER was done. My little brother loves it. He was thrilled about it, so does my Mom and my adopted little brother, Mike.

CL:  What is it about the coming-of- age subgenre that you are attracted to?

JB: I have always loved that subgenre. From Bradbury's numerous works that fall under that umbrella to King and McCammon. James Newman wrote one of my faves, Midnight Rain (and gave me a foreword for JEDI SUMMER) Dan Simmons' Summer of Night is a great one. Keene's Ghoul. Joe Lansdale has several books that fall in this territory. Mark Gunnells has a great CoA novella, Summer of Winters.  Kevin Lucia has some good stuff. You, my friend, have a brilliant CoA thing coming out soon! (referring to my novella OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES).  It's just an honest area. When you write about kids and growing up, you can tap into a vivid well of memory, it gives you a chance to tap into an honesty that you need to work a helluva lot harder for in "regular" work. That make any sense? Everyone has been a kid, everyone has some level of relating to that.

CL:  Give us some trivia concerning JEDI SUMMER, something that would be found in "author's notes."

JB: I don't wanna ruin anything so I'll be vague. This novella is probably about 92% true. There are some
fictional liberties taken but not many. I also did a really shoddy job of "concealing identities."  I'm pretty sure if anyone from home reads this, they'll know who I based characters on and I can only hope they don't get sore.

CL:  What's coming next for John Boden?

JB:  I'm having the best year for writing so far...I have a story in Borderlands 6 which was edited by Tom Monteleone and his daughter. I have a story in an antho called Bumps In The Road from Black Bed Sheet Books. I wrote an extremely surreal fable-type novella with Mercedes Yardley called Detritus In Love that will see print this fall from Omnium Gatherium Press. The only other thing I have going on is another novella called Spungunion that is currently subbed out and I'm waiting for word on it. I have the follow-up to Dominoes. It's a room-by-room tour of a haunted house. I need to figure out what exactly to do with that. I'd love to make it a pop up book. I have a few things planned to work on or start work on soon. Writing projects and Shock Totem duties. I'll keep busy, don't worry.

Pre-order JEDI SUMMER here.