BAM Writes A Blog
Sunday, May 5, 2024
42 Stories Anthology Cover Artist Interview
Katya: I can't really stop myself. Always see things to create, light angles, color, beauty in a moment or object others are walking by obliviously.
Bam: Who are some authors/artists you like?
Katya: Toulouse Lautrec, Wu Guanzhong, Victor Hugo, Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman.
Bam: Why do you like them?
Katya: I think all of them reflect on society in different ways - showing us things we might miss otherwise, whether through silhouette, color, character, humor, mythology . . . often things that point out societal flaws, but at the same time celebrating the amazing ridiculousness of our world.
Katya: Sometimes it takes the timing being right to push you to the next step. I took 42 photos as was drawn to the ultimate answer. After getting many people to associate me with 42, the timing worked to become involved in this.
Bam: Answer a random question that you want to answer.
Friday, March 1, 2024
Project 42 Anthology Update
Some awaiting the 42 Stories Anthology publication are unaware of a certain fact. In 2018, when I launched the project, I made a vow to not write any new stories until the anthology was published. This was to motivate me to get the book finished.
My goal for the anthology has been to help other writers, so I wasn't going to focus anytime on my own work. Aside from academic writing obligations, I have kept my promise. All of my publications since 2018 have been work that I wrote prior to the project. There was one story that I had to edit due to it needing to be updated at the publisher's request. Nothing else.
This means that I am as eager for the anthology to get published as anyone else. We're still looking toward a 2024 release, luckily.
Keep your eyes open for more announcements.
Have a great spring.
Remember to remember . . .
~Bam
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Happy 2024
Happy New Year!
The year ended with an engagement to my fiancée. We're planning on getting married March 2025. By then, I'll be 42. To celebrate our future plans, we had some fun adventures, which I'll share with you.
For starters, we went to Meoto Iwa (picture shown above), which means "Wedded Rock." It's near Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture of Japan. Ise Shrine is technically three shrines spread across Ise City, and the largest shrine in Japan.
For years, locals have gone to Meoto Iwa to confess their love for each other. People weren't very vocal when my fiancée, Eva, was taking pictures with her ring, but she said that a lot of eyes brightened, and women smiled her way.
Our next adventure was a Bruno Mars concert in Tokyo Dome.
First, I wanted to take Eva to a place called Ice Cream Paradise, where they let people order six scoops of different flavors as a meal. The menu online was quite interesting.
They were said to have been one of the best ice creameries in the world. It's my fiancée's favorite food, so of course, we were going to go. Eva was skeptical they were still around, as there was no recent news about them.
Although Eva was right, and the ice creamery was gone, a dumpling food court was there along with a normal ice cream stand.
On the bright side, Bruno Mars puts on a great performance.
The restaurant had a good stout, too.
Friday, May 26, 2023
42 Anthology Author Contact Emails
Greetings,
The anthology team is trying to reach authors of the anthology about some edits and other matters before the book's release in 2024.
If you have not received an email from 42anthologysubs@gmail.com and have a story in the anthology, please send an email there with the subject: Missing email.
In the message, please write something like
My name is Author Person, my stories are in the Parent, Thriller, and Sword chapters, and my current email is authorperson@gmailss.com.
All the best.
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Anthology complete
Dear writers and readers, A few notes regarding the anthology.
42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 422 has
reached its goal.
The chapters have Story of Excellence Award winners.
All authors of the anthology have been notified of its
completion.
What’s next?
If all goes according to plan, the book will be published by
2024.
We are trying to obtain chapter introductions from chapter
award winners.
The authors are voting for a book cover from now until
January 22, 2023, 11:59pm GMT either via email (42anthologysubs@gmail.com) or through the Facebook group.
If you have a story in the anthology and are interested in voting for the book cover through the group, you can join by requesting a
link via email. If you want to vote on the book cover without joining the group, you can ask me for a link to the
covers and email your vote in directly.
That’s all for now. Happy New Year
~Bam
Remember to remember . . .
Project: 42-Word Stories Anthology
Twitter
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Update: 42 Stories Anthology Complete
Story of Excellence Winners so far:
Alternate Reality: Steven M. Gerson
Clown: John Porcino
Craft of Writing: Announced in the book
Crime: Tom Barker
Culture: K. A. Kern
Dystopia/Utopia: Râna Campbell
Escape: Matt Patrick
Fairy Tale: Lorisha Adams
Fantasy: Billy J. Forshaw
Fight: Daniel Getzoff
Hitchhiker's Guide to History: Adah Marie Guy
Horror: Michael Fagan
Humor: Evie Groch
Impairment: David Kuhnlein
Macabre & Morbid: Kim Hart
Monster: Suann Amero
Mystery: Antonella Piemontese
Mythopoeia: Jen Mierisch
Noir: Asta aka Genevieve Payne
oDDbALL: Miriam Thor
Outer Space: Elaina Hampson
Paranormal: Chris Bullard
Poetic Prose: David K. Slay
Romance: Michael Gigandet
Satire: Elizabeth Andrews
Science Fiction: Nick DiChario
Sports: John Ward
Steampunk: Christopher Airiau
Sword & Sorcery: Christian Meeks
Thriller/Suspense: Rob Nisbet
Tragedy: Debbie Wingate
Trapped: Jamil Hall
Travel: Barbara Meyrowitz
Vampire: Harry Carnegie aka Mike O'Connor
War: Joseph S. Pete
Werewolf: Beth Doherty
Western: Joe Kilgore
Zombie: Kerry Pickles
There will be a special blog spot for each chapter where the winners answer interview questions. If you have time, look up the winners, as they're very talented authors. Any winners mentioned above, contact the anthology team (here: 42anthologysubs@gmail.com) if you didn't receive an email announcement.
There's also Runner-Up Award Winners. Here is who's been contacted so far. If you see your name below and have not replied to an email, please contact the anthology team.
Runner Up Award Winners:
Alternate Reality: Roger Hammons
Apocalyptic: Dr. Thomas Reed Willemain
Clown: Sharon Kretschmer
Craft of Writing: No Award
Crime: Anthony Knott
Culture: William McCann
Dystopia/Utopia: Alexis Gkantiragas
Escape: Gania Barlow
Fairy Tale: Sandra Simmer
Fantasy: Art Lasky
Fight: Ava Jean Wetzel
HGH: Glenna Anne Turnbull
Horror: Andy Betz
Humor: Elizabeth Barton
Impairment: Stephen Ground
Indigenous: Matias F. Travieso-Diaz
Macabre & Morbid: Christy Lynch
Monster: Bunny Haschen
Mystery: Tejaswinee Roychowdhury
Mythopoeia: Becky Benishek
Noir: Amy Cotler
oDDbALL: Faustine Guerrero
Outer Space: Ethan Shaskan
Paranormal: John H. Dromey
Parents: Travis Garner
Poetic Prose: D. I. Jolly
Romance: Lindy Greaves
Satire: Louise Mae Moises
Science Fiction: Harley McEvoy
Siblings: Nikki J. Davison
Sports: Nicole Ortiz
Steampunk: Madison Marshall
Sword & Sorcery: Ej Sidle
Thriller/Suspense: Suzanne Baginskie
Tragedy: Hibah Shabkhez
Trapped: Sheryl Loeffler
Travel: Adelaide B. Shaw
Vampire: Voting in progress
War: Amber Winter
Werewolf: James Lang
Western: Donald Winzer
Zombie: Ben Mimmack
Note: Some judges select "Honorable Mention" stories. They are optional awards given at the judge's discretion, and not every chapter has one. Honorable mention award-winners will be named in future blogs.
Friday, April 15, 2022
Pen Names, Pseudonyms, Nom de Plumes
Hi everyone,
We're reading submissions for the 42 Stories Anthology this month and will hopefully reach our goal by May or December this year. No guarantee.
Let's chat about names.
The whole pen name schtick came from the theme of the book having 1,764 names in it, sure. However, that's only half of the story.
I've had many pen names.
My dad named me after his favorite uncle. Bertram was a lawyer by day and trumpet player by night. He had an accident, which led to him being bedridden.
Dad always looked to him for guidance when he was young. Then, one day, probably a rainy one, Bertram died tragically.
Mom got to name my sister and brother. Then, when I was born, Dad named me after the lawyer/trumpet player.
The only problem with the name was that he shortened it to Bert, and I was a child in the '80s being called "Bert."
So, naturally, the first question kids asked, "Where's Erine?"
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As it turns out, Bertram means Bright, Famous, Raven.
Something changed when I was 23. I had started getting published and needed a writer's name. I went with "B. A. Mullin," thinking it was kind of funny sounding: "Be a Mullin."
At the same time, I blogged on MySpace.com. The blog, Ten Things That You Should Know, had 133 posts and over 50k readers. Sometimes the blog hit the #1 spot on the site. My username: "Devilsthrill."
The username actually goes back to when I was 19. There's a song that inspired me to write my series, Demon Blade Bearer, called Devil's Trill. I was listening to Vanessa Mae's version at the time and wrote and wrote and wrote.
Suddenly, I had ten books written within three to fives years. As an ode to the song, I used "Devilsthrill" as an online name. It was also a typo that stuck. I wanted the name to be DevilsTrill.
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At 31 my dad got sick, and we were friends. I decided to use the name "Bertram" with the stipulation that no one called me "Bert" unless they wanted to get punched in the face.
That year, I moved to Japan with a dream: Find a manga artist and make Demon Blade Bearer a manga and maybe an anime in Japan and America. I'd introduce myself as "Bertram."
AND NO ONE COULD SAY IT!
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At my first job, without asking, the trainer introduced me as "Bert." He didn't get punched, but it was one example of the disrespect I went through until quitting.
Got a job as a foreign teacher at public schools and while searching for an artist, continued teaching.
Because students had issues saying "Bertram," I just went with my initials: "BAM."
For the past seven years, everyone has either called me Bertram, or BAM.