Tag: spirit

Phil Slattery’s Sci-Fi Novelette “Alien Embrace” Is Free on Amazon Kindle Today

In celebration of the launch of the Mars Rover Spirit on this date in 2003, my novelette Alien Embrace is free on Amazon Kindle today.

In Alien Embrace, Logan Rickover, owner of a hardware store in a small town in Kentucky, has lucid dreams of life as an astronaut that intrude upon his life at any moment. Which of his lives is real? The quiet paradise of Danville or the terrifying jungle world of Stheno D?

Ron Baker commented, “This short has exactly what I like in science fiction: planet exploration and bizarre otherworldly aliens, in this case insectoid. The horrendous purpose the aliens have for the hapless astronauts who make planetfall to find the numerous previous missing exploration teams is grisly. I love the mystery of the planet and the authors device of alternating from the aliens bizarre perspective then switching to the astronauts point of view.”

I will be offering more of my works for free in the upcoming weeks.  Check back often.

Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.

Phil Slattery’s Sci-Fi Novelette “Alien Embrace” Is Free on Amazon Kindle Today

In celebration of the birth of American astronomer Frank Drake, on this date in 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, my novelette Alien Embrace is free on Amazon Kindle today.

In Alien Embrace, Logan Rickover, owner of a hardware store in a small town in Kentucky, has lucid dreams of life as an astronaut that intrude upon his life at any moment. Which of his lives is real? The quiet paradise of Danville or the terrifying jungle world of Stheno D?

Ron Baker commented, “This short has exactly what I like in science fiction: planet exploration and bizarre otherworldly aliens, in this case insectoid. The horrendous purpose the aliens have for the hapless astronauts who make planetfall to find the numerous previous missing exploration teams is grisly. I love the mystery of the planet and the authors device of alternating from the aliens bizarre perspective then switching to the astronauts point of view.”

I will be offering more of my works for free in the upcoming weeks.  Check back often.

Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.

Phil Slattery’s Sci-Fi Novelette “Alien Embrace” Is Free on Amazon Kindle Today

In Alien Embrace, Logan Rickover, owner of a hardware store in a small town in Kentucky, has lucid dreams of life as an astronaut that intrude upon his life at any moment. Which of his lives is real? The quiet paradise of Danville or the terrifying jungle world of Stheno D?

Ron Baker commented, “This short has exactly what I like in science fiction: planet exploration and bizarre otherworldly aliens, in this case insectoid. The horrendous purpose the aliens have for the hapless astronauts who make planetfall to find the numerous previous missing exploration teams is grisly. I love the mystery of the planet and the authors device of alternating from the aliens bizarre perspective then switching to the astronauts point of view.”

I will be offering more of my works for free in the upcoming weeks.  Check back often.

Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.

Balance

Writing horror is a grim pastime.   One spends many hours delving into the darkest aspects of the human soul.    One’s mind is filled with murder, torture, violence, hatred, as well as characters, places, and situations that belong in the deepest pits of Dante’s Inferno.   Granted, out of these depths often arise heroes who triumph over the evil surrounding them and thus bring out the highest and noblest aspects of the human spirit, which may provide psychological comfort and spiritual salvation to the author, but journeying into darkness periodically will take its toll on anyone to some degree.    I have to ask myself how many authors of horror fall victim to depression and other maladies of the spirit.

But now, let us take this scenario and turn it about into something positive, something uplifting.   Let me pose this question to you, my readership, in hopes that the answers I receive will benefit not only myself, but everyone else who reads them:   how do you, writers of horror, find relief from the psychological toll encountered during your sojourns into darkness?  How do you balance out your lives so that you continue to see the beauty of the world around you and do no not stay imprisoned in the worlds of evil you create?  Do you watch comedies at the movies?  Do you take long walks along a tranquil coast?   Do you cuddle with your children and pets?  Do you collect the artworks of Thomas Kinkade or someone else who paints idyllic scenes of light and earthly paradise?   Please let me and my readers know so that we can find new avenues out of our horror-filled ruts and blood-stained dungeons.