I quit my job on Monday. Over the last year, the company had become an increasingly unpleasant place to be. After several dramatic changes for the sake of change, backstabbing from overly ambitious coworkers, and new managers who don't care about the product at all, I reached a breaking point. Basically, I couldn't stand it for another second, and tendered my resignation after giving them a piece of my mind. Maybe I should have played nice, but I'm getting a little too old to hide my true feelings when shit gets ugly.

I’m fortunate that I have enough freelance work to fall back on. Not every disgruntled employee has that luxury.

So, freed from the shackles of corporate life, I prepared to dive headfirst into other work. But plot twist: both kids came down with the flu (and the oldest got strep on top of that).

It was a difficult week.

And that's not counting the horror community having its semi-regular bust-up, or a literal book burning that happened on Instagram the other night.

Life goes on, though, doesn't it?

I still managed to write a piece for this month's Ghoulish show, 5,000 words on the ghostwriting project, and this newsletter. I also recorded two episodes of Make Your Own Damn Podcast and completed every freelance editing assignment for the week.

It's amazing what you can do when you're in a pinch. Even with sick kiddos on your lap most of the day.

Anyway, big congrats to Michael Louis Dixon. I said I’d do a giveaway when I reached a hundred subscribers, and thanks to the imminent demise of Twitter, I have more than eclipsed that number, so I chose a winner at random last week. Michael gets a copy of this out-of-print pulp zine, featuring a flash piece by me, a ton of other cool stories, and weirdo art.

Seriously, I greatly appreciate all my subscribers, old and new. I’ll be doing another giveaway from my collection when I hit 200 subs, so be sure to share this newsletter with your friends. You, too, could be as lucky as Michael here. :)

This week's episode of Make Your Own Damn Podcast sees Jeff and I taking on a student film by Brian DePalma that features a young Robert DeNiro. Check it out here or by clicking the video below.

That’s it for now. As always…

Books here.

Podcast here.