The first time I heard of Nathaniel Lambert was when he
submitted a short story to Necrotic Tissue Magazine. In his cover letter he
mentioned that the story he was sending me had been rejected a few times
because of too much bull fucking.
I was intrigued. The story was about a demonic bull that
came up from the depths of hell, so within the context of the story, it seemed
appropriate. If anything, there didn’t seem to be enough. I conditionally
accepted it with the understanding that he would add more bull fucking to the
story.
In those days, I met many other writers and editors on
different boards like Graveside Tales and Choate Road. I spent way too much
time on those boards when I should have been writing, but I’m
happy to say I no longer do it. Now I waste my time on FB. But I digress. I
loved Nate’s writing and told him so. Later he sent a 100-Word
story to NT, which I also accepted and he eventually talked me into doing NT’s
first Anthology called Malpractice.
Around that time, he also asked if I’d
beta read a novel he’d written with Kevin Sweeney. I didn’t
have the time, but I said hell yes. I’d just finished my own
first novel Feast and I was feeling real good about it. At least until I read
Sideshow P.I.: The Devil’s Garden. I thought my book was “edgy”.
I still think it is a solid short novel and well worth the time to read it, but
while it is good, it is actually quite traditional. It was my version of the
type of stories written in the 80’s and 90’s
by King and McCammon. Sideshow P.I. was in a completely different category. It
was well written and smooth with a strong voice and vibrant characters. But it
was a dark, rich creation in a city that I loved reading about and was glad didn’t
really exits on our Earth. In short, it made my book look like it was filmed in
black and white, while Sideshow was in Technicolor.
Eddy “Wolf Boy” Gnash
is a great character that seems normal in comparison to his surroundings, as
normal as a man can be that is covered in fur and once performed in and later
ran a Freak Show can be. He and his
former band of freaks fit right in at the city of New Ramoth. He is in a rut
and decides to become a private investigator. It’s just what the city
needs, assuming he can survive long enough to solve the mysteries that run in
the streets thicker than industrial waste.
The Devil’s Garden is book one of
the Sideshow P.I. trilogy, and Stygian Publications has signed a contract with
Nate and Kevin for all three. The Devil’s Garden, originally
published by Graveside Tales, has just been rereleased on Amazon, here for the
print and here for the Kindle version. Book two, All Fall Down, will be
released early in 2015. I’ve also made a deal with a very
talented artist George C. Cotronis to do covers for all three novels.
If you like books that don’t fit neatly into an
industry defined genre, then do yourself a favor and read these books. Stygian
Publications isn’t going to crank out a huge
volume. I am focused on doing a few books per year that I truly believe in, so
keep an eye out for further announcements.
