It’s one of those afternoons when I’m trying to catch up. I have wrist surgery in the morning, and I’m not sure what life will be like over the next few weeks. My KISS mug is full of piping hot Earl Grey. Tom Petty is barking. Let’s do this.
Any other-worldly abilities I may have owned in my previous life were long dormant. It appears as though I can shut off certain talents as long as I stay as far away from psychokinetic disturbances as possible. I was a hunter back then. I sought that stuff every weekend.
Now, there’s this interest in remote viewing since the 2017 New York Times article triggered the beginnings of disclosure. Things are starting to tingle again on my side of the spectrum.
For example, I spent the morning working out various bluesy riffs for this new song I wrote, and my body was already buzzing. When I turned off the amp, I immediately went about my daily tasks without discharging.
First up? Thaw mice for our snakes.
Now, regardless of what you think about snakes, that’s not the point of jotting this experience down for the purposes of interactions. No, I could feel the mice screaming.
Let me explain.
Up until recently, we obtained our mice from a local (ish) business where we knew they were humanely euthanized before freezing. We switched to one of the online bulk feeder companies to save on a bi-weekly, ninety minute drive through Dallas traffic. When we did, our snakes stopped eating.
Granted, this is the changing of the seasons, and they always get a little cranky around this time of year; even in captivity. My Hognose hasn’t eaten in five weeks now. The African House Snake has skipped two feedings.
The point.
When I grabbed hold of the giant freezer bag containing dozens of frozen mice, I could feel their pain. It ran up my arm like an electric shock, making me think I’d touched something ungrounded inside the freezer. I looked down at the bag in my hand, taking notice of their condition. They all appeared to be in horror rather than the peaceful, sleeping look of the local product.
Even though it’s double the price and inconvenient, I’m not sure I can buy another bulk order online. We’re not those people who have thirty snakes in tubs. We have meticulously designed enclosures, almost artistic, and we’re always trying to make sure they’re both cared for to the best of our abilities. That energy I felt surely transfers into the animal since they’re even more in-tune to the natural energies than we are.
I’m a firm believer in energy. I’ve felt the best and the worst in my time, and from all over the world. We are sponges, and we take with us what we absorb. They may just be mice to most people, but they were souls to me.
I truly hate being able to read this sh*t with my mind sometimes. Energies, I mean. They were so scared.
Ghosts, aliens, telepathy; it’s all connected. One fuels the others. I’m a little on edge, paranormally. Should I be? What’s coming?
Full circle; When you think those energies are insignificant, things like this happen. I joked yesterday about the type of people who watch me play railroading games online. Someone sent this to me in response, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.
In answer to your above question Gonzo. I am the driver of a small bus at a retirement community, I drove a BIG truck for 35 years, gave it up last year when the industry went to hell. I got a part time job hauling people even older then me around town 4 hours a day. The rest of the day I hang around the retirement home and “drive” the remote control for the big screen TV. 80 year old’s can’t handle the buttons. I am getting to the answer. People over the edge of 65 still remember the sound and smell of steam. With YouTube posters putting up Railroader, I can entertain sometimes up to 9 old farts watching for hours yours and others ” day of work” hustling freight. One of the very first, and certainly most prolific posters is ” Other Brian” ( now dormant) but he has in excess of 3500 hours of game time, 555 videos of pure Vanilla Railroader. No music, no commentary, just ” over the shoulder” play of him starting day one thru (IRc) day 50 . He played no mods, complete tier 5 and ” hostile” interchange. Watching him juggle 8 trains at once was mesmerizing. After the little old ladies finish watching Wheel of Fortune ,they go to bed. This leaves the TV room with old farts whose eyes / ears can’t focus on fast moving sports or fast speech. But they love Railroader.. that was long winded, but dont think for a minute your content isnt watched. You will not ever get high ratings, but you will have fans that follow you for years. Thank you for the content.
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To most, 1865 was an eye-opening year. The American Civil War was officially over and the soldiers fortunate enough to survive the bloody conflict returned home to collect the pieces of their former lives. To young Arizonan, Robert Jack, the fateful desert homecoming marked the end to all he once knew. Forgiveness is overrated. Death is final. Revenge, however, dances between the fine lines of mortality and eternity. Love always finds a way.
“Reading Jim Walker and the Redemption Hymn is equal parts quirky fun and riveting action. Cloud’s confident, entertaining voice draws the reader in like an old radio western: the perfect bite-sized story with a main character you’re ready to follow through every adventure he finds himself on. So, tune in next time…”
– Megan Stockton, author of Lovely, Dark & Deep
The history books would read that Jim Walker was brutally executed after the Battle of Goliad, but a few promises in the right ear blurred the contrast between blood and ink. Now an aging bounty hunter on the verge of retirement, his services are requested in the Northern Arizona Territory to solve the terrifying mystery of the Verde River Massacre. With guns from a local Deputy, courage from a saloon proprietor, and a deathbed confession from an all-too-familiar Medicine Woman, Jim sets off on what could be his final adventure. Will he lay the ghosts of his past to rest once and for all, or is he simply whistling his Redemption Hymn?
“Someone call DC and tell them this is how you write a female hero character!” – Lisa Lee Tone, Bibliophelia Templum
Angel Burns is a young firefighter with a shrouded history. During a routine night at work, she stumbles upon a demonic ceremony that brings her memories out of hiding – as well as her repressed supernatural powers. Angel soon learns her life was intended for things greater than extinguishing fires for mortals. Now on the payroll of the Vatican, Angel embarks upon an epic quest to protect the Gutenberg Bibles from evil. If successful, she will secure peace for generations. If she fails, the power of the ancient books will bestow an eternity of darkness upon all humanity!
Toby Liberman is nearing the end of his rope. After a fateful confrontation with his wife’s lover, he is chased into the woods only to be discovered by an unidentifiable creature. He is attacked and rendered unconscious. Upon waking at the scene of a gruesome triple homicide, Toby is arrested as the sole suspect and thrown into a jail cell with a strange man that knows way too much about his predicament. The stranger reveals to Toby that he now possesses the curse of the werewolf. Using his new-found strength to flee his captors, Toby begins to discover that things are not what they seem in the sleepy town of Twin Oaks, TX. Now hunted by law enforcement, as well as the town’s gun toting civilians, Toby seeks vengeance against his false accusers and embarks upon a quest to clear his name once and for all.
A Curse Beyond Comprehension. A Power Beyond Belief. A Girl Far From Home. Katie Liberman is your typical eighteen-year-old college student…or at least that’s what her family thinks. Picking up five years after the events of A Taste of Home, Katie has dropped out of school and embarked upon a dangerous quest to find Kurt Jimmerson, the New York City attorney responsible for her family’s werewolf curse. Unknown to her, the attorney’s grip on the ‘City That Never Sleeps’ is tighter than imagined and she’ll need any and all help available to be victorious. But… where do you find friends when you’re Far From Home?
Twin Oaks, Texas is at war! Taking place immediately after the Far From Home events in New York City, Katie Liberman has returned to rescue her birthplace from the clutches of her nemesis. As the paranormal battle of North vs. South rages in the shadows, the tiny town must decide to fight against the odds or become one with the darkness. Blood will be shed and only one will survive as the final battle of the Home Series concludes.
I know this is the part where I’m supposed to talk about the book, but I feel as though the synopsis needs its own preface to truly understand. 2023 was quite an eye-opening year! I began it by living my dream as a vintage steam locomotive fireman, but that dream was soon squashed thanks to my writing career. It won’t matter that you wrote your extreme horror offerings years ago and under a pen name. Also, it won’t matter that your publisher and author friends from days gone by express pleasantries and kind, nurturing words to your face, because they’ll clique-up and talk trash the minute you turn your back. F**k the biz, create. Create for art, not clicks. Click for love, not hate. Those are words true artists should have no issues living by, yet most seem to hide behind their keyboard shields, flinging ill-thought words of destruction toward once-trusted ears. Don’t pour something into everything; pour everything into something. Do it all by yourself if necessary. With any luck, 2024 will be the year of The Reverend. I’m not exactly sure what that means yet, but we’ll find out together. Anyway, here are a few short stories and poems I wrote as C. Derick Miller in 2023. I stole them from myself. Fair and square. Enjoy.
Poetry has always come naturally to me. Whether it is an expression of emotion toward someone I care about, or a display of humor pointed in the direction of those I loathe, it is my true outlet. Several of these works were written in a passenger seat while exploring the highways of the United States and somehow managed to survive “The Great Ex-Wife/Ex-Girlfriend Poetry Purge” of 2019. Others were penned during COVID-19 quarantine. Although it may not be the most epic poetry collection you’ve ever read, it all contains bits of blood and soul. You will feel something. Guaranteed.
“This profound collection of horror brings classic monsters into new light in the modern day” – B.L. Blankenship, God Walks The Dark Hills series.
The modern world is a crazy place. Worrying about childish politicians, empty grocery store shelves, and our pending membership to the “global disease of the week” club, it leaves very little time for the average reader to finish an entire novel. This is where Six from Five Seven: Short Stories from a Short Man comes in clutch! A story per day to keep the impending apocalypse away, with a single day left over to contemplate why you purchased this book in the first place. That sounds like an entertaining week when compared to the one you were destined to have regardless. What do a cursed husband, a privileged brat, a curious prostitute, a repressed savior, a vengeful son, and two hell-bound soldiers have in common? Their stories lie within the pages of this collection and invite you to tag along on their journeys of fate, redemption, and demise. When finished, you, dear reader, can hide this book inside your basement with the rest of those important documents you wished you’d never taken home. The FBI won’t be happy, but at least they’ll know you’re a cool person for owning a copy while conducting the raid. That must count for something, right? Let’s hope the judge thinks so!
Also, there’s a few other things not listed here that are floating around out there. Best of luck with the hunt.
Current Projects
Rev. Dare Cloud
Reverend · adjective. worthy of adoration or reverence. synonyms: sublime · sacred.
is a Dallas author, musician, and gonzo journalist. Some of his works include the controversial splatter-western Starving Zoe (written as C. Derick Miller), the Taste of Home trilogy, and the ongoing Jim Walker series. His literary crushes are (of course) Hunter S. Thompson, J.D. Salinger, and Kevin Smith. Preach truths, toke jokes, and shoplift Amazon.
“You’ve got to press it on you You’ve just been thinking That’s what you do, baby Hold it down, Dare!” – Gorillaz
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