Home of the Reverend Dare Cloud, excommunicado: Dallas writer, musician, gamer, & paranormal investigator. Jack of many trades; master of none. Paul Varjak-ing it since 1973. What a long, strange trip it’s been…
Early voting began this morning, and I was one of the first through the door; wearing Lebowski attire. It’s important to do this, because the Republicans avert their eyes. All too easy.
I didn’t notice any ICE agents or white supremacists interrupting the process, but they might’ve been in their work disguises. Sort of like the Village People, but in suits, judge’s robes, etc. A lame, rhythmless Village People with drab attire. The Policeman is the only one who got to stay in the band.
Not to leave you hanging, but the Indian got sent to the reservation, the construction worker got deported, the leather-clad guy joined the New Nazi movement, the sailor got deployed to the gulf, and the cowboy got arrested for January 6th. Wait? Is Trump following the Village People roadmap? Is that how he stole their song? Shenanigans!
Some of them are very good at hiding their intention while voting in a mostly minority precinct, but I know better. Then, there are those who bite their lip to bleeding because they want to reveal the lightning bolt chested emblem donning their man-boobs. Like Sloth at the end of The Goonies.
For instance, there’s a Highland Park doctor with her name on a low-income clinic, who openly supports immigration raids and Trump’s political agenda while schmoozing at the country club. It wouldn’t surprise me if she sent records to the powers that be to assist in their deportation efforts; private records. It’s just a guess, but from what I know about this person, it’s within her vile wheelhouse. She’ll write you a script for the good stuff…if you’re rich & white, but I digress.
I voted so hard, I broke two stylus.
We’ve been lied to and let down so many times by our current administration that most folks have threw up their hands in defeat. This past weekend’s No Kings rally was a total flop, and I’m the least important person to say so. I don’t even think the white supremacists came to counter protest. Did another Avengers movie come out? GTA VI? I don’t know; what else do Trunp bro’s like to do? Circle jerk? I’ll roll with it. Somewhere in Hunt County, Texas there’s a bread shortage, sore wrists, and sticky knuckles.
I’m currently 1/3 of the way through Jay Stratton’s new book involving UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering. Between that, whistleblowers on Fox News, and Dr. Phil deep-diving government UFO acknowledgement, I’m half-expecting a false-flag alien invasion between now and midterm election day. Why else would they be trying to soften up Memaw and Pepaw with all the flying saucer talk? Or is someone really coming to meet/destroy us?
I can’t trust anyone on television anymore, and I’m not sad about it. That just means I get to skip watching them altogether.
I keep reminding the cats to tell the aliens they can come over for dinner, and we can discuss world domination over my wife’s fresh pork spring rolls. Cats are rumored to be placed here by extraterrestriala as listening devices. Since my cats rarely leave our bathrooms, aliens have heard a lot of sh*t coming from my house; pun intended.
Preach truths, toke jokes, and shoplift Amazon. Go vote, and watch what you say in the presence of cats.
As much as I’d prefer you purchase these directly from me, they’re also available through Amazon and various other book sellers.
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.
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