Bonded by Blood IILet me talk briefly about liquid imagination as a concept instead of a webzine.
Theresa Newbill, Poetry Editor at SNM, recently left a comment in my private web office that hit the nail on the head for writers and poets concerning the heart of the writer:
“I write from the heart. If I don't feel it, I can't write it. And there's always a spiritual element found in my writes. All of them. I'm a real person just like you, and we’re (all writers and poets) probably more alike than we are different regardless of race, color, philosophy...that's my emotional truth and I hope that comes out in all my work. I also believe the worst thing a writer can do is overthink — just feel and go with that. If it's done right, it should be like you're channeling and tapping into something greater and outside yourself, even though in all reality it is coming from within.”
Did you get that last part in bold (emphasis mine)? To me, that is the best definition of liquid imagination: in which the writer just lets it flow regardless of the rules and regulations, regardless of the publication she is writing for or what her family thinks. Whatever is needed flows like a river through the writer, like a current of pure creativity, like you’re channeling something greater than yourself. Like the artist before the canvas. His best work isn’t worrying about whether his college professor actually likes his work. The artist doesn’t worry about who views his work. He just does what Theresa Newbill does, and that is to let it flow and follow her heart.
Which brings me back to Theresa Newbill, the Poetry Editor of SNM, which brings me back to Theresa Newbill who writes from the heart like she’s channeling and tapping into something greater and outside herself. Read the poetry within Liquid Imagination (Theresa’s poetry is in there), then skip over to SNM and read the poetry there. As a concept, liquid imagination flows through all of us, and nobody has given a better definition to liquid imagination than the talented Theresa Newbill.
And now I have to bring up “Bonded in Blood II” by SNM, brought to you by SNM Horror Magazine created by the talented Steven Marshall. Although I hate doing book reviews, although I loathe receiving queries about books, I just have to praise this work. Personally, I don’t have a lot of time. And because I don’t have a lot of time, I would rather pick the fiction I read for my own enjoyment. If I love it, I will brag about it. Which is what I’m dong now concerning “Bonded in Blood II.”
“BBB II” is the best edited anthology I’ve read since reading “The Horror Library IV.” I don’t have to say these things; I have nothing riding on this other than telling you how I feel. And this is what I feel concerning this anthology:
I found a wide range of stories in “Bonded in Blood II” that I know will cater to horror enthusiasts of all subgenres. The fiction literally comes alive, and the stories are all different. Some are written with a literary flair, and other stories pound words into the heart like finely placed nails. A sense of dread develops quickly and becomes more pronounced throughout this collection of short stories. I felt that the next story could NOT be as good as the previous story, but I was wrong: each story is as good as the previous, and I love this anthology.
My favorite story is “The Suffering” by James Woodcock, a powerful story concerning social issues as well as horror. My next favorite story is “Grave Offerings” by Daniel Fabiani because of how the characters become real. My third favorite story is “Behind Dark Corners” by Stacy Bolli because she shows that the dead need the living as much as the living need the dead.
Often, I find some stories in anthologies which are not as good as the better pieces. But in this anthology, each story is good, and as a whole the entire collection rocks. If you like horror you will love “Bonded by Blood II.”
That felt good because I didn’t need to write it. There was nothing in it for me. It felt good because it’s the unsolicited truth. Each writer in that anthology followed the process I call liquid imagination, the process Theresa Newbill calls channeling something larger than ourselves. Steven Marshall, in my humble opinion, is channeling something greater than himself by publishing SNM as an online magazine. If you don’t believe me, buy “Bonded in Blood II” and see if it’s not the best dark fiction of 2010.
"Bonded by Blood II" can be purchased at CreateSpace
* Liquid Imagination does NOT do unsolicited book reviews. Please do not send queries about book reviews to Liquid Imagination.
