ObscuraJournal 2/9/26

I'm still thinking about what to do with my patreon. I'm in no hurry to do anything with it, but I'm restless with it just sitting there doing nothing.

Still working on the new dark contemporary fantasy concept, which I'm really digging, and it just might be my main project for a while. Work on the PA S&S project is ongoing for now. Let me take advantage of this burst of creativity while it's hot, okay?

Back to the dark fantasy. As mentioned here previously, this will combine current obsessions: esoteric literature and progressive metal and jazz. And portals.

So, I've kind of done portals before with Mojo Rising via a drug that's not a drug more of a shift in perception as the Doors intended. Juney had to take more and more of the Mojo to make his world seem right, more of a paradoxical effect really. I really like the idea of another world shimmering just below (or above) our threshold of perception, the main issue, at least to me, is not getting there but how to stay there for any length of time. It's a technical issue for me, easily worked on on the page because it's a fantasy, but I have to make it work for me with my grounded sense of reality.

For me, the master of portals is Stephen King. So many books, so stories, so many shifts in perception and reality. There are certain themes and tropes he's revisited time and time again through out his career, but portals are definitely in the top 5. You want to learn how to make them work, read some King ... he'll get you there.

Which brings me to my next rereads: The Talisman. Here's a little secret: I've never read Black House. I know, I know, but hear me out. Especially since Straub's passing, I've felt I needed some of his work I've never read because once you mainline his stuff for the first time, you'll never get that high again. And with the new book finished by King releasing in October, now is the time to reread the first one in the trilogy. I've heard great things about Black House, and I hope the new book lives up to the others.

peace&love