My Latest Meta-Gonzo Novel: "Vic Valentine: Lounge Lizard For Hire"
Well, I did it again. Wrote a book, that is. It's something I've been doing compulsively for nearly forty years now on a semi-regular basis. Though I've long since given up on commercial success, I find that the mere act of writing fiction is so spiritually and creatively rewarding I no longer care. I have no ambition or agenda as an author. Unless I'm asked to contribute to a short story anthology - which, flatteringly enough, happens now and then - I'm content issuing my work under my own imprint, Thrillville Press, putting out into the world, and then resuming my regular life as a proud husband, cat daddy, and dog walker.
BUY
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| Will the Thrill: Dog Walker For Hire |
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| Groot and me |
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| Pearl and me |
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| Roxi, Hypatia, Gracie (I watch rabbits and cats, too) |
It's hard to describe this novel, but then that's my specialty. I've completely eschewed any attempt to conform to any particular, easily identifiable, marketable genre, instead essentially creating my own, obscure niche, which I dub "Vihorror": a surrealistic mix of noir, horror, and erotica, with dashes of my own personal experiences, blended into one strong, sick, stylized literary cocktail.
I'm very proud of it. I talk more about this jazz with Marietta Miles in this recent interview, if interested.
Essentially, I've placed Vic Valentine, protagonist of my more conventional books like Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me and Hard-boiled Heart, into the moody, mysterious realms of my favorite of my own books, A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge. I would categorize it as "Phantasmagoric Noir." It's basically a fever dream inside Vic's head. Nothing is what it seems, or maybe it is, but since Vic is your guide, you'll be as lost as he is.
The only "mystery" is the one concerning the biggest puzzle of all, Life itself. I'm not sure who my target audience is with this jazz, other than myself. Basically, I just write what I feel like writing, and if someone else digs it, that's cool, if not, that's cool, too.
The title comes from my old "Will the Thrill" business card. My old friend Johnny Johnston Trujillo suggested it.
The title comes from my old "Will the Thrill" business card. My old friend Johnny Johnston Trujillo suggested it.
Here is the back cover blurb for Lounge Lizard For Hire, which picks up a little while after the last one, Vic Valentine: International Man of Misery, ended:
MY VOODOO VALENTINE? Vic Valentine has finally retired from the private eye racket. And since his beautiful new bi-sexual, black-belt burlesque-dancer bride, Ava Margarita Valentina Valdez Valentine, who may also be a witch or a vampire or both, has a mysterious and possibly nefarious source of seemingly endless wealth, he no longer walks dogs for income, either. Vic is finally living the life of his wildest dreams! Until the Universe sucker-punches him yet again, and it suddenly melts into a noir nightmare…
First a Yakuza hitman from Mrs. Valentine’s past shows up in Seattle with a score to settle. She conures demons from another dimension to not only protect them, but spice up their sex life, too (or hers, anyway). The ghost of Vic’s dead friend Doc Schlock still haunts him, literally. His old pal Ivar the sailor statue starts talking, and walking. And then there’s that doppelgänger of a young Vic suddenly popping up here and there around town, setting Vic up for a showdown with his younger self.
I should add Will the Thrill, Monica Tiki Goddess, Chumpy Walnut, and Christian Slater all have cameos. Yeah. It's like that.
Here is the progression of the spectacular front and back artwork. My frequent collaborator Matt Brown (who illustrated the storyboards for Christian Slater's long-suffering, ill-fated movie adaptation of Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me) created the front cover art, and my man Dyer Wilk designed the spine and back. I provided images for inspiration, and they took it from there...
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| Monica and me, 2005 |
Here are some promo memes I've been posting on social media:
The official launch party:
Toasting Elvis on the 41st anniversary of his "disappearance," 8/16/18
Zodiac Supper Club, Tacoma
The Fern Room, Tacoma, WA
Besides walking dogs and writing, I've been having fun making Gifs!
Will the Thrill and Monica Tiki Goddess, Talkin Pictures with Jan Wahl, 1998:
My Pop, Robert Viharo, in Bare Knuckles (1977)
My father Robert Viharo in Hide In Plain Sight (1981), with James Caan, who also directed. Here you can see when Jimmy suddenly squeezes the old man's nuts below frame. Watch for the wince...
Pop in Return to Macon County (1975; he's the crazy cop)
Monica and me in the infamous "foot fetish" segment of HBO's Real Sex (2001)
Monica and me in the 2002 French doc, Viva Las Vegas?
Monica and me in the Thrillville Pulp Fiction collection book trailer shot at Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge in Alameda, CA, 2011:
CHEERS!
You may also dig:
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| Mai Tai Time in The Thrillpad, cheers |
Celebrating the publication with Dmitri Methany at Tula's Jazz Club in Seattle,
both of which have cameos in the book!
Toasting Elvis on the 41st anniversary of his "disappearance," 8/16/18
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Zodiac Supper Club, Tacoma
The Fern Room, Tacoma, WA
Besides walking dogs and writing, I've been having fun making Gifs!
Will the Thrill and Monica Tiki Goddess, Talkin Pictures with Jan Wahl, 1998:
My Pop, Robert Viharo, in Bare Knuckles (1977)
My father Robert Viharo in Hide In Plain Sight (1981), with James Caan, who also directed. Here you can see when Jimmy suddenly squeezes the old man's nuts below frame. Watch for the wince...
Pop in Return to Macon County (1975; he's the crazy cop)
Monica and me in the infamous "foot fetish" segment of HBO's Real Sex (2001)
Monica and me in the 2002 French doc, Viva Las Vegas?
Monica and me in the Thrillville Pulp Fiction collection book trailer shot at Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge in Alameda, CA, 2011:
Original book trailer for The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection, shot and edited by Christopher Sorrenti (2011)
In other news, I was kicked off Facebook for a week after I posted a link to an Etsy page selling this centerfold of my father's ex-wife, Jeane Manson. So I bought it out of spite.
Facebook is still afraid of nipples.
In other news, I was kicked off Facebook for a week after I posted a link to an Etsy page selling this centerfold of my father's ex-wife, Jeane Manson. So I bought it out of spite.
Facebook is still afraid of nipples.
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| Exiled to Mars! Autumn cocktails at the University of Washington Club: |
CHEERS!
You may also dig:
"Thrillville," my official theme song by The Moon-Rays |
Interview conducted by Drive-In Radio host Alec Cizak, October 24, 2017,
broadcast from Missoula, Montana.
Podcast interview by Steven Gomez for The Noir Factory, August 2017
Promoting the first edition of A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge on San Francisco's Creepy KOFY Movietime, 2010
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ONLINE SHORT FICTION
PEOPLE BUG ME (2013)
ESCAPE FROM THRILLVILLE (2014)
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BOOKS:
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| New! VIC VALENTINE: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MISERY BUY |
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HARD-BOILED HEART from Gutter Books!
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