My new novel, Armadillo Fists, is now available at amazon.com. In my opinion, this is probably the best book I’ve written yet. A lot of my books have been released this year, but this is the one I most recommend. Stylistically, it is similar to Zombies and Shit or Crab Town (It has the epic pacing and character development of Zombies and Shit, but with the crime-drama-set-in-a-surreal-world flavor of Crab Town.)
Anyway, if you only read one of my books published this year, make it this one…
ARMADILLO FISTS
A weird-as-hell gangster story set in a world where people drive giant mechanical dinosaurs instead of cars.
Her name is Psycho June Howard, aka Armadillo Fists, a woman who replaced both of her hands with living armadillos. She was once the most bloodthirsty fighter in the world of illegal underground boxing. But now she is on the run from a group of psychotic gangsters who believe she’s responsible for the death of their boss.
With the help of a stegosaurus driver named Mr. Fast Awesome–who thinks he is God’s gift to women even though he doesn’t have any arms or legs–June must do whatever it takes to escape her pursuers, even if she has to kill each and every one of them in the process.
Strange, engaging characters, breakneck pacing, and jam-packed with more brilliantly weird concepts than you’ll know what to do with–this is cult author Carlton Mellick III at his best.
Available at amazon.com
In addition to Armadillo Fists, two more bizarro books have just been released:
As I have said in the past, I mentor new authors from time to time. Cameron Pierce and Athena Villaverde are two authors I work with regularly. I put a lot of love and attention into these authors and highly recommend their work to those who enjoy my books. They have just released books that I consider must-reads. So if you plan on getting Armadillo Fists, I recommend also adding these two books to your amazon.com shopping cart.
CLOCKWORK GIRL
BY ATHENA VILLAVERDE
Athena writes strange urban fairy tales. If urban fairy tales are your thing then she is a must read. Think of her as the bizarro equivalent to alternative young adult authors like Francesca Lia Block, Kathe Koja, and Charles de Lint. Fans of Tim Burton, Hayao Miyazaki, or any Studio Ghibli/Japanese animation films would also love her work.
Athena’s 2nd book is the real deal. If you thought she couldn’t possibly beat her awesome debut effort, Starfish Girl, then you’ll be happy to hear her second book not only surpasses her first but blows it completely out of the water. Clockwork Girl is a collection of three short novellas, including the title story which you might have already read in the Bizarro Starter Kit (purple). It also includes “Caterpillar Girl” which is basically a high school drama set in a world of bug people and “Beehive Girl” which is a poetic story about a dancer with living beehive skin who demands the best of her dance partners or else they will be stung to death.
This book is designed to be an introduction to Athena’s work. It proves that she will soon become a major female voice . . . not just in the world of bizarro fiction, but in the world of literature as a whole.
Available at
amazon.com
GARGOYLE GIRLS OF SPIDER ISLAND
BY CAMERON PIERCE
If you follow bizarro fiction you probably already know about the work of Cameron Pierce. When it comes to strange imagery, Cameron is king. Nobody can make you visualize the surreal quite like Cameron can. His stories take place in weird worlds that go beyond anything you’ve ever imagined. As I often say, he is best described as Dr. Seuss meets David Cronenberg (and by Cronenberg, I mean early squishy “Videodrome” Cronenberg).
His latest book, Gargoyle Girls of Spider Island, is in my top three favorite Cameron books next to Ass Goblins of Auschwitz and the novella “No Children” published in Abortion Arcade. This book is bizarro pulp trash at its best. It is fast-paced, goofy, gory, low-brow fun yet despite all of that it’s also perhaps Cameron’s most finely-crafted story yet. This one really surprised me.
An excellent young author who will only get better with each book he writes, Cameron Pierce is obviously a must read for bizarro fiction fans.
Available at amazon.com
By the way: at amazon.com, shipping is free on book orders of $25 or more, so you might want to get all three of these books together to save a bit of money.
The Dream People is the ORIGINAL bizarro fiction webzine, debuting back in 1999 (when I was the head editor). It’s now on issue #37. An excerpt from my book Armadillo Fists has been published there. There are also novel excerpts and short stories from Michael A. Arnzen, Blake Butler, Sean Kilpatrick, William Pauley III, Andersen Prunty, Donna Fleck and Gary J. Shipley. And an essay from Lance Olsen. 
Carlton Mellick III 