The Marsupial Inside Me, a neo-noir Bizarro tale, is set to be published by January or so by Extasy Books, best-known for romance. Bizarro is an odd genre (ya think?) and I've been interested in it for a while. Probably the best-known practitioner is Portland's Carlton Mellick III, noted for books like The Haunted Vagina and Satan Burger. Marsupial is set in a desolate future in which the human race has been converted into, yes, marsupials. The novella follows private eye Ben Turlough as he searches for a missing heiress, amid mutants, madness and a certain number of adult beverages. The yuck-factor isn't as pronounced as in many Bizarro offerings, but if that's yer bag, you won't be disappointed here, methinks.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate this cover, by Extasy regular Martine Jardin? I'll admit it wasn't exactly what I had in mind for the book, at least initially ,but it grew on me quick and fast. I suppose the guy with the beard is Ben, though I imagined him clean-shaven and Bogartish, and the blonde guy is almost certainly his crony, boozed-out journo hack William Twill. The cynical barkeep is probably Lumpy (I assumed it was another bartender who appears in the book called Bud, but in that case he would've looked more like Jabba the Hutt). That cover really brought me back to my drinking days, for which I am sadly grateful.
Hoping this does well--I'm not sure if any more Bizarro is in my future, but writing this was a fun experience, and I think I'd like it if there were. Devoted Rubisphiles may keep an eye out for it on Amazon and other reputable vendors.
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