Whitney Lakin~horror author profile picture

Whitney Lakin~horror author

The lightning will dry all your tears

About Me

I'm a New Orleans-based poet, author, scholar and professor. My work centers on all that is dear to me...pain and redemption, murder, suicide, addiction and starvation, angels, demons, ghosts and true love. I consume books and chocolate with alarming voracity and enjoy meeting like-minded individuals.
Come see me at this year's BabelCon, July 19-20 in Baton Rouge. Check out my blog for more info.
You can also check out my blogs for direct links to order my most recent publications:
My creepy children's poem Thirteenth Child is now out in MIDNIGHT LULLABIES. Proceeds go to Médecins Sans Frontières.
My short story Rorschach Highway just appeared in the October issue of TWISTED DREAMS MAGAZINE.
My short story Exchange Alley has been selected to appear in the Summer 2008 edition of MIDNIGHT TIMES.
My short story Catalan Sky has been selected for TRAIL OF INDISCRETION.
I will also have poetry appearing in New York's CITY MAG. More information to follow.
I'm now hard at work on two manuscripts which, along with "A Paintbrush in the Devil's Toolbox," will form a trilogy. My publisher has just picked up my second novel, "Mutiny in Heaven." It should see release later this year! As for the third, it's still in its nascent stage but is growing and mutating with each passing day....
You can find my first novel, "A Paintbrush in the Devil's Toolbox" through amazon.com, Tower Records and through Borders Books and Barnes and Noble. (You may have to ask them to order it for you at the Information desk).
You can find both my novel and spoken-word CD "White Noise/Black Words" through www.sevendevilsparlor.com
Check out my blog for more direct links.
What the critics are saying:
"Lakin's descriptions are tantalizing; making the ending feel like it comes too soon. A darkly beautiful read!"
~Seven Devils Parlor
"A masterful excursion into a deeper definition of reality."
~Real Detroit magazine
"New Orleans has a new queen of the damned."
~Jeri Cain Rossi, author of "Red Wine Moan"

NEW ORLEANS
We follow the trail
into her house
the air
smells of sweat
scorched sugar
she draws the blinds
and bids us drink
tea made of poppies
we soon forget
the names of other cities
the taste of snow
The black-bellied oven
opens wide enough
for two small bodies
We crawl inside
I reach for you
Our flesh burns,
our bellies filled with candy
~Whitney Lakin

My Interests

http://www.whitneylakin.com

I'd like to meet:

THOSE WHO BURN. LOVERS OF LITERATURE AND POETRY. INTERESTING PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE CULTURES. PEOPLE GOING TO THE 2008 WORLD HORROR CONVENTION.

Music:

My favorite band of all time is THE BIRTHDAY PARTY.

On heavy rotation in the last few months while I've been working on the "Paintbrush" trilogy: Noir Desir, Alien Sex Fiend, Sex Gang Children, IAMX, Gary Numan, Nine Inch Nails, Covenant, Wolfsheim, The Arcade Fire, Cibo Matto, T. Rex, Collide, Android Lust, Praga Khan, Cocteau Twins, Kill Memory Crash, The Spores, Tom Waits, KMFDM, Skinny Puppy, ADRV, Puscifer, Combichrist, The Virgin Prunes, Bat for Lashes, David Bowie, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Ladytron, Milla, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Spores, The Pixies, Legendary Pink Dots, Neubauten, Jeff Buckley, Die Haut, Anita Lane, Dirty Three.

In general: 80's, glam, goth, garage, dance, trance, experimental, ambient, electroclash, trip-hop, celtic, retro, Seattle grunge, boogie-woogie, old time rock 'n' roll.

Movies:

My First Mister, Preaching to the Perverted, Nightmare Before Christmas, Le Diner de Cons, Holy Smoke, The Blob, Heathers, The Breakfast Club, Amélie, Nikita, The Salton Sea, Angela, Lola Rennt, Der Krieger und Die Kaiserin, Monster, Tutto Su Mia Madre, The Road to God Knows Where, Johnny Suede, Aeon Flux, Un Chien Andalou, Nana (Jean Rénoir), Der Himmel über Berlin, La Reine Margot, Was Tun Wenn's Brennt, Winterschlafer, C'est arrivé près de chez vous.

Television:

Hmm...why isn't there a space for favorite artists as well? Or favorite breakfast cereals, for that matter? If there were, mine would be:

Damien Hirst, Salvador Dali, H.R. Geiger, Jenny Holzer, Andy Warhol, Artemisia Gentileschi, Caspar David Friedrich, Jacques-Louis David, Paul Delaroche, Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Doré, Eugène Atget. Also: New Orleans' own Louviere + Vanessa, Chris Slave and Heather Weathers
and All Bran.

Books:

To name a few:
Les maudits français surtout Rimbaud, Verlaine et Baudelaire, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, Pierre de Ronsard, Paul Valéry, anything Vonnegut, Goethe especially The Sufferings of Young Werther and Faust, Oscar Wilde, Homer's Odyssey, Bram Stoker, The Virgin Suicides, Ray Bradbury, John Everson, Christa Faust, Shirley Jackson, Martin Mundt, Timothy Leary, William S. Burroughs, Aleister Crowley (*especially* Diary of a Drug Fiend), Sartre, Camus, Ionesco, Chuck Palahhiuk, Lewis Carol (Alice in Wonderland), Johnny Cash (Man in black), Nick Cave (The Ass Saw the Angel), Vincent Bugliosi, Steven King, Hemingway (A Moveable Feast), Neil Gaiman, Naiomi Wolf, Marya Hornbacher (Wasted), Mary Pipher, Billy Childish (Notebooks of a Naked Youth) Dave Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day), Patrick Suskind (Das Parfum), Mikhail Bulgakov (Heart of a Dog),World War II history, travel books, rock n' roll biographies, vampire lore, greek mythology, stuff about voodoo/hoodoo, true crime, ANYTHING ABOUT THE DEVIL.
A few of my favorite New Orleans works are: Poppy Z Brite (Wormwood, Lost Souls, Exquisite Corpse, Drawing Blood), Jeri Cain Rossi (Angel With a Criminal Kiss, Red Wine Moan), Matthew Nolan (Crumpled Paper Dolls), J. K. Toole (A Confederacy of Dunces), Andrew Fox (Fat White Vampire Blues, Bride of Fat White Vampire), Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire), John Biguenet (The Torturer's Apprentice, Oyster), Andrei Codrescu (New Orleans Mon Amour), Chris Rose (One Dead in Attic), Kate Chopin (The Awakening), Anne Rice (Interview With the Vampire) and New Orleans Noir, edited by Julie Smith.

Heroes:

Anyone who has kicked addiction. People who are comfortable with themselves or are striving to get there. Artists who stick with it, no matter how hard it is. Sex-positive workers. People who've come out. People who've gone through gender reassignment. Anyone who is/was self confident. Anyone who remains healthy & centered despite the stresses of being alive. Educated women who speak out against /fight injustice. Kind people. Funny people.Specifically: Artemisia Gentileschi, Rachel Carson, Doc Scully, Josephine Baker, Janeane Garafolo, Naiomi Wolf, Poppy Z Brite, Margaret Cho, Morganna LaFey, Loreena Mckennitt, Princess Di, Jeanne D'Arc, Lillith, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Susie Bright, Annie Sprinkles, Candida Royale, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Simone Weil.

My Blog

Appearing at BABELCON in Baton Rouge

I’ll be on the "Paranomal" panel at this year’s BabelCon in Baton Rouge, July 19-20. For more info, including hotel reservations, check out the BabelCon site....
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:28:00 PST

Interview with the Netherlands-based CYBERANGELS

CyberAngles interviewA very scary Xmas to all!
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 12:49:00 PST

Press release and order info for "Thirteenth Child," appearing in MIDNIGHT LULLABIES

Here's a direct link to order a copyWorld writers pen creepy children's tales for anthologyMidnight Lullabies proceeds go to Doctors Without BordersThousand Oaks, CA (Saturday, November 10, 2007) -- ...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:35:00 PST

Short story appearing in TWISTED DREAMS MAGAZINE

A car crash....a bloody trail...mutilation, and the sun sets....My short story "Rorschach Highway" is featured in the Halloween issue of TWISTED DREAMS MAGAZINE, available now through Lulu Press. If y...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:14:00 PST

The Writers life--writing/publishing tips for new writers

Disclaimer: Just to let you know--I'm very sorry, but I don't have the power to actually get you published. My aim here is to share advice that I've had to find out the hard way on the path from the f...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:13:00 PST

HOW TO ORDER A COPY OF MY BOOK AND SPOKEN WORD CD

You can find my novel, "A Paintbrush in the Devil's Toolbox" through amazon.comIn the UK: amazon.co.ukIn Canada: amazon.caIt's also available through TOWER records You can also order signed copies th...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:31:00 PST

FIVE NEW POEMS

I needI need the citylike a drugslow, muddy veins, eyelids half-opened shuttersneedle raindawn bleeding into daylightI need the citylike a womanface covered in filthy black cosmeticsdeisel breathrippe...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:25:00 PST

Make Levees not War

Merry Xmas, everyone:)Just wanted to share an article I've written about the comeback of New Orleans.Here's what Gridskipper, the decadent travel magazine has to say about it:"Lakin exhibits a very Ne...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Sun, 25 Dec 2005 11:27:00 PST

RANDOM STUFF ABOUT ME

DAMN YANKEE WITH AN AFFINITY FOR ANYTHING STRAY AND CUTE...ORIGINALLY FROM JUST OUTSIDE DETROIT, MICH BUT NOW LIVING AMONGST THE SOUTHERN RENAISSANCE. ON THE LOOKOUT FOR CARPETBAGGERS. DEVOTEE OF MYST...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Tue, 26 Dec 2006 01:50:00 PST

No alarms and no surprises

Sitting here on the first truly cool fall day, I realize one thing:I live the good life. Today, we opened the windows in the classroom in which I teach and let the bright morning sun filter in. Yester...
Posted by Whitney Lakin~horror author on Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:46:00 PST