Iconoclast Productions

Publisher info

Publisher Info:

"Writer's Muse" is a writer's group on Facebook. The Writer's Muse Group publishes the Writer's Muse Magazine.

Author Info:

Sumiko Saulson is a horror novelist, published poet and writer of short stories and editorials. Her novels include "Solitude," "Warmth", and "The Moon Cried Blood". A native Californian, she was born and spent her early childhood in Los Angeles, moving to Hawaii, where she spent her teen years, at the age of 12. She has spent most of her adult life living in the San Francisco Bay Area. An early interest in writing and advanced reading skills eventually lead to her becoming a staff writer for her high school paper, the Daily Bugle (McKinley High, Honolulu, HI) one of the nation's only four such daily High School papers at the time. By the time she moved to San Francisco at age 19, she had two self-published books of poetry and was a frequently published poet in local community newspapers and reading poetry around town.

Smashwords Interview

When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
My original day-job was as a computer graphic artist, and I ended up in computer repairs and cross-platform integration for Macintosh and Windows based computers not long after. I also enjoy art as a creative pursuit. I paint, and my preferred medium is acrylics on paper, although I also paint on canvas and found wooden objects such as table tops and pieces of cabinets. My paintings have been exhibited in art galleries, coffee shops, and community centers here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am a journalist, covering the arts scene in Oakland, California for the Examiner.com.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
The first book I ever created was actually a coloring book. I was five years old, and I gave it to my cousin, Gina, for Hanukkah. The first story I wrote was in the third grade. It was a series of stories, actually, campfire tales about skinless, skeletal zombies with still-rotting fleshing clumps of flesh and internal organs. I guess you can say that I was a horror writer at an early age.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Iconoclast Productions online

Ghost Cat Is Best Cat, the Drain Monster and Other Tales of Terror
Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 10. Language: English. Published: March 30, 2024 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Graphic novels & comics » Anthologies
Ghost Cat is Best Cat, The Drain Monster, and Other Tales of Terror includes illustrated the short stories "And They Lived Long Enough To Bury Their Dead," "Agrippa", "DreamWorlds", and "Snowthistle" - as well as micro-tales like "Little Book of Big Dreams" and "DookyBombs" round out this graphic novel collection of horror and dark fantasy stories written and illustrated by Sumiko Saulson.
Black Women in Horror Month Magazine - March 2023
Price: Free! Words: 64,720. Language: English. Published: March 3, 2023 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Horror, Fiction » African American fiction » Contemporary woman
The BWiHM Special Edition magazine features short stories, poetry, and art by our fabulous community of creatives. This outstanding publication, celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the first BWiHM list, will showcase our works for readers interested in tasting what we as a community have to offer.
The Rat King
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 9,650. Language: English. Published: June 8, 2022 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Poetry » American poetry » African American, Poetry » Themes & motifs » Death
Freely mixing light-hearted horror about zombies and vampires with more serious topics such as homelessness, mental health, racism, death, and polyamory, each poem in this anthology will confront you with the very things society prefers to ignore. Always grounded in speculative fiction, they nonetheless remark upon our real world with a comfortable and revealing familiarity.
Within Me Without Me
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 44,020. Language: English. Published: October 3, 2021 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Historical » USA, Poetry » American poetry » African American
Dark poetry and prose written at the intersection of Blackness, Queerness, and Neurodivergence, where magic is mistaken for madness, organic hosts willingly bind themselves with artificial intelligence, and instruments designed for music are enchanted for revenge. Ghost ships embark on twisted, versical affairs with krakens. Ghostly husbands believe “til death do us part” must be mutual.
Scry of Lust 2
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 101,120. Language: English. Published: May 28, 2020 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Erotica » Anthologies, Fiction » Erotica » Paranormal
Scorching erotica to heat up your coldest nights. Darkly seductive poetry. Steaming sexy short stories, and delicious hot romances. Like it rough? Like it slow, smooth and tender? Enjoy the best of both worlds with the second installment of Scry of Lust.
Ashes and Coffee: A Dark Tale of Plague and Redemption
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 8,930. Language: English. Published: March 12, 2020 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » Ghost, Fiction » Fantasy » Dark
Death is stalking Berkeley, California in a sleek new jacket and snazzy checkered fedora. Insects and animals collapse in his wake. When the indigent begin to mysteriously die in the streets, the rest of the town is indifferent. Red Montgomery, a nineteen year old black homeless woman, is the only one who can see him. She feels powerless to intervene. But is she?
Black Celebration: Amazing Articles on African American Horror
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 37,550. Language: English. Published: October 31, 2019 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Essay » Literature, Nonfiction » Entertainment » Television
A collection of articles, essays and interviews with and by African American horror writers on black representation in horror, horror diversity, reviews of African American horror films, horror novels, weird fiction, dark fantasy and more.
Living A Lie
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 11,940. Language: English. Published: October 9, 2019 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Urban, Fiction » Urban
"Living a Lie" is a near-future science fiction story about a man born to a mentally ill, homeless mother who has hidden his true identity and background during his quest for upward mobility. The lie he’s been living threatens to unravel when he begins to discover that his mother's symptoms were not signs of the onset of schizophrenia... but of the onset of superhuman powers.
Spit and Pathos
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 54,610. Language: English. Published: October 15, 2018 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Essay » Literature, Fiction » Horror » Weird fiction
Spit and Pathos is a collection of short horror stories, beat poetry about love, death, and grief, and essays on African American literature and black womanhood by Sumiko Saulson. Born in the wake of the death of her former fiancé Gregory Hug, the collection includes award-winning essays and short stories such as "When We First Become Other"
100+ Black Women in Horror
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 40,520. Language: English. Published: February 21, 2018 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Literary biography, Nonfiction » Biography » Woman biographies
Containing the biographies of over one hundred black women who write horror, and seventeen interviews, 100+ Black Women in Horror is a reference guide, a veritable who’s who of female horror writers from the African Diaspora. It is an expansion of the original 2014 book 60 Black Women in Horror.
Blood Moon
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 8. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 15,360. Language: English. Published: March 31, 2017 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Horror, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
It is said the moon never howls at the wolf, but in this strange, new, unpredictable time, things that were never seen before are seen. Those who fought on the side of the wolf, after generations spent in the moon's bloodline, change their allegiance. Is there now hope even for those like Mark Gordon, who were taken over by dark forces long ago?
Moon Shadow
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 7. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 17,400. Language: English. Published: February 28, 2017 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » Occult, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
In a dream, Tisha’s father, Mark Gordon, comes back from the dead, and boy does he have some explaining to do. Not only are his exwife Joy and daughter Tisha annoyed with him, but his evil daughter Alita wants to have words with him. Meanwhile, Bobby Guerrero, the boy Tisha has a crush on, turns out to be one of Lucia's relatives. He shows up at the house and makes life a little more interesting f
Ghosts of Time
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 6. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 15,940. Language: English. Published: December 28, 2016 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Horror, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
Tisha Gordon's mother Joy was adopted. After years of separation, the death of Tisha's biological grandmother Victoria reunites Tisha and Joy with Joy's birth family. During the wake of Victoria's funeral service, Tisha is visited by her ghost, and the strange apparition of a sickly young girl named Lita who says she is from the future. Lita claims to be Tisha's grand daughter.
The Moon Cried Blood (Box Set)
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 118,970. Language: English. Published: June 6, 2016 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » Occult, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Horror
It is said that the Wolf may howl at the Moon, but the Moon never howls at the Wolf. In the gritty urban streets of Los Angeles in 1975, Leticia Gordon is forced to come to terms with many things: the tragic death of her stepmother and baby sister in a car accident, fear she’ll wind up in foster care, and the sudden revelation she belongs to a long line of powerful witches known as Luna.
Warmth
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 65,880. Language: English. Published: August 10, 2015 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » Undead, Fiction » Fantasy » Dark
"I hate the dead. They have no self-control" - Sera. She is ghula - one of the extremely long-lived though not immortal flesh eaters whose lives can end in only one way - in resurrection as a hungry, ambulatory corpse who will spend the short days of its unlife rotting, eating, and infecting as many as possible.
Shadows and Substance
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 5. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 16,840. Language: American English. Published: September 20, 2014 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » Occult, Fiction » Fantasy » Urban
In Book Five of the serialized tale of "The Moon Cried Blood, "Shadow and Substance," things really start to heat up when the Lunae witches start to suffer from frightening dreams and visions, and a new threat, the Dark Luna. Who is she and why is she such a danger to all of the Lunae witches? Shocking supernatural/family revelations abound in the wildest episode of the Moon Cried Blood series
Death Omen
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 4. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 13,610. Language: English. Published: July 27, 2014 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Adventure » Action
Joy’s reunion with her birth family is tainted by tragedy and as the story of her family unfolds, it becomes ever the more clear the ways in which her separation from the Lunae of Beyond left her, and by extension, her daughter Tisha, in a vulnerable position, open to exploitation by the forces of darkness and the sometimes malevolent machinations of Tisha’s bigamist father, Mark Gordon.
Dreams of the Departed
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 3. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 14,510. Language: English. Published: March 31, 2014 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Horror, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
The Moon Cried Blood chronicle continues with "Dreams of the Departed". For Tisha Gordon, it is a family reunion. For her mother Joy, it is a homecoming. Things seem to have calmed down in both of their lives, but things are still not all wine and roses for the Gordon family. Joy has had a disturbing premonition and fears the worse, while Nana Letty is being stalked by a California condor, a death
Bloodlines
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 2. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 14,950. Language: English. Published: March 31, 2014 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Horror, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
The Moon Cried Blood Saga continues as young Tisha Gordon travels across country with her great-great-grandmother Letty and learns both her fate and her history. Meanwhile, her estranged mother, Joy, is on a journey of her own. Will mother and daughter be reunited? Are Tisha's tragedies finally at an end, or are they only just beginning. Who is this mysterious Nana Letty, and what is the secret sh
Writer's Muse Magazine: Spring 2014 Issue
Series: Writer's Muse Magazine, Book 5. Price: Free! Words: 4,930. Language: English. Published: March 29, 2014 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - multi-author, Fiction » Anthologies » Poetry - multi-author
The Spring Issues are about spring, and the holidays in spring, and events of this season. This Spring 2014 issue contains writing by: Kerry E.B. Black Kat Magnoli Richard Cotton Sumiko Saulson Haven Malone Shirley Denton Jacqueline Driggers
Legend of the Luna
Series: The Moon Cried Blood, Book 1. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 15,850. Language: English. Published: January 29, 2014 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Horror
It is said that the Wolf may howl at the Moon, but the Moon never howls at the Wolf. In gritty urban Los Angeles in 1975, 13 year old Leticia Gordon is forced to come to terms with the tragic death of her stepmother and baby sister, fear she’ll wind up in foster care, and the sudden revelation she belongs to a long line of powerful witches known as Lunae. Introduction by Y.A. Author Greg Wilkey
Writer's Muse Magazine: Winter 2013 Issue
Series: Writer's Muse Magazine, Book 4. Price: Free! Words: 15,160. Language: English. Published: December 24, 2013 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - multi-author, Fiction » Anthologies » Poetry - multi-author
The winter issue of Writer's Muse Magazine. The Writer's Muse Page is a group started by Richard Cotton where writers can share with and support one another. Any writers are welcome to join this group. The Writer's Group Smashwords Account was set up by Sumiko Saulson for the group to create a place to publish the quarterly free periodicals by the members of the Facebook Group.
Writer's Muse Magazine: Fall 2013 Issue
Series: Writer's Muse Magazine, Book 3. Price: Free! Words: 12,380. Language: English. Published: October 31, 2013 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - multi-author
The Fall 2013 Issue of Writer's Muse Magazine features stories by Haven Malone, Stephanie Mesler , Sumiko Saulson, Serena Toxicat Richard Cotton, Kat Magnoli and Ben McInnis about Halloween, Samhain, Changing Seasons, Autumn and more.
Writer's Muse Magazine Summer 2013
Series: Writer's Muse Magazine, Book 2. Price: Free! Words: 20,590. Language: English. Published: July 8, 2013 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - multi-author, Fiction » Anthologies » Poetry - multi-author
Writer's Muse Magazine is a free quarterly periodical featuring the works of members of the Writer's Muse Group, a creative writing group with over 500 members, based on the concept of writers helping writers. This Issue Features: Steve Grilliot, Richard Cotton, Carolyn Saulson, Jane Risdon, Sue Van, Haven Malone, Kay Ziegler, Franchesca Saulson, Jessica Hug, Brian Von R, and Sumiko Saulson.
Things That Go Bump In My Head
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 34,290. Language: English. Published: June 17, 2013 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Horror, Fiction » Horror » General
(5.00 from 1 review)
“Things That Go Bump In My Head” is a collection of short stories and other writing by horror and science fiction novelist Sumiko Saulson. A bit of old fashioned horror, a ghost story, dark humor. There is something for everyone: Reading “Things That Go Bump In My Head” is like entering a haunted house ride… you never know what you will find around the corner.
Solitude
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 106,440. Language: English. Published: June 14, 2013 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » General, Fiction » Science fiction » Apocalyptic
To what extent does the presence of others affect our thoughts and actions? What do we believe when we are truly alone? Solitude is the riveting tale of diverse individuals isolated in a San Francisco seemingly void of all other human life. In the absence of others, each journeys into personal web of beliefs and perceptions as they try to determine what happened to them, and the world around them.
Solitude
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 106,290. Language: English. Published: June 14, 2013 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Apocalyptic, Fiction » Horror » General
To what extent does the presence of others affect our thoughts and actions? What do we believe when we are truly alone? Solitude is the riveting tale of diverse individuals isolated in a San Francisco seemingly void of all other human life. In the absence of others, each journeys into personal web of beliefs and perceptions as they try to determine what happened to them, and the world around them.
Writer's Muse Magazine December 2012
Series: Writer's Muse Magazine, Book 1. Price: Free! Words: 15,710. Language: English. Published: December 22, 2012 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Holiday » Christmas
The first issue of ”Writer’s Muse” Magazine! It is a compilation of the works of the Writer’s Muse Page, an online writer’s group started by Richard Cotton. *** The stories and poetry included in the first Writer’s Muse Magazine issue, our Christmas 2012 issue, are participants in a contest on the page.
Hungry Minds
Series: Short Stories from "Things That Go Bump In My Head", Book 3. Price: Free! Words: 1,150. Language: American English. Published: July 31, 2012 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Personal memoir, Nonfiction » Children's Books » Social Issues / Bullying
(5.00 from 2 reviews)
"Hungry Minds" is a very short autobiographical tale about bullying, reading, and what lies in the heart of a writer: especially a very young one. In the brief essay, the writer discusses awkward and painful experiences related to entering Junior High School. It is written from the perspective of a literate seventh grader and is appropriate for younger readers
Frankenzombie
Series: Short Stories from "Things That Go Bump In My Head", Book 2. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 3,040. Language: American English. Published: July 29, 2012 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » Undead, Fiction » Humor & comedy » Black comedy
Joel McArthur is having dinner with his lovely wife, Dr. Lauren McArthur one night after work, discussing his graphic design work a book called "Frankenzombie" and bitching about his boss Terry while Lauren pretty much ignores him. For her part, Lauren's hand is starting to itch. In fact, it itches right where the lab rat bit her earlier. Huh... Wonder if there could be a connection?
I, Stammer (In Disbelief)
Series: Short Stories from "Things That Go Bump In My Head", Book 1. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 2,030. Language: American English. Published: July 29, 2012 by Iconoclast Productions. Categories: Fiction » Horror » General, Fiction » Humor & comedy » Black comedy
Incredulous bus driver Harold Stammer doesn't believe in a lot of things: life after death, safety warnings, and intelligent women, to name a few. People keep trying to tell him otherwise but he doesn't believe them. And when decides to go into a dangerous neighborhood to pick up a free kitten off of Craigslist against friends' advice, what could possibly go wrong?

Series

The Moon Cried Blood
It is said that the Wolf may howl at the Moon, but the Moon never howls at the Wolf. In the gritty urban streets of Los Angeles in 1975, Leticia Gordon is forced to come to terms with many things: the tragic death of her stepmother and baby sister in a car accident, fear she’ll wind up in foster care, and the sudden revelation she belongs to a long line of powerful witches known as Lunae – who exhibit first power at menarche (first menstruation). Running from foes natural and supernatural, will her new found powers be the turning point that elevates her position of honor, or will it destroy her like the dark forces that consumed her father? In a world turned upside down where time itself seems in flux, in whom can she trust? The Moon Cried Blood series is the serialized re-envisioning of the original novel. Re-imagined, reedited, and revamped into a series of eight novelettes designed to be more accessible for Young Adult audiences, the new series includes added material, addresses plot inconsistencies, and has improved proofreading and line editing. It features glorious new full-color covers based on acrylic paintings by the author depicting the action of the story.
Legend of the Luna
Price: $2.99 USD.
Bloodlines
Price: $2.99 USD.
Dreams of the Departed
Price: $2.99 USD.
Death Omen
Price: $2.99 USD.
Shadows and Substance
Price: $2.99 USD.
Ghosts of Time
Price: $2.99 USD.

Books

160 Black Women in Horror
Price: Free! Words: 19,900. Language: English. Published: August 4, 2023 . Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Biographical anthologies, Fiction » Anthologies » Horror
A reference guide listing bios of 160 Black Women who write horror. Thhis edition was assembled as a Black Women in Horror Month project by Sumiko Saulson and Kenya Moss-Dyme, and includes an essay by Kai Leakes.
Wickedly Abled
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 70,730. Language: English. Published: January 15, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - multi-author, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
Wickedly Abled is a dark speculative fiction anthology challenging well-worn tropes depicting disabled persons in solely villain or victim roles by promoting darker themed works of fantasy, sci-fi and horror by authors with disabilities artists which feature disabled protagonists.
Attempted Happiness
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 3,820. Language: English. Published: August 13, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Horror » Occult, Fiction » Horror » General
Something is bothering William lately. It's his roommate, Daniel Finch. For some reason Danny is getting in his way, making his life miserable - at least, that's what his best and only friend keeps telling him. He's not sure why Danny gets on his nerves so badly, but "Munchkin" insists that life would be much better if he'd just get rid of Danny. But should he really be taking advice from his cat?

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