dbFools Publication
An independent press built on a fools belief.
Living without constraint will bring a life of freedom.
Now I’m trapped in this publication. That’s protocol, when you discover something worthwhile. To get sucked into it. Falling into the rabbit hole, down and down. After enough coffees and poetry you might find yourself reading a word you can’t quite forget. Like shrimping (v). You might try to leave after reading something, that, just felt off, like the smell of a fruit growing moldy. There happens to live a lot of strange and surrealist horror in the shade of these words. Push on, and trees will teach you math from the cracks of their branches.
And just while you were heading out, there is one artifact here that catches your eye. Say, perhaps, the peculiarities I wrote without yet knowing why it was for you.
Lets say you stay. What would it look like?
Continue Reading Below
Find the literature in the newsletters below
The writers
Many voices. One house.
dbFools Publication is the work of Adam-Dylan Bowlby, me, writing in split personality.
Literary voice · Fool of Paradise
Adam-Dylan
Poet · Story teller · Drunkard
I’ve written a good many books blegh I’ve seen a good long list of poetic devices blegh I’ve read more classics than faces at a bar blegh blegh blegh ble blegh
Analytical voice · Fools Proof
Adam Bowlby
Essayist · Independent Scholar · Unregistered Psychologist
Indeed, there are quite a few ways to examine the world — though what better than through observation and interpretation? Indeed, I might write a good word here and there, but these notes are for my lobes alone — not myself to look good against!
Interior voice · Son of Man
Dylan
Confessor · Mad Philosopher · Pyromaniac
Life is a holy incongruency between humanity's upper half and its lower. The Son of Man and the Son of God. Raw mixture. A fire water scorching my lips as I spit it. Frankly, I do not want to read these entries again — they are burned into my mind.
Gothic & genre voice · The Gothic Interactive Series
Dylan Boltrin
Genre writer · Gothic creator · Book designer
We all got to make money somehow. Id prefer to do it with a keyboard. Genre fiction and the stories that are going to be released as pulp. I’d like to make pulp fiction, mostly because I want more cheap reads going around.
The publications — on Substack
Fool of Paradise
The flagship. It all started here. Poetry, Prose, Fiction, Horror. Published regularly and offered to the hungry looking for nutrition. Some stories include behind the scenes and draft processes or writing philosophies. This is what I am most proud of, Adam-Dylan. Two years of daily poetry collections and now my scattered fiction stories i think about every day. From the moment I wake up to falling asleep, this literature is on my mind, revealing the world in front of me as the only story I can tell.
Start here:
The Fools Proof
This is the rabbit hole explored. The essays on economics, politics, and psychology. From observation to interpretation. This is my scientific mind, Adam Bowlby, the psychology graduate and grad-school coming. I went to school to learn jargon so I could argue points nobody is asking for. Socrates was an inspiration. So was Jung. So is my morbid curiosity that pervades every thought. The goal is to uncover, discover, and dissect the living world — hell, the unexplored life is not worth living, so why survive a life not worth living?
Start here:
Son of Man
Deep in the mechanisms of my own subconscious, the shadow sees the sun, the hidden trunk unlocks with a golden key — manuscripts crumpled and nearly burnt lay with confessions of a mind half bent into an animal’s spine, as the philosophies of a man justifying madness curl at the pages corner with a bloody flame for light to finally know the darkest parts of man’s son...
pain has not been an enemy, and happiness is not a friend…
Paid subscribers only.
Start here:
dbFools Prints & Illustrations
Alright now this is a new one, but I am artist so what can I say I like photos and paint and whatevaaaa.
Home for all illustrations and prints. Includes my photography, and the artwork of my partner who produces the way I produce writing: by diving deep into the depths. They’ll have a proper introduction when they get on board.
Get started… when I get started…
dbFools Media
The Verge Series — Adam Dylan
My poetry collections published first on substack under the Fool of Paradise name. These poetry collections symbolized something rich in my life, a continuity captured by my daily poem writing that I couldn’t get from somewhere else.
Adam-Dylan Bowlby released The Verge Series to mark an official threshold in his life — the space between mind-states, between many selves, and between what has and what has-yet.
Find them on amazon. DM me directly for discounts and signed copies.
The Verge Series — Vol. I
Between an End and a Beginning
A poetry collection written at the edge of transformation. The exhaling of one life and an inhale of another. The origin story to my publication. These are the poems that made me see the world in a new way. Its the reason I write for nobody to see it. My writing is capturing the emotional spirals of my life. I get to read it and go back to where I was before I wrote it, to when I lived it. This is the book I would give away for free. If hats what you want, then message me.
Also available on Amazon · Paperback & Kindle
The Verge Series — Vol. II
An Anatomically Accurate Heart
Of all the poetry I wrote, its love poems that float. I found a theme of them all, they weren’t always pretty, but they were the reality of it. I found the idea of an anatomically accurate heart pretty funny because all I know is the symbol and nobody uses the anatomically accurate heart to symbolize love. But I was writing it for so long with an anatomically accurate and, albeit emotionally detached, way of looking at my love and longing that it just naturally fit. I found six beats that my love poems fit into. This poetry collection follows those beats — the first breath of air that feeds the blood, to the electrical currents, the pumping — the first taste of love, the feeling of something happening outside of yourself, the rushing of emotion. All embodied through this book and these poems. Originally designed artwork.
Also available from me or on Amazon · Paperback & Kindle
The Gothic Interactive Series — Dylan Boltrin
Gothic Alter Ego
I have these ideas, as everyone does, that people can be who they want to be. Dylan Boltrin is a people who I want to be. Name wise, at least, he’s not real. But I’m making him real. This is the gothic alter ego, this is the genre fiction writer who has a name that sounds like it belongs on a manuscript.
The gothic interactive series is my way of satisfying an itch I have that has not yet been scratched. Interactive books. I love writing, journaling, and I find the simplicity of prompts to be satisfying to answer. This is a series im making to try my hand at creative books. As I am always consumed by the need to create, as natural balance for what I consume, this book is something I can create and then consume. Does that make sense? Good. Heres what I have planned.
Gothic Coloring Book
Gothic Coloring: Architecture Ruins and Landscapes
Printable gothic coloring book. This was because there weren’t any gothic coloring books that focused on the cool stuff. There is such thing as gothic landscapes and people need to recognize that Gothic aesthetic is about the stillness of inevitable decays. It feels like my first observation of the liminal. I appreciate it most, so yes, this is an AI made coloring book blegh but I made a point to make it better than the slop I see everywhere because this is made for me. Works great with textured paper and colored pencils, line work isn’t perfect but it’ll be a test of focus if you care and a relaxing process if you don’t. Either way, these architecture ruins and landscapes make an immersive Gothic experience for anyone, following seven sections through grandeur and decay.
Available now as an instant PDF download.
The full physical edition coming soon to Amazon.
Interactive Gothic Prompt Journal (Coming soon)
Covenant House
An interactive gothic prompt journal. Coming soon. My favorite idea so far. Can’t have anyone steal it.
Coming soon — dbFools Shop
Media
Objects from the press.
dbFools Publication produces physical objects designed to carry the brand into the world. Every piece is an extension of the work. Artifacts.
Bookmarks
dbFools Publication Bookmark
A 2×5.6 literary bookmark. Obsidian and crimson. Gold monogram. A piece of the press you can carry in any book you read.
Available in person only. Good luck finding me. I’ll be leaving them in bookstores.
Poetry Collections
The Verge Series — Physical Copies
Both volumes available in paperback. Sold directly from dbFools for signed copies and through Amazon for standard retail.
Amazon ·
Direct from dbFools email dbfools@outlook.com
or message me on substack
The shop — Payhip
Digital work.
The dbFools Payhip shop carries the PDF editions of published work — coloring books, poetry collections, and exclusive digital releases. Every purchase goes directly to the press.
Coming soon: dbFools Illustrations. Originally designed clothing and prints. Artwork by Dahlia Argof.
Free Substack subscribers receive 10% off using code: LJ5S58W7EV
Paid subscribers receive 25% off. All discounts sent on subscribe.
Editorial services
Editing from a working writer.
Adam Dylan Bowlby offers editorial services through the publication email: dbFools@outlook.com
Manuscript review, line editing, and feedback for writers. If you think my writing or background would be a good fit for one of your projects, send me an email. I specialize in the psychology of behavior and consciousness.
Founding members of dbFools receive editorial sessions included in their membership.
For the fools who refuse to drown
Find us
Email directly: dbfools@outlook.com
Instagram and Pinterest handle: @dbfools
Message me directly.
Talk to the others
