I still refuse to look at the word count and it is becoming very clear that I will no longer pay attention to word counts while writing longer works. I've come to the conclusion that they are bothersome and more of a hindrance to my creativity. I glance at the page count, but not obsessively.
Hell Awaits is coming along nicely. I've written 215 pages with no end in sight. I know where the story is going and how the conflict will come to a head, but I don't know when or where and how it will end. The characters (four of them) have been developed rather nicely, though one of them is completely different from when I began writing the book. I will have to fix those details while doing rewrites (I suppose they've all changed a bit from the beginning). Now that I think about it, there's a villain who needs a little developing...
I already have my next project planned out. Well, not really planned out so much as waiting in the back of my mind. I have the title already, but I'm going to keep it under wraps. There's no reason for me to get excited about a project that hasn't even began and probably not a lot of folks who really give a damn. I will say this: it will be on a much heavier emotional level than Hell Awaits with far less gore and bloodshed. It will be a blend of literary fiction and horror, if I can pull that off. Either way, I'll give it my best shot.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Review of Pantomime
The folks at Sonar4 wrote a nice review of my four story chapbook Pantomime on their blog Sonar4 Landing Dock Reviews. You can read the review HERE. The book can be purchased at panicpress.org in print or at amazon.com for kindle.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The State of Horror
It seems like everyone is talking about the state of horror fiction lately; trends, and which direction the genre is moving in. So I thought I would write some of my views for what they're worth.
I have been an avid fan of the macabre for as long as I can remember. Looking back, I suppose it was the emotional reaction that drew me into horror's embrace. As a youth films that aren't supposed to be scary like Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice scared the hell out of me. It was the strange and unnatural I suppose, but it now seems foolish that those films once instilled fear within me. I was but a child. As a young teen I watched everything from Hellraiser to Night of the Living Dead to A Nightmare on Elm Street. There are scary parts in these films, but I was more attracted to the horror, and it snowballed when I discovered Stephen King and HP Lovecraft.
Once I began reading horror it was over. I never looked at entertainment the same. There's so much to offer in a book, worlds that are far more vivid and interesting that that of a film, and the possibilities are endless. Just so long as the writing is good and the ideas are fresh, right? Sure.
As any avid reader, I have read a shit-load of crap (pardon the pun), but with that comes works of absolute brilliance, which makes all the shoveling of the crap well worth it. Now we live in the age of the Internet, e-readers and POD (print-on-demand) publishing, which allows any old shmo to self publish their book and promote it all over blogs, forums, facebook, twitter, myspace, and who knows what other avenues. Maybe one in several hundred of these self published books are gems. Maybe not. Point is, I for one don't want to waste my time reading self published drivel to get to the good book that should have been picked up by a small press publisher at the very least. I don't see self publishing going anywhere soon, because authors who cannot find a break or those who are writing absolute garbage will take the easy road and self publish, though most if not all of them will later realize what an error that was being that the success rate of self published authors is very low. There are some out there who have signed major book deals, but they are far and few between.
As for the small press scene, I think it will grow, primarily due to technology, i.e. POD publishing, e-readers, etc. This is a good thing, though an overabundance of small press publishers can easily lead to unqualified people publishing books without any know-how and pushing poor quality books for the sake of making a buck. This hurts authors and the industry, but it is a fact of life and a very good reason we as authors should do our research before querying a publisher.
As for the major publishers, they are going nowhere, for the most part, but I have to assume they will stay "safe" and publish books that either ride the latest trend (sparkling vampires, anyone; zombies) or emulate the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Maybe enough buzz will be created with the small press to cause the big guys to take a chance on some brilliant new authors who write quality horror that stretches the bounds, but I'm not holding my breath. Some of us will make it to that New York publisher and see our names on the cover of hardback books in a brick and mortar bookstores, but more of us wont, and that's just the reality of it.
Now, what about trends? Where are they going? Well, it's safe to say that emotional vampires have been a trend and it can't go away too soon, in my opinion. Zombies seem to be a trend that has been slowly rising (from the grave!), though I fear what will become of the zombies when they become emotional and, God forbid, sparkly. At my local book store over the past holiday season I was stunned at how many zombie parody books were available at the counters as I walked in the store. There was nothing serious containing zombies, but there sure were a lot of humorous books and children's books featuring the undead. Take that how you like, but we're one step away from zombies in a love triangle, and I'm afraid of where that will lead.
What I see as a trend in the small press is ultra violent and erotic horror. I'm all for the ultra violent as long as it's a good story and not a senseless gore fest, but I have to say the erotic element that seems to be rearing it's head in horror is something that I don't enjoy reading. It does seem like a trend, though, and I can't do anything about that. There are a lot of extreme horror anthologies that have come out in the past couple of years, and many more on the way, and, unfortunately, extreme means genital mutilation and sexual deviance to far too many horror authors. I suppose there's a market for this, but I'm sad to see so much of it.
What I want to see: well written tales filled with dreadful mood and atmosphere that thrill and scare and aren't afraid to shed some blood. Fortunately, there's a lot of this out there, and that makes me happy. Where the next decade will take us, only time will tell.
I have been an avid fan of the macabre for as long as I can remember. Looking back, I suppose it was the emotional reaction that drew me into horror's embrace. As a youth films that aren't supposed to be scary like Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice scared the hell out of me. It was the strange and unnatural I suppose, but it now seems foolish that those films once instilled fear within me. I was but a child. As a young teen I watched everything from Hellraiser to Night of the Living Dead to A Nightmare on Elm Street. There are scary parts in these films, but I was more attracted to the horror, and it snowballed when I discovered Stephen King and HP Lovecraft.
Once I began reading horror it was over. I never looked at entertainment the same. There's so much to offer in a book, worlds that are far more vivid and interesting that that of a film, and the possibilities are endless. Just so long as the writing is good and the ideas are fresh, right? Sure.
As any avid reader, I have read a shit-load of crap (pardon the pun), but with that comes works of absolute brilliance, which makes all the shoveling of the crap well worth it. Now we live in the age of the Internet, e-readers and POD (print-on-demand) publishing, which allows any old shmo to self publish their book and promote it all over blogs, forums, facebook, twitter, myspace, and who knows what other avenues. Maybe one in several hundred of these self published books are gems. Maybe not. Point is, I for one don't want to waste my time reading self published drivel to get to the good book that should have been picked up by a small press publisher at the very least. I don't see self publishing going anywhere soon, because authors who cannot find a break or those who are writing absolute garbage will take the easy road and self publish, though most if not all of them will later realize what an error that was being that the success rate of self published authors is very low. There are some out there who have signed major book deals, but they are far and few between.
As for the small press scene, I think it will grow, primarily due to technology, i.e. POD publishing, e-readers, etc. This is a good thing, though an overabundance of small press publishers can easily lead to unqualified people publishing books without any know-how and pushing poor quality books for the sake of making a buck. This hurts authors and the industry, but it is a fact of life and a very good reason we as authors should do our research before querying a publisher.
As for the major publishers, they are going nowhere, for the most part, but I have to assume they will stay "safe" and publish books that either ride the latest trend (sparkling vampires, anyone; zombies) or emulate the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Maybe enough buzz will be created with the small press to cause the big guys to take a chance on some brilliant new authors who write quality horror that stretches the bounds, but I'm not holding my breath. Some of us will make it to that New York publisher and see our names on the cover of hardback books in a brick and mortar bookstores, but more of us wont, and that's just the reality of it.
Now, what about trends? Where are they going? Well, it's safe to say that emotional vampires have been a trend and it can't go away too soon, in my opinion. Zombies seem to be a trend that has been slowly rising (from the grave!), though I fear what will become of the zombies when they become emotional and, God forbid, sparkly. At my local book store over the past holiday season I was stunned at how many zombie parody books were available at the counters as I walked in the store. There was nothing serious containing zombies, but there sure were a lot of humorous books and children's books featuring the undead. Take that how you like, but we're one step away from zombies in a love triangle, and I'm afraid of where that will lead.
What I see as a trend in the small press is ultra violent and erotic horror. I'm all for the ultra violent as long as it's a good story and not a senseless gore fest, but I have to say the erotic element that seems to be rearing it's head in horror is something that I don't enjoy reading. It does seem like a trend, though, and I can't do anything about that. There are a lot of extreme horror anthologies that have come out in the past couple of years, and many more on the way, and, unfortunately, extreme means genital mutilation and sexual deviance to far too many horror authors. I suppose there's a market for this, but I'm sad to see so much of it.
What I want to see: well written tales filled with dreadful mood and atmosphere that thrill and scare and aren't afraid to shed some blood. Fortunately, there's a lot of this out there, and that makes me happy. Where the next decade will take us, only time will tell.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Malicious Deviance -- NOW AVAILABLE
That's right! Malicious Deviance is now available at amazon.com. 25 twisted tales from the perspective of bad, evil or just plain out disagreeable protagonists. This book takes your average story of good vs. evil and flips it on its head. If you are interested in reading these unique and strange stories of horror, you can purchase the book HERE
Here's the Table of Contents:
Here's the Table of Contents:1. Taking Out the Trash by Philip Roberts
2. Red Turns to Green by Del James
3. Love Refinished by Jeff Kozzi
4. Bad for Business by Michelle D. Sonnier
5. Shotgun Shelter by Jason Sizemore
6. Better than God by Lancer Kind
7. Margery's Alternative Therapies by Tammi Pratt
8. Gossip Hounds of Sherry Town by James A. Sabata
9. Punishment by Travis Heermann
10. They Pissed on My Sofa by David A. Riley
11. Killing Klaas by Aaron Legler
12. Stalin's Coal Mine by Richard Marsden
13. Six Cases of Beaujolais by John C. Caruso
14. Death and Decay by Natalie L. Sin
15. The Howling of the Wolves by Eric Pinder
16. Urination and Degradation by Keith Gouveia
17. A Wife from Hell by Uri Grey
18. Sea Glass by Jacob A. Boyd
19. Pied Piper by Robert Walford
20. Rats and Rednecks by Rob Rosen
21. El Dentisto que Corta by Mike Norris
22. Goodnight, Francine by Stacy Longo
23. Nil by Barry Rosenberg
24. Mr. Banjo by Tonia Brown
25. The Nasty Club by Jeffery Scott Sims
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Lakatos Clan
Well, it looks like Sideshow Fables #3 is almost ready. It's been quite a wait for this one, but I just received an email saying that it is almost done and will be available for kindle when it comes out. It isn't going to be in print like the first two issues, and I'm note sure, but I think it will be available at sideshowfables.com when it goes live. (I just noticed this web address has expired, but I imagine they're dealing with that since I just got the update email.)
I will be pleased to see my story of carnival craziness "The Lakatos Clan" published in this issue and hope that those of you wandering into my blog will check it out when I post the link.
I will be pleased to see my story of carnival craziness "The Lakatos Clan" published in this issue and hope that those of you wandering into my blog will check it out when I post the link.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
WIP -- Hell Awaits
My latest work in progress is now called Hell Awaits. I wrote a post earlier about not looking at the word count any longer and I think it's working for me. I have no clue what the word count is, but I'm on page 148, which makes me wonder if I have replaced the word count obsession with a new-found page number obsession. I don't think so. I don't pay all that much attention to the page number, at least not obsessively, and it seems that writing is based more on word count than anything else as far as length is considered. There are some very large paragraphs in this WIP, which could account for a possible lengthy word count with fewer pages than something that is dialogue heavy. But that goes without saying.
At any rate, Hell Awaits is coming along nicely, and I'm not sure where it's going. And that's just fine with me. I'm not a fan of plotting too far in advance. I find it easier to take it as it comes and see where the characters go. They really do have minds of their own, so it would do them a disservice if I acted too much like a puppet master. They have a far better story to show that I can dream up anyway.
At any rate, Hell Awaits is coming along nicely, and I'm not sure where it's going. And that's just fine with me. I'm not a fan of plotting too far in advance. I find it easier to take it as it comes and see where the characters go. They really do have minds of their own, so it would do them a disservice if I acted too much like a puppet master. They have a far better story to show that I can dream up anyway.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Rusted Roots
My latest story "Rusted Roots" has been published in the current issue of the.gloaming magazine online. It is available to read for free HERE. The print zine will be available very soon.
What happens when you mix sci-fi with horror with tragedy? You get "Rusted Roots," my dim look at the future where a government "bug" changes everything we once knew and cherished. This story made me sad to write. Perhaps more so than anything I've written before.
Enjoy!
What happens when you mix sci-fi with horror with tragedy? You get "Rusted Roots," my dim look at the future where a government "bug" changes everything we once knew and cherished. This story made me sad to write. Perhaps more so than anything I've written before.
Enjoy!
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