Writecrastination

And The Winners Are...

2011-12-24T00:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Day 12 of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

Though the 'fest is winding up, you can visit the home page any time and meet the authors and find some great new horror for your library. Just click the image to the right.

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It's been real, it's been fun, and it's been real fun, everybody! I met some incredible new authors through this hop, and made some friends as a lovely bonus. Thanks to everyone who agreed to appear on my blog, who hosted me, and all those who left comments.

And now it's time to say goodbye, and thank you... and to announce the winners of my giveaways.

The envelope please!

The recipients of free downloads of my novella, Monsters Unmasked are:

Stacey Jo Siferd
Ash Krafton
Stacey Turner
Kim Konig
Julie Jansen

I've been able to reach some of these winners via email, but others are proving more elusive. If you know them, give them a heads-up and ask them to email me at ripleygold@gmail.com. Winners may access their free downloads via a Smashwords coupon code, or if you prefer I can send an Amazon gift download via email. Please contact me with your preference, and we'll get my book to you ASAP.

The winner of the free e-format of my romantic suspense novel, Make or Break is:

Marissa Farrar

Hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying your books, Marissa!

The winner of the free sneak-peek at Rebecca Treadway's just-completed Callie novella is:

Erik Gustafson

Erik, Rebecca will be in touch about getting you the story.

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Once again, thanks to everyone who guested, hosted, or commented!

Have a Creepy Christmas and a Wicked New Year!

Creepfest Day 11 With Stant Latore

2011-12-23T00:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Day 11 of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

Click on the image to the right to visit the blog hop home page and meet some fantastic authors in all sub-genres of horror and enter to win lots of free stuff!

Details of how you can win one of five free downloads of Monsters Unmasked can be found at the bottom of this post, along with the Question of the Day.

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Today we visit with Stant Latore, author of The Zombie Bible. Book One and Book Two are available now, and I encourage you to check them out.

I’ll forego a full review, because Stant has answered many of the questions I’d address in the context of his interview. I will say this is a deep, gripping tale rich in historical detail, both actual and speculative. Could zombie outbreaks really have been a factor in shaping the sieges, wars, and doctrines of biblical times? The Zombie Bible makes a convincing case in support of this theory.

The Zombie Bible is not a campy zombie gore-fest, though there is plenty of carnage and horror that will haunt you. Spectacularly crafted and expertly written, it reads like literary fiction rather than the mass-produced horror fiction that often floods the market and gives people an erroneous impression of the genre. If you like a rich, dark, splendidly-woven tapestry of fiction, you’ll love The Zombie Bible.

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DEATH HAS COME UP INTO OUR WINDOWS (The Zombie Bible, Book One)

595 BC. God is weeping behind her veil in the Temple while the dead eat her city.

Her prophet Yirmiyahu wakes sometimes in the night and hears those cries. He has foreseen the devouring of the city, and his warnings to its citizens are far from popular. As our story opens, Yirmiyahu is imprisoned at the bottom of a dry well; once each day, his gaolers toss the hungry dead into the well after him. Yirmiyahu will have to fight to survive the dead, dehydration, and some truly wrenching memories -- memories of atrocities witnessed, lives lost, and sacrifices made that shatter the heart.

ABOUT THE ZOMBIE BIBLE

The new fiction series Zombie Bible isn’t your average gore flick reproduced on paper or e-ink. And this isn’t your parents’ Sunday School, or your college bible study. It’s the old stories coming back, with teeth, with their innards spilling out messily before your eyes. Zombie Bible isn’t going to pull any punches. It isn’t going to water down the truth. It isn’t going to look for a PG-13 rating and it definitely isn’t going to tidy anything up with a happy love story at the end.

But over the course of this series, you're going to see human beings living the bravest lives they can in a world that wants to eat them alive. You’ll see men, women, and children facing impossible choices and fighting to live lives that are about far more than just surviving. The series will move you and pierce you to the heart.

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My Interview With Stant Latore:

1. Books One and Two of your Zombie Bible series are tearing up the bestseller charts! Where are they currently ranking?

Book One, Death Has Come Up into Our Windows, is currently #5 for horror on the Amazon Kindle. Book Two, What Our Eyes Have Witnessed, was released a few days ago and is already flirting with the bottom of the Top 100 for horror.

(Note: I believe these titles have climbed further since completion of this interview. –Ed.)

2. What is your writing environment like? Which elements must be present (or absent) for you to tap into your creativity?

My writing is wherever I am. In our fast-paced and very noisy world, a writer cannot afford to rely on finding a cozy nook to scribble in. I have trained myself to zone in and write wherever I happen to be, though my wife has taken great pains to persuade me to exclude rush hour traffic from that list. I do, however, need motion in order to brainstorm or visualize scenes – usually I walk. A mountain hike is good but a city block will do, as long as I’m active and the movement of my feet can jar my brain into action.

3. Your story is set amid a Biblical time, and encompasses religious figures and places which may be familiar to many of your readers. How did you select this place and time?

The biblical stories are some of the most passionate and surprising stories ever written. Many of them are among the world’s oldest horror stories, as well – gritty and shocking. What is more shocking than crucifixion, resurrection, rape and incest, or the ethical demands of “love your enemies”? We lose sight of this because of the polarized conditions of our culture and our politics – and also because we always want to tame the old, wild stories, and paint clothing on the figures in the Sistine Chapel. But these stories can still have the power to shock us awake, if we let them.

4. The premise that zombie outbreaks might have played a role in shaping of civilization during events and times depicted in the sacred works of various religions. What led you to wonder - and then write about - this?

One way of understanding human history is as a long struggle between hunger and intimacy. I’ll put it this way. When you encounter someone other than yourself, you have several rival longings in your heart. One is to open yourself, vulnerably, to find union with them. Another is to consume them, feeding on them for your own purposes (another human being might feed your lust, or your stereotypes, or your ambition or your desire for approval; you might use them in any number of ways). Another is to flee them in fear. Which of these is strongest depends less on who we’re encountering and more on who we are and how we choose to live. Ethics and religion are forged out of this friction. Zombie stories demand that we pay attention to these primal human desires. In a world that wants to eat us – in which even our dead wish to consume us – how do we who live treat each other? Will we feed on each other, or feed with each other? And what will feed us and sustain us?

I wanted to write about how our spiritual ancestors, the founders of traditions which have shaped our world, tried to find ways to hope in a world that was “out to get them” – and how they fought to define what it meant to them to be human and to be alive.

5. How much of the history is actual, and how much is speculative? I mean, did you have to tweak recounting of historical events to fit the story, or did you shape the story to fit events?

Mostly the latter, and then I tweaked a few things for thematic reasons. For example, Polycarp in the second book was, in real history, the bishop of Smyrna. I had him come to Rome afterward, so I could pit his understanding of our world and of ethics against the ethics of Rome – and so that I could have a few pitched battles with zombies in the cramped streets of the Eternal City.

An alternate history lets you do that. But I believe I have been in no place untrue to the spirit of the old stories. Mostly, I held true to the events, just added nuance.

6. What was the first horror story you ever wrote? Was it as a child, or did you not discover this genre till you were older?

I’ve always written fantasy. The Zombie Bible is dark fantasy. But the reality is that our world is so carved open and bleeding with suffering that I no longer find it possible to write fantasy without it also becoming a horror novel. The first story I ever wrote – that was a quest story, I remember. I was a farmer’s son with a herd of livestock to tend and a hidden stash of books collecting myths and folklore. I read about the barometz – the vegetable lambs, exotic plants rather like cornstalks except with attached lambs instead of ears of corn – and I wrote a story about a people who are six inches tall, and they are farmers. Instead of herds of livestock, they cultivate herds (or crops) of vegetable lambs. They make the finest wool in the world. Until their village is raided and the story begins. I will probably return to that idea at some point, though not perhaps to the same story I wrote.

7. The 12 Days of Creepfest spotlights independent (“indie”) authors. What made you decide to go the indie route? Which parts of the publishing process do you do yourself, and which do you contract out?

I like to be in control of my work, and I like to move with great speed. That’s really all it was. I wanted to move fast, and I wanted to select and contract with my own developmental editor and my own cover artist and designer. The rest – formatting, marketing, publicity, soliciting reviews – I do myself. I haven’t sought out a relationship with a traditional publisher but would not necessarily be closed to one. It would have to be a unique kind of publisher.

8. What do you find to be the most difficult or frustrating part of the writing and publishing process?

The final weeks of editing are frustrating, though not difficult – mostly because the fine-tuning goes on, and on, and on, and your creative mind is ready to leap to the next thing. Yet it must be done. As for the most difficult thing, that’s when you have a character who is stuck. Or rather, you get stuck. Try as you might, you cannot get inside that character’s skin; you may never have intended them to be in the story at all, but they insisted. And now you need to find out how to understand them and listen for their cues, and sometimes you’re in a hurry and don’t listen well, and then you just want to beat your head against the wall. Except it eventually works out. You and your characters may cause each other some pain and distress, but in the end that love affair is usually successful.

9. Do you read much horror (or any sub-genre of horror)? What is the scariest thing you’ve ever read? What scares you in real life?

I read pretty widely, but certainly read horror when it’s good. It has to be really good. The scariest scene I ever read was a scene in The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe – that’s part science fiction, part fantasy, part horror, part everything else. There is a scene in the second volume when this town opens up a house that has been boarded up for months with a prisoner inside, and before they do, one character is telling another about the time they boarded up a woman too long, and when they opened up the house she had become something … quite different. The way it was described, it gave me the willies, and I still have nightmares about that scene.

The second scariest thing I ever read was H. P. Lovecraft’s “Rats in the Walls.” Let’s just say he knows how to write an ending.

10. What is your biggest hobby or interest outside writing?

Ancient languages. They are the mighty cedars growing in the ruins of the minds of our ancestors.

11. As a reader, what will make you put down a book without finishing it?

Missed opportunities. I’ve had books recommended to me that I could not finish. Usually it was because the book presented an idea I’d seen many times before and did nothing new with it. As a reader, I like to be wooed, so I like some spontaneity and surprise; if the author is just going to sit me down for popcorn and a movie, well that’s only going to work so many times, even if it’s a good movie and even if it’s real butter. I’d like a more exciting night out sometimes.

12. What are you working on now, and what should we expect to see from you in the new year?

I’m working on the third installment in The Zombie Bible, entitled Galilee Night. You’ll love it – it takes this series to a whole new level, painting with an epic brush. You’ve seen two volumes in packed and decaying cities; now we’ll be out in the wild and ancient hills, watching an ancient people struggle to preserve their flocks, their vineyards, their children, and their minds against a world that wants very badly to eat them.

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Links:

http://zombiebible.blogspot.com (The Zombie Bible Website)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SNK13K (The Zombie Bible Book One)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006JW2VXW (The Zombie Bible Book Two)

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MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page

Facebook Fan Page

Twitter

LAST CHANCE to enter for one of FIVE FREE DOWNLOADS of my novella, Monsters Unmasked! Comments here receive one entry. Correct answers to the Question of the Day emailed to me at ripleygold@gmail.com receive two additional entries. Winners will be chosen tomorrow, Friday December 23, at 9PM US Central Time. Winners will be announced here on Saturday, December 24. If your comment entry does not link through your profile to an email address, it is your responsibility to check here to see if you won. Unclaimed prizes will be forfeited and awarded to another recipient.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: In what year did I move to Minnesota? (Email your answer to ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line. Correct answers receive two entries for one of FIVE free downloads of Monsters Unmasked.)

Introducing JC Hemphill

2011-12-22T00:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Day 10 of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

Click on the image to the right to visit the Creepfest home page and meet the participating authors! You're sure to find something great to add to your winter reading list.

Details about my giveaway can be found at the bottom of this post, including FIVE free downloads of Monsters Unmasked and ONE free download of Make or Break.

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Once again, my call to authors who had published a zombie story brought me someone I'm sure to read much more in the future. Today I will review two stories by JC Hemphill, and you're in for a treat. Just click on the titles, and YOU can read the complete stories, too!

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Churchill Downs appears on Spinetinglers, a horror fiction website, and is the "zombie story" I had requested. One thing I've enjoyed during Creepfest is the diversity of stories in the zombie sub-genre of horror. We've all seen or read countless scenarios involving the dead rising to prey upon the living, and most of them are very vague about how this whole mess started. "Gee, one day we woke up and the world was overrun with zombies!" Then, of course, everyone is so busy fortifying their homes, decapitating zombies and newly-bitten loved ones, and running for their lives that they don't give much thought to the origin of this plague.

Not so here. Hemphill gives us an unusual character, surprisingly complex for such a short work, in a strange situation. Sammy is the caretaker at Churchill Downs Cemetery. His life is simple, and he's content. It's just a bonus that some of the deceased were quite well-off. And, well, they don't really need all that fancy jewelry or those expensive coffins where they're going, do they? He's not hurting anybody.

Then Sammy discovers someone is moving in on his turf and decides to take action. The events don't unfold quite as he imagined, though, and the dead have something to say on the matter as well.

What I enjoyed about this was Hemphill gives a reason for the dead to decide they had a bit more business to do on this side of the veil, one that is different from anything I've read in the past. His creation of the atmosphere is sharp and detailed, and the story's pace keeps you from pausing for a single breath. It will leave you wondering if the heart of this story is horror, poetic justice, or a bit of both.

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Cheating the Shroud appeared in the December 2011 edition of the Washington Pastime. It grew out of a writing contest in which the theme was "a stolen head." There are definitely a lot of ways you could go with a writing prompt like that, but I'd have never in my wildest imagination gone where Hemphill did.

You'll hear Twilight Zone music playing in your own (hopefully still attached) head as you read it, and I mean that as a compliment. Harold is puzzled. He's a head in a glass jar, staring endlessly at another head nearby. He can't blink or move. He has no choice but to stare. He realizes somewhere deep inside his consciousness a part of him remains, and he calls it the Memory Keeper. This story consists of Harold's growing awareness of where he is, and why, and the startling outcome.

Set in a futuristic dystopian world, Cheating the Shroud makes you ask yourself if you could somehow cheat death, would you? Should you? And what if the outcome wasn't at all what you'd imagined? This story will leave you pondering whether the ending is a happy one, a tragic one, or a case of be careful what you wish for. I guarantee Cheating the Shroud will linger in your mind for a long time.

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About the Author: "JC Hemphill was born yesterday, so if you find his writing infantile... you're spot-0n. But you gotta admit, he's pretty damn good for a toddler. He works mostly in speculative fiction, specializing in Horror and Sci-Fi, often blending and bending the two with a literary bent to create his own brand of dark tales."

Visit his website for a chance to win a copy of the winter edition of Pulp Modern!

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MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page (visit for buy-links to me books, and to find the answer to the Question of the Day)
Facebook Fan Page
Twitter

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What genre did I EXPECT my first novel to be, only to discover it wanted to be a romantic suspense? (Email answers to me at ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject. Do not leave your answer in the comments below.)

Details for entries for one of FIVE free downloads of Monsters Unmasked:
Comments on one of my Creepfest posts earns you one entry. You may comment daily if you wish. Correct answers to the Question of the Day earns two entries. Drawing will be held Friday, December 23, at 9:00 PM US Central Standard Time. Winners will be notified by email. If your email is not apparent through the profile associated with your comment, it is your responsibility to check the announcement of winners on this blog on Saturday, December 24. Unclaimed prizes will be forfeit and given to a new recipient.

Meet Rebecca Treadway... And Callie

2011-12-21T00:00:00.009-06:00

Welcome to Day Nine of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

Click on the logo to the right to visit the Creepfest home page, and please take a moment to visit a site or two. Remember, with the changing world of publishing, independent writers don't have a marketing machine behind them. They have rely on their own promotion and referrals from readers to get the job done. So, help out an indie! It's the best holiday gift of all!

As a special treat for today's readers, Rebecca has generously offered a Very Special Contest. Who doesn't want a sneak-peek at a just-completed Callie story? I know I do! Read on, and you'll learn how you can win!

Details for my giveaway of five free downloads of Monsters Unmasked - and one of Make or Break - can be found at the bottom of this post, along with the Question of the Day.

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Online networking is a remarkable resource for any professional, but perhaps for writers most of all. I can't imagine a "real world" scenario in which I'd ever have encountered Rebecca Treadway, but through social media and friends-of-friends I did, and I'm happy about that fact every day.

Besides being the author of one of my year's favorite creepy stories, Rebecca writes darkly evocative, intense, in-your-face poetry. As if that weren't enough, she's a talented artist, creating stunning book covers and trailers. She is brilliant, sets high expectations for herself, and doesn't suffer fools lightly. Believe me, the woman can snark with the best of 'em! One of the many reasons I love her.

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Let's talk about her short story, Chilly-Eye Callie.

Story Description:

When she has your eye, she has your mind. Chilly-Eye Callie is a supernatural horror story with humorous elements. As Miss Callie rides the Sacramento transit train, she comes across a young man about to get into some serious trouble. Will she be able to stop a rape and subsequent murder?

Review:

Miss Callie is a genteel woman "of a certain age." Don't try to guess what that age is. You have no idea. You'd think a well-dressed, dignified woman like Callie shouldn't spend a lot of time riding a metropolitan transit train after dark, but she's not worried. Well, maybe she's a little worried, but not for her own safety.

One night, she encounters a teen she knows from the neighborhood, Philip "Stanky" Stanko. When her eerie blue eyes, startling in the setting of the face of a woman of color, meet his, she knows he's up to no good. He's not stupid, but he's about to get stupid, unless Callie can change his course. The blonde woman who is the object of this potential trouble isn't innocent herself, but Callie knows how to handle that. It's a woman thing, you know.

And, really, is it too much to expect a little bit of good manners from people? Callie doesn't think so.

It's often hard for me to get into a short story. I'm a novelist, and if you read my publisher's press about me, a "long novelist." I'm somehow intellectually unable to think in short format, and therefore it's tough to read short format.

So here's the good news and the better news. I was pulled into Chilly-Eye Callie immediately, and savored every word. Callie's ethnic dialect, rather than being overwhelming or off-putting, is perfectly and charmingly done, truly conveying her background and personality.

As you might have guessed, Callie isn't at all what she appears to be, but this realization comes slowly and doesn't bludgeon you over the head with the obvious. (Unless Callie wanted you blugeoned. If she did, you'd better believe there'd be bludgeoning!)

When I finished this story, I wanted more. More!!! Even in this short work, I could sense Callie's back story, and the potential for future events.

That was all the good news. Now for the better news!

Rebecca Treadway has just completed the first draft of a Callie novella! (I can't tell you how excited I am about this.) As a special treat for readers of this post, she has agreed to give ONE interested commenter an exclusive sneak-preview. Leave a comment below, and we'll have Callie use her spooky mojo and select the lucky recipient.

The winner will receive a .pdf file via email before January 1. The winner agrees not to share or forward this work to any other person. This is a rare opportunity, and I hope to see lots of comments! As further incentive (as if you needed any), scroll to the bottom of this post for an EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT of the new Callie novella! I kid you not, this is so hot off the presses I'm reading it for the first time as I add it here! This teaser is a rough scene, subject to editing and revision, but it will give you a "taste" (heh heh) of Callie.

About the Author:

In her biography, Rebecca says, "I'm a writer, artist, and photographer - everything else is self-explanatory"
I freelance novel cover art, illustration and design, and work as the Art Director for Angelic Knight Press."

A Sampling of Rebecca's Art (Click to see larger images):

Where to Find Rebecca:

My Facebook art page is: http://www.facebook.com/rebeccatreadway
My website with service and rates: www.atrtink.com
My writerly blog: www.creepywalker.blogspot.com
My Twitter: @CreepyWalker

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MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page (visit for buy-links to me books, and to find the answer to the Question of the Day)
Facebook Fan Page
Twitter

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Okay folks, this is it. Answer this question correctly - and I could hardly make this any easier - and you'll have a chance to receive a free e-format gift of Make or Break, my romantic suspense novel!!!!

What are the first names of the hero and heroine in Make or Break?
(Email answers to me at ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject. Do not leave your answer in the comments below.)

Details for entries for one of FIVE free downloads of Monsters Unmasked:
Comments on one of my Creepfest posts earns you one entry. You may comment daily if you wish. Correct answers to the Question of the Day earns two entries. Drawing will be held Friday, December 23, at 9:00 PM US Central Standard Time. Winners will be notified by email. If your email is not apparent through the profile associated with your comment, it is your responsibility to check the announcement of winners on this blog on Saturday, December 24. Unclaimed prizes will be forfeit and given to a new recipient.

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EXCLUSIVE BONUS EXCERPT OF REBECCA TREADWAY'S NEW CALLIE NOVELLA!

Teaser of the novella:

Calpurnia Bowens, is well known by the Sacramento City Police's third watch officers, as well as those they tend to arrest. From the punks, thugs and the occasional freed jailbird looking to go back to the “County Hotel” there's something about "Chilly Eye Callie" that earns their respect. When a man she sets on the straight and narrow is dumped on the path of her nightly walk, drained of blood, Callie must do her own investigation, for the murderer is a creature spawned from her father’s dark necromancy and her favorite Officer Diaz is in a little bit o'trouble.

Excerpt:

"Running Around The Time"

“--so the burglar asks,” I’m listenin’ to Diaz tellin’ a quick joke where he’s parked along his beat partner’s unit at the greenbelt between the Bridge and the State capital. I stopped huntin’ this Project Three so’s I can hear a joke that’s brand new to me. You live to be my age and you hear it all, you know? A new thing is precious.

“-- what kind of people name a parrot, Moses?”

Hmm..I dont know...

“And the parrot said, “The same kind of people that named a Rottweiler “Jesus.”

“Haa!” The K-9 officer slaps his door and his damn dog starts to barking.

Lord that’s funny! I like a good Christian joke.

Diaz’ makes a face at that German Shepherd sticking his big ol’ head out the window. He’s like me, we don’t like dogs ‘cause they nosey, ass kissin’ for food and always up in your coochie tryin’ to do a dominant thing, but he get along with his partner, at least now. They had some problems once Diaz got off probationary period and wasn’t a rookie anymore. Officer Burberry wasn't taking him too seriously, being so young and good-lookin'. That’s the first night we met, his first night as a "real cop". I saw him doin’ that body slam on some punk who rough up an old lady with a knife and thought he could outrun that young Navaho. Mmhmm.

I couldn’t help but stick my foot out and trip that ape. Ain’t right dissin’ on old women like that.

I hide right quick when the two of them separate. I don't want Diaz to see me as we already had our little chat at the end of the Blue Line and he was tellin’ me to be careful more than usual ‘cause two murders happen on second watch, and it’s right around the part of town I like to stroll. He offered up a ride home and I declined to his displeasure. He didn’t think I know how he tried to follow me until he got a call and had to go.

It’s three in the mornin’ now and I done passed the areas where this Project Three had its victims. I got the smell and it’s bad. Human flesh mixed up with some animal I can't discern just yet. That’s Kaas’ thing...experimenting with different sorts’a critters from the natural world and turnin’ a human into somethin’ with that critter’s abilities.

I can’t right figure out what kind of thing he invoked but it went bad and spoilt inside Project Three's mind. In the old days when that happened, they used to let it run loose and wreak some havoc on humanity for the fun of it.

In this day and age, ain’t got the luxury - not with everyone walking’ around with camera phones.

I sidle up against the wall of a service alley. This is where I take a short cut in my walk so I can sidestep Diaz’s routine. They got a camera halfway down there but it won’t mean nothin’ to a failed project.

I checked the riverbanks already and it didn’t molest none of them that bunker down o’er by the Firehouse. I can’t help but think it’s more clever than they tellin’ me, or than they realizin’. That makes it three times worse.

Hmm. Hold up.

Some gruntin’ sounds like people gettin’ it on across the street from the alley intersecting 8th. That's bold, cause its wide and clean and the officers cut through there all the time. There's some dead end corridors in that alley where vendors deliver their products to the back door...

I move fast along the wall here, that camera won't show nothing but a blur and I peeked around the corner into that dead end.

Oh dear. That's some kinky sex happening in that alleyway, the man sounds like he in some pain with that shapely little blonde thing riding on him like that - and I got a smell coming to me I recognize from a confrontation on the Blue Line last year. I think I'll tip toe on out of here and..

No there's that smell. Menthol cigarette and...and…have mercy, he bleeding out from under her ministrations...

“Oh Lord, girl!” I couldn’t help yelling that. I recognize the poor thing. She my Heather snack! "What they do to you?"

What used to be Heather turn and look at me.

Oh hell...

Shit now she’s up and runnin’.

Whoa! I move out of the way just in time. Now I know why I couldn't find her, she's fast as I am but not as methodical...

“HEY YOU WAIT UP BITCH!”

I’m gonna flag her nekkid ass down and chase her away from them camera’s.

Well goddam it a rainin’ a little but that don’t matter. I pull off a shoe, one foot at a time while I’m flyin’ after her, herdin’ her across the street and down an incline into another grubby alley synched between some old buildings. There’s about half a block of nothin’ but darkness here, and no camera.

Oh my goodness. Yep, she’s run out of places to go right here, I cornered her between the fence lining a vacant lot and the wall. The only way to go is to her left and right back out on the street.

“Honey...” I hold my hands out. “I see a little humanity in there...you remember me, girl?”

Uh oh. She showing her teeth, still wet from that blood she suckin’ out of that man.

"Child it not too late."

She has enough humanity in there to know she's in trouble.

I ain't afraid to admit when I'm wrong, and I'm real wrong.

She's chargin’ at me.

I think I got myself into a bit o’ trouble here...

Welcome The Multi-Talented Annetta Ribken

2011-12-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Day 8 of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

(Information about the giveaway of five downloads of Monsters Unmasked - and one download of Make or Break), along with the Question of the Day, can be found at the bottom of this post. And find links to all the fantastic Creepfest authors HERE!)

The Internet is a fascinating and mind-boggling place. In my years of cyber-life, I've encountered people I like, people I detest, people I tolerate, and some who amuse me. But meeting Annetta Ribken was a fortuitous and monumental occurrence which might never be matched. She's been a motivation, mentor, editor, partner in snark, and one of the most steadfast and amazing friends I've ever had. I'm pleased to have an opportunity to introduce her to you.

And to all you indie authors out there, if you need a freelance editor, story doctor, and task mistress, you're out of your ever-lovin' mind if you don't consider hiring Annetta. We did three intensive rounds of edits on Make or Break, and though I kicked and screamed every step of the way, the result was a story vastly improved from the manuscript she received.

***

You’re a woman who wears many hats, and somehow wears them all well. You write non-fiction, flash fiction, blogs, and novels. You are also a busy editor and story doctor. I would have a meltdown at the thought of dealing with even a quarter of that, so I have to ask… how the hell do you manage? How do you fit it all into your schedule?

Well, this is what I do for a living. My time, in other words, doesn't have to compete with an outside job. This is it. This is what I do. Furthermore, all my children are grown and on their own, so I don't have to ride herd on little kidlets. All my time is focused on my work.

The only things that really save me are lists and calendars. I have a planner, several wall calendars, and tons of lists. Plus, I'm a workaholic. I absolutely love what I do, and feel pretty damned blessed to be able to do this for a living because it's something I've worked toward for years and I never, ever take it for granted.

Athena’s Promise is your first full-length novel. How does seeing it in print compare to your flash fiction collection, Not Nice and Other Understatements, in terms of satisfaction?

The two are very different projects. Not Nice was written over a period of many years, and I published it for no one else but me. It was an experiment of sorts; self-publishing was just starting to blow up and I knew a collection of flash fiction was a hard sell for publishers. Not Nice was actually more a purging of the past so I could move on to the future, and I have been very gratified at its reception.

Athena's Promise is another kettle of fish. This is the genre in which I want to make my mark. To write a novel, when prior to this I focused on flash fiction, and to see it in print, was really a dream come true.

The heroine in Athena’s Promise is a fascinating woman named Pallas. How did she introduce herself to you? What do you like most (and least) about her?

Pallas is the result of a flash fiction piece I wrote in response to a writer's prompt. If I remember correctly, the prompt was "The past can hold on to you like industrial clamps." A portion of this is actually in one of the chapters. I wrote the piece and put it away, and one day, when cleaning out the Trunk, I happened upon it. Pallas started yapping at me immediately and would not shut up. I saw a way to incorporate a project I'd been thinking about for a few years, and off I went.

I like Pallas's strength. She can be afraid, she can be pissed off, but she forges ahead anyway. She's loyal, smart, and snarky. What I don't like is the way she puts everyone in front of herself. She's hiding behind that, even with the purest of motives, and it is aggravating. Although Pallas comes across as a really strong woman in many ways, she's struggling with an erosion of self-esteem which makes her vulnerable in ways she doesn't realize.

Twelve Days of Creepfest is a showcase for independent (“indie”) authors. Why did you choose to self-publish? Would you ever consider the traditional route through a publishing house?

I never rule out anything. If the right deal came along, sure, I'd take it. I don't see this industry as an all or nothing proposition – either/or. But it would really have to be the right deal. I don't think I'd take anything right now – probably not for a couple of years, until the industry settles down a bit. A smart writer keeps all their options open, and for the first time in like, EVER, we finally HAVE options.

I had a very positive experience self-publishing Not Nice, which otherwise most likely would have never seen the light of day. When the time came, it just seemed like the right decision to self-publish AP. The legacy publishing business is in such flux, and I really like the idea of having control over my own work and my own career. I think every writer should self-publish something, if only to give them an idea of what goes in to putting a quality product on the market, whether they go with a legacy deal or not. Knowledge is power.

Self-publication gives authors great power, but with great power comes great responsibility. What do you see as the responsibilities of an independent author?

First, to put a quality product on the market. That means investing in your work such as professional covers, editing, formatting, the whole nine yards. If you're going to do it, commit to it and go into it 100%. Second, I think one of the responsibilities of an independent author is to support their fellow indies, as much as time allows. You're not going to make it on your own. That's the hard truth. If you can help someone else, do it. Third, educate yourself on the industry and pay attention. Things are changing so fast, if you don't keep up, you're going to hurt yourself.

Though I know you tend to try, nobody can write 24/7. What are your main hobbies or interests when you’re not slaving away over the keyboard?

I'm such a workaholic it's difficult to drag me away from the keyboard, to be honest. But I have been trying lately to find more of a balance. I love to quilt, cross stitch and do yarn work. Especially quilting. And, I stalk Nathan Fillion. Because, you know…he's Nathan Fillion.

You are a devout Stephen King fan, but do you read a lot of horror aside from his work? What is the scariest thing you’ve ever read?

In the course of my job, I read a lot of independent horror. But Stephen King holds the award for the scariest story ever – Pet Sematary. It is the one book of his I have never re-read. 'Salem's Lot is a close second, because it just seemed so real, like it could really happen. The scene with Danny Glick hanging outside of Mark Petrie's window STILL freaks me out. When I'm reading a particularly scary story and it gets to be too much, I put it in the freezer to cool off. (Seriously. In the freezer. Right next to the frozen peas and French fries.)

As a reader, what will make you put a book down without finishing it?

I have to connect with the main character. Without a connection, there's no reason for me to read. I have to care what happens to him/her. Illogical plot lines will cause me to stop, and if the story is weak, egregious errors in grammar and sentence structure will cause a seizure. One of my favorite English teachers told me once that if a book doesn't grab me within fifty pages, it's probably best to put the book down. Sometimes that's true, but sometimes it isn't. A book will really have to suck pretty bad for me to stop reading, although I will say as I have gotten older my tolerance for crap has decreased dramatically.

In keeping with the Creepfest theme, have you ever had a truly eerie “paranormal” experience, like meeting a ghost or feeling contact from beyond? If so, how did it make you feel?

When I was about twelve years old, a next door neighbor wanted to have a séance to contact her dead mother. Four of us gathered in my bathroom, shut the door and turned out the lights. We put a candle on the toilet seat, held hands, and tried to conjure the mother's spirit. Next thing I know, one of the girls is screaming she saw a skull in the smoke from the candle. It scared the living daylights out of me and we all ran screeching from the bathroom. I never felt comfortable in that bathroom again. Ghosts freak me out, because what the hell do they want? It can't be good.

What’s cooking in that great big brain of yours? What can we expect to see from you in the new year?

I want to finish Athena's Chains for a release in the spring of 2012, then on to the conclusion in Athena's Release in the fall. I also want to work on a trilogy of short stories based on the Tarot. Now, if there were only eight more hours in the day…

Editorial Comment: Notice I did not ask you about spiders. You’re welcome.

OH MY GOD NOT THE SPIDERS!

***

About Athena's Promise:

"No matter what it takes."

As the front desk manager of a hotel on the edge of Zombietown, Pallas is used to dealing with angry centaurs, surly trolls, and zombie housekeepers. The trouble really starts when one of her guests ends up dead. But that's not her only problem.

A cop with an attitude – can he be trusted to be more than just a pain in her ass or does he have a more sinister agenda?

A new Guest Services Manager, out for her job and ready to sacrifice anyone in his way – what does he really want?

The attractive maintenance guy, endangering the promise she made out of necessity to the Goddess Athena – does he know more than he's telling?

A mermaid diva, whose show at the Sparkling Butterfly must go on – or else.

Pallas needs to find the killer, and fast, or she'll lose her job, her home, and the ragtag family she's adopted out of her crew of "critters".

In the course of the investigation Pallas uncovers connections to a nasty Oddities dealer deep in the heart of Zombietown, forcing her to expose a trauma from her past which could threaten her future. With everyone and everything she loves in danger, the promise made to the Goddess Athena may well damn her if she breaks it, but she is bound and determined to save her friends, her home, and everything she's built.

No matter what it takes.

***

About Annetta:

Annetta has been writing since words were carved on stone tablets with chisels. Not only does she write her own words, Annetta is also an accomplished editor. She lives just outside of St. Louis with her evil feline overlord, a rescued shelter cat named Athena.

***

Where to stalk Annetta:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/netta50

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Annetta.Ribken

Blog: http://wordwebbing.com/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3414795.Annetta_Ribken

***

On the evening of December 23, I'll be awarding five free downloads of Monsters Unmasked! You can receive one entry each time you post a comment on one of my Creepfest blogs. You will receive TWO additional entries if you correctly answer my Question of the Day, the answers to which are easily found on my author page. Please be sure to email those answers to me at ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line. Do not leave the answers in the comments section.

Additionally, one day (soon!) the QOTD will be about my romantic suspense novel, Make or Break. One lucky question-answerer will receive a free download of that book!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How did I meet my husband?

MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page

My Fan Page on Facebook

Follow Me On Twitter

Marissa Farrar: Another Great Creepfest Find

2011-12-19T00:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Day 7 of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

(See end of this post for information regarding my giveaway of five free downloads of Monsters Unmasked, one download of Make or Break, and the Question of the Day. Find a listing of all the Creepfest authors - whom you should visit, trust me! - HERE.)

I "discovered" today's guest, Marissa Farrar, when I polled Creepfest participants in search of authors who had a zombie story. As with yesterday's guest, Axel Howerton, I wanted to feature some writers of zombie fiction since Monsters Unmasked is also in that genre. And as with Axel, reading Marissa's story, The Body Farm, served as a gateway that will lead me to read much more of the author's work.

Book Description:

Doctor Eleanor Armitage is under no illusions that people find her job to be macabre. That she spends her days surrounded by the dead would be understood had she been a funeral director or even a forensic pathologist. But Eleanor studies the life-cycles of insect on decomposing bodies at the Forensic Anthropology Center--an acre of ground where bodies are left in various conditions to decompose for science.

Working late one night with her colleague Robert Dane, they discover a couple of the bodies in the grounds have been disturbed. When they head out to try to figure out who has been tampering with the bodies, one of the dead begins to move.

Trapped in a high-security research center, enclosed by ten feet, razor-wire topped walls, they find themselves surrounded by the living dead.

Suddenly Eleanor has to learn if her science is enough to save their lives...

My Impressions:

Could there possibly be a worse place in which to find yourself when the dead decide to rise than a body farm? These reanimated corpses aren't your stereotypical slow, shambling, semi-sentient creatures found in the majority of zombie fiction, either. They're fast, the more-newly-dead retain a dangerous amount of cognitive ability and memory (how to open a door, for example), and the group as a whole seems to have some sort of hive mentality, enabling a flow of information and cooperation.

Uh-oh!

The Body Farm also provides a solid scientific basis for the cause of reanimation, something that is rarely done in the genre. ("We don't know how it happened, and don't have time to worry about it, what with fighting for our lives and all," being the norm.) This "novelette" is just over 10,000 words, giving more depth and dimension than a shorter work, and could easily read as the first few chapters of a full novel set in this world, though I don't know that Marissa plans any such project. (Marissa... hint, hint!)

In a comment on my post about romantic elements in the horror genre, she claims to write "romantic horror," a practice I endorse wholeheartedly. I loved The Body Farm, and will now begin reading my way through the rest of Marissa's books and stories.

Head over to her website, check out the novels (where you can find the links to buy these tantalizing tales), and even read a free short story! You'll be glad you did!

About the Author:

Marissa Farrar is a multi-published horror and paranormal author. She was born in Devon, England, loves to travel and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in Devon with her husband, two children, a crazy Spanish rescue dog and four hens. She has a degree in Zoology, but her true love has always been writing.

Her dark take on a vampire romance, Alone, was first published in 2009 and has now been re-launched by Red Hot Publishing. The second book in the series, Buried, is now available to buy. The third in the series, Captured, will be published early 2012.

Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including, Their Dark Masters, Red Skies Press, Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t, Triskaideka Books; and 2013: The Aftermath, Pill Hill Press. Her own collection of paranormal short stories, Where the Dead Live, is also available.

If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.

She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk.

***

Additionally, one day (soon!) the QOTD will be about my romantic suspense novel, Make or Break. One lucky question-answerer will receive a free download of that book!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What large metal creature resides in my Writing Lair?

MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page

My Fan Page on Facebook

Follow Me On Twitter

Writecrastination Introduces You To Axel Howerton

2011-12-18T00:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Day Six of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

After you read my interview with Axel Howerton, please take a moment to check out the opportunity to enter to win one of FIVE free downloads of my story, Monsters Unmasked, and other goodies!

One of the best parts of Creepfest is the chance to meet interesting new authors, and Axel Howerton definitely qualifies. I put out a call to participants asking who had a zombie story, because with Monsters being in that genre, I wanted to be sure to feature at least a few others. Axel's story takes place in Las Vegas and depicts the beginning of a zombie outbreak. I know, we've all read such stories, but this one is unique. I bet you've never guessed the zombie apocalypse might break out at a Zigfreidt and Roy show! There are mystical and otherworldly elements in play, making this a gripping and intriguing story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

During the course of our interview, I learned of his upcoming novel, Hot Sinatra, which is a "crime comedy," and I can't wait to get my hands on it. See, that's what's cool about these cooperative author blog tours! Had it not been for Creepfest, I might never have crossed paths with this author, and I'm very glad I did.

***

1. I wanted to feature a few authors who have a ‘zombie story,’ since that’s the horror sub-genre my own title fits, so I read your “Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy.” What sparked this story? Did you start with the premise of zombies at a Vegas show, or did the “cowboy” character come first?

Most of my stuff begins as a swirling vortex of pop culture ephemera and flashes of weird scenes and ideas, crashing around in my brain like the tornado train to Oz. In this case it was a character in a 70's Spanish horror flick, Sam Elliot and Tommy Lee Jones arm-wrestling and an Elvis impersonator I met outside of the Harley Davidson diner on the Vegas strip. Eventually it warped into the idea of "what kind of bizarro world would Zombie Vegas be?" I mean that is the weirdest town on Earth. Eventually that led me to ponder what would make a good ground zero for a zombie plague in Las Vegas. I think my story really offers a unique spin on that.

2. What is your writing environment like? Which elements must be present (or absent) for you to tap into your creativity?

Coffee. Lots of Coffee. Music is a big inspiration for me as well. I know a lot of authors "soundtrack" their stories, but I find music seeping into everything I write. I think there might have been one, maybe two, extremely short pieces that didn't have at least one overt musical reference. My forthcoming novel, Hot Sinatra, is ripe with them. It's filled with musicians, people who should be musicians and, obviously, Sinatra.

3. What was the first horror story you ever wrote? Was it as a child, or did you not discover this genre till you were older?

I'm sure I wrote some in my misspent youth. I don’t remember them, but I'm sure they're out there in the transom of time and space. I wrote and directed and "starred" in several trashy z-grade horror movies in High School. It was mostly aping favorite horror flicks like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Re-Animator, but mixing in an unhealthy dose of Steven Seagal-style 80's badassery. Lots of long coats and sunglasses, and lines like "What about the remains exhumed in the forest? Or don’t you punks use that as evidence around here?" There were a lot of badly choreographed fight scenes and training montages, and a lot of swigging apple juice out of whiskey bottles. So when I started getting back into writing fiction after 10+ years doing media journalism and reviewing endless piles of schlocky horror DVD's, my natural inclination was to tap back into my inner Tobe Hooper.

4. The 12 Days of Creepfest spotlights independent (“indie”) authors. What made you decide to go the indie route? Which parts of the publishing process do you do yourself, and which do you contract out?

As I said, I'm just getting back into fiction after a long sojourn doing reviews and profile articles, so I'm pretty fresh to the Indie party. Really, I can’t profess a preference for either/or. I've published stories through traditional channels and, aside from the excruciating lead time, I've had blessedly few problems. When Hot Sinatra is finished, I imagine I will explore all channels before I self-publish. Like most writers, I work full-time, and I also have two kids to rush home and take care of while my wife goes to work at night. Time is a precious commodity. If someone wants to cut me a check and go do the legwork, I'll gladly take that deal just to get my name out there. It's a ridiculously flooded system right now and nearly impossible (imho) to build a real reputation and a successful career without a little back and forth between traditional and indie spheres.

For the projects I have done myself, I am a big proponent of utilizing professionals to make sure your work is solid. Hire yourself a reputable copy editor. Pay for a well-designed cover. Both Living Dead and Hot Sinatra were designed by the good folks at www.eyecravepro.ca. They do stellar work and I trade services and do copy writing for them to offset my costs. That's something that can't be stressed enough. Don’t give your skills away for free to every joker who comes asking for a poem for their girlfriend, or to check over their grant proposal. DO trade your services when it makes sense to do so.

5. What do you find to be the most difficult or frustrating part of the writing and publishing process?

With writing, the hardest part is sitting down and doing it. The stories are always there, but it's a real fight sometimes to find a couple of hours to get down to the nitty-gritty. I know some people can just kick it into gear and fire off ten minutes here and twenty minutes there. Not me. I need a good solid chunk of uninterrupted time to focus and really get into the flow of the story.

As for publishing, again, I have a limited amount of time and a small amount of patience for twittering and reposting and endlessly shilling my own stuff. I hate feeling like I'm imposing on people, or harassing them to check out my newest project. Then again, that's how it gets done in this day and age. If you're not off furiously twittering yourself in a dark corner, nobody else is going to +1 that thing for you.

6. What factors make a good creepy story?

Atmosphere. Tension. Suspense. Things a lot of writers seem to be giving short-shrift.

"Lois steps carefully past the ancient, rotting remnants of the graveyard, dark silence enveloping every footstep, a shroud of unearthly mist dancing around her face… the sudden wail of a wolf slices through the black and thunders across the vale, embedding itself like a hot blade in her chest… "

It's pretty damned difficult to feel the dread that should lead up to the next scene if that little passage is instead written "Lois walked past the graveyard, jumping with fear as a wolf howled in the distance." That's the writer's job, to fill in those spaces and add the ambience and emotion that drives the story.

7. Do you read much horror (or any sub-genre of horror)? What is the scariest thing you’ve ever read? What scares you in real life?

To be honest, I don’t really consider myself a "horror" writer, per se. When you look at my bookshelves, they're filled with Mark Twain, Chandler and Hammett, Elmore Leonard and W.P. Kinsella. I've read most Stephen King, and many books by the "big names". Most of my favorite "horror" books have been story collections like King's Different Seasons, McCammon's Blue World or Joe Lansdale's Writers of the Purple Rage, books that have a good mix of standard vampires-and-monsters stuff, interspersed with things that totally defy those conventions. I guess I like a good story before I like a good monster.

Fears? That's one of the tricky things about horror. What resonates with one person doesn’t resonate with the next. Maybe that's why writers gravitate towards these standard tropes, like zombies. It changes with age and maturity as well. When I was 20 I would have said I'd be most afraid of being abducted by cannibals, or captured and tortured by a kill-crazy madman. Now, in my late 30's with two small children? Nothing terrifies me more than something like Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Having to protect my kids from insurmountable odds, knowing that I couldn't protect them from Nuclear War or some other Apocalypse… What could possibly be more frightening than that feeling of hopelessness when it comes to the people you love most. That's something I hope to tap into at some point in my work.

8. What is your biggest hobby or interest outside writing?

My kids. I have the most brilliant 6 year-old son who loves all the best stuff. Marvel comics, Dr Who, electric guitar, the Bill & Ted movies. He's an avowed Man of Science already. It blows my mind. His little brother is just starting to really assert his personality which, it turns out, happens to be joyfully violent. He's like a tiny Alex DeLarge, dancing and singing and breaking all my stuff.

9. As a reader, what will make you put down a book without finishing it?

The aforementioned lack of suspense or tension always turns me off. I also have a real problem with same-old, same-old takes on the same sub-genres. I spent six months or more as an Associate Editor on Dark Moon Digest - basically acting as a slush-pile reader - and was inundated with pointless, uninspired rehashes of the latest episodes of The Walking Dead and innumerable vampire stories that reeked of the Underworld movies. Just because you can spell "vampire" and have seen Dracula 2000, does not mean you should write a vampire story. It certainly does not mean you should submit it to be published in its first-draft form. If you don’t have something new to say, something innovative to add to the Universe, then keep your story on your desktop until you do.

10. What are you working on now, and what should we expect to see from you in the New Year?

I have a few stories out for some upcoming anthologies, but the main project now is Hot Sinatra. It's a crime-novel/comedy/mystery kind of deal. It's been referred to as "…a lost Hammett starring a tough guy version of Irwin M. Fletcher", which I took as great praise, being tremendously fond of both anything by Dashiel Hammett, and Gregory MacDonald's Fletch books. It has recently come back to me from one of those professionals (fellow Creeper Julie Jansen, who was kind enough to lend me her expertise en Italiano), and is headed for a final revision before I send it off to a copy editor. I'm hoping to have that out, one way or another, by mid-April. I've also been working on some shorts (old and new) that I'd like to compile and self-pub sometime in 2012.

Thank you very much for having me! Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy and A Career Guide to Your Job in Hell are available through most online retailers including Amazon and B&N, and the first four chapters of Hot Sinatra are available to read on AxelHowerton.com.

ABOUT AXEL:

Axel Howerton is most often described – in order of import – as: Badass Dad. Attendant Hubby. Loverman. Author. Reviewer. Time Lord. Bookhouse Boy. Coffee Addict. Dudeist. Sox National. Enmascarado. Reformed pugilist. Ink Monkey.

His work has appeared in Dark Moon Digest, Dark Eclipse, Kitschykoo Magazine, Last Writes, My Good Eye, The Den of Iniquity, EyecraveDVD, and many more. Axel’s zombie novella Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy is available at most online retailers and his story "Hum" is featured in the anthology A Career Guide To Your Job In Hell, alongside the likes of Scott Phillips, Robert Vardeman and Victor Milan.

Axel spends most of his time braving the frigid tundra and rampaging sasquatch tribes of Canada – usually two steps behind his two brilliant young sons and a wife that is way out of his league. He is also currently hard at work on several new short stories, as well as putting the finishing touches on his crime/comedy novel, "Hot Sinatra".

***

Additionally, one day (soon!) the QOTD will be about my romantic suspense novel, Make or Break. One lucky question-answerer will receive a free download of that book!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Name one dog-related organization in which I've been involved.

MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page

My Fan Page on Facebook

Follow Me On Twitter

I Wasn't a Very Creepy Kid (Despite What You Might Have Heard)

2011-12-17T00:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Day Five of The Twelve Days of Creepfest! A quick contest reminder: Comments on a post earn you one entry in the drawing for one of five free downloads of my horror novella, Monsters Unmasked. If you take a second and check my author page to find the answer to my Question of the Day, you earn two entries for a correct answer. (They're not hard, I promise!) Please remember to email the answer to me at ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line. (Don't leave them in the comments! Everybody will see!) One day, the question will pertain to my romantic suspense novel, Make or Break, and one correct-answerer will receive a free e-format of that book. All prizes will be awarded on December 23 and announced on December 24.

My links and the QOTD are at the bottom of this post. Also, be sure to click on the Creepfest logo on the right to see a list of all the participating authors and find some great new fiction for your library!

And now for today's post!

I've been trying to recall the first horror story I ever read, and came up blank. I was born in the 1960s, and I don't know if there was much pre-teen horror on the market in that era. If there was, I missed it. And considering how much time I spent in the library, that's unlikely. When my son was young, R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series was popular, but I don't remember anything like that when I was growing up.

I remember reading about dinosaurs, the ice age, everything I could find featuring horses or dogs, The Little House books, Trixie Belden, The Hardy Boys (no girly Nancy Drew for me!), Rudyard Kipling, and biographies of Louis Braille, Harriet Tubman, and Mary McLeod Bethune. Nothing very horrifying there, though young Mr. Braille accidentally stabbing himself in the eye with a leather-working awl was kind of gross.

But upon further reflection, I suppose my introduction to horror came via fairy tales, many of which are incredibly terrifying. I went through a phase when I read as much Grimm as I could find, and went through the library's entire Fairy Book collection. The Red Fairy Book, The Blue Fairy Book, The Green Fairy Book... you get the idea.

As a kid, I got my horror fix primarily through television. Twilight Zone was out of production by the time I was old enough to watch, but one of the local stations showed it late on Saturday nights, along with Night Gallery.

(What could be more horrifying than thousands of books, all the time in the world to read, no pesky people to distract you... and then breaking your eyeglasses? I shudder at the mere thought!)

I had a cousin who was five years older than I was, and she lived in Cincinnati. One summer, a male cousin and I went to visit. The two of them wrote scripts for horror skits and staged a neighborhood performance. Most of them were thinly-veiled ripoffs of Twilight Zone or Night Gallery episodes, including a homicidal ventriloquist's dummy (my cousin had a Charlie McCarthy doll who was cast in the role), and a creeping, killing severed hand. Being the annoying younger cousin, I was cast as "audience."

What surprises me is that given my lack of immersion in horror fiction, the first story I ever wrote - at age 10 - was a creepy one. And in keeping with the influence of my cousins, it wasn't very original. A little girl lived in a huge, Gothic home situated on a cliff high above the ocean. One day she found some old trunks in the attic, and was delighted to find them full of antique dolls. But one thing lead to another, the dolls came to life, and they all had tiny (but very sharp) knives. They attacked her, she tried to escape, and plunged to her death on the sea-swept rocks far below.

Ta-Da!

I wish I knew where that story was. It was written in pencil on notebook paper, and I am fairly certain I never threw it away, but I haven't seen it in years. My brother was eighteen years older than I, and he read the story and wrote me a note on the back, telling me how good it was, and that he was sure I'd be a writer someday. He passed away several years ago, before I published my first work of fiction, and I really would love to see that story and his note again.

The first horror book I remember reading is King's "'Salem's Lot," which scared me spitless and required my mother to sleep on the loveseat located outside my bedroom door for at least a week.

Do you remember the first scary story you ever read... or wrote?

***

MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page
My Facebook Fan Page
Follow Me On Twitter

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What is one job I've had since moving to Minnesota? (Email your answer to ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line)

Is There a Place For Romance In The Horror Genre?

2011-12-16T00:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Day Four of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

Remember, comments on daily posts earn you an entry in the drawing for one of five free downloads of my novella, Monsters Unmasked! Correct answers (emailed to me at ripleygold@gmail.com) to my Question of the Day will receive two additional entries. One of those daily questions will be about my contemporary romance, Make or Break. On that day, one lucky question-answerer will receive a free e-format of that full length novel.

Why am I promoting, even just a teensy bit on one day, a romance novel? Well, to date, it is my "magnum opus," and I know most of us read a variety of genres. So for readers who prefer (or at least don't get squidged out by) romances, something for everybody. Plus, my editor claims to find romances way more terrifying than horror, and refuses to write one for fear of killing off the entire cast of characters by chapter four.

This leads us to today's topic of discussion. Romance in the horror genre.

There was some debate several months ago when bestselling urban fantasy author Kim Harrison wrote about the encroachment of romance into the genre. Since there are so many alarmist links shared, and so many "business of writing" posts, I often don't take time to read them all and tend to have the same knee-jerk reactions as others who don't process the information before forming an opinion. I was totally bent out of shape, because I think romance is an appropriate element in any genre.

Yeah, I'm a romantic at heart and a major girly-girl.

But reading the post in detail and considering the true meaning of Harrison's comments, I realized she wasn't saying "keep romance the hell out of my urban fantasy, dammit, or I will spork you in the jugular." Which is a good thing, because I've always enjoyed her books, and I'd hate to have to go all boycott on her.

What she was saying is the publishing industry seems to be bending the rules, blurring the edges of already intertwined genres and sub-genres, to capitalize on the current "ooooh, sexy vampire guy" craze. And romance-type authors who have no sincere interest in - or history of even reading - urban fantasy are happy to jump on the bandwagon.

Her complaint is not that there is romance in the story. She is bothered, though, when stories that are clearly primarily focused on romance are passed off as "urban fantasy" (which is a sub-genre of horror) simply by throwing in a hot vamp, werewolf, or other supernatural being. Toss in some minor paranormal back story, maybe a witch or a curse or a just-beyond-human-perception world, and voila! It's an urban fantasy.

Except, it's really not.

Her contention, and I must agree, is urban fantasy shouldn't be manipulated to pick up hot marketing trends. Can't we call it "paranormal romance" and be done with it? In romance, your heroine can be tough-as-nails, independent, strong in her own right, and still end up with the guy. Or she can be the troubled damsel in distress, "rescued" by Mr. Wonderful. Both have their place. Depending on my mood, I'm likely to read either style, unless the damsel is terminally whiny and stupid, then I kind of do want a demon lord to come drag her useless ass to Abaddon. But as a girly-girl, I can get into the whole rescue scenario from time to time.

Harrison dislikes seeing books classed as urban fantasy when the heroine is a wishy-washy twit who couldn't rescue herself from a soggy paper bag. I agree. Urban fantasy is supposed to be a bit edgier, and giving your hero fangs doesn't cut it. Your heroine is supposed to have some guts. Some gumption. Some attitude. She might need help from time to time, but she's her own woman and doesn't spend her time sitting in a closet whimpering for Fang Boy to come save her.

("You're kind of useless and pathetic, but I'm the man... so I'll save you 'cause you're pretty and I hope to get under your skirt in the immediate future. Hey, wait. Get away from my horse!")

But does that mean there's no room for romance in the horror genres? I don't think so. One thing I've addressed before, and which I've seen appear multiple times already in other Creepfest posts, is the "monsters" aren't necessarily the primary element in a horror story. Sure, you need some bad-nasties, probably some blood or gore or entrails or psychological terror. But the heart of the story (and not the bloody one clutched in the demon's claws) is the human element. It has to be about the people, your characters, and how they react, interact, and seek to overcome the threat they face. It might involve their banding together to fight or hide, or it could be how elements end up turning against each other when the rules as we knew them no longer exist.

And the fact is... love and romance are an integral part of the human condition. And if you don't want to go all mushy, you have to admit at least attraction and sex are a factor. Yes, you can write a great military espionage thriller, a gruesome slasher horror epic, or a gripping mystery, or even an urban fantasy without a "love interest." But we are humans, and love/romance/passion/sex are part of our emotional and biological make-up. So while you can write a story with little or no exploration of those areas, I find it hard to say romance has no part in any genre other than... romance.

My novella, Monsters Unmasked, is not a romance. (Some people early on referred to it as a "zombie romance," but that icked me out. It sounded like zombies were having... romance. In either case, it's not.) However, there is a romantic element. Ellen suffers horribly at the hands of a band of marauders. After her rescue, she's broken, damaged, and is unsure if she'll ever recover and find her place in this strange, dark new world. Due to her captivity, she's understandably frightened and unable to trust men. It will take a strong, patient, gentle hero to give her a chance to re-learn that all men aren't monsters - which is especially tough when they are surrounded on all sides by monsters of the undead variety. Attraction, romance, and male-female relationships are part of the story, but they're not the whole story. And since it is not a romance novel, you really can't anticipate whether or not you'll get a "happily ever after" ending.

We do crazy things for love. It can make us stronger, weaker, more determined, more vulnerable, more courageous, on unbelievably stupid. It underscores our humanity. Any of these possibilities can have an incredible impact on a plot, and our inevitable comparisons to our own relationships will help us bond with the characters and care more about the story.

But if anything starts sparkling, if Fang-Boy's shirt can't seem to stay on for five consecutive minutes, or if the heroine is incapable of thinking for herself and sits around pining for him to come to her poor, pathetic rescue, I'm outta there.

***

Click on Mr. Poe at the top of this post to visit the home page for 12 Days of Creepfest and meet the rest of the participating authors. They're an incredible bunch, in ever sub-genre of horror you can imagine. And they're all giving stuff away!

MY LINKS:
Lori Whitwam Author Page
My Facebook Fan Page
Follow Me On Twitter

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
What is the name of my other (humor) blog, which has sadly been inactive of late as I've been busy with other things? (Send answer via email to ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line. Correct answers receive two entries in the drawing for free downloads of Monsters Unmasked.)

Writecrastination Welcomes Author Patti Larsen

2011-12-15T00:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Day Three of the Twelve Days of Creepfest!

Today, I'd like to introduce you to a very talented and prolific author, Patti Larsen. She writes Young Adult fiction, frequently with a dark or paranormal twist. Think you don't read Young Adult titles? I didn't think I did, either. But I've now read eight of Patti's books, and she's made a believer out of me.

I've known Patti online for some time, and had the great fortune to meet her in July at Intergalactic Pretendacon Sporkfest I, held in St. Louis. We called it "a very serious writing conference," and we certainly did talk a lot about writing and the publishing industry. But mainly it was a chance for the two of us to visit and hang with out favorite Editorial Goddess and Felllow Writer, Annetta Ribken. We all ended up with new tattoos. Go figure.

Let's chat with Patti a bit, then you can read more about her, visit her links, and find some great new fiction for your library! And don't forget, comments here gain you entries in the drawing for one of five copies of my novella, Monsters Unmasked. Plus, if you correctly answer the Question of the Day (answer emailed to me at ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line) you receive two additional entries. Answers to these questions are easily found on this blog or my author page!

1. You’re featuring Run, the first in the four-book “Hunted” series, so let’s discuss that first. Did the nucleus of the story come to you first, or the character, Reid? What sparked this series?

I don’t remember exactly what prompted it, but a movie clip came to me first. I was with this teenaged kid, running down a dirt path through the trees in the dark, just enough moonlight so we could see ahead of us. He stopped for a minute, panting and looking around like he was terrified. Something howled in the distance and he took off again. I can still see it, feel it, the pounding of his sneakers over the trail, the smell of the forest… it was very impactful and will probably never leave me.

2. Reid faces a lot of frightening threats from a variety of sources. Who are the real monsters in the story?

Ah yes, the real monsters--because he is being chased by hunters trying to kill him and the other kids trapped in the wilderness, the natural assumption is that those same hunters are the only bad guys. But what do you get when you push people to their limits? Their true colors start to show through--and some of them are worse than what you’re running from in the first place.

3. Your books are categorized as Young Adult, but you have a lot of adult readers, too. How do you define “young adult,” and how does it vary from mainstream “adult” fiction? Or does it?

Young adult novel(s) tell the story from the perspective of teenagers. Most YA tackles real life (and sometimes not so real life) issues from a youthful perspective, though the defining boundaries of what constitutes YA changing all the time. My work is specifically written about teens and intended for their consumption, though many adults read YA as well.

I never intended to be an Indie--and in fact sold books to two small publishers along the way. But I have to admit, I’m immensely enjoying being in charge of my career. I was a business owner prior to becoming a full time writer, so the idea of handing off all responsibility to strangers for something that means so much to me was frankly alien. And while I’ve had varying experiences (with one publisher fantastic, the other not so much) with traditional publishing, I’m thrilled to be an Indie. That being said, I know better, as a businesswoman, than to produce shoddy merchandise. I have a fantastic editor (Annetta Ribken) whom I adore, a brilliant cover designer (Stephanie Mooney www.stephaniemooney.blogspot.com), a wonderful formatter who takes care of my print formatting and a lovely proofer (and my delightful host) who makes sure my book looks its absolute best before I make it available for sale. I can’t stress how important all of that is to creating a professional product.

5. What do you find to be the most difficult or frustrating part of the writing and publishing process?

I guess I’d have to say the marketing. But not that I dislike it, only that I struggle sometimes with what the best route is for me. I’m constantly running experiments, trying to do things a little differently than they’ve been done before to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s a lot of effort that sometimes fails to pay off. But I do enjoy it anyway.

6. What factors make a good creepy story?

This is a tough question because it’s so personal. For me, the creepiest stories are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, whether they be supernatural in origin or not. I find the more emotional the connection I have, the more horrified I am by the result. Authenticity is the best ingredient for scariness.

7. Do you read much horror (or any sub-genre of horror)? What is the scariest thing you’ve ever read? What scares you in real life?

Most of the horror I read is Stephen King. Scariest thing I ever read? The Walking Dead comics, what the TV show is based on. I reached a certain point and had to stop. I’m unable to watch horror but I can read it as long as I take breaks. So funny for a horror/thriller writer, isn’t it? I’m terrified of the dark so I have to be sure to leave the night light on in the hall… I kid you not. I’m also afraid of heights, but I challenge that every chance I get, as well as being incredibly claustrophobic. DO NOT pin me down. You’ll lose a limb.

8. What is your biggest hobby or interest outside writing?

Not much these days! If I had the time, I’d be improv acting again, and maybe in another band or return to making Indie films. But writing consumes me.

9. As a reader, what will make you put down a book without finishing it?

The author not being authentic with the main character. Don’t set me up believing one thing then shove something different in my face 200 pages in. Repetition in plot (the same feel of threat then resolved over and over again) is very tiring and annoys me after a while. Lack of an emotional connection with the characters is probably my biggest reason. And padding--if I find myself skimming, I’ll probably put the book down.

10. What are you working on now, and what should we expect to see from you in the new year?

I’m preparing the fourth book of The Hayle Coven Series (now with my editor) for publication at the end of the month while I write the last two books of a new series based on the steampunk genre. I’ll be releasing the first book of a dark trilogy in the new year, Best Friends Forever, about a teen girl who loses her three best friends in an accident. Suicidal and an alcoholic, she is shocked out of her pain when her little brother is kidnapped by a pedophile and has to search for him while being haunted by her former friends. Very dark and creepy. I’m also working on The Blunt House series, about a teen girl who finds a voodoo doll in her grandmother’s attic and wonders why bad things start happening to people who are mean to her. I keep a very busy schedule, so all of the above will be published in 2012.

***
More about "Run"

Kidnapped

Alone, Reid gasps in one deep breath, another. It hurts his ribs, his lungs. He manages to roll over on his right side and regrets it. His shoulder screams in protest. Still, he is finally able to wriggle his numb hands loose from what holds him and claws at the cloth around his eyes.

Darkness. But not complete. The moon is up. Trees loom over him, the smell of spruce and fresh air so sharp it almost hurts. He jerks at the plastic ties around his ankles while. his vision swims through a veil of pain-laden tears. He manages somehow to force his screaming hands to work the ties loose and he is free.

Sixteen-year-old Reid thinks life is back to normal. His sister Lucy pulls herself together and cuts him free from a year of foster care. She promises to take care of him, that her new boss and her new life are what they both needed to start again. Until Reid is taken in the middle of the night, dumped in a wild stretch of forest far from home with no idea why he is there. Lost and afraid, he learns to run from the hunters who prowl the darkness, their only pleasure chasing down kids like him. And killing them.

About the Author:

Patti Larsen is a middle grade, young adult and adult author with a passion for the paranormal. Her YA thriller series, The Hunted, is available now. Books one and two of The Hayle Coven series, Family Magic and Witch Hunt are also out now, with the sequels, Demon Child and The Wild, due in December of this year. She is a full time writer and a part time teacher of her Get Your Book Done program. Patti lives on the East Coast of Canada with her very patient husband and four massive cats.

Where you can find her (and believe me, you want to find her!):

On her website www.pattilarsen.com

On Facebook www.facebook.com/pattilarsenauthor

Her writing blog www.pattilarsen.blogspot.com

Her book blog www.pattilarsenbooks.blogspot.com

On Twitter www.twitter.com/#!/PattiLarsen

On Amazon.com and Goodreads

***

Don't forget to visit the Twelve Days of Creepfest Blog Hop page for a full listing and links to all the participating authors!

***

Question of the Day: At what literary center did I take the class which finally got me focused on writing and led to my first completed manuscript?

Email answers to ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line. Correct answers earn two entries in the drawing for free book downloads.

See you tomorrow!

How a Romance Author Ends Up Writing About Zombies

2011-12-14T00:00:00.001-06:00

(Disclaimer: This is a re-publication of a post that originally appeared on my author page. However, it fits perfectly with what I want to say here on Day Two of the Twelve Days of Creepfest, and this is an entirely different reader base. I hope you enjoy it!)

(Disclaimer #2: If you want to skip this amazing, wonderful, insightful, and amusing post and get right to the links and Question of the Day, just scroll down to the bottom. But you'll regret it. Deeply.)

I read a wide variety of genres. My library contains mystery, urban fantasy, romance, suspense, paranormal, humor, erotica… and, yes, horror. I’d read a number of zombie stories, but none really stood out from the rest of my eclectic literary selections.

In October of 2010, the AMC original series The Walking Dead premiered. I don’t watch much serial television, and I don’t watch movies. I especially don’t watch scary movies, even though I read some pretty gruesome horror novels. When reading, I can fly through the graphic scenes, absorbing – and retaining – only as much as my wimpy constitution can bear. My imagination is too unruly. Once I get an image in my head, it’s there for good. I’ll envision it at the worst possible times, terrifying myself over and over. For some reason, I watched The Sixth Sense when it was available on cable, and I couldn’t get up at night to go to the bathroom for months. And that wasn’t even a particularly scary movie by most standards.

(Oh, yes, I love it, I surely do…)

(Well, if we’re being honest here, maybe I like Daryl a little extra much. Heh.)

Yet The Walking Dead grabbed me. I was obsessed from the first episode. This led to my seeking out as many quality zombie novels as I could find. I stumbled across Living With the Dead: With Spring Comes the Fall, the compilation of the first six months of the real-time zombie apocalypse blog by Joshua Guess. I was impressed, contacted the author, and Josh and I became online friends. When he was ready to release the first year compilation (Living With the Dead: Year One), he asked me if I’d like to write a short story to include as bonus material. Deep in my self-imposed zombiemania, I sat down and started writing. I’m not a short-story writer. I’m a novelist. It soon became clear I’d never be able to produce anything shorter than a novella, so that’s what I did. Luckily, Josh loved it, it was included in the compilation, and I later released it independently.

My concept for Monsters Unmasked struck me as somewhat unusual for a zombie apocalypse story, in that it is fairly light on the zombie-chopping and brain-eating, and heavy on the personal traumas suffered by the main character.

(Chomping, not so much. Pooooooor Amy. If only she hadn’t had to pee.)

I’d been asked to set the story in the world Josh had created in his blog, and I chose to tell the story of Ellen, a minor character mentioned as having been rescued from a group of “marauders” by the residents of Josh’s fortified compound. I’d wondered about her when I read his book, so I told how she’d come to be held captive, the atrocities she suffered, and the agonizing struggle she endured to overcome that horror and find her place in this new, strange world.

Then, when Monsters Unmasked was completed, I realized my approach wasn’t, perhaps, as odd as I’d originally thought. In many horror stories, you have a single villain, or a small, cohesive group of baddies. A rogue vampire preying on a small town. A few demons who escape their summoner and run amok in New York. A clan of werewolves gnawing on unwary hikers.

But zombies are different. We seldom see individual characters among the zombie population. The zombies are legion, they are the plague that overtakes the world and threatens all of humanity. They’re not a single enemy. They’re representations of the collapse of society. They’re a device to illuminate the human condition.

Honestly, they could just as easily be an alien invasion, an occupation by a foreign army, a nuclear holocaust, or meteor strike. I’ve always enjoyed apocalyptic fiction. I’ve read books where the planet-altering event was a series of massive earthquakes, sudden contamination and destruction of the world’s oil supply, reversal of the planet’s magnetic poles, nuclear war… anything that eliminates civilization as we know it. I always particularly enjoy when the characters go scavenging, finding those life-giving necessities and the occasional small luxuries that keep them going.

But the real story is the survivors, how they form bonds, sometimes prey on one another, and struggle to reshape a world that is forever changed. And in zombie fiction, sometimes flesh is rent asunder, brains are eaten, the dead rise again, and zombie heads go flying.

I found I liked this horror sub-genre, because it let me write the “human” story, with enough darkness and – oh, yes, I admit it – gore to make things even more interesting.

Am I a horror writer? I wrote a horror novella, but I don’t think I am. Then again, I might be wrong, as my next book is a paranormal dark comedy, in the same vein as the too-short-lived Showtime series, Dead Like Me.

(Sigh. Two seasons weren’t nearly enough.)

Am I a romance writer? Again, I don’t define myself as one, even though Make or Break is a steamy romantic suspense. I’d always assumed I was a mystery writer, but so far I haven’t managed to write any. Oh, there’s one simmering on the back burner of my brain, but this other stuff keeps pushing it out of the way and shouting, “Me first! Me first!”

I guess I’m just a writer. I read multiple genres, so perhaps it makes sense for me to write that way, as well.

Now the second season of The Walking Dead has premiered, and I watch it despite my hyper-active imagination and inability to remove my brain from the storyline. When I go downstairs to the family room or laundry room at night, I’m faced with a dilemma. There’s no light switch at the top of the steps, meaning I must descend in darkness, then reach for the light switch in the hallway. Every time, every single time, I imagine the scene from last season, where Amy comes out of the Winnebago, holding the door open, a zombie is waiting, and he tears into her arm like a chicken wing from Hooters.

(Replace perky young blonde by a Winnebago with cowardly, middle-aged brunette in my basement, and there you have it. My personal nightmare.)

If I have to fumble for the switch for even a second, I feel panic rising. Seriously, if my husband wanted to kill me by coronary, all he’d have to do is hide down there, wait for me to come downstairs and reach for the light, and grab my arm. My heart would explode. I’d be dead before I hit the ground. Even Thurston Fowl III, the four-foot-tall, zombie-killing, machete-wielding metal chicken that lives in my Writing Lair, couldn’t save me.

(Thurston, perhaps we should relocate you somewhere in the vicinity of the light switch…?)

My husband did have – and perhaps still does – a costume consisting of a brown monk’s robe, complete with cowl, and a rubber zombie mask. He admitted, when I cautioned him against trick-playing of that sort, he’d considered looking for the costume and “doing something with it.” When I pointed out this could be viewed as, at best, second degree murder, I think he began to comprehend the seriousness of the situation.

I love zombie stories. Reading them, watching The Walking Dead, and as it turns out, writing them. (Movies? So far, still no. Except Shaun of the Dead, because… hilarious!) Will I write more? Perhaps. It depends on whether the characters wandering about in my head start shambling, moaning, and decomposing. Or shooting crossbow arrows through the eye sockets of those who do.

Yeah, there’s a lot going on up there. I’m a writer.

And now I really want a crossbow.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do I call the room in which I do all my writer-type stuff?

REMEMBER: Email answers to QOTD to me at ripleygold@gmail.com, DO NOT answer in comments. Correct answers receive two entries in the sweepstakes for free downloads.

COMMENTS left below receive one entry into the free downloads sweepstakes.

MY LINKS:

Official Lori Whitwam Author Page (buy links for Monsters Unmasked and Make or Break can be found here)

My Facebook Fan Page

Follow Me On Twitter

See ALL the authors participating in 12 Days of Creepfest! (ALL are offering chances for free stuff!)

Celebrate the 12 Days of Creepfest!

2011-12-13T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is a whole new experience for me. I'm participating in a "blog hop." I was recently asked if I'd like to participate in the Twelve Days of Creepfest, and at first I wondered if this were a veiled insult... then I realized it's a group of independent authors coming together to promote their own work and that of others through their blogs.

My next thought was, "Why would they ask me? I'm not a horror writer!"

Au contraire. Apparently. I suppose there was a time when horror was defined primarily - if not solely - as stories in which monsters, ghosts, demons, and other bad-nasties make the lives of the human characters extremely unpleasant... or end them entirely. This is no longer the case. "Horror" has many sub-genres, including psychological suspense, paranormal, and urban fantasy, just to name a few.

Even when I was writing Monsters Unmasked, which is set in the zombie apocalypse world created by Living With the Dead author Joshua Guess, I didn't consider it horror because I felt I focused on the abuse and trauma suffered by Ellen and her attempts to recover and find her place in a society that no longer resembled life as she'd known it. There just happened to be a plague of zombies roaming about.

Little did I know, that's pretty much what makes a good horror story. Sure, you need monsters (real, imagined, supernatural, or all too human), but the heart of the story is the cast of human characters and how they survive, fight back, or work together in the darkest of circumstances.

So, yeah. I wrote a horror story.

This brings us to the Twelve Days of Creepfest. As of right now, I have seven fantastic independent horror authors in a variety of genres scheduled to appear here on Writecrastination. Some posts will be author interviews, others will be reviews of their featured work. And some of them will be offering free stuff for a lucky reader who takes the time to comment on their post! (Mmmmm... free stuff!)

In the true spirit of the Creepfest season, I will also be giving away stuff! Here's how that's going to work...

At 9:00 PM U.S. Central Time on December 23, I will give away five free downloads of my novella, Monsters Unmasked. (Winners will be contacted via email, and announced in the final Creepfest post on December 24.) Prize will be provided to the winners via a FREE coupon on Smashwords. Just go to Smashwords, put my book in your cart, and enter the coupon code at checkout.

I like Smashwords for this (rather than sending you an Amazon download) because of the variety of e-reader devices on the market. At Smashwords, you can choose the format you want, even a .pdf to read right on your computer if you don't have a dedicated e-reader. (Plus, if you're one of the smart cookies who already read it, you can give the coupon to a friend so they can share the zombie goodness!)

To receive entries to win, comment on one of my daily Creepfest posts. You can comment each day, on each post, and your comment is good for one entry. In addition, I will occasionally post "bonus questions," the answers to which can be found on this blog, or on my author page. (Don't worry, I won't make them too difficult!) These questions will be submitted to me via email at ripleygold@gmail.com, and must have Question of the Day in the subject line. Correct answers will receive two entries.

When you comment, it will be helpful if the profile you use to post leads to a profile page which shows your email address. That will make it easier for me to find you to inform you of your incredible good fortune. :-) If not, it will be the entrant's responsibility to check my 12/24 post announcing winners, and to contact me with details regarding where to send your coupon code. Winners who fail to do so by 6:00 PM U.S. Central Time on Tuesday, December 27 will forfeit, and the download will be awarded to someone else.

(You want it. You know you do!)

My method of "random selection" is rather unique. Entries will be printed out, and each entry will be crumpled into a ball and tossed on the floor in a big pile. The winners will be the first ones my golden retriever, Darwin, picks up and brings to me. Don't laugh. I've used this method for years, and it never fails!

Finally, as we gear up to celebrate indie horror authors, I have to offer one additional prize. I'm not saying when, but one of the questions will involve my contemporary romantic suspense novel, Make or Break. One person with the correct answer to that question will receive a free copy of the novel, in the e-format of his or her choice.

Be sure to visit daily! I'll post the Question of the Day and a reminder of the rules for the giveaway at the bottom of each post. I'll also announce when I'm appearing on other authors' blogs, too. You should check out those posts as well, not only because I might say something amusing and/or embarrassing, but because some of those appearances will also involve free stuff!

12/13 QUESTION OF THE DAY: This is an easy one. Won't take you more than a minute to find on my author page... In what state was I born and raised? (Remember, answers to this question don't go in the comments here. Everyone would see! Email it to me at ripleygold@gmail.com, with Question of the Day in the subject line. Good luck!)

Visit the Official Lori Whitwam Author Page for buy links for Monsters Unmasked and Make or Break
Be my fan on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter

Enter the Lair

2011-09-10T13:08:00.017-05:00

Eleven days ago, I posted about the creation of my very own Writing Lair. I realize few people, especially writers, lack a designated "desk where I use my computer" setup, but until now, I didn't have one. I spent most of my working life at a desk in an office somewhere, and the time I wrote at home was spent on the Sofur, the futon in the spare room, or at the kitchen table. The computer and desk in the bedroom never felt like the "right place," and the rolltop desk in the spare room was old and not designed for computer-related comfort.

With a full-size bed in the downstairs guest room, I didn't think I had room for a desk, the Lair Chair, and the other odd things I knew I'd want in my Lair. Then I had the brainstorm to swap the bed in that room with the futon upstairs. Brilliant!

And the Lair was born.

This week, I painted over the violently green walls you saw in the August 30 post, got everything arranged, brought Thurston Fowl III, machete-wielding giant metal chicken down to his new home, and got the things I wanted arranged on the walls.

And here you go! A quick video tour of Lori's Writing Lair, followed by individual photos of different areas, and descriptions of what the things are, and why they are important enough to me to have them in my Lair.

I know all these photos and descriptions might be a bit like overkill, but if you're like me (nosy), you like to see what kind of stuff people have around them, and the stories behind the objects they love.

Click on any image to see a larger version. So, here we go...

The beautiful print above was given to me by my sweet, generous friend Kim Norton. We shared a love of goldens, and dogs in general, as well as an interest in natural care and feeding of our canine friends. She saw this and thought of me. We had Gulliver then, a big golden/pyr mix, and the brunette woman in the picture, with the giant dog, caught her eye. Kim has been gone nearly two years now, and the generous financial gift she left me is helping to make it possible for me to stay home and write. Thank you, Kim. I love you and miss you terribly! I put this print right by the door to the Lair, so I'll think of her every time I walk into the room.

Moving clockwise, my shelves-o-plenty. On top is a crystal eagle that belongs to Tom, and which I stole because I needed something heavy to serve as a bookend for (next item) my complete collection of Virginia Lanier books, publishers' proofs, and advance reading copies. She was my friend and mentor, and Make or Break is dedicated to her memory and inspiration. The gold clock was given to me by Pals On Paws, the Therapy Dogs International chapter I founded, upon the occasion of my "retirement" from directing the group. The small, red-bordered photo is Ryan and my Ripley at Banning State Park shortly after we moved to Minnesota. The painting in back is one Ryan did in junior high, I believe. The red stuffed rose was given to me by Tom, when he showed up at the clinic one day with a huge bag of Valentine's Day goodies and whisked me away for a romantic overnight getaway. The bear has a tag on his ribbon that says "I (heart) Tom." I got that little pin from a friend in high school, Jackie, who had broken up with her boyfriend (Tom) right about the time I started dating my Tom. She and her Tom got back together several years later, and are still married, but I ain't givin' back the pin!

Bottom shelf, the first item is a photo of my parents, Jack & Ruth Cunningham. They're keeping an eye on me, I imagine. Next is my favorite picture of our Sprocket. Then is the Fostoria American basket that belonged to Tom's grandmother. In it is a poem Tom copied for me on a piece of birch bark. It's about love and red and white roses, and he gave it to me with a bouquet of red-tipped white sweetheart roses. (I know... awwwwww, right?) Next is my favorite "upside down" picture of my Ripley, followed by a framed print of the cover for my novella, Monsters Unmasked.

The futon, with the crocheted-rose blanket my mom made when I was a kid. I have it on there for sentimental reasons right now, but will eventually replace it with something that matches the Lair decor. Which means it will probably be slightly tacky, but amusing in some way.

I LOVE this print. It's "Storytime" by John Weiss, and depicts a little brunette girl in an armchair, reading a book with a golden retriever puppy in her lap. And nearby, I sit in the modern-day pose of the same scene... grown brunette woman sitting at a desk with a laptop, an adult golden retriever by my side. Perfect!

This is the collage I made of Ripley's photo, qualifying ribbons from his obedience trials, along with his AKC Companion Dog title certificate. Ripley was my "heart dog," and I still miss him every day.

Next to Ripley's picture, and directly behind my desk, you'll find the plaster "green dog" plaque I found at the Renaissance Festival several years ago. The dog and the Pagan sentiment were greatly appealing to me. Hanging to the right of the green dog are three multi-colored glass witch balls, made by a friend of Jess's husband, Troy. They are so beautiful!

The shelf to the left of my desk contains a photo collage of Ripley, a picture of me with Tom at a wedding several years ago (resting on my Writing Tiara), and another picture of us before a concert about six or seven years ago. Hanging beneath is a ceramic sign that says "Life is just better when I'm with my dogs." :-)

The ledge that runs all along the wall under the windows is full of goodies. The books are by friends of mine, and mostly signed. I put 'Netta's "Not Nice" in front, so it's like she's looking over my shoulder! Heh. I look forward to adding more of my friends' books as I manage to get my grabby paws on them. The glass ball is a paperweight made by Jess's husband... and I have no idea what kind of leaf is in there. I swear. Next up are two pictures from Ryan & Rachel's wedding (my son and daughter-in-law), a print of the Make or Break cover (need to get a frame), and the Dismember-Me Plush Zombie given to me a couple of Christmases ago by Rachel.

On the ledge is a painted plaque that says "We are kindred spirits" given to me by my beautiful, amazing cyber-sister, Laurie. Ignore the photo. It's gone now. On the desk is the digital photo frame Ryan and Rachel gave me a few years ago, miscellaneous office junk, and the book-style library lamp Tom got me for the Lair.

Ah, yes. The Lair Chair. Hideously beautiful. On the ledge behind it, I put some peacock feathers in a Fostoria vase... because I love peacock feathers and Fostoria. And, of course, the chandelier which, when I find enough Implements of Potential Terror, will become my stabby-knife chandelier. Gotta hit some antique stores.

The medal hanging on the closet door is my Dog Writers Association of America Maxwell Award, which I received for Best Regular Blog (Fermented Fur) a few years ago. And, of course, Thurston Fowl III, machete-wielding giant metal chicken. I love him so much, I can't even tell you! You can read his full story HERE, over on Fermented Fur.

And that's it, kiddies. It's where I am right now, and where I'll be for a good portion of nearly every day. You know... working. :-)

And to support that work, please don't forget to click over to my author page and check out the buy links for Monsters Unmasked and Make or Break! Somebody's gotta pay to feed the giant metal chicken, you know.

Get It While It's Hot!

2011-09-03T10:51:00.004-05:00

After 24 hours of technical glitchiness, the Etopia Press website is up and running! Why should you care? Because you can now bounce on over there and purchase the e-format of Make or Break!

What are you waiting for? Go! Go now! Who knows if the gremlins have been banished for good, or are lurking and plotting another assault?

If you like sexy romance, some life-threatening suspense, and/or hot guitar guys, give it a look. On the fence? Head over to my author page, and read Chapter One.

If you like it, please leave reviews wherever you can, and share links with friends who might also like it. Deal?

Fall Into Winter: In a Class By Itself

2011-08-30T20:46:00.003-05:00

(I have several reviews of recent reads I want to post soon, but I just finished Fall Into Winter by Eden Baylee, and I'm so knocked-on-my-ass blown away I wanted to share this review immediately. The genre is erotica, so if that's not your thing, I understand. But if you're at all intrigued, read on. This is the collection that could change ambiguous opinions on erotica and its place in the literary world forever!)

Do you think erotica is just a bunch of shallow characters, trite and repetitious phrases, and crazy sex scenes? If you do, Fall Into Winter will change your mind. Eden Baylee gives us four incredible stories with rich characters and story lines... as well as a lot of sizzling sex scenes. They range from impulsive to calculated to breathtakingly romantic. The characters and their histories add to the richness of the stories. When her character, Elena, who is trying to have a career as a writer of erotica, is asked if the stories are about sex, she says, "Not exactly. They're not *about* sex, but they include it." This perfectly describes Eden Baylee's approach to erotica, and it's what sets her in a class by herself. You'll sizzle through the sex scenes, which are well-written with a wide range of descriptives beyond the usual (standard, over-used) vocabulary list employed by the majority of erotica writers, and you'll also care about the characters, their situations and the reasons that lead them to these encounters. Best of all, these four stories are not the same premise re-written with slightly different characters and settings. Each is unique, and a pleasure to savor. Prior to reading this book, I'd just finished reading what might be the worst "erotica" in the history of the written word. Practically enough to put me off sex for the rest of my life. But this book restored my faith in the genre (which I do truly love), and in the fact that erotica can truly be good literature in addition to a sexy read. Thanks, Eden!

News From the Lair

2011-08-30T14:46:00.006-05:00

After years of bitching, whining, moaning, and complaining that I have nowhere to write in this stupid, tiny, cookie-cutter piece of 1970s crap we call a house, we're finally creating my Writing Lair.

There is still much to do! I got a new desk and chair, and an awesome chandelier from which I shall soon be hanging old, scary-looking knives (a la the Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Duluth, which inspired me). We moved the bed and entertainment center and other stuff out of the downstairs bedroom. We brought in the famous Lair Chair, and moved the futon down here (putting the bed in the "cabin room" upstairs). There's still stuff piled where it doesn't belong, and I have to paint the screaming-green walls something soothing, do the wall decor and accessorize everything, but today I am actually working in my very own Lair!!!

(Yes, it is entirely possible Darwin is possessed. Nothing would surprise me around here.)

(The Lair Chair, beneath the soon-to-be stabby-knife chandelier.)

As exciting as all that is, it's not even the most exciting thing happening at the moment! Yes, we did just get tickets for four more Cody Canada & The Departed shows for September (two in - shudder - Iowa, one right here in Minneapolis, and one in Carbondale, IL... so, more road trips!), but the biggest news is about Make or Break.

The official release of my romantic suspense, Make or Break, is in three days! Friday, September 2, the e-formats will be released, and the print version shortly thereafter. (Don't worry, I'll keep you posted!) If you like a sexy romance story, a lot of oh-shit-someone's-trying-to-kill-me suspense, and/or a super hot guy with a guitar, I hope you'll give it a try.

I just got the official cover from my publisher, Etopia Press, this morning, and it's fantastic! The original image design is by Daleen Smit, whom I contracted for the project when I was considering self-publishing. Etopia modified the fonts and text to fit their design style, and... voila! Beautiful!

I'll be really busy in the coming weeks, traveling through cyberspace ~~whoring~~ promoting the book, and we'll see if I can come up with a contest or giveaway of sorts.

Stick around! Send me a note! Buy the book! Help me find old, stabby knives for the chandelier! Whatever makes you happy makes me happy!

No, I'm almost never this enthusiastic about anything. Don't get used to it. Heh.

We Have A Winner!

2011-05-27T12:26:00.003-05:00

I received a lot of really impressive entries in my lyrics contest. It's a daunting task to write a song to such precise specifications, matching the voices of characters you don't know, and capturing the tone I want for my novel. I appreciate the work done by each and every entrant, and the time they spent to help me find the perfect song for Seth and Abby.

One entry, however, stood out.

Congratulations to Todd Macy! His lyrics were truly written in Seth's voice. He balanced evocative imagery and more gritty aspects inherent to life as a musician. The lyrics managed to be ones that would come from Seth's perspective, but would also appeal to Abby during her own time of darkness and self-doubt.

The chorus, though, nailed it. As a good chorus should be, it's simple but spot-on. It's something that could speak to many people in many situations. Todd left the fancy song-writer stuff in the verses, and gave me a chorus that could resonate in its clean simplicity.

Thanks, Todd! This is "a good'un!"

I hope you'll all check back here to see the posted song once it makes its way through the editorial process. I'll post it as a sneak-peek once the book is scheduled for release. And I also hope you'll consider checking out Make or Break when it's released later this year. At this point, it's looking like late summer/early fall.

Once again, thank you all for your entries. There were a lot of good choices in there. Todd just captured the essence of the story a bit more than any of the others.

Make or Break now has a title song! Which means... I'd better get back on my revisions, so we can get my work (and Todd's) to the publisher on time!

Ready, Set, (Song)Write!

2011-05-18T12:52:00.007-05:00

I'm in the second round of revisions on Make or Break, and I find myself facing something I always suspected I would. My beta readers and editor know that the title is taken from my male character Seth's song. It's a very important part of the story, but while I've described the song in the manuscript, I never wrote the actual song.

Because I totally did not want to.

I used to write a lot of (extremely bad) poetry, but haven't written a stanza in more than six years. I've put off writing the Make or Break song because I'm worried it will be too awful or too simplistic. Yet it needs to be in the book.

This is where you come in. I've decided to have a contest. If you're a poet or a songwriter, and would like to have a bit of your work appear in the upcoming release of Make or Break by Etopia Press, grab your writing implement of choice and show me what you've got! Lyrics only, no music required.

I want at least two verses and a chorus.
Winner will receive $50, their entry will be in the book as the representation of Seth's song, and the writer will be given credit in the acknowledgments.
Winner retains the right to use the "song" in other works if they so desire.
Winner agrees that no further compensation will be received for the song, except what is noted in item #2.
Winner agrees that I might edit or revise portions of their entry, if I feel it is needed to better reflect what I want the song to convey.
If my editor and I don't believe any of the entries capture the essence of what we want to portray, I reserve the right to terminate the contest without choosing a winner.

What you need to know about Seth, Abby, the story, and the song:

SETH is a 32-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Think smoldery-sexy bad boy, with long hair, tattoos, and frayed jeans. But he's emotionally intense, and a master at conveying his feelings through his music. His band is called Dead End Road. He and his friends formed the band when they were 16, and Seth writes 90% of what they record. At a point approximately 5-6 years before the beginning of Make or Break, Seth was suffering from a bad case of writer's block. He couldn't write a song to save his life. The band was moving to the next level of their success, and he'd been listening to too many recording industry executives regarding how he "should" write, perform, and present himself and the band. In doing so, he'd lost his own creative voice. Then he realized he had to be true to himself and his talent, and essentially make or break it on his own. When he did that, he was able to reconnect with his creative energy, and never looked back.

ABBY is 34, a semi-reclusive writer. When Make or Break was released, she was in a dark place. She'd just suffered a series of losses, and had begun to doubt her own ability as a writer. This is the first Dead End Road song she'd heard, and it sparked her interest in their music, and ultimately in Seth. Its message inspired her to do what Seth did - to be true to herself and her voice, and believe in her talent.

THE STORY: Seth and Abby meet under regrettable (if somewhat amusing) circumstances. They argue, and don't much like each other at first. But in a subsequent conversation, they get talking about writing. The attraction has begun, but when Abby tells Seth that her favorite song is Make or Break, and why, their bond strengthens. The song led to her being able to write her novels, and he is touched to know his work had such an impact on her life.

THE SONG: Abby describes it as determined, sad, and defiant, all at the same time. It is the song that caught her attention, changed her life, and now is a bridge to her relationship with Seth. It is Seth's expression of how he got over his own block when he stopped letting others dictate what he "should" do. Seth plays the song for Abby at his concert the night they meet. It also has a comedic role in the story, when Abby's phone rings, and Seth hears that Make or Break is her ringtone. That ringtone also plays a role in saving both their lives in the final confrontation scene. In many ways, it reflects their relationship, that they have to overcome their issues, fears, and insecurities and take a chance on each other, the "make or break" of their future.

Wow, that's a lot, isn't it? Two more things...

The novel is a romantic suspense.

Seth's band is sort of "southern rock" in style. Not country, not hard rock, not emo-new-agey stuff. Think of the music coming out of Oklahoma and Texas. This band is based in Austin. The song should have dark elements of self-doubt and fear of loss of identity, then maybe a bit of anger about allowing others to influence the writer, then a breakthrough, defiance, and ultimately achieving.

DEADLINE is Noon, U.S. Central Time, on Friday, May 27th. Entries should be emailed to me at ripleygold@gmail.com, with your last name and "Song Entry" in the subject line.

What are you waiting for? I want to see my inbox full of great entries!

UPDATE 5/21/11: Entries are starting to come in. Two things I want to add, as if the bajillion things above aren't enough... 1) Let's avoid religious references, as I'm non-religious, and religion plays no role in the book. 2) Make sure that the lyrics are something that would also be ones that Abby could see as "her" story, the loss of creative voice, self-doubt, trying to please others, etc.

If any entrants want to revise their submission before the deadline, send the entry exactly as before, but also include "revised" in the subject line.

WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED NO LATER THAN NOON ON MONDAY, MAY 30.

Multiple entries are welcome! If you have two totally different ideas, go for it!

Thanks!

Bucket List

2011-04-15T07:59:00.003-05:00

This year has been pretty incredible so far, and yesterday it got even more incredible.

I'm reflecting on the nature of the Internet (which I love more than pretty much anything), connections, coincidental meetings, karma, and a whole bunch of other philosophical whatnot. The Universe does what it does for reasons that largely escape us, and sometimes those things are very, very good.

Yesterday, I signed a publication contract for Make or Break! Yep, Seth and Abby are going to emerge into the world sometime this summer under the banner of Etopia Press, in both e-book and print formats. As if that weren't wonderful enough, my editor will be the brilliant and talented Annetta Ribken! The entire situation is so full of awesome that I need to get a bigger Awesome Bucket.

I'd been prepared to self-publish Make or Break, but I wasn't happy about it. Yes, I know that by signing with a publisher, I give up some control over the project and a portion of the income. But it's worth it to me. As a novice novelist (ha), I appreciate any and all support from those with far more experience in this business. I'll still have tons to do, editing, revising, promoting, marketing... but I'll have some guidance.

And - let's be totally honest here - it's nice to have the validation of a professional publisher evaluating Make or Break and deeming it "good enough" to invest the time and money (not to mention their reputation) to actually publish. I know it's good. It's going to be even better before it comes out in print. But if I'd self-published, I'd never know if it was truly "good enough." Yeah, that's my personal insecurity, but most writers are full of it. Insecurity, that is! We're an odd mix of ego and "I-suck-ism." It's a miracle we aren't all in traction due to whiplash from the mood swings.

Now I have to get a tattoo. Another tattoo. I invented a tattoo for Abby in the book, and I promised myself that I'd get the same one when the book sold. Like I need an excuse to get a tattoo.

It's been a monumental year. And it's only going to get better. My "bucket list" is getting shorter and shorter.

I'll be launching my new and greatly improved author page (maybe today). And after careful consideration, I'll be dedicating Make or Break to my late friend and mentor, Virginia Lanier. I'll never write as well as she did, but I'm always going to try.

What Being a Writer Means to Me

2011-03-28T13:56:00.007-05:00

I've always wanted to be a writer. What does that mean? Isn't anyone who writes a "writer?" Technically, yes, but that's not what it meant to me.

All my life, being a writer - being an author - meant one thing. Having a book in print. But more than that, it meant following the traditional publishing model.

Write book
Edit book
Submit book to agent
Agent gets me a book deal
Book is published
Repeat

Twenty years ago, and maybe even ten years ago, that was the only way to do it. At least if you wanted any success or respect. Authors who self-published were seen as nothing but lame, talentless, vanity-press-loving hacks. Zero credibility.

Even two years ago, when I was writing Make or Break, I never considered any approach other than following steps 1-6 as above. Self-publishing was starting to blast into the mainstream, but I wasn't interested. The other authors I knew - the ones I considered "serious" writers - weren't interested. We scoffed at self-publishing. After all, we were good enough to do it the old-fashioned way. Sure, there would be a lot of rejections along the way, but sooner or later someone would recognize our genius and grant us a lucrative publishing deal.

I kept writing, and things kept changing.

I started discovering that some books I really wanted to read were e-format only, self-published or published by e-book-only online publishers. Huh. Simultaneously annoying and interesting.

Fifteen months ago, I got my first Kindle. I haven't read a print book since. I still read mainstream releases from authors who also have wide print distribution, but a lot of what fills my Kindle was only released in e-book format. I often don't notice which are which. Even more interesting.

During that time, I've come to know a number of authors who self-published their work. They have a variety of reasons for doing so. Some just wanted a print version of their book in their hands so badly, any cost was worth it. Some wanted to e-publish their work, and keep a higher percentage of their sales for themselves. Some wanted full control of their work, from editing to formatting to promotion. Others wanted to get a title out there, a solid publishing credit, on which to build their future careers, which might or might not include publication through a traditional House. Lots of reasons.

Along the way, self-publishing has lost a lot of its stigma.

In fact, I've now self-published (with a lot of help from my friends) my novella, Monsters Unmasked. I did this for several reasons. A novella is really too short for individual print release. It would look more like a pamphlet you'd get at the gynecologist's office. My novella had already appeared in e-format as part of the bonus material in Joshua Guess's Living With the Dead: Year One. I lack the patience to submit it all over the place for inclusion in anthologies. I wanted a publishing credit as I go about determining the publishing fate of my romantic suspense novel, Make or Break.

So, Monsters Unmasked is now available in e-book formats on Smashwords and on Amazon. Favorite thing... working with the cover artist, who did an amazing job.

(Tons of creepy, campy awesome!)

But what about Make or Break? I wrote Monsters at the request of the LWtD author, who has become a friend, and I loved it... but that world is his baby, not mine. I just visited. I love Monsters, don't get me wrong. But Make or Break is a huge part of me, and I want to do right by it.

During the preparation to self-publish Monsters, I simultaneously started the preparation for self-publishing Make or Break. The difference being that MoB would also be available in print format. I hired a fabulous graphic artist, and we made a cover. The full cover flat is in development now, and I'm preparing to make the final decision about how/where it will be published before we complete the back cover. Different options will involve different things that will have to be printed back there.

(I love this cover SO MUCH it's not even funny.)

So, what are my options? A small, regional publisher in Minnesota has had the full manuscript for about six weeks. They could call any minute, or six months from now, with either a rejection or an offer for publication. I'm also still fully prepared to move ahead with self-publication if that seems the best route. I don't feel any shame in that, whereas even a year ago I would have considered resorting to self-publication at least a little bit of a failure.

Now I have one other option, and that's publication through a small but growing publisher. Like the regional one, they do e-format and print, which I like. Their basic contract terms are extremely competitive, with several attractive features. They've got the full manuscript right now, and I could know any time between five minutes and four weeks from now if they want to publish it. I feel comfortable with this option, because I happen to know the editor to whom I submitted it, and know we'd do a fabulous job together. (Two-woman literary firestorm!)

And now is when every writer on the planet has an opinion. Some are 100% hard-core old-school, very adamant that not following steps 1-6 exactly means you've taken a shortcut, sold out, and somehow cheapened your work. Others are completely against traditional publishers, seeing them as a thing of the past, continuing to exist only to suck the financial life out of naive authors. Some fall in the middle, believing that some combination over the course of a career, using both traditional and self-publishing and e-publishing is the way to go.

We all have to make our own choices.

For me, if one of the traditional publishing deals comes through, even though I circumvented the step of finding an agent first to submit it to publishers for me, that's my best case scenario. I'm still traditional enough in my views that I will value the involvement of a publisher to help me through the process and assist in marketing and distribution, getting my name and my book out to a wider audience than I'd likely achieve on my own. I value that help enough to essentially pay them for that right. I hired cover artists and an e-design business to do what I've done so far, so why not "pay" a publisher for what they would contribute? I'll still get what I want - a print book as well as all major electronic formats - and I won't have the sole burden of marketing and promotion on my shoulders. I know I'll still have to do plenty, but any help I can get, I'll take.

Does this mean that if I get a semi-traditional deal (no agent, remember) I'll never self-publish? Heck, no. I'm sure I will. But this is what makes sense for me now, and I'm comfortable with the decision.

The thing to remember about self-publication is there is a lot of garbage out there. People publish stuff that's not good enough to pass a junior high school writing assignment. But there's a lot of fabulous stuff out there, too, and more and more very successful writers are dumping their lucrative publishing contracts to do it themselves.

When I self-publish, it will be good. I will invest the time in fully preparing the work, and hiring professionals to help me with areas that aren't my specialty. I'm the only one responsible for the quality of the final product, be it e-format or print.

But if I can get my start in a traditional deal, that's what I want to do.

A Quickie and a Freebie

2011-03-05T11:47:00.003-06:00

No, it's not what you're thinking. Probably.

If you want a shot at a FREE Kindle download of Living With the Dead: Year One, by Joshua Guess and containing my novella, Monsters Unmasked, pop on over to today's Fermented Fur post!

Happy Dance

2011-03-01T10:12:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned in Sunday's post, there has been an exciting development in LoriLand. My story, "Monsters Unmasked: A Living With the Dead Novella," has been released as part of Joshua Guess's "Living With the Dead: Year One." (Available here for Kindle, and coming soon for Nook) This is the compilation of the entire first year of his serialized blog chronicling the events he and his friends and family experience during the global zombie pandemic.

Josh has said that the hallmark of really good "zombie fiction" is the zombies should be primarily a device to showcase the human dramas resulting from the collapse of society. That's exactly what he set out to do, and he did it brilliantly.

This means that even if you don't typically read horror, fantasy, urban fantasy, or anything that might have the undead chowing down on the living, you will find plenty to love in this narrative.

I got to know Josh after reading the first six months compilation, "Living With the Dead: With Spring Comes the Fall," in December. He asked a few of us to contribute bonus material for the Year One compilation, and I was thrilled and honored to do so. I hope I've remained true to the world he created, and brought a deeper perspective of one of his minor characters - and, through that, of the trials and tribulations of the population as a whole. I loved writing this story, even though it turned out to be a novella and not a short story. It helped break me out of my winter writing slump, too.

In addition to my novella, the bonus content includes a few short stories by Josh, and stories by Annetta Ribken and Rachel Ayers. Rumors that Josh is building a harem of female writers are completely untrue. :-)

You can buy the With Spring Comes the Fall and the second six months, Bitter Season, separately, but by getting the Year One compilation, you save money and get all the juicy bonus content!

To celebrate the release, I conducted an interview with Josh, which I'd like to share with you. Then check out your favorite online e-book seller, and help us out. It's a ton of great story for less than a visit to Starbuck's, and it lasts a lot longer!

INTERVIEW WITH JOSHUA GUESS, AUTHOR OF LIVING WITH THE DEAD: YEAR ONE

Lori: You've said that Living With the Dead started as a way to get in the habit of writing every day. I get that; that’s why I started Fermented Fur, and it really did the trick. But what was the thought process that led you to do a day-by-day zombie apocalypse story?

Joshua: I realized as a fan that something was lacking in the huge amount of zombie canon out there, which was a truly in-depth, daily look at what life would be like in that situation. Others had come close, but no one had hit the nail on the head. So...I just did it myself. Really, it was for my own enjoyment at first.

Lori: You went in an unusual direction. Instead of creating a cast of characters, you use yourself, your family, friends, and even your own neighborhood for LWtD. How did that come about? Did anyone specifically ask you not to use them?

Joshua: Using real people to me was the only way to go. The initial idea was to write the blog as if the real world had seen the zombie outbreak happen. The bald truth of the matter is that I found it much easier to write people I know, and to slowly change them over time based on what I know about them. That I can recall, no one has ever specifically asked not to be included, but then I try to keep the cast to people that I actively want to write about, and then I ask them if it's kosher. Except Patrick. I don't have to ask him for anything. He won't sue me.

Lori: Who is the most significant character who is entirely fictional?

Joshua: I'd have to say that the most important fictional character is Will Price. He comes along later in the story, but Will defines the second half of the first year. He's by far my favorite of the fictional ones...

Lori: Let's talk for a moment about a couple of your "characters." Jess, obviously, being your wife, is integral to the story. Is it tough to balance the privacy of your marriage with the need to make the events in the story reflect the depth of her role? I get the sense sometimes that you're writing around her a little, or somehow not going after some storylines they way you do for, say, Patrick or Treesong. Am I mis-reading it? Or is that how it works so you keep your private life as private as you can?

Joshua: I try to keep Jess as realistic as possible without telling too many private details. We're pretty open as a couple, and she doesn't mind people knowing things about her, but I always worry about crossing a line. The thing about her is that in real life, she's pretty much the same as in the story. That means that she's shy and doesn't lead groups of people because of that, which tends to put her in a secondary position on the blog.

Lori: I must admit, I'm totally fascinated with Treesong. He sounds like someone I'd really love to know, and his character in LWtD is a fantastic counter-balance to the violence and turmoil of that world. Comments?

Joshua: Tree is something else. He's one of those rare vegetarians that doesn't judge others for their choices, a far left thinker that respects the ideas of every side of the debate. He's genuinely an awesome guy, and I knew from day one that having him live through the zombie apocalypse and deal with all the madness that the survivors face would make for an interesting contrast.

Lori: Without giving too much away for those who haven't read it yet, you do "kill off" one major character early on who - shall we say - could cause some tension at Thanksgiving dinner. What made you decide to do that?

Joshua: It was actually an idea that both I and the person in question's real life counterpart had individually, and then realized our minds both came up with that solution. That character acted as a voice of reason, a stabilizer. To get where I wanted the story to go, I had to remove that calming influence.

Lori: With all your central characters being friends and family, does the duality of that get a little weird sometimes? Are you sitting around talking to people, and instead of "I'm thinking this is going to happen to this character" it turns into "OK, so there are a whole lot of zombies outside. I think we should..."?

Joshua: Actually, I freak myself out sometimes. I think in terms of the blog so deeply that when I look around, I start to forget the line between that world and this one. It's infectious, too--several of the folks who are main characters in the story have started being surprised when they come over to the house and there isn't a giant wall surrounding the place.

Lori: You said you change the characters - people you know - over time based on what you know about them. What about you? Is LWtD Josh different in any significant way from Real-world Josh?

Joshua: Fictional Josh and Real-world Josh are very similar, obviously, but the fictional me has split off from who I am significantly. That's actually been a problem at some points, because I really get into writing as the fake me, so much so that sometimes I get sad and upset about how terrible the survivors have it while I'm writing...then I remember that it's a story, and I could give them ice cream and unicorns if I were so inclined. I'd like to think that the fake me works from the same rational place that I do, but some events have me questioning that.

Lori: (Has to take a moment to stop laughing at the “ice cream and unicorns” bit.) You've said you have no plans to stop the daily blog posts. How far ahead do you plot?

Joshua: That's a tricky one to answer. I have broad strokes of story planned out for the next four years. VERY broad strokes. I've got a much more detailed idea of what the entire second year, which starts Tuesday (March 1, 2011 – ed.), will be built around. I've got a very tight, well-developed plan for the first week of year two, and as of right this second, no idea how I'm going to write it. The specifics come with the normal dilly-dallying I do in the mornings while I check my email and the like. I get inspired at some point or another, and come up with an angle by which I can say what is on my mind.

Lori: The nature of daily life doesn't always lend itself to plot or development of a story arc. Life often has long stretches of time when nothing much happens. Does that present some plotting challenges?

Joshua: It does, but fortunately there are two things that help keep it interesting. One is my penchant for studying the world around me, the situations I see, and philosophizing about them. Reflection is an old stand-by for me. The other is that in a world where violent marauders and flesh-eating corpses walk around, boring times are few and far between. That being said, I do have to stretch for time now and then--which is how some of my favorite posts came to be.

Lori: On the blog, I notice comments from Treesong and Rachel, but what about others? Are there readers who comment "in character," adding to the story? Have you had anyone comment that you've had to delete, because they either didn't play along, or who said things that weren't consistent with your storyline?

Joshua: Ugh, this is the most annoying part about the blog being open to the world. I get good comments from people that enjoy taking part in the charade, but now and then I get folks that want to take the story and change it, insert their own canon, or directly contradict things I've put down as fact. I even wrote a post about it at one point, to get my meaning across to the jerk who kept trying to say all kinds of things about the zombies that didn't fit with the narrative.

Lori: Your people come up with a lot of pretty amazing technological innovations. How do you research all that? (Seems awfully daunting to me!)

Joshua: I'm a huge nerd. Like, seriously. I read anything and everything I can find about renewable energy, clean technologies, physics, chemistry, you name it. Every piece of functional tech in the story is taken from the real world to one degree or another. It also helps that the characters who have managed to survive the apocalypse tend to be smarter and more resourceful.

Lori: One thing that holds true in most zombie stories is the isolation of individual groups. You got around that by having the cell networks being semi-functional, and the team at Google fortifying the campus and keeping the cyberworld running. How deeply did you look into that? Is that something you think could be done when the zombie apocalypse comes?

Joshua: Actually, I've been saying for years that the next big leap in technology is going to be making everything modular. That is, creating communications networks that function on small scales and operate on less power, such as making every telephone pole a cell relay. That way, you can power each one from a small solar array or wind turbine.

The research end of that was pretty difficult, but in the end I found out that a lot of cell towers around the nation are built with renewable backup power so that the tower can run a set number of emergency channels if the grid goes down. For the purpose of the story, I had to come up with a way that we could keep blogging and communicating.

Lori: Like many of your fans, I bet you read a lot of zombie fiction (Is that even the right term? Sounds like the zombies are writing the fiction... but it's all I can come up with). Do you have favorites? How do the zombies in your world differ from other authors' work?

Joshua: I don't read all that much zombie stuff, to be honest. I watch a lot of zombie movies, and of course I read and watch "The Walking Dead", but I've only read a few ZA novels. My favorites are the old standbys--The Walking Dead and The Zombie Survival Guide. I'm a huge fan of the original Dead trilogy by George Romero, and I love Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later like it was my own child. The reason I don't read a lot of zombie fiction is because so much of it is the same--isolated groups being picked off one by one or some other premise that's been done to death. It isn't that I won't read them, but I like some creativity to back up a well-worn idea.

Which, really, is why I decided to write my own. I wasn't getting what I wanted from zombie fiction. If people want to know what makes my zombies different, I guess they'll have to read the blog. I'm evil that way.

Lori: Besides the blog and the compilations, you have other irons in the fire, don't you? Some other work that your fans should know about?

Joshua: Yes, I do. I've written an epic fantasy novel called "Bound to Silence", which is my debut novel. I'm getting ready to drop it down to .99 cents! (Available for Kindle or Nook – ed.) I'm also working on a paranormal romance/erotica/comedy/epic tentatively titled "Beautiful". It's a full length novel about a nerdy smart-ass that suddenly finds himself immersed in a world of magic and politics, lust and brave souls. I'm really enjoying writing it, and it should be out sometime in the next few months. I'm shooting for May or early June.

Lori: When this all happens for real, can I come to your house?

Joshua: Yep. I keep my eyes open just in case.

Exciting Announcement

2011-02-27T09:32:00.006-06:00

It's been a long, cold, dismal, creatively bereft winter, but that's about to change. Or, I guess it has changed already, at least a bit.

In December, I read a book that impressed me so much I made a point to seek out the author (online, of course) and express my admiration. The book was Living With the Dead: With Spring Comes the Fall, a compilation of the first six months of the journal-style zombie apocalypse blog by Joshua Guess.

I read a lot, everything from romance to mystery, paranormal to urban fantasy... with a healthy (or not so healthy) dose of zombie fiction. I'd read journal-style accounts before, but they tend to be procedural, describing attacks and fortifications, weapons and loss of life, and fail to create memorable characters other than the narrator. Kind of dry, honestly. Joshua Guess didn't fall into that trap. Far from it. He produced a character-driven story that follows the residents of The Compound, a fortified neighborhood in Frankfort, Kentucky, day by day as they learn to protect themselves and forge a new society in the midst of a global zombie pandemic.

We writers are a clannish bunch. And when we find something we like, we can't stop talking about it. I've been ~~forcing~~ encouraging everyone I know who has even the slightest interest in fantasy fiction to read Josh's work.

As March drew closer, Josh started planning for the release of the second six months of LWtD. Then he thought it might be even better to release an edition that encompasses the entire first year, as well as some bonus material, and Living With the Dead: Year One was born. It will contain the first six months (With Spring Comes the Fall) and the second six months (Bitter Seasons), as well as some bonus material.

Ah, what bonus material, you ask.

There will be short stories by Annetta Ribken (fan-freaking-tabulous author of the book I reviewed in my last post, Not Nice, And Other Understatements: A Journal of Flash Fiction) and Rachel Ayers.

(Note: Netta's book is available, autographed, through her website, in print or Kindle format on Amazon, and on Smashwords and B&N.)

But the reason for my announcement is that my story, Monsters Unmasked: A Living With the Dead Novella, will also be making its debut in Year One!

Yep, Josh asked me if I'd like to contribute a short story. But as I suspected (and now know for sure), I'm not a short story writer. I don't have Netta's gift for identifying the heart of an idea and telling a compelling, complete story in as few words as possible. Turns out... I'm a novelist. If I care about a character enough to write about him/her, they're going to set up camp in my brain and there's gonna be a lot more than a short story.

I chose a minor character from early in Josh's timeline and examined her backstory, the captivity she suffered before being rescued by the residents of The Compound, her adjustment to the new community, and overcoming the traumas and misconceptions that threatened her ability to survive. Turned out she had a lot to say, and before I knew it, I had a 13,000+ word novella. I thought Josh might pass on it due to its length, but it turned out he really liked it, and it will be part of his Living With the Dead: Year One release this week!

We hope the sales will be live sometime Wednesday. I'll post a link here (and, well, pretty much everywhere) as soon as that happens. Don't make me grovel, OK? Just be sure to buy it! Buy it buy it buy it! And make your friends buy it, too! It will be on Amazon (Kindle) and B&N (Nook), but you don't need a Kindle or a Nook to read it! I'm not sure about the Nook (because I'm a happy Kindle addict), but I know you can download the FREE Kindle app for PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, and whatever tablet device you might have. So if you don't have a Kindle or Nook, get the free Kindle app set up and get ready to read a whole big bunch of awesome!

You will have the option to buy editions of just the first or second six months separately, but if you want all the yummy bonus material (including my contribution), you need to get the Year One compilation. Hey, you get a price break for buying that instead of the individual six-month editions, but feel free to buy them ALL if you're inclined to support a great young author!

On another note, the full manuscript of Make or Break is currently in the hands of the fine folks at North Star Press. They responded to my query with a request to evaluate the full manuscript, and now I have the exquisite agony of waiting for them to decide whether or not they'd like to publish it. I selected them after meeting them at a book festival, and I was so impressed with their printed books and their support of their authors that I really wanted to be part of that. Fingers crossed! Maybe we'll get this thing in print this year!

And finally, to get you all warmed up and tingly and ready to click that "BUY" button on Wednesday, here's a bit of the opening pages of Monsters Unmasked: A Living With the Dead Novella! I hope you enjoy it!

Monsters Unmasked

By Lori Whitwam

“If what you are is what you do when crisis comes, then they were monsters, worse than the shambling dead that surround us at all times.” –Joshua Guess, March 28, 2010

It should be easy to tell who the monsters are in the middle of a global zombie pandemic. The blank-eyed swarms of animated corpses who want to gnaw on your flesh are the obvious choice. The reality, though, is it’s not always that simple.

I learned that less than a week after the outbreak started, and it was like getting hit in the head. In this case, literally. I was a graduate student at Kentucky State University, studying for my degree in Library Science. I wasn’t a tough girl. In fact, I was a real Pollyanna. Life was wonderful, the future was bright, and there was never anything with fangs under the bed. I lived off-campus with my older brother, Matt, who managed a wholesale buyer’s club off of I-64. At first, he didn’t like having his little sister underfoot, but I was quiet by nature, and between classes and working part-time in the University library, he barely knew I was there.

A couple of days after the “riots” were reported in Cincinnati, we knew something terrible was happening. I don’t remember which of us said the z-word first. It felt ridiculous, and I almost laughed, but soon it was all too real. Our parents lived in Cheviot, on the west side of Downtown Cincinnati. We heard from them once, the day it started, and they were planning to wait it out. I guess that didn’t go well, since we were unable to reach them again.

When the zombies started turning up on the Kentucky side of the river, panic took over within hours. Matt hoped to get his store’s valuable supplies into the hands of those who needed them, rather than looters who wanted the power that came with a monopoly on essential goods. He didn’t want to leave me alone, so we headed for his pickup. I put my little beagle mix, Skip, in his crate behind the seats, and we went to assess the situation, dodging the groups of zombies that were beginning to clog the streets.

Too Good To Keep To Myself

2010-12-07T13:13:00.007-06:00

While I might rant, rave, whine, wail, and gnash my teeth about the writing process, one thing I have not done here - or anywhere - is review other writers' work. Sure, on Goodreads or Fermented Fur I might mention a book I particularly enjoyed, but that's the extent of it. Today, though, I'm going to tell you about a book, and you're going to listen. Then you're going to buy it. And you'll be so blown away that you will then buy several more for your friends. It's kind of like the zombie apocalypse (yeah, I've been watching a lot of The Walking Dead on AMC)... you get this literary virus in your brain, and you are compelled to similarly infect your nearest and dearest. Without the shambling or decomposition.

The book is called Not Nice, And Other Understatements: A Journal of Flash Fiction, by Annetta Ribken. Let's get the nuts-n-bolts out of the way, so I can then tell you why this book means so much to me as a reader and as a writer.

From the Introduction: “This collection of stories are from the very beginning of my writing career. They are dark and uncomfortable and I make no apologies for that. Life is often dark and uncomfortable. Some of you might wonder how much of these stories are true. To that all I can do is quote one of my literary heroes, Stephen King: ‘Fiction is the truth inside the lie.’ The rest I will leave up to you.”

From the Introduction, by Joseph Paul Haines: "The book you hold in your hands is a sort of jalapeno-laced jelly doughnut, meant to be both savored and feared…Because while she might not be right in the head, Annetta’s stories are right in the gut, just as they should be."

When I got my hands on this manuscript I started reading and couldn't stop. Yeah, yeah, I read a lot. But here's the thing... I don't read short fiction. I don't write short fiction. My brain isn't wired that way. I'm a long-format person when it comes to reading and writing, but I Could. Not. Put. This. Down.

These are not hearts-and-flowers, happily-ever-after, Lassie-saves-Timmy stories. Annetta Ribken escorts you deep into the twisted, cobwebby parts of her characters' minds... and if you're very good and don't make any sudden moves, she'll bring you back out again. Probably. But these stories will stay with you for a long, long time.

She takes you into the hidden corners of people's psyches, the places where they are broken, damaged, and sometimes strong beyond all belief. Occasionally the jagged edges find a counterpart, similarly broken, and the possibility of salvation... and sometimes they are left to patch themselves up the best they can, and survive.

Writers are like shattered mirrors, the spiderwebbed cracks fragmenting and distorting the image... but there has to be an image there to start with, doesn't there? Sure, from time to time a crazy idea pops into our heads, seemingly out of nowhere, and we might get an incredible story out of it. But a lot of what we create comes from some kernel we carry inside us. It might have been a fleeting encounter, one specific incident, one person or place or thing... or it could be whole sections of our lives, what we've seen, experienced, enjoyed or endured. This author's stories made me wonder. Which parts are pure blasts of creative instinct, sparked by a writing prompt on a flash fiction site, and which are things that originated with a dark moment in her own life or the life of someone she loves? You'll wonder, too. With every story.

You'll also wonder about the person behind you in line at Starbuck's or across the desk at a job interview. What are their true stories, and is the face you're seeing who they really are?

Don't get me wrong. Annetta is not some Gothic figure skulking around a ruined carriage house eating bugs and small children. I don't think. But she's gifted when it comes to writing dark, disturbing tales that make you wonder about good and evil, and the scope of the things people are capable of inflicting on each other. Sometimes the line between good and evil is not entirely clear.

She's also brilliant, strong beyond belief, resilient, driven, generous, and funny as hell. (Why do we say that? Is hell funny? Really? But in this case, maybe appropriate.)

Not Nice, And Other Understatements is available for pre-order right now on Wordwebbing, the author's website. It will soon be available on Amazon, and in e-book format. Get one now, signed by 'Netta... this is an author who is Going Places, and you'll be glad you have a signed first edition of her first published collection. (Whispered aside: There's a novel in the works, and it will knock your socks off!)

Now. That's what this book means to me as a not-easily-impressed reader. It's one of those rare books. You know the kind... you find yourself thinking about them over and over, months and even years after you originally read them. You remember parts, and have to go pick it up and read it again.

But what does it mean to me as a writer?

Annetta is, in a word, inspiring. (She's also scary and funny and bitchy and will spork me to death if I slack for too long, which means at the moment I'm probably in mortal danger.) She's taken the leap to support herself by writing. She does articles and title editing and web content and short stories... her daily word count makes me hang my head in shame.

She made the terrifying decision to hurl herself into the abyss and publish this collection from her vast catalog of work. She had a bit of help from friends who had traveled this particular publishing road before her, and I am going to cheerfully, selfishly, greedily take advantage of her experience. She thinks outside the box, and her pioneering idea (to me, anyway) made me realize I can do a collection, too!

So that's the plan. I'm in the process of reviewing the archives of Fermented Fur and selecting posts that might fit together in some sort of cohesive way... and if a small, regional press I have in mind doesn't snap it up, I'm going to get it out there myself. I've seen that this course does not mean inferior quality, either of the work itself or the physical product.

I have 'Netta to thank for all that, and if you part with a few bucks to support this endeavor, you'll thank her for a mind-bending, haunting collection of stories that you'll never get out of your head.

Submission: Almost As Much Fun As A Stick In The Eye

2010-06-04T09:12:00.003-05:00

It's been a crazy few weeks here in writer-land. I decided I needed a metaphorical (and perhaps literal) kick in the ass to get moving on my submission materials, so I took a query letter workshop from C.J. Redwine. I wanted to throw myself off a bridge several times, because I know Make or Break is awesome, but I was having the worst time figuring out how to say that in a way that would appeal to agents and editors - in one page or less. Brevity and I do not get along. We have issues.

By the end of the workshop, though, I had a very concise, entertaining query. I still can't believe how little the finished piece resembles what I had at the beginning! Apparently I was stupider than I thought. C.J. told the class that a particular editor was - for one day only - accepting pitches through her blog. She critiqued each one, and requested quite a few full submissions based on the pitches. I sent mine, and got a request for a full submission! Yay!

I mean, shit!

Suddenly, I needed a full submission package, which... included a synopsis. Which I hadn't yet written. Because they terrify me. Remember brevity? Huge problem. I am enrolled in C.J.'s synopsis workshop, but that doesn't start until the third week of June, and I figured I should get this requested full submission in within two weeks. You know... strike while the iron is hot and all that. So I bought two synopsis critiques from C.J. (As you might have guessed, I'm really starting to love C.J. about now.) and got started.

It took about ten days, but I finally have a synopsis that fits the requested length (1,000-2,000 words). I'll focus on doing a shorter, 1-2 page, synopsis in the actual workshop. It almost killed me to distill Make or Break down to around 1,900 words. How I'm going to cut that by more than half, I shudder to think. I may sustain permanent brain damage.

Then there is the manuscript. It was hanging right around 114,900 words. Which is a lot. It was originally around 119,000, so give me some credit. But in the romance genre, there are editors and agents who will look at work up to around 120,000 words... but not a lot. The editor who requested my full submission will, but I still knew I needed to pare it down. In many cases, around 95,000-100,000 words is ideal. Which I do not see happening for this book.

One thing I learned in the process of writing the Soul-Sucking Synopsis is how to tighten up my writing and eliminate unnecessary words. The first thing I did was go through Make or Break and take out all superfluous occurrences of the word "that." For example: "Abby always knew ~~that~~ Dilbert would sneak down to the lake." Get this... I cut over 500 words from the manuscript just by that edit alone.

Still, I needed to go through the whole manuscript. I knew there were a few scenes that never really clicked for me, though I'd thought they were important when I wrote them. I'd learned a lot about saying more with less, so I went through and began tightening, revising, and chopping.

A couple of people who were critiquing my synopsis commented on what might be a logic flaw in the plot. In short, I had to re-hide a body. It didn't make sense for him to have been where he was and not be discovered sooner. So, I moved him, re-wrote his discovery, supported it with dialogue and acts before and after, and watched for mentions of it toward the end of the book to make sure I didn't refer back to the incident the way it had originally been written.

Kind of fun, in a "gee, wouldn't it be awesome to set my hair on fire" kind of way.

By the time I was finished (at o'late-finity last night), I'd removed between 3,700 and 3,800 words from the manuscript, fixed the logic error, and generally tightened and polished the entire thing. I'm now at 111,000 words. The manuscript edit took me 12 hours on Tuesday and 14 hours on Thursday. You know... my days "off."

But...

I have a submission-ready manuscript.

I have a submission-ready general synopsis (not the shorty-roo version... yet)

I have a submission-ready query letter.

I am working on the additional information the editor requested for my full submission, including biography, career arc, and market analysis.

I'm sending this book out into the world, and somebody, somebody is going to love it.

Ready, Set, Go

2010-03-21T11:07:00.005-05:00

I'm gearing up. After a dark, dismal Minnesota winter, which for some reason seems to suck the creativity right out of me, the writing bug is stirring. I came into the winter doing a pretty major edit on Make or Break... then I ran out of steam. I pondered the submission process, and just couldn't motivate myself to do it.

Why?

Some authors resist doing submissions because they're afraid of rejection, or are apprehensive about selling their book and having some editor re-shape it into something they barely recognize. These things are not my problem. Rejection only bothers me to the extent that it means I have to start over with more submissions. Tedious. And as far as editors go, if the things I've been reading are any indication, editors are an endangered species. Other than proofing and editing done by the authors themselves, it appears that most manuscripts get (at best) a cursory edit. If they don't have the time or budget to catch my typos (which, by the way, I really don't have), they aren't going to have time to dissect my work and completely re-do it.

No, the problem for me is... work. Writing is fun. Even when it feels like ripping your own intestines out through your nostrils, it's fun. Submissions, on the other hand, are work. In some ways, it feels like we should do submissions for each other, because we're too close to our own books. I always struggle with brevity, and it's really hard for me to provide a succinct, relevant, interesting description of the book I love so much. I wonder if another writer who read and enjoyed Make or Break would be better able to "sell" it to an agent, explaining why it's engaging and unique and worthy of representation.

I haven't decided what to do. The lure of e-publishing is there, and tempting. Could I sell it to an e-publisher who would also print a limited number of paper copies? Maybe. I could self-publish on Amazon. I got a Kindle right after Christmas, and love it. A friend converted Make or Break to Kindle format, and I re-read my very own book on my Kindle yesterday. If I knew I could fine-tune the format (because I can't stand inconsistencies), I'd consider it. But... no hard copies, which bothers me.

But for now, I'm programming my brain to start the "Gold" mystery. I dug up the file I started last year, a first person narrative by my heroine, Michelle "Mitch" Donahue. She describes herself, her life, her hometown, her friends, and all the other things that will make her real for me. I need to write some more on that. Until she achieves her own kind of sentience, it's hard to start the book. My hero (tentative name, Evan Reynolds) is taking longer to materialize. Oddly, some secondary characters are doing a lot more chattering than Evan is, so I know I don't quite have him nailed down yet.

Make or Break turned out to be a romance, and I bitched about that like crazy. But now I'm thinking the reason I'm having trouble jump-starting the "Gold" mystery is that the relationship isn't drawing me in. Mitch and Evan haven't formed any chemistry... yet. So the sad, sad truth is that I may turn out to be a romance writer after all. Mysteries are all well and good, but I love a compelling, hot, magnetic, mind-blowing romantic connection. I thought my mystery would be the primary storyline, with the romance weaving through it, but it feels like it's going to be like Make or Break, in that the romance is the focus, and the mystery carries the romance forward.

I need to reacquaint myself with Mitch, who is going to be a bit different now that I've actually finished a book. I know more about how to allow her to develop now. I need to find the "hook" for why Evan is perfect for her, and what obstacles will stand in their way. I need to redefine the murder victim and her place in Mitch's life. Then I need to get that first chapter down. Once I do that, the need to find out what happens next will keep me going. I have general ideas, but mostly I listen and wait for my characters to tell me.

So, come on Mitch and Evan! Time to get to work!

Double Back

2009-11-24T18:05:00.001-06:00

Hey, head over to today's post of Fermented Fur for a chance to not only read a long, rambling, food-filled post, but to win a beta reading copy of Make or Break. (Hint: Scroll down to the end of the post, below the wine bottle, for how to enter!)