When Did the Rules Change? BY AJ Brown
Category: Writing and Poetry

8:08 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

FREE Subscription to APEX? Yuppers...plus AJ - by Fran Friel
Current mood: grateful
Category: Writing and Poetry

Free Subscription
Is that not just an absolutely gorgeous cover?  Oh yes...oh yes it is.  Like so many of the Apex Digest of Science Fiction and Horror covers, this one blew me away.  This mag has been my favorite since I discovered it a couple of years ago.  I'm a Apex for Life subscriber and when I saw that publisher Jason Sizemore put out a somewhat desperate plea for subscriptions I felt like I needed to help.

SO, I offered a chance for a Free Subscription as a way to draw some more attention to Jason's subscription drive, then a whole lot of other folks have jumped in to help with additional prizes.  So pop on over to Shocklines for the details (register for the forum if you haven't already...it's an awesome board with LOTS of well-known genre writers in attendance) and just add a post to the thread.  It's TOTALLY easy.

Clickety Here for the Link and a chance for a Free Apex Subscription!










Goodkin
You know how it is sometimes when you meet someone and they feel like kin?  Well, that's AJ Brown and me.  He's like my "little" brother and we have so many strange quirky things in common, you'd think we were really kin...and the best kind, goodkin.

Anyway, AJ has been a great inspiration to me with his talent and unbounded enthusiasm and energy.  His love of the art of writing and his undaunted pursuit of a good story has helped to keep me writing sometimes when I didn't think I could, so I'm immensely honored that he dedicated a blog to me.  If you missed it, please stop by and visit AJ Brown's blog at the Horror Library Blog-O-Rama at Blogger or at HLBOR MySpace.

You can visit AJ at his Friday column at the HLBOR and anytime at:

MySpace

Theater of Nightmares

Enjoy and have a great week, gang!

Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel

1:04 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Writing A Story In 26 Easy Steps by Erik Smetana

Writing is easy, nothing to it. Success as an author, a piece of cake. Really, anyone can do it in just four simple steps.

1)    Think of a stellar story idea.
2)    Write a story (based on the idea from number 1).
3)    Sell the story.
4)    Cash the checks as they roll in while readers worldwide yearn for more.

The thing is this is not how it works in the real world and if it were, the whole process would not be so much fun (and maybe not so painful). Here is how it works for me.

1)    Agonize over a handful of ideas; unsure which one is the "right" one to tackle at that exact moment in time. Sometimes this can take days, weeks or in the event of the novel years.
2)    Mumble angry words about the idea gnomes that seem to have forsaken me.
3)    Select an idea and hope it is the "right" one.
4)    Research, lots and lots of research. I find that the more I write the more I have become concerned with little details, even those that will never make it into a story.  Things like the color of someone's shoelaces and their favorite color.
5)    Start to write the story while trying to turn off my internal editor.
6)    Decide that I do not like the story idea I am writing about and put it on the backburner in favor of another idea.
7)    See number 4.
8)    Start writing again, still battling to turn off my internal editor.
9)    Continue writing, sometimes for hours, sometimes for days that run into weeks, sometimes for years (once again, see the novel.
10)    Find some way to procrastinate from working on the story (i.e. blogging, message boards, work, school, life, organizing the junk drawer).
11)    Get back to writing, all the while questioning whether this is the "right" story idea.
12)    Eventually finish the story.
13)    Set the completed story aside, let it sit, take a break from it. Let things marinate.
14)    Curse myself for having turned off my internal editor, search in vain for someway to turn it back on.
15)    Edits, round one.
16)    Ask those I trust to take a crack at the story (fellow writers, friends, colleagues).
17)    Edits, round two (based on my circle of critiquers).
18)    Edits, round three (things I discover while reading my so-called finished product during edits, round two).
19)    Call the story finished.
20)    Look for a market where the completed story might fit in.
21)    Submit the story into the black hole that is most publication's slush pile.
22)    Wait. Sometimes days, sometimes a year.
23)    Dwell on what I could have done differently if only I had not sent the dang story out.
24)    Wait some more.
25)    Eventually receive a rejection (happens more times than not).
26)    Go back to step 18 and do it all over again (while simultaneously starting the entire cycle over again).

Alright, I've rambled  long enough, moving on from step ten to step eleven I have some writing to get to.

8:06 AM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Cracklin’ Kernels From Chrispy By Chris Perridas

10:06 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Friday Photo Prompt (Saturday Style)

Over at my blog, I've started posting a weekly photo prompt every Friday. The reaction has been pretty good and at the prompting of the +HL+ Blog Wrangler, writer extraordinaire Fran Friel, I thought I would share this fun exercise (a day late, but what the heck) with all the readers of the Blog-O-Rama, so without further ado...

The rules (for any newcomers):

Look at the photo, go on take as long as you want. Think about it, give it some real thought. Done? Great! Now in the next 30 minutes (give or take) write a story based on what the photo conjures in your head. It can be a scene or setting, a self contained story, a piece of narrative non-fiction -- write whatever strikes your fancy.

Once you've written something based on the prompt, feel free to post it in the comments section below, tuck it away in a drawer, submit it somewhere or for you Zoetropers go ahead and feel free to post it in the office where you saw the prompt.

Okay. Now that the upload/download, information transmission stuff is done, here is this week's photo:

Title: Untitled
Photographer: Erik Smetana
Location: Niebaum Mansion, Napa Valley, CA

8:43 PM - 5 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Some Fran Friel Goodness By AJ Brown
Category: Writing and Poetry

Good morning, class. Put the books away, the pencils down. No need to worry about any tests today.

On this early May morning we are not going to discuss hard work or determination; we're not going to delve into keeping the creative juices flowing or following guidelines; we're not going to discuss any of my normal topics, so for you folks in the back, don't worry about falling asleep from the mundane yada yada that I normally do.

Class, today we will talk about one thing, err, person. She is one of my closest and dearest friends within the writing community. She calls me Little Bro and I call her Big Sis. Though we are not related, our friendship is very much like a close brother/sister relationship.

Her name is Fran Friel and I'm sure she needs no introduction to the class.

I first learned of Fran less than three years ago when I joined the Horror Library workshop. I went to their website and saw some wonderfully delicious stories by the crew there. I happened upon a story titled Wings With Hot Sauce. Wings With Hot Sauce. I was amused by the story but there was something else, something intriguing. I read another story by her, though I am not sure what it was. That is when it dawned on me. There was so much confidence that went into her writing. Whether she was confident or not in her stories doesn't matter, they gave the appearance of confidence.

It gave me some renewed desire to really write with a little more confidence than what I had at the time. It's one of the main reasons I'm still around.

Then Mama's Boy came out. Though I didn't get to read it right away—it sold out before I had a chance to get my grubby little hands on it—when I finally got to read the story, I was blown away by it. As were quite a few people. Enough folks, in fact, loved the story to garner Fran a Bram Stoker nomination.

When I finally got to correspond with Fran, her words were gentle and encouraging, her thoughts provoking and her attitude infectious. Then when I joined the Horror Library as a contributing writer she asked me if I would consider writing for the HLBOR.

I loved the idea and I have been doing it ever since. To be honest with you, at that point, Fran could have asked me to rewrite the Canterbury Tales and I would have probably tried really hard to do it.

When Fran asked me to do the HLBOR I found it an honor coming from her. It instilled in me another level of confidence. The HLBOR was kind of her baby (I believe Chris Perridas had a lot to do with it, as well) but she trusted me to write on a regular basis and attach the HL name to it.

Confidence. The one thing every writer needs. She gave me a lot of that. Little did I know at that time that we would grow close and become like brother and sister.

Fran is like no other writer I have met. She has a kind and sweet demeanor about her. Her voice is soothing and calm and she has a wickedly good sense of humor. She also has a good head atop her shoulders. To talk to her, to listen to her speaking, you would never imagine this woman would write Mama's Boy.

Why am I telling you all of this? Simple: Big Sis has a short story collection coming out. It is titled, Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales. It is being put out by The Apex Book Company. By the title, it is clear that the collection will be anchored by the Stoker nominated Mama's Boy, a story that you want to read if you haven't already. The collection guarantees to be a wicked ride to the nether regions of your soul. And you might make it back, but you will never be the same.

Fran Friel has a genuine gift for storytelling. Her highly adaptable prose boils over with emotion: love, guilt, fear, and the myriad shades between. Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales marks the arrival of a stunning new talent.
– Michael McBride, author of the God's End trilogy and Bloodletting

Would you buy a collection of stories based on that blurb? I most certainly would.

How about this quote from Jason Sizemore of Apex:

Fran Friel has a sweet, unassuming demeanor. People like talking to her. Her voice is soothing and expresses a sense of peace that is hard to describe.

Having read that, you would think she writes children's stories or romance novels. Ah, but you would assume wrong. But, Jason is absolutely correct in his assessment of Fran—the words ring true to her personality. But, you see I left off part of that quote intentionally. Here is the rest of it:

Knowing this makes reading something like Mama's Boy all the more horrific.

Now, are you intrigued a little more?

Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales is scheduled for release at Hypericon in Nashville at the end of June. Pre-orders can be made soon. There are limited signed editions as well. It is very early May now. June is next month. Don't miss out on what I believe is going to be one of the greatest collections of the year. If you're especially daring, read it with the lights off under your cover with a small pin flashlight. Then, try to go to sleep.

And, to Fran, Big Sis, I'm so very proud of you and honored to call you friend and Big Sister.

For now, I'm AJ and I'm out.

Fran Friel's Yada Feast

Fran Friel's Yada Feast MySpace

NiNe QuestioNs with FraN Friel

The Horror Of Women By Jason Sizemore

Apex Book Company

The Horror Library

7:15 AM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

My Personal Soundtrack by Erik Smetana

Earlier this week over at my own site, in the most recent installment of The MFA Diaries, I threw out the question, one posed to me in front of a room of graduate student slash writers, "Who are you?"

Three words, lots of meaning. It asks so many questions in one: Why do you write? What do you get out of writing? What is your motivation? What drives you? What are you about? Why? Who? What? How?

I said it in the original post and I'll say it again here, I don't know.

So why am I rambling, in essence regurgitating an old post?

Well, this morning, driving into work, I put a CD in dash and out of the speakers came the lazy voice and frenetic piano playing of Ben Folds. Rockin' The Suburbs to be exact.

Track three: Still Fighting It. The message, it hurts to grow up. As I'm going through a bit of internal dialogue and what feels something akin to a 1/4 (okay, maybe 1/3) life crisis, I know what he means.

Track five: Fred Jones, Part 2. The message, life if you are not careful can just be one long trail of futility and regret. This is something that scares me to no end. It is a major reason why I am back in school, I want something more out of life than a simple 9 to 5 pushing paper for people more concerned with the organization's bottom line than their own children's tee-ball schedule.

Track ten: Rockin' The Suburbs, the title track. The message, middle class, upwardly mobile white guys whine a lot. Man I can be a whiny bastard...

Track twelve: The Luckiest, the closing track. This message, life is short, appreciate it (and the ones you love). Everything falls into perspective with this song and to boot it spurred an idea for something I am working on.

So, who am I? Hell if I know (I think Ben Folds knows me better than I do) and to be honest after almost a week of that notion really bothering me, I really just don't care. I have time to figure it out, an amazing wife that supports even my most asinine ideas and a career that allows me to pursue an avocation that I hope to one day turn into an occupation.

What I do know is that I have some writing to do (and some work reports to finish, argh).

Thanks Ben, you've been a big help this morning.

6:46 AM - 7 Comments - 7 Kudos - Add Comment

Preaching to the Choir - by Dan Naden

Preaching to the Choir
by Dan Naden

Last week I wrote about the use, or perhaps the misuse of allegory in fiction and how all too often, authors fall into the trap of using their writing to construct the perfect foil for their ideological swordplay.  They build straw men characters and arguments that are so  painfully obvious and tinderbox dry that they practically self-immolate on the cliches and stereotypes they represent.  And the worst part of all is that they create their own personal soapboxes that have little, if anything, to do with the story they're writing.  In a lot of case, the story itself ends up being a prop for what amounts to little more than an editorial opinion.

By itself, that trend is not an earth-shattering crisis to the world of writing.  Authors have, for years, struggled with finding just the right touch of allegory, satire, or morals to their stories.  It's hard to infuse complex ideals into a story without coming across too heavy-handed.  It's harder still to avoid indulging the temptations of contriving scenarios to fit one's ideals instead of allowing the story, and the world it represents, to stand on its own merits.

But there's another aspect to the whole allegory thing:  what does a writer want to accomplish with his/her story?

As authors, we all get our stories from different places and write for different reasons.  Usually, there's some concept, point, or ideal that we're trying to convey, not just through words, but through the imaginary place that we create to represent all of it for ourselves and for our readers.  I have always been of the firm belief that the stories we write should come first, above everything else.  When we allow an ideal to supersede the world in our stories, we break a trust with the reader and, more importantly, with our own creations.

When we cross that boundary, we break that trust, we turn ourselves away from being writers...fiction writers, that is...and instead become something else:  preachers.

There's nothing wrong with being a preacher:  there's a time and place for everything.  But turning one's fiction into a sermon -- becoming the resident pulpit thumper for whatever pet topic one wants to thump -- devolves the value of a story into a thin shill for the sermon it deigns to represent.  We become unable to discern the difference between story's technical and artistic achievements, and whatever message it's portraying.  

Worse, we can't tell which readers actually like the story for its accomplishments and which ones simply agree with the statement the story makes.  To the reader, the story takes a back seat to the message it carries and the author's fans and critics decide their perspectives, not on the strength of the story, but on that message itself.   

From my knothole, that's kind of a bad thing.  I want to create stories with believable worlds in which there is no sign of Dan, the author, or any of his bizarre ideals or soapbox sermons.  I want my readers like or dislike my stories on the basis of how successful I've been at telling the story.  What I don't want is to create a subset of fans among my readers who like my writing only because they believe in my politics or morals or whatever.  I don't want to burn straw men.  I don't want to preach to the choir.  

I want to write.  I want to tell stories.  If I do that properly, everything else should take care of itself.

7:45 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

BEASTIAL! And a Sign of Lincoln... - by Fran Friel
Current mood: hungry
Category: Writing and Poetry

Mister Wolfie Romero
I've been too busy to keep up on what's going on with all my writing buddies, but with my stories for the collection complete and the edits almost done, I can breathe a bit and share some tidbits from my friends.

Notably, my pal Bill Carl's book, BEASTIAL: Werewolf Apocalypse is coming out in July from Permuted Press.  And the thing that makes this especially notable is the blurb it received from one of the horror genre greats, Ray Garton.

Ray's blurb for BESTIAL:
"If you have an appetite for werewolves, this book is an all-you-can-eat buffet! Carl has done for werewolves what Romero did for zombies, and he's done it with flair and a sense of gruesome fun."
-- Ray Garton, author of LIVE GIRLS and RAVENOUS

I've dubbed Bill, Mister Wolfie Romero, and I can't wait to have a read of this fine bit of wickedness.  Permuted Press (through the Horror Mall) has a nice free shipping pre-order deal if you have a hankering for a little werewolfie apocalypse action.

First Signing
I remember my first book signing.  It was both exciting and scary.  Would anyone stop?  Would people buy the book?  But I survived and actually enjoyed the whole process.  A young and ambitious Horror Library member, author Lincoln Crisler recently had his first signing event.  He's in the U.S. Army and has spent time in Afghanistan, so I figure a table at Barnes & Noble was a piece of cake for him.

I haven't had the pleasure of reading his book, Despairs and Delights, but I just wanted to take the time to congratulate him on his first signing.  Quite an event for any young writer.  Woohoo, Lincoln!

With the Mama's Boy collection done (editing not withstanding), my computer shackles have been removed (for now) and I'm off to have a leisurely breakfast.  Wish you were here to join me!

Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel

8:07 AM - 6 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

It’s In All Of Us By AJ Brown
Category: Writing and Poetry

Clyde watched as Chamberlain died, his last breath squeezing through parched lips and bloodied nostrils.

This is actually the introduction to a story I've recently started. It probably won't stay that way, getting tweaked a couple of times before I am finally happy with it. As it stands, one would think that Chamberlain is the one breathing his last breath, but others may think that it is Clyde doing this by the way the sentence is worded. For now, I will leave the sentence the way it is to make a point.

What's the point?

Don't you all love it when I asks questions, hoping someone will guess before I speak . . . err . . . type the answers?

Blank stares from the masses. Nice. Okay, on with the point.

By the time this story is finished it will probably be longer than I intended for it to be, simply because I have a desire to let stories play themselves out. Also, Clyde and Chamberlain, my two main characters should have developed some qualities about them. A plot should unfold and a reason given to why Chamberlain is the one that died and not Clyde.

Maybe—just maybe—someone will have grown to like Clyde or Chamberlain or both of them. Maybe someone will get mad because I killed one of them off and left the other one standing.

Ahh . . . but who is to say that Clyde will actually live through the end of the story? Remember, that sentence above is the opening to my tale, not the ending. Maybe Chamberlain gets some sort of supernatural revenge on Clyde. Okay, no that will not happen, so why BS you folks? But, I think you get the idea—the sentence is only beginning for Clyde and Chamberlain, even though one of them dies right off the bat.

This opening sentence is a product of someone mentioning serial killers to me this past week. Though I haven't had much time to read or write in the last ten or so days, the thought has been in the back of my mind ever since the topic was mentioned.

So, do you think that Clyde is a serial killer now? What about Chamberlain? Is he/she a victim in this story, or maybe the killer?

No, neither in this case.

Yes, Clyde watches Chamberlain die, the latter breathing his last breath and winking out before him. But, Clyde is not the killer in this story. No, the killer is . . .

Me.

Huh? What? Huh?

Okay, think for a minute. I am a writer, right? I write horror stories, right? Hmmm . . . Still don't get it?

Okay, simplified deductions here (more for me than for you). I create characters and scenarios and scenes and what have you. I give my characters life by penning their actions and having them move from place to place, interact with each other, get put in bad situations to either get out of or get killed. Many of my stories have the main character getting offed in the end or close to it. In some stories a LOT of folks end up with closed eyes and a lack of breath.

Now, do you see it? There goes that light bulb.

A lot of folks say that writing horror isn't all that hard. They could be right. But, then to quote Billy Joel, "I may be crazy. But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for." I honestly think it takes special people to be horror writers. We delve into the depths of humanity; into the taboo areas of witchcraft, demonology and religious figures gone bad; into the minds of killers; into the eyes of monsters. Not a lot of people are willing to do that—to dive into the dark recesses of the soul and squeeze a character's head until their eyeballs pop out and their skull shatters.

For each story a horror author writes, he or she puts themselves into a situation where they have to think of a way to either kill off a person or a way for them to get away, though by the skin of their teeth. Most of us choose to off the character and move onto the next scene or story. We put ourselves in the shoes of the killer. We become the killers and we don't just do it for one or two stories.

Stephen King does it through entire books. Have you read Regulators or Desperation or IT? Lots of dead folks in those stories. I'm not saying King puts himself into a killer's mindset, but he had to think of ways of killing so many people off in so many different ways. The same with Clive Barker. Or, really any horror writer of note. Anne Rice? Yup—she killed lots of folks.

So, at the end of the story, after Chamberlain has died and Clyde has watched it, I will have killed off one or both of my main characters. And, not for the first time, either. I will have watched as the letters appear on the computer screen, the events unfolding with each word. I will have written the scene and then moved onto the next one.

For horror writers, it's in all of us. That innate vision to watch a character we create die; to kill them mercilessly. Yes, it takes a special person to write horror. It's not as easy as you may think it is.

For now, I am AJ and Clyde is calling.

7:24 PM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Burning the Straw Man - by Dan Naden

Burning the Straw Man
by Dan Naden

I read a story once in which someone went back in time and assassinated Joseph and Mary (the biblical parents of Jesus).  The gist of the story, as stated by one of its characters, was to change the past in order to bring peace to humankind.  

On the surface, it's a nicely shocking concept, one that makes you think "hey, wait a minute..." (or perhaps, "yeah, what a good idea!", depending on your personal perspective).  Its gotcha value is powerfully effective because it shamelessly steps on toes by the assertions it implies.

But I found that, as a work of fiction, the story irritated the heck out of me.

I really didn't mind the author's apparent intent of treading on whatever close-held religious beliefs I hold for myself.  I probably would not have attempted such a story line because my creative muse isn't necessarily geared that way, but I'm not one of those guys who thinks that some topics in fiction should, by their nature, be out of bounds.  On the contrary, I believe that, given the right story and a talented-enough writers, any topic could be deftly handled in prose.

But there's the catch:  the topic has to fit into the story.  And that's what bugged me about that author's story.

Allegory is defined by Dictionary.com as:

Figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.

It's one of the most powerful tools in art, but also one of the most difficult to use properly.  For writers who have a lot to say and are passionate about the overall meaning behind the stories they write, it can be one of the biggest mistakes they make.

The problem is simple to define:  it can be hard to keep big, challenging ideals woven neatly into the thread of the story.

When the author is passionate about the subject he/she is attempting to portray, there is a strong temptation to overly manipulate the characters and events in the story.  To make the salient point stand out, big and bold, so that the reader doesn't miss what it is the author is trying to say.  

Unfortunately, when you lather on a concept with a heavy hand, you can end up leaving your smudgy fingerprints all over it.  What's wrong with that?  Nothing, if it's done well.  But the problem is that all too often, it's not done well.

So you see stories for which it seems the only purpose is to maneuver a character up onto the author's favorite soapbox to make a speech about the author's favorite topic.  You see stories where the characters are perfect puppets, placed in the story to say just the right or wrong thing to support the author's argument.  You see stories where the author has constructed the perfect straw man and has given his/her prose matches and gasoline to set the effigy, personal or ideological, ablaze.

On its own, that's not really the end of the world.  There are lots of things that writers do that they don't to well.  But the poor use of allegory leaves a significant imprint on the world of fiction:  one that's not always easy to see; the impact of which is hard to quantify.

I'll cover that in next week's blog, Preaching to the Choir.  Hope you'll stick with me.

7:32 PM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Ahoy Matey! Contest Results - by Fran Friel
Current mood: breezy
Category: Writing and Poetry

Oh, The Piratey Goodness
I really want to thank you all for participating in my mad little inspiration for a contest.  It was a spur of the moment thought, and I had some much needed fun in the process.  I've been sitting at this computer with a leg iron in place for months working on the Mama's Boy collection, and I kid you not -- going to Cracker Barrel with my husband yesterday afternoon was the first outing we've had together in many weeks (makes note to self...must raise restaurant standards for rare outings).  He's a serious World of Warcraft player, so he's been thrilled with my rise-and-write-until-bedtime routine --LOTS of game time -- but I've missed his good company VERY much.

Anyway, all the stories are written, the editing is in full swing and I'm working on the story notes and the afterword.  I've timed the end of this project just right with the arrival of Spring here in New England, so I can finally leave my writing cave and go out to the beach and into the sunlight.  Ahhh...come join me by the sea for a refreshing tankard of mead.  Arrrrrrgh!

Which, of course, leads me finally to why you're reading this blog - the Pirate Contest results!

The Three Amigos
In a random drawing, the following lucky folks were chosen to receive a little literary pirate's booty.*  Please join me in congratulating them.  The rest of you blaggards will have to wait for the next contest...and I promise a new one is on the horizon!

Congratulations to:

1st Prize - Hard Cover Signed Limited Edition of Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales, by Fran Friel

Winner: Andrea

2nd Prize - Hard Covered Edition of Unwelcome Bodies, by Jennifer Pelland**

Winner:  Julia Sevin

Pirate Picture Winner - Signed Manuscript of the story, "The Sea Urchin" (retitled for the collection, "The Sea Orphan")

Winner:  Lance

Congrats again, gang (I'll contact you shortly with details). And thank you EVERYONE for playing.  I really love contests and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  Stay tuned for the next round.  I'm thinking of doing a 3000+ (at my Myspace) Friends celebration.  What do you think?  And what kind of prizes would spur you on to play?  Be creative.  *wink*

Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel

*The winners were drawn from postings at four blogs:  The Horror Library blogs at MySpace and Blogspot, and Fran's blogs at MySpace and LiveJournal.

**And enormous thank you to publisher, Jason Sizemore and The Apex Book Company, for the generous donation of Jennifer Pelland's fiction collection.

7:44 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Booty Results Coming Soon - Arrrgh! - by Fran Friel
Current mood: blustery
Category: Writing and Poetry

Loot News
The Pirate Contest results will be posted tomorrow, not that anyone is sitting on the edge of their seat waiting, but I thought I'd let you know just in case.

I finally finished the pirate tale (now titled, "The Sea Orphan") and I'm working hard of an even heftier novella for the collection titled, "Fine Print" (from Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales, for those of you who haven't heard me yammering about it yet).  Some of you folks may have read the earlier version of this story in its incomplete two parts at the Horror Library.  I've been asked by a number of extremely patient readers to finally finish it already so I took their request to heart.  Turns out, if I were to continue the story in series form that baby would have been in at least five parts, so it will be a nice addition to the collection -- that is if you like a hefty story.

For Those Patient Readers
If you remember reading the first two parts of the original "Fine Print," please post a comment here.  I'm contemplating something for you folks, since the first two parts were free and the final version won't be...if you get my drift.  I want to be fair to you if you were one of the kind folks who read my stuff before anybody was willing to pay for it.

Well, I've got to get back to work here, since I'm sailing fast toward my deadline a little too quickly.  And please forgive me for not being around much.  I wish I had more time to visit...I miss you guys.  But I'll spare you the maudlin rant and invite you to come back over the weekend for the booty call, pirate style! *wink*

Wickedly Yours,
Fran Friel

11:35 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Let the Story Live - by AJ Brown

Lately, I have taken to reading some of the classics.  Faulkner and Perkins and Bierce, a little Lovecraft.  It had been a while since I read anything substantial from the days of old so it was a nice retreat for me.  I look forward to reading more, even reading some things I haven't touched in years.  Maybe some Stoker and Poe, Stevenson and even some Dickens.  

I started my journey to Classicville with The Yellow Wallpaper—read many years ago but forgotten over time.  The subtleties of the story appealed to me and the ending, though not bloody or gory is extremely creepy.  

I moved on from there and picked up some Faulkner, reading a couple of pieces and ending up with a story highly recommended to me:  A Rose For Emily.  It became my favorite story in all the ones I've read.  Again, the subtleties of the story grabbed me—especially the end.  The way it was written, the build up and then the pay off was masterful, to say the least.  I never saw the ending coming and I blinked several times in disbelief and even a little shock.  

A few others followed and I am currently shopping around for the next story to read.  But, for now I would like to talk about a recurring theme that took place in each story—every single one of them.  That theme is the lush descriptions of the surroundings and/or the people and their attitudes of the time.  

Back then there was no internet and news traveled slowly.  People did not have a favorite actor or actress.  We couldn't just look up a foreign country and see all the sights and get all the history of the place with just a click of a mouse. Clicking a mouse back then probably meant killing a rodent.

So, with the lack of the technology we have today, writers had to describe things in details so that the reader would be able to visualize the scene and the characters better.  It was essential back then to tell what the people were like, not just your main character(s).  Without those lavish descriptions a lot of folks would have been scratching their heads wondering what the writers were talking about.

With the world as it is today, we don't need all those descriptions and important details.  We don't need to know what the people were like.  Honestly, we don't.  Think about it.  A writer states:  Jefferey was forced to eat at the table with the nerds each day.  Okay, what was the first impression you got from that sentence.  No, not that—this:  The word 'nerds' instantly gives you an image of a guy with glasses taped in the middle, wearing a plaid shirt and high-waters with a pencil clip on his shirt pocket.  A calculator would be his best friend.  And, of course, you would think that he would have no luck with the cheerleaders.

Now, the word 'cheerleaders' gives you another image of some hot, cute teenaged girl with a great body, winning smile, perfect hair and teeth.   A girl that is on just about every hot blooded male's wish list.

But, back then the descriptions of the nerd and the cheerleader were important.  As were the scenery and facial expressions and body movements.  Without the readiness of computers to take them to another part of the world, the reader relied on the descriptions.  And, in my opinion, those descriptions painted such vivid pictures a reader couldn't help but 'see' what the writer was saying.  

Why can't we write like that today?

Well, we can . . . but there is a good chance it will have a hard time getting published.  You see, in our McDonald's Mentality society we want everything now.  The quick read has become a staple for the busy person.  No one is interested in long sprawling details.  They want the action and they want it early and often.

So, those descriptions of the woods where the killer lurks should be pared down and the way a person acts, even if it is relevant to the story and building the character, should be trimmed up?

NO.  

I repeat that:  NO.

I'm guessing most people write stories so that they can get published.  There are those of us out there that write for the fun of it and write primarily for ourselves.  But, let's be honest for just one minute now.  How many stories have you wrapped up a little early and rushed to get to the ending because you were approaching the word count of a certain publisher's desires?  Come on—a show of hands, please.

That's what I thought.

Here is the way I see things:  A story is a living thing.  Wait, wait.  Stay with me here.  No need to pull out the white coat just yet.

When you read a story, it comes to life.  The characters, the scenery, the plot.  They are all parts of a living story.  If the story is cut short because of word count, then haven't you essentially cut its life short?  Why not let the story live?  Let it tell ITS tale.  I have often gone over word counts on stories because they weren't done.  The characters speak to me and say keep going, let us live through the end.  So I keep going until the story has ran its course and the characters are satisfied.  Often times that leaves me with no market for them, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that I let a story play out the way IT wanted to.  To me that is much more important than finding a market for a story that is not complete because I cut it short to meet someone else's needs.

I, for one, have started experimenting with writing like they did a hundred years ago.  I like the way it sounds when the words roll off my tongue.  I like the way it looks on paper.  I like the way it feels to write something with a little more words and descriptions—but only that which is essential to the story.  I like the subtleties of it.  

None of those stories may get published, but that's okay with me.  I want my stories to live, to tell their own tales, to play out the way they were meant to play out.  Publishing them is the icing on top.

For now, I'm AJ and I'm going to find some other classics to read.  Maybe even Jeckyll and Hyde.

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The Future of Horror By Eric Stark
Category: Writing and Poetry

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog session for an important announcement. As many of you know that on the second Tuesday of each month we like to have a guest writer come in and give us some valued insights on writing, publishing and anything related to the genre. We've had some wonderful guests and that trend looks to continue.

However, we have decided to add another guest spot on the third Thursday of the month. Each month this spot will be hosted by a member of +The Horror Library+. It should be an interesting venture for us and you.

This week we start the third Thursday HL guest spot with someone I admire greatly. His intelligence on writing—not just genre but writing as a whole—constantly amazes me. His insights have helped me on numerous stories. He is one of those individuals who when he writes something or says something, I listen intently to each and every word.

With no further ado, I am honored to introduce to you, Mr. Eric Stark.

The Future of Horror
By Eric Stark

Every age has its motifs, metaphors, and monsters. In horror literature, one might argue that the three are one in the same or at least intimately connected. And the best monsters embody both the spirit of their time and some universal aspect of human nature, which is why they keep rising from the dead to inhabit our new nightmares.

So what can we expect from the monsters of the future?

We might begin our look forward with a brief look back. Fear of contamination of the blood contributed to Bram Stoker's great vampire novel 'Dracula' and, more generally, to the rise of vampires in fiction. The scientific revolution ushered in Shelley's 'Frankenstein.' And, more recently, the nuclear age brought us Godzilla and legions of mutated insects and arachnids. Contemporary unease with the sexual revolution and teenage promiscuity gave us a bevy of slasher flicks in the 80s. Abortion, perhaps an extension of these fears, is symbolized in the 'Alien' franchise.

Some monsters have remarkable staying power. Vampires, for example, continue to populate the collective imagination. This is no surprise, since fear of infection is if anything more prominent in a world where exotic infections and diseases continue to evade eradication in an increasingly connected world. Zombies also have enjoyed a renaissance of sorts. They might have gotten faster, but they continue to represent fears of infection and infestation—not to mention the desecration of the grave.

While it's interesting to examine the cultural and historical factors that birthed any particular monster, there are also practical considerations for the contemporary horror writer.

In Steven Pinker's recent book 'The Stuff of Thought,' the author discusses the evolution of curse words, how certain words and phrases have not only lost their taboo nature but have even become commonplace. Curses based in religion no longer have the power they once did. Exclaiming 'hell' or 'damn' is now so common in films, television, and elsewhere in the media that they are barely noticed. The increasing irrelevance of religion for many people, especially in the developed West, is the greatest force in watering down these once potent swears.

But what on earth does this have to do with horror fiction, and what implications does it have for horror writers?

Similarly to curse words, the place of religion in horror fiction has diminished. Where once Dracula represented an affront to God--no wonder crucifixes had such power over them in the past--he now laughs along with us at so many superstitious tokens. Zombies, too, originally represented a kind of spiritual possession of the victim. But they are now, along with vampires, increasingly portrayed in scientific terms. This is nothing new, of course. Richard Matheson's "I am Legend" reduced vampirism to a science experiment. Frankenstein's monster, at one time, was a stark representation of Mankind's hubris in trying to 'play God.' So just as we moved on from Religion to Science, so too did our monsters. GMOs and bio-technology and cloning, the contemporary version of humanity 'playing God,' has taken Frankenstein's place in our culture.

The famous film critic Roger Ebert once quipped, and I paraphrase, that there are no longer any monsters but only institutions. In many ways, he was correct. As in films like '28 Days Later' and 'Resident Evil,' the source of the evil or contaminations is often a greedy and ostensibly un-regulated corporation—or perhaps a government plot or cover-up. This parallels movements in Postmodern literary theory that attempt to analyze literature in terms of power structures. Our monsters are now created by market forces and unleashed upon a powerless public.

Fear of technology, another holdover from the days of Frankenstein, and later Godzilla, is also a contemporary creator of monsters. In Stephen King's novel 'Cell,' the ubiquitous cell phone is given sinister implications. The invisible connection that modern devices represent gives us films like 'The Ring' and countless urban legends where one faces certain doom upon receiving a phone call or viewing a videotape. The internet is certain to figure strongly in this new wave of technology-inspired horrors.
That these monsters and metaphors continue to evolve along with us is evidence of their contemporary and universal applicability. Great, lasting horror is as much a product of its own time as it is an examination of universal human fears and foibles.

It is difficult to predict the evolution of monsters and even more difficult to say which new monsters might arise in the future. But there are certain trends and aspects of contemporary culture that point the way to the future. Fear of environmental collapse, at the hand of greedy and unaccountable corporations and as a result of government cynicism and inaction, will no doubt play a prominent role--in whatever metaphorical form--in the future. Torture, much in the news these days, should also prove fertile ground for horror writers. Already, horror films are full of graphic depictions of torture (sometimes, again, at the hand of individuals or institutions that are above the law--see 'Hostel'). This would prove a great segue into a discussion of so-called 'torture porn,' but that is a topic worthy of its own discussion and analysis.

The fear of GMOs, a subset perhaps of environmental collapse, should continue to provide us with Frankensteins--indeed, genetically modified foods have been dubbed 'Frankenfoods.' Vampires and zombies should remain relevant as long as STDs and communicable diseases continue to affect humanity. Demonic possessions, already waning, will no doubt continue to wither, though recent developments in the Middle East might prove to be a source of inspiration. One might expect irrational religious fundamentalism to be pitted against rational protagonists.

Part and parcel of the decline of religion, one would expect evolution and scientific advances to continue to play an increasingly prominent role in horror. Our monsters will reflect what we know of human nature and what we have yet to discover. Advances in evolutionary biology and psychology will drive our monsters more than traditional conceptions. One might even wonder whether our monsters have been driven too far into the light of Science.

So far, the relevance to writers has perhaps only been implicit in this discussion. Writers, after all, will be the ones who drive this evolution, but writers themselves can't help but be influenced by the culture-at-large. It will be partly up to them to keep horror relevant by examining contemporary issues with an eye on universal traits.

Finally, as an exercise for writers, directly inspired by these thoughts on the future of horror, I would urge fans of horror literature to attempt the following writing project:

You will be creating three columns. In the first, simply make a list of monsters. As many as you can think of. In the second column, create a list of contemporary issues (abortion, global warming, torture, GMOs, and on and on). In the third column, create a list of universal human fears (fear of the unknown, fear of contamination, fear of infestation, fear of bodily harm, etc.). The longer the lists in each column, the more possibilities will present themselves.

Next, choose, perhaps at random, one item from each column. The goal is to write a story that combines the three elements into a narrative whole. Perhaps a pack of genetically-modified werewolves that takes over a small town. Of course this exercise will be that much more fruitful if you combine it with other exercises in characterization or 'what if' scenarios. One should always strive to avoid clichéd scenarios. Some of the monsters will naturally gravitate towards a specific fear, along the lines of what's been discussed here and already been portrayed in movies and fiction, which is why it's useful to mix things up a little.

Is it too obvious that zombies represent fear of infestation/infection? Try something else. Maybe put your zombies in Guantanamo Bay and see what happens. Even absurd combinations might bear fruit. What on earth would vampires have to do with performance-enhancing drugs? What do zombies have to do with outsourcing? Who knows? One needn't use all three columns, of course. Simply combining a monster with a contemporary concern will probably be enough to get the juices flowing. But it's always good to keep in mind that a lasting horror story preys on some common human fear.

Be creative and have fun with it. The future of horror fiction is in your hands.

***

Eric Stark lives in Portland, Oregon and works at a quaint and somewhat famous bookstore. He is currently putting his somewhat irrelevant English degree to good use by helping develop, along with his business partner, a series of writing courses, which he hopes will be online before this whole internet fad is over. His work has appeared in The Copperfield Review, Dark Recesses, Horror Library Vol. 1, The Harrow, and in select web copy. He enjoys beer league softball, skateboarding, all things Russian, and unattainable women.

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