Archive for the ‘Reflections’ Category

The Struggle is Real

Posted: February 7, 2024 in Living and Life, Reflections
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Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

I’ve always felt “the struggle is real” is a weird phrase. I mean, we all have jobs, bills, relationships, school, and a million things that are out to kill you. The struggle is always real.

Lately, I get why people say that. Because at my day job, the struggle is very real right now.

Now, I try not to talk about my day job on my blog. After all, this blog is about my writing. But I need to vent, and I feel like talking about it here. Helps that it’s been a week since I last posted, and that makes me itchy.

Still, I don’t want to go into details, so I’ll just say that it’s been crazy busy. Like, I’ve had to work a couple of late nights, and I probably will be working more of them in the near future. Maybe even a couple of hours on the weekend. I don’t know, it’s still being discussed.

But that’s just the kind of workload we’re dealing with, and it’s a small team doing what I’m doing. Plus, we’re facing pressure from all sides, as well as malarkey that’s only giving us more headaches. It’s enough that, sad to say, I finally get why people say “the struggle is real.”

Now, before you get yourself all worried, just know I am taking care of myself. Maybe I have indulged in a beer or sweets a bit more, guilty as charged, but I am monitoring my mental health, talking to people who are trained to listen to problems, and I am doing self-care. Earlier today, I watched a horror movie with dinner. It was a terrible horror movie, but it did help with the stress (and with not being able to write for two days due to the effects of stress).

And I have scheduled some vacation time in the near future. Not saying when in case stalkers or burglars read this blog, but it’s soon. I’ll take that time to simulate living like a full-time writer, with most of my day spent writing.

And possibly visiting my dad and stepmom. Hey, they live in another city and I don’t get to see them as often as I see my other close family. Also, I may have an appointment at a spa scheduled for that period. And you know I like to watch anime as soon as it’s available to stream.

According to my Tarot, things might be improving next week. I hope that’s true.

But other than that, I am spending the time working on stories and doing other things a full-time writer might do. Hopefully it’ll be good for me, it’ll help me get some good stories out, and help me in my quest to become a full-time writer. I’m really looking forward to that.

And wow, just writing this all out has made me feel better. The struggle is still very real, but it feels a bit less soul-grinding than it did when I got home earlier today. Maybe getting it out will be the start of changing how things are going. It would match up with my Tarot reading for next week. That would be nice.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. If you would like to help me get through this period, just keep doing what you’re doing: supporting me. This could be as simple as reading this blog and leaving a comment, or even reading and reviewing my books (links to which can be found on my Book Links and Excerpts page).

Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

My Writing Goals for 2024

Posted: January 1, 2024 in Reflections, Writing
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Happy New Year, my Followers of Fear. I wasn’t going to do this sort of post, let alone on New Year’s Day. After all, I went over a lot of this stuff in my “Looking Back at 2023, Looking Forward to 2024” post. But plenty of my writer friends were posting their 2023 accomplishments and their 2024 goals on social media, so I thought, “Why shouldn’t I? And why should I limit myself to however many characters?”

Thus, I’m writing a full blog post.

So, with all that said, let’s get into my writing goals and how I plan to keep busy on the writing front.

FINISH THE SHORT WORKS I STARTED

After the Great Editing ended last year, I went through my list of ideas and chose seven story ideas I thought would be fun to work on (and hopefully had a chance of getting published). I’ve already finished two stories: a surprisingly short weird horror story called “White Leaves,” and a Jewish exorcism story called “The House on Lafayette Square.” And at the moment, I’m working on a story about owls under the temporary title “Strigiformes.”

With this particular goal, I aim to finish “Strigiformes” by Martin Luther King Day, and then get the other four stories done by around May. Don’t know if I will, but God knows I’m going to try. I’m already at the halfway point of “Strigiformes,” so assuming nothing messes with my life between now and the 15th, I should be off to a good start.

FINISH CRAWLER

My big project for 2024, assuming nothing else pops up, is to finally return to my mummy novel Crawler and finish it. Hopefully after I finish these last four and a half short works, and around May-ish. I want to go over what’s already been written, then get around to finishing the first draft.

Don’t know if it’ll get published at some point, but I definitely want it to be at least finished. I hate the feeling of it being left undone when I feel it has great potential.

GROW MY AUDIENCE

This one should be pretty self-explanatory. I love my Followers of Fear and how ardent you all can be, but I am a writer. We love having people enjoying our work. So, I’m trying to build my audience and the number of people who I can claim to be Followers of Fear.

Part of this will be done by selling books at events, which are great places to meet new readers, and another part will be some slight changes to how I do things on social media.* With a bit of luck, the right interactions, and sympathetic algorithms, maybe more people will come to love and look forward to my stories when they release.

*BTW, I’ve left Twitter due to Elon Musk going full anti-Semite and have moved to Threads and BlueSky. So, if you want to follow me there, click on the links.

GET SOME ACCEPTANCES

Again, this is also self-explanatory. While I do self-publish some of my work, I still like to get publishers to release some of my stories. There are benefits to going indie and going through a publisher. And all that being said, I hope to have some presses accept my stories and help me polish them up to their most beautiful before letting them out into the world.

And I may self-publish some stuff, as well. If the circumstances are right.

HAVE A GOOD 2024 FISCALLY

Writing is a passion and a calling, but it is also a job and a business. That’s especially true during tax time. And while this past year, I had the most income from writing ever, I also had a lot of expenses. Not enough to overtake my income, but still, a lot. For 2024, I hope to have fewer expenses. Or that my income far outpaces my expenses. It’s something I’ll be working on throughout the year, so hopefully it goes well.

MAYBE ANOTHER COLLECTION?

Yeah, putting together and editing Hannah was difficult at times, but it was gratifying, too. And I’m thinking of maybe putting together another collection. If I do, what stories will be in it, what it’ll be called, if there will be a theme, and if I self-publish it or not, we’ll see. This part of the future, at least, is still up in the air.

MAYBE AN ADAPTATION?

I know, I know. Getting any of my stories adapted into any medium is a long shot. Still, some things happened in 2023 that give me hope that it could happen. (And if you’re lucky, you’ll hear about what later this year.) So, I’m putting it on this list as a goal.

GET THAT MUCH CLOSER TO WRITING FULL-TIME

This is my overall goal for 2024. Granted, this is my overall goal every year. But I feel like I made significant progress this year towards this goal in 2023, and I feel like 2024 will take me even further. I want to get to the point where I can actually see a path to eventually being able to write full-time. Where it stops being just a dream and starts to morph into a reality.

If the majority of these go these goals go well, then maybe, just maybe, I’ll end 2024 with goals towards making dreams reality in 2025. And wouldn’t that be glorious?

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope 2024 treats us all very well (though honestly, I feel like roaring at the year to intimidate it instead of hoping it’s nice to us is a better move). Thank you for all the support you guys showed me in 2023. I hope you continue to do so in 2024. And one way to do that is to read my books and leave reviews, and/or follow my social media. I’ll leave buttons that’ll take you to where you can find both.

Book Links and Excerpts
About Me

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! RAWR!!!

Looking Back at 2023, Looking Forward to 2024

Posted: December 1, 2023 in Living and Life, Reflections
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Photo by Minhazur Rahman and downloaded from Vecteezy.

I do this post every year, and you guys seem to like it, so I’m doing it again. Let’s talk about 2023 and what we hope will happen in 2024.

I think everyone will agree with me that 2023 was a mixed bag. Not the rollercoaster out of hell that 2022 was, but definitely a mixed bag. Among the good things that happened, the pandemic was declared mostly over and we are getting back to some degree of normal now; my home state of Ohio voted to enshrine reproductive rights in our state constitution and legalized marijuana, which was a big deal; the Hollywood writers and actors strike were successful, allowing both groups to earn more money for their work and putting protections in against AI; an AI Safety Summit was held to discuss how nations should approach AI as it develops; Doctor Who returned with a bang (check it out, it’s awesome); and more.

Unfortunately, a lot of bad stuff happened this year as well. There was a massive train derailment in Ohio earlier this year that released a lot of chemicals into the area, and who knows how long that will take to clear up; the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, and Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, leading to a war that’s still ongoing today; anti-Semitism has risen in record numbers around the world, leaving many of my people feeling scared and alone; multiple mass shootings occurred throughout the year, leaving many dead who shouldn’t have died; the prices of gas and food have risen like crazy, which has made affording necessities more difficult than it already was; and more.

Like I said, mixed bag.

And on a personal level, 2023 was a mixed bag as well. On the down side, work was hellish this year, with multiple problems cropping up throughout the year that required my coworkers and I to work long hours and try to find ways to deal with it. We’re still working through problems, some old and some newer. Some of us, myself included, even have to go into the office three days a week before the rest of the workforce just to keep up. Oh yeah, we’re going from one just one day a week in the office to three in the new year. Another downside.

Also, I got in an accident and had to replace my car (that was awful); I had to find a new insurance company after the accident (that was annoying); my friends and I had to close Cracked Skull Press, which sucked; I underperformed at a lot of events I usually do well at; my anxiety and a bit of depression went to work on me, thanks to the Israel-Hamas conflict and the resulting anti-Semitism; and quite a few other things happened that really brought down my enjoyment.

Getting this out earlier this year was definitely a highlight of 2023.

Still, there were some good things. On the writing front, I was able to release Hannah and Other Stories, and while the reviews have been coming slower than I would like, they’ve all been very positive, and even in major publications; I also released “The Wild Hunt” in the Happy Hellidays anthology, which people have been LOVING; I got to go to StokerCon, which was a dream come true and a ton of fun; despite not doing as well at certain events as usual, I’ve been doing really well financially on the writing front, thanks in part to a grant and certain events; and I wrote what I think is some really good work, and I’m still writing some of that work.

(Some other stuff happened on this front too, but I can’t get into them until certain things are made official.)

Outside of writing, I turned thirty, and celebrated it with a blast, as well as found being thirty wasn’t as awful as I’d worried; I got to see some amazing Broadway shows and got addicted to their soundtracks (if you ever have the chance, go see SIX and Beetlejuice live); I got my full-back tattoo, which I’ve been working on since last year, finished; I had some big firsts in my condo, including my first Passover seder and first overnight guest; I made it quite far through the Face of Horror contest, and got plenty of side benefits from it as well; and a bunch of other stuff happened.

So yeah, mixed bag. But at least I can end the year saying that there was more good than bad, at least on a personal level.

So, what’s next for 2024? Well, I hope I can write, edit, and publish more stories, including finishing my mummy novel Crawler; I’d like to take a long, two-week vacation at some point and just spend it between totally lazy and writing my brains out; I look forward to traveling to some of my favorite haunted locations and maybe catching some weird shit on camera (more on that later); I hope to do more renovations to my condo as I build up my savings towards them; and perhaps, if God is kind, I can get that much closer to writing full time.

I also hope on the world stage things calm down and we can go through a year without losing any respect for humanity as a whole. But with two wars and an upcoming presidential election, I’ll call this hope a long shot.

Anyway, I hope that this post didn’t bum you out. Perhaps it gave you something to think about, or made you grateful for your 2023. Or even hopeful for 2024. I’m certainly trying to be hopeful, despite all the shit that goes on daily.

And with about 30 days left of 2023, I hope we all have a decent end to the year and enter the new year on a strong note.

How was your 2023, Followers of Fear? Anything good happen that you want to share? What about your hopes and plans for 2024? Let’s discuss.

Why It Took Me So Long to Write a Good Exorcism Story

Posted: November 24, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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Years ago, when I was interning in Germany, I tried writing an exorcism story. And over the years, most recently 2019, I would try again and again to write this particular exorcism story, which would go by titles like “Summer of the Devil,” “Stuck in the Horror House,” and “Oppression.” I never finished the story. I don’t think I ever got further than five thousand words through it.

The story would have been about four friends breaking into a haunted attraction during the off-season and one of them intentionally summoning a demon for kicks, only for every one of them to get possessed and chaos to ensue. Looking back on it now, I feel it’s pretty paint by the numbers as far as possession and exorcism stories go. More like one of those B-movie summer popcorn munchers that rely way too much on jumpscares and CGI to be scary to veteran horror fans.

However, earlier this month, I started a new exorcism story. This one, titled “The House on Lafayette Square,” featured a totally new scenario and characters, and I ended up finishing it late Wednesday night at about 9,400 words. And after I’d finished it, I came to realize what factors were limiting me from writing the previous exorcism story, or any others for that matter.

Those factors were conventionality and emotional investment.

You guys know me well by now. I don’t march to the beat of anyone else’s drum but my own, and that’s especially true when it comes to the stories I write. I mean, I’ve written about plant/human hybrids (Rose), Mafia-hunting serial killers (Snake), and carnivorous horses and strange gods (Hannah and Other Stories), among other things. Not what you would call run of the mill, even for horror.

And like I said, the story I was trying to write back in 2015-2019 was much more conventional. It confirmed for me something I’ve suspected for a while now: if I consider the story too run-of-the-mill, or if it gets away from what I consider a Rami Ungar-style story (like starting in one genre but becoming too close to another), I just won’t be able to write it. No matter how much I like the idea.

As for emotional investment, let me explain something: “Lafayette Square” is a Jewish exorcism story. That already brought in some emotional investment, as there’s still not a lot of Jewish horror out there and I liked the idea of adding to the catalog with something not usually explored in our stories. However, since the Israel-Hamas conflict began last month, it’s brought about a lot of stress and dark feelings, both for myself and the Jewish community. Thusly, “Lafayette Square” became a story for me to work through my emotions regarding the conflict.

Who knew it would take emotional investment as well as a new angle to finally get me to write an exorcism story?
Photo by Luca Nardone on Pexels.com

In other words, writing it became a cathartic exercise. Or maybe a cathartic exorcism is a better way to put it.

So yeah, having a strong emotional reason to write this story, as well as it feeling like something new and exciting and definitely something I would write, really helped me get through this exorcism story. That’ll be good to know with future stories, whether they’re about exorcism or not.

As for whether or not we’ll see “The House on Lafayette Square” out in print anytime soon, we’ll have to wait and see. I already have someone taking a look at the story and giving me feedback, so hopefully after I get their notes and make some edits, I can find it a home. Still, I think it’s got a chance. And if it does come out, I can’t wait to see how people respond to it.

For now though, I have a new story to research and start working on. And I have a feeling I’m not going to have any trouble writing it.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.

One last thing, my Followers of Fear: did you know it used to be a tradition during the holiday season to tell scary stories? I think it’s a damn shame this tradition has faded so much. And with the holiday season now upon us, why not revive it? Go out and get yourself or a horror fan you know a new scary story for the holiday season!

And if you’re at all interested, maybe consider checking out some of my work. As I said above, I have plenty of work out there that’s both unique and scary. If that’s your thing, check out my Book Links and Excerpts page. And if you or a friend end up reading some of my work, be sure to leave a review so I and other readers know what you thought.

Happy reading, Followers of Fear!

Book Links and Excerpts

Worldbuilding vs. Storytelling in Horror

Posted: November 20, 2023 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Recently, I tried to read Goblin by Josh Malerman. For those of you who don’t know, Goblin is a collection of six novellas that all take place in the small Michigan town of Goblin, where it rains sixty percent more than anywhere else in the US, the police resemble shuffling zombies, and you don’t enter the woods if you want to come out again.

I liked the idea of it and finally got around to reading it recently. And…I was unimpressed. I got through pages quickly every time I picked it up, but the stories within were just not drawing me in. By the time I got to the fourth novella (I know, I’m a trooper), I was lagging. And finally, by the first night in Marietta, I just couldn’t finish it. I put it down, never to pick it up again.

What was the issue? Well, it was the focus on the titular town. There was too much time spent on it and not enough on the stories. On the storytelling. On the horror.

Way too many words are spent on the town’s history and geography. It feels more like a history lesson at times. In fact, the second novella is focused on a former high school history teacher who knows the town history like the back of his hand. And you get that there’s a lot of interesting history there. And you can feel Malerman’s love for the fictional town.

But all that isn’t what we picked up the book for. We came for a book with six interconnected novellas centered around a single town that will hopefully scare the shit out of us. And this emphasis on worldbuilding by the author comes at the expense of the scaring the shit out of us.

Now, every story, regardless of genre, requires some degree of worldbuilding. The horror genre is no exception. You have to establish the setting, the people, the vernacular, and all that. Sometimes this can be done with having a date at the beginning of the story or just a few hints. Other times, like with stories set in historical eras, you have to do a ton of work to build the setting, bringing to life the clothes and manners and whatnot. And in the fantasy and sci-fi genres, authors will have all sorts of complicated compendiums and charts and maps to make their made up worlds feel as real as possible.

That being said, in the horror genre, the emphasis has to be on scaring readers. So, while you can spend time building those worlds, you have to remember it’s all in subservience of telling your story and scaring those readers. Look at Alma Katsu’s historical horror novels, or my own novel The Pure World Comes. We put so much research into the eras our stories take place and spend so much time building those locations, you can almost feel the winter chill killing the Donner Party, or smell the offal in the street of Victorian London.

The Hunger is a great example of a story where the worldbuilding doesn’t overwhelm the storytelling.

But neither of us forget that this is all for the story. We never think that the location, while interesting, is more important than telling the story. And it feels like with Goblin, Malerman, for all his strengths as a writer, got those priorities mixed up. And the result were six subpar novellas that might have been decent if more time was spent trying to frighten us readers.

Honestly, I wish the book had approached Goblin’s history like King approached the history of Derry in IT. In that book, the town history, which has several chapters devoted to it, doesn’t detract for the story. For one thing, most of those chapters take place in-between the action, which doesn’t detract from the story. Second, most of those history-building chapters are presented as Mike Hanlon doing research on the town and on It, so these sections are not only part of the main story, but they add context and help us realize just how ingrained It is to Derry. In Goblin, the history is rarely related to the events of any of the novellas, which only detracts from the stories.

And finally, It always has a hand in the history of the town. Whether appearing as Pennywise or causing some disaster at the end of Its active period, It is always there, making the history of Derry the history of It.

As for Goblin…the history could be cut out of most of the novellas I read and it wouldn’t matter. In fact, it might make the stories scarier. Especially since those stories I read don’t really have anything to do with Goblin history.

This is something important to keep in mind when writing horror in a location that requires extensive worldbuilding. Yes, it’s important to bring the location to life. Yes, the history can be interesting and can be talked about throughout the story. However, that must all be done as part of the story. In service to the story. Otherwise, you’re just going to get an ode to a fictional town, and not anything really scary.

Personally, I think I would rather read IT or The Hunger again and use those lessons in my own writing.

One more thing, Followers of Fear: The Solar Press Horror Anthology Volume I, which contains my story “The Dedication of the High Priestess,” is going to be released on December 1st. Not only is this an exciting short story anthology, it also contains one of my favorite short pieces, in print for the first time (before this, it was only available in audio).

If you would like to preorder a copy, you can do so using the links below. If you like in the UK and EU, order directly from the website. If you live in the US, use Orbit DVD.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

UK/EU Orders
US Orders

A Much Needed Trip to Marietta

Posted: November 12, 2023 in Reflections, Tales across the US
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The Ohio river at the tip of Marietta’s downtown at sunset.

Y’all, life has been stressful lately.

You guys know I have a day job, right? Well, without getting into details, mine has gotten super busy lately, to the point where I’ve been working late nights. Consequently, I’ve been unable to do as much writing as I would like, which only stresses me out more. Plus, everything is more expensive these days, especially gas and food. All this and then some were really stressing me out, so I was in desperate need of a vacation.

Luckily, Friday was Veterans Day (thank you to all vets for your service) and my workplace gave me Friday off. And, since I was already planning on going down to Marietta for that event with Hidden Marietta, I decided to make it a weekend-long mini-vacation and have some fun.

And you know what? It was just what the doctor ordered! I just got back from Marietta a few hours ago and these past couple of days were among the most relaxing of my life.

So, if you don’t know, Marietta is the oldest town in Ohio and is located in southeast Ohio along the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. It has a beautiful historic downtown section, the crown of which (in my opinion, anyway) is the Historic Lafayette Hotel. It’s a beautiful and historic hotel, as well as a very haunted hotel, so I like to stay there when possible.

The facade of the Lafayette.

Sadly, I didn’t experience anything paranormal (unless I dreamed it), but I stayed in a lovely little room and was able to walk around downtown and check out the shops and restaurants, something I’ve always wanted to do.

My room in the Lafayette.

I also got to visit the Mound Cemetery, which is such a cool place. It’s located in the center of Marietta’s residential district and contains graves of people who fought in the American Revolution and helped found the earliest settlements in Ohio. Being among all those people who helped shape this country from its earliest days was kind of humbling.

Entrance to Mound Cemetery
Tomb of unknown soldiers who fought in the revolution. Quite amazing to visit.

I also got to stop by the cemetery’s namesake, a giant Indian burial mound in the center of the cemetery. It rises like a small mountain, and you can actually walk up some stone steps along the side of the mound to the top, where there are a couple of benches and a raised stone denoting where a time capsule was buried. I climbed those steps and the view was breathtaking. These photos don’t do it justice, but I hope you got some of the magnificence of the mound and the surrounding cemetery.

The mound. It looks a lot more awesome and imposing in person, believe me.
The view from atop the mound. In the center, you can see the stone where the time capsule is.
Another view from atop the mound.

Pretty cool, right?

Also, there was this.

I know what you’re thinking. What was in there, how did it get out, and should we be worried? It actually reminded me of Ghoul by Brian Keene, where a ghoul is released from a tomb in an old cemetery like this one. I actually reached out to him on BlueSky about this, and he said it was either a ghoul or an incredibly powerful groundhog (new Ohio cryptid?).

Whatever caused this, both the broken-open tomb and the mound melded in my mind to create an interesting idea for a story. I would like to write it someday, though of course, there are a million things to get through before I can even consider writing it.

After that, I visited the Anchorage Mansion for the event (you can read about the last time I was there here). Sadly, unlike last time I did not experience anything paranormal beyond a few doors that opened and closed when I wasn’t looking (probably just a coincidence). A friend who was there did see a ghost, but I wasn’t in the room. I also only sold one book, which was a letdown. But I did get to see some friends, and one of them did join me for dinner afterwards, which was nice.

And then today, I had breakfast and then went to a frozen custard parlor for a snack. I then visited the Campus Martius museum, which chronicles the settlement and history of the area, and has some of the oldest buildings still in existence in Ohio on its grounds. No photos of those, but I did enjoy stopping there and I even found a gift for a friend of mine for the holidays. It was a good way to wrap up the trip before hitting the road for Columbus.

And you know what? I really needed this. As I said before, life has been really crazy lately, and this trip was super relaxing. Yeah, there were a few hiccups and those weren’t fun, but I still had a wonderful time walking around Marietta and seeing more of this beautiful town.

And I think we all need these breaks from life’s stresses every now and again. It isn’t easy to get away and may cost some money, but with the world the way it is, it’s important to take care of your physical and mental health and find time to unwind. I honestly feel like I can take on whatever this week throws at me with more ease than I would if I hadn’t taken this trip (helps that I can’t work late this week for various reasons). Perhaps I’ll even be able to stay chilled out until my next vacation, whenever that is.

I hope you get to take the time to care of yourself and enjoy a different locale as well very soon.

Have you gone anywhere for a mini-vacation lately? Where did you go and what did you do? And did it help with your stress?

One last thing, Followers of Fear: since Friday morning, thirty-two people have downloaded copies of my short story Car Chasers. This does not include how many people read it off the website itself, so the number could be even higher. Thank you all for checking it out. This is exactly the response I was hoping for, and I hope this response continues and gets more people interested in my work.

If you haven’t checked out Car Chasers but would like to, you can find it on my Book Links and Excerpts page, along with all my other work. It’s completely free to read and download, so I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to try to get to bed early tonight so I’m well-rested for work tomorrow. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

My First New Story in a While

Posted: October 29, 2023 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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I actually wanted to write this post days ago, but you know how life gets. It gets crazy, and my life has been especially crazy lately. Still, it was nice that last week, on Wednesday, I started a new short story. And on Thursday, I finished that story. It’s been my first new work in…God, I don’t know how long.

So yeah, it’s safe to say The Great Editing has ended. However, because of that crazy life I mentioned above, I wasn’t able to start writing for several days after my last editing project. When I did, when I started working on that story, it was such a release! Like something that had been building up inside of my brain and in my fingers was released in the course of eleven-hundred words. And the next night, I wrote the rest of the story in one glorious sitting. Again, there was that sense of relief and release. Like, after so many months of editing and promotion, telling a new story that had been rattling around in my head for months was exactly what the doctor ordered.

So, how is the new story? Well, as the writer, it’s hard to tell. “White Leaves” involves the strange events occurring in an apartment complex on a chilly Halloween morning (hey, that’s coming up!). It’s also told in the second person, which is something I’ve only done once before. (If you’ve read The Quiet Game, you probably remember the story.) The reason why I did is because I read a horror story recently that was told in the second person, and it was awesome. When I formulated “White Leaves,” the idea of telling the story in the same method as that other story just seemed to make sense.

And, somehow, it’s under three thousand words, which is a surprise for me. Normally my short stories are at least seven-thousand words. I even said on my social media, “Who am I and what have I done with my normal writing style?”

Anyway, it’s weird and fun and I think my critique group is going to get a kick out of it. Perhaps, with their feedback and a bit of a polish, I’ll even be able to find a home for it that will enjoy the strange tale and what I’ve included. That would be nice.

As for my next story, I already have the idea and I’ve done the research necessary. It’ll be a Jewish horror story, so hopefully it becomes a great addition to that growing catalog. I’ll keep you guys updated on it, especially if the story gets published.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve had a long day and I’m going into the office tomorrow, so I better wrap up my night. Especially if I want to watch a scary movie. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

One last thing, my Followers of Fear: tomorrow night, at the Bexley Public Library in Bexley, Ohio, me and my fellow Ohio horror writers will be doing a flash fiction writing workshop. If you can come by, please RSVP and show up. We’ll have a good time, we’ll write scary stories, and you’ll see my new author costume in person. Trust me, it’s awesome.

Until next time, another good night and more pleasant nightmares to you.

Halloween Flash Fiction Workshop with HWA Ohio

What is the Future of this Blog?

Posted: October 16, 2023 in Living and Life, Reflections
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I’ve been writing this blog for over twelve years now. Several lifetimes in Internet time, if you think about it. Through college and my first publishing successes, job searching and travel and back pain, getting a decent paying job and learning to drive. Past getting a car and getting more books out there, as well as a pandemic and all the changes that brought about. Then having a collection accepted and then buying a home.

And now, Hannah is out and I’m out of the Face of Horror contest, and I wonder to myself: what is the future of this blog?

Understand, I’m not going to shut it down. No way, this blog has always been and will always be important to my life and my plan as an author. It’s how I met so many wonderful Followers of Fear, after all. Nor am I going to change the focus of my blog. It will always be about me, my writing, and my love of horror, as well as me trying to spread those last two to other people.

But I have noticed that, despite a high number of visitors since last month (I believe a certain contest was behind that), this blog needs some sort of change. I’ve actually felt this way for a while. Maybe it’s because nearly half the posts I’ve published lately have been about Hannah, and more than a few were about the Face of Horror.

And of course, some posts on those subjects are to be expected. Like I said, part of this blog is spreading word about what I’m doing and getting people interested in my stories. But I feel like I’ve been doing too much of that. That maybe this blog is slowly becoming just a giant ad, rather than a place for me to interact with my Followers of Fear. And I don’t want that!

So, what am I going to do? Well, I’m still figuring that out. I may try to do more posts where I reflect on the nature of horror and on writing, but those have to come from a real place of wanting to write those posts. I can’t write them just because I feel I have to. The point is, I want to put out posts and content that I feel passionate about putting out there, and that you all will want to read. Not just ads.

Hmm. Now that I think about it, that’s kind of like writing, isn’t it? What you put out there only has real meaning if you have passion about it. If you do that, you’re sure to find someone, maybe a lot of someones, who will want to read your work. Hopefully this new path will lead to new Followers of Fear finding this blog.

But like I said, I’m still figuring out some of the changes I want to make, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. I’d be happy to hear what you think. And don’t be surprised by a certain Hannah-themed post on Monday. After all, that’s the one-month anniversary since its release.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to read and then dream dark dreams. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

What changes should I make to this blog? What would help keep this blog interesting?

The End of the Great Editing?

Posted: September 28, 2023 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections, Writing
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It’s almost October, meaning we’re three-quarters of the way through calendar year 2023.

Before 2023 started, I announced that I would be doing something called The Great Editing, where I would spending several months deep in editing stories, mainly drafts of Hannah and Other Stories, plus a couple of novellas and novelettes. Every now and then, I’d take breaks to work on original work, and hopefully it would be done in a couple of months.

Somehow, the Great Editing extended through the summer, and in recent months has been very revved up as I go through stories I wanted to get edited back in the spring. Sure, I still worked on original stories, such as the story I wanted to submit to the grimdark anthology* and a weird fiction story, but for the most part, I’ve been doing a ton of editing.

And promoting for Hannah and the Face of Horror contest. But mostly editing.

Now, I think I’m close to finishing this insane process. I’ve got one more story I’m definitely editing, then another I haven’t decided if I want to edit or if I want to put it in the proverbial trunk. After that, unless beta readers or publishers have notes for me (and usually those edits can be done in less than an hour), I plan to end the Great Editing and work on some original stories. In fact, I have five or six shorter works I want to work on, because they just intrigue me and seem like a ton of fun.

And after those are done, I want to get back to Crawler, the mummy novel I started last year, then put on the back burner, and then entirely off the stove. I’d like to go over what I’ve written once more, apply all the learning and experience I’ve gained since I last worked on the book, and then get to the end of it. I absolutely hate that this book is unfinished, especially when it has such potential. Perhaps by this time next year, it’ll be finished. I would like that.

Well, before that happens, I need to get some edits done. Wish me luck, my Followers of Fear. If I can, I’ll finish The Great Editing done by Halloween.

*Unfortunately, the story I wrote for the anthology wasn’t exactly grimdark, so the anthology rejected it. However, they did say it was a great story and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to hear that. I’ve already resubmitted it, and will hopefully have news soon.

How about that, my Followers of Fear? I only mentioned Hannah and the Face of Horror without trying to get you to buy something or take part. But don’t worry, I’ll do plenty of that in later posts.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 33 days till Halloween! Release the scary clown army!

Thoughts on Writing a Grimdark Story

Posted: August 3, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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Did I write a grimdark story? I hope so.

The title of this post really should be “Thoughts on Attempting to Write a Grimdark Story,” but that’s not a title that rolls off the tongue, is it?

Anyway, not too long ago I was invited to submit to an anthology. Length of my story, themes and whatnot were pretty much left up to me, provided one thing: the story was a grimdark story.

For those unfamiliar, grimdark is not exactly a subgenre (though I did call it such in my post about what counts as dark fantasy). Rather, it’s a tone or atmosphere that spans across genres. The name comes from the tagline of the roleplaying game Warhammer 40K, “In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.” Very sci-fi, but as I said, a grimdark story can fall into any genre. What makes a story grimdark? Well, it has a dark, oppressive, bleak tone; characters who are either amoral or just downright awful; and, rather than a focus on hope as in other stories, a focus on cynicism bordering on hopelessness or nihilism. Characters are often antiheroes or villains, or hopeless grunts doing awful stuff, or just the worst ever, and happy endings are few and far-between, if they ever happen.

Now, you may be wondering to yourself: who the hell would want to read that? Quite a few people, actually. The term grimdark has been applied to popular works such as those of George RR Martin, Batman comics from the 1980s onwards, the Spawn comic book series (love that guy, he needs more recognition), and the Walking Dead franchise.

And I’ve heard that if you take out the cheery songs from the musical Chicago, you’d have a very grimdark story. Think about it: two unrepentant murderesses living in Prohibition-era Chicago murder their spouses or lovers and care only about getting off and having careers as entertainers. Their lawyer is a man who only cares if his cases are sensational and getting paid, their warden trades on favors, and the only good person is Roxie’s husband, who gets used and abused by his unfaithful wife throughout the show.

Spawn is a classic example of both a grimdark character and a grimdark series.

If that’s not grimdark, it sounds damn close.

Actually, Chicago might be something of an influence on my own grimdark story, “Be Careful What You Wish For,” which follows a Vegas actress down on her luck and trying to find her big break. And I hope this grimdark story, which I finished on Sunday, is actually a grimdark story: I certainly succeeded in making the characters, particularly the lead, really awful people. I also tried to make an atmosphere of hopelessness, greed and cruelty under the glitz and glam of Vegas (not very hard). And I did listen to a lot of music I associate with dark moods while writing this story.

But I don’t have a lot of experience with writing that sort of mood, and this is the first time I’ve ever tried to write a grimdark story intentionally (I may have written them in the past without realizing it). So whether it can actually can be considered grimdark is unknown.

That being said, writing the story was a fun challenge. The MC is such a horrible person, and usually my MCs are likable, so writing someone so self-centered and greedy was a lot of fun. And finding ways to make the story that much more grim and dark was fun, too. I could honestly see myself trying to write more stories in this vein, provided I have the right inspiration.

Anyway, I plan to have this story looked over by someone more familiar with grimdark and then edit it before I send it to the anthology’s editor. With any luck, not only will it fit the anthology well, but they’ll want to publish it. And if it gets a really good reception…well, we’ll see what happens we get there. I’ll keep you guys posted.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for something dark and spooky to read, there’s only fifty days till my new collection, Hannah and Other Stories, releases. This collection contains tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, among other things. It’s not grimdark, but the stories are definitely not sunshine and rainbows.

Anyway, Hannah releases on September 23rd, but you can preorder using the button below. If you’re at all interested, please be sure to preorder a copy. And if you do read the book after it comes out, let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers out in the end.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Preorder Hannah and Other Stories
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