Posts Tagged ‘publishing’

“The Pure World Comes:” Second Draft Completed!!!

Posted: January 4, 2021 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2
I made a nice graphic for “The Pure World Comes.” It’ll work till I get a proper cover for the story.

My first major achievement of 2021 occurred this morning at around 2 AM (yeah, I’m not sure how I’m functioning right now, either). After a crap ton of editing and a bit of Doctor Who, I finished the second draft of The Pure World Comes.

Now if you don’t know what The Pure World Comes is, it’s a Gothic horror novel I wrote back in Spring 2020 and started editing last month. The novel, which is set in Victorian England, follows a young maid who goes to work for a mad scientist. Beyond being a fun and exciting story to work on, it was my love letter to the Victorian era and a great opportunity to showcase my theory of who Jack the Ripper was.

Yeah, I worked Jack the Ripper into the story. And I think it worked as an addition.

Now, if you remember my post about prepping to return to Victorian England, I had some specific goals with this draft. Namely, I wanted to make the story feel more authentic by improving the dialogue, explaining all the odd ideas and customs of Victorian England (*cough* mourning rituals *cough*), and adding little details like steam engines, Covent Garden, and bath tubs heated with giant metal contraptions. While I’m still iffy on the dialogue, I think I did a great job with the other stuff. I tried to give readers some explanation or context for some of the things that were common then but would be considered odd now, and I think I added enough little details to make the story feel authentic.

Of course, I’ll leave that up to the beta readers (more on them in a bit).

Also, did I mention how much this story has grown since the first draft? The first was 214 pages (8.5 x 11 inches, double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font) and 59,333 words. The second, however, was 228 pages and 64,269 words! That’s an increase of nearly 14 pages and nearly five-thousand words! Yes, a lot of that comes from explaining some things or expanding some sections so they’re less confusing. Believe it or not, it might’ve been more, but as I got further into the draft, I ended up cutting a ton of material as well.

So, what’s next? Well, I’m going to hand the novel off to a couple of beta readers to look over. I’ve already gotten confirmations from two colleagues who are well-versed in historical fiction (as well as my work) that they’ll take a look, and I’m reaching out to a few others who are big horror fans themselves. With any luck, I’ll find out not only if The Pure World Comes is any good, but what I can do to improve it in the third draft before trying to publish it.

And while they’re looking at the second draft, I’ll be taking a break from any serious writing for a short while. Beyond any administrative work on my various projects or the occasional blog post, it’ll just be easy street for the next week or two. After that…well, I have some ideas.

I look forward to receiving feedback for the third draft.

For now though, I’m just excited to be reaching this stage in the novel’s development and hope I get to share it with you very soon.

And if, in the meantime, you’re looking for something new to read for 2021, I have a few other projects out on the market that might fit the bill. I’ll leave the links below. All I ask is that you leave a review online somewhere if you do end up reading my stories, as they help both me and other readers.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to enjoy some dinner, some classic Doctor Who, and an early bed time. Until next time, stay safe, Happy New Year, and pleasant nightmares!

Mother of the King: Amazon US, Amazon CAN, Amazon UK

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible

Snake: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

I Won’t Say 2021 Will Be Better

Posted: December 27, 2020 in Living and Life, Reflections
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a while, you’re likely aware that 2020 ends this week. And by God, are we all glad of that! COVID-19, forest fires, horrific murders leading to massive civil unrest, false claims of election fraud that nevertheless have weakened our democracy, and did I miss anything? Probably, it’s been such a horrible year.

Yeah, on a personal level, things were good. I wrote so much, it kind of became an in-joke among my fellow writers; I got to do a lot of traveling and visit a few haunted places; I started saving for a home; and I was able to grow my audience and have my stories reach more people. Yeah, I was only able to publish one story and I didn’t get any acceptances like I’d hoped for, but I got good feedback on the stories I submitted and think I could get them into other publications or accepted by other presses.

And yeah, some things on the national and global stage were good. Even under the strains of COVID-19, we managed to get some great stuff in the entertainment realm.

But still, this was a hard year. So, unlike previous years, I won’t write a post about how 2021 will be better. And I certainly won’t post another video like I did at the beginning of 2020 speculating on what might happen this year. Yeah, remember that? I remember New Year’s 2020 clearly, which is crazy because usually time just blends together for me, but I remember December 31st, 2019 and January 1st, 2020 as clearly as if they’d just happened. And I remember the hope that I and so many others felt. 2020 was going to be so good! After 2019 was such a shit heap, we couldn’t imagine things being worse.

Boy, were we wrong!

So, I’m not going to say 2021 is going to be better. More than likely, it’s going to be a hard and continuous struggle for the first half to two-thirds of the year. We’ll need that time for the new COVID-19 vaccines to make it among the population and see how effective they are. We’ll also need that time for the new government to get to work and hopefully pass some legislation that helps the American people. And a million other things that need to occur across the world.

Making 2021 better than 2020 is going to feel like a Sisyphean task most of the time, believe me.

So, I won’t say 2021 will be better. I will say there’s room to improve the situation. And hopefully things will improve.

And hopefully some of the things I aim to accomplish this coming year will happen. I’ll hopefully continue to write and edit new stories that excite and scare people. Maybe some of them will get published (perhaps in a few publications or by a couple of presses?). I’ve a couple of other projects in the works that I hope to see pan out, and I hope to continue expanding this wonderful audience known as the Followers of Fear.

Oh, and I might go to a couple of conventions. That’s a thing.

And on a more personal level, I’ve got some things happening that I’m excited about. I’ll be moving into a bigger apartment this year and hopefully getting a cat soon after (I’ve been wanting a kitty of my own for sooo long!). I hope to get lots of reading done, and maybe even do some traveling later in the year. And maybe I’ll get to meet some of you amazing Followers of Fear in person! That certainly would be cool.

But for now, I’m approaching things cautiously. I’m living that old Arab proverb of “Trust in God, but tie your camel.” And while I would like for 2021 to be an improvement, I know it’s going to be hard to make that happen.

We can only struggle and work to make things happen, I guess. And hopefully that will have positive results.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve stories to edit, chores to do and a few other things besides. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Are you hopeful for 2021? What are your plans for New Years? What are you hoping to accomplish next year?

New YouTube Video: Why You Should Review the Books You Read

Posted: December 20, 2020 in Living and Life, Reflections, Review, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

As many of you know, I have a YouTube channel that I post to every now and then. Today, I had a bit of time and decided to film a quick little video. What was it about? Well, it’s about reviews. Specifically, how you should help your favorite authors by leaving reviews online for their books, as well as why.

I’m not going to lie, I’m proud of this video. It’s not very long, but I managed to make a nice thumbnail, do some fun editing tricks, and even add music and a short title card at the beginning of the video. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. I may still be an amateur when it comes to video production and editing, but I am getting better at it.

And yes, I did mention Rose‘s audio book in the video. Can you blame me?

Anyway, as the video said, if you like an author’s book, please leave a review with your thoughts online somewhere. Even a short tweet or post on Facebook or Goodreads can be a momentous help to authors. Especially those who aren’t very well-known. Every review helps an author improve, helps other readers find the book, and lets the authors know their work is being read and hopefully appreciated.

And if you would like to support me, I’ll leave the links for my works below. Please consider checking my stories out and letting me know in a review what you think. Because…well, you know why.

And if you liked this YouTube video, please consider subscribing to my channel. I don’t post often, but when I do, it’s usually because I’m passionate about whatever I’m posting. And I would love to see you all there.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to dispose of Santa’s body before the authorities find me. Until next time, Happy Holidays and pleasant nightmares!

Mother of the King: Amazon US, Amazon CAN, Amazon UK

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible

Snake: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Prepping to Return to Victorian England

Posted: December 13, 2020 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2
.

I think I’ve mentioned how busy I am lately. But things have kind of calmed down a bit, so unless I hear back from a beta reader, figure out how best to edit this story I’m working on, or am lucky enough to get a story accepted somewhere, I know what I’m working on next.

You may recall back in the spring, I started writing what I thought would be a novella, but ended up being a full blown novel. This novel, The Pure World Comes, follows a maid in the Victorian era who goes to work at the manor of a mysterious nobleman, only to find mysterious and terrifying events occurring there. I haven’t touched it since then, but I haven’t stopped thinking about it and how to improve it. And now feels like a good time to get to work on a second draft.

As such, I’ve been prepping to journey back to Queen Victoria’s reign. I’ve been listening to audio books and watching movies and TV shows in that era to get that flowery, polite way of speaking down. I’ve been learning new bits of information, such as etiquette and dating advice (yes, the Victorians had dating advice). And I’ve been reviewing what I already know. After all, this isn’t just Gothic horror (or is it Gothic horror/gaslamp fantasy?) I’m working on. This is historical fiction! And historical fiction requires a lot of work to make the reader feel they’re in that bygone era.

All that being said, I have a few goals with this draft. Obviously, I’ll be looking to clean it up, fix any plot holes I notice, and cut out anything extraneous. However, I have a few other goals. This includes:

Victorian fashion. It was a special kind of extravagant.
  • Improve the dialogue. I feel like when I wrote the first draft, I made my characters speak like modern-day Americans. This draft, I’m going to go through the whole book and make sure they sound like Victorians! Eloquence and flowery language, fewer contractions, a focus on politeness and how to address different classes. Not sure I’m going to mad on the expressiveness like characters in Dracula did (oh my God, even when people were dying, they had to be so wordy and full of praise for people they admire!), though. That might be too silly and melodramatic.
  • Explain the era better. One of the problems I have as a writer is that I forget that not every reader knows the same things as me. So, while I know a lot about Victorian England and can put an odd detail peculiar to the era in, knowing exactly what that means, the average reader won’t. It’s my job as the author to explain the minutiae to the reader, be it the ritual of mourning (click here for more on that), how much a pain in the ass cleaning was, or how ice cream was made back in the day (they used to use cucumbers!).
  • The little details need to be inserted. By this, I want to include more things special to the Victorian era. You write about the 1980s, you include Walkmans and big hair and the latest pop songs. You write about the 1950s, you include Cold War concerns, soda shops in pharmacies, televisions and record players, and early rockers. You write about the Victorian era, you mention steam engines, Mudie’s Lending Library, penny dreadfuls, and so much more. I want to include more of those details in the story, so that others familiar with the era can say, “Aha! That makes it feel authentic.” And trust me, there are a lot of details like that to include.

So, that’s what I’m up to lately. Or what I’m about to get up to, most likely starting this week. With any luck, I can make a damn good draft and get this story one step closer to publication. And believe me, I aim to get this story published, one way or the other. After all, this story includes both my love of the Victorian era and my theory of who Jack the Ripper is! You know I gotta get that out there!

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to dream dark dreams. Possibly taking place at balls with huge dresses and polite conversation. Still dark dreams, though. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Posted: December 6, 2020 in Living and Life, Reflections
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2
How I’m feeling most days. Photo by Marcus Aurelius on Pexels.com

This won’t be a long post. Nor will this be a rant or a long list of complaints. It’s just to say one thing: Goddammit, I’m a busy non-human entity!

In addition to writing, editing and trying to find publishers for my stories, I’m also organizing events and meetings for the Ohio chapter of the Horror Writers Association. And I’m trying to put together an anthology with some other Ohio horror writers for writers in our state. And I’m tracking sales/reviews and making decision for “Mother of the King” (more on that in a later post). And I’m doing some research before I try to edit my Victorian Gothic novel The Pure World Comes.

Add in the work from my day job, the many tasks a responsible adult has to do to keep a roof over their heads, trying to stay healthy, finding time to relax so I don’t burn out, and a few things in my personal life that I can’t talk about yet. Oh, and let’s not forget about time to eat and sleep.

And I have to ask: when did my dance card get so full? I feel like I either need more time or another me to get all this work done!

Ooh, another Rami Ungar. There’s a scary thought. Imagine just what sort of terror we could get up to while we were out and about!

Well, with any luck, things will ease up a bit as I continue to cross things off my list. There have been hiccups along the way–kid you not, I may have double-booked myself for some stuff at work tomorrow–but I’m dealing with them. I realize that it might be easier if I took on less responsibilities, but some of them can’t be given up so easily and others I took on because this is all part of the path of the writer. You gotta take what opportunities you can sometimes.

Thank you for supporting me while i work on these stories.

Still, it’s a lot. Perhaps if I’m ever able to write full-time, it’ll get easier (especially if writing does become my day job). For now though, I just gotta keep on keeping on and hope I don’t get sick from exhaustion or something.

In the meantime, I want to thank you, my Followers of Fear. Whether I’m traveling at the speed of light or exhausted from work, you’re always there to support me. It means a lot to me that I have this growing community around me who like what I write and support me in my quest to make my dreams come true.

Also in the meantime, it’s the holiday season, so you’re probably wondering what to get your friends and family who like spooky stuff, why not consider some of my stories? Fans of horror are always looking for new scares to devour, so they would probably appreciate something they might not have found otherwise. I’ll include the links for them, as well as for “Mother of the King,” below.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you’re having a good month so far. Until next time, stay safe, pleasant nightmares, and tell Santa to stay out of your chimney until he’s had his temperature checked!

The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Snake: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible

Mother of the King: Amazon US, Amazon CAN, Amazon UK

“Mother of the King” Releases Today!!!

Posted: December 1, 2020 in Living and Life, Novelette, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
6

Good morning and happy December, Followers of Fear! We’re almost done with 2020 (and I think we’re all excited about that). However, while we’re still stuck in this year, there’s still much to do and look forward to. And I hope you’re including the release of my latest story, “Mother of the King,” in your list of things to look forward to!

For those of you who don’t know, “Mother of the King” is a fantasy novelette about the return of King Arthur, told from the perspective of the woman responsible for his return. It’s being released as an e-book exclusive on Amazon, and guess what? Today’s the release date!

(And sorry for those who prefer physical copies, but those will only be available as chapbooks at events like conventions or book readings. Just got to hope you can come to a future event I’ll be attending someday. And yes, I’ll be releasing a post about what chapbooks are as soon as I can.)

A story about the return of King Arthur. Sounds cool, doesn’t it?

I’m very excited to release this story. I first got interested in Arthurian legend about two years ago, and went down a rabbit hole of research. The result was this story, which incorporates a lot of what I learned into the story while still being a (hopefully) entertaining tale.

I’ll include the links down below for anyone who’s interested. And if you do end up buying a copy and reading it, please leave a review and let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback. Plus, your reviews help other readers know whether or not they should check out the stories themselves.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got a busy day ahead of me. Until next time, happy reading, pleasant nightmares, and LOOK OUT FOR THE MACE TO THE HEAD!!!

Mother of the King: Amazon US, Amazon CAN, Amazon UK

Why Beta Readers are so Helpful

Posted: November 29, 2020 in Reflections, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
6

So, you just finished a short story. It might be a short story or a novel. Either way, it’s finished and you love it! You think it’s great, that it has potential, that it could even get published somewhere. Hell, you even dream of it getting awards and adaptation offers and so much more! With all that in mind, what do you do with this awesome story of yours?

If you said, “Rush to get it published,” I’m only going to say that that’s not the answer I was going for. If, however, you said “I’m going to get a beta reader or two to look at the story,” then congratulations! You got the answer I was going for.

As you likely already know, beta readers are readers who look at a story somewhere along the editing process and give critiques and feedback. They may also give help with the spelling/grammar/punctuation issues of the story, depending on what they can offer. And over the past year or two, I’ve made sure to use beta readers for every one of my short stories.

Let’s face it, authors can be our own worst critics, and our own worst editors. We can see a lot, but occasionally things slip by our notice. In fact, a lot of things can slip by our notice. Typos, plot holes, inconsistencies in character development or backstory, implausible situations or things that don’t jive with reality. Beta readers point out things authors miss, or don’t want to think of as problems because they love their stories too much (it happens).

Take my recently-completed short story Afternoon Tea, the one about the cursed silent film. I found two beta readers who were willing to read the story and give me feedback. Both of them got back to me really quickly, and they said the story had a lot of potential and that they liked it. They did, however, both notice something that made no sense to them. One actually wrote quite a bit in their notes about why that plot point made no sense or was confusing.

Seeing that they both mentioned it made me realize that they had a point. That single plot point did have its issues. I had to take it out, which made me realize I needed to rewrite that section of the story. Which I was able to do with a bit of brainstorming. And I think it makes for a much better story. One of those same beta readers has already gotten back to me about the second draft and said there’s a lot of improvement, so listening to them was a good decision.

Not only that, but sometimes beta readers bring their own life experiences to help improve a story. Earlier this year I wrote a short story called Primordial Nuclear Soup, which involved a number of military characters. My beta reader happened to be a veteran, so in addition to pointing out numerous flaws with the early draft, they gave me their military experience to help with those characters and scenes.

Without the strong eye of a beta reader, you can miss much. Photo by Wallace Chuck on Pexels.com

None of this stuff I would have known or spotted without the help of my beta readers.

Of course, you do meet the occasional beta reader who turns out to not be so helpful. They send back a lot of praise for the story, but they don’t point out that much that you don’t realize needs fixing. Which can be an issue further down the line when you’re trying to get the story published. What can I say? The majority of them are human (I’m an exception).

But after a while, you do figure out how to spot a helpful beta reader from an unhelpful one. It usually shows in the notes they send back. If that happens, keep looking for more beta readers. You eventually will find someone who can give you the feedback you’re looking for. And sometimes, you even create a circle of beta readers who will gladly look at your work when you need them to and provide the feedback you need. When you do that, you know you’re in good hands.

Suffice to say, beta readers are a great help in making sure your stories are the best they can be. It may not be easy seeing all the problems in a story you’ve poured sweat and tears into, but in the end, listening to them and fixing the story based on what they said helps out immensely.

“Mother of the King.” Available Dec. 1st

Getting the stories published afterwards, however….that’s another fight altogether.

What are your experiences with beta readers like? How have they been helpful with your storytelling endeavors? Let’s discuss.

And before I forget, my Arthurian fantasy story “Mother of the King” releases day-after-tomorrow! If you haven’t preordered a copy of the ebook yet, you can check it out with the links below! Believe me, both beta readers and eARC readers have been raving about this story, so why not check it out? And if you do, let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the story.

Mother of the King: Amazon US, Amazon CAN, Amazon UK

“Mother of the King:” Releasing Dec. 1st, 2020!!!

Posted: November 12, 2020 in Novelette, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4
The cover for Mother of the King. What do you think?

In my post yesterday, I announced that I would be releasing some of my shorter stories as e-book exclusives, and that I would hopefully have one out before the end of the year. Well, it happened quicker than expected, but I’m pleased to announce that “Mother of the King,” a novelette I wrote back in 2018, will be the first one released.

And guess what else? It’s already available for preorder!

But before we get into that, let’s discuss “Mother of the King.” For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s about King Arthur. Specifically, it’s about his prophesied return, told from the point-of-view of the woman who gives birth to the once and future king.

So yeah, more fantasy than horror. And it has a dash of science fiction in there too. But who says I have to box myself in? Besides, it’s the most edited of my shorter stories, so I figured this would be a good one to start with.

Anyway, the story will be released December 1st, 2020 on Amazon, and it’s available for preorder. I’m hoping you’ll click on the link below and consider preordering it. And if you do read “Mother of the King,” I hope you’ll consider leaving a review. Not only will your downloads and reviews let me know what you think, but they’ll let me know if I should keep doing this throughout next year.

And it lets me know that people other than my parents and my Uncle Arthur are reading the story.

Anyway, I’ll post the link below and start up the marketing machine. I hope you’re as excited as I am for this release. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Mother of the King’s Amazon page

I’ll Be Releasing Some of My Short Stories as E-book Exclusives!!!

Posted: November 11, 2020 in Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

One piece of writing advice I don’t often seen given is that you sometimes need to change what you’re doing. I don’t mean you need to abandon your projects to embrace a new genre or resort to crazy gimmicks like dancing in the middle of the road and passing flyers out to passing drivers about your book/website (though that does sound memorable). It’s just that sometimes, if a particular method for getting your work out there doesn’t work, it can be a good idea to examine what you’re doing and maybe make some changes.

I’ve been examining my own methods as of late, and given my own goals in the short-term and long-term, I’ve made a decision regarding my short(er) stories. While I’ll still attempt to get some of these stories published in magazines and anthologies, I’ll also be releasing some of those stories as e-book exclusives.

That’s right. There’s going to be a lot more stories of mine available now. In fact, I plan on releasing one before the end of the year, and then releasing two or three throughout 2021.

The reasons why I’m doing this are many, so I’m not going to bore you with the details. But the main reason is that I want more people to be exposed to my work, and the industry as it is now allows me to be a gatekeeper alongside publishers, so why not take advantage of that?

But wait, there’s more! I also plan to release print versions of the stories. These stories will be available as little booklets (or chapbooks, as they’re known in the industry, and I’ll have to write a blog post about those someday), and they’ll be available at events like conventions and book expos. This means anyone who has a physical copy of one of these stories will have a special, exclusive piece of fiction memorabilia!

And who knows? If these stories do well both as e-books and as booklets, then I might produce audio versions, or maybe put them out as collections. That might be fun to do. Especially if there’s a demand for it.

I hope to have an announcement out about which short story will be released first. I’ve already selected the story, but I want to give it another edit and create a cover first. So, that’s the big project today. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to post an announcement and a release date, as well as get the marketing machine up and running again.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be back before too long, believe me. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Also, a big thank you to our troops, both past and present, for their sacrifice and service. We here in the United States would not enjoy the freedom we do without you, and we can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. May the memory of your great deeds live throughout time and remind us to never take what we have for granted.

Center of the World: First Drafted Finished!!!

Posted: November 1, 2020 in short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
5

Remember the other day, when I posted about how Sleepy Hollow may not be quite how you remember it, and some other surprising facts about America’s first “ghost story?” I mentioned that I would be working on a short story that was a sequel to the original short story by Washington Irving. I’m happy to announce that earlier today, I finished that short story.

Me at Center of the World, Ohio. Yes, it’s an actual place. In Ohio.

Officially titled Center of the World: A Sleepy Hollow Story, the story takes place in the community of Center of the World, Ohio twenty years after the events of the original story. There, Brom Bones meets the Headless Horseman again, and finds the events of twenty years ago, when both he and Ichabod Crane competed for Katrina Van Tassel’s hand and Crane disappeared, have a bearing on the events of his life now.

And before you ask, Center of the World is an actual place here in Ohio. It was founded by an eccentric investor in the 19th century with the hope that the name would make it suitable as a railroad hub, thereby making the investor and his community rich beyond their wildest dreams. It didn’t happen, however, and the only remnant of the community is a sign on a stretch of road, which I visited and filmed a short video of after leaving the Bellaire House a few weeks ago. Like I said, I don’t always post my YouTube videos on this blog.

Anyway, I ended up tweaking the details of Center of the World for this story. I set the found several years earlier than it would’ve been and made the investor’s reason for doing so a proposed canal system than the railroads. Had to do that in order to make the setting take place two decades after the events of Sleepy Hollow. Besides, the location was too much fun not to include it in the story.

Anyway, the story is around fifty-three hundred words, so it’s just short enough to fit the word count for a market I’m keeping an eye on. The market won’t be opening for a while yet, but that gives me plenty of time to edit and polish this story up. By the time submissions are open, it should be ready and maybe worthy of publication.

In the meantime, I’ll be editing another short story of mine to send out, and then I think I’ll start work on a novella. All that and more will helpfully keep me busy till New Year’s.

Until next time, Followers of Fear, happy November and pleasant nightmares. Remember, only 363 days and a few hours till Halloween 2021. I think we can make it.

What stories are you working on these days? How are they coming along? Let’s discuss.

Older Entries
Newer Entries