Posts Tagged ‘publishing’

“The Bloody Wedding Ceremony”: First Draft Finished

Posted: September 3, 2018 in short story, Writing
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Before you ask, no this story isn’t some sort of reference to Game of Thrones and the numerous weddings ending in someone dying that occur in that series (spoiler alert).

I needed a break from the novelette/novella I’m working on, so I decided to tackle a short story I’d had the idea for recently to give my brain some breathing room. The story involves two kids who are given a job by a strange entity known as the Master. And that’s all I’m saying, because I’d hate to give away this story before I’ve had the chance to polish it up and maybe get it published.

The thing is, I have no idea if this story is any good. On the one hand, it reminds me of other stories I’ve read that have gotten published in prestigious anthologies and collections. Heck, it even reminds me of some of Stephen King’s early works, especially in his collection Night Shift. And at only a little over three-thousand words, it’s a lot shorter than most stories I write and therefore I might have more places to publish it. However, the story is a little weird. Not surprising given the fact that I wrote it, but then again, that could also work against me just as easily. Heck, even I find it somewhat odd! And in some dictionaries, I’m right next to the word “odd!”

I’m also next to the words “eccentric,” “strange,” “malevolent,” and “interdimensional being,” but you knew that already, right?

Anyway, I’ll let this story lie for a little while. When I have time, I’ll revisit it and see if I can get it published anywhere after some edits. In the meantime, I’ll use the rest of my Labor Day weekend to watch a movie and do some reading. I’ll get back to work tomorrow on the novelette/novella and hopefully make some more progress on it before I have to get back to work on Rose. Fingers crossed that it all works out.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares.

Conversations with Matthew Williams

Posted: August 26, 2018 in Author Interciew, Novel, Writing
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Last year I had the pleasure of reading The Cronian Incident, a science fiction novel by my good friend and fellow writer, Matthew Williams. I found it a very engaging and deep sci-fi novel, and I was glad to hear that Matt had a sequel in the works. Last week, Matt released the follow-up to The Cronian Incident, The Jovian Manifesto, and I got my copy courtesy of Matt and the publisher, Castrum Press (my publisher too!). In order to celebrate the new book’s release, I thought I’d bring Matt back on for an interview.

So without further ado, let’s begin!

Rami Ungar: Welcome back to my blog, Matt! Tell the folks around here who don’t know you who you are and what you do.

Matthew Williams: Well, my name is Matt Williams, I am a resident of Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. I live with my wife and cat, and I am a writer for Universe Today. In my spare time, I write (obviously), teach Taekwon-Do and generally enjoy the place where we live.

RU: Tell us about your two books in the Formist series, The Cronian Incident and The Jovian Manifesto.

MW: Both novels are set in the late 23rd century, at a time when the human race has expanded to colonize almost every body in the Solar System. In the Inner Worlds – Venus, Earth and Mars – life is characterized by advancement, augmentation and post-humanity. In the Outer Worlds, on the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, are the people who have chosen to live a simpler existence, one that respects the line between humanity and machinery.

The story begins with the kidnapping of a high-profile man from Mars who belongs to the Formist faction (hence the name). These are the people who are dedicated to terraforming Mars so that their citizens can finally achieve the dream of living on the surface without pressurized domes or radiation shields. The Formists hire a special investigator to solve the kidnapping, a former member of Interpol named Jeremiah Ward who’s serving out a prison sentence in a penal colony on Mercury.

In investigating the disappearance of the Formists’ associate, Ward will uncover a plot that is centuries in the making. In the end, he will have to make the ultimate choice between doing what is right, and what may keep him alive.

RU: What’s different about writing The Jovian Manifesto, both in terms of content and just in writing the story?

The Cronian Incident, Book 1 in the Formist series.

MW: For starters, TJM is the second installment in what is planned to be a trilogy. As such, it has a darker tone than the first book. There’s also much more action, which was an absolute must for me! After taking the time to build the setting in Book I, I wanted the protagonists to be thrown into the thick of it. Of course, this book also introduces a few new main characters and a few new settings. This gave me a chance to tell new stories and create some new worlds, which is always fun.

RU: TJM features a female-led cast, something we’re seeing a lot more in various media. Was that intentional on your part?

MW: Not originally, no. In the first book, most of the story is told from a single POV – Jeremiah Ward’s. I wanted the second book to be told from multiple points of view and had several characters in mind when plotting it out. As it turned out, all of the new characters were strong, motivated and independently-minded women. When this was pointed out to me – by my friend and colleague, Rami Ungar, no less! – I was quite pleased. I had not embarked on this book looking to make the cast female-led, but I was happy it worked out that way. I’ve often worried that as a male writer, I would default to writing male leads, or find that writing female characters was more difficult. It pleased me to see that this was not the case.

RU: This is your second book with Castrum Press, and you also have a short story featured in their anthology, Future Days. What’s it been like working with Castrum?

MW: It’s been excellent, really. As a recently-established publishing house led by experienced writers, they know the particular struggles that new writers face. It’s also very clear that they are interested in promoting new talent, which is something you don’t see a lot of these days in the publishing industry. Also, it gives me a chance to entrust my work to people who have been part of the industry and know what it takes to succeed in it. That’s very reassuring to a newly-established writer, and something that independent authors don’t get to enjoy.

RU: Science fiction is often described as a lens towards what the future could be, as well as what our society looks like now. Do you agree with that sentiment? And what do you think the Formist series says about humanity?

The Jovian Manifesto, Book 2 of the Formist series.

MW: Absolutely. Science fiction has always been about predicting what the future will look like, but that always comes down to how the world looks today. In that respect, science fiction books are an extension of the present-day world and are intended to convey messages about the direction it is taking. As for my own work, I believe they reveal that regardless of the time period, or the level of development we will have reached, humanity will always be facing the same basic challenges. How do we ensure our survival and our future? How do we erase the dividing lines and learn to live together? How do we ensure that our most cherished values also survive?

RU: What are your plans for the future at the moment? More books in the Formist series, perhaps?

MW: Oh yes! I hope to write a third installment for this series and very much want to explore the universe I have created further. This could involve some origin stories, since some of the characters I have created have interesting pasts that would require a whole book to explain. I also hope to write additional trilogies that take place farther down the road. But of course, that all depends on how the Formist series shapes up. And of course, I have several other ideas I would like to see in print.

RU: What are some stories, science-fiction or otherwise, that you are reading now and would recommend?

MW: I recently finished The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, both of which I would strongly recommend. I also finished Halting State and Rule 34 by Charles Stross, Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, and House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds. I recommend all of these books to people who are fans of classic science fiction, space opera and near-future speculative fiction.

RU: Rule 34? I thought that was just an Internet meme. Should I ask or…? Moving on: if you could pick a fictional universe to live in, which one would it be and what would you do there?

MW: Good question, and one which I really haven’t pondered much. I suppose if I had to choose, I would live in the universe dreamed up by the late and great Frank Herbert – i.e. Dune. I figure I could help with the terraforming of Arrakis given all the research I’ve done on the subject. I have always wanted to try The Spice too, and I figure I would be able to look out for myself since I know how the series goes. Plus, I would absolutely want to see what travelling through folded space feels like!

RU: Final question: Look out! A sandworm out of the Dune universe is about to attack! What do you do?

MW: Ooh, that’s a tough one to answer! Deploy a thumper, stand back, and get your hooks ready, because we’re going for a ride!

RU: I’ll pretend I know what that means, because I’ve been bad and haven’t read the Dune books yet. Thanks for being with us, Matt! I hope both books do very well!

That’s the end of the interview, folks. If you would like to keep up with Matthew Williams, you can check out his blog, Stories by Williams. You can also check out his writings through his Amazon page and through his Universe Today page. And of course, you can check out his Facebook and Twitter pages. And I highly recommend you check out his books, The Cronian Incident and The Jovian Manifesto. I found the former to be a great example of hard science fiction, and I can’t wait to start on the latter.

And if you have a new book out and want an interview, check out my Interviews page and leave me a comment. We’ll see if we can’t make some magic happen.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll hopefully see you very soon with more to talk about. Until then, pleasant nightmares!

“The Night Hitler Came to London”: First Draft Finished

Posted: August 20, 2018 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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There are people looking at the title of this post and thinking, “What the heck did that crazy author come up with now?”

To answer that question, I just finished writing a short story taking place during the London Blitz. I first had the idea for this story over four years ago, when I went on a study-abroad trip to Europe to follow the Allies’ path through Europe. While our teacher and tour guide (or was it one of the other students giving a report based on the research they did the last semester?) was discussing the London Blitz at Bletchley Park (the site where Alan Turing cracked the Nazi Enigma code), I had this idea for a story taking place during the Blitz, involving some kids encountering something awful while trying to run from the bombs. Over time, the antagonist came to be Adolf Hitler.

Or is it him? You know me, I never write anything simple. In any case, the story reflects something about me that shouldn’t surprise anyone: I’m scared of Hitler and the Nazis. As a Jew, I know how close my people came to annihilation nearly three-quarters of a century ago. If the war had gone differently, I probably wouldn’t be here, let alone talking about my stories and my love of horror with you. This is part of why I studied the Holocaust in college, and why I still study it today (though obviously not as frequently as I did in college). But even though I studied the Holocaust and have a pretty good understanding of what occurred, knowing doesn’t make me any less afraid of the Nazis or their monster of a leader. And with such a resurgence of people saying Hitler was right or worthy of admiration, I made sure to get that fear across in the story. Hopefully I succeeded.

You know, I actually wasn’t intending to write this story. I was planning on getting back to a novelette that I’d started working on in-between drafts of Rose. However, this story started calling to me to write it, and I couldn’t resist the call to listen to it. And yes, stories can demand to be written. At least while they’re in our heads. And I only just figured out why this story wanted me to write it so badly that it grabbed my attention. You see, I went to Washington DC recently for work. It was the first time since I was thirteen or so that I’d been to DC, so obviously I was going to do the tourist thing and check out some places (see my Instagram for photos). One of the places I decided to visit was the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, so I could see it after being so much more informed about it than I was as a teen.

The train car at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. There’s such a palpable energy of despair coming from it, you can’t help but be affected by it.

I guess my subconscious had me write this story because I was going to that museum. Maybe it was some form of mental preparation, or maybe I felt somewhere in my mind that it was the right thing to write. In either case, I went to the museum on Saturday, and let me tell you, their main exhibit has a palpable atmosphere. You can’t go in there without coming away affected. Seeing all these artifacts from the past–concentration camp and Nazi uniforms, newsreel footage, photographs, testimonials from survivors, even a train car that might have been used to transport Jews and other “inferior races” to concentration camps–along with the museum’s presentation of them, make you fully aware of the horror that occurred so long ago and how it still affects us today.

After I left the main exhibit, I was so glad I was writing this story. It was as if through the story, I was reminding people there’s still a reason to fear Hitler and his ideology. Especially since it’s showing a resurgence these days, long after its abominable creator committed suicide.

So what’s next for this particular story? Well obviously I’m going to have it looked over and then edited. Afterwards though…we’ll see. It’s a little over sixty-eight hundred words, so it’s not too long. I’ll see about getting it published somewhere. There’s a magazine I’ve been trying on and off to get published in, so maybe they’ll take it. Then again, the Ohio Chapter of the Horror Writers Association, of which I’m a member of, has been talking about putting together an anthology. Perhaps I’ll submit it there.

In any case, I’ll let it lie for a while before working on it again. In the meantime, let’s see if I can finish that novelette before I get the latest draft of Rose back from Castrum.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to get ready for bed. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Mother of the King: Finished the First Draft

Posted: August 2, 2018 in Novelette, Writing
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Well, today has turned out eventful. Not only is it the seventh anniversary of this blog’s creation today, but I finished writing another story. And let me tell you, it turned out a lot longer than I expected, just under eleven-thousand words, making it a novelette. I have no idea if I’ll have to trim it down some later on, but I have a feeling that I’ll be doing a lot of editing before this story can be considered ready for publication.

Mother of the King, as this story is called, was born from my recent interest in the legend of King Arthur. I even downloaded a whole lecture course onto my phone to listen to and find out more about this legendary figure. The result not only surprised me (read my post The Weird Truth about King Arthur to have your own mind blown), but inspired a story that I decided to write after I sent Rose back to the publisher. You know how some of the Arthur stories out there say that one day Arthur will return when England needs him the most? This idea deals with that aspect of the legend, as well as the historical Arthur figure. It’s part historical fiction, part science-fiction, part my way to play around with a famous fantasy canon and even do some teaching as well.

It would make for a great TV show on HBO or Netflix. At least, I think it would.

And the cool thing about Arthurian literature is you can literally write any story about Arthur and his knights, and it’s automatically part of Arthurian canon. Doesn’t mean that it’ll be a good addition to the canon,* but it’ll be an addition anyway. Hopefully Mother of the King, should I ever get it published, will make a decent addition to Arthurian literature.

So what happens now? Well, I had my eye on submitting this story to an anthology Castrum will be putting together in the near future, but perhaps the length of it might turn them off. In any event, I’ll probably have a few people look at it and give me feedback. I’ll use that to edit the story, and after that see about getting it published.

In the meantime, while Rose is still being looked over at Castrum, I’ll be working on finishing up a few unfinished novelettes. With any luck, I can get them done before I get the fifth draft back and have to dive back into doing edits.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. It is very late for me, and I’ve got work in the morning. I’ll be seeing you again soon. Until then, pleasant nightmares, one and all!

*Looking at you, 2004’s King Arthur and 2017’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. You both aimed big, but in the end failed miserably. Also, Friday the 13th remake, you suck. You’re not Arthurian literature at all, but it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned how much I hate you. You stupid, pornographic excuse of a Michael Bay film.

Rami Ungar the Writer’s Seven-Year Blogging Anniversary

Posted: August 2, 2018 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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Happy birthday to the blog,
Happy birthday to the blog.
Happy birthday to Rami Ungar the Writer,
Happy birthday to the blog.

An entire year has gone by for this blog. And it feels like so much longer for some reason. Has that ever happened to any of you? And now this blog is seven years old. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been blogging for about seven years now. This blog, along with the people I get to interact with on it, has become so apart of my life, I can’t remember what life was like before I had it and all of you. This blog is a way to share my thoughts and feel like some people are cheering me on as I work on my career.

And this past year was especially awesome, writing and blogging-wise. I not only finished a third draft of Rose, but a fourth and a fifth, the last one changing a lot of elements in the story (for the better, I like to think). Plus I somehow managed to find a publisher for Rose, which means it’ll hopefully be published before it starts to get cold again (no promises, though). I managed to write and edit some more stories, and I even got Car Chasers accepted for publication (and I may have news on another short story very soon, fingers crossed). And I was able to gain, keep, and surpass a thousand followers on this blog. These are all things I hoped would happen in my anniversary post last year, and they all happened.

Not to mention the things that happened in my personal life, which I don’t talk about that much on this blog anymore but are still worth mentioning at any rate. Work has been busy, but I’ve accomplished a lot that’s been set before me, including traveling and attending important trainings for work, and even coordinating programs that are meant to improve my organization; I saw three ballets live and one on video, leading to the discovery of my obsession with the art form (I also saw a couple of Broadway plays, and that was pretty cool); I joined the Horror Writers Association, and have been reaping the benefits since; I finally got my driver’s license, after nearly ten years of on-and-off driving practice; and so much more. It’s incredible how much I’ve been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time.

Oh, that’s why this year felt longer. I’ve been doing so much, it felt like it went on longer than it was.

But anyway, a huge reason why I’ve been able to do so much is because of you, my Followers of Fear. You’re always there, rooting for and supporting me. I’m honestly amazed sometimes at how much this blog has grown, and the friendships I’ve been able to strike up through the interactions here. I say this a lot during these posts, but there was a time when I only got a few views every couple of days, and hardly any interaction from readers. It really means a lot to me that you’re all here, reading what I have to say and responding to it. You are all so totally amazing and I can’t thank you enough for that.

So what’s going to happen in the next year? Well, I hope to keep putting out quality material on this blog. I want to get Rose out on the market so you all can read it (and maybe give me reviews for feedback?). I want to get a car, now that I finally have a license. I plan to get more stories written, edited and maybe even published. Perhaps I’ll even start a new novel. And so much more. We’ll have to check back and see what I managed to do a year from now.

In the meantime, I’ve got a lot of fun stuff coming up, including a trip to the Ohio State Reformatory for a spooky haunted tour (that’s Sunday! Here’s hoping I get some paranormal evidence on video again). I’ll make sure to update you all on that as soon as I can. So until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares. Lots and lots of pleasant nightmares.

#Cockygate: The Saga Ends

Posted: July 27, 2018 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections, Social Activism, Writing
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I’ll admit I’m a few days late to this, so perhaps the news has already gotten around and this post is unnecessary. But for those of you who haven’t heard, it seems that the saga that has been called Cockygate has reached its resolution. And you know what? It’s really good news.

Now if you haven’t heard, Cockygate got started around late April/early May in response to the actions of Faleena Hopkins (or as I prefer to call her, Lady Voldemort). Hopkins, a romance writer who wrote the “Cocker Brothers” series, tried to get a trademark on the word “cocky” when used in book or series titles. Now this word has, not surprisingly, been used in book titles well before Hopkins applied for her trademark, but that didn’t stop her from applying for it, and then going after independent authors that can’t afford lawsuits to either take the word “cocky” out of their book titles or take them off Amazon (seriously difficult either way you look at it) or they could face legal action.

And you wonder why I call her Lady Voldemort.

Two things happened after news of this broke: several authors and companies tried to copy Hopkins, and the majority of the author community rose up against her, with the hashtags #cockygate and #ByeFaleena (get it?) going viral within days. The Romance Writers Association started looking into legal action. Kevin Kneupper, a novelist and retired lawyer, came out of retirement to fight Hopkins on this and force her and others imitating her to back down. He was joined by romance writer Tara Crescent and Jennifer Watson, a promoter for the CockTales anthology, whom Lady Voldemort had named in a lawsuit.

And so for about three months, this thing has been going on, with lots of authors wondering if, in a world where you can trademark any single word in a title, if it’s even worth it to write.* There have also been a slew of stories published with the word “cocky” in the titles in protest, and they’ve done quite well for themselves. And of course, everyone’s been watching the courts to see how this will play out.

Well, for the past few weeks, there’s been talk of both Hopkins either accepting a settlement or getting her butt handed to her by a judge. And this past week,  we got news. Hopkins agreed to an unspecified settlement and has withdrawn her trademark on the word “cocky.” If you go to the US Trademark and Patent Office’s website, it’ll say “invalidation pending” on Hopkins’s trademark.

Make no mistake, this is a victory for authors to be able to title their stories whatever they want without fear of legal repercussions. There are still plenty of imitators trying to get their own trademarks through, but Hopkins is the original, and this victory sends a message to her imitators and her opponents. So while there are still legal hurdles to get through with the former, us in the latter know that with enough people caring, we can overcome these monsters and get our stories out there without fear of being sued for using a simple word.

And as an author who could’ve easily been affected by this (seriously, type into Amazon the words “Snake” or “Rose.” If someone did this to me, I could be in trouble), I’d like to thank Mr. Kneupper and all the authors, lawyers, Twitter activists, and readers who lent their time and energy to putting up this fight against Lady Voldemort. You did the creative community a huge favor, and I hope we can always count on your love and strength when we need to fight assholery like what we’ve experienced this summer.

And to Ms. Hopkins herself, I hope she’s happy. The terms of the settlement aren’t known, but whatever they are, I hope she’s satisfied. Because this saga has led to her reputation being shredded. She set herself up as a bully and manipulative monster who went after authors without money or legal mettle. And during these three months, she’s only dug herself further into a hole, calling people who use stock photos after she does “copycats” (WTF?) and alleging people who call her fans and supporters stupid are equating them with having autism (um, excuse me?). Now she’s become a byword for a monster, a nasty character who tries to take advantage of other writers, of being greedy and willing to use underhanded tactics to get ahead.

And while I try not to wish bad things upon people I disagree with, I really hope that Lady Voldemort’s writing career goes like the GIF below from now on.

Thanks for reading, Followers of Fear. Hopefully this is the last time I ever have to mention Cockygate or Lady Voldemort ever again (though if I have to, I will). In the meantime, I wish you a good weekend and warn you to expect more from me this weekend.

Until then, pleasant nightmares!

*I mean, imagine if instead of proper titles like “Harry Potter” or “Star Wars” getting trademarks, someone could trademark a word like “the.” Just “the” in any title, and it holds water. You run into all sorts of trouble from the get-go!

The Quiet Game: Five-Year Publishing Anniversary

Posted: July 19, 2018 in short story, Writing
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I bet you’re getting tired of my posts these past few days. I promise, this is (likely) the last one for a few days. And this one is to talk about my first published book, The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones. And holy crap, it’s the five-year anniversary of its publication. Well, technically that was Tuesday, but as we all know, I’ve had a busy week.

So if you weren’t around back on this blog in 2013, I was still very new to self-publishing and was eager to dip my toes in. One short story I self-published had had decent results, but I was really interested to try something a bit longer. And as at that time Reborn City was still being edited, I decided to try a collection of short story. Thus we got The Quiet Game, five short stories I wrote over the course of a couple of weeks, had friends look at for feedback, and then published on July 17th, 2013. To this day, it’s one of my most widely-read publications, and the one that has the most reviews on Amazon, with a rating of 4.1 out of 5 based on 15 reviews.

Here’s what some readers have been saying about The Quiet Game:

A collection of five varied stories that get stronger as the collection builds, with the final being my favorite. Though I fancy myself able to “solve” the stories before the reveals, there were several surprises here, especially the reveal in the Quiet Game and I’m Going to be the Next James Bond. I also liked that Rami pulled no punches with his characters. In one instance, an anti-semite for instances uses words that would be hard for any author to write -though are necessary to his character. There are other examples sprinkled throughout the stories that show Rami’s commitment to telling the story in the way it needs to be told. A good collection for a stormy night!

–Joleene Naylor, author of Brothers of Darkness

This is a serviceable set of stories. The best one is not the titular title story. I only really have two issues with the collection. One of them is the notes after the story. I never really liked the self-indulgence of the writer explaining afterwards. To be fair, that could be just me.

The best story in my opinion is the Lady Orgres Den. That one had great tension.

–SavoirNoir

5 wonderfully crafted tales! I purchased this as an eBook originally and put off reading it for quite a while, I really wish I hadn’t waited. Sometimes when one purchases a collection of short stories you expect some of them to be less entertaining or of lower quality than the others, but none of these disappoint. Well worth the money, especially considering after you read each story the author gives you creative insight into what inspired him to write each tale, which is really wonderful.

–Jeff D.

I’m actually in a little bit of shock that it’s been five years since I published that story. So much has happened in those five years, and it doesn’t feel like five years have gone by either. But pass they have, and I’m glad to hear that these stories are still well-liked.

If this somehow interested you in reading The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones, I’ll include the links below. And if you do end up reading the book, please let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love feedback from my readers, and getting reviews helps me in the long run.

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

Available on Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Rose: The Fifth Draft is Finished!!!

Posted: July 18, 2018 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Well, hasn’t this been a crazy week?! First I find out”Car Chasers” is getting published, and now I’ve managed to finish the fifth draft of Rose. Wednesday’s just wrapping up as I write this, but I’d say this makes for a productive week.

So if you’re unaware, Rose is a novel I wrote for my senior thesis in college. The novel is about a young woman who becomes a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems!). Yeah, I wrote that zany concept, and made a full novel out of it. And you know what else? I managed to get a publisher for it, Castrum Press in Belfast, North Ireland. And I’m so excited that this latest draft is done.

This draft has been especially crazy for me, as I had to rewrite about two-thirds of the novel. You see, one-third of the novel focused on flashbacks, and Castrum pointed out some issues with so many flashbacks. I decided to toss out the flashbacks, but that meant another third of the novel that relied on the flashbacks had to go as well. So I basically had to rewrite two-thirds of the novel. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to do! I spent quite a bit of time talking to myself to figure out where the story could go to make it better without relying on flashbacks. But somehow I managed to do it, and I like where I’ve sent this story. It’s a new version that I think will surprise, entertain, and maybe even scare a few people.

So this draft is about two-hundred pages (8.5″ x 11″, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font) and a little over sixty-thousand words. Shorter than my usual novel (the last three published were all eighty-thousand or more), but I think for a first novel with a publisher, this will do nicely. It’s shorter than the first Harry Potter book by about seventeen-thousand words, anyway, so you know it’s manageable.

So what’s next for Rose? Well, I’ve already sent the latest draft to the publisher. They’ll take a look at it, and hopefully the only changes they’ll have me make are cosmetic: add a comma here, change the phrasing there, fix that little hole, etc. After that, we can talk about cover art and a release date. And then I can ramp up the marketing plan I’ve been working on in the back of my head. And then…who knows? Maybe some decent sales and a few good reviews.

In the meantime, I’m heading to bed. I’ve got a big day tomorrow, and I don’t want to sleep through it (especially since I plan to start a new short story in the evening). Until next time my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares. I hope to have updates for you very soon.

“Car Chasers:” Getting Published!!!

Posted: July 17, 2018 in Progress Report, short story, Writing
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I’ve been waiting since about ten this morning to post about this, and I’ve been higher than a kite just thinking about it. As many of you know, back in October 2016, I wrote a short story called “Car Chasers,” which I would summarize as “A Fast & Furious story with ghosts mixed in.” I’ve been trying to find it a good home ever since the second draft and today, nearly two years after writing the story, I am pleased to announce that home is found.

I found out about The Binge-Watching Cure II, being published by Claren Books, through a website that advertises anthologies. It was seeking horror submissions that fell within fifteen percent of certain word lengths (1,000 words, 2500 words, 5000 words, etc). It sounded interesting, and since “Car Chasers” fell within the 8,000 words category, I figured I might as well try it and see what happened. And then, back in late May, I heard from Sarah Doebereiner, one of the editors for The Binge-Watching Cure, that my story was shortlisted for the 8,000 words category, and if I was still interested in having my story in the anthology (needless to say, I was). And today, I got an email from Ms. Doebereiner saying that my story had been chosen, and they would be sending me a contract when things got a bit closer to publication.

Needless to say, I’ve been in a great mood since getting this piece of news. How good a mood? Well, something like this:

Okay, I have no idea what this GIFis supposed to be from, but it does illustrate just how happy I am. And it works with my aesthetic and eccentric personality, so I’m going with it.

But it’s not just that another story of mine is getting published in a year. Nor is it that both stories are being published by actual companies (though both of those are part of it). You see, before I sent “Car Chasers” to The Binge-Watching Cure II, I tried it at a few other publications, and got form rejection letters from each one. And as you know, I’m not as good at writing short stories as I am at writing novels (and I still feel like I have a lot to learn about writing those). So I was worried because, either because of the length of the story, the story’s concept, or the writing itself, no publication would want to take a chance on “Car Chasers.”

But then I got that email that the story was being considered, and that gave me hope. And then I kept seeing this yellow Mustang (a vehicle that shows up in the story) around work, and I thought that might be some sort of omen. And then today’s news came. And I had to restrain myself from running and dancing and singing through the office. Because that story was good enough to be published. And that means the world to me.

So for the Binge-Watching Cure II to want to publish “Car Chasers” within its pages is not just a reason to celebrate, it’s a confidence booster times three! And I couldn’t be more grateful to Ms. Doebereiner and the folks over at Claren Books for accepting my short story for their next publication. Thanks for making my day today and for giving my short story a chance. It means a lot to me.

So what’s next? Well, of course a lot goes into publishing anything, and that takes up time. With any luck, The Binge-Watching Cure II will be published in late 2018 or early 2019. With how fast time tends to go, that’ll be here before we can look around (seriously, when did it get to mid-July?). And I can’t wait to share “Car Chasers” with you when that time comes. And in the meantime, consider checking The Binge Watching Cure’s website and Claren Books’ Twitter? You might find something you’ll want to make your next read.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to deal with an entity worse than Death, one that has ravaged entire nations and sent the Generals of Hell fleeing in terror. This entity…is my laundry.

Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Gothic Fiction: What is it, and Why is it So Popular?

Posted: July 12, 2018 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Hill House is a great example of Gothic fiction and a Gothic location.

You’ve probably heard someone describe a work of fiction as being “a very Gothic work,” or describing a place they visited as “having a Gothic feel” (which now that I think about it, could be said of The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast). But what actually is “Gothic horror” or “Gothic fiction?” And why does it still appeal to us after more than two-hundred and fifty years?

Surprisingly, Gothic fiction has very little to do with Gothic architecture or with Goth fashion and music (for more on that relationship, check out this brief YouTube video). And while most of the genre do take place in haunted houses, not all haunted house stories are Gothic, or vice versa. As this very helpful Tor.com article points out, “Some genres build the house. Others come along and decorate it. Gothic horror is a very decorative genre.”

So what is Gothic fiction? Well, to be honest, it’s a genre that arose out of another genre that was a response to a popular movement. In the 18th century, the Enlightenment movement emphasized discarding superstition in favor of science and reason. Some artists didn’t care for this philosophy and turned to Romanticism, which emphasized emotion and the self, as well as a veneration of the past, nature, and in some cases the supernatural. Gothic arose out of Romanticism, with artists and authors combining elements of the latter with horror, death and the supernatural, starting with The Castle of Otranto in 1764 by Horace Walpole, and followed by the works of Poe, Mary Shelley, Byron, and many others.

To put it simply, Gothic fiction could be considered the love-child of 18th and 19th century Romance stories and horror stories.

But that’s how Gothic fiction came to be. How do we identify it? Well, the horror novel Kill Creek by Scott Thomas (which I highly recommend), itself a Gothic novel, gives a great run-down of some of the common elements of the genre (I hope Mr. Thomas doesn’t mind me using them):

  • Emanation from a single location. The source of the evil is often a single location, usually a house. A great example of this is The Overlook Hotel from The Shining. It is the book’s main location, and it is the source of the evil in the story.
  • A sense of forbidden history. There’s a dark history associated with the location or something related to it. Again, a great example is The Overlook, which has been the setting for murders, suicides, and all sorts of horrid deaths and events, all of which have been swept under the rug for the sake of the hotel’s reputation, and later gets drudged up by Jack (and the hotel).
  • An atmosphere of decay or ruin. Things are rotting or falling apart, or seems to be anyway. It’s in the very air, almost. And it doesn’t have to be physical; it can be mental too. Just look at Jack’s mental state as The Shining progresses, if you need an example.
  • Corruption of the innocent. This one speaks for itself. The evil wants to destroy good and innocence and replace it with evil. Dracula, a great example of Gothic fiction, has the titular character turning good and innocent people into bloodsucking vampires. This is corruption of the innocent in its best example, and why vampire fiction is often grouped with Gothic fiction (did you expect another Shining reference?).

Dracula is another great example of Gothic literature, even if it’s not confined to a single location.

But those features aren’t universal among Gothic stories. They’re common features, but not there in every one (Dracula doesn’t just kill in one single place, after all). So what else makes a Gothic story? Well, there’s something I’ve noticed about Gothic stories: along with the atmosphere of decay, there’s also a veneration towards the darkness and to beauty. Remember, Gothic fiction rose from Romanticism, which venerates nature, emotion and beauty. So while we’re feeling an atmosphere of terror, there’s also this sense that the author has a respect and love of the darker elements along with the Romantic ones.

Of course, this is just scratching the surface of what constitutes Gothic, and I could go on for days on the subject if you let me. The best summary I can do for this post is to say that Gothic fiction are horror stories with a particular group of tropes, a veneration of darkness and horror, and Romantic appreciation for aesthetic and the fantastic world. And even that feels incomplete.

So what appeals to us about Gothic fiction, and has allowed it to survive and evolve whereas other niche genres like Westerns went out of style in less than sixty years? Well, there’s no easy answer there either. The Tor article says that the rules and expectations of the genre can be learned and make it appealing to readers. I’ve heard some people say good Gothic horror has an atmosphere unlike other genres, and that keeps them coming back. My opinion is that, in addition to those theories, Gothic can evolve because its main tropes are relevant no matter what age we’re in, especially the houses. But on a deeper level than that, most Gothic literature takes the childhood idea of home, a big place we feel safe in, and turns it inside out into a giant house of fear that is still somewhat beautiful and appealing. That is a strange inversion that can be attractive to readers, and may explain why we keep writing and reading Gothic stories over two-hundred and fifty years after Walpole started the genre.

However you define Gothic fiction or whatever its appeal is, there’s no doubt that it is a popular and influential genre that we’ve all experienced at lest once in our lives and remember. And perhaps by understanding it better, we can keep Gothic horror going for many more years to come. And I certainly wouldn’t mind that.

What elements of Gothic fiction did I miss here? What about it appeals to you?

What Gothic stories would you recommend for anyone interested in the genre?

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