Posts Tagged ‘reflections’

Snake: Nine-Year Release Anniversary!!!

Posted: June 10, 2023 in Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
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What happens when you squish John Wick, Taken, and Friday the 13th into a novel? You might get Snake, the thrilling slasher horror story about a serial killer hunting after members of a powerful mafia family.

My longest published book, Snake was released exactly nine years ago today, in the same year John Wick was originally released (I swear, that’s a coincidence. And I didn’t see it until last year, actually). It was one of the books I had the most fun writing, and I feel like that comes through with my writing. I know, it’s concerning to have fun writing a story about a serial killer who’s the protagonist, but there you go.

Oh yeah, the protagonist in Snake, who is called Snake, is the serial killer. If you didn’t know that, now you do.

And I’m happy to say, there are people who love it. There are some who even find it frightening. Granted, my dad finds it frightening because he doesn’t like to think of his son being able to write such gruesome stuff, but other people simply find it entertaining and/or frightening because I wrote it well enough.

I mean, take a look at the reviews below:

Rami Ungar makes a promise to (the reader) in all his writings: he WILL scare you, and if he does “his job is done.” Snake will scare you. I am a huge Stephen King fan, so this should give you some idea of my tolerance level for gore, death and mayhem – I was scared. Rami takes you into places you would never have believed possible, and manages to pull his hero (and eventually his heroine) out of them against all odds. If you like to be scared. If you LOVE to be scared. You should read this book.

Angela Misri, author of the Portia Adams Adventures

This is the first novel I’ve read by Rami Ungar and i was an entertaining surprise. I read this novel after seeing the author’s post about it and I’m glad I did, even if it was into the wee hours.

Toni V. Sweeney, Amazon reviewer

The first two thirds of this book were killer for me (pardon the pun). I loved all the threads – the serial killer, the mob, the sex trafficking ring, the captured girl, the police trying to catch the Snake and fighting corruption and dissent within their ranks.

I found the psychological exploration of the makings of a killer really interesting. I liked how the author didn’t shy away from the brutal consequences of the killer’s actions.

I also loved Linda, the Irish wolfhound, although it was very foolish of Snake to bring his dog to his crime scenes when he was so concerned about physical evidence.

Iseult Murphy, author of “7 Days in Hell”

I found this an action packed, excellent, read! I actually enjoyed the creative ways Snake dispatched the Mafia members. Also enjoyed how it kept you interested. Thrilling!

Angela Boley, psychic medium and painter

Yeah, that last review is from a real psychic medium and painter. We met at a convention, she bought one of my books, and we’ve become friends since then. And as you can see, she really loved Snake and said she looks forward to reading other books by me in the future. That part isn’t in the review, it’s something she said to me, but it still rings true!

Anyway, if the description and the glowing reviews enticed you, why not check out Snake and give it a read? In honor of the nine-year release anniversary (and my thirtieth birthday, which is around this time as well). I’ll include links below. And if you read it, please let me and others know what you think. Leave a review online, post about it on your social media, whatever. So long as I and others know what you thought, that’s what’s important.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you enjoy Snake and let me know what you think. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Snake is available from Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

What Exactly is Weird Fiction?

Posted: June 4, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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Photo by Niko MonDu00ec on Pexels.com

I’ve heard certain stories and writers described as weird fiction and weird fiction writers. I’ve also heard of New Weird, which refers to writers whose work is representative of a new wave of weird fiction. And I can think of examples of fiction that is described as “weird fiction.” Yet, I still find myself wondering from time to time, “How do you define weird fiction?”

Most people I’ve talked to–and I’ve talked to many–say “I know it when I see it” when it comes to weird fiction.* However, being a non-human entity and having a very loose definition of “normal” in a world that seems to defy anyone’s definition of normal, that still isn’t enough for me. And I know HP Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos is considered weird fiction, but is that because it involves tentacled monsters?

As usually happens when these sort of questions bug me to no end, I do research. And after talking to a lot of people, reading some articles, and watching a few YouTube videos on the subject, I think I’ve finally come to some conclusions.

For one thing, “weird fiction” isn’t a specific genre like literary, romance, sci-fi or horror fiction. Rather, it’s a designation given to stories and writers who take traditional concepts within their genre and then find some way to turn them on their head and make them weird. Lovecraft and his friends’ fiction was called “weird horror” because it featured ancient cosmic beings with lots of tentacles instead of ghosts, werewolves and vampires. And today, you can call Junji Ito “new weird” because his work features women with their tongues being replaced by snails and their heads becoming the shells, or towns cursed by the concept of a spiral.

And this can apply to all sorts of other genres and kinds of stories. Magical realism, cryptozoological erotica, bizarro fiction, they can all be considered weird. And you can add weird to any sort of story. For example, perhaps you can write a romance story where the couple is actually a single person and their reflection. Or weird Western, where cowboys ride into a wilderness resembling that melting clock painting by Salvador Dali.

And now that I think about it, my own novel Rose could be considered weird fiction. I mean, I usually categorize it as “fantasy horror” or “paranormal fiction,” but it’s about a young woman turned into a plant/human hybrid (and that’s just the start of her problems). If that’s not weird, then I’m a sea lion (and I’m not).

Apparently, Rose could be considered “weird fiction.” I never realized.

So, how does one write weird fiction? Well, I don’t think anyone sets out to write exclusively weird stories. I think they’re just trying to create something original and that leads to going down a weird route. That being said, if you want to write something weird, here are a few things you can try to make it weird:

  • Disrupt the real. Weird fiction comes from being weird, so it helps if your story breaks either the characters’ or the readers’ sense of reality. In terms of the latter, you could modify the world in some way so that something weird by our standards is considered normal in the world of the story. One example I can think of is a story I once read where imaginary friends were real entities and an accepted part of the human life cycle, similar to losing your baby teeth or going through puberty.
    In terms of the former, write the story in a way where you and the characters share a similar reality, but then that definition of real goes out the window in a big way. Think Alice falling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, or perhaps Little Red Riding Hood’s trip to her grandmother’s house becomes Lovecraftian and surreal.
  • Tentacles and cosmic elements. It’s a little stereotypical, but as I said, much of what made Lovecraft’s stories weird were the tentacles and the other elements that became the foundation of cosmic horror. So, if it works, why not use it?
  • Ask “what if I added this?” Plenty of times, we writers create our own stories by encountering another story and thinking of what we would add if we were the ones writing it. Just do the same thing, but think in terms of strange things you can add. And not just to other stories, but to just daily situations. What if you added surrealism to a religious matchmaking search, or if there was some visible way to instantly identify someone as having committed a crime? Thinking along those lines could allow you to write a weird fiction story.
  • Defy genre. While genres are categories we created, they do play a big role in writing and publishing. If you can write a story that doesn’t fit any particular genre but has elements of several, especially fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, it could be considered weird. There’s a bit more to it, but that can be a clear indicator of weird fiction.

Other than that, the only thing I can recommend is read plenty of weird stories and practice writing them. And while writing weird fiction isn’t exactly necessary for any writer, it can be a lot of fun and lead to some memorable stories. Hell, it may help you write more mainstream fiction. So, why not? Go ahead and get weird with it!

What tips do you have for writing weird fiction? Do you have any favorite stories that are considered weird?

*Fun fact: that phrase was coined by US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in 1964 in his opinion on the case Jacobellis v. Ohio regarding a definition for obscenity, specifically hard-core pornography. The more you know.

Thanks for reading, everyone. It was a long article, but I wanted to get it out before I tried to intentionally write a weird fiction story (usually it happens by accident). I hope you enjoyed a post without a mention of Hannah (which, now that I think about it, has a weird story or two as well).

Anyway, I’ll be back soon enough. There’s some exciting stuff happening this week, after all. So, until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Avoiding Burnout. Both as a Writer and as a Person

Posted: May 30, 2023 in Living and Life, Reflections
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A representation of someone dealing with stress and burnout, courtesy of Wikipedia.

I’m exhausted.

At work, there has been a lot going on. A lot of ongoing projects that all require my immediate attention, a lot of things that need an answer five seconds before the question was asked. Just a lot going on, and much of it won’t be resolved until middle of summer, if at all.

At the same time, my personal life has been going through a low cycle. I’ve been dealing with a lot of shit, recently. I’m not going to go into detail, but it’s been a drain on my mind, body and soul. Enough that I’m honestly surprised I haven’t collapsed into the nearest chair or couch and refused to get up.

And I mentioned that all the frenetic editing I’ve been doing this past month has really drained me. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve been thinking of not writing for a while. Maybe not until after Stokercon.

After the latest bullshit that’s cropped up in my life, I’m taking some time to focus on me. I’m still doing writing stuff (more on that below), but I’m also cutting out some writing stuff that’s going to cause me more stress and give me burnout. For example, instead of going down to Cincinnati for Hamilton Pride Festival this weekend (HWA Ohio has a table there this year), I’ll be staying home and just recuperating. Maybe going on a few errands so I can make some homemade dandelion wine, among other things. But mostly, I’ll just be relaxing at home.

In fact, since yesterday I’ve been devoting as much time as I can to just relaxing and recovering from everything that has been going on. And because of it, I’ve actually felt a return of my creative faculties. I’m actually itching to get back to writing again. Don’t know if I will, but it’s a good sign that I’m itching to write again.

And it’s important, whether you’re a writer or not, that you take care of yourself if you start to feel the symptoms of burnout (constant exhaustion, reluctance or lack of motivation for activities you normally enjoy, a feeling of helplessness and defeat, etc.). We all experience stress, but if we don’t take care of ourselves and let these feelings eat away at us, it can lead to further problems in the near future. This includes health problems and problems at work.

Do something different. Watch some movies you enjoy. Read some books. Take a weekend to sleep in. Treat yourself to a spa day, or go out with your friends to your favorite bar or restaurant. Do something that relaxes you and brings you joy. And if the source of your burnout is your job or something else about your life you feel you can’t get rid of, consider looking for a new job or seeing a therapist for other solutions. You’ll thank yourself for it and may even be able to enjoy life and hobbies again.

Hell, it’s working for me, and I’ve mostly been watching scary movies and making plans to spend time with friends and loved ones. Maybe I’ll be able to write before my birthday, let alone Stokercon!

And if you would like more information on burnout and avoiding/treating it, you can read this article from HelpGuide.org. It’s helpful stuff.

What are your tips for avoiding burnout? Have you gone through anything similar?

One more thing: I’ll be on the Author’s Roundtable podcast with David Musser on Thursday evening, with the podcast becoming available on Friday. We’ll be talking with a whole bunch of other authors on tips and tricks to help aspiring authors get started on their careers. You can check out the podcast and the previous episodes here.

Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Taking Brand Names out of My Stories

Posted: May 25, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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So, one thing that really surprised me about the editing process for Hannah was that I had to get rid of brand names from the stories. YouTube became WeTube, and Kroger and Meijer became Lundgren’s, etc.

But those weren’t the only things I had to take out. Ohio State University, which was featured in What Errour Awoke and which was mentioned in Hannah, has been renamed Aurelian University. And Disneyland is now Mueller Land. Yeah, Disneyland was in a story at one point, but now it’s Mueller Land. And I was really surprised I had to change those both.

As my publisher explained, we have to be careful, because if we use a real brand and the company that owns the brand thinks the depiction is negative, they can sue both me and the publisher. Which makes sense. I mean, Apple doesn’t allow its products to be used by bad guys in movies and TV shows. If you see someone in a movie using a generic android phone, chances are they’re bad guys. And in the TV show Chuck, the name of the store where the main character works is a Best Buy parody called Buy More. And given that the store is regularly depicted as being staffed by lazy, incompetent, and oftentimes creepy employees, or is the sight of shootouts and spy shenanigans, it makes sense that the creators would change the name.

Also explains why Subway, which was a sponsor for the show in later seasons, was only ever eaten by the good guys. As far as I can remember, I never once saw a bad guy in that show going for Subway.

Still, that show also depicted Stanford University as a major recruiting center for CIA operatives, and during the first season, the main character has negative feelings towards the school due to his being framed for cheating and getting kicked out while there. Did Stanford not care? And if it didn’t, would Ohio State really care that some characters in my collection were students there?

On the bright side, I was able to keep Slender Man in Queen Alice. Even though he’s a copyrighted character (I know, most people think he’s public domain as well), I was able to keep him as mentioned in Queen Alice because he illustrates an ongoing phenomena regarding Internet boogeymen. And in What Errour Awoke, I was able to keep a reference to Die Hard because, as my editor put it, Nakatomi Plaza is not a copyrighted name or actual location and everyone loves a Die Hard reference (truth).

I still find myself wondering about this, though. Some authors, especially big-name authors, can put references to brands, businesses and universities, among other things, into their work and don’t think twice about changing them. Occasionally, you even see song lyrics from famous songs! Gerald’s Game‘s antagonist draws his name from lyrics from “The Joker” by the Steve Miller Band, and My Best Friend’s Exorcism had lyrics to many popular songs from the 1980s, albeit sung with the wrong lyrics because that’s what the characters liked to do. Not sure if that counts as parody or fair use, but it doesn’t change the fact that We Got the Beat by the Go-Gos was used as an exorcism chant later in the book.

And how does Law & Order: SVU get away with using TikTok and TikTok stars in one episode? Yeah, season 23, episode 5. Even if the app isn’t portrayed as having any bearing on the bad guys in that episode, I can’t imagine TikTok was happy to have its name used in the show like that.

I guess what I’m saying is, there’s a lot to using real brands in fictional contexts that I don’t get. It’s incredibly nuanced, and you can’t get away with using a real brand by using it in a positive light and then pointing to the copyright text at the beginning of the book stating that all characters, settings, and whatever are fictional or used fictionally. In which case, more often than not, it might be better to just turn a popular brand or institution into a fictional version with a name that may or may not reference the real thing. YouTube becomes WeTube, Disneyland becomes Mueller Land, Ohio State University becomes Aurelian University, and…well, you get the idea.

Do you have any insight on this, my Followers of Fear? Please sound off in the comments below.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Just a reminder, though: this Saturday I’ll be at the Canal Town Book Festival in Dover, Ohio, selling books. If any of you are in the area, please stop by and visit. Also keep an eye out for some exciting news on the horizon regarding Hannah and Other Stories. Trust me, you won’t want to miss it.

Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Please Stop Bringing Babies to the Ballet!

Posted: April 29, 2023 in Living and Life
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I normally don’t talk about this sort of thing on my blog. You know, because it’s kind of devoted to my writing career and to horror. But honestly, after today, I gotta say something to more than just my family. So strap in, kids. I’m doing a public service announcement veering into rant territory.

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of ballet. I’ve even included it in a few of my stories. And I was very excited to go see my local company perform Swan Lake. It’s their last production of the season, it’s probably the most famous ballet in the world alongside Nutcracker, and it’s a lot of fun to guess what variation of the story the performers will do (there are many depending on the vision of the company). And it was, to my delight, a great show. Except for one little issue…some of the patrons had brought their babies and infants with them to the show.

If I could insert an actual sigh here, I would.

Look, I get it. We all need a little escape from our lives. And except for maybe Nutcracker, most companies will wait several years before performing the same show again, which means you probably only have the opportunity to see this production once. And nobody likes missing out on what they love. And for Nutcracker, I kind of expect small children at that one. It’s a family show with lots of exciting stuff happening onstage to keep their attention.

But seriously, why are you bringing a child that young to a show other than Nutcracker? At five or so, kids start to gain the ability to sit still for movies and shows and be quiet. But younger children, especially babies, aren’t able to do that. Many of them can’t even comprehend what’s going on around them.

Imagine, being in a room where it’s dark, there’s loud music constantly playing, and then there are bursts of house-shaking applause during the show. Any small child will be terrified and cry out!

In fact, many of them were. I counted at least four tots who cried at various times during the show. If not because they were scared, then because they were tired, or fussy, or they’re babies! That’s what they do. As well as gurgle, babble, and make any number of noises. All of which happened during the show and distracted the audience. Several times, the parents had to take their child out of the theater and into the foyer because it wouldn’t calm down or go to sleep.

Feels like a waste of a ticket, if you have to leave the show every twenty minutes because of your kid.

And that brings me to my next point. These tickets cost anywhere between seventy and four hundred dollars (excluding processing fees and whatnot). So you’re putting down several hundred dollars for tickets for these shows, including one for the baby, when your child isn’t able to understand or appreciate the show, and definitely won’t sleep through the whole thing. You might as well spend the money on a babysitter instead. From what I’m told, they’re much more affordable, and you wouldn’t be inconveniencing all the other guests who paid a lot of money to see this show as well.

And if you’re not ready to be separated from your kid, don’t go! You’ll save money, and you won’t have the inconvenience of leaving the show several times, climbing over people in seats that are as packed in as airplane seats.

And while I’m on the subject, this should go for movie theaters as well. Yes, movies are a lot more affordable than plays and ballets, but the concept still applies. Hell, it might even apply more! A lot of films these days include explosions, screaming, guns firing, and so many things that might frighten a small kid in a dark room.

I’ve had to deal with this at more movies than I dare to count. When I saw IT: Chapter Two, some woman in the front row brought her baby. During the first twenty minutes, the kid kept screaming and the people around her kept telling her to leave because it’s IT: Chapter Two! That movie is going to be loud and scary! And when I saw Logan a few years before, a kid was crying on the stairs in the theater because that’s a gory, violent film and he was scared! Took a good twenty minutes for the parents to get up and take the kid outside. I guess they thought he would just stop and take a nap?

Now, I know I’m not a parent. I don’t know how tough it is (though my parents did raise me and three younger sisters, so sometimes I feel like I kind of get it). But I know that young kids, unlike teens and adults, don’t know better about how to act during a movie. They just react. And if your kid isn’t ready for movies and you can’t get a babysitter…well, parenthood is about sacrifice. That’s what I’ve learned from every great parent I’ve ever come across. And sometimes, that sacrifice means waiting a few months for the movie to be available on streaming and Blu-Ray.

Luckily, there’s been some movement to prevent this sort of problem. A lot of movie theaters don’t allow young kids to see R-rated films at all, and won’t let them see PG-13 movies after a certain time. Many of these same theaters also have showings exclusively for families: the lights aren’t out all the way, talking and crying isn’t a big deal, and the film is something the kids can get into. And the majority of Broadway theaters and traveling shows require children be at least five years old, or they won’t let them into the theater. And many ballets can even be streamed these days, believe it or not! Some are even streamed live!

And yes, I might write to the company that runs the theaters to see if anything can be done. I mean, if they enforce Broadway policies for the touring Broadway shows, they might be willing to extend that to other events.

But really, parents of young children need to help out too. As I said above, these small kids can’t help being noisy. They’re not electronic devices you can just switch off. They’re going to react instinctually, and that will disturb audiences. But parents, you can make a choice. You can choose to waste money on something that your baby will disturb for you and everyone else. Or you can keep the kid home, and save everyone, including your kid, from having their night ruined.

And hey, you might still be able to see your show or movie. Like I said, babysitters are a lot more affordable than you might think.

Thanks for reading, folks. This has been something I’ve actually been wanting to write about for ages now, but after the show today, it just kind of came to a head and I had to make my feelings public. And if this changes even a few people’s minds, it’ll be worth it.

So Much Still to Learn

Posted: April 25, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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As I mentioned in a previous post, BSC Publishing Group’s editors and I had several Zoom and email discussions regarding the content in my upcoming collection, Hannah and Other Stories. During the discussion, I realized a lot of things about my stories and my writing in general that needed improvement. And this led to some discussions with one of the editors about my writing, writing horror in general, and what directions I could go with my writing.

I won’t go into details, because some of it is for stories that you have yet to read, and I really want things to be a surprise. But the biggest conclusion I came to was that there’s still so much I need to learn as a horror writer.

I mean, I kind of already knew that, but I think part of me thought I’d become some sort of authority on horror writing, and the content meeting, as well as all the discussions that followed, really made me see the light. All of a sudden, I’m understanding why some of my stories haven’t been accepted, what fatal flaws I’ve allowed to slip into my storytelling, and what needs to be fixed so I can write not just effective horror stories, but publishable horror stories.

Honestly, it’s been rough to realize how much I still have to learn and how many ways I’ve actually been sabotaging my own stories. It’s been enough to make me doubt my own abilities as a writer…for a second. Then I remembered this is why we have editors and beta readers and why authors are their own worst judges and how we also need this feedback so we can grow and become better writers. If we never learn from others or discount what our editors and beta readers say, we end up writing really bad stories that never get published.

So, this whole experience, while slightly disheartening, has been a good eye-opener for me. Hopefully I can learn from this past week and write some stories that magazines and publishers will want to release and readers will want to read. I’m already thinking of ways to improve the stories I still need to edit, including “They Sleep Within the Rock” and “It Changes You,” and stories I might want to tackle next. I’ve also thought of ways to change Toyland and Crawler, and, of course, I’ve had plenty of thoughts of how to improve the stories in Hannah. With any luck, I can put these thoughts into practice and edit these stories so that they’re worthy of the promise at the top of this blog and on my business cards: “Scared yet? My job here is done.”

I look forward to updating you all on my progress.

One last thing, my Followers of Fear: I know I got into all the events I’ll be attending yesterday (you can see that post here), but I got confirmation on one more today, so I’ll add it to the end of this post. So this summer, I’ll be a guest at Gem City Comic Con on July 22nd and 23rd, 2023 in Dayton, Ohio! I’m really looking forward to this convention, so if you can stop by, please do so. I don’t know if they’ll let me do Tarot readings yet, but I’ll be happy to sign your book.

Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

The Balancing Act Between the Author and the Publisher

Posted: April 21, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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In Tarot, the Two of Cups represents reconciliation and balance in a relationship. It’s a card I thought often of during these past few days while figuring things out with BSC.

The relationship between an author and a publisher is a collaboration. The author creates a work, and the publisher helps them get the work cleaned up enough to be published. Together, they release the book into the world and put in the work to make sure the book gets to as many readers as possible. That’s all known.

But, as I said above, the relationship between the author and their publisher is also a relationship. And a relationship is often about give and take, compromise, and balance.

I was reminded of this fact recently during a two-hour Zoom meeting with my editor at BSC Publishing Group. BSC, as you probably know by now, is releasing my new collection, Hannah and Other Stories, later this year. Part of the reason why I wanted to release this collection with a publisher is that I knew these stories would need help reaching their full potential, so I wanted a publisher with experience that could help me reach that potential. Plus, the people working for BSC know the industry well and are enthusiastic about helping their authors reach as wide an audience as possible.

This particular meeting was a content meeting. Simply put, we were looking over the individual stories and seeing what in the story’s content could be fixed in the next draft. This way, we could continue to improve the stories by identifying any story issues and maybe cutting out anything that would be too controversial or souldn’t help the stories. And my editor had plenty of suggestions for the stories, some of which I’d already hit upon. Most I didn’t have an issue with. They either made sense from the get-go or they made sense after a bit of explaining.

A few things that came up, I was glad to receive. I mean, if you haven’t already noticed, I’m a white male. And, try as I do, I don’t always see things from outside that perspective. It’s good that my editor and others at BSC are women and can see outside that perspective. They pointed out more than a few things I didn’t realize might come off as problematic. And now that I know, I can change and learn from these examples so (hopefully) I don’t make that mistake in the future.

Other suggestions, however…I had more than a bit of hesitation.

Look, I’m normally an amenable guy. I like getting along with people and I’m usually good with going along with someone else’s suggestion if it’s not a big deal. But without getting into details (spoilers, you know), some of the suggestions my editors made just didn’t sit right with me. And I pushed back, which resulted in a lot of emailing back and forth.

And that’s something you have to keep in mind when you work with publishers. While they do want to help you get your book out there and even further your career, they do have their own ideas, goals and needs. And sometimes, all that with conflict with your vision in some way or another. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just the way things are. And ultimately, the best you can hope for is either coming to an understanding, or a compromise.

Otherwise, the relationship between author and publisher could dissolve and the book go unpublished, or the relationship between author and publisher is extremely unbalanced and the two parties, as well as the resulting book, suffers.

Ultimately, BSC and I were able to talk it out, come to a few agreements, and reach a compromise. And now we have a direction for the next draft of this book. Soon, I’ll get the notes on the second draft from them, and we’ll go from there. What happens next…well, we’ll see. At the very least, we’re still able to get along and still committed to getting this book out. And that’s what’s important.

Searching for the Theme of “Hannah”

Posted: April 14, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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Earlier this week, my publisher got in touch with me and asked me to pick some excerpts from each of the stories in Hannah. Specifically, they were looking for excerpts that reflect the theme of the collection. And that really made me think, because up till then, I hadn’t thought there was a theme to Hannah. It was just a bunch of stories I’d been working on at the same time that I thought might make a good collection if included together.

So, I had to ask myself: is there a theme to Hannah and Other Stories?

Now, if for some reason you’re unfamiliar, Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of short stories that I’ll be releasing later this year in the fall (exact date to be determined). It’s a collection of seven strange and unique stories, ranging from ghost hunters investigating a haunted school, to budding serial killers, to even carnivorous horses. And BSC Publishing Group, the company that will be releasing Hannah, and I have been working hard so as many people as possible are interested to read this book when it releases.

Which brings me back to the point of this post: BSC wanted me to pull excerpts from the stories inside that really speak to the theme of the collection. So, I had to sit back and really think about if there was a theme to the collection. And if so, what was it? There certainly wasn’t when I wrote and released The Quiet Game. That was just me writing stories that interested me and which I thought people would enjoy. I thought with those five stories, I’d be making a good foray into the world of publishing, self-publishing, and horror fiction.

And as mentioned above, I was working on some stories I liked and thought would make a great collection when I put Hannah together. So, was there a unifying theme below it all? Maybe something I only noticed subconsciously when I was choosing which stories to put together? Because there were definitely a few I rejected for one reason or another.

Well, after some rumination, I did realize something: in all the stories, there’s a senselessness to the world. The violence and horrors that occur don’t seem to occur because of some greater plan, or a good versus evil struggle like you see in horror. Shit is happening, and even when you go back through events and see how they start and how inevitable the endings are, you don’t feel like there’s anything guiding the world. It’s just a cruel, indifferent world with cruel or indifferent people and cruel or indifferent circumstances leading to horrific results.

And for many, that’s scary in and of itself. Even those of us who aren’t necessarily religious like to think there’s a higher power or guiding force or principle in the universe. The idea that the universe has none (except maybe a writer with a penchant for dark, sinister and macabre storytelling) is sure to chill more than a few readers.

So, I chose excerpts I felt reflected that. Sure, some of those excerpts featured people being awful (and those scenes are incredibly violent), but in the end, that senselessness and lack of guidance or purpose is at the center of the excerpts.

Hopefully, the excerpts chosen help with the marketing campaign we’re going to do in the months leading up to Hannah‘s release. As I said, I have high hopes for this collection, and I think many readers, whether new to my work or fans for years, will find plenty to enjoy.

And maybe, if I put out more collections in the future, I’ll think harder about themes before I put it together and try to shop it around.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I actually woke up sick today, so my weekend plans kind of fell by the wayside. Hopefully I can do some of the stuff I wanted to do this weekend. At least I was able to get a blog post out. That was something I wanted to do at some point this weekend.

Anyway, I’m off to heat up dinner. I hope this post got you excited or more interested in Hannah and Other Stories. And while you wait for its release, if you’re looking for something spooky to read, if you want to support my career, or if you want to help me feel better, maybe consider checking out my Published Books page and finding your next read there. Trust me, there’s plenty there to enjoy.

Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, Shabbat Shalom, and only 200 days till Halloween! Yes, I’m keeping track, that should surprise none of you.

How Do They Get Their Short Stories So Short?

Posted: April 7, 2023 in Reflections, short story, Writing
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So, I’m reading Every Woman Knows This: A Horror Collection by Laurel Hightower, a collection of horror short stories I won in a Twitter giveaway. Not very fast, because I get through print books so much more slowly these days than I used to, but I’m making my way through it. And I am in awe that some of these short stories appear to be shorter than five thousand words. Hell, some of the earlier stories in the collection appear less than four thousand.

And I’m sitting there, reading the stories, and I’m like, “How does she do that and make them still so damn good?”

I actually posted that question on my personal Facebook and my Twitter feed. Laurel responded to the Facebook post (we’re friends there), thanking me for posting about the book and being glad that I’m enjoying it. Did not share her secrets with me, though.

I wish she had, because I would love to be able to write stories that short and still be effective. After all, I grew up on Harry Potter and the Bartimaeus Trilogy, followed by books like Interview with the Vampire and IT. The shortest of those books is seventy-seven thousand words. By the time I started regularly reading and writing short stories, my brain was already primed for sprawling plots with deep twists, multiple layers of themes and secrets, and complex character relationships that are explored through multiple pages, chapters and books.

Taking all that out and trying to tell an entire story in less than seventy-five hundred words (what the Horror Writer Association says is the maximum word count for a short story) was a huge switch for me. And honestly, I’ve had varying success. Occasionally, I manage to get a story less than seventy-five hundred words, and sometimes those stories get published, but more often short for me is a novelette between 7,500 and 17,500 words. Not as long as a novel, not by far, but allows me more room to work with those plot elements I like.

Still, I do try to come up with and write those shorter stories, what Stephen King calls “a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger.”* Yeah, it’s difficult to do, but most publications are looking for stories of that range, and I want to get my work into them. And, I like the challenge. It’s another hill for me to climb on my journey as an author. And, occasionally, something I write in this vein is really good.

That being said, if it looks like a short story is destined to be a novelette, or even a novella or novel, I will let it be the length it’s going to be. No sense trying to maim a good story so it can fit somewhere, right?

But I still try. And I’ve gleaned some things in my attempts, like instead of big plots or huge happenings, you focus on small instances or events that may happen to one or two people. Rather than the big moments, like the destruction of It in the sewers of Derry or the fallout of four writers visiting a haunted house on Kansas during Halloween for a publicity stunt (Kill Creek by Scott Thomas, if you don’t know), I should focus on maybe a ghost at the Ohio State Reformatory trying to get information on what happened after he died, or a young man dealing with something evil that’s appeared intermittently in his life. Those might manage to become the kisses given in the dark by a stranger.

Actually, one of those was a kiss in the dark, and some of you may remember it. It’s “Is Anyone There,” which was published last year in That Which Cannot Be Undone, and got mentioned in several reviews as a highlight of the anthology. So maybe I might be closer to my goals than I think.

Just don’t kiss me in the dark. I’m more likely to punch you for that than enjoy it or put it into a story.

What are your tips for writing short stories, Followers of Fear? Do you struggle with keeping them under 7,000 or 5,000 words? Let’s discuss.

Also, be sure to check out Every Woman Knows This by Laurel Hightower. So far, it’s a great collection, and I hope I’ve learned some things by the time I’m done.

*Which, by the way, is a weird idea, isn’t it? You walk down an alley or into a room and it’s really dark and suddenly someone plants one on your mouth before disappearing? Actually, the scenario with the room is the plot of an Anton Chekhov short story, and the character who gets the kiss does have an impression left on him. So, I guess it’s a good metaphor.

New Story Finished! Now Back to the Great Editing

Posted: April 2, 2023 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Well, I’m feeling pretty good. Tired, but good.

As many of you know, I’ve been caught up in editing a bunch of stories, both for my upcoming collection Hannah and Other Stories, and others I hope to submit to various publications and magazines. For all the obvious reasons, I’ve been calling this the Great Editing, and it’s been a lot! I think I’ve edited about six stories by now, and that was just in the first two months of 2023.

Needing a break, I decided to write some new stories. Sure, they’d become part of the Great Editing at some point, but it just feels good to work on new stuff sometimes. Anyway, I wrote “The Hunting Party,” a Christmas horror story (you can read all about that here), and I just finished “Mother of Spiders,” a novelette set in the 1950s and about a town whose history comes back to bite them in the worst way: with eight legs and some scary fangs!

Yeah, it’s a spider-based horror story. I did say in previous posts that this story would tap into a common phobia, after all. And I think the overall concept of the story is good.

That being said, I really struggled with this story at times. Not because I didn’t know where it was going, because I’m an obsessive plotter. I always know where my stories are going. I think it was just finding the right words for the story and figuring out how to convey it. That was a struggle, and it wasn’t until the final scene of the story that I really felt like the story was flowing out of me. I have a feeling that when I edit this one, it’s going to take several drafts before I can start submitting it for publication. And most of it will just be figuring out how to better tell this story.

But hey, it’s a good sign when you recognize your own story’s shortcomings and are already thinking of ways to improve the story. Hopefully that means when I get around to the second draft, I’ll be prepared to turn this story into something worth reading.

For now though, I think I’m ready to get back to the Great Editing. Let’s face it, the number of stories requiring my attention have only grown since I started my break, and I want to get at least one or two out of the way before the next draft of Hannah lands in my inbox. I’ll start with “The Hunting Party,” because there are a couple of Christmas anthologies already looking for stories and I want to submit this one before they fill up. Then I’m going to get into the third draft of “They Sleep Within the Rock,” AKA the novella where I put neo-Nazis through some well-deserved hell. After that, if it isn’t time to work on Hannah again, I have a few stories to choose from.

For now though, I’m going to chill the rest of the weekend. I have some scary movies from the library, so I think I’ll have a double feature before bed. So, until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares. And if I don’t catch you before Passover starts this Wednesday, may the matzo monster get you and ruin your digestive system with more cracker-like bread than you could ever want to eat.

Cheers!

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