Posts Tagged ‘short story anthology’

That Which Cannot Be Undone: Two Weeks Since Release

Posted: October 18, 2022 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I did warn you this post was coming, didn’t I?

As many of you are aware at this point, I’m the co-founder of an independent publishing press, Cracked Skull Press, and we released our first anthology, That Which Cannot Be Undone, exactly two weeks ago today. The anthology is written entirely by Ohio authors, every story is set in Ohio, and the theme of the anthology is “that which cannot be undone.” This anthology is the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, as well as lots of tears, sweat, discussion, blood, and so much more, and I’m so proud that I got to be part of its creation.

I’m also quite proud to have one of my own stories, “Is Anyone There?”, in the anthology. It’s about a ghost at the Ohio State Reformatory, one of my favorite places on Earth, and I consider it some of my best work.

Anyway, in the two weeks since the book was released, we at Cracked Skull Press have sent out copies of the anthology to the backers who supported us and have sold plenty of copies through Amazon. The result is that we’ve been seeing a lot of people reading the anthology, which is what we always hoped for! And not only that, but we’ve been getting plenty of reviews. At the time I’m writing this, we’ve received nine reviews on Amazon and eleven ratings with ten reviews on Amazon, for an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 and 4.18 out of 5, respectively.

Here are what people are saying:

This is a horror themed short story collection with a diverse range of topics. All stories have two things in common – they take place in Ohio and the underlying theme is that somehow something in the story is irreversible. As always with such collections I enjoyed some stories more than others, yet there weren’t any that I actually disliked. I think the editor did a good job putting this anthology together. Some stories had so cool concepts that I was “enraged” when they ended, wishing they were made into novels or movies. A few were based on myths or locations authors knew about…Some really imaginative and original stories in here that did manage to “wow” me and make it quite easy to recommend this anthology.

Aili Annuk, Amazon

This book brings together short stories that are very different from each other, all set in Ohio. Some are more horrific, others more melancholic, but they all have something original and appealing. Whether they are about ghosts, teeth, PTSD, or murder, they all have a dark and intriguing atmosphere that makes you want to keep reading. A perfect read for a cozy autumn evening.

Aiden Messer, Goodreads

What a great idea for a horror anthology. These eighteen stories, all set in Ohio, weave different aspects of the state into their terrifying narratives. From the cities of Cleveland and Columbus, to an old prison, a drowned town, an abandoned winery, and many other natural and notable locations, these stories place Ohio front and centre on the map of horror landscapes.

Iseult Murphy, author of All of Me, Amazon

High praise, indeed. And if things continue in this vein, we’ll only be getting more.

Anyway, if you would like to support our little venture and get some good scary reading in before Halloween, I’ll leave links to the anthology below. You can check it out, read the reviews, and then decide whether or not you’d like to read That Which Cannot Be Undone yourself. And if you end up reading it, I hope you’ll leave us a review. It lets us know what you think and helps other readers decide whether or not to read the book.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you’re having a wonderful and spooky October. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 13 days till Halloween! Who has sweets and scary movies ready?

That Which Cannot Be Undone: Amazon, Goodreads

Finding My Mistakes a Little Too Late

Posted: January 26, 2022 in Reflections, Writing
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Well, this is embarrassing to admit.

I’ve been reading a lot more slowly lately, so I only just started reading an anthology I was published in last year. Last night, I finally got to my own story, which I consider some of my best work. And I found some editing errors I missed.

It wasn’t anything too bad. A couple of words missing here, a couple of phrases that should have been cut there, and one time I used the word “skeleton” instead of “scream.” Not like a horrible run-on sentence, a ton of spelling mistakes, and punctuation and grammar to make a lover of literature cry.

Still, it was disheartening to see how many mistakes were missed. And while part of that was also on the publisher, I should have been more cognizant of my own work. I should have shown more diligence in finding errors. Maybe even using that feature on Word where the story is read aloud, annoying as that is.

You know, my high school English teacher, Mr. G, used to say that a story is never “perfect,” but “done.” You can only do so much work to a story on it, but you’ll never get it perfect. You can just do enough work on it that you can’t fix it anymore. It’s done. I was aware that that applied to cleaning it up as much as it did to story, but this made me more aware of that.

And my American history professor in college, Dr. S, made an analogy about editing. He said he always got students who got annoyed when they were marked down on grammar and spelling when it was a History class. Why should a few spelling mistakes or whatever make a difference, these students wonder. He said, and this is pretty close to quoting:

Well, if this were an engineering class, would it be okay to have a little bad math? Or if this were a physics class, would it be okay to have a few incorrect equations? If the answer is yes, then let me know what bridges you’ve constructed or what planes you’ve built, so I can know to avoid them! Good grammar is important in History, even if it’s not an English class. And I expect good grammar in your papers.”

Dr. S, American History from 1920-1963, 2014

You can apply that right back to storytelling. No matter how good the story is, if the story has a bunch of grammar/spelling/punctuation errors, the story will suffer. And my story, while still good, suffered a bit with these issues.

I’ll remember reading this story and finding these issues from here on out. I’ll use it so that when any future stories come out, they’ll be as error-free as possible. I can’t stand a story of mine being brought low by my own laziness and missing some errors. I’ll work harder to make sure this is the last time I find a story with such glaring problems (or glaring to me, anyway).

Please stop by if you can. I’ll be selling books and doing Tarot readings.

And if this story gets published again, like in a collection someday, I’ll make sure to fix those errors. God knows I only want to give you all my best work.

Anyway, that all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got a lot of writing to do tonight, so I better get to work on everything else that needs taking care of before then (like dinner and laundry). I’ll hit you guys up after the Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo (especially if I get any paranormal activity on camera). Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

I May Not Get a Lot of Writing Done in 2022

Posted: December 29, 2021 in Living and Life, Writing
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You’re probably reading this title and wondering what’s going on in my life that would make me write a blog post with such a title. Well, I’m not planning on going to an ashram in India or a monastery in Tibet to find enlightenment, if that’s what you’re wondering. So not the right time for it.

No, the reason why is, between my limited time and all that’s going on, I have to refigure where my priorities lie.

For one thing, there’s Cracked Skull Press and That Which Cannot Be Undone. The campaign is in its latter half, so I need to spend a lot more time focusing on making sure that it’s a success. It’ll involve a lot of man hours, networking and other tasks. So I’ll have to set aside more time to working on that and not to writing. I’ll need to if we’re to make the remaining amount of funding in our budget.

Speaking of which, if you would like to help us create a kickass horror anthology, or you’re just curious, you can find more about the anthology, the campaign, and the rewards here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crackedskullproject1/that-which-cannot-be-undone-an-ohio-horror-anthology. We’ve been working hard on making sure we have an awesome anthology with talented horror authors and we can’t wait to share it with you. Thanks in advance for your support. We appreciate it.

If you would like to check out the campaign and help me and my friends put out a great anthology with our stories inside, click the link above.

Even after the campaign is done, I have two books to release this year. I’ll be putting out a paperback and ebook of The Pure World Comes (plus an audio book if fate is kind), my Victorian Gothic horror novel. That probably won’t take too much time, as all I need is provide a good cover and ensure it’s formatted right. However, Hannah and Other Stories will need A LOT of editing done. Those seven stories will each require their fair share of attention, and it wouldn’t surprise me if some, like “The Autopsy Boy and Doctor Sarah” or “What Errour Awoke,” may need significant portions rewritten.

Add in all that, plus one story that’s currently being edited for a different anthology and other stories that might be accepted into other anthologies and magazines, the probability of a third draft of Toyland (or is it the fourth?), conventions and book expos, and a whole lot of other stuff that will or could crop up, and I will have to put a hold on the writing for a while.

It’s a shame. I was really enjoying working on this story where I got to terrorize neo-Nazis. And I had a great idea for a story based around Cinderella I was looking forward to writing. And this will probably push my mummy novel Crawler even further back.

But as things stand, my life won’t handle anymore projects. Still, if any of these stories find a home, it’ll be worth the pause. Because as long as I’m able to keep sharing my twisted, terrifying stories with you all, that’s all that matters.

My works can be found in many great booksellers. Check them out and let me know what you think.

And if you want to help things along, you can always check out my works that are already published and leave reviews online. Those help me immensely by letting me know people are reading my stories and are also letting other people know if my stories are worth their time. You can find my stories on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and from other great booksellers. Just search Rami Ungar and see what comes up!

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I look forward to updating you with the latest on all the projects I’m part of or will be hopefully be part of soon. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and Happy New Year.

Oh, and before I forget, I was recently featured again in the Columbus Jewish News and interviewed on the website Bookishly Jewish. And my fellow writers at Cracked Skull Press were on the podcast Necrocasticon recently too. Please check them out if you get the chance. Thanks!

Writing “Vile” Characters

Posted: December 23, 2021 in Reflections, Writing
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Occasionally in fiction writing, you create characters you find utterly repulsive. Maybe it’s their personality, maybe it’s what they do or believe in, but these characters are VILE.

And surprisingly, writing them well is kind of challenging. I should know. I’m working on a story now where I hate most of the characters. Why? I’ll get into that a little later.

(Though if you’ve been paying attention to my Facebook posts or Twitter feed, you might already know why.)

The thing is, while you may hate the character you’ve created, you can’t let that hate show too much in your writing. You have to treat them like you would any other character. Showing your contempt may be easy, but the reader may notice. And while they may agree with you, they will be turned off by the clear aversion and disdain coming off the page, especially if it’s a protagonist. “Why even bother writing this character if you’re going to make it so obvious you don’t like them?” That might be what goes through their minds. Instead, write them like you would a character you like.

A good example of this is how Vladimir Nabokov treats Humbert Humbert in the novel Lolita. In an interview, Nabokov stated he found Humbert a hateful person for obvious reasons. But he didn’t show his dislike for the character and his predilections in the story. Instead, he writes the novel normally and let’s the readers come to hate him by his actions.

That’s something to keep in mind. Instead of showing your disdain for a vile character, let their actions do the work for you. You can do a lot just by showing a cruel teacher depriving a kid of ice cream or a prison warden manipulating his prisoners to attack each other, rather than by describing them as nasty pieces of shit.

Dolores Umbridge. A great example of a vile character.

You can then supplement that by showing other characters’ reactions to the hated characters for being assholes. JK Rowling, despite her faults, did this quite well when Harry and his friends described characters like Umbridge or Pansy Parkinson and focused on their negative traits. Rowling famously hates those characters, by the way, and made sure they suffered or didn’t get happily-ever-afters in the end.

What if you have to show things through the perspective of the hated character, however? Well, that’s where it can get queasy to write them. Because, as much as you might hate them, you’ll often have to write them as any other character. For instance, l’m writing characters who are neo-Nazis.

Yeah, you read that right. The story I’m working on now is full of neo-Nazis, people who would gladly see me dead for being Jewish (among other things). And I am writing them as I would most other characters. I could write them and focus on their hatred and nasty ideology, and in another story I could get away with that. But for this story, I can’t let them just be stock characters or stereotypes, much as I want to. Instead, I’m trying to show the reader how the characters might see the world. And let’s face it, neo-Nazis are people, and they’re as complicated as any other character. So I should try to write them that way.

That being said, I am going to show just how horrible these people and their toxic ideology can be. And then I’ll take great pleasure in showing what horrors occur to them later in the story. Hey, I’m a Jewish horror author who loves visiting terrors upon his enemies. What do you expect?

So, writing characters you consider vile is more than just making them hateful or showing how much you hate them. It’s a combination of actions, character description, and even writing them in a complex manner. And, of course, making sure they get what’s coming to them if it fits the story. It may make you feel sick to write them that way, but it can also lead to a good story becoming that much better.

On an unrelated note, the anthology I’m helping to produce, That Which Cannot Be Undone, is closing in on forty percent funded on Kickstarter! Not only that, but we’ve added a whole bunch of new perks and have announced some new authors joining the project as well. Some of those authors have even volunteered to name characters after backers and kill them off in style should they back certain limited pledges. Isn’t that cool? You could be a character in another author’s story!

If that, and helping our group produce a kickass horror anthology featuring new stories from me and my friends, you can check out the campaign by clicking the link below.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crackedskullproject1/that-which-cannot-be-undone-an-ohio-horror-anthology

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. For those who celebrate, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas. If you need me, I’ll be joining my friend John McClane at Nakatomi Tower for Nakatomi Corp’s annual Christmas party. I hear they tend to go out with a bang every year.

Until next time, Happy Holidays and pleasant nightmares!

Announcing “That Which Cannot Be Undone: An Anthology of Ohio Horror”

Posted: November 14, 2021 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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It’s time I tell you about something exciting. A project I’ve been working on in secret with my friends and fellow Ohio horror writers.

So, for a while now, my friends and I in the Ohio chapter of the Horror Writers Association have wanted to put together an anthology of Ohio horror and bring some attention to the writers here. I mean, we’ve got Bram Stoker nominees and winners here, for the love of God! But the HWA has its own anthologies and standards for those anthologies, so chapters can’t do their own anthologies under the HWA banner. The only solution was to either partner with a publisher, or to form a publishing press ourselves.

Some of my friends in HWA Ohio and I decided to go the latter route.

Over the course of the pandemic, we formed Cracked Skull Press, did a ton of research and planning, and now, we’re working on putting out our first anthology: “That Which Cannot Be Undone: An Anthology of Ohio Horror.” This anthology will be full of stories set in Ohio, written by Ohio horror authors, and revolving around the theme “That which cannot be undone.” We’ve already brought on Bram Stoker winners Lucy Snyder, Tim Waggoner, and Gary Braunbeck, as well as NYT and USA Today bestselling author Megan Hart, as well as Bram Stoker winner Jess Landry to edit the anthology. My friends and I are super excited for this anthology and we can’t wait for you to read what we come up with!

However, to get this project off the ground, we’re crowdfunding the anthology on Kickstarter. We’re looking to raise $10,000 to pay authors, cover Ms. Landry’s editing fees, and take care of other costs. And that’s where you come in: we’re hoping you’ll support us in this endeavor. All pledges are voluntary, and you won’t be charged unless the campaign is successful. Plus, there are all sorts of perks with pledging, such as swag and copies of the final project!

And like I said, it’s all voluntary, so you don’t have to pledge if you don’t want to. However, we hope you’ll support us and make this project a reality. As I said, we’ve got a lot of talented horror writers here in Ohio, and we want to show people that. And who doesn’t like new horror? Besides non-horror fans, I mean.

Anyway, the campaign starts on November 29th and runs for 60 days. You can check it out using the link below and sign up for notifications from the campaign. My friends and I at Cracked Skull Press thank you for your support and we can’t wait to show you what we Ohio horror writers can come up with.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crackedskullproject1/that-which-cannot-be-undone-an-ohio-horror-anthology

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got a YouTube video to make for the campaign and then a new short story to finish (it’s literally consuming me from the inside out!). Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

“Cressida:” Getting Published This Month!!!

Posted: July 8, 2021 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Some of you may recall a few months back that I wrote a story called “Cressida,” a horror story centering around a mermaid. Yeah, you read that right. A horror story centering around a mermaid. Specifically, the story revolves around a young man finding out his uncle is keeping a mermaid in his basement. I can now say that Cressida will be published this month in the anthology Into the Deep from Jazz House Publications!

Ooh, look at this cover! It’s so scary and cool, it’s kind of sexy. I’m honored to have a story being released in a book with such a cover.

Also, fun fact: I got the acceptance for “Cressida” on my birthday last month. Yeah, really. I was really surprised by the timing. I had just gotten out of my birthday party at the bowling alley, got to my car, and was about to pull up the GPS app on my phone when I saw the response from the publisher. I think I almost screamed in my car. Definitely one of the best birthday presents I got that day.

Anyway, I’m really excited for all of you to read “Cressida.” While I wasn’t comfortable saying so when I finished the first draft, I can confidently say this story is some of my best work so far. Hopefully, you’ll think so too.

Not only that, but I’m excited to read the anthology! I’ve read some of the tweets other authors in Into the Deep have put out, and their elevator pitches of their stories have me excited. They’ll make you do what the tagline above says, and “beware what lies below.”

Ooh! I think I just felt a shiver up my spine!

So, as the graphic above states, Into the Deep will be out in less than two weeks. I’ll post links then if you want to get a copy. And if you like what you read, please make sure to post a review somewhere so others know what you think and can decide if they want to check out the anthology too.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. It’s late, so I’ll be heading to bed soon. Big thank you to Jazz House Publications for making “Cressida” part of this anthology. I can’t wait to crack open a copy and “dive” right in. Come on, that was good and you know it!

Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and may Lord Cthulhu, the High Priest of the Deep Waters, bless you from his throne in R’lyeh.

One more thing: I’ll be celebrating my ten-year blogging anniversary next month. To celebrate, I’m having an Ask Me Anything, or an AMA, on this blog. If you want to participate, send an email to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com with your question and where you’re from and I’ll answer it. And one lucky participant will win a prize for submitting a question!

All questions should be sent no later than 11:59 PM on July 28th, 2021. I look forward to receiving your questions, Followers of Fear. Knowing you all, you’ll come up with some good ones.

“Cressida:” First Draft of My Mermaid Horror Story is Finished

Posted: April 4, 2021 in Novelette, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Be careful. Not every mermaid sings about being part of our world.

I’ve been teasing for a couple of posts now that I’m working on a mermaid horror story. Yes, a horror story involving mermaids. You read that right. And I’m happy to say that as of this afternoon this story, which I’m calling “Cressida,” is finished!

“Cressida” follows a young man who goes out to his uncle’s beach house after a very strange phone call makes him worry about his uncle’s mental state. What transpires, however, is that the uncle has a mermaid in his basement! And that’s not the strangest thing of all, because the mermaid’s presence brings up uncomfortable memories for both men. And it’s going to have an irreversible effect on them as well.

I’ve had the base idea for this story–a guy keeping a mermaid in his basement–for quite a while. But then I saw a submissions call for an anthology dealing with deep water horror with an unusually high word count. Since I’m such an expansive writer,* I was excited. Rarely do submission calls give me such an opportunity to breathe and really go all out. I checked my story ideas, saw something that fit the theme, and got to work.

A few weeks later, and the story is finished at about 10,200 words, or about 33 pages. And I’m quite proud of the story. I don’t think it’s some of my best work, as I stated in some posts on my Facebook and Twitter pages. But I was able to really work in some themes of trauma, regret, and the power of desire and I think it makes for a good read.

Of course, I’m not the best judge and will look into having a beta reader go over the story before sending it off to the anthology. As long as I get the notes of “Cressida” back by the end of the month, I should be able to edit and submit it before the deadline. And if not…well, there’s likely another market to send it to. I’m always keeping my eyes open for this sort of thing.

Going to be a lot of writing and editing in the near future. I’m looking forward to it.

In the meantime, however, I’ll be doing the second draft of “Window Audience Blues,” the story about Robert Johnson I wrote. After that, I’ll likely be editing my novels River of Wrath and The Pure World Comes before submitting them anywhere. Depending on how things transpire in the coming weeks and months, I’ll hopefully get those all edited by June and submitted by July. Should be exciting.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to read a bit and then hit the hay. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and how do I have a basement in my home to store the trophies I take from my victims? I live in an apartment on the third floor!

*Seriously, I once had a teacher in a creative writing class comment that my work tends to involve a lot of character development and world building, even though I tried to keep the stories I turned in under ten thousand words. I summed it up as “yeah, I’m an expansive writer.” She wholeheartedly agreed.

“Agoraphobia:” One Week Since Release!

Posted: March 23, 2021 in Review, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I don’t know if this past week went on forever or went by so quickly. All I know is, Passover is just a few days away and it’s going to be busy preparing for the holiday.

Okay, enough complaining. As you know, I had a new story released last week. “Agoraphobia” follows a young man with severe anxiety who is forced to leave his home when a hurricane bears down on his area. Needless to say, things don’t go as planned. It’s a short, deliciously creepy horror story and I’m quite pleased with it.

And I’m happy to say, the short story has been well-received. Not only have I been getting a lot of people downloading copies, but since the release there’s been an average of a review a day for a total of seven. And even the lowest, a 3-star review, has been very positive. Here has been some of the responses to “Agoraphobia:”

Another great story by Rami Ungar, this one is more traditional horror. (not that there’s anything wrong with non-traditional horror!) As another reviewer said, you can’t say too much about a short without spoiling, so I’ll try to be brief.

Peyton lives alone in a well fortified house. Suffering from Agoraphobia, and secure in the knowledge that his house is safe from everything, he even ignores the coming hurricane. But, alas, it turns out his residence isn’t quite the castle he thought it was. A broken window leaves him with a water soaked carpet and – are those footprints?

Great read, good pacing, with some twists at the end. Highly recommend!

Joleene Naylor, author of the Amaranthine series

An intriguing short story of a man who has problems, sadly those problems are about to get worse. The author does a great job making this short story feel longer with complete content in a short space.

PS Winn, author

I would include more reviews, but as Joleene says, you can’t say too much without spoiling the story. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has read the story so far and has taken the time to leave their thoughts online for others to check out. Your reviews help other readers decide if they want to read it, so it means a lot to me.

Anyway, I’m very pleased with the response to “Agoraphobia.” And now my goal is to get more people reading it. I’m not expecting thousands of readers and adaptation offers, but I would like to make a little splash and expand my audience. We’ll see what occurs (though, being me, I always hope for the best).

If you’re interested, I’ll post links to “Agoraphobia” down below. If you decide to read the story, please let me know what you think somehow. A review, a tweet, or an email works. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback. And as I said, when you leave your thoughts in a public place like Twitter or Amazon, it lets others know and helps them decide whether the story is right for them.

And if you’re interested, I have a lot more stories you can check out on my Amazon author profile. Novels, short stories, and short story collections, plus some of the anthologies I’ve been lucky enough to have stories included in. I got them all and then some. Click this link to check them out.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got a busy Tuesday ahead of me. Work, shopping for Passover, and a beta reading for a colleague. Hopefully afterwards I can work on my mermaid horror story. Until next time, stay safe, happy reading and pleasant nightmares!

Agoraphobia: Goodreads, Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

“Window Audience Blues:” I Finally Wrote a Story About Robert Johnson

Posted: March 20, 2021 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Some of you may remember that last year, I wrote a blog post about my fascination with Robert Johnson, an early blues singer whose music and mysterious life has led to all sorts of wild stories about him. Some even believe he sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads to receive his talent. At the time, I was trying to think up a decent story to wrap around Johnson, but hadn’t come up with anything yet.

Well, I did come up with something. However, I only decided to write it recently after I saw a call for an anthology based around a certain theme. A theme I felt the idea for my Johnson story fit very well. Thus, I ordered Up Jump the Devil, the best Robert Johnson biography out there, from the library for a quick reference guide. And after doing my research this afternoon, I spent this evening writing late into the night.

And what do you know? I finished it all in one sitting.

“Window Audience Blues” follows the famous singer around the time his first wife was pregnant with their first child, and what occurred to him while he was away from her. It was an important turning point in his life, and I thought it was the perfect time to tell this story. And I managed to tell it within thirty-six hundred words too. Not sure how I pulled that off, but I’m glad of it.

Now, as to whether or not it’s any good, I’m not sure. I like to think it’s at least entertaining, but I’m probably biased. In any case, I’ve already reached out on the Horror Writers Association Facebook page to see if anyone wants to beta read the story and let me know what they think. With any luck, I’ll get a few people who can give me some good feedback. Not to mention it’s probably going to need a sensitive reading. After all, Robert Johnson was black and I’m white. The last thing I want to do is to accidentally include something racist or otherwise offensive in the story, especially when I just want to tell an interesting story around a most mysterious and legendary singer.

Well, that’s all for now. It might be a while, but if “Window Audience Blues” gets accepted into the anthology I mentioned (or another publication if they don’t accept it), I’ll be sure to let you all know. In the meantime, it’s well past midnight and I need my sleep. I’m working on a mermaid horror story for another anthology (yes, you read that right), so I want to be well-rested for that.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and my favorite Robert Johnson song is “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom.” Check it out if you’ve never given it a listen.

The First Short Story of 2021 Has Been Written!!!

Posted: January 17, 2021 in short story, Writing
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You know, I still remember when it took me months to write a short story. Or it felt like months. It might have been less. But it took a lot longer. I didn’t always have that great discipline when it came to writing, so projects took a lot longer than they do now. I guess that’s growing up and getting experience.

Well, at least it doesn’t take that long to get stories written now. Because, guess what? I just finished my first short story of 2021!

Can I get a GIF of Kermit the Frog being totally excited right now?

Was that necessary? Not at all. Did I enjoy putting it in there? Quite.

So, I’m sure you’re curious about the short story I’ve written. The story is called, “The Divorce from God,” and is unusual for my work because it draws very strongly on my Jewish heritage. Yeah, I may be Jewish, but that doesn’t appear in my fiction very much. Probably a number of reasons for that, but I guess there’s just not many stories I feel like telling where my heritage could fit comfortably in.

However, this story was inspired by a recent scandal in the ultra-Orthodox community, so this time the Jewish heritage fit in quite well. In case you weren’t aware, back in 2013 an ultra-Orthodox rabbi was arrested for some serious crimes. You see, in Judaism, a woman can only get a divorce if her husband gives her a document called a get. Without that, she’s forever tied to him. And sometimes, husbands will hold that over their wives, leaving them with few options. Women stuck in this situation are known as agunot, or chained women.

I bring this up because the rabbi I mentioned was being hired by these women to kidnap their husbands and torture them until they granted the divorce. And the guy charged thousands of dollars for his services, too! He got away with this for decades, protected by his victims’ unwillingness to testify or by the charges being dropped. However, after one of his victims came forward, the FBI pulled a sting and he and his cohorts were arrested. Most of them are still serving their sentences, last I checked.

Click here for a great article from GQ magazine on the scandal, which was essential for my research.

I first heard about this story last year when I heard that a movie was being made about it. The story immediately inspired me with ideas. And then, about a week ago, I heard about an anthology of Jewish horror being published later this year, so I thought, “Might as well write this story now. It’s a good fit.”

It was a good night of writing, all told.

And hopefully, once I’ve done some edits, it will be. I’ve already sent it to my dad, who’s a rabbi and who’s agreed to take a first look, to give his feedback on the Jewish aspects of the story and if I do a good job explaining those aspects for a non-Jewish audience. After that, I’ll probably let a beta reader or two take a look at it and do some edits before sending it in for consideration. Fingers crossed, the editors will like it.

For now though, I think I’ll celebrate with a cup of tea and a late viewing of Die Hard 2, which is probably the best of the Die Hard sequels. Tomorrow, I’ll probably talk about my next major project. Or watch and review a horror movie. Or both. We’ll see what I’m in the mood for.

Good night, my Followers of Fear. And until next time, stay safe and pleasant nightmares!

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