Living Literature: Horror

So there I was trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about.


Trying to convince people that horror fiction was about more than just blood and gore; that in some instances it had more to say than "don't go down into that basement".


Where was I? My local library had invited me to host a seminar on the horror genre as part of its Living Literature program.


The library had promoted it fairly well, arranging interviews with the local newspaper and radio station and it was a great night end. I never expected to get huge crowds, but I was very happy with the half a dozen people who showed. It made it easier to talk.

I prattled on for an hour; about how horror made the reader feel, made them think about things like faith and philosophy - as well as fear. I talked about the themes of my novella "Torment" and utlimately finished with a short reading from my upcoming novella "The Noctuary".  I also introduced the audience to the website for The Noctuary which can be found HERE

I had intended on posting a video of the reading here, but unfortunately the background noise from the air-conditioning made that impossible. Instead I've posted a few photos from the night.


So did I get what I wanted from doing the talk - sure. I got a chance to try and put horror fiction in a serious light and to top it all off I managed to off load half a dozen signed copies of Torment as well.


Here's to the next talk.

Guest blog: Author Sean A. Lusher

Two failures and (hopefully) a win

After Damnation Books picked up Stricken, I felt halfway decent about my own writing for once. It was June, everything was signed and things were looking up. This is probably what attributed mainly to the writing spree I went on.

For most of June and July, I sat down and wrote. A lot. More so than I ever had before in my life, as far as I can remember. And, at the time, I felt good about it. Amongst all the things I spit out were two novellas, a tragedy and a romance/paranormal/horror. I thought they were publishable.

And then my wife got hold of them.

My wife is a grammar Nazi to a T and worked in a library for five years straight. (Can you see why I married her?) She knows books, she's intimately familiar with how a story should flow and how to judge a book by its cover. She offers an excellent balance of both literary criticism and the mechanics of grammar. On top of all that, she is entirely unafraid to tell me what she really thinks with a complete and total disregard for my feelings.

Obviously, this is a good thing, since we can learn more from criticism than we can from praise. She told me both of them were pretty far from being ready for people to shell out money for, even just a few bucks. Naturally, I didn't take well to this, but eventually I realized she was right.

It took me about a month and a half to get back up and try writing something else. This time around, I took more time and focused harder on the writing. From a strange cocktail of inspirations, Liberation Road was born.

It starts out with a twenty something heading across the vast, boring plains of Kansas, on his way to meet his online girlfriend for the first time. Naturally, he's nervous. Then he starts running low on gas.

Forced to pull in to an isolated gas station, nervous tension quickly turns to genuine fear when he can't find a single soul. What started out as a simple pit stop morphs into a grim tale of survival when his car dies and something entirely inhuman beings hunting him.

Liberation Road is a twenty two thousand word Horror/Mystery novella that I self published on the Amazon Kindle.

My main inspiration for writing this was frustration at a lack of quality monster fiction in several media avenues. Be it books or movies or video games, horror is an underrated genre. What's worse, most of the horror that is out there nowadays concerns a human element: the psycho stalker, the serial killer, the crazy hillbillies. And even of the few horror pieces out there that do have an inhuman antagonist, they typically fall into the 'safe zones': zombies, vampires, werewolves, demons.

I wanted something different. I wanted something that didn't fit into the rigidly defined notions of what a 'monster' is. Coincidentally, that's the same reason I wrote Stricken. It's going to serve as the inspiration for future works.

Which reminds me, what am I doing next? Of course, I'm completely contradicting myself and writing about zombies in a Sci-Fi setting.


You can find Sean online HERE

Guest Blog: Author Naomi Clark

Today UK dark fiction author Naomi Clark hijacks my blog to talk about her latest novel "Dark Hunt" and offers some an interesting take on the perils of writer's block


The Book I Didn't Write

When I started work on Urban Wolf book 2, I knew exactly what I was going to write. I had a title (Bad Dogs). I had a plot (details not included – I might still use them elsewhere!). And, for a while, I had the first two chapters. I'd left some loose ends dangling in book 1, SILVER KISS, and I thought I'd use book 2 to wrap them up.

But then I got about five thousand words in and stalled completely. Every time I started working on the sequel, I hit a wall. I've never really had writer's block before (I'm not entirely sure I believe in it), and I was stumped as to what had me stuck. I love these characters and their world, and I had a pretty good plot mapped out, so what was holding me up?

The answer is simple. I was bored.

My own writing was boring me. I wasn't engaged with the plot I'd been so certain I wanted to write. And if I wasn't engaged, how could I ask readers to get engaged? There's a quote by Frank Robinson - "Be anything you want to be, but don't be dull." I was being dull. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why I was bored but the fact was, Bad Dogs just wasn't working for me.

So I wrote DARK HUNT instead. Now, I'd had this plot in mind for a while and I thought maybe it would be book 4 or 5 in the series. But I'd just come home from a holiday in Paris, the city was fresh in my mind, and given France's rich trove of werewolf folklore, it seemed the ideal location for my new plot. I scrapped the five thousand words or so I had of Bad Dogs and started DARK HUNT. It was the right decision. Suddenly I was excited again! It was a challenge to take the characters I'd established in SILVER KISS and uproot them to take them to Paris, and I enjoyed translating my experiences of the city into the novel and making them Ayla and Shannon's.

Will I ever write Bad Dogs? I honestly don't know. I still like parts of the plot I had in mind, and maybe later in the series I'll find a place for them. In the mean time, I hope everyone enjoys reading DARK HUNT as much as I enjoyed writing it!

We're giving away plenty of swag in the DARK HUNT blog tour (http://tiny.cc/drkhunttour). There are daily ebook giveaways and hampers of goodies up for grabs at the grand finale of the tour including ebooks, limited DARK HUNT t-shirts, personal horoscopes and tarot readings by Naomi Clark, as well as postcards from Ayla, Shannon, Vince, Joel and Glory (urban wolf series characters). Leave a comment here (ask me a question; tell me about the books that have excited you (or just say hello!) with your email address to be entered.  Enter at each point along the tour for more entries and more chances to win.

Naomi Clark lives in Cambridge and is a mild-mannered office worker by day, but a slightly crazed writer by night. Her novels include Afterlife and Demonized. Her short fiction has appeared in ezines from Midnight Times to Dark Fire Fiction. You can find her on the web at www.naomijay.blogspot.com

Author Interview: Scott Nicholson

Today I'm interviewing award-winning horror author Scott Nicholson. Scott has written 12 thriller novels, 60 short stories, four comic book series and six screenplays. He's also a freelance editor and journalist. He lives in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.

  

What first drew you to horror writing?

I always found something a little dark in Dr. Seuss, or at least incredibly imaginative. I loved those Tales from the Crypt and Weird War comics with the six-page stories that always ended in a twist and several question marks. "The end--or IS IT?!!?") And my grandmother told those old Appalachian folk tales and ghost stories. So while my first writing, besides the little comics I used to make, was more like Ernest Hemingway and Kurt Vonnegut imitations. But then Stephen King was the biggest writer on the planet so it made sense to try to be the next Stephen King.

How did the idea for The Red Church come about – when did you know you had something worthy of a novel? 

I had written three novel manuscripts before I started The Red Church, and probably 40 or 50 short stories, so I'd figured out what I was doing by then. I had the idea from legends of a local haunted church, but it was really the main character Ronnie Day and just starting the story and remembering my own childhood that made it easy to write. It's truly one of the biggest satisfactions of my career that the novel remains popular even 10 years later.

Many of your tales are set in Appalachia – does your inspiration come solely from the environment around you?

I have borrowed from local supernatural legends, and I love the magic of these ancient mountains. These are the world's oldest mountains and I'm in the headwaters of the world's second-oldest river, so it just feels like a lot of secrets and mysteries are here.

You’ve branched out into writing comics and children’s books…how did that come about. Writing a comic/children’s book is probably a lot less cerebral than writing a novel?

Well, since I started with Dr. Seuss and comics, it was natural to delve into them. Having children and listening to the odd, fresh takes on language is inspiring. They truly see with new eyes. I was an artist at one time,and although I'm not skilled enough to work professionally, I love seeing work come to life under talented hands.

Screenplays too; it would be quite a challenge to condense The Skull Ring novel into a workable screenplay?

I majored in video production and developed several short films, so I have some visual training. The only real difference is that everything must be shown, so dialogue and action are the most critical tools. Really, just strip away all internal monologue, find the essential traits of the characters, and keep the story moving, all the while imagining that you are sitting in the theater. Writing scripts for both screenplays and comics is a good way to expand my craft. I guess I'm just intellectually restless, or maybe just trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

Your writing flows between horror, crime and mystery and thriller - which genre do you prefer to write in and why?

Funny, when I first started writing fiction with the intention of a career, I wrote in multiple genres. Part of it was I figured my odds would be better if I sent to multiple magazines at the same time, so I was hitting horror, mystery, fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction all at the same time. I never even thought of it as consciously charting a course. Horror seemed to sell the best, although it was probably because there were far more small-press markets in that genre. When I sold The Red Church, I had novel manuscripts in several genres but it made sense for the publisher to stick with supernatural horror, so I did that for five more books. But I was writing other books while those were coming out, and I've self-published those now. I expect I will keep writing different things as long as readers let me. Readers are my boss now.

You’ve embraced the digital publishing age, releasing many of your books as e-books; what has the reaction been like?

Wonderful. I am so grateful I was here when this historic moment in publishing happened. I fulfilled the only goal I ever had with my writing in that it is now my full-time job. Everything else is just gravy. Everybody talks about money and numbers in the indie discussion, but the real advantage is freedom to write what you need to write. I feel a spiritual, moral, and artistic obligation to write because I want to share my ideas and views. Now each book has a chance to meet the reader that needs it.

Your own personal favourite tale and why?

I like The Red Church as a novel, and my favorite short story is "The Vampire Shortstop," which I've made available for free at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Those just feel like the easiest stories to write, so they are probably the easiest for readers to connect with.

Ever written a story that hasn’t seen the light of day?

I have some that haven't been published, but I will probably collect them and publish them later this year. I do have a few boxes of stuff from my teen years, and in my former life as a musician, I probably wrote 500 songs. I guess my life has just been one long series of dreams and scribbles and doodles and dribbles. Not so bad, all in all.

What advice would you give an emerging author?

Oh, just write and don't listen to writing advice or publishing advice or anybody who thinks they know anything. People who think they are "experienced" are probably the worst people to listen to, because conventional wisdom is worthless in the realm of dreams. In writing, convention is to fail. So why not be unconventional?

Any upcoming new works?

Amazon is publishing Liquid Fear and Chronic Fear on Dec. 20, and I'm preparing for U.S. release of Creative Spirit at the end of December. I'm also working on a post-apocalyptic novel that should come out early next year. I'm currently working with translators to self-publish in multiple languages. I also have a couple of series I am writing with J.R. Rain and three or so more books to write next year. It's a great time to be a lazy dreamer!

You can find Scott on the web at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/

"The Noctuary" cover revealed!

I can now unveil the cover to my forthcoming horror novella The Noctuary.

The cover, created by Damnation Books' head cover artist Dawne Dominique, is deliciously dark and really captures the themes of the book well.

The Noctuary centres on Simon Ryan, a down-and-out writer, who receives a visit from one of the Dark Muses of Hell only to inform him that he is destined to become their scribe, helping them damn human souls by writing all manner of terrors into their lives.

To prove he is worthy, the Muses give Simon the chance to go back and rewrite a horrific moment from his past....

Simon will witness the true power of words first-hand and use them to make a shocking choice or lose his soul for all eternity.

The Noctuary will be released by Damnation Books as an e-book on December 1, with the paperback edition to follow.

Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the release date and don't forget you can purchase my first novella Torment in paperback or ebook NOW.

A Dark Discussion

On October 26, just days out from Halloween, I'll be standing tall behind a podium to discuss all things horror!

My hometown library has invited me to give a presentation on horror fiction and how I broke into it and already the nerves are setting in.

I'm not nervous because I havent spoken in public before, rather I just want to make sure I do the genre justice.

Unfortunately there are many who tend to put the horror genre in a bad light (no pun intended!), so my aim of giving this talk will be to give them a better appreciation for the genre - that it's not all just about blood and gore.

For me horror - and writing horror - is about peering into that part of the soul where fear and death lurks (because we've pushed it down there) and facing it. I also believe horror fiction, through its stories and tortured characters, has the power to show us who we really are.

I'm looking forward to giving this presentation and hopefully it will help persuade people to embrace horror fiction. I'll also be signing copies of my novella "Torment" and there'll be a short reading from my second novella "The Noctuary", to be released on December 1 from Damnation Books. I'll try and get that recorded and feature it in a future post.

So if you happen to be in my neck of the woods on October 26, about 7pm, then why not come along?

For more details, go HERE