Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 47

How Does Reading Affect YOUR Writing?

Blatantly riffing off Mike Duran's blog this morning, "What Do You Read When You're Writing?" It's an interesting question, one I think is very important, because I believe that for a writer, a healthy reading habit is very, very important.

Of course, as I've already confessed, I'm hopelessly addicted to reading, so there's no question that I'd be reading and writing at the same time.  And I'd have to say that for the most part, I read what I'm in the mood to read, or read books that I'm reviewing.  Like I said over on Mike's blog, I like to think of my head as one big pot full of stew.  And I want a stew of varied substance.



In fact, substance is the key word.  Now, to be clear: I think ANY type of story can be WRITTEN well, especially down on the word level.  It could a quiet, suspenseful, psychological drama.  It could be monster fiction.  It could be offbeat, quirky, very literary, or...hey, why not?...feature a killer clown.  But it can still be written WELL.

And that's become my mandate for reading.  I'll swing between all sorts of different types of stories - weird westerns, weird fiction, quiet horror, Lovecraftian horror, monster horror, adventure/dark fantasy - but the bottom line is...

I want it to be well-written.

Here's a sampling of my current reading plate:

Kealan Patrick Burke's KIN , which I'm in the middle of.  It's a pretty disturbing story.  Grotesque, actually (it's characters, not necessarily it's narrative). On a recent Goodreads update, I described it as thus:

"a novel co-written by Harper Lee, Robert McCammon, and the folks who wrote Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Now, imagine the Ewell family (from To Kill A Mocking Bird) as a bunch of fanatic religious cannibals..."

But the prose is FANTASTIC. Rhythmic and lyrical.  So for, it's a no brainer.

Greg Lamberson's  Personal Demons.  Right now, it's a pretty straight serial-killer, police procedural suspense/thriller that promises supernatural overtones.  Completely different tone than KIN. But well written.  Brisk pace.  And a highly sympathetic - yet flawed - main character. BUT WELL WRITTEN.

Ron McLarty's The Dropper. This is a moody, melancholic but at times sentimental portrait of a young plumber, part-time boxer in 1922 England, trying to care for both his disabled younger brother and alcoholic father, in the wake of his mother's death.  Not supernatural at all (well, maybe a hint).  Very literary.  And it's first-person present tense, written in common, British street-slang.  But SO WELL DONE.
And, just recently, I finished Charles Grant's In A Dark Dream, which was quiet horror - suspenseful.  Subtle. Built completely on mood and atmosphere.  Once again, completely different from the three books above, but very well written.
Some folks will argue the "well written" point. Say that's subjective.  I'm not going into that here.  I'm just going to be bull-headed and stubborn and say, that from the stance of wording, phrasing, description, tempo/pacing, characterization, internal logic and plot resolution: sorry. I believe there is a standard.  And I've come to the point  in my life in which I only want to read things that handle those factors in efficient to superior to SUPERB levels.
As I mentioned on Mike's blog, the only type of fiction I'm holding out on reading right now is short fiction.  When I have both this novella and novel in the hands of beta readers, I really want to spend some time consuming and writing lots of short fiction.  Kinda like my own, self-motivated "short story bootcamp".  I DO believe that being in the "novel" mode and "short story mode" are two different states, so I want to structure my reading to reflect that.
So.  How about you folks who haven't already wandered over to Mike's blog, and would like to give this blog some love. What do you read when you write? Is there a certain genre or author or style that exerts a positive - or negative - pull on your own writing?

On Being Content With My Productivity Rate; IE T. L. Hines, T. M. Wright

Some of my blogs are premeditated, others are mind splurges. This one's a mind-splurge, one that sorta formulated while napping after writing this morning.  

In recent posts, I've talked about coming to grips with where am I as writer, being content with what I've accomplished, and not getting caught up with all  the "stuff" that gets attached to pursuing a writing career, and just focusing on the writing itself. 

So this morning - ironically, as I'm in the middle of a furious burst of productivity - I got thinking about my overall pace and productivity in general.  Now, I'd like to think I'm consistent and dedicated. Somehow, I make it a point to write at least two hours, every day.  And, when I have the free time, I pass up a lot of other things to go cloister myself somewhere quiet -  the public library, at my junior college alma mater's library, or even somewhere on campus now - and just write for hours.

However, I don't think I'm ever going to produce a real huge body of work, for several reasons:

1. My method is very slow.  I have to write all fiction long-hand, first.  Can't seem to just sit down and type stuff out.  That big blank screen without hard-copy to type from just shuts my brain down completely. 

Plus, I'm prone to re-writing.  I'm apt to rewrite a paragraph or phrase multiple times until I REALLY feel good about it.  I'm not gonna lie. I TOTALLY prefer this method of writing. I feel like the extra handwritten draft really smooths my prose out. But I've TRIED to skip this step - as often advised by other writers further up the food chain - and it just doesn't work for me.

2.  I seem to have a hard time generating sensible, cohesive plots that make sense. And this really bugs me. Hiram Grange I don't count, because I was writing in a given universe, and even though the story was mine, I knew what had happened before my story, where he had to be by the end, and his back-story had been established.  

But with all my other stuff, I spin my wheels checking for plot holes, inconsistencies, completely illogical plot turns, inconsistent and illogical characterization - you know, the stuff that annoys me as an avid reader and drives me INSANE as a  reviewer. Oddly enough, I'm far more confident in my ability to spin a pretty phrase than I am in my ability to write a good story. 

I know people say: "Get it done, then make it pretty", and I've gotten better at that...but still.  I agonize over whether "this choice makes sense", or "would your normal, average person, confronted with the supernatural, do that?"

To be fair, since embracing outlining, this has gotten a lot better.  Still, I envy folks who can just churn plots right out.

3. I've entered this whole thing late in the game. Sounds weird, but it's true. I lament - probably too much - the time I wasted in my early twenties before getting married, even my early thirties before we had kids.  Probably why I love teaching Creative Writing, trying to point folks in the right direction, because for nearly 10 years I operated in a complete vacuum, and I feel that now, especially.

So I'm 38.  Have only written a novella and sold a handful of short stories to the semi-pro market. Will certainly finish my first novel by 39, but will it be published before 40?  Granted, lots of people start late.  And when the kids are more independent, I'm sure I'll have more free time to write, especially over the summer.  But I'll never generate as much work as someone who hit the ground running in their early twenties or thirties, even.

But you know what? I'm becoming more and more okay with that, too. I think a lot about author T. L. Hines, these days.  Now, there's been other considerations that have affected his writing pace - some health issues a few years ago, and a recent family move to another city - but since his first novel Waking Lazarus was published in 2006, he's seen only four more novels published, the most recent being The Falling Away in 2010.

So only five novels in six years.  No short stories or novellas or editing gigs.  Just five novels. 

But five DAMN good novels.




Again, he stated on his Facebook recently about moving his family, and how writing has taken a backseat.  So you have to account for that.  But still, I always think of Tony's work when I get a little frustrated at how slowly things seem to move for me, worrying that I'll only ever write four or five novels in my lifetime (much less see them published).

But I'm completely okay with that.  Especially if those novels are REALLY DAMN GOOD novels.

I also think of veteran writer T. M. Wright.   Who, in his 43 years of writing, has only seen 23 novels published. Now again, I know his health has suffered as of late, and I know even less about his circumstances than I do Tony's.  But his novels - the ones I've read - are so well done. Written so well, even down on the word level.  So who cares if I only write four or five novels?

I only care that they're DAMN GOOD NOVELS.  And maybe if that happens, someone will read them and remember them.  I'd much rather be remembered for that, than for writing 30 novels read by nobody but sketchy, questionable reviewers who glad-handed me and gave me  five star ratings just because they're trying be "supportive".


And I'll stop there, because I'm NOT going into that topic, today...

On Why I'm Okay About Missing World Horror This Year; or, "I live alone. I train alone. I win the title alone."

Little over a year ago, I was feeling a bit in the blues about not attending my first ever World Horror Convention.  I'd planned to be there, see.  All the Hiram Grange crew - including author Richard Wright - as well as Tim Deal and Danny Evarts of Shroud Publishing would be there, also.  Plus, many of my writing "peers" - folks who started in the horror genre right around the time I did - would be there, as well.

But unfortunately, the funds just weren't there.  Also, my wife decided to attend her cousin's wedding that weekend, making a swing through to see her uncle (who hadn't been doing well at the time, and just passed away recently), then also swinging by to see other family. 

So I stayed home and did duty with the kids that weekend.

While everyone I knew in the horror genre (it seemed) was off at World Horror.  And apparently, by most everyone's testimony, it was one of the best World Horror Conventions in quite some time.

Now, I had a good time with the kids.  I wasn't really as bummed as all that.  But, I can honestly say it was a little disheartening to watch all the Twitter and Facebook updates about WHC from home.  Probably wouldn't have been so bad if Abby had been home, but with her on the road? Yeah, I can honestly admit. I was a bit bummed about missing out.

However, Norman Patridge (one of my favorite authors, no less) stopped by my blog to offer some encouragement, in the form of a movie quote from Rocky III: 
Whenever I have to miss a con I really want to attend, I just channel my inner Mr. T from ROCKY III: "I live alone. I train alone. I win the title alone."
Hope that works for you, pard. 

And not only did that word of encouragement help, it's also stuck with me.  I printed that snippet out, taped it to the wall right above my desk, where I stare at it every day before I write:  
"I live alone. I train alone. I win the title alone."  
Now, we can't go through life - or even a writing career - alone, depending on only ourselves.  But I don't think that's the point of this quote, the way Norm was using it to encourage me.  The point - I think, being an avid reader of Norm's blog - is that, in the end, the most important thing in writing is just that: THE WRITING.  Without the writing, Cons would be irrelevant.   So would marketing, or developing a "brand", or an "online presence upon which to develop a platform to market your work".  Without the writing...
NONE OF THIS MATTERS.
And that must be done alone.  At your desk with pen in hand, in front of the computer, "rattling the keys", as Norm likes to say.  Many folks are involved in a successful writing career - good folks, too - who are there to help, give advice, critique, or even in Norm's case, offer a kind, encouraging word.  But the biggest journey - transferring thoughts and ideas and images in your head to words on the page - is one that must be undertaken alone.
So since that point a year ago, I've endeavored to focus only on that solitary pursuit of writing. And I'm not gonna lie, it's often been a struggle - accepting things that maybe I didn't want to accept - but I've endeavored to push aside everything else that's just NOT IMPORTANT (but often gets tagged on to a writing career) and just WRITE.
So this year, missing World Horror didn't sting.  In fact, knowing I'll be missing most of the Cons this upcoming year? I'm totally fine with that.  
Why?
Because I'm writing. Every day. Sometimes twice a day.  Sometimes all morning, on weekends and days off.  I'm almost done with my first novel, a novel I wasn't expecting to write, but found myself drawn to.  I've got two short stories coming out.  A novella suddenly blooming NOW, when I wasn't planning on getting to it until summer.
And things are actually happening.  Not stuff I can talk about - because they exist in speculation, only - but still some really nice possibilities have come up.   And I can't say, really, if those things have come about because of the Cons I've attended or not.
But I do know they've come about because of my writing.  Because that's the only thing in this gig you can truly control, how often and how well you write.  And that can be done anywhere. 
At home in my basement office.  At the kitchen table.
At the library, or Barnes & Noble.
During my lunch-break at school, or during Library Study-hall duty.
Anywhere.
Alone.  That's the only part you can control, is seeking out the very solitary pursuit of writing.  
To me, that's a win-win.  Because, hey, in the end....
WRITING is the part I love most.  
Everything else?  
Just stuff I can't control.
Thanks again, Norm.

Light It Up Blue - Autism Awareness Day

Those of you who know me best know I'm not one to get overly involved in causes and charities, repost this, that, and the other thing on Facebook. It's just not my way.  I hang out on Facebook for casual conversation, kicks and giggles, promotion of my writing stuff, and just for sheer randomness.  So I don't really use it for social action.

But there is one social cause that my family has become intimately aware of over the past three years, and that's Autism Awareness. We have a very personal, close to home reason why, however.  Many of you are new around the old blog, too, so this serves as a "get to know us better" sort of thing.

Three years ago come this April, our five year old son Zackary was diagnosed as severely autistic.  It was hard, as you can imagine.  He was two years old, not speaking, and we'd hoped it was merely a matter of delayed speech.  Abby took the diagnosis very hard, as any mother would.  

In my own way, I took it even harder. Because before ever meeting Abby and before teaching English, I'd worked with special needs children, autistic ones in particular.  And I'd seen it, at it's worst.  I knew how bad it could get, and at that point - we stood on the precipice of unknowing, and had no idea how things would turn out.

Three years later, and we've been immensely blessed. Zack - through a virtual miracle - gained admittance into a pre-school intervention program at Binghamton University, one with world-wide renown.  Since beginning school there, his vocabulary has exploded from one word to complex sentences, humorous and witty expressions, reactive and interactive speech we never thought possible three years ago.  We still struggle and Zack is still delayed, but at this point, if you met him on the street, there'd be nothing to differentiate him from any other normal, rambunctious five year old boy. The picture above would've been impossible three years ago. He never would've posed, let alone smiled.

But we're one of the blessed ones.  So many others have it much worse than us.  And early intervention is so important.  I can't stress enough how vitally important it is to eschew fears about diagnosis, forget about fears of labeling, to get tested early.  The people at the Children's Institute were delighted and eager to work with Zack, because as they stated it, they were getting him at the best possible time - that the ages between 1 and 3 were the "golden years", the best time possible to start intervention. 

And they were right.  Zack has grown in leaps and bounds, and his chances of living a life unimpeded by autism (notice I didn't say "normal", because our definition of that word has been radically altered around here) have grown exponentially.

But as I said, others aren't so lucky.  So this is one cause I happily promote every year.  That's one of my hopes and dreams for my writing career, is that someday I'll be in a position to do more to promote Autism Awareness, that my career will someday grow in a way that'll give me a greater voice with which to share Autism Awareness.  

For now, though, all I have is this little ole' blog, so that'll have to do. Please share this blog, visit Light It Up Blue today, on Autism Awareness Day.  Also, here are some past posts I've made on the topic, so you can see how far we've come:

http://www.kevinlucia.com/2011/08/keeping-up-with-lucias-autism-grants.html

http://www.kevinlucia.com/2011/04/national-autism-awareness-month-long.html


http://www.kevinlucia.com/2010/08/blog-ninth-what-is-autism.html

How do you write your action scenes?

Quick mini-blog before I snatch a quick nap after writing, before heading to work out before school.  But I've been thinking A LOT, lately, about the philosophy or practice or mechanics of writing action scenes.  And for a change, I'm asking a direct question of y'all, hoping for some response and opinions on this.




So, writing action scenes.

More and more, as I read and read and read and write, I've developed specific ideas about HOW action scenes should be written. Or, I should say, how I like to write actions scenes, and when I read novels, especially, how I'd prefer those action scenes be written.

Now, everyone has their own preference or style or whatever.  In some ways, I'm reacting more as a reader than a writer, but of course, my preferences as a reader directly influences my practices as a writer.  And I find that there - for me, anyway - exists a direct and almost tangible connection between scenes of swift, brisk action and how the actual words are played out across the page.

For example, a recent horror novel I've read (and it was a good one, don't get me wrong. Very well written, for the most part.) lost me quite a bit on its action scenes.  And I'd consider myself a pretty well-read guy who doesn't get lost, often.  But when you've settled yourself down into something like Grapes of Wrath (which I hope to read this summer), your mind comes to expect a certain pacing, you adapt to it, know you're reading something longer and perhaps slower moving, and adjust.

But when I'm reading a novel that's moving something like that - and then the action scenes appear - if the actual style of the writing doesn't change to mimic the shift in mood and atmosphere, I actually lose track of things, a bit.  I've read several  "action scenes" over the  years, then thought: "Wait.  What did I just read, there?"  

It annoys me.  On a purely aesthetic level, because part of me feels: "Wait, the mood, situation, circumstances, emotion and even basic movement of the characters has just changed drastically.  Shouldn't this affect the very structure itself, so the brain can adapt and get into the new mood?"
 
What do you think? Should it? Or am I just crazy?

This is why I've come to love Norman Partridge and Charles L. Grant more and more.  Both these guys are superb stylists - masters of writing style.  Both these guys manipulate the very words on the page to mimic the mood, atmosphere, and energy they want to impart in their scenes.  They shift back and forth between styles - from basic and maybe even detailed exposition to terse, staccato, rhythmic or lyrical prose - with ridiculous ease.

So this isn't about writing in really short, choppy, "See Spot Run", Hemmingway-esque style all the time.  It's about knowing when to shift, and to change your style accordingly.

How about all you folks?  Anyone have similar feelings as a reader or writer? How do you handle action scenes in your prose?  All thoughts and opinions appreciated.


*There are exceptions, of course.  I've found Ramsey Campbell's action scenes to be largely paragraph oriented, but they still flow with a sense of balance and ease lacking in other writers.  Same thing with the little bit of Tom Piccirilli's work that I've read, also.

On Being Addicted to Reading; or, Will I Ever Stop Reading? Will you?

Can I share a secret?

I'm OBSESSED WITH READING.

Absolutely consumed with it, honestly.  And really, just fiction and sometimes poetry.  I mean, I can read nonfiction if I have to, or if it's really directed towards my interests...but for the most part, I just want to read fiction.

All the time.  

And I find that, even more than ever, I MUST have a book with me, always.  Because hey, you never know. What if there's a long wait at the dentist's? That's fifteen more minutes to read. Or if we're on a long road trip...or, going to Abby's parent's, which is only about fifteen minutes away...or, if we get to church early and I've got ten minutes to spare...

You see where this is going.  I'm literally addicted to reading, about as badly as I am addicted to books themselves.  When I see free books, I've got to almost physically restrain myself from taking them, regardless of whether they're stories I'm interested in...simply because they're free.

So yeah, I read a lot.  One book in the morning, a different book before bed, and at least snippets from one or two books during the day at school, the books I'm currently teaching.  And yeah, I'm a fast reader - not gonna deny that - but really, I'm one of those bookwormish folks who'd stereotypically rather pass up human contact for reading.  Good thing I've never had a social life, because at this point in my life, if I had one, I'm pretty sure I'd give it up for more reading time.

What are vacations to me? Week long reading marathons.  Have to sit at the mechanic for four hours while my car gets fixed?  Won't be a problem....my favorite used book store is in walking distance.  I'll just hike on over there, grab a book to pass the time (I actually did this last May...)

Which makes the concept of NOT reading...or, for some reason, losing my LOVE of story...an
absolute NIGHTMARE.

I mean, Good Lord....not read fiction, anymore?

And yet, I see this problem or shift or opinion expressed with increasing frequency among my writer folk on Facebook and other social networking venues, that not only do they not read nearly as much as they used to, they can't seem to MAKE themselves read fiction, or even enjoy it all, anymore.

Now, there are a variety of really good reasons for this. One I've seen expressed by a lot of my writer friends who are getting busier and busier on the writing front - when they have contracted work that needs to be done, they're climbing the ladder, getting a lot more work  solicited from them, it only makes sense - they don't have as much time to read, anymore. And honestly, I WISH I was that busy with writing gigs.

AND, I can also see how a reader gets more discerning with age.  I've gotten that way.  There are certain books by certain writers than I've learned to avoid, because I simply don't want to read that kind of story. Also, things like Star Wars  novels - which I at one time collected and read with a voracious passion - I just don't HAVE it for those novels, anymore.  Don't know if I'll ever read another Star Wars novel ever again.

But lose my love of reading fiction?

Of obsessively consuming story after story?

Oh, I hope and pray not.  I just couldn't imagine losing my love for something like that.  Here's hoping I never do.  I mean...I may actually have to TALK to people and stuff, then....

On The Importance Of Cutting Things Out - I. E., EDITING

I've had an epiphany.

Of something I already knew and believed in.  But it was delivered to me in a very tangible way, and not only is its timing so apropos, it adds more fuel to the fire regarding this whole "self-publishing thing" that I've been grappling with.

This week, I had to watch Alien and Aliens for my "Film & Philosophy" grad class.  I'll probably be pulling those movies apart here on the blog later this week, to help get my thoughts in order for class.  In any case, I happened to pick up the Special Edition of Aliens.   It had some bonus footage that had been cut from the original theatrical release.

Some of that footage was cool.  Especially a scene with these remote guns the marines put in the corridors.  I remember seeing Aliens on TV as a kid, and for some reason they showed that version with the guns, and then years later, when I watched the movie, I was confused that no versions available for purchase actually had the remote guns.  Also, there's more of an intimate moment at the end - right before Ripley goes off to find Newt - when Ripley and Hicks share their first names. 

But for the most part, the Special Edition wasn't worth it.  Because the extra footage spoiled the movie - about twenty minutes into it. I mean, I've seen Aliens countless of times, but I'm one of those folks who really gets into the mood and atmosphere of movies, so it doesn't matter if I know how it goes.  I get into it.

And there's an extra, extended scene early in the movie that COMPLETELY ruins all of the film's dramatic tension, for me.  

In the original version, Ripley is just back on Earth, out of a job, pilot status revoked for destroying the Nostromo, unsuccessful in convincing the ever nefarious "Company" that aliens are on LV-whatever-they-called-it and that's why she had to destroy the ship, why the whole crew is dead.  Worse yet, she discovers the planet's been colonized for years, and, according to one fat-cat Company suit, "they've never complained about anything."

Cut to Ripley - presumably weeks later - her hair cut, sitting around a cramped apartment, cigarette smouldering between her fingers.  A Space Marine and Burke (smiley but ultimately slimy Company rep, played by Paul Reiser) show up with the alarming - but not unexpected - news that they've lost contact with the colony on LV-whatever-they-called-it. 

In the theatrical version, Ripley tells them to screw off, has another nightmare, joins the squad, we get there....and because we really don't know what's happened, have no idea how the aliens got into the colony, it's just. So.  Freaking. CREEPY.  

The destroyed halls.  Desperate barricades.  Torn down doors, signs of battle.  And no. Bodies. Anywhere.

All those face huggers, inexplicably in stasis containers in the Med Lab, with only a med report of how medics had to remove a face hugger from one of the colonists, who died in the process.

And then, later, when Ripley discovers the colony logs showing BURKE himself sent the colonists to that wrecked space ship where all the alien eggs are, we're stunned.  Up to that point, Burke had actually been pretty disarming, making us think that maybe, just maybe this Company stooge wasn't such a stooge, after all (though the more cynical of us may've already suspected it, regardless).  But anyway, because we knew nothing until this point, there's almost a sense of outraged betrayal, which only heightens the movie's impact.

But the Special Edition  - IMHO - undercuts and ruins ALL this tension, with an early scene at the colony when everything's normal, with some dispatcher complaining about how the Company has sent them out to check some quadrant, then we shift to the intrepid explorers in their land rover - which happens to be Newt and her family - and there's the space ship, which they've been sent to investigate. And, Newt's dad gets a face-hugger for his troubles.

So this extra scene lessens the impact of the following:

1. the outrage and betrayal we feel at Burke, because now we know ahead of time the Company sent them out there

2. any mystery as to how the aliens got into the compound

And it occurred to me right then: this is why editing is SO, SO important.  It's easy to see WHY that scene was edited out of the final theatrical version.  It revealed two essential elements too early, taking a lot of the surprise and tension away from the movie, even for me, a guy's who's seen this flick countless of times. The movie was better WITHOUT this scene.  Somebody thought so, anyway, and I'd have to agree.  Maybe I'm reacting this way because I'm so used to the original, but I don't think so.  The story just works so much better without that scene.

Ironic, seeing as I'm almost finished with the first draft of this novel, and I'm already lining up scenes - and an entire perspective - to axe from the story, simply because they reveal too much and drain suspense and tension from the story.  

Also, thought-provoking when it comes to the ever-present self-publishing dilemma.  Don't know how it works when editing out scenes from a movie, but to me, this still speaks VOLUMES about the necessity of having someone impartial and objective - and with an editor's authority - to look at a work and say: "This scene. Not sure it works, or serves the story the way it should."

Anyway.  Just some random thoughts on a Saturday morning.  Now, off to my Energy drink, cereal, and some cartoons...

On Being "Okay" With The Way Things Are, And Returning to Reviewing

Part of this is a theme I've hit on before, so I'll try to be brief, not over do it.  But things never work out quite the way we hope or plan or dream they will, and that's especially true for anyone who embarks on creative endeavors.   We aspire or dream big, we work very hard, we see some marks of progress, cracks in the ceiling above us...and then we dream bigger, inspired by our minute successes.

I was very fortunate.  Did decently, right out of the gate.  Started taking my writing "seriously", and a year after that, received my first manuscript/synopsis requested from a midlist publisher.  They passed (Thank goodness, because it was crap), but at that same time, I "sold" my first story to the first edition of the The Midnight Diner , even garnered an "Editor's Choice" award, gathering in a substantial cash prize.    Under a year later, I made some missteps, submitted to a few crappy markets, but also sold several decent stories for semi-pro rates (.o1 - 03 cents a word), and landed the Hiram Grange gig.

Then I got out to Cons.  Met people.  Continued to sell a bunch of non-fiction pieces for good money.  Attended Borderlands Press Writers Bootcamp not once but twice.  Learned a ton writing Hiram Grange, received some nice reviews, also edited a Lovecraftian-poetry-prose-graphic-novel thing, as well as Shroud's 2010  Halloween Issue.  Assumed the Review Editor's position at Shroud, did some good things there, then "retired" to focus on my own writing.

And then..........

Cue the crickets in the background.

I'm not sure what I expected.  That suddenly, I'd be landing stories left and right for pro-rates.  That suddenly, I'd "arrived".  But whatever it was I'd expected to happen, didn't.  I submitted some stories to a few pro-paying places, they were rejected (again, in retrospect, rightly so...they didn't stink, this time, but they were only "okay"), and then...things sorta.... slowed down.

Completely.

Now, part of this was my doing.  I spent almost two years in writing, editing, proofing, final proofing of Hiram Grange.  Then, editing both the Halloween issue and The Terror at Miskatonic Falls took up a lot of time (time well spent, mind you).  Then, I had to write my thesis (a short novel) for my Creative Writing MA.  Then, after that, I spent nearly a year on a convoluted, non-linear novel that's, like, my MAGNUM OPUS, before setting it aside because I need a ton of distance before I could fix its problems.

And then, I spent some time pitching a series to HarperTeen.  And then, last June, when they finally turned that down, I said, "Screw it, Billy the Kid keeps whispering into my ear, so I'm going to write this  thing."  And, nearly every day since that day, I've done exactly that, and I'm just at the final stages now.

Also, so much of this is out of my control.  Fact: I teach full time, and I doubt a day will ever come when I'll be able to afford not to.  Fact: I'm a family man who loves writing, but also loves his wife and kids more.  I get roughly 2 to 2 1/2 hours a day to write, in the wee hours of the morning (not counting days off and weekends), and that's it.  I don't have time to work on more than one project at once.

And yet.

When I see folks I'd consider to be my colleagues moving ahead of me.  Seeming to travel their career paths so much faster than me?

Well.  In keeping with the transparency I've always shown on this blog...

It kinda....hurts.  Makes me feel like I'm falling behind.  Even though I know I've made a conscious decision to focus on long-term projects, and I also know I've never REALLY focused on the short form hard enough to see if it's really a medium I can excel in....

It hurts.  Sometimes - hopefully this won't qualify me as a pansy - I have to log off Facebook, because I don't want to see another writer friend announce a story they've placed in a really cool anthology filled with writers I'd never dream of ever seeing my name next to.  It actually hurts emotionally.

But the facts that I've stated above are what they are, and they're not changing.  Also, there's the truth of it: I've decided to grind away on long term projects.  Have kept my head down writing. I firmly believe that to be a successful short-story writer, get published at a quality level, you need to be writing a lot of stories, back to back, constantly writing, editing, sending out, re-editing when they get rejected, sending them back out again....and I'm not doing that, right now.

So I'm working hard to be "okay" with the way things are.  And I'm getting better.  But I also wonder if - especially in this Internet world, where things are there one day, gone the next - if I'm keeping my head down too far.  So, I'm going to return to land of regular reviewing.  

First of all, I'll continue to review for Shroud Magazine, though I'm no longer the Review Editor.  Which means, I'll review books on my schedule, and not have to worry about administrative matters (which I did enjoy, mind you.  Just ran out of time for them).  Also, for Shroud I'm focusing entirely on reviewing Cemetery Dance titles and the new horror line at Samhain Publishing, so my efforts will be focused, concentrated.

Second, I'm going to start blogging regularly - about monthly, I think - at The Midnight Diner.   I'll be reviewing specific titles there, definitely CBA (Christian Bookseller Association) titles that I think are worth mentioning, (because, also transparently, I don't think many of them are worth mentioning) but also other works with spiritual themes.  I'm also going to, I think, feature small reviews and recommendations of classic works of horror.   Sort of my own little "History of Horror" column, except from the perspective of one who is investigating and exploring it, rather than one who'd consider himself an authority.

Anyway, my first review for The Midnight Diner - of Travis Thrasher's Gravestone - is up.  My next review for Shroud Magazine - of Ramsey Campbell's Ancient Images - will be up soon, also. And, I'm working on being "okay" with where I am, right now.

And I'm getting there.  It's just going a lot slower than I'd hoped it would.

The Buffy Paper That Was Never Meant To Be....

Unfortunately, my abstract for an academic paper on Joss Whedon, theology, and the Buffyverse was turned down.  I'm not gonna lie, I'd really hoped to get a green-light - because where else am I going to come across a call for papers about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and theology? - but also not gonna lie, I'm so strapped for time, I'm not sure if I would've been able to fit it in, if they did give me the greenlight.

In any case: here it is. My very first academic abstract.  Any publications interested in seeing this, just give me a ring....

Souls Clothed inDemonic Flesh: The Divided Natures of Angel & Spike

by Kevin Lucia
"Youdon't havea Soul. You area Soul. You havea body." - C.S. Lewis 
Christianphilosopher C. S. Lewis couldn't have imagined the Buffyverseinthis quote,but it offers eerie resonance concerning the cases of Angel andSpike, two vampires who, throughout their existence possess soulshoused in demonic flesh, conditions that offer ample material fordiscourse on the topics of damnation, redemption, salvation, and theconflict between Good and Evil that exists within us all.
Even more intriguing is howthese vampires obtain their souls. Angel is cursed with his aspunishment for past sins, while Spike wins his (depending onperspective), in order to prove his worth to Buffy as a person. Angel's soul is dependent on his eternal torment, subject to removalshould he ever obtain happiness. Spike's soul is permanent, though itmust endure a painful assimilation - that of his demonic vampiricnature, weaker human nature and an idealized, "hero" figure, intoa whole being.
Complicatingmatters is the "Shanshu Prophecy" from Angel,stating a vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in theapocalypse and win back its humanity. When Spike joins the Angelcast for its final season, an interesting conflict emerges: whichvampire with a soul most deserves their humanity most? One cursedwith a soul for its evil deeds, or one given their soul for enduringarduous, torturous trials?
Ipropose examining Angel and Spike's soul-body constructs through avariety of belief systems: Catholicism, Protestantism, Zoroastrianism, Deism and even Humanism. Theintent, however, will not be to pigeonhole Spike or Angel into aparticular belief, but to examine and consider the possibility thatof all the inhabitors of the Buffyverse,Angeland Spike are the most emblematic of our eternal, spiritual strugglebetween Good and Evil.

So. Any takers?

Genre Writers, Read This

I've gone on and on this past year about "discovering my roots".  Started last year, around this time, after a delirious evening hanging out Tom Monteleone, F. Paul Wilson, and Stuart David Schiff. Having only read mostly Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Peter Straub, I was astounding - staggered, actually - at the genre history confronting me that night, writers and stories and magazines I'd never heard about.  

I grew up in a small country town.  Attended a small public high school.   Our school library only had so much, and the book stores in the city and at the mall, I didn't get to much.  I read A LOT as a kid, but it was very generalized, my interests spread all over the place...because nothing caught my interest, really.  Wasn't until my college years I stumbled into science fiction (mostly new stuff, with the exception of Jack L. Chalker), and my late college years, when I finally tuned into Steve and Dean and Peter.

And it's taken until NOW (well, last year, at least), for me to really dive into genre history, specifically horror.  And there's such a rich tradition there, one I often feel like I've missed out on, and I wonder if we'll ever see anything like that again.

Anyway, came across this wonderful essay about Karl Edward Wagner.  It's stuff like this I've been feeding myself on, along with fiction and writing, of course, because I've kinda gotten obsessed with reading the work of those who have come before me, lately...