Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 57
August 8, 2011
Do Blurbs Really Matter? IE: Do You Buy Books Off Blurbs?
First, today's striking prose:
It might could be true there's a curse on that home. It's up a mountain cove not many know of, and those who do know won't talk to you about it. So if you want to go there you'll have to find the place yourself.
When you find it you won't think at first it's any great much. Just a little house, half logs and half whipsawed planks, standing quiet and gray and dry, the open door daring you to come in.
But don't go taking such a dare. Nor don't look too long at the three-different colored flowers on the bush by the doorstone. Those flowers look back at you like faces, with eyes that hold your eyes past the breaking away.
In the trees over you will be wings flapping, but not bird wings. Roundabout you will sound voices, so soft and faint they're like voices you recollect from some long-ago time, saying things you wish you could leave forgotten.
If you get past the place, look back and you'll see the path wiggle behind you like a snake after a lizard. Then's when to run like a lizard, run your fastest and hope it's fast enough...
From Who Fears the Devil, by Manly Wade Wellman - collection of Silver John short stories.
I discovered Manly Wade Wellman's iconic folk hero, battler-of-evil, Silver John the Balladeer in the Whispers anthologies. Loved him right off. Like a mountain-man, guitar-picking version of Repairman Jack, except he doesn't charge much more than room and board, and often nothing at all...
****
Combining two posts in one today. Got some more work-for-hire to do after this, plus Zack is home sick today. I have some updates on Zack and general family updates, but will post on that later this week, hopefully.
So.
Blurbs. Author endorsements of another author's work; IE. their opinion why readers should buy and read said author.
A sensitive subject. One I shall tread upon carefully, but it's something that's stuck in my craw for a real long time. The nature of them. Whether they've become meaningless. And if I actually trust them.
So, again.
How to begin?
As a book reviewer these past seven years, I've encountered LOTS of blurbs. As a reader trying to expand his palate, and a writer trying to expand his education, I've taken a lot of blurbs on faith when I've ventured out into new genres or venues. As a young writer, I remember how I felt when I received MY first blurb, and that nervous email I sent out to other authors, seeking blurbs for Hiram Grange.
And, I remember that white-knuckled fear I felt when a publicist grabbed a snippet from one of my reviews to use as a blurb, and I thought: "Oh. My. God. What if EVERYONE disagrees with me and absolutely HATES this book? What will they think of me?"
Undoubtedly, blurbs are important. Stories abound how just the right blurb from just the right author made all the difference in a fledgling writers' career. But I can't COUNT how many times I've reviewed/read/purchased a book based on a "trusted" author's blurb, and came away REALLY disappointed. Now, that's not anything so ground-shaking. What says that author's opinion of said book has to be uniformly shared by all? Nothing. You have to allow for difference of opinion and taste.
Even so....author blurbs of author's works....these days, the whole "machine" - if you will - seems to have run amok. Maybe it's because of the proliferation of micro-small presses desperate for recognition and standing with that all coveted blurb, or the masses of folks rushing headlong into the self-publishing market, getting that all coveted "author blurb" to make up for the fact they've got no following, no track record, no history, nothing that would really make them stand out from the hundreds - or thousands - of OTHERS hurtling into the self-publishing fray.
Now, again...I remember when I received my first blurb from author Tosca Lee, for my first piece of published fiction, a novelette published in the first edition of The Midnight Diner . Thing was, I'd sent the collection with my story in it to Tosca for her feedback and advice, because of how much help she'd been to me up until that point. Her ensuing review on Amazon and her blurb was not solicited, and completely out of the blue.
And I'm not looking down my nose at the folks who blurbed Hiram. I'd like to think I sent Hiram out to qualified folks who know their stuff. In fact, I know I did. However, I also purposely gave it to folks I knew would be tough on it, mercilessly, (one used to go by the name of Horror Wench or something like that, another one of my former Borderlands instructors), and though the latter mixed his/her response with praise AND insightful critique, all in all, the results seemed similar: I hadn't screwed up, and hadn't sucked.
But, let's be brutally honest. There's quality fiction. And there's fiction that's substandard. BOTH are being published in the small press and midlist. And, far as I can tell, both are blurbed equally, seemingly - from my point of view - quality irregardless.
To me, this is a separate bit from reviews. Reviews are done by readers only, readers & writers, editors, book critics. A huge spectrum. Author blurbs, however, are assumed to carry more weight, to speak with authority. And, most of the time - a disproportionate amount of time - they just don't seem to match up with reality.
And, going back to whole "let's be honest about quality thing"? I've seen it. Authors stamping their name on work that's sub-standard, at best.
So as a fledgling writer, it's made me a bit "meh" about the hunt to get folks to blurb my work. Not to say I'm not or won't be tickled if an author does blurb my work in the future, I've just given off that whole list of coveted authors I'd had in my head that I'd love to someday give their "stamp of approval" on my work. And when it comes to buying....
Well, I gotta be honest. Only a few authors' whose word I'll trust. Pretty much will buy ANYTHING endorsed by Peter Straub. That's always proven golden for me. Same thing for a recommendation by F. Paul Wilson. Charles Grant's blurbs always seem right, too (you can tell I've been roaming the used book store stacks).
Do I want someone big to blurb me, someday? Course I do. But I don't want it be because I begged or asked a favor. In fact -depending on whatever publisher I work with again someday - I'd almost rather not know AT ALL who my publisher sends my stuff to for blurbs...
So. What about you? Do you trust blurbs for your reading material? Got an author whose blurb you always bank on? Share 'em if ya gottem...
It might could be true there's a curse on that home. It's up a mountain cove not many know of, and those who do know won't talk to you about it. So if you want to go there you'll have to find the place yourself.
When you find it you won't think at first it's any great much. Just a little house, half logs and half whipsawed planks, standing quiet and gray and dry, the open door daring you to come in.
But don't go taking such a dare. Nor don't look too long at the three-different colored flowers on the bush by the doorstone. Those flowers look back at you like faces, with eyes that hold your eyes past the breaking away.
In the trees over you will be wings flapping, but not bird wings. Roundabout you will sound voices, so soft and faint they're like voices you recollect from some long-ago time, saying things you wish you could leave forgotten.
If you get past the place, look back and you'll see the path wiggle behind you like a snake after a lizard. Then's when to run like a lizard, run your fastest and hope it's fast enough...
From Who Fears the Devil, by Manly Wade Wellman - collection of Silver John short stories.
I discovered Manly Wade Wellman's iconic folk hero, battler-of-evil, Silver John the Balladeer in the Whispers anthologies. Loved him right off. Like a mountain-man, guitar-picking version of Repairman Jack, except he doesn't charge much more than room and board, and often nothing at all...
****
Combining two posts in one today. Got some more work-for-hire to do after this, plus Zack is home sick today. I have some updates on Zack and general family updates, but will post on that later this week, hopefully.
So.
Blurbs. Author endorsements of another author's work; IE. their opinion why readers should buy and read said author.
A sensitive subject. One I shall tread upon carefully, but it's something that's stuck in my craw for a real long time. The nature of them. Whether they've become meaningless. And if I actually trust them.
So, again.
How to begin?
As a book reviewer these past seven years, I've encountered LOTS of blurbs. As a reader trying to expand his palate, and a writer trying to expand his education, I've taken a lot of blurbs on faith when I've ventured out into new genres or venues. As a young writer, I remember how I felt when I received MY first blurb, and that nervous email I sent out to other authors, seeking blurbs for Hiram Grange.
And, I remember that white-knuckled fear I felt when a publicist grabbed a snippet from one of my reviews to use as a blurb, and I thought: "Oh. My. God. What if EVERYONE disagrees with me and absolutely HATES this book? What will they think of me?"
Undoubtedly, blurbs are important. Stories abound how just the right blurb from just the right author made all the difference in a fledgling writers' career. But I can't COUNT how many times I've reviewed/read/purchased a book based on a "trusted" author's blurb, and came away REALLY disappointed. Now, that's not anything so ground-shaking. What says that author's opinion of said book has to be uniformly shared by all? Nothing. You have to allow for difference of opinion and taste.
Even so....author blurbs of author's works....these days, the whole "machine" - if you will - seems to have run amok. Maybe it's because of the proliferation of micro-small presses desperate for recognition and standing with that all coveted blurb, or the masses of folks rushing headlong into the self-publishing market, getting that all coveted "author blurb" to make up for the fact they've got no following, no track record, no history, nothing that would really make them stand out from the hundreds - or thousands - of OTHERS hurtling into the self-publishing fray.
Now, again...I remember when I received my first blurb from author Tosca Lee, for my first piece of published fiction, a novelette published in the first edition of The Midnight Diner . Thing was, I'd sent the collection with my story in it to Tosca for her feedback and advice, because of how much help she'd been to me up until that point. Her ensuing review on Amazon and her blurb was not solicited, and completely out of the blue.
And I'm not looking down my nose at the folks who blurbed Hiram. I'd like to think I sent Hiram out to qualified folks who know their stuff. In fact, I know I did. However, I also purposely gave it to folks I knew would be tough on it, mercilessly, (one used to go by the name of Horror Wench or something like that, another one of my former Borderlands instructors), and though the latter mixed his/her response with praise AND insightful critique, all in all, the results seemed similar: I hadn't screwed up, and hadn't sucked.
But, let's be brutally honest. There's quality fiction. And there's fiction that's substandard. BOTH are being published in the small press and midlist. And, far as I can tell, both are blurbed equally, seemingly - from my point of view - quality irregardless.
To me, this is a separate bit from reviews. Reviews are done by readers only, readers & writers, editors, book critics. A huge spectrum. Author blurbs, however, are assumed to carry more weight, to speak with authority. And, most of the time - a disproportionate amount of time - they just don't seem to match up with reality.
And, going back to whole "let's be honest about quality thing"? I've seen it. Authors stamping their name on work that's sub-standard, at best.
So as a fledgling writer, it's made me a bit "meh" about the hunt to get folks to blurb my work. Not to say I'm not or won't be tickled if an author does blurb my work in the future, I've just given off that whole list of coveted authors I'd had in my head that I'd love to someday give their "stamp of approval" on my work. And when it comes to buying....
Well, I gotta be honest. Only a few authors' whose word I'll trust. Pretty much will buy ANYTHING endorsed by Peter Straub. That's always proven golden for me. Same thing for a recommendation by F. Paul Wilson. Charles Grant's blurbs always seem right, too (you can tell I've been roaming the used book store stacks).
Do I want someone big to blurb me, someday? Course I do. But I don't want it be because I begged or asked a favor. In fact -depending on whatever publisher I work with again someday - I'd almost rather not know AT ALL who my publisher sends my stuff to for blurbs...
So. What about you? Do you trust blurbs for your reading material? Got an author whose blurb you always bank on? Share 'em if ya gottem...
August 2, 2011
Taking the Time to Pimp Myself, But Not So Much That You'll Hate Me....
Consummate blogger and fine author (one you should read) Mike Duran blogged yesterday about the conflicting issues facing new authors today - that more and more, we're being called upon to market ourselves and our brand and works, but at the same time, we must be careful not to OVER-MARKET ourselves, pimp ourselves out too much.
In other words, not only must authors today - as tedious and "non-writing" as it may seem to some - have a vibrant and regular presence on the web through blogging and social networking platforms, but we must also be careful not to SPAM folks with unwanted market pitches about our work, new sales or deals, our newest blog tour, the newest review of our work, etc.
One of the visitors aptly commented that her favorite authors were REAL people online. They talked about - IE, posted status updates - about life and hobbies and their interests, interacted with folks on a personal basis, and didn't spend every moment online stalking folks and shoving their works down the masses throats.
I can attest to this. I've recently cut some folks from Twitter and Facebook (the latter, in one particular instance), simply because EVERY POST was about their work: a review, a blurb, the new Amazon link, a blog tour, an interview...in fact, this person's profile picture was of him/her reading their OWN book, which I found far more irritating than just the cover of their book, for some reason.
I think I've managed not to over-pimp myself here on this blog. I post news when it comes, I did have a blog tour in November of 2010 (after which I tried to lay low for a bit), but that's about all.
I just eclipsed the one year anniversary of kevinlucia.com, and I'd say the focus here has been much sharper and far more personal - and perhaps more interesting - than the old kevinlucia.net (now gone and dead, may it rest in peace). Basically, this blog is an online journal of rambling thoughts about everything from horror, fiction in general, writing & marketing (hence this post), to the state of children's television, education, intervention for special needs children and any other whimsy that crosses my fevered little brain.
It's also become a sounding board for my frustrations as a writer, educator, parent - and a writing parent who's trying to educate (or trying to GET educated) - and for random bits of trivia relevant to, well, whatever.
But, I haven't had much occasion to pimp myself lately. Sadly, that's because I've hit quite a dry stretch in publications. Got a few acceptances out there that aren't anywhere near publication, but other than that, it's been like a dry desert announcement-wise. SO, for the smattering of new folks adding me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +, here's a self-pimping moment, after which this blog shall resume it's daily unscheduled randomness.
So, I've written some fiction. The most recent and longest work is a novella, Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, Book 4 in the The Hiram Grange Chronicles. All the novellas link together, but they're also standalone and can be read in any order, so you needn't read all the others to enjoy mine. It's got some decent reviews, my favorites being the following:
"In the mood for a wild ride of a book? Something smart and scary and exciting? Kevin Lucia's HIRAM GRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE fits the bill to perfection. It teems with monsters and demons, with arcane lore, black magic and narrow escapes. What could be more delicious? Long live Hiram Grange!"
~ Robert Dunbar, Bram Stoker Nominated author of THE SHORE and MARTYRS & MONSTERS
"HIRAMGRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE moves fast, fun and furious... I couldn'tput it down! If you've always thirsted for James Bond to have aserving of Lovecraft -- you'll eat this one up."
John Everson, BramStoker Award Winning Author of Covenant
Brilliantly paced and with very few moments for the reader to stop and catch their breath, Hiram Grange and the Chosen One is an adrenaline drenched jaunt through the realms of horror, fantasy and dark humor. Violence and gore abound, presented expertly by Lucia in a way that not only shows his raw talent, but the ruggedness of Hiram's character as well.
Apex Publications
If you like monsters and guns and snarky quasi-British guys with bad habits saving the day, go snag it on Amazon.com now.
I recently edited my first - and hopefully not last - issue of Shroud Magazine, Issue #10 Halloween Special. It was great working with folks like Rio Youers, Norman Partridge, Kelly Owen, Bob Ford, Thomas Phillips, Alethea Kontis and others. If you love Halloween goodness - even in August - go grab that, also.
So, I've also had some short fiction published. They're okay. All horror/speculative fiction. I'll list them in order of publication, first being most recent, so which means - as an FYI - the last few are early stories, and may not show the same word economy as the more recent stories. (FYI: I get no kickbacks for these. I was paid once, and that's all she wrote). The first one, actually, is a freebie online:
The Crow's Caw - As The Crow Flies
The Midnight Diner, Volume 3 - Lonely Places
Brutality as Art - A Willing Donor
MALPRACTICE: An Anthology of Bedside Terror - TherapyAbominations - Water God of Clarke Street
Northern Haunts - Old Bassler House
Morpheus Tales, Issue #1 - The Sliding (An expanded version of Old Bassler House, of which I also offer as a free graphic e-novel here.)The Midnight Diner: Volume 1 - The Way Station (1st published story, so a bit wordy...)
And those are the ones I'm okay with folks reading. I have a whole year of stories and publications that are just...eh...because they were very early efforts. Maybe I'll rewrite them someday. Most probably not.
But wait...I've got more. See, I've also seen the publication of several non-fiction pieces drawing their inspiration directly from real life. They're completely different than the stories above, published in a VERY different market. They are listed below:
In Times of Need - Hope For Christmas Praying Together - A Chorus of PrayersLove Is A Flame - Encouraging My DreamPraying From The Heart - More Than We Asked For Love Is A Verb - Between Baby and Basketball Life Savors - Right Choice
So there you go. Pimping done. Back to the semi-randomness....
In other words, not only must authors today - as tedious and "non-writing" as it may seem to some - have a vibrant and regular presence on the web through blogging and social networking platforms, but we must also be careful not to SPAM folks with unwanted market pitches about our work, new sales or deals, our newest blog tour, the newest review of our work, etc.
One of the visitors aptly commented that her favorite authors were REAL people online. They talked about - IE, posted status updates - about life and hobbies and their interests, interacted with folks on a personal basis, and didn't spend every moment online stalking folks and shoving their works down the masses throats.
I can attest to this. I've recently cut some folks from Twitter and Facebook (the latter, in one particular instance), simply because EVERY POST was about their work: a review, a blurb, the new Amazon link, a blog tour, an interview...in fact, this person's profile picture was of him/her reading their OWN book, which I found far more irritating than just the cover of their book, for some reason.
I think I've managed not to over-pimp myself here on this blog. I post news when it comes, I did have a blog tour in November of 2010 (after which I tried to lay low for a bit), but that's about all.
I just eclipsed the one year anniversary of kevinlucia.com, and I'd say the focus here has been much sharper and far more personal - and perhaps more interesting - than the old kevinlucia.net (now gone and dead, may it rest in peace). Basically, this blog is an online journal of rambling thoughts about everything from horror, fiction in general, writing & marketing (hence this post), to the state of children's television, education, intervention for special needs children and any other whimsy that crosses my fevered little brain.
It's also become a sounding board for my frustrations as a writer, educator, parent - and a writing parent who's trying to educate (or trying to GET educated) - and for random bits of trivia relevant to, well, whatever.
But, I haven't had much occasion to pimp myself lately. Sadly, that's because I've hit quite a dry stretch in publications. Got a few acceptances out there that aren't anywhere near publication, but other than that, it's been like a dry desert announcement-wise. SO, for the smattering of new folks adding me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +, here's a self-pimping moment, after which this blog shall resume it's daily unscheduled randomness.
So, I've written some fiction. The most recent and longest work is a novella, Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, Book 4 in the The Hiram Grange Chronicles. All the novellas link together, but they're also standalone and can be read in any order, so you needn't read all the others to enjoy mine. It's got some decent reviews, my favorites being the following:
"In the mood for a wild ride of a book? Something smart and scary and exciting? Kevin Lucia's HIRAM GRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE fits the bill to perfection. It teems with monsters and demons, with arcane lore, black magic and narrow escapes. What could be more delicious? Long live Hiram Grange!"
~ Robert Dunbar, Bram Stoker Nominated author of THE SHORE and MARTYRS & MONSTERS
"HIRAMGRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE moves fast, fun and furious... I couldn'tput it down! If you've always thirsted for James Bond to have aserving of Lovecraft -- you'll eat this one up."
John Everson, BramStoker Award Winning Author of Covenant
Brilliantly paced and with very few moments for the reader to stop and catch their breath, Hiram Grange and the Chosen One is an adrenaline drenched jaunt through the realms of horror, fantasy and dark humor. Violence and gore abound, presented expertly by Lucia in a way that not only shows his raw talent, but the ruggedness of Hiram's character as well.
Apex Publications
If you like monsters and guns and snarky quasi-British guys with bad habits saving the day, go snag it on Amazon.com now.
I recently edited my first - and hopefully not last - issue of Shroud Magazine, Issue #10 Halloween Special. It was great working with folks like Rio Youers, Norman Partridge, Kelly Owen, Bob Ford, Thomas Phillips, Alethea Kontis and others. If you love Halloween goodness - even in August - go grab that, also.
So, I've also had some short fiction published. They're okay. All horror/speculative fiction. I'll list them in order of publication, first being most recent, so which means - as an FYI - the last few are early stories, and may not show the same word economy as the more recent stories. (FYI: I get no kickbacks for these. I was paid once, and that's all she wrote). The first one, actually, is a freebie online:
The Crow's Caw - As The Crow Flies
The Midnight Diner, Volume 3 - Lonely Places
Brutality as Art - A Willing Donor
MALPRACTICE: An Anthology of Bedside Terror - TherapyAbominations - Water God of Clarke Street
Northern Haunts - Old Bassler House
Morpheus Tales, Issue #1 - The Sliding (An expanded version of Old Bassler House, of which I also offer as a free graphic e-novel here.)The Midnight Diner: Volume 1 - The Way Station (1st published story, so a bit wordy...)
And those are the ones I'm okay with folks reading. I have a whole year of stories and publications that are just...eh...because they were very early efforts. Maybe I'll rewrite them someday. Most probably not.
But wait...I've got more. See, I've also seen the publication of several non-fiction pieces drawing their inspiration directly from real life. They're completely different than the stories above, published in a VERY different market. They are listed below:
In Times of Need - Hope For Christmas Praying Together - A Chorus of PrayersLove Is A Flame - Encouraging My DreamPraying From The Heart - More Than We Asked For Love Is A Verb - Between Baby and Basketball Life Savors - Right Choice
So there you go. Pimping done. Back to the semi-randomness....
August 1, 2011
What's THAT story you really want to write?
Short post, today. Been busy with lots of "work for hire" - the kind of writing that brings in money and isn't anything I'd want to share with anyone. Someday, I may actually be busy with fiction guidelines. Hopefully. Anyway, been so tied up with that, haven't had a chance to blog much, lately.
Now, this is going to be one of those "Q & A" blogs. Maybe that'll pull some more comments out of the ether, maybe not. Anyway, here it goes....
All authors have THAT story they want to write. Their magnum opus, the one they've always wanted to write. Some folks - like Stephen King - end up not only writing that story, but turning it into a mini-empire (The Dark Tower). Sometimes - also like King - it takes them nearly 13 years to write (It). Sometimes - also, once more like King - that novel gets shoved in a trunk because of fears of failure, only to be released later (Blaze).
Others end up writing something that defines them purely by happenstance or fate, like Paul Wilson and Repairman Jack, who he'd never originally intended to stretch out into a 15 book series that arced over into several other stories. Other authors, like Rio Youers, never end up sharing those novels because they're early efforts deemed by the author to be too derivative of their favorite novels.
And that last one is probably the stumbling block for many authors, as is it is for me. THAT novel I've always wanted to write is the "evil carnival that comes to town to suck the souls of all the unwitting townspeople". Of course, it's already been done, so many times. Best by Ray Bradbury in Something Wicked This Way Comes. And of course, I want that novel to take place in October, just like Bradbury's did. Heck, I've even got a title, if I can get permission to use it: "The Autumn People."
I've held off writing that novel. Mostly, because I know there's no way I can put a fresh, new spin on it, or come close to what Bradbury did with it. Someday, maybe.
Another TYPE of novel I've always wanted to write is the "group of boys face down/suffer a terrible evil in their youths that marks them for life, and they return as adults to finally face it." Basically It, Salem's Lot, The Body (Stand By Me), Dreamcatcher... (anyone sensing a common thread, here?) and also, Dan Simmons' Summer of Night.
I got halfway through that novel. Re-wrote it for six years, before putting it aside. It's been done. What more can I add to that narrative?
Then, I got the bright idea that it would be SO cool to write these connected novels and novellas and short stories that all occurred in ONE town, referencing each other but able to be read in any order.....
And then I discovered Gary Braunbeck's Cedar Hill cycle. Charles Grant's Oxrun Station and Hawthorne Street stories. Read more deeply into Lovecraft's work.
Sigh.
Anyway, that's part of the reason why I've almost...taken on a MISSION with my reading. I want to read as much as I can, as many different TYPES of stories as I can, to create my own vision. Of course, it won't be totally unique - so many stories have already been told - but my hope and desire is to get some God-Almighty brew bubbling in my head, see what type of concoction I can come up with.
So, here's the question - what's THAT story you've always wanted to write, and either haven't yet....or are afraid to?
Now, this is going to be one of those "Q & A" blogs. Maybe that'll pull some more comments out of the ether, maybe not. Anyway, here it goes....
All authors have THAT story they want to write. Their magnum opus, the one they've always wanted to write. Some folks - like Stephen King - end up not only writing that story, but turning it into a mini-empire (The Dark Tower). Sometimes - also like King - it takes them nearly 13 years to write (It). Sometimes - also, once more like King - that novel gets shoved in a trunk because of fears of failure, only to be released later (Blaze).
Others end up writing something that defines them purely by happenstance or fate, like Paul Wilson and Repairman Jack, who he'd never originally intended to stretch out into a 15 book series that arced over into several other stories. Other authors, like Rio Youers, never end up sharing those novels because they're early efforts deemed by the author to be too derivative of their favorite novels.
And that last one is probably the stumbling block for many authors, as is it is for me. THAT novel I've always wanted to write is the "evil carnival that comes to town to suck the souls of all the unwitting townspeople". Of course, it's already been done, so many times. Best by Ray Bradbury in Something Wicked This Way Comes. And of course, I want that novel to take place in October, just like Bradbury's did. Heck, I've even got a title, if I can get permission to use it: "The Autumn People."I've held off writing that novel. Mostly, because I know there's no way I can put a fresh, new spin on it, or come close to what Bradbury did with it. Someday, maybe.
Another TYPE of novel I've always wanted to write is the "group of boys face down/suffer a terrible evil in their youths that marks them for life, and they return as adults to finally face it." Basically It, Salem's Lot, The Body (Stand By Me), Dreamcatcher... (anyone sensing a common thread, here?) and also, Dan Simmons' Summer of Night.I got halfway through that novel. Re-wrote it for six years, before putting it aside. It's been done. What more can I add to that narrative?
Then, I got the bright idea that it would be SO cool to write these connected novels and novellas and short stories that all occurred in ONE town, referencing each other but able to be read in any order.....
And then I discovered Gary Braunbeck's Cedar Hill cycle. Charles Grant's Oxrun Station and Hawthorne Street stories. Read more deeply into Lovecraft's work.
Sigh.
Anyway, that's part of the reason why I've almost...taken on a MISSION with my reading. I want to read as much as I can, as many different TYPES of stories as I can, to create my own vision. Of course, it won't be totally unique - so many stories have already been told - but my hope and desire is to get some God-Almighty brew bubbling in my head, see what type of concoction I can come up with.
So, here's the question - what's THAT story you've always wanted to write, and either haven't yet....or are afraid to?
July 25, 2011
Alas, Rejection Again, and Its Bitter-Sweet Sting.
Okay, so this blog is off the cuff, pretty raw, the feelings fresh. Those who follow this blog for non-writing news, this might be one post to avoid reading - it's all about writing. Those who follow this blog for writing news, this might be one post you should avoid reading also, because it's also all about whining. My whining, that is.
But I gotta do it. If I don't, it'll just simmer, and I'll feel rotten for the rest of the day.
So.
Weathered another rejection.
On one hand, I wasn't surprised. With the exception of one awesome instance - which hopefully I'll be able to share soon - almost every response I've gotten from editors in the last YEAR AND A HALF, I've automatically assumed it was a rejection. And of course, that didn't help me feel much better. Really, right now I'm sorta in the throes of that whole: "This ain't freaking worth it, I'm not writing another short story ever again!!!"
Now, wait for it...here it is:
Okay.
Deep breath.
And.....
Okay. I'll survive. Will be back up tomorrow early in the morning, fighting the good fight. And, in reflection - when I move past how disappointed I am about this rejection, because I REALLY thought I'd nailed it this time, I think I've come around to another clarification of how I should spend my writing time, especially on short stories.
No more themed submissions.
Must write from my heart and soul, from inside me. Now, I try to infuse all my stories with this, but...I need to write ONLY stories that find their genesis COMPLETELY from me. The problem with themed submissions, for me, anyway?
Too easy to write a trope, in an effort to get into the anthology. Which just doesn't cut it. And, of course, when the story's not accepted, I'm left with a story I'm not sure I can send anywhere else.
Mort Castle gave me this advice recently, in answer to my questions about how to "raise my game" for short stories:
"But if you want it all to come alive, well...as Mr. Langston H has it ...
Let the poem come out of you/then it will be true.
The real stuff, the stuff that lives and lasts, comes out of late night conversations with your very own self."
My latest - heck, ONLY acceptance over the past year and half - was a story that grappled with questions I have about eternity, hell, punishment, limbo, purgatory, and forgiveness. Another story - one solicited that I still haven't heard back about yet - really grappled with my conflict over how Americans react to those different from us after 9/11. This most recent rejected story?
I think it was competent. Written decently enough. And, dammit - it and most likely 50 other stories EXACTLY like it - were probably good.
But that's the point.
50 other stories like it.
So, I'll shelve that story. Avoid themed collections from now on. And keep trying, dammit, to write something that comes out of a late night conversation with my very own self. Because believe it or not....
I have a list of those conversations. Time to start running over it.
And, there's also this: I suppose I'd rather be rejected from a top-flight anthology, than get accepted into a sub-par one. A very tiny comfort, but it's something...
But I gotta do it. If I don't, it'll just simmer, and I'll feel rotten for the rest of the day.
So.
Weathered another rejection.
On one hand, I wasn't surprised. With the exception of one awesome instance - which hopefully I'll be able to share soon - almost every response I've gotten from editors in the last YEAR AND A HALF, I've automatically assumed it was a rejection. And of course, that didn't help me feel much better. Really, right now I'm sorta in the throes of that whole: "This ain't freaking worth it, I'm not writing another short story ever again!!!"
Now, wait for it...here it is:
Okay.
Deep breath.
And.....
Okay. I'll survive. Will be back up tomorrow early in the morning, fighting the good fight. And, in reflection - when I move past how disappointed I am about this rejection, because I REALLY thought I'd nailed it this time, I think I've come around to another clarification of how I should spend my writing time, especially on short stories.
No more themed submissions.
Must write from my heart and soul, from inside me. Now, I try to infuse all my stories with this, but...I need to write ONLY stories that find their genesis COMPLETELY from me. The problem with themed submissions, for me, anyway?
Too easy to write a trope, in an effort to get into the anthology. Which just doesn't cut it. And, of course, when the story's not accepted, I'm left with a story I'm not sure I can send anywhere else.
Mort Castle gave me this advice recently, in answer to my questions about how to "raise my game" for short stories:
"But if you want it all to come alive, well...as Mr. Langston H has it ...
Let the poem come out of you/then it will be true.
The real stuff, the stuff that lives and lasts, comes out of late night conversations with your very own self."
My latest - heck, ONLY acceptance over the past year and half - was a story that grappled with questions I have about eternity, hell, punishment, limbo, purgatory, and forgiveness. Another story - one solicited that I still haven't heard back about yet - really grappled with my conflict over how Americans react to those different from us after 9/11. This most recent rejected story?
I think it was competent. Written decently enough. And, dammit - it and most likely 50 other stories EXACTLY like it - were probably good.
But that's the point.
50 other stories like it.
So, I'll shelve that story. Avoid themed collections from now on. And keep trying, dammit, to write something that comes out of a late night conversation with my very own self. Because believe it or not....
I have a list of those conversations. Time to start running over it.
And, there's also this: I suppose I'd rather be rejected from a top-flight anthology, than get accepted into a sub-par one. A very tiny comfort, but it's something...
July 24, 2011
Support Your Local Mom and Pop Bookstore
As I've said before - probably too many times, though I've tried to back off it as of late - news like Borders' closing and articles like this one makes me sad. Literally. Maybe I seem awful young to be so "stick in the mud", but more and more I'm of the opinion that "old" doesn't mean bad, outdated, backward; and that "new" or "progressive" or "forward-thinking" doesn't necessarily mean "good". Just because something's old doesn't mean we throw it away. Some things deserve to be preserved and passed on. Physical books and the love of physical books is one of those things.
BUT, one good point this article makes: people who still want physical books will always be able to get them, in the near future, anyway. And hey - let people read how they want, as long as they're reading and it's good. As a teacher, I've seen kids who hate reading suddenly read The Great Gatsby or The Scarlet Letter, just because they could download it onto their Ipad. AND, we're in the process of trying to secure an Ipad for Zack to learn on, so I've been reevaluating this whole thing. Madi LOVES books and stories and poems and loves to have a PHYSICAL book in her hand. Zack likes it, but the Ipad thing might be a revelation for him.
Another good point in this article: Mom and Pop, Indie Bookstores. If you've got them in your area, support them. Whether they're small indie bookstores, used bookstores with trade-in, store credit policies - give them your business. Amazon.com is great and I use it a lot. But I always hit the used book store down the street first, and when visiting family in Michigan, there's a huge used book store I visit, also.
If I ever reach the point when I actually have a fan base - that's what I'll do. Have signings at the indie book stores. Draw folks into the Mom and Pop stores. Come what may with the future of publishing - and, in the end, I want to be read, just like all other writers, be it through digital or print - these indie stores might very well be the last bastion of local PRINT book stores. Support them.
Don't let them die.
BUT, one good point this article makes: people who still want physical books will always be able to get them, in the near future, anyway. And hey - let people read how they want, as long as they're reading and it's good. As a teacher, I've seen kids who hate reading suddenly read The Great Gatsby or The Scarlet Letter, just because they could download it onto their Ipad. AND, we're in the process of trying to secure an Ipad for Zack to learn on, so I've been reevaluating this whole thing. Madi LOVES books and stories and poems and loves to have a PHYSICAL book in her hand. Zack likes it, but the Ipad thing might be a revelation for him.
Another good point in this article: Mom and Pop, Indie Bookstores. If you've got them in your area, support them. Whether they're small indie bookstores, used bookstores with trade-in, store credit policies - give them your business. Amazon.com is great and I use it a lot. But I always hit the used book store down the street first, and when visiting family in Michigan, there's a huge used book store I visit, also.
If I ever reach the point when I actually have a fan base - that's what I'll do. Have signings at the indie book stores. Draw folks into the Mom and Pop stores. Come what may with the future of publishing - and, in the end, I want to be read, just like all other writers, be it through digital or print - these indie stores might very well be the last bastion of local PRINT book stores. Support them.
Don't let them die.
July 23, 2011
Today's Beautiful Prose, Ruminations on POV, Balance, Order, Harmony
Busy couple days ahead, so here's a two-fer for ya. First, today's beautiful prose, from
Phantom
, by Thomas Tessier:
It was the best room in the house. It was outer space and inner earth, the triumph of a young boy's mind.
It was: stamps and coins and a handed-down set of old Hardy Boys mysteries and crab shells with bits of gooey stuff still sticking in them in places and strangely colored rocks and dried out worms and acorns and horse chestnuts and a microscope and all kinds of cards and a cherry bomb hidden for an occasion that would only be known when it came and carved sticks and a jack knife and waterproof matches and a canteen and a pocket magnifying glass for frying Japanese beetles and a rabbit's foot and a shell plugged up with a dead snail and...
It was the best room in any house. It was a boy's room.
Here and only here could magic forces be found. The Invisible Weights, which on certain mornings anchored your arms and legs so that you couldn't get out of bed until they decided to let you go. The Moving Pebble, which might change position only an inch or two but was never in the exact spot where you left it. The Night Fire, which could only be seen in a mirror in the dark when you brushed your hair (you know it's static electricity, but if that's all you know, you don't know anything...)
SO, some ruminations on POV (point of view). First of all, POV is:
point of view in fiction: from whose point of view is the story being told
My feelings about this have developed as a writer. When I first began scribbling stories in a notebook twenty years ago, even when I got "serious" seven years ago, I had a very limited understanding of POV. For me, there existed basically two:
1. First Person Point of View2. Third Person Omniscient Point of View
Because I'd never been directed to analyze my own writing, I never caught on to the differences between "Third Person Omniscient" and "Third Person Limited or Objective". And, because I was primarily a "closet writer" - I never showed anyone my work, Borderlands Press Writers Bootcamp being the first time I ever shared my work with anyone - I never knew that my Third Person Omniscient was pretty sloppy, often changing perspectives not only within one paragraph, but inside one sentence!
So Borderlands drilled into me the Third Person Limited Point of View, in which the reader has access to one person's head at a time. If you wanted to switch narratives, you needed to switch chapters or scenes, or utilize a paragraph break to do so. The author I think who does this best is F. Paul Wilson, most especially in his Repairman Jack series.
In the course of my Creative Writing grad studies, I also touched upon Third Person Objective, a voice which relates facts only, no emotions or thoughts, which Hemingway used so precisely and I would never try, and quite honestly as a reader don't prefer.
Many positive things happened as a result of my new-found POV enlightenment. I learned how to cut ENORMOUS amounts of unneeded words from my prose, trimmed the fat; learned how to write very tight scenes. And, now that I have an eye for it, I've discovered what I believe to be one of the greatest benefits of third person limited (the other being a collection of very powerful, textured voices and characters), and that's hiding plot twists effectively, without seeming to cheat. In 3rd Limited, readers only know what the character at that time is thinking.
A great example of this exists in The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier. Robert Cormier uses 3rd Limited to hide the main character's intentions for several chapters, as we see the story from several different characters' angles. No one knows what this main character is thinking for five or six chapters, because even though he appears in several scenes with secondary characters through those chapters, he's viewed through the lens of those secondary characters, and he's keeping mum. As a natural part of the story's structure, no one knows what he's thinking, so the reader doesn't, either.
So the suspense is dragged out for a very simple reason: Jerry (main character) won't tell his friends what's going on, and we're not in Jerry's head until a crucial moment, so WE don't know what's going on until that moment.
Some may not like that form of storytelling. I love it, because it offers a wide variety and texture of flavor through many different characters' points of view, and to me, it seems a very logical - and deft - way of hiding plot twists. I've fallen in love with 3rd Person Limited as a reader, have adopted it for my own as a writer, and for awhile indulged a knee-jerk reaction that 3rd Person Omniscient was just lazy writing, and that's all.
But I've encountered some authors who use 3rd Person Omni WELL, and have had to again readjust my thoughts: Sloppy 3rd Person Omni is lazy. For me, to enjoy 3rd Person Omni, the author MUST do it well. And how to do it well?
Through my reading, I've discovered it's a matter of having an ordered, structured device. Could be as simple as switching perspectives to new people entering a scene. Or even as simple as keeping perspective limited to the paragraph featuring that character, taking care not to leap to more than 3 perspectives in a scene, if possible.
Or, it could be something even more graceful and natural, even a bit cinematic (which is NOT a bad thing, when you consider really well done movies). In my reading of him, I've seen Charles Grant reach crucial parts of the narrative in which he allows the 3rd Person to travel omnisciently through several characters. His device: touch, or contact of some kind.
There's a great scene in Stunts that follows several high school students down a school hall, beginning with a student leaving class for the restroom. It starts in her art teacher's perspective, and as she hands a lavatory pass to the first student, the perspective switches to the student. Then, a page or so later, this student turns a corner, runs into another student; she drops her books, he drops his lunch tray, they clean up the mess, she leaves, and we continue on with the student who dropped his tray.
This is 3rd Omni, but it's being used in a panoramic way leading up to a climax at the principal's office, according to a very precise method.
Robert McCammon's Boy's Life and Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest completely mix and match perspectives, but they both use something ORDERED. Structured. Boy's Life is related through the grown-up, reflective First Person narrative of the main character reminiscing on his childhood, and he comes right out and says something like this: "I have no way of knowing what my friends were thinking back then, but I'm going to try and pretend that I do", then he proceeds to use that First Person framework to enter into the experiences of his friends from a 3rd person perspective.
Dark Harvest blends all the perspectives into one...but in a very ordered, precise way. Partridge uses an Omniscient Narrator who at times reveals Itself in the First Person, at times addresses a spectral audience in the Second Person, and then descends into Third Person Limited for each main character.
But BECAUSE both the Omniscient Narrator and Spectral Audience are supposed to represent deceased members of this town, a spiritual inheritance, they can move wherever they want, whenever they want, into any character's head...because both the Omni Narrator and Spectral audience ARE this town and its history, given a voice, a perspective, watching the last story of their town unfold.
In the Renaissance, great art was thought to be based on the following principles: balance, order, and harmony (My thanks again, Santino). I believe this holds true in fiction, and even - gasp! - horror and genre fiction. That's why I have such a hard time with works that critics or other folks call "groundbreaking" or "game-changing" or "avaunt-garde" or "wildly creative", because in my experience, the works wearing those labels tend to be sloppy, making stuff up out of nowhere, their stories completely hostile to logic of any kind, and as far as they're concerned, the preceding three concepts don't exist at all.
Yeah, I write genre fiction. And yeah, all the examples I've listed of successful bits of 3rd Person Omni are TOTALLY genre fiction. But they SUCCEED because they utilize or embody SOME semblance of balance, order and harmony.
Balance, order, harmony. Not JUST for Renaissance artists, but for horror writers too...
It was the best room in the house. It was outer space and inner earth, the triumph of a young boy's mind.
It was: stamps and coins and a handed-down set of old Hardy Boys mysteries and crab shells with bits of gooey stuff still sticking in them in places and strangely colored rocks and dried out worms and acorns and horse chestnuts and a microscope and all kinds of cards and a cherry bomb hidden for an occasion that would only be known when it came and carved sticks and a jack knife and waterproof matches and a canteen and a pocket magnifying glass for frying Japanese beetles and a rabbit's foot and a shell plugged up with a dead snail and...
It was the best room in any house. It was a boy's room.
Here and only here could magic forces be found. The Invisible Weights, which on certain mornings anchored your arms and legs so that you couldn't get out of bed until they decided to let you go. The Moving Pebble, which might change position only an inch or two but was never in the exact spot where you left it. The Night Fire, which could only be seen in a mirror in the dark when you brushed your hair (you know it's static electricity, but if that's all you know, you don't know anything...)
SO, some ruminations on POV (point of view). First of all, POV is:
point of view in fiction: from whose point of view is the story being told
My feelings about this have developed as a writer. When I first began scribbling stories in a notebook twenty years ago, even when I got "serious" seven years ago, I had a very limited understanding of POV. For me, there existed basically two:
1. First Person Point of View2. Third Person Omniscient Point of View
Because I'd never been directed to analyze my own writing, I never caught on to the differences between "Third Person Omniscient" and "Third Person Limited or Objective". And, because I was primarily a "closet writer" - I never showed anyone my work, Borderlands Press Writers Bootcamp being the first time I ever shared my work with anyone - I never knew that my Third Person Omniscient was pretty sloppy, often changing perspectives not only within one paragraph, but inside one sentence!
So Borderlands drilled into me the Third Person Limited Point of View, in which the reader has access to one person's head at a time. If you wanted to switch narratives, you needed to switch chapters or scenes, or utilize a paragraph break to do so. The author I think who does this best is F. Paul Wilson, most especially in his Repairman Jack series.
In the course of my Creative Writing grad studies, I also touched upon Third Person Objective, a voice which relates facts only, no emotions or thoughts, which Hemingway used so precisely and I would never try, and quite honestly as a reader don't prefer.
Many positive things happened as a result of my new-found POV enlightenment. I learned how to cut ENORMOUS amounts of unneeded words from my prose, trimmed the fat; learned how to write very tight scenes. And, now that I have an eye for it, I've discovered what I believe to be one of the greatest benefits of third person limited (the other being a collection of very powerful, textured voices and characters), and that's hiding plot twists effectively, without seeming to cheat. In 3rd Limited, readers only know what the character at that time is thinking.
A great example of this exists in The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier. Robert Cormier uses 3rd Limited to hide the main character's intentions for several chapters, as we see the story from several different characters' angles. No one knows what this main character is thinking for five or six chapters, because even though he appears in several scenes with secondary characters through those chapters, he's viewed through the lens of those secondary characters, and he's keeping mum. As a natural part of the story's structure, no one knows what he's thinking, so the reader doesn't, either.
So the suspense is dragged out for a very simple reason: Jerry (main character) won't tell his friends what's going on, and we're not in Jerry's head until a crucial moment, so WE don't know what's going on until that moment.
Some may not like that form of storytelling. I love it, because it offers a wide variety and texture of flavor through many different characters' points of view, and to me, it seems a very logical - and deft - way of hiding plot twists. I've fallen in love with 3rd Person Limited as a reader, have adopted it for my own as a writer, and for awhile indulged a knee-jerk reaction that 3rd Person Omniscient was just lazy writing, and that's all.
But I've encountered some authors who use 3rd Person Omni WELL, and have had to again readjust my thoughts: Sloppy 3rd Person Omni is lazy. For me, to enjoy 3rd Person Omni, the author MUST do it well. And how to do it well?
Through my reading, I've discovered it's a matter of having an ordered, structured device. Could be as simple as switching perspectives to new people entering a scene. Or even as simple as keeping perspective limited to the paragraph featuring that character, taking care not to leap to more than 3 perspectives in a scene, if possible.
Or, it could be something even more graceful and natural, even a bit cinematic (which is NOT a bad thing, when you consider really well done movies). In my reading of him, I've seen Charles Grant reach crucial parts of the narrative in which he allows the 3rd Person to travel omnisciently through several characters. His device: touch, or contact of some kind.
There's a great scene in Stunts that follows several high school students down a school hall, beginning with a student leaving class for the restroom. It starts in her art teacher's perspective, and as she hands a lavatory pass to the first student, the perspective switches to the student. Then, a page or so later, this student turns a corner, runs into another student; she drops her books, he drops his lunch tray, they clean up the mess, she leaves, and we continue on with the student who dropped his tray.
This is 3rd Omni, but it's being used in a panoramic way leading up to a climax at the principal's office, according to a very precise method.
Robert McCammon's Boy's Life and Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest completely mix and match perspectives, but they both use something ORDERED. Structured. Boy's Life is related through the grown-up, reflective First Person narrative of the main character reminiscing on his childhood, and he comes right out and says something like this: "I have no way of knowing what my friends were thinking back then, but I'm going to try and pretend that I do", then he proceeds to use that First Person framework to enter into the experiences of his friends from a 3rd person perspective.
Dark Harvest blends all the perspectives into one...but in a very ordered, precise way. Partridge uses an Omniscient Narrator who at times reveals Itself in the First Person, at times addresses a spectral audience in the Second Person, and then descends into Third Person Limited for each main character.
But BECAUSE both the Omniscient Narrator and Spectral Audience are supposed to represent deceased members of this town, a spiritual inheritance, they can move wherever they want, whenever they want, into any character's head...because both the Omni Narrator and Spectral audience ARE this town and its history, given a voice, a perspective, watching the last story of their town unfold.
In the Renaissance, great art was thought to be based on the following principles: balance, order, and harmony (My thanks again, Santino). I believe this holds true in fiction, and even - gasp! - horror and genre fiction. That's why I have such a hard time with works that critics or other folks call "groundbreaking" or "game-changing" or "avaunt-garde" or "wildly creative", because in my experience, the works wearing those labels tend to be sloppy, making stuff up out of nowhere, their stories completely hostile to logic of any kind, and as far as they're concerned, the preceding three concepts don't exist at all.
Yeah, I write genre fiction. And yeah, all the examples I've listed of successful bits of 3rd Person Omni are TOTALLY genre fiction. But they SUCCEED because they utilize or embody SOME semblance of balance, order and harmony.
Balance, order, harmony. Not JUST for Renaissance artists, but for horror writers too...
July 18, 2011
What He Said.
I'm going to pull a lamo today, and direct you to a post that says all I could say and more. Basically, Nate Southard says it all in his latest blog, A Different Level.
So, yeah. What he said.
To infinity.
Though it should be noted that wherever Nate's at, I'm about four or five...or six...levels below.
So, yeah. What he said.
To infinity.
Though it should be noted that wherever Nate's at, I'm about four or five...or six...levels below.
July 16, 2011
What Horror Has Come To Mean To Me:
From Charles Grant's introduction to his first Shadows, a collection of shorts from some of the biggest names in horror:
That is what Shadows is all about.
It is not what the current spate of horror films and novels are about, however. They, most of them, deal primarily with shock, not true horror. For all the learned pamphlets and discussions on the religious foundations of The Exorcist, The Omen, Audrey Rose, and dozens of lesser-budgeted films, what they have failed to grasp is the possibility of satanic possession, reincarnation, or conjuring of gods/demons from arcane mythologies - we are, rather, shocked because of the blood, the vomit, the decapitations, the mutilations, and the transformations in vivid crimson color.
This is not fear. It's revulsion.
What really frightens us, for the most part, is not that we (and the savage) do not completely understand, but all that we do not see, even though we know it is there. The classic case in the media? The film The Haunting, and in it the scene in the house library when the extraordinary wind sweeps thunderously down the hallway, the echoing pounding on the heavy oaken doors begins. ..and the wood bends inward as whatever is out there tries to get in. That we do not see what is there (and never do), frightens us. And the anticipation of seeing it unnerves us even more. The savage, scuttling away from the platform crack into the more comfortable darkness.
And so it is with a good horror story, without the reliance on blood and gore, mayhem, ghosts, and the usual stable of monsters, both mythological and psychological. These elements may, in fact, appear, but they are merely parts of the whole and not the point; they are segments only of a larger nightmare.
Shadows, then, deals with what that title suggests, those shadows over there in the corner that do not quite resolve themselves into objects familiar, the shadow formed by a coat over the back of a chair at the foot of your bed, the shadow that presses across an empty autumn street, the shadow that has no light to give it birth. Despite some of the thunder, it's a quiet sort of horror we're dealing with here, and a quiet way to scream.
And thus must I now succumb to an aged, even cliched admonition: For the sake of the authors, and for the sake of your enjoyment, do not read this book from cover to cover at a single sitting (even horror dissipates itself in surfeit). Take one, two, perhaps three at the most, and lose yourself in their creations.
Some of them will get to you immediately you read the last line; others depend on a moment or two, or a minute or two afterward before the effect of the material sinks in and draws blood. Some will downright frighten; others will linger and work on the back of your neck when you least expect it.
Quietly.
Gently.
And in an age that seems to demand speed even in reading, I would ask that you take your time, as you would with a fine brandy.
Ideally, use the evening.
Practically, use whatever place you can find where you can sit undisturbed and read and enjoy.
Only. ..watch for the shadows. Be sure, somehow, there's a light there to make them.
CHARLES L. GRANT
Randolph, NJ, May 1977
Pretty sure anything I could add would be superfluous in the extreme. Interesting how his assessment of popular horror genre - both film and literature - back in 1977 is still pretty relevant today...
That is what Shadows is all about.
It is not what the current spate of horror films and novels are about, however. They, most of them, deal primarily with shock, not true horror. For all the learned pamphlets and discussions on the religious foundations of The Exorcist, The Omen, Audrey Rose, and dozens of lesser-budgeted films, what they have failed to grasp is the possibility of satanic possession, reincarnation, or conjuring of gods/demons from arcane mythologies - we are, rather, shocked because of the blood, the vomit, the decapitations, the mutilations, and the transformations in vivid crimson color.
This is not fear. It's revulsion.
What really frightens us, for the most part, is not that we (and the savage) do not completely understand, but all that we do not see, even though we know it is there. The classic case in the media? The film The Haunting, and in it the scene in the house library when the extraordinary wind sweeps thunderously down the hallway, the echoing pounding on the heavy oaken doors begins. ..and the wood bends inward as whatever is out there tries to get in. That we do not see what is there (and never do), frightens us. And the anticipation of seeing it unnerves us even more. The savage, scuttling away from the platform crack into the more comfortable darkness.
And so it is with a good horror story, without the reliance on blood and gore, mayhem, ghosts, and the usual stable of monsters, both mythological and psychological. These elements may, in fact, appear, but they are merely parts of the whole and not the point; they are segments only of a larger nightmare.
Shadows, then, deals with what that title suggests, those shadows over there in the corner that do not quite resolve themselves into objects familiar, the shadow formed by a coat over the back of a chair at the foot of your bed, the shadow that presses across an empty autumn street, the shadow that has no light to give it birth. Despite some of the thunder, it's a quiet sort of horror we're dealing with here, and a quiet way to scream.
And thus must I now succumb to an aged, even cliched admonition: For the sake of the authors, and for the sake of your enjoyment, do not read this book from cover to cover at a single sitting (even horror dissipates itself in surfeit). Take one, two, perhaps three at the most, and lose yourself in their creations.
Some of them will get to you immediately you read the last line; others depend on a moment or two, or a minute or two afterward before the effect of the material sinks in and draws blood. Some will downright frighten; others will linger and work on the back of your neck when you least expect it.
Quietly.
Gently.
And in an age that seems to demand speed even in reading, I would ask that you take your time, as you would with a fine brandy.
Ideally, use the evening.
Practically, use whatever place you can find where you can sit undisturbed and read and enjoy.
Only. ..watch for the shadows. Be sure, somehow, there's a light there to make them.
CHARLES L. GRANT
Randolph, NJ, May 1977
Pretty sure anything I could add would be superfluous in the extreme. Interesting how his assessment of popular horror genre - both film and literature - back in 1977 is still pretty relevant today...
July 15, 2011
Ten Authors I'd Like to Meet. What about you?
Author Mike Duran is playing this game on his blog. I commented, then posted here. Go over to his blog and play along, or play along here!
Norman Partridge - Writes whatever he wants. Period. Crime. Horror. Noir. Dark fantasy. And he's given lots of great advice this past year.
Ray Bradbury – I spoke with his agent once. That was the closest I got.
Stephen King – I did, however, meet his son Joe Hill. Wonderful guy. Very funny, very relaxed and humble.
Dean Koontz – For all the obvious reasons.
Neil Gaiman – Just love his work.
T. L. Hines - Tony was one of the first authors I ever approached for advice, so I'd love to meet him. Love his work, too.
Robert Liparulo - Ditto.
Peter Straub - Spoke to him on a radio show once. Would love to meet him, would probably act like an idiot.
Robert McCammon - Would like to shake his hand and say: "THANK YOU for Boy's Life."
Travis Thrasher - Love his work, and he just seems like a great guy. Also seems like we might share a similar sense of humor.
T. M. Wright - Love his "quiet horror", and he seems like a wonderful person.
Would love to put Charles Grant, but he's passed on, so…maybe in another place...
Norman Partridge - Writes whatever he wants. Period. Crime. Horror. Noir. Dark fantasy. And he's given lots of great advice this past year.
Ray Bradbury – I spoke with his agent once. That was the closest I got.
Stephen King – I did, however, meet his son Joe Hill. Wonderful guy. Very funny, very relaxed and humble.
Dean Koontz – For all the obvious reasons.
Neil Gaiman – Just love his work.
T. L. Hines - Tony was one of the first authors I ever approached for advice, so I'd love to meet him. Love his work, too.
Robert Liparulo - Ditto.
Peter Straub - Spoke to him on a radio show once. Would love to meet him, would probably act like an idiot.
Robert McCammon - Would like to shake his hand and say: "THANK YOU for Boy's Life."
Travis Thrasher - Love his work, and he just seems like a great guy. Also seems like we might share a similar sense of humor.
T. M. Wright - Love his "quiet horror", and he seems like a wonderful person.
Would love to put Charles Grant, but he's passed on, so…maybe in another place...
Today's Beautiful Prose
Today's beautiful prose comes courtesy of the late Jack Cady's short story, "The Night We Buried Road Dog", in Cemetery Dance's forthcoming collection, The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners, edited by Joe R. Lansdale. My review of the collection on its way....
"And now, even the great good cars are dead, or most of them. What with gas prices and wars and rumors of wars, the cars these days are all suspensions. They'll corner like a cat, but don't have the scratch of a cat; and maybe that's a good thing. The state posts fewer crosses on the highways.
Still, there are some howlers left out there, and some guys still howling. I lie in bed nights and listen to the scorch of engines along Highway 2. I hear them claw the darkness, stretching lonesome at the sky, scatting across the eternal land; younger guys running as young guys must; chasing each other, or chasing the land of dreams, or chasing into ghostland while hoping it isn't true - guys running into darkness chasing each other, or chasing something - chasing road.
Pre-order it today.
"And now, even the great good cars are dead, or most of them. What with gas prices and wars and rumors of wars, the cars these days are all suspensions. They'll corner like a cat, but don't have the scratch of a cat; and maybe that's a good thing. The state posts fewer crosses on the highways.Still, there are some howlers left out there, and some guys still howling. I lie in bed nights and listen to the scorch of engines along Highway 2. I hear them claw the darkness, stretching lonesome at the sky, scatting across the eternal land; younger guys running as young guys must; chasing each other, or chasing the land of dreams, or chasing into ghostland while hoping it isn't true - guys running into darkness chasing each other, or chasing something - chasing road.
Pre-order it today.
