Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 60

On Professionalism....

To be professional. 

What does that really mean, anyway?

I'm a young writer.  Still full of many allusions, though I've shaken loose a ton over the past two years.  One I'm currently grappling with is this issue of professionalism.   What does it mean.  How does it look.  How does one put that into practice, actually.  Mostly, I suppose I've related that to my behavior at Cons, on Facebook, Twitter, and this here blog.   However, I read two things this weekend that tweaked my thoughts on this.   The first was the following blog: 

Against Professionalism 

After reading, I realized what I consider to be professionalism is really just my nature.  I'm not preachy, political, or opinionated  by nature, so you don't see a lot of that on this blog; but I'm also not afraid to speak my mind, so I occasionally I let it out there.  I don't skulk around Cons, avoiding "bad behavior" because I'm trying to be "professional", I'm actually shy and quiet by nature, not much of partier...but also not afraid when with GOOD friends (ie: in comfort zone) to let my hair down and have fun, as we've all seen thanks to the "Jump Around" video from Context 23. (Nope.  No video link here.  See?  Shy by nature...) 
The second is from Stephen King's foreword to one of Charles Grant's short story collections, Tales From the Nightside , (which you should buy right now):
"...those five words say everything that needs to be said (about Charles Grant): The man is a pro.Charles Grant works at it.  Not all these stories (in said collection) came easy; he probably had physical headaches over plenty.  His stomach was probably upset as he wrote some of them, he probably smoked too much over some of them, lay awake over some of them.  He probably wrote some of them thinking in the back of his mind it would be a hell of a nice day to go to the beach and wrote others thinking it would be a hell of a nice day to find some long field bordered blazing autumn trees an ramble it to its far end.  If he's like most writers, I imagined his back ached and his kidneys felt crunched during more than one stint at the typewriter, and I imagine that more than once his brain itself felt crunched, dismal, and as devoid of inspiration as a sleety afternoon late December.But the opposite holds, the sunny side to this art/business that balances off the writer's sometime (often!) malaise, and his almost constant sense of loneliness as he voyages at his typewriter alone: the days when your head feels like it's busting with the need to tell the story, the days when the story simply spills out all at once, and you're reduced to chasing it with a silly, slap-happy grin on your face, the days when you feel you got, in one story or on one page or in one phrase, exactly what you meant.  There are days when you finish, and put a paper clip on the manuscript, and put the manuscript in the envelope, and mail it off somewhere, and you think: "I sent off a good one.  Boy, did I ever."One of the crucial differences between the pro and the amateur is that the pro is able to place both sets of feelings - the good and the bad - within a fairly narrow range; unlike the students of many college creative-writing courses, who may consider themselves Prousts one day and feel like killing themselves the next, the pro is simply able to push one, determined to do the best he can possibly do, to grow as much as he can grow, and to perform, each day, one almost incredible feat of intellectual and imaginative strength: to look at the ream of blank paper beside the typewriter without quailing, to see not so much hostile and inimical white space but invisible words that need only be brought up and out.Charlie Grant is this sort of writer. Wow.I see a lot of myself in there.  I've been doing a lot of lamenting the past year or so about my stories, how they're not good enough.  How I'm not good enough.  Worry about my abilities or scope or storytelling ability.A lot of time worrying.When I should just be writing. 

A Mention, Really, Not A Review...

My poetry is never going to win rave reviews.  In fact, it barely gets written at all, mostly because I've only got time to focus on prose and that's it, although next year I'm hoping to partake in all that 365 days of Creativity madness, try to write one poem a day for a whole year, no matter how crappy.  We'll see.

Anyway, was made aware of a review of a poetry collection I placed one of my rare poems in.  Doesn't really review my poem, but does drop my name.  And again, no one is going to run out and buy any of my poetry, but if you believe in the small and independent press - especially the literary independent press - visit the link to buy a copy of the following edition of Solo Cafe. I'm sure they'd appreciate the support.

Solo Café 8&9
Gerald Locklin • Laura Boss • Earl Sherman Braggs • Sally Buckner • George Burns • Kelly Cherry • Perie Longo • Ray Gonzalez • Michael S. Harper • George Kalamaras • Carol Lem • Kevin Lucia • Teddy Macker • Shayla Hawkins • Michael McFee • Maria Melendez • Susan Meyers • Lenard D Moore • Terre Ouwehand • Randy W Pait • Nancy Simpson • Barry Spacks • Lamont Steptoe • Gina Streaty • Jerry W. Ward, Jr • Bruce Weigl • Carolyn Beard Whitlow • Mary Ann Cain • John Bradley • Joseph Gastiger • Patrick Lawler • Karen McKinnon • David Rigsbee • John Tritica • Shelby Stephenson• Mel Weisburd • Jackson Wheeler

I'd Like to Say "Thank You" to My Wife for Being Like Gerda Koontz....

So when I said "day off", I meant from fiction, not necessarily writing. Regardless, this post "should" be short.  Notice the quote marks around "should."

Anyway.

This is also different from what I'd been planning (a post about the video of the autistic boy on Britain's Got Talent), because something popped up during discussion in yesterday's Creative Writing Class.  In talking about our next visiting author, Thomas Phillips (author of The Molech Prophecy and the short story Vaccination), the conversation meandered (as it often does) into the use of pen names - the why's and how's, how that looks in today's digital, social network world.

And whenever I discuss pen names, I always bring up Dean Koontz, because it simply AMAZES me that he wrote under so many different pen names early in his career.  And, as I always do when I talk about Dean, I mention the decision he and his wife reached after several years of his trying to write while teaching high school English:  she'd support him for five years while he wrote (because she figured if he couldn't make it in five years, he wouldn't make it), they'd forgo having children, he'd write, and she'd manage his career for him.

At this point, one of my students asked - seriously - "Why would she (Koontz's wife) ever do that?"

I paused.  

Silence descended.

And answered, "Uhh...because she loved and supported to him, knew how much writing meant to him and wanted him to succeed?"

"Yeah, right.  Who does that anymore?"

Chuckles and laughter.

Okay.

This is when I give my students the benefit of the doubt and hope most of them weren't being too serious.  Yet, for a split second, that one student was being serious.  The idea that Gerda Koontz would choose to make such a sacrifice supporting her husband, for just that second, seemed completely foreign to them.

Now granted, that would've been a big sacrifice to make in any generation.  Plus, it was a much different world and publishing market that she sacrificed in.  Also, she must've been clairvoyant or a REALLY excellent judge of character and talent, because as we can all see, Mrs. Koontz's risky sacrifice has sorta paid off. 

But that small moment made me ever more thankful for Abby and how she's put up with all the quirks that come with marriage to a writer-hopeful-wanna-be.  Luckily, I've adapted to an insane early AM writing schedule, so 90 % of my necessary "alone" time comes when everyone's asleep.  It's not often I have to tell her, "Sorry, babe.  Gotta ditch you and the kids for two hours to finish this."

But, she's put up with the doubtlessly annoying collection of quirks that come with marriage to me.  My obsession in finishing things: whether it be a final draft of Hiram Grange or a blog post, even if kiddie Armageddon is going down around me.  My lamented addiction to handwriting and BIC white-out tape.  That spaced-out look I get when thinking over a story and not listening to her tell me about her day.  Endlessly peppering her with plot questions, sometimes as we're both falling asleep.

Staying home with the kids on my occasional Con trips, dealing with them for three days by herself while I'm having fun. Explaining to her parents when she takes the kids over to visit, "He's writing."   Not complaining and paying for babysitters so I could spend seven hours a day two summers ago, writing Hiram Grange and several other shorts. 

Tolerating book-signings or bookfairs or readings that don't pan out at ALL. Knowing that, even though I occasionally write the non-fiction, slice-of-life "nice story", my realm will forever be the dark and spooky and the strange.  Tolerating my absolute obsession with reading and my tempestuous Amazon.com buying habits, as well my obsessive drive to collect scrap and save cash for Con trips.

She does all this and more, probably even more than I can mention in this post or even remember.  The biggest sacrifice she's ever made allowed me to stay at Borderlands Press Writers Bootcamp my first year, about which I wrote a story for this collection (I get no royalties on this, and the story's all about Abby, so I'm not self-pimping, honest). 

So, my Creative Writing students - people STILL make sacrifices like that, do things like that every single day.  And my wonderful wife is one of them.

Thanks, babe.

Return of the Morning Writer's WebCam

Before any of my work saw publication, I blogged quite a bit, early in the morning, usually about whatever random topic floated off the top of my frenzied little mind.  Because of this, I usually took an "Early Morning Writer's Web Cam" shot for each blog.

Maybe it's just because I'm bored, feeling a little silly, but I've decided to bring the AM WriterCam back.  Just felt like doing something fun or silly or just weird each morning to loosen up before I hop on the writing train.  When I uploaded some old WebCam shots to Facebook, writer and blogger Cory Clubb offered the following comment about my Web Shots:

"Somehow I hear the voice of Rod Serling in the distance..."

...and I kinda spit this out in response, which for some reason or other, tickled my fancy.  Enjoy.

"A man named Kevin Lucia, a writer whose dreams are bound in the power of story and fueled by caffeine and a never-ending desire to write pretty, pretty words. 
He rises before dawn and pushes himself past the limits of common sense and all that is normal, but what happens when such a man drinks one too many energy drinks?
Today, determined to write the bestest story ever, Kevin Lucia will drink one too many energy drinks, and when he wearily puts his pen down and lays his BIC white-tape dispenser aside, he'll find that he's gone too far, and has written himself straight into...the Twilight Zone."

Last Minute Posting...

I've wanted to post this for some while now, just kept forgetting....thanks again to Paul Wilson and Tom Monteleone for working with our kids!

I'm A Guilty Pleasure

For the most part I've let pimping and reviews of Hiram Grange and the Chosen One go by the wayside.  I'm working on different stuff now, want to move forward and not rest on my laurels, and quite honestly, I don't want to beat a dead horse.  It was well received by folks, reviews pop up here and there, I'm very proud of the work I did - both stylistically and with Hiram - but I've got other stuff I want to get out there, and want to keep developing and evolving as a writer.

However,  a new Goodreads review popped up, and while it gave me the requisite warm fuzzies, it also raised an honest question. Here's the review:

"I love noir, paranormal, so this was right up my alley. Along with a conflicted anti-hero, this was a bit of a guilty pleasure, and reminiscent of King's writing, if you liked his earlier works."

Now, the reviewer is a proven, reliable source, so I don't consider this to be blowing smoke.  But the comparison to Stephen King interests me.  In many ways, it doesn't surprise me.  King was my introduction to adult horror, and for several years I voraciously consumed his work.  

But his later work.  Not his earlier work.  Call this heresy, but the earliest thing of his I've read is The Gunslinger. Haven't read Christine, Carie, Firestarter, or any of those.  Nor many of his short story collections.  Have them, just got them after I'd moved on to other writers, which again, intrigues me, because my early writing very much imitated King's later, more flowery/verbose style, and I'd thought I'd shaken myself loose from that.

But reminiscent of King's writing, if you liked his earlier works...

Hmmm.  Now I've got to go read his early stuff, see if I recognize anything....  

Interview With "Visiting Author", Norman Partridge (Part 4), and End of the Year Editorial

Norman Partridge has posted the final segment of his interview my Creative Writing class.  Once again, just wanted to thank Norman for his willingness to take time out of his busy schedule answering these questions.   My kids got a kick from this inside peek into the process.

Our Second Annual "Visiting Writers" program is coming a close.  In a few weeks we'll welcome novelist Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy, and close out the year with author Rio Youers.  Considering that, and how busy that time of year gets for me with finals and all, thought I'd offer something of an "Editorial" on the year now.

The instruction of Creative Writing is a strange animal.  On one hand, there are plenty of set rules and standards - all that "Englishy" stuff - that needs to be reinforced and taught, plus the "rules" of prose: where to put quotes for dialogue, how to separate dialogue from exposition, etc. "Show" don't tell.  Avoiding the "info dump".  POV (point of view) rules.

However, there's so much room for preference and personal choice.  Choice of genre, 1st, 2nd, 3rd person Omniscient or Limited perspective.  Spare, minimalist exposition and narrative, or Bradburyesque flair for the dramatic.  Backstory.  A "leave 'em hanging, open to interpretation ending" or a traditional resolution that answers all the readers' questions.  Opening the story in media res  - in the middle of the action - or offering a classic exposition that introduces all the characters and sets up the plot, and regarding that: plot driven story, or character driven, ALA Catcher in the Rye?

It's mind-boggling.  Teach all that?  AND, don't forget - teach it to an eclectic group of 10th - 12th graders, a mix offering experienced creative writers, dabblers, and seniors who need an elective to graduate, and my class looked easier than AP Astronomy.   And do all that in a class that runs from September to June, five days a week, when most Creative Writing classes on the collegiate level run for only a semester and meet two or three times a week.

Needless to say, the last two years have been experimental, moving towards something more structured and ordered.   And of course, I learned very quickly that while half the class would be motivated enough to read all the material I provided on  the Honor System alone, the other half wouldn't be, so I - reluctantly - had to bring quizzes, midterms, and finals into the picture.

Also - five days a week for the whole YEAR is tough to fill.  After the smattering of notes, group workshops on pieces, writing labs in the computer lab, discussion of the ever-changing publishing industry, I'm still left with a lot of time.   SO, Thursday and Fridays have become affectionately known as "Buffy Days", during which we screen Seasons 1,2 &3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, simply because Joss Whedon (director, producer, writer) is one of the best out there.  He's just such a good thematic storyteller.  

And of course, I quickly learned that also only half the class would watch Buffy closely on the Honor System, so eventually the "Buffy" essays on the midterms and finals were born, along with paragraph summaries for every episode: summary, reaction, takeaway.

That's why I created the "Visiting Writers" program, as a core for my Creative Writing class, as well as a chance to introduce students not in my class to the reality of a writing career.  Having to meet with authors once a month, reading and analyzing their work, interacting with them is better than anything I could teach.  Hopefully, most of my students get something out of the experience. I think they do.

This year, we were so fortunate to experience hands-on instruction when Paul Wilson and Tom Monteleone brought their famed Borderlands Press Writers Bootcamp on the road to our school.   Even though our third day got snowed out, the students I'm sure learned more from this experience than I could've taught them myself.

As we near the end of the year, I guess that's my greatest hope: not that I'VE taught them all that much about Creative Writing, but that I've exposed them to a wide variety of writers, styles, and creative influences powerful enough to teach them through experience alone.

A Dark Harvest at Seton Catholic Central High (Part 3)

Norman Partridge continues his interview with my Creative Writing students, today talking about Dark Harvest's omniscient narrator and the concept of the October Boy himself...
American Frankenstein: A Dark Harvest at Seton Catholic Central High (Par...: "Here's Part 3 of my Dark Harvest interview with Kevin Lucia's Creative Writing students: Victoria: Who exactly is the omniscient narrator..."

Some Advice From Dean Koontz

For my regular viewers, I won't recap the whole "this is what's happening to me as a writer" thing.  But, for the occasional viewers or just for refresher's sake, this is how it's played out:

- 2005:  received synopsis request from acquisitions editor of midlist publisher.  Rejected with: "Good story, but we're looking for outstanding." 

- 2006: shelved failed novel, started submitting short stories that got rejected, landed  book review gig for local rag not much bigger than Pennysaver, saw 1st "short" story published - a novelette of 10,000 words - which won the $100 Editor's Choice prize, but in retrospect, it's an "okay" story.   Landed paid freelance column with The Press & Sun Bulletin.

- 2007-2008: Had several "not-so-good" stories published in anthologies no one will ever read, but learned to avoid 4thluv and royalty anthologies like the plague.  "Sold" four more "okay" stories to respectable semi-pro anthologies.   Sold four nonfiction stories to major publishers, discovered that market pays well, also those stories keep mother-in-law and wife happy.  Landed Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, began writing reviews for Shroud Magazine.

-2009 - 2010:  attended Borderlands Press Writers Bootcamp two years consecutively.  Discovered I was a pretty sucky writer.  This caused several massive rewrites of Hiram, which also made layout editor Danny Evarts want to help me commit sepeku with my pen. 

Sold three more nonfiction stories, which made mother-in-law and wife even happier. Really slow year for short fiction.  Lots of rejections.  Placed one story at the end of the year.  Left Press & Sun Bulletin. Became Review Editor of Shroud Magazine.  Edited The Terror of Miskatonic Falls and Shroud #10, the Halloween Issue.

2011 - Received several Stoker recommendations for Hiram, which tickled me to no end, even though it wasn't nominated. Stepped back from Review Editor for Shroud.  Lots more short story rejections.  Received several of my first ever pro-rate solicitations, though still waiting for word on one finished story and go-ahead for another.  Received several other solicitations, and then.....

BREAK.

I stopped.

Looked around.

Decided this wasn't where I wanted to be.  That I needed to grow as a writer.  That I only wanted to write what was in my heart.

So I turned down said solicitations.  Decided to leave off writing short stories unless story idea was so strong it wouldn't let me sleep.  Dismantled and re-wrote my current novel.  Sold a story to my biggest market yet, and ended up writing a pretty darn good story for my first crack at a pro-rate anthology.  

And plunged headlong into reading.  Reading, reading, reading. In fact, I'm reading MORE than I'm writing right now, and I can't believe it didn't do this sooner....

Because it's like I'm back at school.  And the professors are Charles Grant, T. M. Wright, Stuart David Schiff, F. Paul Wilson, Ramsey Campbell, Manley Wade Wellman...

So you're thinking, "Wait.  Didn't this blog title say: Some Advice from Dean Koontz? Where is it, already?"

Two things.  Currently reading Dean's short story collection (can you believe I didn't realize he wrote short stories?  It's astounding, my ignorance) Strange Highways.  In the afterword, I came across these two snippets, the first simply reaffirming this whole "WOA! Let's put on the brakes" approach I've applied to short story writing:

"If a writer isn't having fun when he's working, the stories he produces are never going to be a pleasure to read."

Translation: write what comes from the heart, and that only.  Because only those stories are going to sell.

Two:  Despite this, DON'T be afraid of writing short stories.  Disregard market.  Disregard advice telling folks to focus on novels.  Write what must be written, and that's all. 

Sorry it's not more earth-shattering than that.  But for me....exactly what I needed to hear.
 

Interview with Norman Partridge, author of "Dark Harvest" - Part 2, and Missing WHC 2011

First, my students' continuing interview - and an inspired sketch of Sawtooth Jack himself - with Norm on his blog this morning.  More next week.

Next, missing World Horror Conference, 2011.

I had this big blog planned.  About feeling stuck in the sand.  About unfulfilled dreams and unrealized goals.  About how I'm a big whiny baby too concerned about things I can't change. I decided to can that and go with the short version.

Three years ago I embarked on the Con circuit, coinciding with my serious efforts as a writer.  Attended 6 Con-ish events my first year.  Scaled back, attended only 4 the next.

Problem was, I had leftover loan money from grad school to pay a lot of the travel bills.  So I got set up with a false impression of what it would really be like to pay out of pocket for all this.

Reality has hit now.  I'm a little more acquainted with the realities of Con travel, and also the truth that WRITING is more important than anything else.  Plus, I've discovered I'm still very ambivalent about being away from my family a lot.   And I know that measuring my career progress by Con attendance is a HONKING mistake.

And I know I'll still have Horrorfind and AnthoCon.

But still.

Anyway.

I'll stop now, before the full-scale pouting begins.  I'll make it to World Horror or Stoker Weekend someday.  Maybe 2013.  Until then....