Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 68

Shroud Magazine Autumn Issue 10: Halloween Special is now...

Shroud Magazine Autumn Issue 10: Halloween Special is now available on Amazon. As guest editor, it was quite a pleasure working with all the writers involved, and I dare say they're a very talented bunch.  A little post-Halloween...but perfect for those folks who love to celebrate it year round.  Contributor copies and pre-orders are being shipped this weekend.

Below is the ever wonderful cover art of Stephen Gilberts, and the TOC following.



FICTION
THREE DOORS, Norman PatridgeLEFT-HANDED RADIO, Rio Youers1925: A FALL RIVER HALLOWEEN, LisaMannettiWAITING FOR G.P., Justin GustainisRED LANTERN, Alethea KontisCHILDHOOD GHOSTS, Kelli OwenVACCINATION, Thomas PhillipsGEORGIE, Robert FordTHE PROPHET ON THE SAND, Val MullerTHE LOVE STORY OF HENRY VAN PENNYSHAW,Chandler KaidenALMOST PARADISE, Jeremy C. ShippLAST HALLOWEEN, Daniel G. Keohane
NONFICTION 

HALLOWEENED BE THY NAME, NicholasGrabowskiTAMPER (SOST), Scott Christian CarrSAM HANE IT'S NOT, Jodi LeeTEN QUESTIONS WITH NORMAN PARTRIDGE,Brian J. HatcherEXPLODING PUMPKINS AND POISONED CANDY,Elizabeth TuckerWHERE DID ALL THE MONSTERS GO?, KelliOwenAUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: RIO YOUERS, KevinLucia
MORE...

DEMENTIS MORTUUS, Word Games for theRest of Us, Victorya & Danny EvartsBOOK REVIEWS Art from Danny Evarts & TylerHoglundCover by Steven Gilberts

Big News Tease, and Part Two of Swampdweller Interview

Hey folks, I'm going to shamelessly tease you with some big (at least for me) publishing news that I'm going to share on Belfire Press and Jodi Lee's blog tomorrow.  It's one of those "awesome news with splash of reality" type things.  Anyway, I'm guest posting in both places tomorrow, so I thought I'd throw that your way.  

Also, don't forget about this:
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Goodreads Book Giveaway Hiram Grange and the Chosen One by Kevin Lucia Giveaway ends December 01, 2010.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win
Lastly, here's part two of my interview at the Swamp Dweller's.  Enjoy!

An Unexpected Writing Pleasure

I write for many reasons, but sometimes it's the unexpected returns that get me.  One of those unexpected returns is the realization that not only do I have lots of great made-up stories to tell, but I also have lots of stories about my life and the lives of those around me to tell.

Recently I wrote a story for a continuing Guideposts series on the power of prayer,  about an accident a dear friend of mine suffered, an accident I truly believe he survived because of the prayer of others.  When the contributor copies arrived, I figured my friend's parents - also close friends of the family - would like a copy, so I sent one out.

This is from the 'thank you' letter they sent back to me:

"Through your story, we were able to relive this experience and be reminded that in many ways what ***** endured was a gift to all of us.  You have allowed others to experience your very personal lesson learned and we are most grateful."

I have to admit, of all my writing goals, touching others through nonfiction is one of the most unplanned and perhaps most satisfying ones of all.  Not everyone likes the spooky, dark, fantastic and often bizarre stuff I love to write, so to be able to reach a completely different audience through my writing - by telling our LIVES through stories - is very fulfilling, and it makes sense, really: LIFE is the grandest story of all, and hey, if there's one thing I love doing more than anything else...

It's telling stories. It's what I was made for.

Of course, I'd never be able to stop telling the bizarre, dark fantastic stories, either.  That's ALSO what I was made for.  Speaking of that, better get moving on Santa's Headshot Christmas... 

'Tis the season, and all that.

Part One of Swamp Dweller's Interview With Me:

Here's Part One of an interview at the Swamp Dweller's place.  Part Two coming tomorrow...

New Review of Hiram, Interview at Monster Librarian

My favorite bit from this one:

"It can be tough to fight real demons when your inner demons are doing a fine job of beating you down. Hiram is a very flawed man, and it is those flaws that make his heroism that much greater. Kevin Lucia grasps this concept and runs with it. His writing is clear and focused, bringing new depths to the character, and his monsters, steeped in Lovecraftian tradition, ooze with menace. Why are tentacles always so creepy?  While Lucia doesn't answer that particular question, he does create a fast-paced, magic-drenched, and tragic new chapter in the Hiram Grange mythos."

Read the rest of the review here.

And here's another interview in the blog tour, also with Monster Librarian.  It's been pretty fortunate that all these interviews have asked LOTS of different questions.

Also, don't forget at the Goodreads Giveaway of Hiram.  Only 12 days left! Just click 'Enter' to win, and Goodreads will pick three lucky folks. 

Guest Post at Apex Publications/Book Company

Hey folks - ironically enough, this morning I blogged about reading to my children, and this evening my thoughts about being a writer AND reader are over on Apex's blog.  Check it out, and comment if you'd like....

Why Every Parent Should Read to Their Kids

That's me reading Gary Braunbeck, of course. To the kids.This was going to be part of last Saturday's post about my first parent-teacher conference with Madison's Kindergarten teacher, but that post was dragging on too long, so I thought I'd save it for another day.

My parents read to my sister and I at very young ages. Because of this, I dare say we both had an edge in school, and we developed into life-long readers (Hi, my name is Kevin, and I'm a read-a-holic).  As an English teacher who's so often dismayed at how little kids read today, I was bound and determined to do the same with our children.

Madison has been read to since eight months old.  Now, her bookshelf SWIMS in books.  It's the one thing I'll indulge her in; I'll buy her as many books as she wants.  She's only five and even though she isn't quite reading on her own, she's memorized most the stories and will often get up, grab a book, sit on the coach and flip through the pages, "reading".  She gets stories and poems before each nap and bedtime, (Jabberwocky, Humpty Dumpty's Song and anything Robert Frost are favorites right now) and it's very clear that she loves listening to stories.

Zack was a harder sell.  We tried when he was younger, but because of his autism and speech delays it just didn't take.  He would never sit still long enough, would start squirming and screaming within minutes.  However - Daddy wasn't giving up.  I kept trying, kept giving it a break, kept trying...but for awhile, no luck.

After he was diagnosed and started seeing his speech therapist, I figured it was time to start reading to him again.  Not only was he getting almost daily speech instruction to help him understand stories better, communication and language are two of autism's biggest barriers.  What better way to try and combat those two, or at least give Zack tools to combat them by reading to him every day?
 
It took a little longer, but now Zack is in almost the same place as Madi.  He expects a story before nap and bedtime, and will also randomly flip through books and "read". At age three.  He's a little more repetitive in his book choices (this is part of his routine-obsessesed autism) so we have to work harder varying the stories we read to him, actually have to hide certain books so he'll choose others, but it's pretty cool we've hooked him it, too.

Even in the car, we've tried to keep all their listening material "story-based".  When they were babies we of course listened to "Baby CDs" in the car (and then forgot to turn them off on dates!) but as they grew older we decided to keep listening to age-appropriate songs, nursery rhymes, and audio stories.  So even on the go, the kids are always listening to limericks and rhymes and stories.  Right now we're on a dinosaur kick.

It wasn't until the other day, however, when Abby mentioned something to me that I really understood WHY reading to our children is so important, especially at bedtime.  In my conversation with Madison's KE teacher, it came up that she believes over 50% of her students have never been read to.  As an English teacher, this dismayed me.  However, Abby reacted very strongly in her own way.

"That's awful," she said.  "How can you not read to your kid? It's the best bonding time. It's the last time you get to be with them at the end of the day."

Typical me, I approach reading to our kids from a very analytical "they need to have good language skills" and an idealistic "I want my kids to love stories just as much as I do" perspective, but Abby approaches it from a purely instinctive, parental perspective: it's the very last thing your child experiences in the day, time snuggling on your lap or sitting next to you, listening to your voice. It's tradition.  It's ritual.  It's an essential part of your day together.

This made me think of how much fun I have making up voices or making funny faces to go with certain stories, acting them out and making Madison laugh.  And I realized that as much I'm doing a very good thing by equipping my kids with a strong language foundation, I'm equipping them with something far greater: the certainty that they are important enough for me to end each day with them, that we have something that belongs to us, that this twenty - thirty minutes belongs to us and no one else.  

This is why every parent should read to their kids.

Blog Tour Update

So far the blog tour has gone pretty well.  Initially, I wanted to play with some experience I'd gained as a reviewer on several other blog tours.  Back then, those tours all blogged about a particular book, they registered with Technorati, posted an Amazon URL, and Technorati featured a service called "Popular Books" which rated the most blogged about books on the interwebz.

The goal of those blog tours?  To blog about a certain book or a new release for a concentrated burst and push said book up the ranking of Technorati's Popular Books.  Some of the past tours I worked on pushed the book all the way to number one for three or four days straight, even past such hot tickets as Harry Potter and Eragon.  I thought it'd be interesting to see if I could push a small press release up Technorati's list.

As it turned out, though, Technorati discontinued or put on hold their Popular Books List, so the central part of my tour plan was skunked.  However, so many bloggers responded with not only interest but enthusiasm, I expanded the tour to a whole month, kicked off the Hiram Goodreads Giveway, and said: "What the heck?  Let's experiment and have some fun."

Anyway, we're about halfway through the tour, and what's been accomplished past some nice new reviews and interviews?  Who knows, really?  Definitely a bunch of new Facebook and Twitter friends, and some new blog followers.   The reviewers have indicated they really enjoyed Hiram, so that's been cool.  In the end if that's all I accomplished, that's good enough for me.  Any case, only about two more weeks of "Hiram pimping", and things will go back to their regularly scheduled programming.

Here are all the stops I've made so far.  Amazingly enough, all the interviews - past and future, unposted ones - have touched on completely different topics, so there's been very little crossover or repetition:

Interview at author Greg Mitchell's blog, Part One and Part Two.
Interview and bloody good tea at author Jackie Gamber's Tea on the Terrace.
Review at Serial Distractions. 
Interview at writer and reviewer Ben Eads' blog, Part One and Part Two, as well as his review.
Review by Martin Rose.
Review at The Event Horizon. 

Monday and Tuesday Swampdweller Reviews will feature another interview with me, I'll be guest blogging at Apex and Flames Rising, there'll be some more reviews, and hopefully a few other special surprises in store.  Anyway, if you've followed - thanks!  If not, come join the fun...

My Totally Normal, Average Little Girl

I met with Madison's teacher for our first ever parent-teacher conference yesterday.  It was a pretty relaxed affair - this IS kindergarten after all.  Not worried about standardized state tests or college applications or SATs quite yet.  

And, we knew what to expect.  Abby and I are very involved parents.  We've kept abreast of Madi's progress, we communicate with her teacher often, so we knew we'd be getting a good report.

Still.  I felt a little trepidation, because this was a huge milestone.  We don't talk much about it in the light of Zack's autism,  but Madison was diagnosed with something called "Sensory Integration Disorder" long before Zack was diagnosed with autism.

Now, I know.  All these diagnoses and disorders. These things never existed when I was a kid.  Madi is almost a carbon copy of me, and what was I called in elementary school?  Busy.  Wiggly.  Unfocused.  Inattentive.  Very, very active, with a huge imagination and a tendency to tell stories (go figure).

But, I attended school in a different era.  Education was more formal, stricter, more structured.  Though I had a very hard time fitting in, I eventually sorted things out because school forced me to sort them out.

However, sometimes when these things get passed down they get worse. Whatever it is that causes these sensory issues, Madison got a huge dose.  We noticed after Zack was born a radical change in her behavior.  We couldn't take her anywhere.  At age three, in a crowd, our normally quiet and polite little girl became an uholy terror.  

Plus, though her vocabulary seemed very advanced, we noticed her muscle tone seemed underdeveloped, as well as her fine motor skills - she couldn't dress or undress herself, when most three year olds we knew were at least experimenting, and she had trouble holding a pen.  

Very loud noises reduced her to hysterics.  We had to create a sound vacuum in her room at night with fans, air conditioners and humidifiers, and even to this day if the power goes out and those things go off, the sudden SILENCE makes her wake up, screaming bloody murder.  

She also experienced sleep difficulties - not as bad as Zack has been having - but then it seemed bad - she got up every night around midnight and got up at the crack of dawn, so eventually we bought her a weighted blanket to help her sleep.  We've also had to seek out some herbal alternatives which finally allowed Madison to sleep AT LEAST to 6 AM every day.

She also suffered high food sensitivity.  From infancy, certain food textures made her vomit.  Automatically.  We thought that would fade with age, but as her diet became more varied, it got worse.  Some foods just made her puke, either because of allergies or the texture. She couldn't eat chocolate or sugary foods. They made her puke.  Heck, touching things like play dough or shaving cream made her gag.

Also, because of this sensitivity, she wouldn't take medicine willingly - of any kind.  We couldn't even hide it in her drinks.  Imagine what a nightmare that became, when she got really sick and ran very high fevers. I'll say one word and then move on: suppositories.  

Ironically enough, if you look at the Autism Spectrum of Disorders, Madison's issues place her very near Aspberger's Syndrome.  She doesn't have that or ADHD - we're very meticulous in getting her diagnosed every year, to have it on paper she DOESN'T have either - but it'd only take a nudge.  For her to have those traits and for her brother to have autism is very thought-provoking about the nature of autism, in general.

She started getting intervention, saw an OT twice a week for almost two years.   This turned out to be a small blessing because it paved the way for Zack's more intensive intervention, made us more prepared.  

She did very well from the start.  We saw immediate improvement.   Still, her intervention carried - still carries, actually - a daily burden that we've probably gotten so used to, we forget about it.

For example, the last two years, we've used a brushing protocol on Madison.  Basically, because she struggles with a higher than normal difficulty in processing sensory stimuli - either she feels too much or not enough - she got wild.  Hyper.  Out of control.

Either the overload in sensory stimuli pushed her behavior over the egde, or lack of it caused her to act out in order to feel sensory stimuli.  So we "brush" her - on her arms, legs, and back - to not only give her a regular does of physical stimuli so she doesn't act out in search of it, but helps her learn to regulate stimuli and not get overloaded.   

But we've had to brush her every two hours.  We've done that for that last two years, no matter where we were or what we're doing: brush her arms, legs, and back every two hours.  We also do joint compressions - which involves compressing the joints at her elbows, wrists, ankles, and knees.  This also provides regular sensory input and calms her down, but like the brushing - we have to do it every two hours, sometimes ON the hour.

At this point, it's become part of our lives.  We're used to it.  Luckily, she's showing a lot more control, so we see ourselves phasing out of this soon.  Already, she goes through her entire day at Kindergarten without brushing or compressions.

And that's where our anxieties lay.  Left to herself and in controlled, quiet environments, Madison is cheerful, relaxed, polite, easy-going and easy to manage.  Wildly intelligent. What a shame it'd be for such an intelligent, cheerful little girl to struggle in school - maybe academically - because of behavior issues that had nothing to do with intelligence.


Well, this summer and fall have been banner months.  She's done SO many things she's never done before.  Like take risks on scary amusement park rides.  She attended several summer camps unattended, on her own, and she thrived.  She even played soccer this fall (it was a kiddie program, of course), something we never thought she'd be able to do.  

And, as per the meeting yesterday, she's thriving in Kindergarten - again, something we feared wouldn't happen.  In fact, even though she's busy (in the words of her teacher, "she needs to be moving even when she's moving") likes to talk and is prone to telling stories (hmmm), she's right where she needs to be, and neither her teacher nor the building OT see any sensory issues at all.

She's totally normal.   You may think, "Well, of course she is.  Why wouldn't she be?"

Us? We're sorta thinking it's a miracle.  Guess it all depends on perspective...

New Review, and I LOVE Norman Partridge

First of all, a new review of Hiram Grange & The Chosen One by Timothy Remp. Second, don't forget the on-going Hiram Goodreads Giveaway.  Must join Goodreads, then click "Enter to Win".  Goodreads will pick three winners, I'll send three books out.  Now, in other news...

Last night I picked up Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest on a whim and started reading it again.  I'd already started Swan Song, but I thought Dark Harvest would be great for my Creative Writing class to read - it's structure is so marvelously different - and figured I'd better read it through again before I assigned it.

I knocked off thirty plus pages in under thirty minutes.

Okay.

I WANT that kind of storytelling power.  

I've gone through lots of stages as a writer.  At first, I tried to mimic Stephen King's voice, mostly because that's all I read.  So I indulged myself with that "Dear Reader" authorial intrusion but didn't do it nearly as well as King does.

Then, like all new writers, I committed two heinous errors: I described everything as vividly as possible and violated all the POV rules doing so, and used every adjective and adverb and semi-colon I could.

Plus, I explained.  A lot.  Did a lot of telling.  I went through a phase where I had this great MESSAGE to tell, a social commentary, so I had to explain everything the characters were doing and thinking.  I was writing deep and important life stuff, darn it.  Had to make sure the readers got the MESSAGE.

I went through a Bradbury stage - because I was reading a lot of Bradbury, had re-discovered Something Wicked This Way Comes - and wrote very flowery, lyrical prose, and learned I couldn't do it nearly as well as Bradbury.

Then I attended Borderlands Press Writers' Bootcamp.  Learned all the rules I had broken, even in the first draft of Hiram Grange.  Attended Borderlands again, and through multiple re-writes of Hiram, something occurred to me: what did I want to be remembered for most, as a writer?  Out of all the adjectives I'D used over the years to describe other writers in my reviews, which one did I want applied to ME?

My favorite authors -the ones I simply can't put down - write books that are so freakin' readable, they're like literary crack.  Every word and sentence flows seamlessly into a story where the words disappear and only the story remains.

Readable.  

Obsessively readable.  

So darn readable people wanted to read my stuff in one sitting.  I then realized that to be this readable, I didn't have to sacrifice content, substance, or message.

I just had to sacrifice WORDS.

Dark Harvest is so freakin' readable.  I can't put it down.  There's a whole ton of voice here, too...and not a wasted word.  But it's not deathly spare, like I find Hemingway and Carver to be.   It's balanced, with just enough of the right stuff and not too much of anything. 

I WANT THIS TO BE MY STYLE.

Norman's not the only writer I've latched onto who writes this way.  F. Paul Wilson and his Repairman Jack novels have become the equivalent of literary crack for me.  AND, those novels are always 300 plus pages, but the narrative is so stripped down - Paul crams SO much story into one package, a story that's smooth as butter.

Ironically, what did Paul himself write on my novel sample at Borderlands last year?

Too much overwriting.

I don't want to copy Norman or Paul's voices, though.  Want to develop my own voice.  

But still.

I want people to read my stuff.  

In one sitting.

And not be able to stop.

I want my words to be literary crack.

But I want my voice to be my own.  And I think I'm getting there.  I think there's a marked difference between my Hiram Grange and the other Hiram Granges, but also a marked difference between Hiram and my previous work.  And in the novel I'm currently working on, my voice is developing.  Becoming my own.

And that, girls and boys...is when the writing gets FUN.