Monica Valentinelli's Blog: booksofm.com, page 92

Let Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror Scare You in eBook Formats!

HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror is now available in eBook format on DriveThruHorror.com for your Kindle, Nook and more! Just in time for All Hallow's Eve; I hope you'll do me the honor of downloading this collection of ghostly mysteries.

The first review has been posted and here's what the reviewer had to say about my role:

The attention and careful thought that editor Monica Valentinelli put into arranging the stories in "Haunted" pays off as it the only anthology I have ever been able to read (and enjoy) in a single sitting. — Review of HAUNTED on DriveThruHorror.com

Download Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror

Who willingly walks into a haunted house?

Ghost hunters explore dark places, investigate clues and uncover secrets of the dead. Evidence of an afterlife may prove elusive and few hunters recognize some things are best left buried and forgotten.

Suspense and intrigue lurks inside HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror. Unlock the clues in these eleven mysteries:

+ A curious ghost hunter tracks down a mysterious device's origin and finds more than he bargained for.

+ One local tour guide meets a group of cocky professionals in a small town and discovers something more frightening than ghosts.

+ After his famous ghost hunting wife is declared missing, a devastated husband follows a trail of clues to find her.

+ A team of researchers at a local university are in over their heads when they try to prove a house is haunted.

+ When a desperate mother offers his services, a boy who can talk to ghosts is dragged into a dangerous mystery.

+ Lost without their go-to guy, a group of ghost hunters fight each other to get him back on curious terms.

+ Tragedy looms when a group of friends enter a suspicious house and realize they're unequipped to hurt what's already dead.

+ A skeptic and a believer team up to expose the truth about a local legend in a haunted forest.

+ An iconic figure confronts a man to find out if he's building haunted houses or if it's a bizarre hoax.

+ Strange circumstances compel the ghosts from a troubled veteran's past to reappear in the present.

+ A friendly warning turns into a bizarre rescue when a ghost hunter tries to help an amateur armed with an odd locket.

Wizard's Guidance. A New Guest Post for Dice Castle!

This month I return to the Village of No-No's in my continuing series at Geek's Dream Girl.

"Well, it's a good thing you know how to do that at least." The wizard quips as he unrolls the parchment. "Now, here's something you might be interested in. Why don't you go ahead and read this version of events."

Not wanting to piss off an all-powerful wizard, you take the document off his hands and begin to read a familiar, yet slightly different, version of events. As you engross yourself in the story, the room begins to spin.

You adjust your shoulder bag and stroll into a village nestled in a lush valley. The first thing you see is a man and a woman arguing at the top of their lungs. From what you can make out, they're pissed off about coin. The woman turns to you and says: "Don't work for that guy, he'll never pay you." The man, who happens to be wearing a jerkin with an embroidered logo on the back, rolls his eyes and drones: "Don't hire that freelancer, she'll never hand anything in on time and it's full of typos, too." — SOURCE: Wizard's Guidance, Adventure to Dice Castle

I hope you'll drop by the site and give Wizard's Guidance, Adventure to Dice Castle a read!

A Return to Blogging (Or Why I Miss LiveJournal)

So, here we are. It's Fall of 2011. 100 Days of Social Media Blackout behind me. Speak Out with your Geek Out is behind (and in some respects) in front of me.

And I realized I've been missing something basic, something real. Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus don't replace what I loved about being inside a blog network. As an author who enjoys sharing, learning, and contributing to a community — it's difficult to "tag" people on my own website and share updates that don't sound trivial. Of course, some may argue that that's what Twitter is for. Only… Twitter is so fleeting. It's hard to encapsulate people's personalities in a single Tweet, but a series of them? Sure. Still, I have to be online twenty-four seven to do that. *shakes head* And I'm not.

So, I shall return to blogging after I return from NYCC. There will be other website changes to accommodate this, too, but I have to mull those over. There's pictures to share, messy artwork to offer you, and more readers to engage. None of what I want to do will change the other posts; this is simply a natural evolution to fit where I'm headed with my work.

New Guest Post: Writers Getting Social. Is it Worth It?

This month at the How To Write Shop I talk about my experiences this year with social media.

So what does this mean for you? Well, as an author you have to figure out the best way to reach your readers. Social media is temporal and fleeting. Sometimes, that isn't the best channel to connect because your readers may not be online the same time you are. For others, they feel (as I do) that there is a price to pay for being too well connected to your audience. — SOURCE: Getting Social: Is it Worth it?

What do you think? Have you taken a look at what social media means to you?

A Lesson from the Muskrat

Working with the Muskrat (aka John Kovalic) has been a lot of fun as we get the workflow side of things situated. We've been dealing with this pesky thing called "infrastructure" (I might have said that before) as well as firming up business relationships and letting people know that we're now a team of two (as opposed to a team of one).

While I've been giving John options and new ways to deal with the business, he's also taught me something, too. Short answer? The importance of a positive tone in e-mail. Long answer? Read on…

Every day, we're bombarded with communication. If you work online, chances are you're getting input from Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, websites, forums, etc. That's not including your phone, advertising, crappy drivers or bus passengers, etc. etc. etc.

Tone matters! The same words in the same e-mail changes tone if you add a smiley face or a friendly salutation. I've witnessed this time and time and time again. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Maybe it is just that simple. Maybe we read into tone on e-mails without even realizing it. Yet, the world changes when we not only talk to people with a smile, but infer that as well.

Since I've adopted the Muskrat WayTM, I have noticed a difference in the exchanges I've had. No, this doesn't mean you suck up to people, because really? Since when do I do that and well? All this is, is a reminder that it's not a bad thing to seek out positivity where you can. It can make a difference in a world where there's not enough smiley faces throughout the day.

Thanks, John!

Give a Book This Halloween! I'll Be Participating in All Hallows Read

Many of you know that I am an advocate for all things reading. As a writer, avid reader, and fan of TOO many authors to count any program that promotes literacy is awesome in my book.

This time, author extraordinaire Neil Gaiman posted an idea about giving a scary book to someone on Halloween. Dubbed All Hallows Read, terrify your fellow trick-or-treaters with a haunting tale.

In that spirit, I will have a post that will go live on Halloween reminding people about this event. I can offer you a list of titles I've written to pick from — including the new ghost hunting anthology dubbed HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror — or you can get a gift certificate from DriveThruHorror.com. It's your choice! All you have to do is this:

1) Be one of the first to comment on my Halloween blog post and

2) Be willing to do the same for someone else.

You don't have to buy a book or a gift certificate for someone like I am. It can be a library book or something out of your own collection, too. And yes, this is the honor system. My spies aren't everywhere. Yet.

That's it. Easy, eh? Together, I'm pretty sure we can scare the world. Let's give this TERRORific cause our best shot.

Otherwise, I'll continue to regale you with bad, bad puns and dry sarcasm.

Happy Haunting Reading!

Going to New York Comic Con?

I'm going to be going to New York Comic Conwhile John from Dork Tower takes the opportunity to work on the Tao of Igor. All the pieces are coming together for a brand, new trade. We've got a killer introduction and are awaiting a bonus essay for the back of the book. There's also some great stories that John has planned. (And no, I'm NOT going to spoil it for you… Though, you'll be happy I didn't…)

I'll be tracking down publishers as well for the fiction side of DriveThru. I'm handling the publisher relations over at that site a few hours a week and am doing some consulting for the retail end of things.

From what the Exhibitor List looks like I'll be running around a lot during the show. Just in the Comic Pavilion alone there are over 500 booths set up. I hope to run into Phil Reed from Steve Jackson Games, Tim Seeley from Hack/Slash, Anton Strout from Penguin and authorial fame, and George Vasilakos from Eden Studios. (I say "hope" because it's going to be crazy busy, even with cell phones…) But we'll see!

This'll be my first time but it's mostly a business trip for me. I'm going to keep writing, even during the show, but I'll be wrapping up some fun drafts and a new project outline for TBA before we leave.

Going? What are you planning on doing?

Romance, Vampires and Men

One of the questions that popped up for Russell Bailey and Eddy Webb, the developers for Strange, Dead Love, alluded to the impression that romance was primarily for women. The question really struck me and I want to talk about it in a more generic context about paranormal romance than address what it means to Vampire: the Requiem.

For the past couple of years, I've been involved with a romance writer's group. I am not what you would consider a traditional romance reader or writer. Sap is really not my cup of tea. My flavors tend to run darker, like the types of relationships you might see in Dracula or Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. The reason why I dived into this group was to overcome my (for lack of a better word) stupidity about the genre as a whole from a creator's perspective. When I first started, I was hesitant to infuse lipstick with vampires in my own work.

This group of men and women took my flowery impressions of romance and really helped me better understand it from a technical standpoint and, even better yet, a reader's point-of-view. Romance isn't just about one thing (e.g. smooches, a box of chocolates, or tears). Those elements — whether they're part of the setting or not — allow the characters to express their emotions. A romance isn't a scene or a dozen roses: it's a story arc just like any other.

Those emotions get stronger as the story progresses. BUT! (And this is a big but in my book…) It's harder to pick up a romance two-thirds of the way through. Like any other book, you really have to start from the beginning and understand what happens between those two characters in order to feel the emotional impact of their relationship.

Getting back to vampires…

I've read a lot of vampire fiction and watched, well, too many movies to count. Some authors like ghosts or zombies or fairies? Me? I'm a vampire girl. Tried and true. Like traditional romance, there are many flavors of paranormal romance that include vampires. There are some stories that don't dive into the nature of a vampire and focus on the mortal who faces the predator instead. There are others that highlight the tragedy of the romance because vampires are damned, evil creatures. And then? There are some romances where vampires are just window dressing.

When I think about audiences for paranormal romance, I think about audiences for other emotionally-driven genres like horror. I feel, and continue to feel, that whether or not "a" man or "a" woman will like a particular title comes down to personal preference. With romance, it's tough because it's also heavily-influenced by cultural norms and attitudes. Take physical contact for example. If I just met you, how would you feel if I walked down the street with my arm around your shoulders? Men kissing in Europe means something different than men kissing in the States. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Based on my experiences, I don't think romance is exclusively for men or for women. That's what marketing is saying. That's how they sell and, from what I've learned, companies like Harlequin and the authors who work for them are dedicated to providing what their established audience wants to read. They do an amazing, amazing job!!!

Anecdotally (for I don't have hard numbers on this) paranormal romance does seem to attract a broader audience because there's often other plots happening at the same time. Genre lines are pretty blurry, but paranormal romance and urban fantasy are often intermixed because of that. To an author, though, the romance is about the story between the characters. If you get the chance to talk to a romance author — of any sort — I highly recommend that you do. These conversations changed my view on romance entirely and have allowed me to introduce those types of stories into my own work.

I have the utmost respect for all flavors of paranormal romance and the authors therein — which is why I was thrilled to be a part of Strange, Dead Love. I can only hope my contribution did the genre justice within the context of Vampire: the Requiem. Guess I'll just have to find out what you think! *gulp*

Don't Rest Your Head… Until You Read This Announcement…

I am thrilled to announce that I am one of the authors penning a dark and terrifying tale inspired by the Don't Rest Your Head RPG designed and written by Fred Hicks and published by Evil Hat Productions.

Horror games have always been a draw for me because they've allowed me to explore deep characterization to explore the nature of heroes and the affected. Don't Rest Your Head is "a game of insomnia in the Mad City." It's been called an "atmospheric" game (and rightly so). Having insomnia has a cost.

In Don't Rest Your Head, that cost is Exhaustion, Pain and the shocking realization that reality isn't what it seems. Characters find they're Awake in the Mad City and Nightmares are hot on their heels. The PDF version of the game is five bucks. (FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS! CHEAP!) Dice required are d6′s in red, white and black.

Interested? Well, if playing superheroes suffering from insomnia in a twisted world doesn't grab you, then I hope this next announcement will: Chuck Wendig, Penmonkey Master Chief, is the editor for a Don't Rest Your Head anthology inspired by this dark and haunting game. I will be lending my voice to a chorus of mad, mad authors as we explore the depths of the City. I can't wait to dive in!

More news to come on my story, the process working with Evil Hat Productions, and writing tie-in fiction as the project continues.

Sage Advice from Author M D Lachlan

This came across my Twitter feed from @muskrat_john the other day and, quite frankly, it bears repeating. Over and over and over again.

In his article, Lachlan writes about the need for writers to accept criticism by letting go of their work. What he's talking about, here, is very specific. I'm going to quote two passages that stood out to me. The first is:

Writers need the ability let go of their work. It's only pixels. I've had to throw away the work I loved the most out of anything I've ever written. I thought it was great. Publishers were very kind about it but didn't think it was commercial. Oh well, next project. — SOURCE: It's Only Pixels by M.D. Lachlan

I can't tell you how important the last two words "next project" are. This? This sort of thing happens all the time. Projects stop and start. Projects lose funding. Projects get tabled in favor of something else that's new. When you stop writing and working on the next project, your chances of getting paid or garnering acclaim for something else rapidly diminishes.

Then I really thought Lachlan nailed it when he said:

I try to view (my writing) objectively and dispassionately. It's hard to do but, if you can get the knack of it, it will make you a better writer.

Nowhere in this post does Lachlan say that you can't love what you write. Everywhere in this post, however, does underline the need to view your writing as work. You can still love it, but the key to downplaying criticism is to understand that's all it is. It's not you an editor is saying things about, it's pixels.

Hop on over and give It's Only Pixels, written by M.D. Lachlan (author of WOLFSANGEL), a read.