Susan Buffum's Blog: Welcome to My World, page 3
July 21, 2018
Black King Takes White Queen and The Hanging Man
Black King Takes White Queen and The Hanging Man and Other Stories have both been entered in the Best Book Awards contest. Unfortunately, they currently have The Hanging Man and Other Stories listed as The Hanging Name and Other Stories. I have requested they correct the title, but both books are on their website. Black King Takes White Queen is under the general fiction/cross genre category while The Hanging Man is listed under anthologies.
I will be doing a giveaway for The Hanging Man and Other Stories. These are primarily supernatural/paranormal stories. I did the cover art for the book, too.
I will be doing a giveaway for The Hanging Man and Other Stories. These are primarily supernatural/paranormal stories. I did the cover art for the book, too.
May 25, 2018
News about The Clockmaker's Son
Last year's NaNo novel, The Clockmaker's Son, made it's debut May 23rd on Amazon and Kindle, published by Dark Ink Press under their Inklings imprint.
I have been self publishing from my lifetime body of work since May of 2015 with 42 books published. It seemed a little strange to let go as the publisher, but I am excited about the book because it has a professionally designed cover, it's own promo video (I've shared it on facebook), and promo materials (on my susanbuffum.blogspot.com author page.
This book was the one inspired by the mechanical clock tower in my home town, a somewhat controversial work of art that mirrors the nearby Holy Trinity bell tower and opens on two sides to reveal a man making a whip using the barrel technique. He does his work on both sides of the clock that fold down to reveal him. The clock tower in The Clockmaker's Son is like a fairytale that comes to life.
The novel is about a young man who abruptly leaves his hometown after his high school graduation and disappears in Europe, his father losing his trail. Years later, the young woman who's clock he repaired when his father was too busy to look at it, is working in a library and sees his image in a German newspaper. She shares the info with his father when she takes her little boudoir clock that has stopped working to him to ask if he will repair it.
Meanwhile, mutilation killings are on the rise in Pine Haven, and now it's not just animals, it's people being ravaged and torn apart. One person knows how to stop the carnage, but he's reluctant to return to town...
That's all I'm saying. Early readers report devouring the book in a 3-hour reading marathon, another told me she hadn't read a book in 2 years but found herself unable to put it down, but had to force herself after six chapters so she could get some sleep and get up for work in the morning. She's finishing it this weekend. I've had three people tell me that they love it.
It's a cross genre horror/romance. That's not an easy genre to work in, but if you think of Beauty & the Beast then you'll get the idea behind this novel.
The book can be found on Amazon and is also available on Kindle.
I have been self publishing from my lifetime body of work since May of 2015 with 42 books published. It seemed a little strange to let go as the publisher, but I am excited about the book because it has a professionally designed cover, it's own promo video (I've shared it on facebook), and promo materials (on my susanbuffum.blogspot.com author page.
This book was the one inspired by the mechanical clock tower in my home town, a somewhat controversial work of art that mirrors the nearby Holy Trinity bell tower and opens on two sides to reveal a man making a whip using the barrel technique. He does his work on both sides of the clock that fold down to reveal him. The clock tower in The Clockmaker's Son is like a fairytale that comes to life.
The novel is about a young man who abruptly leaves his hometown after his high school graduation and disappears in Europe, his father losing his trail. Years later, the young woman who's clock he repaired when his father was too busy to look at it, is working in a library and sees his image in a German newspaper. She shares the info with his father when she takes her little boudoir clock that has stopped working to him to ask if he will repair it.
Meanwhile, mutilation killings are on the rise in Pine Haven, and now it's not just animals, it's people being ravaged and torn apart. One person knows how to stop the carnage, but he's reluctant to return to town...
That's all I'm saying. Early readers report devouring the book in a 3-hour reading marathon, another told me she hadn't read a book in 2 years but found herself unable to put it down, but had to force herself after six chapters so she could get some sleep and get up for work in the morning. She's finishing it this weekend. I've had three people tell me that they love it.
It's a cross genre horror/romance. That's not an easy genre to work in, but if you think of Beauty & the Beast then you'll get the idea behind this novel.
The book can be found on Amazon and is also available on Kindle.
March 11, 2018
The Clockmaker's Son (new novel)
Well, I finally dug my 2017 NaNo novel out of the pile on the dining room floor and spent the past week reading it, editing it, and polishing it. Author friend, Melissa Volker, jumped right on my asking if anyone would be interested in designing the cover for the novel. I am so grateful to have such great and talented friends! She had an initial design for me within an hour and is now busy tinkering with it, making it perfect- I know it'll be awesome!
The Clockmaker's Son is the werewolf novel that was inspired by the controversial clock tower here in Westfield, MA. Our clock tower, which mirrors the bell tower of the nearby Holy Trinity Church and celebrates the city's history of whip making, was not well-received by many residents who only saw it as an eyesore and an unnecessary expense during the downtown makeover after the second (and much needed) bridge crossing the Westfield River was finally constructed after years and years of promises and delays.
I had no problem with the clock tower. I thought it was unique to our area and didn't find it ugly at all. I could see the art form of it and how it was designed to tie into the location where it stands. It stood there for several years before I happened to drive by at noon time, which is when the side panels lower and the 3-D man and barrel are revealed. The side panels lower three times a day- noon, 3PM and 6PM. The panels stay down for only 5 minutes before closing up again, so you have to time it just right to see this marvel in action.
Anyway, one day in May I was downtown and heading home, arriving at the light near the clock tower at high noon- and I saw the panels come down in person for the first time. I snapped a picture on my phone as the light turned green. By the time I pulled into my driveway about 11 minutes later I had the clockmaker/werewolf novel idea in my head.
After several false starts I set the project aside. In late October, stressing about what to write for NaNoWriMo, Kelly said, just write the werewolf novel already and get it done. So, that's what I did.
At the nd of November I put it aside to work on other projects. Now, I've dusted it off and am getting it ready for publication. It might be out by the end of this month if all continues to go well!
Fingers crossed!
The Clockmaker's Son is the werewolf novel that was inspired by the controversial clock tower here in Westfield, MA. Our clock tower, which mirrors the bell tower of the nearby Holy Trinity Church and celebrates the city's history of whip making, was not well-received by many residents who only saw it as an eyesore and an unnecessary expense during the downtown makeover after the second (and much needed) bridge crossing the Westfield River was finally constructed after years and years of promises and delays.
I had no problem with the clock tower. I thought it was unique to our area and didn't find it ugly at all. I could see the art form of it and how it was designed to tie into the location where it stands. It stood there for several years before I happened to drive by at noon time, which is when the side panels lower and the 3-D man and barrel are revealed. The side panels lower three times a day- noon, 3PM and 6PM. The panels stay down for only 5 minutes before closing up again, so you have to time it just right to see this marvel in action.
Anyway, one day in May I was downtown and heading home, arriving at the light near the clock tower at high noon- and I saw the panels come down in person for the first time. I snapped a picture on my phone as the light turned green. By the time I pulled into my driveway about 11 minutes later I had the clockmaker/werewolf novel idea in my head.
After several false starts I set the project aside. In late October, stressing about what to write for NaNoWriMo, Kelly said, just write the werewolf novel already and get it done. So, that's what I did.
At the nd of November I put it aside to work on other projects. Now, I've dusted it off and am getting it ready for publication. It might be out by the end of this month if all continues to go well!
Fingers crossed!
March 4, 2018
Spending Time With Author Friends
Nothing re-energizes a low writing battery more than spending a little time with author friends and just relaxing and talking. It doesn't matter what the talk is about, it's jus talking to people who understand what it's like to constantly be bombarded with ideas and bits of conversation between characters, visual images that pop into your head of what your characters or locations/settings look like, and even entire layouts of towns. It can be exhausting or exhilarating, depending on your success at sleeping and your state of wakefulness. If you're exhausted and not feeling well you can feel as if you're in a rip tide being pulled further and further away from a shore you just want to crawl back up onto, making your way to a cozy beach towel to catch a nap on.
And then I went to an author event and sat in the audience with five or more other authors.
Battery fully charged.
Ready to write.
And then I went to an author event and sat in the audience with five or more other authors.
Battery fully charged.
Ready to write.
March 2, 2018
Catching Up
There's been a lot going on while my laptop journeyed to Texas for repairs after the touchpad went on it. It came home yesterday and life is slowly getting back tp normal after being without it for 10 days.
Tonight is the first night I've been using it since they installed a new hard drive and then reinstalled the operating system. John spent all of last night tinkering with that and then uploading all my story files and hot files from the external hard drive he'd stored them on prior to shipping my "baby" out for repair.
I'm trying to find everything that was previously in my favorites, catch up on blogs, and maybe, just maybe do some writing tonight!
The Hanging Man and Other Stories is back on Amazon after a few minor fixes. I've been kicking around the idea of revising my NaNo novel-finally. We'll see what comes of that over the weekend.
Meanwhile, I've been reacquainting myself with Shirley Jackson, one of my favorite authors who had influenced my own writing. Just read Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson, a Penguin Classic book...creepy stories that reminded me of episodes of The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. She was the queen of psychological unease. And you can find a lot f the things she toyed with in her stories in the work of other authors and in film. Oddly enough, the Lottery wasn't included in this collection.
It made me remember when I wrote Such Pretty Eyes, a very Jacksonesque story about an unhappy young housewife who is unappreciated and practically unnoticed by her husband. There are little cracks in her psyche. What pushed her over the edge is finding herself eating lunch in the same diner that her husband has taken his mistress to-and he doesn't even notice his own wife sitting at the counter as he exits with this more vivacious woman. It more or less seals his fate.
Anyway- - I have sixteen binders full of older stories in the cabinet in the den. Such Pretty Eyes exists only as a typewritten story (electronic typewriter, not a manual at least!)- so it predates my beginning to use the computer which began when Kelly was in elementary school in the mid-90's even though we had a computer in the house since the mid-80's.
Relaxing tonight and getting reacquainted with my laptop...attending an author event tomorrow evening, and I have a meeting with two of my favorite local authors and friends tomorrow afternoon. Then I need to start getting organized for the next WhipCity Wordsmiths meeting on March 17th, and Articulture2018 on April 21st. Spring is going to be busy!
Tonight is the first night I've been using it since they installed a new hard drive and then reinstalled the operating system. John spent all of last night tinkering with that and then uploading all my story files and hot files from the external hard drive he'd stored them on prior to shipping my "baby" out for repair.
I'm trying to find everything that was previously in my favorites, catch up on blogs, and maybe, just maybe do some writing tonight!
The Hanging Man and Other Stories is back on Amazon after a few minor fixes. I've been kicking around the idea of revising my NaNo novel-finally. We'll see what comes of that over the weekend.
Meanwhile, I've been reacquainting myself with Shirley Jackson, one of my favorite authors who had influenced my own writing. Just read Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson, a Penguin Classic book...creepy stories that reminded me of episodes of The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. She was the queen of psychological unease. And you can find a lot f the things she toyed with in her stories in the work of other authors and in film. Oddly enough, the Lottery wasn't included in this collection.
It made me remember when I wrote Such Pretty Eyes, a very Jacksonesque story about an unhappy young housewife who is unappreciated and practically unnoticed by her husband. There are little cracks in her psyche. What pushed her over the edge is finding herself eating lunch in the same diner that her husband has taken his mistress to-and he doesn't even notice his own wife sitting at the counter as he exits with this more vivacious woman. It more or less seals his fate.
Anyway- - I have sixteen binders full of older stories in the cabinet in the den. Such Pretty Eyes exists only as a typewritten story (electronic typewriter, not a manual at least!)- so it predates my beginning to use the computer which began when Kelly was in elementary school in the mid-90's even though we had a computer in the house since the mid-80's.
Relaxing tonight and getting reacquainted with my laptop...attending an author event tomorrow evening, and I have a meeting with two of my favorite local authors and friends tomorrow afternoon. Then I need to start getting organized for the next WhipCity Wordsmiths meeting on March 17th, and Articulture2018 on April 21st. Spring is going to be busy!
February 18, 2018
Out has been shortlisted!
Received notification last night that my vampire novel Out has been shortlisted in the Paranormal Book Awards 2017 contest! This is the second year in a row one of my novels has been shortlisted in the Chanticleer International Bok Awards contests. Last year Black King Takes White Queen was shortlisted in the OZMA Book Awards 2016 contest.
I am so honored and excited to be shortlisted again! Keeping my fingers crossed Out will advance to the finalists list...
I am so honored and excited to be shortlisted again! Keeping my fingers crossed Out will advance to the finalists list...
January 29, 2018
The Hanging Man and other stories
Coming in February will be an anthology of 17 ghost/supernatural stories titles The Hanging Man and other stories. I'm in the process of finding just the right image for the cover- I want it to be the barn from the title story. Living in New England, in the rural part of Massachusetts, I shouldn't have too much trouble finding a barn...but it had to have the right look to it. Might head up into the hill towns this coming weekend to barn hunt!
January 24, 2018
Brief Excerpt from The Hanging Man
'His eyes shifted to the hanging man and he yelped again when he saw that the man’s mouth was no longer agape but had drawn itself up into a horrible rictus that mimicked a ghastly grin. He stumbled backwards out of the stall, grabbing the gate and slamming it shut before fleeing the barn, Daisy-dew bellowing in alarm in her stall.'
The Hanging Man is a ghost story set in the mid-west around the turn of the century. It will be included in a new anthology of ghost stories and supernatural tales that I'll be self publishing in February 2018.
The Hanging Man is a ghost story set in the mid-west around the turn of the century. It will be included in a new anthology of ghost stories and supernatural tales that I'll be self publishing in February 2018.
January 17, 2018
3rd Attempt on New Novel
I was inspired by my new mousepad to write a new novel.
I wrote 26,997 words (version #1)and wasn't happy. A few days later I restarted. skimmed along writing 49,989 words over a long weekend. I scrapped that version (version#2) on the morning of the 13th of this month. I walked away. I stewed and grumbled, ranted and railed against my muse.
Then that same afternoon I sat down and began writing again (version #3). I am, 4 days later, close to 50,000 words into the new novel, and things are going much better this time. It's more the story that I set out to write.
I'm not really sure how to describe this one...life, death, love found, love lost, love reincarnated?
I never know quite what the novel will be until it is in existence! That's the joy of writing. Surprise!
I wrote 26,997 words (version #1)and wasn't happy. A few days later I restarted. skimmed along writing 49,989 words over a long weekend. I scrapped that version (version#2) on the morning of the 13th of this month. I walked away. I stewed and grumbled, ranted and railed against my muse.
Then that same afternoon I sat down and began writing again (version #3). I am, 4 days later, close to 50,000 words into the new novel, and things are going much better this time. It's more the story that I set out to write.
I'm not really sure how to describe this one...life, death, love found, love lost, love reincarnated?
I never know quite what the novel will be until it is in existence! That's the joy of writing. Surprise!
January 8, 2018
New Laptop in New Year
My wonderful daughter gifted me a brand new Dell laptop for Christmas after listening to me curse and threaten my HPStream for two years as Microsoft updates bound up its memory until it was more or less useless- a flat blue typewriter that was always suggesting I free up memory when there was nothing that could be done to do that...believe me, my IT guy husband tried everything but the updates kept coming, and my frustration kept mounting.
Now I am a happy Dell owner for the third time. M original laptop was a Dell, but my husband kept stealing it from me to work from home on. My second computer was a Dell netbook that I wrote a lot of books on. I wore out the letters on the keys. I loved it and lugged it up to Maine numerous times so I could keep writing. But it got old and slowed down and I put it into semi-retirement.
I got the HPStream because it was cheap and I needed something, anything to write on with John out of work and always on the PC in the den and my netbook getting tired. Cheap never does equal quality. I wrote a lot of stories, put together a number of books on it, but I couldn't put Publisher on it, download pictures on it. I could basically just write with it and that was about it. I couldn't even write on my author blog or my writer's group blog because it didn't have enough memory to open them.
Now I have a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 series laptop...and away we go! Tons of memory! Fast! John put Publisher on it so I can have fun with that. And I am writing again without all that frustration bogging me down!
Oh, happy me! 2018 is off to a good start!
Now I am a happy Dell owner for the third time. M original laptop was a Dell, but my husband kept stealing it from me to work from home on. My second computer was a Dell netbook that I wrote a lot of books on. I wore out the letters on the keys. I loved it and lugged it up to Maine numerous times so I could keep writing. But it got old and slowed down and I put it into semi-retirement.
I got the HPStream because it was cheap and I needed something, anything to write on with John out of work and always on the PC in the den and my netbook getting tired. Cheap never does equal quality. I wrote a lot of stories, put together a number of books on it, but I couldn't put Publisher on it, download pictures on it. I could basically just write with it and that was about it. I couldn't even write on my author blog or my writer's group blog because it didn't have enough memory to open them.
Now I have a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 series laptop...and away we go! Tons of memory! Fast! John put Publisher on it so I can have fun with that. And I am writing again without all that frustration bogging me down!
Oh, happy me! 2018 is off to a good start!
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