Louise Zedda-Sampson's Blog, page 6
October 4, 2020
Author Spotlight - Stephanie Ellis
Stephanie, thank you for joining us for a chat. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I am a writer based in Southampton, UK, where my day job is a librarian and literacy specialist in a secondary school. I've been writing for several years, mainly short stories but more recently novel-length work – which has always been my aim. I tend to write either folk, gothic or somewhat dystopian/post-apocalyptic horror, but occasionally I move outside my comfort zone. I don’t tend to write zombie stories – “Playlist” is only my second one –but writing it allowed me to share my love of heavy metal. I’ve been to concerts by almost all the bands mentioned! The songs are also favourites. If you connect with me on Twitter, you’ll find me sharing many of my favourite tracks and bands with you.
When I write folk horror, I tend to pull in memories and feelings generated by my time growing up a very rural pub in Shropshire. As to the more post-apocalyptic work, I’ve been bringing in more experiences as a female. For instance, books rarely feature menopausal women, so I’ve been happily showing my characters experiencing hot flushes and mind fogs – much as I suffer! Personal morality and the maternal bond are other themes I’ve touched on. It has to be something that interests me or which I feel is under-represented. Most of the time though, I just want to tell a good story and not worry too much about its central theme, which often seems to appear by itself. I don’t want to preach or teach, I just want to entertain and perhaps think a little.
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
This year has been amazing in personal publication terms. My novella, Bottled, was published by Silver Shamrock Publishing at the end of January, and they are releasing my folk horror/dark fantasy novel, The Five Turns of the Wheel, on October 27th. I’ve also been included in their Midnight in the Pentagram anthology. In between I’ve featured in Diabolica Britannica, a charity anthology for the NHS, alongside Tim Lebbon and Adam Nevill and with a wonderful foreword by Ramsey Campbell. I was also published by Flame Tree Press in their A Dying Planet anthology. With a couple of pro sales (at last!) I feel as if my writing has really shifted up a gear and I’m now being offered more opportunities as a result. It’s certainly widened my network and I’ve been able to get a number of fantastic writers to contribute stories to the Infernal Clock’s Inferno anthology which is due out early December. Another plus was the announcement of Black Angel Press which I will be working on alongside friend and writer, Alyson Faye (who has been co-editing Inferno with me). A press for women, we hope it will also serve as a platform for women (and those who identify as such) in the horror community.
Nor has it been only stories. I’ve continued to write poetry, featuring often on Visual Verse online and was again chosen for the HWA’s Poetry Showcase VII. I’ve written about two-thirds of a new collection and will be trying to get that out next year.
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
I know we're not dwelling on 2020, but I'd like to mention HorrorTree.com, and Stuart Conover. Whilst many know this site for the submission calls, hosts, articles, online zine etc, we have also started a roundup feature on Fridays, allowing indie writers to announce upcoming publications. In addition, we include those creatives who have lost jobs or suffered income drops due to the pandemic. I would like to make people aware of this and if you are in the suffering in the latter category, please just get in touch with Stuart or I at HorrorTree.com and we’ll do what we can to help.
This is a free service.
Thanks for chatting with me, Stephanie, and sharing a bit about yourself and your work. It sounds like 2020 has been a bumper year for you, too. Congrats on the new publishing venture and all the great work you are doing for authors at HorrorTree.com.
You can find Stephanie on Twitter @el_Stevie and here https://stephanieellis.org.
Stephanie's zombie story "Playlist" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
October 2, 2020
Author spotlight - Lynn White
Lynn White was born in Sheffield at a time when it was a major steel producing town. Her father was a tram driver and died when she was a child. Poverty dominated her childhood and has influenced the concern in some of her poetry for social justice. She moved from Sheffield to Liverpool as a student and still has a great affection for the city - and the poetry and song emanating from there. She now lives in a small ex-industrial town in the mountains of North Wales. Her work is varied, not only influenced by political issues but also by events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality. She hopes her poetry is accessible and unpretentious! It represents the styles of poetry that she likes to read and dislikes classical references, archaic language and meaningless line breaks! Her favourite poem is still ‘Raspberries’ by Lawrence Lerner.
She was shortlisted in the Theatre Cloud 'War Poetry for Today' competition in 2014 and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a Rhysling Award. Her poetry has appeared in many publications including: Apogee, Firewords, Vagabond Press, Light Journal and So It Goes Journal.
Find Lynn at: https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/
Lynn's poem "Buzzing" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
October 1, 2020
Author Spotlight - Fiona Jones
Hi Fiona, thanks for stopping by the blog. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I'm a parent, a part-time teacher and a spare-time writer. I'm married to a Baptist minister and most of my first published writing was 200-word scripture-based devotionals for a church website. I can't quite explain how I got from writing devotionals to writing horror. I do write a lot of nice, pretty, nature-themed micro-CNF, but when I write fiction, it tends to get scary.
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
Everything I write is short - usually between 100 and 2000 words. My best publication cred is the Little Boy Lost anthology, where my story rubs shoulders with a story by Piers Anthony. I've got a story in Andrew Fox's upcoming Again, Hazardous Imaginings; My fiction also appears at Silver Pen, Longshot Island, Nano Nightmares, Buckshot Magazine, Bethlehem Roundtable, The Horror Tree, Every Day Fiction and a bunch of other places. I've got flash to micro -CNF on Folded Word, Longleaf Review, All Guts No Glory, Honeyguide, 2228, MAW, etc. I've got poetry on The Future Fire, Ancient Paths, Truth Serum Press, Tanka Journal and The Voices Project, and educational materials on the GTCS blog, Nature Friend, Oak Leaf Education and Hey Mrs Winkler. When you write very short things it's hard to remember them all.
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Lockdown in Scotland may have been over-severe, but personally it was a very restorative time for me. Long walks and lots of looking at trees and things. It also seemed that editors got busy reading during the quarantine months: a lot of acceptances came through, including one that gave me the chance to join a serious writers' workshop. That was something I'd never done before. Currently my family is in the middle of moving house, from Dunfermline to Kelso in Scotland.
Thanks for chatting with me, Fiona, and sharing a bit about yourself and your work. What a background - plenty of inspiration amongst all that I'm sure. Congrats on sharing a ToC with Piers Anthony! Now that's not an everyday occurrence.
You can find more out about Fiona Jones here:
Here's the Little Boy Lost anthology: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1023088 with Piers Anthony in it.
For micro-horror, here's Nano Nightmares: https://www.amazon.com/NANO-NIGHTMARES-Shirley-Dee-ebook/dp/B085LB113X. My author page is https://www.facebook.com/FiiJ20 , and I'm also @FiiJ20 on Twitter and Thinkerbeat.
Fiona's flash piece "A Guilty Conscience Needs No Accuser" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
September 30, 2020
TT4 Author Spotlight - Edward Ahern
Edward, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
Ed Ahern started writing fiction at sixty-seven, and poetry at seventy, after forty odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He sometimes detours into literary fiction but is best known as an innovative poet and genre writer. He’s tucked away several awards and honourable mentions for over two hundred fifty published poems and short stories, and six books. They’ve appeared 750 times in ten countries and, counting reprints, over two hundred publications. Several of his stories can be listened to through Audible.
In addition to writing, Ed’s been abusing other writers for several years at Bewildering Stories, where he serves on the review board and manages a posse of six review editors. Ed is an active member of several writing groups, including the Fairfield Scribes, and the Poets’ Salon, where he’s known for his tough-love comments.
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
I am receiving two Connecticut Press Club first prizes on September 30th for two books of poetry: Dirty Handed Graspings, a chapbook, and Irregular Images, a poetry collection. I've just received third prize (and $100) for a short story, " The Library in White Cedar", and a bunch of other stuff: I'm hoping to complete a novel, The Will of the Wisp, by year end. I average three or four poems and two stories a month.
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
I was honoured that Kestrel, our first grandchild, asked on her twenty-second birthday and graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, that I write her a poem about what to expect in future. She liked it a lot, which was my reward, and it'll also be published in October.
Thanks for chatting with me, Edward, and sharing a bit about yourself and your work. You're certainly an inspiration - especially to ones who feel they may have left their runs too late (at 50, like me!). Thanks for sharing the lovely story about your gift to Kestrel.
You can find more out about Edward Ahern here:
https://twitter.com/bottomstripper
https://www.facebook.com/EdAhern73/?ref=bookmarks
https://www.instagram.com/edwardahern1860/
Much of what he's written can be read for free on bewilderingstories.com under the authors' link.
Edward's story “Digging up the Dead” appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not!
Author Spotlight - Ian A Bain
Ian, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I live and write in Muskoka, Ontario, with my wife, and hellhound Luka. I'm beyond lucky to live in (personal opinion) one of the most beautiful places in the world. Nature is abundant and all around us, and living and growing up in rural Canada certainly informs my writing. More often than not, my work deals with the juxtaposition of human activity in places where nature stills reigns. I've written quite a bit of horror that deals either with nature reclaiming its land from humans, or stories where one of the horrors is the isolation of rural Canadian life.
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
I've had a few stories published in anthologies and magazines. Most recently, I had my first non-fiction essay - all about plant horror - published on Rue Morgue's website. I also had a story about a swamp creature, similar to the monster in The Thing, produced as an audio drama by The Night's End Podcast. Looking ahead, I'm so stoked for my body-horror story, "In the Empty, Snowy Field" to come out in Nico Bell's Shiver anthology in 2021. I'll also be getting into the editing chair for the first time, working with some creative folks to put out an anti-capitalist horror anthology, out sometime in spring 2021.
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
This year has been quite a rollercoaster. I had the extreme good luck to be paired with Lee Murray through the HWA's Mentorship Program, and have felt like my writing ability jumped ahead a decade. I've also been able to diversify my writing, publishing my first non-fiction essay, my first poem (in Trickster's Treats 4), and I started a monthly column on Dead Head Reviews highlighting Canadian Horror. Personally, my wife and I moved into a new house, I swam my first marathon swim (anything over 10K), and received permanent status as a teacher.
Thanks for chatting with me, Ian. Sounds like fantastic writerly things have happened in 2020. Congratulations. Enjoy your new house and new experiences too!
Here's some additional information about where you'll find Ian's work, and there's another link about a matter that's close to Ian's heart:
Reviews, published on the 10th of every month: https://www.deadheadreviews.com/search?q=horror%20hoser
My story, "Drifting", as an audio drama: https://www.nightsendpodcast.com/podcast/episode/3a3f3aac/drifting
Not my work, but this is an important organization that I'd like to highlight. They work on spreading awareness about the effects of the Residential School System in Canada, which sought to wipe out all Indigenous peoples : https://www.orangeshirtday.org/
Ian's poem “Bury My Heart, Somewhere Deep” appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not!
September 29, 2020
TT4 Author Spotlight - Steve Dillon
Today's is the first of a series of author spotlight interviews I'll be running to highlight the wonderful authors of Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not!
It seems totally fitting that we kick the series off with the series publisher, Steve Dillon.
Steve, can you tell us about who you are, and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I’m based in Hobart (for now…) having lived in various English towns and cities (Liverpool, Hastings, Reading, St. Austell) as well as Belgium, Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and Melbourne. Most of my career has been spent in IT with Microsoft, but I’ve also been an aromatherapy massage therapist and night-school tutor, swimming coach, day trader, lifeguard, life-drawing model, shopkeeper, editor, and publisher (I used to publish a fantasy games magazine called Adventurer back in the ’80s). I write dark stories because – like my paintings – that’s how they usually turn out. I blame Freud for giving me an id, and God for my evangelical born-again Christian teenage years when I obsessed over Hell and the hope of salvation, and Clive Barker for brightening the dark and darkening the light. I interviewed him in 1987 and he switched something on inside my head that’s never gone away.
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
After a break of way-too-long, I started writing again in 2015 for The Refuge Collection. I’ve since published two collections of dark fiction and poetry, with a third pending publication. I’m undecided when (or if) I’ll release Unholy Beginnings and Unhappy Endings. Reprints abound this year, which I nod proudly at, and I’ve had a few poems and stories accepted outside my own collections or edited works. But being nominated for the Shirley Jackson Best Novelette Award for 'Deeper, Darker Things' will be the pinnacle of my career, I’m sure. And I love that my first play was knocked into shape for publication in TT4 by Louise Zedda-Sampson and Geneve Flynn for Trickster’s Treats 4, Coming Buried or Not, so I offer a huge thanks to you both! I don’t know if I have the time and energy to write more stories because I’m taking time out to rediscover and reinvent myself, and to be more ‘here and now’ for my wife Jackie. Maybe I’ll paint more, or spend more time swimming, reading, listening to music, or whatever, but I think I’m all written out for a while at least. It’s not writer’s block – I don’t believe that exists – but perhaps writer’s burnout?
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Of course, the Shirley Jackson Award nomination is a standout, as is publishing six anthologies (five for charity, raising over $2,000) and three collections of work by authors whom I have the greatest admiration for – Lee Murray, Matthew R Davis, and Marty Young. I also completed my third collection of stories and poems, edited a book for Sally McLennan, and co-edited Tales of the Lost Volume 2 with Eugene Johnson. Little wonder I’m exhausted by the business of publishing, I suppose. Still, I survived Covid-19, as did my immediate family and most people who are close to me (even if the Melbourne lockdowns meant we couldn’t see our younger son for most of 2020) and I hope you all did too!
Thanks for chatting with me, Steve, and sharing a bit about yourself and your work. It certainly sounds like 2020 has been a very full year. Let's hope you see your son soon, too.
You can find more out about Steve Dillon here https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Dillon/e/B017F90XBY and his publications here http://ThingsInTheWell.Wordpress.com and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BFCY8RX
Steve's play 'Dead Set' appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not!
It seems totally fitting that we kick the series off with the series publisher, Steve Dillon.
Steve, can you tell us about who you are, and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I’m based in Hobart (for now…) having lived in various English towns and cities (Liverpool, Hastings, Reading, St. Austell) as well as Belgium, Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and Melbourne. Most of my career has been spent in IT with Microsoft, but I’ve also been an aromatherapy massage therapist and night-school tutor, swimming coach, day trader, lifeguard, life-drawing model, shopkeeper, editor, and publisher (I used to publish a fantasy games magazine called Adventurer back in the ’80s). I write dark stories because – like my paintings – that’s how they usually turn out. I blame Freud for giving me an id, and God for my evangelical born-again Christian teenage years when I obsessed over Hell and the hope of salvation, and Clive Barker for brightening the dark and darkening the light. I interviewed him in 1987 and he switched something on inside my head that’s never gone away.
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
After a break of way-too-long, I started writing again in 2015 for The Refuge Collection. I’ve since published two collections of dark fiction and poetry, with a third pending publication. I’m undecided when (or if) I’ll release Unholy Beginnings and Unhappy Endings. Reprints abound this year, which I nod proudly at, and I’ve had a few poems and stories accepted outside my own collections or edited works. But being nominated for the Shirley Jackson Best Novelette Award for 'Deeper, Darker Things' will be the pinnacle of my career, I’m sure. And I love that my first play was knocked into shape for publication in TT4 by Louise Zedda-Sampson and Geneve Flynn for Trickster’s Treats 4, Coming Buried or Not, so I offer a huge thanks to you both! I don’t know if I have the time and energy to write more stories because I’m taking time out to rediscover and reinvent myself, and to be more ‘here and now’ for my wife Jackie. Maybe I’ll paint more, or spend more time swimming, reading, listening to music, or whatever, but I think I’m all written out for a while at least. It’s not writer’s block – I don’t believe that exists – but perhaps writer’s burnout?
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Of course, the Shirley Jackson Award nomination is a standout, as is publishing six anthologies (five for charity, raising over $2,000) and three collections of work by authors whom I have the greatest admiration for – Lee Murray, Matthew R Davis, and Marty Young. I also completed my third collection of stories and poems, edited a book for Sally McLennan, and co-edited Tales of the Lost Volume 2 with Eugene Johnson. Little wonder I’m exhausted by the business of publishing, I suppose. Still, I survived Covid-19, as did my immediate family and most people who are close to me (even if the Melbourne lockdowns meant we couldn’t see our younger son for most of 2020) and I hope you all did too!
Thanks for chatting with me, Steve, and sharing a bit about yourself and your work. It certainly sounds like 2020 has been a very full year. Let's hope you see your son soon, too.
You can find more out about Steve Dillon here https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Dillon/e/B017F90XBY and his publications here http://ThingsInTheWell.Wordpress.com and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BFCY8RX
Steve's play 'Dead Set' appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not!
Special offer for Australian print orders of Trickster's Treats 4: Coming Buried or Not!
To celebrate the release of Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not!, I've made some celebratory skull bookmarks to give away. No longer do you have to ruin the spines of your books by laying them open! I've created little bookmarks with skulls and spines to do that for you!
I will give a bookmark each to the first ten orders of print copies. Please note this is only for orders placed through Things in the Well, and only for orders posted within Australia. Payment details and prices here:
https://thingsinthewell.wordpress.com/2020/09/28/ordering-for-australian-customers/
Meanwhile, here is a picture of a few bookmarks I've created.
If you have a colour preference, let Steve know when you order.
I will give a bookmark each to the first ten orders of print copies. Please note this is only for orders placed through Things in the Well, and only for orders posted within Australia. Payment details and prices here:
https://thingsinthewell.wordpress.com/2020/09/28/ordering-for-australian-customers/
Meanwhile, here is a picture of a few bookmarks I've created.
If you have a colour preference, let Steve know when you order.
September 17, 2020
Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! Release date announced
Trickster's Treats #4: Coming, Buried or Not! edited by Louise Zedda-Sampson and Geneve Flynn and published by Steve Dillon at Things in the Well is now available for pre-orders. This horror collection comprises 32 often quirky but definitely twisted tales that make use of the ‘buried’ theme.
All proceeds go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, so grab yourself some quality Halloween reading for a good cause.
ToC in order of appearance:
In a Cave Wall by Dominick Cancilla
Requiem Aeternam by R S Pyne
Bury My Heart, Somewhere Deep by Ian A Bain
Burying the Well on the Wings of a Crow by Herb Kauderer
The Crows of Las Cruces by Kurt Newton
The Box Born Wraith by Kevin David Anderson
The Toddling by Kurt Newton
The Raving by Sheri Vandermolen
Pythia Speaks by Jenny Blackford
Frostfire by Aline Boucher Kaplan
Drowning by Liam Hogan
Digging Up the Past by Chris Mason
Till Death Do Us Part by Kellie Nissen
Digging Up the Dead by Edward Ahern
Buzzing by Lynn White
A Guilty Conscience Needs No Accuser by Fiona Jones
A Light for the Grave by Aristo Couvaras
Whole by Andrew Cull
The Little Helper by Kali Napier
The Garden by Kurt Newton
Tender Age in Bloom by Matthew R. Davis
To Leaven His Bones by Amanda Crum
The Witch Tree by Alyson Faye
Jimmy’s Boys by Laura E Goodin
An Afterlife of Stone by Jenny Blackford
Shaft by Kev Harrison
The House Whisperer by Robert Kibble
Playlist by Stephanie Ellis
There is No Such Thing as Dead by Lucy Ann Fiorini
Dead Set by Steve Dillon
Sleeping with the Dead by Alicia Hilton
A Streetcar Named Lugosi by Mike Sheedy
Endorsed by John Palisano, President of the Horror Writers Association, and Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of Ghost Heart:
A delicious bag of Halloween candy overflowing with all the good stuff! The binge read of the season!
And, W Paul Ganley, twice winner of the World Fantasy Award:
Horror can come in various guises, including an innocent looking child on Hallowe’en night. This collection of tales and poems constitutes a load of mind-twisting events. Recommended, but – WARNING! Do not read these tales all at once – Or else your brain may reel and your heart may quake, and you could be trapped forever.
Trickster's Treats #4: Coming, Buried or Not! is scheduled for release 26 September.
All proceeds go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, so grab yourself some quality Halloween reading for a good cause.
ToC in order of appearance:
In a Cave Wall by Dominick Cancilla
Requiem Aeternam by R S Pyne
Bury My Heart, Somewhere Deep by Ian A Bain
Burying the Well on the Wings of a Crow by Herb Kauderer
The Crows of Las Cruces by Kurt Newton
The Box Born Wraith by Kevin David Anderson
The Toddling by Kurt Newton
The Raving by Sheri Vandermolen
Pythia Speaks by Jenny Blackford
Frostfire by Aline Boucher Kaplan
Drowning by Liam Hogan
Digging Up the Past by Chris Mason
Till Death Do Us Part by Kellie Nissen
Digging Up the Dead by Edward Ahern
Buzzing by Lynn White
A Guilty Conscience Needs No Accuser by Fiona Jones
A Light for the Grave by Aristo Couvaras
Whole by Andrew Cull
The Little Helper by Kali Napier
The Garden by Kurt Newton
Tender Age in Bloom by Matthew R. Davis
To Leaven His Bones by Amanda Crum
The Witch Tree by Alyson Faye
Jimmy’s Boys by Laura E Goodin
An Afterlife of Stone by Jenny Blackford
Shaft by Kev Harrison
The House Whisperer by Robert Kibble
Playlist by Stephanie Ellis
There is No Such Thing as Dead by Lucy Ann Fiorini
Dead Set by Steve Dillon
Sleeping with the Dead by Alicia Hilton
A Streetcar Named Lugosi by Mike Sheedy
Endorsed by John Palisano, President of the Horror Writers Association, and Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of Ghost Heart:
A delicious bag of Halloween candy overflowing with all the good stuff! The binge read of the season!
And, W Paul Ganley, twice winner of the World Fantasy Award:
Horror can come in various guises, including an innocent looking child on Hallowe’en night. This collection of tales and poems constitutes a load of mind-twisting events. Recommended, but – WARNING! Do not read these tales all at once – Or else your brain may reel and your heart may quake, and you could be trapped forever.
Trickster's Treats #4: Coming, Buried or Not! is scheduled for release 26 September.
July 5, 2020
Stay home and write!
Remember when you could go out, have a meal and a few drinks and not wonder if you’ve brought home a virus? Me too. Going anywhere and feeling safe from the coronavirus doesn’t seem to be something we can expect anytime soon. It’s a challenging and uncertain time.
On the plus side, this whole experience is helping me to live in the present because each day becomes more uncertain if I look ahead. In Melbourne, Australia, housing commission flats have been locked down by police, affecting some 3,000 residents, because the virus has been detected in clusters and the spread is going to be unavoidable in the cramped conditions they live in, with the shared stairwells and lifts. That’s what we’ve been told. Most of the north of the city is in lock down with people only being able to go to work or the supermarket, visit a loved one or seek medical care. Today, Victorian borders are closed to all the other states in Australia.
Yet in all of this, there have been over 10,000 refused tests in the hot spots, and denial that the corona virus exists. I just don’t get how people can watch global news and maintain conspiracy theories about the virus or claim it’s a hoax. Each to his own, but these people put others at risk.
These things affect my writing and how I feel. Some days are better than others. Every day I wish the virus would just up and go or there was a vaccine. But this is the life we lead now. So, I’m coping by channelling that anxiety as best I can, when I can, into my writing to create more work and improve my craft.
One thing I remind myself when I’m feeling down, is that success outweighs failure. In fact, success is in part because of the failure. Each rejection teaches me something, each 'no thanks we'll pass' makes me work harder.
Thanks to corona, I’ve set up an online writers’ group and I’m writing more than I ever have. I’m loving exploring my own work, learning from others and always working to improve. Aside from that, it’s one foot in front of the other – mainly around my house!
But, amid all the chaos, I’ve had a few things going on that are pretty fabulous.
The most exciting writing one is that my application for an Australasian Horror Writers Association Mentorship was successful, and as of this week I’ll be working with Kaaron Warren on improving my short stories. So watch out! I’m ready to be inspired and influenced by Kaaron’s amazing storytelling ability! Thanks so much to Kaaron and the AHWA.
If you don’t know Kaaron yet, you should definitely check her out. Into Bones Like Oil is the book I’ll be reading next.
Right now, I’ve another editing project on the boil. I'll be working with Geneve Flynn on Trickster’s Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology from Things in the Well, opening for submissions on 15 July.
Ciao for now.
On the plus side, this whole experience is helping me to live in the present because each day becomes more uncertain if I look ahead. In Melbourne, Australia, housing commission flats have been locked down by police, affecting some 3,000 residents, because the virus has been detected in clusters and the spread is going to be unavoidable in the cramped conditions they live in, with the shared stairwells and lifts. That’s what we’ve been told. Most of the north of the city is in lock down with people only being able to go to work or the supermarket, visit a loved one or seek medical care. Today, Victorian borders are closed to all the other states in Australia.
Yet in all of this, there have been over 10,000 refused tests in the hot spots, and denial that the corona virus exists. I just don’t get how people can watch global news and maintain conspiracy theories about the virus or claim it’s a hoax. Each to his own, but these people put others at risk.
These things affect my writing and how I feel. Some days are better than others. Every day I wish the virus would just up and go or there was a vaccine. But this is the life we lead now. So, I’m coping by channelling that anxiety as best I can, when I can, into my writing to create more work and improve my craft.
One thing I remind myself when I’m feeling down, is that success outweighs failure. In fact, success is in part because of the failure. Each rejection teaches me something, each 'no thanks we'll pass' makes me work harder.
Thanks to corona, I’ve set up an online writers’ group and I’m writing more than I ever have. I’m loving exploring my own work, learning from others and always working to improve. Aside from that, it’s one foot in front of the other – mainly around my house!
But, amid all the chaos, I’ve had a few things going on that are pretty fabulous.
The most exciting writing one is that my application for an Australasian Horror Writers Association Mentorship was successful, and as of this week I’ll be working with Kaaron Warren on improving my short stories. So watch out! I’m ready to be inspired and influenced by Kaaron’s amazing storytelling ability! Thanks so much to Kaaron and the AHWA.
If you don’t know Kaaron yet, you should definitely check her out. Into Bones Like Oil is the book I’ll be reading next.
Right now, I’ve another editing project on the boil. I'll be working with Geneve Flynn on Trickster’s Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology from Things in the Well, opening for submissions on 15 July. Ciao for now.
May 3, 2020
Writers Victoria Flash Fiction Challenge
For the month of April, the team at Writers Victoria kept many of us sane with a 30-word flash fiction challenge. The challenge took place on Twitter with the hashtag #WVFlashFic20, but participants were also able to email entries in. The theme was 'Focus' and each day a new word on theme would be revealed and we'd have 12 hours to come up with an entry.
The competition soon because the starting point of my day and was a perfect nudge out of the isolation doldrums. Each day I would look forward to the challenge of the next one. It didn't take long to create a team spirit and I soon found myself looking for other participants' entries, scrolling through Twitter to see what others had written.
I was fortunate to win the daily entry on Day 24, with the keyword 'measure' and my zombie story, which was truly an honour because I was amongst very talented authors in the competition.
I've listed all my entries below under the daily keyword. Some days had two entries, but I stopped on the 28th because Mum had a stroke - ironically the same day my entry won - and I couldn't complete the month.
I had such a great time with this competition, reading and writing. Thanks Writers Victoria, and see you - hopefully - for 30-words next year!
As far as routine goes for May... well, once I'm through this current medical situation, we'll see what that looks like!
Here are all the stories written for .
Day 1 – Eyeball
‘Nearly there!’ Squelching intensifies. Two sharp pops. ‘Tadah!’ Two eyeballs on Pete’s palm.
‘Just don’t lose them. You know how long they take to grow back.’
Vampire discussion at Halloween
Day 2 – Concentrate
Uneven stitching. Mother glares. ‘Hopeless!’
Danita trembles. ‘I’m only four!’
‘Doesn’t matter.’
Tears form. She tries again. Fabric slips.
SLAP.
‘Concentrate.’
She sews. Tears flow.
Everyone works during the plague.
Day 3 – Intense
‘Fire cleanses, renews! Divine—’
‘Shut-up, Ray!’ Every sunrise. Damn pagan classes! They’d promised fun: spellcasting, covens. But no. Delivered intense prayer, weird boyfriend, smelly herbs. Bettina wanted a refund.
Day 4 – Blur
I try to remember. Memories tangle, blur, slip away – elusive gossamer strands in fat and fumbling fingers.
‘Ready, Mum?’
‘Who is Mum?’
Her disapproval swells.
Sometimes it’s better to forget.
Day 5 – Hocus-pocus
Hocus-pocus don’t lose focus!
Pinch of sugar and fat
Eye of spider, hair of lioness
Cunning of a rat
Touch of royalty, three sharp blades
#spell to make a cat
Day 6 – Blind
Renovations caused such grief: bright, pastel, pink, magenta, designer, store-bought. He liked, she didn’t. They spoke of divorce. They found reconciliation in the vermillion venetian blind. It had to go.
Day 7 – Hazy
Their music lasted 20 years. His loss: a chasm, deep, endless. On repeat: a hazy shade of winter, memories in vinyl. New love discovered. In a glass. Johnny Walker, neat.
Day 8 – Mirror
1.
Cocaine, a mirror, four crisp bills were buried beneath dog-eared textbooks and a drawn-on pencil case in his weather-beaten backpack. Tears soaked its skin. His death no longer a surprise.
2.
Bourbon-sour breath. Vicious tongue, bleeding fists. I'm cowered, beaten, repressed. Bruises bloom, some inside; they mirror all of you. Grief-wrapped fear. Searching for the exit, I fail. Life’s a maze.
Day 9 – Crisp
Hammering in Dad’s workshop sets the beat. We dance the washing line, Mum pegs. Birdsong joins laughter as we peekaboo through billowing crisp linen. Sun-drenched and joyous, with me forever.
Day 10 – Lens
Why so selfish and indifferent? We’re together, I’m alone. You enfold me, tell me it’ll pass. This road we’ve run before. When my lens clears, I’ll see the better you.
Day 11 – Myopia
Your silken touch, your whispers a caress. You bite, I gasp, at first. Blood runs, your tongue laps. Blinded by desire, myopia a subjugating mist. I’m lost. I’m yours.
Day 12 – Converge
The horde converges outside.
‘Is that our Sheena?’ says Pete.
‘Bit … green,’ says Maude.
‘Is… she waving?’
‘No, she’s eating an arm.’
They laugh.
‘S’pose we said to BYO.’
Day 13 – Sharp
1.
Her tongue was sharp, his blade, sharper.
She bled lost words
Her last breath, the closing scene.
In his cell, he wrote her missing pages.
Guilt, his ink and muse.
Day 14 – Bullseye
Focused. Arm straight. She drew back the bow and fired. The arrow flew–straight past the target. She was a shocking archer. Her smile, however, hit the bullseye every time.
Day 15 – Glasses
1.
Your wedding gift was a painting: two glasses smashed over ice. Strange, but artistic.
A year later, you’re in Aspen with my husband. While you’re away, I’m learning to paint.
2.
She read the incantation, Poof! … Husband materialises, pants down, on the throne.
That’s not a king!
She cleans her glasses. Hmmm. That’s where she’d gone wrong. She tries again.
Day 16 – Peripheral
He hid his new tatt. A peripheral view suggested it matched one of hers.
Gross! What’s next? Matching undies?
His gift was labelled ‘Annie’s lingerie’.
Sometimes she hated being right.
Day 17 – Vague
1.
‘It’s going to be great! Can’t wait until I can share!’
A collective moan filled the room.
Joe, still smiling, was undeterred. Everyone else, however, was sick of his vague-booking.
2.
Black half-moons on nails, a grime-covered face, dirt-scented clothes. The camouflage hides her. Bunkering down, she waits, surrounded by a disquieting silence, a vague unease.
A twig snaps. Is it—?
Day 18 – Laser
Your laser-gaze cuts deep. Newfound courage imbues you.
‘Love?’ it drips from your bloodied lip. ‘Cowardice.’
Anger fuels me. Your defiance dares me.
But something tells me you are right.
Day 19 – Drift
The orange glow sinks below the horizon. Cicadas serenade. Stars flicker, fall and blink out. We know the sun won’t rise, but our wishes drift, seeking birdsong and sunny mornings.
Day 20 – Spotlight
Your white-gloved hands don't pull the rabbit from the hat. You freeze. The crowd sniggers then laughs. The spotlight features your failure while the rabbit nibbles your shoe.
Day 21 – Sway
For her party, turning 50.
Fancy Dress! Something nifty,
A touch of regal with tiara?
Nah. Kimono? Sigh. Sayonara.
Kinky boots, psychedelic hippy?
Yep, sway of hips, applies the lippy.
Day 22 – Centre
He rolled the toilet paper forwards, she backwards. He squeezed toothpaste from the end, she the middle. She double-dipped. Eww. Throwing him off balance, it was hard to re-centre.
Day 23 – Read
1.
The rustle of pages alerts you. Within moments, deep snoring stops and amorous husband hands search. Determined to read, I’m annoyed. But later, when you’re gone, I beg for interruptions.
2.
A tall dark, handsome …
In inheritance from …
A new job …
Travel! Lots of travel!
If only Zelda could read the tarot, rather than using the suggested predictions.
Day 24 – Measure
1.
Crazy, mental, stalker?!
Only called a thousand times.
May have followed you around
Sent sonnets, songs and rhymes
But, If you measure how I love you
Are these really crimes?
2.
‘Fascinating,’ says the doctor. ‘Fast-moving necrosis! If I can measure how long it takes to reach the brain—’
The patient bites his arm.
‘Not long,’ I say, and run.
Day 25 – Rivet
‘Riveting, I’m sure,’ said Jim. Smiling intolerably.
‘It’s about being a human chimpanzee,’ said the writer. ‘People will love it.’
Next fancy dress, Jim would not go as David Lynch.
Day 26 – Clarity
Clarity, not charity! If you don’t learn this for yourself now, you’ll always rely on others. I didn’t think much of the old man, but on this he was right.
Day 27 – Distorted
We stand at the edge holding hands. Summer scents mingle with salty air, water tickles our toes. Is this how it ended? Our bodies diminished and memories distorted by time.
Day 28 – Gather
We take the flowers to the temple, gather and sing praise to our pagan gods. Performing the ritual, heady perfumes combine with blood-stench. I’d gag, but the blood is mine.
The competition soon because the starting point of my day and was a perfect nudge out of the isolation doldrums. Each day I would look forward to the challenge of the next one. It didn't take long to create a team spirit and I soon found myself looking for other participants' entries, scrolling through Twitter to see what others had written.
I was fortunate to win the daily entry on Day 24, with the keyword 'measure' and my zombie story, which was truly an honour because I was amongst very talented authors in the competition.
I've listed all my entries below under the daily keyword. Some days had two entries, but I stopped on the 28th because Mum had a stroke - ironically the same day my entry won - and I couldn't complete the month.
I had such a great time with this competition, reading and writing. Thanks Writers Victoria, and see you - hopefully - for 30-words next year!
As far as routine goes for May... well, once I'm through this current medical situation, we'll see what that looks like!
Here are all the stories written for .
Day 1 – Eyeball
‘Nearly there!’ Squelching intensifies. Two sharp pops. ‘Tadah!’ Two eyeballs on Pete’s palm.
‘Just don’t lose them. You know how long they take to grow back.’
Vampire discussion at Halloween
Day 2 – Concentrate
Uneven stitching. Mother glares. ‘Hopeless!’
Danita trembles. ‘I’m only four!’
‘Doesn’t matter.’
Tears form. She tries again. Fabric slips.
SLAP.
‘Concentrate.’
She sews. Tears flow.
Everyone works during the plague.
Day 3 – Intense
‘Fire cleanses, renews! Divine—’
‘Shut-up, Ray!’ Every sunrise. Damn pagan classes! They’d promised fun: spellcasting, covens. But no. Delivered intense prayer, weird boyfriend, smelly herbs. Bettina wanted a refund.
Day 4 – Blur
I try to remember. Memories tangle, blur, slip away – elusive gossamer strands in fat and fumbling fingers.
‘Ready, Mum?’
‘Who is Mum?’
Her disapproval swells.
Sometimes it’s better to forget.
Day 5 – Hocus-pocus
Hocus-pocus don’t lose focus!
Pinch of sugar and fat
Eye of spider, hair of lioness
Cunning of a rat
Touch of royalty, three sharp blades
#spell to make a cat
Day 6 – Blind
Renovations caused such grief: bright, pastel, pink, magenta, designer, store-bought. He liked, she didn’t. They spoke of divorce. They found reconciliation in the vermillion venetian blind. It had to go.
Day 7 – Hazy
Their music lasted 20 years. His loss: a chasm, deep, endless. On repeat: a hazy shade of winter, memories in vinyl. New love discovered. In a glass. Johnny Walker, neat.
Day 8 – Mirror
1.
Cocaine, a mirror, four crisp bills were buried beneath dog-eared textbooks and a drawn-on pencil case in his weather-beaten backpack. Tears soaked its skin. His death no longer a surprise.
2.
Bourbon-sour breath. Vicious tongue, bleeding fists. I'm cowered, beaten, repressed. Bruises bloom, some inside; they mirror all of you. Grief-wrapped fear. Searching for the exit, I fail. Life’s a maze.
Day 9 – Crisp
Hammering in Dad’s workshop sets the beat. We dance the washing line, Mum pegs. Birdsong joins laughter as we peekaboo through billowing crisp linen. Sun-drenched and joyous, with me forever.
Day 10 – Lens
Why so selfish and indifferent? We’re together, I’m alone. You enfold me, tell me it’ll pass. This road we’ve run before. When my lens clears, I’ll see the better you.
Day 11 – Myopia
Your silken touch, your whispers a caress. You bite, I gasp, at first. Blood runs, your tongue laps. Blinded by desire, myopia a subjugating mist. I’m lost. I’m yours.
Day 12 – Converge
The horde converges outside.
‘Is that our Sheena?’ says Pete.
‘Bit … green,’ says Maude.
‘Is… she waving?’
‘No, she’s eating an arm.’
They laugh.
‘S’pose we said to BYO.’
Day 13 – Sharp
1.
Her tongue was sharp, his blade, sharper.
She bled lost words
Her last breath, the closing scene.
In his cell, he wrote her missing pages.
Guilt, his ink and muse.
Day 14 – Bullseye
Focused. Arm straight. She drew back the bow and fired. The arrow flew–straight past the target. She was a shocking archer. Her smile, however, hit the bullseye every time.
Day 15 – Glasses
1.
Your wedding gift was a painting: two glasses smashed over ice. Strange, but artistic.
A year later, you’re in Aspen with my husband. While you’re away, I’m learning to paint.
2.
She read the incantation, Poof! … Husband materialises, pants down, on the throne.
That’s not a king!
She cleans her glasses. Hmmm. That’s where she’d gone wrong. She tries again.
Day 16 – Peripheral
He hid his new tatt. A peripheral view suggested it matched one of hers.
Gross! What’s next? Matching undies?
His gift was labelled ‘Annie’s lingerie’.
Sometimes she hated being right.
Day 17 – Vague
1.
‘It’s going to be great! Can’t wait until I can share!’
A collective moan filled the room.
Joe, still smiling, was undeterred. Everyone else, however, was sick of his vague-booking.
2.
Black half-moons on nails, a grime-covered face, dirt-scented clothes. The camouflage hides her. Bunkering down, she waits, surrounded by a disquieting silence, a vague unease.
A twig snaps. Is it—?
Day 18 – Laser
Your laser-gaze cuts deep. Newfound courage imbues you.
‘Love?’ it drips from your bloodied lip. ‘Cowardice.’
Anger fuels me. Your defiance dares me.
But something tells me you are right.
Day 19 – Drift
The orange glow sinks below the horizon. Cicadas serenade. Stars flicker, fall and blink out. We know the sun won’t rise, but our wishes drift, seeking birdsong and sunny mornings.
Day 20 – Spotlight
Your white-gloved hands don't pull the rabbit from the hat. You freeze. The crowd sniggers then laughs. The spotlight features your failure while the rabbit nibbles your shoe.
Day 21 – Sway
For her party, turning 50.
Fancy Dress! Something nifty,
A touch of regal with tiara?
Nah. Kimono? Sigh. Sayonara.
Kinky boots, psychedelic hippy?
Yep, sway of hips, applies the lippy.
Day 22 – Centre
He rolled the toilet paper forwards, she backwards. He squeezed toothpaste from the end, she the middle. She double-dipped. Eww. Throwing him off balance, it was hard to re-centre.
Day 23 – Read
1.
The rustle of pages alerts you. Within moments, deep snoring stops and amorous husband hands search. Determined to read, I’m annoyed. But later, when you’re gone, I beg for interruptions.
2.
A tall dark, handsome …
In inheritance from …
A new job …
Travel! Lots of travel!
If only Zelda could read the tarot, rather than using the suggested predictions.
Day 24 – Measure
1.
Crazy, mental, stalker?!
Only called a thousand times.
May have followed you around
Sent sonnets, songs and rhymes
But, If you measure how I love you
Are these really crimes?
2.
‘Fascinating,’ says the doctor. ‘Fast-moving necrosis! If I can measure how long it takes to reach the brain—’
The patient bites his arm.
‘Not long,’ I say, and run.
Day 25 – Rivet
‘Riveting, I’m sure,’ said Jim. Smiling intolerably.
‘It’s about being a human chimpanzee,’ said the writer. ‘People will love it.’
Next fancy dress, Jim would not go as David Lynch.
Day 26 – Clarity
Clarity, not charity! If you don’t learn this for yourself now, you’ll always rely on others. I didn’t think much of the old man, but on this he was right.
Day 27 – Distorted
We stand at the edge holding hands. Summer scents mingle with salty air, water tickles our toes. Is this how it ended? Our bodies diminished and memories distorted by time.
Day 28 – Gather
We take the flowers to the temple, gather and sing praise to our pagan gods. Performing the ritual, heady perfumes combine with blood-stench. I’d gag, but the blood is mine.
