Amanda M. Blake's Blog, page 11
March 29, 2024
Couch potato sprouting: Friday Update
News:
The Pleasure in Pain Queer Horrotica Kickstarter is still taking pre-orders and other perks, although it’s met its base goal. If they meet the stretch goal, Pleasure in Pain gets an audiobook.
Post-apocalyptic “Full” won 2nd place in the Shallow Waters flash fiction contest for the Murder of Crows theme!
Works in Progress:
Once again, I hit a creative wall with Shadow & Song, this time around 25K words, so I think this particular storyline is a bust. I’m scrapping it in favor of my next effort, Tooth & Claw, which I’d originally thrown out of the Meridian line-up because it was purely sapphic, which can’t go into the Meridian series (has to do with which Totally Entwined imprint it’s under, can be some queerness but primary needs to be female/male). However, one character going male doesn’t make the story suffer at all, so that’s what I’m going to do, and I can take two good characters from Shadow & Song and integrate them into the new story. It’s possible Lis just wasn’t meant to be a main character. I’m incredibly discouraged by two failures in the novel arena, and I’d like a win. I’d like a book Xed off my list.
Just to make sure I had a story, I outlined Tooth & Claw. I’m not an outliner, because it makes me feel like I’ve already written the story, but on certain occasions, they’ve just been necessary. And yes, I have a story, and there are scenes I’m really looking forward to, which wasn’t the case with the other two attempts. All I could see was the beginning, and as I went, the rest of it didn’t become any clearer like it usually does.
In the meantime, I put together another poetry chapbook. This has been an unexpectedly productive horror poetry year, for how ineffective I’ve been in other mediums. I’ve done enough substantial poetry and mined, expanded, or stitched together things from flash poetry to put together two impromptu chapbooks (for a total of three) and complete a collection.
We have family over for the holiday, so I’ll work on the second edit of a novelette for a sub call in April. Then I’ll start Tooth & Claw in the new month after I do necessary car things.
Health is doing better. I suspect I had a case of post-infection visceral hypersensitivity, which has a tendency to make me think I’m dying, and it gets worse with stress. Leg injury, however, is still reinjuring. I need to see the orthopedist, but I’m trying to wait until I have health insurance again, because MRIs are expensive. Job search is not going so well. I’ll have to eventually go with a temp agency again if I can’t get direct-hired.
Books I’m Reading:
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire (finished)
Killing Time by Russell C. Connor
Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire
Things I’m Listening To:
Leonard Cohen
YouTube playlists
Singer-songwriter playlists
Things I’m Watching: (I finally got Tubi and wanted to watch a bunch of things before they expired)
Poor Things
The Shrine
The Possession of Michael King
Clown
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Madhouse
Catacombs
The Evil in Us
Raze
Extraterrestrial
Angel series (watchalong)
CSI: Miami series
Spring Baking Championship series
Poem of the Week: (throwback from March 2022)
you try so hard
to seem sinister
but my dear
mister mister
save the spooking
for my sister
your filed teeth
and damask swagger
won’t sink
underneath
my moonpale skin
stand back
cheekbones
no spine-chilling
i like your style
March 22, 2024
Dissolve: Friday Update
News:
This has been a body horror kind of week.
“Full” is up at the Crystal Lake Patreon for the Shallow Waters Flash Fiction Contest, themed Murder of Crows. It’s a creepy-crawly post-apocalyptic meal for the starving, available to read for the $5/month tier and up, which also buys you voting rights. There are some really good pieces, but they feel criminally underread this month.
My gross, pink horror story “Indigestion” also came out this week in the Last Girls Club Spring Equinox 2024 issue. There’s a print version, but here’s the link to the .pdf version.
Works in Progress:
I passed the 20K-word mark with Shadow & Song (Meridian 7). I still go back and forth as to whether I like it, but anhedonia is a real thing I deal with on the daily, and some of the changes I made do improve the story and give me a reason to continue. I think I’ll know by the end of the month whether this version story is going to work.
I took a day off from working on S&S to edit a bunch of the new poems I’d written this month to put them on my availability list and figure out which ones I could use for a chapbook that I submitted earlier this week.
Books I’m Reading:
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Killing Time by Russell C. Connor
Things I’m Listening To:
Fleurie
Evanescence
Singer-songwriter playlists
Things I’m Watching:
The Abyss
X
Renfield
Baskin
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong) (finished)
Angel series (watchalong)
CSI series
CSI: Vegas series
CSI: Miami series
Spring Baking Championship series
Poem of the Week: (throwback from March 2022)
typing through lines
driving through signs
swallowing all the wine
sleeping subprime
such a dreary crime
wasting all this time
March 15, 2024
Quiet whirlwind: Friday Update
News:
For Women in Horror Month, Jordan Triplett interviewed me for Alpha’s Court. I share my love of worms, how I don’t limit myself with genre, and how I combat negative thoughts.
John R. Little, author of Miranda, wrote some effusive praise for Question Not My Salt: “This is an absolutely terrific book, and I highly recommend it. … If you’re one of those folks who likes extreme horror, you really need to take a look. Just an awesome story from cover to cover.”
Cemetery Dance also posted a review for Question Not My Salt, excerpted here: “Don’t let the cover fool you, this is HORROR, not a cookbook…though a cookbook from this novella just might be fun to read. Imagine you’re a Canadian who goes to college in the U.S., is roomed with someone you become friends with who invites you to their home for Thanksgiving… and things go… awry. Do NOT piss off Mother. Do not ask for salt and for goodness sake, spit in that wine glass and pass it already.”
A reminder that we’re doing a read-along of Question Not My Salt at Goodreads group Horror Aficionados this month. We’ve had some fun interactions so far, including dream casting and favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
On the leg front, the reinjury seems to have mostly healed, although the muscle is still weak and needs some strength-building. I’m taking longer walks in sneakers, mostly walking around and going up and down the stairs barefoot again, which is preferable to having to wear shoes to support against the pain. I might be able to get back on the elliptical at low resistance as early as next week.
In the meantime, I seem to be dealing with some health issues—probably a bad batch of medication and possibly side effects of another, plus pulling a muscle or pinching a nerve in my neck, but I have a tendency to panic, and it’s making concentrating or doing anything important very difficult. It’s also putting some pressure on my job search, because I thought I’d have health insurance by now.
Works in Progress:
Despite concerns, though, I’ve managed to restart Shadow & Song (Meridian 7), and I finished the last required poems for the Spring section of my seasonal horror poetry collection. I can still add new poems to the Spring and Autumn sections if an idea or two arise, because they’re mini-collections rather than singular narratives like Summer and Winter, but for now, I can cross A Nightmare for All Seasons off my list as finished. I’ll probably put it together and edit it June/July 2024.
Just for fun, these are the section titles:
Verdant with Splinter and Thorn
Lusty Murders of May
The Halloween Parade
Bleak Midwinter
Also wrote and continue to work on some standalone poetry inspired by this month’s Quill & Crow Crow Calls. I like to add to my long poetry list now and then to keep it fresh. The more poetry I write, the more themes emerge for chapbooks and longer collections.
Received a handful of disappointing rejections. And yet I keep pushing, because I don’t know what else to do.
Books I’m Reading:
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Killing Time by Russell C. Connor
Nineteen Little Stab Wounds by Alexis DuBon (finished)
Things I’m Listening To:
Hannibal soundtracks
Abyss/Ascent soundtrack
Silent Hill soundtracks
Kamelot
Things I’m Watching:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong)
Angel series (watchalong)
American Idol series
CSI series
CSI: Vegas series
NCIS series
NCIS: Hawaii series
White Collar series
The Mentalist series
Ghosts series
Not Dead Yet series
Will Trent series
Spring Baking Championship series
Home Town series
Murder, She Wrote series
Poem of the Week: (throwback from March 2022)
Malignant narcissist
Whose currency is abject fear
Forgets that true power
Is not making them kneel
And basking in their submission
But having them lower themselves
To kiss your filthy feet
Of their own devoted volition
March 8, 2024
Beat the drum slowly: Friday Update
News:
I’m back in Crystal Lake’s Shallow Waters flash fiction contest with “Full,” for the theme of A Murder of Crows. This is one of three stories that I set in the same post-apocalyptic world, because it intrigued me so much in the first story, “The Sisters of the Perpetual Wound,” that I wanted to explore it some more. I may return to it again someday. “Full” should arrive at the Crystal Lake Patreon around March 18. In the meantime, there are fifteen other short pieces that will be shared this month (for $5 tier and up).
Queer erotic horror anthology The Pleasure in Pain launched its Kickstarter, which is essentially a preordering service, with some other cool rewards. My story “Graphite” is included among a killer TOC.
Works in Progress:
It took me ridiculously long to edit one regular-sized short story, but then I started my March poetry project, which has been a lot of fun. I wrote my first two sestinas! I had a weird block on understanding the form, but someone explained it better to me, so I had to try it.
Even better, two weeks after abandoning Silver & Steel (Meridian 7), I figured out during a hot shower how to fix the problems I had with the first draft attempt, where I essentially wrote out the external conflict during character development, which left me with nowhere to go in urban fantasy. As soon as I get some more poetry and my taxes done (ugh), I’ll start again, which I’m really excited about. I wanted that under my belt now so that I’d be able to finish writing the series by the end of the year. The new title will be Shadow & Song (Meridian 7).
Books I’m Reading:
IT by Stephen King (finished, finally!)
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Ending in Ashes by Rebecca Jones-Howe (finished)
Killing Time by Russell C. Connor
Things I’m Listening To:
Hannibal soundtracks
YouTube playlists
Drift playlist
Things I’m Watching:
The Invitation (2022)
Gothika (Unrated)
The Hoarder
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong)
Angel series (watchalong)
American Idol series
CSI series
CSI:Vegas series
NCIS series
NCIS: Hawaii series
White Collar series
The Mentalist series
Ghosts series
Home Town series
All Creatures Great and Small series (finished)
Murder, She Wrote series
Poem of the Week: (throwback from March 2022)
Others hail beginnings
As the potential
For something wonderful,
But no one ever said
A new start would precede
An improvement.
March 1, 2024
Girl hungry: Friday Update
News:
I received my contributor copies of Question Not My Salt yesterday. Sometimes I’m at a loss how to stage a book, but QNMS has a built-in background in most homes. It’s really exciting to hold a book someone else chose to publish.
If you’re interested in joining a read-along for the month of March, I’m a guest author at the Goodreads group Horror Aficionados. You can comment on the book or ask questions in an interview style, and I’m contractually bound in blood to answer. It’s a short, propelling read, so if you can stomach the subject matter, it should be a lot of fun.
“Hell Come Home,” my sad, sweet, quiet Christmas horror story won 2nd place in the Shallow Waters flash fiction contest at the Crystal Lake Patreon.
In real life news, I had my first real interview for a job this week. It went really well, despite a scheduling snafu and realizing I didn’t have much in the way of nice clothes left since the last time I was this size. Most of my wardrobe is casual. I managed to find one decent outfit, though, and I bought more and plan to shop some more later today, so crisis averted. May I just say that mastering the elastic waistband rather than rigid fastening on work slacks is a game-changing feat of fashion technology?
Works in Progress:
I’m still relaxing a bit at the moment, which isn’t to say that I’m not working. I wrote two more short stories, edited two, and now I need to edit the last one. Then I’ll probably start my editing projects. But I also want to finally finish reading IT, too, so that might come first.
I’m also starting a poetry project this month for the seasonal poetry collection coming out in September, and I’ll probably do something a little different with the Crow Calls prompts, play around with lyrical or longer poetry instead of short flash pieces. So the Poem of the Week going forward for this month will be from a previous March, I think.
Books I’m Reading:
IT by Stephen King
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Ending in Ashes by Rebecca Jones-Howe
Things I’m Listening To:
Fleurie
Svrcina
Blacklist playlist
Abyss/Ascent playlist
Things I’m Watching:
Martyrs
Thanksgiving
The Predator
Viral
Dead Silence
Bone Tomahawk
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong)
Angel series (watchalong)
CSI series
NCIS series
NCIS: Hawaii series
Home Town series
Murder, She Wrote series
Poem of the Week:
cracks in the ground
widen into caverns
the rivers ripped
through now run dry
leaving empty beds with
unquenchable thirst
February 23, 2024
Goblin fruit: Friday Update
News:
My interview with Crystal Lake Entertainment host A.F. Stewart is up on YouTube, where I talk about my inspiration for Question Not My Salt.
Question Not My Salt is also a March 2024 group read at the Goodreads discussion board Horror Aficionados. The Group Read thread hasn’t been created yet, but if you want to read along next month, feel free to join us!
I’m not too attached to rankings, but it’s been interesting watching QNMS’s since its release. It’s consistently higher than I’m used to my books being (in the hundreds rather than the hundred thousands), which means I’m getting modest but steady purchases. Out of Curiosity and Hunger ain’t doing too badly either (for me), since I’m a contender for the Indie Book Brawl at Books of Horror at Facebook, and people are starting to find it.
Works in Progress:
I’ve started applying for jobs and have no idea what my future holds or when, but as far as I’m concerned, my writing sabbatical is over, and that means allowing myself a little mental rest. This also means a certain amount of disorganized chaos. I intend to start editing in March, but there’s still a week till then.
I wrote a short story for a themed contest, and I have one more short story I’d like to write for a themed call. On a whim, I created a poetry chapbook that I’m not sure whether I’m sending in or saving for later, and I’m stitching it together today. Contemplating whether I have enough available short stories for a themed short collection. Having an existential crisis. Sad that our False Spring seems to have been the start of Actual Spring (although we’ve been known to have odd cold snaps in March-May). You know, the usual.
Books I’m Reading:
IT by Stephen King
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Ending in Ashes by Rebecca Jones-Howe
Things I’m Listening To:
Lily Kershaw
Delain
Abyss/Ascent playlist
YouTube playlists
Things I’m Watching:
Hostel: Part II
Hostel: Part III
Mandy
Frozen (horror)
Devil’s Pass
Bite
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong)
Angel series (watchalong)
CSI series
The Mentalist series
The Irrational series (finished)
Helix series (finished)
Queer Eye series
Abbott Elementary series
All Creatures Great and Small series
Murder, She Wrote series
Poem of the Week:
for four hundred years
i abstain
chalice dry
length of long tongue
desiccated
so that when some
young thing
bleeds
for me
i am compelled to
devour
February 16, 2024
You can never leave: Friday Update
News:
It’s my beautiful book birthday! Extreme family dinner horror novel Question Not My Salt is officially available as an ebook (paperback to come). It’s a short, rollicking, roiling read, and you can enjoy it any time of year or save it as a Thanksgiving treat. Thank you to Kenneth W. Cain and Crystal Lake Entertainment for everything they’ve done to help QNMS come to life!
Elaine Pascale gave a wonderful review at Hellnotes, saying, “Question Not My Salt left me questioning many things non-spice related. I questioned the place of torture porn in written horror. I questioned myself as I was devouring this piece of extreme horror as if it were a pleasant travel essay. I questioned why I was not reading more of Blake’s writing.”
Horror Reads, who provided my first review, included Question Not My Salt on his list of “Three Shorter Horror Books to Break Your Mind!” at his YouTube channel.
I also participated in a live podcast episode last night, the Panic Room Radio Show through Hellbound Books, to talk about horror and read an excerpt from QNMS and completely forgot to share that I was doing it so that people could, you know, listen live. However, I should have a link to the episode to share by next week’s update.
Works in Progress:
I’ve only ever had to scrap a novel once before, but I’m afraid I have to do that with Silver & Steel (Meridian 7), at least in its present incarnation. Character plans I had ended up changing when the characters decided to go in different directions, which then removed all the intended external conflict, and in urban fantasy, external conflict is essential. I stopped writing around 35K words in, which is better than the last time I quit a novel, which was at over 70K words.
I’ve summarized a few intended scenes, suggested a few changes, and asked myself some questions that can give me the framework for a new novel, which I’ll probably write later this year so I can put some distance between this version and the next. I would still like to finish the Meridian series this year, but I’m noodling on adding one or two novels to the list, so that may be out of the question anyway.
I’m frustrated, because I wanted that under my belt, or mostly so, before I started looking for employment and hopefully getting hired somewhere. But I didn’t want to waste any more of my time on a novel that was sputtering.
Right now I’m working on a novelette that I don’t really know what to do with, but it’ll be ready, whatever that is. Next week, I polish my resume and start submitting applications, and I’ll probably proceed to edit Book & Candle (Meridian 5) in the afternoons and evenings.
Books I’m Reading:
IT by Stephen King
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Ending in Ashes by Rebecca Jones-Howe
Things I’m Listening To:
Billie Eilish
Fleurie
Ruelle
Lily Kershaw
Once More With Feeling soundtrack
Stigmata soundtrack
Things I’m Watching:
Contracted
Contracted: Phase II
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong)
Angel series (watchalong)
CSI series
The Mentalist series
The Irrational series
Helix series
Queer Eye series
Ghosts (US) series
Not Dead Yet series
All Creatures Great and Small series
Murder, She Wrote series
Poem of the Week:
I cannot promise sunrise
over massacre scene,
nor unburnished gold
or sterling silver clean.
Stars will reflect red
where moon will demean,
your fairest flesh shine
unfairly unknown, unseen
except by the feral,
the cruel, and the mean.
When I have no more rubies
and hungry times are lean,
will you still bleed for me,
my beautiful, bloody Queen?
February 9, 2024
Restless: Friday Update
Sasha welcomes you to her house. Enter freely and of your own will…News:
Just a week until the Question Not My Salt release, and I received an incredible blurb:
“Deliciously macabre and astoundingly fresh, Question Not My Salt is a richly prepared buffet of weirdness and depravity. Blake has crafted a truly grim offering about tradition that will disturb and shock even the most discriminating connoisseurs of body horror.” -Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
I also received a wonderful five-raven review from Epeolatry Book Review via Horror Tree. Some highlights: “Question Not My Salt haunted my stomach for ages. I was nauseated with no desire to discuss food. Don’t read Question Not My Salt before, during, or after a meal or you’ll regret it!” Not the kind of review you want for a romance novel, but excellent for a body horror novel.
In honor of Question Not My Salt coming out, I wrote an article on Family Drama: Five Horror Families Who Are the Absolute Worst, about family trees in the genre that need to be put in the woodchipper. Check it out on Horror DNA.
In addition to QNMS, my poem “Cleanse” is out in the Querencia Winter 2024 Anthology.
For Crystal Lake Shallow Waters flash fiction theme Yes Today, Satan, I present “Hell Come Home” ($5/month tier and higher, like a themed anthology every month) at their Patreon.
Works in Progress:
I’ve managed to cross 20K words on Silver & Steel (Meridian 7), even though this week has been rough and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do this story at all. The last two days have been easier. I’ll continue pressing on as long as the words continue to flow. We’ll see whether it’s a viable story or whether I have to scrap it and start again later this year.
Books I’m Reading:
IT by Stephen King
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Ending in Ashes by Rebecca Jones-Howe
Things I’m Listening To:
Sara Bareilles
Nightwish
Within Temptation
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark soundtrack
YouTube playlists
Things I’m Watching:
The Eye
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong)
Angel series (watchalong)
CSI series
The Mentalist series
The Irrational series
Helix series
All Creatures Great and Small series
Murder, She Wrote series
Poem of the Week:
under my thrall
you’ll do anything i say
drop off a roof
or blow bubbles of bleach
and swallow the foam
make you bow
sing a song of sorrows
such that job would weep
mine to command
now get some rest
eat fruit
be gentle with yourself
have a nice day
February 2, 2024
If the sun never rises: Friday Update
News:
After the polar vortex dipped down here to blister my toes with chilblains, we slipped into a false spring. It’s been warm, but also cloudy and rainy. I like cloudy and rainy, but after a while, missing the sun disrupts the sense of day rising and night falling. The temperature is beautiful (even a little warmer than I prefer) and doesn’t look like we’ll get a big winter front for a while (if at all), but there are a lot of clouds in the forecast. Makes me drowsy.
There’s no immediate news really, although I can tease that I received another great blurb and did my first podcast interview for Question Not My Salt this week. First podcast interview ever, actually.
If you missed it, I put out the Puppeteer (Thorns 4) playlist. You can find all the book playlists under the Thorns series header above. The links are under each book listing.
Works in Progress:
I finished the second edit of erotic horror novella A Woman Alone and brought it down to under 40K words, which was the goal. Since January submission calls ended and February calls opened up, I submitted that, plus a novelette and a few more short stories. I also finished what might be my last poems for the Autumn section of my seasonal poetry collection. Now I just have to write for Spring.
On January 31st, I felt weird starting something new right at the end of the month, and I didn’t have any more small projects to fuss with, so I took the day off to binge-watch Buffy, Angel, and The Mentalist and feel sorry for myself because I’m still struggling with leg pain. Sometimes you just need to wallow. I don’t really take days off and often downplay my own work as actual work—even though I put in full effort seven days a week—because I don’t receive commensurate compensation. But rest will occasionally force itself upon you
Wallowing over, I started on Silver & Steel (Meridian 7) yesterday, and it started pretty strong. I broke from my usual style for the series and decided to do it in first-person present tense. Whether I finish it mid-February or not, that’s when I’ll clean up my resume and start putting out job applications. Hopefully, winter doesn’t decide to come back with an icy vengeance at that point. It did when I started my last job nine years ago.
Books I’m Reading:
IT by Stephen King
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Ending in Ashes by Rebecca Jones-Howe
Things I’m Listening To:
Sara Bareilles
Eurielle
Timber Timbre
Agnes Obel
Tina Guo
Things I’m Watching:
Bullet Train
Saltburn
Taken 2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (watchalong)
Angel series (watchalong)
CSI series
The Mentalist series
Abbott Elementary series
Helix series
All Creatures Great and Small series
Murder, She Wrote series
Poem of the Week:
save your vitriol for someone
who wouldn’t eat your soul
instead of a sandwich
if it satisfied their hunger
more efficiently
January 30, 2024
PUPPETEER Playlist
I absolutely love making playlists for the more substantial stories I write. If you want a collection of songs that encapsulates how I conceptualize Puppeteer (Thorns 4) for your own enjoyment while you read it or after, the list in order is below. It’s longer than the others because so is the book. I should still have followed the same rules of using an artist or band only twice per playlist.
“Real Men” – Tori Amos
“Habits (Stay High)” – Tove Lo
“There’s a Wall” – Miranda Lambert
“Include Me” – Sara Em
“Party Meds” – Lily Kershaw
“In the Dark” – DEV
“Creep” – Radiohead
“Who Are You?” – Svrcina
“Slow, Love, Slow” – Nightwish
“Fire with Fire” – Delain
“Sirens” – Soren Bryce
“War of Hearts” – Ruelle
“Disease” – Phillip Phillips
“Who Are You, Really?” – Mikky Ekko
“Throwing Stones” – Paula Cole
“Dodged a Bullet” – Greg Laswell
“my boy” – Billie Eilish
“All I Need” – Within Temptation
“It Will Come Back” – Hozier
“Sodom” – Wendy Colonna
“Judas” – Lady Gaga
“Man or a Monster (feat. Zayde Wolf)” – Sam Tinnesz
“Who are You?” – RAIGN
“Sex and Candy” – Unions
“Hey Pretty” – Poe
“Sour Cherry” – The Kills
“Citizen Zero” – Kamelot
“I Am the Fire” – Halestorm
“Wild” – Bishop Briggs
“Static” – Kamelot
“The Last Song I’m Wasting on You” – Evanescence
“Clarity (feat. Foxes)” – Zedd
“We are the Others (Ballad Version)” – Delain
“War of Hearts (Acoustic)” – Ruelle
