Nicole M. Wolverton's Blog, page 5

Expose Yourself

Debate my flaws, please! Anytime I’m in front of a group of people, whether it’s a job interview or a work presentation, it always feels like that’s what I’m inviting people to do. And participating in readings of my work is often more uncomfortable–because it’s more than how I look or what I’m saying. I’m vomiting up–in public–the thing that is me. Deep down, under what I present as a public face… the things I write are my rawest self.

Now look–I write horror more often than not. I’m not saying there’s a murderer lingering in my deepest, darkest psyche. But often there’s an element of vulnerability embedded in my writing, and that’s not something I’m used to exposing. That’s probably true of most writers, and that’s probably why so many of us get agitated and nervous about reading in public. I am at least a little freaked before readings, but I’m fairly decent at faking competence and confidence once I get on stage. I’d like to think I did a more than serviceable job last week at my Strong Women-Strange Worlds reading and at a surprise reading I had last night–my writerly colleagues at the PA chapter of the Horror Writers Association were reading at Steel City Screams (an event related to Blobfest!), and due to a last-minute cancellation, I was able to give a brief reading.

I’m not the best, most dynamic reader imaginable… but I’m not terrible. I might lay claim to being entertaining, even! I blame cheerleading. No, really! I was a cheerleader for about a decade–throughout junior high, high school, and part of college. It’s an odd sport choice for a disillusioned punk-rock cynic with no school spirit, but I got to be loud and do jumps, stunting, and dancing… all things I enjoy and, for the most, am good at. While having a voice that projects well is useful, the things that cheerleading helped me with the most are a] not being afraid of an audience, b] pretending to be enthusiastic in a believable way, and c] accepting the likelihood of looking like an idiot in front of people. Hey, I once picked my wedgie on national television… it doesn’t get much more embarrassing than that.

Not every writer has a cheerleading background to fall back on for readings, so here are a few useful tips that have further helped me have a better performance–things I learned from writing speeches professionally, instead of my sports experiences.

First and foremost, rewrite whatever it is you’re reading so it’s more suited to be read aloud. Most writers will just read from their book, or they’ll read a short story–without thinking about the experience from an audience perspective. Words on a page are often NOT optimized for speaking them aloud. Sometimes sentence structure is too complicated… or you trip over a phrase… or an audience doesn’t need to know something in that moment to enjoy or understand the excerpt.Secondly, practice reading the piece aloud. A lot. I like to record myself reading on Zoom, all by myself. I sit, I stand, I walk around–I read pieces one way, then another, trying to get the right cadence and flow. Tweak words, tweak emphasis. You should be able to read your piece without faltering… and you should be able to almost anticipate what’s coming next, which can really help if you temporarily lose your place. It’s like building muscle memory, except, well… actual memory.Lastly, when you’re prepping your finalized piece, insert cues for yourself. Breathe. Look at the audience. Smile. Grimace. Sigh. Pause. Whatever you need to remind yourself to be in the moment (or at least pretend) instead of nervous and tongue-tied and in your own head. I prefer size 18 font printed single-spaced when I read. My cues are highlighted so I don’t accidentally read them out loud if I get too nervous. Emphasized words are italicized and bolded. My pauses are marked with em dashes.

None of these things are going to turn you into a master public reader–but maybe you’ll feel less uncomfortable. And if you’re more comfortable, the reading will be better. That’s the goal, right?

Virtual Reading!

I got turned on to Strong Women-Strange Worlds a few months ago and have been hooked ever since. They organize virtual readings every first Friday and every third Thursday, foregrounding the work of women and other underrepresented gender identity writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I’ve been able to see readings from writers I’m familiar with–like Faye Snowden, V. Castro, Holley Cornetto, Angela Yuriko Smith, and R.S.A. Garcia, among others–as well as discover new-to-me writers, which his always exciting. And so I’m thrilled to be part of the July 7 reading series! Registration just went live, so I hope you’ll join me and the other excellent writers scheduled for that day. Maybe you’ll find a new writer to love, too!

You might notice that the reading is at noon EST–the fun thing about it is that these readings are meant to be work-safe and kid-safe. Admittedly, I had a hard time settling on what I could read. After all, very few of my short stories in the horror genre are safe for work or kids! Rest assured, even if I’m not flinging blood, guts, and swear words around the (virtual) room, I think you’ll still be entertained. At least I hope so!

See you there?

Alone In Venice… Even During Peak Season

When and how one visits Venice, Italy makes a huge difference to the enjoyment of the trip. Consider the following: the population of Venice—including Mestre—is about 250,000-ish people, but most people who vacation stay in the historic center… the islands, let’s say… which has a population of about 55,000 people. During peak season—that’s generally the summer months—up to 110,000 tourists descend on the historical center per day. The majority of those tourists are day trippers: the estimate is four-fifths are there just for a single day.

Now, the historic center is not that big—the Grand Canal is only two miles long, and the whole surface area is really about three square miles. Most day trippers to Venice congregate in a very specific area of Venice: Piazza San Marco and the Rialto bridge area. They see the Doge’s Palace, the Bridge of Sighs, they take a gondola ride, and they wander around the little streets around the area that are filled mostly with tourist schlock and high-end shopping. Maaaaaybe they take the vaporetto out to Burano or Murano, but they’re mainly crammed into a very tiny area. It should come as no surprise that in that particular section (San Marco/Rialto), it smells like sweat, it’s pickpocket paradise, and the canals start to smell like pee because there aren’t a lot of publicly-available restrooms, not to mention the restaurants are typically crap and ridiculously overpriced.

Not exactly a recipe for a great trip to Venice, you know?

I was reminded of this during my most recent trip to Venice (late May/early June 2023) because I had to walk through San Marco Square to get to the perfume workshop I took. It was a Friday afternoon, and the entire area was a sea of tour groups and be-fannypacked tourists, jostling for the best photo. It was hot, and it was miserable. I hated every second of it. But I’ve been to Venice four or five times now, and that was the first time I saw that side of the city. It’s not that I haven’t been to San Marco Square before but generally not that time of day and with all those people. Even as someone who doesn’t daytrip into Venice, I’ve never even stayed anywhere near the area. I’ve stayed in the Castello down near the Arsenale a few times, in Cannaregio in the Jewish Ghetto section, and most recently in Santa Croce, right off the San Stae vaporetto stop. All of these areas are quiet and laid back, where you can sort of blend in with Venetians a bit easier and find restaurants that aren’t complete tourist traps. Yeah, there are going to be other tourists… but not crowds of tourists.

Avoiding crowds is my specialty, it seems, which is really the whole point of this blog post: how to avoid crowds in Venice, even during peak season (I know: it took me long enough to get here, right?!). Despite Piazza San Marco and the surrounding streets being absolutely mobbed with people on a recent trip, I had several museums almost entirely to myself:

I visited the Mocenigo Palace-Museum after my perfume workshop, which makes sense when you know it’s devoted to the history of textiles, costumes, and perfume. It also has sort of a neat history: the palazzo belonged to an important family of Venetian nobles, starting in the seventeenth century. The last blood relative died in the 1940s, willing the building to the city to be used as an art museum, and when his widow died in the 1970s, the city moved to carry out the blood relative’s wishes. No lie: when I was there the number of museum staff outnumbered the number of visitors. My absolute favorite part was the gorgeous collection of waistcoats… the manikins throughout the palazzo are pretty creepy (yet inspiring!) when you’re all alone, though. I was told that the museum used to have a series of scented rooms, which were discontinued during the pandemic. I mean, I get it: huffing the air can be a little dangerous these days!Look, I get that people generally don’t come to Venice to see modern art unless you’re attending the Venice Art Biennale, but Ca’ Pesaro is worth a visit for a few reasons. To start with, it doesn’t get a lot of traffic, so if you need to cool down you can sit at the top of one of their beautiful marble staircases and just… be. Secondly, aside from the works by Italian artists, you’ll see work by Klimt, Rodin, and Warhol. But thirdly—and maybe most importantly—Ca’Pesaro has a cafe with an outdoor terrace, and the terrace is right on the Grand Canal. Because the museum is largely empty most of the time, so is the cafe… which means you can sit at a table outside on the Grand Canal for hours, contemplating your navel, people watching, and imagining things. I’m not sure if you can properly call Scuola Grande di San Rocco a museum. In truth, it’s an historical building that housed the Confraternity of St. Roch, a group of wealthy Venetian citizens who allegedly were devoted to doing good things in the name of the Catholic church… that also just happens to have a ton of art commissioned from Tintoretto. It’s commonly referred to as the Sistine Chapel of Venice, if that gives you some hint about what you might find. There are also works inside by Titian and Palma il Giovane, not to mention a series of seriously gorgeous wooden panels/figures carved by Francesco Pianta. Here’s another place to sit and relax if you need to get off your feet for a minute: the Sala Superiore is lined with chairs, and at least when I was there there were rows of seats set up in the middle of the space… all the better to study the paintings on the ceiling, I guess. As an added bonus, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco is very nearby to the Church of Saint Roch, where you can check out St. Roch’s relics and few other Tintoretto paintings, and to the Gelateria il Doge, which in my mind is the best gelato in Venice.

All this to say: seek out museums and churches outside the popular tourist areas of Venice. You’ll be richly rewarded in most cases with space and quiet!

Smell Me

I’ve never been much of a perfume girl, but that’s not because I’m unaware of scent. The smell of roses and lavender remind me of my grandmothers. My mom favored spicy perfume when I was a kid. And since I grew up in the 1980s, Drakkar Noir cologne–which I can’t believe is still on the market–instantly takes me back to junior high and high school dances in the gym and awkward teen boys in Z Cavaricci jeans, not to mention my early 1990s club days in Philly, frantically attempting to repel South Jersey guys who smelled like they bathed in the stuff. Scent is memory–important to a writer!

Hey, I wore Love’s Baby Soft as a preteen. Who didn’t? I remember getting that special gift set of the perfume and lotion for Christmas. I even flirted with wearing Anais Anais for a year or two, which strikes me as strange, given the base notes of incense, musk, leather, and patchouli–all smells that aren’t my favorite. Luckily, no matter how much of a perfume I put on, my skin doesn’t seem to hang onto it. It’s there and gone. But that’s probably also the reason why I’ve not worn perfume much as an adult. I know what I like–vanilla and citrus–but braving the perfume section at a Macy’s or trial-and-erroring at Sephora… I don’t know, it just seems like a lot of effort for something that’s not going to give a lot of payout.

I do have one perfume–Ribello, a perfume based on citrus trees grown at the Vatican. It’s from Essenzialmente Laura, a perfumerie launched by a professional Italian “nose.” I thought maybe that would be the extent of my return to perfume. I mean, it’s not like I’m in public much: I work from home, and when I do leave my house it’s mostly to head to the gym. No one wants to be around a sweaty girl who faintly smells of the Pope’s citrus, you know? But then I decided I was going to spend a few days in Venice this May to celebrate graduating from my masters program–and The Merchant of Venice holds perfume workshops. I was going to Venice solo, so I didn’t need to worry about planning things my husband would want to do, too, so… why not?

The first thing Joan Giacomin–the brand ambassador for The Merchant of Venice, a Venetian “nose” and make up artist, and the workshop educator–asked during our workshop: “Are you passionate about perfume?” Er, no. No, I am not. But I’m curious… and as a writer it makes sense to understand as much as I can about scent. The workshop, held in a small room on the second floor of the Studium book store off San Marco Square, is two hours long. During the first half Joan takes you through half a dozen-ish historical periods, talks about the role of perfume during those periods, and you smell three scents associated–singly and then together. This is how I discovered the following:

In Ancient Rome, doves were soaked in scented oils so that when released they would spread scent over parties: doves, the original air freshener, I suppose.Also in Ancient Rome, there were certain scents that were traditionally applied to specific body parts. Like white thyme essential oil was only to be applied to the leg below the knee.Olibanum is a type of frankincense that was a common scent in Ancient Rome–that is today part of the scent of Coca-Cola (probably the synthetic version since the trees were olibanum come from are becoming endangered). Because of scent being so strongly tied to religious rite and medicine, early perfumers were strongly connected to both.Apparently muscenone (a synthetic musk that is also a fragrance enhancer) cannot be smelled by people who lack the correct genetics–so if you’re missing that ability genetically, one cannot be a perfumer.In Florence a famous perfumer was also an astrologer and poisoner, which weirdly makes so much sense. The top note of a perfume is what you smell first and often lasts for 5-20 minutes, followed by the heart note–it disperses after the top note wears away and lasts for around 30 minutes. The base notes kick in after that and give a perfume it’s longevity.On average, a parfum contains 20-40% concentration of essences diluted in ethyl alcohol and will stay on the skin for up to eight hours, while on the other end of the spectrum an eau fraiche has 1-3% concentration and will last for less than two hours.I love the smell of violet leaf.I’m the only one who has taken Joan’s class that knows patchouli is popular as a scent because it masks other scents. I loathe the smell of patchouli.When you have smelled too many things and your nose is overloaded/tired, rub the inside of your forearm to warm the skin, then smell your forearm–it refreshes your nose. I had to do it a lot toward the end of the workshop, and it totally works!

I mean, yes, I learned a ton from Joan’s class, and that’s worth it–but the best part comes during the second half of the workshop: Joan sits across from you and hands you testing strips dipped in scent… and all you have to do is say “yes, I like it” or “no, I don’t like it.” That’s how she custom formulates a perfume just for you!! But first she smells your arm to determine what kind of skin you have, and apparently this is why perfume doesn’t stay on me for very long–I have what she calls “dry” skin, but which apparently is not what is traditionally considered dry skin. Whatever the case, she takes that into consideration in the formulation. And I promise you that after I sprayed my wrist with my new perfume, I could still easily smell it the next morning. That, to me, is the best reason to take the workshop because that right there? That’s magic. And did I mention that she’s willing to make up a new batch whenever you need it? I visit Venice every other year for the art biennale, so I’m pretty sure a new batch of perfume is going to be tacked on as part of the tradition.

So what do I smell like these days? It’s a citrus-heavy scent. Bergamot top notes with heart notes of petitgrain and neroli and base notes of tonka bean, vanilla, and vetiver. Come smell me at the next in-person event, which I realize is a weird thing to say, but Joan has totally turned me into a perfume girl.

Time To Make the Sausage

I don’t talk much about how the sausage is made, publishing-wise. As a long-time hoover-er of books and short stories, who folks are published with or how it happened is something I don’t give a single crap about. That’s not to say that there aren’t presses I’m not partial to—Tin House Books, for instance, who published the wonderful Pamela Erens novel The Virgins a decade ago, and whose books always feel good in my hands. It’s just that a good book is a good book, and the biggie big houses are capable of publishing crap just as easily as micropresses. As a writer, though, I am interested in the sausage-making. In horror and speculative writing, in particular, it feels very much like small and medium-sized independent presses are where all the really interesting things are happening. And that makes sense: it feels like it might be more difficult for huge publishing houses to take risks, whether that’s on content, writers, or formats—especially right now when a certain segment of the U.S. seems hellbent on banning books and fun and authenticity. It seems like they’re trying to live out their own personal Footloose from the side of the bad guys. For that reason and many others, I’m really excited that A Misfortune of Lake Monsters has found a home with CamCat Books.

I genuinely don’t know what to call CamCat—a small publisher? A smallish mid-size publisher? What criteria makes the distinction? What I do know is that they’re putting out some really excellent books, horror and otherwise, that are getting attention and winning awards. Their latest pub is Citizen Orlov by Jonathan Paine, a comic suspense novel about a fishmonger-turned-secret-agent…which received a starred Publishers Weekly review (one of many of CamCat’s books that has). Ash Bishop’s Intergalactic Exterminators, Inc—think Men in Black, sorta-kinda—won a 2023 Audie Award® for science fiction. The Photo Thief by J. L. Delozier (detective fiction) is a finalist for the Best Audiobook category for the 2023 ITW Thriller Awards. And CamCat took four gold awards and three silvers at the Independent Book Publishers Associations awards this year, too–including a gold for The Girl in the Corn by Jason Offutt. One of their horror novels, The Taxidermist’s Lover by Polly Hall, even made The New York Times (and I think there’s another more recent book that received a mention, too, I think).

The point of all this is to say I’m in really good hands at CamCat, and that’s a good feeling to have when it comes to sausage-making. I’m currently awaiting the start of the editorial process for A Misfortune of Lake Monsters, but even during this quiet period CamCat has been great about being in touch and keeping me updated. Everything that happens feels very deliberate, and everyone I’ve worked with is super competent. And, of course, in the lead-up to editorial, I have a dozen or more CamCat books to read—because they’re just all that awesome!

Fa-La-La-La-La & The Sleigh-Shaped Coffin

Some people do intensive therapy work to deal with trauma. I mostly just write about my trauma and turn it into a joke. That’s the case with my latest creative nonfiction piece to be published. “Fa-La-La-La-La & The Sleigh-Shaped Coffin,” just published by ellipsis magazine, makes a bit of a joke about being hospitalized with COVID-19 a few years ago. I know–real funny, right? To be fair, while it’s about what happened in the hospital, it’s more about the warped relationship I have with my husband.

At this point we’ve been married for nearly twenty-three years, which I don’t think would be even remotely possible if he weren’t just as weird and cynical and sarcastic as I am. So yeah, “Fa-La-La-La-La” is really about the love affair I’ve got going with my husband–and who doesn’t want to read a love story?

Do check it out. You can download issue 59 from the ellipsis website for free, and my story is on page 114.

Shot-Gun Sucks

It’s a new publication day! Memoir Magazine published my creative nonfiction piece, “Shot-Gun Sucks,” and rereading this morning I’m now firmly stuck in the day when this particular episode of my messed up childhood happened. It was a day not terribly unlike this one–early spring, still a bit of a chill in the air and bright sunny blue outside. I’m looking out my window now as I’m writing this (yes, those are Halloween blood spatter window clings in the background image here), and there’s not a cloud in the sky. And even though my beloved raspberry-colored Chevy Spark (named Ruth after the tough-as-nails Ruth Bader Ginsburg) is incredibly reliable, I can picture my mom’s old VW bug parked menacingly at my childhood house, hear the backfires, smell the nasty exhaust fumes.

One hopes that clunker has been put out of its misery by now and is not still terrorizing children. Then again, what a fun story that would make. Stephen King’s Christine without the old, dead gross dude possession–instead, it would be possessed by the souls of all those traumatized kids. Ha! Maybe I’ll tuck the idea away for a future Devil’s Elbow series book (yes, A MISFORTUNE OF LAKE MONSTERS–out summer 2024 from CamCat) is the first book in the series…and that is totally counting chickens before they’ve hatched because no one has agreed to making this a series yet. So maybe keep your fingers crossed for me, ‘kay?

New Digs! New Work!

You might have noticed there’s been a change ’round these parts–with A MISFORTUNE OF LAKE MONSTERS (AMoLM) coming out in a little over a year, it seemed like a good time for a website redesign. One less thing to worry about it amid the flurry of activity around release day, eh?

I’ve always been fortunate to know the right people. Not always, of course–for instance, I don’t know any publishing kingpins who are slavishly devoted to me. In this case, my design was done by Speaking in Vector, a company run by Amber Hansford (who is also a writer, by the way). Amber and I go way back, and I’m also lucky enough to have her as my site host. I had some ideas in my head about how I wanted the new site to be different and what I wanted it to include, but Amber seems to be a mind-reader–she really tapped into the aesthetic of what I wanted with me even having to tell her much. Needless to say, I’m so delighted with how the whole project turned out. I think my favorite part might be the short works and anthologies pages, where the book covers/magazine covers are displayed so prettily.

Of course, I’m also just jonesing to get the page for AMoLM all prettied up, just like the page for THE TRAJECTORY OF DREAMS has been. Word has it that I’ll be starting the editorial process soon for AMoLM, and that’s usually about the time a book cover is developed as well. Am I dreaming about the blurbing process, and figuring out what events I want to book for the second half of next year, what I can do to help raise the profile of my beloved book? Oh, yeah. To know me is to know my love of being aggressively organized and scheduled, right? That’s probably why the overhaul of the website appeals to me so much as well–finding a place for every little thing and making it just so.

I often refer to myself as anal compulsive, which isn’t really a thing–it’s sort of like anal retentiveness turned up a few notches, I think. But aggressively organized sounds so much less…negative.

Speaking of being aggressively organized, it’s my writerly duty to inform you that this month should see three new publications–two creative nonfiction and one fiction:

Last Girls Club acquired my short story “Organic Products.” I have a story to share about this particular story (I know, shocking!), which I’ll do after publication, but the main thing to know is that the story is available to subscribers of LGC’s Patreon-only newsletter. If you have any interest in cooking and good old-fashioned revenge–through a decidedly “I’m sick of men’s shit” lens–well, maybe consider subscribing.ellipsis… will be releasing “Fa La La La La and the Sleigh-Shaped Coffin” in their latest issue. Think of it as a love story crossed with a near-death experience. Vincent Brothers Review plans to publish “The Stories We Tell Ourselves” in issue 25. If you’ve ever wondered if the house you bought or was about to buy had anything…horrifying…happen in it, you won’t want to miss it.

I’ll leave it to you to decide which of those is fiction and which is the creative nonfiction. Mwahaha!

A Lake Monster a Day

I feel like there should be trumpets, but I’ve got a new book coming out!

Keep your eye on this space for more information, but if you dig horror with thriller/suspense, scifi, and romance elements–and CRYPTIDS!–you’re going to want in on this action!

An Early Christmas Gift

I am always full-on shocked when editor Ellen Datlow takes notice of something I’ve written–so when I say that I very literally clutched my chest today when I discovered that two of my short stories were chosen for the Best of Horror #14 long list that she puts together each year, well, believe it. I gasped and clutched my chest like an offended Victorian lady… except that I was super thrilled, not offended.

The collection comes out tomorrow (November 29), and I always spend an inordinate amount of time with it–not just reading the excellent stories that made the table of contents, but also poring over the notable book and stories section to look for people I know and stories I’ve read over the last year. You might remember last year I was flabbergasted to see a short story of mine getting a mention. And considering how slow this publishing year was, I’m even more flabbergasted now! Really, this is such an early holiday gift for me.

The stories that made the long list are:

“Footnotes to the Travel Guide.” Dreamland: Other Stories (Black Shuck Books), August 2021

“Imaginary Friends.” The Half That You See anthology (Dark Ink Books), March 2021