Weldon Burge's Blog, page 5

Print Books Are Not Dinosaurs ... Yet

For the past few years, digital devices and e-books have gained great popularity in schools and homes�and most school-age children have access to the technology. Smartphones and iPads proliferate in many of our schools. Many educators believe that print books will soon become obsolete�or at least decrease in use�as children mature in a world ruled by technology.

Yet, so far, this hasn�t been the case. According to Scholastic�s 2015 Kids & Family Reading Report, the print book is not dead yet. Most students have read an e-book�61% in 2014 compared with 25% in 2010. However, for students ages 6�17, print books are still preferred�65% compared with 60% in 2012, and 77% who had read e-books said that the majority of books they read (especially for pleasure) were in print.

A preference for print books may be a growing trend in our society overall. According to the Association of American Publishers, e-book sales have steadily declined since 2012. Comparing AAP survey results from January 2015 and January 2016, sales of paperback books grew 4.3%, while e-book sales declined 24.9%. (However, in the same period, sales of hardback books fell 18.7%.)

According to a 2015 survey of librarians by the School Library Journal, 56% of schools in the U.S. reported that they include e-books in their libraries, but only 6% of librarians reported a high student interest in e-books. Their observations show that, while students may use e-books for research and school projects, they prefer print books for pleasure reading. They appear to prefer a book �in hand��there is an apparent physical, tactile element to reading.

This seems also to be true for college students. A new study, recently reported in Tech Times, indicated that 92% of those surveyed preferred print books over e-books. Interestingly, of those who preferred e-books, many expressed concern over the environmental consequences of publishing paper books.

Our teachers use digital books in their classrooms more and more. The next generation of students, taught how to use technology at an early age and now entering our lower schools, may change reading habits. But it�s too early to tell if they will have a greater affinity for e-books. So we are left to wonder how trends will change in the future of education. Most likely, students (and ultimately adults) will develop the ability to use both mediums�print and electronics�for accessing information and enjoying the �fun� of reading. Perhaps this dual ability will positively affect the literacy of our students.

But it�s clear from current research that print books are far from extinction.

First published in The Source for Private School News, Vol. 16, No. 3.

Meet Bram Stoker Award Finalist James Dorr

Indiana writer James Dorr’s The Tears of Isis was a 2014 Bram Stoker Award® nominee for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection. His other books include Strange Mistresses: Tales of Wonder and Romance, Darker Loves: Tales of Mystery and Regret, and his all-poetry Vamps (A Retrospective). Also be on the watch for Tombs: A Chronicle of Latter-Day Times of Earth, a novel-in-stories due for release from Elder Signs Press in spring 2017. Dorr, an Active Member of HWA and SFWA, has seen his work published in more than 500 publications, from "Alfred Hitchcock's Magazine" to "Xenophilia."

If you're familiar with Smart Rhino's anthologies (and we certainly hope you are!), you may remember his stories "The Wellmaster's Daughter" in Uncommon Assassins, and "Labyrinth" in Insidious Assassins. His story "Golden Age" will be published in Zippered Flesh 3, now in production.

James was happy to spend a few minutes to talk with us. Enjoy!

Your book The Tears of Isis was a Bram Stoker Award finalist in 2014 for the fiction collection category. Your stories have appeared in many anthologies, including Smart Rhino's Uncommon Assassins, Insidious Assassins, and the upcoming Zippered Flesh 3. Do you prefer the short form over writing novels? What's the allure for writing short stories?

Allan Poe wrote in his essay, “The Poetic Principle,” that “a poem deserves its title only inasmuch as it excites, by elevating the soul.” So, a true poem must necessarily have a certain brevity. “That degree of excitement which would entitle a poem to be so called at all, cannot be sustained throughout a composition of any great length. After the lapse of half an hour, at the very utmost, it flags--fails--a revulsion ensues--and then the poem is, in effect, and in fact, no longer such.” There are such things as epics, of course. But to Poe, despite the need for unity for a work as a whole, such a work in practice becomes a series of shorter poems, though perhaps not so much through the fault of the poet as that of the reader.

Nevertheless, I think I agree with what Poe is getting at--that at best the “good bits” will be interspersed with duller parts in a reader’s perception. And judging from Poe’s own works of fiction, I think he means for this to apply to prose as well. So as to my own work, yes, at least as a writer I prefer short stories to novels. I often write horror (I also write fantasy, sf, mystery, and even some humor I should add, as well as poetry), which I see in part as a study of character under unnatural stress. And while I love diversions and atmosphere and descriptions and explanations to help as intellectual support, I think there is an emotional center which only can be sustained for so long. Now, not everything I write is that exciting--“Golden Age” in Zippered Flesh 3, for instance, is written as a measured reflection. But even there I think there is an emotional core, and a puzzle perhaps for the reader to discover through empathy with the narrator, of why the story should stop where it does. But the point is still that it does stop, that to carry it farther would weaken the effect as a whole.

So that’s the challenge I find in short fiction, again as a writer, to write as much as a story needs to drive its point through, and not a word more. Because what should come after is the reader’s own addition, through his or her own thought, to what I have written.

Speaking of novels, your book Tombs: A Chronicle of Latter-Day Times of Earth is scheduled for release later this year. Can you tell us a little about the novel?

"It had been a time when the world needed legends, those years so long past now. Because there was something else legends could offer, or so the Poet believed. He didn't know quite what--ghouls were not skilled at imagination. Their world was a concrete one, one of stone and flesh. Struggle and survival. Survival predicated on others' deaths. Far in the future, when our sun grows ever larger, scorching the earth. When seas become poisonous and men are needed to guard the crypts from the scavengers of the dead. A ghoul-poet will share stories of love and loss, death and resurrection. Tombs is a beautifully written examination of the human condition of life, love, and death, through the prism of a dystopian apocalypse."

This is the publisher’s blurb on Amazon, condensed perhaps but fair enough (and positively flattering in that last sentence!). But there’s something to be said about structure too. Tombs is written as a novel-in-stories, or what’s sometimes called a “mosaic novel,” one not so much presented as a continuous narrative, from start to finish, but rather assembled from independent chapter stories. Some in fact were published before (two even appear in The Tears of Isis, while a third story there, while not in Tombs, is set in the same universe). The idea is there’s a larger story, in this case that of the world itself. But the approach to it is oblique, as if through, say, a series of snapshots in a photo album from which the reader might assemble a more complete picture in his or her own head.

One example is a book written more than sixty years ago--and one of my favorite novels of all time--Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, in this case assembling a “history” of the colonization of Mars through a series of stories, strung together with shorter vignettes. There are other examples in non-science fiction/dark fiction/fantasy contexts such as Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club or John Dos Passos’s USA trilogy. But the thing is, this is one way around Poe’s dictum, above, of being able to sustain a core idea--intellectual, aesthetic, emotional--only for so long.

So why not, then, an assemblage of ideas? Of corpse-trains that ply bridges crossing a great river, bearing a city’s dead, braving attacks from flesh-eating ghouls. Of rat-catchers, gravediggers, grave guards, and artists. Of Mangol the Ghoul, of musician-lovers Flute and Harp who once played back a storm, of the Beautiful Corpse. A city consumed by a huge conflagration, a woman frozen for thousands of years. A flower that eats memories….

And in the center of all, the great necropolis, the Tombs.

What do you find most difficult about freelance writing? The most rewarding?

The difficulty, frankly, for me is getting ideas. Not that ideas alone may not abound, but an idea-cluster that I can write a story around is a more difficult matter. My “muse,” as it were, is a nasty one who does not give things easily but must be wrestled into surrender. But then the joy, when that idea comes, the exhilaration of putting its various parts together, and realizing when I’ve finished a story that I’ve created something worth creating, that’s the reward. The grind of marketing will come later, and there’s a joy too when a story sells, especially if to a major market, but still the real reward for me is the creation itself.

What advice would you offer a novice writer looking to submit short stories to anthologies, magazines, or online venues?

Some, I’m sure, will have been heard before, perhaps many times: Perseverance. Don’t quit your day job. Those are the clichés, but they’re still true, that most writers aren’t going to make much money until they’ve been at it for some time, if even then. This is especially true for short story writers (I won’t even think about poets), unless you really, really persist and are willing to write in a number of genres (one person I know, for instance, has made a fair amount ghosting stories in woman’s confession magazines, but that’s not the route we’re taking here). But that doesn’t mean you can’t make some money, several hundred, perhaps even a few thousand dollars a year, if you can sell consistently to the highest paying markets. But most of us won’t.

For us lesser ambitions (in my case I look on money from writing as supplemental income, which I report as business income at tax time, but some years I’ll actually report a loss), be aware of markets when they open, especially anthologies. Ralan.com is one source on the internet, the Submission Grinder another--a third is Duotrope which I still use, although they charge a subscription fee these days. Consider joining groups like the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. But also look for pages on Facebook for horror and science fiction writers and fans and, if you can, go to sf/horror conventions--these are ways you can meet other writers, as well as editors, and they can meet you. Cultivate friendships and listen for gossip.

But most important: Enjoy what you're doing and strive to do your best. Follow your bliss, to repeat that cliché. Be proud of your work, but be practical too--if an editor advises you to make changes, take it seriously. But remember it’s still advice, especially as you gain more experience, and the one you must please, ultimately, has to be yourself.

Sage advice. Thanks, James.

For more on James and his work, check out his blog at jamesdorr.writer.wordpress.com.


 Read More 

Meet Bram Stoker Award Finalist James Dorr

Indiana writer James Dorr�s The Tears of Isis was a 2014 Bram Stoker Award� nominee for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection. His other books include Strange Mistresses: Tales of Wonder and Romance, Darker Loves: Tales of Mystery and Regret, and his all-poetry Vamps (A Retrospective). Also be on the watch for Tombs: A Chronicle of Latter-Day Times of Earth, a novel-in-stories due for release from Elder Signs Press in spring 2017. Dorr, an Active Member of HWA and SFWA, has seen his work published in more than 500 publications, from "Alfred Hitchcock's Magazine" to "Xenophilia."

If you're familiar with Smart Rhino's anthologies (and we certainly hope you are!), you may remember his stories "The Wellmaster's Daughter" in Uncommon Assassins, and "Labyrinth" in Insidious Assassins. His story "Golden Age" will be published in Zippered Flesh 3, now in production.

James was happy to spend a few minutes to talk with us. Enjoy!

Your book The Tears of Isis was a Bram Stoker Award finalist in 2014 for the fiction collection category. Your stories have appeared in many anthologies, including Smart Rhino's Uncommon Assassins, Insidious Assassins, and the upcoming Zippered Flesh 3. Do you prefer the short form over writing novels? What's the allure for writing short stories?

Allan Poe wrote in his essay, �The Poetic Principle,� that �a poem deserves its title only inasmuch as it excites, by elevating the soul.� So, a true poem must necessarily have a certain brevity. �That degree of excitement which would entitle a poem to be so called at all, cannot be sustained throughout a composition of any great length. After the lapse of half an hour, at the very utmost, it flags--fails--a revulsion ensues--and then the poem is, in effect, and in fact, no longer such.� There are such things as epics, of course. But to Poe, despite the need for unity for a work as a whole, such a work in practice becomes a series of shorter poems, though perhaps not so much through the fault of the poet as that of the reader.

Nevertheless, I think I agree with what Poe is getting at--that at best the �good bits� will be interspersed with duller parts in a reader�s perception. And judging from Poe�s own works of fiction, I think he means for this to apply to prose as well. So as to my own work, yes, at least as a writer I prefer short stories to novels. I often write horror (I also write fantasy, sf, mystery, and even some humor I should add, as well as poetry), which I see in part as a study of character under unnatural stress. And while I love diversions and atmosphere and descriptions and explanations to help as intellectual support, I think there is an emotional center which only can be sustained for so long. Now, not everything I write is that exciting--�Golden Age� in Zippered Flesh 3, for instance, is written as a measured reflection. But even there I think there is an emotional core, and a puzzle perhaps for the reader to discover through empathy with the narrator, of why the story should stop where it does. But the point is still that it does stop, that to carry it farther would weaken the effect as a whole.

So that�s the challenge I find in short fiction, again as a writer, to write as much as a story needs to drive its point through, and not a word more. Because what should come after is the reader�s own addition, through his or her own thought, to what I have written.

Speaking of novels, your book Tombs: A Chronicle of Latter-Day Times of Earth is scheduled for release later this year. Can you tell us a little about the novel?

"It had been a time when the world needed legends, those years so long past now. Because there was something else legends could offer, or so the Poet believed. He didn't know quite what--ghouls were not skilled at imagination. Their world was a concrete one, one of stone and flesh. Struggle and survival. Survival predicated on others' deaths. Far in the future, when our sun grows ever larger, scorching the earth. When seas become poisonous and men are needed to guard the crypts from the scavengers of the dead. A ghoul-poet will share stories of love and loss, death and resurrection. Tombs is a beautifully written examination of the human condition of life, love, and death, through the prism of a dystopian apocalypse."

This is the publisher�s blurb on Amazon, condensed perhaps but fair enough (and positively flattering in that last sentence!). But there�s something to be said about structure too. Tombs is written as a novel-in-stories, or what�s sometimes called a �mosaic novel,� one not so much presented as a continuous narrative, from start to finish, but rather assembled from independent chapter stories. Some in fact were published before (two even appear in The Tears of Isis, while a third story there, while not in Tombs, is set in the same universe). The idea is there�s a larger story, in this case that of the world itself. But the approach to it is oblique, as if through, say, a series of snapshots in a photo album from which the reader might assemble a more complete picture in his or her own head.

One example is a book written more than sixty years ago--and one of my favorite novels of all time--Ray Bradbury�s The Martian Chronicles, in this case assembling a �history� of the colonization of Mars through a series of stories, strung together with shorter vignettes. There are other examples in non-science fiction/dark fiction/fantasy contexts such as Amy Tan�s The Joy Luck Club or John Dos Passos�s USA trilogy. But the thing is, this is one way around Poe�s dictum, above, of being able to sustain a core idea--intellectual, aesthetic, emotional--only for so long.

So why not, then, an assemblage of ideas? Of corpse-trains that ply bridges crossing a great river, bearing a city�s dead, braving attacks from flesh-eating ghouls. Of rat-catchers, gravediggers, grave guards, and artists. Of Mangol the Ghoul, of musician-lovers Flute and Harp who once played back a storm, of the Beautiful Corpse. A city consumed by a huge conflagration, a woman frozen for thousands of years. A flower that eats memories�.

And in the center of all, the great necropolis, the Tombs.

What do you find most difficult about freelance writing? The most rewarding?

The difficulty, frankly, for me is getting ideas. Not that ideas alone may not abound, but an idea-cluster that I can write a story around is a more difficult matter. My �muse,� as it were, is a nasty one who does not give things easily but must be wrestled into surrender. But then the joy, when that idea comes, the exhilaration of putting its various parts together, and realizing when I�ve finished a story that I�ve created something worth creating, that�s the reward. The grind of marketing will come later, and there�s a joy too when a story sells, especially if to a major market, but still the real reward for me is the creation itself.

What advice would you offer a novice writer looking to submit short stories to anthologies, magazines, or online venues?

Some, I�m sure, will have been heard before, perhaps many times: Perseverance. Don�t quit your day job. Those are the clich�s, but they�re still true, that most writers aren�t going to make much money until they�ve been at it for some time, if even then. This is especially true for short story writers (I won�t even think about poets), unless you really, really persist and are willing to write in a number of genres (one person I know, for instance, has made a fair amount ghosting stories in woman�s confession magazines, but that�s not the route we�re taking here). But that doesn�t mean you can�t make some money, several hundred, perhaps even a few thousand dollars a year, if you can sell consistently to the highest paying markets. But most of us won�t.

For us lesser ambitions (in my case I look on money from writing as supplemental income, which I report as business income at tax time, but some years I�ll actually report a loss), be aware of markets when they open, especially anthologies. Ralan.com is one source on the internet, the Submission Grinder another--a third is Duotrope which I still use, although they charge a subscription fee these days. Consider joining groups like the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. But also look for pages on Facebook for horror and science fiction writers and fans and, if you can, go to sf/horror conventions--these are ways you can meet other writers, as well as editors, and they can meet you. Cultivate friendships and listen for gossip.

But most important: Enjoy what you're doing and strive to do your best. Follow your bliss, to repeat that clich�. Be proud of your work, but be practical too--if an editor advises you to make changes, take it seriously. But remember it�s still advice, especially as you gain more experience, and the one you must please, ultimately, has to be yourself.

Sage advice. Thanks, James.

For more on James and his work, check out his blog at jamesdorr.writer.wordpress.com.

Crowdfunding and Smart Rhino

Crowdfunding.

Kickstarter. Indiegogo. GoFundMe.

Hmmm �

Worthwhile for independent publishers? I guess we�ll find out.

Smart Rhino Publications is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for the upcoming ZIPPERED FLESH 3 anthology. We�ve lined up 14 writers so far, and we�d like to pay them pro rates�they deserve it. But it all comes down to the success of the campaign. It�s all or nothing with Kickstarter. Tricky. Suspenseful. Worthwhile? We certainly hope so.

Check out our campaign site, see what you think.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

To help the campaign along, we�re providing great rewards for those folks who pledge in support. You can get a thumb drive containing e-versions of ZF3. Paperback books. A Smart Rhino mug. Books. A print of the cover art. Editing of a short story by yours truly. Did I mention books?

We even created a rather icky promo video for the campaign. (Not for the squeamish!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQTxY...

And I also made a personal appeal for the Kickstarter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sACX5...

So, what do you think? Does this interest you? Do you feel compelled to support ZIPPERED FLESH 3 and its writers?

We�re crossing our fingers �

Armand Rosamilia Talks About Horror

Armand Rosamilia knows quite a bit about horror writing. His work has appeared in many publications, including his story, "Creeping Death," in the Smart Rhino anthology Zippered Flesh: Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad! He's also written a good many novels, including his Dying Days series, Chelsea Avenue: A Supernatural Thriller, Middletown Apocalypse, Dirty Deeds, and others. We were thrilled to have a chance to talk with Armand about one of his favorite topics--horror writing.

Zombies seem to be the rage, especially with the success of The Walking Dead TV series. You've written a good deal of zombie fiction, particularly in your Dying Days books. What do you think is the appeal?

It depends on the person. Some readers love zombie fiction because it is a mirror held up to society. Some think it foreshadows our future. Some think it is an analogy for the way the world is today, and is falling apart. For me, I just think zombies are really cool. I love reading about them and, as a kid, I loved watching zombie movies. So I can see the entertainment value of them first and foremost.

You're an incredibly prolific writer. Where do the creepy, often bizarre ideas come from?

I read a lot. Always have. Dean Koontz books started me on this journey at 12. I read mostly nonfiction now and watch Discovery Channel Investigation shows. The real horror is all around us, and is easy to tap into as an author. I have so many ideas for novels and shorts I'll never get to, and it would be a large chunk of my day just to write them all down. Whenever I don't have a specific contract on my desk and I'm able to add whatever I want to my writing schedule I simply tap into my brain and see what's at the front of the ideas and if I'm excited about writing it right now.

What's your latest (or impending) release? Can you tell us about it?

I always have a few projects on the horizon. I just released Green River Blend: A Supernatural Thriller with Devil Dog Press. It is a story about coffee. Yep, coffee. A mysterious man opens a coffee shop in a small Florida town and, when the residents get addicted to his coffee, strange things begin to happen. Beta readers said it was very much Bentley Little-ish, and I agree. When I began writing the novel, I was looking for that exact feel to it.

Next up is my crime thriller Dirty Deeds. I won a Kindle Scout contract with it. Look for it the end of January. I'm excited about it because I've never strayed this far from what I normally write. The advance readers love it, so it will definitely turn into an ongoing series.

Thanks, Armand, for giving us some background on your incredible work!

For more information about Armand, visit his website.

(This interview was originally published in the January 2016 issue of the Smart Rhino Publications e-letter.)

Talking with Chantal Noordeloos, Author of Coyote the Outlander

Chantal Noordeloos lives in the Netherlands, where she spends a lot of time arguing with characters (aka writing). In 1999, Chantal graduated from the Norwich School of Art and Design, where she focused mostly on creative writing. There are many genres that Chantal likes to explore in her writing. Currently steampunk is a focus of hers, leading her to write her Coyote novels about a female bounty who faces bizarre challenges.

But Chantal's "go to" genre will always be horror. "It helps being scared of everything. That gives me plenty of inspiration," she says.

Chantal is one of Smart Rhino's favorite writers, and we always enjoy talking with her. She gladly provided the following interview--which captures much of her inherent wackiness. Enjoy!


Your Coyote novels, Coyote the Outlander and Coyote: The Clockwork Dragonfly, are uniquely steampunk. Coyote is a strong and fascinating heroine. How much of Coyote is Chantal?

Ha! You caught me there. There’s quite a lot of me in Coyote, more so than any other character I’ve written so far. I think that also has a lot to do with that she’s an old role-play character of mine, from back in the days that we played Dead Lands.

There are a great deal of differences, of course. I can’t shoot a gun to save my life (in all honesty, I would more likely shoot myself than an opponent) and even if I could, I don’t think I’d have it in me to kill anyone. In a fight of flight situation … well, let’s just say I do the worst … I freeze. *cringes*

So, not so much the heroic bounty hunter, more the useless cannon fodder. If the *insert scary monster here* Apocalypse should ever happen, I would be among the first to die—and I probably won’t even die with dignity.

But at least I get to live vicariously through Coyote, right? Right? *bites lip*

Where I think we’re similar, she and I, is that Coyote has my zany outlook on life, and my sense of humor. One could argue that all characters I write have "my sense of humor" since, ehm … I wrote them, but that’s not exactly true. There is a difference between what I write and how I am in real life—there are plenty of characters I’ve written where I thought: "Dude, wtf is wrong with you?" Not sure what that says about my own mental state, but there you have it.

Coyote reflects how I feel about subjects such as inequality. She also mirrors some of the awkwardness I felt as a young girl/woman for being a tomboy. When I write Coyote, I base her very much on the parts of my personality that are confident, yet at the same time I give her some of my own insecurities, too. I would say she is the braver version of me—one who doesn’t care what anyone thinks.


Your novel Angel Manor is straight up horror. Do you think your writing will lean more toward that genre in your future work? Read More 

Talking with Chantal Noordeloos, Author of Coyote the Outlander

Chantal Noordeloos lives in the Netherlands, where she spends a lot of time arguing with characters (aka writing). In 1999, Chantal graduated from the Norwich School of Art and Design, where she focused mostly on creative writing. There are many genres that Chantal likes to explore in her writing. Currently steampunk is a focus of hers, leading her to write her Coyote novels about a female bounty who faces bizarre challenges.

But Chantal's "go to" genre will always be horror. "It helps being scared of everything. That gives me plenty of inspiration," she says.

Chantal is one of Smart Rhino's favorite writers, and we always enjoy talking with her. She gladly provided the following interview--which captures much of her inherent wackiness. Enjoy!


Your Coyote novels, Coyote the Outlander and Coyote: The Clockwork Dragonfly, are uniquely steampunk. Coyote is a strong and fascinating heroine. How much of Coyote is Chantal?

Ha! You caught me there. There�s quite a lot of me in Coyote, more so than any other character I�ve written so far. I think that also has a lot to do with that she�s an old role-play character of mine, from back in the days that we played Dead Lands.

There are a great deal of differences, of course. I can�t shoot a gun to save my life (in all honesty, I would more likely shoot myself than an opponent) and even if I could, I don�t think I�d have it in me to kill anyone. In a fight of flight situation � well, let�s just say I do the worst � I freeze. *cringes*

So, not so much the heroic bounty hunter, more the useless cannon fodder. If the *insert scary monster here* Apocalypse should ever happen, I would be among the first to die�and I probably won�t even die with dignity.

But at least I get to live vicariously through Coyote, right? Right? *bites lip*

Where I think we�re similar, she and I, is that Coyote has my zany outlook on life, and my sense of humor. One could argue that all characters I write have "my sense of humor" since, ehm � I wrote them, but that�s not exactly true. There is a difference between what I write and how I am in real life�there are plenty of characters I�ve written where I thought: "Dude, wtf is wrong with you?" Not sure what that says about my own mental state, but there you have it.

Coyote reflects how I feel about subjects such as inequality. She also mirrors some of the awkwardness I felt as a young girl/woman for being a tomboy. When I write Coyote, I base her very much on the parts of my personality that are confident, yet at the same time I give her some of my own insecurities, too. I would say she is the braver version of me�one who doesn�t care what anyone thinks.


Your novel Angel Manor is straight up horror. Do you think your writing will lean more toward that genre in your future work?

No.

*blinks*

Okay, that was the short answer *grins*, now here�s the long one. Angel Manor for me was a reaction to a conversation I had several years ago during the Women of Horror month. A person�I honestly don�t remember who the person was�suggested that women couldn�t write "real horror" (whatever that is supposed to be) and we only wrote paranormal romance.

Now, you need to know this about me � of all the genres, romance is the one I�m least comfortable with. So, though my more �morbid� fiction can range from straight forward horror to dark fantasy, it has never been paranormal romance. The person then said that women never went "all the way" (ooh la la) and could not be truly scary. I think Angel Manor was my "I�ll show you" book. Of course it means more to me than just that, because I really do have a story to tell with the Lucifer Falls series � but that�s where the idea was born.

When I write horror, I tend to be rather graphic in my descriptions. I have always been quite explicit, even before I wrote Angel Manor, but most of my stories are less extreme. Even the sequel is a little less gruesome (though just a little) and a lot more story-orientated.

I love horror, but it�s also a genre where I feel most conflicted when writing. My husband always cringes when I tell him I�m going to write something dark. It affects my moods. For me to write a story, I need to relate to my characters and their situation. That isn�t always the greatest feeling when you�re writing about death, misery, and monsters. Especially since I tend to tackle topics that I genuinely care about. There are moments where I �ugly cry� behind my computer as I write.

So that�s why I don�t want to lean more toward horror than I do to other genres. I need to take breaks from it now and then.

Having said that, most of my work does have elements of darkness. I guess that�s just who I am as a writer. I always described the Coyote series as my "light and fluffy" books, until someone told me that they, too, have some dark moments.

I was actually surprised by this, but have accepted that I may just be a little twisted � or even � Deeply Twisted. *Badum Tish* (I acknowledge that was a terrible �promote my own book� pun, and I am deeply ashamed #sorrynotsorry)

Many of the readers of the Smart Rhino anthology Someone Wicked enjoyed your story "Mirror Mirror." And the stories in your book A Deeply Twisted Collection are also fun and creepy. What do you find most appealing about writing short stories?

For a while I was really "into" writing short stories. T�was �mah thang. (I apologize for that too.) I�ve always enjoyed fairy tales, I guess I compare shorts a bit to them.

What I deeply love about short stories is that you can tell so much in such a little space. It�s like taking your readers on little joy rides.

�Get in the car! No � leave your shoes. You won�t need them where we�re going.�

*blinks*

Eh � I mean � right � eh � back to the topic.

I�m one of those writers that constantly has new ideas. Creativity that borders on insanity, you might say. What�s really gratifying about short stories is that you can easily spin those ideas into tales, without having to fit them into a "bigger picture." I would be writing one story, and something in my own work would trigger the idea for the next one. It can be a lot of fun.

The weird thing is, it feels like I can either write short stories or long ones (like novels or novelettes). Once I�m in novel-writing mode, I struggle writing short pieces, because it takes me a while to switch back to making stories concise. That�s why I often turn down people who ask me to write them a short story when I�m in the middle of writing a novel. The only times I tend to accept this is when the opportunity is just too good for my career to pass up.


Do you think living in the Netherlands has helped distinguish your perspective when approaching fiction? How has that background impacted your writing?

I think so. I�ve lived in the UK for three years, and I can tell you it�s very different from the Dutch culture�while at the same time having a lot of similarities.

We�re a little more "blunt" than my UK and US readers. It means I have a very different social outlook on things, and that probably also comes across in my writing.

There are things that I don�t even think about on a daily basis that can be really shocking to other people. Cultural dissimilarities can be funny like that. A great�and relatively safe�example is swearing. I try to tone my �potty mouth� (as some people endearingly call it) down (up to a certain degree) to not only reach a wider audience, but also not distract from my stories. Swearing is not a big deal in the Netherlands. We even have levels of swearing ranging from �the usual� to �wishing horrible diseases on people.� The latter I�ve always had a problem with myself (and I think many Dutch people agree) but it makes it more understandable why the F word doesn�t really phase me.

I still come from a Western country, though, which means I share a lot of the perspectives of my US and UK audience. The culture clashes we have are just minor, and it�s easy to relate to my readers. We deal with similar issues.

As for writing, even though I have used Dutch mythology before in stories like �The Widow� and �Deeply Twisted,� I rarely use my heritage in my work. The characters and settings I write do tend to have different nationalities, and I love learning about new cultures. Perhaps one day I�ll write a book with a Dutch heroine. Saying that � the main characters from Angel Manor lived in the Netherlands for a good deal of their lives, so maybe that counts too?

I definitely don�t have a �Dutch voice� when it comes to writing. Dutch fiction and literature definitely has a very strong tone, and I can�t relate to it AT ALL. With a few exceptions of books that I loved from writers such as Thea Beckman and Evert Hartman, I actually find myself disliking most Dutch fiction. It�s just NOT my cup of tea. I hope I don�t offend anyone by saying that�unlike Coyote, I do actually care�but it�s as the old saying says: �Different strokes for different folks.�

So, in the writing regard, I�m not very Dutch. I don�t really have a lot of Dutch readers either. The most you can accuse me of is having a Dutch outlook on life.

Thanks, Chantal. Keep up the great work!

For more information about Chantal, visit her website.

Liz DeJesus, Writer of Modern-Day Fairy Tales

Liz DeJesus loves taking familiar fairy tales themes and giving them new twists--if not turning them upside-down. She is a novelist, freelance author, writing coach, and poet. If you enjoy the retelling of fairy tales, be sure to check out her work--including Jackets, First Frost, Glass Frost, Shattered Frost, and several others. Her story, "Sisters: A Fairy Tale," was published in the Smart Rhino anthology, Someone Wicked.

Liz agreed to talk with us about her work--and, as always, we enjoyed the conversation!

Let's start with the easy question for you. Why fairy tales?

It goes all the way back to my childhood. I was bullied as a kid throughout most of my childhood and fairy tales were a safe haven for me. Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Perrault. Their books and stories all conveyed the message that I could have hope and that things could get better for me. I needed that message so badly at that time in my life. So I read them over and over again just to keep myself afloat. It took a while but things did eventually change for me.

So that’s the main reason I always gravitate towards fairy tales. In life and in my writing. Besides, it’s so much fun to play with these stories!

I love reimagining these fairy tales. I especially adore writing fairy tale retellings. I like to think about what it would’ve been like to have been in their shoes. Cinderella, Snow White, Red Riding Hood … just to name a few.

I remember the short story I wrote for the Someone Wicked Anthology, "Sisters: A Fairy Tale." It’s a fairy tale retelling of the story "Toads and Diamonds." That was a lot of fun to write. I got to see two sides of a story I always wanted to know more about.

With The Frost Series (First Frost, Glass Frost, and Shattered Frost), I use fairy tales as the foundation of the story. What if Snow White and all these fairy tale princesses had children? What happened to those children? Bianca Frost is the main character of the series and she’s a witch as well as a descendant of Snow White.

In my collection of short stories, Mugshots, I use fairy tales once more except that this is a modern retelling of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, and Goldilocks and they all commit crimes that land them in jail. Sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll! Believe me, I had WAY too much fun writing that particular book.

If you could start over, what would you do differently? Read More 

Liz DeJesus, Writer of Modern-Day Fairy Tales

Liz DeJesus loves taking familiar fairy tales themes and giving them new twists--if not turning them upside-down. She is a novelist, freelance author, writing coach, and poet. If you enjoy the retelling of fairy tales, be sure to check out her work--including Jackets, First Frost, Glass Frost, Shattered Frost, and several others. Her story, "Sisters: A Fairy Tale," was published in the Smart Rhino anthology, Someone Wicked.

Liz agreed to talk with us about her work--and, as always, we enjoyed the conversation!

Let's start with the easy question for you. Why fairy tales?

It goes all the way back to my childhood. I was bullied as a kid throughout most of my childhood and fairy tales were a safe haven for me. Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Perrault. Their books and stories all conveyed the message that I could have hope and that things could get better for me. I needed that message so badly at that time in my life. So I read them over and over again just to keep myself afloat. It took a while but things did eventually change for me.

So that�s the main reason I always gravitate towards fairy tales. In life and in my writing. Besides, it�s so much fun to play with these stories!

I love reimagining these fairy tales. I especially adore writing fairy tale retellings. I like to think about what it would�ve been like to have been in their shoes. Cinderella, Snow White, Red Riding Hood � just to name a few.

I remember the short story I wrote for the Someone Wicked Anthology, "Sisters: A Fairy Tale." It�s a fairy tale retelling of the story "Toads and Diamonds." That was a lot of fun to write. I got to see two sides of a story I always wanted to know more about.

With The Frost Series (First Frost, Glass Frost, and Shattered Frost), I use fairy tales as the foundation of the story. What if Snow White and all these fairy tale princesses had children? What happened to those children? Bianca Frost is the main character of the series and she�s a witch as well as a descendant of Snow White.

In my collection of short stories, Mugshots, I use fairy tales once more except that this is a modern retelling of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, and Goldilocks and they all commit crimes that land them in jail. Sex, drugs, and rock n� roll! Believe me, I had WAY too much fun writing that particular book.

If you could start over, what would you do differently?

I would be more patient and read my publishing contracts more carefully. I lost a couple of novels for jumping into things too quickly without a second thought. Thankfully I did get those books back but that�s what I would do differently. It would�ve saved me a world of heart ache. But then again � if I hadn�t gone through that I never would�ve learned that lesson so everything happens for a reason.

Who is your favorite author? Why?

My all-time favorite? Hmmm. I�d have to say Terry Moore. Technically he�s not an author. He�s the creator, writer, and artist behind Strangers in Paradise, Echo, and Rachel Rising. I love the way he tells stories. He has a way of drawing you into his world and makes you care about every single character in his comic books. Whether it�s the main characters or the villain of the story. Everything he puts on the page is important and/or has a reason to be there.

And he has helped me become a more thoughtful writer. I do my best to try and tell a story that will stay with my reader no matter what genre I write in.

What's up next for you?

Mugshots was released in August, 2016, and I was super-excited about that. I�m also working on Ruby Frost (book #4 in The Frost Series), Pros and Cons of Being a Teenage Fairy (fantasy middle grade book), The Gargoyle�s Heart (paranormal romance), and a couple of children�s books that I can�t discuss just yet.

Kay Corbett (my BFF and partner in crime) and I are always ready to hit the road and go to comic book conventions and fairy festivals in DE and MD, so I�m excited about that. It�s a great way to meet fans and make friends.

Thanks Liz! Looking forward to reading your future work.

For more information about the Liz, visit her website at www.lizdejesus.com.

Graham Masterton: Horror and Suspense Master Extraordinaire

Graham Masterton is something of a literary chameleon. A prolific author, his 100+ books run the gamut from horror to thrillers to historical fiction to sex �how-to� manuals to his current series of Katie Maquire crime fiction. His debut as a horror writer began with the immensely popular novel, The Manitou, in 1975, which was also made into a movie starring Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg. Several of his short stories have been adapted for television, including three for Tony Scott�s Hunger series. The man has been around the block a few times.

Graham is magnanimous and more than willing to talk about writing and publishing, and has long been a supporter of other writers in the field. In fact, he will talk your ear off given half the chance. I was thrilled that he was willing to take some time out of his busy day to answer a few questions for Suspense Magazine.

So, where did it all start?

I was writing fiction from an early age. I loved the novels of Jules Verne like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea and H.G. Wells like The War of the Worlds, and wrote my own adventure novels and bound them in cardboard. At the age of 10 or 11, I discovered Edgar Allan Poe and loved the stories of �The Pit and the Pendulum� and blazing dwarves. I started writing my own short horror stories to read to my friends during break time at school. Some of my friends met me years later and told me that I had given them nightmares. I wrote a 250-page novel (by hand) about giant supernatural crabs when I was 12 (which I still have). When I was 14, I wrote a 400-page vampire novel that has been lost.

I was expelled from school was I was 17. Expulsion was the making of me, though, because I then got a job as a trainee reporter on my local newspaper. In those days, local newspapers were staffed by retired Fleet Street men (national newspaper reporters). They taught me how to write a tight, compelling news story that would grab a reader�s attention�how to write vividly and concisely�but more than anything else, how to interview people. I quickly learned that most people are bursting to tell you their innermost secrets, particularly since you are sympathetic and you listen carefully to them and ask the most penetrating questions. They will tell you things that they would never tell their friends or their families, because you are a stranger.

When I left the local paper at the age of 21 and was appointed deputy editor of a new British Playboy-style magazine called Mayfair, I was called on to interview the girls who appeared in the center-spread every month. Most of the men who met them simply �gawped� at their breasts, but I always made a point of talking to them about their ambitions and their love lives and whatever made them unhappy. Out of that experience, I developed a question-and-answer sex feature in the magazine called Quest, which purported to be conversations with couples about their sex problems. I wrote it all myself, but almost all the content was quoted pretty much verbatim from real girls.

I left Mayfair after three years after a spat with the editor and joined Penthouse the following week as deputy editor. Not long afterwards I was appointed executive editor. Penthouse had recently been launched in the U.S. at that time, so I got to travel frequently to New York in the late �60s and early �70s. There I met several publishers and it was suggested to me by Howard Kaminsky from Warner Paperback Library that I write a sex �how-to� book in the same anecdotal style as Quest. That was how I came to write How A Woman Loves To Be Loved by �Angel Smith�. It was hugely popular (especially since Angel looked gorgeous on the cover) because few sex books had been written before in such a conversational style � most had been either medical or prescriptive. I�ve written 29 manuals over the years.


How did your earlier career with men�s magazines and writing sex manuals inform your fiction writing?