Chantal Boudreau's Blog, page 25

October Submission Blitz – Grotesque Gallery

Today’s submission first required a retraction of my short story “Surfacing”. I’m not sure I’m going to send anymore submissions to the pro-rate venue who had been sitting on it for over a year (when supposedly their response time is 60 days). I’ve had issues with their response time for me once before and I honestly don’t think the editor likes my style (I get negative vibes from them). Maybe they figured if they hung on to it long enough I’d just go away. If so – it worked.

“Laying on Hands” is nearing completion and I think it’s a good example of how much I value the traditional storytelling structure. It has a clear introduction, I’m nearing the end of the denouement and then I’ll end with a well-defined conclusion. I really like it when I can see those components clearly within the story – it appeals to my pattern/structure loving accountant brain.

I have a book release announcement coming up this weekend, so that means more excitement for me.

And lastly, the horror trope for the day is the grotesque gallery. This is an often-used trope that appears in the form of trophies on display in rooms or hallways, in cases or hung on the wall, or maybe collected in jars on a shelf. It’s one of my guilty pleasures. I have used it on multiple occasions, including in my short story “Orbs”.

‘Til tomorrow…

October Submission Blitz – Flaying Alive

Today’s submission was “The Maw” to a flash fiction anthology.

I’m making good progress with “Laying on Hands” and I hope to have it done in a couple of days. It has a longer lead in, but it is necessary to properly present the situation and the characters involved. It has good potential – I hope I can reach it.

My horror trope for the day is flaying alive – a concept carried over from medieval times and torture. It’s one of those outrageous threats some people throw around to exaggerate the extent of their rage “I’ll flay you alive.” It’s a pretty gruesome process, so the appeal to use it in horror fiction is understandable. The flaying incident I remember best was in one episode of Buffy, when Willow yields to a dark desire for revenge after the death of her lover.

Yikes!

October Submission Blitz – Evil Eye

Two submissions today to make up for yesterday’s miss. Sometimes family trumps things writing associated and I spent the day on an outing with my daughter followed by housework, so the submission got skipped. But I made up for it today, sending out “The Storyteller’s Affliction” to one pro-rate anthology and “Come into her Garden,” my second rejection so far from this blitz, off to another anthology. We’ll see if anything comes from either of these two.

I did more work on “Laying on Hands” and did a head count of available stories I have on my plate. After sending out those two today, I have ten that haven’t been published or submitted. That means I have to supplement that with fourteen more new stories or reprints if no other rejections come back before month’s end. That or I have to edit The Trading of Skin for submission somewhere – perhaps RoC. We’ll see what I can manage before the 31st.

I hope to have release news for Prisoners of Fate very soon – my publisher tells me its close.

My horror trope for today is the evil eye. You see this in many a horror story or movie, often belonging to some gypsy, medium or witch who curses a major character. Sometimes they can see things that others cannot, be it demonic creatures roaming mostly invisible in our world or bad things to come in the future. When thinking of evil eyes, I often think of the gypsy who curses the protagonist in Stephen King’s “Thinner.” It’s a great horror scene which the hateful man brings upon himself through his selfish, loathsome actions.

Anyway, back to “Laying on Hands” – more later.

October Submission Blitz – Demonic Dolls and Dummies

So “Better” got the thumbs up from the hubby, therefore I sent it on its way. It’s a pro-rate venue that is already mostly filled with better-known names, so my chances are exceedingly slim (although, my chances certainly are better if I do submit than if I don’t.) Sci-fi is not my usual thing either, so I think that means acceptance will be even less likely, but that won’t stop me from trying.

Speaking of slim chances, finding a home for “On the Tip of her Tongue” is proving to be a challenge. It’s weirder than my typical fare and quite vulgar too, so I wasn’t surprised when Drabblecast came back with a quick rejection. I’ll put it back on the “to be submitted” pile. Maybe I’ll find a place it’ll fit someday.

Today’s trope is demonic dolls and dummy. I think the most recognizable of these is Chucky, although they are popular in horror short stories in general. Dolls can be creepy, even when they aren’t possessed by the supernatural. My daughter made me shelve a china doll that was given to her as a gift because it creeped her out. I guess it was just the way it would stare with its beady little eyes and its leering stony smile.

Back to “Laying on Hands” and more submissions tomorrow.

October Submission Blitz – Circus of Fear

Today’s Submission was “Come into her Garden” to Jamais Vu. They are offering pro-rate, so it was worth a shot. I finished “Better” today and hope to submit it to Upgraded tomorrow. The hubby wants to proofread it first.

Today also saw the release of Dark Moon Digest #13, containing “Flash!” a submission from last blitz. You can find it here.

And for today’s trope I chose scary circuses – clowns in particular. For some reason, killer clowns have become a common theme, whether they come from outer space or are nasty predator monsters in disguise. “It” is my favourite Stephen King novel and Tim Curry played a terrifying clown in the mini-series adaptation. I thought I’d include my drawing of a zombie clown – definitely the stuff of nightmares.

Tomorrow I start work on “Laying on Hands”. More then…

October Submission Blitz – Buried Alive

Today’s submission involved a reprint and a certain podcast which last rejected one of my stories because of my use of a southern backwoods dialect…only to offer up a story a couple of week s later with the same “undesirable” dialect. This patois that supposedly got old fast in my story was perfectly acceptable when used in a story by a big name writer with a shelf-load of awards to his name *sigh*. It’s something you get used to fast in this industry – everything is forgivable if you have a name people know. If you are unknown, forget it.

Personally, I liked the dialect – it gave both stories extra personality. And I showed them; one of my stories appeared with a story by that same writer on a different podcast a couple of weeks after that (ha!) I don’t have high hopes for an acceptance from these folks, but I’m not giving up. If they turn me down, I’ll try the story on another podcast and throw something else at them next blitz. I may be sending them a new story twice a year for the rest of my life. I should keep a collection of the rejection letters (although I deleted the first one because it was seriously nasty…downright rude, even.)

My horror trope for today is being buried alive. While it’s not the fear it used to be, more of an old one from the days where it was more difficult to assure someone was actually dead, you’ll find it in a plethora of stories and some movies are even based entirely on the concept. I especially liked one zombie story I read which began with a person who believed he was rousing to this state, not realizing he wasn’t alive but undead (and had been buried because he was actually dead). By the end of the story, it becomes obvious.

I’m hoping to finish “Better” tomorrow – we’ll see J

October Submission Blitz – Axe-Murderer

Today’s submission was my short story “Cat-Birds” submitted to the all-female Grotesque anthology. It struck me as a good fit because it did not include any of the typical horror tropes, which the venue did not want. I also did some more work on “Better” a science fiction story I hope to submit to a pro-pay venue later in the month.

Speaking of horror tropes, my first for the month – my “A” trope – is the axe-murderer. This trope is notorious enough that spoofs have been based on it, “I Married an Axe-Murderer” as an example. It is as common in older stories and movies as the killer with a hook for a hand, although you would think an axe as a weapon would be a more likely occurrence. Axes are available in a variety of situations, particularly in isolated locations in the woods where someone no doubt has to chop wood for heat, be it a wood stove, furnace or fireplace. We own an axe for that reason (not for chopping people).

When you think about it, another horror trope, the chainsaw killer, is just a more modern version of the axe-murderer. The latter could be considered something of a classic trope.

Back to writing and preparations for another submission tomorrow…

October Submission Blitz – Halloween Haunts

Now that I’ve finished the first draft of Endeavor, I’ve decided to attempt my second submission blitz for the year.  I started by submitting my weird tale, “On the Tip of her Tongue,” to Drabblecast. I have at least two pro-pay submissions to make this month, still trying to finally reach that goal. With a couple of hopeful submissions out there already, I may get my first pro-pay sale by year’s end. One can dream. I’m already getting the chance to see an anthology containing one of my stories in a local bookstore so it’s time to look ahead to the next great thing.

Along with my blitz, in honour of this Halloween month, I plan on exploring horror tropes as I go – for added interest. We’ll see what I can put out there, while revving up for this year’s NaNoWriMo and Hal-Con. It looks like things will be very busy right up until Christmas.

Cheers!

Here or There

Reblogged from Guild Of Dreams:

By Chantal Boudreau

I often get asked if my Fervor series is set in a far future version of our world or someplace altogether different. I won't answer that. I want the possibility that it could be us in future without defining the story that way, leaving it open to either interpretation. Some people may not like the fact that I won't share my own impressions, but I'd rather they focus on the social and political commentary within the story rather than whether or not I'm saying it's something I'm projecting for our future if we keep to a certain path.

Read more… 392 more words

10 Simple Questions – WWW Edition – Leigh M. Lane

Another of my fellow Wicked Women Writers is joining me here today (perhaps the last for this year’s run). She has an impressive amount of work out there, and apparently doesn’t procrastinate as badly as I do:

1) Who are you?

My name is Leigh M. Lane, and I’m just another creative mind looking for a place in this world (I’d be happy with a place in any world – CB).  I write speculative fiction spanning from science fiction to horror, with thirteen novels under my belt and too many short stories to count.  Six of my novels have been published through a small press under Lisa Lane, and I’ve published four through my own independent imprint, Cerebral Books.  I’m married to editor Thomas B. Lane, Jr., and we have a very spoiled Maine coon mix named Kadie. (Sweet – CB)

2) What have you written and in particular, what have you written that’s wicked?

Nearly everything I’ve written is wicked in one way or another.  My Lisa Lane novels are all very twisted erotica, most notably erotic horror (double sweet – CB),

and my speculative works all have a disturbingly dark side to them.  I’d say my most wicked novel is Finding Poe, which I wrote as sort of a tribute to the master of Gothic horror.  It contains a couple of scenes that creeped me out when I wrote them, and the underlying theme is jarringly surreal.  Of my short stories, the most wicked is unquestionably “The Descent Upstairs,” which is a part of the Mirages: Tales From Authors of the Macabre anthology.  It’s about a woman driven into a homicidal rage by relentlessly loud upstairs neighbors (I’ve had loud upstairs neighbours…CB).

3) I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but why do you write?

I write because I have to.  The muses fill my head with ideas, characters, and alliterative phrases, and if I don’t release them onto the page, they build like steam in a tea kettle.  While it is doubtful that I’d start blowing steam from my ears, it sure feels like it sometimes.  I also write to express my thoughts on the various evils over which I have no control; I can’t stop them, but I can write about them and maybe make a difference that way.  Some of the worst monsters imaginable are people, you know (do I ever – CB).

4) Do you have a preferred theme or topic (zombies, serial killers, demons, etc…)?

My preferred theme is social evils, although insanity is also up there.  I write a lot of third-person dystopian literature (I’m starting to see why this year’s WWW appealed to you – CB), but I do also make good use of the first-person unreliable narrator.  I like to play with readers’ perceptions, really take their minds for a spin.

5) Are you a pantser or a plotter and why?

Both.  I like to be organized when I write, so I begin with as detailed of an outline as I can manage before I sit down to write the actual story.  With that said, the muses often have their own ideas as to where a given story should go, so usually I find myself working around their changes, ever revising my outlines in an attempt to stay one step ahead of them (although they’re always at least two or three steps ahead of me).

6) What do you like most about writing?

Writing is the ultimate form of self-expression (for those of us who can’t dance – CB) and, as I’m often too timid to express myself outside my prose, it’s the outlet I need to feel like I’m putting myself out there.  It is satisfying in a way few other activities are.

7) What challenges you the most about writing?

I’m a terrible procrastinator, often dropping a manuscript for several days—sometimes weeks—at a time.  I allow discouragement and health issues to get the best of me, which is a bad place for anyone—not just creative types—to flounder through.

8) Who or what inspires you most?

Exceptional writing in any format—prose, television, film, music—inspires me to work on raising my own bar.  I love art for art’s sake; it refuels my muses.

9) What are your plans for the future?

I have no plans beyond continuing to write the best stories I possibly can.  I’ve found life often gets in the way of even the most carefully laid plans, so I’ve learned to let life lead me where it will and to do my best to enjoy the ride (but don’t forget your seatbelt – CB).

10) Why Wicked Women Writers?

I love a good challenge.

Excellent! If you want to learn more about Leigh, check her out at: http://www.cerebralwriter.com/

and don’t forget to listen to her story and all the others in the challenge at: http://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/wicked-women-writers-challenge/

– and vote for your favourite!