Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 9

Submissions Closed for Pulp Sci-Fi from the Rock

At 12:01 AM Newfoundland Standard Time on November 1, 2019, we closed the submissions folder for Pulp Sci-Fi from the Rock, the newest in the bestselling lineup of short fiction anthologies. All told we received over 60 entries amounting to over 200,000 words.

[image error]That will take some time for our returning series editors, Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance, to get through. Entrants can expect emails to start coming through near the end of the month, with public announcements of authors to start in early 2020. A quick glance at the titles submitted show some returning friends and a lot of new talent as well: we can’t wait to see how this shakes out.

Thanks for your patience, and stay tuned for the announcement of the next “From the Rock” theme! Also, keep your eyes peeled for the first From the Rock Presents title hitting stores in early 2020: The Lightbulb Forest: The Collected Short Fiction of Ali House.

Dread in Writing | Dobbin’s Blog

This is dread, man. Truly dread

I was asked recently, “what was the first book to scare you?”

I didn’t have an answer, because I don’t think I’ve been scared by a book. Still, it made me wonder: what scares people? What makes people cast worried looks into shadowy corners and run up their stairs once the lights are out?

Dread is Anxiety on Steroids
Emily Nagoski

In a day-and-age where horror movies are deemed successfully scary by the amount of jump scares that they have, is becoming scared by a slowly developing image you create with your own mind losing its luster?  Maybe. Maybe the visual media is desensitizing readers to the images sewn into print, but I doubt it.  People still get scared, people still seek that exhilaration, and people still read scary books. Maybe the question should be why do people get scared?

It’s all about fear and apprehension.  That feeling of dread as you read is what makes something scary. Whether it is a jump scare riddled movie or a creepy book, dread is what sends a chill up your spine and gets your heart beatin’. So, how do you build dread into your writing?

Well, I don’t know if I’m the best to answer this question. Instead, let’s look at some books that I found particularly creepy and see how they did it.

What’s Behind the Door or Lurking at the Top of the Stairs is Never as Frightening as the Door or the Staircase Itself
Stephen King

 

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

A Head Full of Ghosts is about a teenage girl who is believed to be possessed by a demon and the life of her family as efforts are made to exploit and heal her. Tremblay weaves an entertaining tale that touches on mental illness, religious beliefs, and the reality of reality t.v.

This was the book that came closest to freaking me out.  Tremblay really creates a slow and building sense of fear as the book goes on, tossing out little hints of what’s to come like breadcrumbs down a dark and twisted path.  It’s not so much the unknown that causes the sense of dread in this one, as much as it is the ambiguity between what we are shown or told and what the reality is.

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Lauren Beukes plays with a small cast of characters to make a truly captivating piece of fiction. Taking place in a rundown Detroit, there is a killer about who has made his victims into something non-human.

Like Tremblay, Beukes works with the ambiguity between mental health issues and supernatural. The scariest thing about this novel is the modifications done to the victims after they’re killed. The apprehension of coming to understand the motivations behind those actions plays two roles: It keeps the reader interested, but also scares the heck out of them; you’re not sure that you want to know.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

The only book listed here without reference to the supernatural, Finn creates a suspenseful thriller with a focus on mental health, domestic abuse, and infidelity.

The main character is a woman who suffers from agoraphobia but finds joy in studying people’s lives whether it’s through her window or her computer screen. When Someone is murdered in her neighborhood, someone who was kind to her, she thinks she knows who did it and means to find out. Finn makes this book frightening by placing the readers in the shoes of the main character so that you experience all the anxieties and upset set as she feels them.  While it may not sound scary, it certainly keeps you reading and gets your heart pumping.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I only recently read this novel and really enjoyed it.  Nothing like the recent Netflix adaption, The Haunting of Hill House follows the exploits of 4 people who have decided to stay in a haunted house for the summer to study the paranormal. Though it is written in third person, we primarily hear the voice of Eleanor Vance.

Jackson does a tremendous job of building the supernatural elements slowly, while developing the house as a character that we come to loathe.  There is a building dread from the characters towards the house that the reader truly feels right up until the very end.

The Dread had not Left my Soul
Neil Gaiman

That’s the difference between the moment of fear that comes with a jump-scare and true dread: dread endures.  It sticks with you. So, if you want to write a book that will scare the pants off your readers, invest in dread. Build a long game with slowly increasing suspense and tidbits of foreshadowing. And, finally, make it something believable.

Looking for some more scary stories? Check out the following:

Jacobi Street by Matthew LeDrew

After Dark Vapours by Brad Dunne

The Starving by Jon Dobbin (me)

Zombies on the Rock by Paul Carberry

Chillers from the Rock Edited by Erin Vance and Ellen Curtis.

Happy Halloween!

Announcing: ‘The Lightbulb Forest’ collection of short fiction!

[image error]Engen Books is proud to announce the next book in its bestselling From the Rock series to be the first of a new spin-off series, From the Rock Presents, which will focus on recurring authors who have had their work featured in multiple collections. The first of these will premiere in early 2020: The Lightbulb Forest, the collected short fiction of Ali House.

The Lightbulb Forest will feature forty short stories collecting House’s long and storied career as one of Atlantic Canada’s most prominent genre fiction writers, including fer work to date and many stories seeing print for the first time. It will feature multiple categories of short fiction, including fantasy, thrillers, drama, humor, and science-fiction.

The Lightbulb Forest will also include links to House’s ongoing series The Segment Delta Achieves.

Ali House has had a long and fruitful career, but with novels and short fiction. To date her fiction has appeared in every open-call Engen anthology, including Bluenose Paradox, Unexpected Stories, Dystopia from the Rock, Fantasy from the Rock, Chillers from the Rock, Sci-Fi from the Rock and Flights from the Rock. She has also been featured in Gathering Storm Magazine.

Be sure to mark your calendars and check out this wonderful literary event when it hits shelves!

Spooooooky Stories! | House Blog

When I was a kid I loved scary stories. I was addicted to Are You Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, Unsolved Mysteries, and Haunted Lives. My bookshelf was full of R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, and any random horror author I could get my hands on. But now that I’m an adult, I don’t read as much horror. And, honestly, I don’t know why.

So if you’re like me and looking for more scary books to read, here’s a list of some that I’ve found over the past few years.

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Chillers From the Rock (obviously):  with the “from the rock” series I always find a great variety of stories within. No matter what mood you’re in, there’s a story for you.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman:  after moving into a new home, a young girl finds a door to an Other world. It’s a book for younger readers, but that doesn’t mean that older readers won’t find a woman with buttons for eyes scary.

The Grip of It by Jac Jemc:  a young couple are haunted by their new home. It’s a slow burn, but an unsettling one that fills you with unease.

Locke & Key by Joe Hill:  Keyhouse is a New England mansion, home to mysterious keys with strange powers; it’s also home to a hate-filled creature that won’t rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all. A graphic novel with a creative premise and amazing keys.

Jacobi Street by Matthew LeDrew:  Bob Huang works in a gallery gift shop and dreams of one day hanging his own paintings on the wall, but that becomes the least of his worries when a mysterious painting arrives that seems to move at night. I love the world of this novel so much.

Misery by Stephen King:  my favourite King book, hands down. Also, an author’s worst nightmare – being held hostage by your biggest fan and forced to write an entire novel.

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh:  a fictional writer living in a police state finds himself being interrogated after a number of child murders happen resembling stories he’s written. This is a play, not a novel, but it’s so great. I saw a production in 2004 and was so in love with it that I bought the script at intermission.

The Starving by Jon Dobbin:  in the unknown wilds of Colorado, Bill Weston is confronted by an ancient evil, bent and twisted by time and hunger. Before this, I never would have considered pairing Western with Horror, but the isolated setting works so well.

The Tourniquet Reprisal (Infinity Book 2) by Ellen Curtis and Matthew LeDrew:  a man named Gavin, who claims to have risen from the dead, has started a cult in Atlanta, Georgia, drawing impressionable young worshippers into his influence. Aside from cults being creepy anyways, there’s something so unnerving about the character of Gavin.

 

And in the “Haven’t read it, but it’s on my reading list” list are: After Dark Vapours by Brad Dunn, and Zombies on the Rock by Paul Carberry.

Any books I missed? Any scary stories you love and want to recommend? Leave a comment below!

Layered Snake: What Writers Can Learn from Metal Gear Solid

Hideo Kojima, the creative force behind the Metal Gear Solid series and, most recently, Death Stranding, is one the gaming industry’s great auteurs. With each entry in the MGS series, he pushed the envelope with regards to how a video game can tell a story. In this blog post I’m going to talk about some strategies writers can learn from Kojima and MGS.

There’s a lot to say about MGS and the many themes and ideas Kojima manages to touch on. Stuff like post-humanism, censorship, war, individualism, and gaming itself, which barely scratching the surface. What I want to discuss in this post is the series’ tone. Kojima manages to cast a wide net with his storytelling because he’s a master of layering concepts.

[image error]Everyone loves Kojima

When Metal Gear Solid starts, it feels like you’re playing a Tom Clancy-style techno thriller, which was very popular at the time. (However, MGS is more stealth-focused than, say, Rainbow Six, etc.) There’s a high emphasis on verisimilitude. Playing as Solid Snake, the game’s protagonist, you must sneak around enemies and use various tools and weapons. As the story develops, you learn about a conspiracy to develop nuclear weapons, post-Cold War tensions. Yadda yadda yadda. So far, pretty conventional.

Then things start to get weird. You encounter a cyborg ninja who may be a long dead former comrade. And then you battle Psycho Mantis, a master of telekinesis and telepathy. The boss fight is pretty legendary in gaming. In a fourth wall-breaking maneuver, you have to change your controller’s ports so Mantis can’t anticipate your moves. I, and most others, had never seen such a post-modern design in a video game before.

It gets wackier from there. There’s a conspiracy about cloning, a sniper battle involving wolves, a Gatling gun-wielding shaman. It’s pretty awesome. I highly recommend playing it or at least watching a playthrough.

[image error]Mantis could read your memory card and comment on the games you’ve played, how much you save progress, etc

What sets MGS apart from its peers is how Kojima manages to bring in melodramatic anime influences couched in a realist setting. This is what I mean by layering. MGS probably would’ve been modestly successful by just being a military stealth game. What elevates it into becoming a classic is how Kojima brings in these other influences. What amazes me is how seamlessly Kojima transitions from one style to another. Then, by opening up the story to these different influences, Kojima is able to explore more ideas and themes.

I first learned about the concept of layering from Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert (yes, I know). He talks about when he first created the cartoon he recognized that he was a good, but not great, artist; he knew a fair bit about business, having worked in an office; and he had a pretty good sense of humour. He wasn’t great at any one of these things in particular, but when he layered them he was able to achieve great success.

Layering can therefore be a powerful tool for writers, especially for those who don’t want to write purely in one genre or style. It’s also a great way to combine genres in new and unexpected ways.  In his Stanford commencement speech, Steve Jobs famously said “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” That’s why I find Kojima so inspiring. He shows that you can connect the dots, no matter how disparate they seem.

 

 

Duplicity | Kit Sora’s Storytime

For week 8 I was determined to get outside to shoot- I’d been going a little stock crazy, and if I’m unable to shoot outside for prolonged periods of time, no one has a good time! I also find it refreshing, and somewhat inspiring. Everything somehow looks and feels more magical when outside. I’m sure there are still a million other concepts I could come up with to shoot inside, but my heart was pulling for something outside!

I had originally planned on doing some form of giant key concept last year, however things went askew and it eventually fell onto the back burner. So, it was the perfect idea to pick up for this week! I decided Friday night that the Key was my prop, and created the base with bits found around the gallery! The tube once held canvas, and the blades are scraps from a frame! My dear coworker Chad was kind enough to trim them down for me to the perfect lengths!

I have a (few) giant bags of flowers kicking around the house, and found the perfect vine to wrap around the length of the key, and I spent a few hours pooly hot gluing the tip to make it look magical. If I could figure out how to get less glue-hair-strand like bits when trying to do tiny detail work, I’ll be content!

I had no idea what I was going to do for a base, and then I remembered the first 52 when I used the giant wind up key, and thought that would be perfect- and it would have!.. only I couldn’t find it anywhere. Tim claims I gave it away, and while I half believe him, I still think I’d be silly to have let it go! But it was nowhere in sight so I had to get creative. After 3 hours of poking through every room in the house to find something I could make work, I stumbled upon this old broken light fixture under a workbench in the depths of the basement. The wires had been cut, and the bulb fixtures were so old they just fell apart, so the rest of the wire was cut away and then (with Drew’s help) we attached it to the inside of the tube and secured it into place!

Two cans of rose gold/bronze spray paint later, we had the finished product!

The keyhole was created from a scrap piece of black foam core, and I happen to have bags of googly eyes and dragon eyes, so decided to attach one and see what would happen!

The air was quite crisp, and it was by no means warm (note I opted for a cape- that wasn’t in the original plan

Engen Books acquires eBook and Audiobook rights to the work of Bestselling Author Helen C. Escott

[image error]Engen Books is proud to announce that they have brokered a deal with Helen C. Escott for the digital media rights to her catalogue of bestselling titles, including I Am Funny Like That, Operation: Wormwood, and Operation: Vanished.

Since August 2018, Escott has risen to be the most popular, most sold, and most read author in Atlantic Canada. In that same month, Escott’s Operation: Wormwood was listed as the top selling book from Indigo’s Newfoundland locations by Atlantic Books Today.

“We’re immensely proud to have Helen C. Escott’s work on our digital media platform,” said Engen founder Matthew LeDrew. “Escott is an amazingly talented writer with a gift for the thrilling and the funny in equal measures. It’s rare that an author can swing for both those extremes and knock both out of the park so completely.”

In addition to its commercial success, Operation: Wormwood was shortlisted for the 2019 Arthur Ellis Best First Crime Novel Award.

Helen describes herself as an International Woman of Mystery and Crime Writer. She is on a one-woman crime spree in the literary world. Look for more from Engen Books and Helen C. Escott in the coming weeks and months.

“Very excited to announce that Engen Books will now be taking over the worldwide distributing of the Ebook & audiobooks for Operation Vanished, Operation Wormwood & I am Funny Like That,” said Escott. “Flanker Press Ltd. will be be the publisher of all my print books. These two amazing publishing companies have joined forces to ensure that as an author, I get a place on the literary world stage. Thank you Garry Cranford Jerry Cranford & Matthew LeDrew.”

Reviews for Helen C. Escott’s work:

“What an absolutely fantastic book! Such a clever and original idea, with thoroughly likable (and some definitely hate-able!) characters; easy to read, completely engaging – a page turner without a doubt. If I could give it 10/10 I would. I look forward to reading further work by Ms. Escott and eagerly await the release of Operation Vanished.”

— Nicole Little, contributor to Flights from the Rock and Kit Sora: The Artobiography

“Operation: Wormwood is one heck of a thriller” — The Telegram

Winner: “Black Gold” by Ryan Hunt | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest

After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the August 2019 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Ryan Hunt with the story, Black Gold!

Ryan Hunt is an engineer from Nottingham, England who writes in his spare time. He is currently working on his debut novel, The Final Carnivore, a story about horrible people given absolute power, and those who rise to stop them. You can follow him on Twitter  @RJHuntWrites.

We had three judges for this collection:

[image error]Matthew LeDrew has written twenty novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Family Values, Touch Your Nose, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.

[image error]A native to the St. John’s metro region, Jon Dobbin tied for first place in the 2017 48-Hour Writing Marathon, and tied for second in the 2018 Year. He describes himself as “the father of three, the husband to an amazing wife, an educator, and a tattoo and beard enthusiast.”

Dobbin’s work has appeared in the Chillers from the Rock and Kit Sora: The Artobiography collections. His first standalone novel, The Starving, hit shelves in 2019.

[image error]Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.

Runners up include Counterbalanced by Corinne Lewandowski, Submerged by Devin Matthews, and Litterbugs by Melissa Bishop.

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.

The first year’s worth of these amazing short stories have been collected in a lovely hardcover edition from Engen Books, featuring photos from the author and flash fiction stories from some of Canada’s top talent! Order your copy today!

Kit Sora: The Artobiography

A stunning, hundred-plus page hardcover collection of over 80 of Kit Sora’s most ambitious photographs, paired with short fiction inspired by the art by Canada’s best authorial talents. Includes stories by USA Today Bestselling Author Kate Sparkes, USA Today Bestselling Author Victoria Barbour, and Bestselling Author Amanda Labonté.

C$75.00

Writing Advice I’ve Gleaned from Playing DND | House Blog

1) Too much exposition can be boring.

If you’ve got an awesome flaming sword (or a Chekhov’s gun), you’re going to want to use it. You won’t want to listen to some NPC drone on and on for hours and hours. Yes, information is important and you’ll never solve the story’s mystery if you don’t talk to people or listen to clues, but eventually you’ll want that local farmer to shut their yap so that you can start doing some things. Knowledge is great, but if your dialogue seems to be going on for too long, toss your character a task that needs completing, even if it’s a simple one.

2) Too much fighting can be exhausting.

Fights are thrilling, but if your character is going from one fight to another to another to another, eventually you’ll get battle fatigue (just like your character). You’ll want to rest and heal up, maybe go to a hospital. Or maybe you’ll just want a quick nap and a sandwich. Either way, action’s great and all, but too much of it and you risk tiring everyone out*.

3) Hindsight is 20/20.

Sometimes I’ll look back on sessions and think about how I should have done *this* thing instead of what I actually did (I should have asked that question or I should have used that spell). With DND you don’t get a second chance, but at least you’ll remember next time. Luckily, when it comes to writing you’ve always got your edits, so go ahead and make mistakes. If someone dies in a first draft, you can always resurrect them later.

4) Practice makes perfect.

When I first started role-playing (which wasn’t that long ago), I knew the basics, but there was plenty of room to grow. I wasn’t sure which questions to ask or how to maneuver around the world, and I was constantly worried about making mistakes. But throughout multiple gaming sessions, I learned how to use spells and items to my benefit (and to the DM’s misfortune), and I grew more in touch with my character and her motivations. Just like writing: the more you do it, the better your skills will get.

5) Character choices don’t have to be right or wrong, as long as they’re strong.

I’ve been watching Dimension 20 far too much for my own good lately, but there’s a moment in The Unsleeping City episode 7 where there are a lot of powerful character choices coming out and it is amazing. You might not agree with what each person says, but you have to admit that each character’s opinion is deeply rooted in an understanding of themselves. When you’re writing a character, you want to make sure everything they do is something that fits their character. You can’t have a pacifist going out there and killing everyone without a reason for the change.

6) Do something!

In role-playing, the game doesn’t progress if your characters don’t do something. Sure, the DM can throw obstacles your way, but if they’re the one controlling everything, then maybe you should find another game. It can be fun to watch a character get pulled from one moment to the next, but as time goes on you might wonder why we’re not following someone who’s an active participant**.

 

And, hey, if you’re looking for an adventure about a group of people setting out on a quest, maybe check out my new story: Choose Your Own Adventurer, Campaign 1: Origin Story! The eBook goes live tomorrow!

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Choose Your Own Adventurer: because sometimes you can’t decide which class to play, so you write a story about a bunch of them.

______

*One exception is the hallway fight scene from Daredevil Season 1 episode 2 – the character’s exhaustion is what makes it so amazing.

**Of course, now I’m wondering if I could write a story like this, because I am naturally stubborn.

Winner: “Cycles” by Melissa Bishop | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest

After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the July 2019 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Melissa Bishop with his story, Cycles!

Melissa Bishop lives in St. John’s but spends a lot of time at her cabin in Georgetown, where inspiration is often discovered on woodland walks. She likes finding the magic in everyday, mostly through reading, writing, hiking and spending time with family and friends.

We had one spectacular guest judge for this collection:

[image error]Tracey Waddleton is a Newfoundland fiction writer who splits her time between St. John’s and Montreal. A draft of her collection Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious shortlisted for the 2013 NL Credit Union Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers. In 2014, stories of hers won both second and third place in the Cuffer Prize Competition, and she was the recipient of the ArtsNL Lawrence Jackson Writer’s Award in 2015. Waddleton is working on her first novel. Her first book of short fiction, Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious, is on sale now.

 

Runners up include Dirt and Scars by Margaret Smith and Seedling by Shannon Fay.

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.

The first year’s worth of these amazing short stories have been collected in a lovely hardcover edition from Engen Books, featuring photos from the author and flash fiction stories from some of Canada’s top talent! Order your copy today!

Kit Sora: The Artobiography

A stunning, hundred-plus page hardcover collection of over 80 of Kit Sora’s most ambitious photographs, paired with short fiction inspired by the art by Canada’s best authorial talents. Includes stories by USA Today Bestselling Author Kate Sparkes, USA Today Bestselling Author Victoria Barbour, and Bestselling Author Amanda Labonté.

C$75.00