Kimberly A. Bettes's Blog, page 12

Carnage: After the End Vol. 1

Well, folks. It’s here. My first inclusion in an anthology, called CARNAGE: AFTER THE END VOLUME 1. My story THE HUNGER is one of ten fine stories about life in a post-apocalyptic world. Here are the deets:

~     ~     ~

The Apocalypse has come, leaving in its wake small pockets of survivors battling to stay alive; each carving out a new beginning for mankind.

The ten stories in Carnage: After the End – Volume 1 are the terrifyingly harsh and brutal realities those survivors must face. Each one takes us to a place where humanity’s stragglers are forced to battle with enemies outside of their control; mutant beasts, groups of depraved and desperate people, and the terrifying threat of a dwindling food supply. Their fight for survival gets even more difficult as they search among the tatters of civilization for the will to carry on.

In a world where society has collapsed and terror lurks around every corner, no one can be trusted and nothing can be taken for granted.

Hell has invaded and happy endings are a thing of the past…

Contributing Authors in Volume One are Kimberly A. Bettes, Shane Cashman, Shane R. Collins, Laura Diamond, Rodney James Galley, Michael Griffin, Russell Linton, Adam Millard, Christofer Nigro, and Julianne Snow.

~     ~     ~

For other great collections, including Carnage: After the End Volume 2, visit Siren’s Call Publications.

Today is the Day!

Don’t forget to vote!

Fiddling With the Alphabet

As more people become aware of who I am and what I do, I’ve noticed a few things about them. This is no surprise; I’m an observer of all things human. If you’re picking your nose because you think no one is looking, rest assured I see you. If you’re checking out some chick from the corner of your eye so your wife won’t catch you looking, I see that too. I see it all. It’s not that I’m a stalker or that I find you so friggin’ fascinating. It’s just a part of the job. I can’t exactly write about people, give them unique characteristics if I have no idea how the humans operate, now can I? Before I stray too far from the path here, let me tell you what I’ve noticed as of late.

Anytime the subject of conversation is my books, someone is always there with I’m gonna write a book. Oh are you now? You think you can just slap down some words and boom, awesome book that everyone wants to read? Okay, sunshine. You go ahead and do that. Let me know how it works out for ya.

Don’t get me wrong. If you’re a writer, you can do it. But if you’re the average Joe who doesn’t even know when to say My brother and me and My brother and I, then you can’t. I’m not saying writing a book is rocket science or brain surgery, after all we are just fiddling with the alphabet, but I am saying that not just anyone can do it. Real writers know this. Wanna-be writers do not.

But if you want to give it a shot, by all means do it. Don’t let me stop you. Sit down at your computer one day and start cranking out this masterpiece of yours that the world is waiting for with baited breath. Spend hour after hour trying to get what’s in your head onto the page without losing anything. Then, months or years later when you’ve purged yourself of the story, spend the next thousand hours or so going over it and over it, looking for typos and misspellings, proper word arrangement and grammar. Then when you’re done with the first round of editing, take a deep breath and hit it again, harder this time. Don’t let the fact that you’re getting tired of reading the same story over and over stop you. No, you’re a writer and this is what writers do. Polish that story till it shines, then polish it some more. And when that story is finally done and out there in the world, immediately start your next book, just in case you’re a hit. But don’t be surprised when your book flops. Unless you’re Stephanie Meyer, the chances are good that your first book will fail miserably. Here come the reviews. Oh look at that. Negative reviews with one star and a nasty attitude. Wow. They said some pretty mean things about you and the fruits of your labor. Oh don’t let that discourage you. You’re a writer and that’s part of it. Keep writing. After all, it’s easy and anyone can do it, right?

There are some people out there who really do have the gift of writing and haven’t yet got started. To them I say, GET GOING! Life is too short to wait. Don’t worry about whether it’s going to be good or people will like it. Just write.

To all the people who think writing is easy and anyone can slap down some words and call themselves a writer, I say try it. Instead of telling people you’re going to write a book, just write it. You’ll know within the first few pages if you’re ready to fiddle with the alphabet.

25 Things You Should Know About Writing Horror

Chuck Wendig has done it again. I admire his 25 Things lists so very much, and I just assume you do too. If you don’t, ask your therapist why and get to the bottom of it quickly. Go check out this one (I’m particularly fond of #17), and then sing your goat song.

25 Things You Should Know About Writing Horror.

Chuck Wendig’s 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing

I know I’ve pressed this before, but it’s been a while. I just popped in over at Chuck’s place to read this again, a refresher course and pep talk sure to kick any writer in the stink hole. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it. Click on that down there to be transported through space and time over to Chuck’s page, and enjoy!

25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing.

Suck It Up and Challenge Yourself

I’ve recently noticed some authors complaining about the short story market. They said that all the anthologies were looking for stories that were too topic-specific, and their word count guidelines were too strict, and the pay was too little, etc. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, come on. These people are supposed to be writers. Writers are people who are supposed to be able to write on demand (at least in my opinion). So if an anthology is looking for a story about an 8 foot tall purple alien with green teeth and an addiction to corn on the cob, you should be able to write a story to fit that topic. If you can’t, that anthology isn’t for you; move on to the next one. You should also reconsider your career choice because you should be able to write about any topic at the drop of a hat. As for the word count, it’s called editing. As for the pay, I don’t know what makes you think your work is so good you deserve to have money rained down upon you, but if you don’t like what they’re paying, don’t submit. If you think no money is better than some money, then keep your story locked away in your files. It’s quite simple, really.

I may be the only one who thinks this way, but this is my take on the whole thing:

I’m a writer. Writing is my business. As a business operator, I understand a few basic principles. One of them is that exposure is vital. People have to know you’re out there. That’s why every few minutes on television we see commercials. All good business owners understand that you have to advertise for people to know you exist. Anthologies (to me anyway) are like commercials. It’s advertising your work. Who cares if they don’t pay that much? You’re getting your work and your name out there. It’s all about exposure.

Another principle of my business as a writer is that I have to adapt or die. In fact, that’s a rule of all businesses. Remember all those Borders bookstores that closed? They didn’t adapt, and look what happened. I find it a challenge to submit stories to anthologies with very specific guidelines. You can’t just write a bunch of stories and wait for an anthology or magazine looking for that story. That’s a stupid way to do it. You have to write the story to fit the guidelines. And if you ask me, if you can’t write a story to fit a specific set of rules, then you’re no writer.

I love a good challenge. It exercises the mind and cleanses the soul. If you can’t suck it up and challenge yourself with your writing, then maybe you should remain a reader and leave the writing to the pros.

6 REASONS WHY IT’S FOOLISH NOT TO SELF PUBLISH—PARTS 1 & 2 | From Robert David MacNeil

Great article for all you up and coming writers who have questioned or feared the self-publishing route. I agree with everything Robert David MacNeil says in this post. Have yourself a little look-see by clicking the link below.

6 REASONS WHY IT’S FOOLISH NOT TO SELF PUBLISH—PARTS 1 & 2 | From Robert David MacNeil.

A Dream Realized

There are times when I struggle for a post. Not physically, of course. That would be silly. But in the back of mind I think, “It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog. I need to post something. But what?” And then there are other times when it just comes to me. Like this one.

Over the past few days, it’s started to dawn on me what’s really happening here. I mean, it still doesn’t feel right, like it’s not me at all but someone else, but it is happening. My dreams are coming true.

Since I was fourteen, I knew I was a writer. My dream was to become a famous writer; not so famous that I could no longer walk down the street without being approached or anything like that, but famous enough that if you asked someone if they’d read the latest Kimberly A. Bettes novel, they’d say ‘no, but I heard about it.’ I wanted to have fans. I wanted people to know about and like my work. I wanted to mean to someone what my favorite authors mean to me.

I was twenty-five when I got my first professional-grade camera and realized I was a good photographer. I had no idea what I was doing, I only knew that people raved about the photographs I took, and I had to admit that they were amazing. I didn’t know I had it in me. So my dream then was to become a writer/photographer, a writer who moonlighted as a photographer.

I know, it sounded a little crazy to me too at first. But a lot of authors have something else at which they’re talented. Many are musicians, others paint. So I started to think I may not be that crazy after all.

And now, within a year of publishing my first book and only six months after publishing my books at Amazon, it seems that it’s happened. It’s actually been happening for many months now, but it’s only just hit me. I sell books every single day, and I have for nearly a year now (but I’m still not rich, so don’t ask to borrow money). I have fans, and I’m not talking about people I know who like my work, because oddly enough, very few people I know even read my work. I’m talking about genuine fans, people I’ve never met who have read and liked my stories, many of them taking time out of their lives to drop me a line and tell me how much they liked them. (Which by the way, I’d never factored into my dream, so that’s a big ol’ bonus.) I’ve given interviews, I’ve autographed my books for fans, and I’ve been asked writing advice. Me! The girl who used to stay up late at night during the summer clacking away at the keys of an old manual typewriter, turning out page after page of her very first novel in the hopes that someday she’d be a famous author, whose books stood amongst the greats. And the photography part of my dream? That’s happened too. In fact, I just had a photography job yesterday. Which is really what made me realize that my dreams have come true. And that’s where it gets weird.

All these years, I imagined what it would be like to have my dreams come true, to attain all that I ever wanted. But now that it’s happening, I don’t know what to make of it. It doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel like it’s me. Of course I do have a horrible habit of minimizing things so as to not seem like an arrogant ass. (For example, when people ask me about my car wreck or my books or anything else, I always answer with short nonchalant answers and am eager to change the subject. I’m just not comfortable talking about myself; it makes me feel like I’m showing off, gloating. And I hate people who show off.)

I can’t help but feel like it’s too good to be true, and that it’ll just suddenly stop. But I’m going to enjoy every minute – every second of it while I have it. Because after all, how many times do you get to watch as your dreams come true? How many people get to live out their lifelong dreams? Not many. And it seems that I’m one of the lucky ones.

Jason’s Writing Corner: Author Interview #1: Kimberly A. Bettes

If you haven’t stopped by Jason’s place to check out his author interviews section (and all the other goodies his place has to offer), you should. Here’s a link to my interview. Dig around and find all the goodies on his site.

Jason’s Writing Corner: Author Interview #1: Kimberly A. Bettes.

Rights or Wrongs?

It seems all anyone talks about these days is their rights. It’s all I see and hear; ‘but we have the right!’ Well you know what you don’t have? Common sense and decency.

Sure, I have the right to tell you what I really think of you. I have the right to walk up to your child and tell him/her that Santa isn’t real because he/she is ugly. I have the right to stand outside the funeral of your loved one holding a sign that reads ‘God is glad they’re dead and so am I.’ I have the right to hate you and spread that hatred around so others can hate you too.

But I don’t do any of those things. Why? Because it isn’t right.

What people fail to realize is that having the right to do something doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. You have to have the common sense and the decency to keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself if what you think is going to hurt someone else. There is a time and a place for expressing yourself – it’s up to you to find them.