S.C. Parris's Blog: News and Information, page 11

Character Clip: Darien Nicodemeus

Hello to all my followers! I’d like you to meet Darien Nicodemeus, a Vampireas charming as his looks. Although not featured as much in The Dark World: Book 1 as he is in the rest of the series, he is an integral character (and one of my favorites).

Yes, he (like his twin brother) is African American. The above photo is a damn good depiction of how I see him in my head, if only darker.

Kicked out of the illustrious Vampire Order by Dracula shortly before The Dark World takes place, he lives quite the double life and is just as eager to claim the mysterious human woman, Alexandria Stone, as is anyone else in the series.

Cursed with a strange air ever since he learned of Dracula’s dark secrets, he is the outcast, finding himself at odds with the (main) cast of Vampires, although they don’t know that their goals are essentially the same.

He is a character you will want to keep your eyes on as the series progresses.

Keep your bite,

-S.C. Parris

(photo source: pinterest)

Filed under: Characters, Inspiration, Permuted Press, The Dark World Series, Writing Process Tagged: african american vampire, author, black vampire, characters, damion nicodemeus, darien nicodemeus, dark fantasy, my books, permuted press, the dark world, the dark world series, the dark world series characters, the dark world: book 1, vampire, vampires, writing

Eternal Con 2014

Was a lot of fun, hence my uber long string of a lack of posts, but I’m back home now and ready to attend to this blog as I must. I got an autographed picture from one of my favorite wrestlers (yes, I am still a huge wrestling fan), Mick Folkey/Cactus Jack/Dude Love/Mankind.

It made my year, easily.

I picked up a few comics as well.

They are The Flash and The History of the DC Universe, respectively. I haven’t really read either yet. I’m not sure what I’m waiting for, really.

I’ve gotten a huge push in the writing direction of my life, and that’s where I’ve been spending all my time, or at least, trying to (I’ve been easily distracted lately, it happens). A huge push in the sense that I know where the story’s headed and where I want to take it. I’m trusting in my characters to lead me to their subplots as they have done for the past two books so that I can move forward with the main plot more or less.

Off I go to write.

I hope your days were as fun-filled and inspiring as mine.

Also, I’m starting to get serious about Pinterest. I already have a board up dealing with The Dark World: Book 1 and as the weeks go by before the book is published, I will put up more boards dealing with all the groups of characters – Enchanters, Lycans, Vampires, Dragons, Mermaids…etc. leaving a little comment here and there under the pictures so everyone can get a greater glimpse into the Dark World and how these characters operate (even when I don’t show it in the books). After all, there’s only so much one can show in a book. ;)

Keep your bite,

S.C. Parris

Filed under: General Life, Inspiration, The Dark World Book 1, The Dark World Series, Writing Process Tagged: comics, dc comics, dc universe, dragons, enchanters, eternal con, inspiration, lycans, mick foley, novel, permuted press, pinterest, the dark world, the dark world series, the dark world: book 1, werewolves, wrestling, writing

My Review of Animosity by James Newman | Other Reads: Sad Wings of Destiny & Tentyrian Legacy

I recently finished Animosity by James Newman. I wrote up a review on Goodreads.

But I will post it here for your viewing pleasure:

Animosity by James Newman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The horror that exists when those you once said ‘hello’ to turn on you.

It’s even worse when you understand that they don’t care why they’ve turned on you.

Anger, revenge…they turn the nicest people into monsters that are worse than anything our minds can conjure up. For one, they’re real.

And that’s the scariest thing of all.

Andrew Holland is the protagonist in this unsettling tale, and he’s a best selling horror author – a profession his neighbors deem ‘unsavory,’ though they don’t let him know this until he finds a dead girl’s body in a construction site one morning.

The rest, as they say, is rather uncomfortable history.

Deception, death, and Andrew’s own paranoia are pushed to their limits in this ‘right-next-door’ horror novel.

It’s a solid tale of what could happen if humans feel justified in their anger – and decide they can act on it. It’s the blindness of rage, of grief, and what it can propel us to if closure is never found.

It’s a sad tale, a horrible tale (in the best sense), and it’s horror in a terrible-pit-of-your-gut feeling – it’s ANIMOSITY. It’s by James Newman.

And it’s damn good.

View all my reviews

All links above open in a new window. Go forth and read at your leisure!

I’m currently reading Sad Wings of Destiny by Thom Brannan.

There comes a time for a superhero when just punching a bad guy in the face just isn’t enough. 

Spring-Heeled Jack has reached that point. Not that he doesn’t enjoy the way his nanotech-enhanced fists have made their mark on the underworld, but he knows he could do so much more. His partner, the Archon, knows Jack means well, but he doesn’t have the answers he needs to make a decision, and the archangel Uriel, to whom he is bound, has been silent on the matter. 

Their boundaries are stretched to the limit when a new supervillain appears on the scene and changes the way the game is played. Some bad guys want to be rich, some want to rule the world… the Tyrant wants to bring an end to everything… and he’s got the means to do it. 

Spring-Heeled Jack and the Archon will save the day, of that there is no question. But what will be the cost? Ideals and people will be cast to the side, and when the time comes, a terrifying choice must be made. This is what happens when the abyss gazes back. 

A review is to come once I’m done – (and who knows when that’ll be as I’m swamped with my own writing).

Oh, and I’m also reading an ARC of Tentyrian Legacy by Elise Walters to be completed (hopefully) before it releases July 15th!

The legacy begins in the sands of Egypt in a time when an ancient city called Tentyris flourished. Its secretive people, ruled by the Council of the Zodiac, lived peacefully alongside humanity. That time was 53 B.C. More than two millennia later, the power of the Tentyrian people has been all but forgotten. The remnants of memory that live on have been turned into twisted folklore about vampires and astrology.

One girl on the cusp of womanhood is about to discover just how real that folklore is.

With telepathic powers that made her parents send her to a mental institution, Arianna Parker always knew she was different but she never thought a job interview would lead to the discovery of her being a prophesied descendent of an ancient Egyptian vampire race. Nor for that matter did she think she would fall in love with Maximos Vasilliadis, a 2,225 year old vampire. Maximos is the creator of the Tentyrian Brotherhood a secret order of warriors, pledged to prevent a catastrophic event predicted to wipe out Earth.

Maximos believes Arianna is a descendent of his kind the Tentyrian vampires and she has been destined to lead their cause in saving the world. With her 25th birthday approaching, an event that will change her forever, Arianna finds herself caught in the middle of warring vampires some of whom intend to use her and her power of telepathy for evil.

From the manicured lawns of Connecticut, to the streets of New York City and an exotic island in the Ionian Sea, Arianna must learn to trust Maximos and her heart if she is to save the world, herself, and the Tentyrian legacy.

That’s my update, and that’s all for now! I need to get back to writing!

Keep your bite!

-S.C. Parris

Filed under: General Life, Inspiration, Permuted Press, Reviews Tagged: animosity, author, authors, creative writing, dark fantasy, elise walters, fantasy, horror, james newman, novels, permuted press, review, reviews, sad wings of destiny, superheroes, tentyrian legacy, thom brannan, vampires, writer, writers, writing

My Review of Blood Red by Jason Bovberg

So as you all know, I’ve been reading Jason Bovberg’s masterpiece of a novel, Blood Red, and I finished it late last night.

Now that I’m up, I wrote a review about it.

5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: horror, permuted-press, zombies, ya

Recommended to S.C. by: Permuted Press
Recommended for: Horror Lovers
Read from May 21 to 24, 2014 — I own a copy, read count: 1

 

What a riveting tale.

Okay, Rachel is in her late teens, and when she wakes up one day, her world is red.

From the beginning, Jason Bovberg‘s story is dripping with this mortifying, dark atmosphere: Rachel’s home town (and the rest of the world) is no longer what it was. A red sky hangs over everything, and to her growing horror, those she spoke to just a day before, whether it were lovingly or not, are all dead.

A red light pulses from beneath their skin, in their heads, and it is this red light’s…journey that had me holding my breath throughout the whole novel.

This red light is causing weird changes in these corpses, the breath-holding anticipation for when things hit the fan at last is heavy on every page.

And the pay off is smart, gripping, and does not disappoint.

But at its heart, this is a story about a daughter and her father. The coming of age tale of a young woman coming to grips with a changing world without her father will strike a chord with any young adult, yet the book is written in such a brilliant way that any ‘adult’ can read it and be engrossed.

A great dash of horror, of anticipation, of familial love, and of the imminent hopelessness when one can’t see how to get out of a completely foreign situation makes this book 5 star worthy for me.

I greatly look forward to Jason’s next book in the Blood Red series, Draw Blood.




I start James Newman‘s Animosity today. And I’ll let you all know what I think of it soon. It’s incredibly important to me to read fellow author’s work in my genre. And so far I’m thoroughly impressed.

Like I said in my last post, it only makes me want to be my best to put my best work out there.

About Animosity:

Andrew Holland is a bestselling horror writer. Although none of his neighbors read “that stuff”, they are proud to know a “celebrity.” But everything changes after Andy finds the body of a murdered child several hundred yards from his front door. Before long the writer’s life is in danger as his former friends become monsters – more terrifying than any fictional villains he never imagined.

Grab yourself a copy of these books and don’t forget to

Keep your bite!

S.C. Parris
Filed under: General Life, Inspiration, Permuted Press, Reviews Tagged: animosity, author, blood red, book, books, creative writing, goodreads, horror, james newman, jason bovberg, novel, permuted press, review, reviews, YA

Mad Men Marathon, Blood Red, and The Two Swords

Since school has finished, at least for the time being, I’ve been catching up on Netflix shows, and one in particular that I started a few years ago, but never stopped was Mad Men.

I’ll be honest, it’s overall story is fairly humdrum, nothing exciting happens like car chases, explosions, but the occasional cheating scene happens every once in a while. It’s a show about men and women living their lives in the 60s. So far I’ve left it on as background noise while I write The Two Swords and read Blood Red by Jason Bovberg, if you haven’t been reading my latest Tweets.

Now, this gem of a horror story has had me uncomfortable to sleep – and if you’ve been reading my posts, I do love me a good horror read, movie, whatever – and it’s been a long time, since I’ve read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, even, that I’ve been a bit weary to turn off the lights and duck under the covers. I won’t give away what happens so far as I’m not finished with it, but I’ll leave you with a description:

Rachel is 19. She doesn’t know how to handle her new stepmother, let alone the end of the world. But after finding her stepmother dead, Rachel is suddenly racing against time—and terrifying, unnatural forces—to survive a gruesome apocalyptic event. Outside her door, the college town of Fort Collins, Colorado, is filled with corpses, and something unfathomable is happening to those bodies. And it’s only just begun. As Rachel struggles to comprehend her horrible new reality, she’ll need to find answers to questions she never thought she’d ask—all while desperately searching for her lost father, on whom she pins all her hopes for coming out of this phenomenon alive and intact. But nothing will be as it seems.

If that’s something you’re into, I suggest you check it out. I’m honored to be included in the Permuted family with such talented authors. Makes me want to put out the best product I can.

That said, the story for The Two Swords is taking shape. I knew what it would be while writing The Immortal’s Guide, but, naturally, that stump of a brain block struck and left me staring at an empty page for…well a straight year or two. Now that I’m under contract, it’s time to buckle down and put all my notes and loose outlines to work.

I won’t say much as the first book, The Dark World, isn’t out yet under Permuted, but for those of you that did read it when I self-published the series, you’ll know that the story starts with unrest and unease, a theme that only spirals out of control as the series progresses. With The Immortal’s Guide we are met with a spiraling journey, physical as well as psychological, and in The Two Swords, that journey is reversed somewhat, the Creatures faced with the outcome of their choices in the second book – faced to deal with and own up to the new reality they find themselves in.

That and the good man Michael L. Wilson recently acquired a deal with Google Play to get Permuted Press books on their devices. As I have a Nook HD+, this is fantastic news, especially for an indie publisher. Permuted goes above and beyond for their authors and it’s very heartwarming to see this bear lucrative fruit.

I’ve got to get back to writing. I’m waiting for package for some clothes I ordered a while back for Eternal Con to get here. I’ll take some sneak peek pictures of my outfit if possible.

And, I’m curious, what do you listen to in the background, if anything, while you scrawl over paper, or tap away at your keyboard? Music, television, or silence? Something else? Let me know in the comments.

And as always

Keep your bite,

S.C. Parris

Filed under: General Life, Inspiration, Permuted Press, The Dark World Book 1, The Dark World Series, The Immortal's Guide Book 2, The Two Swords Book 3, Writing Process

How to Support an Author’s New Book: 11 Ideas For You

S.C. Parris:

Too true. Things you can do to support an author or two.

Originally posted on Writers In The Storm Blog:

By Chuck Sambuchino

My Writer’s Digest coworker, Brian A. Klems, recently geared up for the release of his first book — a humorous guide for fathers called OH BOY, YOU’RE HAVING A GIRL: A DAD’S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO RAISING DAUGHTERS (Adams Media). On top of that, my coworker Robert Brewer (editor of Writer’s Market) recently got a publishing deal for a book of his poetry.

So I find myself as a cheerleader for my writing buddies — trying to do what I can to help as their 2013 release dates approach. I help in two ways: 1) I use my own experience of writing & publishing books to share advice on what they can expect and plan for; and 2) I simply do whatever little things I can that help in any way.

This last part brings up an important point: Anyone can support an author’s…

View original 1,450 more words

Filed under: Writing Process

Writing Book 3

At long last. Enjoying the start of my summer although my last day of classes is Monday.

Book 3 is going well after the vast…mind fuck? that took place after The Immortal’s Guide. I can’t wait for you guys to read it.

In other news, I’m heading to Eternal Con: Long Island’s #1 Comic Con this summer. Just as a guest. If you’re stopping by, you are free to stop me and say hey. I’m always up for saying hi to fans of my blog/writing. :) Thinking about making some new business cards for the event and in general just to have around.

Also, I’m active on Twitter, so don’t be scared to follow me there. @SheronParris

And my Tumblr/Website is always a good thing to take a look at. I post various writing things there, not as in depth as here, naturally, but it’s there. Also, my Facebook.

Forgive me for the weird disjointed post, I’m dealing with a particularly nasty bout of anxiety, and I have to get ready for work soon.

In the mean time, I’ll leave you all with an excerpt to Book 1, if you haven’t read it already:

 

Chapter One
The First Death

The full moon shone in a bright circle of silver spreading a dim light throughout the night. On the ground below, hushed footsteps hurried along the forest ground, crushing dried leaves and twigs beneath their weight. Both men, draped in dark cloaks, walked along without speaking a word, only the sound of broken twigs destroying the steady silence that passed between them when the taller man spotted it first: Wispy, gray smoke drifted lazily into the dark air from a stone chimney attached to a rather shabby cabin.

The slightly shorter man removed his hood upon seeing the cabin revealing a most anxious expression as his silken, jet-black hair reached his back and lay unbound against his cloak. “This is it?” he asked the older man whose hood still rested upon his head; a shadow of black hid his face from view.

This man stood silently, not moving an inch, and the other knew instantly that he must have been lost in deep thought. Not wanting to disturb him but growing all the more impatient as black clouds passed in the violet night sky, he shifted his footing and stared eagerly toward the tattered door for several minutes before he got the nerve to speak.

“Are we going to speak to her or not, brother? I don’t see the reason of coming all this way just to stare at a deceased cabin!”

He withdrew at once, thinking he had crossed the proverbial line drawn for all Vampires: One never spoke to Xavier Delacroix in such a manner; he quite expected a full retort, finished with a long speech about protecting the humans: It was a Vampire’s duty to do so what with the other Dark Creatures roaming about that did not spare a nice feeling for the human race. But instead the continued silence that now pierced his sharp ears was all that was heard.

And at last the cloaked figure stirred: a snarl escaped into the night air like a sharp breeze, blowing leaves and twigs up from the ground in an unseen gust of wind. “Christian,” he said smoothly, a hand rising to his hood to remove it from its place atop his head all in the same graceful step. The long black hair trailed behind his head, much longer than his brother’s, and as he stared upon him, his green eyes flashed with the beauty of pronounced death, and he placed a firm, cold hand on the younger man’s face. “There are matters…that must be taken into account before one can go barging into a rundown cabin.”

Christian raised an eyebrow. “Like what?” he said dryly. “Checking the wind for specks of Lycan stench?”

He removed his hand at once, surprise filling his eyes, for did the Vampire smell the scent of Lycan just as he did? “Something of the sort…” he said quietly, “listen, have you fed for the night, brother?”

His black eyes appeared to shine with sudden intrigue. “I haven’t,” he admitted, staring upon him suspiciously then, “why do you ask?”

The thick scent of Lycan, indeed, filled his nostrils as he stared at his brother through the gloom, and he wondered how on Earth the Vampire could not smell it. “No matter,” he said quickly, “I just think it foolish for you to venture here when you have not fed. It would be most…bothersome for you, I imagine, if you…ran into…misfortune or some other matter and you were most…ill-equipped to deal with it….”

“Xavier,” he said sternly now, and the stare was full of incredulity, “if you think me to wander off for my fix of blood and miss whatever Dracula has sent us here for—”

“I shall inform you of whatever you believe you may have missed,” he said quickly, seriously, as the Vampire surveyed him steadily. “It is my duty.”

His black eyes seemed to lessen in their shine although they remained quite hidden from light here, shrouded in the dark protection of trees whose trunks twisted darkly and whose branches hung low, brandishing black leaves. And Xavier hoped the Vampire would take the hint and leave, for something was very strange here and he would not see his only brother harmed because of it….

 

If that sparks your fancy, you can pick it up somewhere around January, courtesy of my publisher, Permuted Press.

Stay awesome

and

Keep your bite,

S.C. Parris

Filed under: Excerpts, Facebook, General Life, Permuted Press, The Dark World Book 1, The Dark World Series, Writing Process Tagged: anxiety, author, books, dark fantasy, excerpt, horror, lit, literature, novel, permuted press, publishing, the dark world, vampires, writing

My Review of Ronald Andrés Moore’s NOCTURN

5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: fantasy, vampires, mystery, horror, historical-fiction, dark-fantasy

Read from March 13, 2013 to April 16, 2014 — I own a copy, read count: 1

————

Welcome to Hell.Yes, Breton, Virginia is Hell on Earth where all the criminals and murderers are placed to face their demise at the hands of Vampyres: the judges of morally right and wrong.I have to say after having just finished this novel, I found myself speeding through the rest of the pages to read the Epilogue – and I need to know what happens next.

This was a delightful take on the Vampire genre. And as a good fan of Vampires, I have to say, Ronald Andrés Moore‘s Vampyres are a fresh take on, what I feel, Vampires have always been at their core: Creations for a purpose beyond themselves. Whether it be to take blood for the sake of surviving, or, in this case, existing to dish out justice to those deserving of it (and sometimes not).

Which leads me to the colorful cast of characters. Here we have a vast (and I mean vast) collection of characters that fill this claustrophobia-inducing novel with their differences. Even the town itself is a character, a low hanging cloud of amnesia hovering just above its mostly derelict buildings.

I don’t want to give too much away, so I won’t, but our heroes vary greatly from an amnesiac Vampyre named Michael, to a cast of (IMO) fiery orphans who have known nothing but their existence in the stifling town, to a renowned Vampyre Hunter with numerous tricks up his sleeve, an assassin, and two English Gentlemen, not to mention the various women that take up the fight to the soul suckers.

At its core NOCTURN is a tale. Simply put. A riveting tale of that morally gray area we humans always seem to dwell within. It asks the question, “What would happen if we got rid of our criminals and placed them within a town away from the good?” And it answers that question with a roaring romp through darkness, blood, and gore. Those that created this town are the wrong ones, but we can hardly spare a feeling for them because we’re so swept up in the varying characters’s dilemmas as they come to terms (slowly) with the fact this town that always exists in one year, is not all it appears to be. (But we feel rightly justified when everyone wakes up and takes the fight to those in charge.)

The baddies in NOCTURN are a slew of Vampyres, many of which, I’ll be honest, I can’t name right now, but I do remember Isaac, Rurk, and of course, Ruthven, a brilliantly crafted Vampyre that has lived far too long – so long he’s let his power corrupt him to the point he’s oblivious to any notion of humility – it’s not for him, you see.

There’s so much I can say about this novel, from it’s origin of the Vampyres (they’re Nephilim), to the different fantastic creatures that all descend from mothers of ancient (dark) lore, to the awesome characters, and the world that existed in this one town.

Mr. Moore has created a riveting tale that I believe any fan of Vampires (they’re vicious, just like I like ‘em), historical fiction, claustrophobic horror, suave Van-Helsing-type Vampyre Hunters, and the little orphan inside us all will enjoy greatly.

I greatly await the next installment in this series. Mr. Moore has crafted the Vampire story I didn’t know I wanted to read. But I do now, and that’s all that matters.

Keep your bite, Mr. Moore.

You’re a blessing to the Vampire genre.

Filed under: Inspiration, Reviews, Writing Process Tagged: author, Before sunrise press, dark fantasy, fantasy, gothic, historical fiction, horror, nephilim, nocturn, Ronald Andrés Moore, thriller, vampires, vampyres

Asking Writers For Advice…

On how to write a book/get published is like asking a plumber how they go about starting to…plumb. (shush, it’s early for me).

I’ve had at least two people, since the announcement of my contract with Permuted, ask me how to write a book and/or get it published. One person even went so far as to state how they thought it went like this:

You write a book.

Send it to an editor.

Boom! Your name is everywhere.

The above is what it made me want to do – just a simple Killing Curse to end the ignorance. But then I thought…this person genuinely wants to know about the publishing business, far be it from me to dismiss them when all they want is answers.

So I made it simple for them. I said:

“Write the book. Query literary agents in your genre. You will not get a positive response on the first try. Do it again. Continue this for a few years or go straight to indie publishers in your genre. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.”

Needless to say this person was disheartened realizing how ‘hard’ it was to get published. They lamented at the fact that it wasn’t easier. And when they told me that they were told that they ‘need’ to be a writer, I went, ‘okay, so what’s the problem?’

Their response:

“I don’t have time to write. I get writer’s block. It’s either I’m writing faster than my brain can think or nothing.”

I said, “Writer’s block is a myth. You want to write, you will find the time to do it. There are no excuses.”

This person started to ramble on about other things and that’s when I realized they wouldn’t get anything published if they continued to hold onto that notion of ‘it should be easier.’

And why is it that we think, newbies to the profession as we were, that it should be easy to get anything published? Let alone let anyone see anything you pen?

Showing anyone anything you write from the depths of your soul is hard. So very hard. And once you do that, two things can happen: You either receive the praise and adulation you were seeking and continue your craft, perfecting it, or the person rips it to shreds, damaging further your already fragile ego.

Lucky for me I had a knack for what someone would say was ‘good.’ Those were the only works I ever showed anyone. If they weren’t on par with what I’d read in books, I kept them to myself. That very rarely happened because I just had an eye for words…what they would spark in a person…what the exact emotion I wanted to convey in a piece was. That’s when I knew this was all I wanted to do. Or could do.

Sure, train me to stack shelves or take care of kids, that’s all well and good. But when those jobs were done, where would you find me? At my desk. Writing.

Which is why I don’t buy the whole ‘I need to be a writer – but first, tell me how it’s done?’ There’s no button one can press to become traditionally published (self-publishing is another story ;) ), there’s no shortcut to getting your books on shelves unless you know someone who knows someone and even then the work has to speak for itself.

There’s Google, and a plethora of articles and informative links floating around that tells you exactly what to do to get an agent and/or find a publisher in your genre.

There are guidelines that have to be followed. And you’ll end up editing your manuscript wayyy more than once. But if it’s what you ‘need’ – you’ll do it.

It’s as simple as that.

I guess I don’t have patience for people that can’t see that…won’t see it.

It’s not enough to talk endlessly about what you want to write about – if you’re a writer, you’re writing. End of story.

There’s no shortcut around that.

Keep your bite.

-S.C. Parris

You can find more about her at these links:

Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

Filed under: Facebook, General Life, Permuted Press, Writing Process Tagged: people, publishing, questions, seriously, writing

A New Chapter

 

It’s been a long, long, long, long, long journey from writing that first horrible draft of The Dark World to actually signing a 5 book deal with the fantastic Permuted Press, for the entire series.

I’ve always been a self-starter, always desiring to see my work in the hands of others once my mother told me I should try and publish it. I, of course, queried a round of literary agents, naturally being met with a hoard of rejections.

This continued for a few years, ‘till I just put the project on a back-burner, and focused on school, and work, life, friends, other things.

Then the wonderful Ronald Moore, of Nocturn fame, shot me a Facebook message, telling me that Before Sunrise Press was looking for short stories for their anthology, and it sounded right up my ally, so at his suggestion, I sent them the beginning of a project about a Vampire in London detailing her life as such.

They took it. Unfortunately, the anthology didn’t happen but they did decide to publish the short story separately.

With this under my belt, I revisited The Dark World and, although I had self-published it at this point, set about editing it, the entire thing (even though I’d already written the second book). This proved fruitful, because, once I was satisfied with the story that sat in front of me, I sent it off to only one publisher January of this year, some days after my birthday.

Anthony Ziccardi, owner of Permuted, actually called me February 15th to tell me that he loved the story and wanted to work with me on publishing it. I was incoherent and convinced he was mistaken.

I waited some 3 weeks and not an email about the contract reached my inbox. At the behest of my boyfriend, I sent a follow up email to Permuted.

Michael L. Wilson contacted me shortly afterward and told me my files got lost in the shuffle, that he was glad I’d followed up because then he could go ahead and work on all the contract details with me and it’d all go much faster.

We shared a few emails back and forth about the books, all the technical information, and then boom. The contract. I read it over, elated with what was presented to me.

I signed it earlier today.

With Michael’s warm welcome, I feel empowered.

My work has only just seriously begun, but I want to thank all of you that have picked up The Dark World when it was self-published, and those that told me they’d look into it. You’ll get your chance soon.

Naturally, I want to thank Ronald Andres Moore, again for being an awesome friend during all of this publishing going on (your book and mine).

Jayme K. for posting hilarious shit and inciting awesome arguments with…everyone. And for being ambitious in all his writing projects. And for working with Joel on their fucking comic. Seriously.

And, even though we don’t talk, Kayla Ancrum, for posting informative original content, and remaining on top of things in the writing world. Your passion speaks through all you share with us on Tumblr. I look up to you.

For the rest of you who have just followed me or never paid attention to me before, hi.

I write bloody, sometimes-scary, adventure-fueled, things.

Only now I get paid for it.

If that’s your deal, be sure to pick up The Dark World when it releases early 2015.

Keep your bite.

-S.C. Parris

Filed under: General Life, Inspiration, Permuted Press, The Dark World Series, Writing Process Tagged: author, dark fantasy, novels, permuted press, publishing, the dark world, the dark world series, writer, writing