Monique Snyman's Blog, page 17

What’s New Wednesday #19: Murder, Music & Other ‘M’ Words

It’s time for a brand new What’s New Wednesday post, and this week I’m covering murder, music, and other ‘m’ words. Yes, folks, my favorite letter of the alphabet finally gets its own post. I mean, all the best words start with ‘m’—murder, mystery, music, magic … Oh, and let’s not forget: Monique!

Wrong Answers Only Interview: Theresa Braun

I sunk my manicured claws into Theresa Braun for this week’s Wrong Answers Only interview, because my readers deserve the absolute best. I did it for you, you see? I made her sing like a canary, and lie like a corrupt politician for you. *evil laugh* And oh, it was glorious … She squirmed, begged, called me a modern-day Annie Wilkes (as if that’s a bad thing, ha!), before she finally lied, lied, LIED.

It took some work, I’ll admit, but for you guys, I’d torment Theresa Braun again.

The 411: What I’m Doing This Year

While 2020 is still in its infancy, I thought I’d quickly give everyone the 411 on what I’m doing this year. I’m late with this post, which is why it’s no longer a “goal” list for me, but that’s mostly because I’m already swamped. In a good way, of course. I’m not complaining whatsoever.

Still, it’s always a good idea to enlighten folks on what’s happening, if only to explain a long stretch of absence or, in my case, why I forgot to reply to an email. Furthermore, it’s a way for me to stay on track with things. Accountability, you see, actually works (at least, in my case, it does).

The 411 on 2020
Writing

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So, in 2020, I have 6 books to write, which doesn’t include short stories or blog posts. Yup, you’ve read that correctly. 6 books. Now, 2 of them are novellas (I’m certain I’ve blogged about it before?), while the other 4 are full-length novels. 1 is actually more of a rewrite/re-edit, but I’m counting it anyway. This is how things are going thus far:

Novella #1 – In the self-editing phase. (Will be a free read!)
Novella #2 – Outlining is in progress. (Part of the Soul’s Day Boxed-Set)
Harrowsgate #3 – I actually started with this one in 2019, and am about quarter-way done with the first draft.
Harrowsgate #4 – Outlining done.
Muti Nation – SURPRISE! Muti Nation is being rewritten/re-edited/and will be renamed. So, basically, this will be the last time I call this book “Muti Nation”. Big news will (hopefully) be revealed about this book within the year. Whoohoo!
The Muti Nation Sequel – YES! I’m also writing a sequel for it. Still outlining, but the research is done, and I’m actually super excited to get back to these characters.
Untitled Short Story – I have no idea what I’ll be doing for this particular project. All I know is it’ll be a YA horror. Will brainstorm over the next few weeks.

I’m pretty sure there are some things missing from this list (more short stories I’ve forgotten, probably), but these are the main ones I simply cannot forget about. I’ll definitely do an update later on in the year to show progress, and, as always, I often add progress into my What’s New Wednesday posts if you would like to keep up with the news like that.

That being said, I also have a few extras planned for the site! If you head on over to the Harrowsgate series page (click here), scroll past the books, and you’ll notice a few extras there (do you see them?) … Now, first off, I’ll be updating those extras in the coming months, but some more stuff will also be going on up there in the not-so-distant future. I’m still figuring out certain aspects of certain things, but I’m hoping folks will love the new extras.

 

Editing

[image error]Due to last year’s dismal editing projects, I made the decision to mainly focus on finishing my writing projects this year. Still, that doesn’t mean I won’t be editing. Thus far, I’ve finished the first edits of 3 books, the second edits on another novel, and have a few others coming up in the next few months. I love editing (it keeps me sharp and I get to have chats with some great authors), so I’m excited about these editing projects regardless of all the writing I have planned out for myself.

Wrong Answers Only Interview: Amy Grech

Amy Grech, author of Rage and Redemption in Alphabet City, was merely one of a few authors I decided to torment over the holidays. I mean, this is not a game, you know? When I say “lie”, you better freaking make sure you do it properly, lest I bring out the chalkboard and rake my nails over it. Amy Grech, however, was a tough cookie to break. I did the chalkboard routine, played Barbie Girl nonstop for hours, and even considered switching to the Troll Lol Lol song, before she finally gave in to my demands. It was a brutal session, but hard work always pays off …

What’s New Wednesday #18: It’s 2020, Baby!

It’s 2020, baby! Can you believe we’ve officially entered a new decade already? Phew, time is speeding up. Well, a new year (and a new decade) means clean slates, and I have decided to start 2020 off on the right foot. We’re talking the whole shebang! New Year’s resolutions, goal lists, a bullet journal already chock-full of to-do lists, you name it.

Friday Favorites: Creepy Christmas Thrills

It’s time for some creepy Christmas thrills on this week’s Friday Favorites! Look, I’ll be honest, Christmas is my favorite time of year (yes, even more than Halloween), but the usual feel-good films get on my nerves after a while. I’m not alone in this, I’m sure. Luckily, there are more than enough horror films set around the Christmas season that’ll give you those much-needed scares.

If you’re looking for something a little more book-oriented, do check out my Holiday Scares book list. You may just find the perfect gift in there for a special someone.

What’s New Wednesday #17: We Thrive In Darkness

It’s time for another edition of What’s New Wednesday, and this week I’ll be talking all about how we thrive in darkness. The “we” in this case are none other than South Africans, who’re experiencing (once again) government sanctioned blackouts (we call it Load Shedding), due to incompetence. Yup. That so happens. But to rub salt in the wound of having to prepare for a possible involuntary candlelit Christmas dinner and going into the New Year with darkness as your only friend, they (Eskom—the electricity provider in this so-called capable country of ours) are asking for a 15% price hike again. In other words, we’re paying for services we’re just not getting. Pretty awesome, right?

Ah, well … As the saying goes: “This is Africa.”

Still, darkness can be inspiring; darkness can be an obsession. I mean, take a look at horror authors and voila. They thrive in darkness (whether it’s an external or internal darkness), and basically live for the stuff. See?

So, sit back and enjoy this week’s What’s New Wednesday, where I delve into darkness.

We Thrive in Darkness
Books

[image error][image error] [image error][image error] [image error][image error] [image error][image error]As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.Last time you heard from me, I told you all about the books I plan to read for the rest of the year. Well, it’s going slower than I intended, because apparently shiny things grab my attention. *sigh* Still, I’m working through them systematically, while I continue to add to my TBR pile.

I’m currently in the midst of reading House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, and it’s intriguing (imagine a film in book form—not a screenplay, an actual film—and there you have it). It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I already notice a type of genius in the writing of this book.

The Toll by Cherie Priest is another book I currently have on my reading list—I’m going in blind on this one, but I’ve heard some good things.

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw caught my attention because of its tagline: “Be careful of the dark, dark wood …” Now, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but that’s kinda my jam. I love a story about creepy woods. So, I’m looking forward to this one.

Last, but not least, The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring is on my TBR. I hear it’s a gothic tale, which screams dark, but that’s about all I know. So, here’s to hoping it’s as good as I hope it is.

TV Shows

[image error] [image error]There aren’t a lot of new shows on my watch list at the moment, but the 2 shows that are have both fully captured my attention. They kind of thrive in darkness, too, which is kind of perfect for this week’s theme …

Truth Be Told, an Apple TV show, is all kinds of perfect. Not only do most of my favorite actors star in this show (Octavia Spencer is a gem, Lizzie Caplan is becoming one of my favorite TV actresses, and everyone loves Aaron Paul), but it’s filling my little crime-show-lovin’ heart with its twisty plot. Definitely give that a watch when you have a moment.

Then there’s The Servant, which is directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Now, this one’s a bit heavier, revolves around loss, grief, and there’s a spin on it, but, I don’t know how to explain it, really. It’s a good show, don’t get me wrong. The cinematography may not be for everyone (it’s very “in your face”, which makes it feel kind of voyeuristic), and I’m interested to see where it goes, but again … it’s a bit heavy.

Dark Bits
The Night Weaver News

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So, I actually kind of forgot to mention this piece of wonderful news (I tend to put this stuff out of my mind, because if I don’t, I set myself up for heartache), but what the hell. The Night Weaver was long-listed for the OZMA Book Awards, which recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Fantasy Fiction. The OZMA Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).

It’s big news and I’m incredibly grateful to be on the long list with all those amazing authors, but I’m always so worried I’m not good enough … *sigh* Still, I thought you deserved to know.

10 Scary Holiday Reads

With the holidays running up to meet us, I’m sure you’re already dreading the usual cheeriness … Well, I’ve got some scary holiday reads you absolutely have to put on your TBR list. They’re gory and fun and perfect for the discerning  holiday reader who’s already had their fill of soppy holiday movies and Michael Bublé and just want to embrace the madness of winter.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

These scary holiday reads also make for great stocking fillers, especially if you have a reader you’d like to treat in the season of giving!

10 Scary Holiday Reads
Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom

[image error][image error]Set in Appalachia, Krampus the Yule Lord is a twisted fairytale about a failed West Virginia songwriter who gets ensnared on Christmas Eve in an eternal war between a not-so-saintly Saint Nick and his dark enemy Krampus, aka Black Peter, an ancient trickster demon. Krampus the Yule Lord is Gregory Maguire (Wicked) meets Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) in the realm of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, as Clive Barker (Mr. B. Gone) works his dark sorcery from the shadows. Once again featuring Brom’s chillingly beautiful artwork throughout, Krampus the Yule Lord is a feast of wonder straight from the kitchen of Sweeney Todd.

A Midnight Clear

[image error][image error]Six stories of not-so-merry Yuletide whimsy from the authors of Black Spot Books. A woman so cold she hardens to ice on a winter’s eve. Risen from his grave before his time, a winter god alters the balance between seasons. A wolf’s holiday season is interrupted by a strange curse. From a murder at the Stanley Hotel to demons of Christmas past, present, and future, and a mad elf and Santa’s Candy Court, the authors of Black Spot Books share their love for winter holidays in this collection of dark winter tales, destined to chill your bones and warm your heart for the Yuletide season.

Where the Dead go to Die by Aaron Dries & Mark Allan Gunnells

[image error][image error]There are monsters in this world. And they used to be us. Now it’s time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible.

Post-infection Chicago. Christmas.

Inside The Hospice, Emily and her fellow nurses do their rounds. Here, men and women live out their final days in comfort, segregated from society, and are then humanely terminated before fate turns them into marrow-craving monsters known as ‘Smilers.’ Outside these imposing walls, rabid protesters swarm with signs, caught up in the heat of their hatred.

Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. But in a world where mortality means nothing, where guns are drawn in fear and nobody seems safe anymore – at what cost will this pursuit come? And through it all, the soon to be dead remain silent, ever smiling. Such is their curse.

It won’t be long before that snow-speckled ground will be salted by blood.

Santa Took Them by William Malmborg

[image error][image error]Christmas Eve 2005. Eight year old Michelle Harper is the only survivor in a horrific massacre that has left her four siblings decapitated, and her mother slowly dying as her innards ooze out onto the second floor landing, the words SANTA TOOK THEM written in blood on the bedroom wall.

Ten years later, having been released from a psychiatric hospital for children, Michelle disappears, her uncle and his girlfriend found hacked to death with a knife before being decapitated, the words SANTA TOOK THEM once again written in blood on the wall.

Dr. Samantha Loomis had no plans for the holidays, and was hoping to spend the time simply relaxing in her home. That all changes when the police begin asking her questions about Michelle, questions that make it fairly clear that they believe her to be guilty of the recent slayings.

No one in Holly Brook, IL has forgotten the horror that unfolded on Christmas Eve all those years ago, and now, as a terrifying blizzard descends upon the small isolated town, and teens begin disappearing one by one, it looks as if that gruesome night was only the beginning.

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

[image error][image error]What was the worst thing you’ve ever done?

 

In the sleepy town of Milburn, New York, four old men gather to tell each other stories—some true, some made-up, all of them frightening. A simple pastime to divert themselves from their quiet lives.

But one story is coming back to haunt them and their small town. A tale of something they did long ago. A wicked mistake. A horrifying accident. And they are about to learn that no one can bury the past forever…

Snowblind by Michael McBride

[image error][image error]They come at night.

Forward.

A stranger staggers out of the wilderness under the cover of a blizzard and stumbles into a diner full of people. He collapses in the entryway, unzips his jacket, and allows the object hidden inside to fall out. Screaming commences.

Down.

Four old college buddies embark upon their annual elk hunting trip into the Rocky Mountains. This promises to be their last, for the passage of time is as merciless and unpredictable as the Colorado weather. And they’re not alone.

Help.

There are other hunters in the mountains, stalking game of a different breed. They know exactly what they’re doing, because they’ve been hunting in these woods for a long, long time. And no one ever survives to betray their existence.

I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas by Adam Roberts

[image error][image error]Marley was dead. Again.

The legendary Ebenezeer Scrooge sits in his house counting money. The boards that he has nailed up over the doors and the windows shudder and shake under the blows from the endless zombie hordes that crowd the streets hungering for his flesh and his miserly braaaaiiiiiinns!

Just how did the happiest day of the year slip into a welter of blood, innards and shambling, ravenous undead on the snowy streets of old London town?

Will the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future be able to stop the world from drowning under a top-hatted and crinolined zombie horde?

Was Tiny Tim’s illness something infinitely more sinister than mere rickets and consumption? Can Scrooge be persuaded to go back to his evil ways, travel back to Christmas past and destroy the brain stem of the tiny, irritatingly cheery Patient Zero?

It’s the Dickensian Zombie Apocalypse – God Bless us, one and all!

The Terror by Dan Simmons

[image error][image error]The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness.

Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in.

When the expedition’s leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of their deaths. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear that there is no escape.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

[image error][image error]After having travelled west for weeks, the party of pioneers comes to a crossroads. It is time for their leader, George Donner, to make a choice. They face two diverging paths which lead to the same destination. One is well-documented – the other untested, but rumoured to be shorter.

Donner’s decision will shape the lives of everyone travelling with him. The searing heat of the desert gives way to biting winds and a bitter cold that freezes the cattle where they stand. Driven to the brink of madness, the ill-fated group struggles to survive and minor disagreements turn into violent confrontations. Then the children begin to disappear. As the survivors turn against each other, a few begin to realise that the threat they face reaches beyond the fury of the natural elements, to something more primal and far more deadly.

Based on the true story of the Donner Party, The Hunger is an eerie, shiver-inducing exploration of human nature, pushed to its breaking point.

The Shining by Stephen King

[image error][image error]Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote…and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

Want more bookish recommendations? Check out some of my other bookish lists:

50 Must-Read Horror Books
101 Must-Read Classic Books
Scare Yourself Silly With Some Great YA Reads

Friday Favorites: Happy Thanks-Killing!

Happy Thanks-Killing! Yes, it’s my new holiday, inspired by the first film on this Friday Favorites‘ list.

What’s New Wednesday #16: It’s ALL About the Books!

This week it’s ALL about the books! I’m talking proper horror books, which have been on my TBR list for-freaking-ever, and they’re all going to be read before 2019 is over. I’ve already decided, so ha! Of course, there are also some other things I need to highlight, so let’s get to it then:

Writing Stuff

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So, I sent off a contract for a non-fiction essay last week (Whoohoo!), which means I’ll have some news on the writing front again. The Horror Writer is a non-fiction anthology, which will be published by Hellbound Books in a few months (I think). That’s all I know at this point, but I’ll definitely keep you updated when I hear something new about this super cool project.