Natasha Ewendt's Blog, page 3
February 23, 2014
Women in Horror Month Author Showcase – Carole Gill: Exploring the dark side
Today’s Women in Horror Month Author Showcase is by Yorkshire author Carole Gill, on exploring the dark side of human nature through horror writing.
The dark side
Writers write what’s in us to write. Horror writers write about the dark side whether they’re men or women. As writers our styles may differ but dark is dark. I write all sorts of horror but my longer fiction (my four novel series) is vampire fiction. The vampires I write about need blood to survive but many of them also feed on flesh.
I see vampires as demonic beings with a link to Satan. My current novel, The Fourth Bride (of Dracula) discusses Dracula’s attendance at the Scholomance School in Transylvania where he learned the black arts. Bram Stoker includes an intriguing allusion to a mysterious devil’s school in Transylvania: The Draculas, he wrote, “had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the devil claims the tenth scholar as his due.”
My novels are historically based. Two in the series are written from the point of view of an intelligent demon vampire; a demon so clever as to understand the limits of evil. Despite this, he is always doing his utmost to please Satan. In truth, he thinks of Satan as his father. There are reasons for that and they are in the series.
I have a great deal of fun with history and have depicted Countess Bathory, Caligula and Gilles de Rais in my novels. If ancient Rome isn’t a natural back drop for vampire orgies what is? I have also had fun with Mathew Hopkins, Witchfinder General and have given him a particularly ghastly fate.
Horror is horror, supernatural or not. I have written about the all too human evil of child abuse. That kick starts The Blackstone Vampires Series. The nature of evil and the horror that stems from it is what fascinates me.
I have no idea where my journey writing horror fiction will take me, I only know I am enjoying the ride!
Carole Gill is U.K. based, Yorkshire to be precise. She is the author of The Blackstone Vampires Series, published by Creativia. Her short fiction has appeared in a numerous horror and sci-fi anthologies.
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Bride-Bl...
Author Page
http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Gill/e/B...
Blog/Website
http://carolegillauthor.blogspot.co.uk/
Author Page at Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carole...
Twitter
https://twitter.com/carolelynngill
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a paranormal horror novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Recently included on S.L. Schmitz’s Examiner.com list of the 92 must-read horror authors, Natasha is often compared to Daria of the eponymous animation and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
The dark side
Writers write what’s in us to write. Horror writers write about the dark side whether they’re men or women. As writers our styles may differ but dark is dark. I write all sorts of horror but my longer fiction (my four novel series) is vampire fiction. The vampires I write about need blood to survive but many of them also feed on flesh. I see vampires as demonic beings with a link to Satan. My current novel, The Fourth Bride (of Dracula) discusses Dracula’s attendance at the Scholomance School in Transylvania where he learned the black arts. Bram Stoker includes an intriguing allusion to a mysterious devil’s school in Transylvania: The Draculas, he wrote, “had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the devil claims the tenth scholar as his due.”
My novels are historically based. Two in the series are written from the point of view of an intelligent demon vampire; a demon so clever as to understand the limits of evil. Despite this, he is always doing his utmost to please Satan. In truth, he thinks of Satan as his father. There are reasons for that and they are in the series.
I have a great deal of fun with history and have depicted Countess Bathory, Caligula and Gilles de Rais in my novels. If ancient Rome isn’t a natural back drop for vampire orgies what is? I have also had fun with Mathew Hopkins, Witchfinder General and have given him a particularly ghastly fate.
Horror is horror, supernatural or not. I have written about the all too human evil of child abuse. That kick starts The Blackstone Vampires Series. The nature of evil and the horror that stems from it is what fascinates me.
I have no idea where my journey writing horror fiction will take me, I only know I am enjoying the ride!
Carole Gill is U.K. based, Yorkshire to be precise. She is the author of The Blackstone Vampires Series, published by Creativia. Her short fiction has appeared in a numerous horror and sci-fi anthologies.Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Bride-Bl...
Author Page
http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Gill/e/B...
Blog/Website
http://carolegillauthor.blogspot.co.uk/
Author Page at Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carole...
https://twitter.com/carolelynngill
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a paranormal horror novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Recently included on S.L. Schmitz’s Examiner.com list of the 92 must-read horror authors, Natasha is often compared to Daria of the eponymous animation and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
February 19, 2014
Women in Horror Month Horror Writers Association blog: Embrace the weird
Ladies, let your freak flag fly - my contribution to the Horror Writers Association's Women in Horror Month blog series at http://horror.org/?p=5921
Women in Horror: Part Ten
Posted on Feb 18, 2014
Welcome back to HWA’s WiHM feature special! We’re now at part ten & I’m proud to present to you a little piece by author & journalist, Natasha Ewendt!
Embrace the weird
So, you’re a female horror writer? You write about blood and guts and torture and monsters and stuff? That’s a bit unsavoury for a lady, isn’t it? Newsflash: A lot of us ladies aren’t really ladies. Well, we may have the “lady gear”, but as for the cookie-baking, chick-flick-watching, blinking kind of lady stereotype, that’s a small set of the female population that’s just widely portrayed in the media. Truth be told, even a lot of the women who subscribe to lady status are faking it to keep up appearances and “do what they’re supposed to do”. There are a whole lot of women who would rather watch The Walking Dead than Keeping up with the Kardashians, it’s just that most are too afraid to say so because it doesn’t meet social expectations. We may be an emancipated society, and women may be getting about sans ’50s lacy aprons and Valium fog these days, but there are still certain roles expected of us – and horror writing sure as hell ain’t one of them.
Generally if you’re not sugar and spice and all things nice, if you’re a bit dark and weird as many of us horror writers are, you’re simply freaking out the locals. But this can be an issue for men as well as women. If you write horror, there must be something fundamentally wrong with you, right? You secretly want to kill people, yeah? You’re thinking about killing me right now, aren’t you? You killed the neighbour’s cat and wore it as a hat while dancing Gangnam Style naked covered in peanut butter, didn’t you? Newsflash #2: Horror writers aren’t all frustrated serial killers. Everyone has a dark side, we’re just shining a light on it.
There’s been a great deal mentioned in social media this month about sexism in horror. I’m a newbie who’s only been in the industry a matter of months, but I’ve been in contact with some great and supportive male horror writers, so my thinking is that the divide most likely comes more from readers. And it’s entirely likely it has less to do with the quality of the fiction than the fact male and female brains work differently. Guys like lots of action, women need more of an emotional payoff, and this is reflected in their writing. So male readers tend to gravitate more toward action-driven fiction, usually with a male perspective, and women gravitate toward fiction with more emotional substance and character development. If men are reading less books by women and vice-versa, this is why. A book may be brilliant, but a male reader and a female reader want different things from it and that colours their perception. But the legacy from decades gone by is that men dominate the genre and are more widely known than their female contemporaries, and this has to change.
There are still many who see horror as a “bloke-fest”, as we’d say here in Australia. When most readers think of horror fiction, a long list of celebrated male names springs to mind. Of course there’s also the obligatory Anne Rice, Charlotte Bronte and Mary Shelley, but they’re the exceptions, aren’t they? Horror isn’t a girl thing, is it? Yes, yes it is. There are many more of us female horror writers than you’d think, and it’s about time the literary world knew more about us, so thanks to HWA and other blogs and publications like The Siren’s Call for shining the spotlight on us this month.
Women may like a fair dose of emotional depth in their fiction, but by no means does that mean female horror writers shy away from the gross bits. The most harrowing, nail-biting, panic-inducing, sick messed-up horror I’ve read of late has been by women. There’s no doubt we can scare and gross and disturb the proverbial out of readers as much as guys.
Society should embrace the weird in women, and women should embrace the weird in themselves a whole lot more. Loosening the restrictions on what women are meant to be like could go a long way to changing public perception on female horror writers. Letting women be whatever they want – be it girly, gritty, hippy, high-powered or some twisted freaky horror writer – without making them feel they have to hide aspects of themselves is something we need to work on. The fabulous Bob the Zombie author Jaime Johnesee recently did a gutsy guest post for me on how some women avoid reading horror because of the way we’re portrayed, mostly as victims and mammary-based femme fatales. I think this is a stellar point. Perhaps if in horror and in society women could be seen as more than “girly-girls” and be accepted for who they are, female horror writers would get a whole lot more of the recognition they deserve.
Check out my paranormal horror novel This Freshest Hell
Women in Horror: Part Ten
Posted on Feb 18, 2014
Welcome back to HWA’s WiHM feature special! We’re now at part ten & I’m proud to present to you a little piece by author & journalist, Natasha Ewendt!
Embrace the weird
So, you’re a female horror writer? You write about blood and guts and torture and monsters and stuff? That’s a bit unsavoury for a lady, isn’t it? Newsflash: A lot of us ladies aren’t really ladies. Well, we may have the “lady gear”, but as for the cookie-baking, chick-flick-watching, blinking kind of lady stereotype, that’s a small set of the female population that’s just widely portrayed in the media. Truth be told, even a lot of the women who subscribe to lady status are faking it to keep up appearances and “do what they’re supposed to do”. There are a whole lot of women who would rather watch The Walking Dead than Keeping up with the Kardashians, it’s just that most are too afraid to say so because it doesn’t meet social expectations. We may be an emancipated society, and women may be getting about sans ’50s lacy aprons and Valium fog these days, but there are still certain roles expected of us – and horror writing sure as hell ain’t one of them.
Generally if you’re not sugar and spice and all things nice, if you’re a bit dark and weird as many of us horror writers are, you’re simply freaking out the locals. But this can be an issue for men as well as women. If you write horror, there must be something fundamentally wrong with you, right? You secretly want to kill people, yeah? You’re thinking about killing me right now, aren’t you? You killed the neighbour’s cat and wore it as a hat while dancing Gangnam Style naked covered in peanut butter, didn’t you? Newsflash #2: Horror writers aren’t all frustrated serial killers. Everyone has a dark side, we’re just shining a light on it.
There’s been a great deal mentioned in social media this month about sexism in horror. I’m a newbie who’s only been in the industry a matter of months, but I’ve been in contact with some great and supportive male horror writers, so my thinking is that the divide most likely comes more from readers. And it’s entirely likely it has less to do with the quality of the fiction than the fact male and female brains work differently. Guys like lots of action, women need more of an emotional payoff, and this is reflected in their writing. So male readers tend to gravitate more toward action-driven fiction, usually with a male perspective, and women gravitate toward fiction with more emotional substance and character development. If men are reading less books by women and vice-versa, this is why. A book may be brilliant, but a male reader and a female reader want different things from it and that colours their perception. But the legacy from decades gone by is that men dominate the genre and are more widely known than their female contemporaries, and this has to change.
There are still many who see horror as a “bloke-fest”, as we’d say here in Australia. When most readers think of horror fiction, a long list of celebrated male names springs to mind. Of course there’s also the obligatory Anne Rice, Charlotte Bronte and Mary Shelley, but they’re the exceptions, aren’t they? Horror isn’t a girl thing, is it? Yes, yes it is. There are many more of us female horror writers than you’d think, and it’s about time the literary world knew more about us, so thanks to HWA and other blogs and publications like The Siren’s Call for shining the spotlight on us this month.
Women may like a fair dose of emotional depth in their fiction, but by no means does that mean female horror writers shy away from the gross bits. The most harrowing, nail-biting, panic-inducing, sick messed-up horror I’ve read of late has been by women. There’s no doubt we can scare and gross and disturb the proverbial out of readers as much as guys.
Society should embrace the weird in women, and women should embrace the weird in themselves a whole lot more. Loosening the restrictions on what women are meant to be like could go a long way to changing public perception on female horror writers. Letting women be whatever they want – be it girly, gritty, hippy, high-powered or some twisted freaky horror writer – without making them feel they have to hide aspects of themselves is something we need to work on. The fabulous Bob the Zombie author Jaime Johnesee recently did a gutsy guest post for me on how some women avoid reading horror because of the way we’re portrayed, mostly as victims and mammary-based femme fatales. I think this is a stellar point. Perhaps if in horror and in society women could be seen as more than “girly-girls” and be accepted for who they are, female horror writers would get a whole lot more of the recognition they deserve.
Check out my paranormal horror novel This Freshest Hell
February 17, 2014
Women in Horror Month Author Showcase – Lori R. Lopez: Horror dames
Today’s Women in Horror Month Author Showcase is by Lori R. Lopez, on the weird and wonderful world of the female horror writer.
Horror dames
Women who write Horror, especially the shocker-socker gutsy-gory type, may seem rather strange to the rest of the world. As peculiar as a guy who collects doilies, I would imagine. I have to guess at this because I am a woman who writes Horror, and I’ve never met a man who collects doilies. I think he might seem kind of odd. At least unusual. But he probably does exist. Somewhere. Well, perhaps he isn’t the best example because there are actually a lot of women who write Horror these days. Maybe not a lot in terms of the entire human population, but there are quite a few.
The thing is, we’re not even supposed to like that sort of stuff. We’re supposed to mainly watch Chick Flicks, aren’t we? And read Harlequin Romances, along with cookbooks and those magazines with perfume samples, quizzes and tips on how to improve your love life. See, that’s who we’re supposed to be, but I have never been anything like that. I’m sure I’m not the only one. And I have met a number of women who love Horror, absolutely love it, and they don’t even wear black lipstick and fingernail polish (well, most of them don’t). These women do not necessarily wear dog collars or sleep in coffins either. They seem perfectly normal, like you or me. Except that I’m one of them and I’m weird, so where does that leave you?
Okay, okay, I confess. I like to dress in black, I wish I had a hearse, and I tend to amble on the dark side of the street. I prefer gloomy days, stormy days. I hate the beach. I enjoy walks in a nice deep dark mysterious forest. Throw in a wolf howl, some creepy rustling and crackling, and I feel right at home. I am a Horror Fan, a Horror Dame! There is no cure, apart from a lobotomy. Electroshock would only make it worse. I have been this way since I was very small. And there are others like me. Not exactly like me or they would be clones, if not evil twins. But that’s beside the point. The point is that women can love Horror just as much as guys can, and if that’s the case then it stands to reason that we can create Horror just as well too! Am I right?
Apparently, society has not quite reached this conclusion since there still exists a great deal of inequality and bias about women writing Horror. The good news is, a cure does exist for this malady. It’s called reading horror tales written by women! So let’s all do more of that from now on and quit thinking that females cannot dish some mean terror. Believe me, we can and we do. It’s up to you to give us a chance to prove it. Otherwise, you’d better watch your back. We’re watching you!
(I’m not kidding. We are. We have eyes. Everywhere. Watch out.)
Lori R. Lopez is the author of Chocolate-Covered Eyes, An Ill Wind Blows, The Macabre Mind of Lori R. Lopez, Dance of the Chupacabras, Out-of-mind Experiences, The Fairy Fly, Monstrosities, Jugular and more. A resident of Southern California, she pens a column of dark verse and is also an artist, designing her own book covers and illustrations.
http://www.amazon.com/author/lorirlopez
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
http://www.facebook.com/lorirlopez.au...
http://fairyflyentertainment.com/cate...
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a paranormal horror novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Recently included on S.L. Schmitz’s Examiner.com list of the 92 must-read horror authors, Natasha is often compared to Daria of the eponymous animation and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
Horror dames
Women who write Horror, especially the shocker-socker gutsy-gory type, may seem rather strange to the rest of the world. As peculiar as a guy who collects doilies, I would imagine. I have to guess at this because I am a woman who writes Horror, and I’ve never met a man who collects doilies. I think he might seem kind of odd. At least unusual. But he probably does exist. Somewhere. Well, perhaps he isn’t the best example because there are actually a lot of women who write Horror these days. Maybe not a lot in terms of the entire human population, but there are quite a few.The thing is, we’re not even supposed to like that sort of stuff. We’re supposed to mainly watch Chick Flicks, aren’t we? And read Harlequin Romances, along with cookbooks and those magazines with perfume samples, quizzes and tips on how to improve your love life. See, that’s who we’re supposed to be, but I have never been anything like that. I’m sure I’m not the only one. And I have met a number of women who love Horror, absolutely love it, and they don’t even wear black lipstick and fingernail polish (well, most of them don’t). These women do not necessarily wear dog collars or sleep in coffins either. They seem perfectly normal, like you or me. Except that I’m one of them and I’m weird, so where does that leave you?
Okay, okay, I confess. I like to dress in black, I wish I had a hearse, and I tend to amble on the dark side of the street. I prefer gloomy days, stormy days. I hate the beach. I enjoy walks in a nice deep dark mysterious forest. Throw in a wolf howl, some creepy rustling and crackling, and I feel right at home. I am a Horror Fan, a Horror Dame! There is no cure, apart from a lobotomy. Electroshock would only make it worse. I have been this way since I was very small. And there are others like me. Not exactly like me or they would be clones, if not evil twins. But that’s beside the point. The point is that women can love Horror just as much as guys can, and if that’s the case then it stands to reason that we can create Horror just as well too! Am I right?
Apparently, society has not quite reached this conclusion since there still exists a great deal of inequality and bias about women writing Horror. The good news is, a cure does exist for this malady. It’s called reading horror tales written by women! So let’s all do more of that from now on and quit thinking that females cannot dish some mean terror. Believe me, we can and we do. It’s up to you to give us a chance to prove it. Otherwise, you’d better watch your back. We’re watching you!
(I’m not kidding. We are. We have eyes. Everywhere. Watch out.)
Lori R. Lopez is the author of Chocolate-Covered Eyes, An Ill Wind Blows, The Macabre Mind of Lori R. Lopez, Dance of the Chupacabras, Out-of-mind Experiences, The Fairy Fly, Monstrosities, Jugular and more. A resident of Southern California, she pens a column of dark verse and is also an artist, designing her own book covers and illustrations.
http://www.amazon.com/author/lorirlopez
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
http://www.facebook.com/lorirlopez.au...
http://fairyflyentertainment.com/cate...
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a paranormal horror novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Recently included on S.L. Schmitz’s Examiner.com list of the 92 must-read horror authors, Natasha is often compared to Daria of the eponymous animation and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
February 15, 2014
92 Authors You Should Be Reading
I made this must-read list! Very exciting. http://www.examiner.com/article/febru...
S.L. Schmitz
Charlotte Books Examiner
Women in Horror Month has been celebrated in February for the past 5 years. Part of the mission statement of the organization is to ensure that "Women in Horror Month is all about expanding opportunities for contemporary female genre filmmakers and artists by raising awareness about the changing roles for women in the film industry."
But Women in Horror Month (WiHM) is bigger than just movies, directors, and screenplays. The cause celebrates all women who have ties to the horror industry, including authors.
In early February 2014 on Facebook, several male and female horror authors were posting open calls on their Facebook walls for people to come and leave the names of all of the women authors who have made a difference in the world of Horror writing. In reading several of these lengthy posts, it became obvious that many names were being repeated over and over again. There are so many women, both old and new in the genre, who are admired and revere.
In compiling this list, I focused on two criteria: I wanted to celebrate women who weren't too famous, while still making sure to keep the door open for authors who have been around for over 100 years as well as authors who may have only been around for a few months. The purpose of this list is to broaden horizons and encourage readers to explore new reading material within the Horror genre.
In order to minimize complications, I focused on Amazon's Author Profile Pages as my primary source for information. The Amazon Author Profile Pages are excellent because they provide updated comprehensive information on the author as a 'whole' person. There are biographies, photographs, links to their current websites, blogs, and twitter feeds, as well as an up-to-the-minute listing of all published works. Whenever an Amazon Author Profile Page was not available, I went to Goodreads. Occasionally, if an author was especially new, associated with a specific publication, or private, I used professional websites.
To see extensive information on each author, just click on the link.
I have also provided the name of a famous or noteworthy novel associated with each author to help readers narrow down which authors they might want to explore further.
I encourage people to use this list as a starting point. When I was young and impressionable, I remember reading a Top Ten List of the Most Important Female Music Artist's Albums of all time, and feeling grateful for the knowledge so that I could finally go into a record store and order copies of every single album on that list. I felt empowered, as if I had been given a gift to finally understand who the 'cool' women were in music. In my early 20's, without this list, I may never have been exposed to such amazing Sirens as Patti Smith and Stevie Nicks. I created this list for the same reason - here they are. The coolest women authors publishing today.
S.L. Schmitz
Charlotte Books Examiner
Women in Horror Month has been celebrated in February for the past 5 years. Part of the mission statement of the organization is to ensure that "Women in Horror Month is all about expanding opportunities for contemporary female genre filmmakers and artists by raising awareness about the changing roles for women in the film industry."
But Women in Horror Month (WiHM) is bigger than just movies, directors, and screenplays. The cause celebrates all women who have ties to the horror industry, including authors.
In early February 2014 on Facebook, several male and female horror authors were posting open calls on their Facebook walls for people to come and leave the names of all of the women authors who have made a difference in the world of Horror writing. In reading several of these lengthy posts, it became obvious that many names were being repeated over and over again. There are so many women, both old and new in the genre, who are admired and revere.
In compiling this list, I focused on two criteria: I wanted to celebrate women who weren't too famous, while still making sure to keep the door open for authors who have been around for over 100 years as well as authors who may have only been around for a few months. The purpose of this list is to broaden horizons and encourage readers to explore new reading material within the Horror genre.
In order to minimize complications, I focused on Amazon's Author Profile Pages as my primary source for information. The Amazon Author Profile Pages are excellent because they provide updated comprehensive information on the author as a 'whole' person. There are biographies, photographs, links to their current websites, blogs, and twitter feeds, as well as an up-to-the-minute listing of all published works. Whenever an Amazon Author Profile Page was not available, I went to Goodreads. Occasionally, if an author was especially new, associated with a specific publication, or private, I used professional websites.
To see extensive information on each author, just click on the link.
I have also provided the name of a famous or noteworthy novel associated with each author to help readers narrow down which authors they might want to explore further.
I encourage people to use this list as a starting point. When I was young and impressionable, I remember reading a Top Ten List of the Most Important Female Music Artist's Albums of all time, and feeling grateful for the knowledge so that I could finally go into a record store and order copies of every single album on that list. I felt empowered, as if I had been given a gift to finally understand who the 'cool' women were in music. In my early 20's, without this list, I may never have been exposed to such amazing Sirens as Patti Smith and Stevie Nicks. I created this list for the same reason - here they are. The coolest women authors publishing today.
February 12, 2014
Women in Horror Month Author Showcase – Lisa Morton: Women editors in horror
This is latest Women in Horror Month guest post, this week by multiple award-winning writer Lisa Morton, paying tribute to some of the best women editors in horror.
Women Editors in Horror
During the annual February celebration of "Women in Horror", we hear a lot about female writers and filmmakers, but surprisingly little about those whose contributions can conceivably have the most impact on the genre: the editors. Editors guide the art of the genre's short fiction, and have helped many writers find audiences. For the purposes of this article, I'm focusing mainly on anthology editors; discussing the influence female book editors have had on the horror genre is a whole other essay.
In the meantime, here's a quick list of ten women who have edited horror anthologies that have been among the best produced in the genre over the last thirty years.
Poppy Z. Brite - Although she's known primarily as a novelist, Brite edited two seminal anthologies in the '00s that played on the connection between vampires, sexuality, and just plain great writing. I can't recommend the Love in Vein books highly enough.
Jeanne Cavelos - Cavelos may not be known primarily as an anthologist, even though The Many Faces of Van Helsing was highly regarded, but as creator of Dell's Abyss line, she had a fine influence on the direction of horror fiction in the '90s. She also created the Odyssey Writing Workshop.
Kathryn Cramer - Cramer may be known mainly for co-editing Year's Best science fiction and fantasy volumes, but she's also done some fine work in the horror genre, most notably 1987's The Architecture of Fear.
Ellen Datlow - Arguably, no one has had a bigger influence on the art of the horror short story over the last twenty years than Datlow. Her long Year's Best series and her dozens of other anthologies have virtually redefined the literate horror tale.
Lois Gresh - Gresh is a New York Times-bestselling author of dozens of books - many nonfiction "companion guides" to popular hits like The Hunger Games - who recently edited Dark Fusions (originally set to be published by Arkham House, and eventually released by PS Publishing) and is already at work on a new anthology.
Nancy Kilpatrick - Kilpatrick has edited or co-edited twelve anthologies, most recently Danse Macabre: Close Encounters with the Reaper (Edge Publishing). Her 2005 book Outsiders (co-edited with Nancy Holder) was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award.
Elizabeth Monteleone - With husband Thomas, Monteleone co-edited volumes 4 and 5 of the Borderlands anthology series (currently at five volumes, with a sixth forthcoming). The Monteleones also run Borderlands Press together, which produces high-quality books of horror fiction.
Kathryn Ptacek - In 1989, at the height of the male-dominated splatterpunk trend, Kathryn Ptacek edited Women of Darkness, an all-female anthology of horror stories that introduced many readers to the likes of Nancy Holder, Elizabeth Massie, Lisa Tuttle and Tanith Lee; a second volume followed a year later. Although she edited no more anthologies, Ptacek has edited HWA's monthly newsletter for many years.
Jeani Rector - Rector proves that women can edit horror periodicals, too. Her online The Horror Zine has published horror fiction from both newer writers and such genre stalwarts as Graham Masterton, Elizabeth Massie and Joe McKinney. She's also edited two anthologies: A Feast of Frights and Shadow Masters.
Barbara Roden - With husband Christopher, Roden is half of the distinguished Ash-Tree Press, and together they've edited a number of award-winning and acclaimed anthologies, including At Ease With the Dead and Shadows and Silence. The Rodens also edit All Hallows: The Journal of the Ghost Story Society.
Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, award-winning prose writer, and Halloween expert whose work was described by the American Library Association’s READERS’ ADVISORY GUIDE TO HORROR as “consistently dark, unsettling, and frightening”. Her most recent releases are the novels MALEDICTION and NETHERWORLD, and she can be found online at www.lisamorton.com
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Based in Port Lincoln, South Australia, she is also a journalist and copyeditor and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
Women Editors in Horror
During the annual February celebration of "Women in Horror", we hear a lot about female writers and filmmakers, but surprisingly little about those whose contributions can conceivably have the most impact on the genre: the editors. Editors guide the art of the genre's short fiction, and have helped many writers find audiences. For the purposes of this article, I'm focusing mainly on anthology editors; discussing the influence female book editors have had on the horror genre is a whole other essay.In the meantime, here's a quick list of ten women who have edited horror anthologies that have been among the best produced in the genre over the last thirty years.
Poppy Z. Brite - Although she's known primarily as a novelist, Brite edited two seminal anthologies in the '00s that played on the connection between vampires, sexuality, and just plain great writing. I can't recommend the Love in Vein books highly enough.
Jeanne Cavelos - Cavelos may not be known primarily as an anthologist, even though The Many Faces of Van Helsing was highly regarded, but as creator of Dell's Abyss line, she had a fine influence on the direction of horror fiction in the '90s. She also created the Odyssey Writing Workshop.
Kathryn Cramer - Cramer may be known mainly for co-editing Year's Best science fiction and fantasy volumes, but she's also done some fine work in the horror genre, most notably 1987's The Architecture of Fear.
Ellen Datlow - Arguably, no one has had a bigger influence on the art of the horror short story over the last twenty years than Datlow. Her long Year's Best series and her dozens of other anthologies have virtually redefined the literate horror tale.
Lois Gresh - Gresh is a New York Times-bestselling author of dozens of books - many nonfiction "companion guides" to popular hits like The Hunger Games - who recently edited Dark Fusions (originally set to be published by Arkham House, and eventually released by PS Publishing) and is already at work on a new anthology.
Nancy Kilpatrick - Kilpatrick has edited or co-edited twelve anthologies, most recently Danse Macabre: Close Encounters with the Reaper (Edge Publishing). Her 2005 book Outsiders (co-edited with Nancy Holder) was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award.
Elizabeth Monteleone - With husband Thomas, Monteleone co-edited volumes 4 and 5 of the Borderlands anthology series (currently at five volumes, with a sixth forthcoming). The Monteleones also run Borderlands Press together, which produces high-quality books of horror fiction.
Kathryn Ptacek - In 1989, at the height of the male-dominated splatterpunk trend, Kathryn Ptacek edited Women of Darkness, an all-female anthology of horror stories that introduced many readers to the likes of Nancy Holder, Elizabeth Massie, Lisa Tuttle and Tanith Lee; a second volume followed a year later. Although she edited no more anthologies, Ptacek has edited HWA's monthly newsletter for many years.
Jeani Rector - Rector proves that women can edit horror periodicals, too. Her online The Horror Zine has published horror fiction from both newer writers and such genre stalwarts as Graham Masterton, Elizabeth Massie and Joe McKinney. She's also edited two anthologies: A Feast of Frights and Shadow Masters.
Barbara Roden - With husband Christopher, Roden is half of the distinguished Ash-Tree Press, and together they've edited a number of award-winning and acclaimed anthologies, including At Ease With the Dead and Shadows and Silence. The Rodens also edit All Hallows: The Journal of the Ghost Story Society.
Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, award-winning prose writer, and Halloween expert whose work was described by the American Library Association’s READERS’ ADVISORY GUIDE TO HORROR as “consistently dark, unsettling, and frightening”. Her most recent releases are the novels MALEDICTION and NETHERWORLD, and she can be found online at www.lisamorton.com
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Based in Port Lincoln, South Australia, she is also a journalist and copyeditor and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
February 9, 2014
Women in Horror Month Author Showcase – Jaime Johnesee: The truth about women in horror
Today’s Women in Horror Month Author Showcase is by Jaime Johnesee.
Bimbos in horror
Women in the horror genre have it rough. Granted, things aren't as bad as they used to be. Nobody has sent me a manuscript back with a note saying "Why don't you try romance, honey?" but there still exists a gender gap. There are still people who automatically prefer a male name on a horror book to a female one. We need to ask ourselves why that is.
Why are we still somehow thought of as less than men in this genre? Is it because we are supposed to be the fairer sex? Is it because the genre itself tends to portray women as either something to ogle, something to brutally murder, or something to bungle up our hero's journey? I think it's a bit of a combination, really.
Not too long ago, an amazing female author (whom I highly respect) posited in a group we are in together that perhaps there were fewer women reading horror because of how it portrays women. I wondered about that, and so I grabbed a selection of horror off my own shelf here. I was surprised to find she was right. In a shocking amount of the books I looked at, women were written either as sex objects, simpering victims, or the inept cause of the hero falling into a trap and getting caught.
85% of the books I randomly selected were by well known male authors and portrayed women this way. Now, there were some books that had the women limned as the heroine and some that depicted women as victims, but ones that fought back and were more realistic. I think that we need to change the way the horror world sees women if we are to close that gender gap within the genre.
Most of the female horror authors I know are not the sort I’d want to tangle with down a back alley. Most of these amazing women have lived through the worst hells imaginable. They write horror so beautifully because they have lived the worst horrors you can imagine and came out the other side.
The sad truth of this world is that women are victims of violent crimes much more so than men. It stands to reason that we would be portrayed as such in horror books and movies, but you know what they tend not to capture? How these women fight. How they punch, and claw, and bite, and fight with every ounce of their being. Do some lie on the floor, mewling and allowing themselves to be murdered, sure. Most often though, these victims fight back. They aren't simpering nobodies with great, heaving breasts; they're someone's wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend.
Maybe if we could get women readers to see that female characters in horror aren't all depicted as big-breasted sexpots trying to destroy men, we could attract a whole new following of fans to this genre. There are so many amazing books out there written by women and men that showcase strong and wonderful female leads. Let's start closing the gap by showcasing those instead.
Jaime Johnesee worked as a zookeeper for fourteen years before deciding to focus on her passion of writing. Although her books have been received with critical acclaim, Jaime has just begun and is a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
Website: www.JaimeJohnesee.com
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Jaime-Johnesee/...
Publisher: www.VisionaryPressCoop.ws
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Based in Port Lincoln, South Australia, she is also a journalist and copyeditor and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
Bimbos in horror
Women in the horror genre have it rough. Granted, things aren't as bad as they used to be. Nobody has sent me a manuscript back with a note saying "Why don't you try romance, honey?" but there still exists a gender gap. There are still people who automatically prefer a male name on a horror book to a female one. We need to ask ourselves why that is. Why are we still somehow thought of as less than men in this genre? Is it because we are supposed to be the fairer sex? Is it because the genre itself tends to portray women as either something to ogle, something to brutally murder, or something to bungle up our hero's journey? I think it's a bit of a combination, really.
Not too long ago, an amazing female author (whom I highly respect) posited in a group we are in together that perhaps there were fewer women reading horror because of how it portrays women. I wondered about that, and so I grabbed a selection of horror off my own shelf here. I was surprised to find she was right. In a shocking amount of the books I looked at, women were written either as sex objects, simpering victims, or the inept cause of the hero falling into a trap and getting caught.
85% of the books I randomly selected were by well known male authors and portrayed women this way. Now, there were some books that had the women limned as the heroine and some that depicted women as victims, but ones that fought back and were more realistic. I think that we need to change the way the horror world sees women if we are to close that gender gap within the genre.
Most of the female horror authors I know are not the sort I’d want to tangle with down a back alley. Most of these amazing women have lived through the worst hells imaginable. They write horror so beautifully because they have lived the worst horrors you can imagine and came out the other side.
The sad truth of this world is that women are victims of violent crimes much more so than men. It stands to reason that we would be portrayed as such in horror books and movies, but you know what they tend not to capture? How these women fight. How they punch, and claw, and bite, and fight with every ounce of their being. Do some lie on the floor, mewling and allowing themselves to be murdered, sure. Most often though, these victims fight back. They aren't simpering nobodies with great, heaving breasts; they're someone's wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend.
Maybe if we could get women readers to see that female characters in horror aren't all depicted as big-breasted sexpots trying to destroy men, we could attract a whole new following of fans to this genre. There are so many amazing books out there written by women and men that showcase strong and wonderful female leads. Let's start closing the gap by showcasing those instead.
Jaime Johnesee worked as a zookeeper for fourteen years before deciding to focus on her passion of writing. Although her books have been received with critical acclaim, Jaime has just begun and is a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.Website: www.JaimeJohnesee.com
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Jaime-Johnesee/...
Publisher: www.VisionaryPressCoop.ws
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Based in Port Lincoln, South Australia, she is also a journalist and copyeditor and is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
February 5, 2014
Women in Horror Month Author Showcase – Chantal Noordeloos: Digging into the horror of humanity
During February, Author Showcase will be by female horror writers as a nod to Women in Horror Month.
The second ‘woman in horror’ to feature is Netherlands author of deeply twisted fiction collection Deeply Twisted, Chantal Noordeloos.
Digging into the horror of humanity
“What kind of stories do you write?”
It’s one of the first things people will ask you when you tell them that you’re a writer.
“I dabble in a lot of things, but my ‘go to genre’ is horror.”
“Oh, like vampire books and stuff, I hear those are pretty popular.”
“No, not like that at all. That’s paranormal, I meant horror.”
It helps when I let them read my stories, which are not romantic accounts of old pedophile vampires praying on teenage girls. I’m far more twisted than that. I must admit –with a moderate amount of shame- that I get great pleasure when that person, who compared my work to paranormal romance, would come back and tell me they read something of mine that turned their stomach.
In real life I am a very bubbly person. My motto is “A day not laughed is a day not lived.” I like to make jokes and mess around. Most people would not expect me to write some of the things I write. But like most writers, I have a dark side, and mine comes out on paper.
People often wonder if I have a limitation to the stories I write. I guess I do, but it’s a fine line. One of the things I will never do is be over explicit about sexual acts in pedophilia, though since this what scares me most, I will use these sex offenders and their victims in my stories.
There are other things I won’t do… I’m pretty sure, but I just can’t think of anything right now. To me nothing is sacred in Horror, and I think digging into the horror of humanity is the most disgusting and interesting horror of all.
One of the most interesting questions I’ve been asked is “Why do you write horror?”
Why indeed?
I couldn’t even tell you if I enjoy it or not. There are moments where I have to get in touch with my dark side, and I don’t like doing it. The research tends to be pretty gross, and if I may share a little secret with you… *whispers* I’m really squeamish. There have been moments where I felt a little ‘faint’ during research mode.
So, why do I write horror?
I think it’s because I can. And because I’m easily afraid. If I need inspiration, all I have to do is wander around my house at 3 AM with all the lights off. That will get me at least three new story ideas.
Even in the past I’ve always had an affinity with horror, and I’ve always been afraid of it. I’m a bit of a nerd, so I’ve hosted a lot of live action role play events, and also done a lot of DMing (Dungeon Master –ing) for table top games. My games were almost always horror, because it was easy for me to tap into my dark side.
So far I’ve heard enough feedback that my stories have made people nauseous or afraid. I see that as a good sign. So when you ask me what stories I write, and I tell you horror, you may assume that it’s nothing sparkly.
Chantal Noordeloos is a wacky writer from the Netherlands, who likes to write in English. She can't stay faithful to one genre, but has mentioned that horror is her 'go to genre', and tends to explore her darker side in writing.
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, she is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
The second ‘woman in horror’ to feature is Netherlands author of deeply twisted fiction collection Deeply Twisted, Chantal Noordeloos.
Digging into the horror of humanity
“What kind of stories do you write?” It’s one of the first things people will ask you when you tell them that you’re a writer.
“I dabble in a lot of things, but my ‘go to genre’ is horror.”
“Oh, like vampire books and stuff, I hear those are pretty popular.”
“No, not like that at all. That’s paranormal, I meant horror.”
It helps when I let them read my stories, which are not romantic accounts of old pedophile vampires praying on teenage girls. I’m far more twisted than that. I must admit –with a moderate amount of shame- that I get great pleasure when that person, who compared my work to paranormal romance, would come back and tell me they read something of mine that turned their stomach.
In real life I am a very bubbly person. My motto is “A day not laughed is a day not lived.” I like to make jokes and mess around. Most people would not expect me to write some of the things I write. But like most writers, I have a dark side, and mine comes out on paper.
People often wonder if I have a limitation to the stories I write. I guess I do, but it’s a fine line. One of the things I will never do is be over explicit about sexual acts in pedophilia, though since this what scares me most, I will use these sex offenders and their victims in my stories.
There are other things I won’t do… I’m pretty sure, but I just can’t think of anything right now. To me nothing is sacred in Horror, and I think digging into the horror of humanity is the most disgusting and interesting horror of all.
One of the most interesting questions I’ve been asked is “Why do you write horror?”
Why indeed?
I couldn’t even tell you if I enjoy it or not. There are moments where I have to get in touch with my dark side, and I don’t like doing it. The research tends to be pretty gross, and if I may share a little secret with you… *whispers* I’m really squeamish. There have been moments where I felt a little ‘faint’ during research mode.
So, why do I write horror?
I think it’s because I can. And because I’m easily afraid. If I need inspiration, all I have to do is wander around my house at 3 AM with all the lights off. That will get me at least three new story ideas.
Even in the past I’ve always had an affinity with horror, and I’ve always been afraid of it. I’m a bit of a nerd, so I’ve hosted a lot of live action role play events, and also done a lot of DMing (Dungeon Master –ing) for table top games. My games were almost always horror, because it was easy for me to tap into my dark side.
So far I’ve heard enough feedback that my stories have made people nauseous or afraid. I see that as a good sign. So when you ask me what stories I write, and I tell you horror, you may assume that it’s nothing sparkly.
Chantal Noordeloos is a wacky writer from the Netherlands, who likes to write in English. She can't stay faithful to one genre, but has mentioned that horror is her 'go to genre', and tends to explore her darker side in writing.
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, she is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
February 1, 2014
Women in Horror Month Author Showcase – Terrie Leigh Relf: What Would I Do With a Writing Coach?
To celebrate Women in Horror Month, Author Showcase will feature female horror writers throughout February. First up is San Diego’s Terri Leigh Relf, on how writers can benefit from a writing coach.
What Would I Do With a Writing Coach? Here are a few ideas . .
I was both honored and delighted when Natasha invited me to be a guest blogger for her “Author Showcase” series. When I suggested a piece about writing coaches, she liked the idea, so without further ado, here is my contribution in list form.
1. You’re a published writer with so many credits and fans and zeros on your royalty checks that you can’t fathom while your current project is stickier than that ooze dripping from the asteroid chunk that landed on your sidewalk.
Perfect! As out of confusion comes clarity.
Let’s face it. Your storyline seemed cool at first, what with its twists and turns and loops and flashbacks (and forwards), but now you’re not so sure you like it. And to make matters worse, your characters keep morphing into monsters and back again to the point you’re not sure which is which or who is whom—and what happened to your human protagonist? You haven’t seen her in action since page four.
To make matters worse (or are they really better?), you discover that that weird feeling in the pit of your stomach is true love—and for that character you wanted to hate and kill off in oh-so-many exquisite ways. Sigh.
Perhaps it’s time to look for that writing coach flare. . .
2. You want to meet deadlines. Really you do. . .but for some strange reason, you keep stepping into an alternate timeline that prevents you from doing so. You thought you were in Venice Beach, then all of a sudden, you’re in Boston Harbor and the water is definitely freezing. Could it be that you flashed back too far to the first ice age.
Or did you flash forward to the next one, complete with Yeti-sized creatures that need your pituitary gland for a science experiment.
Didn’t that writing coach say she could assist with aligning your timeline? Or altering it if need be? And if I heard correctly, they also know how to remove phobias.
3. Your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and especially that hot checker at the local Whole Foods have already listened to your plot points and character profiles (both before and after you developed the proverbial elevator pitch). They’re riveted, and can hardly wait to hear what comes next.
But alas, you’ve been staring at that blank screen all day like a witch with her scrying pond, with not a single ripple of an idea.
Yup, it may be time to ignite that flare. . .
4. There’s a scene you want to, need to write, but every time you go near it, all sorts of emotions tangle you up like Cthulhu on holiday. Can that writing coach assist you with associating AND disassociating? Sure they can. . .Before you know it, you’ll be stepping in and out of characters (and scenes) like a demon at a séance!
5. Your short story, novel, or novella is really done! You can’t stop dancing around the room and high-fiving yourself in the mirror (or on your favorite social media outlet). It’s break-time! You clean house, read your snail mail, watch Walking Dead and Star Trek reruns, then head to the beach and the mall, followed by the local pub. The days turn into weeks, the weeks months.
What would you be doing if you had a writing coach?
You would be proofreading and editing, composing elevator pitches and writing synopses, researching markets and writing letters to agents and yes, submitting your work.
I know you still have that flare. . .it’s in the kitchen junk drawer buried under layers of coffee filters, bottle caps, burned-out flashlights, and something even I don’t recognize.
6. “Where-oh-where-is-that-stuff-I-cut-out?” you scream, frantically searching through your stray docs, dropbox, email, and trash.
Guess what? A writing coach can assist you with designing a personalized (and yes, practical) file labeling system. Just in case, said writing coach will also encourage you to discuss all those exquisite scenes that didn’t quite fit within your current project. It’s possible you cut them out on impulse. . .much like that guy or girl you knew in high school who translated that “No Trespassing” sign as an invitation to enter the neighborhood’s infamous haunted house.
What’s more, your writing coach will persuade you to closely examine those files for future projects and label them accordingly. Why? Because they know it’s important to keep it flowing so you’re consistently working on something while waiting for an acceptance (or a decline), a contract, a pay or royalty check.
Furthermore, a writing coach worth their fee will not shy away from telling—and yes, showing you (on occasion) where to cut. Okay, it’s still a democracy, so you’d be engaging in dialogue about this. It’s your choice. You’re in control. . .
And yes, a writing coach can assist you with morphing a 2500-word short story into a 100-word drabble or expanding a 100-word drabble into a 70,000-word novel. Sure, you could do this by yourself, but writers love company, don’t they?
What’s that, you say? You found that flare in your junk drawer? Go ahead and light it up. Just don’t do it inside the house.
7. You’re a unique individual. Okay, you’re a bit secretive and sensitive about your work. You don’t want to show anyone what you’ve written until it’s done-done-done.
You’re not alone. . .
Guess what? YOUR writing coach so gets you. After all, you chose them. You have rapport. You connect. You look forward to seeing them across a coffee table or via your laptop screen while skyping. Just the sound of their voice releases more endorphins than a wedge of chocolate cake with ganache frosting. You’re inspired by the work you’re doing and so are they! After all, they’re on YOUR team!
8. The portal is shimmering in front of you and you’re mesmerized. You can hardly wait to step through it to the other side. You inch closer and closer, basking in all the visions of what you’ll encounter, what you’ll experience, on the other side.
Then you have a panic attack, gasping for air, you scuttle the other way.
It’s okay. Keep breathing. That’s right. . .Take another breath, then another. Repeat as necessary. I mean really. . .Success? What’s that like? How will you handle all those book signings and publishing contracts and yes, gulp, fans?
If you want them to, a writing coach will step through that portal with you. While they can’t do it for you, they will be by your side when you need them. Furthermore, they will dispel your fears and assist you with finding and utilizing the resources you need to move forward to live the successful life you envision and deserve.
9. You want to traverse the universe, terraform new worlds, but haven’t left Earth before. A writing coach can assist you with finding a good cartographer, bio-engineer, and everything else you need.
That resources thing. . .
Have you lit the flare yet?
10. You want a writing coach who will assist you with setting reasonable goals and work with you to chart the path to completion. Even if you finished Nanowrimo with a flourish, you may still need to edit a bit. Trust me. . .
11. Writing coaches are cool to hang out with. They’re fun. Playful. Even a bit on the quirky side.
Okay, perhaps this one may be a bit of a stretch, you’re thinking, as a writing coach is supposed to keep you on-task. Workworkworkwork.
You may want to reconsider that belief, create a new one.
As a writer, you can create any belief (or belief system) you want. Need proof? Look at what you’re writing. I mean seriously! Werewolves falling in-love with vampires?
Of course it could happen. . .
And just in case you were wondering, an experienced writing coach will know when it’s break time and will insist upon your rewarding yourself. This includes napping, gardening, walking, meditating, and yes, getting caught up on your Goodreads.com list.
Is that sulphur I smell? That crackling sound?
12. Some writing coaches have specialized training and certifications to assist you with removing blocks that prevent you from realizing where you want to go with that poem or book. Perhaps they have a magic wand or can take you through a guided meditation to assist you with contacting your subconscious and higher conscious minds.
Yup. . .I can see that signal flare’s light arcing through the clouds. . .
13. Bottom line, a writing coach is a resource. While you may not be able to send them out to pick up your dry cleaning or kids, and no, they won’t feed those pinkies to your pet snake, you can count on them to be there for you—even when you just want to talk about writing—period. Furthermore, your writing coach will insist (without judgement and with an open mind and big heart) that you explore your unique attributes as a writer and develop those even further. They will remind you (and yes, they may be a bit annoying at times) that one of the best things about being a writer is there’s always something new to learn, to explore, and to share. They will keep you on-task no matter how much you whine or squirm or threaten to fire them.
So go ahead and send up another flare. You may just call down a Muse or two during the process.
Terrie Leigh Relf is a Lifetime Member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association and an active member of the Horror Writers Association. She is also a certified Neuro-Linguistic & Hypnotherapy® Life Trance-Formation Coach who specializes in working with writers and other creative explorers. She can be contacted at 619.269.0706, tlrelf@gmail.com, or Skype: Terrie Relf.
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, she is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
What Would I Do With a Writing Coach? Here are a few ideas . .
I was both honored and delighted when Natasha invited me to be a guest blogger for her “Author Showcase” series. When I suggested a piece about writing coaches, she liked the idea, so without further ado, here is my contribution in list form. 1. You’re a published writer with so many credits and fans and zeros on your royalty checks that you can’t fathom while your current project is stickier than that ooze dripping from the asteroid chunk that landed on your sidewalk.
Perfect! As out of confusion comes clarity.
Let’s face it. Your storyline seemed cool at first, what with its twists and turns and loops and flashbacks (and forwards), but now you’re not so sure you like it. And to make matters worse, your characters keep morphing into monsters and back again to the point you’re not sure which is which or who is whom—and what happened to your human protagonist? You haven’t seen her in action since page four.
To make matters worse (or are they really better?), you discover that that weird feeling in the pit of your stomach is true love—and for that character you wanted to hate and kill off in oh-so-many exquisite ways. Sigh.
Perhaps it’s time to look for that writing coach flare. . .
2. You want to meet deadlines. Really you do. . .but for some strange reason, you keep stepping into an alternate timeline that prevents you from doing so. You thought you were in Venice Beach, then all of a sudden, you’re in Boston Harbor and the water is definitely freezing. Could it be that you flashed back too far to the first ice age.
Or did you flash forward to the next one, complete with Yeti-sized creatures that need your pituitary gland for a science experiment.
Didn’t that writing coach say she could assist with aligning your timeline? Or altering it if need be? And if I heard correctly, they also know how to remove phobias.
3. Your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and especially that hot checker at the local Whole Foods have already listened to your plot points and character profiles (both before and after you developed the proverbial elevator pitch). They’re riveted, and can hardly wait to hear what comes next.
But alas, you’ve been staring at that blank screen all day like a witch with her scrying pond, with not a single ripple of an idea.
Yup, it may be time to ignite that flare. . .
4. There’s a scene you want to, need to write, but every time you go near it, all sorts of emotions tangle you up like Cthulhu on holiday. Can that writing coach assist you with associating AND disassociating? Sure they can. . .Before you know it, you’ll be stepping in and out of characters (and scenes) like a demon at a séance!
5. Your short story, novel, or novella is really done! You can’t stop dancing around the room and high-fiving yourself in the mirror (or on your favorite social media outlet). It’s break-time! You clean house, read your snail mail, watch Walking Dead and Star Trek reruns, then head to the beach and the mall, followed by the local pub. The days turn into weeks, the weeks months.
What would you be doing if you had a writing coach?
You would be proofreading and editing, composing elevator pitches and writing synopses, researching markets and writing letters to agents and yes, submitting your work.
I know you still have that flare. . .it’s in the kitchen junk drawer buried under layers of coffee filters, bottle caps, burned-out flashlights, and something even I don’t recognize.
6. “Where-oh-where-is-that-stuff-I-cut-out?” you scream, frantically searching through your stray docs, dropbox, email, and trash.
Guess what? A writing coach can assist you with designing a personalized (and yes, practical) file labeling system. Just in case, said writing coach will also encourage you to discuss all those exquisite scenes that didn’t quite fit within your current project. It’s possible you cut them out on impulse. . .much like that guy or girl you knew in high school who translated that “No Trespassing” sign as an invitation to enter the neighborhood’s infamous haunted house.
What’s more, your writing coach will persuade you to closely examine those files for future projects and label them accordingly. Why? Because they know it’s important to keep it flowing so you’re consistently working on something while waiting for an acceptance (or a decline), a contract, a pay or royalty check.
Furthermore, a writing coach worth their fee will not shy away from telling—and yes, showing you (on occasion) where to cut. Okay, it’s still a democracy, so you’d be engaging in dialogue about this. It’s your choice. You’re in control. . .
And yes, a writing coach can assist you with morphing a 2500-word short story into a 100-word drabble or expanding a 100-word drabble into a 70,000-word novel. Sure, you could do this by yourself, but writers love company, don’t they?
What’s that, you say? You found that flare in your junk drawer? Go ahead and light it up. Just don’t do it inside the house.
7. You’re a unique individual. Okay, you’re a bit secretive and sensitive about your work. You don’t want to show anyone what you’ve written until it’s done-done-done.
You’re not alone. . .
Guess what? YOUR writing coach so gets you. After all, you chose them. You have rapport. You connect. You look forward to seeing them across a coffee table or via your laptop screen while skyping. Just the sound of their voice releases more endorphins than a wedge of chocolate cake with ganache frosting. You’re inspired by the work you’re doing and so are they! After all, they’re on YOUR team!
8. The portal is shimmering in front of you and you’re mesmerized. You can hardly wait to step through it to the other side. You inch closer and closer, basking in all the visions of what you’ll encounter, what you’ll experience, on the other side.
Then you have a panic attack, gasping for air, you scuttle the other way.
It’s okay. Keep breathing. That’s right. . .Take another breath, then another. Repeat as necessary. I mean really. . .Success? What’s that like? How will you handle all those book signings and publishing contracts and yes, gulp, fans?
If you want them to, a writing coach will step through that portal with you. While they can’t do it for you, they will be by your side when you need them. Furthermore, they will dispel your fears and assist you with finding and utilizing the resources you need to move forward to live the successful life you envision and deserve.
9. You want to traverse the universe, terraform new worlds, but haven’t left Earth before. A writing coach can assist you with finding a good cartographer, bio-engineer, and everything else you need.
That resources thing. . .
Have you lit the flare yet?
10. You want a writing coach who will assist you with setting reasonable goals and work with you to chart the path to completion. Even if you finished Nanowrimo with a flourish, you may still need to edit a bit. Trust me. . .
11. Writing coaches are cool to hang out with. They’re fun. Playful. Even a bit on the quirky side.
Okay, perhaps this one may be a bit of a stretch, you’re thinking, as a writing coach is supposed to keep you on-task. Workworkworkwork.
You may want to reconsider that belief, create a new one.
As a writer, you can create any belief (or belief system) you want. Need proof? Look at what you’re writing. I mean seriously! Werewolves falling in-love with vampires?
Of course it could happen. . .
And just in case you were wondering, an experienced writing coach will know when it’s break time and will insist upon your rewarding yourself. This includes napping, gardening, walking, meditating, and yes, getting caught up on your Goodreads.com list.
Is that sulphur I smell? That crackling sound?
12. Some writing coaches have specialized training and certifications to assist you with removing blocks that prevent you from realizing where you want to go with that poem or book. Perhaps they have a magic wand or can take you through a guided meditation to assist you with contacting your subconscious and higher conscious minds.
Yup. . .I can see that signal flare’s light arcing through the clouds. . .
13. Bottom line, a writing coach is a resource. While you may not be able to send them out to pick up your dry cleaning or kids, and no, they won’t feed those pinkies to your pet snake, you can count on them to be there for you—even when you just want to talk about writing—period. Furthermore, your writing coach will insist (without judgement and with an open mind and big heart) that you explore your unique attributes as a writer and develop those even further. They will remind you (and yes, they may be a bit annoying at times) that one of the best things about being a writer is there’s always something new to learn, to explore, and to share. They will keep you on-task no matter how much you whine or squirm or threaten to fire them.
So go ahead and send up another flare. You may just call down a Muse or two during the process.
Terrie Leigh Relf is a Lifetime Member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association and an active member of the Horror Writers Association. She is also a certified Neuro-Linguistic & Hypnotherapy® Life Trance-Formation Coach who specializes in working with writers and other creative explorers. She can be contacted at 619.269.0706, tlrelf@gmail.com, or Skype: Terrie Relf.
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, she is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
January 29, 2014
Author Showcase Guest Post – James Dorr: Characterisation
This is the latest in a series of Author Showcase guest posts by authors around the world, sharing their tips and creativity.
Today’s post is by US Midwest horror author James Dorr, on how to get inside your characters’ heads.
On character, stress, and a love of language
Character is usually the most important part of a story, at least to me, since (as I see it) fiction is about the testing of a character or characters under stress. In the case of horror this may be extreme, but even in romance or lighter fiction the stress is still there – it’s the motivation, to solve a problem, whether to gain something that’s desired or just to survive. So the character is in a situation and it's how the character copes with it (or not) that defines the plot. Characters, in turn, are defined in part by their beliefs and their environments – my life has been relatively peaceful, for instance, which will give me a different perspective than someone who grew up, say, in Iraq. What I must do, then, is to put myself into the head of that character, look out through the character’s eyes, hear with its ears, feel with its skin and emotions, etc, to translate that character into terms readers (most likely having relatively peaceable lives as well) will be able to understand.
This can’t be overstated, to in this way become that character: to see things through that character’s eyes, hear through its ears, taste with its tongue – and with all these things “spiced” with the biases that character may bring through its environment, upbringing, and/or education – and, most of all, to feel with its feelings. When some writers speak of characters “taking over a story,” I think this is actually what they mean, that they’ve come to know their characters that well. This is the “showing” instead of “telling,” to draw a reader to share an experience rather than just describing what happens. In my case, this comes from my imagining what I might do in a circumstance similar to what I’ve put that character in – or maybe what a friend or a lover or ex-lover might do, someone I’ve been close to in the past. This is vital for major characters – minor ones may be sketched in more lightly – and while in some stories I might write with a deliberately more distanced point of view than in others (in which, at an extreme, a character may represent “Everyman” or “Everywoman,” as in some Medieval allegories), I still must know who these characters are.
It is then that a love of words comes in, choosing those words most apt for the task – because words can induce mood too, which cycles back into that character’s feelings. But words must also be chosen which will be true to a character’s voice, educated phrases for the sophisticated, simpler words for those less educated – fun can be had too with characters speaking a language that is unfamiliar to them, or contrasting accents or means of expression for those from different parts of a country – but ultimately it is still the character, the person or other being that the story is about, that is all important.
James Dorr writes short fiction and poetry from the Midwestern part of the United States. Of his latest collection, The Tears of Isis (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, May 2013), he says: “The Tears of Isis has an overall theme on the link between beauty and destruction, of art and death, even beginning with a poem and ending with a story that are both about sculptors. I don’t sculpt myself, but I used to do some illustrating and I still cartoon a little. I also play music. I write poems. I like to perform at readings. In short, I relate to the artistic side of a number of the stories’ characters, whether directly or indirectly – as well as the problem solving side, because that’s a part of the creative process too. But at the same time, I also face the destructive (including self-destructive) side of creation, for example the isolation it forces when one must concentrate on a work in progress.”
Up to date information on Dorr’s writing, including his other collections, can be found on his blog, http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com
while information on The Tears of Isis is available on the publisher's website at http://perpetualpublishing.com/the-te...
He also has an Author Page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/James%20Dorr/e/...
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, she is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
Today’s post is by US Midwest horror author James Dorr, on how to get inside your characters’ heads.
On character, stress, and a love of language
Character is usually the most important part of a story, at least to me, since (as I see it) fiction is about the testing of a character or characters under stress. In the case of horror this may be extreme, but even in romance or lighter fiction the stress is still there – it’s the motivation, to solve a problem, whether to gain something that’s desired or just to survive. So the character is in a situation and it's how the character copes with it (or not) that defines the plot. Characters, in turn, are defined in part by their beliefs and their environments – my life has been relatively peaceful, for instance, which will give me a different perspective than someone who grew up, say, in Iraq. What I must do, then, is to put myself into the head of that character, look out through the character’s eyes, hear with its ears, feel with its skin and emotions, etc, to translate that character into terms readers (most likely having relatively peaceable lives as well) will be able to understand. This can’t be overstated, to in this way become that character: to see things through that character’s eyes, hear through its ears, taste with its tongue – and with all these things “spiced” with the biases that character may bring through its environment, upbringing, and/or education – and, most of all, to feel with its feelings. When some writers speak of characters “taking over a story,” I think this is actually what they mean, that they’ve come to know their characters that well. This is the “showing” instead of “telling,” to draw a reader to share an experience rather than just describing what happens. In my case, this comes from my imagining what I might do in a circumstance similar to what I’ve put that character in – or maybe what a friend or a lover or ex-lover might do, someone I’ve been close to in the past. This is vital for major characters – minor ones may be sketched in more lightly – and while in some stories I might write with a deliberately more distanced point of view than in others (in which, at an extreme, a character may represent “Everyman” or “Everywoman,” as in some Medieval allegories), I still must know who these characters are.
It is then that a love of words comes in, choosing those words most apt for the task – because words can induce mood too, which cycles back into that character’s feelings. But words must also be chosen which will be true to a character’s voice, educated phrases for the sophisticated, simpler words for those less educated – fun can be had too with characters speaking a language that is unfamiliar to them, or contrasting accents or means of expression for those from different parts of a country – but ultimately it is still the character, the person or other being that the story is about, that is all important.
James Dorr writes short fiction and poetry from the Midwestern part of the United States. Of his latest collection, The Tears of Isis (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, May 2013), he says: “The Tears of Isis has an overall theme on the link between beauty and destruction, of art and death, even beginning with a poem and ending with a story that are both about sculptors. I don’t sculpt myself, but I used to do some illustrating and I still cartoon a little. I also play music. I write poems. I like to perform at readings. In short, I relate to the artistic side of a number of the stories’ characters, whether directly or indirectly – as well as the problem solving side, because that’s a part of the creative process too. But at the same time, I also face the destructive (including self-destructive) side of creation, for example the isolation it forces when one must concentrate on a work in progress.”
Up to date information on Dorr’s writing, including his other collections, can be found on his blog, http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com
while information on The Tears of Isis is available on the publisher's website at http://perpetualpublishing.com/the-te...
He also has an Author Page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/James%20Dorr/e/...
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, she is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
January 22, 2014
Author Showcase Guest Post – ScaryBob: Make writers fall in love – and hate – with your characters
This is the latest in a series of Author Showcase guest posts by authors around the world, sharing their tips and creativity.
Today’s post is by Florida author C. Robert Cales, a.k.a. ScaryBob, one of The Authors Show’s 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading.
Creating characters readers will love – and hate
Natasha has invited me to say a few words about the writing craft. On the chance that some of the audience is comprised by fledgling writers I want to talk about character development. Good writing is all about emotion and you can’t get there without characters. The most dynamic, mind blowing plot is doomed to be lifeless dribble if it doesn’t affect characters and if your characters don’t have depth you’ve missed the boat. You can’t evoke an emotional response in your readers with cardboard cutouts moving around in your story. Good writing is the act of keeping plot and character development in balance. All plot with no real characters is flat and lifeless. Characters with tremendous depth facing nothing is boring.
Develop your mind bending plot, but remember, it can do nothing to readers without characters with history and all the trappings of life. Create an emotional bond for the readers, let them fall in love with the people in the story. Give them characters they hate and want to see die a horrible death. Once the readers love or hate your cast members they are yours to do with as you wish. Whether you bring sunlight or darkness to their hearts they will continue turning pages and love you for it.
Case in point, the antagonist in my novel The Bookseller, Carlos Ramirez: drug lord, child molester, murderer and that's just the tip of the iceberg; nonhuman spirit, billions in treasure, hundreds of past lives and memories of everything. The world has known him by other names, Attila the Hun, Vlad the Impaler, Blackbeard the Pirate and Jack the Ripper to name a few. He skips from life to life through time and has left bloody footprints across the pages of history.
In this life Carlos is the head of a violent South American drug cartel. His best men have perfected a process for infusing liquid cocaine into the pages of books and withdrawing it at the destination point. He's selected a bookstore in the perfect location for acquisition to support the operation.
The Bookseller is a bookstore across from Boston Common, owned and operated by a lovable rare book dealer.
Anne Rice is a master at bringing characters alive even when they are the undead variety. Through character development she has made readers fall in love with a monster like the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. The ten or eleven books of the Vampire Chronicles build an incredible world of the undead blood drinkers that is a tribute to her mastery in developing characters. After reading the last of the Chronicles I was plagued for weeks by something I like to call Lestat withdrawal.
If anyone is curious about my talent and wants to taste my brew I would direct them to the Preface of The Bookseller, which can be found in the Amazon Kindle bookstore and on iTunes. Both retailers permit reading some of the work for free.
ScaryBob is the author of novels Devil Glass, The Bookseller and upcoming title Reincarnology. Find out more at http://www.scarybobproductions.webs.com
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, Natasha is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
Today’s post is by Florida author C. Robert Cales, a.k.a. ScaryBob, one of The Authors Show’s 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading.
Creating characters readers will love – and hate
Natasha has invited me to say a few words about the writing craft. On the chance that some of the audience is comprised by fledgling writers I want to talk about character development. Good writing is all about emotion and you can’t get there without characters. The most dynamic, mind blowing plot is doomed to be lifeless dribble if it doesn’t affect characters and if your characters don’t have depth you’ve missed the boat. You can’t evoke an emotional response in your readers with cardboard cutouts moving around in your story. Good writing is the act of keeping plot and character development in balance. All plot with no real characters is flat and lifeless. Characters with tremendous depth facing nothing is boring.Develop your mind bending plot, but remember, it can do nothing to readers without characters with history and all the trappings of life. Create an emotional bond for the readers, let them fall in love with the people in the story. Give them characters they hate and want to see die a horrible death. Once the readers love or hate your cast members they are yours to do with as you wish. Whether you bring sunlight or darkness to their hearts they will continue turning pages and love you for it.
Case in point, the antagonist in my novel The Bookseller, Carlos Ramirez: drug lord, child molester, murderer and that's just the tip of the iceberg; nonhuman spirit, billions in treasure, hundreds of past lives and memories of everything. The world has known him by other names, Attila the Hun, Vlad the Impaler, Blackbeard the Pirate and Jack the Ripper to name a few. He skips from life to life through time and has left bloody footprints across the pages of history.
In this life Carlos is the head of a violent South American drug cartel. His best men have perfected a process for infusing liquid cocaine into the pages of books and withdrawing it at the destination point. He's selected a bookstore in the perfect location for acquisition to support the operation.
The Bookseller is a bookstore across from Boston Common, owned and operated by a lovable rare book dealer.
Anne Rice is a master at bringing characters alive even when they are the undead variety. Through character development she has made readers fall in love with a monster like the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. The ten or eleven books of the Vampire Chronicles build an incredible world of the undead blood drinkers that is a tribute to her mastery in developing characters. After reading the last of the Chronicles I was plagued for weeks by something I like to call Lestat withdrawal.
If anyone is curious about my talent and wants to taste my brew I would direct them to the Preface of The Bookseller, which can be found in the Amazon Kindle bookstore and on iTunes. Both retailers permit reading some of the work for free.
ScaryBob is the author of novels Devil Glass, The Bookseller and upcoming title Reincarnology. Find out more at http://www.scarybobproductions.webs.com
Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, Natasha is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.
