My first collection of scary tales is now available! Get my first seven short horror stories for a low package price. Contains the stories:
Dump Room
Boogeyman
Screee
Mr Buster’s Bodies
Better Fat Than Dead
Overtime
and my most disturbing story yet, What’s Inside
Yeah. That last one raises some eyebrows.
From StephenKing.com:
“Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.”
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, The Shining is one of my favourite King novels. I think it might be interesting to revisit Danny and see him grown up; how does he cope with his psychic powers as an adult? What kind of psychological damage may have been caused by his father’s breakdown and death? I’m excited to find out what happened to one of my favourite King characters.
On the other hand, it feels a little gimmicky. Now, I adore Stephen-King-the-person AND Stephen-King-the-writer. He’s a big part of why I love horror. It just makes me a little preemptively disappointed to revisit the same topic (psychic children) in a next-generation format. I’m worried it will turn out to be just another reboot; I’m not sure this story will be new enough to be as good as The Shining.
I’ll be buying it on release day (January 15, 2013), like I do all his others. And I’ll be putting in long nights reading. I’m just hoping against hope that this one lives up to my expectations.
My copies of Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction Collection 2 came in! This one has my short story, If It’s An If. It’s a lot less gross and a lot more…eerie…than my other stuff.
What if you couldn’t have a baby? What if you were desperate?
What if your husband suggested the unthinkable…
I spent the afternoon at Chapters with a good friend and came away a very happy little weird girl.
The Vampire Tarot looks fantastic! I used to collect a lot of Tarot decks, but had kind of fallen out of doing readings. This is the first deck in a long while that caught my attention, and it was in the discount section for seven bucks. I’ll be doing a more in-depth post of this one later. In the meantime know that I kept squealing at the genius of various cards and forcing C to admire them, wherein he said “mmhphfh” a lot, which probably means he loves them.
The books are about strange and secret things: alchemy, magic, and the weird shit that authors get up to. I find I tend to go in phases when it comes to the arcane, and I’m in a big one right now. These books ought to slake my hunger a little.
And the skull? He’s just a little poufy sticker I came across at Michael’s, and he’ll be keeping me company on the cork-board in my office. He sparkles.
Short Sips just hit Amazon! I’ve been waiting ever so patiently for this one to be published.
Hah, not really. I’m not a patient person.
Anyway, this collection is the only place you’ll find my story, “If It’s an If”. It’s a little different than my usual; this one is more subtle, but just as chilling. It’s one of my favourites, not least because this was the story that got me started in publishing. Awww…
In honour of the holiest-of-holies in the horror world (aside from Halloween, natch), I want to make sure you’re all stocked up on scares.
SO.
This weekend only, I’m knocking off half the cover price of my collection, Dark Side: Seven Repulsive Stories. This deal is only available at Smashwords, and only if you use coupon code ZT98W at checkout. (Coupon expires Sunday.)
These morbid little tales include a sociopathic child, accidental zombies, a couple nasty monsters, and a nod to the horrors of the every day.
Definitely read What’s Inside last. I worry about myself when I think about what happens in that one.
Henry Darger. Ever heard of him? I hadn’t either. I was browsing online and stumbled across his story. Immediately, I was in awe at the sheer dedication he showed as an author.
But you’ll never see his work in bookstores.
You’ll never see it, because his most famous epic, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion is 15,145 single-spaced pages long. Not only did this unassuming man (a janitor by day) manage to pen more words in one epic than many will during their entire lives, he also painted hundreds of pictures to accompany it, which went on in turn to influence other artists.
Oh, by the way…he then went on to write a sequel that exceeded 10,000 pages.
And then a semi-fictional autobiography topping out at 4878 pages.
A documentary about the man and his work, In the Realms of the Unreal, was released in 2004.
What have you done lately?
I’m going to preface this by stating the obvious: the first edition of this book (the one I have) was published twenty years ago. The internet was nothing like it is today. E-books were far fewer, and there sure as hell was no such thing as a Kindle. Even so, I’m using it as part of my Five Year Plan, to further my career as an indie ebook writer, which at first glance seems counter intuitive.
Stay with me.
This book is important, for anyone, but especially for people wanting to get away from a day job. It offers the standard advice, like making your own coffee* and packing a lunch. But where this one differs significantly from those other finance guides is in the perspective. The book’s goal is getting you to financial independence, and it may be closer than you thought.
But, you say, I need a million-billion dollars to support myself/my family, so I can’t ever leave my day job! “Your Money or Your Life” points out all the unseen costs associated with going to the day job itself. Do you spend money on special work clothes? On parking? On social lunches? These extra costs would disappear along with your 9-5.
And what about extra time? Do you commute? Do you spend a lot longer getting ready in the morning, so you can meet a certain office standard? What about after work–do you need mindless “unwind” time to get over your miserable day? Wouldn’t that time be better spent, y’know…doing something?
You may be working more hours for less money than you thought. And the more money and time your day job eats, the less of both you have to put towards working for yourself.
Pick this one up, from the bookstore, the library, or get it in ebook form. Sit down (when you actually get a minute) and read the entire thing. Even if something specific doesn’t seem to apply to you, read it anyway. It’s the overall mindset that’s important here. It’s about re-learning how to prioritize your money and your time.
As far as career goals go, I’d say that’s pretty damned important.
*pleasant side effect: since I make coffee in much larger volumes than I’d buy at the drive-through, my caffeine consumption is much, much higher and I am much, much happier. Caffeine is my happy drug.
He’d do anything to make Stacey love him. Anything, even voodoo. But when that doesn’t work, he’ll have to resort to something a little more drastic.
Any writer worth anything should be in love with books. If you know me, you know that I have a bit of a book…obsession fixation…habit. I can’t imagine a life not surrounded by books.
So it should go without saying that I’ve amassed a number of how-to writing books, and thought I might share a few of my favourites. The ones I like best are the ones that go beyond the mechanics and add a little humor, or offer a peek into the lives of authors and writers.
The first I want to mention is one I’m reading now: How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors. It’s a wonderful book, one of those that should be sitting as inspiration on your shelves. The editors asked authors to name what it is that inspires them, what keeps them writing. Some authors chose to share their spaces: the specifics of desk and chair and view. Others tell about the little totems they keep to bring them luck or appease their muse.
The second is Page Fright: Foibles and Fetishes of Famous Writers. Harry Bruce has unearthed all kinds of interesting little facts about some of the most well-known authors. No matter what bizarre little writing habits you’ve picked up, I guarantee this book will make you feel normal. (Or at least a part of a big, crazy tribe.)
And third, you must, and I can’t stress this enough, check out Chuck Wendig. Start with 250 Things You Should Know About Writing and go from there. Read his books, all of them, and never look at writing (or being a writer) the same way again. (All I’m going to say is that this is the man who once wrote a recipe calling for “a dick of carrots”. You’ll have fun with these.)
sniderwriter 