Author Interview: Weston Ochse

I've been friends with Weston Ochse for a few years now and it's always great (in a "I hate you" sort of way) to watch your friends blow up. Luckily, he still remembers who I am. His novel, Scarecrow Gods, won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in First Novel, and is about to be re-released as a trade paperback by Delirium Books. All of this made for a great excuse for me to pester him with a few questions.

Continued on the FearZone.


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Bob Freeman is Nuts

So I am going through my normal procrastination ritual of reading some of the hundred or so blogs I’m subscribed to, when I run across Bob Freeman’s blog entry on how he blogs. It’s a question folks like Bob and I get from time to time that I know quite a few folks wrestle with: how do you blog?

I blog just like Bob.

Except completely different.

God bless the writers who can just sit down to a blank page, completely unintimidated, with just an idea, and just start writing, because I couldn't do that. I need a map, some sort of guide even if it’s just a rough sketch to keep me somewhat on point (or at least make sure I reach a point). It’s not always the case, but I bet you can tell when I don’t at least sketch out my thoughts first, else they pretty much stay the same half thought out idea they began with (this blog began with “Bob is nuts”).

Does blogging take away from my real writing time? No, blogging is PART of my real writing time. I understand what the asker is aiming at. The time I spend blogging is time that I could be working on a novel or a short story or an article, and that’s quite true. But it is still writing (and one day I’m going to calculate just how many words a year I generate in blogging alone and compare that with my “actual” writing output).

I blog on a variety of topics, mostly just whatever I’m thinking about at the time and I publish them in a variety of venues (Indy.Com, Blogging in Black, Hollywood Jesus) for greater exposure and because if I can make money by my writing I most certainly will (heck, I’ve even sold ad space on some of my older blog entries). But I can’t write the way Bob does.

My blog mentors, whether they realized it or not, were/are Nick Mamatas, Brian Keene, and Lauren David (she hates it when I point out that I began blogging as a weird sort of competition with her), thus the weird mix of topics. My blog is my professional face, often the first thing prospective editors and agents look at when they visit my site. I also blog with a distant eye on one day bundling up various blog posts and packaging them as non-fiction book proposals.

But I like I tell folks, there’s no hard and fast rule to this. Half the time I envy those folks who can sit down and write because (and this is my issue) I see them as more authentically artistic. The other half of the time, I wonder if they’re the same folks who talk about their works in progress in the blogs saying things like “I had to cut out 20K of words that didn’t work”. And then I thank God for my map (he says knowing that he's about to sit down to re-work his first novel to cut 40K out of it because, like a typical guy, he didn't stop to ask directions when he got lost).


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Who Cares What They Think

Do you know what a highlight is for me as a blogger, as a writer period? When something I write generates thought or good conversation. After my last Blogging in Black column, I received the following comment:

Hi Maurice, Dealing specifically with the comment "(and many of us live with the insecurity of fearing that we’ll one day be exposed as the frauds we secretly believe we are)". I haven't ever had this problem. Sometimes I think that I should; that the lack of this insecurity is proof of a) inflated sense of self and/or b) willful blindness to reality. But, one of the reasons I didn't study English literature in uni after having done it for A-levels/college and have no desire to do an MFA, is that I have a serious problem with the quality pronouncements of the 'They' of the literary world.

Continued on Blogging on Black.


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"Broken Strand" - Apex #12

I thought that I'd post a G-mail chat that I had with a fan a couple days ago (posted with permission):

Laura: I just got the new Apex, read your story. Awesome.

me: thanks!

Laura: I liked it many levels.

me: wow. that's cool

Laura: pure entertainment (always an important reason to read, in my opinion). also thought-provoking.

me: jason always gets the darker side out of me. (that's the excuse i'm using for that story and the novella me and wrath wrote)

Laura: I heard about that on RLD. Congrats. I have a lot of respect for Wrath's work.

me: it was a blast writing with him

Laura: can't wait to see what you guys came up with. kinda skeered though. ha

me: you should be

Laura: no doubt. if it's not scary, you did not do your jobs.

me: oh, believe me, the job got DONE. even wrath thought that i am going to get letters of complaint over it.

Laura: I'll pray for wisdom and grace be given to you. to answer your enemies.

me: thanks

Laura: with logic that cannot be argued with

me: although, right now, "bite me" has been way up there on my list of retorts.

Laura: yeah ha. how can you argue with that?

me: exactly!

Laura: Back to the story

me: k

Laura: Broken Strand

me: yup. one of the rare times that i liked a title i gave a story, btw.

Laura: I did want to say that I thought it was significant that you made the power of choice an element of
righteousness. It grabbed my attention. and shook me by the neck.

me: it's an argument that wrath and i had one day, about why an all powerful God "couldn't" make a creation that conformed to his will.

Laura: yeah...not Stepford wives

me: his argument said this pointed to the fallacy that God was all powerful and mine pointed to the fact that without choice, it can't be good or love. we'd be pre-programmed automatans. (me and wrath do this a lot)

Laura: Also, I thought you did an excellent job of making your main character one that the reader could identify with, whether they were believers or not. Because as you said, we've all made bad choices.

me: yup. i try to be very conscious of letting my main character be a guide into whatever universe i'm creating.

Laura: Because like CS Lewis used to say, Christendom desn't need more Christians to write "Christian stories"...it needs Christians to write GOOD stories. Broken Strand was great. Nice work.

me: you truly, truly humble me.


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DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!!!

Orgy of Souls: A Deadly Seduction

New Novella by Maurice Broaddus and Wrath James White offers sex, gore, blasphemy...and the unrivaled power of brotherly love
March 15, 2008 -- Apex Publications announces the upcoming release of "Orgy of Souls," a new novella by Maurice Broaddus and Wrath James White, on June 14, 2008 (just in time for Mo*Con III). Pre-orders begin March 23.

How pretty would a man have to be for you to sign over to him your immortal soul? If you've never asked yourself that question, it's only because you've never read "Orgy of Souls."

A thoughtful look at the role of God in the tragedies of the world might not automatically bring to mind visions of beautiful party boys and orgiastic bloodbaths, but in the hands of Maurice Broaddus and Wrath James White, the melding of such opposites is the perfect backdrop for the story of two brothers, each trying to save the other from what he has become.

Samuel, a priest who questions his faith as he fights a losing battle with AIDS, struggles to retain his dignity and hide his doubts from those around him. His brother, Samson, a high-end fashion model who indulges in every excess and finds each one lacking, loves nothing in the world except for Samuel. As Samson sinks deeper into the darkness of violent rituals intended to barter for his brother's life, Samuel must face up to his own doubts and fears in order to stop Samson's growing lust for blood and souls.

Blood, sex, rage, repentance and otherworldly horror...all are invited to the "Orgy of Souls."

Better your blasphemy and preorder "Orgy of Souls" on Easter Sunday: March 23, 2008. For details and updates visit www.apexbookcompany.com. Available in signed, limited edition hardcover (350 copies, bound tip-in signature sheet) and trade paperback (released in Sept. 08) from Apex Publications.

About the Authors
Maurice Broaddus's work has appeared in Weird Tales, Horror Literature Quarterly, and a wide variety of anthologies. His story "Family Business" won first prize at the World Horror Convention Story Competition in 2003. Often known as the Sinister Minister, Broaddus says of the religious aspects of his writing: "As writers, our worldviews–from nihilistic to religious–are a part of us and thus a part of our writing. What we believe, why we believe, it's all in there."

Wrath James White is a professional fighter and writer, two pursuits that blend together to create unrelenting prose. His novels include Teratologist (co-written with Edward Lee), Poisoning Eros (co-written with Monica O-Rourke), and Succulent Prey. "If you have a weak stomach, a closed mind, rigid morals, and Victorian sexual ethics, then avoid my writing like the plague," says Wrath. If, on the other hand, you want hard-hitting fiction where nothing is taboo, you've found the right author.

About Apex Publications
Apex Publications is a small press dedicated to publishing exemplary works of dark science fiction and horror. Owned and operated by Jason B. Sizemore, Apex publishes the critically acclaimed Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest. In 2006, Apex Publishing branched into producing novellas, collections, and anthologies, earning a Bram Stoker Award nomination for the Aegri Somnia anthology in 2007.


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How could you not see this coming? Wrath James White has guest blogged for me, I reviewed his Book of a Thousand Sins and I interviewed him (part I and II)

I already know that I’m going to get letters. You know it’s a bad sign when Wrath drops me a note saying “you may want to have a blog handy about how you can write horror and work in a church.” Luckily, I do.

Of course, I’m in a no lose situation:

Dear Mr. Broaddus, How can you call yourself a Christian and write … that “covenant” scene, to say the least? Sincerely, Pissed off, though well-intentioned, judgmental guy

Now, the simple response could go along the lines of

Dear fellow traveler, Wrath wrote that. In fact, he wrote every objectionable scene in the novella. Did you read Book of a Thousand Sins?!? Sincerely, Perfectly innocent co-writer

For those looking for my usual fare, save me the headache. Save yourself the headache. There are scenes where you can almost picture Wrath behind the keyboard trying to get me fired. Did I mention that I wrote none of those scenes? (Though Apex Publications does seem to draw out my darker, darker side. It should be noted, however, that my story appearing in Apex Digest #12 was written while under the influence of my collaboration with Wrath.)

I may have my church boycott the book.

Ignore Mark Rainey, too:

“ORGY OF SOULS is a gripping tale of two brothers whose lives have taken radically different paths — but those paths intersect via some surprising twists and turns. With raw prose, vividly drawn characters, and a chilling touch of the occult, Broaddus and White draw you in and belt you right in your emotional gut." --Stephen Mark Rainey, author of BLUE DEVIL ISLAND and THE LEBO COVEN.


“Better your blasphemy”?!? Not helping, Mr. Sizemore. I’m REALLY going to get letters.

Also available on Horror Mall.


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A Tale of Two Stories

Two magazines, featuring stories of mine, are available for order:

Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest #12 marks the first time I have made the cover of a magazine (this is like the twin coming out first being declared the older sibling - still, you never forget your first.) My story, “Broken Strand”, mixes religion, horror, and science fiction in a tale of a scientist who believes he can undo the "sin nature" of humanity via gene therapy. Hijinks ensue.

The issue also features new work by Brian Keene, Steve Shrewsbury, Alethea Kontis, Paul Jessup, and Michael West.

Here's a direct link to the issue in the Apex online store.

It's also available across the US and Canada in over 500 stores (namely B&N, Hastings, Chapters, and Joseph-Beth Booksellers) as well as the new Horror-Mall.com. Yes, I do plan on hunting down the issue at my local Barnes and Noble so that I can see my name on a shelf.


Doorways #5 features my story, “Just a Young Man and His Game.” This story takes place in the same universe as "Just an Old Man on a Bench" (first published on the Horrorfind web site back in the day).

Here's a video if you want to see what it looks like. Here's a direct link to the issue in the Doorways Publishing store.

If you want to order, it’s $6.75 + .75 for shipping ($1.50 if you’re outside of the U.S.) or a one year subscription is: (4 ISSUES) $20.00 + $3.15 for shipping ($6.31 if you’re outside of the U.S.)


You can send a check (if in the U.S.) to :

DOORWAYS MAGAZINE
247 N SYCAMORE ST
UNION CITY, OH 45390

Or send paypal payment to: bewisedesign@yahoo.com

Drop me a line and let me know what you think of the stories.


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A Good Year So Far

(aka I'm letting my inbox recover from yesterday's post ...)

Well, 2008 is shaping up to be a serious breakout year for me. The year where I finally feel like I'm no longer just playing a writer on the Internet. My story "Snapping Points" is currently up on the MagusZine site (which also has a new story by Jason Sizemore).



Come March, you will find me in a couple of places. Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest #12 will have my story “Broken Strand” (as well as having stuff by Brian Keene, Steven Shrewsbury, Michael West, and Alethea Kontis – all sorts of Mo*Con alumni).
Doorways #5 will have my story “Just a Young Man and His Games” in it (and I’ll be sharing covers with Bob Freeman)
Mo*Con III will see the debut of at least two projects. The first is the novella co-written with Wrath James White, “Orgy of Souls.” I’ll have a separate blog about this one further down the road, which may double as my resignation letter from Christianity entirely as Wrath seemed determined to get me all kinds of fired.

The second is an anthology from the Indiana Horror Writers. I have two stories in there, “Soul Food” (a reprint of the first story ever published by me) and “Dark Night of the Soul”. They will sit proudly along stories by Bob Freeman ("Born Again"), Michael West ("Trolling"), Sara Larson ("Co-Dependency") and Tracy Jones’ ("The Coven") among others. Bob not only designed the cover but also the book trailer.



Later on this year will see the arrival of a couple of other new projects, some of them, once more, alongside Bob Freeman and Steve Shrewsbury (my story, "The Iron Hut" coming out in the Eldritch Steel anthology), that I'll announce closer to when they are coming out. One way to look at this is that I’m stalking Bob, Michael, and Steve. Another is that it’s nice to have your friends enjoying success alongside you.

Oh, and my story "Rite of Passage" was just accepted by Space and Time Magazine. Like I said, not a bad year so far.


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Why I Haven’t Self-Published

Whenever a writer talks about writing at any length, eventually the topic of whether or not to self-publish comes up. It doesn’t matter how gingerly how one talks about the subject, once it rears its head, it can become fairly divisive. Accusations of being elitist, a shill for the establishment/Old Boys Network; of belittling those who challenge the way things have been done, the comments come quick and furious as people justify their career choices. And that’s what it boils down to – a career decision each writer must make for themselves.


[Continued on Blogging in Black]

Make with the clicky clicky, but excuse me while I head to my bomb shelter to duck the incoming slings.

Edited to add:


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Notepad Worship

At our Ash Wednesday service, He Who Would Be Head Pastor commented on the fact that I always have a notepad and how to him it personified my attempts to join in with the Holy Spirit by participating in the act of creation. I’ve been stuck on this idea ever since.

My notepad has been like my security blanket. Writers write and we never know when a great idea will hit us, so being caught without a pad and pen is like showing up naked to take a final. I have it with me all the time.

-Next to my bed in case I have an interesting dream. -It goes into the bathroom with me, cause, you know, never a wasted moment. -If I go out for the evening, I tear off a couple of sheets and tuck them into a pocket. My notepad—more specifically, what it represents—nurtures me, I nurture it.

My notepad is also my act of worship. It helps me pay attention, participating and interacting with conversation as I process my thoughts (as opposed to me turning off my brain and “looking” like I’m paying attention). He Who Would Be Head Pastor often sees his ideas mulled over in my blog. It’s the same with my other notepad friends.

Similar to the idea of the thinking bloggers meme, I have friends who I hate talking to without my notepad handy. The kind of friends who make you smarter, iron sharpening iron, just by being around them. Where even casual conversation becomes intellectual bloodsport as we challenge one another’s ideas and spark each other’s creativity. You know, those big brain friends who give you ideas for blogs even with just their throwaway lines. That’s one of the reasons I do Mo*Con. (I suspect that it must be at least mildy ego-stroking for someone to whip out a notepad and jot down a thought inspired by you).

Writing is what I do, it’s my gift. So I bring it before God anyway I can. I love working on stories at church, yes, even (especially!) the darker ones. Surrounding myself with reminders of who the ultimate Author is, whose work I join in. I’m working out my spiritual journey as much through my art as through my faith. I believe using your gifts to your fullest—and bringing yourself to Him in worship—is what pleases God.

So even when it doesn’t look like I’m paying attention, I probably am. After all, there’s a good chance this blog was jotted down during a sermon.


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Writing Goals 2008

(a.k.a. the list formerly known as New Year’s Resolutions)

So I’ve been on a bit of a blog sabbatical (I haven’t even been reading blogs, much less writing any) as I have been wrapping up a draft of a new dark fantasy novel. (Okay, sure, I’ve been busy with the holidays, what with Christmas and New Year’s activities). Still, it’s a good time to reflect not only on the previous year’s accomplishments, but set new goals to strive for. (I prefer to set goals rather than make resolutions. Resolutions are cheap promises that I’m prone to breaking at my earliest convenience. Goals are something to work toward.)

Last year’s goals of writing two short stories, a novella, and a novel were handily met. I doubled my short story goal with the stories, two of which have already been sold: “I, Theodora”, “A Young Man and His Games” (Doorways Magazine), “Snapping Points” (MagusZine), “Temple of Regrets”. I finished the novella “Orgy of Souls” with Wrath James White, which we are now shopping around. I finished my novel tentatively titled “The Hope of Breton Court” and am soon to be wrapping up the novel “Black Son Rising” with my collaborator, Steven L. Shrewsbury.

For 2008, I want to challenge myself a little more to continue to capitalize on any career momentum I may be experiencing. I’m not the most disciplined of writers, so without realistic goals, I’d probably sit around and do nothing but blog and play being a writer on the Internet. So I plan to write half a dozen short stories, revise my first novel as well as my most recent one, and then write a new novel. Not included in the writing output are the reviews, columns, and blogs that I write. Nor am I counting the stories I take off the shelf, dust off, and attempt to breathe new life into.

I also want to read more. I only read 14 books last year, not including the amount of material I read for research. My recent track record had been: 2004 (34), 2005 (13), 2006 (7). Of course, it’s the Bram Stoker award season, so I have plenty of books to get caught up on with a few I’m planning to review.

For 2008, I probably ought to get a new message board theme. My sister also serves as one of my board mods, and more specifically, is in charge of board design. So this serves as notice to all prospective editors who may drop by to lurk: every now and then, some repressed memory of childhood/sibling rivalry rears up in her head and she takes it out on my board. The discussions tend to go like this:

Me: You are aware that I have a carefully crafted professional image to maintain.
My Sister: You made me eat catfood when I was 7.

I have no memory of such events, but that’s the only thing I have to explain why my board has continued to morph from that Strawberry Shortcake/Hello Kitty look to my current Saturday morning cartoon theme.

Happy Writing in 2008!


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Big Pimpin’ III aka Life as the Sinister Minister

I’m often asked how I can be a Christian and a horror writer and theory is one thing, but I rarely mention what this looks like practically. What it means this week is that I am busy preparing a non-fiction book proposal solicited by a Christian book publisher while working on a novel that combines street gangs, zombies, and the Arthurian legends.

Anyway, excuse me while I spam you all:

I have been interviewed over at On This Day We Become Legendary.

An older story of mine—as in, "Temptation", one of the first stories I ever wrote—is up on the Fear and Trembling website. It was an early experiment in voice.

This has been a big week for story sales: “Snapping Points” was picked up by MagusZine and will most likely appear in early January on MagusPress.com in the MagusZine section. “A Young Man and His Games” was picked up by Uncle Mort (Mort Castle, a hero of mine) coming out in Doorways Magazine in 2008.

The Hollywood Jesus Reviews 2006 - 2007 edition will be out soon. They’ve chosen several of my reviews for inclusion: 1408, 28 Weeks Later..., Ghost Rider, Lady in the Water, Pan's Labyrinth, Stranger Than Fiction, TMNT, and Two Weeks.

I would write about the Broaddus Family Christmas party, but my wife has already done so, though she failed to mention my turn as one half of the Miami Vice duo.

(FYI, John Hay has made me promise to show some of our Broaddus Christmas Party movies as a part of Mo*Con III. We’ll see if my board moderators rise up to stab me in my sleep before those see the light of day again.)

And it wouldn’t be complete spam without mentioning my friends:

-Lucien Soulban has two releases out now: his Black Library Novel, Desert Raiders and his short story Serenade in the Horrors Beyond 2 anthology.

-Richard Dansky’s book, Firefly Rain, is going to be a Booksense Pick for January.

-Cullen Bunn’s comic, The Damned (which I have reviewed and can highly recommend) has been picked up for Spanish translation.

-Alice Henderson just learned that an anthology she's in, MYSTERY DATE, will be published
in February 2008 by DAW (Penguin).


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We Hate Writers

November 5th, 12,000 film and TV writers walked off their jobs in order to fight for their share from profits from their work. Sure, you might not feel the impact of this strike for a while since studios tried to stockpile movies and TV episodes, but should it go on for even a few months, you surely will. The main issue is over a slice of the profits from when their words are downloaded from the Internet (especially after they got screwed after the advent of money from video). This is the context in which we’re having this conversation.

Writers are taken for granted.

We often talk about the community of writers. We pay forward the opportunities and mentoring that we’ve received along the way, and veterans often encourage newbies along. And while I celebrate any who seriously try to pursue their call to write, don’t expect me to celebrate every new non-paying market that comes along.

A recent discussion on a message board that I frequent started over a new market wanting writers to submit stories to them. Their pay rate: $7 and a copy for stories 8,000 – 12,000 words long; $10 for a novella/20,000 words.

Let me think about it this way: let’s say I take a week, a regular 40 hour work week to write a short story (I write fairly slow, so this probably isn’t far off for me to do a 5,000 word story). This includes the time it takes for me to do my research, outline the story, do an initial draft, re-write the beast at least two times, run it past my first readers, then polish it before sending it off to be cast off by editors. At my day job, my billable rate is something like $50 per hour, yet here I’m asking for 5 cents per word, basically the same rates H.P. Lovecraft was making back in his day. Now, 5 cents per word is considered professional rates by HWA and SFWA, basically the industry standard.

But a new market pops up and I’m supposed to laud their appearance because they “love” the genre. You want to love me? Pay me. I know, I know, who am I? I’m a nobody writer in the greater scheme of things. But if I’ve learned one thing in my struggle toward overnight success it’s that there comes a point when you have to think of yourself as a real writer: if you think of yourself as a professional and act as a professional, you will be thought of as a professional. And professionals wouldn’t submit to such a market (unless they were doing a friend a favor, which I’ve done, or it was for charity, which I’ve also done).

There is no ladder to climb. You don’t start off in small markets and work your way up to bigger ones. You start submitting to the largest, most prestigious, highest paying markets first (Baen’s Universe, Clarkesworld Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Dark Wisdom, Horror Literature Quarterly) and work your way down. When you/your story’s “ready” it will find its place. If I submit a story to a market paying less than 5 cents a word, then there is an obvious trade off of some sort, be it wide distribution (in the case of an Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest) or critical acclaim (Electric Velocipede, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, All Hallows). Or there are editors I simply want to work with (examples not included for fear of appearing to be sucking up).

Otherwise, good luck with your venture. Apparently whatever passed for your business model included paying printers, but why not the folks who actually produce your content? I believe in publishing well/building my resume and there are worse things in the world than not having a story published and putting it in a drawer rather than give it away. But there are still plenty of writer hobbyists who will submit to you.

So, as we settle in for late night shows in reruns, soap operas going dark (sorry Keene), and an overload of reality television shows, think about the folks who put them together. Or read a book.

(Thank God for DVR, because I have nearly 100 hours of stockpiled shows to keep me amused for a while. Otherwise, fight on my brother and sister writers!)


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My Writing Process III: Favorite Stage of Writing

I am in the throes of my favorite stage of writing. I have an idea that has been stuck in my head gestating for a while now, a novella – novel length piece that is finally ready to start dribbling onto the page. While I’m not officially doing NaNoWriMo, the timing is fortuitous so that I can see if I really could write a novel in a month if the stars aligned right (got all of my research done, characters sketched, and something approaching an outline in place).

Which brings me to my favorite part of my writing process: the generating ideas and descriptions. It’s the phase when I am doing massive amounts of reading and researching, jotting down snippets of dialogue as the various characters begin to speak to me, and I begin thinking through the possible plotlines that might eventually form the outline. Sometime after I’m done writing it, I like to go back to see how closely I stuck to my original outline.

The next phase, which I am soon entering, the writing becomes about finding the voice and the POV, connecting the plot dots, fleshing out scenes, and seeing where the characters take me. That’s when the superstitions kick in. I feel like i'm sketching the story in the first draft rather than writing. The first go through, especially of longer works, is very rough because i have to know where the story is going before I can focus on the writing. Once I do, then I can "write" it. Until then, I have to resist the temptation to start revising chapters I've completed and focus on continuing to push through the draft (because I don't want to lose momentum).

I also won’t talk about my idea too much, not for worry about people stealing it (because, let’s face it, even if I laid out the entire still-half thought through idea, no one reading this blog will come up with what I’ll eventually write). It’s more about not losing steam for the idea. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with daily word counts, though my goal is 1500 – 2000 words a day. Besides, I have so many other things to bore you about (read: I’ll still find time to blog).


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Big Pimpin' II

Fresh on the heels of me being the featured writer over on Apex Online, my story, "The Ave", is now up over on Horror Literature Quarterly. Subscriptions are free, so you have no excuses. (Click here to download.)

By way of a links salad, here are some recent blogs that have made me happy:

Heresies - I doled out blog homework assignments and my friend Rob Rolfingsmeyer has some really great thoughts on this topic (and his Listening to the Silence and his Spiritual Seasons)

The Dreaded "S" Word - my board moderator guest blogged for our church's blog site

Why Did Jesus Go to Parties? - I recently found a former mentor of mine online and I see that we haven't exactly drifted apart.

Miss Nikki and Li'l Mo - Alethea Kontis got our gift. Yay!

Now to return to my stewing over not being able to make it to World Fantasy this year.

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Horror Premises: White People are You Kidding Me?

So the other day, Chesya and I got in an argument (How many blogs need to begin "So me and Chesya got in an argument"?). As is common among writers, we spend a lot of time reading each other’s manuscripts before they’re sent them out (I’ve mentioned a couple of my own first readers). Well, this friend of ours had a novel whose premise we had issue with. A single guy inherits a house from someone, though he has no idea who. He enters the 100+ year old house and, after looking around, a door materializes in front of him. He then goes through it.

He goes through it.

Our issue was a matter of believability. Who would actually go through that door? It’s the same sort of question we have to ask ourselves as writers: what would characters believably do in a given situation. But let me tell you, I just ain’t that curious (I know what you’re asking, if we’re in agreement, how was there an argument? Well, that’s just me and Chesya). She began an informal survey of her friends and family. A disturbing pattern began to emerge.
Her white friends would go through the door and her black friends/family would not.

I found that hard to believe. So I decided to do my own part in researching this racial divide. To my shock and horror, I found similar results. My family, well, we’re selling the house and pocketing the money. I asked my white co-worker ("Of course you go through it"). I called some white friends of mine. To a person, they were going through the door. Flabbergasted (and it’s not often a brotha gets flabbergasted), I turned to my white people voices of reason. First, my message board moderator, Lauren David:

Lauren: I’m torn.
Me: I’m one of your best friends, right?
Lauren: Right.
Me: My sister is one of your dearest friends, right?
Lauren: Right.
Me: Has NONE of this rubbed off on you?
Lauren: I said I’m torn.

Second, I then ask my wife of seven plus years. Seven plus years of living with black folk. She comes back with "you at least have to open it." (For the record, she spent the rest of the evening trying to justify it. "If you’re trying to sell the place, you don’t want the door just popping up." "It’s okay, honey, cling to your whiteness. It’s your cultural imperative.")

White people, are you kidding me?

The other day I was out with some volunteers from Outreach, Inc. looking to help some homeless teenagers. At one point, they start running. So I ran, passed them, then asked what they were running for. They said the hill we were walking down got muddy so they tried to get through it quickly. They asked why I ran. I said "black reflex": folks start running, I run and ask questions later. You can believe we didn’t do a Wrong Turn 2 and decide to split up (much less the only black guy in the party deciding to go investigate any strange sounds all by himself).
I even got to wondering how soon would some horror movies end if it had an all black cast:

-What’s that dude in the hockey mask doing? Am I the only person simply not that curious? How many black folks do you see at a hockey game? Credits start rolling.

-The Haunting of Hill House? I ain’t gonna lie: noisy houses, doors that don’t shut right, plumbing don’t work, and the super can’t be found? Someone tweaks and then freaks out? That’s just a day in the life. Credits start rolling.

-I just buried my cat in this hidden graveyard and it came back to life. For sale sign goes up and the credits start rolling.

White people are you kidding me?

How did you ever end up colonizing the world? Will someone explain this to me? I guess it pays to know your audience. Consider this the flip side to the writing the other dilemma.

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Big Pimpin

Just a reminder, this month I am the featured writer on Apex Online. You not only get an interview of me, but also a free story ("In the Shadows of Meido" – originally published in IDW Publications comic book line).

Plus , go to my web site and sign up for my newsletter. I’ll be announcing some giveaways and other such splendidness soon.

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Intellectual Property

I’m eventually going to die.

Nothing exactly startling or revelatory, however, it is a reality we all must face. Actually, I’ve come to find out that it’s a fairly common fear among writers that once they sign a book deal or are about to see their first work in print, they become convinced that they won’t live to see their work in print.

Once we got all of the financial matters taken care of, that left what to do with my un/published work and started me thinking about what would happen to my work once I’m gone.

Continued on Blogging in Black.


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Diversity in Horror

So with the upcoming release of Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III, again the issue of what purpose does an anthology like this serve comes up. Granted, I wrote once about what the genre could learn from Dark Dreams, and that was before I was in the series. Now the issue comes up again as discussions in the genre blogosphere has turned to the topic of diversity within speculative fiction. Tobias Buckell, Angry Black Woman (aka K Tempest Bradford), Jay Lake, and Nick Mamatas have all weighed in already, and each of their blog entries is worth checking out - so what’s there left to add?


(You’ll have to go to Blogging in Black to find out)

In other column news, a couple of Intake columns from me: What is the Gospel Message? and Chuck E. Cheese Church.


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The Art of Selling Out

Today I recommend going and reading all of my fellow horror writer’s, Wrath James White, blog, Selling Watermelon: Ode to Marquis Styles. Don’t get me wrong, Marquis Styles has not seen print yet, but Marquis is submitting urban romance projects. Marquis may also gain a sister, to be named later, who will be writing paranormal romances.

Why?

(... Continued on Blogging in Black - The Art of Selling Out)


Also, my latest Intake column, No time to reflect


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A Writer’s Dark Night of the Soul

(AKA What to do when your Muse abandons you)

The writer’s life is an up and down struggle, especially for the aspiring writer who is on the verge of breaking through to having their career choice validated (read: publishing success). Unfortunately, writers have their own brand of a “dark night of the soul”. See if any of this sounds familiar:

Continued on Blogging in Black.


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To Pen Name or Not to Pen Name

My friend, Simon Wood, recently wrote over on Murderati about him “splitting” his writing career by starting to write under a pen name. That got me thinking about whether or not I or any author should choose pen names and when they should do that...

Continued on Blogging in Black: "To Pen Name or Not to Pen Name."


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American Idol: the Editor’s Dilemma

If the American Idol auditions are like writers submitting their stories to a slush pile, then that would make the judges the equivalent of editors. I want the record to reflect that I want all of my editors to be as drunk as Paula Abdul when reading my stories (you hear that Sizemore?!? You too, Puglisi!). Let me tell you, if I had to read the equivalent of these auditions as slush, I’d be drinking, too. Heavily.

What kills me is how frivolously some people take their opportunities, though I try to take the American Idol auditions with a grain of salt since, after all, they are mostly teenagers. Here you have judges dressed like normal people and you have people showing up in costume in the name of standing out. If we want to talk about being professional, this is the same as sending in your manuscript on colored paper or sticking glitter in the envelope.

Here’s the thing, editors have a job to do. Just as the Simon Cowell et. al. are searching for the most marketable talent, editors are trying to find stories they want to publish. They have magazines, anthologies, and web space to fill and want to find the best stories to do so. They especially want to be the ones to break new talent. They aren’t the enemy and aren’t out to get you. Realize that you are not the exception: read the guidelines and submit your best work. Sure, you might get a rejection letter from them, but if you’re lucky, you will get feedback from them also. Feedback aimed at why your story didn’t work for them and how you can make your story better.

So then how do we as artists respond to our judges, critics, or editors having to reject us? Too many are quick to respond with “they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re a frustrated [insert vocation of choice]”. Worse, they put that response in print and hit the send button (much less those who do it on camera on American Idol), fearless as to how many bridges they may burn, due to their lack of professionalism, in the process. We have to remember, it is only that editor’s opinion that matters ... but only for that market. (And it’s funny how we respect/crave their opinion before the audition/submission, but their opinion holds no water should you flop). To quote Nick Mamatas from a Shocklines discussion:

I don't think musicians or fine artists or automotive manufacturers or chefs should respond to their critics either, except insofar as defamation may be at issue (e.g., a review claiming that a safe car is unsafe). The reasons are simple:

1. It doesn't matter. What can one say? "No, my book is scary! My flavor pairing were appropriate! My car does make your penis feel larger!" There will be no persuasion, so one may as well save one's energy.

2.The public has a right of response and responses will always be varied. There's no substance to negative complaints about the response because of this diversity of response.

Now, reviews can be poorly written, and God knows that in genre fiction they frequently are, and the public has a right of response there too. But when the only complaints one can make is about reviews of one's own work, it becomes transparently obvious that one is just whining and cares nothing about reviewing itself as an art or craft. A writer can respond to reviews as a reader of reviews, and talk about reviews generally, but shouldn't complain about his reviews.

If you have to respond, and I mean, if the voices in your head won’t leave you alone until you say something to your reviewer, at least keep it to e-mail (actually, it’d be best if you wrote that e-mail, printed it out, and put it in your trash can). What you really don’t want to do is go to message boards griping about your review. You will only look like a cry-baby (and you can probably consider that reviewer site dead to you).

American Idol" judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul say they're no crueler than usual this year, and that people who audition should know what they're going to get.

I imagine that editors reading a slush pile probably do sound a lot like Simon. Thank God I’m not actually at ground zero when they are reading my stories. All I have to put up with is the occasional self-addressed stamped envelope with a rejection letter in it. (And I know how to take rejections, even from friends.) At their first stop, the judges picked 17 people to move on to the next round out of 10,000 applicants. That’s a worse average than most slush piles (where, at the risk of antagonizing yet another editor before I submit to them), where it’s close to 1 story in 100 moving up the editorial ladder. Our job as writers is to be that 1 in 100.


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American Idol: the Writer’s Dilemma

So because we run Creative Space on Tuesday nights, it fell on our family to record the season premiere of American Idol so that some of the participants would be able to still feed their addiction. We can sacrifice many things in the name of ministry, but not American Idol. My wife and my sister, who love the show (and, frankly, far too much reality television) would never let me hear the end of it.

Welcome to my corner of hell.

Anyway, suffering through another season of A.I., I was once again struck by the similarities between the whole audition process and submitting a story for publication. In fact, I concluded that watching the auditions is the equivalent to reading a slush pile.

This season, like in seasons past, we were baffled by the amount of people who don’t recognize their own lack of talent. Granted, they might be tone deaf, but you would think that they would have friends or family who weren’t. How do people who claim to like you not inform you that you are the worse thing to happen to, well, sound? It could be chalked up to an inflated sense of self (the end result of going through life with people coddling each other’s self-esteem), it just seemed interesting that (plants aside), the worse the singer, the more adamant they are that they are good. Or it could be as simple as people hearing what they want to hear. I ran across an interesting study from Cornell.

... according to his research, most incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent. On the contrary. People who do things badly, Dunning has found in studies conducted with a graduate student, Justin Kruger, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well.

This deficiency in ``self-monitoring skills,'' the researchers said, helps explain the tendency of the humor-impaired to persist in telling jokes that are not funny, of day traders to repeatedly jump into the market -- and repeatedly lose out -- and of the politically clueless to continue holding forth at dinner parties on the fine points of campaign strategy.

Part of screwing together the easy courage to stand in an audition line (or write and submit a story for publication) stems from the idea, spoken or not, that anyone can do it. Anyone can sing. Anyone can write. Not everyone can do so well (contrary to the evidence proffered by the number of crap CDs and books churned out each year). I don’t know what the writer’s equivalent to tone deafness would be. Maybe believing that everything you write is gold. Maybe it’s the inability to take constructive criticism.

Whenever a contestant begins by naming their credentials, essentially the same as a writer’s submission cover letter, and they can only list things like “I’ve had ten years of training” or “I’ve been doing (singing in this case) all of their life”, all I hear is the writing career equivalent: “I’ve been giving away my stories on the Internet”, “I’ve paid a company to publish my story”. All the lies we’ve bought into in the name of garnering exposure.

Interestingly enough, the last stage in the process is the part that counts the most: the actual product music itself. All the gimics, persona, and costumes in the world aren’t going to help you if in the final analysis, you have little to no discernible talent. Artists of all stripes need to find their own, distinct voice. Not picking up an affectation or doing a pale imitation of another artist. It has to be more than karaoke (the writing equivalent might be fanfic).

If nothing else, respecting the audition process should teach all aspiring artists to make the most of opportunities when they come up, be they auditions, pitch sessions, or new markets. Take them seriously and professionally. Be yourself, be confident, but let your work speak for itself, because in the end, it does.


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All Critics Aren’t Created Evil*

There’s been a lot of chatter on the old blogosphere about what does a writer does and does not owe a reader, which has me thinking about the ownership of writing; this strange connection between writer and reader. Accepting what they say about what the writer owes the reader, I’m left wondering what does the reader owe the writer?

Let’s face it, for many writers, their relationship with their readers ends with the reader plunking down the money (or clicking on their blog) for the writer’s product. On the one hand, I wrote it, it is what it is, I don’t care what you think. (That’s my hang up: I tend to react the same to fans as well as critics when it comes to discussing my work. If I “buy” the praise, I have to “buy” the criticism. I’m working on it.) On the other hand, all critics don’t have to be heard.

"He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow." - George Eliot

I have a theory that there is a sort of “reader’s hubris” - that in this day an age, it’s a lot easier for readers to directly let the writer know what they think. Like sports fans who feel entitled to sometimes behave in an out of control manner because they have paid their money, readers sometimes think that their opinion is valid (which it is), that their opinions are thought provoking or worthy of consideration (which is questionable), and that the writer should hear them (which many writers love to hear from their readers, good or bad. I’m working on it. Brian Keene keeps telling me to respect my readers, especially as an up-and-coming writer, and not call them nobs, even when they’re nobs. I can however call him, and HE can call them nobs.)

You write, you expect (and want) to be reviewed. Complaining about reviewers is like actors complaining about the paparazzi: they all need them to get noticed (and to validate them being worthy of being photographed). Hopefully you can tell which critics have opinions worth paying attention to by the quality and thoughtfulness of their criticisms and weight them appropriately. The rest you learn to dismiss. It’s easy for people to type “you’re an idiot” in an e-mail and hit enter with all of the bravery that the Internet and a keyboard affords them.

"Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact." - George Eliot

[NOTE: this quote is used with a certain amount of irony, considering my blogs]

Though, you have to keep in mind that being criticized is part of the game when you put yourself out there. Here’s my fear, if you haven’t learned when to not listen to your critics: that you start writing for your critics. Or worse, not write at all. It’s why so many writers finish things, then leave them in their desk drawers. The story belongs to the reader. It’s like parenting: you birth the child, raise it (through re-writes), prepare it to make it on its own (accepted for publication), and then send it out into the world (to be read). The simple fact of the matter is that some people just have to tell you what they think. Why do I have to hear it? Because, it completes the cycle, fulfills the relationship between writer and reader. Though, I’ve been told that the reason to listen to the praise is to help carry you through the barrage of criticism that will come your way.

Take this for what it’s worth. I don’t care either way. But I’m working on it.


*Um, actual, that was a bit of a Freudian slip of a typo that I let stand. I meant to type that all critics aren’t created equal.


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