New Sun Rising, paperback launch

 The time has finally arrived, this amazing charity anthology containing short stories (including one of mine ;-), poetry and artwork is now available in print. I love holding a book in my hands and turning real pages! Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/New-Sun-Rising-Stories-Japan/dp/0987138316/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353568874&sr=1-2&keywords=new+sun+rising+stories+for+japan

In order to gain maximum exposure, we're asking all those interested to purchase the book at Amazon.com on  Saturday, November 24th. This will create a "chart rush" that will push the book to the top of the Amazon lists and cause more people to see it. Of course, it can be purchased at any time. Every cent, excluding Amazon's small fee, goes to the Japanese Red Cross. Read more about the project and the chart rush here: http://storiesforjapan.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-sun-rising-paperback-launch.html

View the book trailer below:

Spiders

Read my story "The Rules of Magic" in this creepy crawly anthology. Both e-book and paperback editions are available.

Taggers: a review

Taggers by Miles Brandt has within its pages a lot to admire. There are a couple twists that actually made me gasp, one near the beginning that sets the entire novel in motion, and one at the end. I can often see twists coming from a long way off, but this one, the one at the end, completely blindsided me. I think because there's so much that kept my mind fully engaged along the way, I never had time to consider how it would all end. It's packed with spiritual and life philosophy, interesting characters and a very engaging love story.

One of the things I admire most about this book is the way it's written. Using the tools of his trade, right down to paragraph and sentence structure, word choice and tense, Mr. Brandt manages to portray the mental state of his characters, who by the way are escaped psychiatric patients.

I also admire the author's willingness, his fearlessness, to go to uncomfortable places and show us a world none of us would ever want to visit outside fiction. He does so with great honesty and skill, making the tough moments bearable by keeping it real and giving readers a glimpse into broken minds.

A worthy book, indeed.

Visit the kickstarter for Taggers HERE.

Now Available! New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan

The kindle edition of the long awaited New Sun Rising is now available. It's been a little over a year since the earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan, but they still need a ton of help. All profits from this anthology, filled with artwork, photography, poetry and stories, will go the the Japanese Red Cross. Please support this cause and help spread the word. Purchase it at Amazon.com

New Sun Rising: stories for Japan book trailer

The New Sun Rising: stories for Japan now has a book trailer! I'm so honored to be part of this. My story "Moon Kisses" will actually be helping people. Check out the contributors and sample some of their work on the blog: http://storiesforjapan.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/huge-thank-you-to-lisa-scullard-of.html

The book trailer was created by Lisa Scullard of akaVoodooSpice. Even the song was made just for this project, gifted to us by Daniel Christian.

Infodumphobia

I read a lot of unpublished manuscripts. It's something I began doing so other writers would read my in-progress works in return. Over the years, I've grown to love reading stories that aren't available to the general public, some of them quite brilliant, and to give my opinions about how to make the pieces stronger or more accessible. I've learned a lot about my craft this way, as well as from other writers' opinions about my work. I've found some very talented friends in the process.

I've also found a lot of writers who seem to have a literal phobia of the dreaded INFO DUMP. Dun da daaa. It's late, I'm thinking in musical terms as my mind heads toward dreams. I'm getting off track... Okay, right. So these info dump phobes often write about something unique to their story, something that  exists nowhere else in the known universe except their imagined tale, which I applaud very loudly and enthusiastically. The problem arises when they are so afraid to create an info dump that they fail to describe these oddities at all. They mention them, but don't explain what they are. It leaves readers lost.

I'm not endorsing info dumping by any means. It's a writer's job to find creative ways to relay information without resorting to clunky paragraphs that read like dull lists, but, especially in certain cases, the information has to be in there somewhere.  One excellent way to get information across is dialogue. Throw in a character who's as unfamiliar with the oddity as readers and have it explained to him. Or describe how it works through action. Show it at work. And, honestly, sometimes a brief paragraph that simply explains what the thing is works best  and is least intrusive.

Three new stories

Three new anthologies just came out that include my stories:

The first is "I'll Never Go Away" published by Rainstorm Press. My story "Call Me Crazy" is in this one. The e-book version is available on amazon, and there will be a print version available in a few months.

My flash fiction story "High Hopes Deli" is out in "Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction Collection 2. Published by Wicked East Press.

And one of my very early works, "Hard Port" was accepted for "Deals with the Devil" published by Static Movement. Now available in paperback.

Land of the Rising Sun

One year ago today, calamity struck Japan. The results of that massive earthquake and tsunami are far from resolved. "New Sun Rising, Stories for Japan" wants to help. Set for release this September, it is a book compiled of short stories, poetry and artwork. All profits will go to help rebuild the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. 

I'm so honored to be part of this project. My story, "Moon Kisses" will be among all the wonderful talents. 

 

 

Have a Heart for Horror Cookbook

Check out my Psychotic Raspberry Brownies and Crazy Kale Chips in this cookbook. All proceeds go to Project Get Safe.  Buy the color copy here. A cheaper, black and white edition will be released in a few months.

Write to know

Write what you know. It's one of the most repeated tips on writing out there; but is it good advice?

In one sense, I'd say yes, especially if you know about something, or have a unique perspective into something, that no one else does. While it's true that writing about things you know saves you a lot of research and time, I say write TO know. Write what you know, but by all means, don't stop there.

I've learned all kinds of things from my stories. I've had to learn about spiders and goth culture and color therapy and gang stalking among other things. How sad if I only wrote about the what I've already learned in my life. Writing should stretch our knowledge and maybe even change our minds about certain things.

It's about more than just the world around us, though. It's about exploring ourselves and humanity. And the beautiful thing is, no matter how much we learn in the process of writing a story, there's always more waiting to be absorbed.

Write what you know, but also write to know.

Clear your mind

I recently did a guest blog for author Dixon Rice. It's about ways to access our right brain creativity. Check it out. Wredheaded Writer

Mood writing

I've been on a writing binge lately. I'm currently working on three short stories, two novels and a novella. I'm loving the process and the outcome. Amidst all this writing, I've noticed something that hadn't really struck me before. It's how my moods affect my writing.

This seems like an obvious concept, but I've never noticed it until now, not on this level. It goes something like this: I'll be in the groove of a story, it's coming into me like running water and I'm drinking it in and writing it out and wham! A distraction. I have a four-year-old, therefore, I have a lot of distractions.

So I have to set my story aside and go about my other life, the part that doesn't involve writing. Then when I get back to my story, it's not exactly hard to get back into, but it feels different somehow, like I'm working on a similar yet different story. I'm just having different feelings about it. I'm still enjoying the characters, the plot, the everything, but I'm pretty sure if I'd let the entire thing flow out at once, I would've described things differently, or even taken the story in a completely different direction.

It's fascinating to me that my stories are made up of my moods. They're totally dependent on when I write them, if I can get them down in one go or have to set them aside.

I'm not talking about good or bad moods here, just general head space. I'm realizing, through my writing, that it I'm changing slightly and constantly throughout the day and my writing is affected by it.

This realization isn't good or bad. Sometimes a story can benefit from a new angle, and sometimes the original feeling of it can be lost completely and it can suffer. I've come up for a solution for the latter. Music.

You know how when you listen to a song you haven't heard for a long time, it takes you right back to who you were when you listened to it all the time. You re-experience the same feelings and remember how you felt about life during that time. By choosing certain music to listen to while writing, a specific song for a specific story, one that I haven't listened to much in any other context, I can use it to take me right back to the same head space every time I work on that story.

I've always preferred quietude while I write, until I figured out this mood writing theory.  I've heard other writers talk about listening to music while they write and assumed it was for setting the mood of the story itself, but maybe they're setting the mood of their minds.

Back on the blogline

Blog? Oh, that's right. I do have a blog. Despite my lack of attention to it, I haven't forgotten about it. I've just been busy with other things, like family, writing short stories and plotting novels.

I don't make a habit of celebrating the *new year. I mean, after all, it's just a continuation of the last year, more days strung onto the eternal necklace of time. But it does seem like a good place to, say, bring my blog back to life.

I'll begin resuscitation by posting my latest story acceptance. It came on New Years day, so I'm counting it as lucky. My story "Eyes Like Mine" will appear in Witches Brew, an anthology published by Wicked East Press.

Stories include:

The Dolls Of Malika Hall.....Aubrie Dionne
Ashes To Ashes.....Ryan Spier
Take Two Sips Of Witch's Brew.....John H. Dromey
Dining With The Dead.....Pat Lewis Bussard
Scalp Lock Of Hair.....Stephanie L. Morrell
The Legend Of Nodding Hill.....Jeffrey Hale
The Witches Of Thorcrust Wood.....Julie Reece
The Old Name Of The Stars And The Seventeen Words For Wind.....Clinton A. Harris
The Best Of Taste.....Edward Ahern
The Wichita Tea Party.....Mark Taylor (Novella)
By Royal Command.....Jay Raven
Eyes Like Mine.....Heidi Mannan
The Gingerbread House.....Karen Over
Sarah Clark.....Betsy Phillips
The Bane's Punishment.....S.L. Dilsuk
Destroyer Of Men.....Lisa Farrell


*A bit of New Years trivia: The World Book Encyclopedia states that "The Roman ruler Julius Caesar established January 1 as New Year's Day in 46 B.C. The Romans dedicated this day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings. The month of January was named after Janus, who had two faces-one looking forward and the other looking backward."