The making of a horror novelist.
Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard: word counts, first drafts, second drafts, and the occasional serendipitous sentence.
For Nanowrimo 2020, my goal was to write four short stories, edit them, and submit them to paying markets. I ended up deleting a story (because it was plain silly), but three out of four ain’t bad. One of the Nano stories I wrote is about slugs, a mom/scientist who knows all about mollusks, and … Continue reading Slug Story Accepted, Happy Dance!
Word counts . . . as in why NOT do a blog post listing daily writing progress? I’m chugging along as I write my first horror novella of 2021, making some progress. Here are my word counts for the last 14 days. Monday, February 1: 1068 words and an hour of outline work. Tuesday, February … Continue reading Daily Word Counts, Chugging Along
How long will you keep writing? Can you still write when you’re old, I mean really old, like 90 or 100? Some systems in the brain decline with age, and some improve with age, particularly those systems that we use as writers. I’m reading a fascinating book (linked below) about the elderly brain written by … Continue reading The Nonagenarian Novelist
Last year and in the first couple of weeks of 2021 I received encouraging editorial feedback on short fiction (short stories and one novelette). But zero feedback on my haunted house novel. Perhaps, thinks me, I need a bridge between short fiction and novels, something to push my storytelling skills to longer lengths. Hm, whatever … Continue reading Reaching for the Stars, My First Half of 2021 Writing Goals
It’s a new anthology, The Vampire Connoisseur, and I'M IN IT! OMGosh, I’m a published author! (Squeal!) I’ve read all 16 vampire stories. They’re all good, fun, enjoyable, and not your typical vampire tales. Yes, I have some faves: “The Red Angel” by Lisa Hario because it’s kinda sweet, but it’s still a horror story.“Poem … Continue reading New Anthology: The Vampire Connoisseur
Here’s a snippet from my 2020 NaNoWriMo project. In this (rough draft!) scene, a mom is watching her teenage daughter sleep. Mom gets the creepy mom of the year award for sure. Your bedroom door is open a crack the way you like it. You’ve strung last year’s Christmas lights across your headboard, and I … Continue reading 2020 Nano Snippet
