Tommy B Smith talks
FIVE THINGS LEARNED ABOUT WRITING
I met Tommy at IMAGINARIUM 2015, stopped by his table, said hello. I'd seen and heard his name before, and it was good putting a name to a face. He is a writer of Horror, and from what I'm seeing from his list of material...a damn good and creepy writer of Horror.
Here he talks about the craft of writing and being an author.
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1. Being an effective author is far more than simply writing a book. It is more than polishing a book to a sharp shine or signing a contract with a publisher. It is more than merely making others aware that your book exists. All of these steps are important, but the process is not this simple unless you are incredibly lucky. It is work, and that work can be time-consuming. As such, be prepared.
2. Even in doing what we do best, authors—people—possess strengths and weaknesses. Parts of my journey as an author have brought a better understanding of these, for my own case, and methods of addressing them.
3. The lenses through which a work’s author and its reader perceive can be quite different. It is important to distinguish constructive criticism from destructive criticism. Beware of misleading advice, but be aware that, when utilized properly, constructive criticism can be an author’s valuable tool.
4. Life isn’t apt to be fair, nor is every person, company, or organization within the world of writing, editing, and publishing. Be aware of who you are dealing with, and read the fine print.
5. I write dark fiction. For some time, I had no classification for what I wrote. Some of it was horror, but not all of it. I also wrote tales of fantasy, one science fiction story, and some dark borderline-literary stories. “Dark fiction” seems the most accurate description of what I do in general.
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About the Author
Tommy B. Smith is a writer of dark fiction and the author of Poisonous and Pieces of Chaos. His work has appeared in numerous publications over the years to include Every Day Fiction, Night to Dawn, Black Petals, Blood Moon Rising, and a variety of other magazines and anthologies. He has previously worked with Morpheus Tales as editor of the magazine's Dark Sorcery and Urban Horror special issues. His presence infests Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he resides with his wife and cats. More information can be found on his website at http://www.tommybsmith.com
Social Media Links:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/penofchaosGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5765423.Tommy_B_Smith
His work
Following the Quake of ’79, a terrible force came to the city of St. Charles. This was the Living Poison. In Lilac Chambers, it may have found the perfect host. As she finds herself changing, becoming increasingly dangerous to everyone around her, it becomes apparent that her state of being is no accident of nature. She is becoming a prime vehicle for the Living Poison’s destructive swath through the streets of St. Charles. Detective Brandt McCullough has seen the Living Poison’s brutality. John Sutterfield, ringmaster of Sutterfield’s Circus of the Fantastic, is discovering its malignancy festering within the very circus he founded. These two are the only ones who might stand in the way of a force greater than anything they have ever known, one which threatens to wash the streets in red and swallow the city into chaos, but the stakes may be higher than either of them can imagine. St. Charles—indeed, the world—may tremble.
Link to Poisonous on Amazon
This book is a collision of ink and paper and an awakening of possibilities. Captured within are fragments of glass, metal, bone, ice, dreams, visions, and lives. Inside its pages, you will read of a lost village and the burning affliction of its people. You will share in an engineer’s unveiling of a hidden conspiracy. You will visit with a child confined to a tiny rectangular world on the brink of dissolution, and you will follow a girl on her trek from a home of crime and poverty across barren fields of ice to where an unspeakable force dwells. These are but a few of the works you will find among this collection of fourteen tales which blends the cosmic, the psychological, the human, and the inhuman in bringing together the essential dark fiction from author Tommy B. Smith’s pen of chaos.
Link to Pieces of Chaos on Amazon
What some people are saying about Smith's work
"His prose is tight and drives the story so the reader keeps flipping the pages."
"...features great writing, edge of your seat drama and the kind of gothic horror you can really sink your teeth into. A huge adrenaline rush for serious horror junkies!"
"...his stories are delightfully twisted, with sharp prose and unexpected turns..."
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