CL WERNER ON WRITING: An Interview

I met C.L. Werner, in the virtual world, while writing for FLASHING SWORDS EZINE wa-ay back in, eegad, 2006-ish. (When Howard A Jones was editor so...a while ago.) I had read some of his shorter works for Black Library, which led to picking up some of his novel-length works, the first being the Matthias Thulmann: WITCH HUNTER omnibus. Once I read that, I was hooked.

So without rambling like a fanboy, here is Mr. C.L. Werner...

Oh, and his most recent work is the image above: LORD OF UNDEATH

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CREATIVES HELP BOARD: When did you first realize that HEY, THIS WRITING THING. CREATING FANTASTIC TALES. WELL...IT KIND OF ROCKS!

CL WERNER: The first piece of writing I can recall working on was in elementary school. I did a Sherlock Holmes story that ran over fifty pages of loose leaf. So I guess that would be the first thing I wrote. The 'bug' as it were didn't really hit me until I was finishing up high school. I tried my hand at horror short stories, submitting to any magazine I'd stumble on. Nothing landed and over the course of the next ten years the only things I placed were in small press magazines like Eldritch Tales and Cthulhu Codex. Not until I had a piece accepted into Black Library's Inferno! Magazine did I really get that sense of finally creating something that would have a wider reach.

CHB: What was your very first published piece?

CLW: My first published work was a scenario called 'The Old Dark House' for the Call of Cthulhu RPG which was published by Pagan Publishing in Alone on Halloween. That was in 1991. I didn't have another paying published piece until 1999 with 'A Choice of Hatreds' in Inferno! #22. That was the first piece of fiction that I was paid for writing.

CHB: There may be probably many obvious answers, but compared to that first piece, how has your writing, writing skill, writing focus changed?

CLW: I think any writer will improve as they continue to tell stories. The more you read, watch, experience – all of that will inform new ideas and characters. Any book or movie can teach you new things about style and pacing, tone and direction. What works to sustain a mood or what makes for an engaging character. To be certain, you can also learn a great deal about what doesn't work from these things too. A badly written book can be even more instructive than a well-crafted masterpiece, highlighting things to avoid and some of the pitfalls that can sabotage a narrative.

Over the years, I think that the biggest thing which has changed in my writing is an appreciation for different perspectives. To be certain there are rare instances of a character who is unabashedly evil, but for the most part everyone believes themselves to be justified in what they are doing. A thief rationalizes his robberies, a tyrant has a defined rationale for his manifold oppressions, a tyranid has – well – the expansion of the species. Each character, no matter how despicable, is something I try to approach as an individual, to make them more than just a one-note simulacrum of villainy. It makes the contrast all the more vivid and unsettling when a murderer has all these fine qualities yet at the end of the day is still the perpetrator of heinous crimes. And by the same token, it is equally disarming when the noble hero is endowed with some less than sterling attributes.

CHB: What is your writing routine? Tons of coffee? A full nights sleep then hit the keyboards?

CLW: Much of my writing is done at night, when it is quiet outside and the air is a bit cooler. The dark, I suppose, lends itself to some of the grim things I write about. Sometimes I'll have marathons where I write for nine and ten hours at a stretch. Other times it is difficult to stay at it for two in one sitting. The dreaded curse of writer's block can sometimes be mitigated by jumping ahead in the narrative and coming back to the problem spot, which is usually best approached after stepping away for a little while. I find if I try to jump without that break it causes a sense of disorientation – a befuddlement so far as the pacing of the piece goes. I'm always very aware of pacing and try to ensure scenes are neither too ponderous or too abrupt (unless of course that is the intended effect).

On the matter of coffee, I'll likely be branded a heretic but I can't stand the stuff. Even the smell of coffee disturbs me. In hot weather I resort to energy drinks and in cold weather it is lots of tea.

CHB: Are you a plotter or a pantster? (I hate that latter word for folks who loosing plot and fly by the seat of their pants, but, meh, guess it fits.)

CLW: Detailed outlines are something I always try to work from. As mentioned above, I find that having a map of where the story is going will allow me to jump ahead of any problem spot I encounter. When I start a new chapter, I'll go to the outline and break down each individual scene and then lay them out in sequence within the chapter. Then, as I write, I can see at a quick glance how much material is yet to go. I can judge the pacing more closely, so if a scene with a dragon eating goats runs into a thousand words I can then evaluate how much more story I'm trying to fit into the chapter. Except when I'm going for a particular effect, I try to keep chapters between 5,000 and 6,000 words, which I feel is the ideal size for a reader to tackle over their lunch break, riding the train home from work, or some other situation where their time is restricted. If I find that there's a bit more story than I still have room for in the chapter, I'll evaluate if a scene should be moved into the subsequent or preceding chapter. Working like this, I've come to attack a novel in blocks of three chapters at a time – which is fine early on but becomes a problem if your deadline is in arrears.

CHB: What is the best way to market one's written work, in your opinion.

CLW: To be honest, I'm not certain what the best way to market one's work is. There are so many options out there these days. The scope of anthologies and magazines to submit short stories to is much broader than it was in the days before the internet. There are a great many small and mid-range publishers out there that either have open submission windows or will have 'open calls' at set periods of the year. This includes some of the tie-in publishers as well, so if a writer is an enthusiast of a particular game or film series or what have you, then it might not be remiss to keep one ear to the ground.

Online retailers have made self-publishing a much more feasible enterprise for those of us without hefty inheritances to squander or wealthy relations to exploit. The pitfall of this route is that the onerous of generating buzz and advertising the book falls on the author, and not all of us are so skilled at marketeering as we are at composing. Beyond the time involved writing the book, there's usually some manner of fee for listing the volume with the retailer.

One thing that I was always advised against, and which I will pass along, is to be very wary of any business that wants you to pay them to publish your book. This is different from services that offer editing and formatting – in this instance we're talking about businesses that promise to do everything but write it. There's a reason that so-called 'vanity presses' have a bad reputation as they can be predatory and promise far more than they deliver. Approach anybody who wants you to pay them to be published with a wary eye and do your homework before agreeing to anything.

CHB: Words of advice for new writers?

CLW: The first and most important thing I'd advise any new writer is to look very long and hard into why you want to write. If it is for the passion of story-telling, if it is something you'd do even without a dime of remuneration, then I think it is something you have to pursue. Constantly improve your craft, when you read the work of someone else, analyse it like a mechanic taking apart an engine. See what makes something effective work and see how you can develop your own technique to be as effective. When rejection comes, and sadly it will, try to see if there is any hint to how to improve in the editor's feedback – but by the same token recognize when the fault is simply that it wasn't the kind of story that was right for that particular market.

If you are pursuing a career as a writer for the financial aspect, go in understanding that a great many authors have to maintain day jobs to make ends meet. The big celebrity authors who make a zillion dollars a year are very much the exception rather than the rule. It is a very fortunate creator who can achieve a degree of success where they can comfortably extricate themselves from the daily grind and devote all their resources to writing. A goal to pursue, but also a caution to bear in mind.

CHB: What does being able to write, to put the story "on paper" do for you? (Obviously put a little extra cash on the table, but what else. Myself personally, it often gives me something to look forward to when the day job and life are rough.)

CLW: For myself, personally, being able to write gives me a sense of accomplishment. It is the one thing in my existence that at all excuses it. I've seen for myself that my writing has helped carry readers through tough times in their lives, providing them with an escape from their troubles even if only for the briefest spell. I've had a few writers say they drew inspiration from my own stories and that helped them develop their own skills and pursue their own publication. It is a very humbling thing to consider having such an impact on somebody's life and ultimately makes it worthwhile. Even if you don't become rich, even if your work doesn't become famous, even if you fear there will be no posterity to leave it to, you can still help others through your work. Sometimes you're even blessed enough to find out about it. It's the old adage about the stone thrown into a pond – you don't always see the ripples or where they go, but the ripples are there just the same.

Thanks for your time, Clint.


AUTHOR BIO
C. L. Werner has written a number of pulp-style horror stories for assorted small press publications, including Inferno! magazine. Some of his Black Library credits include the Chaos Wastes books, the Mathias Thulmann: Witch Hunter novels, the Brunner the Bounty Hunter trilogy, and the Thanquol and Boneripper series. Currently living in the American south-west, he continues to write stories of mayhem and madness set in the Warhammer World.

AUTHOR LINKS
Website
Facebook

Some other great interviews with C.L. Werner (not associated with this blog)
The Bloghole Interview
Interview on Snowbooks Site
MengelMiniatures Interview

Tommy B Smith - Five Things Learned

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:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authortommybsmith

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/penofchaos
Goodreads: 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..."

Rob E. Boley - Five Things Learned Writing (the first half of) the SCARY TALES Series

Rob E. Boley discusses his five things learned writing 

 

The Scary Tales Series

 

I love writing lil’ tidbits like this because it forces me to do something that surely does not come naturally to me: thinking. See, I’m much more of a do-er than a think-er. I’m the guy in meetings who’s tapping his feet, doodling, checking his email, or slamming his head again and again into the table. Why? Because I don’t want to talk about it; I want to do it. I’d rather sing it than bring it. I’d rather bite than bark. I’d rather walk than talk. I’d rather write than outline.

Which brings me to my first point . . .

1) Solid stories fall together, not apart.

On the scale of pantser-to-plotter, I’m almost entirely a pantser, which is to say that I have a general idea where my story will end up, but I have only the vaguest of notions how my characters will get there. There are pros and cons to this approach, but the biggest positive is that my characters continue to surprise me.

I can tell you for sure that the vast majority of the coolest swerves and most riveting developments in The Scary Tales were unplanned. These little moments were spontaneous outgrowths of the characters and their situations, and I had as much fun discovering them as my readers will (hopefully) have reading them.

But these moments don’t always happen. I’ve had many a story die on the vine, and it’s usually because something was missing—either the characters didn’t have a strong enough arc, the tension was too wobbly, or the destination ultimately wasn’t all that interesting. I’m a firm believer that if a story has a solid foundation of characters and conflict, it will fall together, rather than apart.

Fortunately, with The Scary Tales, everything has fallen together wonderfully, and that’s at least partly because of my next point . . .

2) Fairy tales are rich soil for fiction, especially horror.

My Scary Tales series started as a simple Snow White zombie short story, but that story quickly blossomed into a novella, a novel, a trilogy, and ultimately a full-on series. At last part of that growth is because of the rich metaphors and iconic characters associated with the Snow White fairy tale—as well as fairy tales in general.

I’ve read a ton of fairy tales—especially by the Brothers Grimm—since I started working on the series, and these stories are full of compelling characters, horrific acts, tense situations, and depraved twists.  Some of the most fascinating of the original Grimms fairy tales aren’t widely known, such as The Singing Bone or Thousandfurs. So if you’re looking for some dark inspiration, I’d recommend exploring some of the lesser-known of these tales.

They will make you laugh out loud with their absurdity or cringe with their grotesqueness—or possibly both, which hints at my next point . . .

 

3) Everyone brings their own story to your story.

I’ve had some people read That Risen Snow and tell me about how they simply couldn’t put it down because they were so anxious to see what happened next. Others have told me that they thought it was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Still others have told me it was scary as hell. These are all valid interpretations of the material, mind you.

Likewise, I’ve had all manner of response to the characters. Some readers have absolutely hated Merry, one of the seven dwarfs who is plagued by depression and who makes some questionable decisions throughout the novel. Others seemed to sympathize with the little guy and considered him their favorite character. I’m always thrilled when my writing elicits any strong emotion from readers, but I wasn’t expecting their responses to vary so widely. Edmund Wilson summed up this phenomenon with this great quote: "No two persons ever read the same book."

Of course, if you want to provoke any sort of response from your readers, you have to keep them engaged. That happens with tension, which for me is an outgrowth of my next point . . .

4) Imagining terrible things happening to your characters beats the hells out of worrying about terrible things happening to you.

At some point while writing this series, I came to a realization about how writing makes me a happier, healthier person. See, when I was a little kid, I worried about everything. I worried about the penny I swallowed poisoning me. I worried about getting in big trouble for the basement window I broke. I worried about going to the doctor or playing sports or talking to girls.

As I got older, I outgrew a lot of my anxiety but it still remained as my default “negative” emotion. Some people get angry. Some people feel guilty. I worry. After my daughter was born, I was surprised both by how much I loved her—but also by how much I fretted over her. Maybe it’s no coincidence that I started writing fiction after I became a dad. I’ve learned that the writing acts as an outlet for that anxious fidgeting of the mind. Oh, I still spend a good chunk of every day conjuring up awful things that might happen, but these are things that will happen to my characters, not to myself or my loved ones. That benefits me as a person, because I’m not a nervous wreck, and it benefits my readers because it keeps the tension flowing in my stories.

A tense reader keeps turning the pages until they run out of pages, which brings me to my final point . . .

5) Some people really fumping hate cliffhangers.

If I could change any one thing about That Risen Snow, the first book of The Scary Tales series, it would be the abruptness of the ending. I won’t give any spoilers here, except to say that the story ends with a pretty major cliffhanger.

By and large, the book has great reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, but the few negative reviews mostly concern the cliffhanger ending. Some people like cliffhangers. Others tolerate them if they care enough for the characters. A very vocal minority hates the shit out of cliffhangers and would probably eat your firstborn child if you have the audacity to write a cliffhanger. Seriously.

While I think the first book ends more or less at the best spot in the overarching story, I wish I’d finessed the final scene a little more. The subsequent books all end with some degree of tension, but the endings are more poignant and subtle. Rest assured, Book 9 will not end with a cliffhanger. All will be resolved. And almost no one will live happily ever after . . . 

 

Author Bio:

Rob E. Boley grew up in Enon, Ohio, a little town with a big Indian mound. He later earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

 

He’s the author of The Scary Tales series of dark fantasy novels featuring mash-ups of classic fairy tale characters and horror monsters. His fiction has appeared in several markets, including A cappella Zoo, Pseudopod, Clackamas Literary Review, and Best New Werewolf Tales. His stories have won Best in Show in the Sinclair Community College Creative Writing Contest and the Dayton Daily News/Antioch Writers’ Workshop Short Story Contest.

He lives with his daughter in Dayton, where he works for his alma mater. Each morning and most nights, he enjoys making blank pages darker. You can get to know him better by visiting his website at www.robboley.com.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.robboley.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/robboley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RobBoleyAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4097555.Rob_E_Boley

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rob-E.-Boley/e/B00FSM1AD6

 

Book Links:

 

That Risen Snow: A Scary Tale of Snow White & Zombies

Available in paperback and ebook.

Ebook currently on sale for free!

·  Amazon.com

·  BN.com

·  Google Play

·  Kobo

·  iTunes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Wicked Apple: A Scary Tale of Snow White & Even More Zombies

Available in paperback and ebook.

 

·  Amazon.com

·  BN.com

·  Google Play

·  Kobo

·  iTunes

 

A Scary Tales Box Set (Books 1-4)

There’s no better time to get caught up on The Scary Tales! This special box set contains the first four books of The Scary Tales series. That’s four complete novels for only $7.99!

 

·  Amazon.com

·  BN.com

·  Google Play

·  Kobo

·  iTunes

Aaron Rocheleau KAJA STAR - Five Things Learned Writing

Aaron Rocheleau discusses

five things learned writing

 

KAJA STAR

No Place Like Home

 

 

 

On the day Titus Markava plans to propose, he is horrified to discover that the love of his life is actually a shape-shifting alien man.  Before he can recover from the unfortunate news, he is quite literally thrown from Earth onto a completely different world in a completely different solar system.

 

It is a world where a person might conduct himself almost as well as he conducts electricity.  It is a world on the brink of an interplanetary conflict.  It is a world of dinosoids, insectavores, and even a cyborg or two.  It is a world with CNN… just not quite the same CNN we’re used to.

 

Yet even though it is a world where entire planets can be traversed instantly by portals called gates, Titus can’t find even one to take him back home.

 

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1. If you have a good idea, use it sooner rather than later.  As I was writing Kaja Star I would get a great idea and write it down to use later in the story, but I get kept getting ideas faster than I was putting them into the book.  It made more sense to put say, all thirty awesome things into the book rather than use only two of them in between filler and not have room for any more.

2. Network. The old saying, ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’ is true.  I knew I needed an editor, but I didn’t know who to work with.  I asked a fellow author for some help and he recommended some awesome editors I would have never found if I hadn’t asked.

3. Marketing is hard work.  Down below you’re going to run into links for my website and social media stuff.  You’ll see that I write things, develop new illustrations, and sometimes I even interview chickens on Youtube.  The point is that all this stuff takes up time that I could be using to finish my next book.  People are fickle.  If I don’t give them something to remember me by then they’re going to go back to doing something other than getting my book to read.

4. You can’t please everybody.  You are selling a product that you want as many people to buy and enjoy as possible, but not everybody is the same.  Some people will never buy your book.  Don’t take it personally.

5. Fight choreography is fun to watch, not fun to read.  I put way too much detail into fight scenes at first.  I didn’t want them to feel anti-climactic yet when I would go back and read them later, I immediately become lost and bored.  Some things are just more exciting on the big screen.  Tightening the action description made the parts more exciting.

 

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About the Author
Aaron Rocheleau lives in West Michigan with his family.  He writes stories, because exciting adventures are way more fun than call centers and insurance.  His stories are fast paced and fun (gotta be able to compete with those newfangled video games, and movies).  When he's not writing, he's taking swims in Lake Michigan, playing those newfangled video games, and geocaching, which is like treasure hunting, only safer. His house is perpetually surrounded by free range attack chickens that viciously consume everything in their path. Chickens are nature’s zombies.

 

Social Media:

Website: www.spazsticstories.com
Facebook 

Youtube Channel 

Twitter @ SpazsticAaron

 

Book Links:

Amazon

B&N

iBooks

Smashwords

 

 

What people are saying about KAJA STAR

 

"A new, unique tale with action, comedy and drama. One could make the comparisons to Star Wars and Avatar: The Last Airbender, but this is one hundred percent unique."

 

"If you are a SciFi fanatic, a teenager at home with nothing to do, or even an older person at work (when on break or nothing else to do of course), I would recommend this book to you."

 

"...found this book very imaginative with lots of action and great descriptions of the characters and surroundings."

 

 

 

Smiley Optimus

 

 

DENNY UPKINS talks five things learned writing WEST OF SUNSET

 

“I recalled some sage I once received from two friends, Seraphim. They confirmed that the old saying was true. If you ever want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

 

For Brecken Everett, there's never a dull moment. When he's not dealing with a demanding course load and honing his magic as top student at Lightmage University, he’s working as a private investigator and using his skills to protect the innocent from the darkest forces. In two action-packed adventures, Breck demonstrates that outnumbered and outgunned is when he’s at his best.

 

In Keepers, Brecken is enlisted to aid Jacob and Joshua Phoenix; twins, the last Pyrians, the last of an ancient race. The Brothers Phoenix are on a quest to uncover clues to their past. When they find a lost relic, a pair of demons claim it. With Brecken’s aid, the twins are determined to not only stop the threat, but have some fun in the process.

 

West of Sunset takes place a year after Keepers. Brecken wants to do was get out of Atlanta. Heading to Los Angeles with his best friend he plan a vacation of surf, sun, partying and relaxation until the boys stumble upon a museum heist connected to a biker gang of vampires with plans to raise a most dark power. Matters get even more complicated with the involvement of a mysterious and powerful witch.

 

Witches, museum heists, arising malevolent forces, vampire biker gangs, even Brecken’s vacations are another day at the office.

 

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FIVE THINGS LEARNED WRITING WEST OF SUNSET

 

1) Between interviews, guest posts, and essays, I’ve written more words promoting West of Sunset than I did writing the actual book. Not a complaint mind you, just fascinating.

2) Contrary to what is preached, people do in fact judge a book by its cover. Second to the prose, it is the most important element of your book.

 

Welmerink note: Agree 100%. If the book cover and back cover blurb don't grab'em...

3) Speculative Fiction continues to be hostile territory for minority writers and our narratives. #WeNeedDiverseBooks. We also need to do much better.

4) Always keep a print copy of your novel on you. Otherwise no one will believe that you are a legit published author. Half the time they still don’t believe it when they’re holding your book in their hands.

5) There are generally two types of artists in the world. Those who want to be known as a great artist and those who simply want to produce the best work they can possibly produce. The latter tends to become the former.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Dennis R. Upkins was born in Nashville, Tn. A voracious reader, a lifelong geek and a hopeless comic book addict, he knew at an early age that storytelling was his calling. Earning an academic scholarship, Upkins graduated from the University of TN at Chattanooga with a BA in English. After working as a reporter for a local newspaper for a few years, he moved from Tennesssee and relocated to Atlanta, GA where he procured a BFA in media arts & animation from the Art Institute of Atlanta.

 

His audio short, Stranger Than Fiction, was featured on Sniplits. In 2011, his debut novel, Hollowstone, was released by Parker Publishing. In addition to writing, Upkins has worked as a freelance artist and a digital photographer. Upkins regularly analyzes and critiques the representation and portrayals of minorities in comic books, television, movies, and other media and has served as a regular contributor to websites such as Ars Marginal, Prism Comics, and Nashville Geek Life. In an effort to help educate the public about the cultures of the African diaspora and promote a more accurate and positive image, Upkins launched the Black Folks Being Awesome initiative on Facebook. When he’s not out saving the world and/or taking it over in his spare time, Upkins enjoys drawing, modeling, cosplaying, acting, photography rollerblading, martial arts, and of course writing.

 

Website: https://dennisupkins.wordpress.com/ 

 

 

 

BOOK LINKS

WEST OF SUNSET

Amazon Kindle

Paperback

 

 

Also by Dennis Upkins...

 

HOLLOWSTONE

Amazon

B&N

 



PAMELA TURNER: Five Things I’ve Learned Writing MALICE AND MAYHEM: TALES OF THE MACABRE

 

Obsession.

 

Jealousy.

 

Vengeance.

 

The darkest emotions lie buried deep in the human soul, awakened by twisted desires.

 

In these eleven tales of dark suspense, sometimes there’s truth to the warning, “Be careful what you wish for…”

 

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1. If necessary, I can write a story on a tight deadline.

My first non-academic experience in writing under deadline came when I wrote feature articles and reviews for local publications.  Later, when the publisher/editor of the Ten Tales anthologies invited me to contribute stories, I learned I could come up with ideas within a specific time frame, but I also had to learn to prioritize.

2. That I can format my book for Kindle and CreateSpace, and that linking the TOC to individual stories was easier than I thought.

It takes patience and time, but it’s not impossible. If I had any questions, I researched until I found what I needed. I’ve also gotten in the habit of using CTRL-Enter for a new page instead of using the Return key.

3. An autopsied body decomposes faster even if it’s been embalmed.

I learned other interesting trivia about decomposition, including the pros and cons of sealed vs. unsealed or wood vs. metal caskets. (On a side note, I keep leaning toward cremation.)

4. It’s always good to have stories written, even if they’re half completed, in case one needs material.

I keep a file of story ideas and have a number of flash fiction pieces, as well as half-finished stories. This helps when I need to come up with a story, which I had to do to make the 40,000-word count for Malice and Mayhem. Having multiple projects also helps stave off writer’s block.

5. It may take a while, but seeing your story collection in print will happen. It just takes patience, perseverance, and maybe even an innate sense of timing.

Malice and Mayhem is a story collection I’ve wanted to publish for a few years now. I had planned to submit it to a local publisher, but finally decided to self-publish the collection so I could retain control over the material.

 

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About the Author

 

Pamela Turner drinks too much coffee, and wishes she could write perfect first drafts. Influenced by shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, and Twilight Zone, she writes paranormal suspense. Publications include the short novels Death Sword, a finalist in the Chanticleer Book Reviews’ Blue Ribbon Paranormal Awards 2013, Exterminating Angel (both from Kensington Publishing’s Lyrical Press imprint), and The Ripper’s Daughter (BlackWyrm Publishing). Her short, dark suspense story, “Family Tradition” (MuseItUp Publishing), was a finalist in the EPIC 2014 EBook Awards, and her short screenplay “Cemetery” placed second in The Writers Place Short/Teleplay screenplay competition. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, EPIC, and a supporting member of HWA. Besides coffee, she likes cats, cemeteries, and old abandoned buildings. You can find her at http://pamelaturner.net    

 

 

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Malice and Mayhem links

Amazon Kindle

Amazon (Print)

 

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Other Pamela Turner media links

 

Haunted Dreams, Dark Destinies (Website)

Darkling Delights (Blog)

Facebook Author Page

Pinterest

Twitter @PamelaTurner