Author: Kerry Lipp

Thank you all for the excellent response that my three part “things I’ve learned” series received. I got a couple emails, it got retweeted and few new people joined the ranks over at New World Horror – Kerry G.S. Lipp on Facebook. I hope I entertained and informed you all and thank you. I appreciate it. I know they ran a little long, much longer than my usual nonsense, but thanks for sticking it out, and I’ll keep it short this week.

Two pretty cool things happened to me in the last week, but to keep it short I’ll tell you about one this week and unless something bonkers happens in the next week, I’ll give you the second story then. They both involve meeting, and in the case of the second story, spending an evening with a few fellow writers.

So first story, here we go.

I met Joe Hill last Sunday. Joe was on a book tour supporting his newest effort NOS4A2. It’s good sized novel. I’m about 150 pages in and I’m loving it so far. I have no idea how Joe Hill wound up reading and signing at the Books and Co. at the outdoor mall called The Greene in Dayton, Ohio, but I’m sure glad he did.

If you don’t know Joe you should. He’s got two other novels out “Heart Shaped Box” and “Horns.” He’s also got one of the better short story collections I’ve read called “20th Century Ghosts.” And he and Gabriel Rodriguez are the masterminds behind the comic series Locke and Key. That’s the series that got me into graphic novels. It’s pretty damn good. I hesitate to mention this, because his writing more than speaks for itself, but it will come out sooner or later, and most people already know anyway, Joe is the son of the legendary Stephen King.

I went to that con about a month ago, but this was my first time at an actual book signing. It’s a completely different format. Joe was scheduled to go on at 2pm. Books and Co. suggested getting there at 1pm. I did. I didn’t know what kind of turnout he would draw and I wanted to make sure I at least got to hear him talk. I wanted to meet him and get him to sign my book, but I’d gladly trade that just to hear him speak.

Luckily, I got everything I wanted that day.

I’d say somewhere around 200 or so people showed up including Tim Waggoner. So Joe showed up right on time and takes the podium. He cracked a few jokes and then read the prologue of NOS4A2. He probably read for 15 or so minutes and then just went straight into the Q and A. He took questions about everything and encouraged questions about anything. It was pretty informal, but very informative and a lot of fun. Someone even asked him his he preferred hard or soft shell tacos. I don’t remember his answer.

Here’s what I learned about Joe. This guy is a gigantic goofball. He’s a grown up little kid with an endless imagination and the skills to entertain the masses by sharing that imagination. HE LOVES WHAT HE DOES. I MEAN LOVES IT. You can just tell. I’ve seen a few people with similar passion, but no one greater. He was cheesing for the camera in a bunch of pictures with fans, fake getting strangled or fake biting necks. Taking pictures of the crowd and putting them on twitter in the middle of the Q and A. That might sound rude, but it wasn’t, he was never distracted and he did it seamlessly. He gave funny answers to questions and even got into a tangential dialogue about the show Dr. Who with several audience members.

I’d love to relay several of his answers, but I’m only going to give you the most important one that I took from the session. Someone asked him what advice he would give to people wanting to be writers. His answer was not one that I’d ever heard before.

He said something like, paraphrasing here: Don’t get caught up writing a novel or a short story. Don’t focus on word count. All of that can be overwhelming to a veteran and even more so to someone new. Instead go at it like this. Write one good scene every day. It doesn’t matter if they link or not or if it’s the same characters. Then he said once the scenes start piling up, you’ll have your novel or your stories or whatever you want to do with them.

I may not have that exactly right, I wasn’t taking notes, but it’s close, and I think there is a lot of value in that advice. Writing those scenes will give you a sense of accomplishment and even if they don’t come anywhere close to linking at the time; that can always come later. Good advice and different advice from Mr. Joe Hill.

He’s a funny guy too. He knows who is father is and that will always be something he has to deal with. Imagine dealing with that? And Joe shouldn’t have to because his writing is so effing good, read him, but read him because he’s a great writer not because he’s SK’s son.

He handles it VERY well. He puts a funny spin on it. Someone asked something about his dad and Joe’s answer was something like “Well, yeah it kind of runs in my family. My dad’s been taking writing serious lately and he’s showing some promise. We think if he keeps at it, he might see some success in the future.”

The crowd loved him. He put on a great show for us in Dayton, Ohio.

When he started running low on time, he started the lightning round of Q and A. It was hilarious. Someone asks “What was it like writing Throttle with your dad.” Joe’s deadpan answer, “Fun.” And then he takes the next question. Laugh out loud funny the entire time.

I asked him if the rumors about Locke and Key heading to the big screen were true. His answer was “Truish.” Man, I hope so, I’d love to see that series get some great treatment either on the big screen or as an HBO series or something.

After all that was over, he played auction barker, which was pretty funny too. He auctioned off a signed poster for NOS4A2 and it went for like $375. All that money went to a charity to help trouble kids learn to read. That, folks, is what it’s all about. Big thanks to Joe and whoever bought that poster. Very cool.

When that was over he sat down and started signing books. The crowd was patient and so was Joe. He took the time to chat for a minute with each person and did pictures with anyone who wanted one, always a big grin on his face hamming it up. Watching this truly sold me on Joe Hill. Made me realize that I would love to be in his position someday. Doing what I love and being so goddamned happy about it. It was like a revelation.

I went through the line and got picture, a handshake and an autograph. I’ve posted the picture on Facebook and everyone says we look like brothers. Hell, even my own mother said that. I shaved that morning, now I wish I hadn’t. The resemblance would be even stronger. Hopefully my work in fiction will draw more comparisons than our physical appearances. Jesus, I’ve got a long way to go…

I’ll end this post the way I said goodbye to Joe Hill. I thanked him for coming to Dayton. Of all the places he could’ve landed, he came to our city. So to anyone reading this that might’ve happened to be involved: Thank you. Thank you Joe, Books and Co., The Greene, all the fans that turned out, thank you guy who bought that poster for a good cause.

I’m not positive, but I think Dayton was just the first leg of Joe’s tour, so go look it up, if he’s coming near you, I strongly urge you to go and experience the man first hand. You’ll have a great time, might even learn something.

Keep reading, keep writing, and keep it real,
KGSL

HorrorTree Blog – 6 Things I’ve learned part 3

I planned to write this final installment on my front porch on May 2. Go full circle, I guess and then start the circle over again. I’m not ready to die or retire quite yet, this has just been lap one on the track. But alas, life and my “job” got in the way.

This is a long one too, and be warned, my tone changes drastically toward the end. Hard to believe, but I actually get pretty serious. It’s better that way.

Just a few quick comments on a couple of the things I posted last week. I said I like trying new things, and I do. I tried them over the last week or two, collaborating on a story with a friend. It’s the first time I’ve ever written with someone else. I think we nailed it, I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I hope the publisher agrees and accepts it. I’ll keep you posted, but it’s dirty and laugh out loud funny. Cross ‘em.

Second, last week I talked about the publishing business taking forever. Case in point, I had a story I submitted in September just get accepted for publication. There were several factors at play and while publishing does move terribly slow, 8 months is a very long time to wait. There were several factors at play (including me not querying) that I won’t go into, but a story that I’d given up on found a home. Hang in there.

Anyway, here is my final installment of 6 things I’ve learned, giving us 3 installments of 6. 666. When I started I said that 666 was way too many to write and I still do, but damn, I’d say I’ve learned pretty close to 666 things, maybe more. Narrowing all this down has been difficult, and it seems like *gasp* I always have a lot to say. Here’s the next 6 and when I run out of specific topics to write about, I might just pick 6 things and write about them. DID THIS COLUMN FINALLY FIND ITS IDENTITY!? I doubt it, but maybe. 6 more.

Go.

I swear a lot- I mean who doesn’t right? I’ve worked blue collar labor and third shift for almost half my life. I’ve heard some pretty creative things. Throw an insane amount of reading in with that and you can probably see how my mind is pure filth. I’ve even come up with a few originals myself. A story I recently signed a contract for contains the line “the room looked like the dumpster behind an abortion clinic.” I’m pretty proud of that one. If you think I swear a lot in these posts, you should read my fiction haha. Well, first drafts at least, I try and clean it up a little bit before submission, but I think I write in a fairly conversational style and unless I’m talking to my mom or my students, the profanity and sexual innuendo and all that other stuff flies around like shit in an uncovered blender set on liquefy. I don’t know how much is too much, I just try and write as honestly as possible. My first drafts are usually a nightmare, but most of the time they clean up okay. I swear a lot, I like to shock, I like to put a filthy spin on normal and often taboo subjects. So does Eminem… sue me. Well, sue him, if you sue me you’ll get like 8 bucks. That’s pretty much my savings account.

Music is a great motivator- I will be more specific: EMINEM and HATEBREED are the two greatest motivators in my life. Not to take anything away from those people that love my work and they enjoy it; that helps, it really does, and obviously my family and friends but those things aren’t accessible on demand. Eminem and Hatebreed are two constants in my life and they have been for a long time. I’m a metal head through and through, but I also have deep appreciation for Eminem. Most people that want to be writers always say the same thing, I want to write, but it’s too hard or I can’t find the time or I have no motivation. (you people pay CLOSE attention to points 5 and 6) Go listen to some Eminem, listen to some Hatebreed and look up the lyrics. Go read about them on Wikipedia or wherever you kids go these days. Read their stories. Rags to riches. Most of us can’t afford or are too proud to acknowledge the idea of a life coach. I understand the money part, I’m broke as shit but if you’ve got internet go listen to these guys on Youtube or Pandora or buy their albums. Cheapest and best life coaches in the world. I’m not saying you need to listen to them when you write, although I do sometimes and I love it, but listen to them when you wake up or when you think you want to write, or when you feel like shit. They’ll get you where you need to be. It always works for me. I could go on forever here and I might write in the future about what they can offer you, but HEAR ME: LISTEN TO THEM. Obviously “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, but also check out “Soldier,” “Not Afraid,” “Talking to Myself,” “Sing for the Moment,” and his verse of “Airplanes.” And Hatebreed? Christ, every song. But start with “Never Let It Die,” “Perseverance,” “Before the Fight Ends You” and “This Is Now.” Your homework is to go listen to all those songs and read the lyrics while you listen, and know the backstories of those musicians. Where they came from and where they are. If you don’t feel a boiling urge to produce after that? I can’t help you. I used to get off on playing the victim, and I think a lot of people do. These artists showed me that if you don’t act, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. And they help me act every day.

The writing community is incredible- This is actually something that shocked me. When I came at this with zero experience I figured that every writer was greedy and hoarding advice and ideas about open markets to themselves. What I discovered is the complete opposite. I can only really speak to the horror and whatever else you want to lump in with that, community, but it is incredible. I have some great relationships with publishers and writers that I’ve never even met before, and I don’t think it’ll be awkward when I finally get to meet ‘em at a con or something. I’ve been helped out by several authors and publishers be it feedback on a story, a heads up on a new open market, or just friendly conversation, like when I met Brian Keene. Jesus look at HorrorTree, for example. I talked before about how hard it was to find markets a few years ago. Stu is a writer and he’s doing this to help other writers. Incredible. That’s what it’s all about. I’ve been friending a lot of writers on Facebook lately and it’s been leading to some good things. I can’t wait to see where else it leads. Also, I feel like I’ve helped some other writers out with this column, with answering emails and questions on my author page. I’m THRILLED to be able to offer other writers something and I’ll be happy to do more. I know that with the ebook revolution and self-publishing and a lot of people trying to get rich quick by being shit writers and sugar marketers there is some hesitation and some contempt. Hell, there are a few writers I could name specifically that I know have bought/manufactured reviews, bought Twitter followers, and whatever other black-hearted shit they could come up with. I get that, and it’s intimidating, but they are the rare cases. Almost everyone I’ve come across is not in this to get rich quick, they’re in this because they love to write and they want to get better and better and make the genre strong and more appealing, in turn giving other writers opportunities. I’m a part of that and I want to be a bigger part. To everyone who’s helped me (way too many to name) THANKS. I WON’T FORGET!

All plans go to hell as soon as the first shot is fired- This is a military quote that I heard for the first time in one of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books. Excellent series by the way. If your only experience with Jack Reacher is Tom Cruise, slap yourself and then go to your bookstore. Anyway, this adage totally applies to fiction. Stories, plots, characters and everything else have a way taking their own course no matter what you, the writer, had in mind for them. Sometimes, yeah, it works out the way you want but not usually. Don’t get frustrated by this. Instead think, “If I wrote this and had no idea what was going to happen, neither will the reader.” I don’t know if this is true, I’ve definitely had readers tell me that they saw shit coming a mile away. That’s going to happen. But I’ve also had more readers say, “never saw that coming.” I always say back, “good, neither did I.” Writing is truly unpredictable and I like it that way. Occasionally I’ve had stories do exactly what I thought they were going to do, and that’s fine, they can still be good stories, but don’t get discouraged if your characters end up in dialogue for five pages or you can’t get them where you need them to be. You can always cut later, let ‘em play, watch them play and make it nasty you slimy voyeur 😉 I’m dealing with this firsthand in a slightly different way now. I was prepping a unique approach to a short story collection and one of the pillars of that collection just sold to a market that I’d completely given up on. I had to make a tough choice: sign the contract or not. I thought about it, consulted some friends. I decided to sign and write something else to take its place. Now the book that I thought was so close to completion has gone back to the drawing board. I’m thrilled that I was forced to make that decision, but that was the shot and my book was the plan. I’m not worried about it though, I’m game for locking horns with the challenge.

I like to think I’m pretty funny when I write these posts. I hope you get a laugh out of them too, but more importantly I hope they help you become a better writer, maybe even a better person. These last two things that I’ve got to say are going to be completely serious. I’ll be back with my usual tone next week, and I don’t want to be a downer, but I think these resonate a little more without me making jokes.

Going at the blank page pissed off and/or with a broken heart and confronting your fears is a great idea- Fortunately, I’ve lived a pretty good life. I’ve got an excellent support system and the best family and friends I could ask for, but like everyone out there, sometimes stuff just gets to me. I can’t remember who said it, probably every writer, I guess, but the quote is “writing is cheaper than therapy.” In this last year I’ve come to understand that. I’ve confronted some of my deepest, darkest fears, and dealt with depression, guilt, and heartbreak. Actually the first story that got me started, “Precious Damaged Cargo” started with me pondering my worst fear and I turned it into one hell of a story. I can’t read it without crying. Writing is a blast, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it’s cathartic, it purges all that nasty shit out of your psyche and whether you write about it directly or indirectly, well, that varies. I love it when it’s fun, but I feel like I need it when it’s not fun. I’m pretty honest and pretty personal with my work and I’ve definitely used it like therapy, maybe even more than most. I think I’m honest to a fault in my writing (and in my life) and now I’m coming clean and doing it here too, but I think that’s important. In On Writing, SK says something like “write whatever you want, but make damn sure you tell the truth.” There’s no better way to cope, at least not for me, than spilling some ink and your guts all over the page. Writing gives you a chance to take the most horrible, nasty shit you’ve ever done or been through and turn it into a story. And you can make that story sad, happy, funny, horny, angry, depressing or any of those and a million more. I think that can really help you connect with the reader and while making up ridiculous shit is fun, I love to do it, but I think that shit that cuts the reader deep and the writer deeper, those are the rare stories that really resonate. I was going to provide at least one very strong example of heartbreak, but this is already too long. Suffice it to say, I’ve written more than one story to help heal my heart, and it worked every time.

I’m going to die- This is obvious, but it is not obvious. This realization came to me over the last few months. At some point, we all must confront our mortality. I learned this from people around me, I guess you could say we are/were acquaintances and maybe even friends. One friend, who I’m happy to say is still alive and doing much better, suffered from a nasty, rare illness that almost took his life. One, a server at a restaurant that I go to to write at sometimes, got murdered a couple weeks ago. Another, a female friend of mine, got shot in the head from an “accidental discharge” in Afghanistan. She died too. I am 29 years old. All three are/were (putting that / in there brings tears to my eyes as I write this even though I wasn’t all that close to either) younger than me. One by 9 years. While all of this is heartbreaking and sad, it comes with a lesson. We are not immortal. We will all die, maybe when we’re 90 and maybe I’ll take my last breath before this even gets posted, but I sure hope not. I’m not ready to die. We get a limited amount of time on this planet and our time is really the only possession that we own. Regardless of what you believe happens at the end, we can all agree that what you do in this life is your own. You own it. No one else does. I love writing. I love publishing. I love having people read my writing. I love helping other writers. I love a lot of stuff, both those things are top tier for me right now. There are a lot of things I could choose to do instead of writing but I’ve made my decision and I want to spend a vast majority of my limited time writing, creating. I want to entertain people, make them laugh, make them cry, make them hurt, give them hope, make them think, make them confront their own mortality, show them characters just like themselves, make them question themselves and those around them, make them want to be better people. I just want to make them feel SOMETHING. I don’t know where any of this is going, my life, my writing, and everything in between. The only destiny I believe in is the one we make from ourselves and I plan on spending the rest of my life, be it until I’m 90 or until next Thursday creating, writing, and loving every minute of it, even when I’ve got to rip open scabs and scars to get to the stories that lie underneath.

I’ll be back next week with something a little more fun than the last two points and a lot less words. Jesus Christmas, this is like 3,000. But in the meantime, I urge you to consider what I’ve said in this blog and the previous two. I’ve learned a ton in this first year. I hope I’ve helped you, in life, in writing. I really do. If there’s anything I can do to help, you know the drill send me something at [email protected]. The writing community has been great to me, I’ll be happy to do my best for you.

Keep reading, keep writing, and keep it real,
KGSL

This ran a little longer than I planned. I had a lot to say, especially on the last point on this list, and that last point is probably the most important lesson I or any writer can learn except, I guess, for the power of actually writing in the first place. It’s been kind of an emotional milestone for me, but don’t skip down there quite yet, there’s some good stuff leading up to it. Here’s 6 more things I’ve learned in my first year of taking writing seriously.

Go.
(more…)

On May 2, 2012, I sat down at my keyboard for the first time in a long time and started writing. It took a while to get that fire lit, but goddamn, it went inferno on May 2. I wrote the stories, 2 of my best, “A Scalene Love Triangle” and “Precious Damaged Cargo” in the same sitting. To date, I still consider that first serious writing session to be the best and I don’t know that I’ll ever top it. Both stories will see print this summer, but I didn’t know that at the time. I didn’t even revise them right away, I just started with the next story, “Justice and Forgiveness” which I love, but has been rejected more times then I care to admit.

So when I started writing those stories, I had no idea what I would ever do with them. I knew vaguely about Duotrope and my go to website SNMhorrormag.com. But that was it. Luckily I stumbled onto HorrorTree early on. HT didn’t exist back when wrote my first batch of stories back in college and I never knew what to do with them. And a year ago, I didn’t know anything about markets, about revision, about cover letters, about publishing. I was dumber than a bucket of rocks, but I knew that I had at least a little game when I was rocking my keyboard. Or at least I wanted to give it a shot. I have learned a ton of stuff about myself, writing, and publishing over the last year and I’d like to share what I’ve learned with you all. For the next 3 weeks, I’ll give you 6 things that I’ve learned about writing in the last year. 666 was way too many, but I think 18 things, broken up in groups of 6 will work just fine.

For those of you just starting out or new to writing, this is pretty much for you but hopefully I can offer something, be it a minor detail or a slanted perspective to those of you who’ve been at this for a lot longer than myself.

I won’t lie, I don’t have this mapped out (I don’t outline). I’m just shooting from the hip so in no particular order, here’s the first batch of 6 things I’ve learned in my first year.

Go.

• You can’t write unless you write: Yeah, I know how obvious right? But as obvious as this is, this is literally the most important thing that I’ve learned and I’m still dealing with it. I talked about my struggles with writing in previous blogs and I imagine it’s something that most people go through. I’ll write it tomorrow or I need to think this out first. Don’t wait. Sit down and start writing. Good things will start happening, but if you never sit down to write and give yourself and your story a chance, that great idea you have might as well be nothing. I remember sitting down that first time with two very loose ideas and as soon as I started writing, the magic happened, dots started connecting, emotion started flowing, and twists started setting themselves up. Stories will write themselves, but only if you give them a chance to. That means taking the time, the focus, and the energy to give the story a chance to write itself. Sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s when the real work starts, but more often than not IT DOES, and it’s a lot of fun to see it happen. It’s a hell of a lot easier to just read a book or watch a movie, or get lost watching guys get hit in the nuts on youtube. It took me a long time to figure that out. But answer this question: DO YOU WANT TO JUST CONSUME WHAT OTHERS CREATE, OR DO YOU WANT TO CREATE FOR CONSUMPTION? I know what my answer is, and now that I know, I can take writing seriously. I hope if you’re here, you can too.
• I’m a binge writer: maybe this comes from years of hard drinking, but I when I write, I write in binges. I have real trouble jumping in for 20 minutes here or an hour there. Instead, I like to crank the entire story out all at once. I think most of my best stuff has been written in one shot, but I also know my limits. 4-5 thousand words in one sitting is about my max. I love to bang short stories out in one sitting. I just finished a new story, my longest to date, around 8,000 words, and it took me like six weeks to get a revision and a final polish done. It took forever to get back into the flow, the tone, to reconnect with my characters, and remember where I was when I finished and realize where I wanted the story to go. I think this is why the “novella” for lack of a better word, I’m working on, is taking me so long. I’m not really okay with that, but lately I do try to write in smaller, more consistent doses. My forte, however, is to go on a writing binge and get as many words out as I can and once I get rolling, I don’t like to stop until the first draft, no matter how horrible, is finally done. I can’t because life doesn’t usually allow me to write in binges, and I’m trying to train myself to write in smaller chunks because I think writing every day is important. I’m not there yet, but I’ll be there someday.
• Writers actually get published: Ever enter a contest? Ever win one? Ever hear about the actual winners? That’s how I felt about writing when I started. It was like buying a lottery ticket with hours of your time and a piece of your heart. You probably wouldn’t win and you’d never hear about or meet the winner, thus making the whole thing a scam. It’s not. Believe it or not, anthologies and magazines actually publish from the pool of stories submitted to them. This probably sounds either weird or obvious but it’s true. I never thought one of my stories would get picked up, and that after a few months I’d just shoot this dream in the head too. But I kept submitting anyway. And finally it happened. That first acceptance shifted my entire paradigm. Realizing that someone out there was willing to even read my work, let alone to publish AND pay for it? That changed my entire attitude when it came to writing. If it hasn’t happened for you yet, keep on keeping on. It will and once you get that first one, the confidence will build, the reality that it is possible will set in, and you’ve feel a hell of a lot better when you sit down to write.
• Writers can’t compete with reality: I’m writing this during the Boston manhunt. This whole week has been insane. Do you all realize that there was a guy from Texas that crossed finish line just before the bombs went off and then went back home to Texas just in time for the explosion at the fertilizer plant? Not to mention the insanity of the entire week in Boston. It sucks that this is all real and that real people are hurt and dead. That’s awful. I can read it and I can write it but when it’s real, that’s just not okay. And I’ve heard multiple news anchors say, “Thursday night into Friday is straight out of the movies.” It’s true. I don’t know how reality constantly does it, but somehow it’s usually crazier than fiction. It sucks for all those involved, and I’m sorry. I hope they take that piece of crap alive, and the end to all of this is anticlimactic. It’s not just this story, there’s something crazy like this almost weekly. As a horror writer, real world crap like this can really make you question what you do and why you do it. I don’t really know what you do with that, and it feels weird. But don’t let a couple radical sh*theads ruin it for you and for everyone out there who might enjoy and learn from reading your work.
• Sometimes first drafts get published: I won’t name the stories that I’ve sold that were pretty much first drafts, but I’ve done it and it happens. When I say first draft I mean minimal revision, not first draft meaning wrote it and sent it. That’s a dick move. At least clean up the grammar, spelling etc. Ideally, you should take it through at least one heavy rewrite/revision, but another thing I’ve learned that I’ll comment on in the future is that most writers are procrastinators and need to stare down the barrel of the deadline gun to get their writing together. Sometimes that’s me, but I’m trying to fix that. I’ve definitely sent pretty clean first drafts out and I’ve actually sold a few. I don’t know if that is good or bad but I’ve done it. I don’t endorse it but I don’t want to be a hypocrite either. And if you do, make sure you at least edit for the basics.
• Revision is amazing: Yeah I know what I just said, but that is in rare cases. Like super rare. And if you do send first drafts that aren’t at least polished you are playing with fire. Protect your name and your brand and only send out quality work unless you don’t have a choice, and usually that lack of choice is because you dicked around for a month before you decided to take your deadline seriously. I won’t hate, I’m doing it now, writing this instead of finishing drafts and editing for the end of April deadlines I intend to meet. I’m going to do a whole process blog in the future, probably more than one, but revision is almost always a huge part of my process. I hate it, hate revision, hate the process, hate spending all that time not creating something new, but it usually takes my story from a little below average to better. Maybe someday I’ll post pictures of me killing a pen while going through a draft, but not today. Write it, let it sit, go back, and scribble all over it with a pen. Your second draft will shine. Then polish and submit. That’s my usual MO but my process and writing ideology is fluid and I think yours should be too. When you revise you will cut the nonsense and find connections that you never intended or knew existed. It’s pretty cool. Revise. Don’t send out crap. Also, I kind of follow SK’s rule when it comes to revision, cut, cut, cut. Kill your darlings. If you’re anything like me, you write your first drafts wordy and REPETITIVE as hell. Ain’t nobody got time for that. During revision, cut what you don’t need, even if it’s only a word or two every other sentence. Get that story TIGHT!

Alright, there’s part one of three coming at you. Like I said, no particular order and at this point I have no idea what I’m going to write about yet for next week. Should be fun. Maybe we’ll say thing one is that I don’t outline. Never have, don’t plan on starting. Another might be try new things, actually it will be. There’s a teaser. Alright, I’ve rambled way too long. As always if you’ve got anything for me send it to [email protected] Since I get less than one email per week, I’ll make sure I answer.

Keep reading, keep writing, and keep it real,
KGSL

First of all I want to thank everyone who submitted to the drabble contest a few weeks ago. I read some cool, fun, creepy ass stories from writers I’ve heard of and even got a submission from someone who said that this drabble was the first thing he ever wrote. That’s pretty cool.

I knocked the names off of all the stories and put them in a word document to make it as fair as I could. I cannot imagine running a press and reading for anthologies. Just judging from this small pool of short, short stories was tough. I can’t imagine it in a pro pay market with hundreds and hundreds of submissions. Yowza.

Although I did correct the one thing that a few publishers do that drives me crazy. I did this and please if any of you editors/publishers/etc. out there are reading this please, I’m begging you SEND OUT CONFIRMATION EMAILS. I don’t care if it just says “Got it.” That’s fine, that’s good enough. This is extra important if you don’t allow simultaneous subs. If that’s in your guidelines, at least have the courtesy to tell me that you’ve got my story. Can you tell that I just found out that a story of mine slipped through the cracks after 5 months of waiting? It wouldn’t be one of my blogs if I didn’t find a way to vent a little bit right? I’m done, but I’m serious.

Presses, Publishers, Magzines, Everybody! Confirmation emails, send ‘em. Pretty please.

This has been an interesting experience. For the first time in my writing career, I’m the one making the decisions, picking the stories and sending the rejections. Stu helped me out too and picked his favorites. We shared very similar tastes when picking the winners. Actually out plan was to only pick three, but I couldn’t resist adding a fourth.

Also, like I said, I’ve never done this before, so if I screwed something up, let me know, and I’ll try to fix it next time. Drop me a line at [email protected].

We’ll probably do this again sometime, at least I hope so. It’s been fun.

Instead of writing about writing for 1,500 words this week I’m taking a break. Let’s get to the stories. The top prize, an ebook copy of Under the Knife from Cruentus Libri Press, a medical themed horror anthology featuring a freaky ass story by some clown named Kerry G.S. Lipp goes to:

The Deal

By Donald Jacob Uitvlugt

Leaves rustle.

“Most unusual.” Northrop touches the knot. “The sap looks like…blood.”

The bark-covered pustule oozes, coating Northrop’s fingers. He can’t pull them away.

“Denis, a little help.”

The sap burns. The knot sucks down his hand to the wrist.

“Denis!”

“Sorry, professor. Had to get a shovel.”

As Northrop turns, Denis bashes his head in. It takes him the rest of the afternoon to dismember the body and bury it at the base of the tree. He wipes his brow and looks up to the topmost branches.
“One more and you let my brother go, right?”

Leaves rustle.

Shiver, shiver. Nice work Donald. And we’ll call the following a 3 way tie for second place. In no particular order, here are our other 3 favorites.

The Trees

By Reed Beebe

Years ago, the man had done terrible things in those woods, outside town. But the authorities had never caught him. He was careful, above suspicion. He died in his sleep, a rich old man.

When he awoke, he found himself in a dark, humid forest, with no company, save the ghosts of the children he had abducted and murdered in the woods. The children did not speak to him, but they smiled, and their teeth were sharp.

The damned man turned and ran eternally through the woods, and on those occasions when he stopped, his screams echoed from the trees.

The Hunting of the Shrikes

By Ben Kasson

Strolling through a simply enchanted meadow, Thomas took up a symphony with the local birds whilst whistling a merry tune. Feeling invigorated as they swirled and swarmed about him, Thomas became the very eye to their storm of movement. Soon, with each little shrike tugging at his clothes, he was hoisted into the air. Yipping with glee, Thomas soared to new heights in delight while looking down upon the forest. Suddenly, he felt the birds’ abrupt release and gravity took hold of him once more. Plummeting towards a tree, like a target towards an arrow, Thomas became impaled upon it.

“Apples”

By David Greske

“I see you finally caught the thieving bastard,” the oak said, staring at what was bound to the apple tree’s trunk.
“Yup, just in time, too. Damn near picked me clean.”
The oak bent forward. “They certainly are curious creatures, aren’t they? Human beings.” The tree straightened. “Now that you have him, what’re you gonna do with him?”
“Give him a taste of his own medicine. See how he likes it.”
A twisted branch of the apple tree reached around and cupped the naked man’s genitals.
“For such a large human,” the apple tree scoffed, “he has such scrawny apples.”

Booya.

Alright folks, thanks again for submitting. Stay tuned as we’ll probably do something like this again in the future. I’ll be back next week talking about whatever I’ve got to say in the world of writing. As always, I’m open to suggestions. Swing by my FB author page New World Horror – Kerry G.S. Lipp or send me an email and I’ll try and tackle it. Hell you can even tweet me @kerrylipp. I suck at Twitter, help make me better.
April is halfway over. Are you going to make your deadlines? GET BUSY!

Ps. This was my first time writing rejections, damn. Even though this is a small contest for tiny stories, I still felt like a dick. I tried to be supportive to y’all that didn’t make it. If it didn’t come across that way, I’m sorry.

Keep reading, keep writing, and keep it real,
KGSL

First off, I want to thank everyone who submitted a drabble. Confirmation emails have been sent out. Stu and I are excited to read them over the weekend and hopefully we’ll have the results by next Saturday. This is, however, the writing industry, and while I don’t anticipate any hiccups, I’ve been doing this long enough to realize that Murphy’s Law has its sniper scope permanently on publishing. Thanks for your interest.

We might even do this again? Probably.

Today I want to talk about something that bugs me. I understand it to a degree, but I also understand the ways to eradicate the argument. Here it is.

Quite often people say they want to be writers but they don’t read or write. I used to be one of these people. That pisses me off. You ask them why they don’t and the answer is always the same. “I don’t have time.” I hear you, I really do, but I don’t believe that.

Get over it. I know people are busy, we all are, we all have lives, families, friends, jobs, commitments, hobbies etc. Dividing your time up with everything surrounding you fighting for your attention is borderline impossible, I get that. The writing is on your own time, I can’t help you much with that, although I can tell you that Stu, the guy who runs HorrorTree, (in case you’re wondering who this mysterious “Stu” I keep referring to is) writes on his cell phone while commuting home from work. That’s hardcore. Not while he’s driving. Dude is busier than anyone I know and still finds time to produce. That is cool. Follow his example.

But this isn’t about writing time, this is about reading time. As SK says in On Writing, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write,” or something along those lines. I’d look it up, but I’m up against a deadline.

I’m going to offer you alternatives. The answer is audio. We live in an amazing age. Audio books and podcasts, while very easy to get a hold of, are still NOWHERE near as ubiquitous as they should be. Most of you have a smart phone or an ipod or both. With those tools, you are literally exposed to an infinite amount of information.

If you’ve never listened to an audiobook, give it a try. It may sound weird, or intimidating or boring. It’s not and it gives you a chance to read when reading isn’t an option. Just don’t listen to them in bed, that’s unfair to the book.

On top of teaching, I work a labor job, close to 40 hours a week. Sometimes that job involves me alone, in a room cleaning different machines for 8-10 hours. I’d be in a rubber room after a few months if it wasn’t for audiobooks.

At first, like everyone else, I just listened to music. And it was cool. But how many times can you listen to the same songs? I LOVE metal and still do but I can’t do any kind of music 40 hours a week every week for months into years. That’s psycho. And don’t get me started on the crap they play on the radio. Same 20 songs over and over and over.

I took a chance and finally checked out audiobooks. I fell in love. I urge you to try them if you haven’t, and if you tried them and hated them, try them again, maybe a different title.

With this job I had, 8 hours or so a night I got through King’s entire Dark Tower series in 2.5 months. Maybe less, it was a while ago, I can’t remember. Same thing with Harry Potter. And hanging my head, yes, even the Twilight series. Don’t look at me like that, I try to read widely. Side note I quit after the third book and full disclosure, didn’t mind the first one at all.

I was so nuts about audiobooks that I’d actually get excited about going to work. I remember clocking in early when 11/22/63 came out and working while listening to the Joe Ledger series by Jonathon Maberry got me as excited and working hard as any metal song would have. And listening to books by James Patterson? Man, the way those are produced it’s like listening to a movie. Check it out.

These audiobooks had me reading at least double the amount of books I read per year. It also led me to books that I would’ve never read on my own simply because they were easy to find in audio form. This led me to discovering The 50th Law, The Hunger Games (way before anyone else) and even 50 Shades. And I did it all while I was working! I got paid to read. And I did a better job and was in a better mood for it. Win for me, win for my employer. Hell yeah! I realize that this isn’t an option for a lot of people, but if it is for you, turn off the music and check out the audiobooks! It will change your life.

Recently, I’ve been moved out of that isolated area. I have to talk to people now. It’s a real bummer. But I can still listen to my headphones in short bursts. I discovered that an audio novel is possible, but it’s frustrating having to start and stop and only getting through an hour or two of a 40 hour book per night.

I needed to find an alternative.

Enter podcasts.

If you’ve never checked out a podcast, get off your butt and do it. A majority of them run close to an hour. Perfect for listening in short bursts while exercising, driving, cleaning, whenever. They are free. At least most of them are. The ones I listen to are free. And guess what? They have podcasts out there dedicated to the craft of writing. Check out Writing Excuses or my favorite, the Self-Publishing Podcast. Those three guys are not only hysterical, but they offer a lot of valuable information about the craft of writing and marketing and everything in between. As I’m preparing my own collection for self-publication, I’m reaping the benefits of the free information they share with me and laughing my butt off while I do so.

If horror fiction is more your thing, there are several horror fiction podcasts. Most of these podcasts will give you a short story or two a week. Perfect. Not only do you get to enjoy a story which is usually pretty good, but at the same time you are also *gasp* reading the market! You can get a feel for what they accept and maybe, just maybe you can send in a story and instead of print, hear a professional voice actor reading your story for tens of thousands of people. Holy Hell. Let that sink in.

I’ll take it a step farther (further? I’m an English teacher and I don’t know the difference. Who cares?) Usually these podcasts use current stories, stuff from the last few years, and you’ll run into some big names like Joe Landsdale, Tim Waggoner and Laird Barron. Sometimes you’ll run into completely unknown names who blow you away.

THIS IS WHO YOU WANT TO BE. Unless you’re a big name reading this. In that case thank you for the stories!

And sometimes, they’ll read classics. Short horror tales written one, maybe even two hundred years ago. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t care much for the classics. I know I should blah blah blah, but I’m a much more here and now kind of person. However, when these old stories are part of the podcast for the week and this is what I’ve got, I listen and learn and enjoy. It’s a cool way to expose a young gun to the old school. Give it a spin.

I don’t listen to all of them all the time, but here are my favorite horror fiction podcasts: Tales to Terrify, Pseudopod, Nightmare Magazine, and Dark Dreams. I’m sure there are more, but these are the ones I’ve discovered thus far. All quality audio with quality stories. Check ‘em out. Listen, and if you got something that fits, submit.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m still pretty green when it comes to podcasts, but I see the potential. I’ve you got any podcasts, fiction or otherwise that you think I should check out, drop me a line over at [email protected]. I love trying new things, that’s why I have so many ex-girlfriends.

PS: someone inquired as to how it was going with the waitress I wrote about in the rejection blog a couple weeks ago. The answer is: not good. But as with publishing, sometimes you get it direct and blunt and to your face and sometimes they make you wait and bleed to death.

Laugh, learn and move on. Only way to play this crazy game we call life.

Keep reading, keep writing, and keep it real,
KGSL