Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year. It carries none of the sentiment other holidays do. People get to act wacky and break from the routine of being their "normal self" for the day. That character from that movie I've always loved? Tonight I get to pretend I'm them for a few hours. It's a lot of fun. And I love a good scary movie too, though good scary movies are difficult to find.
Anyway, I'm toying with the idea to write a horror novella and release it on Halloween.
Yes, today is October 20th and I have not written a word of it, nor do I even have an idea of what it would be about, so it's an absolutely, utterly ridiculous idea.
But, ohhhhhh, is it tempting.
I love giving myself random challenges like this. And in this new world of indie publishing, I could do it too. It's possible to write, edit and release a novella in 11 days on Amazon.
Could I do it?
I think so.
Should I?
That's another question, with probably a different answer. Or at least, a much more nuanced answer.
Going to give this a lot of thought today ...
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Friday, October 20, 2017
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Saturday, May 9, 2015
LIMITED TIME OFFER - GET THE UNEARTHED FOR $0.99
The Unearthed, the first book in my paranormal thriller series, will be available for $0.99 later today on Amazon. This is a limited time offer (might be over as early as tonight, we shall see) so grab your copy early.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Literature v. Genre
Hi. My name is Evan, and I was an English major.
(Hi, Evan!)
It's been one thousand, four hundred, sixty days (give or take) since I stopped giving a shit about whether my stories qualified as high art, great literature, or worthy of being included in some tenuous, oft-shifting canon as judged by the so-called defenders of culture: college professors, editors, agents, literary journals, award committees, etc.
(Applause)
Thank you, thank you. It took me a long time to get to that point. Much longer than it should have. But hindsight is always twenty-twenty as they say.
(More applause)
You see, I love stories. All kinds of stories. High-brow, low-brow, middle-brow, uni-brow, there's a good chance I've read it, am in the middle of reading, have it on my TBR list, or will at least consider reading it. I'm not a snob that won't read so-called "genre" fiction, nor am an anti-snob who won't pick up one of the so-called "great" books.
I studied English literature in college, thinking (wrongly) that I'd learn how to tell stories. Mistake number one. A bachelor's degree in English does not give you the tools to write novels. It gives you the tools to critique a story and intentionally or unintentionally, basically teaches you how to teach English at the college level.
While an undergrad, I soaked up all the not-so-hidden biases of my teachers, taking their word as gospel that only books unpleasant and difficult to read and slow, where nothing much happened, qualified as art while books that merely entertained were dirty, low, and basically "brain candy." Impressionable youth that I was, I bought it hook, line, and sinker, and the image of the starving writer suffering for his art was some romantic ideal to aspire to. Mistake number two.
(A lot of ooohhhhs and aaahhhhs)
Give me a break--I was young.
But still, I should have known. Because early on I recognized the whole concept of "canon" was complete and utter bullshit. Don't get me wrong, my professors introduced me to a lot of wonderful stories, but consider these books below. All of them have had a lasting cultural impact. All of them I read on my own initiative. All of them I enjoyed more than anything that was ever assigned to me:
(Sounds of outrage from the audience)
You see, I knew these were all great books. They made an impact on me. I can still remember my age, what I was doing generally at the time, how I was feeling, what I thought, when I read these books. I have re-read all of them multiple times. When I asked for The Big Sleep to be included in my course work, I was told that Chandler's contemporaries, Hemingway and Fitzgerald, were "more important" than what were just a bunch of "detective stories."
I should have known then.
(Applause)
Thank you, thank you. When I began writing in earnest, I wasn't very far removed from my college days and all this stinking thinking was still in my head. I got an idea for a haunted house horror story and I liked the characters and I had what I thought was a great idea for a twist.
But I couldn't write genre. That wasn't important enough to give my time and attention to. I could hear my professors and the ghosts of all those writers in the canon whispering (shouting) in my ears: don't do it, don't do it, you want to write great art that may or may not get read and will likely never be appreciated in your lifetime, if it's ever appreciated at all.
I struggled with just the thought of writing a horror story. But at the same time, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Cognitive dissonance at its finest. I had to write the book, but I also wasn't allowed to write the book.
(A hush falls over the English Majors Anonymous group)
Know what saved me? All those great books I'd read on my own. You know, the ones that weren't worthy of inclusion in any of my courses because they were "genre." The ones that made an impression on me. If Crichton wasn't good enough for the professors, then it was okay for me to not be good enough either. Because these authors were "failures," I could fail too.
So I wrote The Unearthed. And then I (gasp!) wrote sequels.
These books will probably never win any awards. But I don't give a shit. Because I get emails from readers every week, telling me how much they enjoy the stories. And that beats worrying about the canon, high art, and literary intelligentsia.
A big thank you to all these great authors that inspired me to write. And an even bigger thank you to all my readers.
(Hi, Evan!)
It's been one thousand, four hundred, sixty days (give or take) since I stopped giving a shit about whether my stories qualified as high art, great literature, or worthy of being included in some tenuous, oft-shifting canon as judged by the so-called defenders of culture: college professors, editors, agents, literary journals, award committees, etc.
(Applause)
Thank you, thank you. It took me a long time to get to that point. Much longer than it should have. But hindsight is always twenty-twenty as they say.
(More applause)
You see, I love stories. All kinds of stories. High-brow, low-brow, middle-brow, uni-brow, there's a good chance I've read it, am in the middle of reading, have it on my TBR list, or will at least consider reading it. I'm not a snob that won't read so-called "genre" fiction, nor am an anti-snob who won't pick up one of the so-called "great" books.
I studied English literature in college, thinking (wrongly) that I'd learn how to tell stories. Mistake number one. A bachelor's degree in English does not give you the tools to write novels. It gives you the tools to critique a story and intentionally or unintentionally, basically teaches you how to teach English at the college level.
While an undergrad, I soaked up all the not-so-hidden biases of my teachers, taking their word as gospel that only books unpleasant and difficult to read and slow, where nothing much happened, qualified as art while books that merely entertained were dirty, low, and basically "brain candy." Impressionable youth that I was, I bought it hook, line, and sinker, and the image of the starving writer suffering for his art was some romantic ideal to aspire to. Mistake number two.
(A lot of ooohhhhs and aaahhhhs)
Give me a break--I was young.
But still, I should have known. Because early on I recognized the whole concept of "canon" was complete and utter bullshit. Don't get me wrong, my professors introduced me to a lot of wonderful stories, but consider these books below. All of them have had a lasting cultural impact. All of them I read on my own initiative. All of them I enjoyed more than anything that was ever assigned to me:
- The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- The Three Musketeers / The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
- Noble House by James Clavell (what an effing story!)
- Anything by John D. MacDonald or Robert B. Parker
- Anything by Michael Crichton
(Sounds of outrage from the audience)
You see, I knew these were all great books. They made an impact on me. I can still remember my age, what I was doing generally at the time, how I was feeling, what I thought, when I read these books. I have re-read all of them multiple times. When I asked for The Big Sleep to be included in my course work, I was told that Chandler's contemporaries, Hemingway and Fitzgerald, were "more important" than what were just a bunch of "detective stories."
I should have known then.
(Applause)
Thank you, thank you. When I began writing in earnest, I wasn't very far removed from my college days and all this stinking thinking was still in my head. I got an idea for a haunted house horror story and I liked the characters and I had what I thought was a great idea for a twist.
But I couldn't write genre. That wasn't important enough to give my time and attention to. I could hear my professors and the ghosts of all those writers in the canon whispering (shouting) in my ears: don't do it, don't do it, you want to write great art that may or may not get read and will likely never be appreciated in your lifetime, if it's ever appreciated at all.
I struggled with just the thought of writing a horror story. But at the same time, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Cognitive dissonance at its finest. I had to write the book, but I also wasn't allowed to write the book.
(A hush falls over the English Majors Anonymous group)
Know what saved me? All those great books I'd read on my own. You know, the ones that weren't worthy of inclusion in any of my courses because they were "genre." The ones that made an impression on me. If Crichton wasn't good enough for the professors, then it was okay for me to not be good enough either. Because these authors were "failures," I could fail too.
So I wrote The Unearthed. And then I (gasp!) wrote sequels.
These books will probably never win any awards. But I don't give a shit. Because I get emails from readers every week, telling me how much they enjoy the stories. And that beats worrying about the canon, high art, and literary intelligentsia.
A big thank you to all these great authors that inspired me to write. And an even bigger thank you to all my readers.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
COVER REVEAL - The Dream Machine (#6 in The Unearthed series)
No idea when this book will be out. But I'm considering an experiment on this one. If I focused solely on this project, could I publish in three months? In two? I have no idea, but it would be interesting to find out...
Anyway, here's the kick-ass cover. It really sets an eerie mood and has a dreamlike quality about it. Which is perfect for the book.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
LAST DAY TO GET A FREE SHORT STORY
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Pick up your free copy of In The Blood today. Tomorrow it'll be back to $0.99.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Readers Like It...So I'm Going To Release A Sequel
Thanks for all the great reviews of Morale Was Down so far. I wrote it for a pretty wide audience--anyone that's ever worked in an office. I've really enjoyed swapping work "horror" stories with early readers, so please keep those coming, either to my email (ronaniswriting@gmail.com) or here, on this blog.So, without further ado, I'd like to announce that the sequel, Effective Immediately, will be out soon. Hopefully this month, or next month, or early next year, or maybe later next year. Right after I get done some work.
But seriously, I hope to have the sequel out before the end of the year. Stay tuned and happy reading.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
FREE Paranormal Thriller - The Unearthed
The first in my paranormal thriller series, The Unearthed, will be available for FREE ON AMAZON for three days beginning tomorrow, 9/28/14. This coincides with the release of the sequel, THE LOST.
It was sheer joy writing these books as they feature my favorite character, Eddie McCloskey. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them.
After you read them, I'd humbly request an honest review--be it good, scathing, or even indifferent--on Amazon. Reviews are what drives Amazon's algorithms and puts books in front of potential readers.
For those folks already reading, I wanted to say thanks. Thank you for letting me share Eddie McCloskey's personal journey with you.
It was sheer joy writing these books as they feature my favorite character, Eddie McCloskey. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them.
After you read them, I'd humbly request an honest review--be it good, scathing, or even indifferent--on Amazon. Reviews are what drives Amazon's algorithms and puts books in front of potential readers.
For those folks already reading, I wanted to say thanks. Thank you for letting me share Eddie McCloskey's personal journey with you.
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