A Long Day for the Secret Service

I am such a history junkie that I can’t resist bit of history with an odd twist or two. Today is one of those historical days that I find interesting and a little odd. One hundred years ago the Secret Service and the Washington DC police department were called upon to block off the streets around the White House for the christening of President Wilson’s first grandchild, Ellen Wilson McAdoo.

The President was godfather and little Ellen’s aunt Mrs. Francis Sayre and her cousin Miss Helen Woodrow Bones were chosen as godmothers. The baby was named after her maternal grandmother, the late First Lady Ellen Axton Wilson in a private ceremony in the Blue Room with members of the Wilson family and Secretary McAdoo’s family in attendance.

Being born the daughter of the Secretary of the Treasury and granddaughter/goddaughter of the President means that security was very tight for the Christening. Secret Service members had to extend protection to the guests and inspect christening gifts from hundreds of well-wishers.

After this, you might think the Secret Service could breathe a sigh of relief, but the day was just getting started. The president attended to personal business at his bank, then returned to the White House for dinner with the family members who remained in town for his wedding. Yes, the President was married the same day his first grandchild was christened.

After dinner, streets were blocked off and the motorcade proceeded in the home of Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt where she and the President were married. The bride was 43 and he was 56.

This was a second marriage for both parties and they tried to keep the fanfare to a minimum. No matter how low key the President wants to keep his marriage to a direct descendent of Pocahontas, though, it isn’t going to be ignored. Wedding gifts filled an entire room of Mrs. Galt’s home and it took valiant efforts of the Capitol Police and the Secret Service to prevent crowds breaking through the barricades to get a glimpse of the couple.

For the twist to what makes this date in history a little odd as Wilson’s choice of wedding days has to do with little Ellen’s grandmother, Ellen Axton: the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, who married a young professor at Bryn Mawr College on December 18, 1885. That’s right, on the thirtieth anniversary of his first marriage, Wilson married his second wife.

2015 Book Awards Press Release

On Saturday night, August 8, the Florida Authors & Publishers Association (FAPA) gave out its prestigious annual President’s Awards for the best books of 2014 and the first half of 2015 by authors and publishers in Florida and throughout the United States. The event, which took place at the Hilton Orlando/Lake Buena Vista Resort, recognized outstanding books by awarding gold and up to two silver medals in categories ranging from children’s books to adult fiction, from memoirs to self-help, from business books to e-books.  
“The 2015 award winners elevate publishing both regionally and nationally. The awards continue to command the attention of industry professionals and readers!” said Mark Wayne Adams, FAPA President.
The following winners were selected in the following categories by the competition’s 31 judges – 27 national state librarians and four publishing professionals:
Press Release Link 
CHILDREN’S FICTION
SILVER:Liesel’s Ocean Rescue, Barbara Krasner, Avi Katz, Gihon River Press
SILVER:Lost Loot, D.G. Stern, Deborah Allison, Neptune Press
GOLD:Lost in Boston, Jane R. Wood, Florida Kids Press

CHILDREN’S NON-FICTION
SILVER:Same is Lame, Jimmy Vee, Mike Motz, Atlas Press
SILVER:Pelican Pete's Backyard Adventures: Nature Discoveries And Outdoor Fun, Frances Keiser, Hugh Keiser, Sagaponack Books
GOLD:Sea Slime: It's Eeuwy, Gooey and Under the Sea, Ellen Prager, Shennen Bersani, Arbordale Publishing

FLORIDA YOUNG CHILDREN’S BOOK
SILVER:Goodnight Gators, Patricia Baloyra, Ampersand, Inc
SILVER:Baby Animals of Florida, Kathleen King, South Bay Publishing
GOLD:Eli’s Balloon, Candace Ruffin, Mark Wayne Adams, The Writing Cane

CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
SILVER:Laura and Grandpa: Discovering Science Together, Book 3, Dr. Robert H. Krupp, Kristina Edstrom, Simple Science Books
SILVER:Lea the Christmas Angel, Brenda Sue Boulden Thompson, Kayla Lynn Olson, Middle River Press
GOLD:X’s and O’s for Gabby Ann, Petrell Marie Ozbay, Mike Motz, Adorn, Inc.
GOLD:Fast Freddie, Lee Ann Mancini, Dan Sharp, GLM Publishing

FLORIDA CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
SILVER:X’s and O’s for Gabby Ann, Petrell Marie Ozbay, Mike Motz, Adorn, Inc.
SILVER:You’re a Crocagator, Kenny Rager, Patti Brassard Jefferson, Halo Publishing
GOLD:Sometimes I Dream, Jose Colon, Jennifer Schmucker, Making Memories Portraits, Halo International

YOUNG ADULT FICTION
SILVER:The Sparks, Kyle Prue, Barringer Publishing
SILVER:FreeK Week, Steve Burt, Steve Burt Books
GOLD:An Unrequited Fall, Leslee Horner, CalBel Productions, LLC

FLORIDA YOUNG ADULT (FICTION & NON-FICTION)
SILVER:The Izzy Story, Ddwlem, Chalice Mitchell, Ddwlem, LLC
SILVER:John Horse, Florida’s First Freedom Fighter, Betty Turso, CreateSpace
GOLD:The Sparks, Kyle Prue, Barringer Publishing

EDUCATION
SILVER:The Magic Ice Cream Palace, Jose Colon, Amy Rottinger, Halo International Publishing
SILVER:Sometimes I Dream, Jose Colon, Jennifer Schmucker, Making Memories Portraits, Halo International Publishing
GOLD:Parts of Speech Parade, New York City, Irina Gonikberg Dolinskiy, Mark Wayne Adams, Mark Wayne Adams, Inc.

BUSINESS
SILVER:2015 Weird & Wacky Holiday Marketing Guide, Ginger Marks, DocUmeant Publishing
SILVER:The CEO and I.T. Department, Donald J. Burchell, South Bay Publishing
GOLD:Protecting Your Nest Egg, Page Cole

REFERENCE
SILVER:Captivate Your Readers: An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, Jodie Renner, Cobalt Books
SILVER:The Plan that Launched a Thousand Books, Tara R. Alemany, Emerald Lake Books
GOLD:The Little Red Writing Book, Brandon Royal, Maven Publishing
GOLD:The Weekend Book Proposal, Ryan G. Van Cleave, Writer’s Digest Books

RELIGION
SILVER:A Taste of Chocolate for the Soul, Dr. Carol Kennedy, Westbow
SILVER:Shiloh Unveiled, Walter Joseph Schenck, Jr., iUniverse, LLC
GOLD:Still Wearing My Heels, Michelle Frazzetto, Peppertree Press

SPORTS & RECREATION
SILVER:Reeling in Time with Fish Tales, Capt. Brian E. Smith, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing
GOLD:A Secret History of the Ollie: Volume 1: The 1970’s, Craig B. Snyder, Black Salt Press

E-BOOK ADULT
SILVER:Immigration: Obama Must Act Now, Leonard Birdsong, Winghurst Publications
SILVER:Jupiter and Gilgamesh, Scott Archer Jones, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing
GOLD:The Big Wheel, Scott Archer Jones, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing

E-BOOK CHILDREN
SILVER:My Pink Airplane, Tracy Bryan, Tracy Bryan
SILVER:Lift, Tracy Bryan, Tracy Bryan
GOLD:My Silly Dog Gus, C. K. Carter, Ricardo J. Rodriguez, C. K. Carter

SHORT FICTION
SILVER:The Day the Mirror Cried, Saundra Kelley, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing
SILVER:History and Mystery Oh My!, Sarah E. Glenn, Mystery & Horror, LLC
GOLD:Now We Will Be Happy, Amina Gautier, University of Nebraska Press

ADULT FICTION: GENERAL
SILVER:Iron Butterfly, Lisa Wainland, Twin Tree Press
SILVER:Lost Twin, D. W. Harper, HayMarBooks, LLC
GOLD:The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky, David Litwack, Evolved Publishing

ADULT FICTION: GENRE
SILVER:Iron Butterfly, Lisa Wainland, Twin Tree Press
SILVER:Memory House, Bette Lee Crosby, Bent Pine Publishing
GOLD:The Farber Legacy, George Encizo, CreateSpace
GOLD:Good Sam, Dete Meserve, Melrose Hill Publishing

ADULT FICTION: ACTION/SUSPENSE
SILVER:Shark Fin Soup, Susan Klaus, Oceanview Publishing
SILVER:Murder in Nice, Susan Kiernan-Lewis, San Marco Press
GOLD:The Care Card, Darryl Bollinger, JNB Press

ADULT FICTION: HISTORICAL
SILVER:Over Here, James Hockenberry, HN Books 
SILVER:Callie Kinser of Brush Creek, Ron Miller, Antebellum Press 
SILVER:Not Just Another War Story, Wayne G. MacDowell, DocUmeant Publishing
GOLD:Fate & Freedom, Book 1 - The Middle Passage, K. I. Knight, First Freedom Publishing

ADULT: NON-FICTION
SILVER:Hadrian's Wall Path, Jane V. Blanchard, Jane V. Blanchard
SILVER:Oh My God, I’m Feeling Older and So Is My Mom, Scott Greenberg, Star Group Books
GOLD:Unbroken Circles for Schools, Ken Johnson, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing

POETRY
SILVER:Just One Scent: The Rest is God, Piero Rivolta, Bardolf & Company
SILVER:Kinyamaswa: An Epic Poem, Andreas Morgner, Apprentice House Press
GOLD:Dinosaurs Living in My Hair, Jayne M Rose-Vallee, Anni Matsick, Rosevalle Creations

FLORIDA FICTION FOR ADULTS
SILVER:The Care Card, Darryl Bollinger, JNB Press
SILVER:Mercedes Wore Black, Andrea Brunais, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing
SILVER:Mosquito County, Lucinda Waldron, Outskirts Press
GOLD:Save My Place, Olivia deBelle Byrd, Mercer University Press

FLORIDA NON-FICTION FOR ADULTS
SILVER:Shade in the Sunshine State, Liz Coursen, First Person Publications
SILVER:Right Smart to Say, Robert H. Gore, III, Middle River Press
GOLD:Images of America: Key Biscayne, James Kushlan and Kirsten Hines, Arcadia Publishing

BIOGRAPHY
GOLD :Women of Valor, Joanne D. Gilbert, Gihon River Press

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
SILVER:Walking to Woot: A Photographic Narrative Discovering New Dimensions for Parent/Teen Bonding, Jackie Chase, Adventure Travel Press
SILVER:How We Said Goodnight, Rachel Silsdorf, Bardolf & Company
GOLD:Blasted By Adversity: The Making Of A Wounded Warrior, Luke Murphy with Julie Bettinger, Inkshares, Inc.

HEALTH & FITNESS
SILVER:Things I Wish I’d Known: Cancer and Kids, Deborah J. Cornwall, Bardolf & Company
GOLD:Surviving Cancer: Our Voices & Choices, Marion Behr, WWH Press

HOME AND GARDEN
GOLD:Attracting Birds to South Florida Gardens, James A. Kushlan & Kristen Hines, University Press of Florida

COOKBOOK
GOLD:The Air Diet: Recipes & Tips for Success in Your Allergy-free Kitchen, Laura Merrill Godfrey, Jigsaw Living

POLITICAL
GOLD:Unbroken Circles for Schools, Ken Johnson, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing

HOW TO/SELF-HELP
SILVER:The Plan that Launched a Thousand Books, Tara R. Alemany, Emerald Lake Books
SILVER:Traveling Stories: Lessons from the Journey of Life, Terri Clements Dean, LifeStory Publishing
GOLD:Elderly Parents With All Their Marbles (A Survivial Guide for the Kids), Pamela Carey, Barking Cat Books - Imprint of New River Press

COFFEE TABLE BOOK
SILVER:Walkabout Europe, Cliff Roles, Bardolf & Company 
SILVER:Coastal Dune Lakes: Jewels of Florida’s Emerald Coast, Nick Stoltzfus, Live Oak Production Group 
GOLD:Birds of Fairchild, Kristen Hines, James A Kushlan Photographer, Acclaim Press

HUMOR
SILVER:Shorts for the Beach, J. M. Fisher
SILVER:Mark Taylor’s Checkered Past: S.S. Guilt Trip, Angelina Assanti, City of Palms Publishing Co.
GOLD:Oh My God, I’m Feeling Older and So Is My Mom, Scott Greenberg, Star Group Books

COVER DESIGN: SMALL FORMAT
SILVER:The Big Wheel, Scott Archer Jones, Southern Yellow Pine Publishing
SILVER:The Lost Twin, D. W. Harper, HayMarBooks, LLC
GOLD:Save My Place, Olivia deBelle Byrd, Mercer University Press

COVER DESIGN: LARGE FORMAT
SILVER:Dinosaurs Living in My Hair, Jayne M Rose-Vallee, Anni Matsick, Rosevalle Creations
SILVER:Flight  of the Golden Harpy, Susan Klaus, Tom Doherty Associate Book
GOLD:Fate & Freedom, Book 1 - The Middle Passage, K. I. Knight, First Freedom Publishing

FOUNDERS AWARD
Patricia Charpentier, Writing Your Life

Presenting the Cover of Nightmare Noir

Presenting the cover of Nightmare Noir, available by preorder from Mystery and Horror, LLC. Nightmare Noir opens the casebook of Detective James S. Peckman, taking us into the underbelly of a world where true evil exists. Peckman and his partners take the cases that cannot be explained in the world we think we know.

The cover was done by TJ Halvorsen, a talented artist in St. Petersburg. The book comes out on April 13th, but three copies are being given away this weekend. One is being given away at Goodreads (enter below), but we're giving the others to two lucky people who comment on this blog and/or the other blogs participating in the reveal. Check the MAHLLC blog for other pages participating in the reveal. You will get as many entries as the number of blogs you comment on.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Nightmare Noir

by Alex Azar

Giveaway ends April 30, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Interview: D. Alan Dunn

D. Alan Dunn, a native south Texan, retired from the building and plumbing trades after a bout with cancer. A longtime fan of crime mystery and horror fiction, Dunn’s hidden talent for writing exploded into reality in 2007 when he wrote his memoirs for his grandchildren. Since then, his repertoire of author published works consist of “The Moods of My Heart” – a collection of poems, sonnets and quatrains and “5 After Midnight” – a collection of short stories in the psychological and horror genres.

Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
A: I’ve always had stories rolling around in my head since childhood, but it wasn’t until I was recovering from cancer surgery and wrote my memoirs for my grandchildren that I realized that writing came natural to me.

Q: How did you pick the genre/setting/era you (usually) write in?
A: I think it picked me. Horror is my first love, but I also enjoy writing westerns and crime mysteries. I usually try to combine the three genres to create a unique and fresh storyline. For example, a novel I am writing now, Dead Bone Posse, entangles a group of 1930s bank robbers with a posse of long since dead lawmen.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your story in History and Horror, Oh My?
A: I was researching serial killers online and stumbled upon a story about a real life serial killer in the Old West. I was therefore prompted to write my own rendering.

Q: Did you encounter any obstacles in researching the setting?
A: Researching for historical fiction is always a difficulty. To be believable, a setting has to be a real place rather than a fictional one, and sometimes the setting you choose is not easily researchable online.

Q: Do you have a favorite historical period you enjoy reading or writing about?
A: Any historical period is enjoyable for me. When you think about all of the untold stories of those time periods, an author’s imagination is infinite.

Q: Who is your favorite author, and what really strikes you about their work?
A: Edgar Allen Poe. Poe’s physiological and dark romanticism styles define me as a writer.

Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m currently writing stories for a collection of short stories entitled Tales from the Netherworld. A series of stories that acquaints the reader to the horrors and hopelessness of hell.

Read D. Alan Dunn's story for yourself!
History and Horror, Oh My! is now available in ebook formats on Smashwords and in print and Kindle formats on Amazon.

History and Horror, Oh My: Chantal Boudreau

Chantal Boudreau is an accountant by day and an author/illustrator during evenings and weekends, who lives by the ocean in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada with her husband and two children. In addition to being a CMA-MBA, she has a BA with a major in English from Dalhousie University. An affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association, she writes and illustrates horror, dark fantasy and fantasy and has had several of her stories published in a variety of horror anthologies, online journals and magazines. She has also published ten novels to date.

When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
I've been wanting to be a writer since I was six and wrote a handful of bad short stories as a child. I wrote my first novel (my trunk novel) when I was fourteen, and got incredibly helpful feedback from the rare person who took the time to read it. I entered a few writing contests and won a couple of prizes in my teens and young adult years but I never really aspired to being a published writer until I met my dear friend Barb MacQueen, who wouldn't stop pushing until I got my work out there. She had faith in me and my writing talent in a way no one else has had.

How did you pick the genre/setting/era you (usually) write in?
I feel more like it picked me. I was drawn to fairy tales and mythology as soon as I started reading, and I always was inclined to tales with a fantasy element, but I found myself most intrigued by the darkest of these stories. It makes sense to write what you like to read, so that's what I do. Whenever I'm inspired it usually carries me back to familiar places.

How did you come up with the idea for your story in History and Horror, Oh My?
I've played around with a variety of mythologies in several of my short stories and novels, and while I had written a short story set in Egypt, "Dry Heat," I had never dabbled in Egyptian mythology before. I figured it was time I tried my hand there.

Did you encounter any obstacles in researching the setting?
Not at all. Research is one of my favourite parts of writing and there is plenty of information available on Egyptian mythology. I had much more difficulty digging up information on obscure mythologies like Sami, Siberian and Thracian mythologies, for other projects.

Do you have a favorite historical period you enjoy reading or writing about?
The older the better. I love any stories centered on ancient civilizations, especially the ones with tribal mythologies involving shamans and having a strong connection with nature. I love the primitive aspect.

Who is your favorite author, and what really strikes you about their work?
That's difficult to answer because I have different favourites in different genres. My favourite in dark fantasy, for example, is Tanith Lee, and my favourite in sci-fi is Robert J. Sawyer. And I'm more of a "well-loved book" kind of reader rather than a "favourite author" type - I don't necessarily love everything written by my preferred authors. For me, the appeal comes from well-developed, flawed, multi-dimensional characters. To earn my favour, the characters in a story have to feel like real people.

What are you working on now?
I'm in the middle of a dystopian novel and I just finished one steampunk and three Lovecraftian horror short stories. Steampunk is a new endeavour for me so I'm going to have to test it out and probably rework it based on feedback. I like to experiment with new things from time to time.

Learn more about Chantal Boudreau's stories!
Check out Chantal's blog at http://chantellyb.wordpress.com. You can also learn about her other writings on her Amazon Author page. To see some of her illustrations, visit her Facebook page.

History and Horror, Oh My! is now available in ebook formats on Smashwords and in print and Kindle formats on Amazon.

History and Horror, Oh My: Kevin Wetmore

Kevin Wetmore is the author of over a dozen short stories and several books, including Post-9/11 Horror in American Cinema and Back from the Dead: Reading Remakes of George Romero's Zombie Films as Markers of Their Times. He lives in Los Angeles where he also acts, directs, teaches and does stunts.

Kevin contributed "Report on an Incident after the Battle of Malvern Hill" to History and Horror, Oh My! The "Report" tells the story of a soldier's grisly discovery during the American Civil War, but we found his description of the 'normal' events in the war equally gruesome. We decided to learn more about what inspired him to write the story and how he researched it.

How did you pick the genre/setting/era you (usually) write in?
I write horror because I like horror and spend a good deal of time reading and watching that genre, so it is also the one I know best. I wrote this short story about the Civil War era because it is a period that really interests me. It really was the first modern war - the first machine gun, the Gatling Gun, was in use by 1962 by the Union army. It was a very violent and horrific conflict that was well documented through photographs and soldiers' journals and letters. (The description of a the aftermath of a battlefield looking like a single entity came from a soldier's letter home, for example). So there was a lot of material with horrific potential even before adding the monster element. I also wanted to explore a story written as a letter, so the Civil War setting also lent itself to that task.
It don't usually write in this period. Most of my fiction is either set in the present or in the immediate future. It is fun, though, to write about the past. I usually end up doing a lot of research to be accurate. I wrote a story set at Halloween 1955 that was really a tribute to my father's childhood and the first thing he did after reading it was tell me all the things I got wrong - the night that particular TV shows were on, how families ate dinner - just details that someone alive then would know but are not necessarily found in books or websites. So I think I like writing about the Civil War or the Renaissance - nobody tells you that you got the details wrong.

How did you come up with the idea for your story in History and Horror, Oh My?
I recently read James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom and found myself horrified by the battle descriptions. I also started thinking about the terrible starvation and famine that followed in the South and how deserters would follow the armies looking for food. I also look at the descriptions of the military hospitals and the conditions under which hundreds of limbs would be amputated in a single day after battle and began wondering what would happen if the desperation drove the deserters to feast on those limbs. I think I was also playing with the metaphor of feeding off of others found in slavery. The whole story was intended to convey increasing unease and disgust after the fact as a wounded soldier reports on the horrific battlefield experience, the even more horrific hospital experience, and then finally the realization that someone had eaten your flesh and now had a taste for it. While there are lots of horrible ways to die, I think knowing that you are being consumed by something else is particularly disturbing.

Did you encounter any obstacles in researching the setting?
No, actually. The Civil War is frighteningly well documented. It was just making sure you get the details right. Knowing that a certain unit disbanded on this date and was absorbed into another unit, or that men from a particular unit only came from one town are things you need to get right, because there is always that reader that knows and gets pulled out of the story when the read something they know isn't right, and I want the reader in the story while he or she is reading it. Plus most of my writing has been non-fiction, so I actually really enjoy the research. I keep a notebook on my desk as I am researching things for my non-fiction work, as I come across something that will make an interesting story I make a note of it and then start working on a story later. That's actually how this one began life.

Who is your favorite author, and what really strikes you about their work?
I am a huge Ray Bradbury fan. Love his stuff. He has a gift for language and for detail that just makes him a pleasure to read. I've read Something Wicked This Way Comes so many times I have whole sections memorized. My fiction is mostly short stories, and he is certainly a master of the form, so he has proven an excellent model. I also really like Joe R. Landale's short stories. His novels are fine and fun, but his short stories bite and don't let go. I think "The Night They Missed The Horror Show" is still the most horrific thing I have ever read. It's like reading an accident - everything slows down and you see the bad things coming and are powerless to change the outcome. That story left a mark.

What are you working on now?
As always, many short stories and several non-fiction projects. I've been interviewing the participants of Zombie Walks, Zombie Runs, Zombie Crawls, etc., really anything where people dress up and pretend to be zombies for a book about why we play dead - not just watch zombie movies, but why folks want to pretend to be a reanimated corpse. I have several stories coming out over the next several months and several I am currently revising. Like all writers, I think about a novel, but the short story form is what really interests and occupies me right now.

Okay, so you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?
As an author, anything and everything. Ideas are everywhere, information too. I start the day with the newspaper, then read novels, history, science books, plays, magazines - everything.

Read Kevin Wetmore's story for Yourself!
History and Horror, Oh My! is now available in ebook formats on Smashwords and in print and Kindle formats on Amazon.

Word Business

The last two years haven't been about ups and downs. Life has been a series of downs and deeper, darker, downs. For months, I could not write. Ideas were there. Plots took shape. I looked at a blank screen and could not put the words on the page. Thankfully, Sarah did not give up on me, even when I was ready to quit. The dark days are less frequent. Words escape my twisted little brain and land on the page most days.

In an ideal world I would spend every day writing. The writing would be effortless and brilliant. Everyone would be envious of how the words flowed onto the page. Publishers would snap up my stories and beg for more. I don't live in that world. Nobody does.

The world I live in is one where life revolves around books. That's pretty good.

These days I spend so much time on the publishing side of the writing industry that my writing takes a back seat. That's not a complaint. Part of each day is set aside for my writing. Besides, I am finding publishing interesting, educational, and sometimes fun. FUN? I haven't used that word in a while. Who would have thought a job so demanding, time consuming, and difficult would put laughter back in my life?

Anyone who has ever thought of starting a press needs to take a hard look at their reasons. It is a business, not a hobby. Running a tiny press means that every decision is going to impact the bottom line. Those of you who saw our first set of royalty statements know that bottom line was pretty small. Every book, every cover, every author, every artist, every story matters. Work doesn't end.

Since one of us has to have a day job, weekends are about getting stuff done that involves Sarah. She spends most of her time at home reading and editing short stories. Longer work lands on my desktop. I spent Saturday night emailing authors. Here it is Sunday morning and I'm happily back at my computer. No one could have convinced me that I would willingly get up at six the morning to see if a new book cover was in my inbox. Now I am trying to let Sarah sleep in instead of running into the bedroom to tell her about the cover. The fact that she would kill me has me blogging instead.

The Future of Short Fiction

When I first talked to small press owners about anthologies they all had the same advice "DON'T."

Why?

The stories they told me varied, but themes emerged. The complaints came down to three basic replies.

1. You will lose your investment because nobody buys anthologies, book stores won't carry them, there are no reviewers, they're impossible to market.
2. It is hard enough to deal with one author's ego you have to be crazy to take on trying to satisfy multiple authors.
3. Small presses don't have a pool of name authors who write consistently solid stories.

Wow! The ways publishers lost money on anthologies gave me pause. I listened to all of them, knowing that these experienced publishers were telling me true stories of what happened when they published anthologies. Somewhere in all those tales of woe another theme cropped up, "we love short stories." Inevitably the statement was followed with the word "but." Another tale of woe began.

I love short stories. I love reading them, plotting them, writing them, and telling them. I have discovered many of my favorite writers because of a gem they had written for an anthology. There used to be tons of venues that carried short stories, magazines, newspapers, and books of short stories. I once wrote one that was printed on cans of coffee. What happened?

Many of the pulp magazines have folded, a lot of those left are struggling. Authors who write short fiction are finding fewer paying markets. Many shorts are going paperless, selling directly to e-venues. Some authors are posting individual stories and collections to Amazon. I don't have sales numbers or a clear picture what, if anything, works. At the moment I don't think any single place can be considered the definitive destiny of short fiction. Publishing in general is uncertain of its future.

On the other hand, librarians tell me that short stories are still checked out of libraries. Readers tell me that they enjoy reading shorts.

If authors like writing short stories and readers like reading them, how do we go about bringing the two together?

I think it is going to take some effort from all sides of the industry. The short story needs to be taken seriously. We need more awards and attention for the form. After having worked as both a coordinater and judge for the Derringer Awards, I am aware of the difficulty in doing awards. I am also aware of the limited place short fiction is given in the writing community.

There is a crying need for short story and anthology reviewers. There also need to be sites and ezines dedicated to short fiction reviews. Readers need a way to find the kind of stories they love. They also need to create book clubs that share those stories with other like minded readers. Amazon is not the answer for book reviews of any kind and certainly not the place for short fiction reviews.

Writers need to be able to make money writing short fiction. Publisher's need to be able to make money publishing short stories. In today's marketplace that's a tall order. I believe it can be done. Mystery and Horror, LLC is experimenting with an advance and royalty system. We are too new at this to know if the experiment will succeed. We would love to hear what other publishers and authors are trying.

The future of the short story may be headed for another golden age, but only if we care enough to make it happen.

Blame it on the Drugs

Writing takes a particular type of mental work. As much as we writers would like to sit down at our keyboards and great books magically flow onto the blank screen, stories aren't written that way. We labor over our words. We choose them with great care. Many of us agonize over the quality of our work. This is how books get written.

For the better part of a year, I didn't agonize over writing. I agonized over the thought of writing.

I'm not talking about writers block. There was no lack of ideas, no silence from my muse. My muse screamed at me to no avail. A flood of ideas built up behind the dam in my head. I could not write. I couldn't edit stories that I'd all ready written. I couldn't submit work to publications, write query letters, or talk about writing.

Instead of improving with time. I got worse. I would burst into tears at the mention of sending my finished novel to the editor who had requested to see it. I had panic attacks at meetings of my writer's group. Attending a conference was a nightmare. Sarah stayed very close to me through meetings and shielded me from the most difficult parts of public events. Unfortunately, she could only watch the agony of not writing.

Thankfully, the dam has burst. I would like to claim that the volume of creative work I've completed in the last two months is the result of some inner drive, great inspiration, a passion for work--anything but the truth. The facts are not comfortable.

The truth is I had a drug problem. The anxiety medication I had been on for several years had stopped working. Since Sarah and I had been living in a state of crisis from the moment we arrived in Florida, changes in mood and temperament were blamed on the situation. I am sure that anyone who has been through the experience of seeing a loved one through the final months of life can appreciate the tunnel vision that process creates. Instead of thinking about my own health, I ignored all the warning signs.

It is uncomfortable to think that panic nearly cost me my life. A simple doctor's visit could have prevented a difficult year from becoming a hellish one. Lesson learned? I hope so. Only time will tell.

Strangely Funny II

Last year we kicked off our adventure into the publishing world with an anthology titled Strangely Funny. Those who follow this blog know our debut book was not a roaring success. Reading through the mixed reviews of Strangely Funny, I discovered that stories that stood out to one reader fell flat with another. The one point everyone who read the book agreed upon was that it contained some stories they loved.

Humor is extremely subjective. Unlike writing horror, mystery, fantasy, or science fiction, funny stories have no unifying criteria. Humor either pulls the reader in and lets them see human foibles through the eyes of the protagonist or it doesn't.

So why are we doing a second volume of strangely funny tales? The answer is quite simply, because we like reading unusual, paranormal, super-natural, and yes FUNNY stories. I still believe there is an audience for the quirky, off-beat, and downright weard humor.

I am committed to finding that audience...but, I'm not telling where they've committed me. They're my readers. MINE, MINE, I tell you!

Update on Our Mystery and Horror's Micropress

Most of our friends know that last year Sarah and I decided to add a micropress to the Limited Liability Company we formed to protect our creative work. Since we already had the business structure, the first job was to draw up a business plan for publishing.

I won't delve into all the details in a blog post, but drawing up a business plan takes as much research as writing a historical novel. The big difference is the type of research, printing costs, postcard, bookmark, book cover, prices, distribution channels, review sites, etc. Once we knew what it would cost us to put out the first book, we had to decide what kind of books we wanted to publish, how many we had time to work on, and divide up the labor.

Notice I did not at any time say anything about making money. Neither of us had any expectation of financial gain in the first few years of the enterprise. Our financial goal was to keep the press from being a money pit. Believe me, small businesses can suck up investment dollars. We had no guarantee that anyone would submit stories to a press that offered such a small return. The big question when we sent out a call for submissions was "would we get anything of the quality we were willing to print?"

Notice I said small return, not no return, to the writers. We are writers. We know how much work goes into writing a book. Most of all, we believe money should flow to the writer. Without the authors, there is no publishing business. If anyone liked our books, money would eventually flow back to the press, but that takes time. This is why we set up a royalty structure with an advance. It gives every author something and promises a share in our success to authors who's stories earn money for us.

Our first book, Strangely Funny, came out in July. Sarah loves this book. I think it has some of the best and funniest short stories I have ever read. Individual stories in the book were well received. There the praise kind of peters out. I don't know if the book will ever earn out the advance. The reviews were few and mixed. Sales were lower than the lowest numbers I had projected. In short, the book and the press were off to a rocky start.

All Hallows' Evil sold better. It also got better reviews. It didn't quite earn out the advance in its first quarter, but will in the next. I may even have to send the writers more money. I am sure that will make them and me smile.

Our last two books, Undead of Winter and Ha-Ha! Horror, were both released near the end of November. A few copies sold before the November 30 cut off time for this reporting period, but it is too soon to know how well either will perform.

Our first checks for sales arrived at the end of December. No, those checks did not cover what we put into the company this year. We didn't expect that. We did expect and get the satisfaction of completing the books we planned to publish. The press was getting a core group of good authors who contributed to more than one anthology. Sarah and I got some much needed help from group of friends who worked to get word out about our press and sent us stories that they could have made more money from elsewhere.

Will Mystery and Horror, LLC survive its rocky start? I think we will not only survive but grow in the coming year. Despite Strangely Funny failing to capture the hearts of the reviewers, there will be a sequel. Sarah loves quirky little stories.  Perhaps Strangely Funny II will be better received. Perhaps not. Either way the odd, quirky, funny, paranormal stories have a place at our strange little press.

Christmas is a Catastrophe

After weeks of being exposed to positive thoughts and uplifting reading, I have come to the conclusion that happiness is overdone. This is particularly true this time of year. It is time to take a serious look at the holiday season. Trust me on this. You people need to get a grip before you go overboard and turn your kids into a bunch of sniveling liberals who want everyone to be happy.

That's right. You, in the red suit, I don't know what you're smoking in that pipe but breaking into people's houses, eating their cookies, and drinking all the milk is criminal. For that matter who told you to trash the place with all those toys and goodies. I could have broken a toe if I hadn't checked my stockings before sticking my feet in them. And another thing, giving all this stuff away is UnAmerican. Do you want to wreck our whole economy?

I am not a grouch. I just call it as I see it. This Christmas thing is a communist plot to spread happiness and good cheer all over the world. It has got to stop.

Now don't start telling me about Scrooge or how I need to get into the spirit of the season. Scrooge was just a hard working business man, and example of thrift and other conservative principals. It isn't his problem that Tiny Tim didn't have health insurance. His parents should have worked two jobs apiece and put him in an institution. That's the American way.

Do you think the folks in Congress should all be visited by a bunch of ghosts?

You do?

Well, I think you've been in the spirits a little too much. How much brandy was in that fruitcake? If you don't stop, you may be the ghost of Christmas past.

Who said anything about drinking and driving? I was going to knock you in the head with this rolling pin, the one my dad carved from a fence post. That will teach you to stay out of my kitchen, and out of my bourbon balls.

Really, Christmas is a catastrophe waiting to happen. All this joy and happiness is just a distraction from the real reason for the season. Shopping! Block the streets. Plug all the exits. Don't let anyone escape the mall until the credit cards are maxed out.

Most of all people, you need to teach your children that life is hard, cruel, and unfair.Why not make this whole season a teaching occasion? Rip the joy out of those chubby cheeks.  Teach them that the candy and Christmas cookies make them fat while you bake the next batch. Structure their time so they don't waste it with daydreams. Do you want them to have visions of sugar plums? Of course not.

So, if you must give toys, make sure they are educational. You owe it to your children to make them miserable. They've got to learn about the real world sometime.  Fill the season with stress, expense, pressure, and excess. Fill their heads with greed and guilt, and tell them that this is happiness.

Looking for the "Good"

For the next couple of weeks I am supposed to be actively seeking out the "Good" in my world. Two weeks of relaxing, looking at positive, funny, inspiring, books, television, and movies. Two weeks of self-indulgence in activities that give me pleasure, of spending at least an hour every day doing something just for fun--about now my hard working friends are all sighing and wishing their doctors would give them this order. It sounds like a prescription for a vacation.

What it really asks is that I change habits and thought patterns of a lifetime.

As a counterpoint to this experiment I am also asked to avoid angry, violent, negative, sad, depressing thoughts. I am to not watch the news, put down the murder mysteries, not look at crime programing...you get the idea. Death, crime, murder, violence etc. are banished. I close my eyes, snap my fingers, and poof, its gone. Right?

Okay, nobody, not even my thrity-something doctor thinks I'll magically make the bad stuff vanish. She does think that the cycle of nightmares, sleepless nights, and panic attacks can be broken. Her "I think you can" attitude seems young and naive to me. But all the doctors are looking young these days.

As for reading positive stuff, I would much rather have a good mystery. Feel-good writing is not my thing. I have never read a "Chicken Soup" book. I've always assumed that I would gag on the syrup in them. Perhaps I would, but I will give a couple weeks of anything a try if there is a chance it will get me back to writing again. This morning I read through Virginia Satir's "My Declaration of Self-Esteem" without gagging. I still want my "Chicken Soup" in a bowl, and still have doubts about feel good medicine being the right prescription for me.

Stumbling Along

Any of my relatives can tell you I have a talent for stumbling, sometimes over my own feet, but often over nothing at all. My knees bear many scars from falling, so does my ego. In fifty-plus years, I have done a lot of stumbling. I also fell on my face a number of times. It feels like I've done little else. Therein lies a tale of woe.

Whoa! Lets not go down that path. I don't want to spend today in the pervasive darkness that has plagued me for my entire life.  I am just letting friends know that I am still here and still stumbling along. The blunders, spills, misspoken words, and epic miscalculations make me who I am.

Instead of talking about what I've stumbled over, on, and into, lets talk about a few things I've learned from those falls:

1. Your friends will laugh when you land face-first in a cow pie.
2. Laughing at your expense does not mean you aren't loved. It means your friends know funny when they see it.
3. When friends stop laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation you've fallen into, they will help you back to your feet.
4. Your best friends will help you wash the s*** off.
5. The worst tumbles make the best stories.
6. Nobody will ever forget or let you live down the epic falls.
7. Someone will capture your epic fall for posterity, share it with the friends who missed it, and probably post it to Youtube, Facebook, etc.
8. When you are a klutz, the camera phone is not your firend.
9. When your mouth and brain lack Call Waiting, you can have an epic stumble without taking a step.
10. Words can hurt you, when others react to your words with their fists.

These are just a few of the life lessons I've picked up while stumbling my way through. They haven't stopped me from making missteps. Though, from time to time, they have helped me find the strength to get back up again. Now if I could just learn how to get rid of those camera phones.

Memories of Life on Four Mile Road

Today is difficult. I should be working on the story my wife asked me to help plot, but my mind keeps wandering back to a little four room house on Four Mile Road. It was a rundown old farmhouse, without indoor plumbing, and heated by an ancient cast iron stove. The house was a long way from everything. The sun set between our house and the nearest town, a thriving metropolis of nearly 3000 people, that we moved to some years later.

I didn't understand what poverty was, and didn't see anything of the world beyond our holler. Day to day life didn't change much. My brothers picked on me, my older sister bossed me around, and the younger one was a fussy baby who displaced me as the baby. We were Appalachian to the core, proud, independent, dirt poor, hard working, and barely getting by from day to day.

My mother worked ten hour days in a sewing factory. My father worked in a steel mill in Columbus, Ohio. He came home on the weekends bringing most of his paycheck and the occasional treat. Being neither the youngest nor the oldest in the family, my life was a constant attempt to avoid being yelled at, beat up, or given more chores. It was a hard life. Everyone had to do their part to keep the family going. We grew our own food, made most everything we had, and wasted nothing. I didn't understand then how hard it was or how much harder it could get. Between age four and five, the bottom fell out of our isolated little world.

My father got hurt in the mill. I wish I could remember him better before a thousand pounds of steel crushed his back, turned his hair white, and left him in pain for the rest of his life. He eventually was able to return to the labor force, but the years of recovery were a strain on all of us. After his injury, we had to be very quiet around the house. Perhaps that quiet was the beginning of my writing roots. Who knows? We had no books. The biggest comfort I had growing up was my imagination. There I could escape to places where I wasn't little, lonely, or frightened. Heroes populated my imagination and magic worked wonders in my make-believe world.

If any family needed a little magic, ours did.

With Mom at work and Dad laid up, we kids pretty much raised ourselves. The major burden of that fell on my oldest sister, Kay. Believe me, the rest of us were a huge burden. I wouldn't wish my family on any teenager. My youngest sister was just a baby, I was about four and a half, and the brother nearest my age was barely six. Then there was Don. His twin died shortly after he was born. I often wondered if he would have been different if Ronny had survived too. Some of my earliest stories revolved around a brother I never met. Unlike Don, his dead twin liked me. He would never have tied my pigtails to the clothes line and left me hanging there until Mom got home.

My brother Don was the kid who is always a little slower, a little less able. He didn't learn to walk until he was nearly four. My brother Don had about nine tenths of the necessary skills to manage his own life, let alone manage to turn out well under the conditions we grew up in. That missing tenth, that small part that gives us common sense, just wasn't there. That would have held him back in any course his life might have taken. As poor kid in Eastern Kentucky, he never stood a chance at having a decent life. His brain worked just well enough to get him into trouble and his temper worked too well. Over time, Don and trouble became synonyms.

At sixteen Don got tired of walking home, so he stole a bicycle from a classmate. For that lack of impulse control, he was sent to reform school until he turned eighteen. Before his nineteenth birthday, he went to prison for the first time. Perhaps went to prison for a lifetime is a more accurate account. He turned a three year prison sentence into a career as a prisoner. There were brief respites when his keepers granted parole, but those could be measured in months.

On television we see criminals commit complex, well planned crimes. Maybe he was aiming at being one of those criminal masterminds, but if that was the case, his aim fell really short. Don committed crimes like driving the Baptist minister's car up the courthouse steps, and breaking into a hardware store and sleeping in a hammock overnight. My personal favorite crime was his first escape from jail. Yes, there were other escapes. Don's biggest talent was was getting out of or into a locked room. However, that first jail break was the most memorable.

His great jail break was particularly noteworthy because the jailer didn't know it had happened until his next arrest. 

In the jailer's defense, the breakout and arrest were only about an hour apart. 

That day, my wiry brother decided that if he stripped and soaped himself down he would be able to slide between the bars. At this point, I should point out that the cells were on the second floor of the jail and the jailer lived on the first floor. This is important because Don forgot to throw his clothes down before climbing out. With no way to retrieve his drawers without turning himself in, he tried to run home before anyone saw him. 

Even in a small town in Eastern Kentucky it is difficult to run half a mile buck naked through downtown without someone noticing. His subsequent arrest was for “streaking.” The “escape” charge was added when the officer brought him in and the jailer realized he was supposed to already be there.

If you are wondering why I am talking about this, it is because I am thinking about Don today. He has found a new prison to occupy. One he created all by himself through years of smoking, a habit he picked up in reform school and mastered through years of prison. They actually let him come home when his lungs were so bad he had to be on oxygen all the time.

He is hooked to a ventilator now, and sedated so he won't remove the tube. I am not sure how I feel about what's happening to him. I know he doesn't want to be on this ventilator. He has stated frequently that he doesn't want to be kept alive. But the hospital doesn't have a Do Not Resuscitate order on file for him. Whether he neglected to give it to them or they lost it is anybody's guess. He is in no condition to sign a new one. Nothing he or I or anyone else can do can change his situation.

It seems to me that life has been so utterly unfair to him in every possible way that this is a fitting end. From his birth as a premature twin before neonatal care could have helped him develop, to his impoverished childhood and the lack of special education programs in the 1950's, to the years of prison, my brother never stood a chance of having a decent life. Perhaps, it is somehow fitting that the end of his life is as utterly messed up as the rest of it. I would like to think that when his struggle is over, he will be reunited with that missing twin - the twin who was kind and loving and would never stick his little sister in a bucket and drop her down the well.

Stepping out of the "Crazy" Closet

Most of my friends know that I've had a lifelong battle with depression and anxiety. I don't mean that I get a little sad or that occasionally I don't want to get out of bed. I've never really wanted to get out of bed in the morning, but that's another issue altogether.

Of the two problems, the depression is usually, but not always, worse. Depression is a crippling disease. It is also the sort of disease that isn't taken seriously. Well intentioned friends and family members told me to "snap out of it," "stop feeling sorry for myself", and my personal favorite, "just don't think about it." Anxiety really isn't taken seriously. Everybody worries. Everybody has fears. Not everybody has an anxiety disorder. Those who don't, have trouble understanding what happens to people like me. It is just "crazy."

Therein lies the stigma of having a mental problem. Yes, I know half the commercials on television are cute depictions of how drugs can help. In the real world, people still distrust those with mental illnesses. One of my nephews is quite upfront with his opinion. He refers to me as his Crazy Aunt Gwen.

There are things that can make life better. Drugs help, most of the time, but there is no cure.

What I learned from living with this illness was not to talk about what was going on inside my head. The problem with that approach is that it falls into the same category as not talking about being gay. Unless we talk about it, the stigma, the injustice, and misunderstanding continues. Pretending only makes life harder. Not being able to talk also makes it harder for those who do understand and want to help. I am sure that one of the great frustrations of Sarah's life is not being able to get me to talk when I am in the middle of an attack. I don't know how much of my inability to talk is the illness and how much of it stems from my experiences with therapy.

Some people find therapy helps. Both Sarah and her mother have had good results from therapy. Many of the people I know also believe in therapy. Me, not so much. My experiences on that front have been anything but helpful. In the 70's I had the worst sort of therapist. In the 80's I was misdiagnosed and put on drugs that nearly wrecked my life. My family doctor figured out what was happening and thankfully told me to stop taking those medications. I stayed away from psychiatrist after that, but did try therapy again some years later. It was not pretty.

Nothing about this illness is pretty. I really wish I could "just snap out of it." Wouldn't that be great?

Posting from the Edge or the World

The shallow waters of the Gulf or Mexico might not seem like the edge of the world, but in my mind any place where earth meets sea is the edge. I can go no further. Never mind that boats and explorers have ventured out on much rougher seas. They had to work with others, build ships, find others willing to risk falling off the edge of the earth.

From the shore, alone and unaided, they saw the horizon. They knew humans had had reached the edge of the world.

When the most adventurous ventured beyond the edge they were uncertain. Some places resisted exploration. There the maps were marked as "here there be monsters."

Perhaps, there are monsters out in those peaceful waters. Perhaps, we humans took our monsters with us when we ventured out beyond the edge. There have been enough horror films about dangers of the deep to fuel many nightmares. There are still unexplored depths where exotic creatures remain undiscovered.

Here on the edge, we look to the horizon and wonder. We feel the awe of vastness. We wade the shallow waters at the edge. Brave souls venture out beyond the horizon. Unlike our ancestors, today's explorer no longer believes the world is flat. We won't fall off the edge. Will we?

"Here there be monsters."  Perhaps, my writing friends should be thinking about what monsters lurk in the depths. Mystery and Horror, LLC loves exploring topics like this. "Here there be Monsters" would make an excellent anthology of our eternal human quest to explore what lies beyond the edge of the world. What monsters await? Are they creatures of the deep or did we bring them along for the ride?

Think about it.

Cover Reveal: HA-HA! Horror

HA-HA! Horror by Monster Matt Patterson is the very first single author book from Mystery and Horror, LLC. Those who are fans of Monster Matt know his jokes are so bad they make me cringe, but they also make me laugh. If you want a sample of his humor visit him at HaHaHorror or tune in to 6 Foot Plus for the Monster Matt Minute. They bill the latter as either the worst or best minute of the show.

Launch Day for All Hallows' Evil

There is a listing of authors and story titles on the Mystery and Horror blog today but launch day is about the end of a long process of construction, revision, and reworking the parts to create the whole. In the beginning, a book is an organic project. An idea becomes a cover which becomes the inspiration that spreads through creative minds. On launch day that idea becomes a concrete item, but through the process of spreading the idea changes.

The first change takes place when I give the cover to Sarah and she sends out a call for submissions. It isn't mine anymore. As editor, she has to make the tough decisions about what stories are included and which she turns down. I don't see the contents of the book again until it is time to do the layout.

In the meantime the writers who answer the call and create the stories do their part in shaping the book. Imagination multiplied is a wonderful process to experience. Great stories come from all over the world and only a select few make it into the final product.

All Hallows' Evil sits in front of me, a giant glop of mismatched text by writers who think they have followed the guidelines, but probably have not. I get to discover how they added hidden codes, tabbed instead of using the indent feature of word, emailed themselves the text and worked on a different computer. All those lovely hidden crimes come out when I FORMAT. The final task is to turn that glop into a book that the reader won't throw across the room.

Finally, the book is off to the printer and we can throw a launch party. Today I will be celebrating the completion of the book. So stop by our Facebook page, have a slice of virtual cake, click the "like" button and say hello. Go to Amazon and order a copy. Most of all, send a nice thought to a poor unloved publisher who gets no credit for her mind numbing work.

New Contest on Facebook

 I have started a new contest on Facebook. The prize is getting to dedicate  Mystery and Horror, LLC's anthology Undead of Winter to the person of your choice. Horror fans, family members who would get a kick out of seeing their name in print, your best friend from high school, the choice is yours. All you have to do is like the Mystery and Horror, LLC Facebook Page and leave a comment telling us why you want the dedication.

If you are all ready one of the people who likes our publishing company that's great. We would never exclude our friends. You can still leave a comment and be entered for the prize. But to win you have to like the page and ask to be entered in the drawing. The contest runs through the month of September.

On October first I will put all the entries into one of my many hats and draw out one winner. That person will get to decide who the book is dedicated to. It can be serious, funny, or a slap in the face to someone you wish were dead...the only limit is a dedication that would get me sued.