Guest Post: Story Excerpt From Mental Shrillness by Todd Russell

Todd Russell is the author of short story collection Mental Shrillness. This month he is on a blog tour and has stopped here to share an exclusive Mental Shrillness excerpt. You can find out more about Todd and the other stops on his blog tour at his website.

The Illusion
by
Todd Russell
A special excerpt from one of six stories in Mental Shrillness

     It was his quest for the suspension of reality that held Damon Brooks captive.
     He pressed another key on his laptop and wished that he could POOF! Disappear like the magician he'd always wanted to be. Life had become hideously normal. He was happily married, gainfully employed, overstocked with worldly belongings. He had everything but the daughter Linda's doctor said they'd never have without the aid of adoption.
     A sound stirred his daze.
     "Linda, you hear that?"
     Linda snored softly, rhythmically, her half-finished romance novel guarding her breasts. Damon peeled back the blinds and saw the bushes rustling. He heard the guttural sound again.
     His breath caught upon seeing its depthless green-orange eyes. Damon edged his nose closer to the glass. He put a hand against the cool pane.
     "What the hell are you?" he whispered.
     It crept slowly from the bush, half-crawling, half-walking away. The streetlight's faint beam grazed its face and Damon gasped, pulling instinctively away. His nose and breath left a pregnant fog.
     Whatever creature it was its gestures were universally familiar.
     It was wounded.
     Damon turned to Linda who remained shackled by her dream. He pushed past his unfinished paperwork and unclosed briefcase, entering the hallway. Moving quicker, he slipped on his black loafers and moved into the kitchen. He grabbed a flashlight and his gun from the compartment beneath the sink.
     He checked to see that it was still loaded. Linda was forever the spooked one when it came to prowlers and insisted upon it. Flicking on the flashlight, Damon stepped into the night and turned toward the bush.
     "Nrrro liiight," the voice grated across Damon's brain. He quickly snapped the light off, but kept the queer target centered.
     He started to ask what it was again and it rose what faintly resembled a paw. The paw-thing was wet and gleamed in the faint light. Bloody.
     "Are you a dream?"
     "I am an Illusion."
     "Illusion?" Damon said, stepping closer. The gun wavered in his hand. "You are neither man nor animal, what are you?"
     "No time for further explanation, Damon."
     It knows my name, Damon mouthed but made no sound. His finger twitched on the trigger.
     "Y-you a-are a d-dream."
     "I am dying."
     "What happened?"
     The bloody paw rose again and the Illusion made a loud, strangled throaty sound.
     "I'll call 911," Damon started away.
     "NRRO!"
     Damon froze.
     "Only you can help me. You must take it to Harry. Your turn. Youuu." It raised the paw even higher into the faint beam of the streetlight. Harry moved closer, the gun practically shaking from his hand.
     He moved closer.
     Closer.
     "Nrrrooo tiiiiimmme."
     He saw the bloody paw and his stomach somersaulted. Closer.
     "Harry, youuu."
     Damon reached. Only inches from the mangled paw.
     The Illusion jerked and knocked the gun out of Damon's hand.
     (touch meeeee)
     The neighbor Doberman’s started barking.
     Damon raised the flashlight in defense but almost instantly realized the illusion wasn't fighting. The pungent odor struck his nostrils next. He blinked several times, watching its death spasms.
     Damon lowered himself and re-clicked the flashlight. The light's beam sawed through the flesh of the Illusion, melting it like a candle. He saw its eyes fuse with its long bony nose. Its three red-white teeth outside its face pooled in the hot beam of the light.
     As Damon watched the light rapidly cremate the Illusion, the realization of what was in its mangled paw seized his mind.
     Nothing.

-2-

     Damon awoke the next morning, showered, shaved and went straight for his jeans. Linda watched, just pulling down her covers.
     "Damon, it's Friday, dear. Not Saturday."
     "Not going to work today, honey."
     Linda reeled from the bed. "Not feeling well?"
     "You could say that," Damon pulled up his jeans and buttoned his shirt. "I've got to find Harry."
     "Harry who?"
     "The carnival in town. He works there. A magician, I think."
     "What....why?"
     Damon slapped his tennis shoes on and kissed Linda. "An unfulfilled dream."

* * *

     Karper & Sons Carnival inhabited the outskirts of Medina like a storm cloud. Once a year it fell over Medina and sucked money from the townspeople. A week later sunshine reappeared. Damon Brooks penetrated the open gate on its second day of business.
     He passed the carnies and various rip-off midway games. The nearly impossible ring toss, the slightly bent machinegun with red star gag, the dart--
     "Three for five bucks, mister, give it a try." The carnie started lowering the darts and quickly reclaimed them upon catching Damon's odd stare.
     Damon's mind stirred with the picture of the enigmatic Harry. He'd woken with Harry's visage etched in his mind. Damon started to ask where to find Harry when a hand tapped his shoulder.
     "This way," the tattooed-faced man said. His entire face was a jigsaw puzzle.
     Damon followed the short man across the midway and into a huge black tent.
     Inside there were rows of bleachers and a short set of stairs leading up to a vacant stage.
     "Harry will come."
     "Wait. How do you know who I'm here for?"
     "Call me Stag." He rolled up his white sleeve and showed Damon a tattoo of a set of haunting orange-green eyes on his right bicep.
     ONLY YOU CAN HELP ME. YOU MUST TAKE IT TO HARRY. YOUR TURN. YOUUUU.
     Stag started walking away.
     "Wait! What am I doing here? Why am--Stag, please!"
     Damon wanted to run, jet as far away from the carnival but his legs were uncooperative. Instead he turned toward the stage.
     Slowly his legs moved him down the aisle and up the stage. There was a table with a red tablecloth and black magician's cap. He reached, touched, and felt it crawl up his arm and under his skin.
     The scream surfaced in his throat but lodged unspent.
     He picked up the hat and placed it on his head.
     He turned to the crowd and Mom and his stepfather Denny clapped.
     "For my next trick I will pull a rabbit out of this..." He reached into the hat and paused. Staring into the small crowd he caught his mother's mascara-smeared eyes. She looked up but wouldn't lock eyes with him.
     Damon reached into the hat and felt the mousetrap SNAP! his fingers.
     The laughing in his head began. The crowd unwittingly applauded. There was Denny in the front row grinning evilly. The drunk from the abyss. He'd never belonged in either of their lives. He was the crack in the mirror, continuing to ripple and fragment until he--
     "--took her to Satan?"
     Damon turned, startled.
     A tall man with straight black hair and a knobby face nodded slowly.
     "She was a good woman -- my mother -- but Denny brought her misery."
     "And that mousetrap thing... that was his idea of a joke?"
     Damon raised his right index and middle fingers. "Broke them in two places."
     "Denny blamed it on you, too. What were you, only ten years old?"
     "Yes, said it was me just craving attention. Nobody ever believed me."
     The man moved closer into the spotlight and took the magician's hat. He held his hand out. "I am Harry, Damon."

-3-

     Damon shook Harry's hand, managing a smile. He was disturbed that everyone seemed to know him.
     "Your confusion right now is warranted. An Illusion escaped last night."
     "Escaped?"
     "We've known of its insecurities and instabilities around here for some time. It wanted out. For its own, well, complicated reasons. Stag was its guardian and friend. He felt betrayed and despondent. We almost had two tragedies last night."
     "What the hell did it do to me? I feel...not right."
     "Quid pro quo. It took your normal life in exchange for..."
     Damon's eyes raised and then darted around the empty auditorium. "Wait one damn minute I'm not..."
     "You're not what?" Harry replied slowly.
     Damon tried picturing what happened to his real father. He could only focus on his stepfather's wicked scowl. It was one of many first pieces that had eerily vanished from his memory.
     "I...I'm having trouble..."
     "This is how it begins. Soon you will lose all but pertinent pieces of your identity, Damon. Don't fear, we will assist you with the process. You are among us, now."
     Damon fell to one knee and then a sitting position. He stared ahead, falling, falling deeper into the chasm inside his mind while Harry spoke steadily in his ear.
     "You dreamed of being a magician more than anything, remember?"


Read the conclusion of "The Illusion" and five other twist ending horrror short stories in Mental Shrillness

MOVIE REVIEW: Scream 4

I was only nine when the first Scream film came out in 1996. I'll never forget the first time I watched it. I rented it with my family and my dad had to leave during the movie to pick up my uncle. My mom, my brother and I were too scared to be left alone, so we piled in the car with him.

The first scene got under my skin, particularly when Casey says "I'm two seconds away from calling the police!" and Ghostface replies "They'll never make it in time." Which is a disturbing thought, especially since I lived in the middle of nowhere at the time.

After watching Scream, I became obsessed with it. In addition to watching it enough times to recite the dialogue, I did other obsessive things. At the time, my hair was very long and I got it cut into a bob, just like Drew Barrymore in the movie. I invented a game called "Scream" which I played with my friends and was basically just hide and seek except the seeker would "kill" you when found. And I had to go see Scream 3 in the theatre, which was a big deal for me because I rarely watched movies in the theatre as a child (I don't know where I was for Scream 2). I was only 12 at the time, so my best friend and I had to go with her grandpa and I felt like a baby, but I didn't care because I wanted see Scream 3 that badly.

So, 11 years after I sat in a theatre and watched Sidney Prescott try to get on with her life in the aftermath of the Woodsboro murders, I was psyched to do it all over again. And it was great to revisit Woodsboro and catch up with the characters. Sidney's just as tough as I remember, kicking ass against Ghostface, Dewey is just as dumb and Gale is just as bitchy and ruthless, doing whatever it takes to catch the killer.

Sidney (Neve Campbell) seems to have pieced her life back together and has written a self-help memoir, Out of the Darkness. She returns to Woodsboro for her book tour, on the anniversary of the murders. Meanwhile, Sidney's cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts), begins getting sinister prank calls. And then the murders begin. Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette) is on the case and his wife, Gale (Courtney Cox), is there to help.

While Scream 4 isn't as good as the first Scream film, it comes close and is definitely better than the other sequels. It has more gore than the previous movies - probably more than all of them combined. And more humour than the others, making me - and the rest of the audience - laugh out loud several times.

Scream 4 is more like a reboot than a sequel. Instead of focusing on Sidney, the storyline follows the new generation of teens, which are very similar to the original cast. There's Jill, the good girl (Sidney), Trevor, the creepy boyfriend (Billy), Kirby, Jill's hot best friend (Tatum) and Charlie, horror movie fanatic (Randy). This is probably the only aspect of the film that disappointed me. I was expecting the film to centre around Sidney, Dewey and Gale, and instead it's about a whole new set of characters. But the film is still entertaining and still includes Sid, Dewey and Gale, even if it doesn't revolve around them.

The film boasts an impressive cast, including appearances by Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), Rory Culkin (Signs), Erik Knudsen (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Adam Brody (The O.C.), Anthony Anderson (Urban Legends: Final Cut), Alison Brie (Community), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Kristin Bell (Veronica Mars), Shenae Grimes (90210), Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), in addition to the actors I've already mentioned.

Scream 4 is a lot of fun and has everything you've come to expect from a film in the Scream franchise: a shocking opening sequence, creepy phone calls, a surprising ending and lots of self-referential horror humour. Definitely a must-see for Scream fans.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

When Fitzwilliam Darcy is bitten by a zombie - or a dreadful, as they're known as in the book - his wife, Elizabeth, fears that he will succumb to the strange plague. Fortunately, Darcy's aunt - and Elizabeth's nemesis - Lady Catherine de Bourgh knows of a cure. But there's a catch: it's made in small amounts for only "those of special interest to the Crown" and is located in a heavily guarded hospital. The only chance Elizabeth has to save her husband is to go to London and attempt to obtain it.

I haven't read Pride and Prejudice (or anything by Jane Austen), or the first two novels in this trilogy: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or the prequel Dawn of the Dreadfuls. But you don't have to read any of these before Dreadfully Ever After to understand and enjoy it. I liked this novel so much that I'm sure I'll be reading the first two soon. Perhaps even Pride and Prejudice, but I don't think I'll find it nearly as entertaining without zombies.

The plot of Dreadfully Ever After has everything: action, romance, comedy, gore, duels, pranks, zombies, ninjas and more. There is rarely a dull moment. There's always a dreadful to slay, or a ninja to fight, or something comical happening...with the exception of a few chapters focusing on Mr. and Mrs. Darcy.

As I already shared, I haven't read Pride and Prejudice, so I'm not familiar with any of the characters. But in this novel, I found the main characters Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy to be pretty dull. Elizabeth didn't do anything but worry about Darcy, and Darcy only wondered why Elizabeth wasn't by his side. Luckily the other characters - especially Elizabeth's sisters Kitty and Mary - were funny and interesting.

Dreadfully Ever After is a fun read and I highly recommend it for zombie lovers. It is available now from Quirk Books, who have also published several other mash-up novels including Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Android Karenina and more.

Rating: 4/5

T-Shirt Bordello

I just got a package from the awesome website T-Shirt Bordello containing the items pictured above: an Amity Island t-shirt, an Amity Island keychain, a Zombie Care Bears t-shirt and Zombie Outbreak Barricade Tape. The t-shirts are 100% cotton, good quality (not too thin, soft to the touch) and I LOVE the designs.

They have tons of other cool t-shirts as well, and they're only $14.99 each! And if you buy 3, you get 1 FREE! Here are a few other designs I love:

A Nightmare on Sesame Street

Cthulhu Tequila

Camp Crystal Lake Counselor

Hello Zombie

And they sell more than just t-shirts. In addition to the aforementioned keychains and Zombie Outbreak Barricade Tape, they sell hats, mugs, glasses, ashtrays, wallets, a Zombie Survival Poster and Zombie Targets. Here are a few examples:

Bates Motel Mug

Winchester Tavern Glass

Overlook Hotel Ashtray

T-Shirt Bordello has a huge selection of t-shirts, and not just horror-related ones. Check out their website and see for yourself.

Guest Post: The Secret of the WILD Zombies by Lincoln Crisler

Lincoln Crisler is the author of WILD, a zombie/western novella. This month he is doing a blog tour to promote WILD. Find out more about Lincoln on his website.

Melissa asked me to share some background on the zombies I created for my Weird Western novella, WILD, which made its paperback and digital format debut this month from Damnation Books. It's a fair question to ask; anyone who's read zombie books or watched zombie movies, even those produced in just the past few years, has seen, at a minimum, the following:

·      slow reanimated dead (Romero-style, baby!)

·      fast reanimated dead (Zombieland)

·      demon-possessed corpses (Brian Keene's The Rising)

·      infected living humans that act just like zombies (Joe McKinney's Dead World series)

All of these different sort of zombies (and I'm almost certainly forgetting a category or two) are good for something and serve a certain purpose; McKinney's infected living, for instance, raise a moral question that simply blasting the dead back to their graves just doesn't raise. Fast-moving dead are far more of a threat than slow-moving dead (though a creator does get bonus points for having a rationale behind rotting carcasses that are as spry as the living).

My zombies, however, are a little different from any of these. When my protagonists, a mysterious stranger; a sheriff's deputy; a dangerous outlaw and a former Army medic, meet the zombies, they're pretty much Romero-esque. They've crawled out of graves, they're rotten, et cetera. However, at the end of the book, someone living is slipped a mickey and turned into a mindless zombie. This might seem like a contradiction, but it's not. You won't find any of what I'm about to share in the pages of WILD, but this should shed a little light on the matter for those who like a look behind the scenes.

The drink my black magician dumps down the poor character's throat is a mixture of magic and pseudo-science, though it would all seem like magic to someone from the 1800s. Basically, from their perspective, the potion makes the person crazy and hungry for flesh and eventually kills him or her, with the magic still powering the now-decaying body. Where the pseudo-science comes in is from research indicating that damage to certain areas of the brain, like the amygdala, could cause a person to act much like a zombie. The drink does this damage. The magic is from ingredients in the drink that allow the magician to control the zombies, by commanding them to lay in graves until some meddling cowboys come calling, for instance, and in the animation of the corpse after death, which would have to be accomplished by magical means. Simple enough, right?

While I chose not to bog WILD down with the details, you can rest assured this potion and the zombies it spawns haven't had their last day in the spotlight. I have at least two more storylines in mind, and at least one of them is set in a time just a little more distant than Old West El Paso. Lets just say there isn't really all that much difference between zombies and mummies!

SHORT STORY REVIEW: The Green Man by Lee Mather

The Green Man is Peter's mother's way of dealing with death. Prior to the death of someone close to her, he appears to comfort her. Just before Peter boards a flight, his mother calls to beg him not to get on the plane because she just saw The Green Man. Peter ignores her warning because he doesn't believe in him. But he should have listened because The Green Man is real.

 

There isn't much to the plot. The story is basically Peter describing the horrors of his flight and how it changed his faith. But it still manages to be exciting and even a bit gory.

 

The main character, Peter, is just an average guy and I really empathize with him and understand his skepticism about the existence of The Green Man. 

My one complaint is that the story is fairly predictable. About halfway through the story I knew how it was going to end. But that didn't make me enjoy the story any less. 

 

"The Green Man" is an interesting short story about faith and how a traumatic experience can change your life. It's available as an e-book from Damnation Books for $2.99.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: Shades of Green by Ian Woodhead

One day Holburn is the average small English town, and the next it is transformed into a Hell with killer plants, monstrous spiders, demons and other horrors. Survivors Damian, his girlfriend, Jen, his brother, Alan, Jen's uncle, Pete, his friend, Dave, an old man, Arthur, and a hobo, Ernest, struggle to escape the town and attempt to figure out what is happening.

Shades of Green has an interesting, but convoluted, concept. At the beginning, the reader is placed in the middle of the action and it takes awhile to get into the book because you have no idea what is going on. There are also several dream sequences which make you question whether what you're reading is real, or just another dream. I was unsure of what was happening throughout the book and I still don't fully understand because the resolution was confusing as well.

The typos don't help to understand the plot either. The book is full of major errors, which change the meaning of sentences. I had to re-read some sentences several times and guess at what word Woodhead actually meant to use. For example, in the first chapter the names of the two brothers are reversed. Damian is described as the older brother who has a fear of germs and Alan is the younger brother who is dating Jennifer. Then in Chapter 2, they are the opposite. It was incredibly confusing and I didn't know which was the mistake.

The characters aren't developed well and are basically just names on a page. I constantly confused Arthur, Dave and Pete because they were all referred to as "old men" and didn't have many other discerning qualities.

But Woodhead writes great descriptions of the disturbing scenery in Holburn, making it easy to picture the ruined town and also creates some very gruesome images.

Shades of Green would be a decent novel if it was edited better. If you don't mind typos, you can buy it for only 99 cents on Amazon. But I would recommend skipping this one.

Rating: 2/5

2010 Bram Stoker Award Nominees

The 2010 Bram Stoker Award nominees have been announced. They will be presented at Stoker Weekend, which is from June 16-19 in Long Island, New York. Congratulations to all the nominees! Here's the list:

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Horns by Joe Hill (William Morrow)

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster)

Dead Love by Linda Watanabe McFerrin (Stone Bridge Press)

Apocalypse of the Dead by Joe McKinney (Pinnacle)

Dweller by Jeff Strand (Leisure/Dark Regions Press)

A Dark Matter by Peter Straub (DoubleDay)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Black and Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge (Bad Moon Books)

A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files (Chizine Publications)

The Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton (Gray Friar Press)

Spellbent by Lucy Snyder (Del Rey)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman (Cemetery Dance)

Dissolution by Lisa Mannetti (Deathwatch)

Monsters Among Us by Kirstyn McDermott (Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears)

The Samhanach by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)

Invisible Fences by Norman Prentiss (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Return to Mariabronn by Gary Braunbeck (Haunted Legends)

The Folding Man by Joe R. Lansdale (Haunted Legends)

1925: A Fall River Halloween by Lisa Mannetti (Shroud Magazine #10)

In the Middle of Poplar Street by Nate Southard (Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology)

Final Draft by Mark W. Worthen (Horror Library IV)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Dark Faith edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon (Apex Publications)

Horror Library IV edited by R.J. Cavender and, Boyd E. Harris (Cutting Block Press)

Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears edited by Angela Challis and Marty Young (Brimstone Press)

Haunted Legends edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas (Tor)

The New Dead edited by Christopher Golden (St. Martin's Griffin)

Superior Achievement in a Collection

Occultation by Laird Barron (Night Shade Books)

Blood and Gristle by Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books)

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (Simon and Schuster)

The Ones That Got Away by Stephen Graham Jones (Prime Books)

A Host of Shadows by Harry Shannon (Dark Regions Press)

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction

To Each Their Darkness by Gary A. Braunbeck (Apex Publications)

The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti (Hippocampus Press)

Wanted Undead or Alive by Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman (Citadel)

Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews by Sam Weller (Melville House Publications)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

Dark Matters by Bruce Boston (Bad Moon Books)

Wild Hunt of the Stars by Ann K. Schwader (Sam's Dot)

Diary of a Gentleman Diabolist by Robin Spriggs (Anomalous Books)

Vicious Romantic by Wrath James White (Bandersnatch Books)

Women in Horror Interview List

Women in Horror Recognition Month has come to an end and I would like to thank the talented authors/editors who took the time to answer my questions.

I hope you all enjoyed reading them. In case you missed any, here is the complete list:

Lisa Morton
Nancy A. Collins
Sèphera Girón
Lisa Tuttle
Alexandra Sokoloff
Kathe Koja
Nancy Kilpatrick
Deborah LeBlanc
Gemma Files
Ellen Datlow
Lisa Mannetti
Amy Grech
Sarah Langan
Elizabeth Massie
Vanessa Morgan
Nancy Holder
Melanie Tem
Mary SanGiovanni
Yvonne Navarro
Fran Friel
Monica J. O'Rourke
Allyson Bird
Kathryn Ptacek

Interview with Kathryn Ptacek

Kathryn Ptacek is the author of many novels in several different genres including horror, historical fiction, historical romance, fantasy and suspense. Her horror novels include Shadoweyes, Blood Autumn, Kachina, In Silence Sealed and Ghost Dance. She edited the anthologies Women of Darkness, Women of Darkness II and Women of the West. She is also the editor of a market newsletter, The Gila Queen's Guide to Markets. You can find out more about Kathryn at her website.

What drew you to the horror genre?

I guess I’ve always been drawn to dark things.  If goth had been around when I was a teen, I’m sure I would have been one.  I read Dracula when I was 14, and I think I was pretty much hooked from then on.  Everything I wrote as a teen had a dark aspect to it, and even when I first started writing historical romances, my agent remarked that a current of darkness ran through them.  So I guess it was a natural progression to horror.

What scares you?

I find personal things scary--loss of a loved one, a horrible illness in the family ... that kind of grim reality-based stuff.  I’ve faced all that, and I guess I survived somewhat intact, and I don’t know that much scares me after that.  I do get creeped out occasionally with supernatural things, but it’s usually ghost-type material.  I like to read about werewolves and vampires (not so much since they’re everywhere in the genre now) and unusual critters/monsters.  As for zombies ... I’m not a fan, although there are a couple of zombie movies I like.  I enjoy psychological horror/thrillers, but not the torture stuff.  Thanks, but no thanks.

Why do you think there are fewer women writing horror than men?

I don’t know.  Maybe there’s a perception that horror is for guys, romance for women ... and yet I’ve known men who write romance.  I think there are lots of women writing horror, but I just don’t think there are as many “big” name women horror writers.  Again, with the perception thing--I know that women are often thought to write “soft” horror, and that’s not at all true.  Good horror is just that, no matter the gender of the writer.

You were the editor of Women of Darkness and Women of Darkness II, horror anthologies comprised of stories by women writers. How did they come about?

  

Back in the ‘80s I was reading a lot of anthologies, and one day I realized that few of these books had many women contributors.  And then because I get a little obsessive about things now and then, I started looking through dozens of anthologies and counting the women writers ... Most books had one or two women contributors; that was it.  The exception was the Shadows series, edited by Charles L. Grant.  Yet I knew there were lots of women horror writers out there, but for whatever reason their stuff just wasn’t showing up in books.  So I decided to do something about it, which is why I came up with the Women of Darkness anthologies.  By the way, I was accused by some folks as being sexist.  That really irked the heck out of me, I have to say--especially when I pointed out that these same people weren’t saying the same thing about the all-male anthologies.  All I wanted to do with those two books was feature the women I knew who were “out there” waiting to be read.

It’s never been about quotas.  I don’t think you have to have a certain number of men or women in a book; it would just be nice to see more of a mix.

And I would love to edit a third Women of Darkness volume ... Stay tuned!

Who are some women horror authors that you admire?

Heh ... I don’t want to step on any toes here, so I’m going to say that I enjoy a number of stories and novels by horror women, past and present.  How’s that for waffling?  Heh.

What is your advice to aspiring women horror writers?

Write, write, write.  And keep sending your stories and novels out.  And don’t get upset when your work is bounced; send it back out the next day; don’t let it sit around any longer than 24 hours.  I was reading some posts on a list one day, and a woman had her novel rejected, and she was practically taking to her bed--she was that despondent.  I don’t recall if she was sobbing, but it was close to that.  Really, you have to be tougher than that.  If each rejection hits you so hard you go into such a tailspin that you can’t function for days, then you’ll be an emotional puddle before long and won’t get much done.  You have to have a thick skin in the writing business.  This doesn’t mean you don’t have to like rejections, of course--no one does--but you have to realize, too, that everyone gets rejected.  You just can’t let that stop you ... or even slow you down.

What are your favourite horror novels?

Hmmm ... where to start.  I’m partial to mine ... of course!  And I loved the Oxrun Station novels that Charlie wrote.  Well, this list could get quite lengthy, I think.  Stoker’s Dracula will always have a special spot for me.

What is your favourite novel you’ve written and your favourite character you’ve created? Why?

My favorite novel is In Silence Sealed ... which is the TRUE story of what happened to Byron, Keats, and Shelley.  I just really enjoyed doing that book ... bringing all the stories of those three young but doomed poets--plus Mary Shelley--together ...

My favorite character is Chato from Shadoweyes. He’s an Apache in modern-day New Mexico; I’d like to use him in some mysteries.

In addition to horror, you’ve also written historical fiction, romance, suspense and fantasy. How did you end up writing in so many different genres? Do you have a favourite genre?

I enjoy reading many different genres, so it was only natural that I write in several, as well.  I do believe it’s not good to write just one kind of thing ... if there’s a down-turn in that genre, then you’re stuck.  But if you can write many different ways, then you have numerous options open to you.  I also encourage fiction writers to try their hand at nonfiction or poetry.  My favorite genre is pretty much historical anything.  I just really enjoy it ... I have a lot of history in all my books, and someday I’d like to write a straight historical novel.

You are the editor and publisher of the market newsletter, The Gila Queen’s Guide to Markets. When and how did you start it? Do you have any advice on getting published?

I started the newsletter back in late ‘88.  I had just had an operation, and I was looking for something fun to do ... I was between book projects.  For a while I’d been sending market news to friends in letters, and I kept joking that I ought to start a newsletter with all these bits of info I was collecting.  So then I got to thinking that maybe that wasn’t a bad idea.  The newsletter started out as a page or two, then kept getting larger and larger and more elaborate until finally I had a lengthy newsletter (never less than 20 pages and often more than 30) coming out on a monthly basis.  This was back in its print days.  I did that for many years, and it involved a lot of hard work, but I really enjoyed it.  Then eventually I changed the newsletter to an E-mail format; it now comes out six times a year.

        

I’ve read a lot of guidelines from publishers over the years, and the one thing that almost all magazine editors say is:  Read several issues so you know what we’re all about.  I think that’s the best thing a new writer can do ... read those back issues!  Do you homework!  Be prepared!  On the other hand, don’t be afraid to send something “out there” now and then ... you just never know.  A fiction writer can do this more easily than a nonfiction one; magazine editors look for something particular in the articles they buy, so do adhere to their guidelines.

Do you own an e-reader? How do you think e-readers are changing the publishing industry? Do you plan on making your older novels available as e-books?

Currently, I don’t have an e-reader, but I will probably get one fairly soon.  I had been resisting for a while, because I don’t much care for reading things on a screen--I spend so much time in front of the computer, so I do want to get away from that. But e-books are the way of the future--or one way--so it’s good to know about them.  Plus one of my novels, In Silence Sealed, will be published as an e-book, and that’s made me a whole lot more excited about e-readers and e-books.  Heh.

I think that print books are here to stay, but I think they will be sharing mental shelf space, as it were, with e-books.  Everyone I know who has an e-reader says they’re not giving up their print editions, and they buy both.

I do hope to make my backlist available in the e-book format ... and in print again as well.  I don’t think any writer can ignore e-publishing; it’s here to stay, and we might as well find a way to make money from it!

What do you hope readers get out of your work?

I hope readers will be entertained.  And maybe if they learn a thing or two that would be good as well.

What are you currently working on?

A friend wants to collaborate with me on a novel, and that will be interesting.  I’ve co-written some short stories years ago, but never written anything that long with another person.  Also, I have some other items that have been floating around for a while; maybe it’s time to tether them and see what I could make of them.