Exciting News!

You are looking at the cover for the upcoming release from Angelic Knight Press. It represents my first anthology as an Editor. See those little words under the title?  "Edited by Stacey Turner". That's me! It was a lot of hard work, but I got to work with some very talented authors. All of them were very professional and I think we established some very good author/editor relationships. I would work with, and hope to, all of them again in the future. I will also have a story, "Soul Collector", included in the anthology.

I also have a story, "Martin", that will be in the upcoming Rymfire Publishing ebook Rymfire Erotica. I know what those of you who aren't a part of the book world are thinking. This is the conversation Mike & I had about this news:

Mike: You wrote Porn?? I've been trying to get you to do that for years...

Me: I did not write porn. There's a fine line between porn and erotica. This is a horror story with a little erotica. Not an erotic story with a little horror. Geez.

But it may not be for everyone, so I understand if you skip that one. And yes, someone has already asked and I readily admit, the erotic parts make me blush while I'm writing. Its not a genre or sub genre I'll probably write a lot of for that reason.

I'm also editing a novel for a private client. And a novel that Angelic Knight will be publishing in November.

We're about to open submissions for our 2nd anthology as well.

And I continue to try to find time to write and submit my own work.

See what I mean? Crazy Busy. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

♥Stacey

The making of a horror writer

I've seen a lot of posts lately on why horror writers write horror. What is it that draws a person to the darker side? Honestly? I have no idea. No easy answers here folks, sorry. Someone suggested that our minds work slightly differently and that may be the case. I do know that my mind works way differently than almost anyone I know. Why? It's probably a little bit nature and a little bit nurture.

As for the nurture part, I'd like to thank my parents for being horror fans. Sure, letting a four year old watch "The Birds" was maybe not the best thing to do, (I have this horrible bird phobia. Seriously, those aviary things at Zoos? Can't get near them.) but that and Twilight Zone, Night Gallery and an endless stream of horror flicks set me up with a life long love of all things paranormal. And I don't consider that a bad thing.

I write horror because I want to scare people. I love that "Omigod, I cannot look behind me right now" feeling that you get when you watch a good scary movie or walk through a haunted prison (Mansfield Penitentiary- Ohio). That wonderful little thrill when you,re walking through the woods at night. That thrilling sensation when you're home alone and hear that inexplicable noise. Love it. If that makes me slightly crazy, so be it. It's how I roll. And I want to share that feeling. I've said before that if I can make one person sleep with the light on after they read my work- I've succeeded. And according to a friend who shall remain nameless, I'm a success. But I won't stop there. I've got more scaring to do.

Recently while blog hopping, I came across a giveaway, and you know I can't resist a giveaway, especially when the prize is a signed copy of a horror novel AND a DVD collection of horror films. It's like Christmas. So the entry is that I have to tell a true supernatural story that actually happened to me. I have several to choose from. But my favorite is also the basis for a novel I've been working on haphazardly for the last two years. So grab a snack & a drink, and give me your full attention.

From the age of 4 to 6 we lived on Okinawa, a small island off the coast of Japan. My father was career Air Force and we were stationed at Kadina Air Base there. I remember some of it, but being so little at the time, not all of it stuck with me. The following story is one my mother tells and my father corroborates. I don't remember much of it.

Around the age of 5, I developed an imaginary friend. I wasn't a loner, I was in school and played with neighborhood friends so my Mom thought it was odd that I'd develop an imaginary person to keep me company. Then again, I was a highly imaginative child, so they dismissed it at first. My mother says that I started spending most of my time playing with the imaginary friend, a little boy I called Manny, instead of other real children. She began to get a little creeped out when I started insisting on a place setting for Manny or cried when someone "shut the door on Manny's arm". But we were headed stateside and she had a million other things to worry about. When we flew back to the US we made the rounds of visiting relatives and ended up at my maternal grandmother's house here in Illinois.

One day I was playing on our suitcases in the upstairs hall outside the bathroom. My dad was taking a bath, but since he's 6'2" and its an old clawfoot tub, he needed my mom to come in and help rinse his hair. My mother told me to stay right where I was. And I did. Unbeknownst to us, my grandfather had come home that afternoon, drunk as a skunk, and was threatening my grandmother with a shotgun in the kitchen below the hall. One thing led to another and the gun went off. Luckily for me, I'd run to the bathroom door split seconds before the shotgun blast came through the floor on the side of the suitcase, where my leg had been just moments before. Of course my father, after assessing the situation, ran downstairs and took charge of the gun rather forcefully.

My mother examined me to make sure I was alright and then rather warily asked me why I'd run to the door. I told her "Manny told me too!" After that day, I never mentioned Manny again.

Do you have goosebumps yet? I don't know what Manny was; ghost, guardian angel, or what. But I do know, that if he hadn't been around, I might not be here at all. And that thought is truly scary.

The link to the contest is here. Go read more entries, vote for your favorites, or join yourself. The more, the scarier. Good luck! And sweet nightmares. I mean dreams. Yeah, of course I did.

♥Stacey

Meet M. H. Mead, aka Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion

I met Margaret and Harry through email. I'd left a comment on Scott Niven's blog when he reviewed their book and they emailed me to ask if I would also like to review it. Scott had made it sound so good that I immediately said yes, even though it wasn't a genre I usually pick up on my own. I'm very glad to say that I absolutely loved the book. In fact, you can read my glowing review over at See Spot Read. Go on- you know you want to.

Margaret and Harry are a writing duo. This amazes me. I don't think I could write with a partner. Maybe I just don't play well with others. Yep, it's probably just me. But I'll let them explain how it works for them.

1.) How long have you both been writing?

We both majored in creative writing in college, but we were writers before that. Maybe even as far back as elementary school. We’ve been published writers (short stories, articles) for over ten years.

2.) Do either of you write full time? If not, what are your day jobs, so to speak?
Harry teaches High School English and creative writing. He’s also a very involved dad with four kids. Margaret is a stay-at-home mom of two.

3.) Is this your fist published novel?
FATE’S MIRROR is our first published novel. Up to now, it’s all been short stories and novellas.

4.) What made you decide to go the Indie route?
Science fiction writers love to anticipate the future. Spotting trends before they are trends is something we’re good at. Ebooks and indie books are small now, but very soon will be the norm. With that in mind, it was an easy decision to make. We’d rather do the new thing than the old thing.

5.) What's it like being writing partners? Is it easier or harder than writing on your own? Do you write on your own or strictly as partners?
We love writing together. It’s the most fun either of us has at the keyboard. We’re not kidding when we say we share a brain. We occasionally write short stories alone, but even then, we’re always each other’s first readers. We rely on each other for the unvarnished truth.

6.) What scares each of you personally? Do you have any silly phobias?
Harry hates spiders. He can’t stand to watch that scene in Harry Potter with all the giant spiders. And that one part in The Lord of the Rings? Even worse.

Margaret has no problem with spiders or any other bugs. You know what she finds creepy? Light-up shoes. You know, the ones where the kid’s sneakers light up with every step? Those things are scary.

7.) What is your writing routine, both separately and together?
We live an hour away from each other. So, when we get together, we have all-day writing marathons that double as play dates for our kids. In between marathons, we phone or email almost every day.

8.) Have you always been a fan of the sci-fi genre?
Oh, yes! We worship at the throne of Larry Niven.

9.) What other authors inspire the two of you?
Besides Larry Niven, we love reading Stephen King. He has a natural, easy style that makes us feel like we can do it, too. We also have a soft spot for Neil Gaiman, but who doesn’t?

10.) What advice would you give to newbie writers out there?
Read a lot, write every day, and trust your beta readers.

BIO:

M.H. Mead is the shared pen name of Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion. Margaret is a parent, reader and writer who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She loves all things shiny and modern, and can’t wait to someday drive a flying car.

Harry R. Campion is a writer, teacher and parent who lives in Harper Woods, Michigan. He loves to camp in the wilderness and explore rivers by canoe.

For more about Margaret and Harry, including links to their published stories, visit their website at www.yangandcampion.com

They recently created a facebook page (look for M.H. Mead) and you can follow Margaret on Twitter @Margaret_Yang

FATE’S MIRROR is available for kindle http://amzn.to/qHl2eF
nook http://bit.ly/qY0cj4
or any other ereader www.smashwords.com/books/view/73204
or as a paperback http://amzn.to/oqU4dL

A one-minute book trailer can be found here http://bit.ly/rlkvqh

♥Stacey

Meet Jeremiah Coe....

I met Jeremiah Coe in the Masters of Horror Facebook group (you're all surprised, right?). He asked me if I wanted to review his e-novella, Vampire's Retribution. Well I love vampires. And I love free books so it was a win/win for me. I put up a review of Vampire's Retribution today at See Spot Read. You can head over there to see what I had to say about the book. But of course, over here, we're all about the author. So without further ado, the interview...

1.) How long have you been writing novels?  I have been writing since I was five years old.  I've always had quite an imagination and was always making up stories, when I was 5 my mom started writing them down for me.  As far as novels are concerned, I wrote The Dead of Space Books One and Two in 2005.  Those were my first actual novels I wrote.

2.) Do you write full time or do you have a day job? What is it?  I would love to say I am a full time writer, but if I did, I'd be lying, even though there are weeks I put in full time hours at my computer.  My day job, even though I don't work during the day ha ha, is at a plastics factory in the finishing department.  I'm not sure how much I can say without getting myself into trouble, so I'll leave it at this, I work on the assembly line building the center console for a really popular line of cars and if you happen to have one of these cars, it is safe to assume my hands built your arm rest.

3.) Is this your fist published work?  Vampire's Retribution is my first published work with Netbound Publishing but it is not the first work I've had published.  My first short story was published in 2007 and my first novels, both The Dead of Space books, were both published in 2010.  There were several short stories published in between my first one getting published and my first novel.  There was also a third novel called Here Comes Santa between the second The Dead of Space book and Vampire's Retribution.

4.) What made you decide to go the Indie route? When I was trying to find a home for The Dead of Space, I sent it to both indie presses and the major publishing houses.  An indie press was the first to bite.

5.) Vampires Retribution is about vampires and is set in the Civil War era. What made you choose that time frame for the setting?  There were a couple of reasons for this actually.  First, I'm kind of a history geek and the Civil War era is one of my favorites because it was a very pivotal time in American history, anything could have happened and American history could have been very different had just a few things happened just slightly differently than they did.  Second, I'm not a cookie cutter writer.  I like to write what hasn't been written before and I'm not aware of any vampire stories that occur during this time period.  My fourth novel, Uncivil Dead, which is being released by Netbound Publishing within the next couple of weeks is a zombie story that occurs during the Civil War.

6.) What scares you personally? Do you have any silly phobias?  I use to be really afraid of needles, very afraid.  When I was a little kid it took a lot of adults to hold me down for a blood test because as far as I was concerned, they weren't sticking that needle in me and I would fight to stop it ha ha.  I got over this fear while studying Medical Assisting.  Where I went to school made us practice on each other and not fake arms for injections and blood draws.  I figured that was as good of time as any to get over my fear of needles and volunteered to get poked as much as I could.  Now, it's no big deal.

7.) What is your writing routine? I don't really have a routine, but I do most of my writing at night when the world is silent and it can just be me and my story.  I can pretend that nothing else exists.

8.) Have you always been a fan of the horror genre? Oh yeah.  I've been hooked on horror ever since I was a little kid and saw Return of the Living Dead for the first time.  Hey, I was young so that was a scary movie back then lol.

9.) What other authors inspire you?  There are really too many authors in too many genres for me to give this question the kind of answer I'd like too.  As strange as it may sound for a horror author to say, my all time favorite author is the historical ficiton writer John Jakes.  My favorite horror author would be the late Richard Laymon.

10.) What advice would you give to newbie writers out there?  Write what you like.  Too many authors sell out and try to copy whatever is currently popular, which right now is Twilight and Tru Blood.  Don't do what everyone else is doing, those are fads.  Try to pioneer new trails for readers to enjoy, write what hasn't been written.

BIO:

Jeremiah Coe is thirty-five years old and lives in Portage, Michigan.  He has been writing since he was five years old and would tell his stories to his mother who would write them down for him.

Jeremiah has written three novels that are currently available.  The Dead of Space Book One: Brave New World and The Dead of Space Book Two: Journey’s End are sci-fi horror novels. His third novel, Here Comes Santa, is about a serial killer that believes he is Santa Claus. All three of his novels can be ordered from Amazon in both, paperback and Kindle formats. His fourth novel, Uncivil Dead, will be available within the next two weeks. 

He also has an e-book novella, Vampire’s Retribution, which is available for the Kindle on Amazon, Smashwords and the Nook at Barnes and Noble.

He is also the author of several short stories that have been published in various magazines and anthologies.

You can find Jeremiah online at his Facebook page and Facebook Author Page.

Check him out!
♥Stacey