Writing process blog tour

I was tagged for this blog tour by the wonderful Aaron Gudmunson, who put up his post last Monday. You can read it here. And if you haven't read his debut novel, Snow Globe, I suggest you check it out. Not only is the cover scary enough to induce nightmares, the story itself is one of the best I've read this year. And I read a whole heck of a lot!

For the tour  I'm required to answer four questions and then pass on the torch. So here goes~

1.) What am I working on?

Currently I'm working on my novella, "The Night Air", which will be released in February 2015 by Ragnarok Publications in a four novella anthology--Grimm Mistresses. I'm sharing book space with some extremely talented female authors: CW LaSart, Mercedes M. Yardley, and Allison M. Dickson. The stories are all modern takes on Grimm fairy tales. My story idea came from a half dream/half lucid incident a few years back when my son had pneumonia and spins a new take on "The Pied Piper."

I'm also working on several anthologies I'm editing that should be releasing in the next few months: Fairly Wicked Tales, in which familiar fairy tales are told from the villain's point of view. The scifi/horror blend No Place Like Home: Tales From a Fractured Future whose tales envision what happens when the government controls too much. And the anticipated Demon Rum and Other Evil Spirits anthology, co-edited with Clint Collins. All the stories have alcohol as the central theme.

And a few short stories I'm writing. :)

2.) How does my work differ from others in the genre?

I'm not sure it does differ much. I will say (and probably should not admit it) I don't write deep stories, layered with hidden meaning. I don't write stories that leave you confused and bewildered or wondering if you missed something everyone else got. I think, when in the hands of the right authors, those stories have their place. But others just leave me shaking my head when I finish reading and that bites. So I write stories I would want to read, stories that entertain, and hopefully, scare the reader. I've always said my sole goal is to make someone leave the bedside light on. That's when I'll know I've succeeded. I want the reader to walk away from my story satisfied with what they've read and saying, "Wow. I didn't see that coming." I want them to still be thinking about it the next day. To me, those are the stories we should be writing.

3.) Why do I write what I do?

Mainly, because that's where my mind goes. I've tried to write other genres, but something horrible always seems to happen to my main characters. I wrote a blog post about the making of a horror writer, which you can read here, but long story short I was raised on a steady diet of horror shows, books, and spooky pranks. It's in my DNA. And I think horror serves a purpose in our lives. I mean, let's face it, things happen all the time in the world we live in that are far more horrific than anything I might write. So writing and reading horror give us a chance to escape the real world horror and allow some of that fear to come out, sort of like letting off a little steam before the pot boils over.

4.) How does my writing process work?

Usually a story will pop into my head through either a scene or a significant line from the story I've yet to write. Then I build the idea from there, mostly through a process I call "what if?" Where I walk around thinking and occasionally asking people "What if you were a pioneer and your family member died in the winter and the ground was too frozen to bury them? Where would you keep the body? How creepy would that be?" Or something of that nature, until the idea is a little more formed. Then I figure out where I'd like to see the story go. How does it end? And eventually I start writing. But I don't have a specific word count or anything, although I do like to at least finish the scene, or chapter, I'm working on. But I write while the words are flowing well. If I have to stop to think too much, I stop. Then I'll do some mindless task like dishes, mowing, laundry, taking a shower and the idea will keep tumbling around in my head until I get the next bit. Then I go back the next day, read what I've written and get the next bit out. I'm slow. Seriously slow. It can take me two weeks to write a short story. Then I have to go back and edit, send it to a friend, make changes based on their suggestions, read it aloud to my family, and finally it might be ready to submit.

Or, if I'm lucky the whole damn thing bursts out of me in five or so hours. :)

And there you have it. At least I hope you're still with me. I'm passing the tour to the lovely, talented Mercedes M. Yardley. Her post will be up next Monday, June 30th, but be sure to check out her blog before then. If you haven't read any of her work, you should. You will not be disappointed! I'm interested to see her answers to these questions. How writers write has always been fascinating to me.

Thanks for stopping by, don't be a stranger (though I hear strangers have the best candy...)!
♥ Stacey

News, news, and more news!

Yeah, it's me. I know it's been awhile and I'd promise to be more forthcoming and prolific in the future, but since we both know that probably won't happen, I'll not bother. That way I won't feel like I'm letting anyone down.

So I moved to Macomb. It's about a 45 minute drive from camp. The house is old (built in the 1920's) and beautiful. Small, but cozy. And I love it. I did not love the moving process (who does?). Packing, cleaning, unpacking. And I've still got to get at least two of the rooms painted before Thanksgiving when I have company. That is Sunday's goal. Other than that, I love being here. Well, okay, I miss Mike. But other than that, I love being here. I will say the house has some strange noises and goings on, but I'll save the story for my next post.

Onward to news--since I last blogged, my beautiful daughter has had another baby boy. Killian Gilbert Flanagan made his entrance on October 3rd. I was present at the birth and just want to say Molly is a baby-birthing rock star. My first grandson, Dylan (or Boo, as we call him), is in love with his baby brother. I see the beginnings of a super strong sibling bond. So excited for their futures.

My baby, Sean, left for Air Force BASIC training on October 7th and it was more than a month before I got to talk to him for the first time. He's doing well (knew he would) but has to shave twice a day because his beard grows so quickly. Totally his dad's fault. We will be heading down to San Antonio to see him graduate the first week of December. I can't wait! Molly's family will also be there which is just icing on the cake.

CJ is doing better in his group home and I get to see him much more now that I'm living in the same town. I also get to see more of his staff so I can see what's being put in place to support him. You have no idea how much stress that lifted from my life.

And on a professional note, AKP is doing well. We've got an amazing line up for next year and I'm super stoked to work with all the fantastic authors we've signed. We have some awesome books to finish getting out this year as well: Cadaver Dogs (a zombie novella), No Place Like Home: Tales From a Fractured Future (scifi/horror anthology), Death's Kiss (our first YA paranormal), and Conversations with the Demon of Devil’s Tower: The Story of Rose Jenkins (a Gothic tale of horror and romance).

I've also sold two more stories since the last blog. "The Depths" sold to Daverana Enterprises for their Fossil Lake anthology, edited by Christine Morgan. And "Martin" (first published in Rymfire's Erotic Horror anthology) sold to Crowded Quarantine Publications' Of Deviants and Devils anthology. I'm super stoked to be included in both.

I've also received four rejections from places I subbed to that asked me to send something else. The problem is I don't have any "something elses" written. So I'm going to have to carve out some writing time around all of my other business and life shenanigans.

And just so you know what to expect in the future, I'd like to go back to doing author interviews and maybe some publisher interviews on this blog. And blogging more regularly. We'll see how that goes...

Take care, everyone!

♥Stacey

This Bubblews Thing

So as many of you know, I started doing this Bubblews thing. I saw it in someone else's post a while back and thought it might be a way to make a little extra cash on the side. Someone else asked me about it after I began posting links to my posts. I've been doing it for almost two weeks now, so I thought I'd let you all know how it's going.

Here's how it works (taken straight from their site):

The Bubblews community is a patent pending system that enables our users to enjoy our community (without a cost) and share in the ad revenue growth. In fact our revenue model is simple: We split the ad revenue we make off each post with the author 50/50. You will get paid for every view, comment, like/dislike and social media share that your posts gather. Write Your World. Speak Freely. Join the movement. The time of not sharing revenue with the very people who create your content is OVER! Bubblews.

So basically, you sign up for an account and begin making posts. They can be about anything and there are many categories to choose from. There are some legitimate news articles posted, a few movie/TV/music reviews, and a lot of what I refer to as "fluff" (and I don't mean that in a condescending or bad manner, it's mostly what I've put up). It's sort of like a blogging sphere, only with money involved.

I've actually experimented somewhat with what I post. I tried humorous personal posts, some flash fiction, and a commentary on reality TV. So far, people like the fiction best. It seems to attract the most viewers.

You get paid varying amounts (I'm not sure how their algorithm works) for all views, likes, comments, etc. And judging by the people who's posts I've read, you can make decent money at it. But to do so, it seems like you have to put in far more time than you are actually getting paid for. The thing that seems to drive the most traffic is "connecting" with others and then commenting or liking their posts. This in turn, prompts them to do the same. To me, this seems exactly like what goes into building a popular blog.  And yes, it's time consuming.

But with that in mind, I set out to devote a bit more time to it to see if I got desired results. And it worked. I made two bucks overnight. Not a lot, sure. But it's better than I'd originally done in a week. So that's something. But I don't feel that it will ever reach a point where I'm making even minimum wage for the time I'm putting in. Just my conclusion based on what's happened so far. Two weeks in and I've posted 8 articles and made $7.42.

I will probably continue to do it for awhile longer, just to see if anything changes. But so far, I'm unimpressed. However, if you join, be sure to connect with me. I'm happy to share the (limited) wealth and help you get the word out about your posts. If you're going to blog anyway, might as well get paid for it, right?

♥Stacey

Stressed

So, remember last week's post about how I was going to start writing more, submitting more, and so forth? Why is it that every time I make a plan the Universe decides to throw me a curve ball? Not fair, Universe. Not fair.

I received my share of "whammies" these last two weeks and I feel like everything is all off course. I'm not ready to share some of the bombs that got dropped right now, and might never be, but suffice it to say the last two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster. The last week of last month I was so shell shocked I spent several hours on the couch in my office watching bad reality TV (Teen Mom 3, anyone?), worse movies (Anna Karenina. Why, Kiera Knightley, why?), and eating chips and salsa (we were out of ice cream). I did get the normal shit done: cook supper, feed cats, laundry. But only because I do those things by rote. The brain was on automatic pilot. That is, until I decided wtf, me? You need to figure this stuff out and make some plans. Sitting on the couch watching other people's lives go down the drain is called wallowing. So I got off the couch and started to deal.

I thought I had things under control, but then Sean got sick and ended up in the hospital, further throwing a wrench in my plans. I got calls about CJ from his house. My mom had another neurology appointment. And another small bomb got tossed in. The result? I'm stressed to the breaking point. Seriously. There is not one aspect of my life that isn't at code red stress level right now. It's a good thing I'm one of those "glass half full" people or I'd be huddled in a small pool of my own tears.

So what it comes down to is this: I must ask anyone who is currently doing a project with AKP to be patient right now. They will get finished, they will get published, they will be awesome. It just might not all happen according to schedule. I have less than two weeks before I head to California for the birth of my second grandchild. In those two weeks I have things that, although I LOVE my job, have to come first. Those are time spent with Sean, who leaves for BASIC while I'm in California, and who has been in the hospital. A visit with my oldest son CJ because our last visit got cancelled and I miss him terribly. And also because I will miss his birthday. Another brief visit with my parents, because life is short. Packing and sending all the rest of Molly's baby stuff to her because she will need it. Stocking the house with groceries before I leave. Packing. Paying bills. Preparing to be gone for three weeks. And then flying to California to help my daughter the last week before her due date.

So yes, I am putting my family first. But if I didn't, I wouldn't be who I am. And if I wasn't who I am, you might not want to work with my anyway. But I will finish edits on the No Place Like Home anthology, and the YA novel, and the two fantastic novellas, and Fairly Wicked Tales anthology. You know why? Because next to my family, they are my passion. So a little patience is all I'm asking for. I'd do the same for you if the situation was reversed.

I figure things will get back to normal (or maybe a "new" normal) sometime around October. So stay tuned, friends. Good things are coming.

♥Stacey

Submission Sundays or What Jealousy Taught Me

So this post is "authorly" in nature, in that I am an author and I'm going to talk about writing, but it's also a post for people in general. I want to talk about something we all are either recipients of or are guilty of. What's that, you ask? JEALOUSY. I'm no stranger to the green eyed monster and I bet you aren't either.

Recently, I was made aware that some people didn't like me. WHAT?! Was my first response. And by "what" I meant "what is wrong with those people?" Because I'm always taken aback when I find out people don't like me. Unless it's someone I don't like and I've given them good reason not to like me, that's a different story. But coming from people I mostly like and hadn't done anything to, it was a shock. Then, the more we talked about it, we came to the realization that it wasn't so much dislike (well, it still might be, but not for these reasons) as jealousy. People were jealous of me. Now, I'm sure that what you're supposed to feel, what most people feel, when they find out someone is jealous of them is pride. I'm so good that people are jealous. Right? But that's not what I felt. I felt angry. Angry because it felt like their jealousy undermined my hard work. No good fortune fairy came down and tapped Mike & I on the head. Everything we have, his job, my job, a nice house, great kids, great relationships with those kids, the trips we take, everything, we worked our asses off for or went through hell for. And it felt like these people were saying we didn't deserve them, we just got lucky. And I call bullshit.

But the truth is, you never truly know anything about anyone else's life unless you live it. Those people couldn't know that I'm constantly stressed about whether my oldest son, who has autism, is happy at his group home. Is he being treated fairly, does he like the people who work there, does he miss me too much? They couldn't know how stressed I am about my youngest leaving home and how he'll never be the same person again. I will never know him as well as I do at this exact moment, because leaving home changes you. They couldn't know that I still miss my Grandma on a daily basis and how much I miss being able to share every success with the person who believed in me the most. They can't know how much my sister and I worry about our parents increasing age and declining health. Or the daily frustration of living with someone who has no short term memory. Or any of the million other things that everyone deals with on a daily basis. They didn't really know me. All they saw is what we present to the outside world. And as much as I try to be genuine and an open book in all of my interpersonal communications, I don't often share bad stuff. Mostly because I figure everyone has their own, why bring them down with mine. And truly, most of the time I choose not to dwell on mine; Mike and I adopted a policy very early on, right after CJ's diagnosis in fact, of "well, this happened, let's deal with it and move on." So I am a happy person most of the time. But it's by choice, not luck.

And because of this episode I started thinking about my own petty jealousies. Most of them work related. Such and such press signed author X. Why didn't they sub to us? So and so sold yet another story for pro rates. Why didn't I? Why aren't I having all these acceptances? So I took my own ponderings to heart and realized I have no idea what is going on in other's lives. They got those things because they worked hard for them. And if I want them? Well, I better get my ass in gear and start working harder.

A wise woman once told me  I can't measure my success by the success of others because success is personal. There's no one definition that applies across the board. And what I realized was the reason I wasn't having success was because I wasn't putting in the time and effort. If I want author X then I need to do something to put the press on their radar. And if I want an acceptance letter with a pro rate sale, well I'd better start finishing my stories/novellas/novels and submitting them. Because the truth is I bust my ass for the press, but I'm a lazy writer. I let myself get distracted, I procrastinate, I find 15 other things I "should" be doing. And that's my bad. I know what I need to do. And so, I started last week. Last weekend I sent in three submissions. I already had two out, so that's five. Four original stories and one reprint. So far, I've heard nothing back. Two I think have a real chance. The other three are a gamble. But if they come back with a rejection notice, I will research some more markets and get them out again, because that's what it takes. And from now on, I will finish one new story per month and send it out too, until I have so many subs out that the law of averages takes effect. Something has to sell, right? I mean, I have sold stories before.

So the moral of this story is I took something unpleasant and turned it around by choice. And every time you do that, the Universe smiles for like 3.5 seconds. I mean, c'mon, it's a busy Universe and you really aren't that important. But maybe it helps to bolster hope for the human race. And for you writerly types who are still with me? The lesson is: success comes with backbreaking (or mind bending in this case) labor. Not good luck, not fairies or wishing wells, but your own sweat and tears. You have to put the work in to reap the rewards. And will we all make it? No. I mean some people just aren't ready, or talented enough, or even interesting. But no one is going to make it if they don't try, if they don't keep trying. And the more you write, the more you read other's writing, the more you work on your craft, the better you get. And the better you get, the better your chances of acceptance. It's a circle of win.

So I'm starting "Submission Sundays." Every Sunday I will evaluate my submissions. The ones sent back rejected, will be looked at, tweaked, and sent somewhere else. New stories will get the same treatment. I want to have at least five and possibly ten subs out at all times. This Sunday, I have a "pass" since they are all still out and I didn't get anything new written or finished this week. But I'm looking for some of you writers out there to join me. I might even make a Facebook group. Because I do better when held accountable to others. And so do some of you. And some of you are good all on your own, but might enjoy kicking other's in the pants. C'mon, it'll be fun.

And stop being jealous. Shake it off, look around, and appreciate your own blessings. You might not want the other person's bad times or dues they paid to get those good things.

♥Stacey

Gifts from afar...

The lovely Vix Kirkpatrick, horror fan and Facebook friend extraordinaire, sent me a box a while back of scampi fries and English chocolates, things I'd mentioned I missed about England. And she did this just because she's a wonderful person, she wouldn't take anything in return. Well, the first box didn't arrive and didn't arrive, and after two months she decided to send me another one. As luck would have it, the first package showed up finally! And then the second package came as well! So lucky me, I was blessed with enough scampi fries to share with my sister. Although, I did tell her she had to be nice to me to get some.

Well, my family thinks I'm seriously odd in some of my eating habits and no one was on board to try them. And then we had this conversation the other evening. Mike, Sean, and Sean's friend Roaman were present at dinner that night.

Me: So will you try some scampi fries after dinner?

Sean: Why did this person you don't know send you food?

Me: I do know her, we've been Facebook friends for a long time.

Sean: That's not "knowing" someone. She could be a 70 year old man for all you know. Don't you watch Catfish??

Me: Where do you get this paranoia from? This mistrust of strangers?

Sean: Well, certainly not from you, Mrs. Gullible.

Me: She just sent me them because she's nice.

Sean: They could be laced with acid.

Me: They're in sealed packages.

Sean: And you think that would stop someone?

Roaman: They do sell home sealers now. They could've resealed them.

Me: You're not helping. *shrugs* But even if, what's the harm? We'd all just take a little trip.

Sean: How am I going to explain the drugs in my system to the Air Force?

Me: Well I'd vouch for you.

Roaman: Yeah, me and your mom would explain what happened.

Sean: Mmm. And you are two highly credible witnesses. Not.

Me: I own a company.

Sean: Right. And dropping acid would totally ruin your reputation, I mean, wait, you're a horror writer, it would not hurt your work.

Me: Well, there is that. I've never done acid, but I might right a fabulous book, the best horror novel ever, while tripping.

Sean: Except that you'd write it in some language you completely made up because you were high and no one would be able to understand it.

Me: You're such a glass half full person. Some people like books they can't understand.

Mike wisely stayed out of this whole conversation. Roaman did, in fact, try my chips and loved them and they were not laced with acid (I knew they wouldn't be.) Mike did kiss me afterwards though and said:

Mike: Oh man, those don't even smell good.

Me: They smell like shrimp scampi, because they are shrimp flavored snacks.

Mike: That's just so gross.

But they aren't, they are delicious. And I will be forever in Vix's debt. And I don't know how I raised such skeptical, paranoid children. Must be Mike's fault.

Thank you, Vix!!

♥Stacey

Travel funnies

So, I'm in the process of changing over my blogging to this one blog. I'm going to combine what used to be my family life blog, What Passes for Sane on a Crazy Day, over to this blog. There may or may not be a book coming about from the other blog, but mostly I'm just too busy to do both (as anyone who reads my sporadic blog posts can easily confirm). I also prefer to read author blogs that contain snippets of their lives, not just writing advice and news. Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a stalker, or maybe it's just more interesting. I like to know people I admire are just that--people. People a lot like me who are doing what they love while raising families and dealing with life. So, in the spirit of combining both, I give you the following post which would normally be on my other blog. Oh, and so as not to be confusing, I'll be using my children's real names this time.

During our rather long (3 day) car trip to California, Mo and I had this conversation:

Me: We have to stop listening to your iPod.

Mo: Why?

Me: *pointing to my lips, which are closed* What are my lips not doing?

Mo: Um...

Me: Singing. And if my lips are not singing, I'm not driving "happy." And trust me, you want me to be driving happy. I don't know most of these songs. Put in my CD. (I know, I'm old school like that, making CDs and all.)

Mo: *huge sigh* She puts in the CD and the first song is "Feel this Moment" by Pitbull featuring Christina Aguilera. If you don't know the song, you can find it here.

Me: This is my jam.

Mo: *laughing* 'Cause you're from the Dirty?

Me: No. Partially because it references Fifty Shades of Grey and even though I hate that book and all it's horrid grammar, any song that references what could loosely be termed "literature" in an intelligent manner is cool. But also because it's about living in the moment. That's what the chorus is talking about.

Mo: Is it?

Me: Don't you listen to the words?

Mo: I can't understand them.

Me: *singing rather loudly* Someday when the night is glowing, I'll be in my castle golden. But until the gates are open, I just want to feel this moment.

Mo: *and because she never believes a word I say, she Googles the lyrics* It's "Someday when the light is glowing."

Me: Oh, my bad. One freakin letter.

Mo: So it's your "YOLO" song?

Me: Yep. You know I was all about Yolo-ing before it was an acronym.

Mo: So she's talking about YOLO-ing before she dies.

Me: Um ... Mo ... you kind of have to YOLO before you die. It really doesn't work the other way around.

Some days I wonder about her...



♥Stacey