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[horrorscifiguy]

Worked like a dog for the past week+ and minus sliding one major scene a little later in da book, I've trimmed another few thousand words and amped up my bitter sweet thriller. Will it be good enough? Only time and a great editor will tell.

Gonna finally let my daughter read it. If it passes that test, I know I'm in bidness.

Now off to Las Vegas for a week of HANGOVER-type fun and madness.

But the question will continue to haunt me - is Good Night My Sweet good enough?

[horrorscifiguy]

Fresh from Vegas & sooooooooo sorry to be back in Illinois. Had a blast and got a major creative re-charge all at once.

Waiting to hear back from the ultimate critic, my daughter, with notes on Good Night My Sweet. Gonna get back to work on the superhero thang late tonight or tomorrow.

Welcome home.

[horrorscifiguy]

To all my fellow writers -
Can you describe the feeling when you touch that nerve in the project that causes you to fall in love with what you're doing all over again? You know, that special spark that utterly confirms you're in 100%, and you're totally confident readers are going to dig it? Had that moment yesterday with my superhero book. So much fun to write, and the universe I'm creating is WIDE OPEN for my imagination to play in. Can't wait to finish but in no hurry to type THE END all at the same time.

I also came up with another great scene I think will create a wonderful pivotal moment for the major characters and the readers. Looking forward to incorporating it.

Man, is writing books fun or what?

Oh yeah.

[horrorscifiguy]

The 3rd time is the charm on venturing into option territory. The first couple go rounds were centered on my novel The Butcher Bride. Montecito Pictures was interested enough to present it to Paramount Pictures, but a deal never materialized.

Now, it's my end of the world novella "Condemned" that's been picked up by screenwriter Jack Reher. He's fresh off RED MACHINE, a killer grizzly bear flick starring James Marsden, Thomas Jane & Billy Bob Thornton. His adaptation is already making the rounds, and sure, we're all hoping for some serious interest...but it's so fun daydreaming over the potential $$$.

Here's hoping there's a Hollywood producer out there with the vision to see the big screen potential of a dark, action-packed tale set after The Rapture.

I can imagine it shot in crisp black & white too...

[horrorscifiguy]

Well, I don't really believe in "original" ideas, but I am beginning to understand the power writers (or any other creative folks) can wield when they free themsleves and JUST CREATE. Meaning:

When writers quit worrying about word counts and formatting and marketability and the flavor of the month, and just allow themselves to tell their fucking story, the lack of self-induced safety nets and emergency brakes and editorial fear allow a purity of creative voice that is so so uncommon in all arts. That's where the rare talent emerges from.

I want to be the Richard Pryor of dark fiction.

Back to work.

[horrorscifiguy]

The deeper I get into the current superhero book, the more I catch myself thinking about the next project. Which will it be:
 
The zombie epic aka my take on the original DAWN OF THE DEAD.
or
An intimate but brutal good versus evil endgame action idea.
or
The hardcore supernatural high school idea.


Too early to say, but I think I'm leaning toward

[horrorscifiguy]

It's so funny - I keep "re-writing" the beginning of my new novel. Well, not really re-writing as much as adding prior scenes until I think I've finally found the story's true beginning. First time this has ever happened to me (this is novel #6) but for the book's sake, very glad it did. Just another reason why I enjoy writing "free flow" from a very simple chapter list and not from a very specific outline.

Hey, to each their own. Do what works best & is most productive.

By the way, I'm having a blast with this project. So much fun. It really will be my Watchmen/The Dark Knight.

Sweet.

[horrorscifiguy]

So, how much does life get in the way of my writing? Or how often is it a motivating or positive force?

Well, I do admit that if I'm in a terrible mood it makes brutal killing scenes much easier to create. But generally speaking I think it's all a wash. I love to write and I do it no matter my mood. If I'm in shitty mood I tend to feel much better when I'm done. If I'm in a great mood, I certainly don't spiral into depression...ha ha ha.

I became unemployed today - the school year is over. I should feel more anxiety, more panic, but despite the crappy economy, it just feels like I started a new adventure. The weather is great, so why not? But the thing is, I don't anticipate my job status having any affect on my writing, other than I might have a bit more time on my hands until my next gig comes along.

And in response to a good friend asking why I don't just write full-time as a career, my answer is:

WHERE DO I SIGN UP?

[horrorscifiguy]

For the past decade & a 1/2, a small part of my heart & mind have toyed with screenwriting, but having spent a decade @ Showtime Networks reading my share of good, bad, and just plain ugly scripts, I quickly gained a very healthy respect for the craft. Writing scripts and writing novels couldn't be any more opposite of creative endeavors. I think I was born to write novels, but I continually come up with great ideas for horror/thriller scripts. On occasion they become a great book, such as The Butcher Bride, but I have a ton of ideas that just don't have the potential necessary depth to be a book, but could be just right for a 95 minute fear fest.

And still the idea of script writing haunts me.

I often say my books have very strong imagery and read like drive-in flicks on the written page, but I almost feel like at some point, much sooner than later, I'll be taking a serious stab at writing a horror script and see whats the haps. Then again, I kinda feel the same way about writing for graphic novels/comic books.

Best I just continue to concentrate on the book project at hand, and then perhaps the one or two after that. I'd REALLY need the right idea to dive into a screenplay. Something simple and scary like HALLOWEEN, or a plump and juicy idea ripe with possibilities like THE CHERNOBYL DIARIES.

Now, if only THAT had been my idea to shape and mold as I saw fit...

[horrorscifiguy]

Been adding layers to the superhero novel, which is filling in the cracks quite nicely. Still loving the story and having fun.

Also going back & forth about what to do re: finished novel Good Night My Sweet. I was really hoping to step up to a mid-level publisher for it, for nothing other than it may have the most mass appeal of anything I might ever write. 2012 is half over and only smaller presses have sniffed at it. I really want it to have a shot at a larger audience, so....what to do?

Like always, I'll just keep writing. Things always seem to work out for the best. Lord knows I have my share of books still to write so I'll keep plugging away. And once I finish this, I'll FINALLY start a project Permuted Press ought to be first in line to eyeball. It would be nice to work with the NUMBER #1 Zombie Publisher in da world!

[horrorscifiguy]

I believe all creative people using their talents to succeed in a career have to continually battle sabotage demons. Call them mental, emotional & motivational gremlins. I work to get a little bit better at my craft every day, but the level of my talent isn't the dragging anchor keeping me at the small/mid-level publisher. I am. I'm the one allowing my demons to keep me from going full balls out on the submission/query/networking end of the writing biz, which is the complete opposite of how I attack my projects. Writing The Butcher Bride taught me to be free in what I put on the paper, and to attack my story. My aggressiveness as a storyteller showed up on every page, and I'll continue to take that approach until it becomes my natural state. I just need to use the same mindset when it comes to presenting my work to the publishing world.

Aggressive. Fearless. Relentless.

[horrorscifiguy]

Today I spent some time in the local Barnes & Noble with a gift card from da whiff. It took less than one minute in the science fiction/fantasy section to get upset. Fifteen minutes later I left the store seriously pissed off, sick and tired of my books not being a regular fixture on the shelves of every B&N and every other major book store chain.

It's like things are a bit backward. I've had a novella optioned, and a novel currently in serious negotiations with a major cable network, yet I don't have an agent, nor have I been even close to breaking in with a major publishing house. My 1st novel, which was self-published, outsold the last 3 books put together, which makes no logical sense to me at all. One of my books is currently being made into a graphic novel. It's pretty cool but I'm not sure it's going to put me on the map, per se. Such is the world of small presses I guess.

The brief trip into Barnes & Noble only served to stoke the already raging fire inside me when it comes to stepping up in the publishing world. I know I'm good enough to have a seat at the adult table, but I haven't worked hard enough, networked enough, plowed enough agent and publisher fields, bought enough drinks at conventions, whatever the ingredients to the success formula for novelists I haven't measured correctly. I always challenge myself to never be outworked by other authors, but it continues to happen every fucking day. It's time I opened my eyes to the facts of the matter.

I need to work harder and smarter. By working harder I also believe I'll put myself in a better position to get a little lucky.

As if I needed more motivation...

[horrorscifiguy]

Time is both my friend and my enemy.

There's one major issue I've yet to defeat during my last decade or so of serious writing. Time management. Strangely, I seem to be much more productive when my life jumps into crazy, 18 hour days mode. I've never been more productive than in past falls when I was working a fulltime job, coaching high school football, and producing a weekly newspaper column. Somehow I was still able to squeeze out time to make very positive inroads on novels despite those hectic seasons.

I've been out of school for a month and I should be much farther along on my latest project but I'm not. Explaining would only result in me throwing out excuses that would sound lame dribbling from my lips or stumbling from my fingertips. I really need to bear down the rest of this summer and finish draft #1 of this book so I can use the fall to edit/rewrite/polish.

It would also be nice to be in a position to start the next book by the holidays. Sorry - I only work on one project at a time. A topic for a different day...smile.

It's certainly time for me to pick up my game and pile up the pages. Starting today.

[horrorscifiguy]

Well, so much for piling up the pages...

My life nearly tipped over last Thursday after an intriguing phone conversation with a gentleman who runs a local studio/production company I never knew existed. Both my heart and mind have been excited ever since, and even now I'm waiting on a meeting to be set. I'm happily distracted by the hope I might actually luck into a job I didn't think was possible to land in my little corner of the world.
 
The opportunity would go a long way toward me settling down a bit here in the Midwest, but even more importantly gives me a real shot at using my talents to make a living without interfering with my writing. The whole situation is vague at the moment and won't take on any shape until this yet-to-be-scheduled meeting.  I don't tend to pray for things for myself, but I really am hoping I get a real shot at this. Hopefully things will shake out by the end of next week.

So, until the case cracks, I'll take whatever writing I get done. Haven't had this type of thrilling opportunity since the spring of 2006. Here's hoping this one is da one...

[horrorscifiguy]

I'm currently working on yet another cross genre project. My first book, The Dead Shall Inherit The Earth, was a nasty outer space zombie thriller. My 2nd book, The Blackest Heart, and its sequel, Pandora, are dark futuristic westerns. My 5th book, Good Night My Sweet, is an end of the world love story. And that brings me to my current project, Open Casket, which started as a straight ahead superhero story in the vein of Watchmen, and has since morphed into a wonderfully weird THE DARK KNIGHT meets FACE/OFF meets HELLRAISER, which, again certainly qualifies as yet another cross genre concoction. I guess I should have known from the get-go with a title that was much more Halloween than Avengers.

Not sure why my brain swirls different shit together, even when there's no plan to do it. I wouldn't have it any other way, but it makes me wonder how other writer's brains work. I know that some writers need to be very disciplined about their work, closely following outlines and set notes, etc. I, on the other hand, don't follow an outline. I usually just work from a list of chapters, but on this project, I'm just writing it free flow, based on a idea that sprang up in my mind from the legendary relationship between Batman & The Joker. I touched on that type of hero/villain vibe in The Blackest Heart, but something in my mind wanted to explore not only heroes and villains, but the real skin they live in. What really makes a man a hero or a villain, and the thin line that sometimes separates them. And sometimes, like Robin Hood, what can make a man both.

But my mind just won't let me tell a straight A to B to C comic book yarn. And I guess my horror roots are never far from the surface, and once I brought hell into the story, well, things got shades and shades and shades darker than originally planned.

And suddenly I'm writing a book I might have a shit storm worth of trouble finding a publisher for, but just like The Butcher Bride, my imagination has been set free, I'm having a blast, and I'm just gonna go along for the ride. But I still wonder - how many other writers just write a novel from the rare thin air of their imaginations? How many just let the story flow onto the page, whirling whatever pieces seem to fit?

Maybe the world is full of people with this talent. Many may not know they even have it.

I just know I do, and whether its a straight horror thang, or a mixed up horror/action/hip hop children fable, it's a unique gift.

And it's all mine.