This video from poet Jack Grapes resonates. He talks about digging to a character’s fundamental motives. He has a whole line of “Method Writing” texts and as yet I haven’t read any of them. This video is part of the Film Courage Channel on YouTube.
I Generally Don’t Trust “Method” Anything, But
29 12 2022Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: horror writing, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
Movie Reviews: “heck” and “History of the Occult”
27 12 2022You may have heard of “Skinamarink”, the new atmospheric horror coming out January 13. Or maybe you haven’t. It was shot in the director’s childhood home on some tiny budget, but it seems ready to redefine “atmospheric dread” in cinema. Two boys wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing and that their house has no doors or windows. Here is the trailer and man its got a mood:
Man-oh-Manischewitz I am primed for this! I am even more primed for it for having watched “heck”. The director Kyle Edward Ball created a short movie to test his ideas and even this short movie is a dunk in cold seawater. This is “heck”:
There are no jump scares, no soundtrack, no worn-out tropes. Just a kid not understanding how badly things have gone wrong.
I got a free trial for Screambox. for a movie I’ve been wanting to see for a couple of months. This was the most popular horror movie in South America back in 2020, “History of the Occult”.
Art creates, the artist changes, the world , and what DID Karl Rove mean by “we make our own reality?”
In a retro Buenos Aires, reporters for a newsmagazine try to suss out a cabal of industrialists who are…what? In cahoots…doing something black magic? Their live interview show goes off the air at midnight, and each minute the stakes raise from the political to the Weird.
The movie takes ALL the ’80s Satanic Panic elements, secret societies, missing children, mystical corporate logos, all of it, mixes it with today’s strongman politics. It gives new context to Argentina’s “Disappeared Ones.” It even makes the trite phrase “The End of History” chilling. It has a few dangling threads. If one was to take a second, one could guess where the plot is going, but the plot is so quick everything hits in a wonderful surprise. There are a couple of pleasant turns against cliche. No gore. Just plain creepy.
I’ve been lacking inspiration lately, but these have helped me see that Yes, I like thought-provoking and creepy.
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Tags: horror, horror fiction, horror movies, skinamarink, the history of the occult
Categories : Movie Reviews, Reviews
Stuck For An Idea? Don’t Stress About It…
26 12 2022Since finishing the most recent novel, I’ve been waiting for my muse. I’ve been going to our old familiar places. Maintaining our usual appointments at Panara every day before my evening shift. Playing our favorite songs and watching our old favorite movies. Story anthologies lay in drifts around my living room. She ain’t showing up.
I think the expectation of the releases this year might be intimidating her a little. The progress I’ve made in counseling has soothed her ferocity. Getting older and watching friends and family pass has dismayed her.
There is no set plotline for one’s life. It is not going to All Work Out. There is no Resolution, no Affirmation, or Complete Understanding. So what does she do, and why?
In years past, I would have been distressed. I would have torn into my trunk stories to find the shining gold that had to — JUST HAD TO — be in them. Now, I realize that gold comes from being kind to myself.
At the moment, nothing is grabbing me. Writing prompts never worked well for me. Every short story I read seems disjointed or cliched or incomplete. These things have been the case for months, but with the novel to distract me, they hadn’t been a problem.
And it’s the holidays, of course. I’m building stronger definitions within my family and allowing people to be closer. I’m glad to have a new job that’s less boggling with better pay.
I’m easing up on myself and this is good all the way around. If she comes back, great! If not, I will manage. It won’t be an either-or proposition; my muse may feel differently next time with a healthier purpose.
Anyway, if you’re stuck, take a walk. Do something nice for yourself. Ask somebody how they are doing.
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Tags: speculative fiction, writing
Categories : Writing
Jordan Peele’s Advice On Writing Thrillers
22 12 2022Another comedy writer and performer making horror. I don’t feel comfortable giving advice, but this guy knows stuff!
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Tags: horror, horror fiction, horror novels, horror writing, humor, Jordan Peele, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
Publishing Update
20 12 2022Working with my publisher for Noble Fusion Press, Barbara E. Hill, on prioritization. Three novels in the next year (totaling 230K words) requires spinning many, many plates. You’ve already noticed my increased bog posts, and I appreciate your attention. There is a lot of other stuff:
She is handling: Cover art creation, coordinating line edits, release schedule, Advance Reader Copies (ARCs), marketing, getting blurbs.
Me am handling: staying out of her way, being helpful, final polish of drafts, being charrrrmiiiingggg.
I have done the last polishes of the new edition of “Flesh Sutra” and of “Saints of Flesh”. I sent my terribly fumbled e-mail list to her with the intent of now *actually sending out newsletters as promised years ago*. I am lining up many people to receive ARCs to review on Amazon and Goodreads etc.
Release for new “Flesh Sutra” in first half of 2023, “Saints of Flesh” in the second half, and my fantasy fiction opus “Fazgood etc.” to be determined.
“But Tim! How is your life going?”
New job stocking shelves at a Maritime Themed Grocery Chain is strenuous, but going well. I seem to have caught a mild cold and am a bit tired. My annual check-up told me triglycerides UP but not diabetic, cholesterol DOWN to acceptability, and I am to schedule a cardio-stress test.
Everything else? Holidays are the usual grab bag of awkwardness. I enjoy the people I know and try hard to keep myself comfortable.
This is what’s going on and I’ll keep you posted.
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Tags: publishing, writing
Categories : self publishing, The Flesh Sutra
If You Type “Horror Writing” Into YouTube…
15 12 2022…you end up with a lot of advice. Who should you listen to?
Once I get over turning up my nose at writers I hadn’t heard of, I remind myself “YES.”
Listen to all of the advice. Apply what appeals. File away what doesn’t for sharing or for future use.
This writer gives useful advice not just for horror, but for all writing. It could be applied to humor or romance. Like “keep it medically accurate” could apply to pies in the face or to aroused body parts. Just saying.
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Tags: horror, horror fiction, horror writing, speculative fiction, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
First Steps Toward Publishing
4 12 2022I have been submitting stories for publication since October of 1989. Ever since then, it has been an education. How to write. How to conduct oneself professionally. How to promote. How to maintain work/life balance. Most important, why am I doing this?
I do this because am a schmarty-pants who is pretty funny and who is pretty damn morbid. People like schmarties, funny people, and they have turns of morbidity. I have a niche and am finding a community.
So! Self-publishing! How’s that going? As a refresher, I am publishing three novels which encompass most of my long-form writing since 1999. The books total 250,000 words.
My publisher Barbara E. Hill has found an illustrator and cool cover art for my fantasy novel. She is a writer and marketing professional. I’ll be mentioning her a lot from now on because she is a great writer and deserves recognition.
I have proofread the three books and formatted them for e-publication. During the proofreading, I kept getting swept up in the plots, laughing at the characters’ wit, and being moved by their voices. Like most artists, I am super critical of my own work. During the proofreading, though, I realized something my friends had been telling me for years: these are good books!
The saying goes “you dress for the job you want, not the one you have.” If you want to be a self-sustaining professional, do what the self-sustaining professionals do. So here’s my Linktree page, which brings all my social media links together. Solid first step here.
Starting today, I will be paying more attention to clicks. I’ve tweaked my content on this site just a little (everyone seems to like posts about process, and I am happy to oblige). I’ve tried to maintain posting entertaining videos on YouTube and TikTok, but its tough to overcome my reticence and lack of ideas. Those may become more writing-oriented as well.
This is still the exciting part. The frustrating parts will be promoting, marketing, and maintaining the retail end. At this point, I am keeping my goals simple: if I can take myself out to dinner once in a while and still enjoy writing, then I’m good with this.
I’ll keep you posted.
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Tags: promotion
Categories : self publishing, Writing, Writing Advice