The new folk horror anthology is up for preorder on Amazon Kindle! Publication date is May 21, 2023. Paperback and hardcover editions are coming soon. The spooky awesome cover is by artist Lynne Hansen. This anthology will include my queer Lovecraftian folk horror story, Incantation on a Summer Night, as well as stories from an awesome lineup of authors:
Becky Beard Cliff Biggers Amanda DeWees Bob Freeman John Linwood Grant Raven Hart Leanna Renee Hieber Paul McNamee James A. Moore Jessica Nettles Charles R. Rutledge Jeff Strand James R. Tuck
This will be my first year as an official Attending Professional at DragonCon, and I’m looking forward to participating in events on the Horror Track and Urban Fantasy Track. I’ll post more details about my schedule as they become available. Given the new CDC guidelines and the mask mandate by the City of Atlanta, here is the link to the updated Safety Guidelines for this year’s con (updated August 1, 2021).
I’ve read many books on writing over the years (starting with “Journal of a Novel” by John Steinbeck, which I read when I was 10 years old). “The Writing Life” by Jeff Strand is by far the most unusual and the most helpful. It’s unusual because it’s not really structured like a linear book; it’s more of a patchwork of anecdotes and advice. The tone is very conversational and full of Jeff Strand’s trademark wit. It felt like talking with Jeff over a barbecue dinner but without having to look at the barbecue sauce on his face. Jeff shares stories from his career in writing, some of them success stories, some of them not. He is brutally honest about mistakes he has made. Some of the stories, like his tale of woe from his time as president of a writer’s organization, the story of one of his films being adapted (badly) into a film, and multiple stories of author readings where no one showed up, are hilarious and will make you snort coffee through your nose (well, they had that effect on me, but you might not be drinking coffee while reading).
And take note that the subtitle is accurate: there’s a LOT of cursing here. I think this is Jeff Strand’s filthiest book since his sex-farce thriller “Bang Up.” “The Writing Life” has 68 F-bombs and 62 S-bombs, for those keeping score. The awesome book cover by Lynne Hansen conveys the blend of humor, professional advice, and cursing that make up “The Writing Life.”
There are very helpful (and humorous) chapters on working with critique groups, dealing with bad reviews, collaborating with other authors, being on panels at conventions and conferences, balancing writing and day jobs, and dealing with imposter syndrome.
“The Writing Life” covers a topic I’ve never seen in a writing book before: there’s a chapter on quitting (Chapter 20: “Quitting”). This chapter was hugely liberating to me. It made me realize that for all intents and purposes, I quit writing when the Covid-19 crisis started in early 2020. I quit working on my novel-in-progress, other than making some plot notes here and there. And this chapter helped me realize: that’s OK. Like many people during this crisis, I had to drastically re-invent my whole job (I’m a self-employed counselor who works with clients in the criminal justice system) and go into financial survival mode for most of 2020. And I’m proud of how I weathered the storm and held on to my job and continued to help people in need of my services.
Not that I needed Jeff Strand’s permission to quit writing, or anyone else’s but my own – but realizing I had already quit writing, and realizing that was OK, felt like a huge burden of guilt was lifted off my shoulders. And paradoxically, when that guilt, that sense that I had failed as a writer, was gone, it was replaced by a sense of freedom and a new desire to write again.
Yikes! I haven’t updated this blog in quite a while! When Covid-19 happened, I put my writing on hold while I re-invented my day job, where I work as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the criminal justice system. Most of the work I do is now online, via telehealth conferencing, although I do still see clients about once a week at my office in Marietta, Georgia.
All the conferences I planned to attend in 2020 got cancelled or moved online, but my guest status as an Attending Professional at DragonCon was transferred to 2021.
Ghosts in the Kudzu 