Hello, my lovelies,
As always, an up-front thank you from your friendly neighborhood horror author. My newsletter list has seen some great growth in 2024 I couldn’t be more excited for where everything is heading! As you all know, I would be dead in the water without my loyal readers and listeners, so seriously, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for being here on the letter and everywhere else you support my writing journey!
General Newsletter Updates!
Alright, ya’ll. I’m adapting the newsletter again. I’ve received some feedback and in my constant quest to optimize and streamline the insanity that is my job these days, I am always looking for ways to make sure we get the most out of whatever I put out. All that to say, the newsletter needs a little update.
Not so long ago, I was struggling to release content and to have exciting updates, so I’d huck everything I could into the letter, hoping to sound like I had tons of exciting things happening! The good news is, that is less an illusion now, and more a terrifying reality (I have too much to do now, woah!)…
All that said, I want to keep all the structural things that have made my newsletter what it is over the years, IE: Updates on writing and podcasting, Monthly Morsels (Book, show, and/or movie recommendations for you newbies), and community shout outs, so you know other people who are out there doing awesome things! However, I can no longer cram that all into one massive letter.
Henceforth, I shall be switching to a bi-monthly format, the first of which, you are reading at this very moment.
I’m going to give ya’ll the fun stuff in issue one. So this letter will consist of Monthly Morsels and Community Shoutouts. The final week of the month I’ll release the other half of the letter which will consist of Writing, Podcast, and Personal updates.
So, without further adieu, let’s get on with it.
Community Shoutouts
Congrats to our Bram Stoker Winners!
As we just finished Stokercon, there are many, many exciting things happening in the world of horror fiction. I want to start out by recognizing all the amazing and talented horror authors who were awarded the illustrious and coveted Bram Stoker Award! Give a big hand to all my fellow authors who have achieved the highest recognition from their international community! (For those of you unfamiliar, the Bram Stoker Award is essentially the Grammy of horror writing).
(Graphic Credit to Lisle Library District)
It was a true honor to put so many faces to so many names all at once. If you are a horror writer and you’ve never had the pleasure of attending Stokercon, I highly recommend making the trip. No matter where it is in the country, if you can afford it, the learning and networking opportunities are well worth the expense! Should you take this recommendation to heart, I’ll see you in Stamford Connecticut next year!
Opportunities for my Fellow Authors
Two great opportunities on the horizon for those interested in expanding their creative boundaries and knowledge of the craft!
#1. The Cascade Writers Workshop
As most of you know, I’m on the board for Cascade Writers. We are a non-profit dedicated to expanding the writing community through education and community-based opportunities! To that end, we have our yearly 3-Day Critique workshop coming up. The deadline for submitting stories to the critique groups is closed, but the workshop itself is still a highly valuable experience (plus, it’s a lot cheaper if do the Panels-only option).
As always, we have a lineup of incredibly talented, experienced, and helpful pros attending. Representing all aspects of the publishing industry, our lineup this year includes Arley Sorg (literary agent and editor of Locus Magazine), Cat Rambo (award-winning author and educator), Shiv Ramdas (award-winning author), Nancy Cress and Jack Skillingstead (award-winning authors), Claire Eddy (Creative Director at Tor Publishing), Jessie Kwak (award-winning author), Lisa Dailey (publisher and author), Ken Scholes (author and publisher at Fairwood Press), and a special, one-panel appearance by Cascade Writer’s veteran, Randy Henderson (award-winning author).
My favorite thing about this conference is the small, intimate nature of the setting. The panels offer a relatively informal setting for asking questions and organic discussion, the workshop groups truly get to know each other’s work and process, and there are ample opportunities to mingle and co-exist with your fellow writer folks between and after the day’s activities. This conference changed my life and the trajectory of my writing journey and I believe it is beneficial to all who attend! Hope to see you there in July :).
#2. Author Coaching and Critique from Kai Delmas!
Kai Delmas has been publishing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror fiction for many years and has accumulated an impression collection of accepted stories, including features in Apex Magazine, Zooscape, Etheria, and Wyld Blood. With a particular gift for the flash-fiction format and drabbles (stories totaling EXACTLY 100 words) Kai has grown into a specific and highly challenging niche in the short story market! That’s why I was so excited to see that he is offering coaching and critique for very short stories :).
This is a particularly intriguing offer, my friends. Finding critique partners for short fiction is doable but finding a good way to workshop your extra short work is surprisingly difficult as, despite the ease of reading, workshopping micro-stories can prove to be incredibly complex.
Just look at those two paragraphs above, for instance. Those combined are WELL over 100 words. So how do you tell an entire story, with a beginning, middle, and end (not to mention characters, a setting, etc) in that short amount of page space?
It’s tough. Really tough. But it’s a valuable skill and a great way to break into the publishing markets, as you can write and workshop short fiction at a higher rate of completion! If you’re considering getting into the micro-fiction game, shoot Kai an email and get some affordable editing for your next piece(s).
Monthly Morsels!
Heuvelt does it again! This book is a fast-paced thrill ride of supernatural, folk-inspired horror featuring everything from pagan demi-gods to political intrigue. If you are a fan of Hex and Echo, you can't go wrong with the latest installment of Heuvelt horror.
In case my recommendation isn’t enough for you, here’s the official blurb too:
On a foggy winter morning Luca Wolf and Emma Reich discover an eighteenth-century sailing ship stranded on a barren flower field, its name written on its side: Oracle.
Emma, unable to resist, enters the hatch on the tilted deck. The ship's bell begins to toll and no one sees her again.
Not much later, eleven people have disappeared, Luca and his mother have been absconded by a clandestine government agency which has questions, no answers, and are determined to uncover the ship’s secrets before a media storm erupts.
But as they force Robert Grim, a retired specialist of the occult with a strange history and a healthy dislike of authority, to unravel the mystery, the Oracle is revealed to be a harbinger of an ancient doom awakened underneath the sea.
What follows is a maelstrom of international intrigue, history, young love, humanity’s relationship with climate and disease, and pure terror as they come face to face with an open doorway to the apocalypse.
Chapman is one of my favorite modern horror authors and this book demonstrates exactly why!
What Kind of Mother is a journey through parental exhaustion, grief, love, loss, and all the things that go with those profound emotional experiences. Clay also explores the tension between spouses, parents, and children, and the effect it has on both their lives and the lives of all those around them. Chapman dives deep, holds back nothing, and chills you to the soul with every page of this heartbreaking, profound, and beautiful piece of horror fiction. Highly recommend!
In case my recommendation isn’t enough for you, here’s the official blurb too:
After striking out on her own as a teen mom, Madi Price is forced to return to her hometown of Brandywine, Virginia, with her seventeen-year-old daughter. With nothing to her name, she scrapes together a living as a palm reader at the local farmers market.
It’s there that she connects with old high school flame Henry McCabe, now a reclusive local fisherman whose infant son, Skyler, went missing five years ago. Everyone in town is sure Skyler is dead, but when Madi reads Henry’s palm, she’s haunted by strange and disturbing visions that suggest otherwise. As she follows the thread of these visions, Madi discovers a terrifying nightmare waiting at the center of the labyrinth—and it’s coming for everyone she holds dear.
Grab your copy RIGHT HERE!
SK Ehra never ceases to impress me.
Her ability to blend precisely edited, clean-reading prose with deep emotionality and visceral world detail is scarcely rivaled in the indie fantasy game.
In Minu, SK manages to paint vivid, organic characters and then invites us to walk hand in hand with them through all the horrors of a magic-inflicted apocalypse.
Wrought with supernatural creatures, witchcraft, curses, romance, and adventure Minu is sure to please any lover of contemporary dark fiction!
That’s all folks!
Check out those opportunities and give those books a read. You won’t be disappointed!
Hopefully, this new format will make things more digestible. I also believe it will be a good way for us to connect more frequently, which is increasingly important in this day and age/point of my career :).
Thanks for bearing with me as I figure things out and for being supporters of my writing journey. I love and appreciate you all more than I could ever truly express. Until the end of the month, I’ll see ya.
With love and appreciation,
Clay