Saturday, December 29, 2018

2018 Reading Challenge Wrap Up


Hi Readers, Writers, and Caffeine Junkies:

Every year, I hold myself to a pretty strict reading challenge where I usually aim to read 100 books a year. This time around the sun, I didn't meet that goal, but I'm very impressed with my bookish intake, nevertheless. To some degree, this year was a little different because I read way more novels than I usually do, and I also read more short stories and critical work because I started teaching literature this year (yay!).

Below is my reading list, in case you're interested in seeing my reading history. When it comes to poetry, I absolutely fell in love with Nothing is Okay by Rachel Wiley, and I will from here on out read everything she writes. She has such a beautiful authentic and real voice, and I really resonated with her poetry.

When it comes to fiction/nonfiction, it's really quite hard for me to pick a favorite. I thought Final Girls by Riley Sager was fun, and I just picked up his other book The Last Time I Lied the other day at the library, so I'm very much looking forward to that. I also started getting into Ruth Ware more. Her first two books left me wanting, but I adored The Lying Game and loved The Death of Mrs. Westaway. It's been fun watching her grow as an author, and I'll certainly be picking up her next when it drops.

For horror....let's just saw we had a totally kick-ass year and I loved every minute of it. I got to get my copy of My Best Friend's Exorcism signed by Grady Hendrix, and I'll be teaching it next semester alongside Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage (which I absolutely loved!). Other big players for me were Providence by Caroline Kepnes (if you haven't watched the adaption of her novel YOU on Netflix, you'll want to remedy that fast. Trust me!), Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman, and The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay.

For nonfiction, I absolutely loved From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty, and I'm pretty sure I've made Witches, Slut, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive by Kristen J. Sollee my new mantra in life. Highly, highly recommend all three of these books.


I'm also happy to report that I finally managed to get on the Saga train, and holy hell...why did it take me so long to read this series? I have the ninth volume on request at the library now, but I'm so impressed with it. My husband devoured it, too, so it was fun to experience that read together.  Oh, and that reminds me: if you have any graphic novel series that you're a fan of (mostly looking for horror recommendations), please let me know! I'm thinking of revisiting Lucifer again, and I've read the first volume of Clean Room and liked what it was doing, so I'll probably continue with that, but I'm always looking for new stuff as the comic/graphic novel world is still relatively new to me.

As for next year on the fiction front, I'm very much looking forward to Inspection by Josh Malerman (seriously, I'll read anything he writes!), In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (I'm obsessed with her Wayward Children series...as in I screamed when I saw this has a January 8th release date), The Migration by Helen Marshall (I'm a big fan of her short story collection Hair Side, Flesh Side and her poetry collection The Sex Lives o Monsters), and Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk (and because he's one of my best buds, I got to read an early version of this book, and I'm still having nightmares about it so I CAN'T WAIT).

What are you folks looking forward to? Tell me in the comments below!

Happy bleeding, 
Stephanie M. Wytovich

Poetry

  • Our Numbered Days by Neil Hilborn
  • The Future by Neil Hiborn
  • Ordinary Sun by Matthew Henriksen
  • A Guide to Undressing Your Monsters by Sam Sax
  • I Am Not Your Final Girl by Claire Holland
  • Horror Film Poems by Christoph Paul
  • To Bedlam and Park Way Back by Anne Sexton
  • Sadness Workshop by Stevie Edwards
  • Nothing is Okay by Rachel Wiley
  • Love for Slaughter by Sara Tantliner
  • Popular Music by Kelly Schirmann
Books/Collections: Fiction/Nonfiction
  • The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
  • Final Girls: A Novel by Riley Sager
  • He Digs a Hole by Danger Slater
  • Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
  • Providence by Caroline Kepnes
  • A Father’s Story by Lionel Dahmer
  • My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Gary Hendrix
  • The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
  • Witch: Unleashed, Untamed, Unapologetic by Lisa Lister
  • Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers by Taisia Kitaiskaia
  • Witches, Slut, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive by Kristen J. Sollee
  • Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
  • The Poetry Lesson by Andrei Codrescu
  • You’ll Never Know Dear by Hallie Ephron
  • Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark #1 by Alvin Schwartz
  • More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark #2 by Alvin Schwartz
  • Just Kids by Patti Smith
  • Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman
  • Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
  • Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
  • Widow’s Point by Richard Chizmar
  • And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe by Gwendolyn Kiste
  • Pretty Marys All in a Row by Gwendolyn Kiste
  • The Program by Suzanne Young
  • The Treatment by Suzanne Young
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  • Flowers for Algernon
  • The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington by Leonora Carrington
  • Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked by Christa Carmen
  • Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
  • Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  • The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
  • How to Write and Sell True Crime: How to Spot Local Stories and Turn Them into Gripping National Bestsellers by Gary Provost
  • From Cradle to Grave: The Short Lives and Strange Deaths of Marybeth Tinning’s Nine Children by Joyce Egginton
  • The Hunger by Alma Katsu
  • The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
  • Baby Teeth by Zoe Stage
  • Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman
  • Girl Like a Bomb by Autumn Christian
  • The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
  • The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
  • Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
  • The Death of Mrs. Westaway by RuthWare
  • Elevation by Stephen King
  • How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

Graphic Novels/Comics
  • Blue Is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
  • Body Music by Julie Maroh
  • Skandalon by Julie Maroh
  • My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi
  • Shiver: Selected Stories by Junji Ito
  • Frankenstein by Junji Ito
  • Monstress, Vol. 1 Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu
  • Winnebago Graveyward by Steve Niles
  • Krampus! by Brian Jones
  • Clean Room, Vol 1 by Gail Simone
  • Saga, Vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
  • Saga, Vol 2 by Brian K. Vaughn
  • Saga, Vol 3 by Brain K Vaughn
  • Saga, Vol 4 by Brain K Vaughn
  • Saga, Vol 5 by Brian K Vaughn
  • Saga, Vol 6 by Brain K Vaughn
  • Saga, Vol 7 by Brian K Vaughn
  • Saga, Vol 8 by Brian K Vaughn 
Short Stories
  • “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “Turned,” and “The Giant Wisteria” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • The Lottery,” “The Daemon Lover,” and “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson
  • “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates
  • “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “The Life You Save May Be You Own” by Flannery O’Connor
  • “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence
  • “The Necklace” and “The Hand” by Guy De Massupant
  • “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “The Birthmark,” “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” “The Ambitious Guest,” and “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  •  “Bernice” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “Ligeia,” “The Oval Portrait,” The Masque of the Red Death,” “William Wilson” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe
  • “Click-Clack the Rattlebag” by Neil Gaiman
  • “A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf
  • “Horror Story” by Carmen Maria Machado
  • “The Music of Erich Zann,” “The Thing on the Doorstep,” and “Pickman’s Model” by H.P. Lovecraft
  • “Dracula’s Guest” by Bram Stoker
  • “Vampyre” by John Polidori
  • “True Crime” by M. Rickert
  • “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving
  • The Handless Maiden (aka The Girl Without Hands), Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1812-1858)
  • Baba Yaga, Vasilisa the Beautiful
  • Clockwork by Laura McCaffrey

Friday, November 2, 2018

NEW FICTION IN CRYSTAL LAKE PUBLISHING ANTHOLOGIES: FANTASTIC TALES OF TERROR AND TALES FROM THE LAKE, VOL 5

I'm excited to announce that I have two short stories newly out from Crystal Lake Publishing: "The Girl with the Death Mask" (a Frida Kahlo-inspired story) in Fantastic Tales of Terror and "The Monster Told Me To" (a purgatory meets Freud story) in Tales from the Lake, Vol 5. As an extra bonus, my poem "From the Mouths of Plague-mongers" is tucked side the latter, too!

Here are the announcements for both anthologies. I hope you'll consider picking them up.


Fantastic Tales of Terror:

Includes short stories by Christopher Golden, Richard Chizmar, Tim Waggoner, Neil Gaiman, Mercedes M. Yardley, Kevin J. Anderson, Jonathan Maberry, Michael Bailey, Elizabeth Massie, Bev Vincent, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Michael Paul Gonzalez, John Palisano, Lisa Morton, Jess Landry, Cullen Bunn, Vince Liaguno, Joe R. Lansdale, Bentley Little, David Wellington, Jessica Marie Baumgartner, Mort Castle, Paul Moore, and Jeff Strand. With an introduction by Tony Todd.

“More than fantastic, more than terror. These are tales of wonder and heart, stories of untapped mystery and unbridled imagination, fables of fiction with no bounds. Dream free with these amazing masters of the macabre and marvelous! Because these are truly Fantastic Tales of Terror!”—John Everson, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The House by The Cemetery

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from the Darkest Depths.


*****
Tales from the Lake, Vol 5

The Legend Continues…

In the spirit of popular Dark Fiction and Horror anthologies such as Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories and Behold: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders, and the best of Stephen King’s short fiction, comes Crystal Lake Publishing’s Tales from The Lake anthologies.

Where are the real horrors? Whether they be a family member returning from the dead, exploring the 
depths of depression or the deterioration of the mind, you’ll find them here.

This anthology contains twenty-two tales and three poems to elicit unexpected emotions, to bring you into the story. Welcome to my lake, where dreams really do come true… as nightmares!

“With any Tales from The Lake volume you're guaranteed a great product––quality stories, smooth editing, gorgeous production values. It's a series I'm proud to be part of, and it's heartening to see it going from strength to strength. Long may it continue!” – Tim Lebbon, author of Relics

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Universal Link: http://getbook.at/Lake5

Saturday, October 27, 2018

LIGHT AS A FEATHER, STIFF AS A BOARD: LITERARY AND HISTORIC REFERENCES IN THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA


I—like so many of you, I’m sure—have been watching Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Now I’m not even halfway through yet, but I have to say, the literature and history nerd in me is totally alive and well as I jump into Greendale and hang out with the Spellman family.

After a quick spell in Salem, MA a few weeks ago, the history and ghosts of the men and women involved in the Salem Witch Trials is still whispering to me at night. Couple that with the fact that I’ve been teaching Nathaniel Hawthorne, Shirley Jackson, and Henry James the last few classes, and it’s easy to see why the occult has been brewing in my head.

What I love most about this series so far is how much the writers are pulling from literature to build their characters while still managing to pay homage to the past. Some of the examples I’ve seen so far:

Principal Hawthorne: This is a nod to either one of two people: (1) Nathaniel Hawthorne, who is a famous American writer who wrote about witchcraft in an effort to assuage the crimes of his ancestors, who were directly involved in the Salem Witch Trials. (Side note: He was so ashamed by his family’s actions that he even added a “W” to his last name in an effort to remove himself from them. My recommendation for those interested in checking out his work: “Young Goodman Brown”) OR (2) John Hathorne, who was one of the judges for the Salem Witch Trials who took on the role of prosecutor and became the only judge not to repent for his actions.

          “The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds--the creaking of the trees, the howling of            wild beasts, and the yell of Indians; while sometimes the wind tolled like a distant church bell,            and sometimes gave a broad roar around the traveler, as if all Nature were laughing him to 
          scorn. But he was himself the chief horror of the scene and shrank not from its other horrors.” -
          Nathaniel Hawthorne.


Salem the Cat: This one is a pretty obvious choice what with the witch trails happening in Salem, MA and all, but for those of you interested in reading more about what happened there in 1692, I recommend the book A Season with the Witch by J.W. Ocker.



The Weird Sisters: The Weird Sisters are the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and if you look closely, they have a striking similarity to the Fates (Past, Present, and Future) of Greek Mythology. These are wise women, fortune tellers, masters of divination. In Macbeth, they act as beacons of Macbeth’s future, and in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, they act as entities trying to control Sabrina’s fate. I don’t need to say that I’m a fan of the feminist twist that's happening in this show, but what’s worth noting here is how Sabrina takes control of her life and focuses on the embodiment of free will.

            “What are these,
            So withered, and so wild in their attire,
            That look not like th'inhabitants o'th' earth
            And yet are on't? - Live you, or are you aught
            That man may question? You seem to understand me,
            By each at once her choppy finger laying
            Upon her skinny lips. You should be women,
            And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
            That you are so.”  ― 
William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Susie Putnam: Susie Putnam is one of Sabrina’s closet friends in the show, and she’s someone who Sabrina is constantly trying to protect as she’s become a target of sexual abuse / gender shaming. She tells Sabrina at one point that four football payers lifted up her shirt to see if she was a girl, and when Sabrina took this to Principal Hawthorne, he asked her if the two of them were trying to start a witch hunt. How this relates to history is that Ann Putnam, who was a child at the time in Salem, MA, was friends with the girls who helped to start the witch hysteria in 1692, and who also claimed to be afflicted by witchcraft herself. Unlike some of the others, Ann made it out alive and apologized for her actions years later.

Quentin: Quentin is a ghost child who watches over Sabrina when she first enters The Academy of Unseen Arts. We find out that he is a victim of The Harrowing and that he—and the others—want revenge (thank you Auntie Hilda!) on those who are continuing this dangerous hazing ritual at the school. While this one is a bit of a stretch, it reminded me of Quint from “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James. Quint’s character is also a ghost who is attached to Bly and seems to have his heart set on Miles.  Again, this would be another example of flipping the character’s intent as Quentin in the show is there to help Sabrina, rather than act as her undoing.

The references I’ve listed above have made my own adventures with the show a lot of fun, and when you couple that with the feminist overtones and how the women are supporting each other throughout the series (seriously, that WICCA club made be so happy), it’s easy to see why I’ve so quickly become a fan. I plan to write more as I make my way through the series, but in the meantime, I’m curious: what references have you folks picked up on so far? Leave them in the comments!

With star dust and fire,
Stephanie M. Wytovich

Saturday, October 20, 2018

Season of the Witch: Wytovich Heads to Salem and the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival


Last week/end, Dennis and I drove up to Massachusetts for the 4th annual MerrimackValley Halloween Book Festival, but before that, we made a pit stop in Salem for some witchy fun. Now Salem, MA has been on my travel-list for, quite honestly, as long as I can remember. I’m a huge Nathaniel Hawthorne fan, and obviously I feel a pull there for spiritual reasons as well, so when we rolled into town Thursday morning, I was beyond excited (despite the rain).

Thursday

I was a tad bit afraid that the commercialism for tourists (like myself) would ruin the experience for me, but honestly, I loved it. All the witches running around, the black/orange streamers and banners, the apple cider donut stands, etc. made it a beautiful fall event, and I was happy to grab a drink at one of many bars that lined Essex Street…which reminds me! If you folks like pumpkin beer, you totally have to try this drink It’s Shipyard Pumpkin with a cinnamon sugar rim and a shot of rum. Delicious!

On our first day there, we tackled the Salem Witch Museum, the Witch Memorial, saw the Hawthorne Statue, the Bewitched Statue, and the Roger Conant statue (the founder of Salem in 1626). Looking back on the trip, the Witch Memorial was easily one of my favorite parts because no matter how much you read or study something, there’s nothing like standing in history. There were individual stones for each person who died as a result of the Salem witch trials, and lots of people were leaving roses and offerings in memory of them. It was surprisingly emotional, and the graveyard itself (The Old Burying Point) was stunningly beautiful. I saw stones from the early 1700s, and more that had no dates and more wear, so I suspect they were probably older.

After that, we did some shopping and grabbed some snacks. I even finally got to get a past-life reading, which was eye opening on a lot of levels, some of which are too personal to write about here, but I suspect they'll end up in my poetry sooner or later. I will say that after hearing everything, certain aspects of my life make a lot more sense, and the themes of my books are obviously trends that have been passionate to me in past lives…particularly Brothel. Wink-wink.

Friday

We spent the night at a lovely Aribnb in Manchester-by-the-Sea and had a fantastic seafood dinner (if you ever are near Lobstaland, definitely check it out!). The next morning, we traveled back to Salem for more shopping and relaxation, and by the time we left, I had a bag full of herbs and bones, which honestly, seems just about right. I also got to stop at The Witch House, Count Orlock's Monster Museum, and The House of the Seven Gables, which made my literary heart smile. Also, as a quick aside, my favorite book shop that I visited there was Pyramid Books, and my favorite witch store was easily The Coven's Cottage.

Saturday

We got up early Saturday morning and headed to the Haverhill Public Library where I got to see my writing tribe, hug lots of friends (and people I consider family), sell books, meet new friends and colleagues, and chat about Halloween. The event itself is huge, and Christopher Golden did a fantastic job (as usual) organizing everything and championing our writing. I sold a ton of books, got to sit on a Halloween reads panel (hat-tip to James Moore, Kat Howard, Thomas Sniegoskii, and Glenn Chadbourne), and get some books signed, too. Afterwards, we all headed over to The Loft where we shared a meal and got to chat some more, and by the end, hugs and drinks were had all around and we called the day a success!

Sunday

I’d like to say that we finally got to sleep in on our trip today, but that’s not how I roll when I travel. Dennis and I got up and ready, and after a quick breakfast, we drove to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where I got to pay my respects to NathanielHawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Louisa M. Alcott. I spent some time at each of their headstones, thanked them for their art, and left offerings at the grave.

All in all, this trip was everything that I could have wanted and more. I left with some beautiful memories and some great art and herbs, and I’m happy to have checked another place off my bucket list. I very much expect that Dennis and I will be returning to Salem (and MA in general) sooner rather than later, but until then, I have enough bones, writing, and spellwork to keep me busy.

With graveyard dust and lotus pods,
Stephanie M. Wytovich


Monday, October 8, 2018

SEX AND DEATH IN THE MADHOUSE: AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH AUTUMN CHRISTIAN


Hello Friends and Fiends!

Today in the Madhouse, I have the pleasure of chatting with Autumn Christian about her upcoming novel, Girl Like a BombChristian is a fiction writer from Texas who currently lives in California. She is the author of the books The Crooked God Machine, We are Wormwood, and Ecstatic Inferno, and has written for several video-games, including Battle Nations and State of Decay 2. When not writing, she is usually practicing her side kicks and running with dogs or posting strange and existential Instagram selfies.


Girl Like a Bomb, coming soon from Clash Books, is a novel of self-discovery, an existential labyrinth of love, sex, and self-actualization where the only way out is through. When high schooler Beverly Sykes finally has sex, her whole life changes. She feels an explosion inside of her that feels like her DNA is being rearranged, and she discovers a strange power within. After chasing that transcendent feeling and fucking her way through the good, the bad, and the dangerous boys and girls that cross her path, Beverly notices that all of her ex-lovers are undergoing drastic changes. She witnesses them transcending their former flawed selves, becoming self-actualized and strong. Beverly gives herself over and over to others, but can she become who she is supposed to be, with the gift and curse that nature gave to her?


I recently had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of the book, and I found myself engrossed in a world of sex, death, and self-discovery. I loved how Beverly lived her life by her own rules and how she embraced who she was without shame or regret. As such, I wanted to sit down with Autumn and chat a little about the process behind the book as well as some find out some of her favorite parts of it now that it's finished.

I hope you enjoy the interview, and if you're interested in pre-ordering the book, you can do so here. Also, I encourage you all to join her newsletter to stay up-to-date with her writing.

With Glitter and Perfume,
Stephanie M. Wytovich 


Tell us about your book. What gave you the idea to create this story, and in your opinion, what does it represent at its most literal and figurative heights?

GIRL LIKE A BOMB is the psychosexual journey of a girl named Beverly Sykes. Beverly just wants to have sex. A lot of sex. But she soon discovers that she can heal people’s mental wounds and help them achieve self-actualization through sex, and soon sets out to save the world. It represents the labyrinthine journey to the center of the soul, with all its confetti and magma and what it takes to become the best version of yourself.

I wanted to write this story because it was unlike anything I’d ever written before. I normally write about things like plague machines, horrific demiurges, and brain implants that turn people into philosophical zombies. I wanted to expand the mythology of my writing and try something a little different.

What I loved most about Beverly’s character is how sex-positive she is. What other books and authors inspire you when it comes to sending this message, i.e. what books can readers run to for more body-positive brain food?

It wasn’t my intention to make it a sex positive book, but Beverly knows what she wants and isn’t shy about it. The positivity comes out of her character, not my inherent desire for positivity. I was more inspired by books about bad girls, by books of people who lived on the outskirts, like authors Henry Miller, Bukowski, Kathy Acker, and Jean Genet. I chose sex as the method of her magical transference because sex is so integral to who we are as human beings, and our feelings about sex are also how we in general feel about our interactions with others. I used to go around jokingly saying that I was the female Bukowski, but I always felt role models for rebellious women were lacking.

I was also inspired by the movies “Kids” and “Nymphomaniac Vol 1,” which showed a rowdy, sometimes excruciating, life on the edge of experience.

Some inspiration:

The Collected Stories of Colette - Colette
The Torn Skirt - Rebecca Godfrey
Anything by Kathy Acker
Delta of Venus - Anais Nin

Beverly’s character, while based in reality, encompasses a hint of magical realism in regard to her sexual powers. While I don’t necessarily like placing books in a genre label, I’m curious what you would pick if you had to pick one.

I’d say GIRL LIKE A BOMB is part literary fiction, part YA, part fantasy, part horror. I’d best categorize it as a hybrid, but if I had to place it in a single genre I’d say literary fiction. (The vaguest of the genres!)

When readers talk about the hero’s journey, they reference the three stages of development: separation, initiation, and return. For you, which was your favorite part to write, and do you consider Beverly a hero? Or does she represent something else to you altogether?

Every single one of us is going through a hero’s journey, which is why it’s such a universal story. We’re all shuttled into the world without a fucking clue as to who or what we are and are fumbling through a dark tunnel that billions of other people have traversed, also alone. A hero is someone who elevates the human race. Heroes slay the dragons and invent rockets and make sure there are federal highways, so you buy your toilet paper and grape juice without struggle. Beverly is a hero too, in her own way.

My favorite part to write was the first half of the book, when she’s just discovering her powers and coming into her own. But beginnings are always fun. It’s when reality sets in and you realize that you have to live with the choices that you previously made that fun becomes a complication. That’s also when the writing gets more difficult, when you have to take all the threads you’ve created and do something wonderful (or terrible) with them.

If Beverly was going on a first date, what would she wear?

It depends on the stage of her life, but in her early twenties: Crop top, designer leather jacket, black skinny jeans, glitter eyeshadow, red high heels. She’d have her hair curled and be wearing her favorite red lipstick. She’d be carrying a loud and expensive purse like Chanel or Balenciaga. She’s there to make an entrance and get noticed.

Can you give us an insight into your writing process? Any habits when you sit down to write?

Coffee, loud music, headphones, a dash of optimism and a death wish. I sometimes feel like I’m hanging off the edge of the world and barely grasping onto my keyboard. Sometimes I like to write stream of consciousness, and then later go back and refine it with a more critical eye. GIRL LIKE A BOMB went through about five rewrites with Christoph editing. To me, writing is a constant process of refinement, and Christoph is a very analytical, in-depth editor.

What takeaway do you hope your readers leave your book with?

A book is a very personal thing. I want people to connect it to their own lives and make their own conclusions.

What books are sitting in your TBR pile?

I read a wide variety of books, and the TBR pile is never-ending.  Here’s a few of them:

Microworlds - Stanislaw Lem
Cybernetix - Carlton Mellick III
Black Chamber - S.M. Stirling
Maps of Meaning - Jordan Peterson
The Death of Vishnu - Manil Suri

What is next in store for your readers?

I’m currently working on two projects. Both are horror, but in much different ways.

What advice do you have for writers working in fiction?

Have some fucking fun with it. People take writing so seriously. It’s art. it’s supposed to be entertainment. It’s an expression of being alive. It’s a testament and a celebration of being human. If you’re not having fun, what’s the point? If you’re in it for the secondary rewards, you’re probably going to be disappointed.

Also - it’s all about the work. Everything else - publishing, writing friends, marketing - is all secondary to the work. And the work needs to be driven by passion. By fun. You’re going to be spending 98% of the time in a room alone by yourself, and you need to be driven in order to do that.

Drink whiskey and laugh. Dance to techno. Do four espresso shots in a row and buy the loudest keyboard you can off of Amazon. Write what your little heart desires. Write silly things that you don’t think will ever be published. Write the crazy characters that dance around in your head. Create outrageous metaphors. Write like you’re racing against death to finish your book.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

3 WITCHY STORES YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT


Hello Friends and Fiends,

Lately, I’ve had a lot of people ask me about my spiritual practices and my relationship with ritual, so I’ve decided to start blogging about all things witchy, sex-positive, and magical. As most of you know, for the past three years I’ve been moving towards a more natural relationship with prayer and spirituality, and honestly, I feel more connected to myself, my partner, and the earth than I ever have before. Also, I’ve found that I’ve been able to switch to a lot of herbal remedies rather than taking medicine for things like colds, migraines, insomnia, etc.

So first up in The Madhouse is a list of three of my favorite places to shop online for teas, salves, smudge sticks, etc. I find myself using a lot of these products in my day-to-day life, and I’ve also found that despite being a fire sign, that I’m my best self when working with water and earth, all of which these shops have helped me to do.

Take some time and sort through their websites and their products, and if you feel like sharing, I’d love to know what products you’ve decided to try out!
With tea leaves and honey,
Stephanie M. Wytovich


Hedgewitch Apothecary: I met these ladies at a pagan festival over the summer, and not only were they wonderfully helpful, but their products are some of the best I’ve come across. From their teas, to salves, oils, and loose herbs, you simply can’t go wrong, and beyond that, there’s a little something for everyone. Personally, I bought their Enter the Sandman tea and a mugwort stick to help me with insomnia/nightmares, and not only am I out cold 10-15 minutes after I drink the tea, but I also sleep deeply and peacefully, which is blessing in and of itself. The mugwort stick is also great to burn before bedtime as it relaxes and calms my nerves. They recently put out a Headless Horseman tea, and I’m really looking forward to trying that soon!



Witch Baby Soaps: There’s a lot to love about a company whose slogan is: “Get Naked. Do Witchcraft.” Their products are 100% vegan and cruelty free, and when it comes to bath rituals, these are some of my favorite products to use. Not sure where to start? Check out their Psychic Bath Bomb to open up your third eye, or their New Moon Bath Bomb to open yourself up to new beginnings.



Crimson Sage Apothecary: Formally known as C&C Apothecary, Crimson Sage is one of my all-time favorite places to order from. From their dragon’s blood clay mask, to their dream salve, to their herb dryers, I find myself browsing their shop constantly to see what I want to add to my cabinet next. If you’re a first-time buyer, I highly recommend their smudge wands. They are beautifully adorned with flowers and quartz, and they smell positively divine! I also purchased one of their smudging feathers, which I love and use with my smudge stick weekly.



Thursday, July 26, 2018

There's Something Blood-Soaked in the Madhouse: An Author Interview with Christa Carmen

Good Morning, Friends and Fiends!

Today in the Madhouse, I have a very special treat for you. A couple months ago, Christa Carmen emailed Crystal Lake Publishing to sign up for their mentoring program, and we ended up working together for a month. In that time, I got to know a fantastic writer with a beautiful mind and read lots of creepishly wonderful stories, two of which are in the collection you'll read about below. 

Soon after that, we met at StokerCon in Providence, RI where we got to chat over coffee and get to know each other a little better, and now, here today, I'm not only happy to introduce to you a gorgeous talent, but a dear friend as well. Christa's writing is haunting and soaked in blood and bleach, a real tribute to horror and all things that go bump in the night. Below, is an interview I did with her about her upcoming collection, Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked, which is due out this August from Unnerving. 

Take a peek at the summary below, and then jump into the conversation with us. I hope you'll enjoy it, and even pre-order the book if you feel so inclined. After all, Halloween is less than 100 days away, and I hear Michael's has its Halloween decorations out already, so that means it's time (even though it's always time) for the screaming to begin.

With pig skin and chainsaws,
Stephanie M. Wytovich

Book Summary:

A young woman's fears regarding the gruesome photos appearing on her cell phone prove justified in a ghastly and unexpected way. A chainsaw-wielding Evil Dead fan defends herself against a trio of undead intruders. A bride-to-be comes to wish that the door between the physical and spiritual worlds had stayed shut on All Hallows' Eve. A lone passenger on a midnight train finds that the engineer has rerouted them toward a past she'd prefer to forget. A mother abandons a life she no longer recognizes as her own to walk up a mysterious staircase in the woods.

In her debut collection, Christa Carmen combines horror, charm, humor, and social critique to shape thirteen haunting, harrowing narratives of women struggling with both otherworldly and real-world problems. From grief, substance abuse, and mental health disorders, to a post-apocalyptic exodus, a seemingly sinister babysitter with unusual motivations, and a group of pesky ex-boyfriends who won’t stay dead, Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked is a compelling exploration of horrors both supernatural and psychological, and an undeniable affirmation of Carmen’s flair for short fiction.


***
Tell us about your book. What gave you the idea to create this collection, and in your opinion, what does it represent at its most literal and figurative heights?

The stories in Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked were published in places like Fireside Fiction, DarkFuse Magazine (which unfortunately exists no more), Third Flatiron’s Strange Beasties anthology, Unnerving Magazine, Tales to Terrify, and Year’s Best Hardcore Horror Volume 2 (which also featured your gorgeously macabre story, “On This Side of Bloodletting”), to name a few. The publisher asked upfront that a certain percentage of the stories in collection submissions be reprints, so once I’d filled that quota, I added two stories that had been published by markets no longer in circulation, changed one story that had appeared on a podcast to the novella version I’d been hoping for a chance to unveil, and chose three brand new stories to tie everything together.

Ultimately, I am very pleased with the balance that was achieved. I think readers can appreciate a collection that includes reprints, especially from magazines and anthologies they may have read previously, and hopefully enjoyed, as well as a handful of new tales that allows them to experience an author’s latest work.

As for what the collection represents at its most literal and figurative heights, I think the most literal way to read Something Borrowed is as a series of straightforward horror stories. For the no-nonsense horror lover, we have ghosts, apocalypse-inciting rains, witches, depraved serial killers, more ghosts, evil shadow creatures, zombies, haunted houses, long-preserved corpses, newly-opened mausoleums, sinister trains, and out-of-place staircases.

But those tried-and-true tropes are thinly veiled stand-ins for themes that run deeper. Without giving too much away, the babysitter in “Souls, Dark and Deep” might possess powers in the same vein as those of a witch, but she uses her powers not for evil, but to level the playing field against evil and injustice. The depraved serial killers in “Red Room” function less to scare à la Michael Myers, and more to warn of the perils men face when they disbelieve women. The ghost of Aunt Louise in the eponymous flash fiction piece is a hardcore, Gloria Steinem-quoting, take-no-nonsense-and-even-less-prisoners bad-bitch feminist. And the shadow wolf in “Flowers from Amaryllis” represents many, many things: the fear of eventually losing a companion animal, the fear of losing a parent, the fear of being alone, the fear of going mad, the fear of not being able to be true to who you are.
 
I would love to show you what’s behind the curtain obscuring the other stories in the collection, but then I’d have to lock you in a metal crate and sew hooves in place of your hands and feet so you can’t escape and, err, well, read Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked and my threats will make a lot more sense.

There’s a lot of nods to hauntings and urban legends here (ghosts, brides, Halloween lore, etc.), so I’m curious what your favorite urban legend is, and if you’ve based any of these tales off stories you heard growing up?

It’s funny, because one of the short story collections I’ve enjoyed the most in recent years is Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties, and Machado has talked about how what is probably the most popular story—“The Husband Stitch”— was heavily influenced by legends like the ones from Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. My favorites are actually the ones referred to in “The Husband Stitch”: “The Green Satin Ribbon,” “The Girl Who Stood on a Grave,” “The White Satin Evening Gown,” and “The Wolf Girl.”

A definite goal of mine in putting together Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked was to stitch together a wide variety of horror stories inspired by lots of different legends and tropes. If you were able to detect that pattern, if you felt that there was indeed connective tissue binding these stories together, like my very own ink-and-paper Frankenstein, then I’ve succeeded. I’d say I could taper my awe of Machado just a bit, but she’s truly the High Priestess of the current Coven of Literary Witches, so there’s really no comparison.

I actually have such an affinity for ghost stories, Halloween lore, and urban legends that I took a course through the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic on Legends, taught by Sara Cleto and Brittany Worman. Each week of a ten-week period was spent on a different subsection of legends, such as cryptozoology, vampires, sea legends, and internet legends, and each lesson plan was more intriguing than the one preceding it.

I thought that the discussion on internet legends, of which Slender Man is one of the more famous, would be the least interesting, but it was this topic that led me to the inspiration for my story, “Wolves at the Door and Bears in the Forest,” via the ‘Stairs in the Woods’ legend. Please, google ‘Stairs in the Woods Reddit,’ and enjoy your fall down that particularly eerie rabbit hole... I’ll wait.

Creeped out? Thought so. At the time, I’d already been tossing around the idea of writing a story inspired by some of the women on the methadone clinic at which I was a clinician from 2010 to 2013, and when I thought more about the image of a staircase in the forest, and the type of person who might find the idea of walking up that mysterious staircase to an unknown destination appealing, the story unfurled from there.  

“Thirsty Creatures” was probably my favorite story in the bunch because of the gorgeous, macabre imagery you used throughout the story. Even the start of the piece alone is breathtakingly beautiful: “The trees were fire and the sky was panicked birds and the horse was made of bone.”  Are you inspired by poetry at all? Have you ever written poetry before? If so, can you talk a little bit about how this influences you?

I don’t write much poetry but I’ve jotted down poems here and there, and I find that when I sit down to write a story, the first draft usually presents itself as either coming from a more straightforward place, where the goal of getting down the narrative is key, as opposed to being driven by the language, and the imagery that language is evoking.

“Thirsty Creatures” was definitely one of those language-driven pieces, and I can tell you exactly why that was the case. A little over a year ago, there was a post going around on Facebook that featured the work of Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński, who had specialized in ‘dystopian surrealism’ during his lifetime. A writer friend of mine tagged me in the post, and challenged me to pick my favorite image and write a story about it. There were dozens of images that appealed to me, but I chose the one that spoke to me most directly, and “Thirsty Creatures” was the result. 

I do want to experiment more with poetry, and come September, will be taking an online course that my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, offers through the Kelly Writers House, in Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”), with an emphasis on experimental verse, from Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to the present. I’m excited to build a stronger foundation in poetry, and hope it will inform both additional dabbling (and beyond), and my future fiction endeavors.

The story “The Girl Who Loved Bruce Campbell” was a riot, and as a girl who loves Bruce Campbell, I enjoyed the homage to horror’s favorite chainsaw wielding protagonist. However, I have to ask (and I promise not to judge!): do you prefer the original Evil Dead or the remake?

Ahhh, ha, the dreaded question. While I of course love Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness, the Evil Dead remake is one of my favorite horror films of all time. I love that film because it introduces fans to a completely badass and unequivocally awesome protagonist in Jane Levy’s Mia. When we arrive at the notorious cabin in the woods, we discover that Mia was brought to this remote location by her brother and friends in order to overcome her addiction to heroin. That a Bruce Campbell-worthy Evil Dead heroine travels to the cabin in the woods to detox, and that everything she endures after her arrival is borne while simultaneously going through cold turkey withdrawal, propels this film into territory that far surpasses simple supernatural horror films heavy on the gore.

The film is like a perfectly constructed and utterly decadent chocolate layer cake. The death scenes are memorable, the horror is palpable, and yet, there is an entire sub-plot in which a very real and well-constructed character is struggling to overcome a very real and highly formidable affliction. At a panel at Readercon 29 on Mental Illness in Horror, the amazing Nadia Bulkin brought up the Evil Dead remake, and discussed the commendable choice on the part of writer/director Fede Álvarez to have Mia’s struggles with substance abuse and mental health disorders provide the foundation for her strength in fighting off the evil in the woods, the evil that possesses first her, and then her friends.

I’ve always found the final scene to strike such an intensely visceral emotional chord; as the blood-rain pours down, Mia’s evil doppelgänger prophesizes, “You’re gonna die here, you pathetic junkie.” To which Mia responds, like an addict who has hit rock bottom with a resounding thud and is on the verge of change, “I’ve had enough of this shit.”

Another favorite for me was “Lady of the Flies.” Without giving anything away, the mask rocked my horror-driven world, and I appreciated the reference to Saw and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What influenced you to write this one specifically, and did the above films play a part in that process at all?

I love horror, I love Halloween, and so it goes without saying that I love October. This past October, my dear friend, Jessica Wick, and I decided to initiate ‘October planning,’ in which we would map out the month of October to include as many fall-themed and haunted excursions as we could pack into the thirty-one days. Oh, and we carried out ‘October planning’ in the cemetery, on a gorgeous fall day, sharing the space with a noisy flock of crows who kept taking off into the sky and subsequently alighting onto a nearby collection of tombstones. Needless to say, ‘October planning’ will be a yearly event.

One of the haunted activities we scheduled was a trip to Scary Acres in Hope, Rhode Island. Now, there wasn’t anything particularly notable about this attraction, except perhaps for the fact that it incorporates both a haunted wagon ride and a walk through a spooky corn maze, but after emerging from the maze, I saw this mesmerizing figure looming out of the grass that skirted the cornfield. It was meant to scare and entertain those maze-goers still waiting for their friends to emerge from the stalks, and as I did just that, I witnessed a few of the uncostumed employees regarding this masked specter on stilts, giggling and gossiping amongst themselves. It occurred to me to wonder about the dynamics of working at a haunted house, the logistics of being thrust together with other employees for thirty-one days with the intent of terrifying as many people as possible just to get a paycheck.

I’ve done the seasonal work thing before—I waitressed at a hotel on the beach for countless summers throughout high school and college—so I know there’s a special bond that can develop among individuals thrown together for a predetermined duration of time, and also, that not everyone is always going to get along. Priscila Teasdale sprung from the resulting ‘what if?’ question: ‘what if a haunted house worker’s life had been a series of unfortunate events, and she is dealt one last, devastating blow? And what if that individual leaned a bit too heavily on her haunted house persona in order to cope with that blow? Why, she’d become the Lady of the Flies, of course.

I will say this… Priscila took on a life of her own over the course of writing this story. The original concept saw her very much as a Leatherface-esque character: yes, she’d likely had a rough go of it, but her actions were meant to terrify and even alienate readers. When Priscila came onto the scene, I wanted it to be the equivalent of a chainsaw revving too close for comfort. Yet she became something so much more than that, a real flesh-and-blood person whom I felt had no other options but to reclaim her sense of self by lashing out at those who strove to strip this from her.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t take an absolutely devilish delight in reading the last scene of “Lady of the Flies” aloud (you can see me doing just that at a group reading at Readercon 29, entitled The New American Bizarrerie, here: https://youtu.be/36ZuqIB-hdo). Priscila may have had her reasons for doing what she did, but in the end, I think that chainsaw’s revving up, regardless...

How did you come to writing and who are some of your influences?

You know, I’ve answered one variation or another of this question for several other authors and reviewers, and I tell the same old story of always knowing I was a writer, of reading Stephen King’s On Writing, and being inspired to write more seriously, but I think the story is different than that. I think the story is that I survive by writing, and I think I have always survived by writing. I have a basket of notebooks on the top shelf of a bookcase in my home office, and I took it down the other day to flip through some of the journals I kept while in treatment for opiate addiction. I’m convinced I would not have made it through that experience had I not kept those journals. They are almost too heavy—metaphorically speaking—to sift through, the anguish I was experiencing screaming out from every line. Right after I overdosed the first time, I wrote about what had happened, my handwriting the mad, slanted scrawl of some hunted, tortured soul I barely recognize now.

The writing I do today may not be as autobiographical as those journals of years past, but my reasons for writing are the same: to make sense of the world, of my day-to-day environment, and my place within it. I’m so grateful that it works for me, especially when I see someone like Demi Lovato, someone whom I thought was also succeeding in exorcising her demons through her art, slip and fall. I so hope she’s able to reclaim that balance again, as I hope all artists, and every other brand of person in recovery, are able to succeed.

The list of authors who first influenced my writing includes Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Dean Koontz, Frank M. Robinson, Agatha Christie, Mary Shelley, Margaret Mitchell, Sarah Waters, Sidney Sheldon, R.L. Stine, Jennifer McMahon, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Harper Lee, J.K. Rowling, Cormac McCarthy, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen Dobyns, Michael McDowell, Dan Simmons, and Jack Ketchum.

The list of authors who continue to influence me on a day-to-day basis is long, imperfect, and ever-growing, and includes Carmen Maria Machado, Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Jessica McHugh, Nadia Bulkin, Ania Ahlborn, Jac Jemc, Alma Katsu, Christina Sng, Elizabeth Hand, Joyce Carol Oates, Claire C. Holland, Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi, Renee Miller, Theresa Braun, Seanan McGuire, Kelly Link, Damien Angelica Walters, Lauren Groff, Roxane Gay, Annie Hartnett, Caroline Kepnes, Ruth Ware, Sarah Pinborough, Gillian Flynn, B.A. Paris, Joe Hill, John Palisano, John Langan, Nicholas Kauffman, Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, Dean Kuhta, and Calvin Demmer.

Can you give us an insight into your writing process? Any habits when you sit down to write?

I try to write Monday through Friday from 5 am to 7 am, and then at whatever other odd hours I can scrape together beyond that. On the weekends, if I have nothing else going on, it’s not unusual for me to write from nine to five, with breaks for lunch and to walk the dog or go for a run.

As for writing habits, I only write with one of two different brands and types of pens—a black or blue Bic Cristal 1.6 mm or a medium point Paper Mate Flair of pretty much any color—and though they each provide a completely different writing experience, I’m equally indiscriminate and happy with either. I do third draft edits on the computer, but all first drafts and second draft rewrites have to be done by hand, or the words don’t flow adequately. I can pretty much write anywhere, anytime, although the ideal time and place would be early morning in my home office, or curled up somewhere comfortable in my house.

I find horror film soundtracks to be good background music while writing, if I’m in the right mood for it. And I really do have to be in the right mood, since I have a strange relationship with background noise. If I’m in a crowded coffee shop, I have no problem tuning everything else out but the voices in my head that are instructing my writing. However, if I have something streaming directly into my ears via headphones or even computer speakers, I sometimes find myself getting too distracted. I find that when I’m home writing in my office or on my sun porch, the sound of my fish tank filter humming or the birds outside chirping is background noise enough.

What takeaway do you hope your readers leave your book with?

The biggest takeaway I hope readers leave Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked with would be that nothing in your past, however dark—not substance abuse or mental health issues, not your secrets or your mistakes, not your failures or your fears —make you monstrous.

Locking someone in a metal crate and sewing hooves in place of their hands and feet so they can’t escape miiiiiiiiiight make you monstrous , but a dark and disordered past...? Definitely not...

What books are sitting in your TBR pile?

My Goodreads ‘To-Read’ list is currently hovering at the 2,635 mark, but in the actual pile of books stacked on my nightstand at present are Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow. My spirit animal is a crow—always inquisitive, sometimes mischievous, and occasionally hostile—and I love horror stories like Gwendolyn Kiste’s “Something Borrowed, Something Blue,” from her Bram Stoker nominated collection, And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe (if any of your readers haven’t experienced this story, originally published in Three-Lobed Burning Eye, about a woman who gives birth to live birds that come tearing through her stomach with no regard for the barriers of flesh, the conventions of society, or the limitations of pain, I highly recommend it), so I’m really looking forward to this one.

Also edited by Ellen Datlow, The Best Horror of the Year Volume Ten, and finally, an anthology not edited by Ellen Datlow, Where Nightmares Come From: The Art of Storytelling in the Horror Genre, edited by Joe Mynhardt & Eugene Johnson. Oh, and also, a hauntingly gorgeous coffee table book that was a birthday gift from a friend who always gets me the BEST birthday gifts: 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die. OHH, and in another, separate pile, perched perilously atop my alarm clock teapot, Maplecroft and Chapelwood (The Borden Dispatches, #1 & 2), which I need to read before the end of October, since my in-laws gifted me a night at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast in Fall River (also for my birthday... I guess I’m spoiled with friends and family getting me a lot of the BEST birthday gifts!) to be redeemed before my husband’s and my second wedding anniversary on Halloween!

I picked up a copy of Parasite Life, by Victoria Dalpe at NECON 38, and I’m hoping to get through what she described as her ‘YA rife on Carmilla’ before I attend the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Film Festival August 17th-19th to see her do a reading, hopefully from Parasite Life, or else from Tragedy Queens:Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey & Sylvia Plath, which in addition to Victoria’s contribution, “The Wife,” includes your fabulous story, “Because of Their Different Deaths.”

I might as well list my whole NECON swag pile, since I met all of the authors there, and am excited to get into their books, all of which were published by Chizine (I’ll admit, I got a little carried away at the Chizine table!): Only the Devil is Here, by Stephen Michell, The Hair Wreath and Other Stories, by Halli Villegas, Hair Side, Flesh Side, by NECON Guest of Honor Helen Marshall, and It’s Not the End and Other Lies, by Matt Moore

What is next in store for your readers?

I attended the Borderlands Press Writers Boot Camp in January, where I workshopped a horror/crime thriller called Coming Down Fast, about a female Charles Manson type and her ‘followers,’ the crime they commit, and the first female police chief in Westerly, Rhode Island’s three-hundred fifty year history who pursues them, and I’ve been saying I’m close to finishing the novel for far too long. As soon as the official release date of Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked comes to pass, Coming Down Fast is my one and only priority.

Last August, I met author and artist Dean Kuhta in Providence at NecronomiCon, and I just finished a short story called “The Rest Will Be in Pieces” for Issue #3 of Outpost 28, a Lovecraft-inspired dark fiction magazine to which Dean has invited me to be a regulator contributor. 50% of all proceeds of Outpost 28 go to helping the homeless in Richmond, VA, which is a very nice thing to be a part of. I have additional work forthcoming from the sci-fi ezine, Space Squid, as well as from Lycan Valley Press Publications' all-female horror anthology, Dark Voices.

I have one other short story that’s close to being in shape for submission, “Echoes of a Former You” (oooh, and another story of which I’ve got the rough draft written, but no! NO! My novel is my one and only priority, and ooh, look, the writing equivalent of a squirrel, and OOH, look, an actual squirrel!), and I’m also going to be participating in a second collaboration with author David Emery, whom I met while judging a short story contest through The Write Practice and Short Fiction Break literary magazine.

What advice do you have for writers working in horror?

My best advice would have to be not to lose focus on the actual, daily activity of pumping out new work. Lately, I’ve been satisfied as long as I’ve put effort into some type of my writing, whether that’s editing a work-in-progress short story, jotting down a new novel idea, or tightening up a guest post for a reviewer’s website, but since I want to get Coming Down Fast to a place where I can send it out to a few publishers that have expressed interest, I’m getting back to hitting a certain page minimum or word count each day (four pages of handwritten work or 2,000 words of rewrites/edits).

All in all, I try to stay focused, and not to worry about writing better than anyone but the writer I was when working on my last story, or my last novel chapter. This usually isn’t all that difficult, since I love writing, and because putting my all into being a storyteller speaks to my very soul. And with regards to speaking to my soul, thank you, Stephanie, so very much, for putting together these lovely, engaging, insightful interview questions. You have been a role model of mine for quite some time, so to have the opportunity to be interviewed by you is an honor.

Author Bio:

Christa Carmen’s work has been featured in myriad anthologies, ezines, and podcasts, including Unnerving Magazine, Fireside Fiction, Year’s Best Hardcore Horror Volume 2,  Outpost 28 Issues 2 & 3, Tales to Terrify, Lycan Valley Press Publications' Dark Voices, Third Flatiron’s Strange Beasties, and Alban Lake's Only the Lonely. Her debut collection, Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked, is available August 2018 from Unnerving.

Christa lives in Westerly, Rhode Island with her husband and their bluetick beagle, Maya. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in English and psychology, and a master's degree from Boston College in counseling psychology. She is currently pursuing a Master of Liberal Arts in Creative Writing & Literature from Harvard Extension School. On Halloween 2016, Christa was married at the historic and haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado (yes, the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining!). When she's not writing, she is volunteering with one of several organizations that aim to maximize public awareness and seek solutions to the ever-growing opioid crisis in southern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut.

Author Website: www.christacarmen.com

Praise for Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked:

"This beautifully macabre collection of urban legends and ghastly encounters is a cold whisper, a dripping axe, a shattered camera lens. Walk carefully into Carmen's night. But if you hear flies, run." -- Stephanie M. Wytovich, Bram Stoker award-winning author of Brothel
 
"Christa Carmen is undoubtedly one of horror's most exciting and distinctive new voices, and her debut collection absolutely proves why. From hardcore to heart-wrenching, these tales run the gamut, with each one of them taking hold of you and not letting go. Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked is one incredibly wild ride. Hold on tight." -- Gwendolyn Kiste, author of AndHer Smile Will Untether the Universe and Pretty Marys All in a Row  

Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked is like a wild and thrilling roller coaster. At the end, you won’t want to get off the ride but keep on going, over and over." -- Christina Sng, Bram Stoker award-winning author of ACollection of Nightmares

Christa Carmen isn't interested in silence, and her collection Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked isn't looking to lead you calmly down the aisle. Your path is littered with temptations that test the strength of your mind, heart, and stomach, and over thirteen tales of death and dependency, Christa Carmen has you questioning whether love is real or just another addiction. -- Jessica McHugh, author of The Green Kangaroos and TheMaiden Voyage and Other Departures 




Books for Sale: 

Outpost 28 Issues 2 & 3: http://www.deankuhta.com/outpost28.php   


September Madhouse Recap: Mabon, Spooky Reads, and Fall Wellness

Hello friends and fiends– Thanks for reading Stephanie’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. We started S...