Sci-Fi Saturday

"No two eyes see the same. What one person sees and another does not can be the difference between staying alive and living." - C.E. Robertson




Original Art by Don Ashcraft

Read and Rated: February 2016

Maxine by Katie Cord

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass













Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Terror Tuesday.....

"Fear is simply the result of knowledge and imagination. It's the simplest thing to scare someone, all you do is tell them a piece of something you know, and let them do the rest."- C.E. Robertson

Art by Unknown. Please comment if you know who this artist is so credit can be given. 

BONUS: Movie Review- The Witch: A New England Folk Tale

Quiet. Haunting. Taut. A lovely departure from your typical horror tale. The Witch is one of the besthorror movies to come out in the last decade. It touches on a very real form of desolation and fear that most tales ignore. I would have like a more consistent tension, and more of the little tidbits expanded. There are a lot of scenes that hint at deeper meaning and are then left unexplored. And the score is poorly timed. Places where the quiet edge of the movie should be preserved to give the full tension of the moment are ruined by a sudden cacaphony of sound that instead of enhancing the thrill, throw you out of the moment. But even with those things this movie has the most disturbing scene I've ever watched in it. An ending that is satisfying and creepy, a compelling story that will make you think and an authenticity that is currently unparalleled in popular movie culture. 7.5/10

Characters: Who do you not love?

I'm taking a class this month from the Maryland Romance Writers about writing in depth characters. Lead by Linnea Sinclair, it's been a challenging course as I delve deeper into my main for The Conclave. Since I'm taking the villainous standpoint in my book, and telling the story as the villain (who is also the hero but never stops being a villain) I thought I would take a moment to ask you, my dear readers: What character have you read and hated. Why did you hate them? Was it because they were so well written you couldn't help it or because they weren't written well enough to let you enjoy them?

Terror Tuesday: Special Edition with Gamut Magazine

Zeebee and Zee by Luke Spooner

Mr Spooner has an anticipated 104 pieces for the first year of Gamut Magazine. 

Headed by Richard Thomas, and backed by an incredible line of authors including Chuck Palahniuk, Irvine Welsh, Rebecca Jones-Howe, Mercedes M. Yardley and Rebecca Makkai. 

To learn more about Gamut Magazine and all it offers to not just Women in Horror, but the entire creative community at large. Check out the kickstarter. 

Sci-Fi Saturday

"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic." - Frank Herbert


Art by Dan Barrett

Romance in Horror

Seeing as it's Women In Horror Month, I thought I'd take a moment to visit the idea of terrifying love.  Love and romance, like any other beautiful thing, can turn dark and frightening in the span of a breath. And this type of love turned obsession is a common theme in horror movies through the years. You'd think we'd be tired of it by now, but we aren't. Why? Because it is a very real fear. Movies like Straw Dogs  and My Bloody Valentine all the way through to Dracula play on this fear. Each in their own ways, of course.

I exploit it a bit in When The Gods Walked Out and many other authors have explored the idea the love as terror. One of the most famous being Misery by Stephen King. You might say that these are not example of love, but obsession, and to that I say, what is love if it is not obsession?

Terror Tuesday

"It is women who love horror. Gloat over it. Feed on it. Are nourished by it. Shudder and cling and cry out-and come back for more."- Bela Lugosi 

Art by Reiko Murakami

Sci-Fi Saturday

“The sky is but a looking glass into a pool of airless oceans, cast off into a dance of light and energy, leaving only a facet of guidance to navigate. Such an existence lays but within the mind man.” - India Lang

Art by Dave Seeley

Rejection

I got my very first rejection :(

I am now a "real writer" or so I'm told. I'm starting to put my work out there for the consideration. It's a strangely unnerving process. To have something you value and prize and are proud of be suddenly at the discretion of a complete stranger. It's very much like the feeling you get when you are waiting for the person you like to reply your date invitation, except prolonged, for days, weeks and even months. Excruciating.

And for me, a person who is used to getting what she asks for, this first rejection has elicited an unexpected reaction. I was expecting the first one to be crushing, to make me question myself as an author, a writer, a craftsmith of words. And yet, I am not. Instead I feel vilified, accepted, like I have finally been welcomed into the ranks of my contemporaries. How strange.

Now, on to the next one.

Terror Tuesday

"Monsters are real. Ghosts are real too. They live inside us. And sometimes......They win."- Stephen King


Art by Daniele Serra