So, I teased already. Now I can show you the final work..
The following is the cover for a new short story collection by yours truly. The collection, called THIS IS HALLOWEEN, will be available this year at the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. As the collection directly revolves around Halloween and has MOST of my Halloween stories collected in one place, it seemed appropriate.
This is a limited edition, and only in print for the present time.
The cost will not be prohibitive. More on that soon.
In the meantime. I just wanted to show you the amazing cover by Dan Brereton, who is awesome. Dan knows all about the Halloween spirit, as he is responsible for THE NOCTURNALS, just about the best comic book ever to happen to Halloween and all things creepy.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Before We Even Met
This week several writers are remembering a man who was an
influence, a peer and a friend. Maybe you’ve heard of him or read his works.
Maybe, if you are very lucky, you had the chance to meet him in person.
His name is Charles L. Grant, and I knew him as Charlie. He died ten years ago and I miss him.
Charlie was a powerful, subtle and always entertaining
wrier. He knew how to bring a shiver down my spine (NOT an easy task, rest
assured) with a few words. He also understood and appreciated the art of subtle
storytelling. Not everyone gets that. There are a lot of writers out there whom
I enjoy, but a goodly number of those very people simply do not have the skills
required to make a quiet shiver.
The first time I met Charlie, he was gracious and kind. The second
time I met him he chewed me up one side and down the other for not taking care
of business properly when it came to my career. He yelled at me regularly about
things like getting an agent and reading my contracts carefully. He was, in
many ways, a mentor to me when I was just starting out. Rest assured, a
substantial portion of the advice I give to other people I learned from him.
Charlie lived in northern New Jersey and I lived in Georgia.
Most of the time when we talked it was at conventions or occasionally on a long
distance call that, back then, cost more than we probably should have spent as
writers.
Except, of course, when I was reading his works. At those
times, we talked endlessly. We chatted about the lives of the characters he
created from thin air and breathed life into. Well before I met Charlie in
person, he’d told me all about THE PET, and took time to sit at THE TEA PARTY
(My very first excursion into Charlie’s writing and one that still sticks with
me today.) I read every volume of SHADOWS, the anthology that Charlie edited,
as soon as I could get my hands on it.
Charlie was a monster when it came to writing. Look him up
and you’ll only sew a few books, but he edited a lot, he wrote a lot and he
sold a lot under pseudonyms. Lionel Fenn wrote mysteries. Simon Lake wrote
horror and suspense. Felicia Andrews wrote gothic romances. They were all
Charles L. Grant, who made my output seem insignificant in comparison.
Charlie was an amazing writer.
Charlie was a drinker and a smoker. They took their toll on
him in the end and he left us far earlier than anyone would have liked. I point
that out only because it wrenches my soul to think about how different the
world would have been if he’d been with us for longer.
Charlie lived in New Jersey when he passed. I still lived in
Georgia. I could not make it to his funeral. I still miss him.
But when I miss him the most, when I think about his laugh
and it gets stuck in my head, I go over to my library and I choose a book from
his rather extensive collection of works, and we talk again, like old times,
before we even met.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Laura Silverman: GIRL OUT OF WATER
So an author friend of mine, Kami Garcia, brought this to my attention, via Christopher Golden.
There is an outspoken, first time author who has her first book coming out next year. The book is so new that review copies haven't been made.
Amazon has a link, but no image and barely any information is available beside the release date of May 1st. There's no cover, but there will be in time.
So, with no cover and no review copies available, a strange and demented miracle took place today. Losers and racists decided to post their own reviews on Goodreads.com. The reason for this? Laura has been very vocal in her dislike of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate. Frankly, he's made a gigantic number of racist comments (I'm not gonna source that. Look basically ANYWHERE on the internet where actual news is reported and you're going to run across a few references.)
And apparently she offended the racist red neck brigade. who promptly started giving her one star reviews on Goodreads after generating a flurry of spam identities to allow them the privilege. I understand that a slurry or racial remarks made their way onto Goodreads,too, just to make sure a new author felt welcome.
I don't like racists. I find they are, as a rule, not nice people. Even the ones who ARE nice are only nice now and then and under the right circumstances. Left to their own devices, some of them even go so far as to drag people behind trucks for a few miles, chain people to trees, burn crosses in front yards, oh, the list of atrocities is monumental and even leads to genocide too often for my comfort. Not all, but enough to leave me unhappy with their philosophies and enough to guarantee that I would never consider voting for Donald Trump, who seems to believe that pointing at anyone other than himself and calling for blame is the best way to run a campaign (unfortunately it's worked to a very real extent).
This nonsense. Right here.
Let me clarify: REVIEW COPIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE. THEY DO NOT EXIST AS YET. Somehow, a few dozen readers magically got copies and all decided it was a one star book.
This is Laura's first book. You don't like her? Fine, don't buy the book. Don't like her politics? Don't like her religion or her race? Same answer. but to start a smear campaign before the book is out? Well, pardon my language, but that makes you an a douche bag loser of epic scale.
The following was found on Goodreads:
"Due to trolling and the falsified reviews being posted for Girl Out Of Water which is NOT yet available for review in any form or capacity, we are adding this note from the publisher until the harassment of Laura Silverman on Goodreads is addressed and a resolution has been reached.
Thank you to everyone who is supporting Laura and Girl Out of Water. She appreciates your love and so do we! We hope to solve this problem as soon as possible. In the meantime, please share the pre-order link to Girl Out of Water! and your love for Laura on Twitter #LoveForLaura
Amazon - http://ow.ly/ymjs304hLKC
Anise Sawyer plans to spend every minute of summer with her friends: surfing, chowing down on fish tacos drizzled with wasabi balsamic vinegar, and throwing bonfires that blaze until dawn. But when a serious car wreck leaves her aunt, a single mother of three, with two broken legs, it forces Anise to say goodbye for the first time to Santa Cruz, the waves, her friends, and even a kindling romance, and fly with her dad to Nebraska for the entire summer.
Living in Nebraska isn’t easy. Anise spends her days caring for her three younger cousins in the childhood home of her runaway mom, a wild figure who’s been flickering in and out of her life since birth, appearing for weeks at a time and then disappearing again for months, or even years, without a word. Complicating matters is Lincoln, a one-armed, charismatic skater who pushes Anise to trade her surfboard for a skateboard. As Anise draws closer to Lincoln and takes on the full burden and joy of her cousins, she loses touch with her friends back home – leading her to one terrifying question: will she turn out just like her mom and spend her life leaving behind the ones she loves? (less)"
Seriously, sounds like a proper synopsis to me. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm not saying anyone should follow my lead here, but I hope people do. Last I checked the ideas that stood for the most in this country included freedom or religion and freedom from racial/religious persecution. Also, I tend to like it when new writers do well. it means more people are reading and writers are making a living in their trade.
I seriously do not want to know where I would be if this had happened with my first book.
James A. Moore
There is an outspoken, first time author who has her first book coming out next year. The book is so new that review copies haven't been made.
Amazon has a link, but no image and barely any information is available beside the release date of May 1st. There's no cover, but there will be in time.
So, with no cover and no review copies available, a strange and demented miracle took place today. Losers and racists decided to post their own reviews on Goodreads.com. The reason for this? Laura has been very vocal in her dislike of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate. Frankly, he's made a gigantic number of racist comments (I'm not gonna source that. Look basically ANYWHERE on the internet where actual news is reported and you're going to run across a few references.)
And apparently she offended the racist red neck brigade. who promptly started giving her one star reviews on Goodreads after generating a flurry of spam identities to allow them the privilege. I understand that a slurry or racial remarks made their way onto Goodreads,too, just to make sure a new author felt welcome.
I don't like racists. I find they are, as a rule, not nice people. Even the ones who ARE nice are only nice now and then and under the right circumstances. Left to their own devices, some of them even go so far as to drag people behind trucks for a few miles, chain people to trees, burn crosses in front yards, oh, the list of atrocities is monumental and even leads to genocide too often for my comfort. Not all, but enough to leave me unhappy with their philosophies and enough to guarantee that I would never consider voting for Donald Trump, who seems to believe that pointing at anyone other than himself and calling for blame is the best way to run a campaign (unfortunately it's worked to a very real extent).
This nonsense. Right here.
Let me clarify: REVIEW COPIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE. THEY DO NOT EXIST AS YET. Somehow, a few dozen readers magically got copies and all decided it was a one star book.
This is Laura's first book. You don't like her? Fine, don't buy the book. Don't like her politics? Don't like her religion or her race? Same answer. but to start a smear campaign before the book is out? Well, pardon my language, but that makes you an a douche bag loser of epic scale.
The following was found on Goodreads:
"Due to trolling and the falsified reviews being posted for Girl Out Of Water which is NOT yet available for review in any form or capacity, we are adding this note from the publisher until the harassment of Laura Silverman on Goodreads is addressed and a resolution has been reached.
Thank you to everyone who is supporting Laura and Girl Out of Water. She appreciates your love and so do we! We hope to solve this problem as soon as possible. In the meantime, please share the pre-order link to Girl Out of Water! and your love for Laura on Twitter #LoveForLaura
Amazon - http://ow.ly/ymjs304hLKC
Anise Sawyer plans to spend every minute of summer with her friends: surfing, chowing down on fish tacos drizzled with wasabi balsamic vinegar, and throwing bonfires that blaze until dawn. But when a serious car wreck leaves her aunt, a single mother of three, with two broken legs, it forces Anise to say goodbye for the first time to Santa Cruz, the waves, her friends, and even a kindling romance, and fly with her dad to Nebraska for the entire summer.
Living in Nebraska isn’t easy. Anise spends her days caring for her three younger cousins in the childhood home of her runaway mom, a wild figure who’s been flickering in and out of her life since birth, appearing for weeks at a time and then disappearing again for months, or even years, without a word. Complicating matters is Lincoln, a one-armed, charismatic skater who pushes Anise to trade her surfboard for a skateboard. As Anise draws closer to Lincoln and takes on the full burden and joy of her cousins, she loses touch with her friends back home – leading her to one terrifying question: will she turn out just like her mom and spend her life leaving behind the ones she loves? (less)"
Seriously, sounds like a proper synopsis to me. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm not saying anyone should follow my lead here, but I hope people do. Last I checked the ideas that stood for the most in this country included freedom or religion and freedom from racial/religious persecution. Also, I tend to like it when new writers do well. it means more people are reading and writers are making a living in their trade.
I seriously do not want to know where I would be if this had happened with my first book.
James A. Moore
Thursday, September 15, 2016
I'm not SAYING....
I'm not SAYING that I have a special edition book coming out for the Merrimack Valley Halloween Festival, but I'm saying that it's so. Limited edition, but there might be a few available when it's all said and done.
I'm also not saying that the cover is by the amazing Dan Brereton, but there ya go....
This is not the cover. Just an awesome piece by Dan....
I'm also not saying that the cover is by the amazing Dan Brereton, but there ya go....
This is not the cover. Just an awesome piece by Dan....
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Upcoming River City Writers Events
MERRIMACK VALLEY HALLOWEEN BOOK FESTIVAL
River City Writers Present:
Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival 2016
Saturday, October 22nd 10am to 4:30pm at Haverhill Public
Library, Haverhill, MA
Join us as we celebrate books this Halloween season! 33
Authors and Artists gather to present panel discussions on New England horror
traditions, ghost stories, why scary stories are good for kids, and much more!
Authors will be selling and autographing their books. This event is sponsored
by River City Writers and Jabberwocky Bookshop.
This event is FREE and open to the public!!!
Please share!!
Our lineup of participating authors, artists, and
filmmakers includes:
Christopher Golden
Brian Keene
James A. Moore
Thomas E. Sniegoski
Josh Malerman
Paul Tremblay
Leigh Perry
Craig Shaw Gardner
John Langan
Kat Howard
Nicholas Kaufmann
Rio Youers
Toni LP Kelner
John M. McIlveen
Glenn Chadbourne
Jack Haringa
Jason Ciaramella
Hillary Monahan
EJ Stevens
Bracken MacLeod
Errick Nunnally
Kristin Dearborn
Douglas Wynne
Christopher Irvin
Izzy Lee
Scott Goudsward
Tony Tremblay
Gardner Goldsmith
Jan Kozlowski
Daniel Braum
Gregory Bastianelli
Amber Fallon
Dan Padanova
Asher Ellis
WRITERS COFFEEHOUSE NEW ENGLAND
Writers of all experience levels gather to discuss the
business and craft of writing. Writers Coffeehouse events are always free, and
are an excellent opportunity to learn and to build relationships within the
writing community.
Upcoming Coffeehouses include:
Saturday October 2016 1st 2-5pm:
Bodacious Books and Baubles, 225 Shaker Rd., East
Longmeadow, MA
Saturday December 3rd 2016 1-4pm:
Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland,
ME
Saturday, February 4th 2017 1-4pm:
BookClub Bookstore, 2 Main Street, Westfield, MA
The River City Writers are here
So for a while now Christopher Golden and yours truly have been working on something. that something is now here.
THE RIVER CITY WRITERS
With more than half a century’s combined experience in writing and editing, Christopher Golden and James A. Moore bring their shared love of the written word to all they do. In recent years, the Haverhill, Massachusetts-based authors and editors have expanded their repertoire to include events like the wildly successful Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival and area workshops like the Writers Coffeehouse New England. Now Golden and Moore launch RIVER CITY WRITERS, a company offering book-and-writing-related events, workshops in all areas of writing and publishing, focused and intimate writing retreats, and by popular demand, premium editorial and consultation services.
RIVER CITY WRITERS debuts in 2016 with events including the 2nd Annual Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival, the continuation of the free Writers Coffeehouse New England series, and a combination of single afternoon and multi-day workshops. Golden and Moore will both be offering selective editorial and consultation services as their own busy writing schedules allow.
THE RIVER CITY WRITERS
With more than half a century’s combined experience in writing and editing, Christopher Golden and James A. Moore bring their shared love of the written word to all they do. In recent years, the Haverhill, Massachusetts-based authors and editors have expanded their repertoire to include events like the wildly successful Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival and area workshops like the Writers Coffeehouse New England. Now Golden and Moore launch RIVER CITY WRITERS, a company offering book-and-writing-related events, workshops in all areas of writing and publishing, focused and intimate writing retreats, and by popular demand, premium editorial and consultation services.
RIVER CITY WRITERS debuts in 2016 with events including the 2nd Annual Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival, the continuation of the free Writers Coffeehouse New England series, and a combination of single afternoon and multi-day workshops. Golden and Moore will both be offering selective editorial and consultation services as their own busy writing schedules allow.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Sunday, September 11, 2016
A little advice I still try to live by
I wrote this a while ago, like six years ago this Halloween, for Storytellers Unplugged. It was my last essay after several years, and I ran across the article on my computer (because I collect semi-finished files like a hoarder collects magazines) and reread it.
It still makes sense to me, so I'm posting it here for anyone who thinks my advice might be worth something.
It still makes sense to me, so I'm posting it here for anyone who thinks my advice might be worth something.
Yes, There Are Rules
Waaaaaay the heck back (Five years ago last July) I pondered
whether or not there are rules for this writing gig. I even gave a few that I
think are fairly easy to live with. A few people disagreed with me, but to be
fair, at least one of them was just trolling around and looking for something
to argue about. Also to be fair, I
was probably wrong about a few of them.
So, here’s my disclaimer. YES there are rules, but any rules
I provide (or other writers, for that matter) should be considered and then
applied to your personal situation as best suits your needs. Why? Because you
aren’t me. My experiences aren’t going to be yours. Learn as you go. Never stop
learning. That one is non-negotiable: If you ain’t learning as you go through
this life, you’re doing it wrong.
This will, by the by, be my last of these essays for the
foreseeable future. Why? Because I’ve earned three strikes. That doesn’t mean
that Dave Wilson (he who manages this site and all the archived wisdom placed
therein) has banished me. No. I’m banishing myself. After several years of not
ever dropping the ball on a deadline for Storytellers Unplugged, I have now
missed a total of three essay deadlines. I don’t think that’s fair to you, the
reader, to Dave or to any of my peers here. It means that I’m not being a
professional. Now, I could go easy on myself and simply deal myself a few
hundred laps around the office as punishment, but the problem is my time
consumption. Paying bills must take precedence over writing for Storyteller’s
Unplugged, especially since I’m not sure I’ve even said anything new in the
last year.
That said, it’s been a lot of fun and I mean that. I’ve
enjoyed the comments, I’ve enjoyed the correspondences, and I’ve enjoyed having
a spot to lay down my opinions for what little they are worth. I hope someone somewhere got a little
useful advice along the way, because, really, that’s what this site is all
about.
That said, time for those rules.
1)
Write every day. Read every day. No exceptions.
2)
Write it first. Edit it later. I can’t emphasize
how many people I’ve seen who failed to ever finish a short story, let alone a
novel, because they get mired in editing the words they wrote earlier the same
day or week. I firmly believe you should make a note to go back and make corrections,
and then move on while the proverbial iron is hot. The comparison I use most
often is that writing anything of significant length is like walking uphill.
You lose momentum and have to start all over again at the bottom of that damned
hill every time you edit before you’ve finished the story. Write. Then edit.
3)
Be professional in your dealings. I don‘t care
if you’re dealing with an editor, a peer or a fan, be professional. That
doesn’t mean you can’t be a little casual. You can. You can talk to your writer
buddies as friends, but when it comes time to do business, then, damn it, do
business. Listen, I’ve collaborated with several authors on several projects.
No matter what the case, we work out the ground rules in advance, and if it
becomes necessary we write out a contract in advance, too. Anyone that takes
offense to the notion of a contract hasn’t been playing this game for very
long. Along the same lines, make sure that you include that self addressed
stamped envelope, that contact information, those references, that damned cover
letter if that is what is expected of you. Contrary to what you might think,
you are not the exception to the rules. At least not until the
editor/peer/coauthor tells you so. And as for your readers, well, it’s best to
remember that the person you flambé on an online forum will remember if you’ve
been an ass (and sometimes will remember even if you haven’t) and will gladly
share that information with everyone they know. More than one writer has
received digital egg on the face for being foolish and not thinking before
making a comment. You don’t act like a fool, you don’t have to recover from
foolish actions nearly as often.
4)
Get paid for your work. I’ve gone over this
again and again. I’ll continue to do so. Don’t “Sell” your work for free. That
means you think it’s got no value. There are always exceptions, but they should
be just that, exceptions. Yes, I occasionally write for charity anthologies or write
for an anthology that isn’t paying top dollar. No, I’d never give a publisher
anything more than a short story without expecting compensation. If you want to
be considered as a professional, then act the part and that includes getting
paid. Also, from time to time remind those who owe you money that you have bills
too. Remember, folks, I’m making these suggestions for those of you who want to
make writing your career. If you want writing to be your hobby, you need read
no further.
5)
Edit the damned manuscript. Then, just for fun,
edit it again. No matter how many times you do it, you’re going to miss things.
That’s why there are real editors out there. You may never meet one, but they
do exist. Your manuscript may not
need to be perfect to get into print, but get as close as you can, while
understanding that you will never be satisfied with your work a year after it’s
seen print. You doubt me? Go ask a few authors you know to read their first
printed piece again and watch their faces, see how many of them flinch. At
least 90% at a guess. Proviso:
Know when to stop editing. If you’ve gone over it three times. Call it
finished. Move on and send that puppy out into the wilds.
6)
Expect Rejection. That rule hasn’t changed. No
one sells every piece, at least not on the first try. If they do, they’ve
either got more talent than God or more luck that an army of leprechauns. Have
a good cry if you must, then get that poor rejected story back to the editing
board if you think it will help, and then resubmit and move on.
7)
Put your ego in check. I don’t care how good you
are, you ain’t all that. From
Stephen King to Stephanie Meyers to every other best selling author out there
and a few who think the review they got on MyFavoriteBooks.Com makes them
something special, you ain’t all that. You might be successful, you might even
be highly praised, but that doesn’t mean you need to have an ego the size of
Texas. Though, to be fair, at least two of the aforementioned can probably
negotiate for a MUCH higher advance than most of us will ever see. More power
to them. Don’t let success go to your head. Be grateful, then move on.
8)
Make your deadlines. If you can’t make your
deadlines, make sure your editors/publishers know in advance. Technically this
is part of being professional, but it bears repeating, They’re waiting on you
and if they’ve paid you and upheld their part of the agreement, you have an
obligation to do the same. Late
happens. Life happens and almost guarantees that. Just the same, bust your ass
and do it right.
9)
Read everything. Write what you love. You should
be well read. The market is always changing, especially these days. Be aware of
that. Work with it. As a writer, this is part of your job. If you’re serious
about writing, read every day. Write what you love. No matter who you are or
how well you think you know the trends, the trends will change before you can
finish what you’re writing. That being said, write what you love. That way, you
can always be pleased with the end result. No, I have not written any classics with a twist of
zombies/alien invasions or werewolves. Why? I don’t want to steal somebody
else’s work and then add a few thousand words and claim it as my own, merely
because the original work is in the public domain. It ain’t my thing. Proviso: Yes, I DID write BLOODSTAINED OZ
with Christopher Golden. Yes, I AM writing two sequels (BLOODSTAINED WONDERLAND
and BLOODSTAINED NEVERLAND). No, none of those works use a single sentence from
the original works, but they most certainly use the creations in the public
domain. There’s a difference between an homage and effectively stealing half or
more of a dead writer’s work. No, I don’t feel the least bit bad about saying
that. Nor will I change my mind in the future. It was cute the first time. Now
it’s just a lazy way of trying to make a buck without having to actually do
most of the work.
10)
Have fun. If you aren’t having fun in this
industry, you’re doing it wrong.
11)
Remember that these are my rules and may not
work for you. In the long run you have to decide for yourself.
Thanks, folks. Those of you who’ve
followed faithfully, I am flattered and honored and I hope I helped. Those of
you who actually picked up a book or two, thanks very much indeed. Any way you look at it, I’ve had a lot
of fun.
All the best, and, of course,
Happy Halloween!
James A. Moore
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