Rejection Dejection Resurrection

So, it's happened. THE ESSENCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, a book I truly believe in, has been rejected by the last publisher in the English-speaking world. Am I feeling sorry for myself? Not really, at least not as much as the first 6,972 times the book was turned down.

I know what you're thinking. Maybe if it's been rejected that many times, it just isn't any good. And you know what? You may very well be right. 

But I still believe in it. 

So what am I going to do about it? I'm going to join the ranks of "hybrid" authors by self-publishing this oft declined little book. I've got a few projects going on at once, including a major move and two other books that have a publisher, so it will be later in the year before I can get it pulled together. But dangnabbit, I am going to get this book out there. 

So what does the picture of my dog Duke have to do with any of this? Absolutely nothing. Just a bit of gratuitous canine pulchritude. Dog lovers, you're welcome. 

The Southern Tour

(Cover of the Polish edition of THE LINE, coming soon from Feeria Young publishers.)

So as any of you who follow me on FB or Twitter know, I have been kicking around the South for a month now doing research for JILO, the prequel to the Witching Savannah series scheduled to come out early next year. I visited Beaufort, SC, where I had been considering setting part of the book, but--even though Beaufort and its islands are beautiful--I've decided most of the action still needs to center on Savannah. The hard part for me has been stopping seeing Savannah as the city is now, and trying to see her as she was back when Lady Waldorf Astor called her "a beautiful woman with a dirty face."

Jilo alludes to the way things where socially in THE SOURCE when she insists on entering the Taylor's home through the front door.  I've managed to find a few resources shedding light on what it must have been like to be an intelligent and ambitious woman of color in Savannah at that time. JILO is going to show us a different side of Savannah, and a different side of the Taylor family, too.  The Wills and the Taylors do indeed have "real history."

On a couple of different notes, I'm writing this post from the stately Hotel Monteleone, where I'm staying for the "Saints and Sinners" conference. (I'd like to pretend I'm one of the sinners, but as we all know, by 8PM I like being home with a book in my hands and my dog Duke by my feet.) I got some writing done yesterday, not wanting to miss the chance to write in the same building where Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and Anne Rice have all written.

Finally--that second note--at the top of this post is the cover for the Polish edition of THE LINE. I am blown away to see Mercy's story being shared in yet another language, along with German, Italian, Turkish, and Russian. A big "Thank You" to everyone who has helped make this possible, most importantly, those of you who have read and enjoyed THE LINE in its original version.

Frightening Fiction Contest--Most Frightening Part? I'm a Judge!

I am honored to have been asked by Inkitt to serve as one of the judges for their inaugural Horror short fiction contest,
"Running Scared: The Most Terrifying Tale Ever Told." 

So, if you've written a great and fearsome short story, here's a chance to get it out before a wider audience.

Contest details from Inkitt follow:


DETAILS FROM INKITT:

Write a horror story that has people running for cover!

What is Inkitt?

Inkitt is a free platform for writers to cultivate ideas and watch their stories grow. On our site, users collaborate with fellow writers and readers to give each other feedback and improve their work. Inkitt wants to help writers get the exposure they deserve and the publishing deals they covet without suffering the frustrations and bias of traditional printing and self publishing.

What is the theme of the horror contest?

"Running Scared: The Most Terrifying Tale Ever Told." In the tradition of classic horror flicks and monster movies, we want the freakiest, flashiest fiction you can come up with. Make us scream!

What are the guidelines?

Frightening fiction up to 15,000 words. Entries must be posted on the Inkitt contest page to be considered eligible. The contest opens on March 3rd and closes on March 31st . It is free to enter , and authors will retain all rights to all work submitted. Authors will collect community votes, and the first, second, and third place winners will be chosen by Inkitt’s guest judges (horror authors J.D. Horn , Armand Rosamilia , and J. Thorn ) from the top 10% of entries.

What are the prizes?

All entrants will have the chance to show their work to a growing community of authors and readers hungry for high-quality fiction and win the following prizes:

1st
Prize

$25 Amazon gift card, customized movie poster (and high-resolution .pdf file) spotlighting the winner’s story, Inkitt custom mug, custom cover design for the Inkitt story of their choice (created by Inkitt’s designer).

2nd
Prize

$20 Amazon gift card, Inkitt custom mug.

3rd
Prize

$10 Amazon gift card, Inkitt custom mug.
One review, randomly chosen, will also receive a $15 Amazon gift card.

Contest URL http://www.inkitt.com/runningscared

Twitter Handle  @Inkitt
Hashtag  #RunningScared

DER BANN: DIE HEXEN VON SAVANNAH is Live!

DER BANN: DIE HEXEN VON SAVANNAH

So excited to see the German translation of 

THE LINE is now for sale! Hoping that if

THE SOURCE also appears in German, the editors go with the title LEBENSBORN, since that's one of the meanings behind the title, 

THE SOURCE.

SHIVAREE

Around five years ago, I had an idea for a story about a small southern town where a cruel young woman uses blackmail to control everyone around her. The limits of her control would be tested when her former boyfriend returns home from the war with a new bride. I took a couple of runs at it, but the story refused to gel. 

Then one morning I woke up, the fading images of a dream still haunting me. A simple scene, a moonlit field of corn. A woman running through the razor sharp leaves calling the name Ruby over and over. I awoke not remembering a thing about the dream, other than that this Ruby wasn't normal. Ruby was a vampire.

I started noodling the dream over, and realized that the Ruby of my dream was the same character I had been trying to write about in the short story. Still I couldn't quite figure out how the two strands came together. I jotted my thoughts down in the "Story Ideas" file I keep on my computer, then got distracted by a couple of other projects, one of which grew into the Witching Savannah series.

Last spring I started chatting with my friend and fellow 47North author Roberta Trahan about bringing out a collection of short stories together, and I decided to brush off some of the ideas I keep in my file. Ruby's story began to speak to me, so I started writing a new version of the story I'd put aside back in 2010. Then the story kept speaking to me, and soon it outgrew the short story format. I decided to bring it out as a self-published novella, even purchased a cover (see above) that captured the feel of the story. Then the story kept speaking to me. Odd characters with dark obsessions seemed to be lining up to join the cast of the story. Soon the story grew well beyond the scope of a novella; it was a full blown novel.

I'm happy to relate that 47North has decided to publish SHIVAREE, and it is scheduled to come out in November of this year. Following is a summary:

SHIVAREE

At the close of the Korean War, sturdy army nurse Corinne Ford turns her back on a troubled past to travel to rural Mississippi and marry her battlefield sweetheart. Corinne soon learns she was not the first woman in her fiancé's life. The once exquisite Ruby, failed actress and dabbler in dark magic, had been brought back from Hollywood to her father's house, sick, broken, changed. Her death cleared the way for many who had wished that she had never returned. Soon, Corinne is confronted with evidence that her fiancé's first love is neither forgotten nor truly gone. Backlit by the Klan's burning crosses and scored by the cacophony of shivaree, the traditional wedding night abduction of the groom, SHIVAREE looks into a world where the monsters of folklore confront the monsters of history. 

Lost in Translations (and Updates in General)

It's been a while since I've posted here. I spent a good part of December doped up and riding around on a knee scooter, after having to undergo surgery on my my ankle to stabilize it. Evidently, that's what happens when you flip the same ankle too many times. (And yes, I am that big of  a klutz.) I'm now back up and limping around (in my boot), and am claiming my regained mobility as a total victory.

In the meantime, I've gotten some great news about translations. THE LINE comes out next month in Germany from Amazon Crossing as Der Bann-Die Hexen von Savannah. Additionally major publishing houses in Russia and Turkey have optioned the entire Witching Savannah series. Fingers crossed for news of other translations soon!

I'll be heading back to Savannah in March, not only for my beautiful niece's wedding, but also to do more research on the Lowcountry area. If you see a geeky guy walking Savannah and Beaufort with a notepad in hand, say hello.

Pankhurst's Amazons

I was lucky enough to be offered an advance copy of the first installment of SUFFRAJITSU, a three part graphic novel by Tony Wolf and Joao Vieira, for review. In early twentieth century Britain the phrase “the battle of the sexes” took a literal turn when, after forty years of peaceful protests failed to gain women in the UK the right to vote, the suffragettes under Emmeline Pankhurst lost faith in words and began taking action. SUFFRAJITSU is an alternative history based on the true story of Pankhurst and “The Bodyguard,” her elite security force composed of kickass women trained in the martial arts.

A solid grounding in the actual events of the day makes for an excellent springboard into a tale of international intrigue and adventure. There’s a big twist in the first issue that moves the story from canonical to alternative history. I can’t tell you what it is, but I can tell you it left me breathless.  The artwork is fabulous, the storytelling tight. My greatest disappointment is that since I received the first issue early, I now have a longer wait than most for the next. SUFFRAJITSU debuts January 2015.

Learn more about the project here: http://suffrajitsu.com/