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Hi Gang!
This is going to be kind of a short newsletter this month because I'm down with a summer flu and can barely keep my head up right now...but I didn't want to miss saying hi to everyone!
So let's just get straight to the other stuff, and I'll pause long enough here to wish you all a fabulous 4th of July. Hope your summer has thus far been full of fun and flu-free!
Lisa
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Still Life
In which I rhapsodize about favorite movie photos from my collection
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I recently met Tom Savini for the first time.
Somehow, after years of being around the make-up effects industry and horror events, I'd never caught up with him. But there he was standing across from me in a bookstore one day.
If you know his name, you may remember him as the expert behind the gore effects in movies like Dawn of the Dead (which I talked about here last month), or Friday the 13th, or Creepshow. But when I told him I was a big fan of his work, I noted in particular how much I loved his acting performance in Knightriders.
As far as I'm concerned, Knightriders is George Romero's most underrated film. It's not horror, certainly, but it's an insightful look at counter cultures and why some of us need them. It's about modern-day knights who joust while seated atop roaring motorcycles; it boasts an incredible early performance from Ed Harris in the lead, while Savini is delicious as his antagonist.
Anyway, he seemed to take pleasure in the compliment and ended up giving me his card. Once again, Mr. Savini, I salute your performance in Knightriders...even if the photo doesn't even credit you!
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The Halloween Spirit
Tips for keeping it going all year 'round
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It's pumpkin time!
Or at least, it's pumpkin planting time. Last year I did everything wrong - I waited until mid-July to plant, when temperatures were already too high, and I tried a new location that either had bad soil, not enough sun, or both. Whatever...last year's pumpkins were (ahem) disappointing.
So this year I planted I mid-June, chose a new sunnier location with lots of fresh planting soil, and I'm pleased to report that my seedlings look fantastic. I'll be growing four varieties: regular jack-o'-lanterns, Big Max's (that's a Max in the photo above), green-and-orange-striped Lady Godiva's, and funky little mini-warts (I grew these for the first time last year, and loved them).
Stay tuned here and at my Facebook for the next three months to see how the 2019 pumpkin crop fares!
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Strange Fruit
The weirdest thing I've recently uncovered in my research
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The 19th-century spiritualists had some interesting notions.
As I dive deeper into the research for my book on the history of seances, I'm continually astonished by things I find out about the Victorians who were obsessed with trying to contact the dead.
However, not everyone involved with spiritualism believed that mediums could make contact with dead spirits. In the 1880s, many of those who either practiced the religion or found it very interesting held the belief that mediums were actually communicating with members of the living. They believed in "thought-transference" - what we would now call telepathy - and a few of them became extensively researched and studied this notion.
In 1882, the Society for Psychical Research was founded, and their first publication was an immense, multi-volume study called Phantasms of the Living which explored all sorts of things related to thought-transference, including its implementation by mediums.
Even at the time, reviews of the book asked why it was easier for the authors to believe in thought-transference than communicating with ghosts.
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"Holding Back"
(from A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods)
When editor Jennifer Brozek first invited me to contribute a story to this (thanks again, Jenn!), the book was described as YA meets the Cthulhu mythos. I immediately liked that for two reasons: 1) I wanted to write more stuff for younger readers; and 2) I liked the idea of that particular mash-up.
I've noticed that stories about cults seem to be dominating the horror field these days; look, for example, at how many of the recent horror flicks (The Endless, Inheritance, Mandy) seem to focus on cults. Personally, my guess is that it has to do with our current sociopolitical zeitgeist; regardless of which side of the aisle we're on, we secretly suspect the other side is some sort of sinister cult.
So I decided I would write about a cult, but since this was a young adult story, I would use my cult as a metaphor for bullying. My heroes would be two introverts who either don't realize how strong they are, or who do realize it but choose not to show it. The story, in other words, would be about a couple of withdrawn high school kids standing up to bullies, but with eldritch gods and otherdimensional physics thrown in.
I really enjoyed writing the story, and now look forward to exploring more fiction for younger readers in the future.
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Pantsers vs. plotters.
Last month, I talked a little about this while discussing how I go about writing a nonfiction book. Well, since then I've seen the discussion come up several times in social media, so I thought I'd talk a little about how it works for me in fiction.
First off, let's define the terms: "pantsers" are writers who sit down to write without any clear idea of where the story or novel will go. They may have nothing more than an idea for a character, an image, or an opening line. Once they get started, they write "by the seat of their pants"; hence, the name. And for the record: Stephen King is probably the world's biggest pantsers advocate.
"Plotters", on the other hand, know most, if not all, of the major details of their plot before they sit down to write a word.
King argues that knowing your story before you write removes the element of exciting discovery from it. Well, obviously that works for him, but I'm a plotter. In fact, I'm maybe a MEGAplotter; I don't just know every aspect of my story before I dive in, I've (preferably, unless I'm on a very tight deadline) reworked it over and over in my head until I'm happy with every detail. Personally, I don't understand how you can craft a good plot unless you know where it's going from the beginning, but hey - whatever works for you.
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WIP It
My current works-in-progress
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I was hoping to tell you all about the exciting reboot of Weird Tales this month, but apparently it's still a tiny bit under wraps. Oops, did I give something away? Hey, it's nothing that my pal Jonathan Maberry hasn't already revealed!
I also just found out that Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween is going to be reissued in August in a new, much cheaper format. More news on that next month.
Otherwise, I continue to work on my séance book, and get out my "Ghost Reports" for the Ghost Magnet with Bridget Marquardt podcast - I have so much fun with those!
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Ghost Stories: Classic Tales of Horror and Suspense
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Co-edited with acclaimed anthologist and genre expert Leslie Klinger, this anthology gathers classic ghost stories from Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens, M. R. James, and more!
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Includes my historical dark fantasy story "Etain and the Unholy Ghosts".
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Includes my story “The Gorgon".
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Terrifying Tales to Tell at Night
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Includes my story “The Chemistry of Ghosts".
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My novella, co-written with John R. Little, originally released in 2014, now available in an affordable e-book from Cemetery Dance.
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Has my story "What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters?"
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A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods
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Includes my story "Holding Back".
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The P.S. Book of Fantastic Fictioneers
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Includes my piece on the great cartoonist Gahan Wilson.
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I recently realized that I've written and sold or published 149 short stories (at least I think that's right, if I don't count reprints, nonfiction, or longer works, but do count forthcoming stories). So I started thinking: what could I do to make Number 150 really special?
I could ask you to inspire me!
Last year I had a great time with one contest asking for your suggestions, but this time we're going to mix it up a little: I want you to send me a sentence. That's right, just a sentence. It could be something simple, or it could be long and difficult; it could be mundane, or it could off-the-charts whackjob.
I'll go through what you send me and pick my three favorites, then I'll incorporate those into a new story (and I'll be sure to credit the contributors of the three winning sentences wherever the story appears).
Because I'll need two weeks to write the story, this month's contest ends on 7/15, so you've got two weeks to send me your sentences. Please: don't send me song lyrics and anything else that might fall under copyright protection.
Next month I'll publish Story No. 150 here in the newsletter, so everyone wins!
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