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Hi Gang!
I'm sending this newsletter out a day earlier than usual because I want to let you all know about a live talk I'll be giving on the history of seances on March 1st, 10:30 a.m. In this illustrated presentation, I'll cover everything from medieval necromancers to Victorian spiritualists to modern paranormal investigators, so this'll be fun! Tickets can be purchased here.
I don't know about you, but I'm finally starting to feel a tiny flicker of hope for the rest of 2021. Although - like probably most of you - I'm still a few months out from getting vaccinated, Covid rates in my state (California) have plummeted. Spring is hitting my garden early, with buds starting to pop out. I finished my taxes already (and although I owed, it was less than what I'd initially figured on). I made some nice sales (see the Works-in-Progress section). And I saw the cover for Weird Women 2 (it appears just below) and I love it. I've certainly been lucky, although (in keeping with the theme of this month's "The Write Stuff" column) hard work has paid off, too.
I hope you're being blessed with some good fortune as well. Thank you all for hanging with me.
Lisa
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Still Life
In which I rhapsodize about favorite movie photos from my collection
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I know I've done Blade Runner here before but I'm doing it again because:
- Because March 9 marks the 40th anniversary of the start of principal photography on the film.
- Because it's still (IMHO) the greatest science fiction film ever made.
- And because Rutger Hauer. Srsly, we don't need an excuse to look at Rutger Hauer again, do we?
About the Still: This is an original German lobby card from my collection. Because Rutger Hauer.
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The Halloween Spirit
Tips for keeping it going all year 'round
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What have you been doing to stay creative lately?
One of the things I love about Halloween is that so much of it is about creativity, whether it's putting together a costume, decorating a yard, designing a (virtual) party, or making some horrific-looking food. That's a spirit you can carry with you throughout the year, as you explore new ways to express yourself.
You don't have to be an artist or a writer or a musician to create something. My backyard, for instance, is a perpetual work in progress. I love growing California natives, but I've never had much luck with them in containers.
So, a month ago, I took a virtual class offered through the Theodore Payne Foundation on growing natives in containers. The class was wonderful, and I not only learned what I'd been doing wrong (overwatering!), but I got ideas on how to place the containers that led to redesigning a big part of the backyard.
It's been a month now, and (although I've yet to add topping to my new potted plants - I haven't found the right stuff yet) none of my container plants have died! In the photo above, you'll see (clockwise from upper left) stonecrop, California bay laurel (yes, you can cook with these leaves), dudleya, and baby blue eyes started from seed. We now have a lovely arrangement of outdoor chairs and potted plants arranged around a firepit, and it's my new favorite place to relax on Sunday mornings with some tea and a crossword puzzle.
I'd love to hear about what you've been doing!
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Strange Fruit
The weirdest thing I've recently uncovered in my research
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Fry's Electronics stores.
(And yes, I know I'm cheating a little this month with this column because I haven't actually been researching Fry's stores, but the stories of their failure make for some interesting reading...)
Back in the '90s and '00s, I loved Fry's. I mean, LOVED. My partner Ricky and I had a standing Friday night date at the Burbank Fry's store; we'd just go up and down the aisles of this magical kingdom, perusing computer accessories and software and DVDs and assorted doodads.
One of the things we loved about Fry's was the wacky decorating scheme. Every Fry's had a different theme; our Burbank store's was 1950s scifi flicks, complete with a crashed flying saucer at the front, a beautiful life-size Gort (the robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still) in the middle of the store, giant squids breaking through the wall on the western side of the store, and jumbo ants attacking on the opposite side. Fry's was always a big hit with out-of-town friends.
Once Ricky and I took a day off and drove to a bunch of the other Southern California Fry's. We saw an Alice in Wonderland-themed store (Woodland Hills), a tiki one (Manhattan Beach), ancient Rome (Fountain Valley) and NASA (Anaheim).
A few years ago, though, we stopped going as much as we used to, and evidently we weren't the only ones. Streaming and online sales cut into Fry's business. Covid was the final nail in their coffin. In between, there were some bad business decisions - critics have noted moving to a consignment-based inventory, failing to go solar with their power, and poor customer service.
Whatever the reason, I'll certainly miss those halcyon days of pulling into that gigantic parking lot and venturing beneath the crashed spaceship to see what treasures awaited within.
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"The Basement"
(The first episode of the forthcoming weekly podcast Spine Tinglers)
As you may know, I've been doing "Ghost Reports" for the weekly podcast Ghost Magnet With Bridget Marquardt for about two years now. These little reports each run a minute or two, and just provide some additional background on some topic of discussion that comes up with the week's guest.
Well, it turns out listeners really like those little bits and want more. Rob and Christine, the producers of Ghost Magnet, started talking to me about doing my own podcast. We kicked around a few ideas, including a weekly chat about some event in paranormal history, but we ended up deciding on a fiction-based show instead. I would write a short-short story (around 750-1250 words) each week, to be read by a guest reader.
When we started playing with this idea, it turned out I actually had...uhhh...gotten the central concept wrong! I thought Rob and Christine wanted exclusively ghost stories, so the first three I wrote were just that. Then we all got on the same wavelength and expanded to anything as long as it was scary.
"The Basement" was the first one I wrote. It's also the shortest (that was another misconception I had early on, which I've since corrected - these don't have to be as short as my "Ghost Reports"!). It's based on a frightening basement that was situated beneath a Waldenbooks I managed in the '80s. It was really like the basement described in the story: old and dusty and full of weird rooms that seemed to serve no purpose. Our reader for this debut episode was a no-brainer: Mr. Richard Grove, star of Army of Darkness. He did a great job with the reading, and set a high standard for the show.
We've since recorded half-a-dozen more (with readers including American Horror Story's Naomi Grossman, The X-Files' Dean Haglund, and Bridget Marquardt, who did a fantastic job with "The Investigation"), with 13 stories already written. Spine Tinglers will be part of a package of paranormal podcasts that Rob and Christine are assembling, and - even though providing a story a week might be challenging at times! - I can't wait for it to get rolling.
Until then, you can hear "The Basement" here. |
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When can you call yourself a writer?
Here's a conversation I've had a few times:
Them: Oh, you're a writer? I'm a writer, too!
Me (looking forward to a delightful conversation with a fellow scribe): Oh, cool! What kind of stuff do you write?
Them: Well, I haven't actually written anything yet, but...
At this point my face glazes over with a polite smile, but inwardly I'm shrieking, "You are NOT a writer!" I'm now disappointed that I won't get to have that fun peer-to-peer chat, but frankly I'm also a little insulted that this person thinks the years of hard work and study and practice I put in before I called myself a writer don't matter.
I'm obviously not one of those popular gurus who seem to think that intention is all you need to give yourself a title, but I'm also not going to go so far as to say that in order to call yourself a writer you must have sold something. Hey, if you've just graduated from college with a degree in biology but haven't actually found a job in the field yet, you're still a biologist.
So how does that work with writing? As with any vocation, I think it boils down to three things:
- Practice
- Study
- Perseverance
The "practice" part is easy: you sit down and write. You do it often. You produce material. You rewrite and polish and rewrite some more and go onto the next project when you're satisfied.
What about "study"? This doesn't have to mean you read books on how to write, although hey, if that works for you, go for it. What it does mean is that you learn the lay of the writing land - how manuscripts are formatted, how they're submitted (or, if you're going the indie route, how they're published), how promotion works, what working with editors is like. Just as that biologist above will need to know how certain basic tools of the trade function, the writer will need to know those things for their field.
Perseverance is the hardest part. A lot of people love the writing gig...for a few months, then they get bored and move on. If you want to call yourself a writer, you need to stick with it long enough to know. Do you love doing this? Have you suffered rejection and/or low sales, and can't wait to dive back in?
Then you are a writer.
And if you and I ever find ourselves in a conversation together, it'll be a good one.
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WIP It
My current works-in-progress
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There's a lot short stuff going on...
I'm writing a Headless Horseman story for this classic monster anthology.
I'll be writing a story for this Spiritualism-themed anthology.
I just sold a science fiction story to The Reinvented Heart, an anthology edited by Cat Rambo and Jennifer Brozek.
I just sold a ghost story called "A Plague on the House" to a new anthology (more next month on this one).
I'll be writing a non-fiction, academic essay for my friend Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.'s forthcoming book on The Purge franchise.
I'm crafting more Spine Tinglers.
As usual, there are some sales I can't reveal yet.
Annnnnnnnnnnnd...there's lots of talk going on about a certain television series. It'll probably never amount to more than talk, but there are some major players attached so let's cross our fingers and hope, because I'd love to be able to tell you all about it!
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Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances
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Now in a second printing: my comprehensive survey of the history of spirit-calling looks at necromancy, Spiritualism, modern ghost-hunting, and more. Illustrated and fully indexed.
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Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923
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My Ghost Stories partner Les Klinger and I have re-teamed to dive deep for this anthology of amazing, terrifying stories by early female writers.
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Best American Mystery Stories 2020
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Includes my story "What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters?"
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Includes my story "Antonia and the Stranger Who Came to Los Feliz".
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Night Terrors & Other Tales
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This, my first major collection, will launch in May, but you can pre-order yours now. Includes twenty reprints plus one new story, "Night Terrors", written for the collection.
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Weird Women Volume 2: 1840-1925
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Coming September 2021: a new volume of Weird Women, with stories by George Eliot, Edith Wharton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and more!
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In League With Sherlock Holmes
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My story "A Seance in Liverpool" appears in this anthology edited by Leslie S. Klinger and Laurie King.
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Includes my poem "We Live Through This."
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Are you listening to the free Ghost Magnet with Bridget Marquardt podcast? Each week I provide a "Ghost Report" in which I talk about some cool little bit of history. Plus, there are great guests, and Bridget's a wonderful host!
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This month's winner will receive not one but TWO crazy Lisa Morton items: a copy of my very first book (the chapbook The Free Way), and one of my branded USB drives. Just click the blue button below to enter, and good luck!
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March 1, 10:30 am PST: I'll be giving an illustrated talk on the history of seances for The Last Tuesday Society (tickets may be purchased here).
May 20-23, 2021: I'll be a Guest of Honor at the virtual StokerCon.
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