By Alan.Spencer On May 2 2013, 9:00 am

I guess today my blog will serve as a confessional.  I always thought the term “writer’s block” was a bunch of nonsense. The kind of term people use who only talk about writing instead of actually doing it.  Every novel, short story, and idea has its growing pains, no doubt. Characters don’t always burst with personality right from the get go. Plot twists, points of logic, and that special glue that binds everything together doesn’t come off flawlessly or without a hitch.  Writing’s serious work.

So I’ve been going through a little bit of “writer’s block,” though I hate calling it that.

Maybe the whole situation is just an endurance battle. Get it down, don’t worry about it, and pick up the pieces later.  It seems like every project I do complete is always a balancing act between accepting the story won’t be completely right the first time around, being okay with fixing it later, or being worried this novel is terrible and can’t be fixed period.  Ah, the challenge of writing. Read more…

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By Kristopher Rufty On Apr 29 2013, 8:19 am

Watching the show The Following with my wife, I can’t help feeling sympathy when I see how much Joe is struggling with the new novel. I laugh to myself because underneath his cruel absurdity, the man deals with the same tribulations all of us authors face on occasion.

Writer’s Block, or as I call it, The Funk or Writer’s Funk.

I’ve had a lot of conversations with other authors recently, and something every single one of them has said is: “The last novel was really hard for me to write.” Meaning—they struggled to get it done. Seems like either the second half of 2012, or the early months of 2013 was hard on a lot of us, creatively. I know exactly how they feel, and I’ve been trying to figure out why we all have struggled so much. Maybe we have been affected by the true horrors of the world, and it’s carried over into our fiction. Why should we write about evil trying to hurt the good when so much of it is all around us today? I’ll be honest, it’s been hard for me, but I believe what keeps me going is the love of writing, and the safety in knowing that when I’m spending time in a world that stems from my imagination, I can leave whenever it gets to be too scary or sad. I can escape reality for make believe, and vice versa. It’s a nice balance. I’d like to think that’s what gets both writers and readers through life, especially in recent months. Read more…

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By Brian Moreland On Apr 25 2013, 8:59 am

This past week my grandfather turned 95. My dad and I took a day off and traveled to West Texas to celebrate and honor another year. The man I grew up calling “Nandaddy” — because we called my grandmother “Nana” — is still a personal hero of mine. In his younger days, he stood six-two and was built strong and tough, like John Wayne. My grandfather has a husky laugh, chews tobacco and wears cowboy hats and boots. He has had an incredible impact on my life and my writing.

In my novel Shadows in the Mist, my main character, Colonel Jack Chambers, was modeled after my grandfather, Captain Henry “Dawson” Moreland. My grandfather was a war hero who never talked about the war. When I was a kid visiting my grandparents, I went down to the cellar and found an old Army trunk that was locked and gathering dust. I asked my grandfather what was inside. He said photos and mementos he had brought back from the war, but he wouldn’t open it. When I asked why, his eyes clouded over and he said the memories of what he experienced over in Europe were just too painful. He kept that war locked up inside him and that made me curious. What had my grandfather experienced during WWII? What secrets was he keeping? Read more…

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By Frazer Lee On Apr 16 2013, 8:45 am

When festival curator Adele Hartley launched Dead By Dawn in 1993, little did she know her creation would still be going strong two decades later. Every year, horror fans assemble in Edinburgh, Scotland for a full 4 days of frights. The line-up ranges from short films through live performances to feature premieres and signing sessions in the Filmhouse bar. I took my first short film ‘On Edge’ to the festival in 2001 and have been many times since, enjoying drinks and banter with horror legends the likes of Robert Englund, Claudio Simonetti and Ken Foree, to name but a few. Such is the popularity of the festival that a second screening strand, Spawn of Dawn, was introduced to satisfy the demand of so many gorehounds. Read more…

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By PeterMark.May On Apr 11 2013, 9:00 am

I’m claiming this as my own. So I better quickly explain what it is before you lose interest.

I find writing a joy, not a chore and revel in the time I have pulling things from my imagination and getting them down on paper.

What I find hard to love is editing. Editing isn’t as fun. It’s like turning from being a school kid to a teacher in one Jekyll/Hyde switch. What makes it harder for me is the above named syndrome I am claiming as my own, maybe I should called it Peter Mark May Eye Syndrome and get some sort of fame at last.

What is this syndrome you’ve made up and keep bothering us with – you ask? Read more…

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