Aside: My Multi-faceted (Bi-polar?) Writing Career

For anyone following this blog or my little writing steps, you may or may not have noticed my divergent publication paths.  On one hand, there are the short stories I've sold to the mainstream horror/speculative fiction market, my Hiram Grange novella, and my two stints as editor; one with Shroud's upcoming Lovecraftian project The Terror at Miskatonic Falls and most recently, Shroud's Halloween Issue.

On the other hand, I've sold six non-fiction "slice of life" stories to the inspirational market, to collections published by Tyndale, Bethany House, and Guideposts. 

Wow.  That's quite a...diverse publication list.

It happened by accident (or maybe not).  About three years ago, when I started out, I had no idea where I wanted to be published.  I was a Christian maturing in my faith, but also an obsessive reader who didn't really read much Christian fiction.  Still, I wanted to test all the waters, see where I really belonged.  

I sold my first story to The Midnight Diner: Volume 1. Now, even though they're a faith-based publication, I don't consider them "Christian".  They're an R-rated anthology that's not affiliated with anyone.  Around the same time, I received a heads-up for a collection looking for stories about how personal decisions - based on faith - had changed the course of people's lives.  

Since the story of how I met my wife totally fit this, I thought: "What the heck? Why not?"  It was short - 2, 000 words max - and paid pretty decently for that length.  That story became "Right Choice"  and was published in Tyndale's Life Savors collection.   I figured that would be it.

I sold some other stories, then got contracted for Hiram Grange.  But what happened was this: the same editor for the Life Savors collection had added me to her select email group.  So, she started sending me more submission calls.  And you know what?  I answered them.  At first, I thought this: "They're short, pay well, and it's writing. How can I say no?"

However, something else began developing, in my head.  I made the personal decision that (and folks are welcome to disagree with this) my beliefs concerning the craft of fiction were pretty particular.  I didn't want to write my fiction primarily in the Christian market, and any themes I displayed connected to my faith would be subtle and applicable to the general market. 

BUT...the nonfiction stories allowed me a way  to share how God's been good to my family and friends...without an agenda-based, evangelical thrust.  These non-fiction stories I've written are about our lives, and how God has impacted us...not about theology, or arguing why folks should believe as I do.  For example, this most recent Guideposts story relates the tale of how I believe prayer saved my best friend's life after he suffered a horrible accident almost ten years ago.

They're also 'thank-yous' to my family: to my wife and in-laws and parents - for supporting me in my pursuit of a writing career.  They help provide balance, and remind me what's most important, in the midst of Cons and impending book deals and meeting people like Brian Keene and Joe Hill.

Of course, I'll never abandon the dark and strange and weird and freaky stories (much to my mother in-law's amused chagrin) because that's where my heart is, quite frankly.  Ever since my dad gave me my first box-set 0f original Star Trek novels (Sci Fi was my first love) I've been obsessed with the fantastic and strange.  

See, if the market for my fiction ever dries up (God forbid) I'd stop writing the memoir stories.  They're connected, and provide balance for each other...if I stopped writing the memoir stories, it'd be much easier for me to lose touch with what really matters; if I stopped writing my weird strange fiction, I'd lose the motivation to write completely.

Ironically, the measure stands at six to six.  Six fiction shorts published in the secular market (not counting Hiram and my editing gigs) and six memoir shorts.  Interesting how that works out, eh?

It's all about balance.

My Booklist #3

1. Currently Reading:

- Mystery, (Signet), by Peter Straub.  Peter Straub is one of my all-time favorites.  From Shadowland, his classic Ghost Story, his collaborations with King and my favorite two, lost boy, lost girl and in the night room, his books basically rock my world.  His prose is a thing of beauty, his handle of storytelling masterful, and it was reading Straub and also Gary Braunbeck that really led me to see what writing horror would look like for me.  Mystery tells the story behind Tom Pasmore, the reclusive sleuth Straub's reoccuring character, author Timothy Underhill, so often seeks out for information.  Rich and substantial, like all of Straub's works this is one I'll force myself to read slowly.



 
- Johnny Halloween, (Cemetery Dance), by Norman Partridge.   Norm Partridge is one of the finest and most versatile wordsmiths I've come across recently.  Lesser Demons  and Dark Harvest were splendid, the former one of the best short story collections I've read since Tim Lebbon's Last Exit for the Lost, the latter being a VERY tricky take on Halloween, and here comes this tasty treat:  more stories about the October Boy.  You want noir and the supernatural together with precise wordsmithery, this is the stuff for you.








2. Just finished:

 - The Keep, (Berkley Books), by F. Paul Wilson.  This was great, as I fully expected.   No sparkly vampires here, and also a peek into the roots of Wilson's over-arching mythos that ties many of his works together.  I'm a total sucker for those things:  maybe it's a marketing ploy, who knows, but reading different installments and perspectives of a mythos is like piecing together this huge, unbelievable puzzle.  Wilson's usual lean prose was a little more substantial in this one - more elegant, really - but it fit the time period well.  Another win for Wilson.








3. "Recently" discovered:

- Ghostwriter, (Hatchette Books,) by Travis Thrasher. I put recent in quotations because this one I discovered just last summer and the following months ago, but they still deserve a mention.  Ghostwriter, by Travis Thrasher, is honestly the closest thing I've seen in the CBA (Christian Bookseller Association) to actual horror.  The bloodshed - though well done - is there.  The suspense is there.  The tension. AND...a key element of horror that CBA books usually miss: the dread and despair.  All there.  Also: people die.  Sounds heartless that I list this as a plus, but if you're going to scare people, dangle them over the edge...there MUST be stakes.  Thrasher does this one right, and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.

- Creatures of the Pool, (Leisure Fiction), by Ramsey Campbell.  Okay, horror fans - I know.  How long did it take me to discover Ramsey Campbell?  Before this I'd read his short work and liked it, but I never realized his POWER until I read this.  Highly literary, built on images darting from the corner of your eye, full of atmosphere and dread, Campbell proves why everyone considers him a master with this one.  It's so Lovecraftian but not, it's mostly "Campbellian" because he channels all that classic dread, propels the reader headlong in a present tense narrative, but does it HIS way.  Definitely will be hunting up more of Ramsey Campbell.