Fundraising Thanks & An Oasis of My Own

I wanted to send out a quick thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of Bruised Souls & Other Torments during the memorial fundraiser in my dad's memory! And to everyone who helped to share the word. I'll be donating $50 each to Team Gleason and the ALSA in my dad's name!

Speaking of the fundraiser, a sweet friend purchased a copy of the paperback and asked me to send it to a front line worker. Does anyone have suggestions for a front line worker that might appreciate horror short stories? Or a way to hunt someone down for that? Thanks in advance!

My husband has created an oasis on our back porch, and we've been relaxing and unwinding back there every evening possible as the weather has warmed. This being Colorado, a portion of the state saw snow in a sudden cool down yesterday, but the temperature's already climbing back up, and we'll be back out there this evening. It's helped significantly with our mental health. When I was a teenager, I made myself a bit of an oasis in my bedroom that involved a space heater, a sleeping bag, a reading lamp, a stack of books, pillows, and my pet dobie, Jeddah. With four younger siblings, a space I could call my own was important. These days it's not so much people I'm trying to escape (well, sort of), but the stresses of life and the world, in general. I highly recommend figuring out your own little oasis that allows you to escape as thoroughly as possible.

We reopened to dine in (limited) at the restaurant where I work. We were all really stressed about it, but it's been mostly a positive experience. A lot of people are relieved to be able to get out to a restaurant, and ours is small enough that we only have three tables available inside right now with social distancing rules. Our patio has four tables. There have been stresses with people refusing to follow some of the rules and trying to coax us into breaking them, but we expected those things. The overall happiness of customers has improved the mood of anxiety and fear that has permeated a lot of essential jobs lately.

I had something I wanted to talk about today, and I've completely forgotten it. Oy.

Moving on, here's some of the media I've enjoyed over the past two weeks:

Books

The House Without a Summer, by DeAnna Knippling

One reviewer described this as a regency gothic horror. Well written, it involves a creeping red fungus destroying the way of life of a community. Or so we see on the surface. Beneath the surface, the fungus involves a lot more than the ruining of food and water. People are not what they seem. Nor is time. Despite being released this year, the book feels like it was written long ago.

The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

It was purely coincidental that I'd started this book just before recent events, but it was the perfect read during this time. Gorgeously written. Coates grew up about 18 miles from me, and appears to be just a couple years older than me, which drew me into the story thoroughly. There was a lot familiar to me, but also significant differences, the most obvious of which being that I grew up in the same general area as a white girl and he grew up as a black boy. While his story felt somewhat familiar to me, his father's story was fascinating: Vietnam veteran, Black Panther, small press publisher. Coates' struggle to grow up and find himself in Baltimore in the 80s (I grew up in Columbia) tells a tale of growth, struggle, and identity.

Movies

Death Proof

A Tarantino film that was part of a grindhouse double feature, I don't remember liking this the first time I watched it, yet I loved it this time. The ending is deeply satisfying. As for the rest of it, there are scenes of insane violence, but also a twenty minute car chase with Zoe Bell playing herself and doing her own stunts in the film (she was Uma Thurman's stunt double in the Kill Bill films). The film was physically scratched to make it look retro. An insane stunt man uses set cars (made death proof for the stunt people) to stalk and murder women. This is a horror film. A Tarantino horror film. So be warned if that isn't your type of thing.

TV Shows

The  Great

A completely irreverent and sometimes inappropriate (both sexually and via language) show, it's a humorous look at Peter III and Catherine (ultimately "the Great")'s marriage while he was emperor of Russia. As Catherine gathers people from the court in attempted coups, Peter's idiocy and selfishness makes for great comedic moments. Catherine, played by Elle Fanning, is extremely intelligent and educated, but still naive and inexperienced in the world of politics. The actors play their roles well.

What media have you been enjoying? Anything you'd recommend? Do you have an oasis of your own? How are you doing right now?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - Secrets & Discouragement

It's the first Wednesday of June, which makes it time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group!

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG exists to seek and provide support for our insecurities. Anyone is welcome to join. Simply click on Alex's name above and put your blog on the linky list. Then hop around and visit other insecure writers like yourself!

The co-hosts this month are: Pat Garcia, J.Q. Rose, and Natalie Aguirre!

Before I get to the optional question and my post, just a reminder that today is the LAST DAY to get Bruised Souls & Other Torments at a discounted price! The e-book is only $1.99 today until 11:00 PM MT. You can purchase a paperback copy for $15.00 (this includes the shipping cost). All proceeds from book sales through midnight tonight will be donated to Team Gleason and the ALSA, with me matching the amount of profit, personally. This is a tribute to my dad, who died a year ago. You can read more about this on last week's post. THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who already purchased the book, either during this fundraiser or any time since its release. I appreciate you.

The optional question this month is: What are one or two of your secrets, that readers would never know from your work?

Here's a secret: I'm highly empathetic. Stories of abuse, rape, murder, animal abuse, etc. hurt me deeply. I can't stop envisioning it, even if it's a picture I gleaned from the written word. If a horrific video auto plays on Facebook, it sticks with me for a long time. I also pick up the mood of those around me, which can mean anything from joyfulness to being dismally down in the dumps for no good reason.

My word for this month is: Discouragement.

I'm feeling today as if the last year I've been scrabbling at this writing/publishing thing with my fingernails, barely holding on, just trying to get purchase. I thought of this as something that would continue improving, albeit gradually. A graph line increasing exponentially over time.

At this point, it feels like it's going down, down, down.

I realize that's a gloomy way to look at it, but it's certainly how it feels right now. I'm throwing spaghetti at the wall and it's not sticking. It's been too long since I got an acceptance, and I'm starting to think I've forgotten how to write or my writing's gotten crappier. Is it possible to devolve in your writing? I had a surge of short listings, then got rejections (or the publications shut down), then nothing but rejections. It's frustrating. It's disappointing. It's depressing.

More likely, it goes more like this:

Maybe I'm just there at the 26th (or so) of September. There are probably a bunch of reasons for these. I haven't been submitting nearly as much as before. I'm still building up the stockpile since putting out the last collection (which feels like a year ago, but it was just back in March!). I've got a stack of stories I need to finish editing (got them edited on paper; need to edit them digitally and submit). It's taking me a month or so to get stories resubmitted once they get rejected.

So yeah, I know I'm not working the business as hard as usual, but I'm pretty certain the average is down. I'm on the verge of walking away for a while, but when I try to imagine it, I can't. I'm also trying to remind myself that these are hard times, I already know I'm suffering depression, and that these things are likely shaping how hard I'm taking things right now, but knowing that doesn't seem to help.

This seems like a natural time to segue into my submission stats for the month. I did get two stories edited, so they're out on submission now. Finally! I've been writing when I'm able, but avoiding editing since it's my least favorite part. I'd rather be creating!

May Stats:

Rejections - 3
Submissions - 4
Withdrawn - 1 (Submitted back in September, queried in February, withdrew when I received no answer)
Currently on Submission - 8 (I'm trying to get back up to 10 on submission at any given time, if not more)

I hope everyone is doing as well as possible right now, that you're hanging in there and taking care of yourself, whatever that means for you. Keep writing, keep submitting, keep creating.

What are your current insecurities? What secrets are you harboring (that you're willing to share)? How are you doing right now? Is there anything I can do to help you?

May you find your Muse.


**Parabola Clip Art, OCAL, clker.com
**Graph Crash Clip Art, OCAL, clker.com
**Graph Clip Art, OCAL, clker.com

A Tribute, A Deal, & Two Charities

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my dad's death. One year ago, ALS finally took him. Right at the end of ALS Awareness Month. Adjacent to Memorial Day. The Thunderbirds rocketed over us as I arrived at the house to wait until his death could be called. Neighbors who'd come out to watch for the Thunderbirds and their annual flyover saw emergency vehicles outside our house. I imagine they knew what had happened. After all, they'd come out just a few years earlier to celebrate dad's birthday in the form of the ice bucket challenge.

I've been down during the lock down, but as it turned to May and the trees blossomed, birds swarming back into the neighborhood (along with the miller moths), I started to dread this anniversary and how everyone in my family will handle it, especially with the isolation. I'm not sure I'll ever look at another Memorial Day without thinking about my dad. Interestingly, it was most likely his stint in the Air Force that led to ALS in the first place, meaning he's earned his rightful place among the veterans honored. It's just that the long term damage occurred on U.S. soil, likely at the bloodied hand of the U.S. government.

I sat down the other day and wondered what I could do to honor him in some way, and to change my thoughts from the negative to the positive. That led to the following:

I'll be doing a Kindle Countdown deal for one week with Bruised Souls & Other Torments. The e-book will be priced at $.99 from 8 AM (MT) tomorrow morning to the afternoon of May 31, when it will change to $1.99 until Wednesday, June 3, at 11 PM. It only let me do this in one region, so it's only applicable in the U.S. as far as I know. I'm not positive, though, as this is my first time doing this.

I can also ship a signed paperback copy to anyone who'd like one. Book + Shipping will be $15.00 (U.S. only).

All profits from e-book and paperback sales this week will be donated to the ALS Association and Team Gleason. I will personally match those profits, so both charities will receive the full profit amount. Both organizations helped my dad during his 6 1/2 years battling ALS. Many of his friends in the ALS community are still fighting to this day, and they need all the help they can get. #nowhiteflags

Links:

E-book

Secure Paperback Checkout via Square (it only asks for email--I will email those who purchase to get shipping/inscription information)

Team Gleason (for more information on what they do)

ALS Association (for more information on what they do)

All donations will be made in memory of my dad, Greg Kenoyer. If anyone is interested in donating directly to either of the charities, it would be wonderful if you did so in his name. However, I also know that times are hard right now, so hopefully none of this feels like pressure. 

If no sales are made, I will still donate something to each charity in his name.

I'll also be doing a couple readings online. I'll post on my Facebook page, and if I'm able, I'll repost to here.

Also, I'm doing some research. For readings and/or author interviews, what software/online program would you most recommend? Right now, I'm most familiar with Zoom, so would likely use that, but I'm open to other ideas.

Stuff I've Been Enjoying:

I haven't finished a book this week, but will finish it tonight or tomorrow, so should have at least one to pass along next week! All I have for today is a movie.

Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood

I didn't expect to like this. In fact, I'd avoided it like the plague, because I kept hearing it was boring and had no point. But once I watched it, I enjoyed it. It meanders a bit, but I kept watching, wondering what was going to happen. When they showed the year and the location, I was sucked in, because it implied a certain historical event was going to happen in the course of the film, and I wanted to see if it would actually go up to that point. There ends up being quite a twist, but the end of the movie had me laughing. It's preposterous, silly, and violent. The rest of the film? Laid back, watching two friends and their neighbor...Sharon Tate.

Link Time!

Bear in mind I'm merely passing these along, not endorsing them. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

And Lately, The Sun is seeking short fiction about our future in a changing climate. 2000 to 8000 words. Pays $80. Deadline June 30.

Fabled is seeking eerie gothic tales about women who dwell in the forest. 2000 to 8000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline June 30.

Writer Shed Press is seeking stories with the theme Love and Sacrifice. Up to 2500 words. Pays $20. (Must have Venmo to get paid). Deadline July 1.

Any of these links sound interesting? Anything to share? If you've lost a parent, what did you do to commemorate the one year anniversary, if anything? Have you seen Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood? What did you think? What recording software do you prefer for video?

May you find your Muse.

Insight Into Conference Cancellations

First, thank you to everyone who participated in the blog hop on Friday, the 13th, and everyone who stopped by, and has so far purchased a copy of Bruised Souls & Other Torments! I just got my author copy today, so I was quite nervous, but everything looked great!

I know a lot of you are facing event cancellations, including writing conferences. I volunteer with Pikes Peak Writers, and we had to make the unfortunate choice to cancel this year's Pikes Peak Writers Conference. As one of the people who runs our monthly writing events, I'm also in the middle of scrambling to cancel and postpone events, and to figure out how to run them online for the next month. (If you have suggestions for how to run events where people can talk to each other online, I'd appreciate them! We're looking at Zoom and Facebook Live for different types of events.)

I thought some people might be curious as to why this string of cancellations may put various businesses and non-profits out of business and/or into bankruptcy. We were EXTREMELY lucky in that the event venue for our conference is willing to work with us. Had they shrugged and stuck to the contract, we would have had to claim bankruptcy, and our 501(c)(3) would have been no more. We would not have been able to recover.

Conferences put out a lot of money ahead of the event. Luckily, some of the costs are last minute, so that's money that doesn't go out until just before the event (some the week of) or after the event.

Advance Expenses (this isn't an exhaustive list--it's just to give an idea):
Airfare for faculty (this is a big one)
Registration/software/credit card fees (every transaction costs a certain amount in fees)
Percentage of the upcoming costs due to the hotel/venue in advance (massive chunk)
Bags/badge holders/printing/notebooks/pens/other giveaway shwag
Staff awards
Faculty shwag

Expenses Week of and Week After (again, not exhaustive):
Program printing/sign printing/other printing/printing supplies
Green room supplies
Faculty checks
Decorations for venue/ballroom
Final payment to hotel (includes hotel rooms for staff/faculty, food and beverage)(by far the largest chunk of money goes to this)
Books ordered for onsite bookstore
Consignment fees out to authors

I can't speak for other conferences, but for ours, money brought in for conference fees must cover the conference expenses, overhead for the annual costs of running a non-profit, expenses for monthly programming, etc. So having to refund conference fees to everyone means no money brought in to cover the annual expenses of the organization, on top of conference expenses already paid out and non-refundable. Plane tickets can be used within the next year, but unfortunately, the next conference is more than a year out, so we can't reuse those tickets. Anything paid out ahead of time is a loss.

I also work for a small business, a restaurant. At this time, our governor has shut down bars, restaurants, theaters, and similar businesses, except for takeout, drive-thru, or curbside. Each small business that cannot operate right now still has to pay their rent, utilities, etc. The big concern, of course, is the employees of these places. Most businesses appear to be adapting (as we have), and are providing takeout and curbside, which keeps their employees working and earning money. But bars can't do this, nor can many other types of businesses. If restaurants in your area are staying open, consider supporting local. Corporations have something to fall back on, and they will survive. Small businesses have nothing to keep them going.

We're living through interesting times right now. What it's shown is that humans (most, anyway) are quick to adapt and survive. I hope you're all doing well. If you've had an event canceled, please try to be kind to those responsible for running it. The decision to cancel an event is a hard one, and there are many factors people may not think about when it comes to following through. Bear in mind, also, that writers conferences and other types of conventions are often run by volunteers, so we're all doing this on top of day jobs and other life events, and we're doing so for free.

On a side note, if you have children home from school during this, you might want to ask them if they have friends who are in a bad situation at home and could use a break by coming to your house. Also, it helps if you can check if any of their friends need food or access (aka driving them) to places giving out lunches and breakfasts for those who are accustomed to getting them at school. Check with your elderly neighbors and immuno-compromised friends to see if you can do a grocery run or help with other errands. And if you have other ideas for how to help others, please feel free to leave your ideas in the comments.

Stay safe.

Has an event you were looking forward to been canceled? Has your town shut down yet? Do you know of an online format that might work to have meetings? Any ideas for how to help others during the quarantine?

May you find your Muse.


*Nosmoke Clip Art (dollar signs), clker.com, OCAL
*Hotel Icon Room Service Clip Art, clker.com, OCAL

Friday the 13th Bruised Souls Blog Hop: Urban Legends and Old Wives Tales

Hello, my spooky friends. It's officially Friday, the 13th! Aside from being a horror movie extravaganza holiday for some of us, it's also the day my new collection, Bruised Souls & Other Torments, is available for sale!

As of the time of this posting, the e-book is live on Amazon, but the paperback isn't yet. It should pop on there any time. I'll have it available on Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, etc. in the coming week.

You can buy it on Amazon by clicking this link.

Updating with the paperback link. It's now live on Amazon! 

Fear resides in the soul.

A welcoming widow with a twisted appetite; a war-time evil lurking behind the face of a child; a father’s love gone horribly wrong; a deadly government solution; a new job with a demonic pay scale; a woman trapped in a mysterious house with no memory of who she is or how she got there. These are a mere glimpse of the terrors that lie in wait in this collection of horror short stories, sure to grip the psyche and torment the soul.

To celebrate Friday, the 13th and Bruised Souls, the following people are participating in the blog hop. Stop by and visit them for a little creepy fun. They'll be posting either an urban legend, an old wives tale, or something scary that happened to them in real life.

Yolanda Renee - Basement Creepies
Juneta Key - Big Foot
Patricia Lynne - Vanishing Hitchhiker
Jemi Fraser - Walter's Ghost/Creepy Culvert
Tonja Drecker - Dvigrad
Kalpana - Delhi Djinns
Donna Hole - Sasquatch

Since I'm heading out to Oregon soon, here's an urban legend you may not have heard of before. In Portland, Oregon, a game called Polybius was in arcades. It was claimed that it caused psychoactive issues and was part of a secret government psychological experiment. The men in black even came into play, with people saying they saw men in black visiting the games to grab the data gathered there. It's said that it disappeared without a trace.

For a little more fun, here's a video about urban legends that are actually true.


What's your favorite urban legend or old wives tale? What's something scary that has happened to you? Do you believe any of the urban legends in the video? Have you nabbed your copy of Bruised Souls & Other Torments?

May you find your Muse.

St. Elmo & Cover Reveal!

I'm just going to have to apologize in advance for the kazillion photos on the rest of this post, but I finally got to go up to St. Elmo, a ghost town in the Colorado mountains that's one of the most preserved ghost towns in the U.S. In fact, it's so well preserved that some of the houses are still inhabited, and those inhabitants not only run a general store, but lovingly preserve the empty houses. I'm not going to lie, there's a part of me that would absolutely adore living in one of those houses. I'm a sucker for a ghost town and, basically, anything having to do with the old west.

St. Elmo was a mining town (gold and silver), founded in 1880. The railroad went up to it, and the population boomed to about 2000 at one point. The tracks were abandoned in 1922, and the last family (the Starks) left in 1958. I'm not sure when people started moving back in. You can take snowmobiles up to an even higher, older, less preserved town called Tin Cup in the winter, and take a 4WD vehicle up in summer. We didn't get to do that this time, but what I REALLY want is to go up there in the fall to get photos of St. Elmo with the aspens golden around the houses, and I'd like to take the Jeep up to Tin Cup, as well.

Before I post the bazillion photos of St. Elmo, I need to let you know that my second collection, Bruised Souls & Other Torments, is up for pre-order (Kindle) at Amazon, and will be be available in e-book and paperback this Friday, the 13th! Click on the title above to pre-order the e-book!

Fear resides in the soul.

A welcoming widow with a twisted appetite; a war-time evil lurking behind the face of a child; a father’s love gone horribly wrong; a deadly government solution; a new job with a demonic pay scale; a woman trapped in a mysterious house with no memory of who she is or how she got there. These are a mere glimpse of the terrors that lie in wait in this collection of horror short stories, sure to grip the psyche and torment the soul.

If you'd like to help spread the word, I'm holding a blog hop Friday the 13th for a little creepy fun. The sign up form and information can be found at the bottom of this post.

Finally, I was interviewed by the Functional Nerds (well, one of them, who is also a good friend). You can listen to the interview HERE.

Okay, back to the photos. One of the things that I found interesting was how deep the snow was. Of course, a snow plow goes through there now, but when you look at these photos, imagine what it would have been like before snow plows, to be up on top of this mountain with snow halfway up the doors, and have to get out to hit the store. Note that I also made sure to post a picture that included an outhouse. Pretty sure they were using chamber pots in the winter, because no way would I have wanted to walk through four feet of snow to go to the bathroom, especially in the middle of the night.

Also mind blowing is the fact that some of these houses are inhabited. You'll notice which ones are updated with paint, outdoor furniture, and that sort of thing (one of the houses has a satellite dish--I don't believe I got a picture of that).

Part way through our time in St. Elmo it started to snow. It was so peaceful up there, even with a couple other tourists wandering around. A hush existed over everything. I could imagine the quiet of snow season up there. Then again, I could also imagine the cabin fever and other issues associated with heavy snowfall and having your access cut off from everywhere else.

Have you visited any neat ghost towns? Does your area have broken down homesteads scattered about? Will you be joining me on the blog hop? (Thank you to those who have signed up already!)

May you find your Muse.