Science fiction doesn't equal atheism.

Horrorscope: Misfortunes for April 23^rd.

Your thirst for knowledge can only be quenched by reading as many volumes as you can get your hands on. But just as curiosity killed the cat, your investigation could also prove dangerous. Remember, when an ancient text warns about an incantation that will raise the dead, put the book back on the shelf.

Speaking of reading is it just me or is it extra hard to write an awesome review for a story that knocks you off your feet? I have no idea how I was privileged enough to land on an ARC list but I did. I've read this story three times and all I can come up with is Oh. My. E'ffn God!! I've won awards for my writing ...why is this so hard, why is this story so awesome. Ok let me try this again.

What I enjoy most about being a writer while reading is the subtle transformation from reading for enjoyment to being shown what it is to be a master storyteller while reading the words of others: Stephen King, Nalo Hopkinson, Joyce Carol Oates, Terry Pratchett, and now Eden Royce.

The 1st time I read anything from Eden Royce was when both of our the stories were accepted for publication in the anthology Strange Tales of Horror put together by Norgus Press. Her contribution is a poem entitled Devil's Playground. A short story is really hard to to tell but it takes the utmost skill to write horror themed poetry. The Devil's Playground is breathtaking and after reading it three times I found her on facebook to tell her so.  

Containment is a futuristic science fiction story that reads like a classic with religious undertones. In the world created by Royce Containment Crews stand next to families in hospitals waiting for their loved one to die because the renewable energy source that powers this City are the souls of the dead. You can’t help but wonder how bad things got for a society to allow such a thing to become acceptable; and the detached, matter-of-factly way in which Feast, a city employee, tells this story only serves to make the tale that much more unsettling ... and heartbreaking.

A question posed by Feast is “What’s the point of living when your eternity isn’t your own.” It’s a chilling question and it’s the exploration of this concept of fate and density that drives this atmospheric, unforgettable, and haunting story. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did and I cannot wait to read the second book.

Containment hasn't been released yet, but rest assured I will be letting you know when it does!

Speaking of release dates....I know, I know...but I can explain. I few months ago while I was rereading what I had wrote so far I made the decision that chapter 46 thru 70 of In The Valley of Shadows had to be scraped. Of course that basically threw the release date right out of the window. The minute I did that it's been slow going because I started to listen to the part of the conversation that I was having with myself telling me that there was no way that I was going to be able to pull this off, that there would be no way that this 3rd and final book would be as good as the first two. And because I started to believe me I tied up my own hands. After I reread the new chapters it became apparent that I wasn't telling myself the truth.

According to me the chapters I wrote last night are so awesome that it prompted me to set a tentative deadline with my editor so it feels like I am back on track. 

Now as far as the diet is concerned...well not so much lol.

Here are the links for Eden. Have a super safe rest the week guys and I promise not to be so distant.

The Website!  

For the tweets...

Her Author's Page

DVD Review of the Week: The Yellow Wallpaper

How to survive a horror movie tip #88
If you rent a fully furnished home and while cleaning you find a trunk full of dirt, please for the love of God don’t sift thru it.

Word of the day:
Subjugate
Pronunciation (SUHB-juh-gayt) Verb: To bring under control or make submissive

I can’t not count the times I’ve stood on a soapbox proclaiming that I will never again watch a book to film, or a foreign to American remake of a movie, and as of late I’ve also bemoaned the remaking of American movies that were perfectly perfect the way they are. I guess Sissy Spacek’s portrayal Stephen King’s of Carrie just wasn’t good enough and in the height of my hysteria a director comes along who gives me pause.

Logan Thomas has produced a film called The Yellow Wallpaper. Yes, that Yellow Wallpaper and just as I was about to go on a murderous rampage I read:

“The Yellow Wallpaper is an ‘Origins Myth’... rather than a direct adaptation of the famous Charlotte Perkins Gilman story. Drawing from the original short story and a number of Gilmans' other gothic works (The Giant Wisteria, The Unwatched Door, etc.), The Yellow Wallpaper is an original narrative of events that unfold around the actual writing of "The Yellow Wallpaper.”

I had to put my axe down and read that part again. And then again. And finally I decided to give it a go.



Plotline: In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story we watch the main character go mad as she is locked in a bedroom while suffering from postpartum depression. In Logan Thomas’ story the main character, her husband and sister are grieving the lost of the main character’s child who died in a fire. Homeless with very little money the trio moves into a big house that’s unreasonably affordable.

Scariness Factor: N/A

Gross-Out Factor: N/A

Complaints: The 1st thing that started to bug me was that this most of this movie is shot completely in the dark. I understand that during that time not everyone could not afford electricity, but for some reason even during the day the residents favored the parts of the house furthest from the windows, so they were always roaming around in the shadows. The other thing that irritated was the use of “scary” music when there was nothing scary going on.

High Points: All three people are struggling to find a way to live after the little girl dies and even though Charlotte is worse off than the others, they all try to comfort each other in the best way they can while at the same time dealing with their own personal feelings of guilt and varying degrees of depression.

Personal Commentary: Like with all movies where the house is as much a character as the cast it’s a slow build; and like with all movies where the house is as much a character as the cast the people living it ignore the signs letting them know that something may be wrong with/inside their new home.

After a series of strange noises & unexplained sightings, they enlist the help of a medium and of course the entity that shows himself is evil. The decision is made to leave in the morning. When they all wake up in the afternoon the physic missing. John takes his wife and sister-in-law outside forbids them to go back inside and leaves to go into town and rent a horse and carriage to take them away. Up to this point The Yellow Wallpaper is just another little haunted house movie but then things take a turn for the worse…

As John is walking to town out of nowhere there’s a cameo appearance of some tall blonde in armor and chain mail. John wanted to know if he came to stop him from going to town and if he was already dead, and the armored blond says ‘No I am.” Ok…

Meanwhile back at the house the sister’s find the physic dead in a shallow grave, and then all of a sudden wolves show up and chase them back into the house (don’t ask I’m just as confused as you are)

When John gets back home he can’t find his wife or her sister but who he does encounter is the very 1st owner of the house from 100 years ago. John demands how can this be and low and behold we find out the owner is still alive because he is a vampire. After being attacked John wakes up to find the landlord there who explains that Charlotte is now a vampire and it’s now John’s job to feed her. Fast forward to today and John is the new landlord and he is renting the house at an unreasonably affordable rate.

Stars: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Where I rented it: The Yellow Wallpaper is available to watch online for free.

The Next Big Thing...Starring Me!

How to survive a horror movie tip# 12
Don’t fuck around with recombinant DNA technology unless you know what the fuck you’re doing … and if you do know what you’re doing, please for the love of humanity stop.

Word of the Day:
Wakerife
Pronunciation: (WAYK-ryf) adjective: Wakeful; alert

So a few years ago I stumbled upon an audio horror anthology called All Kinds of Things Kill by Robert R. Best I was so blown away by that anthology that I spent the next few days looking all over the inernet for his contact info & once I found it I began stalking him! I think the very 1st email I sent him in the subject line was something I am your Annie Wilkes...creepy right? But he responded! But now apparently he's grown tired of seeing me parked outside his house peering inside binoculars and has decided to give me something else to do...lol

What is your working title of your book?
In The Valley of Shadows, it’s the 3rd book in my Spectrum Trilogy

Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea came when I wrote the 1st book The Darkness, I was about half way through it when I realized it was going to be a trilogy

What genre does your book fall under?
I would say it’s Science Fiction that’s been built on the foundation of Horror and held in place with pillars of Fantasy

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I would want up and coming actors so that viewers watch the movie for the movie without the expectations that comes with big name actors.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
“Within the shadows of darkness two women clash in a vicious battle that has been fought since the days of King Solomon – the fight over a child.” This is actually from the blurb from the 1st book The Darkness but it pretty much sums of the entire trilogy.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Self published

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I am about 7mths in and am hoping to have it done early next year.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don’t know. I have been compared to other author’s but as far as the actual story goes I haven’t read one that I can compare it to and so far, no one who has reviewed the 1st two books, has compared it to another story either.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The 1st book, The Darkness, was written as a short story, however I was advised by another writer by the name of Mike Jones that The Darkness was not a short story and he was right. I will always be grateful to him for pushing me to write a full length novel, because if he hadn’t I’m not sure I’d be here today.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
That it’s a little different than anything you’ve read before.

Five people in the industry I think you should get to know:
Producer/Author Lori Titus
Actor/Director/Author/Narrator, Kay Richardson
Horror/Sci-fi/Fantasy Critic Andy Angel
Freelance Editor, Stephanie Gianopulos
Illustrator/Author RL Treadway

Thanks again Robert for tagging me for The Next Big Thing, this was fun...

How to survive a horror movie tip # 109:

If your child or infant seems especially bright, beautiful, AND has piercing blue eyes, kill it immwdiately. If you can't do it have a priest or a horror writer such as your truly to do it for you.

Word of the day:

Doyen

Pronunciation: (doi-EN, DOI-uhn) noun: The senior member of a group, profession, etc.

Hello peoples! I know I'm updating my blog, the end must really be near...lol. Happily Holidays guys I hope everyone is ready for Xmas and all the other things we celebrate this time of year =D

So my blog tour with Juniper Groove Book Solutions went really well, ...And They All Lived Happily Ever After! was well recv'd and the reviews were awesome. I was really worried about the feedback for The Lazarus Antidote because even though its a zombie story it doesn't have any zombies in it, so I was kinda worried that I would be slammed by hard core zombie fans but so far everyone who read it likes it. (Whew!) Here is the archived link to the tour if you wanna stop by all of the awesome blogs that hosted me and see what people had to say about my antho.

The Blog Tour!

Do you guys remember last year when a blogger claiming to be a reviewer contacted me by email and requested a review copy of The Darkness and she turned out to be a church blogger and she posted pix on her blog of The Darkness buring in the fireplace? Well I decided to beat her to the punch...laughter is the best medicine but sometimes its good revenge!

This guy did an amazing job and I'm hella happy w/it. I am going to play this on a loop at the cons ;p Well that's all for now, going to grab dinner and then pick up my pen, I'm super happy with the way  In The Valley of Shadows is turning out so far. Enjoy the day,

~Crystal

We've been here before.

A few hours ago a blogger asked me, “How does a non-horror writer like you write such scary stories?” I’m asked this question often. I see people struggling to categorize my genre of writing when they leave reviews and I even had a reviewer send me an email telling me that I was NOT a horror writer (http://wordsmithcrystalconnor.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-time-for-good-measure.html) This baffles me. I categorize myself as a horror writer; my only goal when I pick up my pen is to scare the shit of someone, but with my latest release the debate and confusion begins anew.


To get to the bottom of this I think maybe I should try and understand what the immediate “gut reaction” to the word horror means to most people. Because we’ve been thoroughly so inundated with the images of the masked man with a knife, the family with the chainsaw, people dangling from & trapped inside every know entrapment of torture know to man, with our cups runnething over with so much blood and gore that I think that a lot of people think believe horror can’t be horror if these elements are not included.

I saw this movie with my BFF Kathi, and there is nothing remotely whatsoever horrific or thrilling about this movie. It a love story and a tear-jerker, but I super duper love this fan trailer because it’s a perfect example on how mood, atmosphere, and timing can turn the most mundane thing into something scary.



I don’t its necessary for horror to have tons of gore or jump scares for it to be scary, in my opinion when a movie has over the top, gratuitous scenes of violence and tidal waves of blood it stops being effective and becomes nothing more that cheap parlor tricks in attempts to mask the fact that the book/movie is lacking a strong plot or compelling story line.

Not everything that goes bump in the night carries an axe, not all monsters hide under the bed, and sometimes the closest you are to damnation is when your in the presence of innocence.

Gut punched, then kicked when I was down =(

One reoccurring compliment and honorable mention in reviews that I receive is how diverse the cast of characters are in my stories. This is something that I don’t set out to do when I sit down to write a story, my very 1^st priority when I pick up my pen is to scare the heebie jeebies out of my readers or at the very least make people uncomfortable. All my stories would still be scary if everyone was white and straight.

My stories are multiculture because that’s the world I’ve always lived in. I grew up on a US military installation where having a black mom and a white dad, or a white dad or Asian mom was normal. My mom had gay friends, I have gays friends and while serving my country I practically travelled all over the world. I was born in Washington and live in Seattle which has a pretty diverse population.

I got an email today from a reader who vows never to read anything from me again. After just reading three stories in my anthology and after the conclusion of Best Friends Forever, which tells what happens when a relationship deteriorates in the most frightening way. A relationship which just happens to be between two women.

She explicatively demanded to know if I wasn’t going to bother explaining the hardships and challenges of the LGBT community then why use them in my work and furiously accused me of using LGBT characters as tokens and explained in great detail how deplorable and crass she found it coming from an African American writer who should know better. She advised me that she would be returning the book to Amazon for a full refund.

I’m completely stunned, I’m confused and probably not done crying. I’m not sure what else I was supposed to do. Finding yourself in a war of the roses situation after initiating a breaking up and then finding out your ex is Psycho Suzy would be hard for anyone, gay, straight, black or white to deal with. In this story the couple just happened to be same sex.

I’m just not sure what else I was supposed to do

Happy All Hallow's Eve =D

How to Survive a Horror Movie tip# 48:
LOOK BEHIND YOU!

Happy Halloween you guys!

So today is the 3rd day of my book tour sponsored by my friend Jadis Shaw, the owner of an author's services company called Juniper Groove Book Solution and todays stop is an interview with Darcia, Maria & Michael over at Bestseller Bound Recommeds, be sure to swing by and check them out. All the links are below.

Click here for tour details!

Yesterday and Monday's stop are hosting a contest where one lucky follower will win a signed autographed copies of my anthology. The last time I check over one hundred people entered the contest =D It makes me super happy because I was so afraid that that maybe people wouldn't enter. I have no idea why I would think that, but like they say, we are our own worst and hardest critics.

Speaking of critics, the reviews so far are pretty good and the layout is well received.  The story that's emerging as an all time favorite is Amber's New Friend because all but one person who reviewed the book rave about it so I think I'm going to be ok.

What's everyone doing tonight for Halloween? When I was little and my father was stationed at Ft. Lewis every single year the dentist dressed up as a tooth and his wife was the tooth fairy and instead of giving us candy he gave us a zip lock bags that had small tubes of tooth paste, a tooth brush, small bottles of mouth wash that would turn our teeth pink to show us the spots that we missed, and appointment cards for our parents to remind them of our next dental appointment. =D I'll never forget that and its one of my fondest Halloween memories. =D

In closing ...you guys know how a feel about the whole stupid ass damsel in distress lunacy in horror movies so in preparation for my super mega horror movie marathon I bought some tea and warned my neighbors lol. To celebrate my delusional belief  that I think horror movies are interactive experiences and that the people in the movie I'm screaming at can actually hear me, my sister posted this to Facebook. OMG I thought I was going to choke to death on my own laughter. You guys have got to see this!