Women in Horror Month: A Flash Fiction Contest

February is Women in Horror Month, and we here at Mocha Memoirs Press love our ladies of horror! In celebration of “Ghoul Power,” MMP is hosting a February Flash Fiction contest! Flash fiction is quickly becoming popular on the eBook scene. They’re super short pieces (usually less than 1000 words) that you can read on your phone, tablet, or eReader while you’re waiting your turn at the salon, stuck in traffic, or right before bed. So here’s how it works:

1. Write a short horror story with a female POV character that’s 1000 words or less.
2. Submit your story to mochamemoirs.marketing@gmail.com with WIH FLASH FICTION_Title_YourName in the subject line (Example: Re: WIH FLASH FICTION_BathtubOfDestiny_AlexandraChristian) by February 15, 2016. Please take note that all stories must be submitted as a Word document attachment!
3. All stories will be posted on the Mocha Memoirs Press blog**:  http://mochamemoirspress.blogspot.com/  by Feb. 17th.
4. Our panel of judges will choose the top ten finalists’ stories by Feb. 22nd. Voting will open on Feb. 23rd, allowing readers to vote for their favorite finalists.
5. Grand Prize Winner: $20 Amazon Gift Card.
6. All TOP TEN FINALISTS will have their stories featured in a promotional mini-anthology used to promote Mocha Memoirs Press.

Even though it is Women in Horror month, authors of all genders may submit. Just remember:  HORROR stories with FEMALE PROTAGONISTS! So there, that’s not so complicated! Now, the submission window is narrow, so get to work on those stories!

** Please note that all standard MMP guidelines concerning content apply.  While this is horror, stories that feature explicit descriptions of rape, bestiality or abuse will not be accepted. Also stories that glorify violence, racism, or misogyny will not be accepted. Violence and sex are acceptable but make them integral to the plot. Remember, these stories are for Women in Horror Month and therefore we are all about empowering women!

About our “Ladies of Horror” Panelists…

Eden Royce: Eden Royce is descended from women who practiced root, a type of conjure magic in her native Charleston, South Carolina. She now lives in Kent, The Garden of England, and writes stories loosely based on her childhood. She has had over a dozen short stories published in various anthologies and her current release, Spook Lights: Southern Gothic Horror was on the Horror Writers’ Association’s recommended reading list for 2015. Eden is one of the writers for The 7 Magpies project, a first of its kind: a short horror film anthology written and directed entirely by black women.

She is also the horror submissions editor for Mocha Memoirs Press where she conceived and edited several anthologies, one of which is The Grotesquerie, twenty-one horror short stories written by women. She also writes a regular feature for Graveyard Shift Sisters, a site dedicated to purging the black female horror fan from the margins, where she interviews female authors and reviews their latest work.

In her dwindling free time, she is a proofreader, book reviewer, and ice cream connoisseur. Learn more about her at edenroyce.com.

Selah Janel: Selah Janel has been blessed with a giant imagination since she was little and convinced that fairies lived in the nearby state park or vampires hid in the abandoned barns outside of town. The many people around her that supported her love of reading and curiosity probably made it worse. Her e-books The Other Man, Holly and Ivy, and Mooner are published through Mocha Memoirs Press. Lost in the Shadows, a collection of short stories celebrating the edges of ideas and the spaces between genres was co-written with S.H. Roddey. Her work has also been included in The MacGuffin, The Realm Beyond, Stories for Children Magazine, The Big Bad: an Anthology of Evil, The Big Bad 2, The Grotesquerie, and Thunder on the Battlefield: Sorcery. Olde School is the first book in her series, The Kingdom City Chronicles, published through Seventh Star Press. She likes her music to rock, her vampires lethal, her fairies to play mind games, and her princesses to hold their own. Catch up with Selah at http://www.selahjanel.wordpress.com

S.H. Roddey:  South Carolina native S.H. Roddey has been writing for fun since she was a child and still enjoys building worlds across the speculative fiction spectrum filled with mystery and intrigue.  She brings to the literary world a unique blend of humor, emotion, and wild ideas filled with dark themes and strong characters. She is a voracious reader, wannabe chef, and video game addict with two full-time jobs: administrative professional and mom to a cat, teenager, and pair of precocious little girls. She also enjoys being married to her best friend and full-time muse and moonlighting as romance author Siobhan Kinkade. Visit her at http://www.shroddey.com.

Sumiko Saulson: Born to African-American and Russian-Jewish parents, she is a native Californian, and has spent most of her adult life in the Bay Area. She is a horror blogger and journalist, graphic novelist, horror, sci-fi and dark fantasy writer. Her works include “60 Black Women in Horror,”“Death’s Cafe: Ashes and Coffee,” “Solitude,” “Warmth”, “Happiness and Other Diseases,” “Somnalia,” “Insatiable,”  the Young Adult horror novella series “The Moon Cried Blood”, and the short story anthology “Things That Go Bump in My Head.” Visit her at http://www.SumikoSaulson.com

Unusual Settings in Horror: Making Weird Work for You

Like so many people during this month, I'm in the mood for horror and spooky stories. Don't get me wrong, I love the traditional stuff - haunted houses, cemeteries, empty countrysides, creepy small towns, and desolate, winding roads. Sometimes, though, a change of scene can be nice. I love the thought process that Alien was a haunted house movie set in space. Although we're used to the trope of bizarre things happening in modern settings now, Poltergeist was creepy because the hauntings took place in a brand-new subdivision. Look at the diversity in the haunted house industry: there are mazes set in gothic settings and woodland paths, sure, but let's not forget the evil circuses, bogeyman-infested bayous, sinister swamps, macabre meat-packing plants and minimarts, and any other setting you could think of. If it exists, it can be made creepy, I can tell you that from personal experience. Not only does it give a person pause about what's safe and what isn't (which is a huge purpose of horror), but it also makes you appreciate all that can be done with the genre.

I love working with time periods and places that people may not expect the horror genre to touch. What's great about writing is that what seems obvious to me may not be obvious to Fred down the street, or vice versa. All our different interests and experiences lead to some really different, interesting titles. And if they're creepy as hell, even better.

I grew up near the woods. Either I had friends who lived on a decent amount of land or we were near enough to always be hiking through different state parks, and it wasn't unusual that evening drives took us down winding roads where trees looked like they wanted to tear right through the guardrail and get at the cars that passed them by. While forests are peaceful, there's also something inherently claustrophobic about them, especially at night. It's easy to get lost in the trees, and also very easy to be taken unawares, especially by something stronger or more animalistic than you are.

I'm also a history nerd, and I love tales of pioneer America, people working hard to survive and care for their families, doing what they can to stay just a little bit ahead. Their sense of community, faith, morals, and family could be unshakable. At the end of the day, though, they were at the mercy of nature or whatever else life threw at them.

Naturally, that combination just made me want to mess with fictional pioneers and see what would bring a hearty cast to their knees.

Yeah, I wonder about me, too.

Essentially, it's the same kind of logic that made War of the Worlds so terrifying at the time it came out - what if there was something that you just couldn't fight? Remember, the original wasn't the Tom Cruise fest with modern, easy outs. There was a much bigger gap between alien technology and everyday people. In my own work, I wanted to play with people's natural superstitions, and something that might actually be found in the woods, which can be a dangerous and creepy place, anyway. I've also always been interested in lumber culture because I have weird interests, and the term mooner took me by surprise. It's not used often, and I've not seen it filled out very much, other than to allude to some mythical creature that haunts the woods.

Bingo.

That could be a lot of things, and I suppose the obvious choice would have been werewolves, but I really liked the idea of mooners as vampires. After all, in a time period where you're forced to depend on those around you, what happens when your neighbors aren't exactly trustworthy and there's no one else for miles, and travelling miles could take days?

At the end of the day, setting and time period don't really matter. Our fears are primarily the same, we're still wired the same as humans, and react the same way to fear. The fun comes in the research, when you can find specifics to a time period or place that you can play with in your story, making things even harder for your characters and fun for your readers.

It's a lot to think about and a lot to work with. At the end of the day, I'm happy with how the story turned out, but whether it's effective or not is ultimately up to the readers.

So how bout you? What are your favorite unusual settings or time periods in horror?

Historical Horror/Vampire

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Like many young men at the end of the 1800s, Bill signed on to work in a logging camp. The work is brutal, but it promised a fast paycheck with which he can start his life. Unfortunately, his role model is Big John. Not only is he the camp’s hero, but he’s known for spending his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and lives of so many men their age. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows. It watches and badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door, or does someone else have their own plans for his future?

Read

When people ask me what advice I'd give to new writers, the first thing out of my mouth may seem counterproductive, but it's essential.

Read.

Read, read, read, READ.

However, there's a catch.

Read what you're interested in writing...but also read everything else. Why? Simple. To learn.

I've learned story structure from literary types like Mark Twain and Raymond Carver. I've learned unusual devices from the beat writers. Nonfiction has given me all sorts of insights into how the world works, but also personal experiences of all types. Never, ever underestimate the personal truth recorded in a memoir. For the longest time I binge-read how to and self help books, not just for entertainment value, but because I was fascinated. I just couldn't shake the feeling that even if they didn't change my life, I might be able to use some of that information somewhere.

 Horror has helped me learn to build tension, Sci-Fi has taught me when to rely on research and when to go with the romance of the situation.Anthologies have given me access to authors I never would have known otherwise. Romance has taught me the up and downside to writing with a formula in mind, as well as when research would have helped a plot along and given characters more to do.

Here's the thing. By writing, you learn by doing. By reading, you also learn by doing...by experiencing. You make the journey from acknowledging that something doesn't feel quite right in an author's pacing to realizing just what the bump in the road is (in your opinion, anyway). You discover different ways of approaching the same genre or the same theme. You're allowed to see what tropes are overdone, and you might get insight into how you could change things up a bit, or discover something that hasn't been done enough. By reading everything, you can see what's out there, but also slowly discover where you fit into the giant scheme of things.

I've discovered some beautiful descriptions and stories in short folklore narratives and poetry. I've found amazing storytelling devices in comics and graphic novels, things that aren't usually applied to traditional fiction. Same with the format of long-running manga and even (dare I say it) fanfiction. Think of it - there has to be reasons that certain things appeal to people, so by taking a peek you can see how you can make that work for you.

You also can get an idea of things you aren't comfortable with, or maybe, find hope in examples of how you could approach styles that you never would have tried on your own. Nancy A. Collins and Clive Barker gave me courage to be more graphic in my horror, and Neil Gaiman gave me permission to go back to my love of folklore and start using that as a foundation in my various fantasy work.

You just never know what's going to help you until you start looking.

With that in mind, don't neglect the acknowledgements. People drop some interesting references and names in those at times. I discovered Ray Bradbury, my favorite author, because he was mentioned in a forward in a Stephen King collection. I collect all sorts of industry names by perusing these sections. Pay attention if an author gives you backstory in a short story collection. Places, events, little asides - all of these may turn up gold.

Even if you're not a writer, read everything. By doing this, you slowly expand your comfort zone and your awareness.You'll fall in love with other worlds, open up emotions in yourself, maybe see things in slightly different ways. Why is that important? I'd like to think that it expands tolerance. You never know whose story you're going to end up relating to and who will change your life.

Years ago I passed by the new arrival section in the library and glanced up at the Nikki Sixx photography book/memoir This is Gonna Hurt. At that point in life, I had some fairly strong opinions about Motley Crue. I loved the music, but interviews I read left me cold. I couldn't look away from the cover of that book, though, and as I flipped through it, I was thunderstruck. I think I read that thing in less than a day, then read it again. And again. I still go back to that book because it encourages me in an aggressive way to be more creative, to be better, and I need that. It made me realize that by pre-judging the author because he was in a certain band with a certain stage persona, I was acting in a way that was against what I believed in: empathy, tolerance, and giving people a chance. It gave me back my love of Motley Crue, actually, but it also led me to others. By name dropping artists like Lita Ford, it made me realize that rock isn't just a dude's game, which helped to further get the chip off my shoulder. It introduced me to people like Amy Purdy, who modelled for the book, and the challenges she's overcome in her life - plus, that provided research for a title I was working on, as well. I've gotten so much gold from that book over the years, and it never would have happened if I'd just wrinkled my nose and walked on by.

I'm not saying you have to love everything or even finish everything. Just get out of your comfort zone and read, read, read.

So what do you love to read? What else could you be reading? What's your favorite title? Do you have something that came out of nowhere for you, something that you never dreamed you'd like until you read it?

What are you reading?

***

As an aside, I will also be here Saturday, June 20, with books in hand and MMP swag at the ready. If you're close by, come see me at the Midwest Authors Syndicate table!

Love and Death: A February Horror List

So I'm told that Valentines Day happened or something. I dunno, I kind of just let it walk on by as if I was hiding from a velociraptor in an abandoned restaurant kitchen and hope I don't get a chunk taken out of me, but to each their own.

However, although you can all relax because you don't have to be romantic for another whole year, I've decided to share my go-to list of movies and books that really get the heart pounding and the blood pumping.

Why yes I am sarcastic, why do you ask?

Seriously, whether you believe that a horror movie is a good date or a way to work out your bitter single aggression, love is a great topic for horror. Love is scary, yo. At any second, that person that you've just nuzzled and cuddled with in bed could roll over and knife you in the spleen. That's what intimacy is all about, folks, trusting and loving someone even though they could spleen-knife you at any given moment.

So in honor of that, here's my go-to Valentine's Day horror list:

Movies

My Bloody Valentine – Okay, this is like a given. Mining accidents, Valentine’s Day, and a killer on the loose – sounds like a date night movie to me!

The Lost Boys – The original vampire romance movie. Yes it is, no arguments. Kick back and harken to a simpler time when boys met girls at concerts, and the only thing they had to worry about was accidentally getting hazed into a gang of bloodsuckers at the risk of potentially destroying their own family. There’s something for everyone: comedic elements, vampire gore, great music, nostalgia…plus, the vampires in this movie are kind of like the boy band members of the same era: a type for everyone! Choose your favorite and have your friends do the same – if your choices happen to clash, arm wrestle until there’s a victor! Scream and throw things when they get killed off! Ignore the sequels because nothing will come close to the vampires in the original! Plus, this movie introduced the world to Cry Little Sister, the get-it-on anthem for the undead.

Only Lovers Left Alive - A new addition to the list, and admittedly more horror-oriented than scary. This is more like vampire slice-of-life, though holy god, you guys, this is THE vampire romance movie. Just don't even think about Twilight. This is what the genre should be. Plus there is some carnage here and there, and it's worth it for Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, and the "She drank Ian!" quote. If you do want something actually romantic, this is your title. Plus, it's so gorgeous to look at and relaxing to watch, you'll thank me for forcing it into your life.

Shivers – The movie for those who want a sexier type of holiday. This film centers on an apartment complex where a parasite that causes uncontrollable lust is on the loose. What chance does rational human logic stand when it’s up against the type of attraction and passion that’s hardwired into the human condition?

Teeth – Also for those who may want something sexier with a bite. Heh. The tale of a girl with an interesting condition, it takes the journey from her devotion to abstinence to discovering an odd sort of sexual awakening and power. Fun fact: a lot of cultures have stories about uh, dental issues in southern regions, dating back hundreds of years. Usually it’s a wizard or witch that afflicts the poor girl with the condition, but those stories are always an interesting read.

May – The classic tale of a girl who just wants to be loved, despite the fact that she’s an outsider and the deck is stacked against her. A great film for those who are feeling bitter about singlehood.

I am Legend – The book ending is much better, but that’s not why it makes the list. This is a GREAT movie for singles to watch, because hey, you think you’ve got it bad? At least you’re not the only known human alive trying to survive in a world filled with monsters. Now things don’t seem so bad, do they?

Friday the 13th – The original is the best, and it may seem a little sideways for a Valentine’s Day movie, but think of it. You don’t have anyone or you don’t get to curl up with someone? Hey, look at what happens to those wild teens that get with someone too fast! Again, now don’t you feel better?

Books

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker – A cuddly novella that explores relationships as much as it introduces us to those wacky Cenobites and their puzzle box. What happens when a wife just isn’t feeling the spark between her and her husband? Should she get counseling? File for divorce? Help resurrect her former lover who’s caught in a hellish dimension of pain and pleasure by killing people who are interested in her? Known for exploring the line between pleasure and pain as well as introducing the world to what would become Hellraiser, this book is a quick read and an interesting look into the dark nature of the heart.

Cold Turkey by Nancy A. Collins – We all know I love the Sonja Blue series. For me, this is a fabulous look at how a dark vampire romance might actually go. This has shown up as a short story and as part of one of the books in the main trilogy, but it’s also nice to have it separately because it is one of the best events in that world. Sonja (a “living” vampire and slayer) begins getting interested in Judd, a human, even though she’s usually careful to avoid too much direct interaction with humans. And then The Other (her more vampiric/demonic part) clicks into gear and takes an interest…you’ll have to read to find out the rest. Like a lot of things on this list, not for the faint of heart, but if you’re into vampires acting out, this is definitely for you.

The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein – Adolescence is a crazy age, especially where friends are involved. This gets listed because it’s a great coming of age story, and while there isn’t any romance per say, I think it really gives a great look into how territorial girls are when it comes to their friends. Set in a boarding school around the 50s-60s, the narrator gets suspicious of Ernessa, the new girl who keeps to herself…except when she takes an interest in the narrator’s best friend Lucy.

Good Neighbors by Holly Black: (Kin, Kith, and Kind)  – The story of a (supposedly) mortal girl with faerie relatives and her fight to figure out what she really is. There are also a lot of great subplots with her circle of friends involving relationships. Would you magically control the guy you were dating if you had the chance? If you knew he was cheating, would you sell your soul and try to kill him? What if you thought you had a strong foundation and found he was sneaking out to be fed from by water nymphs? There’s also an interesting triangle between the lead character’s father, his best friend (a human who was in love with him), and the faerie he ends up marrying because she was there and hot. It's fascinating to see a lot of tried and true faerie happenings set in a modern universe, as well.

Misery by Stephen King – The awesome tale about an uber-fan of an unfortunate writer. What would you do if your favorite person was on your doorstep, and you found out that they were ending the very thing that kept you going? 

Carrie by Stephen King – Another one for singles to feel vindicated by. An awkward girl gets to go to her first high school dance and feel like she might have a shot at a social life…until her psychic powers are awakened. Then she gets the chance to flatten all of those who have made her life hell.

Granted, the list is dark and a little gruesome in places, but since when is love neat and tidy? Sure, we may celebrate with roses and teddy bears, but if you think of it, love is messy. Love has its own shadows.The heart has blood and ventricles and stuff. Love can tip people over the edge, unravel the rational, and destroy lives as much as it can save people. So if you’re going to curl up with a book or a movie this month, why not do it with a title that really explores what love is all about?

And hey, if you're feeling put out or sarcastic or just want a break from the flowers and hearts, this is a great way to take a moment to realize that life is pretty skippy compared to some of the alternatives. 

Selah Janel writes books and tries to keep up with stuff. Check her out at her blog, on twitter, and on facebook.

MMP Celebrates Women in Horror Month: Selah Janel

Mocha Memoirs Press has long since celebrated and embraced diversity in speculative fiction. Join us as we spotlight our talented female horror authors throughout the month of February. Follow us on twitter @mochamemoirs to get daily tweets and more.

I really never thought too much about women who write horror—admittedly, I fell into reading horror genre a little late, and then it was the typical Stephen King, Anne Rice, and whatever best of anthology fell into my lap. Even then, I wasn’t making it a point to really keep track of who wrote what. I just knew I liked certain stories. Even when I fell in love with the genre, I always felt somewhat separated from it, because I didn’t know if I could fully go to a place that was either frightening enough or hardcore enough to be part of the genre. Like a lot of other things, I blamed it on my gender rather than the fact that I needed to get my ass in a chair, start writing, and let myself fail a few times.

Really, I think that’s part of the beauty of Women in Horror Month. Suddenly, there’s a way to look around and say “hey, there are ladies playing in this genre, just like how I want to do.”

Some are authors and filmmakers and the like who already have a lot of stuff out there, and some are newer, which is fabulous. We should be getting the word out, because yes, it’s hard to find the women horror writers at times, but I also think that people forget to look for them. At the very least, if you want to not focus on the gender thing, it also gives a bit of variety by providing lists of titles you may not know about, and discovering new horror titles is always a good thing.

For me, the discovery of two specific horror authors blew my mind right open. I’d been fussing
with a half-attempt at vampire fiction, and while my own story was long and aimless, a friend of
mine who’d been reading what I sent her saw some things that reminded her of Nancy A. Collins. I’d never heard of this author to save my life until one day I received a package in the mail from my friend that contained the first three books in the Sonja Blue series. This was not only my first introduction to Sonja Blue and to what could probably be called an early-ish take on dark urban fantasy, but it was also my first exposure to splatterpunk.

I was stunned. Floored. My jaw was on the ground. Up until that point, I admittedly avoided anything too gory (unless I was writing it), but Sonja was such a great character that I plowed through those books. It was amazing to me the visceral reactions those stories gave me—to this day, Sunglasses After Dark is the only book that’s ever made me vomit. What was even better was that those books were written by a woman, so now I had no excuse to play safe with my own attempts in the genre. In a lot of ways, her presence was there to egg me on, to keep whispering more, more! in the back of my mind when I found myself holding back.

Years later, I was looking for a spooky read one October, and happened to grab Shirley Jackson’s The House on Haunted Hill from a library display table. The newest version of the movie was one I had done design work to in college, though it didn’t really do much for me and I had a hard time seeing Eleanor as any kind of great protagonist.

Two nights later, I was hooked on the book. Eleanor’s emotional state was delicate and ever-changing, and the way Jackson uses ambience and interaction to create tension had me enthralled. What made it better/worse was that the song lyrics used in the books are from a tune I’d performed when I’d studied voice, and their use in the book was just so unbelievably creepy that I really found myself getting freaked out. It’s a slow burn, a real lesson in how to build tension and play with psychological horror. When I got to the ending, I sat there in shock for a good five minutes, before I frantically paged back, trying to figure out what the hell had exactly happened. I love how the book version is much more open-ended, and although Eleanor still isn’t a badass, she’s much more of a grey area than her mousey, do-good, remake equivalent. In a lot of ways, her psychological state is just as chilling as the house. It also made me think back to reading The Lottery in school and how disturbed that story had always left me. There’s something to be said for taking the feminine emotional state and the classic female roles and turning them on their heads, and Shirley Jackson does it beautifully.

For me, that’s what this month is all about. Taking a chance, picking up a new title, and really letting myself be surprised, delighted, and hopefully severely creeped out. It’s not just about celebrating female horror authors—it’s about celebrating really good horror authors.

Christmas Legends and Tales

So I love Christmas fiction, but I also love those elusive Christmas legends. I have a soft spot for holiday stories that originate from medieval and European stories that infuse magic with symbolism or the religious. There are some truly spectacular tales out there, and I love reading them, hearing them, and working with them in my own fiction.

A lot of them trace back to Christian beliefs, but no matter what area your faith lies in, I find these to just be really well put together little tales. They’re quick narratives that touch the heart and capture the imagination. I have a favorite in particular: One involves a little French boy who happens to be a hunchback who is skilled at working with wood. He decides to carve a new cradle for his village’s creche, but work piles up and late on Christmas night he’s still slaving away when a boy his age comes into his workshop to help. He falls asleep and wakes up to see not only a beautiful cradle, but finds that he’s been cured of his affliction. When he takes the cradle to the creche his notices that the baby looks quite a bit like a younger version of the boy who helped him.

Whatever your traditions are, I thought I'd share some of my other favorite Christmas legends, and I'd love to hear some of yours!

 The Legend of the Christmas Spider – this one is a German story, and I’ve heard different variations so I’m providing the link. The basic theme is that spiders want to see the Christmas tree (the object of much fuss in the human household) for themselves, but being nearsighted they have to look up close and leave their webs everywhere. Through magic (or a miracle depending on the story) their webs are turned to silver and gold threads, thus giving the world the first inspiration for tinsel.

The Legend of the Poinsetta – A young Mexican girl has no gift to leave at the nativity on Christmas Eve, but gets reassured that even the most humble gift is welcome. With no other options, she gathers a handful of weeds, but when she leaves them at the nativity they’re transformed to beautiful flowers with fiery blooms. I got so much extra credit in Adv. Spanish class for being able to read the Tommy DePaola …mainly because my mother had gotten me the Spanish/English translation of the book the year before for Christmas.

Silent Night – a simple story that may or may not be true. A young priest writes a poem and wants music to go with it, so enlists the help of the church organist. According to someit, on Christmas Eve the organ was broken so it was played on guitar and a legend began. Others theorize that Franz Gruber preferred a simple melody he could play on guitar. Whatever you believe, it’s a story that many people know and love.

Santa’s Helpers…and I don’t mean the elves. Depending on the region, back in the day Santa usually had a servant/assistant/co-person who punished the naughty kids while he gave gifts to the good. This could be everything from taking back the toys, giving coal or switches (that parents would use as a reminder of what would happen if children misbehaved), or in the case of Krampus (admittedly fast becoming a personal favorite of mine), he would put you in his magic sack and drag you to hell. And GUYS DID YOU KNOW ICELAND HAS YULE TROLLS?! AND A YULE CAT!? Apparently the thirteen trolls will either play pranks on you or give you presents. But the Yule cat will eat you if you don't get new clothes by Christmas Eve. So you'd better get shopping!

Talking animals on Christmas Eve – This has to be my absolute personal favorite of the bunch. I first saw this referenced in an Irish faerie/ghost story when I was ten, and since then I love when an author can reference it in fiction. It’s been used by authors from Beatrix Potter (Tailor of Gloucester) to Anne M. Martin (On Christmas Eve), and used deftly and gracefully. The original legend goes something like because animals acknowledged or allowed Jesus into their home on Christmas Eve, at midnight every year until dawn they’re able to talk and communicate like everyone else (although in Potter’s story you have to be able to interpret their animal-speak to be able to get the full gist). I will admit that although I am an adult I may have cornered my cat after midnight every year on Christmas Eve…just in case. 

I love things like this because they stand the test of time and because they give me ideas as an author and all-around creative person. Whether I choose to use any of them or not, I like that there’s such a rich history and story-telling tradition in the winter holidays – and that’s not even counting the history of traditions like wassailing and kissing under the mistletoe or legends behind symbols like holly and ivy. There’s so much to work with, and it’s all beautiful and rich with possibility.

And speaking of symbols like holly and ivy...even though this story seems like a cozy little romantic story with a bit of magic, I can tell you that it very much stemmed from the symbolism behind the plants, as well...

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After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong oninions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keepinga promise to an old friend?

Autumn Thoughts

I love fall. It's probably my favorite season, and it never lasts long enough for my taste. Besides Halloween, there's just something nice about the gradual progression of the changing weather, the changing scenery, the changing attitudes. The full stress of the holidays isn't upon us yet (unless you pay attention to store displays), and the full drag of winter isn't upon us, either. Fall is almost more of a New Year for me than Jan 1. There's something to be said of shedding away the old before the barren season begins to make way for spring. It's the perfect time to embrace getting older, to appreciate all that's around you, all that you've gained and lost.

Weights and measures, balances and scales. Gain and loss. Harvest and reaping.

I could ramble about the crisp weather and how I love walking through it, my love of Halloween, my new appreciation of Thanksgiving as I get older and know I won't see every face around the table for one reason or another with each passing year. I could talk about the leaves and the impending holidays and sweaters and spices and all the usual stuff. And they're all great, don't get me wrong, but I think there's a deeper reason why I connect with autumn.

I'm a fairly emotion-based person, though I try to temper that down in my daily life. For me, autumn is a swirl of feelings as much as it is the rattling of leaves on the whispering winds. It's one of those seasons that I'm so glad to experience because it brings to mind all that happened over the summer, all that needs to happen before the winter, and all that I'm lucky enough to have in my life, whether it's people, things, experiences, responsibilities. But it also brings to mind those that I've watched leave within this past year, and those that are a memory from long ago. And while I miss them, there's gratitude there too, a thankfulness even for the disappointment and loss and shadows. How would I be the person I am if it wasn't for those experiences? How would I write what I do if I didn't have them? It's a season of emotional warmth and chilliness, but it's one I welcome.

Maybe it's morbid, but one of the reasons why Halloween and Thanksgiving are so great for me is that they're similar in an odd way. With Halloween you're remembering in a backwards way that you're still here, still safe, still able to see the sun come back around, even though the shadows are out there. And Thanksgiving you embrace all that you have around you, no matter what your situation. It's a getting ready time, and those times are always really exciting for me. Things may not be fully developed, but to know there's potential waiting under the piles of leaves, that's awesome. Although I find the season relaxing, I always start getting a little twitchy in the fall, and the sensation meanders around through the spring, because that's usually the idea formulating time for me, the percolating time, the fermenting thoughts time. It's frustrating that things don't always go quickly enough, whether it's a writing project or something else, but I always, always trust the ideas I get in the autumn. Things happen in the shadows, under the leaves, down under the ground, and they grow into beautiful things later on. I love that early anticipation.

Because what's thankfulness and memory without a sense of something happening and something to look forward to?

Christmas in July and Magic & Loss

Hi ho, readers and curiosity seekers! Happy July and Merry Christmas!

Yep, it's that time of year again - time for the MMP Anniversary and for Christmas in July!

I will be blunt and honest: Christmas at any time of the year isn't my favorite holiday. It seems that every weird thing that could ever happen to me is centered around December. No, I'm serious. In my world, Santa may as well stalk me down dark alleys with a great big club, waiting to put my lifeless body in his sack or something. Most outrageously bizarre or challenging things that happen to me happen around the holidays, which is probably why I've leaned toward the legends of Krampus and the Yule Lads in recent years. I've been outrageously ill, had family members suddenly drop dead, had to have a pet put to sleep on Christmas, nearly been carjacked, nearly been mugged, and accidentally set on fire during a Christmas Eve service. I've been overworked and overbooked and had my schedule jam-packed with every possible combination of seasonal hoopla you can possibly come up with. These days I lay pretty low and while I participate, I keep it to a reasonable amount for my sanity and safety.

Yet, for some reason, I keep trying to enjoy the holiday. Maybe I feel if I appease the almighty maker of Santa in some form, I might get a little relief. Maybe I just need a little light during the dark time of year. No matter how cynical I try to be, I want to embrace belief and hope. For every awful thing that's occurred in December, there's been something uniquely wonderful: meeting new friends, specific memories of family gatherings, being mistaken by a little girl for an actual Christmas elf...I have a million good stories, too.

Darkness and light, fatigue and energy, cynicism and hope. They're two sides of the same coin in winter, which is why the holidays are so important.

In a rare move for me, I actually wrote a fluffy Christmas story a few years back, and Mocha Memoirs Press was weird enough to accept it. It hits on a lot of themes that have meaning for me: a woman at the end of her rope, the chance to rebuild one's life, and the magical. After all, you can't have Christmas (even in July), without magic.

However, given past experience and the dark/light sides to the holiday, I also believe that magic can go hand in hand with loss. As Lou Reed sings in 'Magic and Loss: The Summation:' "There's a bit of magic in everything, and then some loss to even things out." All the faerie stories I read as a little girl had a bit of tragedy in them, even if they ended well, and I'll admit I included those themes in this story. It's one I'm proud of, one that feels true to the stories I grew up reading, even some of the Christmas-themed stories I grew up loving. Yet, there's also a small part that feels definitively me. Holly and Ivy combines Holly's story, Ivy's strangeness, a Christmas tree farm, a bargain, a little romance, and some bittersweet results. I identify so much with Holly's frustration, exhaustion, and tenacity, but I also relate to Ivy's energy, youthfulness, and cheer. In some ways they're both sides of the holidays, as well, and I'm very glad to have been able to write them for you to read.

And if you choose to read about Holly and Ivy, you can get the title now for just $0.99!

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 holiday/fantasy

After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong oninions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keepinga promise to an old friend?

Christmas in July SALE! All holiday titles are 0.99!

July is our birthday month, but we're giving gifts! In fact, it's Christmas in JULY!!

We've reduced all of our holiday stories to 0.99. If you missed these heart-warming stories of romance, we invite you to get them today!

They're all fantastic shots of fiction for your Kindle (R), Nook (R), or tablets.

After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong opinions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keeping a promise to an old friend?

Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/holly-and-ivy/
Price: .99

Dear Santa,
My family is insane and I’ve been more than naughty this year.
It was totally worth it.

If you could please, leave some turkey and dressing and other REAL Christmas food under the tree, I’ll promise to work on that “nice thing this year.

Oh and don’t worry about stocking stuffers, I’ve already picked that out for myself . He is 6ft plus of hippie latin goodness and he stuff the very best stocking in the world.

Simone!
Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/under-the-christmas-tree/
Price: 0.99

Military widow Rhea Blackmon is forced by her late husband’s best friend Sebastian to attend Fort Mitchell’s Christmas party, much against her will. All she wants is to go home and be alone but Sebastian has other plans. He has a present for her; one that she will not soon forget.

Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/under-the-mistletoe/
Price: 0.99










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Better late than never

It seems I was so wrapped up in Summer Solstice that I forgot to blog yesterday. My apologies. I'd promise I won't do it again, but I've learned to never make promises I can't keep. ;) I can say I did have a lovely day yesterday that resulted in a few tears. Now I know that may seem odd but these were actually good tears and I have Selah Janel to thank for them. She posted about the character Susan from the Narnia books on her Facebook wall and a dissatisfaction with the characters story progression that echoed one I'd always held. Awhile back I'd stumbled upon this post that took all of that dissatisfaction and gave it an outlet to be reborn into something beautiful.

I think that's what I enjoy about being a writer. I can take narratives of women's experiences and give them the endings I feel most connected to. They can be strong, vulnerable, sexy, virtuous, and any other host of things I find appealing. I can make them imperfectly perfect, the way I'd always viewed Susan. It's a heady sensation and I'll confess that I do let the power go to my head. Because, if I'm not retelling the stories of women's experiences the way I want, I leave it to other's to write more Susan's.

Various Vampires

So last time I talked a little bit about my personal experiences and interests that led me to write Mooner. I thought this time I'd take a chance to talk about some of the works that inspired my own interest in vampires. In some ways these creatures have almost evolved into their own archetype and they're incredibly versatile. No two works of vampire fiction or film are completely alike - it's like they're malevolent, blood-sucking little snowflakes. Like others who dig the genre, I definitely have my favorites, though. Bizarrely, my favorites also encompass all types of vampires. Admittedly I like vampires who use their teeth, who are seen as a little higher up on the food chain, who are lived-in, so to speak. But, I also expect them to retain something of their humanity. After all, a personality doesn't go away with a life choice change, so the most interesting vampires are the ones who meld the two sides into something else, something more. So, in no particular order...

The Young Brothers series by  Kathy Love - Let's just get the embarrassing one out of the way first. Let me just say I love these harder than a stake through a sternum on a cold morning. Are they as mind-bending as some of the other entries? No. Are they girly and a little guilty pleasure-ish? Yep. Does that change the fact that I adore them. NOPE! What makes these great for me is that they all draw on vampire folklore and turn it on its head. I've read things in these books that I've never seen anywhere else. Fangs for the Memories sees one of the Young bros lose his memory and assume he's back in Regency England - and human. Fangs but No Fangs sees the villain of the first book trying to come to terms with his life choices and balance his vampire side with the rest of his personality. I Only Have Fangs for You deals with the typical vamp playboy bro taking an interest in an unlikely lady who, while a vampire, seemingly doesn't understand how to be one. Her backstory in this is really well done, and there is one of the most excellent vampire romance scenes I've ever read in this book, dealing with the whole shapeshifting to mist cliche. It's just great. Are the endings a little rushed? Sure. Is it silly in places? Yep. Still don't care.

Don't go look at cats on the internet yet. I swear I'll earn my street cred back.

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice - the books that exploded the creature into modern sensibilities. She uses them as a great vehicle for exploring personal doubts, relationships, and the nature of life and morality in general. Plus, the vampires' personalities are so distinct and vast, her books are just a lush playground for the preternatural. I tend to prefer characters like Lestat who's charming capabilities are offset by his sharp sense of manipulation, and Claudia - a fantastic mashup of this bloodlusting creature mixed with a woman trapped in a girl's body, longing for something more. There are some spectacular characterizations in the books, and the vampires set in different periods of history is phenomenal, as well.

The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein - I'm familiar with the book and not the movie, but this re-imagining of Carmilla is superb. It really captures what it's like to be a girl coming of age, judging and being judged. For me this works in a creepy relationship way better than Twilight because the emotions ring very true and it's a very different sort of vampire relationship. When Ernessa, the new girl, comes to a 1950s boarding school and comes between the friendship of Lucy and the narrator, emotions are slung all over the place. It captures the obsession between young best friends very well, and it's hard to tell at times if Ernessa is something otherworldly or if it's the imaginings of the narrator, fueled by jealousy and growing hatred. In some ways you begin to ask yourself who's more of a vampire: the mysterious Ernessa or the soul-sucking desperate tendencies of the narrator?

Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland - This book is incredible. It makes the concept of Lord Byron as a vampire perfectly believable. Although slow to start, the tension keeps building and building until you reach a particularly gruesome transformation scene. Once turned, Lord Byron's machinations to live forever take some twisted turns, drawing on his relationships in real life. It has all the lush description of an Anne Rice novel with a little more forward momentum and the added benefit of a ton of magnificent source material. It's equally romantic and ruthless, gruesome and glorious, which is everything a vampire should be. There is also a follow-up book called Slave to the Thirst that deals with Stoker, but I haven't gotten to finish that one yet.

The Lost Boys - Anyone who knows me knows this would be on here. This movie is lightning in a bottle. It will never happen again, no matter how many sequels are attempted or knock-offs designed. For one, the blend of comedy and horror is very well-executed and balanced. The look of the film is streamlined and sharp. What I think a lot of people forget, though, is that up until the later parts of the movie you're not necessarily introduced to the lost boys as villains. I mean okay, they're obviously designed to look like bad dudes, but you see them doing things that a lot of teens do. You see them hanging out at home. You almost get something of a backstory to draw you in before everything goes to hell. In a lot of ways, this is a great template for the modern vampire for me. They're using sex appeal and subtle displays of dominance to get their way, run their territory, and presumably lure prey in. They're the people that you want to be noticed by...until you really get to know them. They're not afraid to hunt. They're not afraid to enjoy being what they are. They play by the rules of their kind. Dated as it is, this is a fabulous introduction to vampires for the novice.

The Sonja Blue series by Nancy A. Collins - I will not lie - this is splatterpunk so it is really, really graphic. If you can get past that aspect, it's incredible. There are a lot of elements of urban fantasy as well as horror, and the world-building is incredibly done. Sonja is a "living" vampire - she was turned but not fully killed and has become a slayer who kills the dangerous creatures that hide behind mundane appearances. What you or I may see as a bum or a person shopping could be an ogre or a werewolf. Through it all she's looking for revenge on her sire. What really makes this amazing is that her more vampiric part (The Other) functions almost as an alternate personality. The two fight and clash, and when she blacks out and it takes over it's usually bad news. There's a particularly amazing bit where she thinks she's falling for a guy, is exhausted because of other things going on, and then The Other takes over. When she regains herself she realizes that The Other has done something horrible, cruel, and life-altering to the guy (and no, it isn't turning him. It's far worse than that). She has to deal with things like that all the time, along with eventually facing her human past. There are some incredibly poignant moments that balance out the gore and heavy subject matter.

Nosferatu - I love this movie. I don't know if it's because it's silent or because of the pacing and shadows, but it's so creepy. I become entranced every time I watch it. Even though it's the standard variation of Dracula, it's so interesting to watch. Once you've seen it, watch Shadow of the Vampire and you'll fall even more in love with the movie. Just watch the two back to back and enjoy your afternoon.

Dracula by Bram Stoker - maybe not the first, but the most well-known. While the letter format gets to me sometimes when reading it, the story is entrancing and fascinating from all viewpoints. All the characters, whether it's Mina, Lucy, Renfield, Van Helsing, or Dracula, himself, are memorable. There's a reason this jump-started the genre.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson - Read the book. The book has a point, and one that will leave you thinking for a while. The most recent remake destroyed the whole point of the book by changing the ending. The isolation of the main character combined with the exploration of humanity versus other are really great elements of this one that no action movie can replace.

The Hunger - The opening scene that cuts footage of Miriam and John seducing prey at a club to a ravenous monkey will immediately implant itself in your brain. The ankhs used is a fascinating substitute for teeth, and all the different types of relationships and possessiveness explored between the characters is awesome. This one also gets kudos for bringing in an aging element to a genre that rarely deals with the concept of the preternatural characters growing old or dying.

30 Days of Night - I've only seen the film, but I love the stark imagery, love the claustrophobic edge that just grows as the characters are hunted. This is truly a unique idea. Even though the vampires are seen as creatures, there are still hints of something there. They can still communicate, plot, and manipulate. They're not animals by any means, and even speak in their own language. There must be something there for Marlow to put Iris out of her misery at one point, and although these aren't the same as the modern vampires we're used to, you can see that they're thinking, feeling beings.

Daybreakers - I love the production design of this film so hard. This is completely believable as a vampiric world after the food source is dwindling. This is something that actually deals with vampires trying to make a blood substitute instead of one already existing. It also pits human aspects against vampire characteristics when family members of both types are thrown together. In so many books and movies vampires are seen as the enemy, but in this world the vampires are in charge and argue the pros and cons of human vs. animal blood, what humans are actually for, and the actual desire for finding a cure for vampirism vs. a blood substitute in a world like that. It's bold in a lot of ways, and while I question some of the logistics of the ending, it's mostly a really satisfying movie.

American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque - This series blew my mind when I started reading it. It's innovative in so many ways. First, vampire powers differ depending on the origin of the vampire, so there are countless types of these creatures with varying degrees of sentience and effectiveness. Then you have the different arcs playing out - the creation and progression of the slaying group The Vassals of the Morning Star, which heavily features the Book family legacy. Then there's the creation of Skinner Sweet, the first American vampire. This dude is so vile, so conniving, so vicious, and so hilarious...it's one of the few vampire characters that make me cringe and laugh out loud. He does what he wants when he wants. An outlaw and master manipulator as a human, this guy is perfection as a vampire. What's also intriguing is that each volume highlights a different era of American history, some of them really surprising. Skinner turns wannabe-starlet Pearl in the 1920s after she's nearly eaten by a group of Hollywood vampires. He shows up again to cause havoc in 1930's Las Vegas. There's the obligatory WWII plotlines and some really fun stuff set in the 1950s with a greaser slayer. I adore the character of Pearl and her struggle to hold on to her human husband and some sense of who she is, all the while fighting her attraction and revulsion to her sire. The plot lines weave in and out of each other in interesting ways, and this series has found intriguing ways to explore not only vampires and periods in history but issues like revisiting your past, racism, what it means to be human, and so much more. And then Dracula shows up. At times it's a little hokey, but then it tears your throat open three pages later, so it's a great blend.

So what about you? What vampire titles or films get your fangs showing?

And don't forget, if you're looking for an intriguing vampire story, there's this one of mine...

Kindle    Nook     Mocha Memoirs Press

Like many young men at the end of the 1800s, Bill signed on to work in a logging camp. The work is brutal, but it promised a fast paycheck with which he can start his life. Unfortunately, his role model is Big John. Not only is he the camp’s hero, but he’s known for spending his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and lives of so many men their age. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows. It watches and badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door, or does someone else have their own plans for his future?

Lumberjacks, Vampires, and Writing What You Know.

'Write what you know' has to be one of the most-given pieces of writing advice in the entire history of the craft. I remember really hating this as a teenager. I mean, what had I done in life? All I wanted to do was crank out some story so I could pass some class or another, and they wanted me to write what I knew and slant it to some theme or assignment that I couldn't even choose? Bleh. I knew nothing in the scheme of things except living in what I perceived to be a boring town and going to school. As I grew I still remained somewhat ruffled about this piece of advice, even as I wrote for fun, because I liked writing speculative fiction and there's no way you can "know" that sort of thing, right?

Yeah, I can be an elitist idiot that takes things literally at times. 

Now, I realize how lucky I've been to have the experiences I've had - no matter how mundane. Every little interaction, every emotion, every experience is fodder for something and has the potential to be magic. Plus, I consider my insatiable curiosity one of my better traits. Both come in handy when I'm writing fantasy and horror. Don't believe me? Let me explain (Come on, you had to be expecting this, otherwise it would be a very short and pointless blog entry).

As a kid I harbored a deep and burning grudge that my parents got to pick our summer vacation choices. I was convinced I must have been a serial killer in a past life. As we cruised down the American highways I would always collect brochures at rest stops and dream of what it must be like to have parents who loved me. After all, only heartless maniacs would pass up waterparks, amusement parks, giant malls, pointless roadside attractions, and other obvious vacation spots for every historical site that could possibly enrich my mind and raise my history grade (that didn't need raising, thanks). I would sigh and fondle over those brochures and hope against hope that Gettysburg was closed during the week or maybe every worker in every historical site in Philidelphia would go on strike or something. 

To be fair, this resentment usually lasted a couple of days until we were actually well into our vacation. It probably didn't help that we were crammed into a small tent trailer and at least one of my parents has an overpowering sense of humor that does not do well in enclosed spaces, especially when paired with a kid who wants to read or listen to music or sleep and dream about whatever power ranger is dreamiest or something (Who knows. That was ten million years ago). 

Eventually, though, I would lighten up and enjoy myself. Truth be told, we probably shouldn't have done most of the Revolutionary and Civil War battle sites in the same trip; to this day I still tend to get a lot of them mixed up. There is also the story embedded in family folklore about the time when I was like four and we went to Mesa Verde and somehow everyone thought it was a good idea to go on a tour that involved actually climbing ladders and hand and foot holds up the canyon walls and across the pueblos. (Also to be fair, these were fenced in and I was flanked by both parents and the park guide. Still, retelling this story is guaranteed to give my relatives heart palpitations). There were other adventures I was probably guilty of - the same trip out west might have involved a trip to the dinosaur museum in Utah that featured a dig site at the time and because I saw it on Reading Rainbow I may have tried to make a break for it so I could climb up to the fossils and be at one with the dinosaurs (hey, they let Levar Burton do it on TV...). There may have been one museum visit in Peoria where we stayed right up until closing and I may have been almost locked in with an exhibit of an exposed burial mound that revealed hundreds of exposed skeletons. To this day I remember the panic of trying to find the door as the minutes ticked down until five, caught between the vertigo of an outdoor balcony that was fairly high up, and the madness of having to walk right by this gigantic room full of exposed full skeletons. I was eight. When I read the Bradbury story "The Next in Line" I actually broke out in a cold sweat remembering my own experience. 

By the time I was a pre-teen, though, I began to get fascinated with some of the mundane aspects of history. I really liked hearing about what it was like in the everyday life of different Native American tribes or the colonists before the Revolutionary War. I liked learning about miners, and to this day some of my favorite books are by Laura Ingalls Wilder (including her journalism collection and her diaries). Admittedly, though, my mind tended to wander and I was always adding my own flair to things. I remember distinctly during the Philadelphia trip wondering what it would be like if the displaced ghost of Benjamin Franklin was the one giving us the tour, and I probably added my own flair to many other trips that I'm not remembering. There was at least one trip I spent sketching disturbing looking trees that Brian Froud would be proud of. Still, there is something to be said for the hardcore lives these everyday people lived. The adversity they had to put up with is incredible. When I read about pioneers, the Dust Bowl, or any number of hardships that make up American history, I'm humbled. I mean even back as a teen I recognized that I was a huge wuss. It also doesn't help that part of my family history has had books written about it, which just goes to prove that I am a definite wuss and a disgrace to all those that came before me who could survive in the wild in subzero temperatures without even a blanket and walk away like it was nothing.

So it probably isn't a huge surprise that I would still be fascinated with reading about the everymen of American history: the miners, farmers, pioneers, laborers, and lumberjacks. I remember reading the books of Lilian Jackson Braun, who also tends to gravitate to similar topics (though without the ghosts and evil trees), in my adult years and really began to wonder if I could do something with that particular interest of mine in a speculative sense. But what?

There are many elements of speculative fiction I "know," not because I've lived them, but I am a huge geek and darn proud of it. I was perusing different educational sites about lumber camps and came across the entry "mooner." While not really defined, it referred to a supernatural creature that haunted lumber camps.

This fit in nicely with the speculative things that I geek out over...specifically, vampires. I love vampires. I love reading new takes on them, I love the movies, I love the folklore. Not everything vampire is good, and I appreciate when people know the mythos and work with it instead of against it. Barring this, I like when people use vampirism as a metaphor or backdrop for something else. I'm not one of those who outright prefer evil vampires over vampire romance or urban fantasy smooth criminal vamps over mindless feeding corpse-like vamps or old school Dracula/Gothic types. If it's done well, if it works, then I'm willing to give it a chance. Still, I like my vampires to use their teeth, and I think playing the moral grey area is always interesting. I think there can be romance mixed in with bloodshed, there can be mindfulness mixed in with a hunting mindset. It's the contradiction that makes things tense, and it's the knowledge that you're never going to win against something like that that makes the genre so full of possibility.

While maybe not an obvious choice, I like the use of vampires as metaphor, the thought of them being like Nietzsche's superman, but with teeth. I also like thinking about what happens when a normal person is tossed into that type of lifestyle and has to make reason of all the horrible things they're expected to do to survive (or is it any worse than any other pioneer trying to survive in an unsettled country?). 

That time period and life in the lumber camps was hard enough as it was...what if there was something bigger and badder than the strongest lumberjack? What if there was something to balance out all the shenanigans that tended to go on in the saloons during the weekends? What if there were motives bigger than the obvious, a subtle game being played, although it could never be won? It was an intriguing thought, and when put together with the historical aspect, I suddenly had a really interesting concept. Not only that, but the blend of bad boy lumberjack, innocent newcomer, well-meaning townspeople, and this sense of "other"...well that was too good to pass up.

Now I still had to look up things, I still had to do my research. Still, I can't help but think this story would never have come about if I hadn't gravitated to my own love of history and tendency to warp things to my whim (As you can imagine, my parents just love knowing what was in my head during all those family trips). 

Curious to see how all of this could come together? Well you'll just have to read the book to find out!

Kindle    Mocha Memoirs Press

Like many young men at the end of the 1800s, Bill signed on to work in a logging camp. The work is brutal, but it promised a fast paycheck with which he can start his life. Unfortunately, his role model is Big John. Not only is he the camp’s hero, but he’s known for spending his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and lives of so many men their age. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows. It watches and badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door, or does someone else have their own plans for his future?