Steampunk & "The Ghost Box"

My new book "The Ghost Box" is ready for print layout and cover design, for a release date early next spring.  I don't know how many books a year the rest of you write, but two or three is quite enough for me, I think!  James Patterson produces an average of 230 books per year, but I believe in all honesty that he is not a human being, but an organized work farm of alien laborers from the planet Profit.

I'd love to hear from the rest of you what your average yearly word count is.

The  covers a mixture of three genres- Steampunk, Paranormal and Science Fiction.  Maybe we should call it "Dark Urban Fantasy" and leave it at that.

"The White Death" is well underway, and is a mixture of Steampunk, Lovecraft, and Science Fiction.  A seatbelt is required when reading the book.

Next year, though, I'm sticking with one genre category per book.  How about you?

Force Majeure

"Force Majeure" is another of my eBook short stories sold to bring in money to fight plagiarism anywhere, anytime by publishers who sell our work without authorization.  It's the story of a new technology gone very, very bad...

Haints

My short story "Haints" is now available through Kindle.  As with "Electrocuting the Clowns,"  all proceeds will go towards getting acts of plagiarizing for profit to be treated as Consumer Fraud.

Electrocuting the Clowns- The Boyer Free Edition

Yes, it's the David Boyer-Free Edition.  All proceeds from sales of this eBook Boyer-Free edition will go toward fighting plagiarizing publishers.

"Electrocuting the Clowns" was the story Boyer plagiarized from me and then had nominated for a Stoker Award- even though he'd stolen the story!  But we're making progress in the fight.

Not only has the Horror Writers Association written to Deputy Attorney General Tom Irons to prosecute Boyer under Consumer Fraud Laws and the National Writers Union spearheaded this weekend a new letter writing campaign to the Indiana Attorney General's Office, Consumer Fraud Division, but Brian Keene has brought this matter to the attention of thousands of writers who have then been contacting the Indiana AG.

So in the meantime I've begun publishing "Boyer-Free" editions of my short stories on Kindle to help  collect money to continue the fight against plagiarizing publishers.  Every dime goes to pay the lawyers and researchers who are helping us fight these creeps.

Consider buying these stories a donation to fight literary cancer.

Is Amazon Guilty of Consumer Fraud?



I like Amazon.  Love them, in fact.  But can someone tell me their corporate address in case Consumer Fraud Charges need to be filed against them?

We know they're the world's largest lovable book store.  Great prices.  Great inventory.  But guess what?  Now they're a publisher, too.

They publish books.

Many fine authors publish via Amazon.

Guess who else they publish? 

David Boyer, the sleazy plagiarist operating out of Vincennes, IN.

So if you're a writer, and David Boyer under one of his many aliases steals your stuff and publishes it for profit through Amazon, is Amazon guilty, too?  They know he's a plagiarist and have yanked some of his plagiarized works off their internet shelves.  But when he sends them a book like "Shadow Dolls" or "Mystery Indiana," they publish them without checking to see if they're plagarized.

So I ask you, if they know he's a plagiarist because they've had to take down some of his books, and they publish his new books without checking to see if they're plagiarized, are they now accomplices?

If they don't take a stand against David Boyer the Vincennes, IN plagiarist, is it because they don't mind making money off of stolen works?

Does this make them guilty of Consumer Fraud?

Who's Zooming Who?

It's flattering to receive an interview request, isn't it?  Say from a man claiming to be a well credentialed writer named George LaCroix or David Byron or Sean Killian.  He's got a hot project.  You can be in it.

Let's say it includes a spiel like this:

The book will be an in depth look into their lives and careers, as well as an insight into their profession as an individual genre, and how much the genre has changed over the course of time. I think you would make a wonderful addition to the book, and would be honored if you would agree to let me send you some interview questions via email. I'd simply send you the questions via email attachment, you'd fill in your answers, send it back via email. 

Sounds safe enough, doesn't it?  Kind of flattering in a suck-up sort of way.

You get a few short email questions- which you answer at length and give permission for the interviewer to use what you've written so he can make money.  Where's the harm?  Maybe it will get your name out in public just a little more.

What if the man interviewing you turned out to be the David Boyer- the sleaziest plagiarist in the history of copyright infringement?  How would you like your name to be associated with him?  

He didn't tell you who he really was when he contacted you (because he's cyberstalked and misunderstood).  And sometimes he signs the contract with his pseudonym.  Is it a valid contract?  Sometime he signs his real name because it's too late for you, the writer- you write most of the content, you make nothing, he owns the interview and your named is smeared with his reputation.

So, really- who's zooming who?

Isn't it important to know who is interviewing you?

Boyergate Flash- Aliens Arrive in Vincennes, Indiana to Sign InterGalactic Treaty with Notorious Plagiarist!

Looking Around

for

"The Great One"

The town of Vincennes, Indiana became instantly famous today with the confidential admission of a city official that an entepreneurial mission of Aliens from the Snicker's galaxy has arrived to sign a contract with the city's most notorious and prolific plagiarist.

This reporter was priveleged to interview the lead alien negotiator.

In response to my first question, "Hello, what is your name?" he responded "$@&***(^"

A thirteen year old boy with strawberry blond hair was called in to run the alien's answer through Google Voice and Language Translator, which rendered it as "I'm a good boy."

Further calibration of the Google translator gave us this version, "Where is the Great Plagiarist of Vincennes, Indiana?"

"He's running late," I told him. "It's hard work creating fake identities to hide behind when you're selling stolen work. And it's time consuming when you have to lie to the authors, claim a mob of cyberstalkers is after you, tell people your computer was hacked, and even pretend it's not your fault if you inadvertantly used their stories. He'll explain it to you when he gets here."

"$$-^^^^_+!!!," said the alien.

The teenager translated, "Maybe he said goody goody?"

"Why do you want to be trained in the art of plagiarism and copyright infringement?" I asked.

The alien ambassador grew excited and waved his arms up and down while making a hooting noise. His entourage did the same. It was like they were having an extraterrestrial orgasm and quite embarassing for an earthling to watch.

"Wow," said the kid. "They're saying that there's been no theft on their world. They never thought of stealing until the Great Plagiarist contacted them with a potato powered radio transmitter and offered to scan all of earth's books and give it to them for a percentage of the proceeds when they sell them throughout the universe."

"How much do the authors get?" I asked the kid, who duly ran my request through the Google Voice and Language translator.

After my question was translated, the aliens responded with a raucus chorus of owl sounds punctuated by all of them pointing at what I think were their crotches.

"What?" I asked.

"I think they're busting a gut," said the kid.

Suddenly, I realized why it was worth it for them to travel all the way across the galaxy to consult with the Great One of Plagiarism and it made me mad.  With any luck, they would take the great plagiarist back to their own planet to study.

An Open Letter to Amazon

They're big, they've got money and clout and we all need their help to protect our works from plagiary for profit, a.k.a. Consumer Fraud.  NEW: Here's their FAX number in case you want to send a letter of support

206-266-7010 FAX

Amazon Legal Dept. Fax

(Send Them a FAX Saying We Need Them to Contact Tom Irons, Indiana Deputy Attorney General, Consumer Fraud Division and Tell Him Boyer Publishing & Selling Books with Stolen Content is Consumer Fraud!)

Here's the letter I just FAXED them:

*****

October 19, 2011

Amazon.com
Legal Dept.
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226

Reference File No. 10-CP-62157, Consumer Fraud Filing, Office of the Indiana Attorney General, Consumer Fraud Division. Filed with Deputy Attorney General Tom Irons, 302 W. Washington St., 5th Floor, Indianapolis, IN 46204

Dear Amazon Legal Department:

I want you to write a letter.

My name is Ferrel D. Moore and I’ve filed the Consumer Fraud Complaint cited above against the plagiarizing publisher David Boyer of Vincennes, IN. Mr. Boyer has plagiarized over 60 writers and is currently producing extensively plagiarized books using your publishing services and selling these products to unsuspecting consumers using Amazon’s storefront.

Two examples of this are his books “Shadow Dolls” and “Mystery Indiana.” In them, he has plagiarized Richard Matheson, Mr. Matheson’s son, George R.R. Martin and many others. To see the extent of his documented plagiaries, you may visit the site we prepared for Mr. Irons, the Deputy Attorney General of the state of Indiana, Consumer Fraud Division. The website address is https://sites.google.com/site/bthoughtful/

The National Writers Union, Local 1981 UAW, the SFWA and the HWA have all written Mr. Irons in support of my filing, as well as hundreds of writers across the country.

I and many other authors have filed consumer fraud charges against Mr. Boyer. We are filing consumer fraud because the laws apply. He is selling stolen works, re-packaging them under false label as his own works and then selling them to consumers across the country using Amazon’s publishing services and storefront to profit even though this leads to the “…leads to sales wherein the consumers either do not receive the good or service or the good or service is materially different than what the seller initially represented it to be.” Which is, in a word, consumer fraud.

To the best of all of our knowledge, Amazon is unknowingly participating in this enterprise. Amazon’s reputation for dealing swiftly and efficiently with such instances of fraud is impeccable.

It is for this reason that I’m asking you to send a letter of support for our efforts to treat this as consumer fraud. We, both the writers and cited organizations supporting our efforts, understand that copyright violations are involved. These avenues are, however, too expensive for the average writer to pursue, especially when the matter crosses state lines. For example, I spent over $7,000 having my works removed from his books that you and others published.

Consumer fraud is a different matter. There is no cost for a writer to file a consumer fraud complaint with the appropriate state Attorney General’s Office.

But we need your help to stop this plagiarizing publisher and others like him. He changes his name, changes his book titles, and then publishing the same stolen works all over again. But you have his social security number, which he uses to publish these works. It doesn’t mean that every word he publishes is plagiarized. It takes time to dig into that.

In cases such as those documented on the website I directed you to, the evidence is clear.

Would you please consider sending a letter to the Deputy Attorney General of the State of Indiana supporting the principal of my Consumer Fraud filing? You are not the police force for the book world, but you are the single strongest, most respected presence in the world for the written word and we very much need your help.

Google David Boyer, plagiarist. See what you come up with.

Then write a letter, if you think the cause is just, to:

Deputy Attorney General Tom Irons
Office of the Indiana State Attorney General
Consumer Fraud Division
302 W. W. Washington St., 5th Floor,
Indianapolis, IN 46204

I’m posting this as an open letter to you on my writers blog http://thewriterandthewhitecat.blogspot.com so that the other hundreds of other writers sending letters to Mr. Irons and organizations who have done the same can see what I’m asking. There are too many of them involved to contact them separately.

Ferrel D. Moore
White Cat Publications, LLC.
33080 Industrial Road
Livonia, MI 48150
editor@whitecatpublications.com

FrankenBoyer

Let me introduce you to everyone's new favorite Halloween toy.  A combination of Frankenstein and Gumby.  It's a  futile creature doll modeled after the plagiarizing publisher David Boyer of Vincennes, IN.

The idea came to a toy manufacturer after reading how Boyer tried to stitch together past plagiarisms from real authors into a new, nauseatingly bad  book.   He calls it "Shadow Dolls."  Why is ithis patchwork plagiarism so bad? One six year old expert think it's  "the bad man" stitched them together like a blind seamstress suffering from palsey.  I tend to agree.  But whatever the cause of his ineptness the result is stomach pain bad.

Let's try to understand this new failure of the puerile plagiarist.  Imagine if you will a plagiarist- a man with no creative skills of his own, and so low a character that he steals writings from teenagers and senior citizens alike- trying to blend a potpourri of plagiarism into a novel.  The idea can barely be contained within the human skull.

Perhaps we can gain insight by reaching back into the world of fiction.  In the novel Frankenstein, for example, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is brilliant but misguided in his attempts to create life.  Unfortunately, it was his bad judgement to include a defective brain in his newly created creature.  The results were dubious at best and should be intuitively obvious to the discerning student of human nature.

Likewise, when the pitiful plariazing publisher David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana attempted to create a book that would be his own from multiple writer's work and not get caught, he started out with a brain issue.

Which is why, to this day, Gumby doesn't write.  You see, if you write using the mind of Gumby, for sure you're going to get Pokied.

Writer Activists

Activism among writers has a long and proud history.  We're good at fighting for others rights.  Non-fiction writers are most frequently given credit for prodding our social consciences, but fiction writers, too, have a proud history of doing the same in ways that are equally if not more forceful.  Victor Hugo, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Steinbeck and James Baldwin are good examples of this.

But what about our own rights?   How well do we stack up on this front?

A.C. Crispin, Victoria Strauss and Richard C. White of Writer Beware® are personal heroes of mine for their work in keeping us informed about those who would pirate or infringe upon our rights.  The SFWA, MWA and Horror Writers have shone marvelous backbone in the fight, too, as organizations that actively stand up for their members.  The National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981/ AFL-CIO not only has helped me spearhead the effort to get pirating publishers to be investigated and convicted under state Consumer Fraud laws, but they also provide grievance redress. 

I also want to thank all of you out there who have respectfully written to Mr. Tom Irons of the Indiana Attorney General's Office, Consumer Fraud Division to prosecute David Boyer for his theft of so many of our works, putting his own name on them and then selling them for his personal profit.  You are truly friends of every honest writer out there.

But for those of you who haven't written Mr. Irons yet, why not?

If this method of using Consumer Fraud legislation against plagiarizing publishers is again successful in Indiana, then when you need a method to go after a publisher who has plagiarized you, it will be there for you, too.  You will be able to file a complaint against the crooked publishing company in the state where they stole your work.

We've all got to help each other stand up to these plagiarizing publishers.

We're so good at sticking up for the rights of others, now it's time to stand up for our own rights.

Bigfoot Still Angry at David Boyer- Revisiting a Little Known Story

Bigfoot Needed a Ride to Vincennes, Indiana

But Developed Engine Trouble Along the Way

I was hot on the trail of another David Boyer exclusive by getting the scoop on why Bigfoot was traveling across the country to see the famous plagiarist in his home town of Vincennes, Indiana.  We were half-way through the wilds of Ohio and the hairy hominid was hurrying to reach the border before sundown. I had to run to keep up with him. Being ten foot tall, his stride was enormous.

The seismic simian had just astonished me by stating he wanted to be a writer.

"Had you thought of basketball instead?" I said as we crested another of Ohio's annoying hills. "There's lots of money in basketball for a guy your size."

"Bigfoot no punk yeti! Bigfoot aim big. Be famous writer like Stephen King."

His words rumbled across the open land like thunder and his eyes were red-yellow and fierce. I resisted the urge to look down and see if he really did have big feet.

"Why are going to see David Boyer?" I asked and added, "Could we sit down on a stump or something?  I'm out of breath."

The gentle giant stopped and looked at me apologetically. "Sorry," he said. "Bigfoot no fit in car. And cheap foreign flying saucer crap out over Toledo."

We found a stump large enough in diameter to support his behind and a log for me to sit on. He sat down rather quietly for a creature weighing over twelve hundred pounds. And in the afternoon sun, he actually looked dignified except for his face being completely covered with fur and those huge teeth. Perhaps by email I'll suggest he consider cologne as a wardrobe accessory as well.

"So," I repeated, "why are you meeting with Mr. Boyer?"

"Bigfoot need help.  Have writer's block," he said, casting his eyes toward the ground. "Can't write worth beef jerky."

"Wait, David Boyer to help you?  He's a terrible writer. He told me so himself in an email."

"But he no have writer's block. He writer lots of books.  Bigfoot have writer's block."

I stood up and walked over to my new friend.

"You don't need to go see Boyer," I said. "I can tell you why Boyer doesn't have writer's block."

"You can?" he said, with a huge smile and a mouthful of blocky teeth. "You make Bigfoot very happy."

"Sure," I said. "His own fiction was so bad it was hard to get published, so he just started stealing other people's work and publishing that under his name or one of his aliases. Most of his work is stolen.  That way he didn't have to deal with writer's block. You see? He was a publisher. Writers submitted their work and he just stole their stories. That's in addition to stealing from writers on StoryMania."

Bigfoot said nothing for a few minutes, then he stood, beat his chest and howled.

"What? What?" I yelled in a panic.

"Bigfoot put story up on StoryMania."

Uh-oh, I thought

Call to Action for All Writers- Please Write the Indiana Attorney General

I'm asking for your help.

The Attorney General's Office of Indiana is looking at whether or not to shut down a crooked publisher named David Boyer of Vinncennes, Indiana by using Consumer Fraud regulations.  These can carry criminal penalties as in the case of David Caswell.  Boyer steals other writers works (take a look at the size of the partial list of victims on the left hand side of B-Thoughtful's blog - it's over double that now and she's still updating her database) and illegally sells them to consumers claiming he wrote them.  He steals our stuff and sells it illegally, claiming he is the author.

Remember, like all publishers and or writers, he is operating as a business.  A shoddy, tawdry business, but subject to business and Consumer Fraud regulations nonetheless.  Let's get them enforced.  If it works in Indiana, we can expect similar decisions by AG offices across the country.  If they're not on board, we take the campaign to them.

In the past, the only recourse a writer had was to file an expensive, time consuming and ultimately unproductive lawsuit against creeps like Boyer who them claim they're bankrupt.  Help me change that.  Tell the Attorney General's office for the State of Indiana how important it is for this plagiarist publisher to be subject to the same penalties as any other crooked business.  We want him pursued under Consumer Fraud regulations at their cost, not ours.  He's defrauding consumers by selling them our stuff with his name on it.

International emails of support to the Attorney General of Indiana are also very important.  Show him that writers of the world are you united in their common goal to protect writers.  The email is listed below.
Here's where to send your respectful but firm letters and or emails of support and be sure to include the File Number File No. 10-CP-62157:

Tom Irons



Consumer Protection Division,


Office of the Indiana Attorney General


302 W. Washington St., 5th Floor


Indianapolis, IN 46204

email: Tom.Irons@atg.in.gov
 
 
If we don't act together to convince the Attorney General to shut down the creep David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana you might be next on the list.  And if he keeps getting away with it, how many more people can steal your work and get it away with it?  Send an email, send a letter or call and leave Tom Irons a respectful but firm message that we need his help.  If you're a member of a writer's group or writing organization, ask them to write, too. 
 
If we can get the Romance Writers of America behind this effort, this guy will go down.  If the SFWA gets behind us, this guy will go down.  That goes for the Myster Writers of America and the HWA, too.  Anyone who knows anyone in those organizations, please ask for their support in this letter writing campaign.  They know how to get out the troops.  I've already contacted the National Writers Union.
 
So now I'm asking you personally to help by contacting Mr. Irons.
 
Let's put a stop to writers having to spend a fortune defending their rights when it's really not only about copyright violation, it's about Consumer Fraud.

October Edition of White Cat Magazine

The October Edition of White Cat Magazine is now out.  I'd like to thank all of the many writers who contributed to it.  And for those that didn't make it into this issue- please submit again!

Lady Killers

This year at Conclave I'll be making a variety of presentations including "Werewolves of Michigan," "Michigan's Most Haunted," "Secrets of the Emerald Tablet" and "Using Female Assassins & Secret Societies in Your Novel."  Of these topics, I think Female Assassins will be the most well attended.

The last ten years have seen an explosion of female assassins in both print and movies.  The movies have been particularly generous in this regard- "Kill Bill," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Aeon Flux" and "Ultraviolet" come to mind immediately.  There's a reason for this, and it making use of this trend can really ratchet up the tension in your novel.  And if you use it right, there's a big chance you will have better luck selling your story.

Think of it this way- a lot money is spent by the entertainment industry on stories involving female assassins and secret societies.  So why haven't you included one or the other in your own fiction?

The Ghost Box

Sometimes I find it hard to pay attention to daily life while I'm writing.  Phone calls go answered, emails ignored, friends and family thought of in passing but sure to be there when the story is finished.  The world stops for us while we write.  Everything is on hold except the story.

The last year has been like that for me.  On top of starting White Cat Magazine, I finished writing two novels- "Tainted Blood" and "The Ghost Box." which are now in the edit process.  They're both a bit dark and wild.  In "Tainted Blood," mercernaries track an ancient werewolf through the cities of Detroit.  A great deal of this sort of thing occurs unnoticed in the streets of Detroit, especially during hockey season.

"The Ghost Box" is the novel I wrote after seeing artist James Baxter's painting "Incident at Track 13."  I was writing a ghost story at the time, saw the painting of what looked to be a Civil War alien abduction, and suddenly saw how to blend my story with that imagery to make a suspense novel revolving around aliens, ghosts and a paranormal investigation gone bad.  It's based on a true story.  Okay, maybe not, but after living in that world as I wrote the novel, it seemed more real than daily life.

You see, it's tough staying in touch with the real world when you write this kind of stuff.  Then again, writers live most of their lives in the worlds they create; we just visit reality every now and then to drop off our laundry.

Market News

Editor Charles P. Zaglanis opened his new company “Edit Assistance” this last week to provide a variety of of editorial services to those of us writers who need constructive input and developmental editing. He and his staff are accepting submissions from both published authors and non-published writers.

Although Mr. Zaglanis is best known for his work at Elder Signs Press and Dark Wisdom magazine, he is also highly respected for his skills as a writer. His story “Isle of Dreams” in the anthology “High Seas Cthulhu” is a masterpiece of dark fiction.

Firms like Edit Assistance have an interesting place in today’s competitive writing world, where the output demanded of us requires that we keep a faster pace than in the past. Many publishing houses have reduced their level of editorial control, and expect more of this to be handled by the individual writer.

But the faster we work, the more mistakes we make and the more editorial input we need. Bestselling authors realize what developing writers don’t: it helps to hire professionals. Professional writers need professional help. If developing writers ever want to be professionals, they can get a leg up on the competition by hiring someone to polish their manuscript. A polished manuscript capturers an editor’s eye, believe me.

So we should welcome Mr. Zaglanis’s help. We all need it.

I wrote this in approximately three minutes. Look for the mistakes. Let me know what you find.

New Fiction by Vesper

Vesper (the wonderfully talented and intellectually gifted Cora Pop) is a well known presence in the blogging world through her blog Chick with a Quill. Today we’re proud to present a short story by her that, although it exceeds our normal lengths, was such an intriguing read that our editors couldn’t pass it up. It’s called “It came from Planet Mars.”

She hails from Dollard des Ormeaux, Quebec, which is not so very far from my favorite town in all the world- Montreal. I lived in Toronto for six years and Montreal for six months, and during that time I came to love the imaginative scope of Canadian writers.

When you read Cora’s story, you’ll see why. Click here to read it.

Accepting eBook Submissions

Starting September 1st, White Cat Magazine will be open for eBook submissions. Guidelines will be posted this weekend.

Also, we will be posting new Flash Fiction selections mid-next week. Thanks so much to the wondeful writers who have submitted work to us. We’ve had so many that in August we will be posting one new piece of Flash Fiction every week.

The short stories have been so interesting we’ll also be increasing the number that we accept!

A Victory Against Plagiarist David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana

Great news in the fight against serial plagiarist David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana!!

The Attorney General's Office for the State of Indiana has written me that since they cannot mediate the matter with Boyer (who couldn't see that one coming), that they now need "... evidence of a pattern of deceptive conduct in order to sue under the consumer protection statues we enforce."

Fortunately, B Thoughtful compiled a massive pile of evidence proving conclusively Boyer's pattern of plagiary against innocent authors!

So now we are contacting Boyer's victims and packaging up the evidence for all the people we've found that he plagiarized and will be presenting it to the AG of Indiana.

This is a key breakthrough in information for busting serial plagiarists like David Boyer (under his plethora of aliases), Richard Ridyard (who we're now actively after), Angela Priest and many more.  Establishing the pattern for the state AG's lets them go after them.

We're setting up the legal defense fund (adding a Donate Button to the Fight Against Plagiarism, packaging up the evidence, and then going after David Boyer first and foremost!  We'll need lots of help, so I'm contacting the National Writers Union.  Every writer should join them as their first and foremost defense.


Finally a way to bust these plagiarists!

Jeani Rector's Publishing Success!

Jeani Rector

Jeani Rector is an impressive woman with a strong sense of purpose.  As you read the interview below (which is also posted on White Cat Magazine), I think you'll be impressed by her combination of talent vision, self discipline, and focus.  Add to that the fact that she's a great person, and you'll see why I was so anxious to interview her.

*****

Editor: Jeani, you’ve had wonderful success as a writer, an editor, and most recently as the publisher of the online magazine at www.thehorrorzine.com, but for those of our readers who are being introduced to you for the first time, can you tell us more about your career?

 Good question! I started off as a writer, and I would submit short stories to online magazines. Suddenly the recession hit in 2008, and all sorts of zines began folding. When even The Harrow went defunct, I asked myself: “Who is going to replace these zines?” I must have been looking into a mirror when I asked myself that question. LOL

 Serendipity happened. I got an offer to join in a website building class free of charge, a freak thing. I said, “Let me think about it.” No I didn’t! I said YES!

Start-up costs for The Horror Zine weren’t cheap. I had to purchase the name and also the domain space because I didn’t want to use any free websites like webs.com or weebly.com. I wanted full control and ownership of what goes on my site, and you don’t get that for free. Plus there was the website software costs: I use Adobe Dreamweaver, a very expensive choice, but that was the negative of being invited to a free website building class…they used Adobe products. AH HA! Nothing is free! There was a catch! Too late now! I’ve been caught in the catch!

So anyway, I started The Horror Zine in July 2009. And at the end of this year, 2011, I am going to register The Horror Zine legally as a small business. I need to do it in anticipation of the book titled WHAT FEARS BECOME: AN ANTHOLOGY FROM THE HORROR ZINE , which will be available in October or November 2011. 

Editor:  Your hard work has been rewarded with numerous prestigious awards.  Can you list some of them for us and explain the process by which your magazine was selected?

Well, thank you! Not numerous awards, not yet. But The Horror Zine has won the 2010 Predators and Editors Awards for Best Fiction Magazine and Best Poetry Magazine. We have been Long Listed for Best Magazine by the British Fantasy Society twice. And we did have a presence at the World Horror Convention in both 2010 and 2011.

You have to remember, The Horror Zine has only been operating since July 2009. Give us another year, and maybe we can add to that list of awards! 

Editor:  The Horror Zine has been a tremendous success and in large part many of us attribute that to your talent at both bringing out the best in people and encouraging established writers to contribute to your magazine while you bring them together on your site with talented writers who deserve recognition.  How exactly do you that?

Because I had been a writer, I knew a lot of magazine editors. Trevor Denyer of Midnight Street Magazine (who incidentally wrote one of the best ghost stories I have ever read) introduced me to Ramsey Campbell, and one thing led to another, and now The Horror Zine is frequented by best-selling authors.

The Horror Zine has been privileged to publish such “masters of the macabre” as Ramsey Campbell, Graham Masterton, Joe R. Lansdale, Simon Clark, Piers Anthony, Tom Piccirilli, Elizabeth Massie, Melanie Tem, Ronald Malfi, Conrad Williams, Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Scott Nicholson, Jeff Strand, Gregg Hurwitz, and the current issue features Susie Moloney.

But I never forget our mission: to support and promote struggling writers, poets, and artists. So even though we have a lot of star power, we also have some of the most talented newcomers and lesser-knowns in the business.

You ask: “How do I do that?” I do it by treating my contributors with the courtesy and the respect that they deserve. I work hard and remain honest. They are all important to me, every one. And I am grateful to them all. And I tell them that, because I mean it.

Editor:  Where do you see your writing and publishing efforts taking you in the future?  Will your emphasis be more on your own writing career or will you focus on becoming even more successful as a publisher?

 Another good question. Can I dodge this one? No? LOL.

Okay, here’s the deal: I will be leaving my full-time job as an analyst this December to devote more time to The Horror Zine. But! Leaving an eight to five job frees up time that I can use to finally begin writing again. And the next book I write will not be horror; it will be historical fiction about the 1930s Great Depression in the Midwest USA. I have run the idea past the literary agent I have, and she agrees to represent that book. Pretty nice to get an agent even before I write the first word for that book!

So stay tuned folks! Kind of like, “But wait! There’s more!”

In the meantime, come visit us at http://www.thehorrorzine.com, and look for the book WHAT FEARS BECOME: AN ANTHOLOGY FROM THE HORROR ZINE coming out around Halloween 2011. WHAT FEARS BECOME not only contains works by most of the writers I have already named, but it will also contain a never-published-before story from Bentley Little. How’s that for a teaser?

International Submissions Pouring in for Fall Issue of White Cat Magazine

We’d like to take a moment to express our surprise and gratification with the number of stories that we’ve received from writers around the world!

This is an exciting development for us, and we’ll be increasing the number of stories included in the new edition to include a special section for international writers who have been thoughtful enough to send their work to us.

Our editor lived for many years in Canada, and was especially grateful to see the large number of Canadian stories pouring in!

Over the coming months, we’ll be exploring ways to make White Cat Magazine multi-lingual.

White Cat Publications Asked to Publish eBooks

Due to an increasing number of inquiries, we're considering publishing a select number of eBooks under our White Cat Publications, LLC imprint. To begin with, we will be publishing both a yearly eBook and print anthology of the best stories we publish here.


After that, we're interested in non-ficiton works that are focused on the How-To, self-help and inspirational genres. From there, we'll look at a variety of fiction focusing in on mystery, suspense, romance, western and science fiction genres.


We'll be moving into these areas beginning January 1st, 2012. We're interested in your feedback before we begin the process.

White Cat Magazine Has a New Contest

We have a new monthly contest at White Cat Magzine!

At the beginning of each month we'll post a picture as the basis for a short story competition (2,500 word max). Send us the most intersting story you can come up with about what you think is going on in the photo and we'll select the best to showcase at the beginning of the next month.

The photo to the left is titled "The Escape." You come up with the story. Deadline is 25th of July. Our standard rates apply.

Ignite Your Imagination

Which is more interesting- your writing or your life?  Think carefully before you answer.

Do you write about interesting things in an uninteresting way?

Do you do the same things day after day, month after month, year after year?  Is television more exciting than your life?  How can you hope to write interesting fiction if all of this describes your life?

Writing is no substitute for an interesting life.  Research is no substitute for experience.  This applies to your imaginary life as well as your real life.  What I'm saying is if you can't live large, then dream large.  It will show in your writing.  No one wants to read stories about people who settle written by writers who settle.

Here's a three step recipe to put some passion in your writing so your readers don't fall asleep on you:


1.  Read Charles Gramlich's "Write With Fire."

2.  Quit attending writer's groups and pay attention to life around you.  And maybe quit getting your weather reports from weather.com and pay attention to the sky.  Ignore group input and think for yourself for a change.  You'll be amazed how much more interesting your writing gets.  Vary your life routine a little.  Don't keep doing the same things day after day after day.

3.  Read Charles Gramlich's "Write With Fire" again.  Seriously.  Your writing will immediately improve.

First Issue!

The first issue of our new web magazine is now up at White Cat Publications.  Come on over and take a look.  Let us know what you think.

Every new enterprise should acknowledge those who made it possible.

I would like to dedicate this first collection of stories to William Jones, whose patient mentoring has been such a tremendous help with my own writing and so many other authors. William is a wonderfully gifted writer and editor. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of being acquainted with his stories, I wholeheartedly recommend that you seek them out. He is one of those authors who can write exceptionally in any genre he puts his mind to. Although his most recent novel is Pallid Light, I have always been especially fond of his The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson and his science fiction anthology Artifacts.

William has his PhD in Literature, is an engineer, a professor at a prestigious technical university, and undoubtedly the finest writing teacher a writer could ever have the privelege to know. He is one of the few people I know who can successfully correct, instruct and inspire sincere students of the craft.
I would also like to thank the writers who contributed to this first issue. Without out their fine efforts, this would not have been possible. Some names you might be familiar with, some may be new to you, but they are all impressive in their own right.

We'll be publishing new collections at least every three months, post twice weekly and have ongoing reviews and interviews.

Going forward we'll be publishing print anthologies and a selection of new novels and non-fiction. We're open to suggestions and comments to the me at editor@whitecatpublications.com.

Prep Time for the New Magazine

I want to thank everyone for their feedback on podcasts- it helped a lot.  After looking around at other sites and consider what both Charles Gramlich and G said, We're going to offer podcasts on he new magazine site based on story length as a few other sites do- 5 to 10 minute stories, 15 minutes stories, etc.  Never would have thought about it with you guys.

Meantime, we won't be posting anymore as everyone here will be involved in starting the new web magazine right up until July 1st.  The new address is http://www.whitecatpublications.com/ 

The painting above is by a brilliant artist named James Baxter of Georgia whose creative talents seem to know no bounds.  I've used this picture with his permission.  Its spirit seems to embody where it is that this new venture will be taking us all with the new magazine.

Anyway, be back July 1st at the new address!

Another Audio Podcast- "Counter Creatures"



Counter Creatures
by Ferrel D. Moore

This is the third of three podcasts we're doing to learn something about the way this technology works.  It is the longest of the three- the original story is roughly 8,000 words.  That makes it about an hour in length if you're brave enough to help out and see how it plays. 

"Blunt Ed" (screenhandle) at Shocklines gave us the following feedback after checking out the download size of this latest podcast:

"Take a look at Audacity -- http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ -- it's a free prog for recording. By the look of your file sizes, you've probably got too high a bitrate for voice. I went to stream your reading, but it didn't start for me, so I went to right click and save the file to my hard drive and found it was 230 meg or so. If that's at 180 k sampling rate, you could reduce the file size by two thirds by reducing the bit rate to 60 k, which is usually fine for voice recordings. Changing from a .wav file to an .mp3 format will make a huge difference, too."


Great advice.  We'll be re-formatting these and re-presenting them on the new magazine along with other authors reading their stories.  So thanks again for helping the staff learn. 
 
Remember, this is roughly an hour in length.  So make popcorn if you're going to listen.  Let me know how long you think an audio podcast should be.  How long is too long for you as a listener?  5 minutes?  10 minutes?  30 minutes?

To hear the audio presentation of "Counter Creatures," by Ferrel D. Moore, click LISTEN .

A Ghost Story (Audio Podcast)

Haints

To hear the audio presentation of "Haints," by Ferrel D. Moore click LISTEN.

Podcast- Ricci's Last Night

Our First Ever Podcast!

To hear the audio presentation of "Ricci's Last Night," click LISTEN.

Nyx Malache- Sci Fi at Full Throttle with the Most Interesting Female Lead Ever

Nyx Malache is one of the books in the Nyx science fiction series by publisher, editor and wonderfully inventive writer Tyree Campbell.

The main character is Nyx, a cold blooded assassin for an organization known as Blacklight- an organization that does not officially exist.  Her boss, a mysterious and coldly analytical figure, has dispatched her to the tropical planet Malache to kill a courier who is about to transfer classified information.  When her contact identifies the wrong target, Nyx kills the wrong man.  Ordered back for damage control, she finds herself in the middle of an intercorporate and transgalactic conflict where both sides want her dead.  If that were not enough, she learns that an old nemesis, the only person ever to defeat her,

As the backcover further explains, "her only allies are the lemuroid, pacifist, sexually-tilted Malasy, and an anthropologist of questionable loyalties.  To win this one, Nyx has to recover her lost femininity and make the coldest sacrifice of all."

I recommend this book to any reader.  It is an electric congruence of action, style and brain bending explorations of everything we hold in sacred awe or that causes our prehensile DNA to cringe.  It is wildly but tastefully populated with sexual divergences, cold blooding killings and a female lead character unlike any you have ever met.  These days female assassins are a dime a dozen, but none of them holds a candle to Nyx.  She's what you'd expect if the little girl in the movie "The Professional" grew up and went to work for a power hungry intergalactic corporation as their assassin in chief.

Although the books is only just under 200 pages in length, you're going to be amazed at the levels of character and plot complexities that booby-trap this story.  Definitely worth buying along with the others in this series.  You can find it at Sam's Dot Publishing or your favorite online bookstore.

After you read this book, you'll realize that although Tyree Campbell may look like a nice enough guy, underneath his gentle exterior lurks a dangerous mind.

Boyer's Stoker Scam

Boyer a Stoker Nominee?

Have you been nominated for a Stoker Award lately?  It's the supreme award for Dark Fiction issued yearly by the HWA.  You probably think it's a lot of work to get nominated for a Stoker.  First you have to be recommended (lots are recommended), then you have to make the cut to be nominated. 

But wait, there's an easier way- The Boyer Way!  All you have to do, according to David Boyer, the Vincennes, Indiana plagiarist, is write in the bio of one of your books that you were nominated.  Just put it there, and that means you really were nominated for a Stoker award by the HWA.  You don't really have to be nominated.  Since you've claimed your imaginary nomination in black in white, it must be true.  Name it and claim it.

People claiming they received awards or nominations for awards they either weren't nominated for or didn't get are the bane of our industry.  And David Boyer, the Vincennes, IN plagiarist, is the most notorious of these.  He claims he was nominated for a Stoker (for the story he stole from me), but he wasn't (it was only recommended).  He just slaps the imaginary nomination in his bio and figures readers are too lazy to check it out.  After all, someone would have stopped him if he was lying, wouldn't they?

Not really.  Readers are loathe to think writers are that dishonest.  But they're wrong.  Writers like Boyer are that dishonest.

It's the oldest trick in a con man's book- claim you were nominated for something.  No one checks unless you claim you won.  There are lots of writers out there without scruples who claim in their bio that they were nominated.  They figure we're too dumb to catch them at it.

Why would a writer risk their integrity when things like this are so easy to check?  In Boyer's case, he has no integrity.  He's a plagiarist.

What have we come to as writers when the award claims are more important than the quality of our stories?

$50 Cash Prize for the Best Title for My Shocking New Book

Looking for Boyer's Brain



For the last few months, I've been researching and documenting the sleazy career of the Vincennes, Indiana plagiarist named David Boyer.  Once I realized that he was arguably the worst plagiarist and con man in the history of writing, I just had to get the story out there.  That's why I'm writing the book about him.  Because there is so much you don't know and more to come.  He has repeated over and again that there is nothing anyone can do to stop him.  But I think the truth will stop him and others who violate our copyrights.

B Thoughtful has yet another Boyer plagiary smackdown involving Dean Koontz soon.  Wait until you read it.  Boyer's utter contempt for writers will astound you. 

B is focused on the evidence against Boyer.  Because he plagiaized my story "Electrocuting the Clowns" I'm investigating not only what he did, but also how and why he did it.  What drives a man to steal stories and interviews and claim they are his?  I'll give you the answer in his own words. When the full scope of his plagiarized interviews and stories becomes available, Boyer's creepiness will amaze you.  The underlying techniques he used to get stories and interview to steal will show you why he's known as the "Predator Editor."

He refuses to confess and negotiate restitution to his growing list of victims some of whom are obscure and others who are famous.  I almost wrote him once to ask why he just didn't confess and offer to work out a payment plan with everyone based on legitamite book sales, but I didn't because he's too arrogant to make a complete, real confession and too controlling to negotiate restitution with his victims.

I'm just past the mid-point of the book with a projected completion date of June 1st, but I'm stuck for a title.  I was thinking about "Looking for Boyer's Brain," but it just didn't sound right for a serious work.  "The Man Who Would be King" is a little over-used, but oddly appropriate.  I won't use it unless I can successfully prove that he plagiarized Stephen King, which quite a few people are researching right now.  Rumor is that he plagiarized Clive Barker, but that remains to be seen.

So I'm offering a cash prize of $50.00 to whoever I judge has come up with the best suggested title.  My publisher hates the idea, but you readers were the ones that helped me get the ball rolling to wrap up this con man.  That's why I want to cut you in.  But I'm the sole judge and my opinions are final and I really want something sharp.  Contest ends June 1st, when we start the new web magazine currently under construction at White Cat Publications.

So help me out, will you?  $50 is $50.

David Boyer Caught Plagiarizing Dean Koontz!!

It's official!

David Boyer- the Vincennes, Indiana plagiarist- has made the jackass move of all time.  He actually plagiarized Dean Koontz. 

Want to see the proof?  Go to http://b-thoughtful.blogspot.com/

And you wonder why I'm writing a book about Boyer?

Please Send Photos of Your Muse for the New Web Magazine

Mr. Little At Work

We're still working on the new website at http://www.whitecatpublications.com/, and one of the features we'd like to add is a gallery of our reader's writing muse.  If you are willing to help with this project, please send along a photo of your muse (people are acceptable, according to Mr. Little) to editor@thewriterandthewhitecat.com and we'll post it up for you.

Mr. Little fills in with the Mary Shelley coffee cup when the White Cat isn't available.

And, we added a post on the contests section for the new website where we're looking for Flash Fiction.  Feel free to offer any design or structural suggestions.  Right now the goal is to have the first three podcast short stories up by the end of next week.  So drop by while it's being constructed.  Company is always appreciated.