Sex and the Writer- Part Five of Five

Climax.

The big moment.

The heart pounding build-up where the tension is almost unbearable.

This is what they’re paying you for—to turn that unbearable tension into a successful climax.

If a writer can’t deliver, there’s no sense for a reader to climb into their reading bed.

If sexuality can teach a writer anything, it’s that a writer isn't worth reading unless they can deliver a climax that literally leaves their readers gasping.  It really is what they’re paying us for.

Are you up to it?

Are you committed to it?  Do you lust after it, are you obsessed with it, will you make the moves you know the reader needs and wants?

Or are you just writing for yourself?  If you are, why do you string them along?  They won’t be happy if you promise and don’t deliver.

You must always, always keep your partner in mind.

Who is your partner in this creative consummation?

Your reader.

If you forget them while you’re writing, you’re really just dancing in the dark.

And that’s only half as much fun.

Sex and the Writer- Part Two of Five

You have to have it if you want to write.

It's hard to find because it's hiding somewhere between cliche and moral blindness.  But you have to have it.  You really have to want something.  You have to lust after someone or something in order for people to want to read what you write.  It's that simple.

Lust puts us in motion.  We have to move to get want we want.  We have to move to be interesting.

Lust keeps us focused.  

Really, you can only lust after one thing at a time.  Multi-tasking is a myth for writers.  A writer can "what if" their story to death.  What if this, what if that?  What if we just stay on point and tell the story?  But writers are creative.  After all, we're just making this stuff up.  So how do we keep the story on track?

Lust takes care of that.

Lust prioritizes.

Have you ever videotaped yourself while you're writing?  Do you  seem consumed with passion when you type?  Does your intensity threaten to melt your keyboard?

Or do you look boring?  Maybe you are bored.  Maybe you're writing the way you do when you you're having sex while watching television over your partner's shoulder.

Maybe you don't really love your story.  Maybe you aren't really obsessed with bringing your characters to life.  Maybe they aren't really your friends and lovers or enemies.

You could use a little lust in your writing life.

Your story could, too.

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.

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?

Make It Your New Year's Resolution to Join the National Writers Union

Join the National Writers Union

I'm a proud member of the National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981 and today I'm asking you to join, too.  We represent both fiction and nonfiction writers.  But, you may say, I became a writer/poet/screenplay writer/ magazine freelancer to be a creatively independent professional. Why should I join a union?

Put aside your stereotypes for a minute and I'll tell you why.  This isn't about politics- it's about protecting your work and your income as a writer no matter which end of the political spectrum you embrace.

It's a fact.  In this day and age, writers need representation.  I know from first-hand experience.  When I needed help, the National Writers Union was there for me.  But do you need to join this union?  I think you should because of the benefits.  This quote from the NWU Home Page makes the case:

"Now, more than ever, with the consolidation of power into the hands of ever-larger corporate entities and with the advent of technologies that facilitate the exploitation of a writer’s work, writers need an organization with the clout and know-how to protect our interests."

Corporations are taking over the publishing industry like never before.  The National Writers Union has stood up to the likes of the New York Times.  They raised the warning flag about Google moving in on our copyrights.  Believe me, they can stand with you for fair treatment from your publisher, no matter how big or small that publisher or media giant is. 

And writers suffer financially as much and sometimes more than the rest of the workforce during these difficult times. Many of us don't have health insurance, dental and/or vision insurance. We can't always afford lawyers.  We don't know where to go for contract advice. When our work is being threatened by plagiarists, copyright infringment or publishers that don't respect our electronic rights, most writers stand alone. When we're not paid on time or at all by publishers, what can we do? What do we do?

Most writers can't afford to stand up to an Indie Press publisher when they're not paid on time or at all, much less stand up to a large publishing house. In fact, most freelance writers can't even get a press pass.

Regular readers of this blog know that I was plagiarized a while back, and after it sunk in that someone had stolen from me,do you know who I turned to for both advice and moral support? It was to you, my fellow bloggers, and the National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981. So I thought I should bring the two of you together. Why might my fellow bloggers/ writers be interested in the NWU?  Because the internet is still full of scam publishers and plagiarists and because the NWU is still the only labor union that represents writers.


My father was a Union President at the Post Office. He also owned his own business, repairing appliances at night. He believed in the right to being an independent, and he also believed in collective representation. The two are not mutually contradictory.  As writers, most of us work independently at our writing business, but, like my father, I believe we still have the right to benefit from professional collective representation.

Stay with me for the next two posts and I'll tell you why being a Union member doesn't take the romance out of writing for me, it puts the excitement back in it!

"So You Want to Write a Novel"- a Masterwork by dwkazzie

The Best Discussion on Being a Writer Ever

(Wish I'd Written This, but Hat's Off to You

dwkazzie, Whoever You Are!)