The Fear Behind the Smiles

Mini-Hiatus... Kinda

Took a brief mini-break from the interwebs this past weekend. I did things like go outside, catch up on much-needed rest, and.... read a BOOK. Not an electronic book, but an actual printed page book. Mr. Pants, my house panther, was all about this break from electronic bondage and decided he would help me in my efforts by pinning me to the couch. He also inspected every bite of food I ate... you know, in case it was poisoned.

My trusty sidekick and I even took long walks through the backyard where he got his fill of watching the hell out of birds and squirrels.

It made me realize something.... I need a break.

While I will be on email and such daily (it can't be helped), starting tonight I will be taking a bit of a hiatus from the electric leech.

Expect new stories and shop updates upon my official return, but in the meantime, feel free to browse my previous posts and read the stories I've written.

Enjoy them all with a good cup of coffee or tea, prefereably outside or near a window where you can get some sunshine or some moonlight.

Bon nuit, mes amis electronique.

~ Suzi M

Suzi M's Amazon Author Page - All Published Suzi M works available

 

News and Such.... aka Condoms Are Not Condiments

Floating in the etherverse, there's always a few interesting videos that occasionally make me giggle. One such video played like a latex-clad sex ed science class and featured a condom on a corn dog. Awesomesauce. High school was never that entertaining for me.

Other than stumbling across various YouTube insanity and my borderline Hulu and Adult Swim addictions, I've been jumping back on the writing horse. Pictured here is the stuff of my research (yes, even when writing something as trivial as a horror novel, I do actually do some research - be it to visit the places/live in the places I write about or research the history of places for setting and ambiance).

Note the cup of coffee and small stack of books. While gathering research I came across a book titled Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. How could I go wrong with that? I thought to myself. I was not disappointed. If you dig history, it's a great book. The vampires are more peripheral causes of the action, rather than main characters, which was refreshing.

I also finished reading The Amityville Horror and Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. Broke down and bought a Kindle to spare my poor sagging bookshelves. My plan is to buy antique books and first edition prints from now on, and all the rest can be electronic unless I adore them enough to want to sniff the pages.

Taking a break from the horror/vampire kick I returned to another genre love: noir detective story. The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta is an awesome read so far. Mystery, murder, and mobsters. Sounds catchy, right? And just to keep one foot planted squarely in my stereotype, I'm also reading Death Masks (aka Book 5 of The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher. LOVE that series. Can't wait for the new book in April or the collection of stories due out around Halloween.

In music land, I've been digging Dixieland, old jazz, and a band called Rome (the gothic folk band, not the rap one if browsing iTunes). A few tried and true fave bands have released some new albums, so have Frontline Assembly, SITD, and Combichrist on a loop.

For 2011, I'm working on some humor projects. Dark humor, but humor nonetheless. Also working on the historical project, too. And.... if all goes according to plan, there may even be a graphic novel in the works. Stay tuned....

'Back in My Day' and Other BS Spewed by the Pharmaceuticaled Masses

Admittedly, when I made the comment/post of 'Back in my day, vampire novels had vampires in them' I meant it as a joke... sort of. With the mudslide success of Twilight and all kinds of nonsense spewed forth by the mainstream media, it's actually kind of hard for me to get my vampire fix. Yes, I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse series, and yes, I'm watching True Blood AND The Gates, but I'm left feeling empty and vaguely disappointed. I mean, where's the FEAR? These people are sleeping with a giant parasite, a potentially violent parasite, and yet there's less of a shrieking terror and more of an 'oh n0es!' surrounding it all.

A quick check of my collection of vampire fiction left me a little more sane-feeling. Historically, vampires were not pretty. There was nothing sexy about them, and they certainly didn't glitter, shimmer or shine. These were blood-sucking resurrected corpses, afterall. The lamia of ancient Greece was a blend of various animals with the torso of a woman (gotta get boobs in there, natch). She went around killing babies. Granted, the story behind this monster is a sad one, as often happens with ancient Greco-Roman myths. And usually there's some poor sot getting tormented and abused by the gods just before dying a horrible death. Those were some jealous gods, and they had a knack for torment. Hats off to them.

Then there's the later vampires embodied in good ole Vlad the Impaler and his relative Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Following that there were the resurrected corpse types which usually meant Plague was around somewhere lurking. And not a pretty death by any means. The original Nosferatu film depicted an outright monster.... and then came Hollywood....

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Bela Lugosi. There was an underlying unease throughout Dracula that left you both intrigued and terrified.

So where did the vampire story go awry and transform into a fountain of youth with fangs? And a little too much oil in the T zones...

As a writer, I've come to the conclusion that I need to buck the system and go in a completely opposite direction, for those folks who are looking for real horror, or just a fun read. In other words... literature.

Almost Doesn't Count....

Finally calmed down enough to actually post about the 'incident' of last weekend in Scranton, PA.

Long story short: projects I was really looking forward to working on will not be happening. People I was looking forward to working with I will sadly not be working with, at least not on this project. Money I had hoped to get paid for doing this project will also not be arriving. Thank goodness for a day job I love.

Looking on the bright side, I made a new friend.

To the left is me and Maestro. Meeting the wrestlers at last weekend's event was the bright spot in a very gloomy day. They're awesome people, and I hope everything turns out alright for them.

The saddest part of all of this is that the whole thing really had the potential to be something great. All of the names that showed up would not have signed on if they didn't see some potential for awesome things.

The fallout from all of this just keeps falling.

A message in my Facebook inbox finally opened up my rage dam, and all the anger I'd been fighting to hold back this entire past week came flooding out. The time for explanations has long past, but if it should come to needing to explain to me, then a phonecall could have done the trick, or even just say it in the damned Facebook message right then and there. Don't message me to tell me to call someone else so they can explain it. It's horribly unprofessional and disrespectful beyond all words.

There were many responses drafted over the course of one day. All of them I deleted without sending because none of my responses were a professional response, nor should they have been read by anyone who hoped to keep their eyes from bursting into flame.

Suffice it to say, lesson learned in all of this. My burn was not nearly as great as some of the others involved, and I am glad I had not gotten quite so far into the book writing process that it became a major loss to cut the line and go. I did pay my editor out of my own pocket, because I made a promise to her that she would get paid. You see, I keep my promises, and I don't enter agreements lightly. That's as it should be.

Amazon Author Page is Live

In one of those 'eureka' moments last week, Christian Dumais pointed out that I should create my Amazon Author's Bio page. It was like suddenly realizing I should have been wearing a coat in a snowstorm, but had been so caught up in building my snowman that I had forgotten the basics, in spite of such obvious parental warnings as pneumonia.

I think part of never having done it before now was that I always just considered myself a regular person (OK, OK, maybe I use that term in a snarky way). I'm a writer, certainly, but always assumed I needed to make X, 000, 000 book sales before Amazon put up an author page.Turns out good ole Puff Chrissy bestowed upon me a revelation: I am an actual honest to goodness author, and I deserve that Author's Bio Page on Amazon.  I just needed to jump for the golden ring.

So... kind of weird and kind of cool all at the same time... here it is, my Amazon Author's Bio Page: http://www.amazon.com/Suzi-M/e/B003TTLGP2/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

I'm sure eventually this will all be very ho-hum, but for now, I'm merely basking in the glow of the now.

After Much Waiting.... It's Here! Cover Stories Officially Released!

What a wild ride, but it's finally done! The international anthology featuring ten writers from around the world is finally available for your ordering pleasure at the Cover Stories Official Storefront.

And for those who are in the know, happy solstice! Couldn't have planned that release better, in my opinion. :)

Thanks for the Apology Note, USPS

Today's adventure began with a squishy splat on my doorstep, right around the time the mail guy was shoving stuff through the mail slot. I had ordered a bunch of supplies, so I excitedly opened the door, then stared in confusion as the scent hit my nose.

It wasn't a bad scent, but very perfumey, and I thought I was holding a package that had a hippie dress in it. Not so!

The plastic wrapped package I soon realized was the perfume oil supplies I had ordered. The package was saturated with oils,  as was the apology note from the USPS. It basically said 'Sometimes we really mess up your stuff. Sorry about that.'

Yeah.... My supplier was very nice about it, though, and promised to send the next package extra padded. 

This is the second run-in I've had with the post office this month. And I used to so love them because it meant cool supplies were showing up. Now apparently it means I have a 50/50 chance of getting a lot of broken stuff to play with.

And I still reek like a French whore after unpacking everything today. A very nice-smelling French whore.....

Riding the Q Train

COVER STORIES OFFICIAL FAN PAGE NOW ON FACEBOOK

Ahem. Good. Now that I have your attention, go join the page that apparently has more mass appeal than my Suzi M fan page on Facebook. Yeah, yeah... I know, and yes, I would like some cheese to go with my whine party, thank you.

But seriously. Here's the link to become a member of the throng of the Cover Stories official fan page on Facebook. 

Need more info? Official Cover Stories press: 

"In COVER STORIES, ten young writers from around the globe cut deep into the tracks of their favorite albums to produce something that’s more than just a mix tape of divergent fictions; they’re the scouts for a new literary Invasion..."

Go. Join. Now.

And After Anger.... Acceptance, with Caveat

After a nice night of very little uninterrupted sleep, I have decided that perhaps I need to just stop worrying so much about what bad parents are doing to mess up the world..... and start DOING something about it.

Call this a 'take back the night' kind of campaign, but so help me, the room above my hotel room will be missing a Do Not Disturb sign come morning, and will have a healthy dose of 6:30am wakeup call with a 7am wakeup call chaser.

Likewise, I will also be walking down to the front desk and alerting them to the kids running rampant in the hallways and pulling fire alarms (assuming they're still here tonight and didn't get their dumbasses kicked out last night).

In much happier and less stressful news, I finished the scarf I was working on (pictured above). It's beaded lace, and I knit it from the Scheherazade I yarn I spun up a while back. There may be enough yarn left to make some wrist warmers, too, or a second scarf.

On the world front... I realize I am way out of touch when it comes to current events. After reviewing headlines briefly with coffee this morning, I realize I LIKE being out of touch. I may just unplug completely one day and go off-grid.

Fire Alarms Are Just Another Way of Saying Bite Me

Dear Absent Parent at the Hotel I'm Staying At Tonight,

While I understand a parent's need to run from their children (hey, I feel the same need to run from your children, too), it is still a parent's responsibility to buffer your child from the rest of the world. The rest of the world does not need to be woken up by your child's, nay, TEEN's inability to keep their grubby paws off the damned fire alarm in a hotel.

Those things are put there for a reason. Emergencies. Not for your kid's amusement.

Bad parents... do the rest of us a favor and 1) stop breeding, and 2) beat your kids, because apparently just telling them in an annoyingly preachy soccer mom voice that they were doing something wrong didn't work, as evidenced by the TWO instances of the fire alarm being set off in the hotel tonight, both times with YOUR kids hanging around it.

And don't go getting all pissy at me like I should mind my own damned business. Believe me, I would LOVE nothing more than to stay out of your life and as far away from your spawn as possible. However, I'm the one who got woken up by your kid. So shut up, man up, and go be a damned parent! It's 12:30am for chrissakes and your kids are still running through the halls.

This is not a job for security to deal with, and it's not a job for the other guests in the hotel to put up with your kids' bullshit. This is your mess. Go clean it up, along with the buckets of ice they've been freeing from the ice maker next to the fire alarm.

Sincerely,

Suzi M