Horror Writer/Horror Artist

Well, I finally joined the 21st Century and bought an mp3 player. (I can now listen to my story "Goon Job" from PSEUDOPOD without using my stereo or computer. That's www.pseudopod.org) I chose the Zen V Plus which plays videos as well as podcasts. Here are some of the podcasts I find enjoyable:

www.escapepod.org
http://freereads.blogspot.com
www.talkshoe.com
www.pinkgeekaudio.net
http://publicdomainbroadcast.blogspot.com
www.stormwolf.com
www.thewritingshow.com
http://feed:writewhereyoubelong.com

These are either story or writing pods.Some are old-time radio horror shows as well as Sherlock Holmes.

GW



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I've decided this summer to spend my time inside the writings of one writer. That writer is J. K. Rowling. With the last book out on July 21 I am reading the Harry Potter books end to end. I will be seeing the new movie (hopefully) tonight and this should spur me on further. Usually I don't like movies from books when I've read the book. Too boring. So I've waited to see the Potter films before reading the books. That can be boring too but the books have so much more in them that it is more fun to find a nugget of something left out of the film than the other way around. For instance, I didn't know until I read it that Hermione got the Polyjuice Potion from the Restricted Section of the library by getting Gilderoy Lockhart to sign the permission form. These "unimportant' details are great when you come across them. As you can tell I'm on the second book already. The last four books are so massive there must be tons of stuff left out. I know the scorpion monsters were left out of GOBLET OF FIRE.

I find Rowling quite readable.I've heard a few idiots complain she doesn't write for adults! JKR has the magic touch that Kipling, Doyle, Stevenson and many other great storytellers had. she writes plot-oriented stuff (which is a great sin these days!!) but so entertainingly nobody seems to notice. One critic complained that the series was trash because Harry didn't grow in each book. What a moron! This isn't mamby-pamby childlit crap. This is a series showing a child's whole growth from boy to a young man. There is a reason why Rowling sells billions of copies. She's worth reading!

gw


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"Goon Job" appeared at PSEUDOPOD this morning quite by surprise. (That's www.pseudopod.org) I had thought it would be closer to the end of summer. I knew because I received a very nice email about the story from Joel. Here are my impressions of that podcasting: "I thought Ben did a great job with the ghoul voice, probably the trickiest part of the story along with the odd diction of the monster. At first I thought his voice should sound more bored, hard-boiled, but as the story went on I realized it would have been too cliche. Like a parody. Hard-boiled is hard to pull off because so many comedians use it, bad commercials, etc. Ben did a great job! I made my kids sit through it. (They are old enough to hear the F-word. Don't worry.) And then I said, "That's what your old man does." They seemed less than impressed but hey, at least they know now."

GW

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It's been forever since I posted anything and I mean to rectify that. I've been very busy with home projects so not a lot of writing going on. Still, that said, I have some new Book Collector stories underway. "Hag-Seed" is now 3/4 done and just needs the ending written. The Book Collector keeps surprising me. Just when I think I can't possibly think of another story for him I get several new ideas. I have a list of about 12 unwritten ideas plus five starts on stories. And there is the novel which languishes away, waiting for me to get typing. I don't know if it will be an actual novel when it is done but it will certainly be over 25,000 wrds. That's a tricky size to sell so I think I'll really try to get it to 60-80,000. There is a chance that ABERRANT DREAMS may pick up "Goon Job". With any luck the magazine will buy the whole lot of reprints from the old RAGE m a c h i n e books. I'd love to see a wider audience read those stories plus make a little money off of them too. Seeing them all in one place would be great as well. We'll have to wait and see.

Such is the life of a writer. So much works that way. Still, it's a thrill when you see your stuff in print. Another opportunity is coming up for me. RAZAR has taken 14 of my flash stories and will be illustrating each one. That's a big thrill. Not just one illo but 14. I so much enjoy seeing a talented artist interpret my work. Philip Rogers' version of the Book Collector in CTHULHU EXPRESS was such a moment. Another was the illo for my WRITER'S DIGEST article with the writer attacking the dragon with a typewriter. That was a great illo. Sometimes it can be very disappointing but these are actually quite infrequent. As an artist myself, I usually judge this way: "Could I have done it better?" Fortunately most artists are better at it than I am.

GW

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I've kinda been out of the loop lately. Deally with changes. I've been meaning to get busy on some new horror stories but never seem to find the time. You really do have to make the time. I am excited to see some new publications on the publishing front. THRILLING TALES and LENG! to mention two. WEIRD TALES has a new editor and is now accepting e-subs . I've sent them "Laocoon", my latest weird Western. we'll see what they think. No shortage of material to write, just the time and energy to do it.

GW


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I just finished reading Robert E. Howard's first published story "Spear and Fang" (Weird Tales, July 1925) . It's about a cave girl and her lover who kill a Neanderthal. It's a very poor Edgar Rice Burroughs or H. G. Wells imitation. Now I know why it was never reprinted in any of the paperbacks. (I always wondered why.) It is actually amazing WEIRD TALES bought it. His later work is much better.

GW


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I have to let people know about this. Most of Robert E. Howard's stuff is now available free online. Just go to: http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html Scroll down to Howard. Many of these Pulpier titles I've never read and am enjoying immensely. You've got the Fantasy classics as well (Kull, Conan, Bran Mak Morn, etc.) Also some of his horror stories. I also found some of the last Tarzan novels under Edgar Rice Burroughs.

GW

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