Creepy on the Inside

An artist friend visited today. She asked some questions about how my writing was going. When I showed her the original cover of Eaters and the Permuted Press website, she was a bit shocked and said, "You don't look that creepy." With a laugh, I replied, "I'm creepy on the inside." I sort of feel like Clark Kent during day, only revealing the big dark "C" for "Creepy" online at night. Since I'm not always walking around in goth attire, I guess it surprises some people to know that I read and write horror and paranormal stories. If I were unchained from the corporate world, I'd probably have a dozen tattoos, wear a lot of black, and rock some silver skull rings on my fingers...or maybe not. I wake up feeling a different flavor every day, so I don't know that I'd ever consistently look creepy on the outside. Maybe it's more fun to dress like plain Jane and see the wide eyes when I reveal my secret creepy center.

The Walking Dead Premiere!

I cleared the deck to watch The Walking Dead season premiere on AMC tonight.
It really sucks to be Rick, doesn't it? He'll always be damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. It was interesting that with all the zombie killing there wasn't a single gun fired until the very end (making that shot more climactic.) And we don't know who the shooter was. I thought the terror and tension scenes were good, but I had mixed feelings about the rip-open-the-dead-dude-to-see-what-he-ate scene. (What do they make that black muck out of? I started out in college as a Radio/TV/Film major. If I'd landed in Hollywood, maybe I could have been in on some of this cool (gross!) stuff.) How many of you thought the Jesus statue in the church was going to move or speak? LOL. It did have a zombie-esque look to it. I think there has to be religion factored into apocalyptic stories. The hopeless situation either strengthens faith or dooms it all together. In Eaters, the main character doesn't believe there's any supreme being--but that makes her own will to survive stronger.  Will Rick get a sign? I'm betting not until the very end of the series.

Eaters Manuscript is Done!

I finished the Eaters manuscript last night. I think I heard bells when I typed "The End". Or, maybe it was just the Dead Collector walking the streets:

 Part III of the story is Eaters: Destination, the end of what was originally to be a trilogy of novellas. The manuscript for the novel has been sent to Permuted Press, and I'm anxious to go through the editing process and see it in print. Thanks to all my beta readers for your input and my family members for allowing me to be a hermit at the keyboard for so many hours.

It's the Twisted Things

 

Sometimes, it's the twisted things that make my day.  (Thanks, Mark Buford.)

This Scary Gary was from 9/23/11.

I really am working diligently on the Eaters manuscript. I'm half way through going through it with a fine-toothed eye, and still on the fence as to whether I need to add a scene near the end to add more closure. I've gotten three very different opinions by beta readers on the current ending, so I guess I'll just have to go with my gut.

I got a present in the mail today. Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison. It was a prize in a blog giveaway by Dorchester Publishing. I look forward to stepping into its shadow world...

A Haunted Dream

A couple of nights ago, I had an odd dream that was aborted by a strange occurence.

I'm sitting at a stop light. Traffic is jammed up from all the other people trying to get to the same writer's conference. A man who looks like Bruno Tonioli from Dancing with the Stars is directing traffic. He notices my impatience (did I honk my horn? curse out the window?) and comes over to the passenger side of the car. He sticks his head in, points to a flyer pasted on the outside of my windshield, and says (in a thick Italian accent), "Ms. DePaepe...what...is... that?" I look up and see that it's a bank advertisement. I confessed that I'd known it was there for weeks, but had been too busy to make a effort to remove it. Then, he tells me (with more than a little anger in his voice) that a mutual friend told him, "She would be great...if she would just...slow...down." I made note of the comment in my busy little brain, and the next thing I knew, he was gone, and I was walking into the hotel. At this point, it was late evening. The desk attendant said that my roommate had already checked in. When I opened the door to the room, I could see her suitcase in front of the dresser and her form lying in one of the double beds. I'd never met this person, and didn't want out first introduction to be a rude awakening, so I got ready for bed in the dark then slipped into the other bed as quietly as I could.

This is where the dream ends...because I was startled awake by someone squeezing my toe. There was no gray line between the dreamworld and reality here. Someone SQUEEZED MY TOE. With wide eyes in the dark, I looked over at DH. He was fast asleep, and his feet were on the far side of the bed, nowhere near mine. I was about a second away from making the effort to lift my head and see if anyone else was in the room when I heard FOOTSTEPS DARTING OUT INTO THE HALLWAY. As I lifted my head, eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness, I saw that it was 1:28 a.m., and there was no one in the room or lingering just outside the door. My intuition told me that there wasn't someone in the house (a toe-pinching burglar?). I knew that this was potentially a paranormal event. I wasn't scared. It seemed more like I had been awakened on purpose--to remember the dream and its message. SLOW...DOWN...

Life does seem crazy most days, trying to juggle so many responsibilities and find the time and brain cells leftover to write. How many other writers out there could use a ghostly kick in the pants to take it a little easier and hit DELETE on some of the items on the 'to do' list?

Cowboys and Aliens

I finally got a chance to see Cowboys and Aliens. Damn--that was a good movie! I usually wouldn't gone for something with either cowboys or extraterrestials, but the combo was something that I couldn't resist, and I wasn't disappointed. Anything that Spielberg has hand in is sure to entertain, and I enjoyed the performance of Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Two thumbs up (three or four if you're an alien) and a "must see" if you haven't yet.

Fall Chills (Muh ha ha ha...)

It's September, and it may still be 100+ degrees where you are, but if you are like me, the merest hint of fall on the calendar gets your spine tingling for pumpkins, black cats, and all that is Halloween and Horror.



If you don't get the comic strip "Scary Gary" in your local newspaper, I commiserate.
I was so disappointed when my local paper dropped it, that I now subscribe to it online. Hilarious hijinks from a vampire, a ghoul, and a ghost who are roommates.

Dorchester Publishing is one of my favorite houses of horror. They publish some of my favorite authors like Edward Lee, Richard Laymon, Ronald Malfi, and many more. For newsletter subscribers, they are offering chapter samples of John Everson's The Pumpkin Man every Friday, starting today.

Part III of Eaters is in the final draft stage and is in the hands of a few beta readers. I'm so excited to be wrapping up this year-long project that started as a novella after I had a terrifying nightmare about zombies. Look for a paperback and e-book copy at Permuted Press in 2012.