Lincoln Crisler

So, last week we had the whole Leisurefail with the ebooks and the POD trade paperbacks, and the mass-market books going the way of the dodo. Now, there’s talk about them firing most of the editorial staff, including Don D’Auria, who’s headed the horror department for quite some time.

Now, I’m not going to try and pretend that I’ve got an inside look at what’s going on in the midlist arena, or that I’d even recognize Don D’Auria if he walked up and punched me in the sack, but any bozo who can read a comments thread can see that many of the authors are concerned: that they might not get checks, that books might be tied up with legal bullshit, and that copies of existing books might not ship.

My first and last word about the whole thing from that perspective is that someone needs to die in a fire for screwing around with these authors’ livelihoods. That’s about all I’m qualified to say on the matter; I’ve written two collections of short stories for the small press and work on other projects as time permits. I’m not a pro yet and I’m not privy to all the things they are.

What I will say, though, is that all of this is kinda exciting. Nature abhors a vacuum, and someone else is going to fill the gap. Hopefully, someone who isn’t going to douche things up. All of the great authors I’ve discovered through the Leisure line are going to find new homes, because the cream rises to the top. And me? I’m going to have a potentially new and unexplored arena in which to make my first professional novel sale, once I get off my ass and finish writing the bloody thing. As a reader, I’m a little sad, but as a writer… let’s call it equal parts apprehension and squee.

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on Shroud Publishing’s website, wherein we discuss his novels past and present, as well as the relative merits of robots, pirates and ninjas, amongst other things. Enjoy!

I’ve been throwing it around on Facebook for the past couple of weeks, but I finally busted out the plastic and bought my ticket, so now it’s official: I will be at Horrorfind 2010, in Gettysburg, PA from September 3-5.

Here’s the schedule of events with regards to horror authors. If you’d like to see me (without scouring the hotel bar and hoping I’m sober enough to remember who I am and how to talk), take special note of the Black Bed Sheet Books Meet and Greet from 5:30-7:00PM on Saturday. I’ll be participating in whatever goings on that entails, which I’m sure will include opening my mouth once or twice and signing books. I’d love to meet you, as long as you’re not a stalker and don’t want to have my babies!

For those of you who can’t make it, I’ll have pictures and video, and probably links to everyone else’s footage as well. If it’s a little piece of me you’re looking for, I do have signed copies of my books available here.

Wow, the end of 2009. This one has really flown by. I’m blessed in that I can say without hesitation that it hasn’t left me in the dust; not by a long shot.

I deployed to Southwest Asia (again) in March, but not before signing the contract for my second collection of short fiction, Magick & Misery. I learned alot of lessons from the production and initial promotion of my first book, and am happy with the level of support Magick has received. If my next book exceeds the standard I set with Magick in much the same fashion as Magick exceeded the standard set by Despairs & Delights, then I’ll know I’m doing it right!

I made one semi-pro sale this year, to HUB Magazine. Not the same level of output as previous years, but I wasn’t limiting myself to paying markets before and it doesn’t help matters that I didn’t start writing new fiction until fall of this year, either. The first half of the year was devoted entirely to getting ready to deploy, settling into my new environment and mission, and getting Magick ready for publication. I have four stories, the fruits of that autumn hot-streak, subbed out to various publications. This, I can live with.

I learned one hard lesson this year when I had to cancel the two Our Shadows Speak sequels I had planned. This was a combination of technical screwups, a disappearing publisher and my own bad habit of piling too much work on myself. Having to let the project go was a rare taste of humility for me. Back on the horse, though, as they say. I won’t rule out doing another anthology in the future, but I’ll be doing it a LOT differently and probably not in 2010, unless there’s money on the table.

I started selling signed copies of my books through my website, and the support for this has exceeded my expectations. I’m actually at the point right now where I have to decide if I want to order more stock this close to coming home, or risk having to turn people away for a couple months, but Hell, selling out of all your stock is a good position to be in! I even managed to squeeze in a book signing during my two weeks of mid-deployment leave, thanks in part to my wife’s heroic efforts.

I put the finishing touches on my first nonfiction collection, Slice of Life, available for pre-order at the time of this writing. I’m really going out on a limb with this one; it’s hard to gauge the level of interest for a short-story author’s collected rants, but ten bucks for a 25-copy signed and numbered limited release? My readers can’t go wrong, and really, neither can I. I’m looking forward to seeing how it does!

My book reviews have really been taking off! I have a couple of snarls to work out with one of the publishers I deal with, but even still, I’m getting queries every month and still have a backlog. It’s nice to be wanted. I also started up a small online writer’s workshop, hosted on through my website. It’s private, by invitation-only, but the response was overwhelming and I had people on a waiting list mere hours after posting the call online. We mesh well as a group and enjoy each other’s contributions immensely. We also have a humble website.

My professional life this year has been dominated by the deployment, of course, but the time overseas has also afforded me a couple of rare opportunities. I was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant a year to the day after being promoted to Sergeant; anyone who knows me knows what a big deal this is, after all the crap I had to go through before making Sergeant. Now, I’m right where I should be at this point in my career, for the number of years I’ve been in the Army and my level of experience. I’m also in the final stretch towards my Bachelor’s degree; once that’s knocked out, I’m going straight into my MBA program.

The family’s doing well; my wife finished her Bachelor’s program this year and has started on her MBA. She landed an awesome new job assisting the executive in charge of the entire Southwest region of the Girl Scouts of America, following a horrible quarter-long scandal-and-shit-fest at her old job. Feminine Offspring Alpha is a freshman in high school and on the cheerleading squad, Feminine Offspring Beta is in pre-k and Mini-Me is an unstoppable engine of destruction (he’s two now. TWO!). I’ve even made a breakthrough in my quest to actually have my youngest daughter visit me in my home over the summer; that should be happening in August, barring any unforseen complications.

What does 2010 have in store? So far, I have several short stories that should be finding homes real soon, and I’m working on a novel and a pair of novellas. I have one publisher that’s already expressed interest in a novella, so that’s probably next on the chopping block. I’m still chasing my dream of publishing Safeguard as an eight-issue limited comic, only now my collaborator, the indescribably awesome Patrick Bezanson, is able to work on spec, which should increase our chances of success. I’ll probably be doing at least one signing in El Paso next year and possibly one in the Los Angeles area as well; New York’s a bit of a crapshoot, but I’ll do my best. I already have a few podcast appearances in the works, and I’m sure there’ll be more to follow.

Feel free to share your own accomplishments from the last year in the comments box. As always, thanks for reading!

If you like to shop frequently on Amazon, consider stopping by my Amazon Author Page! I’d be happy to participate in any discussions or answer any questions you might post there.

I’d only heard of Amy Grech in passing before she dropped me an email asking me if I’d like to interview her for the site. I’m always down for getting to know new people, so of course I asked her to send along a PDF of her latest book, a collection of short stories, and it was in my inbox the next day. When I downloaded it to my e-reader I expected a compilation of stories ranging from really-good to reasonable. You know how it is with collections and anthologies; some of the stories are better than others, and if you’re lucky, a couple might break some new ground. Blanket of White, released this month by Damnation Books, fit this mold, but with one major difference: a couple of these really cranked back and kicked me in the sack. Read the opening story, from which the book gets its title, and “Perishables” and see if you don’t agree.  

Lincoln Crisler: The opening story of “Blanket of White” came right out of the gate and punched me in the gut. Normally, this common question sounds a bit foolish to me (partly because I’ve read and watched a lot of horror that didn’t look like it took a lot of thought) but where do you get your ideas? 

Amy Grech:  I live in Brooklyn and travel to Manhattan on a regular basis.  I get lots of ideas just wandering around.  For example, Alphabet City has a rich history: Avenue A stands for Alert; Avenue B stands for Beware; C stands for Caution; D stands for Death.  I wrote an entire story titled “Apple of My Eye” based on that information.

The title story actually evolved ten years ago, when I saw a real life story on the news about a little girl who had a terminal illness and the compassionate way her father chose to end her suffering.  The little girl in my story, Suzy is very remarkable despite her illness.  “Blanket of White” really affects readers who are also parents more than most.  Although, I don’t have children of my own, this story proved extremely difficult to write. 

LC:  What’s the most personal story for you in “Blanket of White”?

AG: Definitely “Perishables.” It’s the shortest story in the collection, but it’s sure to leave readers hungry for more!  I wrote it years ago when my boyfriend at the time broke up with me.  It was my way of grieving.  I decided to have some fun and tell the story from a male POV.  

LC:  I heard that “Blanket of White” is actually a previously released collection with a couple of new stories thrown in. What precipitated this?

AG: Two Backed Books published my first collection, Apple of My Eye, a few years ago.  Sadly they did virtually no promotion, as a result, the book became obscure from the get go.  Two Backed Books folded earlier this year, another victim of the down economy…When that happened, the rights to Apple of My Eye reverted back to me, so I wrote two new stories, “Blanket of White” and “Russian Roulette” and found a new publisher, Damnation Books, who has done an excellent promoting the book!

 LC: What was going on in your life while you were writing some of these stories?

AG: “Blanket of White” was born from my desire to write a story devoid of sexual content.  Up until then, all of my stories focused on sex as erotic horror and several critics questioned if I could delve deeper into the human psyche. I’m pleased to say I can tackle any subject matter!  “Ashes to Ashes,” “Come and Gone,” “Perishables,” “Russian Roulette,” and “Cold Comfort” were all written in response to several break-ups with former boyfriends—I end to fall hard for a guy; consequently, I end up devastated when the relationship ends.  Writing is a very cathartic coping mechanism.  I wrote “Prevention” because I have a twin brother and wanted to play with the evil twin idea. I felt a little paranoid when I wrote “Rampart.” “Raven’s Revenge” was my homage to Edgar Allan Poe. I wrote “Damp Wind and Leaves” against the backdrop of Halloween.  I wrote “Crosshairs” as a tribute to my Catholic upbringing.  I wrote “Initiation Day” in college—I wanted to put a spin on the peer pressure high school students deal with.   I wanted to play with the expression, You’re the apple of my eye.”  “Apple of My Eye” is the result.  I wrote “EV 2000” to deal with my fear of needles.

 LC: Who are some of your influences as a writer?

AG:  When I turned 12, an Aunt introduced me to Stephen King’s novels.  I started with Cujo and never looked back.  Stephen King inspired me to become a writer. 

Other influences include: Franz Kafka, H. P. Lovecraft, Joyce Carol Oates, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and Alice Sebold.

 LC: What can we expect from you in the near future?

AG:  Expect to see several of my stories in various anthologies and magazines.  I can’t say more until contacts have been signed.

I’ve written the first four chapters of a novel with my co-author; I won’t reveal the gory details until we place the book with a publisher.  I’ve been expanding my story, “Apple of My Eye” into a novella or possibly even a novel.  I’ve passed the 6,000 word mark.

 LC: Which are better: pirates, robots or ninjas?

AG: Robots!  They can be programmed to do my bidding!

Blanket of White is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Books on Board, Damnation Books, Diesel eBooks, Lybrary.com, OmniLit, and Powell’s Books, and a variety of other outlets! Amy Grech‘s official website is www.crimsonscreams.com.