Capricon 46

Another year, another Capricon, and another post-con coma (which seems to be stretching through the entire week this year - ugh). XD

Due to heightened anxiety issues the second half of 2025, I decided not to be a panelist this year. Thankfully that annoying anxiety stayed away for the con itself. However, I did help a writer friend with the party she hosts yearly. Which included having my books out for sale and signing. Both Friday and Saturday night turned out pretty awesome, especially since I sold some books!

This year, I took it a bit easy with most things, aside from the aforementioned parties. The panels I attended were: Loving Something When The Creator Is Toxic, Geek Out About Genshin Impact, Star Trek At 60, Geeky Gardening, and Non-U.S. Tropes. All fun!

Of course I spent a lot of time in the Game Room. I played Sushi Go, Trivial Pursuit, Twisted Cryptids, and Zombie Kittens. Hubbie and I participated in a couple scheduled games. Weirdwood Manor was the first, and let me tell you, what a challenging game! So I ordered a copy because... challenge accepted! We also played Flamecraft again. Amelia brought her adorable buddies Meat and Bread this year, and they watched over our playthrough. So cute!

Then of course the parties I helped with. All the books! Donna J. W. Munro (the best party host ever) threw a release party for her collection Dark Workings of Wild Women on Friday night.

Saturday night Deanna Sjolander joined the party, featuring the collaborative book she edited Blue Plate Special, the first in the Dark Reflections series.

And then I had my titles on display as well, along with some of my Speculative Stitches crochet. Honestly, the best part of Capricon this year was hanging out with Donna and Deanna. Always a blast to catch up with writer friends!

I'm planning to attend in 2027 as well, though I'll definitely have an adolescent in tow... Let's see how that shakes out - lol.

Halloween 2025

October means Halloween! Totally the holiday I own the most decorations for.

Unfortunately, I decided on no party this year due to several factors. Right about now, I'm glad I made that decision because this week has been a nightmare between jury duty, a car that needed fixing, and the thermostat in the house failing. More fuel for future Fractured Fairies stories, right?

No party, but I still decorated! Acquired a couple new items this year, as well. I seriously need more room to store Halloween decorations.

So here come some pictures! Carved pumpkins aren't happening until Friday, so no pics of those this year.

This last pic is of one of my favorite new decorations. The bowl is super creepy and neat, plus it reminds me of the cover backgrounds of Do Not Go Gentle and Dead As Dreams. Yeah, so I put a copy of the latter in it for the pic. Shameless self-promotion? XD

I hope everyone has an awesome Halloween! Don't forget to grab a handful of good horror books to read during spooky season.

Patreon - Chain Story

At the beginning of the year I started up a Patreon Page. I have to admit that right now this experiment is an utter failure. Part of it may be because I'm unwilling to beg my friends to pledge to "get the ball rolling" and show the world that I do indeed have some patrons. But I think the biggest part is that I don't have a big enough fan following yet for my writing. This is something that's going to take time, and far more publications under my belt (also clearly getting a hang of marketing for more visibility). With indie publishing, the Long Game feels like a bit of an understatement sometimes. ;)

This doesn't mean I'm completely giving up on Patreon, though. I was seriously looking forward to having some fun with it, to interact with my patrons and write super short stories or poems in response to offered prompts. Writing can be a lonely business, elbows deep in a novel especially, so mixing in a bit of a game for fun and interaction sounded appealing to me. After next month, though, I likely won't be actively posting to Patreon. At least not until I actually have a patron (or more books and a bigger following behind me to make a bigger push with the Patreon platform).

So, here's the game plan:

❦ Last month I posted the beginning of a Chain Story. This post is a public post. That means anyone can see it and respond to it with no need to be a patron (in other words - free). Only one person has added to it so far, and then I added another sentence as well. I'd love to see more people add to it. You don't even need to be a writer to add a sentence! Chain stories can wander down some pretty strange paths. So, I'll try to get more people involved with the Chain Story over the next month or so. Share it around - this is supposed to be for fun!

❦ In September, I'll post another story. This one will also be public. I recently got my kids some Story Cubes. I intend to use them to write the September story! As a bonus, if my eldest daughter writes something with the same roll, I'll post that as well (if she lets me).

❦ Some time in October, if I still have no patrons, I'll announce a hiatus on Patreon. Though I'll likely post public updates at least every other month.

❦ If any interest is finally shown in my Patreon Page or when I feel I might have more of a following that would be interested, I'll be happy to start creating more content for the page. I just can't keep creating content that no one is seeing at this time!

So, go on and add to the Chain Story. I look forward to see how it progresses!

Halloween 2016 & Monster Maelstrom

It's that time of year! Yes, the time of year where I get way too into Halloween. It's my favorite holiday, after all.

Before I get into some pics of this year's costume and decorations, though, I'd also like to announce the release of a Fractured Fairies story. Last week, "Monster in the Room" released in the anthology Monster Maelstrom. It's a Halloween themed flash fiction anthology, of course! This Grinka-centric story can be found among a lot of other great stories. If you're in the mood for some Halloween reading, please pick up a copy. Oh, did I forget to mention the anthology is FREE?

You can snag a free copy of Monster Maelstrom from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, iBooks, Google Play, and Smashwords. Please visit the Monster Maelstrom page if you'd like further information before you grab it.

Now, onto more good stuff! My yearly Halloween party was this past Saturday. No posts on the blog last week meant I was intensely cleaning the house that never gets cleaned except once a year for the party - lol. (I already have #11 for 1001 Reasons Not to Clean.)

This year I had a hard time getting excited about a costume. I just couldn't think of anything I wanted to be. Thankfully, the brainstorm finally unleashed itself when I was browsing Hot Topic online one day. I saw a unicorn horn and tail set. I figured I could always be simple. I mean, I love unicorns - that's no secret. Then I saw it... A blood splattered dress! Why be a plain old unicorn when you can be a Rabid Unicorn?

If any of you have visited my blog throughout the years, you know that I started a rabid unicorn story a couple years ago. It was a fun, humorous romp that I had to put on the back burner (like so many other shinies because there's only so much time in the day to write when you have an infant/toddler demanding your undivided attention). Of course, now I really want to continue it, but I have Thorns Entwine the Blade to focus on right now. If you want to read an excerpt of the rough draft I was working on, you can visit this old post from May 2014.

What? You want to see the costume? I rarely post pictures of myself, as you know. So, please be kind. Here it is! Note: I wear the heads of my fallen foes on my feet.

And I'll also leave you with a some pictures of the decorations from this year. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Going Wide

As many of you know, since I started my Baker's Dozen Experiment last October, I've been publishing all of my titles on Amazon only.

Well, the time has come to start offering some of my titles at other retailers! This is where the term "going wide" comes from. It means I won't just be publishing titles with one retailer.

The one negative of this is I can no longer be in Kindle Select, so no more availability in Kindle Unlimited. For now, I'm removing titles from Select one at a time (depending on when my Select term is up), and I do still intend to put future titles in Select for at least 3 months (more if I'm getting a lot of page reads) before I move those titles wide. Of course my plans could change at any moment.

The great thing about going wide, though, is that now if you have a retailer you prefer over Amazon, you can buy my titles from there! Don't worry. Everything is still available for purchase on Amazon too.

I know, the whole Select thing can be a little confusing if you're not a writer juggling all these publication things. If you have any questions or need clarification, don't hesitate to ask! I'd be happy to answer anything I can.

Oh, I suppose you might want some links. You can now find 4 of my stories at Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, and iBooks, as well as several other smaller retailers (just search for my author name on your retailer of choice to see if my titles are available). The links should take you to all titles by Alexa Grave.

Does your library also use Overdrive? If so, my titles are available through there - try to recommend them in Overdrive for your libraries to purchase!

The 4 titles currently available are: Dancing in the Wind, Dreams in Shadow, Tales of Chyraine, and Bound. Later this month 3 more titles will be available: Love Fades, Fractured Fairies, and Blood & Booze.

I'll be updating my website with this information next week, hopefully!

Happy reading!

Bound Snippet

Yup, it's time for another release! Bound releases on Sunday, so it's about time I post a snippet, right? It's also available for pre-order from Amazon if you want to nab it before you forget, and it'll be automatically delivered to you when it releases. Per usual during the Baker's Dozen Experiment, it will also be available via Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

This story has a bit of horror, a dash of romance, and a bookish librarian for a lead. Who needs a boyfriend when you have a book? The snippet is below!

❦

In the last cubbie, a student stares transfixed at a page of the book open before her. I pause before I approach. A chill shoves out the warmth I felt earlier. Her eyes aren't moving; her hand, clasping the page to turn it, is frozen.

I step closer. "Excuse me. The library is closing in five minutes."

She doesn't respond and remains still, as if she's a statue perched on the chair, her hands melding with the book. A detailed piece of artwork, like the metal monstrosity in the library foyer -- unwavering, cold.

Goose bumps spring up along my arms, and I shiver, the feeling I got when first crossing paths with Stephen King's Pennywise.

I inch forward, the shushing of my shoes on the carpet no longer a comfort, and place my hand on her shoulder. A small zap of static electricity sparks the tips of my fingers, and I jump back.

❦

Every book has a heartbeat. And some are louder than others.

Leda loves her job as a college librarian – books are her friends, ones that take her to far off lands and who don't cheat on her like her last boyfriend did. But a strange incident with a student has her wondering if there's something more sinister about the books in this library.

Even Sean, the man who's trying to woo her away from her books, claims the library made him uncomfortable when he attended the college.

Of course, Leda can't confide in anyone about her suspicions, though there have been several questionable deaths on campus over the last few years. Sean would likely think she's crazy.

Is she crazy? Or does danger lurk in between the pages?

Publication Update - 2/25/16

I posted The Plan back in May of 2015. Clearly I've been trucking along and rolling things out, if you've seen some of my snippet posts. Some things have changed or been shifted around, but for the most part I'm on track with publishing one short story per month since October 2015.

I figured I was due for an update here on Born to Write, though. So here it is! Below you'll find the titles I've published since October 2015, links to the snippets you can read on this blog, and my publication schedule through October 2016. Usual disclaimer: things may change! Even this list doesn't reflect the original Plan exactly, as I've rearranged some things and decided to replace at least one story with another.

Also, as a side note, my original intention was to take my stories wide, but I instead decided to try KDP Select out. I won't assess going wide again until likely after I've published Mind Behind the Mind. In all likelihood, I will go wide in 2017, but I want to see how KDP Select treats me through the rest of the Baker's Dozen Experiment.

Publications from October 13, 2015 through February 13, 2016

❦ Fractured Fairies: Immortal Woes & Ode to Buses and Libraries [October 13, 2015] - Amazon and Snippet

❦ Dreams in Shadow: A Fortunes of Fate Story [November 13, 2015] - Amazon and Snippet

❦ Tales of Chyraine: Two Short Stories [December 13, 2015] - "This Is Where I Stand" and "Cold, Oh So Cold" - Amazon and Snippet

❦ Love Fades: A Fortunes of Fate Story [January 13, 2016] - Amazon and Snippet

❦ Hell Hath No Fury [February 13, 2016] - Amazon and Snippet

Upcoming Publications

❦ Bound [March 13, 2016] - Already up on Amazon for Pre-Order!

❦ Blood & Booze: Two Short Stories [April 13, 2016] - "Bloodstains" (an end of the world dark fantasy) and "Hair of the Dog" (a 20's urban fantasy)

❦ Reversed: A Fortunes of Fate Story [May 13, 2016] - (epic fantasy)

❦ S.O.L. Air: A Fractured Fairies Story [June 13, 2016] - (humorous fantasy)

❦ Sunset Street [July 13, 2016] - (portal/urban fantasy)

❦ Beguiling Moon: A Fortunes of Fate Story [August 13, 2016] - (epic fantasy)

❦ Void of Intuition: A Fortunes of Fate Story [September 13, 2016] - (urban fantasy)

❦ Mind Behind the Mind [October 13, 2016] - Book One of Trinity Torn (dark romantic epic fantasy)

And remember, if you want to be updated once per month (probably a little less once the Baker's Dozen Experiment is complete) with my upcoming publications, please consider subscribing to my Newsletter.

I'm refraining from reporting any statistics until at least a month after the release of Mind Behind the Mind. There have been some ups and downs, of course. I've also tried a couple free promos, one for Dancing in the Wind: A Short Story and another for Dreams in Shadow: A Fortunes of Fate Story. I may do one or two more promos this year, but nothing's confirmed!

All in all, I'm happy to be on this journey, and I'm ever curious at how things will unfold. Happy reading!

"Dancing in the Wind" Cover Update

I've been sitting on this for a while because I needed to update things in all of the stores. And then things like writing kept getting in the way. =D

Anyway, here's the new cover for "Dancing in the Wind"!

I also reformatted everything for Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Smashwords (Smashwords also distributes it to iBooks and some other stores). Things look a little nicer, plus I added some back matter (About the Author, Newsletter Sign-Up, Connect Online, and Other Stories). If you purchased a copy already, you can probably contact who you purchased it from to get the updated version (it's not a new edition, since there were no changes to the story or front matter).

Also, if you've read it and liked it, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads! Reviews are one of the best things you can do for writers, aside from buying their stories and books. ;)

You can also find a snippet on one of my older blog posts, HERE.

That's all I got for today. I hope you all like the new cover. I know I do!

NEXT UP: Chains of Nect: Obsidian's Obsession - Prologue

Jennifer Loring - Jiang-Shi

It's time for another guest post. This time it's by Jennifer Loring, author of Those of My Kind. If you'd like to learn more about the author, please scroll to the bottom of the article.

If you're interested in writing a guest post for Born To Write, please contact me via the contact form with a proposed topic.

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Jiang-Shi by Jennifer Loring

I am not ashamed to admit that I love vampires. Not the sexed-up variety that has dominated the genre for the past couple of decades (though they have their place), but the nasty, blood-starved, just-crawled-out-of-the-grave beasts of folklore. Before I started writing Those of My Kind, I knew I wanted a vampiric creature as the antagonist. I also knew that I did not want to use the hackneyed Western vampire, so I turned to one of my favorite sources for inspiration.

The Asian countries are rife with strange demons, spirits, and monsters. One of the most intriguing of these, the Chinese jiang-shi, is a bizarre hybrid of vampire and zombie known primarily for its habit of hopping after its victims. "Jiang-shi" translates to "stiff corpse", in reference to its most famous feature: its hopping movement, arms outstretched, because it has succumbed to rigor mortis. Legend has it that the first jiang-shi were created by priests who taught them to hop home for burial in their ancestral burial grounds. The priests transported them only at night and would ring bells to warn people of their presence, since it was bad luck to see one. As a creature originally resurrected through magic, this links the jiang-shi to the legends of Haitian zombies who, like their Chinese counterparts, had no will of their own and were under the control of sorcerers.

The jiang-shi, though frequently referred to as a "vampire", developed independently of Western vampires and likely arose as an extension of the Chinese hungry ghost. It bears little resemblance to the Western vampire and in fact is more akin to the modern zombie. Like the zombie, it does not retain knowledge of its former life nor any sort of willpower; it is driven purely by the instinct to feed. What links it to the vampire is its draining of victims' life energy or qi, similar to the psychic vampire, though Western influence has given some jiang-shi the ability to drain blood. While it may look like a normal human if created soon after death, post-decomposition jiang-shi take on a horrifying appearance. They are pale, with long white hair and moss or mold growing on their skin. They also possess sharp black fingernails, serrated teeth, and may radiate a phosphorescent green light. Because they cannot see, jiang-shi often detect their victims by breath; thus, one can avoid them by holding one's breath.

While a hopping vampire/zombie may seem absurd, the jiang-shi is far more vicious than most contemporary vampires. Aside from a tendency to rape women, it was common for a jiang-shi to rip off its victim's head or limbs, and this became its most frequently reported attribute. Lacking the hypnotic powers common to Western vampires, the jiang-shi typically surprised its victims instead. In time, the creature would grow stronger, leave its coffin behind, and learn to fly. At this point, it produced a covering of white hair and could obtain the power to turn into a wolf. Once the jiang-shi reached this stage, it could be killed only by a bullet or by thunder, though fire--representative of purification in so many cultures--was the ideal solution. Some believed one could also kill a jiang-shi by sucking out its dying breath.

The mythology and folklore of non-Western cultures can refresh even as well-worn a trope as the vampire. Choosing the traits that work for your story, and combining them with those of other monsters, will almost certainly lead to a creature uniquely your own. Try it in your next project and see where your imagination takes you!

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About the Author

Jennifer Loring’s short fiction has been published in numerous magazines, webzines, and anthologies. She received her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction, with a concentration in horror fiction. In 2004, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror awarded her with an honorable mention for her short story "The Bombay Trash Service." In 2013, Jennifer won first place in Crystal Lake Publishing's inaugural Tales from the Lake horror writing competition. She has published a dieselpunk novelette, Beautiful Things, with Fox & Raven Publishing and a psychological horror/ghost story novella, Conduits, with DarkFuse. Jennifer lives in Philadelphia, PA with her husband, Zach, and their turtle, Ninja. Those of My Kind is her first novel.

Website: http://jennifertloring.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferTLoring

About Those of My Kind

Two young women find themselves entangled in a deadly game with an ancient creature determined to wipe out all human life. Tristan and Blessing are demon-hunting drifters destined to protect mankind from evil, but to do so they must exist on the fringes of society. Feeding their own bloodlust by murdering local criminals, they begin a dangerous hunt for a resurrected demon named Anasztaizia. But when Tristan meets a beautiful dancer named Mira, she is willing to abandon her calling for her one chance at a normal life.

Believing Tristan has betrayed her, Blessing finds solace in her natural talent for witchcraft. Anasztaizia, able to corrupt Blessing by exploiting her jealousies and personal tragedies as well as her power, next turns her attention to Mira. Mira has been keeping a secret from Tristan, and she is willing to do anything to escape her agonizing fate. Even if it means abandoning her humanity. Even if it means Tristan must choose between Mira's life and her own.

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NEXT UP: Progress Update

SFFS Snippet - 10/27/12

The barn doors lay open, welcoming the night, but the sky outside was black. No hint of stars or moon. Close to the door, a nail pierced one of the beams that held up the roof. And on that nail hung the silver shoes.

Click, click, click. Tap, tap, tap.

The wind and its tricks made the shoes dance. First they knocked against the beam three times, followed by tapping together another three. A long pause, and then the dance started again. The consistency was eerie.

Excerpt from "Dancing in the Wind".

About "Dancing in the Wind":

The Wizard of Oz is a timeless story that nearly everyone knows about. So what happens when that timeless story is turned on its head? Dorothy is a bully who is thrown into the world of Oz. She gets a taste of her own medicine from a crazy trio of munchkins and the Wizard of Oz himself.

This story received an Honorable Mention in the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest for the 4th Quarter of 2009.

You can purchase this short story from Amazon, B&N, Smashwords and Kobo!

Please visit Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday (SFFS) to read more great snippets!

NEXT UP: Magic is Reality, Reality is Magic - Samhain

Lee Allen Howard - Horror and SciFi

OK, last week I had said a review of The Sixth Seed would be next up. Life and school intervened and cut down my planned reading time, though. Instead of a review, I have something better - a guest blog post from the author of The Sixth Seed, Lee Allen Howard! If you'd like to know more about the author, please scroll to the bottom of the article.


Horror and SciFi by Lee Allen Howard

When I first began working on THE SIXTH SEED, I wasn’t planning to write anything other than a horror story. And it started out as a story, a short one, way back in 1994.

The idea invaded my mind during my drive home through rush-hour traffic as I approached the Ft. Pitt Tunnel in Pittsburgh, PA. A man gets a vasectomy performed by a doctor in league with the Gray alien race in order to produce the first human/alien hybrid. The doctor implants a genetically engineered paraseed in the man’s vas deferens, outside the cauterization point, that impregnates his wife with their sixth child—the first hybrid to develop full-term in utero.

I thought this was horror at the time. It was when it was only a 5000-word short story.

But the more I worked with it, the bigger it grew. Frustrated with my inability to get a handle on this tale, I sent it out for review and received a comment that the idea was too big for a short story; why not develop it into a novel?

When I wrapped my head around the possibility, I broadened the story arc, developed the characters, and gave them a backstory. Working on my antagonist revealed that I needed to represent his world realistically, and this included science and medicine. (Frankly, without this grounding in reality, the story would be too farfetched to believe.) So I studied up on urology and obstetrics. I was lucky to have an uncle who’s an OB/GYN and a friend who just underwent a vasectomy and was willing to give me the gritty (intensely portrayed in chapter 1).

My horror story was mutating into something else, some kind of hybrid… Was it science fiction? Kind of. Fantasy? That, too, listing toward the dark side. Definitely paranormal, in the aliens and UFO sense. And what else? Family drama. What a mish-mash.

I tried to place this book for a decade, and it couldn’t be categorized. I liked it just fine the way it turned out, so I refused to rewrite it to make it acceptable for traditional print publication. I finally decided to produce it myself for Kindle and Nook.

I bill THE SIXTH SEED as “a dark paranormal fantasy fraught with suburban Pittsburgh horror.” But the science fiction is there too, in the medical procedures, extrapolated to the conception, prenatal care, and delivery of a child half alien.

Like Tom and Melanie Furst’s bizarre progeny in the novel, every great story is a unique mix of fact and fiction, science and horror, family and fantasy. Whatever tale you’re writing, don’t let genre constraints keep you from birthing the story that needs to be written. Create your own hybrid!

THE SIXTH SEED is available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com, or at Smashwords.com: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/64365.

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About the Author

Lee Allen Howard has been a professional writer since 1985. He writes horror, erotic horror, dark fantasy, and crime. His publication credits include Cemetery Sonata anthology, THOU SHALT NOT... anthology (Dark Cloud Press), THE SIXTH SEED, SEVERED RELATIONS, and STRAY. He is currently working on his fourth novel.

Lee blogs about writing and editing on his writer’s site: http://leeallenhoward.com. He is currently studying spiritualism, mediumship, and healing with the Morris Pratt Institute.

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NEXT UP: Finding time to write!

Big Hairy Audaciuos Goals

I apologize for the delay of this post. It seems planning and preparing for my daughter's third birthday derailed everything else I needed to get done! Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me. On with the topic!

Big Hairy Audacious Goals. We talked about this a couple months ago in one of my Writing Popular Fiction class chats.

Sometimes, it's hard to find the time and drive to write, and we need to trick ourselves into pushing on, continuing with our writing goals. This is where the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) comes in.

What you do is think of your one big dream when it comes to writing. No, don't just think, "I want to be published", or "I want people to buy my book". Think bigger and more specific. Pick a dream that may be far out of reach, even one that you may only be able to admit to yourself (we all have those things we'd be too embarrassed to admit to other people). Something like: "I want to have a book on the New York Times Bestseller List!"

Then imagine it comes true. Don't tell me that's too hard, either. I mean, we're writers, we imagine things everyday, writing those imaginings down in long (or short) stories. Close your eyes and really see your BHAG coming true.

The power of positive thinking a bit difficult to accept and wrap your head around? For some it is, and I struggle with it as well. It can be hard to think positively when there are so many hurdles to jump over when it comes to starting a writing career.

If you have a hard time with the BHAG, try taking things one small step at a time. What do you need to accomplish this week, today, or even this hour? Break things down, make a small list if you have to, then start working your way down that list. Maybe after some time, the BHAG won't be as daunting.

What's my BHAG? My ultimate one is really hard to admit to myself, let alone others. OK, OK - since you are all such loyal readers, I'll reveal a bit of my soul. My BHAG is to be able to show the people throughout my life that have told me I couldn't do it, that didn't think my writing (or the SF/F/H genre in general) is worth anything, that I can do it. I want to have the proof in my hands (and maybe, just maybe rub it in their faces a tiny bit *blushes*).

Enough about me. What's your Big Hairy Audacious Goal?

Note: Much of what I talked about in this post was mentioned in a discussion led by Lee McClain.


NEXT UP: A look at The Eyre Affair.

Online Critique Workshops

As mentioned in my previous post, it's beneficial to give and receive critiques, no matter what stage of writing you are in. Sometimes it's difficult to find the right place to exchange critiques, though. You will have to test groups yourself to find a good fit for you.

Below is a list of online critique workshops. It's by no means comprehensive, and many of the links lean towards science fiction, fantasy, and horror, as those are the genres I am more knowledgeable in. Sometimes you can find critique partners via writing forums as well.

Online may not work for you--search for critique groups locally as well, or start one yourself. I found my critique partners through my M.A. program (we exchange via e-mail, but I've met them in person during the residencies or retreats).

Also keep in mind, if you form a local group you are likely to have people with many genres--this is not necessarily a bad thing! We can learn a lot from critiquing outside of our genre as well. OK, on with the links:

Critique.org - This includes the Critters workshop. Recently, many new workshops have opened for a lot of genres. No cost. If you have questions about how it's run, feel free to ask me, as this is the one on the list I actively belong to for short story critiques.

Hatrack Writers Workshop - This one is off of Orson Scott Card's website, hosted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury. The information I read does not state it is genre specific. No cost.

Online Writing Workshops - Currently only have a SF/F/H workshop, but have had general fiction and romance in the past. First month free. $49 per year. Yes, they charge, but I know they have been around a long time - it could be worth it for some people (at least you get a month free to test it out).

Critique Circle - Another big one that's been around for a while. All genres. No cost.

Other Worlds Writers' Workshop - F/SF genres. No cost.

Coffeehouse Select or Casual Critique Communities - Looks like all genres. No cost.

Short Story Writers' Group - Only short stories and poetry. All genres. No cost.

Science Fiction Writers Workshop - Speculative fiction only. No cost.

Fiction Writing Brainstorming & Critique Partnership - This is a fledgling group on Facebook, but it has a lot of potential! All genres. No cost.

Some writing forums where you may be able to exchange critiques or find critique partners (there are countless forums out there, don't be shy to use Google):

Absolute Write Water Cooler
Forward Motion for Writers
Author Nation


NEXT UP: Born to Write!

Snow...Or Is That Really A Monster?

SPOILER ALERT! If you have not read Snow there are spoilers in this essay.

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As I read Snow, I found myself instantly pulled in--there was excellent character development and great description of the monsters. Unfortunately, about halfway through, I grew disappointed. There were several parts of the second half that just didn't work for me, especially the epilogue.

Malfi does a nice job using the prologue at the beginning to pull the reader in, to let us know that something is going on in the town of Woodson. This prologue allows chapter one to start more slowly and interweave character development as well as get our protagonist heading toward the town. The set-up here, with describing the men taken over by the monsters, also leads the reader to a knowing moment when Todd, Kate, Nan, and Fred come across Eddie wandering alone in the snow. "A man in a black- and red-checkered coat and high boots, mid-forties, bearded, pale--" (32). That last word, pale, sent bells off in my head, knowing that Eddie is no longer truly human, a perfect echo from the prologue. And that suspicion is confirmed when they find Eddie's "missing" daughter, Emily--the girl has no face. I thought that was wonderfully done.

The character development in this novel is also well done. Todd is our main protagonist, and at the beginning he is trying to reach his son for Christmas. He doesn't want to let his son down again, like he's done so many times in the past. This makes him a sympathetic character. Even his flaws--the gambling, mainly--cause his character to come to life. So we're rooting for him the entire time he's faced with the monsters.

Speaking of the monsters, I thought they were wonderfully described and fleshed out. "Like a puzzle piece sliding out of position, a section of snow seemed to unhinge itself from the rest, a compact little vacuum of white filaments sliding into the wind" (100). The characters never know if what's covering the ground is real snow or the monsters themselves. And, of course, these snow monsters can burrow into human beings, and after killing the host, use the corpses as puppets. They are also able to pull from the person's memories and experiences. Another great, creepy monster.

The scene where things started to unravel for me is where Shawna, the point-of-view character from the prologue, meets her demise. She holes up in the basement of a house for the night, her leg wound worse from recent incidents, and in the morning wakes to find the human puppets of the monsters clogging the upstairs. There is nothing peaceful about her death--she is overrun and devoured, with no one around to help. Now, I'm all for the monsters picking off characters one by one, but this death left me feeling empty. I really think that may be because I was hoping she would be made into a puppet and Todd and Kate would have to face her before the end of the book. Shawna's death scene is the last we see of her.

Nearing the end of Snow, disappointed with no reappearance of Shawna, many incongruities showed up, in my opinion. There's a scene where Kate takes a hammer to this slug-like thing. What the hell is that about? Is it the snow monster's form when it's not in the cold? If so, that needed to be established either earlier in the book or followed up before the end.

Todd is supposed to be the hero of the book. He finally contacts help outside the town. This act doesn't make him a hero, though, since the help doesn't reach them until the monsters have already left. Bruce, a minor character and the true hero, blows up a gas station, killing himself in the process, to kill many of the snow monsters. After this, the monsters decide it's too much of a hassle, funnel back up into some portal in the sky, and vanish. We find out later this happened in several small towns in the Midwest. Why exactly did they all leave, across the many towns, at the same time? It seemed weird that an explosion in one town would cause the monsters to leave all the towns. And why exactly weren't they slowly spreading to neighboring towns if they were there to feed? Once they ran out of humans to eat in Woodson (true there were a few people left in hiding, but not many), why didn't they move to the closest town over to find more food?

I also would have liked to see Kate give Todd that dollar she owed him at the end of the novel. Even though, I felt like through the whole novel, he had learned his lesson with gambling, yet in the end he gambles whether they will be able to reach help or not. That wonderful characterization at the beginning tasted a bit stale when Todd bet Kate that buck.

And finally, the epilogue ruined it for me. Eddie and his supposed daughter, whom I mentioned before, are seen driving across the country in a truck. It's that "they're still out there" moment, which I could have done without because it made me wonder why Eddie and Emily are so different that they weren't sucked back up through the portal like all the rest. And what is up with the band-aids?

So, yes, I felt Snow had a good start with a great set-up, a wonderful monster, and nice characterization. As you can see from my endless string of questions in a couple paragraphs above, though, the end left me feeling like everything wasn't thought out well enough. There were too many inconsistencies that pulled me out of the world and shook my suspension of disbelief.


Works Cited

Malfi, Ronald. Snow. New York: Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc., 2010.