A few hours ago a blogger asked me, “How does a non-horror writer like you write such scary stories?” I’m asked this question often. I see people struggling to categorize my genre of writing when they leave reviews and I even had a reviewer send me an email telling me that I was NOT a horror writer (http://wordsmithcrystalconnor.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-time-for-good-measure.html) This baffles me. I categorize myself as a horror writer; my only goal when I pick up my pen is to scare the shit of someone, but with my latest release the debate and confusion begins anew.
To get to the bottom of this I think maybe I should try and understand what the immediate “gut reaction” to the word horror means to most people. Because we’ve been thoroughly so inundated with the images of the masked man with a knife, the family with the chainsaw, people dangling from & trapped inside every know entrapment of torture know to man, with our cups runnething over with so much blood and gore that I think that a lot of people think believe horror can’t be horror if these elements are not included.
I saw this movie with my BFF Kathi, and there is nothing remotely whatsoever horrific or thrilling about this movie. It a love story and a tear-jerker, but I super duper love this fan trailer because it’s a perfect example on how mood, atmosphere, and timing can turn the most mundane thing into something scary.
I don’t its necessary for horror to have tons of gore or jump scares for it to be scary, in my opinion when a movie has over the top, gratuitous scenes of violence and tidal waves of blood it stops being effective and becomes nothing more that cheap parlor tricks in attempts to mask the fact that the book/movie is lacking a strong plot or compelling story line.
Not everything that goes bump in the night carries an axe, not all monsters hide under the bed, and sometimes the closest you are to damnation is when your in the presence of innocence.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Gut punched, then kicked when I was down =(
One reoccurring compliment and honorable mention in reviews that I receive is how diverse the cast of characters are in my stories. This is something that I don’t set out to do when I sit down to write a story, my very 1st priority when I pick up my pen is to scare the heebie jeebies out of my readers or at the very least make people uncomfortable. All my stories would still be scary if everyone was white and straight.
My stories are multiculture because that’s the world I’ve always lived in. I grew up on a US military installation where having a black mom and a white dad, or a white dad or Asian mom was normal. My mom had gay friends, I have gays friends and while serving my country I practically travelled all over the world. I was born in Washington and live in Seattle which has a pretty diverse population.
I got an email today from a reader who vows never to read anything from me again. After just reading three stories in my anthology and after the conclusion of Best Friends Forever, which tells what happens when a relationship deteriorates in the most frightening way. A relationship which just happens to be between two women.
She explicatively demanded to know if I wasn’t going to bother explaining the hardships and challenges of the LGBT community then why use them in my work and furiously accused me of using LGBT characters as tokens and explained in great detail how deplorable and crass she found it coming from an African American writer who should know better. She advised me that she would be returning the book to Amazon for a full refund.
I’m completely stunned, I’m confused and probably not done crying. I’m not sure what else I was supposed to do. Finding yourself in a war of the roses situation after initiating a breaking up and then finding out your ex is Psycho Suzy would be hard for anyone, gay, straight, black or white to deal with. In this story the couple just happened to be same sex.
I’m just not sure what else I was supposed to do
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Happy All Hallow's Eve =D
How to Survive a Horror Movie tip# 48:
LOOK BEHIND YOU!
LOOK BEHIND YOU!
Happy Halloween you guys!
So today is the 3rd day of my book tour sponsored by my friend Jadis Shaw, the owner of an author's services company called Juniper Groove Book Solution and todays stop is an interview with Darcia, Maria & Michael over at Bestseller Bound Recommeds, be sure to swing by and check them out. All the links are below.
Yesterday and Monday's stop are hosting a contest where one lucky follower will win a signed autographed copies of my anthology. The last time I check over one hundred people entered the contest =D It makes me super happy because I was so afraid that that maybe people wouldn't enter. I have no idea why I would think that, but like they say, we are our own worst and hardest critics.
Speaking of critics, the reviews so far are pretty good and the layout is well received. The story that's emerging as an all time favorite is Amber's New Friend because all but one person who reviewed the book rave about it so I think I'm going to be ok.
What's everyone doing tonight for Halloween? When I was little and my father was stationed at Ft. Lewis every single year the dentist dressed up as a tooth and his wife was the tooth fairy and instead of giving us candy he gave us a zip lock bags that had small tubes of tooth paste, a tooth brush, small bottles of mouth wash that would turn our teeth pink to show us the spots that we missed, and appointment cards for our parents to remind them of our next dental appointment. =D I'll never forget that and its one of my fondest Halloween memories. =D
In closing ...you guys know how a feel about the whole stupid ass damsel in distress lunacy in horror movies so in preparation for my super mega horror movie marathon I bought some tea and warned my neighbors lol. To celebrate my delusional belief that I think horror movies are interactive experiences and that the people in the movie I'm screaming at can actually hear me, my sister posted this to Facebook. OMG I thought I was going to choke to death on my own laughter. You guys have got to see this!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
See, what had happened was...
OMG you guys I am so sorry I haven't update my blog in awhile, but I can explain...
So 1st off ...And They All Lived Happily Ever After! is now available where ever fine books are sold (but mostly Amazon) but...a week before my launch date (which was on my birthday) my harddrive crashed and it happened to crashed the day after the final edits. I can not begin to explain how stress out I was, I had two book signings schl'd and the only books I had on hand were the unedited ARC copies. I was so devastated I nearly canxl'd my events and that would have been stupid. I ended up selling the ARC copies at the booksignings but I spent two whole days writing little notes on my wordsmith postcards explaining the errors in edits and begging for leniency. Everyone was pretty understanding and both booksignings went very well. Actually it was more fun than being at a convention!
I was also interviewed by the very sexy Morgue Anne, host of the Sex and Death podcast! Click to watch.
Book Launch interview
I am really going to try and get a handle on updating my blog and fanpage so that you guys know I'm still alive and kicking and what's going on as far as the writing goes. ...And They All Lived Happily Ever After! has been doing very well, things are moving along with Book III and I have two more projects that I am working on that you'll all know about coming up here soon =D
But for the most part like I said I am going to do my best to be more active online but its hard because when things are going realy good for me it sucks for those of you who are following me because when I'm writing I'm not updating my blog or posting to facebook. But I am going to work on it I promise.
Two big announcements before I go...Next week I will be on tour promoting the anthology and there will be an audiobook! I'm super excited about both! Here are the dates for the tour and I'll leave you with a teaser from the audiobook!
ttyl
Crystal
Click to listen...
Audiobook Teaser
So 1st off ...And They All Lived Happily Ever After! is now available where ever fine books are sold (but mostly Amazon) but...a week before my launch date (which was on my birthday) my harddrive crashed and it happened to crashed the day after the final edits. I can not begin to explain how stress out I was, I had two book signings schl'd and the only books I had on hand were the unedited ARC copies. I was so devastated I nearly canxl'd my events and that would have been stupid. I ended up selling the ARC copies at the booksignings but I spent two whole days writing little notes on my wordsmith postcards explaining the errors in edits and begging for leniency. Everyone was pretty understanding and both booksignings went very well. Actually it was more fun than being at a convention!
 |
| Kicking the day off at 12:01 am at Denny's for breakfast |
 |
| Look at this kick ass cake my kid sis got for me, It was so fucking good! |
 |
| At Burien Books for the 1st signing of the day |
 |
| Lunch w/the girls after the signing...look at how tired I look. lol |
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| Look at all my books! |
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| This is at 3rd Place Books in Seattle. I heart this bookstore |
Book Launch interview
I am really going to try and get a handle on updating my blog and fanpage so that you guys know I'm still alive and kicking and what's going on as far as the writing goes. ...And They All Lived Happily Ever After! has been doing very well, things are moving along with Book III and I have two more projects that I am working on that you'll all know about coming up here soon =D
But for the most part like I said I am going to do my best to be more active online but its hard because when things are going realy good for me it sucks for those of you who are following me because when I'm writing I'm not updating my blog or posting to facebook. But I am going to work on it I promise.
Two big announcements before I go...Next week I will be on tour promoting the anthology and there will be an audiobook! I'm super excited about both! Here are the dates for the tour and I'll leave you with a teaser from the audiobook!
ttyl
Crystal
Click to listen...
Audiobook Teaser
Friday, August 24, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Ummm...Houston, we have a problem.
Ok, if its me that's correcting written grammar errors ... me with my illiterate non-spelling, run on sentence writing ass then you can best believe the end is near. See, what had happened was...
I am now publishing thru Createspace and a few days ago I uploaded the cover and interior so that I could order a print test/format copy basically its just a Go/no go test to make sure I'm ready once the final edits are complete because after the Aug 6th things are going to move wicked fast.
So I upload everything and wait for approval. And this is the error message I recv'd:
The interior and cover files for ...And They All Lived ..., have been reviewed. The cover file does not meet our submission requirements for the reason(s) listed below. Please make any necessary adjustments to your cover file and upload it again by logging in to createspace.com. The author name for this book was listed as Crystal Connor but the cover indicates the author name is Crystal Connor,s . The author name displayed on the cover must match the author name entered during title setup.
OMFG are you kidding me?! Here how I responded to this email:
First of all I used an apostrophe: Crystal Connor's, not a comma Crystal Connor,s. Now the apostrophe has three uses:
1. to form possessives
2. to show the omission of letters
3. to indicate certain plurals of lower case letters
The apostrophe usage here is to indicate possession and if you refer to my previous titles The Darkness ISBN 978-1466369559 and Artificial Light ISBN 978-14791042, both of which were published thru Createspace, the use of the apostrophe was allowed. Thank you in advance for your prompt attn in the matter.
Problem solved right? No. But wait there's more:
Hello Crystal, Thank you for contacting us and raising some valid points in regard to the author's name mismatch we detected. We''ll need to do some more research and I'm sure with all the information you have provided, we will get to the bottom this. I am connecting with our Technical Services team in order to get the best answer. You will hear from us within one to two business days. I really appreciate your patience. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions or concerns Best regards, CreateSpace Member Services
(Insert gun in mouth. Pull trigger.)
Valid points? No its basic English grammar which doesn't require the assistance of a Technical Services team. The person I've been corresponding to has a very exotic looking name which means Createspace outsourced this part of the process to a country outside the United States. Now I think everyone in the world would agree that its a challenge talking with someone when language is a barrier ... however I think its effn BS to hire a workforce to review works written in English and the only qualification needed is a certificate of completion of an ESL class.
That I have to explain grammar to a person who was hired to be a proofreader is insanely frustrating and having to wait to hear back from the 'Technical Service team' is nowhere near convenient.
I am now publishing thru Createspace and a few days ago I uploaded the cover and interior so that I could order a print test/format copy basically its just a Go/no go test to make sure I'm ready once the final edits are complete because after the Aug 6th things are going to move wicked fast.
So I upload everything and wait for approval. And this is the error message I recv'd:
The interior and cover files for ...And They All Lived ..., have been reviewed. The cover file does not meet our submission requirements for the reason(s) listed below. Please make any necessary adjustments to your cover file and upload it again by logging in to createspace.com. The author name for this book was listed as Crystal Connor but the cover indicates the author name is Crystal Connor,s . The author name displayed on the cover must match the author name entered during title setup.
OMFG are you kidding me?! Here how I responded to this email:
First of all I used an apostrophe: Crystal Connor's, not a comma Crystal Connor,s. Now the apostrophe has three uses:
1. to form possessives
2. to show the omission of letters
3. to indicate certain plurals of lower case letters
The apostrophe usage here is to indicate possession and if you refer to my previous titles The Darkness ISBN 978-1466369559 and Artificial Light ISBN 978-14791042, both of which were published thru Createspace, the use of the apostrophe was allowed. Thank you in advance for your prompt attn in the matter.
Problem solved right? No. But wait there's more:
Hello Crystal, Thank you for contacting us and raising some valid points in regard to the author's name mismatch we detected. We''ll need to do some more research and I'm sure with all the information you have provided, we will get to the bottom this. I am connecting with our Technical Services team in order to get the best answer. You will hear from us within one to two business days. I really appreciate your patience. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions or concerns Best regards, CreateSpace Member Services
(Insert gun in mouth. Pull trigger.)
Valid points? No its basic English grammar which doesn't require the assistance of a Technical Services team. The person I've been corresponding to has a very exotic looking name which means Createspace outsourced this part of the process to a country outside the United States. Now I think everyone in the world would agree that its a challenge talking with someone when language is a barrier ... however I think its effn BS to hire a workforce to review works written in English and the only qualification needed is a certificate of completion of an ESL class.
That I have to explain grammar to a person who was hired to be a proofreader is insanely frustrating and having to wait to hear back from the 'Technical Service team' is nowhere near convenient.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
T Minus 32 days
Hi Guys,
So the release of ...And They All Lived Happily Ever After! is just 32 days away and I am so exicted I'm not really sure what to do with myself. Not only is Aug 28th the release date its also my birthday =D Its gonna be a super busy day, as I have three events plannned ... Two book signings and two parties! I know that equals four but two of the book signings roll into the party so it just counts as one event. So my day will start with a birthday breakfast gala, then a noon signing then the big reading/signing/birthday dinner bash. (I've had my outfit picked out back in June lol)
Ok, so here is the official cover:
Sweet uh? I thought so too! And here is the book trailer:
So far all of the ARC reviews are super duper good...And if things weren't already insanely awesome it looks like I'm also going to have an audiobook!
Next next few weeks are gonna be tough. We're over half way done with the rework and edits and about 70% finished with formatting for Kindle and its digital cousins. The paperback verison has to be ready to go by Aug 6th so that the bookstores can order it before the book signing and I still need a few more promo items for both bookstores.
That's it for now, just wanted to touch base and check in...love you all and talk to you soon!
So the release of ...And They All Lived Happily Ever After! is just 32 days away and I am so exicted I'm not really sure what to do with myself. Not only is Aug 28th the release date its also my birthday =D Its gonna be a super busy day, as I have three events plannned ... Two book signings and two parties! I know that equals four but two of the book signings roll into the party so it just counts as one event. So my day will start with a birthday breakfast gala, then a noon signing then the big reading/signing/birthday dinner bash. (I've had my outfit picked out back in June lol)
Ok, so here is the official cover:
Sweet uh? I thought so too! And here is the book trailer:
Next next few weeks are gonna be tough. We're over half way done with the rework and edits and about 70% finished with formatting for Kindle and its digital cousins. The paperback verison has to be ready to go by Aug 6th so that the bookstores can order it before the book signing and I still need a few more promo items for both bookstores.
That's it for now, just wanted to touch base and check in...love you all and talk to you soon!
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