July 2nd, 2010 
Lorna D. Keach 
(Or, the Horrors of the Form Rejection Revisited) I don’t send simultaneous submissions. There are those who will tell you, yes, even though the guidelines say “no simultaneous submissions” professional writers do it anyway—and that’s fine if they want to say that. That’s fine if “professional writers” want to send out the same story to [...]
June 11th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
(Or, hey, maybe e-media IS that bad…) So, when we last left our intrepid heroes, brand new USB ports were being installed directly into our foreheads. Now that we’re equipped with the latest technology and a new love for electronic media, we’re all going to rush right off and self-publish our books, so we can [...]
June 4th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
(Or, hey, e-media’s not that bad…) We’ve all heard it. Soon, we’ll be burying the bloated corpse of print media and reading all our newspapers online, and the internet will plug directly into our skulls to feed us mortgage refinancing commercials while we sleep, et cetera, et cetera… And, truly, it’s a horrifying thought. Every [...]
May 14th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
Or, Save Early, Save Often! Sometimes, I suspect my Microsoft Word is possessed by a foul-tempered Taiwanese gremlin. I’ve had too many experiences with glitchy text, overbearing grammar checkers, and tables that move about the page as though they’re self-aware and plotting my destruction. While the program is certainly far better than Corel WordPerfect or [...]
Posted in The Horrors of Horror Writing 
Tags: back up, backups, gremlins, horror, horror fiction, horror writing, lost data, lost writing, Microsoft Word, Papa Legba, writers, writing 
5 Comments » April 23rd, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
(Or, is that an angry mob in your pocket, or…uh…) Writers have a lot of afflictions to suffer from. We have the commonly known Writer’s Block, the lesser known Writer’s Apathy (when we need to write but kinda don’t want to at the moment), Writer’s Carpel Tunnel, Writer’s Desksores (like bedsores), Writer’s Syphilis…okay, maybe that [...]
April 16th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
We want you–to send us your Horrors! If you have any stories about horrible things that’ve happened to you as a writer, drop us a line. Even if it’s just stories of horrible things you’re worried might happen to you; or horrible things that didn’t actually happen to you, but could have; or fantastic writers’ [...]
April 9th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
(Or, please, put the red pen down before someone gets hurt…) So, one thing I like to try to do with this feature—this lovely corner of the internet that’s been so graciously given to me to spew words on—is say thing things writers might not say in public. I like to write about things that, [...]
Posted in The Horrors of Horror Writing Tags: demon lover, editing, editors, editors are people too, fiction, gophers, horror, horror fiction, horror writing, rewriting, writers, writing 4 Comments » March 26th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
(Or, how to freak people out by admitting that you write in public.) It’s only recently that I’ve begun to have the courage to talk about being a writer, let alone a horror writer. Years ago, I never mentioned the W-word in polite company and rarely spoke it aloud, even when no one was listening. [...]
March 12th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
(Or, is that a manuscript in your pocket, or are you just wasting your freakin’ life?) There is a vast difference between short story writing and novel writing. Think of it as the difference between pot and heroin—sure, it’s perfectly easy to just write a short story now and then, maybe just a bit on [...]
Posted in The Horrors of Horror Writing Tags: frist draft, horror, horror fiction, horror writing, novel, rewriting, slimy agent, terrible addiction, writers, writing 5 Comments » February 26th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
(or, Stephanie Meyer Ate My Baby.) Listen, I’m going to confess something here that is truly, truly horrible. It is a dark secret that few souls have had the privileged terror of knowing, and one thing I don’t admit in public when I’m trying to get people to like me. It’s a monstrous secret, one [...]
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