July 16th, 2010 
Lorna D. Keach 
Agents! Ah! Flee in terror, flee in terror! No, really, looking for an agency can be really scary–and really frustrating for horror writers. So, in response to this nail-biting, heart-stopping nightmare, I have compiled a short list of some agents who are actually, truly interested in representing horror and are open to submissions right now. [...]
Posted in The Cult 
Tags: abject terror, agents, horror agents, horror fiction, horror writers, horror writing, literary agents, writers, writing 
No Comments » 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 21st, 2010 Lorna D. Keach Nothing is more frustrating than to see “Closed to Submissions” on market after market when you’ve got the Most Awesome Story Ever to submit. So, to help ease the pain, we’ve gathered a quick-reference list of some Horror markets that are open to submissions right now. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but hopefully it is [...]
Posted in The Cult Tags: horror, horror markets, horror writing, Magazines, Markets, online, open, print, publishers, short stories, writers, writing 3 Comments » 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 » May 7th, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
When I was fourteen, I often wrote about characters named Raven Silverstone and Antonella St. Claire and Mahogany Merlot. My only excuse is, well…I was fourteen. (And I probably read too many trashy romance novels. Ah, the foibles of youth before internet porn was readily accessible…) But I’m sure I’m not the only one with [...]
Posted in The Cult Tags: baby names, character, character naming, fiction writing, Fincklebutts, horror writers, SSA, writers, writing No Comments » 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 » April 2nd, 2010 Lorna D. Keach 
I don’t know about you, but lit Agents terrify me. We have so many things to terrify us along the road to grabbing the coveted title Published Author—submitting, re-writing, shrinking markets, Dean Koontz—but, out of everything, it’s The Agent that I fear the most. Agents are supposed to be your best friend. They’re supposed to [...]
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