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No source of fear goes unexamined in J. Richard Jacobs’ Twisted Tails III: Pure Fear anthology. Combining 18 stories from nearly a dozen talented authors that resemble Stephen King’s Creep Show, anything Alfred Hitchcock and the Twilight Zone is no easy task but Jacobs does an excellent job of showcasing each author’s ability to bring into the light what scares us most.

There’s a story for every scary thrill seeker whether it’s the eerie heart-racing kind as in J. Richard Jacobs’ The Beast in the Basement or the psychological and existential terror that haunts all of us as in KL Nappier’s Backslide, Twisted Tails III won’t disappoint. Some of my favorites include:

· The Ghost of Korrim McKarthy by Brandon Berntson – I loved the idea of scared kids in the woods and the bully who gets his due in this story. To me this one was the scariest of the bunch!

· Day of the Dead by Marilyn Peake – I liked the idea of masks and what happens when we wear them in this story. I also liked the fact that this story made me laugh in places where I probably shouldn’t have but it was enjoyable all the same. I loved the dark vs light irony and there’s nothing scarier than creepy kids who seem normal at first.

· The Raft by Kim McDougall – The description in this story can’t be beat. I was on that raft with them and I could feel the sun scorching while we waited to be rescued.

· Divine Messenger by K.L. Nappier – While not particularly scary, I loved the wisdom and sarcasm that flowed from the old woman. Nappier makes your heart nearly explode when she plays against that ticking clock.

· Three on a Match by John Klawitter – I enjoyed this one. It made me think of Twilight Zone and those fun British humor novels rolled into one. The Mr. Know-it-All Psychiatrist’s panic was most enjoyable.

· Arachnotail by Biff Mitchell – Last on my list of favs, this one shows how our psychological fears can overtake even our most obvious mental abilities. I loved how the obvious solution couldn’t be implemented or the danger averted because of a combo of liquid courage and irrational uncontrollable fears. In the end you wonder if you’d be hanging beneath the cliff in piss-stained pants in fear of something you could normally squish with your shoe on level ground.

For finding all the ways to scare us, Twisted Tails III: Pure Fear earns 4 out of 5 Sable Seals.

Publisher: Double Dragon Publishing Inc

Format: Print or Ebook

Price: 15.99 or 5.99

In my quest for the most terrorizing scary novels and stories for this first annual Sable Lit Reviews Spooky Friday Showcase, I received some amazing entries. While I liked some and loved others, every author who was showcased for this event should be proud of their stories and the way in which they told them.

So, who got the coveted bewitching Halloween spot???

None other than Twisted Tails III: Pure Fear….!

As an anthology of very talented writers, it provided a variety of stories highlighting what scares us most both in reality and the imaginative recesses of our minds.

Here’s the trailer (if you can stand it) and look forward to the review which will be posted on Halloween!!

While Twisted Tails III landed the coveted Halloween spot, the entry that truly had my heart racing and my nails bitten to bloody stumps was Barbara Karmazin’s Night Moves. I simply can’t get that psyco-vamp out of my head. As a result, look forward to more book reviews featuring Barbara as well as an author interview! Congratulations Barbara and the Twisted Tails Posse!

Happy Halloween-eve ghouls and ghoulettes, until next time!

Sincerely,

The Sable Lit Reviews Blog Mistress

This past week while I was prospecting for new clients I had to consider how I write. Many writers identify themselves as heavy planners or free spirit writers who just take a snippet of an underdeveloped idea and either weave it into a full-length novel or scribble out a mass amount of words before having to go back and shape it into the finished work.

I’ve found that I can write either way. Mismatched was definitely an idea that I just ran with. I didn’t outline it ahead of time. I didn’t do character sketches. I just knew the basic plot and I knew where I wanted the characters to end up. I had even wrote the sex scenes separately and kept them off to the side, having written the entire novel without them. Of course I had an idea where they would go and I inserted them after editing them separately. (Although one scene was written during the editing stage after the novel was sold.)

In this next work in progress tentatively titled Early Withdrawal, I’ve mapped it out to the letter. I had the synopsis and book blurb written before I had even written a single page of the novel. Of course both have changed as I write the book, but I know every detail. It’s too early for me to say which method I like best, but I find myself starting and stopping because I have it so well planned out. During Mismatched my writing fits and droughts occurred due to lack of confidence and my lack of planning on how the novel would meet its end. Don’t think you stay confident just because you get published. You learn so much after getting published but self-doubt is there throughout a writer’s career, because each novel is new.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with how you write. Being too rigid takes some of the fun out of crafting your work and may cause you to miss a great new method that may surge your entire process.

Title: BET Black College Tour
Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Description: Occuring at Florida A&M University, in its 7th year, BET hosts the back to school college tour. Support BET as it creates excitement and social activites while boosting community awareness regarding the longevity of US Historically Black Colleges. For more information about the tour locations see: www.bet.com/blackcollegetour
Date: 2008-10-29

In Melissa Blue’s interracial sensual romance, How Much You Want to Be?, construction maven and a professionally lost pseudo-playboy find love among pool cues, hammers, drill bits, paint tubes and chalk dust. Neil Sullivan is a construction manager-hopeful who has moved to a small town in hopes that she can build a new life and keep her old one completely buried with her parents. Not wanting to live off of her legacy and not feeling free to live up to it, her co-workers never really get to know who she is. Her strong persona not to mention her honey-brown skin, narrowing hazel eyes and ringlet hair have rich newsboy Gibland Winfred the third deeply intrigued. When lost pool bet leads to a date, a searing kiss and housing contract that is sure to secure Neil the construction manager’s title, Neil finds out more about herself and this debonair newsman. He’s not all he appears to be and neither is she.

He wins her respect but will he win her heart as they come into constant contract to finish the housing contract? Will Neil realize that old secrets and old promises that have done her more harm than good should relinquished in order for her to pursue her life’s passions both in bed and out of it?

Blue has crafted a highly interesting plot that keeps you wondering who has the biggest secret. Trust me, you’ll be surprised at what comes tumbling out in a way you will not expect.

Neil is a delight, strong and sarcastic and yet realistically flawed. I enjoyed witnessing her make the connections needed truly create the life she wanted instead of the one she thought she wanted.

Most sensational are the one liners Blue interjects and the love scenes, they are of the most sensuous kind, full-bodied, emotional and all enveloping.

Here’s a taste:

“The scent smelled good enough to bottle and drink.”

OR

“The paper-pusher wear had hidden the body of a god, with skin hot and smooth under her shaky fingers.

And unless I give it all away…

“The candlelight flickered over their sweat-slicked bodies, causing shadows against the walls.”

Whew, How Much You Want to Bet? is a very satisfying read. It earns 5 out of 5 Sable Seals.

Publisher: Wild Rose Press

Format: Ebook, Print

Price: 4.50, $9.99

As my writing career has started to evolve, I’ve had to examine why I write. It is simple to say I write because I have to or it’s like breathing — if I don’t I’d die inside. Yes, those explanations are severely dramatic although they may be very true emotionally speaking.

             I started out writing poetry and often thought I had to be depressed or at the very least emotionally stuck in order to craft my most heart-twisting or inspirational verses. I didn’t want to write that way, but I found it to be so effortless when I did. Writing novels regardless of my mood was far more difficult. Also, I truly enjoy immediate gratification. The shorter pieces obviously play into that.

             When I decided to write Mismatched, I had not read a romance novel since Frances Pascal’s Sweet Valley high and I only read a few others while I wrote the novel. Truth be told I’ve only read maybe five others during the writing of Mismatched. I am still a babe in the forest of romances novels but I am learning my likes and dislikes and learning how to make my writing stronger.

If you treat writing like the craft it is, you don’t have to associate certain emotional states to get it done. Also, instead of focusing on the feelings that lead you to write, I’ve found it much better to focus on the feels that erupt when I write. There’s no reason to be that stereotypical moody, brooding artist who wastes away at the computer, the canvas or the potter’s wheel agonizing over the elusive perfect product.

             RWA had an excellent article in their Romance Writers Report about depression and writing. For many there is an association there and that article showed me that I was not alone. I am so grateful that I learned to focus on what the writing provides for me emotionally instead of the emotional state I thought was required to write in the first place. There is no emotional state required; I just do it because it is who I am.

             While not inherently scary, you will get your fill of the menacing, bloody and brooding atmosphere of LA Wilson’s In Blood Covenant. While in the city of Gwyngoed visiting his ill brother-in-law, Lorne Jagger, an ordinary mechanic from Plymouth, stops at a pub for a drink. He becomes entranced by a dark man dressed in black who seems on friendly terms with the barkeep and only drinks from a special bottle during last call using his own special goblet. Mesmerized by the man who appears at the pub at night following the same odd drinking ritual, Jaggar finally approaches the stranger to find out why he intrigues him so much. A light conversation about good and evil plus the dark man’s aversion to Jagger’s personal questions, leads Jagger on a journey to break free of his boring life when the dark man, Altair Salvar shows up after Jagger returns home to Plymouth and finds out about a savage bloodletting that occurred in Gwyngoed before he left.

             The book goes through Altair’s self-torture due to his vampiric misdeeds over nearly 450 years and the emotional games he plays with Jagger leading him to the brink of insanity. Will Jagger outlast the game to get the life he desires most? A life only Altair can give him? Is he willing to risk all that he loves to gain access to that life and the special society of El Diablo?

             In Blood Covenant is a book rich with Celtic, Spanish and Roman Catholic history. The environment as well as the layers of the game are intricately crafted, however, nearly two hundred pages into the novel a tremendous history dump takes place that increases the pace, but left me exhausted when I realized that there was still over 70 pages left and “the game” was still in full play. While everyone is required to lose someone they love, several characters gets sucked in and the reader remains in the dark too long. At one moment Altair tells Jagger that he is sick of him and frankly I became sick of the whole thing as well. With over 270 pages of build up and the great imagery, the ending left me unsatisfied and I then found it very difficult to read through the epilogue and author’s notes that followed.

Because of the great imagery and details and the intricate nature of the game, In Blood Covenant earns 3 out of 5 sable seals.

Publisher: Eternal Press.ca

Format: Ebook

Price: 5.95

 As a freelance writer, you are constantly marketing yourself. As a traditional worker, you tend to market your abilities only when it’s time for a new cubicle with a better view, or if you’re high enough on the corporate climbing wall, a more opulent office, a bigger bonus and a fatter paycheck. A freelance writer has no such luxury since one never knows when one client exits and when one will enter. Sure, there are contracts and possibilities for more work if the job at hand is done well. However, in being a freelance writer, one has to be open to many different types of odd jobs. You may be writing product reviews, or product descriptions, business articles or company profiles, in addition to the more traditional business plans, press releases and sales copy.

             Many freelance writers don’t care what the project is as long as there is writing involved and good pay for the mental exertion.

             Freelance veterans all have their opinions of how to get started, how much to have in the dry spell fund, and what projects are worth the time.

             Before you ever embark on such an endeavor it is important to know the type of freelancer you’ll be. Do you care what the project is? Or are you willing to do it all for a price in order to pay the bills? There’s no right or wrong answer here as each freelancer is open to construct their writing business their way. Sometimes, you may find yourself taking on a project you’d rather pass on until a more appealing or lucrative one comes along. Other times you’ll discover a writing venue you never considered. All in all be open to the possibilities and the challenges and freelance writing could be more than you ever hoped for.

Title: Re:Verse Literary Conference & Festival
Location: Bronx, New York
Description: Support the platform for literary based creative thinking and knowledge sharing. Presented by the Literary Freedom Project, join the educators, literary organizations community organizers and artists who will be in attendance. Advanced registration is required. For more information see http://reversefestival.com/08.htm.
Date: 2008-10-25

As a writer, the way I watch movies will never be the same. After finding out that Lakeview Terrace, the latest Samuel L. Jackson flick produced by Will Smith’s production company Overbrook Entertainment, had interracial themes, I decided to go see it for blog material’s sake.

             The movie had caught my interest anyway, I mean, who can play a menacing socio-path better than Samuel L. Jackson? But I had not decided to go see it until I learned of its interracial themes since movies that have multicultural or interracial themes are of especial interest to me.

             Maybe that’s why I found myself watching this movie like a writer. I wasn’t taking notes in the theatre or anything like that, (Although I did jot a few thoughts down on the back of my ticket stub as the opening credits began to roll.) but I immediately noticed how extreme everything is. Filmmakers, in the hope that we don’t miss the point, often exaggerate events, dialogue and human response in order to elicit the viewer reaction they are looking to generate.

             I don’t know if I’ve had my face in a book too often lately, but Lakeview Terrace definitely assaulted my senses, just when I thought I was becoming desensitized to movie violence and psychological bullying.

             Don’t get me wrong, it was a good movie and I found myself punching the air when the good guy one-ups the bad guy with logic instead of brawn during the movie’s highest climax. That’s the thing about suspenseful types of movies and what we can learn when increasing tension in our novels. There should be multiple levels of conflict. This movie definitely had that. There was internal conflict, man vs. nature, the emotional conflict between the man and his wife, as well psychological conflict between the man and his neighbor.

             Samuel L., as Abel Turner, stopped at nothing to terrorize this couple, and just when you think you can’t take it anymore the movie resolves itself and its time to leave the theatre.

             This movie had an interesting twist in that you really see the unraveling of the villain. There are instances where you are a party to Abel’s emotional demise and the couple, the target of his rage are not in the scene and are not the cause of that current conflict.

             I learned valuable lessons in watching this movie not just about race and interpersonal relationships but about how to manipulate the reaction of your audience. The test of our abilities as writers has a lot to do with our ability to elicit the appropriate response we are trying to convey in our writing during a given moment.

             I wondered before the movie began just how a movie about racial intolerance toward a mixed race couple was going to hold my interest for nearly two hours. Well, it was the layering of the different types of conflict as well as the actions that lead to the resolution that kept my eyes on the screen. (OK, I had to look away once and it wasn’t because of what was happening on the screen but what I was afraid would happen next as a result of the current action taking place. I tend to do that in books, movies and life, I instinctively anticipate what’s coming. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes, I’m not. I’m glad I wasn’t right in this instance or the outcome may have been too tragic to tolerate.)

             Next time you go to a movie, see if your responses are appropriate for what’s currently happening on screen. Identify what levels of conflict are being used to increase tension and interest. When you do, it makes movies more entertaining and complex which may nicely transition to your writing.