F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

Writing

My Favorite Horror Novels

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Please, Let Me Show You A Few Of My Favorite Things.... (Nosferatu Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Please, Let Me Show You A Few Of My Favorite Things…. (Nosferatu Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since I listed my favorite horror films, I decided, why not list my favorite horror novels? I don’t consider myself any kind of “well read”; Most of my recent reading has been for my own novel research, and since I no longer write a lot of strict “horror,” I don’t read a lot of it. I will state this, however: I love [most of] Stephen King’s horror/supernatural work.

Now, having said that, there was one book of his I’d started and never finished, because I found it to be so mean-spirited I just didn’t want to read any further. That book was Full Dark, No Stars. Loved the title, but didn’t want to be subjected to what I was reading. It was too real. Too nasty. Mean. It surprised me that he’d written such a novel. It was about revenge and the nastiness that can reside inside people. As one Amazon reviewer said, it was “just gratuitous nastiness.” And that so many people loved this book is kinda unnerving. Really, people love reading about that kind of stuff? Granted, this question can be levied at horror fiction, in general, but holy shit. At least to me, reading horror (and supernatural) fiction is about a release from the real world, of entering a fantastic world of The Weird…about experiencing something that engages the fright mode in each of us—but in a comfortable way. Full Dark, No Stars, however, was like reading real accounts of Mankind’s Inhumanity To Mankind. Or getting inside the heads of these people who commit crimes, and that simply doesn’t interest me. I don’t read true crime and have no interest in getting inside any mean-minded individual’s heads. I don’t enjoy that kind of material…it’s not a release, not cathartic, and certainly not entertainment for me. Sometimes fiction can be too real, and while I applaud King’s ability to write like no other (and incite these feeling in me with his work), that doesn’t mean that I have to like everything he writes (same goes with any writer’s efforts—including mine).

So I returned the book, unfinished.

On to more fun reading!

Below is a list of those novels (no anthologies) I’ve read over the years and really enjoyed. Most I have not read again since the first read, sometimes, years and years ago, but, again, like the movies I’d written about, they stuck with me for some reason. In once case, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, I’d read it four times, and still love it. There are also several books out there from King and some others, like Anne Rice and Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, I have yet to get to, so they may yet be included in future editions of this list….

And given my one extreme, with Full Dark, No Stars, I can honestly say that my other extreme, my most favorite horror read of all time (so far), was Pet Sematary. When I read it, it was the scariest horror novel I’d ever read, and everything I’ve read since, I measure against it! Nothing has come close…but again, I don’t consider myself “well read.” But, the feeling of utter creepiness was and still has stuck with me as the best all-time creepiness I’ve ever read. Dracula would tally in as the most atmospheric novel.

So, feel free to check out any of these great reads—and suggest some of your own favorites—maybe I’ve read them and simply forgotten about them, as I did with The Ring, in my favorite horror movies (I have a saying that “I’ve forgotten more than I ever knew…”)!

Now…enter my library…if you dare….

Bag of Bones

Day of the Triffids

Dracula

Ghost Story

If You Could See Me Now

Interview With A Vampire

It

Nosferatu

Pet Sematary

‘Salem’s Lot

The Haunted

The Other

The Shining

Werewolf of Ponkert

Going Indie—What I’ve Learned (So Far)—Part 7

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English: This is the title screen from the ABC...
I Was LOST…But Am Becoming FOUND…. (Photo credit: Lost, Wikipedia)

I don’t mean to be getting ahead of myself, here, but I just have to say that ERO is getting great reviews by those who have read it. It’s not yet selling huge, because of my restricted ability to promote right now, but those who have read it are contacting myself or my wife to tell them how much they like it—okay, love it. Many are even saying it should be a movie.

How cool is that?

The very fact that readers love ERO enough to say they’d like to see it as a movie is highly complimentary, even humbling. They liked the story enough to want to re-experience it again, in another form of expression!

This book has been rejected from traditional editors multiple times, yet (so far), I’ve heard from handfuls of readers about how stunned, “wowed” and impressed they are with the story, how they never saw the ending coming. Sure, someones out there might not like it, can’t please everyone, but so far, all I’ve heard has been complimentary. And these are people from all walks of life, not just SF, action adventure, or military fiction readers. These people come to me, not the other way around. These are the very readers editors and publishers are supposed to be catering to. Small sample? Does it really matter? Any sample is representative of a greater whole.

It’s a bit weird talking about something I wrote in the third person, but it warms my heart that something I’ve written so touches those who have read it. Heck, my Dad is even promoting the novel where he lives. You just can’t beat that!

To this end, I’d like to share parts of an e-mail from an Internet radio talk show host, Paul Neal Rohrer. He’s given me permission to share this. His e-mail blew me away:

“I just finished ERO. (Body shivers!)

Man, I gotta say…you’ll probably think me nuts to say I felt so close to Cherko…this book should be a FILM!

Whew. INTENSE.

I will say that it did not start off to be the type of book I would normally read. I kept with it solely because I knew you and though I felt like I was reading the series, LOST…I kept with it saying to myself…this WILL all make sense. Repeating that thought over and over until around page 160…then I was HOOKED! I breathlessly turned each page…I had all of this morning to finish the last 65 pages. Wow. LOVED IT!

Your mind must be a terrible thing to live with! Radical, powerful and relatable.”

Wow, thanks, Paul!

So, what I’ve learned has actually been a reinforcement of what I already knew: just because a major publisher does not take your work does not mean readers won’t like it. I stuck to my guns and found a way to get my work out there. I persevered. And it is being discovered. It may take some time, but it is out there. Again, thank you, readers, for taking a chance on my work.

Okay, here are some more lessons learned:

  1. I created a checklist of items to keep straight when creating e-books and paperbacks. I’ve attached it to the bottom of this post, since it’s a couple pages.
  2. All you can do is what you can do. I’m sure I’ve said this before, and it sounds stupid, but it’s meant to keep you from going nuts with all the “shoulds” everyone throws out there. You’re one guy or gal. You can’t do everything, especially with everything else you’re doing in life besides the writing and publishing. Just do what you can, and always keeping an eye out for new opportunities.
  3. Check out a previous post I did about PR and promotion…while keeping #3, above, in mind.
  4. Apply to conferences and conventions about presenting your journey. By this I mean, if you have something to say about what you’ve learned on your Indie journey. Talk about what you’ve learned…take some ideas from your blog posts. PowerPoint them and present them at a writer’s conference, the library, or anywhere else there might be a platform for something like this. You might think, yeah, but everyone’s already doing that, and while that is true, perhaps in your area it is not so saturated…and if you know people in your writing community, and they like you, they’ll more likely than not be willing to “book” you (punny…) because they know you and are willing to help you out in your career as a writer. But, in any case, conferences are like magazines…they have to “publish” or fill slots for sessions, and there’s always an audience that hasn’t yet heard what you think has already been done before…or your spin on things and personality are decidedly different and refreshing. Don’t you count yourself out…let them tell you so…or more to the case, let them tell you YES! And when you do this, bring your books! Have them out and used as examples! Have fun with it!

Okay, here’s the checklist I’ve created. Feel free to copy and use! It’s not meant as an explanation of all I do, just as a reminder of what I need to do. When you get in to do this stuff, it all becomes (or should become) more readily apparent…but you actually have to be in there getting ready to release your book. Some of this stuff cannot be “taken back,” like assigning ISBNs.

Prepping ms for content formatter (text):

  1. Convert Word manuscript (ms) to:
    • Time New Roman.
    • Only single spaces, no double spaces.
    • Single-spaced lines, no double spaces.
    • E-book only: No more than 4 lines of spaces (returns) at the tops of any pages.
    • For paperback books, make sure all the line returns to chapter starts are the same.
    • E-book only: Add a space after all ellipses (3 and 4 dots), except w/in quotes, parens, punctuation.
    • Convert all dashes to M-dashes (or N-dashes; just be consistent).
    • Check all chapter and section numbers (1, 2, 3…) are correctly numbered.
    • Check all sub-section spaces/#/***; standardize, check spacing, and center.
  2. Spell check—again!!!
  3. Ensure italicized text are properly italicized (including appropriate punctuation within itals).
  4. E-books: can’t have text “left/right-justified-at-bottom-of-page” kinda thing for ebooks, since can’t have more than four lines “entered” down from the top of pages.
  5. Blurbs from other authors.
  6. Add “Also by F. P. Dorchak” list of books to front matter (front of the book info, before the actual story).
  7. Add family members to Notes/dedication?
  8. Add significant other/others to Notes/dedication. Think.
  9. E-books: add websites and social media links to e-books.
  10. Keep paperback clean with just “About” and website (no #8, above).

Submitting manuscript to Smashwords:

Be sure you’re ready to do this, because once you’re done stepping through their upload dialogs, you’re published.

  1. Select all e-book formats.
  2. Assign ISBN! Do so before submitting to Smashwords!
    • Impacts immediately getting into the Premium catalog.
    • Smashwords ISBNs cannot be used elsewhere.
  3. Opt out of Amazon and Nook distribution on Smashwords’ Channel Manager! Only do this to individually upload files to Amazon and Nook, since they pay royalties much quicker than the Smashwords schedule; if you don’t care about that, you can opt in to Amazon and Nook on Smashwords.
  4. Create any free Coupons through Smashwords to give away free copies.

Submitting ms to Amazon

  1. Add self as contributor.
  2. Try to add cover artist.
  3. Try to add content formatter.
  4. Select 35% royalty.
  5. Select price and set other country prices based on US price.
  6. Select Kindle Direct Publishing “Match Book” selection (readers buy a discounted verson of your Kindle book, if they buy the paperback).

Submitting ms to Nook

  1. Get cover graphic less than 2 MB.
  2. Add self as contributor.
  3. Try to add cover artist.
  4. Try to add content formatter.
  5. Nook automatically ties paperback versions to e-versions, but all titling and names, etc., have to be word-for-word, space-for-space perfectly matching. This presents a problem when using CreateSpace (CS), because CS does not like all-capital titles for their book accounts (e.g., ERO). In order to do all caps, you have to add periods between the letters (e.g., E.R.O.). This is not good, because when you release for publication, Amazon.com keeps those damned periods in the title for retail marketing! The actual title on the book remains your “ERO” title, but the displayed online title with your book, and any search engine hits only respond to the broken up title (i.e., E.R.O.), and not the actual title (i.e., ERO). So, effectively, there are two titles out there, and if people don’t know this, or don’t scroll down the Amazon search page, they won’t see the “E.R.O.” version of the book. I have contacted both CS and Nook about this. CS was nice enough to go in and link the two titles to each other, but you might have to actually contact them to get them to do this, by pointing out a loss of sales with the different titles, if people don’t know to scroll down the pages to find the related search of the other title. B&N/Nook also finally link the two formats together, but this took a long time. Be persistent and nice; some of these people you contact simply are not very smart on the whole process, and I ran into contradictory responses from the different people I contacted.

When do CreateSpace copy:

  1. Get paperback ISBN. Once ISBNs are assigned, they cannot be changed.
    • “Custom” ISBNs can have a “faux” imprint name, like “Wailing Loon.”
    • I’m not an expert on these, but in CreateSpace, the custom ISBNs are also divided into those that are oriented toward retailers and those oriented toward libraries. Make sure you select the right set.
    • Get any offered “Expanded Distribution” offerings if cheap.
  2. Titles: see #5, Submitting to Nook, above.
  3. Add faux imprint to:
    • Copyright page.
    • Spine/cover.
    • Anywhere else needed.
  4. Need any artwork on the interior of the book, the front or back matter?
  5. Add the following to the back matter (rear of the book, after the story): About the Author, website, books/anthologies/etc., again list content formatter and cover artist names and websites.
  6. Cover photo?
  7. Send e-mails/thank you cards to thank contributors, and if they helped enough to justify, free coupons for e-book or actual (signed!) paperbacks.
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Monsters in the Closet: Book Promotion, PR, and Buzz

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Making Monsters
Take My Hand…. (Photo credit: Making Monsters, Wikipedia)

There’s an old saying that goes, the more you know, the more you realize you don‘t know.

Wow.

After reading this post, never was I more aware of what I didn’t know…or, perhaps, more correctly, I knew there was so much more to know and do, but now I know the actual monsters in the closet!

Brian Feinblum, CMO, Media Connect PR, wrote this post. It wore me out!

Whether or not you agree with all of it (as in modifying your manuscript to PR angles), there’s much, much more to consider.

My head just exploded.

Sure, you’re just one person, the author, and if you’re an Indie author, that makes you less-than-one person, because you’re spread so thin. Then throw in that all this costs time and money and soul, and well, there goes your head. All over your computer and walls. Ceiling, if you have a big one.

This is one of the best posts I’ve read regarding this kind of stuff, because it actually breaks out a lot of specifics that need to be taken into account by PR specialists. Again, whether or not you believe it all, or want to do it all, this is how PR people think. I think it all has merit. It’s just never gonna happen on my end. My resources are far too limited to be able to even partake in a little of what Brian and his ilk’s magic can wand (yes, I’ve already approached and priced PR/promo work)—and I do not want to hear from those of you who so blindly, blithely, and tritely spout “Then don’t get into this business if you can’t afford it.” There are more than one or three reasons to “get into this business,” and it’s not all about money.

So, sit back, read, and face the monsters in your closet.

I need to clean up my office….

All Writing Helps All Writing

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Writing
Don’t Write Yourself Off! Write, My Friends, WRITE! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All Writing Helps All Writing

I use this in my e-mail signature block, but I also recently used it in response to a discussion on fellow blogger/writer/ex LA book reviewer Joe Ponepinto’s blog, The Saturday Morning Post. However, in my discussion of its meaning, I didn’t do a really great job in explaining it’s origin. I’d also thought I’d already written up something on it, but didn’t find it in my search of this (my) blog site. So, thought I’d go in to better depth here.

When I say this trite little phrase, though I do mean some of the obvious conclusions that many would take issue with, I actually meant on a Zen level. There is an energy to all things, and writing is no exception. But, let’s take Life as an example. Everyone’s life has an energy to it. The driving Life Force behind all of life and the Universe. It’s that energy that powers Life, to beat that dead horse. But it’s up to each individual to wield that energy in their own, unique way. Each of us has a personality, a specific feel to it each and every individual of us out there. So, it’s up to us to wield that energy, to live our lives, as we do…but behind it all is that driving Life Force.

This is what I mean by All Writing Helps All Writing, and my response to Joe’s post that behind all the different types of writing out there, the one thing all those different types of writing has, is (anyone?)…writing.

Writing, the high concept definition unapplied to technical, long or short form, et cetera, is its own energy, and it is up to the writer to apply that energy, that driving Writing Force. Sure, there are obvious structural, mechanical, and ideological considerations to consider between the different versions of writing, but it’s all still writing, and my point was to use the driving Writing Force to our advantage by understanding this “fine line” definition concept. Just because you’re doing tech writing doesn’t mean all that time tech writing cannot still be “incorporated,” “assimilated,” or any other “-ed” word into your other forms of writing, say, as Joe did, in his novel writing. Yes, you are structuring and morphing your novel writing in a different way than straightforward tech writing, but it is the Writing itself (capital “W”) that I’m asking writers to tap into. To tap into the very essence of Writing itself, which is the energy of the scalar quantity, to the sitting down and putting fingers to keyboards, pens and pencils to paper. To engaging the mind and body into the employment of Writing in and of itself, the version of writing to be damned. It doesn’t matter, at this level, what type of writing you’re doing, it only matters (again, at this level of discussion) that you are writing…that you are engaging your being, your soul, into the very act of expression, and what a form of expression it is! You are taking a mental act and transcribing it into physical expression! Just like with any other activity that starts in the mind and finds its way into physical expression (art, construction, etc). So, in doing this, you are allowing the Act of Writing to become second nature to you…able to wield the power and mastery of Writing in all its forms in whatever form of Writing you chose to employ.

Now, you can also use the various techniques of each form/version of writing to other forms, also in my humble opinion, if you allow yourself to do so, and by this I do mean using tech writing skills in your novel writing.

To just pick a couple tech writing skills, for example, consider these: usually in business settings, tech writers are not only asked to create straightforward descriptions, they are also asked to create them yesterday, using the least amount of words, and not usually given ample amounts of time to polish said words (I find many do not give tech writers—the words—the credit they deserve; all you have to do to see what I mean is to [try to] read your manual on how to use your DVR, toaster, or what-have-you). So what I’m saying here, is to transfer those skills to all of your other writing: learn to write more efficiently! To write faster, but not so fast as to suffer the outcome. If you write faster, more efficiently, you can therefore write more, your output increases, as does (as is the intent) your overall ability. Since one has to always pick and choose their words wisely, any writing should and will improve this capability. Does it really matter what words you’re picking, whether in straightforward tech descriptions, or in creating a piece that gets a novel to think and consider the world around them? No, not at this level of discussion…all that matters is that the writer is doing this. That this particular capability is being exercised.

It’s like any repetitive exercise that is done for sports. Doing weights strengthens the body so that when the body is employed in running or throwing, or whatever, the basis of weight training is realized through the creation of the conditioned body (and mind—weight training and everything else I can think of are always mind/body) and the employed act becomes ingrained and second nature.

I hope this helps better explain my position.

All Writing Helps All Writing.

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Ooooh, No You Didn’t Just Go There….

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English: Depiction of frustration
No…No, No, No, No…. (Photo credit: Frustration, Wikipedia)

Okay, I have to admit, I kinda got pissed when I read a blog post about marketing your work, and, yes, I did kinda take it personal, because it continues to perpetuate a train of thought, a mindset that so many seem so eager to promulgate and promote, and which can be (well, I feel it actually already is…) very damaging to writers. I have nothing personal against the author of the post, but I simply cannot allow certain things to be said and let the masses rally around behind without another point of view given. I love writing and the publishing world—to an extent. I, do, however, heartily disagree and take issue with certain points of view and feel I have to counter certain issues that always arise, however, and this is one of them.

And, I must say, I am saddened by those who continue to buy into them…though understand how this can happen.

So, here is the comment I posted:

Jennifer, sorry, but I really must take issue with the following: “…there is no reason to gamble on a new or mid-list writer, which means little-to-no marketing money.”

If there’s one thing I’ve found in my 52 years of life, and almost as many years writing and observing this and other industries is that anyone can sell anything if they put enough resources into the effort. If “resources” means money, so be it, if “resources” mean thought, so be it. I know all about how mid-list writers fulfill an important part in the overall book world, but–it seems to me–the bottom line should be if publishers don’t want to put any resources behind something they take on, then they shouldn’t have taken on the work to begin with. It does so much–sometimes irreparable–damage to a writer and their career, if they don’t sell through on their first book. Gee, it used to be their first two or three books. Now it’s down to one. Why is that, I rhetorically inquire?

There’s “little-to-no marketing money” because bean counters and execs are throwing all their money on “sure bets” (and I used “bets” intentionally, over “things”). Come on, does a King, Rowling, or Patterson really  need all the resources they actually get, once it’s announced a new work [from them] is available? Can some of those resources be better spent on others who don’t yet have the market recognition, but are every bit as good? I’m sorry but saying something like that (again, IMHO) is picking low-hanging fruit. The problem involved in today’s book industry (as is elsewhere evident) is in the mindset of those running “the shows.” It’s not that there’s no money. If there really was “no money” then no one would be getting any of the millions being dumped into promotion of the Big Dogs. If it’s “so easy” and “low cost” for the Nobody Writer to do social media, etc., then why don’t the Big Five partake in it? Hire unpaid interns (if this is still the practice; low-paid, otherwise) to create these campaigns for the works these companies take on? Or, hey, here’s a thought, maybe take on less authors?…only those authors whose work publishers really do believe in, and are willing to actually devote some resources (including real thought) to in the first place, instead of throwing their works again public walls like so much partially cooked spaghetti?

ANYTHING can be sold.

Anything.

And, no, we all know but perhaps don’t readily admit to ourselves, no, the product doesn’t even have to be good! Do we really need $4 coffee? Bigger screen TVs? Do we really N.E.E.D. these things?

People buy what’s put in front of them. If they have choices eliminated from them, intentionally not put in front of them, how can they even consider them?

So, with all due respect to you, Jennifer, and all the others out there who feel the same as you, and will heartily disagree with me and my kind, and try to rip me a new one with “stats, and facts, and whatever” (stats and facts and whatever can all be manipulated; I used to work with them, and know firsthand how they can, indeed, be manipulated), there are reasons, very good ones, to gamble on new writers, because there is good, undiscovered writing out there…writing that is not formulaic and is every bit as powerful as the “sure bets.” Writing that is profound and thoughtful and funny as hell. This industry loves—thrives—on blaming the writer (their work isn’t “ready,” the writer isn’t “big enough,” the writer doesn’t have a “platform,” etc.), but sometimes it’s not the writer…it’s the Gatekeepers. Yes, all kinds of “holes” can be poked in my position, it’s all been said before, but it’s not about whether or not holes can be poked into my argument. There is another way of doing business…it’s just intentionally being overlooked.

Ooooh, No You Didn't Just Go There….

by

English: Depiction of frustration
No…No, No, No, No…. (Photo credit: Frustration, Wikipedia)

Okay, I have to admit, I kinda got pissed when I read a blog post about marketing your work, and, yes, I did kinda take it personal, because it continues to perpetuate a train of thought, a mindset that so many seem so eager to promulgate and promote, and which can be (well, I feel it actually already is…) very damaging to writers. I have nothing personal against the author of the post, but I simply cannot allow certain things to be said and let the masses rally around behind without another point of view given. I love writing and the publishing world—to an extent. I, do, however, heartily disagree and take issue with certain points of view and feel I have to counter certain issues that always arise, however, and this is one of them.

And, I must say, I am saddened by those who continue to buy into them…though understand how this can happen.

So, here is the comment I posted:

Jennifer, sorry, but I really must take issue with the following: “…there is no reason to gamble on a new or mid-list writer, which means little-to-no marketing money.”

If there’s one thing I’ve found in my 52 years of life, and almost as many years writing and observing this and other industries is that anyone can sell anything if they put enough resources into the effort. If “resources” means money, so be it, if “resources” mean thought, so be it. I know all about how mid-list writers fulfill an important part in the overall book world, but–it seems to me–the bottom line should be if publishers don’t want to put any resources behind something they take on, then they shouldn’t have taken on the work to begin with. It does so much–sometimes irreparable–damage to a writer and their career, if they don’t sell through on their first book. Gee, it used to be their first two or three books. Now it’s down to one. Why is that, I rhetorically inquire?

There’s “little-to-no marketing money” because bean counters and execs are throwing all their money on “sure bets” (and I used “bets” intentionally, over “things”). Come on, does a King, Rowling, or Patterson really  need all the resources they actually get, once it’s announced a new work [from them] is available? Can some of those resources be better spent on others who don’t yet have the market recognition, but are every bit as good? I’m sorry but saying something like that (again, IMHO) is picking low-hanging fruit. The problem involved in today’s book industry (as is elsewhere evident) is in the mindset of those running “the shows.” It’s not that there’s no money. If there really was “no money” then no one would be getting any of the millions being dumped into promotion of the Big Dogs. If it’s “so easy” and “low cost” for the Nobody Writer to do social media, etc., then why don’t the Big Five partake in it? Hire unpaid interns (if this is still the practice; low-paid, otherwise) to create these campaigns for the works these companies take on? Or, hey, here’s a thought, maybe take on less authors?…only those authors whose work publishers really do believe in, and are willing to actually devote some resources (including real thought) to in the first place, instead of throwing their works again public walls like so much partially cooked spaghetti?

ANYTHING can be sold.

Anything.

And, no, we all know but perhaps don’t readily admit to ourselves, no, the product doesn’t even have to be good! Do we really need $4 coffee? Bigger screen TVs? Do we really N.E.E.D. these things?

People buy what’s put in front of them. If they have choices eliminated from them, intentionally not put in front of them, how can they even consider them?

So, with all due respect to you, Jennifer, and all the others out there who feel the same as you, and will heartily disagree with me and my kind, and try to rip me a new one with “stats, and facts, and whatever” (stats and facts and whatever can all be manipulated; I used to work with them, and know firsthand how they can, indeed, be manipulated), there are reasons, very good ones, to gamble on new writers, because there is good, undiscovered writing out there…writing that is not formulaic and is every bit as powerful as the “sure bets.” Writing that is profound and thoughtful and funny as hell. This industry loves—thrives—on blaming the writer (their work isn’t “ready,” the writer isn’t “big enough,” the writer doesn’t have a “platform,” etc.), but sometimes it’s not the writer…it’s the Gatekeepers. Yes, all kinds of “holes” can be poked in my position, it’s all been said before, but it’s not about whether or not holes can be poked into my argument. There is another way of doing business…it’s just intentionally being overlooked.