This program allows publishers and authors to connect with readers in all genres. Like the GoodReads giveaway program, it encourages readers to publish reviews for the books they receive.
For more information, please click here.
Monday, 11 April 2016
LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Giveaway for The Accusers
This program allows publishers and authors to connect with readers in all genres. Like the GoodReads giveaway program, it encourages readers to publish reviews for the books they receive.
For more information, please click here.
Monday, 4 April 2016
Goodreads Book Giveaway for The Accusers
Here's a brief excerpt from the book:
. . . Rebecca Anderson, affectionately known as Becca by family and friends, was a pleasant-faced woman, short and a bit plump, with curly grey hair. She was usually quick to smile, but today her expression was one of sadness. She turned on a reading lamp as she sat in her living room. It was February: the shortest, yet longest month of the year. The last rays of the winter sun had already died, and it was only 5 pm. According to the local news channel, there was heavy snow in the forecast.
Becca didn’t understand the depression she’d been experiencing lately. She’d lived in this house on Berwick Street for forty years and had raised three children here with the help of her beloved husband Jack, dead of cancer for five years now. She’d always tried to see the best in people and circumstances. . . .
She headed for the kitchen to begin preparing her supper. Her constant shadow, Mooch the cat, was nowhere to be seen.
He must be sleeping somewhere.
Becca pulled the cutting board from the cupboard and started assembling ingredients for a salad. She searched for the knife she always used to cut vegetables, but it wasn’t in the butcher’s block or the dishwasher.
Strange. I’m only sixty-five. I hope I’m not starting to get forgetful and misplacing things.
She selected another knife and began to slice the lettuce and tomatoes, trying to pinpoint when exactly this depressed feeling had started. . . .
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thump outside on the porch. Becca wiped her hands on a dish towel and hurried to the door. When she opened it, she found a note pinned there with her missing knife.Her hands shaking, she removed the knife and read the note.
You have been marked.
She spotted Mooch under the living room couch. The cat was hissing violently in fright, but there was no one to be seen on the street nor were there footprints in the crusted snow. . . .
Monday, 28 March 2016
The Accusers: A New Novel by Lynn L. Clark
I'm very pleased to announce that my third novel, The Accusers, is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format. The e-version for Kobo will be published shortly.
I enjoyed writing this story and, as usual, did background research so that I could blend history and fiction, as in my previous two books, The Home Child and Fire Whisperer and Circle of Souls: Two Novellas of the Supernatural.
What's it about? It's the story of three women and a young boy who stand together against an evil that threatens to consume them, their families, and their neighbours. It's also a tale of how unmitigated hatred and the urge for revenge can destroy ordinary lives. I think this is probably the most suspenseful of the books I've written to date.
This is the back cover blurb:
At first glance, Berwick Street is a quiet cul-de-sac: a safe place to raise a family and enjoy retirement. But in the dead of winter when most Berwick Street residents have already headed south to escape the bitter cold, something evil lurks in the coming snowstorm. A group of followers with specially-honed powers of destruction seeks final retribution for events that occurred more than four hundred years ago!
Aided by a teenager with precognitive abilities, an unlikely trio of women--Cassie, an introvert in her twenties; Rebecca, a sixty-five-year-old grandmother; and Mabel, an ailing octogenarian who has outlived her husband and sons--must face the coming onslaught. WHO WILL PREVAIL?
There will be a Goodreads giveaway in April, and the novel will also be available through the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing. More about this in my next post.
What's it about? It's the story of three women and a young boy who stand together against an evil that threatens to consume them, their families, and their neighbours. It's also a tale of how unmitigated hatred and the urge for revenge can destroy ordinary lives. I think this is probably the most suspenseful of the books I've written to date.
This is the back cover blurb:
At first glance, Berwick Street is a quiet cul-de-sac: a safe place to raise a family and enjoy retirement. But in the dead of winter when most Berwick Street residents have already headed south to escape the bitter cold, something evil lurks in the coming snowstorm. A group of followers with specially-honed powers of destruction seeks final retribution for events that occurred more than four hundred years ago!
Aided by a teenager with precognitive abilities, an unlikely trio of women--Cassie, an introvert in her twenties; Rebecca, a sixty-five-year-old grandmother; and Mabel, an ailing octogenarian who has outlived her husband and sons--must face the coming onslaught. WHO WILL PREVAIL?
There will be a Goodreads giveaway in April, and the novel will also be available through the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing. More about this in my next post.
Monday, 21 March 2016
No Clowning Around
From time to time, I like to re-publish posts that attracted a fairly large audience of readers.The following post was originally published on Behind the Walls of Nightmare in August 2013:
Anyone who has ever read or seen horror depictions of clowns can testify to the power of the clown as a figure of malevolence. To me, the clown has always been an ambivalent figure, more tragic than comic, but not usually downright scary. So I was interested to read an article on the history of the clown figure entitled "The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary".
The article traces the history of
clowns from pagan times to the present day, noting the early clown was
primarily a buffoon or mischievous imp. The image of the "tragic" clown
is associated with Joseph Grimaldi in England, who was famous as a comic
pantomime player on the London stage, known not only for his painted
face but also his extreme physical comedy. Sadly, he had a tragic
personal life and was also always in excruciating pain from his
performances. His memoirs were edited by Charles Dickens, who did much
to reinforce the tragedy behind the clown's mask and the image of an
individual who would literally destroy himself to get a laugh.
A "sinister" figure behind the clown's face was Jean-Gaspard Debarau, known as Pierrot and famous for his pantomime and his clown's white face with red lips and black eyebrows. In real life, he killed a boy who ridiculed him, but was acquitted of his murder.
Later, in America, there were "hobo" clowns such as Emmett Kelly, who used slapstick humor for comedy but also expressed the underlying tragedy for the common man of the Great Depression (as did Charlie Chaplin, who isn't mentioned specifically in the article).
The article also references the deranged clown doll in Poltergeist (lampooned in The Simpsons' Halloween special); Stephen King's Pennywise in It; and Heath Ledger's depiction of the Joker, as well as various other permutations of the malevolent clown.
And, all clowning aside, these negative images of clowns have obviously been detrimental to the profession because "in the mid-2000s, articles began popping up in newspapers across the country lamenting the decline of attendees at clown conventions or at clowning workshop courses."
Of course, along the way there were some good clowns: think Bozo the Clown, for example. No, this isn't just a name you call someone who cuts you off in traffic: there actually was a beloved Bozo with his own television show, which most of us who grew up in the 60s watched faithfully.
And, as the Ringley Brothers' talent spotter (and former clown) indicates, "good clowns are always in shortage, and it’s good clowns who keep the art alive".
For the full text of this very engaging article, please click here.
Anyone who has ever read or seen horror depictions of clowns can testify to the power of the clown as a figure of malevolence. To me, the clown has always been an ambivalent figure, more tragic than comic, but not usually downright scary. So I was interested to read an article on the history of the clown figure entitled "The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary".
The article traces the history of
clowns from pagan times to the present day, noting the early clown was
primarily a buffoon or mischievous imp. The image of the "tragic" clown
is associated with Joseph Grimaldi in England, who was famous as a comic
pantomime player on the London stage, known not only for his painted
face but also his extreme physical comedy. Sadly, he had a tragic
personal life and was also always in excruciating pain from his
performances. His memoirs were edited by Charles Dickens, who did much
to reinforce the tragedy behind the clown's mask and the image of an
individual who would literally destroy himself to get a laugh.A "sinister" figure behind the clown's face was Jean-Gaspard Debarau, known as Pierrot and famous for his pantomime and his clown's white face with red lips and black eyebrows. In real life, he killed a boy who ridiculed him, but was acquitted of his murder.
Later, in America, there were "hobo" clowns such as Emmett Kelly, who used slapstick humor for comedy but also expressed the underlying tragedy for the common man of the Great Depression (as did Charlie Chaplin, who isn't mentioned specifically in the article).
The article also references the deranged clown doll in Poltergeist (lampooned in The Simpsons' Halloween special); Stephen King's Pennywise in It; and Heath Ledger's depiction of the Joker, as well as various other permutations of the malevolent clown.
And, all clowning aside, these negative images of clowns have obviously been detrimental to the profession because "in the mid-2000s, articles began popping up in newspapers across the country lamenting the decline of attendees at clown conventions or at clowning workshop courses."
Of course, along the way there were some good clowns: think Bozo the Clown, for example. No, this isn't just a name you call someone who cuts you off in traffic: there actually was a beloved Bozo with his own television show, which most of us who grew up in the 60s watched faithfully.
And, as the Ringley Brothers' talent spotter (and former clown) indicates, "good clowns are always in shortage, and it’s good clowns who keep the art alive".
For the full text of this very engaging article, please click here.
Monday, 14 March 2016
Markets and Writing Tips for Horror Writers
There are also extensive links to writing tips.
This information is available to all horror writers, not just HWA members.
For market information, please click here.
For writing tips, please click here.
Best of luck with your submissions!
Monday, 7 March 2016
Bram Stoker Award® Nominees
The Horror Writers Association has released a list of nominees for this year’s Bram Stoker Awards® to highlight the best of
horror fiction for 2015. The nominees are as follows:
Superior Achievement in a Novel
- Clive Barker – The Scarlet Gospels (St. Martin’s Press)
- Michaelbrent Collings – The Deep (self-published)
- JG Faherty – The Cure (Samhain Publishing)
- Patrick Freivald – Black Tide (JournalStone Publishing)
- Paul Tremblay – A Head Full of Ghosts (William Morrow)
- Courtney Alameda – Shutter (Feiwel & Friends)
- Nicole Cushing – Mr. Suicide (Word Horde)
- Brian Kirk – We Are Monsters (Samhain Publishing)
- John McIlveen – Hannahwhere (Crossroad Press)
- John Claude Smith – Riding the Centipede (Omnium Gatherum)
- Jennifer Brozek – Never Let Me Sleep (Permuted Press)
- Michaelbrent Collings – The Ridealong (self-published)
- John Dixon – Devil’s Pocket (Simon & Schuster)
- Tonya Hurley – Hallowed (Simon & Schuster)
- Maureen Johnson – The Shadow Cabinet (Penguin)
- Ian Welke – End Times at Ridgemont High (Omnium Gatherum)
- Cullen Bunn – Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints (Dark Horse Comics)
- Victor Gischler – Hellbound (Dark Horse Books)
- Robert Kirkman – Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (Image Comics)
- Scott Snyder – Wytches, Vol. 1 (Image Comics)
- Sam Weller, Mort Castle, Chris Ryall, & Carlos Guzman (editors) – Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury (IDW Publishing)
- Gary A. Braunbeck – "Paper Cuts" (Seize the Night) (Gallery Books)
- Lisa Mannetti – "The Box Jumper" (Smart Rhino Publications)
- Norman Partridge – "Special Collections" (The Library of the Dead) (Written Backwards)
- Mercedes M. Yardley – "Little Dead Red" (Grimm Mistresses) (Ragnarok Publications)
- Scott Edelman – "Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen" (Dark Discoveries #30)
- Kate Jonez – All the Day You’ll Have Good Luck (Black Static #47)
- Gene O’Neill – The Algernon Effect (White Noise Press)
- John Palisano – Happy Joe’s Rest Stop (18 Wheels of Horror) (Big Time Books)
- Damien Angelica Walters – Sing Me Your Scars (Sing Me Your Scars) (Apex Publications)
- Alyssa Wong – Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers (Nightmare Magazine #37)
- Guillermo del Toro & Matthew Robbins – Crimson Peak (Legendary Pictures)
- John Logan – Penny Dreadful: And Hell Itself My Only Foe (Showtime)
- John Logan – Penny Dreadful: Nightcomers (Showtime)
- David Robert Mitchell – It Follows (Northern Lights Films)
- Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement – What We Do in the Shadows (Unison Films)
- Michael Bailey – The Library of the Dead (Written Backwards)
- Ellen Datlow – The Doll Collection: Seventeen Brand-New Tales of Dolls (Tor Books)
- Christopher Golden – Seize the Night (Gallery Books)
- Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles – nEvermore! (Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing)
- Jonathan Maberry – The X-Files: Trust No One (IDW Publishing)
- Joseph Nassise and Del Howison – Midian Unmade (Tor Books)
- Gary A. Braunbeck – Halfway Down the Stairs (JournalStone Publishing)
- Nicole Cushing – The Mirrors (Cycatrix Press)
- Taylor Grant – The Dark at the End of the Tunnel (Cemetery Dance Publications)
- Gene O’Neill – The Hitchhiking Effect (Dark Renaissance Books)
- Lucy A. Snyder – While the Black Stars Burn (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
- Justin Everett and Jeffrey H. Shanks (ed.) – The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy and Horror (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)
- Stephen Jones – The Art of Horror (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books)
- Michael Knost – Author’s Guide to Marketing with Teeth (Seventh Star Press)
- Joe Mynhardt & Emma Audsley (editors) – Horror 201: The Silver Scream (Crystal Lake Publishing)
- Danel Olson – Studies in the Horror Film: Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (Centipede Press)
- Bruce Boston – Resonance Dark and Light (Eldritch Press)
- Alessandro Manzetti – Eden Underground (Crystal Lake Publishing)
- Ann Schwader – Dark Energies (P’rea Press)
- Marge Simon – Naughty Ladies (Eldritch Press)
- Stephanie M. Wytovich – An Exorcism of Angels (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
Congratulations to all of the nominees!
Monday, 29 February 2016
Award-Winning Horror Films
Now that this year's Academy Awards show has aired, I thought it might
be interesting to look back at horror/suspense films that were nominated
for or won Oscars. Maybe you'll spot some of your favorites.
Here goes:
Rosemary's Baby - Mia Farrow won the best supporting actress award;
The Exorcist - This movie was nominated for nine awards and was the first horror movie to be nominated for best picture. It won awards for best sound and best screenplay;
Jaws - This Spielberg movie was nominated in various categories, including best picture, and won for best editing, best score, and best sound;
Aliens - This movie, one of the all-time great science fiction films, won for best visual effects and best sound editing;
The Silence of the Lambs - This movie has the distinction of being the first and only horror/suspense movie to win the Oscar for best picture (as well as a slew of other awards);
Jurassic Park - This ground-breaking movie won Oscars for best sound effects' editing, best sound, and best visual effects.
To see other films of this genre that received a nod from the Academy, please visit http://horror.about.com/od/horrorthem....
(Reprinted from an earlier blog post.)
Here goes:
Rosemary's Baby - Mia Farrow won the best supporting actress award;
The Exorcist - This movie was nominated for nine awards and was the first horror movie to be nominated for best picture. It won awards for best sound and best screenplay;
Jaws - This Spielberg movie was nominated in various categories, including best picture, and won for best editing, best score, and best sound;
Aliens - This movie, one of the all-time great science fiction films, won for best visual effects and best sound editing;
The Silence of the Lambs - This movie has the distinction of being the first and only horror/suspense movie to win the Oscar for best picture (as well as a slew of other awards);
Jurassic Park - This ground-breaking movie won Oscars for best sound effects' editing, best sound, and best visual effects.
To see other films of this genre that received a nod from the Academy, please visit http://horror.about.com/od/horrorthem....
(Reprinted from an earlier blog post.)
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