SHORT STORY ACCEPTANCE

 Having been incapacitated since the day after Thanksgiving from COVID, I was pleased to wake up this morning to a short story acceptance by Ghostlight Magazine. The editor's letter was most welcome indeed!

Good evening, Chris! 

Thank you for your patience. I am happy to accept "In the Freezer" for the spring issue of Ghostlight. I hope you are pleased. 

Your piece is darkly fun and I love the twist ending. This is the kind of story I want in our anthology. 

I will send the contract this week. 

Be well.

Nicole e. Castle

Editor, Ghostlight 

I will post the appropriate link once I know more.

Latest Published Short Story

 I've been keeping quiet about this, patiently awaiting all the edits and formatting, knowing its time was going to come. Now that it has, I can announce my short story publication in the latest print copy of the Horror Zine. Gaze upon yon kick-ass cover:

My story is titled, "The Helpful Dead" and it's the only one you should care about!

Kidding. This issue is chockful of talented writers and wonderful short stories.

The print edition is $14.99 and the Kindle edition is $5.99. I don't care which one you get as long as you read mine first.

Order the magazine by clicking this link.

As always, reviews are welcome and encouraged, even negative ones. 

Sticktoitiveness

 

This has been me for many, many years. Obviously I'm not alone or nobody would have created this meme. Okay, maybe I would have, but nobody else.

This year I resolved to begin and complete my novel "2012/2021" and I am on track to see do. All other ideas and short stories have been set aside and this book is literally the only fiction I have worked on since the year began. 

I fully expect to be finished with the first draft by no later than mid-June.

The writing of "2012/2021" has been incredibly rewarding, perhaps the most rewarding writing experience I have ever had. It is the novel I've always felt I had in me but was not yet able to capture it the way I wanted. The pandemic changed that. 

So, if anyone still reads this blog and was wondering why I don't post as often as I used to, that's the reason. 

To Hell with Preciousness

 

The Evil Gatekeeper 

A message for all you would-be fiction writers out there who think your words are too precious to alter: Be prepared to rewrite or be prepared to self-publish. It's that simple. Don't wanna work with the so-called "Gatekeepers" who don't "get" you or who you believe want to squash your vast talent? Cool. Keep banging away on those keyboards and tablets and maybe, just maybe, you will find one or two people willing to publish your work as-is every single time. You might even hit the Big Time that way, except you most likely won't.

Writing for an audience doesn't mean whatever you write is what the audience should accept. While I'm no fan of writing specifically for other people, I am aware that other people are the ultimate goal for anyone sending their work out for consideration. Do you think singers only want to hear themselves in the shower? Of course not. And any singer who wants to leave that shower and be heard isn't going to tell everyone they audition for how stupid they are and how they don't recognize talent when they hear it.

I'm sure you can find a story or two to "prove me wrong" as if such an infinitesimal number proves anything.

Ultimately, writing is a craft. Crafts involve being scrutinized and going back to the drawing board. I'm sorry if your parents told you everything you wrote was brilliant and refused to stifle your imagination when you were out in public and should have been in the moment. Participation trophies are awesome, but they don't mean much more than, "I showed up and failed to distinguish myself." Translating that mentality to submitting fiction will not get you far.

Recently, I submitted a short story to a publisher who wrote back telling me they enjoyed the story but felt it dragged in the beginning and needed some rewriting to fit better with the types of stories they publish. Well, I don't mind telling you I was offended as all hell! I fired up the old PC and let loose with a string of invective that would make John McEnroe blush! I told this gatekeeper they were a fool with limited vision who didn't understand the brilliance they had been handed. How dare you, I wrote, tell me my story needs work? That's just an opinion! You are not worthy of my time or my very stable genius.

I don't mind telling you all of that because it's absolute bullshit. I would never and have never done that.

Have I encountered publishers and editors I determined were not very intelligent based on the feedback they provided? Of course. This field is like any other. Not everybody deserves their job. But I kept my mouth shut and moved on to someone else. That's how it works. Anything else is a temper tantrum.

So, yes. I am rewriting the story for this publication. Within the context of this publication's esthetic, the feedback is spot-on. There's a reason an editor would write the following, "You are a very talented writer and I have published you many times because of that. Would you be willing to rewrite your story to streamline it and pick up the pace?"

I earned that by taking feedback and applying it. Preciousness gets you nowhere except the back of the bitter barn.

That's my feedback. Take it for it's worth or condemn me for misunderstanding your stunning brilliance. it's up to you.

Print Edition Available!!!

 

The Fall 2021 edition of the Horror Zine featuring my story "Package" is now available for ordering in both kindle and paperback!

Click for deets!

And then slap me right across the mouth for writing "Deets."

Sex Workers of the Literary World Unite!

 As I've mentioned on this blog in the past, I subscribe to an online group called The Horror Tree that sends out emails alerting writers to potential anthology, periodical and novel publishing opportunities. Every so often there's one that grabs my attention not necessarily because I want to send the publisher my work but because something in the description draws me in. This time, the anthology in question is called "Beast Volume 1."

It is yet another furry horror collection, a sub-genre whose existence I find endlessly fascinating and sometimes downright terrifying. I'm still trying to fully wrap my brain around the concept as well as the sub-culture whose existence doesn't baffle as much as the fact that there have now been more than one furry horror anthology and apparently more on the horizon.

However, this time around at least, it isn't the reality of furries that has drawn my attention. It's the sentence below:

BIPOC Authors, Queer Authors, Disabled Authors, Authors who are currently or former Sex Workers are strongly encouraged to submit.

Forgive my Midwestern ignorance, but  when exactly did Sex Workers fall under the category of marginalized minority? I'm not saying the perspectives of Sex Workers both former and current aren't valid or even something that needs to be seen. On the contrary, there is a wealth of experience and outlook there that is a potential literary goldmine. I'm also no prude when it comes to, ummm, that thing that...men and woman do when it's dark and never speak of once all the sinning is over in 30 seconds. 

So, as someone who has been on the other side of the editorial wall accepting submissions and desperately hoping for something unique and different, I get wanting fresh perspectives. I even commend whoever thought of including Sex Workers as a valid fiction-writing group. What I don't get, however, is including them in a long sentence that mentions marginalized people who have faced discrimination. Much like the logical assertion that there is no such thing as a "Blue Life" because it's a career, can the same not be said for Sex Workers? Yes, many of them are not working willingly or even because they always wanted to work in the skin trade, but still...it's not a race or a gender or sexual preference.

If we muddle the definitions of things to suit our own points of view, we risk rendering the very real issues in society meaningless. 

That said, I look forward to seeing Sex Workers do more!

(That really didn't come out right, did it?)

BAD REVIEW

 

Nothing peps me up more than discovering a negative review of my work. It's even better when it somehow slipped under my RADAR for five years, as was the case with a review on Amazon from a guy in India whose screen name is "Perceptive Reader." Clearly a humble, self-aware individual, Mr. Reader found the majority of the stories in the third book of the "Use Enough Gun" anthology beneath his contempt, at least judging by the way he dismissed them with such in-depth analysis as "Crap," "Meh" and the ever-reliable, "Rubbish."

If you've ever met one of those people who disdain every movie they see by claiming there wasn't enough character development, you've probably also suspected that they didn't really know what that phrase meant. Similarly, whenever someone uses buzzwords such as, "Overwritten," or "longish," one wonders if the reviewer is more in love with their ability to sound knowledgeable and too hip for the room. It's difficult to say. We weren't all taught to give reasons for our opinions, nor were we all taught to eschew buzzwords when we do. So, perhaps there's little point in trying to understand the mindset of a man whose reaction to 80% of an anthology was so hostile.

I defy anyone to read the opening paragraph of Perceptive's review and not either chuckle or shake their head. Not to review the review, but come on! Phrases such as, " ...nod sagely while procrastinating about increasing paranoia among the hoi-polloi, in these days of connectivity and terrorism" are clearly meant to be taken seriously but is that even possible? It isn't for me but your mileage may vary.

My short story "Arrival" happens to be one of my favorite stories I've ever written. It is the sequel to "Emergence," which appeared in "Monster Hunter Legends Both Barrels" also published by Emby Press. That doesn't mean I expect everyone else to love it. It's a rather specific type of story, one that combines elements of classic comic books, horror and religious fanaticism. There's no reason to assume Mr. P. Reader would find that even remotely fascinating. I would love to know why he considered it crap, however, as I'll bet many of the other authors whose works were dismissed in like fashion would also.

Alas, there are no answers to be found in this case. P.R. either didn't feel the need to elaborate or that his simplistic reactions spoke volumes. I will close by adding this one nugget of hoped-for wisdom:

Reviews such as these help no one. They serve no one. They say nothing except "Lookit me being all edgy and stuff." No writer learns from the experience in a way that either helps them grow and improve and, in fact, some probably shrink away from the writing for publication world, discouraged and convinced that their Imposter Syndrome was the real thing. And while I know this is a tough field and that people who can't take harsh criticism need not apply, I also feel strongly that irresponsible reviews such as the one in this post are detrimental and destructive to the overall discourse.

So in spite of myself, I will review P. Reader's review with my own one-word choice: Idiotic.

Latest anthology Update

The paperback copy of "After the Kool-aid is Gone" is now available for ordering and with it comes a five-star reader review. While the review doesn't mention my short story, "The Gipper Memorandum," specifically, the reviewer had kind praise for all of the stories in the collection.

You can obtain that hard copy by clocking here.

2 of My Stories Are Available on KIndle...Again.

 I've decided to reactivate two of my Kindle offerings from 2011. One is my short story/tribute to my mentor Annabelle McIlnay titled, "In Green, Remembered." It was published in the massive tome of an anthology, "Miseria's Chorale" in 2013. Obviously the rights reverted back to me several years ago.

The other one is a short story collection titles, "From the Bridge & Seven Other Short Stories" which features an eclectic mix of story types and styles.

"In Green, Remembered" can be downloaded here for just .99.

"From the Bridge" can be downloaded here for just $1.99.

Judging by my history and disaffection with Kindle, it's best to assume they're available for a limited timE.

That Time I Didn't Know I had a Story Republished.

In 2019, I submitted a story that was originally written for and rejected by a different anthology to Jeani Rector's print version of The Horror Zine. It was accepted and published in the Spring 2019 issue (pictured below).

However, while being a bad boy and Googling myself with the word "terrible" in a vain effort to locate some funny negative criticisms about my work, I instead ran across the following search result at the top of the screen:

Search Results

Web results

Christopher Nadeau - The Horror Zine

The May Selected Writer is Christopher Nadeau ... more, informing him his behavior was outrageous, unprofessional, classless and, worst of all, pissing me off.

The way that reads, I thought somebody was talking about me! Excited to see what terrible thing somebody thought I had done, I instead happened upon an issue of the online version of the Horror Zine, which I'd always thought was a whole separate thing. Yet, there I was for the third time as featured writer without even knowing it. It turns out the verbiage was an excerpt from my own story.

Click the link below to read "The Time of Expansion," one of my favorite stories even though I didn't remember it when I read it :)



Story link

*FREE SHORT STORY FOR MY FELLOW COVID SHUT-INS*

Originally published in this now defunct magazine, this is me taking Lovecraft and doing my own thing with it. Feel free to provide your honest opinion even if, especially if it is not positive. How else can I tell you you're an idiot who doesn't get my genius if you don't tell me you hated it?

Hint: It's flash fiction, so it's over before you know it!

From Out the Abyss Within

by
Christopher Nadeau

They were crawling out of his eyes, his ears, his nose.  Long, slender tendrils coated in viscous, dripping fluids, shining in the light as they wiggled free and onto the floor.  From there, they congregated, hissing, writhing, merging into newer, larger versions of their former selves.  And they spoke. They spoke to him.

“No god but us,” they said.

“Please,” he said, lower lip quivering, “Let me go home.”

“You are home,” the creatures said.  “So are we.”

His body went limp, obeying their command/assurance.

Still able to move his eyes, he glanced to his left and saw the portal still shimmering.  One word, the word, and it would close forever.  No more slithering, controlling monsters.

“There will be order,” they said. “No more enslavement to passions, desires, impulses.”

Sweat rained down his face from his hairline, filling his widened eyes with water and salt.  At his feet, the creatures kept merging, growing, becoming.

He needed to move.  Stop them.  Close the portal.  They’re only the beginning. They’ve waited forever and now they’re back!

“Please, God,” he muttered.

 “We came first,” the unified voices said. “We are your god.”

Somewhere out of his range of sight, lay the body of Johnny, his partner-in-crime.  They’d devoured him the moment of their arrival, declaring him unworthy. And who were they to make such a determination?

Evil. Primeval. Ancient Ones. His words from earlier today played over and over in his head: It’ll be so cool. Let’s rock the foundations.

They won’t rock.  They’ll cease to exist.  Reality is made of rubber and it will bend and take on new shapes.

The human race would die in its sleep.

“You are holy,” they said. “You are the Temple.”

Blinking, he glanced once more at the portal.  Close off, he thought. Seal!

“The Path to Salvation begins with you,” they said.

He paused, mouth opening and closing without sound.  Me? He thought. But I’m nothing. No one.

How could anything important involve him?  His father called him the useless one.  The disappointment.  A mistake.

“Me?” he asked.

The creatures stopped and turned to look at him, one mind, many bodies, unmoving.

He smiled.  “Me.”

From deep inside the portal came a chorus of inhuman voices singing of the Coming Change, hailing the Return of the True Gods, marching onward, marching, marching…

And he let them come, into him, through him.  The Temple. Not useless. Holy.

Let the world bend like rubber.

They were back.

There was time enough for him to say, “Hallelujah,” before the Old Ones bridged the gap between the portal and the Temple and his vision was filled with glorious oblivion.

Patreon Post #2 for February

The story I didn't want anybody to read...until now.

Read it here.

Classics Remixed II On Sale Now!

After a bit of a delay, no doubt to figure out how to make my story even more awesom-er, Left Hand Publishing's Classics Remixed Vol. II featuring my short story, "Gorgon Not Forgotten" is now available for ordering!

Click here to deets (That's hipster douche-bag for "details").

Now I can sit back and let somebody insult my work for a change.

First Patreon Post for December.

Mea Culpa for the long-ass wait but here it is.

Two Reviews/One Announcement.

I'll get to my "big announcement" in a moment but let's start with the reviews I ran across. The first is of the 2011 anthology "Legends, Denim & Silver" which featured my stark monster hunter story "Finally, the Source." This is still my favorite review of anything I've had published mainly because the reviewer really gets me, man! The response was exactly what I was going for, which is a rare thing indeed:

 

Finally, The Source barely edges out the tales as my favorite in The Monster Hunters section, if only for its fantastic 'oh shit, did you just go there?!' ending. Wilson, a monster hunter, is recruited by the Nightmare Guild — his arch enemies if there ever were any — to take out the cause of all strife; for both monster and humans alike. After his eyes are opened to the trouble this new target has caused, he reluctantly takes on the task. While I suspected the ending before it came, I have to admit that it was still surprising that author Christopher Nadeau carried through with it. Sure it can be argued that his ending is open ended, but not so much that, yeah, that just happened.

Read the entire anthology review here.

The other review doesn't mention me or my story but it is by the prestigious Publisher's weekly of the anthology pictured below:

  

 

 

You can read that review here.

 

You may be wondering why I ran across these reviews, or maybe you're thinking, "This MF's ego is off the charts! He's just randomly Googling reviews of his older work and then posting about it. How sad. What a tiny, pathetic man." Any other time you'd be right but this time I am doing it for a good reason. This is where the announcement portion of our program comes into play.

 

*Cue the trumpets*

 

I have finally decided to compile a short story collection comprised of previously published works, work that was published but is no longer available, and previously unpublished work.  I even know which publisher I would like to send it to. So, shot in the dark, I know, but if there are any stories of mine you've read and feel deserve inclusion, feel free to let me know. I've already created a list but it's not written in stone.

 

Black Friday Sale: Classics ReMixed II

The pre-order sale ends today.

Click here to make it happen!

I'm at the Lie-Berry!!!

I love the fact that three anthologies I have stories in can be found in the library system I work for. I wish they were at the actual libraries I work for but the fact that they're accessible in the shared system is still pretty freakin' awesome.

I can't lay claim to "Angels in the Endzone" and for that I am eternally grateful. The three anthologies, however, do indeed feature my work. If you live in Southeastern Michigan and have a library card, be sure to visit The Library Network for more info!

Classics ReMixed II Coming In December.

Featuring my short story, "Gorgon not Forgotten," the Left Hand Publishers anthology Classics Remixed II is now available for pre-order.

See the cover below:

It's an odd one, to be sure, but still not as odd as:


THIS little gem!





(My short story "On the Eighth Day" was featured in this one, so it remains probably my most unread work)











Anyway, I won't reprint the entire letter I received here but I will share my favorite part in closing:

"All of us at Left Hand Publishers are VERY excited about Classics ReMixed II. It’s one of our favorites. We know you’re going to love it too. I’m really glad you agreed to go genderless in “Gorgon Not Forgotten.” It’s a great read. As always, thank you for being a part of the family of LHP authors."

Oy, Such a Compliment That Was!

Although I mentioned it on Facebook, I refrained from mentioning specifics about my latest short story acceptance here because this is where I make my "official announcements" and I had not yet sent in my signed contract.  There's also the little matter of not wanting to jinx anything because, to be blunt, it's been a while since I've had anything accepted. However, this hasn't been a total surprise since, as I advised my Facebook friends, I tend to have better luck in the Fall.

I did make a brief mention of the story's acceptance in my post from September 28th post so maybe consider this the sequel to that award-winning piece of quasi-journalistic excellence. The story is titled, "Gorgon Not Forgotten" (hee-hee get it?) and it was accepted by Left Hand Publishing. Once I sent in my signed contract, biography and picture (ugh!) they replied with the suggested edits.

There were hardly any.

Not to brag, but the publisher of my first novel used to say I was the easiest person to edit because my first drafts tended to read like final ones. That didn't mean changes weren't necessary or that there was no room for improvement. It just meant my narrative structure was relatively strong and the requisite flow and plot progression weren't in need of repair. This may be telling stories out of school as they used to say but I don't normally start writing until I either have a complete vision in my head or, when I don't have one, I stop and start a lot rather than simply rushing through a first draft. That's an unusual technique and not one I necessarily recommend to others. The conventional wisdom is to not do what I do but I have found that I am less likely to finish the work if I don't push myself to make it final draft worthy the first time.

I am not, repeat not, arrogant enough to believe a prospective editor will see it that way. I am also one of the easiest people to request rewrites and edits from. Every word is not precious and sometimes one must indeed kill their darlings if they want to see one's work in print. If you don't agree, don't accept the offer.

When I opened the returned document containing my story and its suggested edits, I saw the following note in the right-hand corner:

"Hi Christopher. Excellent story and a pristine manuscript. As your story was being reviewed by the scorers, it was noted a couple of times that by changing just a few words, you could keep the progeny genderless. As you read through your manuscript again, try to forget whether it’s a he or a she. You’ll see how it adds another layer to your piece.
If you do not like that idea, just “reject” the couple of changes that we made.Thank you for a great read. Nice working with you on this project."

The note was followed by a handful of suggested grammatical changes. Personal feedback is rare enough in this field and any is appreciated, even if it's not positive. To receive positive feedback thanking me? That's yuge! Not to mention the amount of compliments contained in that one paragraph. Knowing that more than one person read it and found enough merit to agree it was publishable makes any semblance of impostor syndrome vanish like flatulence in a summer breeze.

More on that actual publication date when I know more on the actual...publication...you know what I mean!

Religious Fanatic Takes "Steal this Book!" to Heart but it's the Wrong Book.

Apparently an anthology I am in offended the delicate sensibilities of at least one self-appointed soldier for the Lord. At least, that's how the anthology's publisher is interpreting it.

It makes sense, based on how the petty crime took place. You can get the whole story here but here's a pull quote in case your clickin' finger is sore:

"...other books were left alone, as was a tablet and some cash..."

B Cubed Press Bob Brown's response to the thief is pretty entertaining because, ultimately, the fact that fiction can still cause this reaction in people means it still has the power to transform and to make people think. That is worth more to me than any financial reward my story gained.

The funny thing is, the only reason I even know about this is because I happened to be on my Amazon Author page where a newer reader review of the anthology mentioned the theft.  You can read that review here and even though the reader doesn't mention my story (how dare they?) it's a glowingly positive one that might not have happened if some jackass hadn't tried to censor what you're able to read.