What Dreams May Come

Fuseli's 'The Nightmare'

I have extremely vivid, detailed dreams. Sometimes they can be terrifying, sometimes hilarious... or so teasingly authentic in the moment that I wake up feeling ripped off because my finances were FINALLY in good and abundant order! Meh!

Last night involved one of the more quirkily detailed meanderings of my bizarre subconsciousness. I was visiting a friend's new flat. They'd just moved into a place overtop a defunct restaurant on the high street of some touristy English town. The building dated back a few centuries, but it couldn't have been heritage listed considering what the landlords had done to it...

The Tudor facade was barely discernable beneath a horrible layer of 'decorative' corrugated metal sheeting covering the jutting top floor. The bottom half had been thickly coated with gobs of plaster resembling toothpaste and then glossily whitewashed to death, and the boarded up windows had tacky wooden shutters that I supposed were meant to simulate a sort of cheesy Swiss Alps effect. Flanking the former restaurant's doorway were a pair of matching built-in 'planters'. They appeared to be made from old metal feeding troughs, now badly rusted and full of random bits of rubbish. As my friend seemed unmoved by the appalling state of the place, I politely asked if the landlord was planning on restoring it to its original state. 'No,' they assured me. 'The restaurant itself was such a well-known destination in the '70s that they've decided to preserve it just as it is.'

At this point, they reverently waved their hand at the fading faux-Gothic lettered sign over the restaurant door, which read: 'Ye Olde Lithuanian Pilaf Markt'.

Huh? Talk about taking the concept of fusion cuisine to a whole new level! Why does my brain DO this to me?? I think I woke myself up giggling.

Mostly, I am grateful that I possess such a fertile imagination. The only time it can be a worry is when I experience a minutely detailed nightmare... dreams that are more like a 'night terror'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror The palpable sense of horror and fear is overwhelming, and my mind has conjured up imagery and situations that would make even the most ardent guts-and-gore horror movie fan throw up in their popcorn. I am grateful that such dreams are rare.

Sometimes, this can be handy. I have used dreams as a leaping off point for a short story, or as a section in my longer fiction. In 'Base Spirits', there's a segment which is more or less a blow-by-blow retelling of nightmare I had about my characters while I was writing an early draft. Having been haunted by increasingly horrific visions of Calverley Old Hall's tragic past during her stay, Clara finds she is unable to shut off her mind from the echoes of the terror left behind by the murderous former lord of the manor:


A new visitation--
Clara walks across the grounds toward Calverley Old Hall. Opening the door, she steps into the coolness of the front foyer as the door clicks shut behind her. She blinks to adjust her vision to the dim light. Two small figures slowly approach from the gloom at the base of the stairs.
  Children. The older child must be one she’d heard-- and felt-- die. He gazes up at her, his face pale, his dark eyes mutely pleading. At his side is a smaller child wearing an identical white sleeping gown. The children stand before her, holding hands and watching her expectantly. She cannot move. The boys drift forward as one, and each boy reaches out his free hand to clutch at Clara. She wants to back away, but pity for them holds her in place. Clara glances down and watches their fingers sink into the indigo silk of her gown’s voluminous skirts.
       “Mama-- ”
  A loud thud on the floorboards upstairs cause all three of them to jump. The boys’ sad eyes stare up at the ceiling.
        “It’s Papa-- ”
         The familiar voice of the eldest child echoes in the back of her skull, just as the Woman’s had in the clarity of her last dream. The children’s fingers tighten on the folds of her dress.
“Stay with us. Bear witness.”
         Heavy footsteps pound toward the top of the stairs. A voice booms out:
  “Are you there with thy bastards, whore?”
         Clara yanks her skirts free of the boys’ grasp and dives for the door. The abandoned children follow, their mouths open in silent wails. She feels sorry for them, but she does not wish to stay and face the man they call Papa. Wildly, she tugs at the door-handle, feeling the cold little hands reach for her, as the heavy boots stomp down the stone steps. The door holds fast. The children begin to scream. The man’s voice is right behind her, shouting:
           “Whore! Whore! Whore-- ”

            “Wrroof! Woof-woof-- ”
            A dog barking outside summons Clara back.

~ From 'Base Spirits'- Chapter Six
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-ebook/dp/B005L38G8E
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Base-Spirits/book-bVfWrCigB0qRm6jfFq_MhQ/page1.html
Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-Ruth-Barrett/dp/1453643001

Today, after my weird mental wanderings, I'm find my waking imagination is unusually fired up. I'm currently working on 'In the Bag'-- book one of The Dead Drunks mystery series-- and this morning I could barely keep up with all of the ideas and plot twists and character revelations pouring down into my skull from wherever my Muse lives. I feverishly made notes and sketches for multiple scenes... finding new answers to resolve nagging plot puzzles and story gaps at every turn.

No, I am not going to set a scene at 'Ye Olde Lithuanian Pilaf Markt.'. Maybe I should!

What about you? Have you ever felt so inspired by dream imagery that you incorporated it into your fiction? Tell us about it!

Silly Season

My tree!

Ho ho HOLY CRAP! I have been dreadful at posting lately!! A thousand apologies.

Life does get in the way. I have a lot of illness and worry in my family these days, and my energy is better spent elsewhere.

Writing DOES continue apace. I have a new, true ghost story just out in Jeff Bennington's CREEPY 3 anthology. Christmas is the traditional time for ghost stories, and there are some nice spine-tinglers in this collection. Check out mine: 'The Watcher in the Woods' about an apparition I saw just after my own near-death experience. http://www.amazon.com/Creepy-Collection-Stories-Series-ebook/dp/B00AKYD120

Another ghostly short story turned into a fourteen thousand word novelette! 'In Sarah's Room' is a period piece... a creepy slow-burn of a ghost story in the tradition of M.R. James. This anthology (tentatively entitled TREADING CLOSE BEHIND) was also aiming for a Christmas release, but the consensus of the authors means that we'll likely be releasing it through a small UK publisher instead, hopefully not too far into 2013. Look for great dark stuff from B.L. Lloyd, Shalini Boland, V.R. Christensen and myself, to name a few...

Meantime, if you're doing your holiday shopping, books are always a good choice!

BASE SPIRITS is perfect to read whilst shivering by the fireplace...
In paperback- US: http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-Ruth-Barrett/dp/1453643001 Also in the UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Base-Spirits-Ruth-Barrett/dp/1453643001
In e-book format- Kindle US (but also everywhere else where Kindle is marketed!) http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-ebook/dp/B005L38G8E
All other e-book formats at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/84640

I have received Scrivener ( http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php) as an early Christmas gift, so I'm hoping it will help streamline my fiction writing process. I aim to have the first book of THE DEAD DRUNK mystery series IN THE BAG done over the winter. There's not much else to do in Stratford over the snowy months!

I wish one and all the very best of the season and a brilliant 2013. May you be surrounded by love, abundance, and good health. Enjoy every minute with your family and friends. Make merry. The rest is just so much noise.

Confessions of a Writer

The Work In Progess...

I have not been blogging all that much of late.

In fact, I've pulled back on Twitter, KDP, Facebook groups and anything that smacks of the treadmill of marketing.

I confess: I sort of lost heart. For months and months, I pushed and prodded and presented my most upbeat positive self... and barely budged my sales. It was depressing. The fact that my 'day job' of descriptive video script writing has gone from slow to nil lately didn't help my mood. I figured people didn't want to hear about it if all I felt like doing was whining about crappy sales and pounding my head against the wall about the vagaries of self-promotion.

That much is true: no one wants to hear me bitch!

Things will look up. My day job work will resume this month, so at least I won't be without income for too much longer. That's a scary place to be. I don't wish it on anyone.

I'm still not in a totally fantastic mood, frankly. But I also can't ignore my blog. That doesn't accomplish much of anything! I promise to post more often moving forward into happier, more optimistic times. I have some special guests coming up soon, and I'll try to be inspiring or at least entertaining.

The other big reason I've not been spending so much time on social networking and platform building is because I've been WRITING. Remember writing? You know, that thing authors do so that we have books to market in the first place? Yep. I'm waist-deep in Book One of The Dead Drunk mystery series In The Bag.

If you are excited to get your hands on my new book, I'm grateful. But? Please don't hold your breath. I don't rush when I write. I'm not about crankin' 'em out and slappin' 'em up on Kindle. I want to work until I have the best possible version of In The Bag before I foist it upon the world of paying readers. That will mean at least a few weeks more hard work before I show this draft to my editor, and start that whole fun process of rewriting and polishing. Once that's done, there are at least three other titles in the series that have already been planned out or started.

And then will I self-publish The Dead Drunks?

Frankly, I'm not so sure. This has been liberating in a lot of ways. It's great to have total creative control and reach readers world-wide. I've loved getting to know some of the truly amazing, talented and supportive folks on the Indie scene. Overall, reviews for Base Spirits and my Kindle short story 'Family Secrets' have been outstanding. And sure: the theory of earning a whopping 70% in royalties is wonderful... but the harsh reality has been a mere trickle of money. In my case. So far.

I won't turn my back on the Indie route. There are plans to contribute to an Indie ghost story anthology later in the year with a handful of other quality authors. It's an interesting project, and I like the idea of collaboration. I still have a bunch of previously published short stories that I intend to polish and publish individually on Kindle-- with an eye to eventually bundling them into a collection.

Traditional vs. Indie. Does it have to be either/or? I don't think so. I think what authors have now more than ever is the freedom to choose. I believe in getting help in the more traditional sense with a commercial mystery series if I want things like translations and film or TV rights (and I bloody well do want those things!) I know there are some rabid/stubborn/successful Indie authors out there who will scream at me not to bother with the 'old ways', but to them I'd like to say with respect that I'd like to give it a shot. I DO know what I'm up against, believe me. Been there, done that. But I've learned a lot of lessons over the past year, and I'd just like to see what happens this time around. Maybe that's foolish or masochistic, but please humour me. I may end up Indie publishing after all. No shame in either method. Let's see what happens.

So for now, I promise I will pay more attention to my blog. I'd like to spend my energy primarily on writing, but I also know that I need to keep my platform current and active. Mea culpa. I'd also like to see what the effect of getting more good reviews has on sales and word of mouth rather than engaging in endless rounds of Tweeting and hopping and waving my virtual arms in the air. I just need a break from the marketing madness. I believe in my work. Its time will come. 

If you'd like to read and review my writing, here are my links:

For a spooky full-length chill ride, try Base Spirits: http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-ebook/dp/B005L38G8E

For an unsettling short read about a family's dark side, here's 'Family Secrets': http://www.amazon.com/Family-Secrets-ebook/dp/B007D8TLP2

See? I'm done sulking. I'm back. I'll see you soon.

Marketing is Hell!

I know, I know. "It's a marathon, not a sprint" blah blah blah. I get it.

The thing is, my personal marathon has been going on for well over a decade. I've been writing stories all of my life, and seriously working at this 'writing-to-publish' gig in one way or another since 1999. I've had a bunch of short stories published, won a few prizes, and been awarded a grant. I've studied English Literature and creative writing. I've always been a voracious reader, and carefully studied and honed my craft. I'm still honing: I don't think any writer should ever sit back and say "That's good enough" and rest on their laurels. That's cheating.

Yes, I went the traditional route with endless rounds of agents and publisher queries. I even had an agent at one point, but we were not a good team. The traditional route is a baffling one. A lot of people at Big Six publishers liked my writing and encouraged me, but no one went that extra step to publish it.

Yadda yadda yadda.

Fast-forward to the Indie Revolution and the breath of fresh air it offered as a way to reach readers. I was ready to give it a go, so I did. I finally presented 'Base Spirits' after professional editing and formatting and getting some kick-ass cover art. For the most part, I've enjoyed the process and all the fabulous, encouraging people I've been meeting along the journey. I've had great feedback and reviews from readers from all over the world. Yay!

But?

I have to come clean. Marketing-- for me-- is pure, unadulterated HELL.

I've carefully followed examples and taken suggestions: giveaways, KDP Select, contests, blog hops, guest interviews (both giving and hosting), blogging, Facebooking, Twittering, Triberr, Goodreads, cross-promotions, layered marketing etc. ad infinitum. I am not renewing my KDP Select after this round. I fear that the e-book market has been saturated with all the freebies to the point where a great many readers just expect us to hand over our hard work for nothing. If one has a large backlist, it makes more sense: one book helps introduce your writing to the world. I may revisit it once I have more ready to publish.

It's still the Wild West for Indie Publishing. What used to work as a 'surefire' marketing or promotional tool last month may not work now. I'm not bitter-- just sort of baffled. I admit it. It's a mystery.

I've decided I am more interested in writing books than standing on a virtual street corner wearing a jester's hat and making balloon animals for passersby who really couldn't give a toss. So for now, please forgive me while I happily type away on Book One of the Dead Drunk Mystery series. I'm not giving up: I just need to write books instead of spending hours a day on social media.

What I am trying to do is get more reviews. I think reviews are a good idea for the long haul. Readers are much more likely to be impressed by a decent third party review than any clever Twitter blurb or barely-disguised subtle plea from me to give my work a try. I've been pretty lucky so far: most of the 21 Amazon reviews to date have been stellar. Now I'd like to concentrate on being reviewed further afield on blogs and websites.

In fact, if you are a reviewer or book blogger reading this and you'd like a free review copy of either 'Base Spirits' http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-ebook/dp/B005L38G8E or my short story 'Family Secrets' http://www.amazon.com/Family-Secrets-ebook/dp/B007D8TLP2, I'd be more than happy to send them your way. Please leave me your e-mail in the comment section below.

Now back to our regularly scheduled marathon...