I broke one of my own cardinal commandments last week at Authorcon V.
It was a magnificent event. Horror Drive-In Books had a record-breaking weekend. The place was full to the brim with fellow independent horror writers.
We all want our work out there. Making money is nice, but few are in the biz solely for profit. We want to reach others with our thoughts, our imaginations, and our use of words.
Book trading is big, but I don't do a lot of it. For one thing most indie publications are wispy things. My newest is a whopping six-hundred-and-eighty-two pages.
People try to give me books from time to time, and I try to gracefully decline. Everything has a price tag, even if they seem to be invisible. I don't like the pressure of free books and I hate to bite off the hand that fed me.
I was at a table with my good friend Norman Prentiss, who happens to be one of the best writers in the entire independent spectrum. Daniel Braum, another Cemetery Dance author, was sharing Norm's table.
The three of us were chatting, and Dan related a great Harlan Ellison story. It was quite pleasant. Then he offered me a copy of The Serpent's Shadow. I accepted the book in a moment of human weakness.
I made a point to get right to The Serpent's Shadow. My feeling's about it are unfortunately mixed.
One thing I admire is ambition. Braum shoots high with The Serpent's Shadow. It seems obvious to me he is writing literary horror. The writing is professional and clean.
The Serpent's Shadow is set in Central America. I've never been there, but it feels completely authentic. The best parts of the book are the depictions of the jungles and the people in and around it.
This story starts off slowly and builds to apocalyptic cosmic horror. The plot itself is extremely strong.
Where The Serpent's Shadow falters is in its pacing and characters.
This book is barely more than a novella, but it seems three times its length. Its the kind of story where you think of something you want to look up, you pick up your phone, and then scroll for ten minutes. Then it's "Ooookay, I better get back to the book."
The narrator is an American tourist who is a college student and a rock drummer. He is utterly devoid of personality. There is a meager attempt at family dynamics, but it's pretty weak.
Stephen King throws a lasso around a readers' necks and drags them to the finish line of a book. Grady Hendrix pulls us by our hearts. Even the oft-damned Richard Laymon knows how to make a story move.
The Serpent's Shadow is a story of magic, and the gift of keeping a reader's attention is itself a kind of witchery. It can't be fixed by copy editors and probably can't be taught in schools.
Daniel Braum set his sights high with The Serpent's Shadow, and if he missed his mark as I feel he did, I am impressed by his desire to write a superior piece of horror fiction.
I'm likely to try Braum again, but I have a sneaking suspicion he won't give me another book next year. I'm cool with that. As I say, I'd rather pay the coin of the realm and take my own chances.
Written by Mark Sieber
It was a magnificent event. Horror Drive-In Books had a record-breaking weekend. The place was full to the brim with fellow independent horror writers.
We all want our work out there. Making money is nice, but few are in the biz solely for profit. We want to reach others with our thoughts, our imaginations, and our use of words.
Book trading is big, but I don't do a lot of it. For one thing most indie publications are wispy things. My newest is a whopping six-hundred-and-eighty-two pages.People try to give me books from time to time, and I try to gracefully decline. Everything has a price tag, even if they seem to be invisible. I don't like the pressure of free books and I hate to bite off the hand that fed me.
I was at a table with my good friend Norman Prentiss, who happens to be one of the best writers in the entire independent spectrum. Daniel Braum, another Cemetery Dance author, was sharing Norm's table.
The three of us were chatting, and Dan related a great Harlan Ellison story. It was quite pleasant. Then he offered me a copy of The Serpent's Shadow. I accepted the book in a moment of human weakness.
I made a point to get right to The Serpent's Shadow. My feeling's about it are unfortunately mixed.
One thing I admire is ambition. Braum shoots high with The Serpent's Shadow. It seems obvious to me he is writing literary horror. The writing is professional and clean.
The Serpent's Shadow is set in Central America. I've never been there, but it feels completely authentic. The best parts of the book are the depictions of the jungles and the people in and around it.
This story starts off slowly and builds to apocalyptic cosmic horror. The plot itself is extremely strong.
Where The Serpent's Shadow falters is in its pacing and characters.
This book is barely more than a novella, but it seems three times its length. Its the kind of story where you think of something you want to look up, you pick up your phone, and then scroll for ten minutes. Then it's "Ooookay, I better get back to the book."
The narrator is an American tourist who is a college student and a rock drummer. He is utterly devoid of personality. There is a meager attempt at family dynamics, but it's pretty weak.
Stephen King throws a lasso around a readers' necks and drags them to the finish line of a book. Grady Hendrix pulls us by our hearts. Even the oft-damned Richard Laymon knows how to make a story move.
The Serpent's Shadow is a story of magic, and the gift of keeping a reader's attention is itself a kind of witchery. It can't be fixed by copy editors and probably can't be taught in schools.
Daniel Braum set his sights high with The Serpent's Shadow, and if he missed his mark as I feel he did, I am impressed by his desire to write a superior piece of horror fiction.
I'm likely to try Braum again, but I have a sneaking suspicion he won't give me another book next year. I'm cool with that. As I say, I'd rather pay the coin of the realm and take my own chances.
Written by Mark Sieber
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