I’m veering off course today. This post—dedicated to my sister and to all the women out there just living life—is intended for mature readers. Boo, and Happy Halloween! Halloween was my sister’s favorite holiday for as long as I can remember. She loved the costumes. It was always about the costumes for her. (Never the…
Since it’s still October, I’m going to stick with the “Scary” theme. What if I told you that you could be a writer? If that bores you, then you’re in the wrong room. But if that scares you or intrigues you, you’re in the right place. Follow along, too, if you just have fears on…
What You Can Expect and Even How to Write Your Own Middle Grade Horror Fiction Is anything inherently frightening? (Besides clowns? Or running out of coffee?) I think some things can’t help but be frightening: old houses, graveyards, deserted towns. But the best frights are things that seem innocent at first—like a faint scratching on…
Here we are, knee-deep into October, the spooky, scary, gateway-to-all-the-other-holidays month. I just learned a new word today. Taphophile: a cemetery enthusiast. I had no idea there was a word for people like me. I just thought we were “quirky.” Now I know we’re taphophiles! (This is not to be confused with coimetromaniacs, who are people…
Zachary rested his chin on the tabletop and counted the seconds as he resisted the lure of jellybeans in the jar in front of him. “One-Dastardlygoody, two-Dastardlygoodies…twenty-Dastardlygoodies…eightynine-Dastardlygoodies…ninetyseven-Das—” With a groan, he grabbed the jar and jammed his hand in for the sweet candies, then stuffed them in his mouth. These weren’t ordinary jellybeans. They were…
