In the world of The Blasphemer Series, book two Harvest, you’re introduced to the people of The Mythical Realm. Previously, it was known that Sophia Goodwich/Bishop lived there, but the world is expanded upon, and Sophia is brought back to the story. The story explains where the people come from and why they’re in The Mythical Realm. They are from the Colony of Roanoke. It, the book Harvest, explains deeper.
The main reason for me sharing this post is because real facts have come forward that were merely creative writing on my part. I had nothing to do with the real investigation and take no credit on any level for the genetic findings, but I am interested into the credible material that some of the people of the colony inter-mingled/were adopted by the local Native Americans. If you’ve read Harvest already, you will already know why this is interesting to me and maybe even you.
Before writing about the colony, I did refresh my knowledge. I dug through hours of articles and books to prop my creativity upon. Whether this was for inspiration or my usual style of mixing facts and fiction, a twist on history. At the time of my writing of this story the genetics ‘theory’ was not published yet. It only made the most sense to me that they would’ve made peace with locals or even had been adopted in my storyline.
Before I dig into the genetic articles and share them here, I would like to cover what is known. The colony was established by Sir Walter Raleigh in August 1585 (roughly). It was troubled with poor preparation and struggles with the local Native Americans. A trip led by John White occurred in which they returned to England for more supplies, but upon returning to the colony they discovered it was deserted and the word ‘Croatoan’. They believed this meant that they had moved to the Croatoan Island estimated to be fifty miles away. This led them to travel and meet up with the colonists but found none on the island. So, the mystery continued.
Studies have been done, speculations have endured, but no real facts came to the surface of what the colonists may have encountered until a tree was discovered that dated back to this time and was studied. Its rings told of droughts. The theory of the colonists being absorbed into the local Native American population begin to swirl. What is known that the results of the colony being ‘lost’ no doubt affected the colonies that came after as a lesson in preparation and a warning.
Now let’s speak to the genetics that has been discovered. Lost Colony Family DNA Project goal is to identify the ancestors of lost Roanoke colonists through DNA testing in hopes of shedding some light on the old mystery with scientific data. I highly recommend checking out this article entitled The Lost Colony of Roanoke: Did They Survive? – National Geographic, Archaeology, Historical Records and DNA on the DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy website.
As we continue on with The Blasphemer Series Mythos, we cover The Nephilim this week. We discuss what are they in the series and what are the sources I used for inspiration in the creatures’ creations in these books. The Nephilim play a large part of the series.
In the series, I define The Nephilim as ‘descendants of angels and the sons and daughters of man’. They’re greater than their parents, Gods amongst man, and not always dangerous. Different, but more than those for which they come. This is a direct inspiration for the Hebrew reference of The Nephilim.
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.
Genesis 6:4
The Hebrew word ‘nefilim‘ translates to ‘giants’, but also is understood to be ‘the fallen ones’ if reading the word ‘naphal‘ which means ‘to fall’.
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature. We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
Numbers 13:32
As scholars study the Bible and its many versions, there will always be a debate, but for me studying it, these references always seem so grand. Creatures that were giants among men? Did that mean that mean Goliath of the David and Goliath story was a Nephilim? A giant among men. These fantastic stories dotted my growing years and as I grew I also began wondering what would be ‘modern day giants’. What creatures do we know of ‘now’ that could be greater than man? That is when my writer’s creativity took over and that is why in The Blasphemer Series the Nephilim are mythical monsters.
Vampires, dire werewolves, werewolves are the Nephilim of my stories. These folklore creatures always seemed, to me at least, more powerful than man with their abilities, curses, or gifts. In the books Harvest and Ghosts, you’re taught in the world of the books that these types of beings have changed, for example werewolves originally were beings that walked upright and were more ‘manlike’ (Adele even sees this in a vision in Maxwell Demon, the first book), but after battling with their very own brethren vampires they were erased, but not forgotten. I write of a story within the story, a tale to explain things more for the reader and that being of Ana and Adolph. This story explains why the world has a form of the werewolves, the dire werewolves.
You can begin reading the series and check out more information by following the link: Down the rabbit hole
Is this interesting? Enjoying the series as it begins? Let me know! Is there something more you’d like to know? Let’s start a conversation.
Reincarnation is a beautiful belief of a soul continuing on as another body with another life. Simply a soul carrying on beyond one life after death. The Hindus call this endless cycle the Samsara Cycle. This goes hand-in-hand with karma, which lasts over many lifetimes. BBC UK described it best below:
Karma is a Sanskrit word whose literal meaning is ‘action’. It refers to the law that every action has an equal reaction either immediately or at some point in the future. Good or virtuous actions, actions in harmony with dharma, will have good reactions or responses and bad actions, actions against dharma, will have the opposite effect.
In Hinduism karma operates not only in this lifetime but across lifetimes: the results of an action might only be experienced after the present life in a new life.
Hindus believe that human beings can create good or bad consequences for their actions and might reap the rewards of action in this life, in a future human rebirth or reap the rewards of action in a heavenly or hell realm in which the self is reborn for a period of time.
This process of reincarnation is called samsara, a continuous cycle in which the soul is reborn over and over again according to the law of action and reaction. At death many Hindus believe the soul is carried by a subtle body into a new physical body which can be a human or non-human form (an animal or divine being). The goal of liberation (moksha) is to make us free from this cycle of action and reaction, and from rebirth.
— BBC/UK
When I was young and exploring religions to see what suited my personal ethics and beliefs best, I came across Hinduism. The belief of living multiple lives gave me hope and helped strengthen my personality, but for all the benefits I saw, the idea of being ‘stuck’ was frightening. The idea of reincarnation being punishment is only one way to look at this. When I began writing The Blasphemer Series: Maxwell Demon, this concept came back to mind. One of the major character, Adele, is ‘stuck’ in this cycle as punishment for the crimes she committed in her first incarnation as Lilith/Adama, the first woman. When I dwelled upon this deeper, the implications that could come from this only grew and became complicated. Would she remember? Wouldn’t Maxwell, whom never died, ever have looked for her before this last incarnation? So many questions had to be answered, and I did in the book’s pages.
I cover some of her past lives in Maxwell Demon, from that of a solider to even a young child convicted of witchcraft (inspired by a true event). I even began writing a book just about her past lives that has yet to react to a publisher. There is something realistic and saddening about how Maxwell wouldn’t always find her in the entire world or would just too late. This book isn’t just her last life, last chance, but also his to help her.
Cycles are a theme throughout the series. How things or event people come and go cycling through people’s lives as they live them.
This is one of those subjects, reincarnation, I find so interesting. I recommend you doing your own research and reading/watching others telling their stories of this and learn about the different mysterious cases of reincarnation. We can find the cases of reincarnation from all over the globe. Some notable ones are that of Barbro Karlen who claims to be Anne Frank reborn to James Leininger who believed to be a WW2 fighter pilot. One interesting detail here I’d like to add Edgar Cayce, a famed American clairvoyant believed in reincarnation and even once announced he’d be reborn in the year 2020. I’ve reviewed his book The Sleeping Propheton the site and also here.
The knowledge of rebirth is the turning point in the history of mankind.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
You can begin reading the series and check out more information by following the link: Down the rabbit hole
Is this interesting? Enjoying the series as it begins? Let me know! Is there something more you’d like to know? Let’s start a conversation.
In Ghosts, the third installment of The Blasphemer Series, a book series I’m writing, there is a monster-hating organization I introduce to the reader named The Sons of God. At one point, I had written a short story that never became a published piece that gave this group an origin story. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from Christian scriptures is where I drew inspiration.
In Christian scripture, The Four Horsemen appear in the book titled Revelations of the New Testament of the Bible and from the Old Testament’s books Book of Zechariah and Book of Ezekiel. They’re considered the bringers of the end, God’s punishments, and the ones whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth. That last one is the one that gave me the idea mainly.
In a world of monsters, magic, and myths it made the most sense to me to add in a group that would keep everything balanced and in check, but since I write them not as monsters themselves, but as men and men are fallible, corruptible, and ‘monsters’, they’ve changed with a writer’s imagination. The exact four men you meet in Ghosts are not the originals, but descendants of the originals. The Original riders are more in line with the Biblical sources.
Their purpose, historically, is positive, but at other times negativity has been the popular interpretation that’s understood. They have interpreted these stories as thee great cleansers of the land, clearing out the wicked to bring paradise to the good, but also heartless bringers of misfortune. The Red, the Black, the Pale, and the White horsemen all have separate duties.
The White Rider
considered the ‘war rider’ it is more often interpreted to be the bringer of disease.
Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the [a]seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Revelation 6:1-2
The Red Rider
interpreted to be the bringer of war, carrying an upright sword.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
Revelation 6:3-4
The Black Rider
the rider that is believed to be Famine and carries scales
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
Revelation 6:5-6
The Pale Rider
is known as Death. The only one given a name.
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
Revelation 6:7-8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Revelation 6:7-8
Through writings of the riders have changed from literature, films, and historical interpretation the version of these four in my series is different. They ride horses, run a ranch, and are not the scary carriers of The End. They hold many of the similar traits they remain: a new visual interpretation of these horsemen.
In order to understand their grand purpose within the series, you’ll have to simple read the book.
You can begin reading the series and check out more information by following the link: Down the rabbit hole
Is this interesting? Enjoying the series as it begins? Let me know! Is there something more you’d like to know? Let’s start a conversation.
I wrote a book entitled Harvest, the second installment of The Blasphemer Series. This book introduces the reader to The Seers and the world of oracles. Dante, Imogene, and Briar are the three main living seers. Dante has visions of the past, Briar sees the future, and Imogene is the tormented seer of the present. Each has its gifts and curses that come with its inherited talents.
The story takes you through this journey with Dante, a famous painter that was never aware that the paintings he was creating were paintings depicting scenes from the past. Hannibal comes back in this book as it closely tied him to Dante and his family. Introducing Hannibal on a more personal level than readers meet him in book one, Maxwell Demon.
Writing this book was vital. I had many ideas for it before even creating the first book. Originally, Harvest was to be the first book, but after long debate and re-writing plots and storylines, it made sense to come second introducing the series properly with Maxwell.
Oracles inspired the Seers. The Greek and Roman myths inspired this. Oracles were, in ancient times, women chosen by the gods through which they would spoke divine advice to them. It is said people would make pilgrimages to see them, emperors kept them close, and were some of the most important people relating to tales. With this inspiration, I knew I wanted to place this in a modern setting. With Imogene and Briar being typical for oracles, Dante is not.
There are scenes in the book that show he is not alone in this. This was inherited through his grandfather’s line and is hinted that Dante’s father was gifted with ‘seeing’, but he was like Imogene and couldn’t handle it. I clarified that Dante’s father might have had Imogene’s gift. Throughout the series’ history, many seers are alive with some rogue bloodlines popping up, and there is no simple answer how many are truly alive during the writing of this series, but what is known are the three main ones.
If you dig enough with research, you can also start finding that seers and oracles weren’t strictly of Greek and Roman origin. Some other examples are the Norse, the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria in Africa, and even in Celtic polytheism. Though I originally didn’t know of some origins as a youth and developing ideas for the series I was deep into the Greek and Roman mythologies and that is where my inspirations came from. It influenced a scene in the book where they see the spirits of seers that have died.
Dante being a seer is vital to the future of the series. The Blood of Seers is also a key plot point throughout the seers as well. At the end of Ghosts, the currently being written installment expands on this future, you see how powerful a seer can be. Bloodlines are important. What it can do, how it can mold destiny, and even how it can curse you. This is an idea that is introduced in the book Maxwell Demon with Anya feeling family is so important. Ghosts also introduces an ancient helper of hers.
I enjoyed playing on the idea of how we can be blind to our pasts or refuse to see them. This is partial why he ‘zones out’ into his gift. What happens to him from the outside is described by Imogene who witnesses his gift first hand when it occurs. He is out of control of his gift, it comes and goes whenever it pleases as if it is its own entity. His gift possesses him, in a way.
Imogene is tormented by her gift. She sees it as a curse and because of this feeling she escapes with alcoholism. She explains, roughly, that being able to hear everyone’s thoughts all the time is overwhelming. It has ruined her life more than improved it according to her. I had read other books and seen movies that showed being someone gifted with mind-reading as amazing but rarely talking about all the horrible side-effects. You see her sobering up in the book realizing she has to stand-up to her struggles even if it kills her to help. She deep down genuinely cares about those around her, but she’s become hardened by a lifetime of hearing thoughts that others think are secret. Her gift is a touch overlapping with Briars with knowing with things are coming, but it’s only due to the ability of someone to think before doing. Briar can see the future even before someone conceives the action or thought to act upon.
Though Briar’s gift is unique and can at times overlap with Imogene, she isn’t as tortured. I cut her origins from the original book. The Lost Bishop was an entire chapter I removed for storyline progression. Briar’s backstory is that her mother was killed during childbirth. Her father knowing her mother was a Bishop and what they were/are she was blamed for her mother’s death. The years made him bitter toward her and abusive until she ran away, thus the lost part of the Lost Bishop.
Being able to see the future she has been able to avoid what she perceived as danger and stay hidden without being aware she was hidden. She did have a friend that ran away with her, Mr. Waters, but he never showed up in the storyline since that chapter so it made more sense to remove the chapter.
Upon being ‘found’ she went to one haven for the different Anya ran for the young with gifts. The more I wrote the chapter the more it felt like something that deserved a book of its own or at least drawn out differently.
At first, she is unaware of her gift, but when she realizes it she’s frustrated by it. I cut a scene from the original manuscript during self-editing It described how frustrating it can be to see images in her mind and not being able to explain it. She even expresses jealousy of how the other two seers have gifts beyond ‘the seeing’ to help describe their visions. By the end of the book, her gift is used against her. A dark entity that stalked Imogene as a child sees opportunity in Briar. This is future detailed in the book Ghosts.
You can begin reading the series and check out more information by following the link: Down the rabbit hole
Is this interesting? Enjoying the series as it begins? Let me know! Is there something more you’d like to know? Let’s start a conversation.
The principal characters of the first book in the series, Maxwell Demon, are definitely the fallen angels and their counterparts. Originally, when I began writing the series, it wasn’t even a series, much less a book, it was a character named Dante Angeloft that doesn’t appear in the series until book two, Harvest. I wanted to write of his struggles; he was and still is the most relatable of my characters specific to my teen and younger years.
Dante in his origin interacted with vampires, but throughout my years of aging and my interests changed eventually angels came into play as I enjoyed then and continue to now doing religious studies. I have always loved learning of other cultures and the religions of ancient times. So, he became a man conflicted with morality. Good and heaven or bad and hell. The series was always going to be called The Blasphemer Series. Even ancient original journal-like writings I did of him were calling him The Blasphemer.
When the time came to publish my own stories, I wasn’t sure if he was going to come back to life through my words or even take part in a series, but things began working around. My award-winning short story Human Ouija was in the works before I finished Maxwell Demon, but some things began clicking and inspiration struck. I was reading articles and really digging into documentaries, books, and reading over old work when inspiration came together.
This led me to purchase encyclopedias, the most important being the one on angels, one I wasn’t aware would also include fallen angels and demons as well. This was really the most important reference guide I used. It helped me carve out traits, looks, and really gave me the ability to build the villains and the heros of the first book. From there it just flowed naturally.
Vampires inspired the story element of ‘reincarnation’, with their immortality. I had read about Samsara Cycle, reincarnation, and began researching in that field of interest and it made the most since to me. I will cover reincarnation more in depth in another post, but for now I will merely add that it became an element I sewed in because it was beautifully tragic.
Love is beautifully tragic with its highs and lows, for me I had experienced different love being betrayed, longing, wanting, and never wanting to give up. This is important and since this book was to be important to me as my first serious attempt of publication it felt required. Every good ‘love story’ I had ever read had tragic events and conflict. ‘Lovers torn apart’ is a theme that can be played upon and directed this way or that.
The fallen angels, led by Lucifer, is one of the oldest stories I knew of. Lucifer betrayed God’s wishes as the story began and ultimately ended with his and his cohorts being cast out. The angels that remained continued on doing good deeds, but for me I am forever the researcher… the curious mind. I learned of The Watchers, alternative origins from old religions, and one by one the story I wanted to tell formed.
Specific angels in the story, Maxwell Demon, were chosen for sins they embodied or what they magically had. For example: Yeqon was chosen because he was one angel that led men astray, in stepped the Nephilim. Many fallen angels I learned off from the above mentioned encyclopedias but also reading material on the Book of Enoch. The Book of Enoch is an ‘apocrypha’ book thus removed from The Bible. This specific book also mentions The Watchers naming some of them. Yeqon is one of those mentioned.
If you have already read the book in this series that’s published already then you will see this is a heavy inspiration for much of the main stories origins, the chapter of Maxwell Demon that I’d like to reference is a scene in which I wrote of the fall of the angels that battled.
Harvest, the second book, isn’t as heavy on the angels and the fallen, but Dante has visions of the past of an angel, one of The Unforgiven or also known as The Forgotten. She is unique as well and as this series is still being written and published, I won’t release too much from the unfinished books. The phrase comes to mind: the meek shall inherit the Earth.
Here’s what the original edition of Maxwell Demon looked like
You can begin reading the series and check out more information by following the link: Down the rabbit hole
Is this interesting? Enjoying the series as it begins? Let me know! Is there something more you’d like to know? Let’s start a conversation.
I had the honor to get a hold of some of Mr. Sowder’s time and ask him a few questions. I wanted to do a more in-depth follow-up to the post I did called The Word: Mythbusting – Stereotypes and Misconceptions of Self-pubbing and independent pubbing and that’s what this is meant to be. I wanted the perspective of a publisher and not just my perspective as a working author, graphic artist, and formatter in the business.
Edd Sowder is the type of man to not hold back his thoughts or feelings when it comes to business and thus he was the perfect person for me to ask. He’s been publishing for many years and brings to this Q&A his experience and expertise.
I hope in some way that those that read this gain a perspective and insight they may not have had before on things behind-the-scenes of publishing. So many of us go into submissions unaware of what may be going through the mind of the person we’re sending a manuscript to. This is inside one such mind.
In your opinion, what should someone know before submitting to a publisher?
My opinion varies from day to day. Recently, well…when our submissions were still open, I noticed that a lot of authors were submitting first drafts, if not second. I feel that if you are an author, and have written the next great novel in history, you should have someone beta (prior to submitting your books a “beta reader”) your novel from one end to the other and help you with suggestions on fixing plot holes. Additionally, if you could allow time from when the novel was submitted, many publishers have what’s called a “slush pile” of books to read and yours is just as important as the others, so if they say it will take at least three months, don’t email them a week later and say, “did you like my book?”
I feel that if you are an author, and have written the next great novel in history, you should have someone beta your novel from one end to the other and help you with suggestions on fixing plot holes.
Edd Sowder
Many believe the publisher should take on full responsibility for the marketing of a project where others believe in splitting the responsibility, what should people know on this? I have read where some will do all the marketing for the author and others will do zero.
Ours is somewhat in the middle of that. In today’s world, an author should be just as proud of their book as the publisher is. Now if the idea of marketing your books is just completely devastating to you, guess what? If you self-publish it, you will still have to do that as well but you will not have the same amount of reach, you will have to come out of pocket for the edits, cover, interior, and deal with the business side of being published. It is not as glorious as some think. Here is a piece of real information, NO book is accepted by a big five publisher anymore without a marketing plan submitted for approval by the author. I have heard this and read it in several areas. Will my company do it for you? No, not exactly. We will do some light promotional posting, some follow up after the book is out, a few posts on social media a few times a year for you but that is about all the time I have. I actually expect my authors to do the bulk of it themselves. It does show when they, and/or I, do find a few minutes to post something about the back catalog. There is no reason why it would not show something if the author did it as well. Each author is different though. And to ask if an author will or will not, well… most will at the beginning of the life of the book, but soon after it has come out, they discontinue to do so. I have seen it a lot. It is unfortunate but we all get pretty busy.
Here is a piece of real information, NO book is accepted by a big five publisher anymore without a marketing plan submitted for approval by the author.
Edd Sowder
From an active publisher, what is your take on what you see authors doing wrong?
I
think I just answered that in the last question but I can elaborate one that I
have seen all too often that burns me, and many other publishers up. You have a
book with a publisher, and one with another, and you have self-published a few.
Great! Good for you! We could not be happier for you and if you ask, I am
certain that we may even help you spread the word on your newest book that was
self-published as we have the time… just don’t forget that this industry does
not revolve around the last book you let out into the world. It is hinged upon
all of your catalogs. You have a book
here, there, and now a new one but when did you stop loving that first one you
have with the initial publisher who took a huge risk on your name, book, concept and put their funds into it to make
your dreams come true? Is that now the step-child you never liked? It happens
all the time and it hurts not just the publisher but you as well as nobody
remembers the first books you put out because you are spending so much time
promoting the newest one. Bundle it, ask for a sale to help promote it, make
sure that you are not bastardizing the prior catalog you have just because the
newest book is ready. They all deserve equal attention.
…just don’t forget that this industry does not revolve around the last book you let out into the world. It is hinged upon all of your catalogs.
Edd Sowder
The situation is a newcomer/green writer to the business doesn’t know what to do, they’ve got a bunch of things done, ideas, and no networking. Advice for those people coming in and unsure what to do and what not to do?
Ask questions. Each publisher, author, editor, graphic artist, will have ideas of what you should and should not do to get things rolling. Join a couple of groups online that are primarily other authors and be certain you join a few that are readers too. You will need beta readers. Those that will read your book before it goes to print and help you mold the idea. These people are just as important as the ones who publish it for you. I cannot express to you how important in today’s world social media is for sales. Everyone behind a computer screen is anonymous and nobody knows more about your story than you do. So, share it with friends, family, and loved ones online in excerpts. Don’t give them a whole chapter but give them a part of the book, a passage, that you are particularly fond of writing. Do some interviews. Get on some podcasts as a guest, start an online blog, guest write on a few. It will keep your name in the spotlight and when your book comes out, people will be looking for it.
I cannot express to you how important in today’s world social media is for sales. Everyone behind a computer screen is anonymous and nobody knows more about your story than you do.
Edd Sowder
You’ve gone to many conventions, met a bunch of celebrities. What can you share for an author starting off in conventions? What should they remember about dealing with celebrities?
Be yourself, be gracious, and be thankful. If you are an introvert, as most authors are, take someone along with you who can help liven up the table a bit for the passersby to talk to. If you are an extrovert, like me, go out a few times a day and walk the area to see who all is there. Meet other authors, artists, and for Pete’s sake, get bookmarks, business cards, or something else that will tell others who you are in case they do not buy today. New authors going to cons are hard sells. But sometimes, if you can get in good with a neighbor, they will point people in your direction for you. We have done it for others and likewise, others have done it for us. As far as dealing with celebrities, if there is an after party to go to where they will be there, do it. No excuses. Just go. They will be more relaxed, likely having a drink, chatting with others, and less in the mindset of having to make money. We have met some incredible people on our journeys and many of them are still friends with us to this day. Some have even brought us into cons with them as we get along with them so well. Remember, at the end of the day, we are all just people. Being in the place of a celebrated actor/actress, remember to respect their privacy, ask for permissions, and be cool. All of them like to get something cool from fans (many are readers too), and if you can get a photo op at the end of the con with them, all the better.
Be yourself, be gracious, and be thankful. If you are an introvert, as most authors are, take someone along with you who can help liven up the table a bit for the passersby to talk to. If you are an extrovert, like me, go out a few times a day and walk the area to see who all is there.
Edd Sowder
What’s your take on the saying ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’? Some don’t submit to more than one publisher whereas some prefer doing this?
While I would like to have exclusivity on all published works, that is unreasonable. We suggest—since we know we are not the only publisher out there—to shop around. If you tell us that your book is being submitted to other publishers, as well as ours, we will understand. It will not speed us up in getting to your potential work but we do want to know ahead of time. Submitting to a publisher and then not submitting to others while you wait seems like you are willing to just wait and see. I suggest, weighing the options and looking for who seems to be the best fit for you. Much like we are implementing new tactics for new submissions, we expect that you, the author, are willing to look to not just reputation of the publisher but also ask questions to authors that are with that publisher. If the overall atmosphere seems good for you, and you are willing to wait on them, then by all means submit and be inquisitive but if you get an overall bad feeling from them, or their authors are highly dismissive of how they work with them, walk away. Keep in mind that not all authors will feel that they are getting a fair shake from the publisher, and not all publishers will feel that the authors are doing their fair share of working with the publisher. So, take all info with a grain of salt, so to speak, and weigh the pros and cons of each decision.
If the overall atmosphere seems good for you, and you are willing to wait on them, then by all means submit and be inquisitive but if you get an overall bad feeling from them, or their authors are highly dismissive of how they work with them, walk away.
Edd Sowder
Pet peeves that authors should know about publishers?
Well, that is a good question. That list can grow substantially daily and shrink just as fast depending on the schedule, the stressors of the day, and the attitudes of those involved, myself included. One thing that publishers hate is for someone to refer to themselves as the “next Stephen King, Anne Rice, James Patterson, Lovecraft, Wells, Harris, etc.” Let us make that determination for you. No, on second thought, let your readers and reviewers do it. If your style is much like Koontz, or Rushdie, your readers will notice. Don’t make the assumption that you are the next anyone. Be you. Be honest. If you are influenced by those prolific authors, then, by all means, state it in interviews that you enjoy their works but if you are trying to be the replacement for Gaiman, you need to have the clout to back that up. Another pet peeve that publishers, well I personally hate, is an unedited manuscript sent in with credits installed in the file that says who edited it. Now, all editors will see a sentence differently than the next but if you have several hundred mistakes per chapter in your submission but it was supposedly edited prior to submitting, and you named that person, as the editor, we already expect a very clean version of the MS. When we get in there and start reading only to find these mistakes, missing words, sentence structure that is horrific and not in any way ready to be considered… it slows us down. If we really want to know if the sub is worth it, we will read on trying to ignore the issues but sometimes, the issues will outweigh the story. This is where beta readers come in handy. Additionally, never submit a first draft. I think I said something about this earlier… or a second. Revisions are your friend. A submission is a piece of your soul. You are baring it for the other world to see and it is also a career path. Treat it as such. Never get too upset if you get a rejection. It comes with the territory and developing a thick skin as it takes to handle it will go further for you than wallowing in self-pity. Hopefully, the rejection that comes back will have some creative ideas to help you grow. I know when I send one back, it has ideas in it to help the author but many other publishers will send a form letter. Those are too impersonal and it’s like they never read through your submission. Why waste your time like that? Keep in mind that most publishers work on a release schedule and many times it has to fit with their preconceived budget to operate for the year. If they tell you the book is accepted and will not release until such and such date, ask them what you can do in the meantime to help them and yourself in potential sales. They should have some good ideas to get your name out there. Remember, your name is now a brand, the book is a product. You need to sell it as much as the publisher will, if not more. You are competing with over one million other books a year to get a piece of the proverbial pie in sales, although other authors are not your competition by any means.
One thing that publishers hate is for someone to refer to themselves as the “next Stephen King, Anne Rice, James Patterson, Lovecraft, Wells, Harris, etc.” Let us make that determination for you. No, on second thought, let your readers and reviewers do it. If your style is much like Koontz, or Rushdie, your readers will notice. Don’t make the assumption that you are the next anyone. Be you. Be honest.
Who doesn’t like some backstory to the creation of a project? I decided to do just that, share some of this collection more in-depth. Let’s start with that this project marks a first for me. I’m known for my horror and dark fantasy series The Blasphemer Series and my bestselling and award-winning short story Human Ouija. Both of these works were picked up by the publishing house Burning Willow Press, LLC after their self-publications. I’ve been included in many anthologies still writing horror or darker materials.
So, with all that why go poetry if I’ve established myself as a darker author? The answer to that is so simple, it’s time. Behind-the-scenes for years I’ve worked on things that I either never finished or put on a back burner waiting for the time to come. Poetry filled notebooks and then was forgotten about, some even found places on old accounts on art websites or profiles.
Last year, a very old poem of mine found itself included in Southern Fried Autopsies Anthology. It’s a darker poem, but not as dark as I have gotten in the past or even in the present, but it felt right to include that one in that project. Poetry is very personal to me. I can write fiction all day, but non-fiction is harder for me to be willing to release in the world as I’m a private person.
I never considered myself a poet even though I’ve been called that, I just write, and that’s what I call myself…a writer or author in reference toward published works. Poetry is non-fiction for me, it’s all inspired by raw emotions, events, situations, and people I know. With this project, you will be given the closest thing to a memoir or an autobiography I can give at this point in time.
I have planned a memoir and still working on one. This memoir is very hard for me to write because of the topic it covers and a very dark period in my life, but it’s a story that needs to be shared and will be shared when…you guessed it…it’s time.
Poems in this collection will cover topics that included but are not limited to:
Dying
Love
Loss
Mortality
Inspiration
Suffering
Life
But with all art, I believe, though these are the topics that inspired different poems included I hope that whoever reads them take away something for themselves. They’re up for interpretation!
The Official Website of L. Bachman 