"Reclamation"

A few months ago, I was asked by a local Las Vegas editor if I'd be interested in writing a short story for the upcoming Las Vegas Writes anthology, which coincides with  the Vegas Valley Book Festival, (October 30th - November 2nd) and a contributing authors' panel discussion/book launch scheduled for Halloween.
Hell Yeah! is what I was thinking, but I'm pretty sure I responded with a little more decorum. I was told that the theme is progress and it has to be about Las Vegas in some way.


To get an idea of what they might be looking for I read last year's anthology, Wish You Were Here, which was an homage of stories and essays to the old Vegas postcards, which I think were also used as writing prompts or at least chosen to go along with the pieces, which I thought was brilliant.

I've had a story in my head for a while, working out the nuts and bolts of it for a few months, but I knew right from the beginning it would have to do with water. I live in the dessert, so water is something precious. Then I've always thought that the whole "Primordial Soup" idea was interesting, too. Put those things together in a "horror/scientific" type of mind and I thought, what if the soup came back because water got smart and didn't like what we were doing to it? What would it do to us? How would it act? After a trip to the Hoover Dam for some background and research, my short story "Reclamation" became a more solidified idea and I began to write it out.


Taking the Hoover Dam tour wasn't just probably one of the coolest things I'd ever done, I got some good research out of it and learned quite a bit. After watching a short black and white film like the ones they showed us on projectors back in the day like old "Re-building of America" documentaries after The Great Depression, we got on an elevator and went down over 500 ft. The crowded elevator part was a bit uncomfortable, but it was very quick. I'm not even sure I felt butterflies in my stomach when we slowed/stopped. Then down below, I didn't feel like I was that far under the earth. It was very cool and open, considering it was about 110F degrees outside that day. The Nevada side turbines in the picture to the left where the American Flag hangs, hum a lot quieter than I thought they would.

Then you take the elevator back up after the tour guide is done explaining how things work. Our tour guide was very patient, as I kept him busy asking questions that made the rest of the tour group a little nervous.
Let me tell you, if you've never done it, the view from the top is a doozy. Especially if you have issues with heights and it's windy. Hundreds of people walk across the top of the damn every day. There's also another bridge that was recently built to keep cars from driving over the top of the dam anymore. To be honest, that's fine by me. I always hated that drive over. Not that the new bridge is any less scary.


 At the end of the trip we went to view some of the famous statuary done by Norwegian-born, naturalized American Oskar J.W. Hansen. One of them was the monument of dedication on the Nevada side of the dam. Rising from a black, polished base, is a 142-foot flagpole flanked by two winged figures, which Hansen calls the Winged Figures of the Republic. The winged bronzes which guard the flag, wear the look of eagles. The winged figures are 30 feet high. Their shells are 5/8-inch thick, and contain more than 4 tons of statuary bronze. The figures were formed from sand molds weighing 492 tons. The bronze that forms the shells was heated to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, and poured into the molds in one continuous, molten stream. It is said that touching their feet is good luck so were sure to do this.

I suppose my whole point in writing this particular blog post was to show how important research is even when writing a short story. I wanted to know what the smells were like at the dam, what it felt like, and sounded like, so that I could "show" not "tell" when I wrote details in my story. From minor to major ones, research is an all important thing. I know that when I'm reading, and with my nursing/medical background, if I read something that just isn't possible or not right, but know could have easily been rectified with a little research, I tend to put the book down. And I'm not saying that my research is always a hundred percent. I am writing a work of fiction after all.

I turned "Reclamation" in the yesterday and reminded the editor that I'm a horror writer, so my idea of progress may differ from others.

THE EVOLUTIONIST Las Vegas Book Launch Party

April 13th was the big day. My friends had flown in from Sacramento late Friday night on the twelfth, and after an interesting cab ride they suffered through from the airport, we all finally settled in after two in the morning. Excited for the day ahead, I woke up early and made them wake up, too. We had breakfast and then I left them at the hotel so I could make preparations and try to get a nap. (Unfortunately, the nap didn't happen.)

The Suncoast Hotel provided quite the spread, including some really cute individual desserts. If you missed out, the food was delish.

By the time the party started, I was already feeling a bit tired. And nervous. So I had a dirty martini I'd been sipping. (Because alcohol always helps to wake you up. NOT.) People started coming in around 5pm and I began signing books, and my friend Mindy was in charge of the accounting.


I enjoyed meeting lots of new people that were interested in the book, but because I was busy signing, I missed out on talking to some old friends I hadn't seen in a while, which was kind of a bummer. So, I took a few more sips of martini.

I met one lady who was writing and interested in getting advice on how to get her fan fiction of Fifty Shades of Grey published. (I didn't tell her that she was the second person locally, within a matter of two weeks, that had approached me on the same exact subject matter, which I thought was kind of interesting.) Anyway, as writers, we always like to encourage other writers to keep writing, so I gave her the advice of attending romance/erotica cons and Googling publishers/editors that would be interested and submitting. I have not read the series, so it was hard to know which publishers to recommend, and I'm at the far end of the spectrum from romance novels as far as my own stories. Ha! To be honest, one of the best ways to learn is trial and error. I learned everything the hard way myself, from the correct way of formatting a manuscript, to submitting to an agent versus indie publishers, and everything in between. It's not easy, but if you can learn the process and continue to write, then I feel you become more appreciative of it all and know that it's something you really want and not just a fly-by-night idea. Of course, at the time, I couldn't think of that last best bit of advice. Then I had more sips of martini and continued with more of the signings.

When things started to slow down, I finally got up and mingled a little bit. I was thoroughly exhausted at this point and maybe a little bit buzzed. Having something to eat definitely helped.

All in all, I thought it was a good turnout, a lot of fun, and I even sold some books! I'd like to thank my friend Mindy for her accounting skills, Stacy Scranton for her photography skills, (she will be the official photographer for The Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend Incorporating  World Horror Convention in New Orleans from June 13-16, 2013,) where I will also be in attendance, reading, signing, selling, and volunteering. I also want to thank my husband for all his help and everyone who came to support me. It's definitely something I'd consider doing again. There were many more photos that wouldn't all fit here, so I will eventually add them to the gallery on my website, www.renamasonwrites.com

Coming soon is my blog on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and some NOLA advice from someone who has been to a writer's convention there for 6 years in a row.

Black Water Snake

The new year hasn't quite started off the way that I would've wanted, but hopefully, it improves as the weeks go by. The "black" years have never been good for me anyhow. For starters, I had been looking for (and trying out) new laptops. I wanted something really small, thin, and light, but it had to be powerful enough to run a database. I found one! The AcerS7. I absolutely love it. The only downside is the "Delete" button that is at the bottom of the keyboard, two spaces to the right of the spacebar. I'd like to shoot the engineer who came up with that idea. I haven't lost  part of an MS thus far, but I have deleted entire paragraphs of emails. I'm going to try putting some kind of textured sticker on the key to let my fingers know (teach them) that they shouldn't be on it. I've been typing for so long and up to 120wpm w/ fewer than 13 mistakes, that my fingers type sometimes, faster than my thoughts. They even make corrections on their own. (Or maybe, it just feels that way.)

 

In any case, the Acer S7 has my thumbs up. Most of the complaints about it in other reviews were for it's low amount of memory. I don't use a lot of memory, so that wasn't a big issue for me, and I purchased a mini XD card and stuck it in the slot. Wow. It's amazing to me how that tiny little thing could hold 32gigs of ram (or whatever.) I'm no techie by any means. So the laptop works great, but it's my internet that is bad, and there's nothing I can do about that right now.  

 

The next bit of good news with a sting is that my debut novel, The Evolutionist, will be out by the end of this month or early April. I was hoping that it would be out sooner, but things happen for a reason. I've scheduled a book launch party for Saturday, April 13th at The Suncoast Hotel in Summerlin. I'm hoping---fingers crossed---everything goes off without a hitch. This past Saturday, I decided to update my website for the release of the novel. Because of my "spotty" internet service and frustration, I ended up deleting the entire thing but the main page. It took me all of yesterday, but I think I have it back up and running. Nothing is coming without a price this year. That's what I'm saying about the "black" part of the water snake year. But at least I'm learning early on.

On some good news that brings me a little more added work, I was promoted to the HWA Head Compiler for the Bram Stoker Awards ®. I also took on the "Recently Born of Horrific Minds" column for the monthly HWA Newsletter. I did get some help for the compiling, though. And that is most certainly good news. The column is fun writing up, and I enjoy working with Kathy Ptacek and Erinn Kemp (the columnists for "The Classifieds" and "Fiendish Endeavors." You can find out more and how to advertise and receive the monthly newsletter here: http://www.horror.org/

I also received an acceptance letter to the International Thrillers Writers as an active member. Find out more about this organization here: http://thrillerwriters.org/

My novella, East End Girls, is now available for preorder. http://journal-store.com/fiction/only-the-thunder-knows-east-end-girls/ Thanks to Gene O'Neill and Chris Marrs, Gord Rollo teamed up with me to do a "Double Down" book for JournalStone Publishing. They're supposed to be like the old "Ace Doubles" flip books. It was a lot of fun to write. We both decided on historical horror tales while Gord was here in Las Vegas for KillerCon last year. So great to see it all fall into place.

Then there was some really sad news this month with the passing of James Herbert, David B. Silva, and Rick Hautala. Please if you can, make donations to their families or even just buy their books to keep their legacies going.

The Next Big Thing Blog Tour

Two weeks ago, author Benjamin Kane Ethridge asked me join this chain-letter type blog tour and after several email volleys, I finally "got it" and agreed to do it. So here goes.

1) What is the working title of your next book?  The working title of my next work is East End Girls, and it's a novella.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?  The idea came a few years ago while I was reading/researching famous historical crimes and thought, what if?

3) What genre does your book fall under?  The genre is Horror/Alternate History.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?  If I could choose any actors for a film adaptation of my book, I would want Real British ones. Emily Blunt would be my first choice for the main character.

5) A one-sentence synopsis describing my book:  Desperate to follow in her father's footsteps, a young lady crosses paths with Jack the Ripper and discovers the darkness that dwells within a killer.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  It is being published by JournalStone in the "Double Down" series.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?  30 days of NaNoWriMo!

8)  What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  Stevenson's, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but it's a bit of a stretch.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?  I had originally planned it as a short story but was encouraged by my editor, R.J. Cavender, to write it as a novella or novel. Other than that, it was my love of history that inspired the story.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?  It has a historical twist, which I personally enjoy reading.

This blog tour of "The Next Big Thing" continues next Wednesday, December 5th. Keep an eye out for Q & A's with:
Cynthia Vespia, Lou Sylvre, Jerry Wheeler, David-Matthew Barnes, and Derek Johnson.

The Haunted Mansion Writer's Retreat 2012

It was Thursday, September 27th, exactly one week after my birthday, and still recovering from KillerCon Convention in Las Vegas, when I was met at the luggage carousel at SFO by Lisa Morton who was all smiles. Despite all of our reported delays and texting them to one another, we all seemed to land around the same time and didn't have to wait too long for anyone. As soon as I retrieved my luggage, we were off to find Chris Marrs, which thanks to Lisa, who actually reads the signs in airports, we were able to do without taking a shuttle to the other side of the airport. After a harrowing taxi ride we finally made it to the mansion and were met by Weston Ochse. Inside, we had our pictures taken and pinned above the fireplace which reminded me of players in a murder mystery.

 

Our lovely hostess, Rain Graves, showed us to our rooms and gave us a tour of the house. The interior was beautiful. Creaky stairs, dark woodwork, stained glass. Just lovely. During the tour Rain pointed out "hot spots" in the house for paranormal activity. I'll admit I'm not so into that kind of thing. I've always thought along the lines of letting sleeping dogs lie. But when Rain told me that my roommate wasn't coming, I'll be honest, I was a bit nervous about sleeping alone and thankful I brought  Prince Valium to help me out with that.

 

Not long after the tour, we were forced by the wonderful Eunice Magill to take a walk of the grounds. And oh, what a walk that was. If the house didn't give you the creeps, the pathwalk most certainly would. When I saw the old swimming pool, I immediately thought of the "baby bog" from Matheson's, Hell House. There are old twisted trees, stone and stick totems reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project, a cave, a burnt hollowed out tree, and lots of steep steps that led up and up and up. Trying to walk at night without a flashlight would surely result in a broken neck or in the least, a sprained ankle. I took a picture of what to me looked like a wood nymph.

 

Then the dinner bell rang! The food was beyond delicious and we were never left hungry. I can't even list a favorite dish because they were all so tasty.

 

At night we'd sit on the porch and talk. Sometimes three deer would show up then take off when they heard rustling in the trees. Someone talked about mountain lions and after that I stayed close to the house at night. Ghosts are one thing, but an animal attack is well, a whole other animal. (Yeah, cheesy.)

 

The second night, the lovely and talented Fran Friel came down from the very "active" 3rd floor and roomed with me. Definitely the best roommate I've ever had and she never complained that I was in the bigger bed. HA! Gotta love her for that. A real sweetheart. And super bonus, I got a signed copy of Mama's Boy, which I can't wait to start reading.

During the day, many of us hung out in the library and worked on our individual projects. One of which was a rug. LOL! Loren Rhoads. I got a lot done while I was there, so if you think it's all fun and games, it's not. I completed five chapters of rewrites and edited a short story.

S.G. Browne, Weston and Sephera Giron would walk around the house with one of those handheld "ghost reader thingies" and a tape recorder. They came back excited about a recording, but no one believed them because it sounded like Darth Vader taking a breath. But after some cleaning up of the recordings by the very talented William Gilchrist, voices both male and female were heard speaking  clear words. I was sitting next to them as they sorted through the recordings and it made the hairs on my arms and neck stand up. Reminded me of the scene in the movie, The Changeling, (the best ghost story ever,) when George C. Scott's character first heard the haunting child's voice on the recording. C-R-E-E-P-Y. That night I was real glad Fran was with me.

A few other ghostly moments went down, and I actually did feel changes in the house that made me uncomfortable at times, but overall, I never felt like anything bad was out to get me. Then again, I choose to ignore things like I said before - let sleeping dogs lie.

It was a great experience and the camraderie couldn't be beat. I tend to feel a little awkward in large groups, but The Haunted Mansion Writer's Retreat 2014 will be something I look forward to in the future. For those of you who might be thinking about it. Do it. Book early, you won't regret it.

KillerCon 4 - Las Vegas 2012

This was my third KillerCon and by far one of the most attended and busiest. It started off with the t-shirt printing company spelling Jack Ketchum's name wrong. In the craziness that ensued to fix this error, a lot of sleep was lost and I spent the rest of the time trying to catch up, and it never happened. Then YAY! They were able to fix it. Then BOO, one of the other volunteers, (Mason Bundschuh, thanks a lot Mason ;) mentioned that Kelley Armstrong's name was also spelled wrong, and then I was done after that, but apologized to her for the error. She was very cool about it too. The GOH's at KillerCon are so awesome! Needless to say, next year's t-shirts will be done by a different company and at least one or two weeks in advance. The proofs will also go around to several volunteers for approval.

 

KillerCon kicked off on my birthday this year! And I could think of no better way to make up for the for the t-shirt debacle than having a cake rolled out for me, and Dallas, (Jack Ketchum,) front and center, singing happy birthday. It was all kinds of awesome! I'd like to thank everybody that was involved behind the sneaky maneuver. It was a great surprise I'll always remember and cherish. Then it was off to zipline down Fremont Street! I gathered up a small group including Christie White, Mark Scioneaux (co-owner of Nightscape Press,) and his lovely wife, Jessica. My childhood bestie, Mindy Morgan, and her wife, Stacy Scranton, the official KillerCon photographer, also came along. And we had a BLAST! It was great flying down the street with old and new friends. I was ready for a drink after that.

 

The next few days were spent in the dirty martini hangover haze that I associate with KillerCon. However, compounded with my lack of sleep, I only became more exhausted and would end the nights early.

Friday evening was an important dinner I had set up in advance at the famous Golden Steer Steakhouse. It is a nostalgic Las Vegas restaurant frequented by many famous and infamous celebrities and mobsters. For those of you who like to see "old" Vegas, it's a must. After making several changes to the reservations and trying to "herd cats" as R.J. Cavender would say, it turned out to be a fabulous dining experience with many great people. Deals go down in Vegas. This city makes things happen, and one of the things that happened for me was a publishing contract. I will post this information when it is officially released. What I can say is that a dear friend and colleague is also a part of the deal, and gave me a thumbs up when someone had asked about my writing. Yeah - KillerCon - don't miss out. After dinner, I had to apologize for having to eat and run, but I was planning on entering the erotica contest that was only an hour away, and it was worth it because I won 3rd place. I don't usually like to read at conventions, but I wanted opinions on an excerpt from my next novel and the win gave me the thumbs up I needed.

 

Saturday was a busy day. Zombie make-up artists Michael McCarty and Emmy winner, Carey Jones dolled up two brave volunteers.  Patricia MacEwen did an alien autopsy, and I attended a self-editing workshop hosted by editor, R.J. Cavender. There were also a bunch of great readings and panels I wanted to attend. Gene O'Neill gave up his reading time to let everyone make announcements about their own up and coming work. What a class act! When he got to me, I wasn't prepared and couldn't think of my one sentence pitch for The Evolutionist, due out January 2013 by Nightscape Press, so I kind of rambled on about it and felt like an idiot later. It was a run around day for sure, but I was able to grab a quick bite to eat at Roxy's Diner in the late afternoon with R.J. Cavender, Jason Reinhardt, (who walked away with first prize at the Gross-Out Contest later that night,) my childhood bestie, Mindy, and we were later joined by author and all-around great guy, Eric Jackson. It was great, but we were all tired and decided we would try and nap before the later events and parties.

 

The Gross-Out contest was awesome and congratulations to Jason. Cutting Block Press's party was a huge success and I'm glad I volunteered to help out. I thought my table decorations turned out great and the sandwiches were yummy. It was great chatting with Sunni Brock and to later see that she used one of the vampire fang cocktail napkins in her Facebook photo.

 

I left early Sunday morning and was unable to say goodbye to so many people, but I promise to make up for it next year. It was a wonderful time and so good to see old friends and make new acquaintances. I also had the pleasure of meeting fellow Nightscape Press authors, Peter Dudar and L.L. Soares. Great guys and awesome authors. I picked up several books that are on the Stoker® reading list and will review them in the upcoming months. Best wishes to everyone. Nice to see John Palisano, Benjamin Kane Ethridge and his lovely wife, Irma. Brad C. Hodson, Eric Guignard, Robert and Jennifer Wilson (other half of Nightscape Press.) Jen is recovering from seizures after a bout of exhaustion, so please, let's keep her in our thoughts. Eunice Magill, Angel McCoy, Chris Marrs, Shane Mackenzie and his lovely wife, Melinda. Adam Cesare, Taylor Grant, Christopher Payne, Fran Friel, Aaron French, Theresa Dillon, Cynthia Vespia, Monica O'Rourke, Darryl Dawson Brown, Scott Magner, Edmund Colell, Tim Marquitz, Damien Grintalis, and so many, many more. All of the volunteers, and a special shout out to Wrath, Christie, Bailey, Boyd, and R.J. I apologize for leaving anyone out. I will post a more complete photo album on my website renamasonwrites.com in the next week or so.

KILLERCON Las Vegas 2012

It's that KillerCon Convention time of year again and there's no better way to kick it off than on my birthday! For those of you who are attending, there are a few things you should know. The daytime temperatures have been averaging in the upper 90's, but don't let this fool you. Most of the time you will be indoors and casino temperatures average in the mid 60's. This is to help keep the patrons awake so they can continue gambling. Wouldn't want anyone getting too warm and cozy then wanting to go to sleep. Rest is forbidden, so it's a good idea to bring along your favorite sweater, sweatjacket, or a light blazer.
This is the desert. It's very dry here and higher in altitude than a lot of people think. Many visitors (and locals) suffer from headaches because they don't drink enough water. You should be drinking at least 10 glasses a day, and even more if you are drinking alcohol.

If you are renting a car, BE CAREFUL! The drivers in Vegas are notoriously horrible in their own right, but add a bunch of tourists and the roads around the strip become a free-for-all. There have been more pedestrians hit here since January then all of last year combined. You also have to keep a lookout for drunk drivers. Since this is a 24hr nonstop city, they're driving around at ALL times of the day. Yesterday, a drunk driver hit a bus stop killing four people and sent eight others to the hospital. It was horrific.

Another important issue are shoes. Everybody likes to dress up in Vegas and it's perfectly fine to wear those five-inch spiked heels for a couple of hours, but during the day, during the convention, you'll want your most comfortable pair of shoes. A lot of walking is involved. These hotel/casinos are huge. For the ladies, it's time to pack that dress that's a little too short, a little too tight and way too revealing. And if it sparkles, all the better! It's Vegas! You will blend in with all the librarians from Iowa and accountants from Arkansas who come here to PLAY! I look forward to seeing everyone.

This morning, I had my first ever phone interview on blogspotradio with Frankie Hernandez and David-Matthew Barnes. Please tune in and give it a listen. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pysk/2012/09/14/people-you-should-know-1
Yeah, I mention The Lovely Bones, but many of my lady friends read it who otherwise wouldn't have read anything that was considered "horror." I actually thought it was good too, until about halfway through when it "jumped the shark."

I've read a lot since my last post which was a while ago - Gord Rollo's, The Dark Side of Heaven, was a great read. About a third of the way through it really picked up and I couldn't put it down. I finished Enter Night, by Michael Rowe which was also an excellent read. Laird Barron's, The Croning, which was a take on tales with a twist, I enjoyed. I've also been doing some research on Jack the Ripper and have read a few books on the history of the Whitechapel murders. I'm currently reading, American Idol, by S.C. Hayden which is a religious satire and a little bit out of the norm from what I normally read, but with what's been going on in world news lately, I'm finding it very poignant and enjoying it. I finished Gene O'Neill's, Blue Heron. More mystery and espionage, it was a great read. One of the books I really enjoyed was A Requiem for Dead Flies, by Peter Dudar about a haunted farmhouse and a crazy grandma. I highly recommend it, which brings me to my next bit.

Nightscape Press is offering its recent releases on Kindle this weekend for FREE! You'd be crazy not to jump on the offer. Click the books below to go to Amazon and get your FREE Kindle downloads.