Writer of the Horrific and Surreal

Fuck me sideways. Gonna see that!

Got an email today from Google Alerts which had the P&E final results listed inside. I checked, as one would and discovered:

15 The Last Church, Lee Pletzers, Black Bed Sheet Press, http://blackbedsheet.goshopper.net/m/6735/lee-pletzers.htm

From 7 to 15 that’s quite a drop. Wonder what happened there?

Three updates. Sorry, I’ve been quite this past week:

First: Finished my short story called: He iwi tahi tatou (we are now one people). It came in just under 8,000 words after editing. I cut and rearranged sentences to make the story tight. There were parts I didn’t want to cut though, but I gritted my teeth and did it. Sacrifices have to be made when you slice and dice, even if you think it is important to character growth, that paragraph or two MUST go to keep the story flowing. Regardless of what you think. Self reflection must be destroyed at all costs, especially in the middle of action.

A lot of people think editing is running a spell checker or is up to the editor. My friend knows zip about writing and he thought you write something and send it directly to the editor who corrects all the errors and cuts the story to work. I corrected him on this.

Here’s a piece of free advice to aspiring writers: Never send anything but your best work to an editor (cut and polish until the bitch bleeds) and if they accept that work, expect them to edit it more. Long gone are the days when an editor saw potential and worked with the writer and helped them flesh out a story. Sorry about that.

Second: My proof reader just got back to me with edits for The Game. I have a cover artist working on something for me. Have two actually. One charges US$100 and the other charges US$50. These artists are there to help the small press publishers and to get their name out there and build up a profile. They both have an impressive collection of work sold already. And seeing as how Triskaideka Books is funded by the thought: Can I get any overtime this week or not?, I am glad to have found these lovers of the craft (yes, they are both into horror, writing and reading). Cover art should be near ready in 3 months. If there are any other artists who would like to work on the cover, let me know. Money goes to the best. We’re talking full cover here in two sizes: A5 and 5.5 X 8.5 with bleed margins.

Third: I have been approached to ghost-write a non-fiction title for Triskaideka Books. It’s a damn interesting book and as I know the guy putting it together and his extensive years working in the industry, I know the info is good. Plus he has proved it to me.

Will be an interesting book. Won’t say any more about it until the book is completed.

Add to that: I have two novels to finish and am putting together the antho for MoH and The Game. Damn I’m busy. Plus I have that J.O.B. thing, but I like that J.O.B. thing as much as I do all this writing and my publishing business. I work with some fantastic people. It’s not often you can find a job where you get along with almost everyone.

Authors Adrienne J. Odasso, Jennifer Moore, Batya Deene, Fraser Sherman, Angela Rega, Imogen Howson, Jo Thomas, Joselle Vanderhooft, Jessica Tudor, Greg O. Weatherford, Hilary J. Nowack, Genevieve Valentine, Skadi meic Beorh, H. Anne Stoj, David Sklar, Lee Pletzers, and Teresa Wymore re-tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood in poetry and prose, illustrated by the art of Anna Repp. In these stories, Red is sometimes innocent, sometimes less so; and the wolf is sometimes a monster, and most often human, monstrous or not.

My tasty little tale in this antho is a lovely werewolf peice, called A Splash of Red. The following excerpt is from my original file, not the published version in the book.

First line: Little red riding hood was dead.

Here’s an excerpt for you:

Her cell phone rang as she opened the door. In the occupied stall someone grunted and Selene suppressed a laugh. As the door self shut, she thought she heard a cry of pain and heard something thump the stall. She was tempted to go back in and offer assistance or whatever but the photo ID of an elderly woman with the kindest eyes in history and warmest smile to match, stopped her.

      She flipped open her phone as the bathroom door quietly thumped shut blocking any further sounds, “Hello?”

      “Hello dear, how is everything?”

      Selene smiled. “It’s all good Nana. There’s a lot of people here.” She walked away from the bathroom. The guy in the leather jacket watched her. She pretended not to see him. His focus on her was intense and a little worrying. He had been here a while and not once, did she see him look at a single photo. Every time her sight found him, he was looking at her or someone close to her.

      “Now don’t you be nervous, you hear?”

Read the rest of this entry »

I know I am meant to be working on my novel BUT… I ended up starting a publishing business called Triskaideka Books, with a focus on horror and SF and cross over of these genres and sometimes Fantasy. I  have a team of three:

Me:  publisher / editor / layout

Karen: editor, proof reader

Robert: editor

Our website: http://beam.to/TriskaidekaBooks

The other reason I haven’t been working on my novel is another short story demanded to be told. A zombie one, been writing a few zombie stories recently. There’s an anthology called Zombidays, and it is a tale revolving around a special/public holiday. I chose Waitangi Day (it was one of the options).  I think I started it because NZ got a mention. It was a challenge to build this story, the idea that sparked it was a one second flash image in my head of a little girl, a dog, and a bone with grey mottled skin stuck to it. I knew that was the catalyst of the story and worked my way backward. And I got right into it. I totally love this fucking story. We focus mainly on one central character and…well, I won’t say no more because if it gets picked up then I’d love you y’all to head out and buy a copy.

A special thanks goes out to all those who took the time to vote for The Last Church (US$10.95), it is much appreciated. Due to your efforts, the book came in seventh. Top Ten! WOOT!!

Again, a heart-felt thanks to all who took the time to vote.

Novel: The Last Church by Lee Pletzers

Short Story: A splash of Red (2009)
The Pretender (2009)
The Zombie Virus (Zombonauts 2009)

Special Awards:
Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror:  Masters of Horror community (http://horrorwriters.ning.com).

Looks exciting.

Looking forward to it.

Hope the new writer brings his “fear” side to this series. And the Darleks are back. That is all thanks to the Time Lords in the End of Time, the doctor didn’t finish them fast enough.

Kids: Time to hide behind the sofa.