Writing Update – March 2024

Does anyone else out there feel like 2024 is zipping by?

I sure do. And we’ve just got started.  

Instead of doing a deep-dive on craft or something like that, this time I am going to give you a quick overview of all my writer experiences and going-ons this year so far.

Writer’s Workshop in West Viriginia
My best writer experience so far this year has been a Writer’s Workshop. I took the long car ride to West Virginia for a workshop organized by Michael Knost, a Horror fiction editor. The other instructors were Tim Waggoner and Stephen Zimmer. There were also five fellow writers there.  

I had never done something like this. And it fits in with my overall “be bolder” strategy. The idea of doing something that scares me, that makes me a little nervous—and then going for it.  

I don’t want to go into too many details here (since this was about critiquing an existing manuscript), but needless to say the three instructors are masters of their craft and could see things in my work (and the works of the others) we just couldn’t see.  

The best metaphor I can give here is going to the woods with someone who is a combination of naturalist/survivalist. I don’t know about you, but when I go for a walk in the woods I’m like: “That’s a tree…That’s a rock…That’s a bird!” And the naturalist/survivalist is like: “The bark of this Douglas Pine can be used to start a fire and its nettles can be mashed up and used as an antibiotic. The green schist in this pile on the mountainside indicate the likelihood that there is an underground spring in this area if we dig down just a few feet…And that American red-throated bluebird only migrates at this point of late spring, indicating we won’t see any more snow this year…Oh! And do you see these mushrooms here? Fantastic in a soup!” And then I’m like, “Yeah, that’s basically what I said.” …Except, it’s not!

In other words, the seasoned writers/editors can show and explain to you flaws you can’t see, while at the same time pointing out good things in your work that you missed. Their experience and know-how can give you insights or suggestions as to how to fix those flaws and dial up those good things. And that’s golden.

My fellow writers also gave critiques and I found that they often said similar things to the more experienced writers and sometimes pulled out unique insights even they had missed.

All in all, it was a great experience and something I would consider doing in the future. Everyone was respectful and there to help improve each other’s pieces.

The only problem? Now, I have to do a lot of work on improving the piece I submitted for critique.   

Trip to Providence 
Well, I finally made it a place I wanted to go for a long time. Providence, Rhode Island. 

Why did I go there? I admit it: I wanted to see the HP Lovecraft stuff: his hometown, the house where he lived, and his grave. I have never been to a place where I was able to better trace the influence of “place” on a writer than in Providence. The downtown part of the city, I’ve heard, has not changed too, too much since the 1930s when Lovecraft died. So you’re seeing, in many respects, the city he saw.  

While there, I witnessed all the contradictions and forces which made the man: The good, the bad, and the ugly. The sea is ever present there, creating this creeping, grasping mist. The mist winds through the stone monuments, up towards the steeples of white churches, and down these lonely Victorian streets with Colonial mansions lit by gaslight. In a word, it’s evocative.

Many of the buildings downtown are steel and glass and quite tall. Those up on the hill near Brown University, are mostly short and wood or stone. Between the two sections lies a city square and a canal—a numinous boundary (or is it a battlefront?) in some great struggle. Between the old and the new. Between modernity and tradition. Between capitalism and the old, agrarian economy. Between the secular values of commerce and government and the spiritual values of Church and family. Between public pretense and private reality. Between immigrants and the (more likely) native born.

From up on that hill near the university where Lovecraft spent his days, you can see the skyscrapers and government buildings looming through the mist. As if they’re creeping up the hill ready to attack the sleeping New England village on the hill. At least, that’s how I picture it playing out in Lovecraft’s mind, hand stuffed in his pockets, as he took twilight and late night walks through his more traditional neighborhood with its great views of the modern downtown.  

All changes come from the sea in Lovecraft and I can see why the sea (in its Earthly or cosmic manifestations) was such a powerful metaphor for him. You can try, but you can never quite escape its influence in Providence. It’s everywhere.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Please! Lovecraft has a well-deserved reputation for his blatant racism. If you’ve somehow missed that, you can read about that here, here, and here. I for one, am glad his face is no longer on a major literary award. That being said, many speculative writers today cite him as an influence. And I would put myself in that number.

So, if you go to Providence, go with open eyes. And no preconceived notions. Realizing the past for what it was. Realizing the failings of that man. But, I hope, you’ll do it with a view to a better future. For all of us.

Second Public Reading Scheduled for June in Virginia
I’m excited to announce that my next public reading is scheduled for June 8 at the Purcellville Public Library in Viriginia (it’s in Loudon County about an hour drive west of D.C.).

The Northern Viriginia Writers’ Club (of which I’m currently Secretary) is putting on the event and it should feature about 15 local writers from the area in all genres and in non-fiction. I will do a reading (most likely of my poems) and have a table where I will be signing and selling books.

So, please come on by! And a big thanks to the club’s Lois Wren for organizing the event!   

StokerCon Cometh
Like a Horror Movie Baddie who just won’t die—StokerCon (the Horror Writer Association’s annual convention) is coming back again.

It’s in San Diego in late May this year and I’ll be there. If you’re drop by, be sure to say, “Hi!” I promise I’m a lot nicer than my headshot implies.

No word yet on whether I’ve been selected for a reading there, but I have some new poetry/prose I would LOVE to try out on that crowd.

Before the Con, I am scheduled to go the Whaley House with some fellow writers to conduct a “paranormal investigation” at night. Never done that before, so it should be interesting!

All in all, it will be a great chance to reconnect with current friends and make some new ones!

Hope to see you there if you can make it!

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That’s about all for now…

For more on Lovecraft, you can listen to this Podcast from Canada’s CBC.

See you again soon!

Darius